“Thank you for helping me . . .” My words drifted off when all I saw was a tomb next to me. The soul had gone back into the cemetery. I looked at the cemetery and felt the euphoric sensation turn into a calming high. All of this was so strange.
I mentally cursed the stairs as I took the first step up. Exercise was not one of my favorite hobbies. I thought people who woke up every day and worked out because they enjoyed it were crazy. However, they were probably better off mentally and physically than I was, and happier, too. Unless something was after me, I was not a runner. These stairs would fill my exercise quota for the rest of the year.
By the time I made it to the veranda, I was tired, hungry, and a little pissy at myself and at Jude Mallory. I probably should have just reached out to him via his agent, or emailed, or written a letter. But he never did interviews, and I doubted he would have answered any of my inquiries. This was his fault. My irritated brain focused on that, as I walked up to the back door and gripped the handle like I owned the place.
“Mr. Mallory! Anybody home?” I yelled at the top of my lungs and waited by the opened doors.
Two souls dressed in circus attire came through the wall by the atrium and stared at me in shock.
“Rudy, that voice was really good. Nice trick.” A tall, live man walked around the corner with a grin on his face, then stopped as he noticed me and realized the voice hadn’t come from who he thought it did.
“Uh, who are you?” He ran his tan fingers through his dark brown hair and looked at his two ghost friends, then back at me.
“I’m Selene Constance from the Seahill Sun Times. I’m also working with the Seahill Police Department on the case of Lindsey Walters. I wanted to speak with you, ask a few questions. I knocked on the door but no one answered, so I thought this place was abandoned. It’s very lovely, Mr. Mallory.” He was still staring at me, not with anger in his expression but more of a stunned look, like he didn’t know what to do with a live person in his house.
“It’s Jude.”
We stood there like idiots, watching each other. I had lost all thoughts and nothing mattered but his eyes, his face with his trimmed beard, and those lips that begged me for a taste. I didn’t understand the intense pull toward his soul. Usually the only time I felt like this was if someone was about to die. Unless he was destined to die shortly, then the draw toward death didn’t make sense. None of this did.
I needed more answers to the mystery that was Jude Mallory, the ringleader living in a haunted mansion.
Chapter Six
Jude
“Why don’t we go sit in the parlor room?” I didn’t even wait for her answer before I walked toward the parlor where we could sit and be more comfortable.
I should have told this woman to fuck off and leave my property. Should have, but didn’t. What was wrong with me?
Interviews were not something I enjoyed. Everyone wanted to get too personal, get to know the real me. Real me was an asshole who preferred to hang out with the dead than the living. There was no use getting to know anyone if I was just going to die. Some fans of the show and my work cry when they heard the news, but they would move on unlike friends or family who would grieve for much longer.
Accepting this Selene into my home unsettled me to my core. The woman from the show that talked to the dead girl, here, in my home.
Maybe I was just curious.
“Interesting place you have here. Very intricate and well . . .”
“Dusty, yeah. I don’t have the patience to clean everything. There’s really no point, anyways,” I answered for her, knowing what she was going to say. I’d once thought of making the ghosts clean the place up but they were already suffering. Cleaning seemed more like a punishment fit for hell.
“You said it, so can’t say I was rude or anything.” She continued looking around as we made it into the parlor. I gestured for her to sit, and I took a seat on the loveseat opposite of the one she descended onto. She was beautiful with dirty blond hair that looked streaked with melted honey in it. I knew her blue eyes could peer into my soul. She looked haunted in her own way, though, and it wasn’t just being here in the house. She had a heavy burden and it weighed on her with every move she made, the way she had to force herself to sit tall and push confidence into her very being.
We sat there, neither one of us saying a word in this awkward situation. A few of my ghostly friends peeked in, unaware someone else in this room could see them.
“She is definitely a looker. Man, I thought she was hot back at the show. She is smoking now.” Rudy came over to sit next to me, his mouth gaping at the woman before us, whose knowing smirk promised sweet revenge.
“Why, thank you, I didn’t know if this sweater was complimentary to my body but I guess if I’m smokin then it must be great.”
I laughed at the shock on Rudy’s face. Serves the asshole right.
“You can see us? Holy shit, Jude. You’re not the only one! Oh girl, I have been on the other side too long. I could use another flesh-and-blood person to live vicariously through.” Rudy sat down next to her, filled with excitement.
“Rudy, give the woman some space.” I watched her expression carefully to see if she was scared or annoyed at my friend, but she seemed content, like his presence relaxed her in some way.
“It’s OK. But I wouldn’t touch me if I were you. I’m a reaper, so taking dead people to the afterlife is my superpower.” She shrugged, like having that sort of power was no big deal, but I knew differently. It was a power from Hades, the god of the underworld. The old gods had killed off their children, the demigods, and mankind lost faith in them. They were dying but still wanted to protect humans so they put their powers out into the world into the DNA of mortals. Lucky people were picked to host “said gifts” to help the world.
My gift was control over the dead, which sounded cool but it wasn’t useful in stopping a bank robbery, unless the person got shot and we wanted information or I created an army of the dead to stop the criminals. Neither was really a good idea.
