Spooked on the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy Book 3)

by M. L. Bullock

  Meow…

  “Domino?” I called as I left my empty plate behind and hurried to the hall doorway to see if I could spot my cat. “Kitty? Come here!”

  Meow… meow…

  “Domino? Where are you?” I asked in a whisper as I took a few tentative steps into the hallway. “Please come to Momma.”

  I flipped the switch on the wall next to me, but the light didn’t come on. The lights were working in all the other rooms, at least here in the kitchen. I flipped the hallway switch about a dozen more times, but still nothing happened.

  Okay, think like a paranormal investigator. You can easily debunk this. The light bulb burned out and you did not notice it until now. Or the bulb blew when you flicked it on, but the flash was so weak you didn’t detect it. Either one of those sounded plausible, but what happened next was unexplainable.

  There was a man standing at the end of my hall. He had on a familiar brown jacket and pants with a dirty white shirt underneath. His hair was askew and poked out all around under his dirty hat as if he had been wrestling with someone or something.

  Eliza?

  “I’m not Eliza. My name is Cassidy. You cannot be here, Tobias. Go back.”

  Then the light came on and illuminated the hallway, and there was no one there. No shadow, no figure, no Tobias Arthur. But he had clearly been here and was reaching out to me, believing I was his late wife. Then suddenly, my long-lost cat was wrapped around my foot, begging me to pick him up. I did so and held him close. My little guy was shaking, as if he were frightened too. I kissed the top of his head, and I might have squeezed him a little too hard when the phone rang in the kitchen and scared the bejesus out of me.

  “Oh God! I can’t deal with this today.” I raced to the phone and picked it up. “Hello?” I glanced at the clock over the stove. Man, it was late. Almost two in the morning. “Hello?”

  “Cassidy, it’s me, Sierra. What is going on over there? I have the feeling that there is something wrong, that you are in danger. Are you painting?”

  “Um, not yet, but I have had some activity here tonight. I think it was the ghost of Tobias Arthur, and he was looking for…”

  “Eliza. He was looking for Eliza. He came here too. Cassidy, be careful. If this ghost is powerful enough to reach both of us, then there is no telling what he’s capable of doing. He’s desperate to find her, and desperation makes us do crazy things, even in death.”

  I wanted so much to just pour my heart out and tell her about this case, but Sierra did not need that right now. She needed to focus on Emily, Joshua and building her family. She needed this time off to be normal. I was not going to take that from her.

  “Trust me, Sierra, I’m going to be so careful. I am about to head out to my studio to paint and see what I can come up with about Eliza. Thank you for calling me; it means a lot, but go get some rest. I will be okay. I have Domino here to protect me.”

  “I was up with Emily anyway. She has no idea that there is a schedule. That’s probably thanks to Josh, since he wakes her up whenever he comes in. I’m glad you are okay. Just…use caution on this one. And call me if you need me.”

  I promised her that I would, but of course I wouldn’t. Midas would not like that, and I was not going to be the one to rob her of her much-needed family time. She would be back on the job soon enough, and there would be plenty of time to catch her up on old ghost stories.

  I grabbed Domino’s kennel because I planned to take him with me into the studio but wasn’t foolish enough to trust him not to get into my paints. I wanted him with me not just to keep him safe but to keep me company. Besides, it was past his bedtime anyway. I headed for the back door with his kennel and blanket, glancing down the hallway one more time even though I didn’t expect to see Tobias again.

  But he was waiting for me, all right. Waiting in my studio.

  He had something he wanted to show me.

  Chapter Nineteen—Tobias

  We moved quickly through the dense forest, but I knew exactly where we were headed. I could see my home, and I said a silent prayer as I crossed into the familiar surroundings. I prayed that my wife Eliza and my son Charles would be there waiting for me, that they would be safe and sound and at no risk from the creature or its rage. As we crested on the little ridge that looked down at the farmhouse, I knew that my prayer had not been answered. There was no carriage and no sign that my wife and son had arrived.

