Ghost Hunter

by Paige Tyler

  Cassidy felt as if Trace was forcing her to go off with Shaggy and Scooby as she followed Bella and Robert toward the back of the house. She hadn’t expected Trace to invite her to tag along, but she’d been hoping Wes might. While she enjoyed hanging out with Bella and Robert, she wanted to see how a real ghost hunter worked. She sighed. Well, at least Trace hadn’t deliberately left her out this time.

  She wasn’t thrilled about checking the basement, though. Basements were always these unfinished, drafty places full of bugs and spider webs. To her surprise, however, the one in this house was finished. Or at least the part she could see, anyway. Someone had subdivided the basement into separate rooms, so it was kind of like a maze. It made her feel as if she was in a creepy fun house. It didn’t help that there were no windows. The place was darker than hell. Cassidy could barely see anything with her sorry excuse for a flashlight.

  Cassidy stuck close to Bella and Robert as they made their way through the dark. She looked for movement on the EMF meter, but the needle didn’t budge. She glanced at the digital readout on the thermal scanner Bella was holding and saw that the temperature was holding steady at a chilly fifty-eight degrees.

  Since this was turning out to be another snooze-fest, Cassidy decided to dig for some info on Trace.

  “What’s the deal with Trace?” she asked Bella as they walked. “I was looking at the photos in his office when he came in and practically bit my head off.”

  “Don’t take it personally,” Bella said. “That’s how he is sometimes.”

  That didn’t answer her question. “I saw that he used to be a cop. Did something happen back then to make him so utterly charming?”

  Bella was silent for a moment. “He doesn’t want anyone getting hurt, that’s all.”

  “Hurt ghost hunting?” Cassidy snorted. “What are we going to do, trip over something in the dark?”

  The other woman didn’t say anything. Cassidy was about to prompt her when Robert abruptly stopped in his tracks.

  “I’ve got something,” he said.

  At the words, she and Bella immediately crowded in close to look at the EMF meter. The needle had moved midway up the scale and was now hovering there. That was way more of a reading than Trace had gotten last night. Even though she’d already decided the place wasn’t haunted, her pulse quickened.

  “Is it a ghost?” she couldn’t help asking.

  Robert pushed his glasses up on his nose with his free hand.“Not necessarily. Remember, this thing can pick up anything electromagnetic. Maybe we’re picking up something from the washer or dryer over there.”

  Cassidy had been so caught up in talking to Bella about Trace, she hadn’t even realized they’d wandered into a laundry room. There was a beat-up washer and dryer on the far side of the room, a utility sink along one wall and a pile of cleaning supplies in the corner.

  “Nice theory,” Bella said. “But the power is off, remember? No power, no EMF.”

  “Oh. Yeah, right. I forgot.” The hand holding the EMF meter trembled a little. “I suppose it could be…”

  His words tailed off as the needle when the EMF meter suddenly vibrated wildly as it detected a spike in electromagnetic energy. Cassidy jumped and played her flashlight over the small laundry room, looking for a ghost. But all she saw were the washer and dryer.

  She turned her attention back to the EMF meter Robert was holding when the air in the room suddenly went from a chilly to freaking cold. She shivered.

  “Did you feel that?” she asked Bella and Robert.

  The woman nodded. “It’s a cold spot. The thermometer dropped twenty degrees.”

  “Oh crap,” Robert muttered.

  “We should go get Trace,” Bella said nervously. “Now.”

  Before any of them could move, though, a dark, indistinct figure began to take shape over by the washing machine. Cassidy stared at it open-mouthed, watching in disbelief as the thing slowly coalesced into a human form. No way. This had to be fake.

  “Turn off your lights,” Robert whispered.

  Cassidy wasn’t sure why he wanted them to turn off their flashlights, but she obediently thumbed the switch anyway. So did Bella. Beside them, Robert was fumbling in his duffel bag for something.

  “I have to get this on video,” he said. “This is the absolute coolest thing ever.”

