Chloe’s hands covered her ears, and she began to cry. “Make her stop!”
I called on my past experience. During some of my past paranormal investigations, I had worked with psychics. They always talked about opening doors for the dead and helping them move on. That had to be it. I wasn’t a medium like Chloe, but I felt sure we could do this. Together.
“Listen to me, Chloe. We’ve got to show Annie a door. A door of light.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We have to hurry. I want you to visualize a door, okay? Right next to Annie. I’m going to talk to her, and you tell me what she says. I can feel her and see her a little, but I can’t hear her.”
“Okay, but hurry!”
“Annie, Marjorie is safe. She’s waiting for you on the other side of that door. Do you see the door?”
Chloe shook her head. “I’m showing it to her, but she’s worried about Marjorie. She says he will hurt her if he finds her. She can’t leave Marjorie.”
“Who, Annie? Who will hurt Marjorie? Did he hurt you?”
“She says, yes. He hurt her. Paul, she knew him from work. He will come back. He’s come back before!” Chloe’s pitch rose as she connected with the spirit.
“No, Annie. He’s gone now. We will make sure everyone knows what happened to you. We promise. Please, go to Marjorie. She’s waiting for you. We’re opening the door now, and you have to walk through. Only good things are on the other side of that door. You’ve done your job, Annie. You took care of Marjorie. She’s safe, and she’s waiting.” The lights were getting closer; we were about to be inundated with ghosts. I wasn’t ready, and neither was Chloe.
Chloe gasped as she whispered, “She’s going, Tamara! She’s going through the door! She’s gone! Oh, my God! She’s gone!” Even as she said the words, I felt a noticeable dip in the atmosphere.
“Close the door, Chloe! Close it! See it and close it!”
Weeping, the teenager closed her eyes and bowed her head. Her visualization must have worked because the yard became still. Only a few lights remained.
“Now, one last thing. I want you to visualize the light that’s around you. See it, Chloe. See the light. What color is it?”
“Pink,” she said without hesitation as she continued to cry.
“That’s good, honey. Now see that light dimming. See it fading. Turn it off, Chloe. Shut it down. Dim your light. You can do it.”
“I’m trying,” she whispered as the remaining lights flickered and vanished. I slammed the door shut, and Chloe fell into my arms.
We cried together as I stroked her hair and told her everything would be all right. There was no way I could know that, but I sure hoped.
I wanted it to be true. With all my heart, I wanted it to be true.
Maybe it would be.
Epilogue
Tamara
“I can’t believe they are finally bringing the show back. Oh, and look, it’s Quinton. Change the channel, please. I can’t stand to watch his sorry self. Ghost hunter, my ass.” Joey’s hand reached for the popcorn bowl and tossed a few buttery kernels into his open mouth. Naturally, the popcorn fell right through his faintly luminous image and bounced off the back of the couch. I clamped my lips together to prevent myself from laughing at his silliness. I think he did things like that for attention. He was always trying to shock me.
But I laughed along with him. You had to pick your moments with Joey. After all we’d been through, the last thing I wanted was to hurt his feelings by pointing out he would never eat popcorn again.
I reached for the remote to change the channel when music began playing upstairs. Slow, sulky music. I couldn’t quite hear the lyrics, but I was pretty sure they were about the angstinesss of teenage love. I cocked my head toward the ceiling, but it was impossible to hear any conversation. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Trey and Chloe were up there, along with Chloe’s new friend Lynn. If it had been just the two lovebirds by themselves, I would have insisted they hang out downstairs, but surely, I had nothing to worry about.
Joey’s ears perked up too. “Want me to go take a look?”
It was my turn to reach for the popcorn. “No. Give the kids their privacy. Lynn’s up there too.”
“Which means?” Joey asked with his trademark cocked eyebrow.
“It means you have to have privacy to make out.”
Joey sighed as if I were the stupidest woman in the world. Maybe I was.