  I swallowed a sob as my silent friend gripped my hand and pulled me closer. He’d told me his name was Opa, and I’d told him mine was Tobias, but beyond that, it was not easy to have a conversation with him.

  Following his lead, I squatted down and waited and watched. He finally released my hand and used his fingers to make a low whistle. I’d never heard that whistle before, and I had been in the woods all my life. Yet it did not seem out of place. It didn’t seem strange or foreign. He whistled again, low and even.

  Nobody whistled back, but the sound that came back to me made my hair stand up all over my head. That thing—the Wolf—howled in response. By the sound of it, it was on the hill behind my house. Opa clutched my hand again and put his finger to his lips, and we raced toward the front door of my house. Once inside, he immediately began checking the doors and windows, and I followed suit.

  As I dragged the table back in front of the door and piled items like chairs and books on top of it, I pleaded with him, “Please, you have to help me. My wife, Eliza, my son…they are missing. The creature might have them. I must go to the Jennings’ farm to look for them. Will you come with me?”

  The man said nothing; in fact, I did not think he even heard me because he didn’t slow down in his work. I was not sure exactly what he was doing, but he was plundering through the kitchen, picking up various utensils and tossing them to the side. He picked up my wife’s treasured butter knife, a dainty silver thing with an engraved handle. It was an heirloom she inherited from her mother long ago. He waved it at me and said something that I didn’t understand.

  “I don’t think that knife is going to help us. We have to get out of here and find my wife.”

  The old man said, “Sil-ver, Ofi!” Then he made the gesture of slashing with the knife. Frustrated that I didn’t seem to understand what he was telling me, he put the knife down and got on all fours. “Ofi!”

  “The Wolf? The creature? That’s Ofi?”

  He nodded his head and picked up the knife again, “Silver. We need. Kill Ofi.”

  “You need silver?” He nodded his head. I was not sure what this meant or how it would help us, but I was desperate to find a weapon, anything that would help my family, so the stranger and I ransacked my home looking for anything made of silver. We did not have much, just a few candlesticks and the knife that my friend Opa did not give up. As I collected what I could find, he got the fire burning in the fireplace. I imagined that the fire was to melt the silver down. I was not sure what Opa had in mind, but I was willing to go on a little faith.

  Whatever his plan had been, Opa would not see it achieved. The window in the kitchen shattered, and suddenly there was a black hairy creature rising from the shards of glass. It was on my new friend in a moment, and with nothing more than a gurgle, Opa died right before me. The creature’s massive body hid Opa’s, but I knew it was a terrible sight. I could smell the blood before I ever saw it.

  Then I saw the butter knife glinting on the table. Before I could think, I snatched it up, and then the creature turned to face me. It towered over me; it was at least seven feet tall, so tall that it had to hunker down in the room. A low growl came from its throat as its chest heaved and it stared down at me with its burning red eyes. Why did they have to be red? They were like two coals from the pits of hell boring into me. Opa’s body slid to the ground, and the old man’s face was hidden from my view. My new friend had given his life for mine, and now all I had to protect me from sure death, from sure, savage death, was this tiny butter knife. But what would I do with this? If the creature got cl
ose enough, where would I stab it? And if it was that close, I wouldn’t survive; surely, I would not survive.

  It took a step toward me, and I swore I could see a wolfish grin on its face. I was going to die I was going to die here and now.

  The sound of the carriage shook me out of my paralysis. Eliza was coming home. If I was going to charge this creature, if I was going to save my wife and son, now was the moment.

  Without a word, I raised the knife and launched myself at the beast.

  Chapter Twenty—Cassidy

  I held the brush in my hand and had been standing in front of my canvas for at least ten minutes. My hand was cramping, and my eyes were raw and felt like they had sand in them. I could not stop now. Not when I was so close to knowing what this was I was staring at, this black mass of evil.

