by Megan Atwood
When they got to the bar, Todd greeted them at the door and let them in. All the lights were on. Jackson took in the decor. Wood paneling everywhere, except behind the bar itself, which had a huge mirror that looked way too fancy for the rest of the place, and shelves with tons of liquor and glasses. The carpet was red and at one time probably really bright, but the color had faded to a muddy brown in many spots. Wooden booths snuggled against the walls, and vintage advertising signs hung between windows.
Nothing fancy or pretentious about this place, Jackson thought. He immediately liked it.
Jinx was frowning, though. Jackson nudged her. “What?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know...”
Todd had been putting their stuff in the corner and came back around. He looked at Jinx, and she smiled.
Jackson did a double-take. She smiled! And it didn’t even seem sarcastic! What was going on?
Todd asked, “Is there something wrong?”
In a move Jackson hadn’t seen since middle school, Jinx smoothed her hair behind her ears. She shook her head. “It’s just...I don’t feel anything, you know?”
Todd’s eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, actually, I do. It feels different in here tonight. And nothing weird happened. I don’t get it.”
Jackson poked his head through the strangely small gap between Todd and Jinx. “Maybe he knew we were coming?”
Todd laughed. “Yeah. Maybe.”
Jinx, though, had become all business. “OK, I’m setting up the video cameras here and here.” She pointed at the front of the bar and the open door to the basement. “If I had the infrared camera...” She sighed. “Anyway, Jackson and I will sweep the area with the EMF and EVP about every hour. We’ll also talk and see if we can’t get a reaction from the ghost.”
She bit her lip and paused. “You don’t have to stay here, actually, if you don’t want to.” Jackson thought her expression looked a little too hopeful.
“Are you sure?” Todd said. “I don’t want to bail on you or anything. But, truthfully, I could use some sleep. My brother’s out of town, and we’ve been sharing a room—I think I could actually sleep the whole night without him coming in at odd hours.”
Jackson looked at his watch. “It’s two a.m. He comes home later than this?”
Todd nodded glumly. “He...well, he has stuff he needs to do, I guess.”
Jinx stared at Todd with sympathy. “Well, I don’t think you’re pulling a hoax, so go home and sleep. We’ll report to you in the morning.”
Todd’s relief was palpable. He gathered up his stuff. “OK, sounds good. I hope something happens...but not something bad. Thanks again for doing this for me.”
Jinx gave him a big smile. “No problem!” Then she seemed to catch herself and said, “And anyway, you’ll be returning the favor on our website.” She cleared her throat and looked down at her EVP monitor for the thousandth time.
Todd nodded and waved. “See you tomorrow.”
Jackson thought Jinx stared at his back awfully hard as he left.
J
inx woke up with a start. Drool ran down her chin, and she wiped it off and snuggled deeper in her sleeping bag. The smell of stale beer wafted all around her. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Sleeping on a bar floor? Even worse than camping, she decided.
A gray light lit up the room, and for a moment Jinx thought it looked otherworldly. She grabbed the EMF monitor and pointed it around. Then she realized it was just the usual glow that appeared before dawn. She set down the EMF monitor in disappointment and checked the clock on her phone. Six-thirty. And not a single thing had happened in the bar. Nothing even slightly paranormal. Not even a mischievous laugh.
She glanced over at Jackson, who was sleeping on his back, his mouth hanging open. She laughed a little to herself—he’d slept that way since he was six. Then she rolled onto her own back and thought about the night.
About how nothing had happened.
Was Todd lying? Jinx tried to figure out why he would, but she couldn’t come up with anything. From what he’d said, other people had even seen and heard things. Could it be a case of mass craziness? Maybe they had all just talked themselves into it. Or maybe Todd just made the whole thing up. Or maybe Todd’s parents were spooking people to get the bar some more attention. Though that didn’t make much sense, since they were losing patrons...Jinx just couldn’t think of a reason anyone would make up this kind of haunting.
