“Take a look. He says that Cassidy told Helen that we were in trouble. This is the heart of the problem. This board is the source of all the activity. It is drawing the unhappy dead back to this place. God, this makes perfect sense. I can’t understand why I didn’t see it before. I’ve been so tied up in the other thing I didn’t come into this as I should.”
Joshua scrolled back the footage on the monitor and clicked pause. “Are you saying that somewhere on this property is a Ouija board? And what other thing? What else have you been working on, Sierra Kay?”
I shrugged at his second question and handed the phone to Bruce. “It’s not important but we need to find this thing and then decide what to do with it. Cassidy put her life on the line to get this to us. I think we should at least take a look around.”
Joshua gave me that look that said, “Nice try,” but he did not demand answers. Wow, a bad board here. If the wrong sensitive stepped inside and the angry spirits knew it, that sensitive would be in trouble. Oh, and I knew who the sensitive was here, besides me.
Bruce spat on the ground, “I hate those things. I never see good things coming from those so-called toys. Well, should we ask Lucy about it tomorrow or try to find it by ourselves. Midas would opt for caution, I think. I’m pretty tired. I didn’t want to say anything earlier but I feel drained. Completely low energy.”
I pursed my lips as I stared at the screen thoughtfully. “I think we should take a look, don’t you guys? Just another hour. If we don’t find anything we’ll try again tomorrow night. I am sure Lucy Bailey wouldn’t mind. She’s a huge Midas fan. Now that we know what we’re searching for it shouldn’t be that hard to find it. I feel like an idiot for not picking up on that portal to begin with. Hey, I’ll text Midas and let him know what we’re doing. If you guys agree with me,” I added diplomatically. I had a tendency to be bossy but I had a heart of gold. Or so I told myself. They agreed although Bruce went in search of his coffee thermos.
I popped off a quick text to Midas. He didn’t object and reminded us to be careful and proceed with caution. His only advice was to start the search in the nursery which made perfect sense. I got the impression that the hauntings we had experienced were because these spirits needed help. I had my experience because I am a medium. Midas because of Jocelyn’s death. I was beginning to wonder if maybe Midas had spontaneously opened. He had experiences with ghosts before, namely, his young cousin but there had been others, although few and far between, I guessed. Not anymore. That’s why this woman had come to him. She recognized his strengths and was looking for a rescuer. But he wasn’t the sensitive that I was really worried about. There was another.
God only knows what that male entity wanted from me but he wasn’t getting it.
“He says we should start in the nursery. That’s as good a place as any, I reckon. Can we all go together? I mean, that’s my own suggestion. We should definitely go together.”
No one is safe, I thought but did not say aloud.
The guys agreed with me. We still had cameras deployed downstairs and upstairs but we did not bring any other equipment with us besides flashlights and EMF detectors. We needed to find that board, not strengthen it by communicating with the angry dead here at Oakleigh. It’s sad that these people had to be drawn back to the place that brought them so much heartache. I had no doubt if we kept doing EVP work, kept trying to speak to the dead we would have gotten more than we bargained for. But you never know what you’re coming up against until you get there.
I didn’t want that at all.
Bruce and I went up the stairs first with Joshua right behind us. As usual, the downstairs felt light, but I did pick up on quite a bit of residual energy. Once the board was gone, clearing the downstairs of the house should be easy.
But upstairs was a whole other story.
We weren’t halfway upstairs good when the air got thick; the atmosphere practically crackled with energy. Rub your hands on any surface up here for too long and you would get a good shock. Joshua was the first to experience that type of interaction.
“What the heck, y’all? Did anyone else get touched? I guess that’s what you would call it. A touch or a pinch. Check my arm, Sierra. Upper left arm. It feels like it’s got a dull ache now.”
Bruce and I both pointed flashlights at his arm and sure enough, there were two red marks. Like pinch marks. “Stay with us, Joshua. Don’t lag behind. Put this in your pocket,” I said as I pulled a hematite stone from my pocket and dropped it in his hand. He accepted it and mumbled thanks as we went to the nursery.
“Bruce, anything on that EMF detector? Any spikes?”
“No, it’s as dead as a doornail.”
We made the turn to head to the small hallway off to the left when we heard the door to the nursery slam shut. It was an incredibly loud slam, and it shook the items on the table on the opposite wall.
“Oh snap,” I said as I nearly jumped out of my skin. I did a strange dance move trying to get out of the way of whatever I imagined was coming my way. Joshua pushed past me and made for the nursery. I could feel the anger coming from him but I didn’t bother fussing about it. We were all tired, all stressed out. This had been a weird investigation.
However, we were about to find what we were looking for. Yes, we were.
“It’s in there. How could I have missed it?” I whispered to no one in particular.
“It happens,” Bruce offered as he went after Joshua. “Let’s find this board and get out of here. I’m anxious to get to the hospital, as I know you guys are too.”
“Fine but don’t touch it, guys!” We were all in the nursery now. In the short amount of time it had taken to come inside and come upstairs the wind had begun to pick up outside. Drat. We’d be breaking down cameras in the rain if we delayed too long. This couldn’t be good.