  Cassidy frowned as Robert took out a small, hand-held video camera and turned it on. She wasn’t sure what kind of image he expected to get in the dark. She was about to ask him as much when she realized the ghostly shape was no longer a dark, indistinct form, but instead had turned into the figure of a woman so white and pearlescent it was practically glowing.

  About Cassidy’s age, she had red hair and was dressed in a long nightgown. As Cassidy watched, an iron appeared in her hand. A moment later, an ironing board materialized in front of the ghost and she moved her hand back and forth as if she were ironing clothes. There was no way this could be fake. It looked too real.

  Cassidy threw Bella and Robert a quick glance over her shoulder to assure herself they were seeing the same thing she was. One look at the amazed expressions on their faces told her they were. Okay, so her eyes weren’t playing trick on her. It was a ghost.

  She turned her attention back to the apparition and saw that the woman had stopped ironing and was now folding clothes. It suddenly occurred to Cassidy that she should be terrified of the woman, but instead she was mesmerized.

  “I’ll be damned,” Robert breathed.

  Cassidy glanced at him. “Is it okay for us to talk? Won’t we disturb her?”

  He shook his head, his gaze glued to the video camera’s view screen. “She can’t hear us. She’s not even here. We’re seeing an electromagnetic representation of her soul, trapped in a simple task she enjoyed doing while she was alive. She’ll keep ironing and folding until the electromagnetic force dissipates and her soul finally moves on. She’s literally in a world of her own making and has absolutely no idea we’re here. You could walk right over to her and…”

  His words trailed off as the ghost whirled around to look at them with wide, frightened eyes. Or at least that’s what Cassidy thought she was looking at them. After a moment, she realized the woman wasn’t looking at them at all, but at something only she could see.

  All of a sudden, another ghostly figure took shape. Although this new ghost had its back to her, Cassidy could tell from the height and the width of its shoulders the apparition was a man. She didn’t know whether it was because she was channeling the female ghost’s fear or because the male ghost had a distinct air of menace to him, but the hair on the back of Cassidy’s neck stood up.

  On the far side of the room, the woman cringed and backed away as the man advanced on her. She shook her head and said something to him, but no sound accompanied the words. Even though Cassidy couldn’t hear what the female ghost was saying, she could tell from the way the beseeching look on the woman’s face that she was begging him not to hurt her.

  Her words fell on deaf ears, though. Reaching out, the man grabbed the female ghost by the arm and yanked her forward to give her a shake. Tears glistened in the woman’s eyes and she shook her head frantically as he reached for the iron.

  Oh God, the bastard was going to burn her with the damn thing.

  Cassidy automatically took a step forward, but Bella put a hand on her arm.

  “You can’t help her,” Bella said. “Ghosts are only an electromagnetic field. They aren’t real people. They’re playing out a scene that happened to them when they were alive. What you’re seeing happened a long, long time ago.”

  Although that was all very rational, Cassidy still couldn’t stand there and do nothing while he abused that poor woman. Even if she did nothing more than disrupt the electromagnetic field surrounding them so the scene wouldn’t play out any further.

  Spotting the dust mop leaning against the wall, Cassidy picked it up. Gripping the handle tightly in both hands, she took a step forward before eit
her Bella or Robert could stop her and swung it as hard as she could across the male ghost’s back.

  She wasn’t surprised when it passed straight through the apparition without any resistance. She was shocked at the ice cold jolt that surged up her arm, though. While it wasn’t painful, it wasn’t pleasurable, either. She dropped the mop and jumped back with a little yelp.

  Bella was at her side immediately. “Are you okay?”

  Cassidy nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I think.” She rubbed her arm with her free hand. “It zapped me.”

  Bella turned on Robert. He was staring at Cassidy wide-eyed, the video camera in his hand forgotten. “I thought we couldn’t interact with ghosts.”

  He shook his head in obvious bewilderment. “We can’t. At least Trace and Wes said we couldn’t. According to them, a manifestation shouldn’t be able to touch our plane of existence. There should be no way for Cassidy to get zapped by one.”