She got up and squatted down beside Jackson. She said in her loudest voice, “Jackson.”
He sat up so fast she fell over on her butt. But she would have fallen anyway, she was laughing so hard. Jackson looked around, wild-eyed and bewildered. His hair stuck straight up in the front and was smooshed flat in the back.
After Jackson seemed to get his bearings, he flipped the sleeping bag off of his legs and stood up.
“Oh, real funny, Jinx. You could have given me a heart attack.”
Jinx stood up too. Wiping her eyes, she said, “Yeah, well then at least something would have happened tonight.”
Jackson yawned and stretched. “Nothing on the equipment?”
Jinx was already packing up the cameras. “I’ll check tonight, but I’m pretty sure there was not a thing.”
Jackson yawned again and shook his head. He started rolling up his sleeping bag.
“So, can you think of any reason Todd would lie to us about this stuff?” Jinx said carefully. After their fight about Jinx not trusting anyone, even Jackson, she knew he was sensitive to any sign that she was up to her old habits. But a puzzled look crossed Jackson’s face. He shook his head. “I can’t think of any reason why he would.”
He actually thought about it, instead of trusting blindly, Jinx thought. Maybe by our one hundredth case, the two of us will combine to make a normal person.
Jinx twisted her lip. “Yeah, I can’t think of any reason either. But I think it’s time for some reconnaissance.”
Jackson folded up the cameras and stuffed them in their bags. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” said Jinx, “we need to get the names and locations of the bar patrons who have heard things and ask them about it. See if this is something that people are talking themselves into.”
Jackson nodded slowly. “Yeah, that might be a good idea. What about the glasses shattering and Michael’s black eyes, though? That can’t be people making it up.”
Jinx shook her head. “I’m not sure. I just know that something is up here, and we need to find out what it is.”
Jackson gathered up his gear and put it on his back. Walking out, he started ruffling Jinx’s hair. She ducked, almost hitting the doorframe, and swatted his hand away.
Jackson chuckled. “Well, whatever’s up, Veronica Mars, we’ll get to the bottom of it. But first, let’s get breakfast. Not being scared out of my dome makes me hungry, I guess.”
Jinx smiled. Breathing made Jackson hungry, but breakfast was a good idea anyway.
P
ete, the club-soda drinker, was pretty burly, it turned out. So was his wife, Beth. But both were the nicest people Jinx had ever met. She sat on the sofa and sipped her tea awkwardly. She hated going into strange people’s houses and making small talk. She could feel Jackson grinning at her discomfort. It was totally unfair—getting along with people was so easy for Jackson. She purposefully spilled a little tea on his pant leg.
“So, what brings you here again?” Beth asked. “Not that we mind. We never had any children ourselves, so we love getting visits from young people.” She smiled, and her whole face lit up. Jinx couldn’t help but smile back.
She cleared her throat and said, “Well, we heard that a while back at the Black Eagle, when Pete was taking a—”
Jackson cut her off and said, “We heard that some strange things have happened to you at the Black Eagle Tavern. Is that true?”
“You bet it’s true,” Pete said. “Even my Bethy here had a little experience. We never told anyone, but she came in to s
ee me at the bar. While she was waiting, this glass moved right on its own and smashed into the floor.”
Beth chimed in. “Scared me to death! I almost hightailed it outta there, but I couldn’t leave my Pete. Besides, I thought it was just John playing tricks. Only, he never actually smashed a glass before. That worried me, truth be told.” She put her hand on Pete’s arm and patted it. He covered her hand with his and squeezed.
Any more of this and I’m going to get a cavity, Jinx thought. As if reading her mind, Jackson nudged her again.
“You don’t think that...well, you don’t think that something else could explain these things besides a ghost...I mean, um, John?” Jinx asked.
Pete said, “Nope. The Black Eagle has always been haunted. But John has always been friendly. It’s always felt downright homey in there, and John was a part of that. But this new feeling in there is...well, it’s a dangerous feeling. Something mean. I’ve never felt that before in there.”
