"Well, I do happen to own the Blackstone house and I would love for you to come and do a cleansing. When can you come by?"
"I can come by today if you like, or tomorrow."
"Tomorrow would be better. I've got workers working on the place. Do you need quiet or nighttime or what--"
"Nothing special. But I would like to bring a friend if that's okay. There have been stories over the years, and if there is any negative energy, she's great at getting that stuff out. No extra charge. How does 3:00 PM sound?"
"I'll see you then! And thank you," Katie hung up the phone and, curiously, felt a lot better. Like Mel said, even if it's psychological, feeling better is the name of the game. Surely, things would go better now.
Chapter 10
Katie drove up the long road to the house. As she rounded the bend she nearly cried tears of joy. The outside was finished and completely restored. She parked and climbed out.
Absentmindedly, she walked around the car and walked in the direction of the willow tree. The house looked postcard perfect.
Sure, it needed more work. She realized that this was just the cosmetics, but cosmetics sold when you flipped houses. Curb appeal was everything, and this house had it. It had the magic for a flip: it was beautiful.
Wow, Big John even got the new bushes installed. Wow.
As she stood in the yard looking at the house, Big John pulled up in his massive diesel truck.
"Hey, Big John!"
"Hey, missy, how do you like the job that the boys did?"
"Oh my God, John, the house is absolutely beautiful. It looks brand-new, like we stepped back in time," Katie said. She was beaming with joy.
John rubbed his nose on his arm. "Thank you. The boys worked really hard, and I'm glad that we kept your vision, because it turned out much nicer than I thought it would. The woodwork took a lot of prep but we managed to save most of it, and the whitewash is just beautiful. Come here," he said, gesturing for her to follow him.
For a brief moment, the roles reversed and it seemed as though Big John was the proud owner showing off his home. Katie was enjoying it.
He continued, enthusiastically. "Look at the gorgeous trim work. The craftsmen back in those days paid a lot of attention to detail, but look over the doorway..."
Katie looked up and was stunned at what she saw. Was this new? Had it always been there and she'd missed it? It was just beautiful. "Wow, Big John..."
They both stood looking at the black oval plaque above the door with the raised old style script. It was painted in gold--the letter 'B.'
"Blackstone Manor, Katie."
The front door looked unfinished, but before Katie could comment on it John spoke. "And we'll have the door done by the end of the day. It needs to stay propped open to dry, and we ran out of time yesterday."
Big John was beaming. He felt a sense of pride in both his work and knowing that his client was thrilled. He rubbed his nose with the back of his arm and stood with his hands on his hips looking up at the great old home.
Suddenly he remembered, "Oh, I've got something for you. Let's head inside."
Katie opened the door with her key, but Big John swung it open wide, which she thought was a bit strange and borderline rude. He had always been a gentleman up to this point.
But she didn't see what he'd seen only moments before.
As they'd walked up to the gorgeous front porch, John had seen what seemed to be a reflection--or maybe the shadow--of a person by the door side window. Maybe a friend of Katie's? Or an early worker?
Big John stepped in front of Katie and immediately looked behind the door and scanned the library. The house was empty. He said nothing, instead keeping on with the conversation underway.
"We set up the security cameras for the outside and inside too. One of my boys knows computers and rigged everything up yesterday. Made it look easy. He left this paper so that you can watch it from your computer on the phone network."
Katie let out a silent giggle. Phone network? He really had no clue about computers. She glanced at the paper and it gave a website address and password so she could access the system, which she planned to do later.
As they spoke, two pickup trucks pulled up. The door was wide open, letting a breeze of much needed fresh air into the house.
"What are the plans for today, Big John?"
"Well, we're going to make that door look pretty, as I mentioned. It'll be bright red and the brass will make it stand out. Beautiful against the white and black shutters.
"The boys will be very busy fixing the upstairs first, work our way downstairs. We have a couple of weeks left of work, but it's going faster than expected.