“Oh, sweetie. You’re so behind the times.”
I frowned as I tucked the blanket around my legs. I loved Joey, but he tended to take all the warmth out of the air when he got close.
“Fine. Take a peek, but don’t let her see you.”
He was gone for the show’s intro but reappeared quickly. “That’s a sad trio. They’re actually studying.”
“See?” I answered, feeling renewed confidence in my initial diagnosis. “I told you so.”
“You’re so stupid, Tamara. Of course, they’re kissing. Lynn is surfing the internet, posting crap on Faceworld, and nobody is studying a damn thing. It’s all pretty normal.”
“You lie,” I said as I swatted his semi-transparent hand from the popcorn bowl.
“I never lie, you know that. They aren’t doing anything dirty. Calm down.”
I flung popcorn at him, then turned to another paranormal show and turned the volume up. I’d give them a few minutes, and then I’d take Chloe’s laundry up. It was only a t-shirt and some shorts, but it was enough to give me an excuse to peek in on them. Maybe I’d bring up some popcorn too. Yeah, that’s what I’d do. I’d been meaning to watch this new show about a medium who went to famous places and solved cold cases. How apropos. Joey and I were riveted to the television as the medium began her work at the Hopkins House. I’d heard of the place, but I’d never been there. Maybe I’d make a road trip one day.
The commercials appeared rather quickly. I muted the remote and was relieved to hear the music upstairs had changed to something more upbeat. Joey dusted popcorn off the couch and smiled at me sheepishly.
“This place could use a few passes with the vacuum.” He crossed his legs and reclined as if we were really relaxing. It was a strange thing to see, his body disappearing into the couch. He was tired; I could see that from his faded aura. We all were. It had been a crazy month here at the Ridaught Plantation, and it had started the day Joey’d put his head in the oven. I had forgotten about that.
“You never told me why, Joey.”
He twisted his lips and then asked, “Why what?”
“Why did you put your head in my oven? Clearly, you were upset about something, and that was before we knew about Chloe’s mediumship and the path. Before we knew about all the dead out there.”
“Show’s back on.” He smiled smoothly.
“I’m your friend, right? You should be able to talk to me. I’m worried about you. Tell me why you did it. How can I help you? Do you want to talk about it? I think you should.”
He reached over and patted my hand. A freezing sensation crept up my arm. I struggled to remain calm, but I managed it. At least it was only a brief touch.
“I don't know why. I’ve never been dead before. It just felt like the thing to do.”
“Come on. That’s bull, and you know it. Tell me the truth.”
He twisted his lips thoughtfully. For a moment I believed he would tell me, but he didn’t. Sexy music began flowing again upstairs, and I heard the front door open and close. Lynn’s noisy car cranked up—I could hear it from the living room couch. That meant two teenagers were alone upstairs. That wasn’t happening today.
“Want me to go up again?”
“No. Let me do it. I’ll be right back.”
By the time I made it up there, the two of them were pretending to study, so I plopped down her laundry and left them alone.
I propped the door open. “Leave it open, please, or study downstairs.”
Chloe sighed dismissively as sh
e pretended to read her upside-down textbook. Trey blushed as he scribbled in his notebook. What was he drawing? Little hearts on the page. Oh, brother.
Chloe must really think I was a fool. I’d pretend to be one if it helped her feel normal, but only to a point.
I hurried back to the living room so I wouldn’t miss a moment of the new program.
“Do you think he’ll give you credit?” I didn’t have to ask what he was talking about. He meant Deputy Kevin Patrick. I’d had coffee with him a few days ago and shared the information I had about Annie’s killer, Paul West. He’d quickly located him, and to our surprise, the guy had made a full confession. West had been stealing meds from the patients and selling them. He’d thought Annie was going to the police, and he’d offed her to silence her. Marjorie had been fine, just lost in the woods. She’d died a year after Annie.