  “Shows what the hell they know,” Cassidy muttered.

  Bella swore under her breath. “Come on. Let’s go find Trace and Wes before this ghost does something else it shouldn’t be able to do.”

  Although Cassidy wanted to get out of there as much as Bella did, she was reluctant to leave the female ghost with her abuser. But when Cassidy looked in their direction, she saw that both apparitions had disappeared. Hoping it meant the poor woman wouldn’t have to relive that horrible moment for this night at least, Cassidy turned to follow Bella and Robert from the room only to come to an abrupt halt when the male ghost suddenly reappeared in the doorway, blocking their escape.

  Chapter Four

  “Is it my imagination or is he looking right at us?” Bella whispered.

  Cassidy took a step closer to the other woman. “He’s definitely looking at us.”

  She’d thought the ghost was scary before, but now he seemed even more terrifying. Not only was he big enough to be a linebacker, but the eyes that regarded them were cold and hard and absolutely devoid of any mercy. Cassidy could only imagine the hell that poor woman must have endured at his hands when she was alive.

  “He can’t be looking at us,” Robert said. “Ghosts are residual energy. They don’t have conscious thought.”

  “Yeah, well maybe you should tell him that,” Cassidy said. “I don’t know about you two, but I’ve had enough ghost hunting for one night. I say we get the hell out of here.”

  Bella nodded. “I’m all for that.”

  When they went to slip around the ghost, it moved with them so that it still blocked the way out. Those cold eyes locked on Cassidy. Then, without warning, it charged, coming straight at her.

  Cassidy instinctively threw herself to the side in an effort to avoid it. Even though the ghost only brushed against her, the zap it gave her still felt freaky and she let out a little cry as she fell to the floor. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself into a sitting position. Damn thing.

  Bella grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before it comes back.”

  Cassidy didn’t need any more encouragement. With only Bella’s tiny flashlight leading the way, it was difficult to navigate the dark basement and Cassidy dug in the pocket of her coat for hers as she hurried after the woman. She took it out and was about to turn it on when the ghost suddenly materialized ahead of her.

  Startled, she jerked to a halt. Behind her, Robert skidded to a stop.

  “Go,” he said breathlessly. “I’ll try to keep the ghost away from you.”

  Cassidy wanted to ask how he planned to do that, but she didn’t feel like getting zapped again, so she took off after Bella.

  She looked around wildly for the ghost as she ran, but she couldn’t see him until he materialized in front of her and by then, it was too late. Bella and Robert tried to put themselves between the ghost and her on the mad dash for the steps, but the apparition moved through them as if they weren’t even there and zapped Cassidy anyway.

  “Depart our presence immediately!” Robert shouted at the ghost as they ran. “You’re not wanted here!”

  Cassidy bit back a yelp as another zap of ice cold electricity surged through her. Apparently, the ghost didn’t care what they wanted. He was pissed and he was going to take it out on her.

  “Trace! Wes!” Bella yelled they got close to the stairs. “We need help down here!”

  Cassidy was about to race up the steps with Bella, only to stop when their ghostly pursuer materialized halfway up the stairs. As narrow as the staircase was, there was no way to get past him. If they wanted to get out of the basement, they were going to have to go through him. Since the ghost didn’t seem to have any effect on Bella and Robert when he’d passed through them before, Cassidy was confident they could make it, but she wasn’t so sure about herself. Even a glancing touch from the ghost had been uncomfortable. What would it feel like if it went right through the middle of her? For all she knew, she could get electrocuted by this not-so-friendly ghost.

  But if it meant getting out of this damn basement from hell, then she was willing to risk it.

  She took a deep breath and was about to charge up the steps when she heard booted feet racing down them. Cassidy didn’t know if it was Trace or Wes or both of them. All she saw was the bright beam of a flashlight bouncing around. The next thing she knew, someone vaulted over the side of the railing to land on the floor with a loud thud right beside her.

