Clear Expectations - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 20) (Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mysteries)

by Terri Reid

  “It’s the doctor,” one of the children screamed. “He’s back!”

  Clarissa shook her head and turned to Anna. “No, it’s not…” she began.

  With translucent tears running down her cheeks, Anna looked at Clarissa. “Run,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Run away before he gets you too.”

  She disappeared, and a moment later all of the ghost children were gone.

  The light slowly dimmed until they could see Mike leaning against the wall and shaking his head. “You two have a lot of explaining to do,” he said.

  Clarissa and Maggie ran forward to throw their arms around Mike, but they just ran through him. They quickly turned around, their eyes filled with tears. Mike shook his head sympathetically. “Here, let’s try this,” he said.

  A warm light emanated from Mike and swept over the girls. It felt just like a warm hug, filling their hearts with peace. “How’s that?” he asked kindly.

  “Better,” Maggie said, sniffing back her tears. “We were pretty scared.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I could see that. Come on, let’s get you back upstairs.”

  They walked to the door, and Clarissa pulled it open. “We just wanted to help,” Clarissa added. “We thought they’d talk to kids.”

  The door closed behind them, and they continued up the dim, empty hallway.

  Mike nodded. “And you were right. They did talk to you,” he agreed. “But, you know, maybe lying to do a good deed isn’t the best way to go about it.”

  Maggie and Clarissa both nodded.

  “Thank you for saving us,” Clarissa said a moment later, then she paused. “You don’t have to tell on us, right?”

  Suddenly, they could hear a loud pounding sound coming from the lobby area. Mike looked up and grinned.

  “I have a feeling that I won’t have to tell on you,” he said.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mike hurried the girls out to the lobby, the pounding increasing.

  “It’s coming from the door,” Maggie said. “Don’t open it.”

  Mike shook his head. “It’s your grandmother,” he explained. “You’d better open it.”

  Clarissa gasped and then flew across the lobby to the door, pulling it open so quickly that Margaret nearly fell forward. “Are you okay?” Margaret breathed. “You had me worried sick!”

  “Grandma,” Clarissa cried, burying herself in her grandmother’s embrace.

  Margaret hugged Clarissa and then looked up to see Maggie standing only a few feet away, silent tears coursing down her cheeks. “Come here, darling,” she invited.

  She didn’t have to ask twice. Maggie threw herself into Margaret’s arms, crying just as intensely as Clarissa. “Well, there there, darlings,” Margaret soothed. “It’s all right now. You’re safe. You’re fine now.”

  The sobs lessened to sniffles, and a few moments later, Clarissa stepped back to face her grandmother. “I lied, Grandma,” she stuttered, wiping the moisture from her cheeks with her sleeve. “I didn’t ask to come to the hospital to see Grandpa Stanley. I came to see the ghosts.”

  “Ah,” Margaret replied slowly. “And why would you lie to me?”

  “Because I didn’t think anyone would let us go, just me and Maggie,” she replied with a slow, shuddering breath.

  “And now, after your experience, can you understand why your parents might not have wanted to let you go? Just you and Maggie?” she asked.

  Maggie looked up, her eyes red-rimmed and her skin blotchy. “They didn’t want to let us leave,” she said, her eyes wide with fright. “They wanted us to stay with them forever.”

  Clarissa nodded. “If Mike hadn’t come…” she began, and then she stopped and shook her head.

  “Aye, but Mike did come,” Margaret said, enfolding them both again. “And he did save you. And you’ve learned a valuable lesson, I hope.”

  Clarissa nodded.

  “And what would that be?” Margaret asked.

  “Don’t be stupid,” she said earnestly.

  Margaret bit back a smile and winked at Mike, who was having a hard time containing his own laughter. “And that’s a fine lesson, it is,” Margaret said. “But not all you did was stupid.”

  “We talked to the ghosts,” Maggie suggested. “We found out there are thirteen of them.”

  “Thirteen!” Margaret exclaimed. “So many lost children.”