“Check the closet, Joshua. Bruce will you search the chest of drawers?” they both agreed and started looking for the Ouija board. I don’t know why I bothered because now that I knew what I was looking for I went right to it.
“Never mind, it’s here.” Training my flashlight on the bassinet I removed the pillow and decorative blanket and found the board and planchette beneath the mattress. “It’s true then.” I reached for the board with shaking fingers but I couldn’t bring myself to touch it.
Dozens of voices cried out, all in pain. All tied to this board, tied to this place.
Dead, dead, dead.
Stay with me, Midas.
Tell the truth, Altima.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry, Minnie Lee.
Mary had a little lamb…
Too many voices. Too many spirits. All of them hurting and reaching and speaking. Ah, but there are others too. They came because they like it. They like negativity. It makes them happy. It draws them in and makes them strong.
“Sierra Kay, snap out of it! Don’t you dare touch that thing. Not tonight. It’s been here this long and it can wait another day. We’ll come back in daylight and deal with this. Right, Bruce?” Joshua rarely tried to tell me what to do but at this moment, I loved him for it because all I wanted to do was run.
Cry and run.
“You’re right. We can’t touch this thing. None of us can. If the client wants it removed they have to do it. They will have to bag it in salt and then bury it somewhere. I am sorry that this is how it ended but this isn’t something I am comfortable with.”
Bruce said, “We should go. Come on, team. Let’s break it all down and get to the hospital. Time to hang out with the living for a while. I think we’re done here.”
I agreed with Bruce but I had to at least leave the dead with some hope.
“Just a minute, guys.”
I backed away from the bassinet after I re-covered it with the blanket and pillow. “I’m talking specifically to all of you that were resting and you find yourself back here at Oakleigh. We’re coming back, I promise, and we will do our best to set you free. I promise you that.”
I imagined a
warm protective light around myself and Joshua and Bruce. I didn’t want to leave Oakleigh with any extra guests.
We didn’t linger around but left the nursery in silence. We took the cameras, tripods and electrical cords. The air didn’t let up and I felt as if I were smothering by the time we got the upstairs equipment loaded. The second floor was a breeze but tearing down the monitoring station and the Cook’s House took longer than expected.
By the time we’d loaded everything up and I did more protective light work I was exhausted. Bruce motored off to the hospital to pick up Helen. Cassidy had come out of surgery but she would be in recovery for many hours and was asleep. She was going to be okay. I cried as I read the text to Joshua.
“We’re going home, Sierra. You need the rest and so do I. We’ll go to the hospital first thing before we even go to pick up Emily.”
This wasn’t a hill I was prepared to die on so I agreed. I sent Midas a text who said he understood and we made our way home.
We didn’t have the energy to unload the equipment in the office. We locked everything down and I climbed in bed as exhausted as I had ever been.
And I dreamed about a woman named Minnie Lee.
Chapter Nineteen—Midas
“We found the Ouija board, Artemis. Hidden in the bassinet, beneath the mattress. Actually, it was Sierra that found the board but it took us some time. The Ouija board wasn’t just a communication device, it’s a portal. It’s an old board with some strange workings on it. Basically, it’s become a gateway. Right, Sierra? Why don’t you share what you found?”
Little Sister sat beside me and flipped open her notebook. She went through the list of things she knew about this particular board. “This is an old gate. I think it’s been here for a long time. Unfortunately, it has been used in a way that it barely needs a human agent to open the portal.”
Lucy gasped at hearing Sierra’s findings but Little Sister continued on undeterred.
“The board needs to be removed by a holy person and it needs to be buried in salt, preferably in holy ground. It should not be burned or sold at a garage sale. This is really important. It’s a powerful gateway and it’s been abused and this is going to sound crazy but it’s like this board has a mind of its own. All kinds of things know that the board is here and that it is available. You have been gathering things, like a storm gathering.”
Lucy sat silently beside Artemis. Her disappointed expression spoke volumes. Artemis hadn’t expected that this meeting would go this way. He looked guilty but also frightened. I was getting mixed feelings about him for sure.
Artemis asked, “Ally found the Ouija board last summer but I should have said something then. At first, I didn’t think much about it, I mean it’s just a toy, right?” He shook his head and leaned forward using his crutch as a prop. Artemis was clearly disgusted by his decision making. “Here’s the thing. I can’t believe it happened but the damn thing…excuse me,” he murmured as Lucy glared at him. “Darn thing kept turning up. I only used it a couple of times with Ally, never by myself. Just to talk to the Lady in Black but that’s not what happened. All kinds of crazy messages came through and it got to me. I mean, just got to me. I can’t understand why I didn’t put this together with the activity but I swear I didn’t. If I thought it was relevant I would have mentioned it, Midas.”
Before I could assure him that I wasn’t judging him Sierra asked, “Are you a sensitive, Artemis? Do you know?”
“I never thought about it. I am not even sure what that means.”
“You love this place, don’t you?” Sierra tapped her pen on her open notebook. They wouldn’t know it but I knew full well that Sierra was reading Artemis. “It’s hard to explain how much you love this place.”