Ghosts on this plane of Earth couldn’t do harm like they could in the movies. They couldn’t shake doors or attack you. My family was the key to keeping it that way.
“They can’t be sent onward by a reaper, even though I’m sure they would appreciate it.” I figured I’d make everyone in the room feel more at ease with Selene around.
“The man out in the cemetery said something like that. Your great-great uncle, I believe.”
She wasn’t writing anything down, but Selene could be committing every detail to memory. I wasn’t sure if being in a house filled with ghosts or having a cemetery had any relationship to the woman’s death at my show.
“Phineas. That old man is a hoot.” Rudy smiled at Selene, smitten as a ghost could be.
“I’m assuming you know my show is not performed by live people then, if you can see them and know what they are?” I just wanted to make sure she understood before continuing.
“Yes, but I don’t know how you’re doing it or what is happening here.” She gestured to Rudy and all around. I’m not sure why I smiled at her confusion. For some reason she looked like a woman who knew everything or coveted truth. My show and my home perplexed her, which for some reason entertained me.
“Off the record?” I doubted she would say anything about my gifts or tell all about my show being performed by ghosts, but I asked anyway.
“Off the record.” She nodded, and I knew she would be implicated just as much as I would be if people found out about our powers. The Hero Society had come out to the world without hero identities and mankind was not happy about it. Thankfully, they gave us a second chance and here we were . . . people with gifts could help or not and didn’t need to be afraid.
“I control the dead.” I don’t know what she was thought I would say, but I didn’t think my answer was it. Her hand came up to her lips, and she chewed on a fingernail nervously. A bad habit that was cute while taking in my admission.
“What do you mean? You are their puppet master pulling strings?”
“Something like that.”
Her finger was out of her mouth and her posture was straight. “No way. You can’t just drop that big bomb on me and not go into details.”
She was wrong. I didn’t have to say anything to a stranger like her. I would eventually, but I was enjoying this moment, and I wanted to make sure I’d get another.
“I can and I am. Tomorrow I have another show, same theater. Come, and then I will talk more. You can take some photos of me all dressed up and run your story on me.” I stood and held out my hand for her to take, helping her rise from the stiff couch from the 1920s.
“You’re kicking me out and want me to show up tomorrow?” She stood with her backpack in disbelief, her hand not resting in mine, which left a pang of disappointment in my chest. I wanted to touch her, feel warmth from her beating heart keeping her alive.
“Technically you are trespassing. I’ve been fair. I’d also like to see you again. This is a way to keep the mystery alive.” I teased her, hoping she saw it as such instead of me being an asshole. I was known to act like a jerk, but I also didn’t have the best people skills.
“Maybe I’ll decide you aren’t really worth writing a story about, and I suspect you don’t have any more to say about the death at your show other than what you reported.” She opened the large double doors and gave me one last look that I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not. I wished my power had been mind reading instead of controlling ghosts.
“Tomorrow, come to my show.” I’d make sure to give her a seat in front where all the magic happened.
She shrugged and tossed her backpack over her shoulder, then began walking down the long driveway to where she parked. I hoped I didn’t make a mistake by kicking her out.
Selene Constance wasn’t cold, or anything like the women I usually was drawn to, but there was a pull toward her that I didn’t understand. I wanted to draw out our time together to figure it out, though.
“Really? She’s the first live person we’ve had in years besides you and you just kick her out so quickly?” Rudy whined from next to me, and I shook my head.
“You’ll survive.”
“I think I need a hug.” Rudy tried to wrap his ghostly arms around me only to have them flow straight through my body. Goosebumps rose against my skin from the chill of the unnatural touching me.
“Let’s go rehearse.” I turned on my heels, searching for my crew, and a distraction from my drifting thoughts toward Selene.
Chapter Seven
Selene
“I cannot believe you scored us tickets to the show tonight. I mean it was sold out! And I’m pretty sure these are front and center seats!” Emily could barely contain her excitement as we walked together from the parking garage to the theater for Jude’s show. How he’d figured out where I lived, I didn’t want to know, but this morning there were black roses and a card with two tickets.
I debated whether I should go or not all day, but curiosity eventually won. The journalist in me could not let him and his story go. I had to know the truth and find out every secret he had. I was still working on the Lindsey Walters’ case with Echo from the police department and fellow Hero Society members, but there wasn’t much to go on right now.
“I have connections.” She probably assumed I meant someone through the newspaper, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for her screams if she knew they were from Mr. Mallory personally. I still wasn’t sure what to make of it all myself.
He was handsome and mysterious, and of course I craved more details on his life and his house. But something felt off, which heightened my interest and made me want to stay away.
“Hopefully everything will be better tonight than what happened at the last show. Have the cops figured out who did it?” Emily was serious now, as we approached the theater with a growing crowd around us.
“Not yet. I’m sure a new clue will surface soon.” I tried to be hopeful, but it wasn’t looking good. Still, no one was giving up. Lindsey was someone’s child, sister, and lover. We couldn’t give up on finding the murderer.
