3 The Ghoul Next Door

by Rose Pressey

  “To get rid of you.” She smiled evilly.

  Things had suddenly taken a turn for the worse with her comment and I hadn’t thought that was possible before now.

  I swallowed hard and mustered up enough courage to ask. “What do you mean get rid of me?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like. You’ll be coming with me so we can carry out more devilish missions.”

  “Like hell I will.” Pun intended.

  “Clever.” She smirked.

  “So that’s all you’re going to tell me? If you are so good at your job, then I’d think you could share more without giving away the identity of the person who sent you. Or are you afraid that you can’t handle it? I bet you can’t tell me anything without letting the demon out of the bag. You suck,” I said.

  Her face turned redder than her dress. My taunting had really pissed her off. Good. She deserved it. “You’re just trying to trick me into telling you stuff. I’m not that stupid.”

  I shrugged. “Fine. If you say so. Keep telling yourself that.”

  She glared at me. “She’s involved in witchcraft,” Candy Cherry said in a hurry.

  “Big deal. I assumed that much. Is that all you got?” I asked.

  “She has blonde hair and dresses very stylishly.”

  I paused. Karyn had long blonde hair and dressed very stylishly. But would she have sent me the package? No. Not without telling me she was sending it. Plus, she wouldn’t knowingly subject me to this awful spirit on purpose. But now the seed of doubt had been planted. The spirit had succeeded and I hadn’t figured out for sure who had sent the witch’s ball. And Candy Cherry knew exactly what she’d done. She had a sly smile spread across her face. She was very happy with her accomplishment.

  “It couldn’t possibly be anyone you know though, could it?” she asked with a smirk. “No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t think so.”

  I didn’t like this ghost. She probably had been an equally awful person when she’d been alive too. I’d find a way to get rid of her. I’d have the last laugh. I wouldn’t be bullied by spirits. I’d made that decision years ago and I wasn’t about to let it happen now.

  “You think you’re so clever, but I don’t need you to figure out who sent the package. I’ll figure it out on my own.”

  “If you say so, but you haven’t had much luck with your search yet. Good luck finding the person.” And with that she disappeared.

  Mindy had been staring at the whole exchange with her mouth agape. I picked up the box and slammed it down with frustration. I was pretending the box was Candy Cherry’s head.

  Mindy eased the box away from me. “Do you think Callahan’s ex-girlfriend could have sent it? I mean she is sending you the letters, so postal mail seems to be her modus operandi.”

  “Yes, of course, the thought has crossed my mind,” I snapped.

  Mindy ignored my agitation.

  “So confront Callahan. Give him a chance to explain what is going on.”

  “I showed him the letters. He said she was just trying to be funny and that he’d talk to her. After that, I basically kicked him out of my house.”

  “You’re kidding.” Mindy’s mouth hung open.

  “Can he explain any more than that? It looks as if it’s all explained right on that page.” I shoved the latest letter toward Mindy.

  She read the page then looked back at me. “We need to go and check out this place he’s working. Find out what’s going on. Check out this Ginger chick.”

  “So snoop on him?” I asked.

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  We parked behind the building and inched our way over to the location where I knew Callahan was working. If he happened to spot us, he’d think we’d lost our minds. Okay, who was I kidding? He already knew we were nuts.

  “I wonder what she looks like,” Mindy said.

  “She’s probably gorgeous,” I whispered back.

  “Which office is it?” Mindy moved along beside me so closely that people would think we were attached.

  Why were we always snooping around and spying on people? I didn’t even like doing this stuff, although apparently I did, because I continued to do it time after time. But the way I saw it, if people would quit doing weird things then I wouldn’t have a reason to follow or snoop on them. My spying was completely justified. Yeah, I’d keep telling myself that until it was true. When we neared a window, I motioned for Mindy to stop.

  As we stared in the window, I couldn’t help but think back on the last time we’d done this exact same thing. It was a ritual with us now.

  “I’m beginning to think we have a problem with snooping,” I said.

  “You think?” she said with the binoculars pressed up to her eyes.

  “What are you doing with those? They’re right there.”

  “You didn’t think I’d come spying on someone and leave these babies in the car, did you?” She thrust them toward me. “You can see their facial expressions and maybe read their lips.”

  I sighed. “No, I suppose I didn’t.” I took the binoculars from her and pressed them against my eyes. “Why do you think she’s here? Why did she come back for him?”

  “Like a bad penny they always come back. At least you found Mr. Right instead of Mr. Steals Your PIN Number and Withdraws Your Checking Account Balance.”

  Mindy had recently found out the guy she had been dating had stolen money from her. Her luck in the men department wasn’t any better than mine.

  “It looks as if she thinks she’s found Mr. Right too. I’m spending time hanging out with dead people while she’s having a good time with Callahan. I don’t think I like this situation.”

  Ginger and Callahan sat at a desk. Her thick brown hair hung to her shoulders in smooth waves and her eyes twinkled brightly. I could tell that much even from all the way out the freaking window. She touched his hand as her full lips spread into a bout of laughter. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing too. Had he told a joke? Maybe the joke was on me.

