Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More

by Rebecca Hamilton

CARPE NOCTEM by KATIE SALIDAS

  A QUESTION OF FAITH by NICOLE ZOLTACK

  HAUNT

  By HEATHER HAMBEL CURLEY

  Copyright © 2016 by Heather Hambel Curley

  Death is not the end.

  In 1859, eighteen-year-old Adelaide Randolph has a secret: she’s a member of The Secret Six: six women who hunt errant spirits in their hometown of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. They are the daughters of dead mothers—the last line of defense protecting the bustling town from the dead. Adelaide is focused. She’s determined.

  And then she meets Thomas.

  Thomas Cooper is an armory worker. He’s a scoundrel. He drinks too much, he’s vulgar and rough: and he wants her. It’s too easy to fall in love with him and, suddenly, Adelaide would rather have trysts with him than focus on slaying specters. But when John Brown raids the Ferry, hell bent on starting a slave uprising, everything starts to fall apart.

  A creature, a dark shadow man, is stalking her. As the Civil War rages towards Harpers Ferry, Adelaide is forced make a decision that could change everything: can she sacrifice a generation of men in order to save one?

  The scourge is coming. And this time, she’s not sure she can stop it.

  Copyright © 2016 by Heather Hambel Curley

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, or photocopied format without written permission of the author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.

  War has taught us, as nothing else could, what we can be and are.

  –Oliver Wendell Holmes “Bread and Newspapers,”

  Atlantic Monthly September 1861

  Chapter 1

  THE TEA WAS scalding. It was confounding to Adelaide Randolph how anyone could serve such hot liquid to guests, but then, perhaps the girl being so young—and with no mother to train her—didn’t know better. She resisted the immediate impulse to spit back into the cup, instead choking the boiling mouthful down in one gulp. It was more appealing to suffer a fuzzy-feeling tongue for a few days than appear less than a lady in front of her fellow Society members. There’d be talk.

  Adelaide’s unladylike choking and sputtering did not go without notice by the Society head, Lucy Daingerfield. She cast a disapproving glance over her own teacup for a moment and then began, “It has been three hundred and forty-seven days since a Shadow was seen in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. I call this meeting of the Harpers Ferry Ladies Society to order. May our scribe make it known in attendance today are Miss Annabeth Frankel, Misses Adelaide and Sarah Randolph, Miss Mary Roeder, Miss Susan Hamilton, and of course, myself. Now—”

  “Wait one moment, Lucy!” Susan squinted down at her written words. “I can’t write as fast as you can talk. Three hundred and forty-seven, you said? Are you absolutely certain?”

  Adelaide stared down at her cup and idly traced the dainty floral pattern with her fingertip, carefully avoiding the mistake of another sip of tea. Hopefully, Susan would remember the “i” in her name for once. There was enough complaining the last time Lucy made the “scribe” update the minutes.

  “Of course I’m right, you twit. We chased that creature down from Jefferson Rock and you’re damn lucky Annie had the wits about her to fend it off with sage. The holy water did nothing.”

  “Probably because she did it wrong.” Annie Frankel elbowed Adelaide in the ribs and snorted, trying to choke back a laugh. “I feel as if there’s more to it than muttering incantations you stole from a ‘supposed’ book of witchcraft.”

  Lucy ignored her, sitting silently for a few moments until Susan was ready. She then cleared her throat and continued with her soliloquy. “Might the scribe also make note that the Harpers Ferry Ladies Society wishes to thank Miss Mary Roeder for opening her parlor to us for our meeting today and for supplying our tea and cakes.”

  Mary’s cheeks flushed and she looked down at her hands. As the youngest of the society at thirteen, she was barely in her corset and blushed at every compliment given to her.

  Lucy loudly cleared her throat and glared at Susan. “Well?”

  “I’m ready, keep going.”

  “I did, however, receive note from our Sisters in Frederick that a spirit was seen along the banks of the Rappahannock. Chase was given but the creature retreated back from where it came.” Lucy closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “Unless there is anything from our last meeting we should revisit, I will turn the meeting over to Miss Adelaide Randolph.”

