Scouring the entire mansion for one journal? What were they thinking?
Okay, maybe it was a series of journals. That didn’t make it any less impossible to find in a building roughly the size of some of the smaller Texas towns. Even with Carolyn’s assistance and Brink wandering through walls, they’d barely managed to search ten percent of the manor by nightfall. Even though they’d started with the most likely places, the master bedroom, the parlor, the library, there was still no sign of any journal.
Exhausted, Luke slumped down onto the floor, amidst the debris of what at one point had been the second story sunroom, and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand.
“This... is going to take a while,” he moaned.
“I think it’s about time you call it a night,” Carolyn advised. “You’ve been working hard. You’re all exhausted. You can pick things up again in the morning. And besides, you’ve done so much research already. Not finding those journals, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, would it?”
Michael cast a drained and defeated look over at Luke. They’d given Carolyn the same cover story that they’d given everyone else: that they were sticking around for additional research. But after having it repeated back to him so many times, even Luke had to admit it was beginning to sound pretty flimsy. Who busted their tails over an old journal anyway? A journal that, for all they knew, might not even exist?
No one.
There had to be another way to send Sterling packing. And by “packing,” he meant all the way to the hereafter.
It was clear now that Sterling wasn’t in his right mind, and probably hadn’t been since his father died. Why else would he have developed such an unhealthy attachment to a woman whom, at the time, he didn’t even know? Hadn’t anyone had the common sense back then to tell him that his obsession with Joanna was, quite frankly, creepy and unsettling? Or maybe the reason no one had told him as much was because he had no one else. If he’d had no one, no friends or family, then Luke could understand how easy it would be for him to latch himself on to the first person to show him love and kindness. He guessed that person had been Joanna.
Sad as that was, however, it still didn’t justify possessing and threatening to kill Kate.
“I think we need to have a pow-wow,” Luke announced once Carolyn had left the room, leaving him alone with Michael and Sterling. “We’ve been at this all day. Now, we will be happy to continue helping in any way that we can, but Sterling, I know you’ve got to be feeling the strain now. Possessions take a lot of energy, and she’s already gotten away from you once. You’re not doing anyone any favors by holding onto her.”
“What are you saying, Mr. Rainer?” Sterling asked, crossing Kate’s arms.
“I’m saying that it’s time to let her go. We’ve gone above and beyond what anyone else would have done in this case. I promise, we will still try our best to help you, but dude, I’ve got to be honest with you. There is a real chance that we won’t find this book. And if we don’t, I know you don’t want to hurt her. None of this is her fault. It’s not my fault, and it’s not even Mikey’s fault, even though for some reason, you’re trying to make it his fault. You know what it’s like to lose someone you love. You know how much it hurts. I know you’re not going to do that to him. I don’t think you could.”
Sterling blinked. Then, without a word, he stooped down, picked up a stray piece of shattered glass, and dug a deep and jagged gash down Kate’s inner arm.
“NO!” Michael and Luke dove for Sterling at the same time. Luke wrestled the bloody piece of glass out of Sterling’s hand, cutting himself up in the process, while Michael grabbed the wound on Kate’s arm with both hands and tried to stop the bleeding.
“HELP! Carolyn! Emily!” Luke yelled at the top of his lungs. Then he turned on Sterling. “What the hell is the matter with you?!”
“You were wrong,” was all Sterling said before both Carolyn and Emily appeared, looking anxious.
“Luke, what’s the mat - oh my God!” Carolyn exclaimed. “Emily, go and get the first aid kit.” Emily obeyed. “Kate, sweetheart, what happened?”
“She tripped,” Luke answered. He knew Sterling wasn’t going to talk and Michael, he could tell, was too angry to speak. His face had gone absolutely white and his eyes were locked on his bloody hands, still clamped around Kate’s arm. “Cut herself on some glass.”
“Oh, dear. Well, we’ll get some hydrogen peroxide and wrap that up straight away, and then I think you need to get to the hospital. I’m no nurse, but I’m sure she’s going to need stitches.”
“Right. We’ll get her there,” Luke assured her as Emily came scampering back in with the first aid kit. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“You’re welcome,” she murmured. “Do you need any help?”
“I might ask you to help me tape her up,” Luke said. Then, he took Michael’s shoulder and looked at him. “Mikey, I’m going to need you to let her go. She’s going to be okay, do you hear me? She’s okay.”
It took Michael a few moments to react, but slowly, he loosened his grip on her arm. Blood began to flow freely again but, with a hasty decision to forgo hydrogen peroxide, Luke pressed the gauze to the wound. It bled through almost immediately. Quickly, Carolyn handed him another piece while Emily stood by with the medical tape.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, they got the bleeding under control. Most of the color had drained from Kate’s face by that point and Luke knew they needed to get her help as soon as possible. It was only then that he remembered they had no car, and he didn’t want to wait for the time it would take a cab to get there. He figured they would just have to call an ambulance when Carolyn, bless her soul, offered to let them take her car.
As Michael escorted Kate, or Sterling, down the stairs to the car, Carolyn grabbed Luke by the shoulder.
“Your friend is alright, isn’t she? She didn’t seem quite herself,” she said.
