Vanquishing Ghosts (Tess Schafer-Medium)

by Deborah J. Hughes

  The room was very quiet, as if cocooned in total silence, impenetrable to sound. My scalp prickled in warning as I stepped further into the well-lit room. The dark cloud must have moved on for sunlight poured through the windows and though the light was warm, a chill air was coming from somewhere. Slowly I scanned the room in hopes of picking up on anything that might be out of place. When my eyes lit upon the double doors to my left that were opened to the hallway beyond, my wandering gaze stopped. Whatever I needed to pursue, it was out there somewhere.

  Reaffirming my imaginary light of protection, I headed with cautious steps toward those open doors and stopped at their threshold. Directly across the hall was a small bathroom. The door to it stood open and I could see it almost in entirety for it wasn't very big, just a toilet and sink. Next to the bathroom was a long, narrow closet. Although the shutter-like doors were closed, I didn't get the feeling that something lurked behind them.

  My searching gaze continued along the hallway to its darkest point which was about midway down. A connecting corridor on the left met in that area and led to the kitchen. I couldn't see what was around that corner so continued my visual inspection to the end of this one. It ended where the curved staircase leading to the second floor began in the front entry hall. The wide arched entrances to the living room on the right and the dining room on the left were located there as well but I couldn't see around the stairs to the dining room from my vantage point.

  I stepped into the hallway and looked down toward the front of the house. Light from the narrow line of windows on each side of the front door (which was once again closed though I was sure I left it open) and the half-moon window high enough above it to be over the porch roof, made the wood floors gleam at the other end. But that light didn’t quit penetrated the entire hallway. Which is why the middle part of it was in gloomy darkness. A light colored runner would help lighten it up and I already had the perfect one in mind.

  Wall sconces were located on either side of the hallway and I flicked the light switch to turn them on but of course they did not light up. No doubt the bulbs were blown, a common occurrence in haunted houses. I scanned the area slowly. Nothing seemed amiss and yet something wasn't right.

  As soon as I took a step forward, a low drawn-out growl sounded behind me right next to my ear. Its nearness startled me so much that I jumped and when I did a movement caught my eye just above my head, something dark with glowing eyes. I could no more hold back the scream than I could slow the furious pounding of my heart and had just enough time to duck as the dark shape came at me. When it touched my shoulder, I dropped to the floor and wrapped my arms protectively around my head. Something heavy pressed to my back then was gone, pounding down the hall at a furious run.

  I lifted my head and watched in disbelief as the largest cat I'd ever seen went tearing around the stairwell, sliding across the shiny floor as it did so. It scrambled in place for just a few precious seconds before gaining traction and charging up the stairs. The whole scene reminded me of a similar event that occurred in Mary's house.

  Good God! Where had it come from? I rolled onto my back and looked up. It must have been crouched on top of the built-in armoire that I thought was so very clever. It was one of many features I loved about the house. Was it the cat that made the slashes on the screen door? The thing had to easily weigh about twenty pounds. All black or a dark gray, long hair and spitting mad. Were the spirits terrorizing it?

  I scrambled up from the floor and straightened my clothes then headed with purpose down the hall. Now I knew what I was up against, I wasn't quite so scared. Still, as I climbed the stairs to the second floor, I couldn't help but wonder if whatever was terrorizing the cat would soon be set to do the same to me?

  A thorough search and I found nothing. How was it possible for a huge cat like that to hide? There was no furniture in the house. I checked every room. Every nook and cranny. He had simply vanished. The good thing to come of it was that I completed my tour of the house and stayed so focused on finding the cat that fear had no place to dwell. Oh the spirits were here sure enough, but they were in watch mode right now.

  I was descending the stairs to the front entry hall when I heard a car pull into the driveway. It was followed by a brief honk of a car horn and then the slam of a door.

  Kade was here!

