Ghostly Town (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 4)

by Aubrey Harper

  “It looks like we’re in luck,” I said. “There’s a spirit medium coming to the inn tonight.”

  “Isn’t that kind of soon? Especially after what happened to Charles?” Kane said.

  “It says here that Charles will be the guest of honor,” I said.

  “Does he know that?” Kane asked, amused.

  Rebecca actually laughed. Maybe she was starting to warm up to Kane a bit?

  Once we got back to the inn, I started to make a plan about what my next step should be. Charles was still MIA, so I couldn’t very well ask him about the whole thing.

  “I think I’m going to go down early and see if I can get some one-on-one time with the medium before the séance,” I finally said. I’d spent about an hour researching secret cabals in the spirit world online, but all I came across was what looked like gibberish.

  “If that’s what you want to do,” Kane said. He looked tired. He laid next to me on the bed with his eyes barely open.

  “Why don’t you take a nap? I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself,” I said.

  “Maybe I’ll close my eyes for a bit,” he said. “But promise to wake me as soon as you’re ready to go anywhere.”

  “Promise,” I said.

  Kane gave me a soft kiss on the lips and then he settled down and let sleep overtake him.

  “Humans and their sleep,” Rebecca said. “I don’t know how you put up with it.”

  Since I didn’t want to wake Kane, I just gave Rebecca an admonishing look.

  Pretty soon Rebecca was “literally dying of boredom.”

  “But you’re already dead?” I whispered and laughed.

  She just rolled her eyes and went through the door. “See ya later,” I heard her say.

  I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket. Kane looked so peaceful I didn’t dare wake him. I would come back for him before the séance started.

  Once I caught up with Rebecca in the hallways, my first stop was the reception desk. I had to buy two tickets for the séance, after all.

  The receptionist there was as friendly as ever. I was shocked to find out that one ticket cost a whopping fifty dollars.

  “Do you not have the money?” The receptionist asked me.

  “I have it,” I said. “It’s just a lot.” Then I handed her my card and cringed as she slid it through the card reader. I could almost see dollar signs in her eyes.

  “Here you go,” she said. “I hope you have a lovely time.”

  “A man just died,” I reminded her.

  “Of course,” she said. “And that’s tragic. But the living must go on. I’m sure that’s what Charles would have wanted.”

  “She’s gotta point,” Rebecca said as we walked away from the reception desk.

  “Really?” I said.

  “Yeah, really. I don’t think Charles cares all that much about all these shenanigans. I think he just wants to move on.”

  “Well, hopefully this,” I stopped and looked at the ticket, “Madeline woman can help with that.”

  I had overestimated Madame Madeline’s availability because when I arrived to her quarters, there was already a line of desperate souls there. Or were they fans? It was hard to tell.

  I waited in line while I instructed Rebecca with my eyes to see what the situation was in Madame Madeline’s room.

  Rebecca came back not soon after.

  “Either she’s meditating or she’s taking a nap. If I had to put money on it, I’d say it’s the latter,” she said.

  “Really?” I said. “At this hour?”

  A couple of confused tourists who had overheard me looked at me like I was crazy. Little did they know that that was only half the story.

  “Maybe you should have pretended to be on the phone?” Rebecca offered.

  “These people came here to experience the weird and the spooky. Why does a woman talking to herself bother them so much?”

  “Do you really need me to answer that?” Rebecca asked.

  “I guess not,” I admitted.

  While we made our way back down the long and wide hallway, something peculiar was coming our way from the distance.

  “What is that?” I asked Rebecca. “You’re seeing it too, right?”

  She nodded her head. “Yup. That’s a bunch of spirits headed our way.”

  There were men and women and even a child in the group, all marching toward us.

  “You don’t think they’re Carl’s mysterious cabal?” I asked Rebecca.

  “I thought they were just regular ghosts,” she said. “Until you just said that.”

  We looked at each other in horror.

  Seven

  The troupe of ghosts was getting closer and closer by the second. They looked pretty determined, whatever they were up to. Rebecca and I stepped out of their way.

  A few of the ghosts gave us strange looks as they passed us. But then one of them stopped and turned around. It was a young woman that looked like she had died a long time ago. At least a hundred years, if not more, by the looks of her clothes.

  “Hey, wait a minute. She can see us!” She said when she looked in my direction. “And, wasn’t she talking to that one,” she pointed to Rebecca.

  The rest of the ghosts looked my way. “I think you’re right,” said an older gentleman.

  A young boy walked up to me. “Can you see me, ma’am? Could you please help me get back home?”

  I looked down on the poor boy and couldn’t pretend like I didn’t see him. “I can try,” I said softly. “But I can’t make any promises.”

  “Thank you, thank you!” The boy said, suddenly cheering up.

  The rest of the ghosts followed then. A few kept on going toward Madeline’s room, presumably thinking that she was the superior medium.

  All the ghosts started to talk at once. From what I could make out, a few were confused about what was going on. Some wanted me to find their family members so that they could talk. Still others just wanted me to help them move on. They said they were sick of being stuck.