"There's a leak on the roof--"
"How bad?"
"Not bad now, but it will get flagged if inspected and worse if it's not dealt with. Jason and I are going to head up there and take a gander at it. We'll have that fixed up tonight."
John seemed distracted as he was speaking. He kept looking in the kitchen, which he could partly see from his vantage point near the fireplace. He said nothing, but Katie noticed.
John continued, "This place is going to be back to its former glory in no time. Whoever gets this place is going to love it--"
John and Katie looked at each other as they heard what sounded at first like chimes... The chimes got louder, but it wasn't chimes, it was the sound of glasses and dishes rattling in the kitchen.
"Earthquake," John said calmly, as the shaking got stronger.
Katie put her hand on the mantle of the fireplace and her eyes were as big as saucers. How the hell can you be so calm? she thought.
"You okay, missy?" said John.
"This house doesn't like change," Katie said matter-of-factly.
John gave her a quizzical look. How do you answer that?
Katie slowly looked around the library. Everything looked fine. Since everything was off of the shelves, there was nothing to fall or break. She had a bad feeling.
John headed outside. Katie raised up her right hand and rubbed her left shoulder and neck. She was tense and tight. This had been building all morning and the house shaking didn't help.
Walking into the kitchen, she got the coffee maker going and leaned against the kitchen counter. The smell of fresh coffee filled the air. Looking over at the kitchen table she noticed that her chair was pulled out. Weird, as she always put chairs back...she was practically OCD about that. Probably one of the guys left it out, she tried to convince herself.
With the coffee finally brewed she opened the overhead cupboard containing the cups. A ceramic cup fell and first hit the counter, snapping off its handle, before falling to the floor and smashing into five big pieces.
For a brief second, Katie was startled. Anyone would be. After all, the whole house had just shaken and the cup had probably shifted.
But Katie simply looked down and stared at the broken pieces. She stared at them with a bizarre calm fear. That same sense her Uncle Ray must have had when he was dying of cancer: afraid, but calmly facing his inevitable death.
This is a bad place. A very bad place.
Katie got another cup and filled it with coffee. She took a sip and wondered where the dustpan and broom were. It was remarkably quiet. As she looked out the window at the forest she wondered if John Blackstone was still out there, watching from the bushes. She shuddered at the thought. I'll get you before you get me...
The silence was suddenly broken by a knock at the door. Several guys were standing on the porch. Different men. "Can we come in, ma'am? We're starting work upstairs."
"Guys, come and go as you please, no need to knock, okay?"
Katie cleaned up the broken cup and sat down at the kitchen table with the laptop. She logged in and, after a few initial errors, finally got the system working and was amazed to see the security cameras in action.
Outside the cameras showed the full back part of the house, both sides and two views of the front. Katie was impressed.
Inside the camera was mounted in the back of the library. It was a 'fish eye' camera and showed the front door, the entire library including the staircase, and the doorway to the kitchen. If someone broke into the kitchen or front, they'd never be able to bypass the camera.
Katie saw a camera named 'remote' and clicked on it. A screen popped up on her laptop showing...the attic. Cool. It looked to be put in a corner. It didn't show the door, but was angled in such a way that you could see most of the room, including the mouse traps still on the floor.
Katie took another sip of coffee and leaned back in her chair. She did feel a bit more secure, but the feeling of something ominous was still upon her.
It was beginning to get noisy. The men upstairs were talking loudly and one of them obviously had a portable stereo as it was belting out AC/DC music. Two other guys were in the library prepping the bookcases for staining.
Mid-sip of her almost finished coffee a loud noise was heard outside, followed by two successive thuds...then the unmistakable sound of a ladder crashing to the ground.
The two men in the library raced outside without saying a word. Two more men came barreling down the stairs with one saying to the other, "Sounded like a lightning bolt!"
Katie jumped to her feet and ran out the front door to pandemonium.
