Eclairs, Scares & Haunted Home Repairs

by Erin Johnson

  “Right or left?” Wiley stood on the landing that led to a hallway to the left and a single door to the right.

  I shrugged and looked at Maple.

  “Mmm… right.” She pointed at the paneled door with the crystal knob. “The tower was on this side of the house.”

  Wiley turned the knob and we followed him inside.

  Maple clapped. “Ooh. It is the tower.”

  Windows ringed the round room, which held another door and an iron spiral staircase that led up. Maple dashed over to the windows and peered through the cracks between the boards.

  “See anything?” I moved to the base of the spiral stairs and gazed up.

  “Too dingy.”

  “Try over here.” Wiley waved her over to another open space between the boards and stepped back so she could look through.

  “Oh! I can see the bridge over the moat from here.”

  I grinned. “That’ll be a great view.”

  “If the house doesn’t kill us off,” Iggy muttered.

  Intrigued by the spiral stairs, I climbed a few, my footsteps ringing on the metal staircase.

  “This would be a pretty seating area.”

  I glanced down as Maple spread her arms toward the space beside the windows.

  “What’s through there?” Wiley led the way through the other door directly below me and Maple followed.

  “Imogen! It’s another bedroom—it’s huge!” she called out to me.

  “Noice!” I grinned, then turned my attention to the stairs and worked my way up. I couldn’t help my curiosity about what stood at the top of the tower. The light faded as I wound up and up, several turns, and stepped onto the narrow landing at the top. I glanced back down, gripping the doorknob before me as a wave of dizziness rushed over me.

  “So remember how Hank asked you to be careful….”

  I hoisted Iggy up so I could see him. “I am. Maple and Wiley are right down there.”

  I listened for a moment. I could barely hear their voices and footsteps as they moved off to another part of the second story. So… maybe they weren’t right there. I bit my lip and glanced back at the stairs. I could go down and get them to come up with me… but then I’d have to go up and down the stairs again.

  “Right.” Iggy folded his arms.

  I let out a huff. “Oh come on, we’ll just have a quick peek and then we’ll go right back down and find them.” I gulped as I stared down at the ruby-red crystal knob in my hand, suddenly feeling a little less confident about exploring this hidden-away room. “It’s probably locked anyway.” My voice came out small.

  Almost hoping it was, I turned the knob. It moved, and the door creaked open.

  4

  The Top of the Tower

  “Well, what are you waiting for, Miss ‘We’ll just have a quick peek’?” Iggy widened his eyes at me.

  I pushed the door further open and stepped into the dark room, then blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust. Iggy’s flickering orange light bounced off the distant walls. “Wow,” I murmured. “It’s big.”

  It was probably the same size as the round room below with all the windows, but the high, peaked ceiling made it appear larger. Windows spanned the circular walls, tucked into dormers, but were even more heavily boarded up than those below. I moved past pieces of furniture covered in sheets, and bumped my shin against an old chest. “Ow.”

  A sharp intake of breath made me hold Iggy up. “What is it?”

  His eyes were wider and rounder than I’d ever seen them, and his little mouth had completely disappeared. His flame shuddered as though he were quaking. I frowned and my heart picked up its pace. Was he all right? His eyes grew even wider and I turned, following his gaze up and behind me.

  My heart stopped.

  A semitranslucent man with sunken eyes hung from a rafter by a rope around his neck. He swayed gently side to side, a sickly green glow about him. His black eyes bored into me as his image flickered.

  I felt paralyzed. In my mind I was screaming for help, but no words came out. As much as I desperately wanted to, I couldn’t peel my gaze away from him. I managed to part my lips, sip in a trembling breath, then hike up my shoulders and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

  “Run!” Iggy squeaked.

  Oh yeah. I had legs. I staggered back, my eyes still glued to the apparition, then turned and sprinted down the stairs.

  I slipped twice, but clung to the railing and kept going, my steps ringing an alarm on the iron staircase. I stumbled down the last two steps and fell straight into Hank, who caught me against his chest. Sam, Annie, and Yann rushed up right behind him.

