“But why does this thing want to do anything to her? Because she is in that room?” I didn’t have answers to Ashland’s questions, and I didn’t really believe he was expecting any. We both just needed to talk about it. For all the good it did. He said, “Let’s go eat some breakfast and get out of here for a while. I need to shake this grungy feeling I have.”
“Okay, Ash. Give me five minutes to get dressed.”
I didn’t put a lot of thought into my attire, as Detra Ann would say in her sweetest voice. I looked like a comfortable old chair in my baggy blue jeans and worn USA sweatshirt. I did take the time to brush my hair and brush my teeth, though. At least there was that. We’d decided to skip the breakfast at home; Kate was off for the duration of this investigation, and of course we did not tell her what we were doing. Neither one of us wanted to cook, much less clean up the mess, so we grabbed a drive-through breakfast that was surprisingly tasty and sat in the parking lot eating our unhealthy grub.
“Is it ten o’clock already?” I asked as I pointed to the clock on the dashboard.
“Yep,” Ashland said between sips of his coffee and bites of his biscuit. “You think they’re at the office yet?” I knew exactly who he was talking about—the Gulf Coast Paranormal team.
“I would imagine. It wouldn’t hurt to drive by and check. If they aren’t there, let’s go take a ride out to the boat. Even if we don’t take her out, we can get a few minutes of peace.”
“Sounds like a great idea. Maybe we should go right to the boat?” Ashland flashed a hopeful smile. The Happy Go Lucky 2 was our home away from home. Ashland was a huge boat enthusiast, and although I wasn’t much good in bad weather, I loved sailing around the bay too.
“After we finish what we started, babe. Midas mentioned something about the camera feeds delivering right into their server. I’m anxious to see if they captured anything.” Ashland admitted he was curious too, so we abandoned our halfhearted dreams of escaping the situation and retreating to the boat. “Rain check?”
“You’ve got it.”
We drove two streets over and rode slowly past the Gulf Coast Paranormal office. It was kind of hidden—you wouldn’t really notice it if you didn’t know it was there. I never had before. There was a small black sign out front, but it didn’t have any cheesy ghosts on it or anything that would draw your attention.
“I see Midas’ SUV. Let’s go in, Ash. Maybe we can help with something.”
“Sure,” he said as he parked our car, and together we walked to the office and rang the doorbell. Sierra came to the door and unlocked it with a friendly smile. “Hey, guys. Is everything okay? I heard about your crazy night.”
“We were in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop by.” That was Ashland’s lame excuse, but Sierra didn’t question it.
“Great. I’ll get Midas.” Sierra wore a pair of stylish black pants and a crisp white shirt. Her red lipstick was perfect; for some reason, she reminded me of Detra Ann even though they looked nothing alike and Detra Ann was at least a foot taller. Sierra was a petite woman with eyes that seemed to look right through you. Hmm…that was actually a lot like Detra Ann.
Midas didn’t wait for Sierra to find him. He stepped out of another room, presumably his office, and came straight to the front door. “I didn’t expect to see you two until this evening. Are you okay?” His concern for us was genuine, and that soothed my soul. It was nice that someone cared about us. Neither Ash nor I had living parents. Not that Midas was old enough to be my dad or Ashland’s, but he had that kind of paternal protector thing going on. I glanced around to see if Cassidy was here.
“We’re fine. Just wanted to see if we could help you review the footage. Or whatever you need us to do. We just…I guess we’re just impatient. I hope our coming here isn’t some huge faux pas.”
“No. Not at all. As long as you’re okay. Actually, we were just about to run through the feed. We usually speed up the playback; it’s slow enough for us to catch any movement, so the likelihood that we will miss anything is low, but it is tedious. If you’re really serious, I want you to know what you’re in for.”
Ashland and I said simultaneously, “We’re serious.”
“Great. Why don’t you guys have a seat here at the conference table? Josh is getting everything set up in the back. Sierra, any word on our friends?”
