by Aiden James
He sensed the weight of their suspicion. Yet it seemed in-appropriate to say anything, despite his seething indignation kept in check. He hoped to ease their distrust once they got around to interviewing him again that evening. But they avoided speaking to him directly. Instead, they revisited several questions with Tyler and Janice. Once the forensic team finished their work around seven o’clock, the detectives followed them out of the house.
“I appreciate your family’s time, ma’am,” Daniel told Miriam. “We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”
He smiled at her before stepping out onto the porch, zipping his coat to avoid the night’s chill. Tiny snowflakes filled the air.
David noted both detectives’ gentle treatment of his wife, amused at how her charm enamored them. If nothing else, her presence made the second round of questions less accusatory and intrusive.
“Well he seems nice,” she said, after closing the door.
“I doubt he or Mike Kenyon care much for me,” said David, as they moved back into the living room. “Thank God you don’t look anything like Broomhilda, or this might’ve been unpleasant.”
His smile wry, she giggled, punching him on his arm. Janice chuckled as well, letting him know she noticed the same thing. Miriam looked up into his eyes as if gauging his present emotional state.
“I think we should leave everything alone in here for now,” she said, once he stepped toward his cherished Lazy-Boy. “Just in case the police need anything else from us.”
“They lifted that little shrine from our bedroom, including all of my hideous neckties. What more could they possibly want, unless they’re planning to take the doorframe from Ty’s room?” He inched closer to his recliner.
“Just the same, we should stay with Jan,” she told him. “At least for tonight. Besides, Sara will be there around eight, and she’s looking forward to meeting you.”
“The fortune-teller lady you mentioned last night?” He knew he sounded annoyed, but that’s the last thing he needed right now. Hell, the lady couldn’t even sense the ghost’s presence in their home, according to Miriam.
“She’s not a fortune teller, David,” said Janice, her tone defensive. “She’s a psychic who also happens to be a paranormal investigator, one that’s very good at what she does. But, if you want me to cancel our plans to meet with her tonight, I’ll call her right now.”
“No, Jan,” Miriam cut in before David could tell Janice to do it. “We planned this with her last night, and as booked as you said she usually is, I’d hate to cancel on her last minute. If David doesn’t want to meet her, you and I can visit with her for awhile.” Her smile loving, she moved over to him and placed her arm around his waist.
“I guess I can hang out with the kids while you do that,” he said, returning her smile with a weak one. He welcomed any distraction that kept his mind off Norm, and he looked forward to when he and Miriam had intimate time alone later on. “Are you sure Jan doesn’t mind having us all crammed into her townhouse?”
“Not at all,” said Janice. “You guys can stay as long as you like.”
Christopher chased Jillian with her cane through the kitchen and into the dining room, nearly knocking a ceramic serving bowl from the antique hutch to the floor. While David got after them, Janice and Miriam gathered more clothes and anything else needed. Once Miriam helped Tyler with his coat and the younger kids zipped up in their parkas, Jillian picked up Sadie. David set the alarm and they all walked outside, shivering from the cold night air.
The rumble of the minivan, Z4, and Janice’s Subaru soon faded away, just before a gust of wind swept a flurry of snowflakes across the backyard up to the deck. The backdoor’s brass handle rattled and the slightly parted curtains lifted into the air. Something cold and unfriendly drifted into the house.
Chapter Twenty-three
A few minutes before eight o’clock, Sara Palmer arrived at Janice Andrew’s townhouse. Unlike the colorful smock she wore when Miriam met her yesterday, Sara dressed more conservative this time, clad in a thick wool sweater, blue jeans, and boots. Other than the crystal necklace and amulet she wore around her neck, no one would have any inkling she had a connection to the paranormal.
After Miriam introduced her to David and the children, Sara sat down near the end of the sofa, setting her duffel bag and coat at her feet. Sadie jumped up into her lap, which surprised David since the dog had never taken so readily to a stranger.
