For a Ghost Free Time, Call
Page 4
“What? Why?”
“The tale also says that her vengeful spirit will do the same to any man who enters her home, at least until she can rip her husband’s heart out.”
“Let me take a wild stab in the dark here—you don’t have her husband anywhere nearby. Do you?”
“No.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I turned around and watched the doorway. “Can you hurry up and deal with her bones already?”
“Yeah, I’m on it.” She ran out of the room and down the hallway to the living room.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back, don’t worry.”
“Easy for you to say,” I whispered to myself. “There’s no risk of you losing your penis.” I hope…
Dizzy ran back into the room with a handful of salt and tossed it onto the bones. A screech howled through the house again and Dizzy pulled a small bottle of lighter fluid from her coat pocket. She sprayed most of the bottle over the bones and tossed it onto the bed, then removed a Zippo lighter from her pocket.
The fog filled the room again and the vengeful she-ghost careened down the hallway, charging directly towards me. Her hands were outstretched and her fingers turned to long, sharp claws.
“Hit her!”
“Shut up and cook her already!” I swung downwards and drove the poker through her head, forcing her to vanish. “Okay, I’m pretty sure her hands were an inch away from my dick!”
Dizzy flicked the flint on the lighter a few times and a flame finally held steady.
The ghost appeared in the doorway again.
Without hesitation, Dizzy slid the flame on the bedspread and pulled her hand back. The fluid ignited instantly. Light from the towering flames filled the room.
The house groaned, nearly screaming in agony and the ghost in the doorway caught fire. She was covered in blue and green flames that attempted to banish her from existence. The house shook more violently, teasing at a collapse. Two dark, long-fingered hands burst out of the ghost’s mouth, gripping both cheeks. They pushed outwards, ripping the ghost’s head in half, allowing a ghastly creature to begin clawing its way out. It continued splitting the ghost down the middle, using it as a doorway from whatever otherworldly realm it was emerging from. If the ghost had been flesh and blood, it would have been a more horrifying sight than it already was.
“It’s not working! What the hell is that thing?” I shouted at Dizzy.
“What thi—” She spun around to see the long-limbed creature tearing its way into our world. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah, oh, shit is right. What do we do?”
“The spirit isn’t just tied to the bones. This all makes more sense now. The way the house transformed and rotted away right in front of us. It’s attached to the entire house.”
“Well, what the hell do we do now?”
“There’s only one thing to do. Run!” She took off running past the creature and I tried to follow her.
The demon was almost entirely out of its ghostly shell, shaking off the transparent remains like a piece of toilet paper stuck to a shoe. It reached out and grabbed my ankle as I passed. It stood on all fours, each leg arching into the air like a spider. A singular, vertical, black eye stared at me and it hissed with a wide open mouth, revealing a thousand sharp, spinning teeth.
I jumped into the air and kicked it in the eye with my free leg, causing it to drop me to the floor. Quickly springing to my feet, I took off running down the hall, hot on Dizzy’s trail. We ran outside and I caught up with her just beyond the front door, which had been flung open and nearly torn off its hinges. We stopped in the yard and turned around.
The lanky creature slammed into the doorway, its four legs gripping onto the corners of the frame. It snarled and snapped at us, unable to pass beyond the doorframe.
“Why isn’t it chasing us?” I asked Dizzy.
“It’s bound to the house; it can’t leave.”
“So, what do we do about this?”
“We do just like we were going to do with the bones. Do you have anything flammable in your car?” She looked up at me and smiled again.
She’s enjoying this. She’s…crazy. “Yeah, hold on.” I ran back to the car and opened up the trunk, removing a small jerry can half-full of gasoline. The gas sloshed around as I ran back and handed it to Dizzy.
She set it down and pulled out a small, pink-handled pocket knife, then cut into the dark green shirt she wore under her jacket. After making one long cut, she pocketed the knife and tore a large chunk from her shirt, revealing her navel piercing, adorned with a sky-blue gemstone. “Stop staring, will ya?” She knelt down and poured a bit of gasoline onto the fabric, then stuffed it into the opening on top of the can. Finding her Zippo again, she lit the flame and set fire to the fabric. “Go get the car.”
Without thinking, I ran back to the car and drove it into the yard, parking just behind her. The sun was beginning to set, so I turned on the headlights, blinding the creature inside.
Dizzy ran up and tossed the can into the doorway, setting the creature aflame. Its dark skin lit up as it screamed in agony, setting the interior of the house on fire as it scurried from room to room.
The house burned, the flames as tall as trees, lighting up the coming night.
Dizzy turned around as a wall of flames erupted from the open doorway of the house, accompanied by wailing screams and howls. She approached the front of the car and leaned back against it.
I met her at the hood and stood next to her, leaning against the car as well. “Is it over?”