  “Grandma, do we have to tell…” Clarissa began, but before she could finish the door flew open and Bradley rushed in.

  “Clarissa!” he exclaimed. “Maggie. Are you okay?”

  They both nodded, and Bradley leaned back against the wall. “I’ve never run up stairs so fast in my life,” he breathed. He turned to Margaret. “Mary got your text and tried to call you, but you didn’t pick up. So, she called me.”

  “I didn’t have service in the stairwell,” Margaret said.

  “How did you get in?” Bradley asked.

  “We opened it for her,” Clarissa said. “She was pounding on the door like she was going to break it.”

  Margaret nodded. “And I would have if you hadn’t answered soon,” she said firmly. She turned to Bradley. “How did you get in?”

  He held up a key. “Maintenance key,” he said. “He didn’t argue when I asked him for it. I don’t know if it was the wild look in my eyes or my gun.”

  Margaret chuckled. “Well, if you looked at all like you did when you burst in here, it was the look.”

  “Let me call Mary and let her know you’re all okay,” he said, pulling out his phone. He glanced at Clarissa and Maggie. “And then we’ll have a conversation with the two of you.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Mary took a deep breath before she opened the front door. She knew she had to pull herself together emotionally before she faced Clarissa and Maggie. She had been frightened to death when she finally saw her mother’s text as she walked out of the butcher shop, frightened, and then filled with guilt. What had they been thinking?

  They knew the girls were going to do this, and they allowed it! How could they have decided that it was a good idea?

  She took another breath and readjusted the grocery bags she was carrying. She needed to be calm and clear-headed when she walked in. They had been frightened enough. They didn’t need her freaking out.

  Opening the door, she walked in and saw the girls sitting side by side on the couch. She put the bags on the floor and immediately walked over to them. “How are you doing?” she asked.

  Clarissa looked up at her, her eyes moist with tears. “Are you disappointed with me?” she asked softly.

  Mary sighed and pulled Clarissa into her arms. “Darling, I am too relieved that you’re okay to even think about being disappointed,” she admitted.

  She reached over and pulled Maggie into the hug. “Are you okay?”

  Both girls hugged her back in silence. They stayed that way for several minutes until Mary finally stepped back. “Okay, we need to have a family discussion about this,” she said.

  Both girls nodded.

  “I’m going to run upstairs and change,” Mary said. “And perhaps we can order some pizza and then have a chat. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Clarissa agreed, still looking hesitant.

  “I guess,” Maggie said.

  Mary looked at Maggie. “Should I call your parents and let them know what happened?”

  Maggie’s eyes grew round. “Can we wait?” she asked. “You know, until after we all talk?”

  Mary nodded. “Okay, we can wait,” she agreed. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  She picked up the bags and brought them into the kitchen. Bradley and Margaret were standing in the kitchen, waiting for her. Bradley took the bags and peeked inside. “Bacon?” he asked with a smile. “You bought bacon.”

  Mary shook her head. “That bacon nearly cost me and my mother a heart attack,” she replied.

  “Well, what do you want to do next?” Margaret asked.

  Mary turned to
her mother. “Wait, you’re the adult with the most experience here,” she said. “Shouldn’t you be in charge?”

  Margaret smiled but shook her head. “This is out of my experience base,” she said. “But I think we need to have an atmosphere that calms their hearts and encourages discussion, rather than one that chastises.”

  “I agree,” Mary said. “I was thinking a family discussion with pizza.” She looked at Bradley. “Could you order some?”

  He nodded. “And I’m thinking some cannoli would be appropriate for the occasion,” he suggested with a smile.

  “Cannoli is always appropriate for any occasion,” Mary replied. “I’m going to run up and get changed. Then we can meet.”

  She hurried up the stairs to her bedroom and immediately kicked off her shoes. Then, after going to the bathroom, she changed into loose sweat pants and a sweat shirt and felt like a new person. She pulled on thick wool socks and started to head back down stairs when she heard a sound from Clarissa’s bedroom. Moving as quietly as possible, she approached the door and listened. Was it just Lucky, their kitten? She put her ear against the door. No, definitely not.

