by Shea Meadows
“Many of the ghosts seen here were there before the Stealer took over the building. We think this might be his base of operations. Georgia has one of the highest disincarnate populations in America, and Athens has the highest concentration in any small city. We think the Stealer settled here because of this dense ghost population, which makes it more difficult for us to identify him.
You all are needed because you are trained in spirit communication. Only a being in the material reality can pinpoint the current persona of the Stealer. Once you do, those of us in the higher frequency can hold his energy in check and prevent him from jumping into a new body or enslaving other disincarnates.”
Moon reached over and tapped Ricky’s forehead, then dissolved the hologram of the Vincent Street building. Ricky blinked with a confused look on her face. “I can still see it!”
Moon smiled. “You can say: ‘put Vincent in storage’ and it will disappear. If you want to give the hologram to another in this room, tape their forehead and say: ‘receive Vincent file’. If you want to call it up again say ‘activate Vincent file’. The hologram will automatically change when a ghost is disbursed so it is always up to date.
Moon swirled the ethers around again, and the cut-away view of a three story house with multiple bedrooms, attic and cellar came into view. “This is the house at 982 Boston Lane. It is another building from the 1800s and Sam Reading holds its deed. We think it’s where Roy Fields and Julie Richards currently reside. It is, as you can see, the residence of multiple ghosts and more spirit web. It might also be where Sam lives; we aren’t sure, it seems to be one of several houses he owns.”
The group looked at the hologram and many commented on the density of ghosts and how difficult it was to make out individual entities.
“Roy and Julie were there when this file was created?” Ricky asked.
“It’s like the other hologram. Whenever we see it it’s what’s happening at the moment. It is so densely protected we have difficulty distinguishing which beings they are. We also are unable to tell if they are being held against their will, or have disincarnates linked to them. Of the two holograms, this is the more difficult to read.”
Shri Kria spoke up. “These two locations were the primary reason we created the etheric emeralds. They work for all linked disincarnates but should also disrupt the shield that the Stealer has placed around these buildings. As we decrease the ghosts they hold in servitude, we weaken their defenses, and hopefully decrease the Stealer’s camouflage.”
“I tried to come down and clear this out on my own before my fatal accident. I guess my ego was getting in the way. My physical death opened a doorway to a new possibility, in which Ricky would wake to our mission and my students would be ready to do really advanced spirit work. So now you are here. Are you ready to be part of it?”
Moon looked around the group, some looked nervous but all smiled and nodded their agreement.
Bob Reynolds cleared his throat. “Um, I want to be on the side of the angels so I guess I’m in the right place. I just saw one plop into the room, but I really don’t understand the whole ghost-linkage thing that the Stealer is doing. Jim and I came in late to the game.”
Moon turned to David. “Please spend some time with Bob and Jim tonight or tomorrow morning, and explain what has been happening, and let them work with the stones, yes?”
“Of course,” David answered. “Anyone else need some catching up?”
Beth Ann spoke up. “Ricky showed us the stones and gave me your records before she left Minneapolis so the rest of us have been working with your discoveries. I think we’re ready to follow orders, but will need supervision by more experienced people.”
Moon nodded. “This will be new for all of us. Usually, the attacks on the structure of soul evolution have been less organized. The Stealer has been setting up his plan for a long time. With all his recruits and slaves, it’s good we have a bigger group working in the material reality.”
“So what’s the plan?” George asked. “It’s obvious they know we’re here. Chester was mucking up this resort as far back as the Civil War. Beth Ann’s car was in the hands of a linked rental agent. We’ve been unlinking ghosts all over Minneapolis and Chicago. Avery Sweet has been freed from his former incarnations. Not possible to make a surprise attack.”
“The plan is to weaken their defenses so the Stealer has less protection and is easier for Ricky to identify. We are going to start slowly, releasing linked ghosts and resident ghosts in these two buildings, a few at a time. We will gradually increase the releases until they notice what’s happening. We want to put them off balance so we have the home field advantage, and they will want to come to us,” Moon answered.
“So we’re going to the buildings? Do you think we can get in?” Beth Ann asked, her nose twitching and her face red with excitement.
“No, we are doing the culling from here. We’ll divide you ten into two groups, one for each location. Ricky will lead one, Shri Kria the other. Using the holograms, the leaders will pick a target and move out-of-body with the stones to their location and disperse the disincarnate. You will all observe the leaders as they accomplish this. Then each will have a chance to duplicate this task. Some already are capable, and all will have the help of the guides.
“When the leaders decide their group is ready to work independently, each person will start dispatching ghosts. If you have problems with a particular ghost, team up with the group leader, or another member, or signal us for help.”
“How long is this going to take?” Dylan asked, looking terrified and eager all at the same time.
Moon shook her head. “Maybe a week, maybe a year, but I truly think one of their leaders, if not the Stealer himself, will show up here in some form or another in the very near future. This room is heavily shielded and Ricky has cleared out the ghost population, except for me, of course,” she said with a smile.
