The Haunting Season

by Michelle Muto

  What if she hadn’t?

  Ghosts can’t hurt you. They’ve never hurt you—or anyone you know of, Jess tried to reassure herself.

  “Hello?” Jess whispered. She squinted, bringing her face closer to the glass, trying to seek out any movement, any form deep within the mirror.

  Allison grabbed her arm and jerked her backward.

  “Allison! Ow!”

  “Ignore him, Jess. Don’t talk to him. Don’t talk to any of them. It just makes them stronger. We’ll have to tell Gage and Bryan not to talk to them, either.”

  Jess opened her mouth to say Allison was scaring her again, but snapped it shut. If there were ghosts here and Allison wanted to be afraid of them, fine. Not her. Not yet, anyway. A name in the mirror didn’t mean the ghost was evil.

  “Allison, did you write that?”

  Allison reached up and wiped at the name with her fingers. The name didn’t smudge. “If I had, don’t you think I’d be able to erase it?”

  “Oh, my God,” Jess repeated. She paced in front of the mirror, rationalizing this out. “Okay, so a ghost wrote his name on the mirror. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s evil.”

  “But he is,” Allison said. She still hadn’t budged an inch.

  “Then maybe it’s a demon. Did the demons follow you here?” Jess asked. The thought of demons in their room did scare her.

  “No,” Allison answered.

  That was a huge relief. So Allison had only seen a ghost. One that tried to communicate with her and startled her. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No.”

  “Threaten you?” Jess asked.

  “No.”

  Jess resumed pacing. Allison had no real proof the ghost meant anyone harm. She couldn’t make out everything Riley said. She’d said so herself.

  She didn’t doubt Allison had seen a ghost, just that she knew for certain it was evil. Allison was quick to freak out, quick to judge without good reason. Understandable, given her history, but no one else, not Jess, and neither Bryan nor Gage, had felt anything inside the house yet—especially anything bad. Weren’t they also sensitive to the paranormal?

  “I don’t mean to sound bitchy, but why is it just you, Allison? Help me understand. Why are you the only one who thinks something is wrong here? How come the rest of us don’t sense anything in the house is evil?”

  “I told you,” Allison said. “It’s fooled you. It’s fooled you all.”

  Jess took another look into the mirror. No ghosts. No one named Riley stared back at them. She wished she could see what Allison did. Maybe then she could help her with her fears.

  “Allison?”

  “Yes?”

  “Is it possible that you’re afraid of Siler House and ghosts because you’ve had such a bad experience? I mean, demons…that’s worse than anything I can imagine.”

  Allison didn’t respond. Maybe Jess was getting somewhere. “Ghosts are spooky,” she continued. “I get that. They pop into and out of a room so quickly and so quietly. Sometimes they shimmer, or flicker. Sometimes they stand there and stare without saying a single word. I’d call that scary if I didn’t know better—if I hadn’t come across them as often as I have. I’ve seen hundreds! And not one of them ever threatened or hurt me. And ghosts aren’t the same as demons, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Allison said, still staring into the mirror. “Until now, I’d never seen a ghost. We need to warn the others. Gage. Bryan. Dr. Brandt. Even Mrs. Hirsch.”

  Jess nodded slowly. “Fine. We’ll tell them what you saw, okay?” They’d tell the others, all right. And if Allison’s behavior got any stranger, she’d insist on her own room. Jess was exhausted and if it wasn’t already so late, she’d find another room right now.

  “Sorry. Go back to sleep.” Allison turned away from the mirror at last, and crawled back into her bed. “I think he’s gone now, but I’ll stay up and watch for him. If you want.”

  “No,” Jess said. “We should both go back to sleep. If you say he’s gone, then he’s gone. We’ll tell Dr. Brandt about it first thing in the morning. Will we be okay until then?”

  The odd, trance-like state Allison had been in was finally gone. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

  Jess struggled for the right words, but came up short. It had been a long day. Her brain couldn’t rationalize anything right now except sleep. And she was worried that there might truly be something wrong with her roommate.

  Like there’s not something wrong with all of us, Jess thought.

