Magic & Mystery

by Sara Bourgeois

  “Sammy.” A familiar voice whispered. “Sammy wake up.”

  It was John.

  “John.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  “Riley called me. I’ve been driving around looking for you for hours.” He said and sat down on the bench next to me.

  Instinctively, I leaned against him and put my head on his shoulder. He turned and kissed the top of my head and put his hand over mine. I started to cry.

  “Do you know how much it’s going to cost me to replace all of those windows.” I have no idea why that was the thing that made me cry.

  “Your windows are fine, Sammy.” He said and gave my hand a squeeze.

  “What?”

  “Riley told me what happened, but when I went to your house looking for you, the windows were fine.” He said calmly.

  I looked at my arms. They were covered with tiny cuts from the glass.

  “I didn’t do this to myself,” I said as I shook my head.

  “Shhh.” He soothed. “I know. Riley told me what happened at her house. No one doubts you, Sammy.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on anymore,” I said and cried harder.

  “I don’t know either, but I know you should have come to me. You can always come to me, and I’ll protect you.” He said firmly.

  “You’re not my boyfriend.”

  “I’m not going to fight with you right now, Sammy.” He said and put his arm around me.

  My first thought was to push him away and run. First, because I couldn’t let myself fall for him right now. Second, because I didn’t want the entity coming after John.

  Instead, I leaned into him and let him hold me for a little while. Just a little while wouldn’t hurt anyone. I needed a few minutes of comfort and security.

  I let John take me back to his apartment. He’d said there was no way I was going back to that house until we figured out what was going on and what we’d do about it.

  John made me soup and gave me a clean pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt so I could shower. He threw my scrubs into the washing machine in the hallway. I figured it would be fine to stay at his place for a while. The ghost would follow me here, but John had to go to a couple of classes that day. He’d wanted to stay with me, but he had two courses where missing a class wasn’t an option. I told him to go, and that I’d call if there was an emergency. He said he’d leave his phone on.

  When he was gone to school, I called the exterminator. I had to know what he’d seen that day. I needed him to tell me why he’d run out of my house so fast.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Hey, Bob,” I said as cheerfully as possible. “This is Samantha Hainsley. You inspected my apartment the other day. I live in the house that’s split in two on Overwatch.”

  “Oh yeah. I remember you.” He said enthusiastically. “What can I do you for?”

  Ugh.

  “I was wondering if you could meet me for coffee?” I said sweetly.

  “Sure. I’ve got a light morning. Can you meet me at 11?” He asked.

  We decided on a place and I tried to figure out what I was going to wear. I really didn’t want to go meet him in a pair of oversized sweatpants. Fortunately, I found a gift bag in the back of John’s closet that contained one pair of skinny jeans.

  I chuckled as I pulled them out of the bag. Whoever bought the pants for John didn’t seem to know him that well. Either that or it had been a well-meaning relative that bought them because they were trendy.

  It didn’t matter. They fit me okay, and I only had to roll them at the bottom a little bit because they were several inches too short for him. It was almost as if John had a relative who thought he was into women’s clothes.

  The old, black concert t-shirt that John had given me was excellent, and my laundry was done. So, I had clean underthings to wear too. That may seem trivial, but given the time I’d been having, it improved my day considerably.

  A clicking and scraping sound came from under John’s bed, but I ignored it and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. Before I left, I went into the kitchen to grab a drink of water. The sound of nails being dragged down the kitchen window almost made me look. Instead of indulging my paranormal stalker, I turned and left the apartment.

  John had given me a spare key before he left for school, and I was able to lock the place up. I added it to my keychain because when this was all over, I wasn’t sure if I’d be giving it back. He might just be stuck with me for the long haul, but that was too much hope for the present time. I had to push those thoughts back until the ordeal was actually over.

  The coffee shop wasn’t busy. It was in between the morning rush and after school rush. I spotted Bob sitting at a table when I walked in and waved.

  He made no move to get up, so I went to the counter to get my drink. Five minutes later I had a caramel macchiato, and I plopped down in a seat across from Bob, the exterminator.

  “So, what brings you here?” He asked with a weird, hard to decipher smile on his face.

  “I wanted to talk to you about the day you came over to inspect my apartment.”

  “Oh.” He said with a tinge of disappointment, and his shoulder slumped. What was that all about?

  “Yeah. You left in a hurry that day. I was hoping that you could tell me why.” I asked. “Why did you leave the way you did?”

  “Is that the only reason you asked me to come for coffee?”

  “Yeah. Why else would I have asked you to meet?” I was confused.

  “I thought you were, you know, interested.”

  “I am interested in finding out what made you leave my house in such a hurry,” I said feeling a bit annoyed.

  “I mean interested in me,” Bob said and took a big swig of his black coffee.

  “No, Bob.” I couldn’t believe he thought that, and I seriously did not want to have to deal with his weirdo fantasies right now. “I just wanted to know why you left that day.”

  He stood up. “This is ridiculous. You led me on.”

  “What?” This dude was off his rocker.

  “You’re using me for free coffee.” He said as his face turned bright red. “Typical woman.”