  Adelaide took a deep breath and handed her tea cup to her younger sister. “Today I have with me the latest issue of Godeys Ladies Magazine—August 1859, Susan—which features a very interesting article on headdresses for balls. According to Moniteur—”

  Susan didn’t even look up. “Spell that, Addy.”

  Adelaide rolled her eyes but complied. “As I was saying, according to Moniteur, ‘Headdresses for balls are nearly always round, but much fuller behind and at the sides than in the front. They are generally a mixture of velvet, gold, and silver ribbon, pearls, and even diamonds.’”

  “Diamonds.” Annie Frankel sighed in approval. “Could you imagine the sparkle once candlelight hits hair bejeweled in diamonds? Although, it possibly isn’t the best choice when hunting spirits and shadows. You wouldn’t want diamonds bouncing all over the place, now would you?”

  Adelaide offhandedly nodded in response and studied the magazine. “I believe they attach like our normal baubles, with the pin going straight into the hair. I doubt the matter of spirit chasing was taken into consideration during their construction.” Thumbing carefully through the pages of Godeys, she stopped at a full color plate. The four ladies in the picture were clothed in beautiful gowns, each with a flounced skirt. Holding up the magazine to her fellow society members, she said, “Notice if you will the hair adornments of the lady on the far right. Her hair is parted down the middle and has ringlets beside her ears. Although I cannot ask her to turn around so we can see the back, I am assured by the article I read you ladies that her hair must be pulled in a chignon. The fullness, of course, is made by a cleverly hidden hairpiece. Notice the woman standing to her left. Her hair adornment is made of the same red and evergreen garland as the sash on her gown. It seems to me that she used excess garland and constructed a matching hairpiece. It is a lovely way to ensure precise exactness.”

  The ladies nodded in agreement. She handed the magazine to Annie for further examination and added, “I highly recommend the purchase of this edition of Godeys as there are also several beautiful needlework patterns within its pages.”

  Lucy nodded in approval. “Thank you, Miss Randolph.”

  “It was, in fact, my pleasure.” Adelaide smiled demurely and adjusted her hoop skirt to retire to her seat next to the somewhat drafty window. She almost giggled at the thought of missing the chair and landing on the floor in a mess of petticoats and hoops. Lucy would probably insist on her dismissal from the Society on account of vulgarity.

  As self appointed president of the Harpers Ferry Ladies Society, Lucy Daingerfield had the distinction of being able to allow and forbid members into their club. Membership required the ability to communicate with and, more importantly, destroy walking spirits. They were the daughters of dead mothers. They were the secret six; protecting the living from the dead.

  Still, she forbade every potential new member. Adelaide felt there was something irksome about it all, since they had started the society before any member had reached the age of ten. Since that time only one other person, Mary Roeder, had been allowed in.

  Lucy smoothed down her flawless blonde hair and turned to the next speaker of the meeting. “Miss Frankel will now speak briefly on local interest items pertaining to our fair town.”

  Annie rose from her chair, her pale yellow cotton dress contrasting sharply with her black hair and deep eyes. “In matters pertaining to the living. According to sources—who I sh
all not reveal—Miss Elizabeth Wade is once again engaged, though this time to a gentleman from Charlestown. He is apparently a ‘dashing young lawyer’ and will finally earn Elizabeth the social stature she thinks she deserves. You may all recall her comments after the departure of her last beau.”

  Sarah and Adelaide exchanged knowing glances. Elizabeth had registered to marry Mr. Cook only months prior and decided she did not want to be the wife of a school master, lock tender, or book-agent—she was much above that. In her own private review of the situation, Adelaide would have been more concerned that the man could not decide on his occupation and talked incessantly. The Society reflected on his abrupt departure from Harpers Ferry for weeks.

  Annie continued. “Mrs. MacGrogan has gone into confinement, and speculation has it that Mrs. Hayes will soon go as well. This, as you all may be aware, will be Mrs. Hayes’ first child.”