“Cripes, that’s a terrible story. What did Sexy Cop say about your ghost-busting skills? Is he still investigating the serial killer murders?”
“Kevin didn’t want to believe how I came by the information, but that was on him. I know what I saw and what Chloe and I experienced. He didn’t say anything about the serial killer, or if there ever was one. You know how he is. Deputy Patrick keeps his cards close to the vest. Kind of like someone else I know.”
“Hm. Well, all’s well that ends well.” We watched television for a little while longer. When the commercials began to roll, I muted it. Time to go back upstairs and check on Chloe and Trey.
“I made a major decision, Joey. I’m going to write a ghost story. I plan on telling Annie’s story.”
Joey snatched the edge of the blanket away from me as he said, “Really? You’ve abandoned the romance novel?”
“Yep. My first novel will be a ghost story. Maybe the second one, too. I have so many ideas.”
“It’s just as well, sweetie.” He smirked as he nodded at the remote. “I don’t think you have the knack for shirt-ripping romance. Ghost stories? Yeah, you can do those. They’re back. Turn it up, please.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, bestie.”
He touched me again with his icy fingers. “I’ve always got your back, Jack. Now pipe down. I think this medium is legit. Not as legit as our Chloe, though.”
The cicadas clicked outside, music played above us, and my ghostly best friend kept stealing the popcorn. Despite her creaking floorboards and haunted grounds, the Ridaught Plantation felt like home.
We were all home at last.
The End
Tamara’s story continues with Always Dead, book two in the Welcome To Dead House series, coming soon to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
The Seven Sisters Cottonwood Omnibus Edition
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Updated & Expanded FULL Omnibus version for Feb 2020!
The Seven Sisters Ultimate Cottonwood Saga, including two bonus stories.
When historian Carrie Jo Jardine accepted her dream job as the chief historian at Seven Sisters in Mobile, Alabama, she had no idea what she would encounter.
The moldering old plantation housed more than a few boxes of antebellum artifacts and forgotten oil paintings.
Secrets lived there--and they demanded to be set free.
When young, wealthy Ashland Stuart offered Carrie Jo the job, he had no idea that she had a secret of her own.
An unexpected accident takes Carrie Jo back in time as a witness to life at the plantation over 150 years ago.
An impassioned plea from Ashland puts Carrie Jo in a precarious position as the two work together to find young and beautiful missing heiress Calpurnia Cottonwood.
A collection of journals and a series of dreams give Carrie Jo all the clues she needs to find the missing girl, but both a present-day danger and one from the past try to stop her.
Will Carrie Jo solve the mystery of the house or will she go missing forever herself?
Grab your copy today!
Author’s Note
Thank you so much for reading Never Dead. It feels so good to begin a spooky new journey with fresh faces. I look forward to getting to know Tamara, Joey, and Chloe, and of course, all the ghosts who find their way to the Ridaught Plantation. I have so many stories I want to tell you. Please stick around!
If this is the first book of mine you’ve read, please consider moving on to another one of my series. Seven Sisters is a spooky journey back in time to haunted Mobile, Alabama. If you prefer a book featuring larger casts and in-depth paranormal investigation, check out the Gulf Coast Paranormal Series.
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M.L. Bullock
Meet the Author
Author of the best-selling Seven Sisters series and the Gulf Coast Paranormal series, M.L. Bullock has been storytelling since she was a child. A student of archaeology, she loves weaving stories that feature local Alabama legends. She currently lives on the Gulf Coast with her family but frequently travels to explore the southern states she loves so much. When she’s not writing, she enjoys the odd paranormal investigation. The odder, the better.
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Other Books By M.L. Bullock
Seven Sisters: The Cottonwood Saga
The Idlewood Collection: The Complete Idlewood Series
Beyond Seven Sisters
The Desert Queen Collection: The Complete Series
The Hauntings of Sugar Hill
Lost Camelot
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Never Dead (Welcome To Dead House Book 1) Page 14