“That’s right. It’s a source of contention between me and my family. Especially my mother. She doesn’t get it at all but I feel so connected to this place. Oakleigh is like my second home. It’s where I belong.”
To my surprise, Sierra didn’t bring the hammer down on Artemis about using the Ouija board. I expected her to do just that. She’d been griping about that board for two days. We’d put off this meeting for two reasons, so I could focus on helping Cassidy get well and so Sierra could get a handle on all the spirits enslaved to this negative tool. But we couldn’t put this off forever.
“You want to help them, I believe that. You feel like you can help them by taking care of the things they loved, the place they loved.”
The color drained from Artemis’ face as he fixed his eyes on Sierra’s. “That is exactly how I feel. Please know that I deeply regret any harm I may have done to anyone. I know Ally didn’t mean to do anything wrong either.”
“Whether you meant it or not you utilized an unhealthy board, and you are an untrained sensitive. All your doors were open and you added fuel to the fire. I can’t speak for Ally but this is certainly true about you. The first step to helping the dead here is to admit you made a mistake.”
Artemis looked down at the table and then looked us square in the eye. His voice broke, “I take full responsibility for what I did. Whatever I can do to fix it, please tell me. I want to make up for my mistake.”
Sierra breathed a sigh of relief. “That is great, Artemis. It’s not so bad we can’t fix it but it’s going to take work. Not just inside and outside Oakleigh but also within you. You cannot hide your head in the sand anymore. You are a sensitive and you have to deal with that. Stressors make you more open. You have to protect yourself and the people around you. Tell me about how you used the board.”
“The same as anyone else. We put our fingers on the triangle and asked a few questions and we got answers. Weird answers and then we began hearing audible voices and that was the final straw for me. I told Ally to put the board back in the attic and she swore she did but then a volunteer found it in the oven, and then in the Cook’s House and later on the dining room table. I hid the board in the nursery. I don’t know why. What must I do to make this right?”
“I’m going to give you instructions on how to bury the board. It has to be in a specific kind of salt. I will show you step by step but you have to do it because you were the board’s last master. Then I and my friend, Cassidy will come to cleanse the house of the unfortunate dead. The ones that got trapped here.”
Lucy swallowed and asked, “What about the rest of them? The dark things? The shadows?”
“They will go with the board and it will be buried off the property. No one will find it again.”
Lucy began to weep and she and Artemis hugged. He apologized profusely and promised to make it right. She forgave him and Midas and I left so the two could talk privately. As we headed out to his vehicle he smiled.
“You really came through, Sierra. Thank you.”
She climbed in the truck and put her notebook beside her. “Who are we kidding? Cassidy is the one that came through.”
“I think it was a team effort, Little Sister.”
“That’s good because that’s the way I like it.” She paused and smiled at me. It was one of those looks that bore right through you, and it was accompanied by a far away smile.
“What? What is it?”
“You are going to make a great father, Midas Demopolis.”
I couldn’t help but grin at that. I didn’t ask her for details. I was ready to let life happen.
Stop worrying about everything, rushing everything.
Cassidy’s words came back to me and I laughed.
“What are you laughing about?”
“Because I’m happy.”
She pursed her lips and then laughed. “That’s good to know. Back to the office, Midas to write up this report and then dinner is on you.”
“It always is,” I said as we left Oakleigh. I didn’t glance back in the rearview mirror either. We had a few things to deal with, like moving that board but other than that, it felt peaceful. Our work here was done.
And that was a great feeling.
Author’s Note
Gulf Coast Paranormal is the longest series I’ve written to date. Why? Because there are so many haunted places on the Gulf Coast and I want to take the team to them all. I have always believed that writing a long series would be difficult to manage but Midas and Cassidy make it easy. Seriously, Alabama and Mississippi, the places where most of the stories happen, are so rich in paranormal lore it’s hard to see an end to this series but eventually, y’all... well. Eventually we’ll have to say goodbye but not anytime soon.
Until then, I want to visit all the haunted places, hear all your supernatural experiences and try my best to capture them in words. So if you know of an amazing place on the Gulf Coast that you think needs a “visit” from the Gulf Coast Paranormal team, please let me know.
Oakleigh has a special place in my heart because it is there that I first imagined Seven Sisters and Calpurnia and all the other characters in that series. From the first tour to the most recent one, I love hearing about the reasons for the unique architecture, the strange hair jewelry exhibit and the odd dolls that fill the nursery. I love the place from top to bottom.
After hearing the stories about Daisy, the crying ghost and all the others I had to write about them and it seemed only right to do so through the eyes of the dedicated volunteers there. It takes a special person to commit themselves to such a grand job as caring for Oakleigh. My hats are off to all of you and I thank you on behalf of all us historical fiction lovers.
I had no paranormal experiences at the house other than the odd feeling in the upstairs hallway and the strange sadness I felt near the cradle. I suppose being a mom myself, that would account for the melancholy emotions but maybe it was something else. Who knows? Other visitors to Oakleigh have had significant experiences. Ghosts don’t appear on cue. That doesn’t mean there are no ghosts present.
The Ghosts of Oakleigh House (Gulf Coast Paranormal Book 13) Page 10