Janice had prepared a marvelous chocolate torte, and when he got up for a second slice, Sara stopped him as he went by, taking his hands in hers while telling him how sorry she was for the recent loss of Norm. He thanked her and then moved into the kitchen, where Miriam caught up with him.
“What was that all about just now?” he asked. “She wasn’t just offering me sympathy for losing Norm, was she?”
“You’re right, hon,” she told him. “Please don’t freak out. It’s important for her to become familiar with your energy. She did that to me, too, yesterday afternoon. She said it helps her ‘better define the scope and cause of a haunting’.”
Despite her optimism, it still sounded like a load of new age bullshit. But he kept his latest misgivings to himself, for Miriam’s sake. She believed in Sara, so he’d cut her a break…for now.
When they returned to the living room, it surprised him that Tyler had struck up a lively conversation with Sara. The two discussed her son’s present pursuits as a software consultant to noteworthy computer companies like Dell and IBM. Tyler seemed to soak up every bit of advice she gave him as to what courses to choose in high school and the best colleges and Universities in the Rocky Mountain region for computer programming and graphic design.
Satisfied for the moment she wasn’t a complete flake, David relaxed a little, observing from a distance this woman who seemed full of energy and life. By the time nine o’clock arrived, the kids finally left the adults alone. Tyler and Jillian did so reluctantly, perhaps drawn as much by the mysterious contents inside Sara’s duffel bag as her vibrant personality.
The children out of earshot, she looked directly at David. Her stare made him uncomfortable. The vivacious smile faded from her face.
“You’re the one,” she said. “The bond is to you.”
“What do you mean?” he replied, his brow furrowed.
She looked away for a moment, as if studying the various features of the living room, settling on the large dream catcher Janice had hung upon the wall next to her front door. Sara stood up and set Sadie on the floor, returning her gaze to David as she walked over to him.
“She chose you when she saw you and Miriam in Tenn-essee,” she said once she reached him, seated next to Miriam on the loveseat. “There’s some deep connection between the spirit and you. It could be she has mistaken you for someone else she was well acquainted with in her lifetime. Miriam told me that you said the spirit whispered the name ‘Billy Ray’. Does that name mean anything to you?”
He shook his head ‘no’. The first thing that popped into his mind was Billy Ray Cyrus, the country singer. Pretty damn sure that wasn’t the right connection, he waited for another clue.
“I can see why you’d think that,” said Sara, sounding amused, as if she discerned his thoughts. “Well, it’s not so important why the spirit thinks this, as well as her reasons for thinking Ty is another boy named Zachariah. What is important is we find a way to stop her before she becomes violent again.”
“I thought sending all that stuff back to Gatlinburg would take care of everything,” said David, echoing Miriam’s fears from yesterday and hoping he didn’t sound curt.
She moved back to the sofa, picking up her coat and putting it on.
“It should still work,” she said. “But, I can say this for certain. When I first met Miriam yesterday, I didn’t feel the entity’s presence. Only your wife’s overwhelming sadness about what has befallen your family. When I visited your home I didn’t feel anything unusual either, despite the physical evi
dence that clearly indicated something supernatural had visited the house. But tonight that’s no longer the case. I feel the entity’s presence, and it’s strong.”
“You’re talking about the girl, Allie Mae, right?” asked Janice from her reading chair, next to the fireplace. “How’s that still possible, since whatever belonged to her is no longer here?”
“Yes, it’s Allie Mae,” confirmed Sara. “Honestly, I don’t know why her presence is stronger. I do know she isn’t here with us right now. She’s somewhere else, maybe even far away, watching…watching and waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” David wondered aloud.
“Get your coats and come with me,” said Sara. “I wish to visit your house once more.”
Janice volunteered to stay behind with the kids, who eagerly agreed to accompany her to Walgreen’s to pick up the ingredients for some ‘smores’ and the pictures she and Miriam had dropped off earlier that evening. Meanwhile, Sara joined David and Miriam in the minivan, and they soon pulled up into the driveway of their home. At first glance everything appeared as they last left it.
