The Calling: A Paranormal Mystery Vol. I

by Daria Kacie

  “That is so much crap!” said Karen.

  Lizzy could feel her defeat and couldn’t shake it. Thank God for Karen’s cooking. It always made Lizzy feel better so it wasn’t hard for Karen to convince Lizzy to stay for dinner. Karen did her best to distract her from her worries. The hours passed and Lizzy concluded he wasn’t calling back.

  “It’s him!” Lizzy said excited and surprised.

  “Hello?”

  “Ok, I’ll meet with you,” Josh’s deep voice was clear and concise. “We can meet here at my office if you’d like.”

  “Thank you,” said Lizzy deeply relieved. “It will have to be after 6:00 p,m. if it is during the week or we can set a time on the weekend as we are an hour away. There will be four of us.” Lizzy saw Karen out of the corner of her eye shaking her head and mouthing the word “No”.

  “I told you I’m not going this time Lizzy,” Karen hissed from the Kitchen.

  “Ok, no, three of us,” Lizzy corrected hastily.

  “That’s fine. The address is 1475 Walnut St.,” Josh said. “Josh, there is one more thing I need to tell you. Tom Hoskins will be with us at your sister’s request. She asked him to find you, meet with you and confirm what has happened.”

  “I don’t want to see that jackass!” Josh yelled. Then just as quickly, as that outburst flew from his mouth, he quickly changed gears and muttered, “No, wait, maybe I do want to see that jackass.”

  “What time?” asked Lizzy, glad that he agreed to see Tom.

  “How about 7:00 pm Thursday,” Josh replied.

  “That should work but I will need to confirm with the rest of my group. How about pencil us in and I will be able to get back to you by tomorrow evening.”

  Thursday arrived and Lizzy’s plan started out well. Lizzy pulled up to Tom’s house at 6:45 p.m., beeped the horn twice and waited for Tom who slowly stepped out of house giving the impression that he was non to excited for the trip a head. Janet nudged Lizzy, “He’s a really nice looking man, isn’t he?”

  “Yes,” Lizzy agreed, “lucky us.”

  “Hello, how are you?” Lizzy asked Tom while he settled into the seat.

  “I don’t want to do this but I am, I am.”

  “That’s kind of obvious,” said Janet. She turned and looked into his worried eyes, “Tom, it will be fine.”

  Lizzy pulled away from the curb feeling a thousand butterflies in her stomach. She hoped that once Sunday knew her brother had gotten her message that she would move toward the light. She prayed there would be clear direction. She didn’t have a clue how it would all work out or if she had what it took to help Sunday cross over. She would just have to have faith and take her cues from Janet and Sunday.

  It struck Lizzy as strange that Josh’s office was only five miles from Tom’s house. It also seemed odd they had never crossed paths in all these years Josh had been back in the area.

  Janet broke the silence, “Sunday is with us, you all know that right?”

  “No,” both Tom and Lizzy said at the same time.

  “Well, she is,” said Janet. “She is still attached to Tom.”

  Tom looked around the backseat as though he might see Sunday. He felt chilled and rubbed his arms wanting to feel more comfortable. He had caught a faint hint of her perfume that morning but didn’t notice anything else. It felt a little strange to think of Sunday being attached to him and even traveling with him.

  “Sunday is in low energy right now and is preparing to see her brother. She is saving her energy for their meeting,” with that, Janet turned in her seat and kept quiet the remainder of the ride.

  Lizzy reached their destination and parked in front of a quaint brick building with the sign Sunday’s Song Counseling Center. A tall, well built, dark haired man with a goatee walked out the door. His eyes caught Lizzy’s eyes and he smiled. This must be him, Lizzy thought. She noticed he and Tom were about the same size.

  Lizzy turned to Janet, “We’re in the land of the giants.”

  “It appears we are,” Janet responded with a giggle.

  Lizzy stepped out of the car first. “Hello, Josh?”

