by Rose Pressey
Tammy waved her hands. “I love cupcakes, but I’m not eating all of them.”
The library door opened and a group of people wearing costumes headed our way.
“Too late now,” I said.
Tammy and I hurried over to them. They were dressed as everything from a skeleton to a witch. I recognized some of the women from the monthly book club. They had been a part of the recent tragedy when one of the book club members had been murdered. I was glad to see that they were trying to move forward from the terrible event.
“Hello, ladies. I’m glad you could make it,” I said.
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, sugar. Now where are the refreshments? I’m famished,” Sue Lovelace said.
Tammy directed the women over toward the table with food and drinks. I waited by the door. I wanted to greet people as they came in, but to be honest, I was really looking for Brannon. I had to know if he was wearing a costume.
The door opened, but I was sad to see it wasn’t Brannon. The woman who had entered was dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and the man with her was dressed as the Scarecrow.
When they stepped to the side, I was surprised to see Brannon coming through the door. I was even more shocked to see how sexy he looked. His dark hair was slicked back and fangs were sticking out of his mouth. He wore a black suit with a black shirt and a red tie. I might have swooned for a moment.
Brannon smiled, showing off the fangs. “You would not believe the amount of teasing I got from the guys on the force for this costume,” he said when he stepped closer.
I straightened his tie even though it didn’t need it. I just wanted an excuse to stand close to him. “Well, you can tell them that I find you irresistible.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yes, it’s not the costume as much as it is the fact that you were willing to dress up and withstand their teasing just to come here and support the library.”
He reached out and grabbed my hand. “You look…”
I was hoping he’d say sexy, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen, not in this costume.
“You look terrifying,” he finally said.
My phone dinged and I knew Annie had something to say. I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to know that she was standing behind me. I felt her presence. My phone chimed again.
“Do you need to check that?” Brannon asked with a smile.
I knew he thought that I received more texts than anyone on the planet. Well, maybe not as much as a teenager, but it was close. I was just glad that I wasn’t charged by the text. I would have a hard time disputing the charges when I told the cell phone company that a ghost had sent the texts.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said with a wave of my hand.
The phone alerted me again and I knew that Annie wouldn’t stop until I checked the messages. I pulled the phone out of my pocket.
He looks handsome, the message said. Something seems weird though.
Did she mean weird about Brannon? I hoped not.
Just then the door opened and I looked over his shoulder to see that Sandra had entered. She was dressed as a bunny. I was surprised that she’d come. Although the party was open to anyone who wanted to attend.
Brannon spotted her at the same time. I said, “Are you surprised to see her here too?”
“Not really,” he said.
Sandra spotted us and immediately headed over.
“Here comes trouble,” I said under my breath.
“Happy Halloween,” she said. “Thanks for inviting me to the party.”
Technically, I hadn’t invited her to the party, but I wouldn’t mention that fact.
“I think I’ll get a cookie,” Brannon said. “If you’ll excuse me.”
I wanted to go with him, but that would have looked bad, so I had to stay.
“Would you like any refreshments?” I asked, not knowing what else to say.
Sandra shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m not much of a sweets person.” She looked around the room and the silence settled between us. I wasn’t sure what to say.
Finally she said, “You know, I think I saw someone waving for you to come over to the mystery section.” She pointed toward the stacks.
I didn’t see anyone. “Who was it?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I have no idea. A library patron, I guess.”
I supposed I needed to go check. Anyway, it would get me out of having to make small talk with Sandra.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said with a smile.
She smiled back. “No problem. I’ll just be right here waiting.”
Brannon was busy talking with Tammy and the other patrons were all talking amongst themselves. They didn’t even notice me walk by. I didn’t think anyone was unaccounted for, so I wasn’t sure who Sandra would have seen. Nonetheless, I headed over to the section anyway. Maybe someone needed help looking for a book. I stepped around the stacks and into the aisle. No one was there. Sandra must have been seeing things. Was it Annie? No, I’d left her at the reference desk. Plus, I didn’t think Sandra could see Annie anyway.
I peeked down the end of the aisle to see if the person had moved. But there was no one there either. Footsteps sounded from behind me so I whipped around. There was no one there. I was beginning to get nervous and needed to get back over to the others. Clearly, there was no one back here needing my help. I had a flashback to when Cady had confronted me back here. Had she somehow entered the library without me knowing it?
I headed down the aisle. The whole time it felt as if someone was walking behind me. I didn’t even bother to turn around because I was sure that if I did I wouldn’t see anyone. That would just be unnerving.
I’d almost made it to the end of the aisle when a crash rang out. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground unable to move. The air had been knocked out of my chest. The weight was crushing. Books were scattered around me and one was resting on my head. I groaned and tried to move my arm, but it was pinned under the rack of books that had just fallen on me.