Sara followed Miriam and David onto the porch, looking warily around herself and breathing deep, as if trying to catch the very essence of their home. She motioned for David to lead the way in with Miriam following behind him. After another cautious glance over her shoulder, she followed them inside the house. David closed the front door and together they moved into the living room. Sara set her duffel bag on the coffee table, but this time pulled out a Nikon camera equipped with a flash, an EMF detector, and a small digital recorder with an external microphone.
“I’m not here to bless the place this time,” she said, perhaps noting Miriam’s perplexed look. “This is more a fact gathering mission, so we can work toward ensuring the entity’s presence doesn’t remain in your lives.”
Sara handed the EMF detector to Miriam, explaining how she wanted her to watch for energy spikes that appeared in the device’s digital readout. She gave the recorder to David after turning it on and making sure it worked. She advised him to be careful not to let the slim vinyl strap or anything else brush up against either the external or internal microphones of the recorder while they moved through both floors.
“Are you sure you want us to help you with this?” asked Miriam.
“Absolutely,” she said. “This is different from what I hoped to accomplish yesterday. Having yours and David’s senses and observations to go along with my own should only prove helpful.”
She motioned for them to follow her, and they explored the darkened den, kitchen, and dining room on the first floor. Every now and then she’d stop and snap a picture or two, which prompted David to ask if having the lights on would be helpful. She replied it wouldn’t, since anomalies often appear in photographs taken in darkness. After checking the garage the group moved upstairs.
Another portrait had fallen on the stairway. Careful in setting it aside, they continued to the second floor, moving through each bedroom and bathroom. Sara snapped more pictures while Miriam and David followed close behind. The exercise proved uneventful, since the house felt as normal as it had earlier that night. No noticeable cold pockets or creaking floors, or anything else to draw their attention.
But while moving back down the stairway, the reading on the EMF detector jumped. Sara had instructed Miriam to let her know if she saw a spike larger than .5 on the readout. This one jumped nearly three full points and happened twice in rapid succession. They all stopped on the stairs, Sara snapping pictures around them from her second roll of film. As she did, the master bedroom’s door clicked shut, indicating something caused it to close when just moments ago it stood wide open.
Sara frowned and shook her head, and then led them up the stairs and down the hallway to the bedroom. This time, she allowed David to turn on the hall light. She moved up to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Miriam tried to open it as well, but it wouldn’t budge. Using the small universal key that worked when the kids locked themselves out of their rooms didn’t help either.
“Well, it looks like we’ll have another door to replace,” said David, wryly, ready to ram it with his shoulder. Before he touched the door, the latch unlocked and it slowly opened. He took a step to move inside, but Sara stopped him.
“Don’t do it!” she warned, moving in front of him. She took a step inside the doorway, but then retracted her foot. “This is very strange,” she whispered. “I’m not allowed inside the room.”
David tried to go into the bedroom and she prevented him again, much more forceful this time.
“No, David!” she scolded. “I don’t know what we’re dealing with here. It feels too dangerous to venture beyond the door’s threshold!”
She closed her eyes and began to chant, and the temperature around them began to drop. Miriam clung tightly to David’s arm as they looked on. Sara’s chants became more fervent, and as they did, a rustling noise emerged from the master bedroom’s darkness. The noise grew louder in response to Sara’s efforts to match it with her words, until finally the floor in the hallway shook, causing them all to fall backward. The hall light above them flickered and went out, leaving partial illumination from its partner on the other side of the hallway. Rather than further test the entity’s resolve they ran downstairs, hearing the bedroom door slam loudly upstairs as they hurried out of the house.
***
Janice and the kids returned from their trip to Walgreens just after 10 p.m. David and Miriam sat with Sara at the kitchen table. No one smiled, and for the moment their collective attention stayed focused on Sara’s recorder.