  Yes, my focus was on the image I had painted. I could see every sinew in the creature’s upper torso. This was the Ofi, or the Wolf as Tobias called it. The Gulf Coast Paranormal team knew it as the Dogman. Whatever it was, it was horrible and wretched, and I agreed with Tobias. This thing was an abomination, something that did not belong in these woods or in this world. Over the creature’s shoulder, I could see Tobias, his face partially hidden by a massive arm. The man’s eyes were wide and accentuated with primal fear, but there was something else too. Hope? Love? Yes, that was it. The fear was no less real, but that love propelled him to go on. That was what gave him the courage to grab the knife.

  The image in my mind faded, and there was nothing else to see. Nothing but this single moment in time.

  It was so frustrating; I was snatched away before I could witness the outcome of Tobias’ struggle with the Dogman. I had to know what happened to Tobias! Not that I wanted to witness anything terrible; I had seen enough of that in my time with Gulf Coast Paranormal. If he was appearing to me asking about Eliza, then he obviously had not connected with her in the spirit world or wasn’t able to save her.

  Yeah, I had to know.

  I racked my brain trying to think of ways to reignite the vision. Sure, I could wait for it to come “naturally,” but my impatience grew by the second. The team would go back to the cabin tomorrow, and we were in real danger. I had to do something, and the only way I knew to reconnect with Tobias was to touch this painting. The only problem was he was not the only “being” in this painting. In fact, his image was much smaller than the beast that stood between us. What if I connected with the Dogman instead?

  You know how this ends. He disappeared. Tobias is long dead, and Eliza too. There is nothing you can do to help either of them. But my voice of reason did not convince me of the danger. I wanted to know. I had to know.

  I put the brush on the paint palette and wiped my fingers with the hem of my paint-stained smock. I glanced at Domino’s kennel. He was sound asleep; in fact, I could hear him snoring. Ever heard of a cat snoring? Mine does.

  Do not do this.

  That was not my voice. I recognized that voice. That was Uncle Derek! For whatever reason, hearing his voice made me that much more determined to touch the painting. I was so close now. My fingers hovered over the paint. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer in hopes that I would not encounter this beast but rather the ghost that needed my help.

  Yes, I had to see… I had to know…

  If there was a weapon we could use against this creature, my team should know about it. Maybe that’s what Tobias Arthur wanted, to show me the way to defeat the Ofi.

  Don’t lie to yourself, Cassidy. It’s not Tobias who wants you to touch that painting. Don’t do this.

  My hand did not move. I did not argue with Uncle Derek or my own voice of reason. How could I verbalize the power of the impulse I was experiencing? I couldn’t. I didn’t even try. No, I had to do this. Then I heard Uncle Derek’s voice one more time. It was softer now, almost so faint that I was not sure I actually heard him.

  You will not come back.

  Hearing that made me pause. I withdrew my hand and stepped back from the painting. I shook my head, realizing that I had fallen into some sort of trance, a kind of hypnotic state. I was instantly repulsed by the image of the Dogman, and although I felt great sympathy for Tobias and still wanted to help him, I knew I was in danger.

  When Domino began to meow, I took that as my cue to leave the studio. Sometimes you just have to step away, and this was one of those times. The presence of my uncle dissipated, and something else took its place. Something dark and foreboding, a very angry presence. Domino began to meow even louder as we raced toward the door and left the studio behind.

  I did not even bother to turn off the lights.

  Chapter Twenty-One—Midas

  The day after we discovered Dale Albright and rescued Jocelyn, we reconvened at the GCP office. Cassidy was telling us about what she experienced after she got home from Crenshaw Lodge. “I can’t help but feel that Tobias and the Dogman are connected in a way we don’t quite understand. Man, I really miss Sierra being here. Her intuition would come in handy right about now.” Cassidy narrowed her eyes as she stared at the pencil in her hand. She had been rubbing it between her palms for the past ten minutes. Yeah, I knew there was something going on with her, an inner turmoil I couldn’t put my finger on yet. “This is my latest painting.” She dug her cell phone out of her purse and tapped on the screen, and we passed it around. It was an intense scene and certainly one that would leave an artist—or anyone, really—hanging.

