by J E McDonald
The window of the front door fogged when she reached to unlock it.
Danger.
Aubrey swallowed. “Are you talking about Roman? Because if you are, he’s not coming back. You don’t need to worry about that.” Turning her back on the disappearing word, she wound her way through the shelves back to the front counter.
The display counter fogged up.
Shawn.
Tension racketed up her spine. “Who’s Shawn?”
The case fogged up again.
Killer.
Heart stuttering, she clutched at the tightness in her chest. “What are you talking about?” Frustration made her tone sharp. What was he trying to warn her about?
The last word he wrote was faint, making her think he didn’t have much more in him for now. There was always a limit to how long he could interact with the real world. Why couldn’t he be giving her happy faces right now? That’s what she needed, not his creepy cryptic shit.
When another word didn’t appear, she tried to focus on opening the store, turning on the computer and finding the on-line orders from the weekend.
The top of the glass display fogged again, this word fainter than the rest.
Brother.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about!” she shouted, wanting to be left alone.
The clocks on the back wall rattled, like someone had rammed their body into the wall. Aubrey held her breath, waiting as they settled, then jumped when it happened again. This time, one of clocks fell right off. Thankfully, its face was made of plastic and it didn’t break.
The next one to fall wasn’t so lucky. Smash. Glass went everywhere.
“Finn!” she shouted, not believing her eyes. They rattled again, another one smashing to the floor. “Stop it!”
The bookshelf beside the clocks jiggled, then wobbled, then started to tip to the side. “No!”
It settled back to its original position before any books fell out. But the pictures across from her, the ones Roman had so meticulously hung, began to jiggle.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, hand at her throat.
Bang. One hit the floor, the glass breaking into large shards in the frame.
“Please stop,” she whispered, but another picture fell, drowning her words. Tears pricked her eyes. She couldn’t deal with this, not after everything that had happened yesterday.
A bang from the stockroom made her jump. Something fell off the shelf back there, then something else. Panic kept winding its way through her, her breaths becoming short and fast.
“Finn, stop it!” she shouted, tears clogging her throat. But he didn’t stop.
She looked up at movement above her. A brass and crystal chandelier hung near the front counter. Back and forth it swung. She grabbed her phone in front of her, and moved away, toward the front door, her eyes never leaving it. The cable holding it to the ceiling broke, and it smashed in front of the display counter, breaking in a hailstorm of glass bulbs, crystal, and brass.
A sob escaped her. Tears streaming down her face, Aubrey clutched her phone to her chest, backing away until her spine hit the front door. Teacups were pushed one by one off the top shelf, shattering when they hit the floor.
Finn was destroying her store, and she didn’t know how to stop it.
Crash. The sound echoed across the street.
Roman pushed himself away from the wall and ran across the road between two cars. He’d been watching the store for a while, waiting. There was no way he was going to show up for work, but he didn’t want Aubrey out of his sight, not with those photographs burned in his mind. When she’d gotten into her car this morning, he’d followed, stopping only once so Moe could go home for the day.
The sight of her head through the window when she unlocked the front door at nine thirty had sent a shock of relief through him. It had only been minutes since he’d had eyes on her, but for the amount of worry he felt, it might as well have been hours.
Five minutes later, a loud banging echoed from inside. Dread filled him as he raced to the front door, the wound on his thigh twitching under the bandage. He ignored the stinging pain.
Was even watching her from across the street too far away?
But he paused with his hand on the door handle when he saw Aubrey leaning against the door. He let out a breath of relief. She was okay. He would have backed away, left before she even knew he was there, when another bang made her flinch against the door.
Instead of leaving, he knocked.
She spun around, and he instantly knew something was very wrong. Tears filled her eyes, dark circles underneath, and she had the same stricken look she wore when they’d been run off the road. A panic attack seemed imminent.
It took her long seconds before she stepped away from the door enough for him to push it open. When she did, the sounds of smashing glass made its way to the street.
“He won’t stop. He won’t stop. He won’t stop,” she said, her breaths short and fast, her eyes pleading with him to make things right. She clutched her phone to her chest like it was a life preserver.
Alertness spiked through him. His fingers twitched to unsheathe his knives and protect her. Quickly, Roman guided her out to the sidewalk, putting himself between her and danger, then surveyed the scene.
Teacups fell one by one from one of the shelves in the middle of the store, like they were being pushed off. Broken glass and ceramic lay everywhere, but there was no one inside.
Her ghost was doing this? Or was it something else? It wasn’t an air demon, because his scar wasn’t burning. As he watched, the top items from another shelf moved to the edge then over one by one.
Bang. Thud. Bang.
“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” Aubrey said from behind him, and Roman turned to find her wiping the tears off her face with her sleeve. She’d calmed some. “I need to call Stella.” She stared at her phone. “She’ll know what to do.”
He tensed at the witch’s name, then nodded. A ghost with a temper tantrum was definitely out of his wheelhouse. But he didn’t want to cause the witch any more pain or discomfort. He also didn’t want to leave Aubrey.