“Rip, are you okay?” Brannon yelled out.
Tammy screamed and called out my name. I thought I was fine, but until I got that shelf off me I wouldn’t know for sure. Brannon and Tammy lifted the shelf off me while one of the patrons helped me up from the floor.
“What happened?” Brannon rushed to my side.
Tammy was on the other side. I pushed the hair off my face. “I was walking down the aisle and then next thing I knew the shelf toppled over on me.”
“What were you doing back there?” Tammy asked. “I mean, I know it’s the library, but the last time I saw you, you were talking with Sandra.”
I shook my head and looked over where Sandra had been standing. She was gone. Where had she gone? “Sandra said someone was motioning for me to come over to the mystery section. I never actually saw the person though.”
Tammy and Brannon exchanged a look. Brannon scanned the library. “Where is Sandra now? I want to find out who called you over.”
“Do you think this wasn’t an accident?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think it was,” he said. “That shelf wouldn’t have fallen over on its own.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. It hadn’t happened before, but I guessed anything was possible.
When I looked toward the entrance, I noticed someone walking out. From behind it looked like Hank’s ex-wife Melissa. Had she come to the party? Why was she here?
Tammy helped me back to the reference desk where I sat down. This had really put a damper on the party. I didn’t want to end it just because of my accident though. Brannon had stepped out to see if he could find Sandra. A few of the patrons had been nice enough to help clean up the books and shelf. Tammy had gone over to entertain the guests while I recovered.
After a couple minutes, Brannon returned. “I couldn’t find her,” he said. “But I’ll go over to the bed-and-breakfast where she’s staying and ask her.”
My cell phone sent an alert
again. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew now was the time to share my secret about Annie with him.
I tapped my fingers against the countertop. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
He leaned against the counter and smiled. He looked so handsome. For a second, I thought about backing out and not saying a word about my text messages from beyond the grave, but then I realized that I had to do it.
“What is it? Do you have good news or bad news? If it’s bad I’m not sure I want to know.” He winked.
I released a deep breath. “Okay, here goes. I have been getting text messages from ghosts.”
He stood up straighter. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “I’m afraid so.” I was so glad that I could tell him without him thinking I was crazy.
“Wow, this is amazing. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? How long has this been going on?”
“Since I started working at the library.”
“That long?” His eyes widened.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Only a month.”
“Who is the ghost?” he asked.
This was the part I wasn’t sure I wanted to share. But since he was staring at me waiting for an answer I had to. “Annie Gibson.”
“This is incredible. I wish you’d told me sooner. What does she say?”
“She talks about a lot of things. She thinks you’re handsome.”
His cheeks turned red. “You know what this means, right?” he asked with excitement in his voice.
“No, what?” I asked.
“We really need to set up some of my equipment here in the library.”
He was so excited that I hated to burst his bubble. If Mrs. Agnew got wind of that I would be out the door before I could say Dewey Decimal.
“I’m afraid that won’t work. I don’t think Annie can use anything other than the computer or my cell phone. And there is no way she will try any other paranormal gadget.”
He chuckled. “I won’t bring any crazy paranormal gadgets, I promise. Where is she now?” he asked, looking around the library.
“I’m not sure. Sometimes she just disappears for a while, and then she pops back up. I’m sure she will be back soon.”
Annie had been hiding a lot lately. I wondered if that had anything to do with the shadow I’d seen in the library.
“I’d love to see her leave a message for you.”
“I was surprised that you can’t see her. You can see Mrs. Clatterbuck,” I said.
He shrugged. “I guess that’s because she wants me to see her.”
“What if Annie wants you to see her?” I asked.
“I guess that will be totally up to her,” he said.
“That’s true. I guess I’ll have to ask her why she doesn’t appear to you too. Maybe she can send you a message too,” I said with a smile.
Brannon looked out across the library. I knew he was still hoping to see her.
“That’s not the only reason you should bring the equipment here.”
He stared for a moment and then said, “What are you up to?”
I glanced down at my shoes. “I see the shadows here just like I see them at home.”
“Do you think it’s the same ghost?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think it might be the male presence. I think the female presence hangs out at my house. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Heck, I don’t know. There are too many ghosts hanging around.”
“Have they left any messages for you?” he asked.
“No, not yet, at least.”
“You’ll let me know when I can bring by the equipment?”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to mention this to the head of the library because I knew Mrs. Agnew’s answer would be no way. I supposed she wouldn’t even know, since she had never found out about the time I’d let Brannon investigate the library. I was kind of looking forward to what we might find out.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Brannon touched my cheek.
“I’m fine.”
“I guess I’d better get to work,” he said.
Brannon’s fangs made me giggle. It was hard to take him seriously with those things in his mouth. “Make sure to remove the fangs before you get there.” I pointed at his mouth.
