by Reid, Terri
The Ghosts of New Orleans
A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File
by
Terri Reid
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Terri Reid on Kindle
the GHOSTS OF NEW ORLEANS
A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File
Copyright © 2010 by Terri Reid
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Chapter One
Only five years old, he must be terrified, Eloise thought as she pulled her SUV to a stop in front of a downed power line. The streets were deserted and the air smelled of sea water, mold, and rotting flesh. On the houses that remained, the doors hung open and screens dangled haphazardly from the windows they used to protect. Refuse littered the beach and all the vegetation was dead. A lone seagull flew across the horizon – its poignant cry echoing against the silence of the land. It was, in effect, a ghost town.
Eloise Parker hurried down the street reading the numbers from her handheld 3-axis Gauss meter. She knew that it was, in reality, a ghost town. The readings on the meter were well above 1000 mG, something that Eloise had only seen once before in her work for the government agency’s Paranormal Research and Containment Division or PRCD. But now was no time now to think about the past.
She looked down. 1200 mG on the meter. Quickly glancing up and down the beach, she saw nothing but remnants of ships and piles of debris that had been left when the storm surge waters receded. Narrowing her gaze she looked again. There he was, playing near the large pile of storm-tossed tree limbs. Pressing the button on the walkie-talkie that was clipped to her shoulder strap, she reported: “Sighting at Long Beach. Male, Caucasian, five years old. EP out.”
Eloise pressed the mute button on the meter and slipped it into the carrier on her belt. She clicked on the miniaturized audio and video recorder and slowly walked down the beach toward the little boy playing in the sand.
As she moved closer, he stopped playing and watched her advance. He was wearing dark blue shorts and a yellow t-shirt. His hair was blond and he was barefoot. He had sand halfway up his calves and looked like he was no stranger to the craft of making sandcastles.
He didn’t smile. He didn’t run. He just watched her – waiting for something.
She looked directly at him and spoke.
“Hello, young man.”
He smiled in response and then his features turned thoughtful.
“I ain’t s’posed to be on the beach,” he stated.
She was close enough now to see the scattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Sighing, she squatted down in the sand – staying several feet away from him.
“Why aren’t you supposed to be here?” she asked.
“Cause there’s a storm comin, a hurry-cane,” he explained, “I’m s’posed to be in my room.”
“Doesn’t look like any storms coming to me,” Eloise commented, glancing around at the blue sky.
He looked at her and then looked at the sky.
“S’pose you’re right.”
He thought for a moment and then said, “My name’s Andy Dahm.”
“Mine’s Eloise.”
“What’cha doing on the beach?”
“I’m here to help people – lost people. I’m here to help them find their way back home.”
Andy brightened and scooted towards her on the sand.
“Can you really do that? Can you really help me?”
Eloise smiled tenderly. “Sure I can.”
“I don’t know,” Andy offered seriously, his eyes suddenly sad, “Mom’s been out here on this beach lots of times, calling fer me like crazy and I run up to her and pull on her shirt, but it’s like she don’t see me at all.”
Eloise sighed and forced herself to concentrate on the little boy, not the gnawing grief inside her heart.
“That must make you very sad,” said Eloise.
A small tear ran down Andy’s cheek. “It makes me sad and it makes me scared.”
“Andy, do you remember the night of the storm?”
“I don’t want never to think about it again!”
Eloise leaned forward and stared into the little boy’s eyes.
“Andy, in order for me to help you, you have to be brave.”
Andy sighed and another tear rolled down his cheek.
“I don’t want to be brave.”
“Andy, can you try and trust me just a little bit?”
He nodded.
“Andy, I need you to remember the storm.”
“Kay.”
Eloise shifted and sat, cross-legged, on the beach next to the boy. She leaned back and looked up at the blue sky.
“So, Andy, you were out here on the beach – playing, just like you’re doing now.”
“Yeah, I was just finishing my fort.”
Eloise turned and looked at the sandcastle that was also filled with bits of stone and twigs.
“That’s a great fort.”
Andy smiled.
“The sky during the night of the storm – it was pretty dark.”
He nodded. “It was real dark and the rain was coming down pretty hard.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I climbed up the tree and hid in my secret place.”
“Then what happened?”
Andy thought about it for a moment and then stared into Eloise’s face.
“Then I saw the big wave coming. It were so big, it were bigger than the tree.”
She watched Andy’s eyes fill with tears and course down his cheeks.
“I tried to get down, I tried to run, I tried to be good,” he sobbed.
Eloise found her own eyes filling with tears.
“Oh, Andy, you were good. Just, sometimes, bad things can happen – even to good boys.”