Holding her phone to her ear, she turned away from him, taking a few steps from the store. He closed the door, muffling the sounds of the chaos inside.
“Can you come to the store?” he heard her ask. “It’s kind of an emergency.” Silence stretched for a moment, then, “Okay. Thanks.” She hung up and turned to him.
Cars drove by like there was nothing wrong in the world, shoppers and people heading to wherever they needed to go, paying them no mind. When a particularly loud bang emerged from the store, a mother with a stroller gave a yelp, then hurried away, glancing over her shoulder.
Roman returned his attention to the window as another shelf was attacked, this one jiggling on its feet. Aubrey came to stand beside him. Tears ran down her face, and she wrapped arms around her middle. The urge to hug her to him, to rub her back and tell her everything was going to be okay, overwhelmed him.
But it wasn’t his place. Or his right.
“He’s ruining everything,” she said in a small voice, the words catching in her throat.
His chest clenched for her. “What happened to start this?”
“Nothing!” she said in an almost-shout, throwing her hands up in the air. “He’s been writing strange shit everywhere since I got here, and it kept getting worse.”
A fissure of unease ran down his spine. Finn had written something for him last night too. “What kind of strange shit?”
“Words like ‘brother’ and ‘killer’ and nothing that made any sense. I told him I didn’t understand and then he started on this hissy fit.” She flinched when the sound of another crash rebounded off the windows.
“Killer?” The explanation didn’t ease any of his concerns. Finn had called him a killer. Was his presence here making things worse for Aubrey? But he wouldn’t leave her alone. Not when she looked like she teetered on the edge of los
ing her battle with panic. Or was Finn giving them some sort of cryptic warning? If he was, Roman didn’t know how to interpret it.
He clenched his hands when the urge to comfort her became too much to ignore.
“I didn’t understand any of it. I don’t know what I did wrong.” Sniffing, she wiped away another escaped tear.
“You couldn’t have done anything wrong.”
She shook her head like she didn’t agree, then said, “I didn’t think you’d come into work today.” Her voice was even, like she was trying to ignore the smashing from inside, but she still flinched at every sound.
It probably wasn’t the best time to tell her he’d been watching the store and had no intention of making his presence known. “I wasn’t going to,” he replied. “Didn’t think you’d want me here.”
Her coffee-colored eyes met his, and he couldn’t help but notice she didn’t disagree with his statement.
A red Miata pulled up to the curb in front of the store, Stella inside. Their eyes met, and she hesitated before turning off the vehicle and getting out.
“I’ll go,” he said, backing away. It killed him to leave. He didn’t want to abandon Aubrey when she looked like she’d lose it at any moment. And they could still hear the crashes coming from inside. Even though he would remove himself from Stella’s range, he couldn’t go far. He needed to keep Aubrey safe.
“It’s okay,” Stella said, coming around the vehicle, surprising him enough to make him stop. He expected to see condemnation in her eyes, but it wasn’t there. Instead, she focused on her friend. “What’s the emergency?” Another crash from inside made her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.
“Finn’s wrecking everything, and I don’t know why.” Confessing the truth to her friend had Aubrey’s tears rising to the surface again. “He won’t stop and—” Another louder crash made her close her eyes. “I think maybe it’s time I took you up on your offer to guide him to the other side.” She pressed a hand to her chest after she said it.
Stella met his eyes for a brief moment, the concern for her friend palpable. “Are you sure?” she asked when Aubrey opened her eyes.
“No, but I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t understand any of this, and he’s destroying everything. I don’t know what’s wrong with him and he isn’t communicating anymore and I don’t know if my insurance will cover any of this and I might lose the store and how do you stop a ghost from freaking out? And—”
Her flood of words stopped when Stella touched her shoulder. As Roman watched, the panic in Aubrey’s eyes faded. He felt like he was intruding, that he shouldn’t be witnessing the exchange, but he didn’t move from his spot.
“We’ll figure this out,” Stella said, dropping her hand and stepping toward the door. Lifting up on her toes, she peeked through the window.
One by one, books were being thrown from the bookshelf on the back wall, flying at the shelves near the front.
“If you go in there, you’re liable to be hit,” he said to Stella.
“Yeah,” she agreed, glancing at him. “I think I’ll keep my distance.” Closing her eyes, she exhaled and whispered words beneath her breath.
Whatever she was doing didn’t help. The books increased their pace and range, flying all the way to make it to the front door. Thud. Thud. Thud. Right in front of Stella, making her step back.
“He’s angry and he’s blocking me,” she said over her shoulder to Aubrey. “I don’t think I’ll be able to figure out what’s bothering him on my own. I’m going to call Grace.”
Roman stiffened. He still hadn’t talked to the Lillers since returning to town. He knew he should have by now, but he needed to figure out what the hell was going on with the prophecy before he got distracted with other cases. His entire concentration needed to be on Aubrey and figuring out how she was involved in all of this.
And now that he found those photographs…he couldn’t lose focus.
Stella went to her car to retrieve her phone. Making the call, she walked away from them a bit.