  “Bob, I paid for my own coffee.”

  “Whatever. I have better things to do than play head games with college girls.” He said and pushed his chair in so hard it shook the table. “I’m outa here.”

  “Wait, Bob. You still haven’t told me why you practically ran out of my apartment that day.”

  “It’s none of your business, little missy, but I had to take a dump, and it’s against my policy to use client’s facilities.”

  “Oh.”

  “Happy now?” He stormed out of the coffee shop.

  I wasn’t happy, but what was I going to do? I’d hoped that Bob could shed some light on my situation, but all he’d done was creep me out.

  It was going to be a couple of hours before John got home, and I didn’t want to be alone. Wherever I went, the entity would follow. The way I saw it, my only choice was to stay in public.

  I didn’t have my laptop, but I needed to email my professors and make an excuse for my absence. Going to the school wasn’t an option because someone might see me. So, I decided to go to the library and use a computer there.

  When John got home, I’d be able to go back to his place, grab my scrubs, and go to work. After that, I had no idea what I would do. No place felt safe. I was living in limbo.

  Chapter Twelve

  My shift at work was so quiet that I’d tricked myself into believing that everything could’ve been okay. Perhaps I’d just imagined all of it. Maybe my mind was just unstable while I’d been withdrawing from alcohol. People are excellent at convincing themselves of things that are flat out untrue, and I was no exception.

  Towards the end of my shift, Susan said that we needed to restock the supply closet on our floor. Apparently, the day shift usually does the job because there are more nurses on shift, but there had been an incident tha
t day. When she’d come on shift, she told the day nurses to go because we could handle it.

  “You’re going to have to take a cart down to the basement. Here’s a list.” She handed me a sheet of computer paper with items and amounts listed on it. “When you get off the elevator, take a right. Don’t take a left or you’ll end up in the morgue.”

  “There’s a morgue here?”

  “Well, it’s more like a temporary body storage area. When people die here, we keep them down there until other arrangements can be made. I don’t think there’s anybody in there right now, but you should still avoid it. It’s creepy as all get out.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” I said, and I meant it because I’d had enough dealings with the dead lately.

  “The nurse who trained me told me the body storage was the supply closet on my first night here. She let me walk right in. I didn’t think it was funny.” Susan said seriously. “Now that I’m in charge, I don’t allow shenanigans like that on my watch.”

  “I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

  “God speed.” She said and gave me a wave.

  My stomach turned as the elevator descended to the basement, but I took a deep breath and willed my anxiety away. Working the evening shift in a mental hospital required grit so I wouldn’t let a short trip to a creepy basement keep me from doing my job.

  As soon as I stepped off the elevator, my mouth went dry. Did Susan say go right or go left? I only had to remember one thing, and I’d completely forgotten it within sixty seconds. I looked down at the paper I held in my hand.

  Go right

  She knew I’d forget. People always say they’ll remember things, don’t write them down, and then forget them. Thankfully, Susan was a great deal kinder than the woman who’d trained her.

  I started to walk towards the supply closet when I heard a banging sound coming from the body storage. It sounded as if something was slamming drawers in there, and I froze. I had to clench my muscles as tight as I could to keep from peeing on myself, and my breathing had been reduced to short, jagged little breaths.

  I began to get light headed, and I almost fainted as the door to the morgue began to vibrate as well. Somehow, I managed to strangle the scream in my throat as the door to the body storage began to slowly creep open.

  “Hello there.” A tall man in blue coveralls said as he stepped through the doorway. “I’m Larry. I’m the janitor on the evening shift.”

  A relieved laugh made its way out of me. “Hello, Larry. I’m Samantha the new night LPN. You scared the dickens out of me.”

  “Sorry. Somebody has to go in there and dust the drawers every once in a while.” He said and pointed over his shoulder.

  “It’s okay. You just startled me is all.”

  “You fillin up the supply closet for Susan? I can help.” He said and smiled at me.

  “That would be great.”

  I didn’t want to go back to my apartment, but even if I was going to stay with John, I needed to go back there and grab a few things. Tut being one of them. I felt terrible for leaving the poor cat behind when I’d just gotten him. John said I could bring the cat to his house, and I’d be taking him up on that offer that very night.

  I was supposed to call him before I went home so he could meet me there, but I loathed the idea of putting a friend in danger again. I wasn’t sure at the time that I could stay at his house either without bringing the entity with me, but it was either that or sleep on the park bench again. Plus, even if I ended up sleeping in the park, Tut had to get out of that house.

  The windows were intact, and the scratches on my arms were so faint that no one at work had even noticed them. Or, maybe they did notice and didn’t say anything.

  There was another possibility too. I’d imagined the whole thing. Maybe I was never at Riley’s apartment, and I was suffering a psychotic break. There’s nothing quite like doubting your own sanity.

  Tut appeared in the front window, and I knew at least that part of the last couple of days had been real. I walked through the front door, and he ran up to me. The ginger kitty began purring and rubbing against my legs to welcome me.

  “I’m so sorry, buddy,” I said and scooped him up in my arms. I won’t leave you again.”