  Slowly opening the door, Mary looked inside. In the corner of the room was the ghost of a little boy, sitting on the floor, his arms around his knees, crying.

  Mary slipped inside and sat on the bed.

  “Hi,” she said softly, hoping not to frighten him.

  He looked up at her, his eyes filled with fear. “Are you going to hurt me?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. “No, I would never hurt you,” she said. “Has someone else hurt you?”

  “The doctor,” he whispered, glancing around in terror. “The doctor hurt me.”

  “Which doctor?” Mary asked.

  “The one with the shots,” the boy replied.

  “Oh, I hate shots,” she said emphatically.

  The boy nodded. “Me too,” he said. “I hate them lots!”

  “What’s your name?” Mary asked.

  The boy stared at her for a long moment and then sighed. “Jack,” he finally replied. “I’m Jack.”

  “Hi Jack,” she said with a tender smile. “I’m Mary.

  “Are you Clarissa’s friend?” he asked.

  Mary nodded. Ah, well that made sense. Jack must have been one of the children at the hospital and he connected himself to Clarissa. “Yes, I’m Clarissa’s mom,” she replied. “Clarissa’s downstairs. Do you want to come down?”

  He shook his head. “No, I’ll just stay here for now.”

  “Okay,” Mary said. “You’re safe here, Jack.”

  Jack looked up at her and smiled tremulously. “Thank you,” he said. Then he faded from view.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Mary came downstairs and found everyone sitting around the table. Even Mike had pulled up a chair and was floating above it.

  “Sorry I took so long,” Mary said, seating herself. “I just had a conversation with Jack.”

  Maggie and Clarissa started and turned to Mary. “Jack’s here?” Clarissa asked.

  Mary nodded. “I heard him crying and found him in your bedroom,” she replied.

  “Poor Jack,” Maggie said. “I think he was the littlest. He told us he was six.”

  Mary sighed. “Okay, we need to discuss what happened today,” she said. “And we need you to be honest about your feelings, okay?”

  The girls nodded in unison.

  Mary turned to Clarissa. “Why don’t you start,” she suggested.

  Clarissa nodded. “I got up to go to the bathroom last night, and I heard you talking downstairs,” she said. “I heard you talking about the ghost girl and how she was afraid of you. And I thought that she probably wouldn’t be afraid of another kid, so Maggie and I could help.”

  Clarissa turned to Bradley. “Then you said that you shouldn’t talk about it to us because it might frighten us,” she admitted. “So, I knew you probably wouldn’t agree to let us help you.”

  Bradley nodded. “Well, at that point, you were probably right,” he agreed. “But I think I would have been willing to discuss it.”

  She dropped her head and nodded. Then she looked back up at him. “I was afraid to ask permission,” she said. “Because you might say no.”

  Margaret glanced over at Mary and lifted her eyebrows pointedly. Mary agreed silently. That sounded exactly like something she would do.

  “What did you do next?” Mary asked.

  Clarissa glanced over at Maggie, then back to Mary. “I called Maggie on our walkie-talkies, and we made a plan to go to the hospital with Grandma,” she continued.

  “So, you didn’t really want to see Grandpa Stanley?” Bradley asked.

  “We did,” Clarissa reasoned. “Just not for very long.”

  “Actually, they did have a short visit with Stanley,” Margaret inserted. “And they made him two very nice get-well cards.”

  “Then we said we had to go to the bathroom, and we went downstairs to the third floor,” Clarissa finished.

  “Were you frightened?” Mike asked.

  Both girls nodded. “We didn’t really want to go at first,” Maggie said.

  “Why did you go?” Mike asked.

  “Because we thought we could help the little girl ghost,” Clarissa said. “Sometimes when you’re helping someone you have to do scary things.”

  Mary smiled. “That’s true,” she said. “And it was very brave of you to go down there.” She studied the girls. “So, can both of you see ghosts?”