  I gasped for breath as Wiley and Maple burst through the door off the circular room.

  “What’s wrong?” Hank grasped my hand and searched my face, his other arm steadying me.

  I fought for breath to get my words out, but couldn’t speak.

  Hank looked up at Wiley and Maple. “What happened to her?”

  Tears filled Maple’s eyes. “We wandered off exploring, and Imogen went up the stairs.” She glanced at the spiral staircase as she wrung her hands. “Oh, we shouldn’t have split up.”

  Annie rubbed my back. “It’s all right, dear. Now just calm down.”

  “Ghost!” Iggy burst out. His wild eyes darted side to side as his flame guttered.

  Hank’s eyes widened. “You saw a ghost?”

  I nodded and pointed to the top of the stairs, my tight chest still heaving as I struggled to catch my breath.

  “Humph.” Annie folded her arms. “I do not stand for ghosts scaring my friends.” She started up the stairs, but I shot a hand out, shaking my head.

  She paused and frowned.

  “Not—” I gasped. “—alone.”

  Yann stepped forward. “I will go too.”

  Wiley nodded. “And me.”

  Maple gulped. “We’ll all go.”

  Hank nodded. “I’ll wait down here with Imogen.”

  I shook my head. If Iggy had seen him too, I knew I hadn’t just imagined it. I didn’t want my friends facing what I’d just seen by themselves. What if it was dangerous?

  “Me, too,” I managed to gasp.

  Hank raised his brows. “You don’t need to go back up there.”

  Iggy shot me a look and shook his head. “Yeah.” He trembled. “We don’t need to go back up there.”

  I let out a shaky breath as my heart rate slowed a bit. It wouldn’t be so bad this time—not with Hank and all my friends around. “You don’t have to go. I’ll leave you down here.”

  Iggy scoffed. “Oh, right. Like I’m going to stay down here by myself.”

  Annie led the way up the stairs, with Hank, Iggy, and me bringing up the rear. Each step grew harder and harder to take but I willed myself to keep climbing. I needed to know what it was that I’d seen. Lit wands illuminated the dark tower room as Hank and I stepped in behind my friends. No one spoke. I held Iggy up to get a better look.

  “Don’t hold me closer to it!” he shrieked.

  I turned right, then left, my fear morphing into confusion. I frowned. “There’s nothing here.”

  5

  The Council

  After Hank declared that that was probably enough for the day, we wandered back up the street to Jiji’s guesthouse, our spirits considerably lower than when we’d left not even an hour before. We wordlessly kicked off our shoes on the front porch and pushed through the blue curtains that hung over the open doorway. I bumped up against Hank’s backside, blinked, then realized he was bowing. I jumped when I spotted why.

  Jiji and the rest of the councilors sat at the long, low table in the front room. Oops. In all the “excitement” at the house, I’d forgotten the council was meeting this morning. I folded over into a bow as Maple and my other friends shuffled in behind me, then did the same.

  As we straightened, Jiji, who held both Cat and Rini (the actual cat) in her lap, lifted a thick, pointy brow. “You’re back early.”

  Ms. Tomoko
, who sat in the center of the table with an earthenware mug of steaming tea before her, frowned. “Is everything going well at the old house?”

  “Actually, no.” Hank stepped forward in his socked feet. “Please excuse us for interrupting the meeting.” He inclined his head again. “But I believe someone intentionally frightened Imogen today.”

  Ms. Tomoko’s dark eyes widened and she pressed a hand to her chest. “Who?” Her eyes darted to me.

  I winced. “A ghost?”

  The other councilors froze and looked up from poring over various notes and pieces of mail. A stocky bald man slapped his thick hand on the table. “You saw a ghost? Was it—?”

  Ms. Tomoko cut him off with a sharp look. She turned to me. “How do you know it was a ghost?”