  Cassidy barely had time to realize it was Trace who had come to their rescue, complete with sawed-off shotgun in hand, before the ghost charged down the steps toward her. Trace moved faster than she would have thought possible, throwing himself in front of her, his shotgun at the ready. She had only a second to wonder what the hell good a shotgun was going to be against a ghost before Trace fired. She braced herself, waiting for the apparition to pass through Trace and give her another jolt, but to her amazement, the ghost disappeared in a flash of light.

  Cassidy stared at the empty space where the ghost had been. She didn’t know it was possible to shoot a ghost, but Trace was swinging his shotgun left and right as if he expected to have to do it again.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Robert. “Get Cassidy and Bella out of here. Now!”

  Whereas Cassidy couldn’t wait to get out of the basement before, now all she wanted to do was stay and see how Trace neutralized the ghost, but Bella and Robert hustled her up the steps before she could protest.

  Wes was hurrying down from the second floor as they ran up from the basement. He stopped them long enough to ask what had happened before hustling down the stairs.

  “Shouldn’t we stay to help?” Cassidy asked when Bella and Robert started for the front door.

  Robert shook his head. “Trace and Wes know what they’re doing. We’d only get in the way. They said go, we go.”

  “He’s right,” Bella added when Cassidy hesitated. “Come on. We’ll be safer outside.”

  Cassidy didn’t like the idea of leaving Trace and Wes alone with the ghost. They might be manly ghost hunters, but that apparition was a psycho. She didn’t protest when Bella urged her into the entryway and out the front door, though. Not even when Robert hustled them all the way out to the Hummer.

  Too wired to sit inside, Cassidy leaned back against the SUV and chewed nervously on her lower lip. Neither Bella nor Robert seemed to want to talk and even though her mind was whirling with questions, she didn’t press them for answers. In all honesty, she didn’t feel much like talking, either. She was too worried about Trace and Wes. Trace might not be her favorite person, but he had put himself between her and that ghost without hesitation. She’d feel terrible if something happened to him.

  Suddenly, two shotgun blasts came from inside the house. Cassidy jumped. As the sound echoed in the night, she absently wondered why the cops hadn’t shown up. Surely someone would have heard them. Then again, there wasn’t another house in any direction for miles, so maybe there was no one around to hear. Or maybe they knew the place was haunted and didn�
��t care what the hell happened there.

  So they waited. And waited. Finally, Cassidy glanced at her watch. Trace and Wes had been in there with the ghost for almost half an hour. That was a long time to duke it out with a restless spirit, especially one so vicious. She’d give them ten more minutes, then she was going back in there, with or without Bella and Robert for backup. Of course, she had no idea what she’d do when she got in there. She wondered if they had another one of those shotguns in the truck.

  Luckily, though, Trace and Wes came out five minutes later. Although their hair was disheveled and their faces and clothes were smudged with dirt in places, both men looked unharmed. Cassidy sighed with relief.

  “Is it gone?” she asked when they got to the Hummer.

  Trace shook his head. “We burned all the sage and garlic bundles we had, salted the whole basement, invoked the sign of the cross on every wall and said every prayer both of us know, and I still don’t think the bastard is gone for good. We may need to get a priest in here for this one. That damn thing is dug in like a tick.”

  Cassidy frowned at the mention of a priest. Was Trace talking about doing an exorcism?

  Bella folded her arms and gave both men an accusing glare. “You never said a ghost could do that. You said ghosts and people didn’t exist on the same plane, so we could never interact.”

  Trace and Wes exchanged looks, then shook their head as they tossed their gear in the back of the SUV.

  “You oversimplified what I said,” Trace said. “I told you most ghosts aren’t substantial enough to interact with humans because they exist halfway between our world and the next. Some, like the one in there, can slide back and forth between our realm and that place that’s halfway between. It’s rare, but it can happen. It has a lot to do with the kind of person the ghost was when it was alive. It’s likely that bastard was one mean asshole when he was on earth. Hell, he could have been a witch or even a demi-demon when he was alive.”