We were ushered to our seats, which were in the front of the circular stage. There wasn’t anything on the stage, which was confusing since this was like a circus act. Perhaps it added to the mystical part of the show. The lights were off in the middle and every once in a while, I’d see shimmers of blue floating through the darkness. It could be the ghosts or could be light tricks.
“I’m so excited. Work has been so crazy lately, so I needed this night out, and my sister has been driving me nuts.”
Emily became the sole guardian of her sister when their parents died. Her sister just started high school and was a pain in the ass. So far, Emily had been doing a good job, essentially as a single parent.
I couldn’t imagine what she was going through, but whenever I asked, she said she was fine.
“I’d be happy to watch her some time if you needed it,” I offered, not knowing what the hell I would do with a teenager in my small cottage, but I’d give it a shot. Maybe she would just want to watch TV the whole time and order a pizza. I’d be OK with that type of girls’ night.
“I appreciate that. It’ll be OK. She’s just all about boys and being popular and I’m so not that way. We don’t exactly see eye to eye.” Her green eyes stared at the dark stage, watching the blue light drift higher, then back down again. My friend looked tired and rundown today. Without letting her see, I reached out with my extra gift to make sure death was not surrounding her at all. With her history and mine, we knew the feeling of suicide could sneak up on you even when you weren’t in a low.
Nothing. My shoulders relaxed and my whole body settled into the seat. I didn’t have a giant crowd of friends, just this pink-haired, green-eyed, petite one beside me and the Hero Society crew when I had time. They were an interesting bunch, and I liked them. They accepted me even with all my flaws.
“Caw!”
The lights over our heads dimmed, and the sound of the godforsaken crow echoed around the room. A spotlight followed it up to a trapeze bar where Jude stood.
“Expect the expected but the closer you look, the more unexpected you see.”
I couldn’t see Jude’s face, just his muscular frame covered in the same black ringleader coat and a top hat. Emily grabbed onto my hand in anticipation, making my shoulder shake slightly from the chuckle escaping my chest. She was such a soft heart. This was not supposed to be frightening, at least I didn’t believe so.
“Caw!” The crow came up to its master, then began to dive down toward the stage.
“Prepare for Mystical.” Jude smirked right before he jumped off the bar, following the bird down to the empty stage. My hand gripped Emily’s tighter. There wasn’t any landing pad down there. Oh no, he was going to splat on the ground. Gasps and nervous cries echoed around the theater.
“Oh no!” someone screamed, but just as he made it to the floor, he disappeared, like the stage was water and he simply dove into it with his bird. The spotlight stayed on the stage where he’d disappeared for a few seconds while the crowd murmured about what they thought they saw and what they felt happened.
Then the light was gone and we were in darkness. The whole place was silent, as a thrumming from the speakers began, becoming louder and more melodic until suddenly there were shimmering blue people dancing around the stage and one of the trapeze artists from above released his hold and landed perfectly in the middle of the stage with his arm extended and a crow sitting on top.
Jude. What a jerk. Freaking everyone out like that. A talented jerk, but still . . .
I swear he knew what I was thinking because he had a smirk on his face, and he looked more alive than I’d seen him at his house. Our gazes met and I wanted to do something, anything to get back some control of our situation. He didn’t win whatever challenge he thought he did by getting me here and freaking me out with his stunts.
So I flip
ped him the middle finger and he barked out a laugh.
Equipment suddenly appeared. There were people doing tricks and magic all around him. The same small elephant with the young boy played together, tightrope walkers flipped, and jumped on one foot while trapeze artists and aerialists danced in the open air. A tiger jumped through a hoop, and then disappeared only to reappear on top of a box. Now that I was close and paying more attention, I saw that even the few animals on this stage were ghosts except the bird. I didn’t know anything other than humans could remain on Earth after death.
The show was spectacular. Jude and his crew put on one hell of a show, and he was right with his opening words to the crowd. Everything they did was expected and looked simple, but the more all of us watched, the more mysterious everything became. I knew the ghosts made a difference.
After ten minutes had passed, the show became a story about a couple in love and the acts of God keeping them apart. I stopped trying to figure out what was happening and just enjoyed it.
Then a blood-curdling scream echoed in the room, and once again, it was not part of the show.
Chapter Eight
Jude
“If you think of anything else you remember about her, please give us a call.” The detective who was now assigned to the case of Trixie Long’s death gave me a curt nod and walked away.
Another innocent woman was murdered during my show. I knew I was cursed. Fuck, I’d known that since the day I was born, but this was some other curse happening right now.
“She won’t talk to me and won’t come close. She’s very stubborn and isn’t ready to let go of the injustice of what happened to her.” Selene stepped up beside me where I sat, my head in my hands.
“Maybe I should talk to her.” I sighed and stood.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s mad at you, too. Wrongfully so, but you can’t blame her for lashing out right now. If you hadn’t had the show, she wouldn’t have been here, and why wasn’t there more security? Ya know, an angry female rant.” Selene was trying to calm me with a bit of humor, but I wasn’t in the mood. This night was not supposed to go like this.
Fall (Hero Society Book 6) Page 3