  “Of note, Mrs. Hayes was in the family way prior to her marriage to Mr. Hayes.” Lucy fluttered her eyelashes. “Don’t put that in the minutes, Susan.”

  “Finally,” Annie glared at Lucy, “though it does not pertain to our fair town, Mr. Ebersole received a letter from his cousin in London. They dedicated a new bell in May and are calling it ‘Big Ben.’ I find it to be quite charming to imagine a bell named Ben. As for matters pertaining to the dead, as Lucy previously noted, it has been three hundred forty-seven days since a spirit has been seen in Harpers Ferry. Excellent work, ladies.”

  “Thank you, Miss Frankel.” Lucy nodded in approval at Annie as she took her seat. “As for matters of new business, I’ll go first. As you all know, my eighteenth birthday is quickly approaching. I am planning an extravagant party; do be sure to make time for a get together in October.”

  Adelaide resisted the urge to roll her eyes. When she turned eighteen a few months prior, it certainly didn’t warrant announcement at a Society meeting, nor did the eighteenth birthdays of Annie or Susan earlier in the year. Perhaps that was just another advantage Lucy had created for herself. She seemed to do that a lot.

  Lucy plowed on. “Second order of new business. I propose to my fellow Society members the idea of initiating a sewing circle. Those women from the Frederick Ladies Society had an article written about them in the Virginia Free Press last month. Absurd.”

  Susan didn’t look up from her notes. “We talked about that last month, Lucy. I think they auctioned a quilt off to help fund the construction of the new Episcopal Church in Frederick City.”

  “The Frederick Ladies are vile.” Lucy suddenly shrugged and dropped her sophisticated façade. “Besides, we do it anyway. We might as well make it official.”

  “A vote then.” Annie spoke up. “Those in favor?”

  Each in attendance nodded.

  “It is unanimous!” Lucy grinned. “Does anyone else have new business?”

  The room was silent. Adelaide averted her eyes from Lucy’s face and feigned interest in a large crack in the wall’s plaster.

  “Very well. Scribe, please note that our next meeting shall be in one week. It will be hosted by Miss Frankel. Thank you for your attendance ladies. Be alert. Be cautious. And always be attuned to Those we can’t see. I declare this meeting finished.”

  “Thank you all for coming.” Mary always sounded embarrassed when she spoke to any of the older girls, perhaps because each was several years older than she. “It was an honor to hold the Society meeting here today.”

  “Thank you for your hospitality.” Adelaide tied her bonnet ribbons in a bow at her throat. “Ready, Sarah?”

  Her petite sister stood up and headed to the door, adjusting her bonnet as she maneuvered around the couch and several rickety chairs. “Good day, ladies!”

  They stepped out of the stuffy Roeder home and out onto the street. Susan paused in the doorway. “Hold on you two. I have to give Lucy today’s minutes.”

  Adelaide stopped walking and let her eyes lazily drift up the hill before her. From where she stood, she could clearly see the steeple of St. Peter’s Catholic Church. She dreaded walking up the steep stone steps to the churches that stood guard over town. It was so slippery and, being Episcopalian, her family had to walk far past St. Peters to their church, St. Johns. She wasn’t afraid to admit—and it might have been a sin—but halfway up those stairs in the summer and she was ready to convert to Catholicism.

  Susan finally scampered out of the Roeder home. “Sorry. I don’t know why Lucy insists on keeping the minutes. I’m the secretary, after all. She made me be secretary.”

  The three started down High Street, crossed Shenandoah Street, and headed towards home. Susan followed; her sister having paid visit to Adelaide’s stepmother prior to the society meeting. The wind tugged mercilessly at their skirts, and Adelaide frantically pressed her hands against the steel hoopskirt to keep her petticoats from showing. The sky above the bordering Potomac River was colored by the black smoke billowing from the Armory. It visibly settled in the humid afternoon air, thick with sulfur. Adelaide often wondered if the famous Harpers Ferry Armory tapped down into the depths of Hell, fueled by Satan’s scorn and vehemence—it would explain why the dead seemed to flock there. It made sense: all the guns manufactured there were potential weapons of war for the United States government.