  “Only when Clarissa holds my hand,” Maggie said. “Then she can see them too.”

  “What happened when you got to the third floor?” Bradley asked.

  “We were so scared that we started giggling,” Clarissa said. “And the little girl ghost wanted to know why we were laughing. Then she took us to meet the other ones.”

  “How many others?” Mary asked.

  “Thirteen ghosts,” Maggie said. “They said the doctor called them his baker’s dozen.”

  “They said everyone left them there,” Clarissa added. “The doctors and nurses just left them there and locked up the special hallway.”

  “Just left them there?” Margaret asked, appalled. “Who would do such a thing?”

  Mary turned to her mother. “Well, it could be that they had all died,” she explained. “But if they didn’t realize it, they could have felt like they were just left there.”

  “The special hallway was creepy,” Maggie said. “It looked like they just moved out quickly. They left all kinds of stuff by the nurses station.”

  “I bet there are files in there,” Bradley said, shaking his head. “I asked the maintenance man about the hall, and he said there were no keys to get in there anymore. So, we can’t even access them if they were left behind.”

  Maggie reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys she found at the nurses station. “Maybe these will help,” she said. “I found them when we were there.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  The girls had just finished recounting their experiences on the third floor when the doorbell rang. Everyone at the table jumped at the sound, which caused a round of slightly embarrassed laughter.

  Bradley answered the door, paid for the pizza and set it in the middle of the table. “Why don’t we all fill our plates before we continue,” he suggested.

  He opened the box, and the aroma filled the room. It didn’t take long before everyone had a steaming slice of cheesy pizza on their plates.

  “So, now that we’ve passed out the pizza,” Bradley said to Maggie and Clarissa, “let’s talk about how you two are feeling about your experience.”

  Clarissa stopped mid-bite and looked at him. “Our experience?” she asked.

  Mary nodded. “How are you feeling about meeting all those ghosts and then thinking you were going to be trapped with them?” she asked.

  Maggie put her pizza down on her plate and looked over at Mary and Bradley. “I was afraid at first, when we got the
re,” she explained. “Then, when I met Jack and Anna, I was okay. They were just kids. But when all the other kids came, and they wanted us to stay, I was scared. I didn’t know if they could make us stay or if they could hurt us.”

  “I bet that was scary,” Mary agreed. “There were a lot of ghosts surrounding you.”

  Clarissa nodded. “And they were angry too,” she said. “When we said we couldn’t stay, they thought we were lying to them.”

  “Did you lie to them?” Mary asked.

  The girls both shook their heads. “No, we didn’t,” Maggie said. “We told Anna that we couldn’t stay very long.”

  “Right,” Mary said. “Why do you think they got angry?”

  The girls thought about it for a few minutes. Finally, Clarissa responded. “It sounds like other people lied to them and hurt them,” Clarissa said. “They’re afraid of the doctor coming back. They thought Mike was the doctor.”

  Maggie nodded. “They all ran away when they saw his light coming down the hall,” she added.

  “How did that make you feel?” Mary asked. “When Mike was coming to help.”

  “I felt like I could breathe again,” Maggie said. “I was so scared just before that. But when Mike came, I thought that everything was going to be fine.”

  “What would you have done if Mike hadn’t come?” Bradley asked.

  Clarissa shook her head slowly. “I don’t know,” she said softly. She turned to Maggie. “Maybe we would have run?”

  Maggie shrugged. “I was so scared. I don’t know if my legs would have worked,” she admitted. “I don’t know what I would have done.”

  Mary nodded. “I’m not sure I could have run if I were in your shoes,” she admitted. She paused for a moment and studied both of the girls sitting across from her. “Now, if you could go back and change things, what would you do differently?”

  “Even though I was scared,” Clarissa said, “I don’t know if I would change things.” She glanced over at Bradley. “I probably should have asked permission.”

  He nodded. “Yes, you probably should have.”

  “But what we wanted to do,” she replied emphatically, “we did. We found out about the ghost children. We talked to them. We learned stuff. Important stuff.”