  I slid the lantern loop up over my wrist and ticked the facts off on my fingers. “See-through. Green. Hanging from a rope around his neck.”

  “Scary,” Iggy added.

  I nodded my agreement.

  Hank cleared his throat. “I’m not convinced it was a ghost.”

  “What?” Iggy and I cried in unison. My stomach twisted. “You don’t believe me?”

  His eyes widened. “What? No, of course I believe you.” He squeezed my wrist. “I’m just not convinced that what you saw was a ghost.”

  I frowned. Even after a year, I was still getting used to this magic stuff. “But… ghosts do exist, right? And it is an old house.”

  Ms. Tomoko nodded. “Yes. Ghosts do exist, but they’re very rare.”

  Wiley folded his arms and muttered, “Suddenly them gifting us this house is making more sense—it’s haunted.”

  Ms. Tomoko huffed. “Nonsense. It is not haunted. True ghosts don’t tend to lurk, then pop out to scare people.”

  Really? Because that went against everything horror movies had taught me.

  “Spirits of the dead always want something—revenge, or closure. They aren’t shy about showing themselves and making their wants known.”

  I looked to Hank, and he nodded his agreement with the councilor’s words.

  Jiji made a face as she stroked Rini’s head. “We’ve all heard the rumors….”

  “Rumors?” Maple asked.

  Ms. Tomoko waved a hand. “Why… it could have been a mirage spell.”

  Hank nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

  I gave him a questioning look.

  His big hands moved as he talked. “It’s a spell that creates an illusion of something that’s not there. It’s kind of like how we can disguise ourselves. Swallows can do it really convincingly, right?”

  I nodded.

  “But most witches and wizards don’t have the power to get it right, since they can’t pull from outside sources like we can. The illusion spell is like that. If someone tried to make it look like a man was hanging from the rafters, it would come out transparent, might even flicker, because they wouldn’t have the power to make it look like a real person.”

  I bit my lip. “So… it might look like a ghost.”

  He nodded.

  Ms. Tomoko leaned over and muttered to the man beside her. “We might need to have a word with the twins.”

  I lifted a brow. “What?”

  The middle-aged woman with the sleek black bun waved it off. “The council and I will look into this matter. Believe me, we want you to succeed.”

  The bald guy folded his arms and grunted. “Someone needs to fix up that eyesore.”

  All the councilors nodded and muttered their agreement.

  Well, good to know we had the backing of the council at least. Though I wasn’t convinced ghosts could be scared off by ordinances and red tape.

  Ms. Tomoko gave a little shake of her fist. “You must press on.”

  I worried my lip. “I want to, but—” I glanced at Hank. “It was really scary. I’m not sure how I feel about going back in there.”

  Maple nodded.

  Hank slid an arm around my shoulders. “We’re all going to talk and come to an agreement together about whether we’ll continue on or not.” He looked at me, his eyes worried and jaw set. “I don’t want anyone feeling unsafe.”

  Ms. Tomoko cleared her throat. “Very well. Let us know what you decide. But I do hope you won’t let what is undoubtedly a silly prank scare you off.”

  I frowned. I doubted that if she’d seen what I had, she’d be calling it silly.

  Hank squeezed my shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s all go talk out back.”

  6

  We’re in!

  Maple conjured us a picnic blanket by singing a spell.

  “Woven and wide,

  To sit side by side.

  Conjure a throw,

  On which to lie low.”

  We all settled down on the blanket, cushioned by the soft green grass. I set Iggy down beside me in his lantern and pulled my smock over my head. I folded it and held it in my lap.

  With my friends around me, the sun shining bright on a fresh summer morning, and birds chirping in the sweet-smelling orange trees all around Jiji’s garden, it was hard to believe I’d been scared stiff not long ago. I bit my lip. Substitute sunshine with dingy brown light filtering through boarded-up windows and birdsong with the ominous cawing of circling ravens, and you had our new home.

  Wiley settled down on my left and plucked a dandelion from the grass, twirling its stalk between his fingers. Hank, on my right, stroked his chin, deep in thought. No one spoke.