  He waved as he approached the car. His blue eyes locked onto Lizzy’s for a brief moment. She felt her heart kick up a notch. Whose wouldn’t, the man was something to behold. Tom came around the back end of the car and took three steps onto the grass toward Josh. Josh’s attention moved from Lizzy to Tom. Tom nervously approached Josh with a smile and his hand out ready to shake Josh’s hand. Before Lizzy, or any of them knew what was happening, Josh launched himself onto Tom, tackling him to the ground. The two men rolled on the ground grunting.

  “Holy shit! No Josh, please don’t!” Lizzy screamed as she rushed toward the two fighting men.

  Janet caught Lizzy by the arm and jerked her back.

  “You’re not getting in the middle of that, are you crazy?” said Janet.

  Josh yelled out, “You’re gonna finally get what you deserve you bastard!”

  Tom stopped and protected his face with both arms as Josh straddled him with raised fists.

  “Just do it and get it over with!” bellowed Tom.

  Josh caught a glimpse of Lizzy and Janet’s horrified faces and paused. The red fiery rage pulsing through him, paused just long enough for Josh to realize what he had done. He appeared confused for a moment and then lowered his fists.

  “God, I’m sorry Tom!” he boomed as he pushed himself up to a standing position and held his hand out to help Tom up.

  “I kind of had it comin’ Josh,” Tom said as he scrambled to his feet, brushing himself off.

  Lizzy, without thinking, threw her hand out to Josh and blurted out “I’m Lizzy!” Everything had happened so fast, she was flustered. Lizzy locked on to Josh’s deep blue eyes again and couldn’t help but noticed the handsome face beneath the dark goatee. Josh managed and smile as his big hand encompassed Lizzy’s.

  “Hello, Lizzy. I’m sorry about that.” He looked back at Tom and shook his head. “I’m not sure what came over me, I saw him get out of the car and I just kind of lost it. Through the years I have planned a thousand ways to kill you Tom, but I wasn’t serious.”

  Janet stood quiet as a mouse wondering if the fireworks were over.

  “This is Janet,” Lizzy said, “she’s the level headed one of the group!”

  “Pleased to meet you, level headed Janet,” Josh said, motioning them to follow him to the office.

  “Let’s get off the street. I hope no one else saw me brawling in front of my counseling center. It certainly gives off a completely different impression then I’ve intended for my business! I can see a commercial now, ‘Come to Sunday’s Song Counseling Center, open up to me and I’ll kick your ass until r I’ll kick your ass until you do.’ I’m pretty sure that won’t be a huge draw for clients.” He could not believe he had reacted so spontaneously and aggressively. He hadn’t realized that the anger he had for Tom was still so hot!

  The office had been tastefully decorated with earth tone colors and calming landscape paintings on the walls. Josh led them into the ‘Family’ room. The large room, painted sage green with white trim held a large circle of chairs in the middle of it. This is where Josh held his group sessions with grieving families. The chairs were sturdy with good comfortable cushions.

  It’s a nice touch, Lizzy thought, to make things as comfortable as possible for families while they get their heads shrunk. Lizzy laughed to herself. Josh pulled four chairs into an inner circle for them to meet.

  Lizzy began relaying the events of the past weeks from her perspective. She turned the floor over to Tom who then detailed his paranormal weekend.

  “That’s about it,” said Tom. “I figured out the writing on the mirror was ‘Josh Now’ right when I saw it. Janet made it very clear that Sunday wants to connect with you. I figured I could find you and the truth is, I owe Sunny.”

  “It’s quite a story,” Josh said as he pondered everything that was said. As unbelievable as it seemed,
there were three people sitting in his office who believed emphatically that the events had taken place just as portrayed.

  “I’m still not sure where I stand on all of this, so what is it that you want to do next?” asked Josh.

  Janet, who had been very quiet, spoke with authority, “I need a few minutes of silence. I felt Sunday very strongly in the car and I know she is attached to Tom. She showed me, or impressed images or thoughts upon me regarding her death. She insisted that she see you before she could move on. I need to see if I can still connect with her as deeply as I did last weekend.”