"Call 911. Quick!" yelled one of the workers; Katie didn't know his name.
"What happened?" she yelled back at him.
"Two men fell from the roof!" he shouted back, although he was only two feet from Katie. He was panicked.
Oh my God. Big John--
"My phone is dead, someone call 911 NOW!"
Katie was now standing at the right side of the house. She saw the body of Big John lying face up on the grass, the ladder not far from him. His left leg was twisted completely the wrong way. His face was bleeding.
Katie realized her phone was in her jeans, so she reached into her back pocket and dialed 911.
"Jason isn't breathing!" screamed one of the guys, the one who was panicking. Another guy ran over, pushed him out of the way and began performing CPR. Katie walked over while giving details to the 911 operator.
"Please hurry, one has stopped breathing!" Katie hung up and yelled at the guys trying to wake up Big John, "Don't shake him or move him, his back might be broken..."
Katie suddenly started to cry. She'd grown fond of Big John; his habit of calling her 'missy' and even his disgusting nose rubbing had endeared him to her. "Please don't let him die," she prayed out loud.
Katie walked over to the first guy she saw outside. "What happened?"
The guy, an older man in maybe his 50s, was clearly in shock. He was holding a portable camera with the lens still extended. "I... I... It happened so fast. Big John asked me to take some pictures of the front of the house so we can use them to promote. I was facing the front and I heard a loud 'CRACK' sound. Like a bolt of lightning. I saw Jason jump...no...he was thrown from the chimney. I ran around and I saw that John was there too. He must have been shocked too."
Jason was lying quite a distance from Big John. Katie couldn't figure out how John had ended up on the ground, but there he was and he wasn't looking good at all. They were still performing CPR on Jason.
"Can you show me the pictures?" Katie said. The guy looked at her like she had just asked the most inappropriate question in the world. "To see if you caught the shock on camera, not for the house pics!"
The man pressed a few buttons to pull up the last shots and handed the camera to her. Sure enough, there was Jason crouched down by the chimney. And holy hell, there he was, airborne, looking like a limp rag!
Unfortunately, the next two shots were of the ground and the bushes. Clearly the man had kept his finger on the shutter button but was dropping the camera at that point.
Two ambulances and a police car pulled up. First to be moved was Jason. They evacuated him quickly and were still giving him CPR when they closed the doors and pulled away.
Katie walked beside John when they wheeled him to the ambulance. She grabbed his hand, but he was out cold. The attendant said they would do all they could for him.
Please don't let them die, God. Please... Katie burst into tears. She had never felt so helpless in all her life.
Chapter 11
"Thank you for being so patient and letting us use your kitchen for the interviews," Officer Rinaldo said. "I don't know if you are aware, but the young man passed away--"
"Oh my God...how's Big John?"
"He's in rough shape but fully expected to survive. Don't know all the details, but he's got a bad concussion, broken ribs and a badly broken leg--"
"Is he awake?"
"I don't know at this point, but there was no sense of there being an emergency. It's a miracle he's alive," the officer said, in a stereotypical tone of trained calm.
"What happened?"
"That's what I'm here to investigate. You are the new homeowner, correct?"
"Yes, but I was in here. The guy who took the photos said it looked like he was electrocuted and thrown--"
"Yes, I spoke to him. So, where were you?"
"I was inside. In fact, in here."
"Perfect. That's all we have for now."
"Jeez. Are we suspects or something?" Katie said. She didn't like the questioning.
"Relax. Around here we have to dot our 'i's' and cross our 't's.' We need an accounting of everyone. Procedure. It was just a terrible accident."
Katie shifted in her chair. "Well, on or off the record, what the hell happened, do you think...or know?"
"At this point, my guess would be the leak made contact with some electricity. There was an old TV antenna up there that wasn't properly removed. The deceased definitely had an electrical burn on his leg and a broken neck. That is some fall, let me say--"
"And Big John? He was climbing a ladder--"
"The young guy hit the top of the roof and slid, hitting the top of John's ladder, and knocked it off the roof. John went with it."