  I hadn't seen him in over a month and it felt an age. A long, agonizing age! Now my heart was racing with anticipation as I flew down the last few steps and ran to the door, pulling it open just as he raised his hand to knock. Then I was in his arms.

  "God, Tess, I've missed you like hell." Kade gave me no time to respond before his mouth was covering mine and doing a thorough job at getting reacquainted. I welcomed his passion with answering fervor and when things began to get out of hand, I finally, reluctantly pulled back. Kade immediately loosened his death grip though he didn't let me go. "You look great." His engaging grin caused my heart to flop around and increase its pounding tempo as my wandering eyes took him in. Tall and fit, Kade oozed masculine appeal and I was not immune to it in the least.

  His dark chestnut hair had flopped across his forehead and I raised my hand to brush it back. "Letting it grow out are you?" An ex-Marine, or as Kade often reminded me … once a Marine, always a Marine, he normally kept his hair pretty short so I liked this change. He was letting go of some of that strict military conditioning and I was glad of it. His hair was thick and soft and I was going to love running my hands through his longer locks.

  Kade's grin widened and my eyes were immediately drawn to his sensual mouth. Truly, mouths like that were made for kissing. And thinking of that made me want another go at it. As if reading my mind, Kade's head lowered and this time our kiss was not quite so desperate. Finally he pulled away enough to speak. "I hope we don't have to suffer anymore long separations anytime soon."

  Smiling, I pulled away and grabbed his hand, yanking him into the house. "We've a lot to do here. I plan on taking full advantage of your muscles."

  Kade flashed me a sideways look, his dark brown eyes glinting warm with promise. "Yes? Well it's about time."

  Though a sting of warmth filled my cheeks, I held his gaze. We'd been seeing each other for nearly two months, it was time to move our relationship along. I knew that and looked forward to it, but I was also a little nervous for I wanted it to be perfect between us. I didn't want to disappoint him. But the fact of matter was this ... we were finding it harder and harder to temper down our passion and honestly, there was no longer a need for us to be doing so. Both of us were pretty much past all the baggage we'd brought into the relationship initially and now nothing stood in our way.

  Though I wanted to melt in his arms again and go at it, the moving truck was due to arrive at any moment. I was hoping for an earlier arrival time but they told me there was no way they could make it until the afternoon and really, with Kade not coming until late either, it all worked out. Still, it was going to be a long afternoon and evening and we couldn't be distracted with our growing passion until we at least had a few things in order.

  "You'll never guess what happened a while ago." Wondering now if the cat had somehow sneaked back downstairs while I was looking for it on the second and third floor, I began another search. "A huge cat was in the house. Something was annoying it, though, and when I first heard it crying, I thought it was a woman wailing in misery."

  Kade followed me into the living room, glanced around then went straight to the fireplace. "Cats find the best hiding places." He dropped to his knees and crouched forward enough to look up the flue. Seconds later he let out a loud curse followed by a series of splutters.

  I turned to see what was going on and watched the cat jump across his couching back before scrambling madly for the hallway. Seeing the front door was wide open, he quickly disappeared out of it. Kade, in the meantime, was on his knees and doing what he could to get the soot out of his hair. When he finally looked up at me, I choked back a laugh for his face was covere
d in the stuff.

  His narrowed gaze met mine. "Found the cat."

  He looked so funny with his brilliant brown eyes staring out at me from a face covered in soot that I couldn't hold back my laughter. "Oh, Kade, I'm so sorry!" I rushed to him as he made to stand and offered him a hand.

  Once he was on his feet, Kade gave his head another hard shake then blew at the soot clinging to his dark blue t-shirt. "Where the heck did that thing come from anyway?"

  Laughing because he was only making more of a mess, smudging the soot everywhere, I told him to stop and used the sleeve of my sweater to wipe some of it from his face.

  "You'll ruin your sweater."

  "I don't care."

  "That isn't your cat is it?"

  I looked at him curiously. "Why? You don't like cats?"