“Byron and I will ward the grounds to prevent any psychic storms they might send to interrupt our work. You will be able to go out and walk around the property but stay in pairs and report anything you see that indicates an intrusion. The shield will be intelligent, and will tighten or loosen the barriers if one of the Stealer’s troops show up for a parley. We are taking all precautions that we can, and the guide group will be observing all movements and intervening when possible, but we may miss something, because the Stealer is well versed in deception.”
“What’s stopping them from bringing reinforcements?” Shelia asked. “We found groups of linked ghosts all over Minneapolis after Ricky and David went to Chicago. We’d clear out a bunch and a whole new group would show up. They’re like ants.”
“They very well may link ghosts to others but you need a presently incarnated being to whom to link. They could bring ghosts from all over and link them to local people, but there are ten of you and many of us and we could unlink them as they show up. Eventually they will become confrontational and attack us in person. We can instantly neutralize the Stealer when Ricky or anyone of you recognizes him,” Moon answered.
Moon looked off to the side and nodded at someone unseen by most of the group except for Ricky, Shri and Beth Ann. Ricky waved to Byron, who had a peeved expression on his astral face. “Yes, we’ve kept her here long enough,” Ricky said. “Send my love to Megon, Aleese, Nellie, and Maya. I miss them all and thank you.”
Byron made a courtly bow, put his hand out for Moon, and both of them blinked out.
The group dissolved into active chatter, as David came over and sat by Ricky and held her hands, some of the Minneapolis group looked at them quizzically, and David, noticing, leaned in and whispered in Ricky’s ear. She nodded with a smile and then clapped her hands to get their attention.
“We will be working closely together and I don’t want anything to get in the way of your focused attention, so we have something to tell you so you can get used to the new reality,” Ricky said with a smile and turned to David giving him the floor.
<
br /> David cleared his throat. “It has been only weeks since Ricky and I met. At first, she was only the sister of the victim in a case I was investigating, then we became friends as she learned about Moon and her vital work. I was retiring from the patrol and going into private investigation, asking my new boss to be assigned long term to Moon Angel Spiritual Network. Most of you know all of this.
“I went through numerous attacks on Ricky instigated by linked ghosts, the memorial service, Chester sending death threats, ghosts throwing objects at us at Moon’s house, and then Moon decided it was best that I became Ricky and Beth Ann’s roommate.
Then the trip to Chicago, which had echoes for all of us, and we thought it best I go with her for protection. Even before we made it to Avery’s Sweet’s workshop and a whole new dimension to the threat became evident, we had started to feel a strong attraction. Both of us are sure we’ve been together in other incarnations.”
“First day I met him,” Ricky interjected, “Moon whispered ‘you two will have beautiful children’ so I guess it was no surprise to her. She has given this her stamp of approval.”
David grinned. “I’ve asked Ricky to marry me, and she said yes, and Stan and George are writing me into the organizational structure. I’m one hundred percent in love with Ricky and dedicated to the work Moon assigned. I hope you can accept me in this new role.”
The group broke into applause and rushed toward them, shaking hands with David and thumping him on the back, and hugging Ricky.
Beth Ann had a stream of tears running down her face. “I told you, Ricky. I told you he was the one, remember? When we first saw him, I knew it. Being around Moon woke up my skills.”
Dylan cleared his throat and put an arm around Jessica’s shoulder. “Wanted to congratulate you guys, but what you’re doing is not unique. If you’re bringing your romance out in the open, we’ll follow suit. Jess and I are engaged too. So could we switch our room assignment and get one room with a double bed?”
Everyone burst out in a fresh round of celebration, and Ricky assured them that their wish for cohabitation would be granted.
“Okay, now that everyone knows the happy news, let’s drink this hot chocolate and have some cookies and get to bed. Beth Ann, do you have Moon’s record book with you?”
Beth Ann pulled it from a briefcase that sat beside her on the floor and handed to Ricky, who gave it to David.
“Breakfast will be at seven-thirty in the dining room, according to Cynda Lu. Be there on time and be careful about what you talk about during the meal. There are no linked ghosts in the house, or resident ghosts for that matter, but Chester knew everything about our plans so we don’t want to help him out.
“At 8 am, Jim and Bob, and anyone who thinks they need to be filled in more on the ghost linkage manifestation, should meet in this room to work with David. Hopefully, you will be up to speed on what’s been going on by nine, at which time, all of us will gather here.
“Shri Kria Baba and I will consult on who will be in which group, and we will start working with clearing the buildings. We will break at noon for lunch and some down time then assemble at two pm and continue until dinner at six. We will decide as a group how long we want to work into the evening. Questions?”
Beth Ann raised her hand. “When’s the wedding for you and David?”
Ricky smiled. “Not sure. We’re getting the engagement ring when we can go back to Minneapolis. It depends a lot on what happens here. We want to focus on the project. We just mentioned it now so people wouldn’t be distracted when we move into the same room.” There was a surge of laughter to this statement.
Shelia raised her hand. “Moon said you’ll be able to identify the stealer when you see them. How are you going to do that? Are you sure it isn’t Chester, or Avery Sweet? Both of them did some pretty disruptive things.”