Roman looked down at Aubrey. Whatever Stella had done by touching her seemed to have her in control of her emotions. But with her arms wrapped around herself, her state still appeared fragile.
“I’m sorry,” he began, and she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. “For everything that happened yesterday.”
She blinked, then said, “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”
“I owe more than one apology,” he agreed. “But one of them is definitely for you.”
Her eyes softened, and she looked away, causing his chest to tighten.
Stella returned, sliding her phone in her pocket. “Zack will come. Grace and Sam are out of town for the day. Actually, Zack’s skills might be more useful here anyway.”
The Lillers were an interesting bunch. Grace and her husband Sam owned the paranormal investigation company named after her late father’s side of the family. It wasn’t until Roman had been working for the ghost hunters a while when he’d found out, quite accidentally, that Grace could see auras. They called him if any of their investigations turned into more than just ghosts. More than once what their clients had thought were spirits ended up being demonic entities. The first time they called the church because of a possible possession, Father Robertson had recommended him. Roman would always make sure the site was safe enough, removing any fire, earth, or water demons before a priest would take care of the exorcism of an air demon.
Then there was Zack, Grace’s brother. Soon after Roman discovered Grace’s skill, he found out Zack could sense ghosts. Unfortunately, that might not help here. They all knew a ghost lived on the premises. It was getting him to stop his tantrum that might be a problem.
While they waited, the sounds of smashing slowed. Not because the ghost was winding down, no. He was running out of ammo. A glance inside showed all the shelves bare, the floor clogged with debris. One of the shelves wiggled, as if the ghost was intent on tipping it over.
Aubrey had stepped farther away from the windows, and he got the feeling she didn’t want to look at how bad it had become.
Eventually, a classic black Impala pulled in behind Stella’s car. The ghost hunter met his gaze through the windshield, then tipped his head in slight surprise. Pressing his lips together, Roman gave him a nod in greeting. After shutting off his car, Zack jumped out and jogged over to them. As usual, he was dressed all in black. Black leather jacket, black jeans, black combat boots. His dark hair was left longish, and a scruff of a beard shadowed his lower jaw.
“What’s happening?” Zack asked, scanning their faces. “Grace told me to get my butt down here.”
The massive crash from inside made him blink at the door. The ghost succeeded in toppling over the empty shelf.
Aubrey let out a whimper.
Peeking inside, Zack turned back to them with eyebrows raised. “When did this start?”
“Around nine o’clock,” Aubrey replied, her voice small, and all Roman wanted to do was go to her and wrap his arms around her.
But he had no right.
Stella touched her friend’s shoulder again but spoke to Zack. “I’m not getting a read because he’s so angry and blocking me. His energy is erratic. With your help, maybe we can get him to calm.”
“Sure. Not a problem,” he replied, then asked Aubrey, “What can you tell me about him? How long has he been with you, and has he done anything like this before?”
“His name is Finn, and he’s a twelve-year-old boy. He’s been with me since…” She hesitated, her eyes flicking to Roman, then away. “A long time,” she finally said. “Since I was a kid. But he’s never done anything like this,” she went on, swallowing. “At least, nothing this drastic. If he influenced an object, then it was usually something small.”
The bag of dog food that had almost nailed him wasn’t what Roman would consider small.
Aubrey must have been thinking the same thing because she added, “Until recently.” She wouldn’t me
et his eyes.
“Okay. Let’s see what we can find out.” Nodding to Stella, he took hold of the doorknob to go inside.
Before he could open it wide enough to step through, it slammed back closed. The force knocked the door against his wrist. He shook it out like it stung.
Through the window, Roman saw another shelf jiggle, then tip. Bang. It fell forward, blocking the door with its weight.
“He’s not letting us in,” Zack said. “In more ways than one.”
Stella shook her head. “I thought it would help to have you here, and I’d be able to use your energy to converse with him, but he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
It had quieted inside, but Roman wouldn’t put it past the ghost to start up again.
“I wish I could just talk to him,” Aubrey said, her tears starting again. “I wish we could have a conversation and we could get to the bottom of why he’s hurting.” Angrily, she swiped at the moisture in her eyes.
Beside him, Zack tensed. It seemed like he debated something, then said, “I might know someone who could help with that.”
“You do?” Aubrey asked, hope in her eyes.
“Yeah.”
When he didn’t say more, Aubrey asked, “Is it someone who works for your company?”
“Not exactly,” he replied, running an agitated hand through his hair. “Let me make a call, okay?” He took his phone out of his pocket, turned away from them, and dialed a number.
“Do you know who he’s calling?” Aubrey asked Stella.
Stella shook her head. “Do you?” she asked Roman.
He shook his head too. The only people he’d met connected to Liller Investigations were Grace, Sam, Zack, and Stella. He didn’t know anyone else with talents that would help with this situation.
Zack returned, sliding his cell into his back pocket. “We’re going to go to my mom’s farm. She might be able to help with that conversation you wanted. Will Finn come with us?” he asked Aubrey.