Officer Rinaldo gave Katie his card and left. The guys were all standing outside around one of the pickup trucks. Katie went out to see how they were doing. One of them, Pedro, spoke.
"Ma'am. This is a terrible shock to us. We have known both hombres for a long time. We are so sorry this happened to you here today. But we have spoken and we would like to ask if it would be okay to continue working for you today."
Katie was shocked. It showed on her face clearly.
"Mister John spoke highly of you. We are sad, yes. But we can all go home and be sad or we can work and be sad. Jason loved to work and I believe Big John would want us to not worry and work for you today. Please."
Katie agreed. It felt weird, but they were all in consensus. As she walked back to the house, her cell phone rang.
"Hey, it's Psychic Diana," she cheerfully said. "Just confirming our appointment today."
Katie answered awkwardly. "Uh. Sorry, a worker was killed on site here today, and Big John was badly injured. I should have called you but I completely forgot--"
"Nonsense. Don't apologize. That's horrible. Are you okay?"
"Well, I'm in shock, but I'm getting freaked out. Like, very freaked out."
"Can I suggest something? Let me come by tomorrow morning. A house cleansing doesn't take that long and it'll change the energy. There's a lot of death around there. Let me see if there are any spirits hanging around and let me send them to the light. Seriously."
"Okay. Perfect. Just call first. Talk tomorrow. Bye," Katie said. For the first time ever in her short life, that conversation could actually feel normal. Weird, but normal. She would have laughed that lady out of town two weeks ago. Now I'm having her get rid of dead people for me. Right. That's normal.
No sooner did she hang up than the phone rang again. It was Mel. "Heyyyyy, chick--"
"Big John is in the hospital and one of his workers is dead--electrocuted at my house--I'm freaking out here--"
"Whoa. Slow down. What?"
&nb
sp; Katie caught her up quickly with all the details. "I'm going to the hospital to see him now--"
"Wait. I'm driving close to your place now, just listed a house. Let me pick you up and we'll go together."
"Sounds great. I'll see you soon."
Mel arrived in short order. As they drove, they each shared their shock. Mel was just as stunned as Katie. She asked her to give her every detail and Katie did so. Katie clearly needed to vent and Mel let her get it out. It made the 25-minute drive go by faster.
Both ladies were surprised to find out that Big John was awake but heavily sedated for pain and that they were allowed in to visit.
Big John looked terrible. His leg was raised up in a full length cast. He had a cast on his right hand wrapping his little finger and ring finger. A large bandage was stuck to the right side of his face and there was a wrap around his head. He also had a black eye and partially swollen lip.
The ladies were in shock at the sorry sight of him, and doubly shocked when he popped open his eyes and gave a cheerful, "Ladies! Good to see ya both. How is your day going?"
He was slurring his words. He was trying to be funny, and the ladies both gave a brave smile, but that was quickly broken when Mel started crying.
"Oh, don't cry, Mel. I'm going to be okay. Really. This is nuthin'."
"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Big John," Mel said.
"Me too, John," Katie said.
"Listen, there's somethin' I need to tell you both. I saw a shadow in your living room and kitchen when I was there. Then it was on the roof and threw Jason at me..."
Both ladies were stunned. They both looked at each other.
"Look. I'm on strong stuff right now, but I'm not imagining it. I don't know what it was, but it didn't like Jason being there."
Both ladies kept quiet. Neither mentioned Jason had died, and they were unsure if he knew or not.
A nurse came in and politely asked them both to leave as his blood pressure was quite high.
"We love you, Big John," Mel said.
"I love you too. Oh, please tell the guys to stick to the schedule. No time off on account of me," he said. He let out a pained laugh while holding his broken ribs.
Sight Unseen Complete Series Box Set Page 7