“Not yet.” She wouldn’t take her eyes off the house. “Once the house is gone, it’ll be over. But until then, we wait. She walked back to the driver’s seat and leaned in the car, turning on the radio. Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” played through the speakers, echoing through the night as we watched the house begin to crumble. She leaned back, trying to get comfortable on the hood. With her arms crossed, she leaned over and set her head on my shoulder. “Thanks for the help.”
“You’re welcome.” I tried to look down at her face only to find my view obstructed by her curly, crimson locks. Her hair smelled like melons and apples. The scent quickly faded as smoke and sulfur filled the air.
A few minutes passed and a slight snort crept out of her as she accidentally fell asleep.
Who the hell are you?
V
“I’M SORRY I fell asleep on you.” Dizzy walked me down the hallway towards my apartment.
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch you when you slipped off the hood of the car.”
“That’s alright.” The silence was awkward and filled with tension. “Listen, the world you’ve thrown yourself into, it’s dangerous. More than you know. If you’re not careful and you get yourself involved in something you know nothing about, you will end up dead.”
“I think we did alright tonight.”
“I don’t know exactly what that was, but all signs point to a prairie demon—a weakling. But there is so much you don’t know—”
“Then teach me. Imagine how much money we could make together. Taking care of screwed up things like this haunted house—I can’t believe I just said those words out loud and it wasn’t bullshit.”
“It’s not about that. The money. I do what I do to keep a balance. To keep the things that go bump in the night from engulfing the world. And every day, just as humanity grows, so does everything that wants to destroy it.”
“That’s heavy.”
“Yeah, it is, Jared.” She turned to walk away. “Be careful,” she said looking over her shoulder.
I raised my hands trying to think of something to say. Something to keep this woman who crashed into my life from leaving. But I had nothing.
Right on cue, Toby passed through the wall of my apartment, stopping just behind me.
The hair on my neck stood up, telling me he was there. I glanced back at him. “Do you want to meet him?” I shouted down the hall. “The one in my
apartment?”
Dizzy stopped walking and turned around. She laughed a little and walked back to us. “This him?”
“Yeah, this is Toby. Toby, Dizz.”
“Nice to meet you, Toby.” She stared and smiled at Toby who only stared back at her and then at me. “You’re not much of a talker, are ya, Toby?”
“No, he’s not.” I put my hand on Dizzy’s arm. “Listen, I can’t promise I won’t try to make a buck here and there, but if you show me what you know, I can help you. Even if it’s just for a little while. Then, maybe after everything, I can go help people for real and make a little money on my own. Whaddya say?
Dizzy let out an exasperated breath. “I’ll see you ‘round, Jared. Toby.” She pointed at him and winked, leaving quickly without another word.
“Women, Toby. Am I right?”
On par with his usual responses, he said nothing.
“You do like women, right? You’re not a uh…” I rubbed the tips of my two pointer fingers together and whistled inappropriately. “If you are, you have to tell me, you know. Because you’ve watched me change before and uh…”
“Jared?” It was Jane’s voice.
“Hey, Jane. What’s up?” She was poking her head out of her apartment.
“I…um…who were you talking to out here?”
“Oh, just a friend. They just left. I was just getting ready to head in and make something to eat.”
“It’s like two in the morning.”
“I haven’t been able to sleep much recently. A bit of a night owl, I guess.”
“Oh, yeah? I haven’t been able to sleep either.” She looked down at the ground and stepped out into the hall halfway. She was wearing silk pajama pants and a tight blue tank top. Her eyes were puffy, but tearless. “Would you…want to come and hang out for a little bit? I have some Chinese food in the fridge—if that sounds good.” She tried to smile.
“I…” I looked over at Toby to see if he approved. Not sure what his look of approval actually looked like, but I assumed that was it. An old friend of mine used to tell me that nothing good ever happens after two a.m., but after the day I had, it would be hard to make it any worse. “I love Chinese food. Got any potstickers?”
She smiled and laughed a genuine laugh. “Of course. You can’t have Chinese food without potstickers.”
“Sounds good.”
Without another word she turned and disappeared inside her apartment, leaving the door wide open.
“I’ll be right there; I just need to change my shirt really quick.” I ran into my apartment, tossing my bloody shirt to the floor and throwing on a clean one. I shut my door behind me and I turned to Toby who was still standing in the hall. “I’ll see you in the morning, buddy. Don’t follow me. Got it?”
Toby turned and walked back into my place.
“Thanks, pal.” Did he just listen to me? Maybe I don’t know everything about him. I guess it’s never too late to learn something new. “Huh? Weird day.”
More from Sean Kelly
Available Now:
The Drive Home, A Tale of Bromance and Horror
(Available in Print and on Kindle)
Coming Soon:
For A Ghost-Free Time, Call: Episode Two
(Part Two of the Paranormal Adventure)
One Last Hunt
(The Sci-Fi Debut Novel)
Follow Sean at:
Emerald Inkwell
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@seanknovels
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Table of Contents
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