  I nuzzled him and felt grateful for his forgiveness. The stress and tension in my neck and shoulders melted away as I stroked his soft orange fur. Getting a cat had definitely been a good idea.

  Then the scratching started again. This time it came from the hall closet. Tut meowed loudly and jumped down from my arms. He positioned himself in what I could only describe as hunt stance in front of the door.

  “Tut, no.” I realized with horror that the entity hurting Tut would be an excellent way to inflict pain and sorrow on me.

  The scratching persisted, and I stole myself for a confrontation with the malevolent spirit. Things had gone far enough, and I was tired of being afraid.

  “Get back, Tut,” I commanded, but cats aren’t dogs. They don’t listen. “Come on kitty,” I said and picked him up.

  I used my free hand to turn the knob on the coat closet. I didn’t want to pull the door open. This was it, and it was a now or never moment.

  I swung the door open and jumped back. What I found was not what I expected. There at the bottom of the closet was a fuzzy little animal that looked like a giant baked potato covered in short, blonde hair.

  Tut tried to lunge out of my arms at it, but the thing squealed at me. I screamed so loud that Tut jumped out of my arms and scrambled into the kitchen. Protecting me wasn’t high on his list apparently.

  The thing just looked up at me. It grunted and squealed again. I was nearly in tears because I thought it was some sort of mutant rat. I grabbed a box from the shelf, emptied the gloves and hats onto the floor, and covered the beast.

  After I had pulled out my cell phone, I dialed Bob, the exterminator.

  “Change your mind about that date?” He said when he answered the phone.

  “No.” Ewe. “You’re the worst exterminator ever. There is a mutant rat in my closet, and I’ve trapped it. You need to get your completely unprofessional butt over here and take care of this now.”

  “Well, when you put it that way…” He hung up the phone.

  I called him back. “Bob, I will call my Dad, and we will sue you tomorrow morning. My parents are loaded.” I said when he picked up.

  “Lady, you are crazy but fine. I’ll be there in ten.”

  Usually, I would have been horrified with myself for talking to him that way, but it was an emergency. My next call was to John. He was understandably peeved that I’d gone home without him, but he said he was on his way.

  I sat in the hallway staring at the box while I waited for John and Bob. Tut forgave me, again, and joined me in the box watch. I heard footsteps walking from room to room upstairs, but unless a serial killer appeared at the top of the stairs, I was determined to ignore it until Bob or John got there.

  “That’s not a mutant rat.” Bob, the exterminator, said as he bent over and scooped up the animal. “This is a guinea pig. You’re telling me you’ve never seen a guinea pig before?”

  “Well, not in real life. Are you sure that’s what it is?”

  “Yeah, Sammy. That’s a guinea pig.” John said as he came through the front door.

  “Someone must of abandoned it. Or, it might have escaped.” Bob said.

  The little guy gave a delighted squeal as Bob petted its fur. When I wasn’t completely terrified, I had to admit that it was kinda cute. At the time, it was becoming clear to me that I was having some sort of psychological breakdown. The scratching was a pet rodent.

  I began to wonder if everything else was nightmares or some sort of hallucinations. Perhaps I had sleep apnea and didn’t know it. Maybe everything I’d experienced was symptoms of sleep deprivation psychosis. Then, Bob, the exterminator dropped a bomb on me.

  “Sam, could I speak to you in private for a moment?” He asked as he was on hi
s way out the door.

  “Sure,” I said as I watched him hand the guinea pig over to John.

  The little guy chirped and squealed again happily as John scratched him between the ears. I noticed right before I closed the door that Tut had curled up at his feet. The animals knew what a good man John was, and perhaps I’d needed to join them in their sentiment.

  “What’s up, Bob?” I asked when we were out on the front porch.

  “I lied to you earlier. I don’t know why, but I feel bad about it now.”

  “What did you lie about?” I asked and raised an eyebrow.

  “I lied about why I left your house that day. I was afraid to admit what happened to you or to anybody. People would think I’m crazy, and honestly, I didn’t want to think about it anymore.”

  “Tell me, Bob.” I felt a cold dread creeping up my spine when I saw the horrified look in his eyes.

  “I never made it to the other side of the house.” Bob began. “I saw something when I was poking around in the basement.”

  “You were down there for a long time. What did you see? What happened?”

  “I know. I got stuck, I guess. I don’t know how else to describe it. My father was down there in the basement, but Samantha, he’s dead.”

  “You saw your dead father in my basement.”

  “Yeah, and it was so scary. It took me back to being a little kid again. That man was practically the devil. The things he did to his family I won’t go into, but you have to know that if he’s hanging around here, it’s no good.” He started to cry. “I gotta go, Samantha.”

  “Yeah, go ahead. Thanks for telling me the truth, and thanks for coming out in the middle of the night to help.” I felt bad for threatening to sue him earlier.

  I watched him walk back to his truck and drive away. Was it the ghost of Bob’s father in the basement? Or, was it a demon that took on different forms to deceive people?

  I needed to call Cameron.

  Chapter Thirteen