“Jocelyn will be here in a few minutes, but Beverly says they have a prior engagement that she forgot about. They won’t be able to help us.”
“Great.” Midas shook his head. Anyone could see that he wasn’t happy about this news, but he didn’t let that slow him down. “I think we have plenty of paranormal talent to cover everything. I’ve already caught Sierra up on last night’s events…”
“There’s more,” I said as I bit my lip nervously. “I took a sleeping pill hoping to stifle any dreams, but it had the opposite effect even though it doesn’t usually work that way. Jacinta encountered the thing again, but it revealed its true face.”
“Was it Jacques?” Sierra asked quietly.
“No. It’s not him, although he did a good job of mimicking him.”
Cassidy stepped out of Midas’ office and joined us. We could have been twins with her getup. “No sleep for you either?” I asked as she flipped open her sketchbook and handed it to me.
“I slept okay, but I wasn’t alone on my run this morning,” she said as everyone gathered around the picture. It was as horrible as I remembered. “I still can’t shake the feeling that this thing is human. Or once was human. I’m not sure. I’m anxious to see what Sierra picks up tonight.”
“Carrie Jo was just about to tell us who it is. Who is this?” Midas asked, his voice deep and gravelly.
“It’s Nobel Delarosa. I would never have guessed it, not if Jacinta hadn’t shown me, but it is certainly him.”
We all stared at the terrifying creature, with its shiny snakelike skin and narrow red eyes. It lacked a lower body; the arms and chest of the being appeared strong and considerably muscular. And that was no illusion. It was strong, and it wanted us to know exactly how strong it was.
“I’m hearing too much, y’all. Don’t tell me anything else. I’m going back to my office so you guys can talk. I’ll see you two tonight.” With that, Sierra turned on her pointy black heels and left the four of us in the conference room.
“Something I said?” I asked, feeling a little confused.
“Nothing like that. She’s just trying to keep herself open for tonight’s walk. The less she knows, beyond what she’s already heard and read, the more accurate her reading will be. I think you will be amazed at what she picks up.”
Ashland sat in a nearby chair. “Well, we’re here to help. What can we do?” My husband’s face was pale, and his eyes were red. Had he slept at all? I’d been so caught up in my own stuff that I hadn’t thought to ask him.
“I’ll get the feed patched into this monitor. If you see anything, just hit the pause button and write down the time and a description of the activity. Hey, Joshua! You ready?”
The younger man poked his head in and gave us a thumbs-up. “He’s a whiz at this stuff. This is actually a great help, Ashland, Carrie Jo. Thank you. Be right back.”
“No problem,” my husband replied.
Cassidy left too to retrieve some water and notepads for us. I closed her sketchbook and placed it on the table. “What is it, Ashland? Is it the picture? You look like you’re about to throw up.”
“I think it’s the breakfast.”
“Hey, no lies. Remember the rule?”
“There is a little boy with dark hair and dark eyes. He’s following Midas around. I don’t know whether to say anything or not. I know the boy wants to talk to him.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. I wasn’t expecting that. It had been a while since Ashland saw a ghost that shook him up. “Is he…”
“Yeah, he looks pretty awful. And I think I know who he is. Let’s just keep it to ourselves for now, but I will hav
e to tell Midas when we’ve finished at the house.”
“Okay, babe. Sounds like a plan.”
I tried not to stare at the corner of the room where Ashland kept glancing.
“Tell him to go away, babe. Tell him you’ll talk to him later.”
Ashland closed his eyes briefly and opened them just in time for Cassidy’s return. She said, “Let’s get you set up, then.”
Ashland and I reviewed camera footage for the next three hours, but there wasn’t a thing to be seen. Nothing at all. I yawned and began to watch the last half-hour. Ashland hit the pause button, and we both stared at the screen.
One minute there was nothing there. Then the camera went black. When the footage came back, there wasn’t a shot of an empty hallway. There was a woman passing through, moving from our room to Lily’s.
And that woman was Calpurnia Cottonwood.