Andy rubbed his eyes with his little sand-crusted hands and then stared at Eloise.
“Did I die?”
Eloise felt the tears slip down her cheek. She nodded sadly.
“Yes, Andy, you did.”
“Don’t God want me?” Andy asked.
Eloise smiled tenderly. “Course he wants you,” she said, “You just weren’t ready to go to heaven yet. Is there something you still need to do, Andy?”
“I don’t know,” he paused for a moment and then looked up at Eloise, “Can I see my mom?”<
br />
Eloise nodded. “Sure, you just wait here for me – I’ll go get your mom.”
Eloise drove her silver SUV to the house that bore the address that was filed with the Missing Children report. The paint on the door was old and chipped and the front porch had seen better days. But there were several pots of bright flowers arranged on the stairs and on a faded rattan table next to the door. For some reason this neighborhood had been spared the ravages of the storm, at least the physical ravages.
Eloise walked up the path and saw a tricycle leaning on its side in the front yard.
Andy’s bike, she thought immediately, and then had to take a deep cleansing breath to calm her emotions.
I won’t do her any good if I let my emotions overwhelm me, she silently chided herself.
Walking past the bike, she deliberately looked away from the flowers to the peep hole in the door.
She knocked three times - brusquely.
A dog barked. She could hear the clack of paws against the floor as he rushed to the door. She heard the voice of a woman, hushing the dog. Then the door opened.
Damn, she had his eyes.
Eloise took a quick deep breath. “Mrs. Dahm, Mrs. Nancy Dahm?”
The woman nodded. She was dressed in faded denim capris and an over-sized t-shirt. Her blonde hair was thin and pulled back in a ponytail. She wore no make-up on her face, just a scattering of freckles across her nose. Her eyes were tired.
“Hello, I’m Eloise Parker from the PRCD,” she said.
At first Nancy looked confused – not an unusual response when the initials of the governmental agency were mentioned. But then her eyes widened with fear.
“Andy?”
Nancy looked out beyond Eloise and searched the porch and walkway with her eyes. Then she turned back to Eloise.
“Is this about Andy?”
“If I could come in for a moment?” Eloise asked softly.
Realization appeared in her face as her eyes filled with tears and she crumpled against the door frame. She slowly slid down the side of the door until she was on her knees in the doorway sobbing. Eloise knelt down next to her and clasped her hands.
Nancy lifted her face – tears still streaming from reddened eyes.
“Did you find his body?”
Eloise shook her head. “No, it was swept out to sea.”
Sadness turned to hope which turned to anger. She pulled her hands out of Eloise’s grasp.
“Who the hell do you think you are, coming to me like this?” she swatted at Eloise’s hands, “Coming to my house, telling me my baby is dead and you ain’t got no proof. What is this? Who are you? What the hell kind of person are you?”
Eloise took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. “Andy, your son, hasn’t gone over to the other side,” Eloise explained, tears burning behind her eyes, “He’s still at the beach. He wants to see you before he leaves.”
Nancy shook her head, not wanting to believe. Tears silently streaming down her cheeks. “No,” she whispered, “I don’t believe you.”
“He saw you,” Eloise said, “He saw you going to the beach and calling his name over and over again. He said he tried to pull on your shirt …”
Eloise’s voice cracked slightly and the tears gathered in her eyes. She took a deep breath. “But he said you couldn’t see him.”
Nancy sobbed aloud, reaching down to fondle the corner of her faded cotton shirt.
“I felt him. I felt his touch,” she whispered through her tears.
Eloise nodded and smiled weakly. “I’m glad you could feel him.”
Nancy looked up at Eloise once again; confusion and trust warred in her eyes. “Who are you?”
“My name is Eloise Parker and I work for a government agency called the
Paranormal Research and Containment Division or PRCD,” she explained, in her government trained voice, “When there are large disasters we are called in to locate paranormal entities and help them transfer to another dimension.”
Nancy nodded.
“You help dead people find heaven.”
Eloise smiled and this time it touched her heart.
“Yes. Yes I do.”
Nancy smiled sadly, her breath caught for a moment and then she asked, “Can you tell me about Andy?”
“Andy was playing on the beach. When the storm came he climbed his favorite tree, hoping to ride it out, but the flood surge overcame him and he was drowned.”
Tears filled her eyes once again and Eloise took her hands.
“He was playing in the sand when I found him,” she said with a smile, “Making a sandcastle. He was so bright and full of joy.
“When I asked him to recall the experience – all he could remember was seeing the wave,” she said, “He died so quickly, he didn’t even realize that he was dead.”
Nancy shook slightly and quietly sobbed.
“He was making a sandcastle at the bend of the beach, just north of High Street,” she said, “He’s waiting for you there.”