  “I don’t know what hints this offers us, but it kind of goes along with the narrative I’ve been sharing. This was that last moment where Tobias and the creature were facing off.” Cassidy’s pale skin flushed slightly as she spoke about it.

  Aaron handed the phone back to her, then glanced at me and said, “I’d like to make that call. This picture, the silver and its potential power over the Dogman; these are things I know about…or at least my great-uncle East knows about. Please, Midas. With Pete gone AWOL and Joe and Larry unable to make it tonight, I think East would be an asset.”

  “Alright. As long as he knows what he is up against. I wouldn’t want to put anyone in danger if they weren’t prepared to face it.”

  “I think East knows what he’s up against more than anyone. He has seen this thing before. I’ll go call him.” Aaron glanced at Jocelyn, who smiled at him.

  “If we can help Tobias leave, maybe the creature will go too.” Jocelyn slapped a new battery in her camera and set it down on the conference table. “Obviously, for whatever reason, Tobias doesn’t know that the battle is over. And we know from the family history that Eliza and her son lived beyond this one event. There has to be a way to make Tobias understand that; if we could nudge him toward her, that would help. However, that’s not really in my wheelhouse. What about yours?” she asked Cassidy. My girlfriend was still rolling the pencil between her palms.

  I said, “Cassidy, do you think you can make the connection?”

  “I would like to try, but like Jocelyn, this isn’t really in my wheelhouse.” She paused and then added, “I came really close to touching that painting last night.”

  I stared at her and shook my head in disbelief. Connecting with the Dogman through her painting seemed like a ridiculous idea, and an extremely dangerous one.

  “I know. I didn’t do it, but man, the impulse was greater than I’ve ever experienced, even when I was just discovering this gift. You remember how I was in the beginning; I was unable to control the impulse to paint. It even threatened to ruin my life—I mean, I did lose a job over it—and last night, it was even worse than that. I think this creature has power that we don’t understand. And if we don’t appreciate it and somehow push against it…”

  Images of Dale Albright’s body came to my mind. How could those people have known how dangerous the Dogman was? What made the lodge so attractive to it after all these years? Why had it returned? Those were questions we needed answers to and quickly.

  “If it hadn’t been for my Uncle Derek, I’m sure things would n
ot have ended the way I would have wanted.”

  “You saw his ghost?” I checked my phone one more time for a message from Pete. Seeing that there was nothing, I felt a little sick. I was sure my old friend had gotten into trouble and had probably crawled into a bottle somewhere.

  “I heard his voice. Uncle Derek told me that if I touched that painting, I would not come back. So I didn’t.”

  “Wow. What do you mean, this isn’t in your wheelhouse? If you can hear ghosts like that and connect with them, then it is absolutely within your ability to contact Tobias. This just gets more interesting by the minute.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the word I would use for it, but thanks for the confidence. So what time do we leave?”

  Aaron walked back into the conference room with a big grin on his face. “East is going to meet us there in about an hour. Hope that’s okay? He’s got everything we need.”

  “Let’s load up.” We got the van packed in record time and were heading toward Highway 98 when my phone rang. To my great relief, it was Pete.

  “Midas, where are you?”

  “Where are you is the question? I thought you were taking the day off, not the weekend.” I did not mean to sound so sharp, but as always, he was pushing the envelope with me.

  “I know what the team thinks about me, but it’s just not true. I have information about this animal, information you need to know about. You are heading back up there, aren’t you?”

  I tried to ignore that his words were slurred. “Yeah, we are. Because we have a job to do. Why?”

  “I’m on the way too. You guys need me up there.”

  “Pete, don’t come up here. We have got this one covered. Take care of yourself, and we’ll talk when I get back.”