  I let out a breath and clapped my hands together.

  Sam jumped.

  “Sorry.” I pulled my brows up and plastered on a smile. “So… that wasn’t exactly an episode of Property Brothers.” I chuckled. “More like an episode of My Haunted House, am I right?”

  Iggy just shook his head and Hank lifted a brow. Right. Human things.

  “But if it were Property Brothers, we’d probably be freaking out because we found asbestos in the walls or something so… bright side?”

  Sam blinked and pushed his glasses up his nose. “What are asssbessstosssesss?” He cleared his throat, and spoke again in his surprisingly deep voice. “Are they like cockroachesss? Becaussse we do have thossse.”

  I shuddered. Right. I’d forgotten about those.

  Hank’s eyes shifted to me, a crease between his brows. “I appreciate that you can joke right now, but… I’m worried about you. I’ve never seen you so scared.” He glanced at my little flame. “Or Iggy.”

  Wiley nodded. “And truth be told, you’ve both been in more than your fair share of near-death experiences, so that’s saying a lot.”

  I glanced at Iggy. He looked up at me with round eyes. “It was pretty scary.” I glanced at Hank. “But now that I know it might not have been a real ghost, and that someone might have cast a—” I blinked. “What did you call it?”

  “Mirage spell.” Hank kept his eyes on me.

  “Right.” I shrugged. “It seems a little less scary.” I glanced at Iggy. “What do you think?”

  He crossed his little flame arms. “I mean… I was never that scared.”

  I rolled my eyes, then pointed at the scroll sticking out of Hank’s pocket. “So… what’s the damage?”

  He glanced at the “to fix” list, then reached over and took my hand in his. He squeezed. “I don’t even want to talk repairs until we all decide if we want to continue.” His eyes flicked down to the checkered blanket, then back up. He looked at each of us. “I’m sorry that I bought the house without consulting you.” His gaze lingered on me. “I hoped it’d be a happy surprise.” He forced a grin, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Seems to be turning into more of a nightmare.”

  I closed my fingers around his.

  “Technically, you didn’t buy it,” Iggy piped up. “The council so generously bequeathed it to us.”

  Annie snorted. “I’m beginning to see why.”

  Hank looked at me. “Will you be able to feel safe there? Do you even want to go back?”

  I shrugged. “Wel
l… we can’t just walk away.”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “We can. And we will, if that’s what you want.” He pressed his lips together. “Whether it’s haunted or someone tried to scare us away, I don’t want to put any of us into a dangerous situation.”

  Annie softened. “We know you don’t, Hank.”

  His lips twitched toward a sad smile. “Good.”

  Wiley waved a hand. “Besides—those aren’t the only two options. Could’ve just been some teenagers pulling a prank.” He chuckled. “The sea knows I would’ve found it pretty funny when I was sixteen.”

  Maple clicked her tongue at him, but grinned.

  Yann pointed an enormous finger at the list in Hank’s pocket. “What do da lists say den?”

  Hank looked at me. I gave him a smile and nodded, and he pulled the scroll from his pocket. He unrolled it out on the blanket in the middle of our circle so that we all could see… and kept unrolling.

  Wiley whistled at the incredibly long list.

  Hank let out a deep breath. “And we didn’t even finish.”

  I scanned the parchment. It read:

  Clear brambles, fix roof, repair door lock, refurbish flooring, patch holes in walls, new paint interior and exterior, new plumbing throughout, kill mold, fix water damage, add insulation, replace every window, repair or replace exterior siding, new stove, new sink…. The list went on and on.

  I raised my brows. “Add ‘have an exorcism.’”

  Iggy, who’d leaned out of his lantern to read, cackled. “You have enough money saved up in your piggy bank to cover all this?”

  I glanced at Hank. He’d been working odd jobs all over town the last couple of months and saving it up in a jar in our room. I bit my lip to keep from grinning. It basically was a piggy bank.