  Janet shut her eyes and quieted her mind. She sensed Sunday’s energy move next to Josh. She was just about to speak, when the air around them became noticeably colder, and the distinct smell of Loves Baby Soft perfume erupted into the room.

  Josh stood up so quickly he knocked his chair over. He scanned the room in alarm.

  Janet calmly moved toward him, “It’s ok, please sit down.” She motioned with her hand for him to sit back down.

  “That perfume. She was wearing that the day she died. I’ll never forget it,” said Tom softly.

  “Yes,” Janet kneeled down in front of Josh and held his hand, “she wants you to know she is here.”

  A tear trickled down his cheek and onto the floor.

  Sunday had been living in a strange afterworld for over 25 years. In her mind, she was still 16 and her brother was 12. She sensed the energy from his soul which is timeless but also could see he was a grown man.

  The day she died, her spirit sat next to Josh and tried to let him know she was there, safe and sound. He was so distraught she refused to leave his side. She had been very confused by what she saw and experienced the day she died. She saw her lifeless body lying in Josh’s lap, but also found herself sitting next to him. She tried to console him but nothing seemed to work. She screamed at him hoping her message would permeate his mind and let him know or feel that she was not dead. He could not hear her. She could still think, perceive and move around; she wanted Josh to know it. He couldn’t feel her presence at the time with all the adrenalin pumping through his veins. His sister lay dead and the grief surrounded him like a black cloud.

  Sunday had strange dream-like memories of her first few months after her death. She became very frustrated trying to reach her loved ones. She kept trying to communicate with her family with no response. She remembered the grief energy in the house being so thick and sad that she wanted to escape but found there was no doorway out. She had tried to let them know she was safe but she didn’t know then how to use her energy in the spirit world.

  Then, one day, they were gone. She realized the house was empty and their energy was gone, just like that. How could they just leave her? Over the next twenty five years, several families moved in and out of the house. After about a year, she found she was able to manipulate lights and create the aroma of her perfume. A few years after that, she was able to create a knock. That was her favorite ability because it got the most attention.

  When Sunday realized that she could be heard, she really focused on getting noticed. Eventually, she was able to remove pictures from the walls, open cabinet doors and pull drawers out. She found manipulating drawers, cabinet doors, and faucets, had proven to be quite difficult and took a lot of energy. She had to build up her energy for quite some time before she could move objects. She found she could draw off the electrical system in the house. She got a real kick out of scaring the new homeowners. The came and they went.

  Then, about two years ago, a family moved in and the son, Ben, was quite psychically sensitive. Ben reminded her of Josh. He responded to her presence every time she was near. He was a funny awkward teenage boy and she loved every inch of him. She pined for Josh but utilized Ben as a substitute because the house had become her prison.

  Over time, Sunday found that gathering energy came more easily. There were so many electronics in the house. In some ways, it was an energy smorgasbord. She learned to speak his name and sometimes he heard her, to Sunday’s absolute glee. It gave her hope that she might be able to communicate at some point and maybe even be able to find a way to reach her family.

  Sunday hadn’t meant to scare Ben. There were others that she took great delight in scaring but Ben was not one of them. One day she found him crying in his room after she had been doing some knocking near his bed. She hoped that maybe a doorway of communication might be opened. When he got up to leave the room, she followed him wanting to soothe him. She became very focused and began trying again, to reach into his mind. She hadn’t noticed he was walking out the front door. When she did realize what he was doing, she panicked, and instinctually she reached into his aura and found herself stuck to him. She rode right out the door with him. What a fantastic surprise! She had not been outside the house in 25 years!

  Ben rode his bike to a nice little house a few streets away to collect for his paper route and get his mind off his haunting. When he arrived there, a boy he called Billy, answered the door and invited them inside. She liked Billy, he looked to be about 12 years old and again, it made her long for Josh. When walked to the door to leave, she reached out and touched Billy’s aura and ‘bing’ she was attached to Billy like magic.

  Sunday found that Billy’s whole family was quite sensitive. The discovery that she could leave her house gave her knew hope that she might be able to find her brother. She had learned how to ramp up her energy and she did pull some antics at Karen’s house.