Chapter Eighteen—Sierra
“I spoke to Aaron this afternoon. He sounds good. He didn’t say he was coming back, but I got the impression that he would be returning to work with us soon. I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Joshua pulled his hat down on his head as he turned the Gulf Coast Paranormal van onto the road.
“Really? Why?” I asked halfheartedly as the van tooled down the narrow Mobile street. I did not really want to be having this conversation right now. I didn’t want to talk at all, but Joshua was nervous and that’s what Joshua did when he was nervous. He talked nonstop. And as his loving and supportive wife, I resisted the urge to retreat into my psychic shell and ignore him.
“I think—and I don’t mean this as a criticism—but I think that Aaron is a bit too tuned in.”
“You really think so?” Now he had my interest. Why would he say such a thing about Aaron? “If he’s too tuned in, what does that make me, Joshua?”
He flashed that goofy grin at me and said, “I have seen you in action, Sierra Kay. You know how to connect without putting yourself in danger. You are a psychic dynamo.” It was hard to stay mad at him with that ridiculous smile on his face.
“Your confidence is appreciated, but don’t print that certificate yet. I’m not sure how I will do tonight. My mind is just one big jumble of images, and just my brief time there last night has put a chill in me. I can’t quite explain it.”
Joshua didn’t address my fears but said, “I can’t believe that Beverly and Leeland refuse to come back. If they think Midas is ever going to invite them back to any investigation, I would say they are sadly mistaken.”
“Those two were out of their league with that place. Heck, I am too. But I’m not unhappy about them excusing themselves. There is something about those two that I don’t care for. And it’s not professional jealousy. There’s something else.” I bit the inside of my lip as I tried to figure out exactly what it was I meant. “This might sound a bit farfetched, but I believe that the house didn’t like them. I don’t think it wanted them to come inside. And practically speaking, they would’ve been more of a distraction than a help. You know what?”
“I’m all ears, Sierra. What?”
“Never mind. We’re here now. We can talk about them later.” The van came to a complete stop, and we sat in front of the restored antebellum home in silence. Joshua dug a pack of gum out of his pocket and offered me a piece. I shook my head.
“You remember the safe word, right?”
“I don’t think a safe word is for this, Joshua. I thought that was for sex stuff.”
“We can use it for that too,” he said as I rolled my eyes.
“You’re going to be right there with me. We don’t need a safe word.”
“Just play along and make me happy. Now tell me what the safe word is or you are not getting out of this van.”
No way could Joshua force me to stay in the van if I didn’t want to, but I was ready to get this investigation started and not spend all my time arguing with him. “It’s Mississippi.”
“Perfect.”
We carried a few items into the house, but most everything we needed was already there. It was 6 o’clock, so we were a few hours earlier than when we normally began our investigations, but this was a unique case. I squeezed Joshua’s hand and he squeezed mine back as we made our way to our temporary headquarters. We were the last to arrive; Jocelyn rode with Midas and Cassidy. Everyone got quiet and settled in the Blue Room to allow me the freedom I needed to begin my walk-through uninterrupted. I might be too compromised to pick up anything useful, but I have to try. Joshua went with me with his handheld camera. I thought it might be a tad bit too much having all of these cameras trained on me, but having Joshua follow me around did bring me a bit of comfort. My husband was usually pretty good at staying out of the way during my walks. I’d really just started to understand the full extent of my gifts in the past few months. They had always been there, but I had not always given myself the freedom to exercise them.
Boy, were those days long gone.
As soon as we stepped into the hallway, I immediately began to pick up activity. There was a little boy with brown eyes and dark hair. He liked to run around the bottom floor and also went outside. He especially liked the Rose Garden.
“There is a little boy. He likes this floor and the garden. He never goes upstairs; he’s been up there before but doesn’t care for the people up there.”
To my surprise, Joshua asked me a question, “The living people?”