“She’ll be fine. I think she just got a little queasy with all the blood,” Luke explained. He wasn’t about to drag anyone else into their mess. “Thanks again, Carolyn.”
And with that, he followed his friends out of the manor and into the cool October air.
~*~
Seven hours and eighteen stitches later, Michael, Luke, and Sterling returned to the manor. Dawn’s early shades were just beginning to streak across the sky and Michael realized that they’d all been awake for almost twenty-four hours. He didn’t know about the others, but he wasn’t sure how much more he had left in him. Luke seemed okay, but not as okay as Sterling, who still appeared ultimately unaffected by anything. Was that how possessions worked? Did the body somehow adapt to the habits of the spirit inhabiting it? Or would the spirit eventually succumb to the needs of the mortal body?
“Well, that was fun,” Luke announced, sounding a lot angrier than Michael had ever heard him. “Did you have a good time, Sterling? Waiting all night in an emergency room for something that could have easily not happened?”
“Luke, calm down,” Michael warned. He was exhausted, he had the world’s worst headache, and most importantly, the last time Luke had decided to provoke Sterling, he’d run a shattered piece of glass down his girlfriend’s arm.
“No, I’m not going to calm down,” Luke snapped. “Sterling, we’ve been busting our asses trying to help you, but thanks to you, we just wasted seven hours for a senseless and stupid injury that could have been spent resting, or at least preserving whatever remains of our energy to help track down Joanna. Now, I care about Kate and I want her safe and unharmed, so rest assured we’re still going to help you. But I need you to know that I am done with you. And the moment we find Joanna and you leave Kate, I hope you go straight to hell.”
Before Sterling or Michael could respond to any of that, Luke stormed up the stairs and vanished into the manor.
Brink appeared immediately.
“Well, someone’s in a good mood,” he noted darkly.
“Anything?” Michael
asked. His friend had stayed behind at the manor to get in a few more hours of searching.
“Nothing. Sorry, man.”
“It’s not your fault,” Michael sighed.
Meanwhile, Sterling had wandered across the yard over to the side of the manor, and stood staring into the distant woods.
“He still won’t leave?” Brink asked.
“No,” Michael murmured. “And I don’t know what it’s going to take, Brink. We’re no closer than when we started out yesterday. I’ve... I’ve never felt this helpless before. If anything happens to her -”
“Hey,” Brink cut him off. “You can’t think like that, okay? She’s going to be fine.”
“Is everything alright?” a new voice interrupted their conversation.
Michael and Brink both turned to see Emily Drake, still dressed in her night shirt and pajama pants, standing on the porch.
“Oh yeah, everything’s fine. I’m just... waiting for Kate.” Even to his own ears, the lie was flimsy.
“I heard the door slam open and I thought something might be wrong,” Emily said.
“Sorry about that. It was Luke. He’s pretty tired. I’ll go tell him to keep it down.”
“No, it’s alright,” Emily said. “Is Kate going to be okay?”
Michael glanced over at Kate, still standing as Sterling with her back to them, the early morning sunlight casting shadows across her shoulders and hair.
“I hope so,” he said.
Emily nodded and turned to go back inside, but then she stopped, turned around, and looked at him.
“Why do you need to find Joanna’s journals?”
“Research,” Michael answered automatically.
“Did he tell you to?”
“No. Luke’s a good guy. Kate and I offered to stay and help him.”
“Not Luke. Him,” Emily said. “Mr. Hall.”
“Why would you think that?” Michael asked.
Emily drew in a deep, shaky breath, and Michael realized with a start that she was trying not to cry.
“Does he have her?” she asked. “Kate... Is she...?”
Michael didn’t know why he was so stunned by the young girl’s perceptiveness. She’d known all along that there was a ghost in the house. She’d even been able to sense his presence in the kitchen that night. But to detect a possession? Luke might start coming around, begging her to join the team.
Michael swallowed the knot in his throat and croaked out, “She’s fine. She’s going to be fine.”
Emily shivered and wrapped her arms around her slim shoulders as tears began to run down her cheeks. “He scares me,” she said, keeping her eyes locked on Kate. “They all scare me, but not like he does. He’s different.”
Michael felt a rush of lightheadedness as he realized what Emily was trying to say.
“Emily... can you...?”
Finally, she looked him in the eye.
“I thought that I was the only one,” she said. “Then I read about you online. And I thought maybe if I met you, if I could talk to you, then I wouldn’t be scared anymore. But I never meant for this to happen.”
By that point, she was openly crying, and Michael wasn’t sure how to comfort her. Careful to keep Kate within his line of vision, he climbed the steps up to the trembling girl on the porch.
“Emily, it’s not your fault,” he told her. “It’s not anyone’s fault, except for his.” It felt odd saying the words, especially since Michael had been blaming himself for Kate’s misfortune for the past twenty-four hours.
“Wait a minute. Are you saying that you can see me too?” Brink asked.
Michael turned, incredulous, and stared at his friend.
“Really? You think now is the best time?”
“I’m sorry, man, but this is exciting! I mean, you’re the only one who’s acknowledged me for years. It’s kind of exciting to have a fresh face to talk to!”