  "Not ones that cover me in soot and walk all over me, no."

  We both started laughing at this point and that's when we heard the hiss of airbrakes and the unmistakable sound of a large truck pulling into my yard. "The furniture is here!"

  Kade strode for the bathroom located between the dining room and the kitchen. "I better go wash up. Be with you in a minute."

  The next few hours that followed were interesting to say the least. The moving men would bring boxes and furniture into the house, leave them in one spot, come back with another load and find them moved to a different spot. Twice the front door closed and locked on them. Kade solved the problem by removing the door from its hinges, but the four movers were now rattled to such an extent that they wouldn't enter the house or a room unless someone was with them. They worked in pairs and quite honestly, I figured that was the wisest move.

  I couldn't be everywhere at once but I tried. I met the movers at the door, escorted them to the room where I wanted them to place their load and then chased them back out to the entry hall to await their return.

  Kade busied himself by putting furniture pieces together and placing them where I would indicate. If I wasn't around to decide, he put them where he felt they needed to be and surprisingly, I didn't dispute a single placement. We thought a lot alike and it was nice to be in such accord with each other.

  Although I was quite distracted and busy, that didn’t stop me from noticing the increased spirit activity happening all around us. The specters currently inhabiting my home were in a buzz of excitement. Were they happy to have me moving in? I had a pretty strong suspicion that wasn't the case. The constant moving of things from one spot to another was aggravating. How much of this would I continue to deal with? Would they constantly be rearranging my home?

  The situation with the doors was particularly vexing. They would either slam closed before anyone could enter a room or do so after one of us had passed through it. Thankfully, none of us were locked in anywhere for I had no wish to be constantly fishing through that huge ring of keys. In fact, I stupidly put them down on the hall table to chase one of the movers up to one of the guest rooms and when I came back to retrieve them, they were gone. Kade found them in the living room on the fireplace mantel.

  As time wore on and dusk began to fall, the four moving men became even more nervous. The truck was nearly unloaded by this point and I noticed they had picked up their pace as the completion of their job drew nearer.

  Kade seemed to understand their anxiety and took to pitching in with emptying the truck. He ignored the door activity, the fact that boxes and pieces of furniture were often moved from where it was placed and he ignored the increasing concerns of the movers as they became more vocal about the strange activity.

  When one of them tripped over a box that had somehow found its way in the middle of the hallway floor, the youngest of the movers, a man a year or two younger than me I would guess, finally threw up his hands. "Your house is the spookiest place I've ever been, lady." He gave me a look that told me he'd quite had enough and fled out the front door. His partner stood looking uncertain about what to do, the last large piece of furniture resting before him. It was an antique armoire that was going in the one guest bedroom I actually had furniture for.

  Kade tapped my shoulder. "Excuse me, Tess, but I'll just help get this where it needs to be so these guys can get the heck out of Dodge." Kade motioned for the moving man to grab his end of the armoire. "Shall we?"

  I stepped out of the way and watched as they carried their load up the stairs. When I heard them enter the bedroom, I went out to the porch and found the frazzled mover smoking a cigarette near the now empty truck. The other two movers were closing the cargo doors and securing it for their much anticipated departure. I stepped off the porch and approached him. "I'm sorry my home makes you uncomfortable."

  He gave me a crooked smile, obviously a little embarrassed by his show of fear. "Oh it don't make me uncomfortable ... it gives me the fricken heebie-jeebies." He drew in another drag of his cigarette and nodded towards the house. "Are you really going to live there? Doesn't it bother you that it's haunted?"

  The other two movers stopped what they were doing to listen to my response. I gave them all a smile, hoping that if they saw me at ease, they would relax as well. "I'm not bothered in the least. I'm a medium so these things are pretty common for me." Okay, maybe not quite as common as I was making it out to be but they didn't need to know that. Their expressions changed to that of interest and I knew the questions were about to start.