  Allison laughed. “I wouldn’t believe me, either. The girl who sees malevolent spirits in mirrors.” She turned to face Jess. “I’m sorry about grabbing you so hard. I don’t want you to be afraid of me. But, we’ve got something in common, don’t we? We’ve both been to a psychiatrist. You’re like me, Jess. People think we imagine things. They may not say it out loud, but they think we’re crazy, you and me, both.”

  Jess wanted to disagree, that seeing ghosts or whatever didn’t necessarily make them crazy. But she couldn’t, because Jess had felt that her parents and everyone else who knew about it did think she was crazy.

  She communicated with ghosts, or at least, used to. Allison had demons on speed dial. Bryan sent stuff (and people) to the Twilight Zone, and Gage reanimated the dead. Yeah. To most people, they had a lot of crazy in common. What if this whole experiment was about them, and how madness sets in? How people begin to hallucinate, see things others didn’t? Claim that things happened that never did?

  Allison’s eyes were pleading now, and her voice began to quiver. “Everyone is always afraid of me. Please don’t be scared of me, Jess. You’re all I have here. You’re the only person who can understand.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Morning came a bit too bright and early. Jess glanced at the alarm clock. It was close to seven-thirty. Breakfast wasn’t until nine. Allison was still sound asleep. Jess slid out of bed, dressed as quietly as possible, and padded across the room, thankful none of the floorboards creaked. She opened the door, again relieved it didn’t make a sound. Oddly, it had a slight squeak to it the day before, but Jess passed it off as the door expanding and contracting with the temperature. She stood in the hallway, listening to the sounds of the house. She imagined it breathing, stirring awake along with the birds and the wind. Of course, that was ridiculous. Siler House was wood, brick and stone. Not blood, bone or soul. Just like she’d said last night.

  It was definitely time to do some exploring. Dr. Brandt had said they were free to roam. Some of the rooms would be locked, he’d told them. But, any room unlocked was hers to check out.

  Jess walked across the hall to the room opposite hers. The doorknob turned easily in her hand, and she pushed the door open enough to see inside. Sheets blanketed a roomful of furniture, making it look like some ghostly convention. Dark yellow-gold paint covered the walls. Heavy brocade curtains hung at the windows. Jess stepped inside and gently closed the door behind her, taking in the musty smell of the stored furniture. Making her way around the room, she pulled aside the sheet draped over a tall piece of furniture and found a floor-length mirror. It was old and the glass pitted and dark. She stared at it for a moment, examining it, curious and scared at the same time.

  “Riley?” she said softly, not surprised when no one answered. She’d let her imagination run the show again.

  She let the sheet slide back over the mirror as she walked to the window. The curtains made most of the room impenetrable to the morning light. She pushed one of the panels aside, although it took some effort. The material was dense and heavy. Jess squinted against the light that spilled onto her face. As she did, she swore someone shrieked. The sound was faint, but it had come from within the room, she was sure of it. She spun, looking for whoever might have entered—a maid, perhaps. Even Allison. But she was alone. The light from the window had momentarily hurt her eyes, but now she noticed the sunlight did little to chase away the dark shadows resting in the corners.

  “The h
ouse, I suppose,” she said. The thought both pleased and set her senses on edge. It sounded like something Allison would come up with.

  It’ll be our secret.

  The voice was in her head, but it wasn’t hers. It sounded younger.

  Her mother’s words echoed in her head. Admit that ghosts don’t exist…

  But Jess wanted there to be someone here. There had to be. Just had to.

  “Who’s here?” she whispered. “Are you a ghost? Riley?”

  Why she’d said Riley instead of Emma or Gracie, she didn’t know. She wasn’t even sure who Riley was, except that Allison had said Riley was a boy, not a girl. Dr. Brandt hadn’t mentioned that the Silers had a son.

  She waited a minute or two for a reply, but none came. Jess left the room, careful to close the door behind her.

  “No one goes in there!” Mrs. Hirsch announced loudly. She stormed toward Jess, mouth pinched.

  “Sorry,” Jess said. “I didn’t touch anything.”

  Mrs. Hirsch narrowed her eyes and stared at Jess as though searching for a lie.