  “Shut up, everyone!” Rebecca said in a strong voice. The spirits quieted down, though a few were still whispering different things. “Meredith here is my friend. And she can’t help you if she’s bombarded by everyone at once. Could we please make a line or something, so that she can hear each of your grievances separately?”

  “But first I’ll need a favor,” I said and all the ghosts looked at me like I’d said the most awful thing. “I’m sorry,” I said before they could start attacking me. “But I have a time sensitive issue I need to talk to Madam Madeline about.”

  “And what do you want us to do about it?” A man in his late twenties or early thirties stepped up and asked.

  “Well, I thought you might get her attention for me? Maybe wake her up so that I could ask her a few questions? I will have to attend her séance, but after that, I’m all yours. Do we have a deal?”

  “And how do we know if we can trust you?” The young man asked.

  “Yeah,” the young woman that pointed me out earlier said. “We’ve been fooled before. There’s this wretched old woman in town that refuses to help us, even though she can see us.”

  “I’ve met her. I’m nothing like her.”

  I looked to Rebecca for help.

  Rebecca stepped forward. “As you can all see, I’m like you. Dead, that is. And Meredith here is my friend. I’ve been by her side for many years. I’ve watched her help countless souls move on in that time, and I’m certain she’ll help you, too.”

  “I’m actually trying to figure out what happened to Charles Mathers, the medium. You might have heard of him. Either way, if any of you have any information about his death, feel free to share.”

  A few of the ghosts talked amongst themselves in hushed tones.

  “Anything at all, however insignificant, might be useful in the long run,” I said.

  The young woman stepped forward. “We don’t know anything about that. We do know of Mr. Mathers, and a few of us ha
ve sent messages through him, but we do not know what could have caused his death.”

  “That’s fine,” I said. “But if you happen to hear anything, please don’t hesitate to make contact with either me or Rebecca. Now, what about Madeline?”

  “She’ll be right with you, ma’am,” the young boy said.

  The troupe of ghosts, not a cabal thankfully, marched toward Madame Madeline’s room.

  Within minutes, the poor woman was running out of her room, dodging any tourists that tried to get her attention, while a group of ghosts ran behind her with mischievous smiles on their faces.

  “You owe us!” The young woman shouted as they passed me. Pretty soon they left poor Madeline alone to catch her breath.

  I came over and introduced myself.

  “Are you all right?” I asked her.

  She shook her head, still breathing heavily. Thankfully, she wasn’t as old as poor Charles, so hopefully her heart could take the excitement. She looked to be in her mid-fifties. She had shoulder length dyed blonde hair and currently she was wearing a silver robe.

  “I’ve never experienced such a fright in my life!” Madeline complained. “I’m still shivering.”

  “Yeah, ghosts can have that effect on people,” I said.

  “So you can actually see them?” She asked me.

  I told her about my ghost hunting business. “Yeah, I was born with the gift.”

  “I can only communicate with them while in trance. And even then, I can only hear their voices or sometimes I get visions. I can never see them like I see you. You’re very lucky, Meredith.”

  “It has its perks,” I said. “But do you think we can talk somewhere more private?”

  “I’m not going back to my room. Let’s get something to drink at the bar.”

  “They have a bar here?” I asked in surprise.

  “Oh, yes,” she said. “And they serve the most delicious mojitos. You have to try.”

  “If I must,” I said.

  On the way there we talked about our respective work with the dead. Mine was more about helping them move on and dealing with spirits that caused trouble now and then. Madeline’s shtick was more about communicating with them in a gentle manner and passing on any messages they might have for their loved ones.

  Once in the bar, we got our mojitos and found a private, out of the way booth. It was kind of eerie because there was a small candle on our table and I could barely make out the surroundings. Rebecca took to flying back and forth, obviously bored by what to her was chit-chat.

  “You’d be very useful at séances, Meredith. Is there any way I could persuade you to join the team? I have my off days sometimes, and it’s really hard to interpret what they’re trying to tell me. If your gift is as strong as you say it is, it might prove to be very useful to me.”

  “No, thank you. I’m quite happy with the work I already do. It’s not the most glamorous, but it pays and I’m good at it. But thank you for the offer. But the reason I actually want to talk to you is the death of Charles Mathers.”

  “Oh, yes, what a terrible thing to happen.”

  “I was there. I saw the whole thing. Well, most of it. The lights did go out for a bit.”

  “He was very old,” Madeline said. “It must have been a heart attack or something of the sort. Not that it’s not sad.” Then she looked around nervously. She leaned in. “Don’t tell me he’s with us right now,” she whispered.

  “Oh, no. But I did see him right after he died. And that’s why I wanted to talk to you. It has come to my attention that his death was predicted by a group of spirits that in a roundabout way arranged for me to be here to witness it. Have you ever heard of something like that?”

  Madeline took a sip of her mojito as she thought about my question. “I can’t say for certain,” she said after a few minutes of silence. “I’ve heard of spirit guides and masters on the other side, but I don’t know if I’ve heard of anything as nefarious as you’re describing. Predicting a man’s death?”