Jillian tried to cheer them up by excitedly telling them about the pictures, though Janice made the kids wait to sift through the four packs of exposures until Miriam viewed them first.
“I guess it’s safe to say tonight’s visit didn’t go so good, huh?” she said, starting a fresh pot of coffee. “There’s still nearly half a torte if anyone wants some.”
“I believe we’ll all pass on that, dear,” said Sara, echoing less than enthusiastic responses from David and Miriam, who sat on either side. “Coffee sounds good, though.”
“Are you sure?” Janice asked Miriam. “I noticed you passed on it earlier, Mir. It’s double Dutch chocolate, the world’s best mood lifter!”
“I should’ve had some then, Jan,” she said. “I guess getting the hell scared out of me is an effective appetite suppressant. If I gain a few pounds around the holidays this year, at least I’ll know how to quickly take them off again.” She smiled weakly.
“So, what happened?” Janice joined them at the table with a pot of coffee. She opened the bag from Walgreen’s containing the photo packets, handing them to Miriam.
“Well, she’s back,” said Miriam, her eyes still red from the experience. “She pretty much chased us out of there.”
“Allie Mae’s spirit?” asked Janice, sounding disappointed. “Did the equipment Sara brought help pick anything up?”
“I plan on getting the pictures I took tonight developed tomorrow,” said Sara. “But we also got one of the highest EMF spikes I’ve seen in quite awhile. Here’s the thing that really gets me.”
She pressed ‘play’ on the recorder sitting in front of her. At first they heard only light conversation among the three of them, along with David’s comments about checking the thermostat again before they left. It marked the point where they headed downstairs, preparing to leave. Then, Miriam excitedly mentioned the EMF spikes. At the same time, the recorder captured what sounded like a chorus of dissonant whispers.
“This was right when things got hairy for us,” commented Sara. “Keep in mind we didn’t hear any of the whispers you’re listening to now.”
“It sounds like there is more than one voice…can you tell what they’re saying?” asked Janice, leaning in toward the recorder.
“Hardly,” said Miriam. “We’ve been sitting here listening for the past twenty minutes, but we can only make out bits and piec
es from most of it—sort of like what happened the other day when the kids and I heard the whispering in our living room.”
“And, it gets noisier and most strange,” added Sara. “Right about now we’re on our way back upstairs, because the master bedroom door closed on its own.”
A crackling sound punctuated the undecipherable whispers, followed by the discussion between Sara and David about entering the bedroom. Janice’s eyes grew wide as she listened to Sara’s alarmed tone on the recorder and the ensuing rustling noise that steadily grew to a windy roar. The recorder caught the powerful tremor moving through the floor, as well as the panicked trio scrambling down the stairs, gathering Sara’s duffel bag and exiting the house without bothering to lock the front door. Before Janice could comment on what she heard Sara stopped her.
“Sh-h-h!” she said, waiting for another section she wanted her to hear. “This is the most important thing, right here.”
Everyone leaned in closer. At first, they only heard the excited chatter about what had just happened. But as Miriam and Sara climbed into the minivan, and David came around to the driver’s side, a voice spoke clearly into the recorder he still carried.
“Watch yer back, Billy Ray-y-y! Yer reckonin’s comin’ soon-n-n!”
The words were followed by a girlish giggle that echoed and died away.
“After doing this for nearly thirty years, it’s the strangest haunting I’ve ever dealt with—sorry to say that,” said Sara. She stopped the recorder and looked over at Miriam, her eyes misty. “Normally, EVPs contain fragmented phrases from an entity, and difficult to define. I’ve only witnessed a handful of lucent statements, and none of those were as clear as this one. The only thing I can compare it to is the Bell Witch of Tennessee. That spirit reportedly conversed for hours at a time with the local ministers who tried in vain to get it to leave the Bell family alone.... Maybe there’s something in that Tennessee water.”