  “There’s David.” Susan nodded towards her older brother, who was just leaving the Armory grounds. “Hello, David, hello!”

  “Good afternoon, fair ladies.” David stopped near the gate to the Armory and bowed deeply. He lifted his hat to the young women and then nodded to the gentleman beside him. “Are you ladies acquainted with Mr. Cooper?”

  He didn’t bother to wait for an answer. “Thomas Cooper, you know my sister Susan. These are Mr. Randolph’s daughters, Adelaide and Sarah.”

  Thomas Cooper’s smile revealed a dimple on his right cheek, edged by dark, wavy mutton chops that hung fashionably past his chin. A piece of his dark brown hair fell across his forehead as he lifted his hat to Adelaide and her sister. “It is a pleasure to meet you ladies.”

  His dark blue eyes met Adelaide’s in an instant. She looked away.

  “Mr. Cooper works in the Armory alongside me.” David continued. “I have yet to meet a finer worker.”

  “Your brother exaggerates, I assure you.”

  David laughed. “It has been a pleasure to see you, dear sister. And always an honor to be in the presence of the charming Randolph sisters, but we must continue on our way.”

  He didn’t have say where they were headed: everyone knew that Armory workers could always be found at White Hall Tavern engaging in bawdy and ungentlemanly behavior such as drinking too much whiskey and playing cards. But there was something about the way David talked that made Adelaide feel like it didn’t matter.

  Mr. Cooper lifted his hat again. “A good afternoon to you, ladies.”

  As the girls continued down Shenandoah Street, Adelaide paused momentarily and looked back towards their former companions. Thomas Cooper stood where they had parted, hands deep in his frock coat pockets. He was staring back.

  Chapter 2

  “BLESSED BE THE tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above!” Adelaide ran her fingers along the crisp edges of the hymn book as she sang along with St. John’s congregation. “Before our Father's throne, we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one our comforts and our cares!”

  Reverend Bates raised his Bible into the air. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

  “Amen.” She placed the hymn book back on the pew rack and quietly followed her older brother, Robert, from the church. She could feel her younger brother’s—which brother, she wasn’t s
ure—heavy footfalls behind, tromping across the wooden floorboards. Any closer and he would stomp on the hem of her skirt. Repeating the Lord’s Prayer always made her feel better, though, she wasn’t sure how well the words they recited as one kept the dead at bay. Spirits walked their streets. They lurked in corners and pawed at the Armory gate.

  Words alone didn’t stop them.

  She squinted in the sudden bright sunlight. Susan Hamilton made a beeline for her and Sarah. “Do you see the way those boys flock around Lucy? It’s vulgar.”

  “On a Sunday, no less.” Annie Frankel joined the group. “And she shuns Elizabeth Wade for her actions with... well... half the town.”

  Adelaide laughed quietly. Sometimes she doubted if the rumors about Miss Wade were true, but Annie was convinced. She said it was easy to tell, based on the way Miss Wade walked. Adelaide had her doubts on that too. She’d been with men. She didn’t walk any differently now than when she was an Innocent.

  “Good afternoon, Miss Randolph.”

  She turned and found herself looking up into face of Thomas Cooper. He was tall and slim, with broad, strong shoulders. “Mr. Cooper. I wasn’t aware you attended St. John’s…but I’m delighted you do.”

  He nodded, his eyes transfixed on hers. Adelaide tried to tear her gaze from his but found that she much preferred looking into his steady blue eyes. It made her pulse quicken. “You look radiant today.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say to him; she hardly knew him. After a moment that passed like the beat of a heart, he looked around nervously, as if unsure of who might be watching them. “It’s been a pleasure to see you again, Miss Randolph. I should let you enjoy the rest of your Sunday.”