  Mindy squeezed my hand. “I know it sucks for you, but at least you’re helping the poor lost souls.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. If my love life has to suffer, well, that’s the sacrifice I’ll have to make.” Watching them made my stomach sink and I didn’t want to see any more.

  When I poked my head up again to the window, Callahan had moved closer to the window. Luckily, his back was facing me. “He’s still in there,” I whispered.

  Mindy tugged on the back of my shirt. “Oh, I want to see. What’s he doing?”

  I shushed her.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “Do you need the binoculars again?”

  “No, he’s right there. I can see him clearly. And her.” Callahan wore the green shirt that I liked so much. It fit him in all the right places. So did his jeans.

  Mindy shoved her way in at the window beside me. “Oh my God. She’s there? I have to see her. Does she look evil? I bet she looks evil with dark, beady little eyes.”

  “Is that what you envision a villain to look like?” I asked.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is.” She stared through the window. “Wow. Was I wrong.”

  “Okay, she’s gorgeous, but don’t rub it in,” I muttered.

  “Why don’t you go in there and confront him right now?” Mindy nudged my side.

  “What? And be the crazy girlfriend? No way.” I shook my head. “I’d prefer to appear sane. Okay. I’d prefer to keep a teensy bit of an illusion that I’m sane. I’m sure he already thinks I’m somewhat nuts.”

  “So now that we’ve seen that’s she’s gorgeous what do we do? Why are we here again?” Mindy took the binoculars from me.

  I looked at her. “Hmm. I’m not sure. Wasn’t this your idea?”

  From over my shoulder, Candy Cherry said, “Y’all are totally pathetic. And neurotic. You give me a headache.”

  “Oh, I suppose you’d totally know how to handle the situation.”

  She smirked
. “As a matter of fact, I would.”

  “All right. If you’re so smart, then why don’t you tell me how to handle the situation?” I snapped.

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? No way. You’ll have to figure this out on your own. Not my problem.”

  “Well, then don’t complain about how we’re handling it.” I scowled. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you keep your mouth shut.”

  “I’m not the one talking to invisible people. You look like a real lunatic right now.”

  I was not going to argue with a ghost anymore. I’d just have to ignore her.

  “Don’t listen to her, Larue. People talk to themselves all the time,” Elvis said.

  That didn’t offer me much consolation.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here before they see us,” I said.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  On our way back to the car, my cell phone rang. My heart rate increased. Had Callahan seen us watching him?

  When I glanced at the caller ID, I let out a sigh of relief. It was the demonologist, Zach Duncan, finally returning my call. Maybe now I could get some answers. I had to force myself to answer the call. Something was trying to stop me from talking to him.

  “Hello, Larue. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I was in a location with no cell phone coverage.”

  I wouldn’t even bother to ask where that was. Probably in some old castle somewhere.

  “That’s all right. Did you get my message?”

  “Yes, I did. How are things? Are they the same?”

  “Yes. It’s gotten worse. It was all I could do to pick up your call. Something in my head is telling me not to talk to you.”

  “This sounds serious. You have to get rid of this thing attached to you.”

  People told me this, but no one had a concrete way of telling me how to achieve this goal.

  Static sounded across the line. I prayed I didn’t lose the connection before he told me how to get rid of this thing. “This demon can slip through an opening when someone is vulnerable. But you have to invite it in.”

  I slipped behind the wheel of my car. “When would I have ever invited a demon in?”

  “You may have not realized you were doing it,” he said.

  Mindy climbed in the passenger seat. By the way Candy Cherry sat in the middle of the backseat with her arms crossed in front of her chest and eyes narrowed, I knew she wasn’t happy with the seating arrangement. Elvis and Mr. Fine sat on either side of her. They had no complaints. I needed a bus to haul all the ghosts around.

  “I’ve been aware of the bad spirits from a very young age, you know that, and I’ve taken every possible precaution to avoid this very type of incident from happening.”

  “I know you’ve talked to spirits from a young age, but how young were you when you realized the bad spirits were around?” he asked.

  He had a point. It had taken a while for me to catch on that some spirits wanted nothing more than to harm me. “Well, maybe not young enough. Sixteen, I guess.”

  “Well, that’s not early enough,” he said. “Larue, think hard. Can you remember anything you might have done to conjure up a demon?”

  I thought for a second and then it hit me. “There was the time that I was at a sleepover and of course the other girls wanted to use a Ouija board. I was thirteen and a spirit started talking to us. It singled me out. The girls thought it was a fun game, so they asked questions and at first nothing happened. Then slowly the wedge began to move, easing over the letters spelling out words. It went to the L, the A, over to the R, the U and finally stopping on the E.”

  Mindy had been there at the time and she’d gotten mad, telling everyone to stop messing with me, but I knew it wasn’t them. I had sensed the presence in the room.

  I continued, “The board told the girls everything they wanted to hear about their life, boys, grades, and their futures. I told them to get rid of the board, to throw the thing away or I would.”