  “It wasn’t locked,” Jess explained.

  Cold grey eyes glared at her. “Bobby pin? Sewing needle? What do you have? I locked this door myself.”

  “Neither. Nothing. It wasn’t locked.”

  Mrs. Hirsch opened the door. “Didn’t touch nothing, did ya?” She pushed past Jess and into the room. She thundered to where the mirror stood. The sheet covering it had somehow slipped off onto the floor. Mrs. Hirsch threw the sheet back over the mirror and turned to Jess. “You’re messing with things you shouldn’t.”

  “The mirror?” Jess asked. Cold pooled in her stomach as she recalled how Allison had sworn she’d seen someone in the dresser mirror. “What’s wrong with it?”

  “It ain’t yours to be messin’ with is what’s wrong with it! What’s wrong with you, girl? Ain’t you got the common sense not to be touchin’ stuff that don’t belong to ya?” She turned to Jess, hands planted firmly on her hips and a scowl on her face. “Well, what in blazes are you waitin’ for? Scat.”

  Jess turned and ran back across the hall to her room, leaving Mrs. Hirsch behind.

  Allison was now awake and dressed. “Hey,” she said, offering a thin smile. “I was looking for you. I thought you might be downstairs, but you weren’t. Just the guys and Dr. Brandt. You went exploring without me.”

  “Yeah, well, Mrs. Hirsch ended that,” Jess replied, leaning against the door.

  “She’s weird. She freaks me out,” Allison said. “I think we should go downstairs.”

  “Allison, everything freaks you out.”

  “The guys want to go exploring outside today,” Allison said, ignoring the dig. “Not sure what there is to do, but maybe we should tag along.” She grabbed a hair clip from the dresser and swept her hair up into it. “I heard one of the maids say that it’s going to be in the nineties today.”

  “Good thing for cool showers. I hate summers,” Jess replied.

  “Come on. You can shower after breakfast. Let’s get out of here before Mrs. Hirsch decides to check up on us.”

  Jess couldn’t agree more.

  Dr. Brandt was already at the table, just as Allison said he would be, drinking coffee and going over more of his notes. “Morning!” he called out cheerily. “Fresh coffee in the kitchen. Bagels and pastries as well.”

  The girls went into the kitchen and grabbed cheese Danishes from the buffet. Allison poured a glass of juice, while Jess made a cup of coffee.

  “That stuff isn’t good for you,” Allison said, motioning to Jess’s cup. “I read it somewhere.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not good without it,” Jess kidded as they left the kitchen.

  “I suppose you’ll want to hear about our first night here,” Allison said to Dr. Brandt. She unfolded her silverware from the cloth napkin.

  “From each of you, yes,” he replied. “But I think we should wait until Bryan and Gage join us. Gage went to shower and Bryan stepped out onto the front porch to return a phone call. I’m sure they’ll be here soon. If not, I’ll send Mrs. Hirsch to look in on them.”

  Jess grimaced.

  “Is there a problem, Jess?” he asked.

  “No. Not really, just that I’ve already seen Mrs. Hirsch. She doesn’t seem very cheerful today.”

  “She’s not so bad,” Dr. Brandt said. “She just takes her responsibilities seriously.”

  “Dr. Brandt,” Allison interrupted. “Have you ever heard anything about mirrors and the paranormal?”

  “Do you mean about breaking mirrors and bad luck?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not breaking them. About seeing things in them.”

  He eyed her for a moment. “Superstition has it that to look into a mirror is to see your own soul. It explains why, in folklore, vampires cannot see their own reflections. In Greek mythology, reflections can foretell the future. In some cultures, when someone dies, all the mirrors in the house must be covered to prevent the soul from being trapped behind the glass. Then, there’s some who believe mirrors are portals into the world of souls. Some people have sworn they’ve seen the image of a dead person in a mirror, others claim they’ve seen evil spirits. And finally, according to a few demonologists, demons, being the vain creatures they are, sometimes like to see their own reflections. Does that help?”