He touched his mouth and blushed. “I almost forgot.” Brannon walked toward the door. Just before he opened the door, he turned and said, “Let me know if you get any messages, okay?”
I nodded. “I’ll let you know.”
He smiled and then walked out the door. As soon as the door had closed, my phone alerted me to a text message. I pulled it out and saw the message was from Annie.
I am too shy to talk with him.
That was so sweet. I looked over and saw Annie peeking out from behind the book shelf.
“Annie, there’s nothing to be shy about. Brannon is a nice guy.”
Just then a dark shadow darted around the book shelf to the left and disappeared down the hall.
“Are you sure that’s the only reason you’re not coming around?”
I didn’t see Annie and I got no response. She’d disappeared again.
Chapter 15
That night I was at home relaxing on the sofa with a book. Something made me look over into the corner of the room. I wasn’t sure what, but it was a feeling that I should just look. When I glanced over, I spotted a piece of paper on the floor. I stood and walked over to the area. A cool breeze surrounded me and a feeling of being watched. I reached down and picked up the paper. That was odd. It was a piece of wallpaper. It was faded and yellow, but at one time, I imagined it had been pretty.
I remembered seeing the paper before. And that memory sent a chill down my spine. I knew there was no way that I had accidentally brought this home with me. It had been days since I’d been in the old house. I would have noticed something like that way before now. It was a rather large piece too. How had it gotten to my house? Something told me that the ghost was trying to send me a message. Now more than ever I felt that the ghost from the Helmwood House was at my place.
I studied the paper, but there wasn’t anything unusual about it. I had to find out how it had gotten here.
I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. Within a short time, I was pulling into the driveway of the old house. It was even spookier than it had been before. Maybe it was because I knew that this ghost had been following me and probably Brannon too.
I pulled the car up and turned off the ignition. For a few seconds, I stared up at the house and wondered if I was doing the right thing by going back in. I knew I had to find out what this paper meant though.
I opened the car door and stepped out. I forced myself up the porch steps and to the front door. Once on the porch, I pushed on the old door. It squeaked as I opened it. After releasing a deep breath, I stepped inside the dark foyer.
The moment I arrived, it was as if I was surrounded, but I couldn’t see who was there with me. I would have asked the ghost to show itself, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea when I was all by myself. Especially after what had happened to Hank. I was taking a big risk just by coming here alone.
I remembered which room I’d seen the paper in. A lot of it was falling off. I moved closer to the dining room. The room was empty and full of cobwebs. The floor squeaked under my feet. The paper on the walls matched perfectly with the piece in my hands. Now I had to find out how it had gotten from this house to mine.
I spotted a piece that was missing on the wall. After walking over to the spot, I lifted the piece in my hand up to the wall. It fit alike a perfect piece to the puzzle, as if someone had ripped the piece from the wall. That wasn’t the only thing though. There was a name on the wall and a saying.
Corabeth Willis.
Once your eyes have been opened, you can’t un-know or un-see.
It sent a shiver down my spine. The saying I’d seen before, but I couldn’t remember where.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a ph
oto of the spot on the wall. I wanted to see if I could find out anything on the name.
Footsteps sounded from behind me and I whirled around. No one was there, but I felt the presence.
“Who’s here?” I called out.
Of course I didn’t get an answer. It was time for me to get out of there. Something about this presence seemed even angrier now. Maybe I was letting all the rumors get to me. I was worrying too much. One thing was for sure, I needed to get out of there immediately.
I made it out of the house with that feeling of being followed trailing me all the way to my car. I jumped in and sped out of the driveway.
***
The next morning I made it to the library, past the graveyard, and through the doors. Tammy was waiting for me by the reference desk. Annie was standing behind her and Jane Austen was sitting on the counter staring at me. She meowed a hello.
“What are you up to?” Tammy asked.
I pulled out the piece of wallpaper. “This is what I’m up to.”
Tammy frowned. “You’re thinking of papering your walls with old wallpaper?”
I plopped my purse down on the counter. “No, this was in my place, so I went by the old house to see if it matched the wallpaper there.”
My phone dinged at that moment and I didn’t have to check it to know that Annie wasn’t happy with me going back over to the house. It was too late now.
“What did you find out?” Tammy asked.
I waved the paper through the air. “It was a match.”
“So what does that mean?” Tammy asked.
“How did it get there?” I asked.
Tammy frowned. “Hmm. I’m not sure about that.”
“And that’s not all.”
“What else?”
My phone dinged again and I pulled it out. Annie wanted to know what I had found out too.
“There was a name, Corabeth Willis, and a saying on the spot where I matched the paper to the wall.”
“What did it say?” Tammy asked.
“Once your eyes have been opened, you can’t un-know or un-see,” I told her.
“Are you going to look up the name?” she asked.
“I’m doing it right now,” I said, as I marched over to the computer.