Beth looked angry for a second. “I mean, really. Whoever would try to hurt me and Pete? We never hurt anyone! We don’t deserve that sort of thing. Though God knows most people don’t.”
Jinx agreed, about Pete and Beth at least. Despite herself, she was really starting to like these people.
“When did it start feeling dangerous in there?” Jackson asked.
Beth and Pete looked at each other again. Beth sniffed. “Well, listen. I’m a good, churchgoing woman, and I don’t like to gossip.”
There was a heavy pause in the room as she refrained from gossiping. Jinx counted to three in her head, and sure enough, Beth continued. In Jinx’s experience, people who said they didn’t like to gossip were always the best gossipers around.
“But if you ask me,” Beth said, “it’s when that brother of his came back to town. Now mind, it didn’t happen right away. But right after Todd and Devon started fighting—”
Jinx interrupted, “Todd and Devon fight a lot?”
Pete laughed hard. “Like two roosters in a barnyard.” Having never been to a farm, Jinx guessed that meant fairly often.
“But only since Devon moved back,” Beth continued. “Those two used to be inseparable. Now they can’t seem to stay in the same room together for more than ten minutes.”
Jinx took a sip of her now-cold tea. “What do they fight about?”
Beth glanced downward. “That’s a private matter, surely,” she said.
Jackson leaned forward and said, softly, “But if they’re fighting in public, it can’t be that private, can it?”
Jinx could have kissed him. She’d had no idea how to counter what Beth said. But Jackson could be a genius with that sort of thing. Somehow, Jinx’s mind wandered off into thinking about Todd. Imaginary Todd, leaning down to kiss her after she’d saved him from some flying glassware—and then Jackson’s face popped up in place of Todd’s. She snapped out of it. What was happening to her?
“—with needles everywhere.” Beth finished up.
Jinx had missed the whole explanation. Jackson looked at her curiously. “So this is pretty new, huh?” he asked Beth.
Pete nodded. “Oh yeah. Devon was the varsity quarterback, just like Todd. And he got a scholarship to Portland State. He blew his knee, though, last semester. Lost his scholarship. He came home to make some money. But he can’t keep it. Not with the problem he has.”
Jinx was a little lost. What problem had she missed?
Jackson sighed. “It’s just sad to see something like that. Well, I think we should get going. We want to talk to the busboy, Michael, too.”
Beth’s eyes sparkled. “Tell him hi from me!”
Pete guffawed. “The missus here thinks he’s mighty fine-looking. Mangy little kid, if you ask me.”
Both Beth and Pete chuckled together, and soon they had Jackson and Jinx laughing too. They walked to the door, and Beth enveloped them both in hugs. “Don’t be strangers, now!”
They walked out the door and into the light.
“A drug problem?” Jinx said again.
“For the millionth time, yes,” Jackson sighed. “You really need to listen to people when they talk.”
“What?” Jinx replied. “OK, so let me get this straight. Devon is a big deal in high school, goes to Portland State on a scholarship, blows out his knee, and then gets addicted to painkillers?”
Jackson nodded. “It’s so sad. I’d forgotten, but I’d read about Devon in the paper. PSU was thinking of starting him as a freshman.”
He looked at Jinx expectantly. She said, “And that’s a big deal?”
“Yes that’s a big deal!”
“OK, OK. I’m not a meathead like you.”
Jackson smiled. Jinx went on, “So, this starts when Devon comes back, but only after Devon and Todd start fighting. Maybe it’s not a ghost at all. Maybe it’s a poltergeist instead.”
Jackson looked puzzled. “Explain the difference to me again?”
Jinx put on her best teacher voice. “OK, a poltergeist is just bad energy that gets manifested from someone going through a rocky emotional time. Like, for instance, two brothers, who have been close, fighting because one of them has a drug problem.” She looked at Jackson, eyebrows raised, and then went on. “But a haunting is by a spirit that hasn’t moved on to the light. This Black Eagle situation totally sounds like a poltergeist.”