Ricky shook her head. “Moon tells me when I make person to person contact with the Stealer there will be a unique surge of energy that their body puts off that will drain my body. She says it is a gradual process I might not notice at first. I’ll become more and more uncomfortable being around him. I have to trust her word. I just hope I don’t miss it when it happens.
“We know it isn’t Chester because he’s no longer himself. He looks like Chester but Azer has taken over, and I have been able to best him each time he attempts to harm me.
“Avery had distinct former incarnations influencing him. It was obvious he didn’t know what was going on and his demeanor changed when we used the etheric crystals. We have a team checking on Mel Shank, since Moon suspected him, but the best candidate seems to be Sam Reading, who was another mentor for Chester and now seems to be renting a house to my ex- fiancé and his current lady-love.
“Sam has connections to some who have links to Moon and me, and considering his avowal of respect for Moon, he didn’t manage to show up for her memorial service.”
“Its 10:30 and we’ve all been traveling. I think it would be best if we got some sleep, so we can be fresh in the morning,” David suggested.
Everyone agreed and they unlocked the door and scattered to their various room. Dylan and Jess made some extra work for the staff when they asked to be moved in together. David has already requested one room for him and Ricky, so they climbed the long stairway to the second floor.
Ricky looked around in the spacious room with a canopied queen-sized bed, piled with pillows covered in red, blue, green and brown, arranged artfully on a vintage quilt sewn in the star pattern and mirroring the colors of the pillows. Floor-length red and blue curtains covered two large windows with modern glass, and a double dresser and an amour graced the walls.
Someone had unpacked their clothes, putting his and hers in separate drawers, and had taken their dirty clothes from the trip to be laundered. Ricky opened the door to their private bathroom to find a modern shower, toilet and vanity, slightly ragged around the edges but more than serviceable. All their toiletries had been placed near the vanity and a stack of thick, green towels sat on top of a clothes hamper.
“Wow. I wonder how much all this is costing us per day for all ten of us,” Ricky asked.
“Stan didn’t say but he did get a good deal because of the stench. They had cancellations all over the place,” David said as he started putting his belongings in the vanity. “Chester might have done us a favor. Probably figured you’d get discouraged with the smell and check into a Motel 8.”
“By the way, has anyone checked the smell outside? Shri said Moon and Byron saved us the chore of warding the property by setting up the barrier when they left, so we should be safe checking out the air quality. Care for a short stroll right near the house?” She lifted the curtain’s edge and peeked out. “They seem to have floods on for security.”
David sighed. “I was kind of looking forward to a shower with my new fiancé and a little pre-sleep activity. But I understand your need to make sure the stench is gone. You don’t want a bunch of sprit-web floating all over the property. Who knows how many decapitated rebel soldiers are hanging out in the barn?”
Ricky leaned into him and laid her head on his shoulder, playing with the dark hair that was peeking out from above his shirt. “Moon did say we’d cleared out all the ghosts, didn’t she? She said the stench was gone, and the place was secure. Who am I to doubt my brilliant sister’s assessment of the situation?” She stood on tip-toes and kissed his lips, holding the embrace so long that both of them had to come up for air. “Let’s go take that shower and start acting like people who plan to have a long life together.”
Chapter 20
Ricky and David walked into the dining room the following morning, to find the rest already eating. It was seven forty-five and David had material to go over with the Reynold’s twins as well as Jess, Dylan and Shelia who all felt they needed more detail. Beth Ann felt she was up to speed since she had spent time with Moon and the guides during her nap on the flight from Minneapolis.
David dove into a larg
e bowl of scrambled eggs, a plate filled with pancakes, and a bowl of strawberries and started to shovel it in quickly. “We want to get started by eight, so finish your food in the next ten minutes. It will save time if we’re all on the same page when we start.”
Beth Ann turned to Ricky. “What do you plan to do between now and nine?”
“Walk around the grounds and determine how far out the shield goes and be sure there aren’t any stray ‘hants’ around the grounds. Do you want to join me and fill me in on what’s been happening in Minneapolis?”
Beth Ann brightened up. “I’d love it.” She turned to George and Shri. “ Do you two want to join us?”
“I’m in,” George answered. “That was my plan anyway. Walking with you ladies will make it more interesting.”
Shri looked around the room to be sure none of the staff could over-hear him. “I have the feeling I should wander through the house a bit more, perhaps check more rooms, including the cellar. There might be something interesting there.”
Ricky finished her two pancakes and a slice of bacon and pushed away from the table. “You guys ready for a hike?”
George pulled on a baseball cap, Ricky a straw hat and Beth Ann a bizarre red cloth sunhat that had a series of geometric shapes woven into it. Each was prepared for the hot Georgia sun.
The trio stopped and sniffed the air. There was a scent of chicken, cow, horse, pigs and sheep, but with the brisk breeze, the aroma was only mildly offensive. The grass was mowed around the formal walkway to the house, and a small network of paths led through the deeper grass on the outskirts of the rows of bushes and trees.
They took the path that led off the stone driveway and down to the corral were the horses were gently nudging each other and eating oats from buckets hung on the fence. The magnificent animals stopped their meal and looked up with alert faces as the humans arrived. Large noses pushed into the hands of Ricky and George but Beth Ann talked to them with hands clasped behind her back.