“No. The dead people. He doesn’t like them very much. I’m not sure he’s aware of the living people, but that can’t be true, right? He knows I’m here. From the look of his clothing, I would say he is from about 1890, maybe 1880. He won’t tell me his name, but he is quite silly. He laughs at everything.” I closed my eyes for a second before taking another look at the boy. He ran so fast that he was like a little whirlwind. A dangerous whirlwind. He was taunting me with something, but I could not see what it was. Not at first.
“Oh no. He has this…it looks like a pocketknife. Maybe a paring knife. I can’t be sure, but he is really out of his head and running with this knife. Wow. And now he’s all grown up and still showing me that knife. Let’s get out of here for a few minutes.” I waved my hands as if I could shoo the ghost boy-man away.
Joshua silently followed me, and I was grateful for the quiet. The rest of the team kept the noise down to a minimum, and I found it quite easy to focus on my surroundings. “Man, this is a busy room. Lots of comings and goings.” I reached for the handle of the door and opened it, then stepped out onto the porch that overlooked the Rose Garden. “That little boy comes in and out of this door. He is very familiar with this room and spent a lot of time in it, in the company of women. You know what? I think he’s Jonatan. Even though he was 18 when his family moved here, I don’t think he ever really grew up. This must be how he wants me to see him, as a carefree boy.”
Suddenly I felt myself reeling in my tennis shoes. I purposely shed my heels at the office so I wouldn’t make a lot of noise during my walk-through here. I found noise very distracting when I was attempting to tune into the other side. As we walked across the hall toward the ballroom, Joshua asked, “What about the other parlor?”
“I’m saving that room.” We stepped into the ballroom, and I immediately felt sick like I’d been riding on a giant top that had been spinning far too long. “That’s a lot of residual. I mean a lot. This place could use a good cleanse, or five or six good cleanses. There is way too much residual energy in this space. I think it would be very attractive to naughty spirits, and I think they would love it in here.” Joshua kept his camera trained on me as we walked the perimeter of the ballroom. I was beginning to feel anxious, nervous. I thought perhaps the only things I would find here at Seven Sisters were these pockets of residual energy.
No, that’s not true. You know where the action is, but you’re too afraid to check it out. Suck it up, Sierra McBride.
“I can’t put this off any longer. I’m surprised at how quiet it is down here, except for the boy and the re
sidual in the ballroom. Let’s go upstairs and take a look around.”
“Lead the way.”
I’d only gotten a few steps up when a woman blew past me. A young woman. I clutched the lovely carved handrail to steady myself. “She did that on purpose,” I said in surprise.
“Who did what?”
“The young woman. She was wearing a blue dress, satin. She had long blond curls, but I couldn’t see her face.”
“Another residual?”
“Hmm…good question. She doesn’t stay here, not anymore, but she still comes around occasionally. More so now that the creature is active. She likes fear—she craves it.” I focused on keeping my balance and waited, but the blond phantom did not return. I had the feeling that she couldn’t. Yes, she was very weak, and she did not like it. “She’s not a threat, but she would like to be. She used to be, but she was vanquished by someone here.”
“Someone living?”
“No. A man. He keeps her in line. She would very much like to wreak havoc on the people here, but she can’t.” We walked up the rest of the staircase, and I paused at the top. Another horrible image came to my mind, another woman. Bleeding, crazed with grief. She was related to the blond phantom, but she wasn’t here. This dead woman was gone.
“A little girl likes to play here. A living girl. She’s young. This must be Lily. She’s playing with marbles and those…what do you call them? Slinky toys?” We kept walking, and I went straight to her door. “She likes it here. This is home to her, but she sees a lot more than she tells. She’s very much a sensitive. This little girl has dormant gifts that are more powerful than the ones she’s currently demonstrating. Oh no…”
Joshua tilted his head around the camera and watched me with some concern. “What is it?”
My hand rested on the door. “That’s why this thing is here, Joshua.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
I swallowed as I stared at the camera. “She drew it here. It was here, but it was sleeping. She’s been practicing her gifts. Looking. Seeking. Hunting. Looking. Seeking. Hunting. This thing…this man…she woke him up. Oh, God. She didn’t mean to, but she did.”
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