Jackson looked out at the sky, thinking about the new theory. Then he added, “But people say the bar has been haunted for years. And what about your research?”
“Well, all I’d heard about this haunting before this is that people got a ‘good feeling.’ There’s no supernatural force behind positive vibes—I feel good when I go to Voodoo Donut, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s haunted.” She paused for a second and twisted her lip. “Although, supposedly, these things happen during puberty, not this late.”
Jackson frowned. “Yeah, a lot of this isn’t adding up. Let’s talk to Michael. Maybe he can shed some light on things.”
Jinx smiled. “Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint Beth. We did say we’d say hi to him.”
Jackson grinned back.
E
ven Jackson admitted to himself that Michael was good-looking. But good-looking or not, Michael looked like every other biking Portlandian—beard, flannel shirt, and one pant leg folded up.
“Beth says hi,” Jackson said after they had introduced themselves. They’d met Michael at a bike-repair place slash coffee shop. He sat outside on the patio, tinkering with his fixed gear.
Jinx moved the straw around in her ridiculously huge coffee drink, pushing it through the mountain of whipped cream on top. She tried to catch the straw with her mouth, but it traveled away along the edge of the cup. Jackson had a hard time not laughing.
Michael rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Beth has a fake crush on me, I guess. But she’s cool.”
Jackson took a drink of his coffee. Decaffeinated, so he wouldn’t be bouncing off the walls afterward. He tried not to get annoyed that Michael hadn’t stopped swapping out bike parts.
“So, you stopped working at the Black Eagle because of things...happening?” Jackson asked.
Michael put his wrench down and stared at Jinx and Jackson. “You bet I did. I swear, I almost got killed in that basement one night.”
Jinx leaned forward with a smear of whipped cream on her upper lip. “So what exactly happened, then?”
Michael sat up in his chair. “There were a lot of things that happened, at least lately. But the clincher for me was about a week ago.”
Jackson leaned forward too.
Michael went on, “I felt bad about quitting because my uncle was doing me a favor, but this was too much.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “I went downstairs like usual to get some beer. We always run out on Fridays because that’s when some of the college kids come in. Anyway, I’m in the basement, looking for the beer, when the cooler door shuts.”
“You were stuck in the cooler?” Jackson asked.
Michael
nodded, and Jinx let out a huff of air, scattering specs of whipped cream on the sidewalk. “And I bet there’s no handle on the inside,” she said.
Michael nodded again, solemnly. “Yeah, I was stuck. And freaked out because I was already freezing and I had short sleeves on. Then stuff started flying. I got another black eye when a bag of fries smashed right into my face.”
“Just like that? Things started to fly?” Jackson asked. Jinx slurped up a huge gulp of iced mocha.
Michael nodded. “Yeah, it was the worst it had ever been. And I kept yelling, trying to get someone to let me out, but Devon and Todd were yelling so loud at each other upstairs that it took them a while to hear me. I was totally trapped.”
Jackson shivered.
“After about ten minutes, a case of beer came flying off the shelf and hit me in the head,” Michael continued. “It knocked me out. The next thing I knew, some paramedics were standing over me, holding ice bags. I was covered with a blanket. It was scary, man.”
Jinx seemed lost in thought. “Devon and Todd were fighting? You could hear them upstairs?”
Michael nodded. “You could’ve heard them on Mars. When don’t they fight lately?”
Jinx looked at Jackson and mouthed, “poltergeist.” But Jackson still wasn’t convinced. “When other bad things have happened to you, were Todd and Devon around?”
“Now that I think about it, yes,” Michael said.
Jinx looked at Jackson knowingly. “And before Devon came back, were there other weird incidents?”
Michael nodded. Jinx looked surprised, and Jackson smiled to himself. Jinx wasn’t used to not being right.