Nancy stood immediately, gratitude shining from her eyes.
“Come on,” Eloise said, “I can drive.”
The beach was only minutes away from the house. Nancy and Eloise walked through the debris to where the solitary sandcastle stood. Eloise saw Andy jump up and run to them as they got closer. He wrapped his arms around his mother’s waist and held tight.
“Andy?” Nancy asked.
“He’s here,” Eloise said, “His arms are around your waist.”
Nancy nodded and wiped away a few stray tears. “I can feel him.”
“Mom, I’m sorry I didn’t come home when I should have.”
“Andy’s sorry that he didn’t come home,” Eloise said.
Nancy looked down and smiled. “You were always the best boy in the whole wide world,” she whispered, “Why should you have anything to be sorry about? The storm wasn’t your fault.”
Andy smiled and hugged her tighter.
“Andy,” Eloise asked, “Do you have any family who already live in Heaven?”
“Yeah, my Grannie and Grandpa – they went to live with God last year.”
“Well, then living with God won’t be so bad – you get to see your Grannie and Grandpa again.”
Andy shook his head. “But I’m gonna miss my mom.”
Eloise turned to Nancy. “Andy’s about ready to go, but he says that he’s going to miss you.”
Nancy took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You won’t miss me Andy, because I’ll always be with you and you will always be with me. We’ll be in each other’s hearts.”
Andy nodded, but his grip tightened.
“Andy, I can feel you holding on to me,” Nancy whispered, “But you need to listen to this nice lady. You need to move on and someday, I promise, I’ll be there with you.”
Slowly Andy loosened his grip and stepped away from his mother.
“Okay, Andy, here’s what I need you to do,” Eloise explained, “I need you to look around you and you’ll see a really bright light.”
Andy turned around in a slow circle. Then he stopped and smiled.
“Do you see it?” Eloise asked.
Andy nodded happily.
“What else do you see?”
“I see Grannie and Grandpa waving at me,” he laughed, “They can see me!”
Eloise wiped away a few of her tears.
“Yes. Yes they can. And they want you to come to them. Can you do that Andy?” she asked.
Andy turned to her, suddenly serious, “What about my mom?”
“I’ll talk to her and let her know that you’ll be with your Grannie and Grandpa.”
Andy smiled. “Okay, then she won’t be worried.”
“That’s right, she’ll know you are safe and loved and where you are supposed to be.”
“Tell her I love her,” he said, “Promise.”
Eloise held her right hand up and made a cross over her heart. “Cross my heart promise.”
; Andy smiled. “Bye, Eloise.”
Eloise watched him walk along the beach until his body faded from her sight.
“Bye Andy.”
“He ran to his grandparents, into their arms, they were waiting for him” Eloise explained, “But first he made me promise that I would tell you that he loved you. I had to cross my heart promise.”
Nancy released a chuckle between her tears. “I can just hear him saying that.”
She looked up at Eloise and wiped at her tears. “Thank you for helping him. I know he’s safe now.”
Eloise smiled and stood. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
Nancy shook her head. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just sit here at the beach for a little while.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
Eloise walked along the beach towards the SUV. The lonely crash of the surf against the beach seemed especially appropriate just then. She wiped the remaining tears from her face and once again clicked on the walkie-talkie. “Subject sent forward. EP. Out.”
She really hated this part of her job. She knew that when she sent someone forward they were going to a better place, surrounded by loved ones. At least, that’s what most of her subjects told her. But on the other side, she had just sent Andy’s mom into a journey of grief that might last a lifetime.
Eloise hopped into her truck, grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. “She had faith,” she thought to herself, “It’s so much easier when they have faith.”
She allowed herself to recall the time, six months ago, when she stood on another beach – far away from the place she was standing now.
The sun was beginning to set and the beauty of it slipping into the Pacific Ocean was almost too much to bear. She wiped the sweat from the back of her neck and stretched her too tense and too tired body as she let herself enjoy the view. Almost as soon as she relaxed, the audio monitor on her meter started to beep urgently. She looked down at the meter – it was registering over 1500 mG of electro-magnetic impulse. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. He was standing less than a yard away, as different from her as night from day. Unlike her six-foot slender frame, his body was short and solid. Strands of her long auburn hair had escaped its severe bun and whipped in the wind, but his short grey hair seemed unaffected by the weather. She wore a military issue light blue shirt and tailored pants and his loose-woven calf-length pants and tunic shirt were rough and poorly tailored. She wore shiny black military issued oxfords, he was barefoot. But he was also looking out to sea – looking out to the sunset on the horizon. She slowly turned, amazed that he remained standing so near.