To Michael’s relief, Emily managed a small smile.
“Kate talks to you,” Michael reminded him.
“Yeah, but it’s not the same. She still can’t see me or actually carry on a real conversation,” he argued. “Hi, Emily. I’m Brink.”
“Hi,” Emily replied.
“I don’t scare you, do I? Although, if the answer is yes, I’ll be totally flattered.”
For the first time since Michael had met her, Emily laughed.
“No, you don’t scare me.”
“Drat. I’ve gotta work on that!” Brink pouted.
“How can you possibly work on that? You’re a blond pretty boy with a bad haircut and a cartilage piercing,” Michael teased lightly. “On second thought, that alone should be enough to scare anybody.”
“Shut up, nerd,” Brink grinned. “You know, one day, this whole experience is going to make one hell of a story.”
“A story?” Emily asked.
“Yeah, you know, like with the romance and the manor and you being able to see me and everything -”
“Of course!” Emily exclaimed. Brink looked pretty proud of himself, but Michael got the feeling that she was no longer paying attention to him. She turned back to Michael, her eyes full of more hope than he had ever dreamt he’d find again. “There’s still one place they could be.”
“Where what could be?” Brink asked. Really, Michael was glad to have Brink in his life, but sometimes, he could be thick as a post.
“The journals. I can’t believe we didn’t think of it before. It’s where we stored all the old books that we found, the ones that were still preserved enough to be used for decoration.”
“Where?” Michael asked.
“The Storybook Room.”
Chapter 30
For a guy who’d worked in a library for most of his adult life, Michael was amazed by the sheer quantity of books stored in a single room. The Storybook Room was truly a sight to behold, with books lining every shelf along every wall, the mantle, even nooks below the windowsill. The bed linens and the drapes were the color of old parchment and the only paintings on the walls were paintings of books or quotes.
“Wow,” he marveled. “That’s a lot of books.”
“This is the room where Gavin stayed,” Brink said. Both Michael and Emily turned to look at him. “I spy, remember?”
“I’ve got to be honest,” Luke said, totally unaware of the comments Brink had just made. “I like our chances of finding the journals in here a lot more than I did in any of the other rooms.”
“Sterling, are you sure you don’t remember what her diaries looked like? Color, binding, anything?” Michael asked.
“She used several different ones, always a different color.”
“So that means all of them could be in this room and scattered, or one of them could be in this room and the rest lost to either age or elements,” Luke said.
“Or the garbage man,” Brink muttered.
“Well,” Michael said, rolling up his sleeves and feeling oddly encouraged. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Michael, Luke, and Emily each took a separate wall while Sterling lingered in the middle of the room, watching them. Honestly, Michael thought he could have helped a little. After all, he had a perfectly capable human body to work with now. However, one glance at the fresh sutures in Kate’s arm and he decided to keep his big mouth shut.
About thirty minutes into their endeavor, Carolyn appeared in the doorway and gasped.
“Wha - what do you think you’re doing?”
“Mom, it’s okay!” Emily piped up. “We think the journals are in here.”
“The journals? You mean even after last night you’re still looking for those darn journals?”
“Carolyn, we know how ridiculous this must seem to you, but we promise, we’ll have this entire room picked up just as soon as we find them,” Luke promised.
“Luke, I do appreciate what you and your friends are trying to do, but I think this has gone on long enough. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, but it is ti
me to -”
“I’ve got one!” Emily exclaimed.
Michael glanced up at her, his heart pounding with a strange combination of anxiety and relief.
“Oh no,” Carolyn said sternly as she marched toward her daughter, her hand outreached. “Emily, I know you admire them, but I don’t want you getting involved with this. Let me -”
But quicker than a flash, Sterling flew across the room and planted himself in between mother and daughter.
“You will not touch that journal,” Sterling hissed.
Carolyn looked stunned, and then insulted.
“Young lady, what has gotten into you?” she asked, grabbing Kate by the forearm that wasn’t stitched up.
Sterling glared at her, and Michael suddenly realized the ghost was seeing so much more than the woman who may have mildly offended him by seizing his host’s arm. He was seeing the woman who had invaded his home, taken over his possessions, and who now tried to come between him and his beloved Joanna, and the loathing in his eyes reflected it.
“Mom, no! Don’t touch her! She’s possessed!” Emily cried.
“What?”
“Kate isn’t Kate. Sterling has her. And he’s not going to let her go unless we find Joanna,” Emily explained.
“Emily, listen to yourself! Do you have any idea -”
“Carolyn, with all due respect, we really don’t have time to argue. Now, you can either believe your daughter or not. Either way, we need those journals,” Luke said.
Michael could see that Carolyn was still reluctant to accept what was being said.
“Mrs. Drake, please. We need you to trust us.”
After what seemed like an eternity, Mrs. Drake finally relinquished her hold on Kate’s arm. “Very well,” she murmured, her jaw tight.
Oh well. They didn’t need her approval, just her permission.
Emily dove into the journal immediately and began scanning the pages.
“This must be one of the earlier ones,” she announced. “Before they were married.”
Between Worlds (Cemetery Tours Book 2) Page 22