  "I knew it, Mason!" The oldest of the four movers, a man in his late forties perhaps, and the one in charge of the operation, slapped his hand across the back of the mover I was talking to. "Didn't I tell you she was probably a ghost whisperer or something?"

  Mason nodded in reluctant assent and glanced at me to see if I took offense to his guess. "I thought you were a witch but John got it right."

  John laughed again and held out his hand. "You owe me five bucks."

  Giving in gracefully, Mason pulled some money out of his pocket and handed it over. He then looked at the man standing behind John. "At least I was closer than you, Trevor. You thought she was a paranormal investigator."

  Trevor scowled. "How is being a witch closer than a paranormal investigator?"

  "Most of them can't talk to ghosts, they just wish they could." Mason gave him a smirk then looked at me for confirmation. "Isn't that right?”

  Not wanting to get in the middle of their argument but also a little flabbergasted that they'd been arguing over their assumptions as to what I might be, I gave a shrug. "Many paranormal investigation teams have a psychic or medium as a member."

  "By the way, I didn't think you was a bad witch or anything." Mason looked at me as if he hoped to ward off a possible future spell and I had to laugh.

  "Well that's good to know."

  John gave me a concerned look as he met and held my gaze. "Seriously, though, you do realize this house has a pretty bad reputation?"

  A fissure of unease rippled along my spine. "I'm aware that it's haunted."

  "My sister and I grew up here in Bucksport. When I told her we were doing a delivery here today, she warned me to be careful and told me a few stories about the family that used to live here. I was in the military at the time it went down so missed out on all the excitement. When I got out of the service a few years later, it was over and forgotten by then and I never heard anything about it.”

  "So what do you know?" Maybe John could give me more information than my realtor. In fact, she hadn't really given me much. All I knew was that the family who sold me the house was afraid to live in it. At least the adult children were. Their parents, however, had lived here for several years. Now I had to wonder ... what actually happened to them?

  "Well, I know the place is believed to be haunted and after today I don't doubt it. My sister said that one of the Baker kids went crazy after trying to make friends with the ghost haunting it." He shook his head and gave a short laugh. "I didn't think much of the story when I heard it but now I wonder."

  "Yes, Sandy, my realtor, told me about that. But, the elder Bakers lived here
without any problems didn't they?" Why, I wondered, did it occur to me only now to ask that question?

  "I believe the Bakers usually traveled south for the winter. They weren't a friendly couple and pretty much kept to themselves. I think it was well known that they didn't have a really great marriage. My sister said that the kids ended up staying with grandparents shortly after they moved here. Although that was mostly because the house scared them, it was also because Mr. Baker was rumored to be rather mean."

  Hmmm. I didn't like the idea of that sort of negative energy being stored in my house. I put it on my mental list to do a thorough spiritual cleansing ... inside and out. "So how did they die?" Again I had to ask myself why in the world I didn't ask these questions before now. Perhaps I didn't want to hear the answer and have it sway me from my decision to buy the house. Oh yes, that sounded just like something I would do.

  "I think my sister said Mrs. Baker died while staying with one of her kids. Her husband, I know, died here on the property."

  Oh great. "How?"

  John shrugged. "I didn't ask."

  Mason gave me a nudge. "Why don't you ask him?"

  All three men laughed at that and I joined in as well. Why not, it was a good joke. Or was it? Maybe it was Mr. Baker whose discontented spirit lingered here causing problems. I gave a slight shiver at the thought and hoped that was not the case. I hated the idea of sharing a house with someone like him. "Maybe I will." That sobered the men up and then before anything more could be said, Kade and the remaining mover came out of the house.

  "Well, that's done." Kade came to stand next to me and noting my tension, he put an arm across my shoulders. "Everything okay?"

  "Yes. John here was just giving me a little information about the Bakers."

  "Ah." He glanced from John to me then noted how the other three had scattered to the other side of the truck. "Anything interesting?"