  “Or causing it,” I reminded her.

  “It seems a bit far-fetched to me,” she said.

  “You’re starting to sound like someone I know.”

  “I better be going. I have to get ready for that séance. Maybe if Charles shows up, you can help relay any message he has?”

  “I doubt he’ll have any messages for that crowd. He’s pretty preoccupied with finding out what exactly caused his death.”

  “My money is on old age,” Madeline said. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

  She got up to go but then stopped and turned around.

  “If it’s not too much trouble,” she said, “could you please make sure my room is free of ghosts? I don’t want them to give me another fright.”

  Rebecca raised her ghostly eyebrows. I knew exactly what she was thinking, but there was no way I was going to admit to Madeline that I sent those ghosts her way. Some things are better left unsaid.

  Madeline’s room did actually have a few remaining ghosts. These were the ones who passed on me and went straight to her. I told them in no uncertain terms to get lost.

  “But do come back for the séance,” Madeline reminded them, even though she couldn’t see them.

  I went upstairs to wake up Kane but instead I ran into him on his way down. To say that he didn’t look happy would be an understatement.

  “What part of ‘wake me up if you go anywhere’ don’t you understand?” He asked me. “I thought something had happened to you.”

  “Sorry, but you looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to disturb you. But I can make it up to you.”

  Kane immediately perked up. “And how do you plan on doing that?” He asked in a suggestive tone.

  “Not like that, you perv,” I was quick to say. “I just came back from the bar.”

  “There’s a bar in this place?”

  “Isn’t that a nice surprise?”

  “It’s pretty nice,” he admitted. Then he leaned in closer. “Though there are better surprises I can think of.”

  “I have to get ready for the séance. You can go grab a drink in the meantime and fantasize about whatever you thought was going to happen.”

  “Harsh,” Kane said. “But you know where to find me.”

  While Kane disappeared in the direction of the bar, I turned to go back up to our room when I ran into another familiar face.

  “Any updates?” Henry asked.

  “Not as such,” I said, and then I told him about what happened with Charles and Carl.

  “Do you think he’s in trouble?” He asked me.

  “How much trouble can he really get into?” I said. “He’s already dead.”

  “Point taken.”

  I asked Henry about the autopsy and told him about the poisoning theory.

  “They’re already on all that. I made sure of that when they questioned me and started insinuating things. But the results won’t be back for at least a few days.”

  “Are you coming to the séance?” I asked him.

  “I thought about it, but what’s the point? I already talked to him through you.”

  He certainly had a point there. After saying our goodbyes, I finally got a few moments to myself, but they were short-lived.

  The group of ghosts found me in the hallway on my way down. I reminded them that I promised to help them after the séance.

  After getting Kane from the bar, I headed toward the now familiar séance room. Apparently, the police were done with it. The line to get in was surprisingly long. I wondered just how many people were attending. I guess Charles’ death sparked curiosity in people.

  Once we were all packed inside, the séance went very much like Charles’, though Madeline’s approach was more friendly and care-free. While it was dark, with a single candle burning in the same place, Madeline made quips and jokes and a few people even laughed. But right before she started, she actually got serious.

  “We come here to say hello to a friend that has recently
passed on, in this very room. But we know that he is not gone. He has simply changed form.”

  Madeline asked for volunteers and once again, when she saw me in the crowd, she chose me. Kane joined me as before. It was eerie how similar everything seemed in the darkness.

  There was a palpable energy of expectation, but the only ghost I knew for sure was in the room was Rebecca, who stood directly behind me, her eyes peeled for any strange activity that might take place.

  Madeline closed her eyes then. She was entering trance just like Charles had. Suddenly, I felt fear building up in the pit of my stomach. Was I just being paranoid because of what happened to Charles? Or was I actually onto something? I didn’t want to cause a scene if it was nothing, so I kept my mouth shut.

  Then Madeline opened her eyes. Only the whites were showing. Just like with Charles.

  “Who dares wake me from my sleep?” A male, almost demonic voice said through Madeline, who had a natural voice that was the complete opposite of that. “Those who walk on graves must be punished,” the voice intoned and then let out the hissing sound that Charles had channeled only last night.

  Kane and I looked at each other.

  “We need to stop this now,” I said to Kane, but I did not dare break the circle.

  The rest of the people in the circle looked at me like I had just sworn in church.

  “I seeeee yoouuuuu,” Madeline almost hissed at me. “I’m coming for youuuuuu…”

  Madeline looked up at the ceiling then and let out a terrible laugh.

  The room plunged into darkness when the candle flame was blown out by something invisible.

  Then the room was flooded with light. Someone must have been ready for something like this to happen.

  There were gasps and screams all around, because Madeline was slumped over on the table, her eyes open wide in what looked like absolute terror.

  She was dead. Just like Charles.

  Eight

  Once again, the spiritual tourists made themselves scarce.

  “Do you see her?” Kane asked me.

  I looked behind Madeline’s corpse and saw her ghost staring back at me. She looked around in shock. She could still not fathom that she was now that which she made a business of contacting while she was still alive.