  “So what happened?” he asked.

  “They finally stopped, but I decided to leave. I was too upset to stay. Of course they teased me forever after that, but I didn’t care.”

  That night Mindy had left with me. She’d always been a great friend.

  “Do you know if the girls ever experienced anything else?” Zach asked.

  “Not that I know of. But I’m not sure if they would have told me. So do you think this has something to do with that?”

  “It’s possible and highly probable since you now know how to avoid these creatures.”

  “But why now? Why would this thing wait so long before coming back?” I asked.

  He let out a deep breath and then said, “I don’t know for sure, but I’d say it was just waiting for the right time, the perfect chance to come back when you were vulnerable again. It’s their only chance of ever getting into your life.”

  “But why did it pick me? I didn’t think I was that weak.”

  “It’s not about being weak and everything about the demon. Whatever they think would cause the most harm. They’ll take any chance they can get.”

  I sighed. “I am so confused. I figured it had something to do with the black magic that’s been going on in Magnolia.”

  “It probably is related. This was the chance the demon was looking for. If someone conjured up something bad, then this was the one that would step forward. It’s probably been waiting for this… just waiting its time.”

  “Well, I guess that does make sense. The main problem is to get the witches to stop using the black magic. It has to end. But how to get them to stop is the hardest part.”

  “I doubt it’ll ever end. You just have to try to keep it under control,” he said.

  I knew the type of people Brianna and Becky were and it was their selfishness that fueled this behavior.

  “It’s a never-ending battle,” I said.

  “Are you ready to take on that battle?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t look as if I have a choice. It keeps coming to me. There’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

  “Would you like for me to come there?”

  “No, no. It’s not necessary just yet. But I may have more questions.”

  “Well, call anytime. I’ll be available now. No more phone problems.”

  “Thank you, Zach.”

  “Take care of yourself, Larue.”

  I’d heard that worry in his tone before and knew that meant bad news for me. But I was thankful for his advice. When I’d finally told my mother about what I was seeing at the age of sixteen, she called as many people she could find on the subject until I was finally put in touch with Zach Duncan. He was the leading demonologist in the nation. I had worked with him for many years now, although he didn’t do as much nowadays.

  “What did he say?” Mindy asked when I hung up the phone.

  “Basically, I’m in deep doo-doo if I don’t fix this.”

  “So he told you about demons then?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “Did you think that incident before had something to do with this?”

  Mindy had never liked to talk about what had happened that night.

  I paused. “Yes. I never invited that thing into my life though.”

  “You need to find that Ouija board and get rid of it. I saw that on one of those paranormal shows once,” Mindy said.

  I steered the car around a corner. “What? You can’t be serious. The only way you think I can get rid of it is if I find that board? That was many years ago. I’m sure the board is gone by now.”

  “It doesn’t look as if you have any other options.”

  Mr. Fine and Candy Cherry bickered in the backseat, but I couldn’t make out what the argument was about. Elvis shook his head. He looked as if he wanted an eject button.

  “I’m going to call Mr. Duncan back and ask for him to come here. I should have done that a long time ago but I was trying to be the big shot and pretend that I had everything under control.”

 
“I think once he gets here he’d to tell you exactly what I’m telling you. Heck, one of the books I read the other night was written by him. But I know you’re stubborn and won’t listen to me.”

  “You read one of his books?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow.

  Her mouth twisted up at one corner. “I wanted to know what we were dealing with at the investigation.”

  “I’m impressed.” I smiled. “And you’re right, I am stubborn. I won’t deny it. But if you’re right I’ll make sure to tell you so.”

  “You’d better.” She wiggled her finger.

  “There’s nothing I can do to stop this black magic permanently, but I can fight it. I’ll make Magnolia a very unfriendly place for them to practice black magic.”

  “You should think about being the coven leader,” Mindy said.

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s anything I’m interested in. I’m no witch.”

  “You have a natural talent for it,” she added.

  As if she had overheard our conversation, my phone rang and Karyn’s number popped up when I glanced at the phone.

  “Larue, are you all right? I’ve been really worried. Why haven’t you answered your phone?” she asked.

  It was hard for me to explain that a demon was screening my calls.

  “Sorry. I’m okay.”

  “You don’t sound convinced of that.”

  “I suppose this demon is still hanging on to me. What do I do to stop this? How will I get rid of this thing that’s following me? It’s attached.”

  “You did the spells before without the necklace. You can do it again.”

  I slowed the car to make a turn, ignoring the evil voice in my head telling me to wreck the car, then said, “But this is fighting something on a whole new level. It takes a lot of energy that I’m not sure we can find.”

  “Well, I won’t lie, the necklace would help. If only we could find it,” she said.

  “How will the necklace help? I don’t mean to offend you, Karyn, but I’m not sure I believe in the power of a single necklace.”

  “It’s a rare stone, Larue. It collects the energy of the sun, moon, and air. It makes your energy twice that of what it would be without it.”