  Jess nearly spilled her coffee. Last night, Allison had stood in front of the mirror, staring into it. Given her history, or at least her story about possession, she couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Allison had been looking for. The demon she believed had once taken her over? Had it followed her?

  “Yes, thanks, that does help,” Allison replied calmly and took a bite of her Danish.

  Dr. Brandt set his pen down. “Did you see something in a mirror, Allison?”

  Allison didn’t appear as though she wanted to answer. She chewed on her breakfast and then chased it down with juice.

  “Allison? What did you see?” Dr. Brandt pressed.

  “Riley,” Allison replied matter-of-factly.

  He blinked and fumbled with his coffee mug. “How do you know about Riley?”

  “Who is Riley?” Jess asked Dr. Brandt. She turned to Allison. “A demon? Is he the one who possessed you?”

  “No,” Allison replied. “I don’t speak his name.”

  “Bael,” Dr. Brandt said as he continued to stare at Allison. “A demon commanding sixty-six legions. He’s the one who possessed Allison.”

  “Don’t say it!” Allison slammed her hand on the table, rattling the dishes. “Don’t call him.”

  “My apologies,” Dr. Brandt replied. He picked up his pen and began writing.

  Jess looked from one to the other, not sure which direction she wanted to go—whether she should try to get more information on the demon Allison wouldn’t talk about or learn what she could about Riley—the boy in the mirror Allison also wouldn’t talk about. But maybe Dr. Brandt would.

  “So, who is Riley, Dr. Brandt?” Jess asked.

  He removed a small voice recorder from his pocket and placed it on the table. He pressed a button and a red light flickered on. “Tell us about Riley, Allison.”

  “I thought we were going to wait for Gage and Bryan,” Allison replied.

  “It’s okay. Just tell us about Riley.”

  She sighed. “He lives here. There are others here, too. He trapped them and now they can’t leave.” She turned to Jess. “You can’t help them, Jess. The souls Riley has kept here are his now. It’s too late for them.”

  “It’s too late for whom?” Dr. Brandt asked.

  “The others. And the girls. He killed them. Riley told me.” She took another bite of her pastry.

  “You could have researched that much,” Dr. Brandt said.

  Jess took a thoughtful sip of her coffee. Allison hadn’t told her Riley was a murderer. A small shiver danced along her spine. She thought of the two girls, their souls held captive by some evil being. They were the same age as her
sister, Lily!

  If I find a way to talk to ghosts again, maybe I can help them.

  Jess didn’t have any ideas on just how she’d do that, or even why the thought occurred to her. The idea of helping the girls escape their murderer made her uneasy, but if they’d been trapped this long and no one else had helped them, Jess figured she and the others were the girls’ best hope.

  “Did he tell you how he killed them?” Dr. Brandt asked.

  “No,” Allison said. “I didn’t want to know. At first, I was afraid he was a demon, because he looks that way. He doesn’t look entirely human anymore.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me he’d killed them?” Jess asked.

  Allison laughed, but it was more cynical than humorous. “I didn’t want to scare you more than you already were. Don’t look at me that way! I know what you think of me. All you’ve ever seen are normal ghosts. I see the kind like Riley. Once you’re touched by darkness, it follows you. No matter where you go.”

  Careful what you let in, Jess...

  The chill spread from her spine down her arms as she remembered Grams’ warning, but Jess shoved the thought aside. She wouldn’t let Allison spook her. Fear was paralyzing, and Jess refused to let Allison’s fears keep her from the very reason she was here—to break down whatever barrier was keeping her from seeing ghosts on the other side. But, the ghost of a murderer was enough to make her a bit more cautious.

  Maybe Dr. Brandt knew of some way to banish evil spirits. He was an expert in the field, after all. Surely he knew how.

  What was she doing? Considering going up against something she couldn’t see? A demon or something else? Jess was barely starting to learn to take care of herself, make her own way, and now she was considering how to get rid of an evil spirit?

  She’d had the thought before—that she was holding onto this whole ghost thing as a way to believe that death didn’t really matter. That Grams and her father were still with her and always would be. It was a way of holding onto the past as though nothing had happened—that Grams hadn’t died. That her parents hadn’t divorced. That her father hadn’t died, either.