  Old habits die hard, she thought.

  She did feel bad when she sensed their fear but she had a mission and could not let their fear get in her way. Giddy with the possibility of finding someone who she might be able to communicate with, Sunday settled in at Karen’s. When Tina arrived at Karen’s house for dinner, Sunday felt uncontrollably drawn to her. Once again, she touched Tina’s aura as she was leaving the house and ‘bing’ again, out the door she went.

  As far as Sunday was concerned, Tina had the worst taste in music. Fortunately, Sunday found she could change the radio station with ease and moved the station to one of her liking. Sunday often lost track of time and wasn’t sure how long she had been at the triplex. She had been diligently attempting to get someone’s attention. She projected sounds into every room of the triplex. Someone heard her, didn’t they? Her frustration began to balloon until the day Greg knocked on Tina’s door. His energy seemed familiar, she couldn’t explain it. She didn’t know what it was exactly, but she decided she liked him better than Tina and jumped right onto his aura.

  Greg reacted poorly to her ‘operation smell me’ tactic and when he turned on his heels to leave the apartment, she almost missed the chance to get out the door with him. She was proud of herself though. When he arrived at his parent's house you could have pushed her over with a feather. No, a feather was still too dense and would have gone right through her, she thought. When Tom walked into the room, Sunday couldn’t believe it. She recognized his soul energy immediately. She also noticed he was quite a bit older than she remembered. He certainly was no less attractive by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, she had thought maybe even more attractive! How long had she been locked in that house? She lamented her situation, and how it came to be.

  Then his wife walked in and Sunday had those old fleshy thoughts of jealously rise up into her energy field. What could it all mean that she ended up at Tom’s house of all places? Was it the light? Was it drawing her in? Was it guiding her so she could finish her need to comfort her brother? Would she finally be able to move on? All these questions and more ran through her soul.

  She didn’t pretend to understand. For the next 24 hours or so she had a lot of fun creating havoc in that house. As soon as he smelled her perfume, she knew she had him! When he pulled the tattered obituary out of his wallet and apologized to what he thought was the air…she felt the impact of his guilt and grief. No, that was not what she was after. Twenty five years ago, yes, she wanted to get his attention and make him fe
el bad for how he had let her down. She wanted him to feel the pain she felt when she saw the wedding announcement in the paper. How could he have been so callous? Things become clearer when you shed the thing we call a body, she thought. She realized that Tom had carried a burden for many years and it wasn’t entirely fair. Yes, he had been a total jackass. He was young. She, however, was the one who made the decision to take the pills. She didn’t know at the time how the drugs in the cabinet were to be used. Some were her father’s, some were her mother’s prescriptions and the cocktail she created was legendary.

  When Sunday saw the local paper displaying Tom and Deanna’s wedding announcement her heart broke. What’s the worst that could happen? She had thought as she poured a handful of pills into her hand. She gulped them down with one big swish. Stomach pumped, she thought, that would be the worst part.

  Her parents would completely freak out. She figured she would get a lot of one-on-one attention after this escapade. It was all about Tom though. Sunday fantasized that as she lay in her hospital bed Tom would rush to her side and apologize. He would realize how much she loved him and would dump that bitch. Sunday would be Mrs. Tom Hoskins.

  Sunday’s fantasy didn’t play out the way she planned. The cocktail she mixed that afternoon was a potent little concoction. She also didn’t know that she was very sensitive to drugs in general. She went to sleep and the next thing she knew, she was kneeling next to her brother, looking at her own body, lying in his lap. What had she done? She was mortified when she realized she was dead. There was no getting back into that body. She tried. No one could hear her. Those first few months were very frightening. After she had accepted what had happened, another blow came when her family moved out of the house. Where was she when they did that? Why hadn’t she noticed the hustle and bustle of moving? She never understood it. Over the years, she missed her family intensely and she never forgot the distraught 12 year old boy who had tried in vain to revive her. Poor Josh! How had all this affected him? She wondered.