Muses

by Elizabeth Andre

  “What do you think he’s looking at?” said Maya.

  Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe if my Aunt Kate was here, he might be able to focus.”

  Penny, from behind her video camera, said, “Maybe he hasn’t learned how to be a ghost yet.”

  The male figure’s mouth moved soundlessly, like the sisters. He would open his lips exposing a bottomless blackness and close them again. Maya hoped that Steve was picking up something, anything, on the audio recorder. The whispering started again. Maya started to feel anxious, but it wasn’t because of the ghosts themselves. It was the whispering. Something about the whispering unsettled her, and she realized she was losing her grip on the ghosts.

  “Don’t go yet,” she said. “Tell us what you want. That’s all we want to know. We can help you.”

  They whispered a few seconds more before fading away. Uncle Richard lingered a moment or two longer, looking off into the distance at nothing in particular. When he disappeared, it was like he was walking through a door. He simply turned away from Lily and stepped forward. Then he was gone. A static electric charge crackled for several moments after the ghosts left. Then all was quiet. Penny kept the video camera running while Steve continued to record audio for a few more minutes. Julie typed notes into her phone. Jason roamed all over the room and into the study taking readings with his EDI meter.

  Lily broke into a smile. “That was amazing! And scary!”

  “At least they didn’t start throwing things or try to lock us in here.” Jason took a seat on the sofa, keeping an eye on his EDI meter. “I’m not getting anything. Seems like they’re well and truly gone. For the moment.”

  Maya sniffed. “What’s that smell?” They did indeed seem gone, but they had left something behind.

  Penny gave the air a sniff, too. “Something sort of flowery and fruity?”

  “It smells burned,” Eddie said. “Could be perfume, a fragrance of some sort. I’ve smelled it before when the ghosts are around.” He inhaled deeply and deliberately like a bloodhound following a trail. He wandered off into the kitchen, following his nose, presumably. Steve made a move to follow his husband.

  “I’m gonna go set up in the kitchen and listen to the tape.” Steve looked at Lily. “If that’s all right with you, of course.”

  “Oh yes. That’s fine,” Lily said. “Would you like some coffee?”

  Steve headed out of the living room. Something about him seemed off to Maya. Considering his long experience as a paranormal investigator, she wasn’t convinced it was caused by the ghostly events of the day. She wasn’t sure what was going on. “Nope. Not now,” he yelled as he disappeared.

  “I should join them,” said Penny as she followed him out, carrying her video camera and backpack. Only Julie, Jason, Maya, and Lily remained in the living room.

  Julie said, “We might be able to tell what’s up with these ghosts by listening to the audio Steve got and watching Penny’s footage.”

  “I know this sounds really dorky, but this is all really, really cool,” Lily said.

  Maya smiled. “No. It doesn’t sound dorky. It is really, really cool.” She paused. Lily was definitely growing on her. Definitely. Perhaps something could develop between the two of them, after the case, of course. Lily looked tired, but exhilarated. A dimple appeared in her right cheek every time she smiled. Her auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail today.

  Jason rolled his eyes and said, “I’m gonna hit the head, do a number two. After that, I’ll check in with Penny and Steve.” He left.

  “TMI, Jason. TMI!” Julie yelled after him. “You cannot complain about me talking about my period if you say stuff like that.”

  Eddie wandered back into the living room, trying to look nonchalant. He nodded and looked from Maya to Julie to Lily and back again. He smiled enigmatically. Maya was starting to realize why Steve had seemed off, even awkward. She was starting to feel awkward herself.

  “Hey, Julie, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. We can go talk in the kitchen,” he said.

  Julie shrugged. “We can’t talk here?”

  Eddie pursed his lips and nodded his head. Somehow he was managing to be commanding without saying a word. Julie looked like she had suddenly realized something and walked out with him into the kitchen.

  After Eddie and Julie left, Maya realized she was alone with Lily, and her teammates had orchestrated this rather deliberately. She wondered how Lily felt about this or if she had even noticed. Lily quickly proved herself to be as smart as she was beautiful.

  “You do realize they did this on purpose, right?” Lily said. “Left us alone together.”

  As they stood facing each other near the pentacle, the smell of the ghosts dissipated and was replaced by Lily’s scent. Where the ghosts smelled old and burned, Lily smelled fresh and lovely.

  Maya laughed. “Yeah, I do. I think it’s their not-so-subtle way of playing matchmaker.”

  A strand of Lily’s hair fell over her eyes. She swept it back.

  “Yeah, it’s kind of presumptuous, especially when it could be that I have a girlfriend already.” Lily shifted her weight from one foot to the other and leaned against the arm of the sofa.

  “I know,” said Maya, trying to put a little irritation into her voice even though she wasn’t irritated. “I could have a girlfriend, too.”

  Neither one of them said anything for a moment. Maya had been ghost hunting for a while now and had never felt an attraction of any sort toward a client, although Steve had warned her of the possibility. After her anti-climactic date with Julie on Halloween night, she’d been wondering if her personal life should ever intersect with her paranormal activities. She’d all but decided that it should not.

  “I don’t actually have a girlfriend,” Lily said.

  “I don’t either,” Maya said before she could stop herself or before she could tell Lily that she didn’t think it was a good idea for her to mix her personal life with business.

  Jason poked his head around the corner, interrupting their moment. Maya imagined that the others had probably tried to stop him but had been unable to do so.

  “Hey, you guys. Steve and Penny have got some interesting stuff for you to see and hear.”

  Maya and Lily smiled at each other and headed to the kitchen where the team was sitting around the table.

  “So, how’d it go?” said Steve with a smirk.

  Penny made some kissy noises, triggering a bemused look from Lily.

  “Is this how you find ghosts?” Lily asked.

  Steve almost looked sheepish. He was certainly lost for words. He turned his attention back to his audio equipment.

  Jason stood and offered his seat to Maya, so she could better see the footage that was being downloaded from Penny’s camera to her laptop. “You should sit here because you need to see this.”

  Maya leaned in closer. The footage showed her as she began the summoning and the first hazy images of the ghosts began to appear. The trio of female ghosts huddled together. The male figure manifested a moment or two after the other ghosts appeared.

  “Seeing this again, you can see how pissed off the male ghost is,” Maya said.

  “Let me see.” Lily came around to the side of the table where Maya was seated and leaned in close. Maya could feel Lily’s breath brush past her cheek. “Yeah. He really is,” said Lily. “That’s Uncle Richard, definitely.”

  “Okay now, this is the bit where it looks like they’re talking to each other,” Penny said. She zoomed in on the three figures. “I wonder what they were talking about?”

  “Us. I think they were talking about us,” Steve said.

  “Really? They call us out specifically?” Maya asked.

  “I’m pretty sure, yes. I still need to work on the tape, but one of them keeps mentioning ‘the young lady’ a lot. Not sure who that refers to, but it could be any one of you young ladies.”

  Maya kept her eyes on the screen. Soon, she was better able to distinguish th
e three female ghosts from each other and connect what they looked like now to the photos she had seen in her research. “I think I know which sister is which.” She pointed at the screen, to the figure who appeared to be the tallest of the three. “That one is the middle sister, Rosamund. The one standing in the middle is the eldest sister, Eleanor, which leaves that one, the youngest, who’s Madeleine.”

  “It’s interesting. You can’t really make out their facial expressions like you can with your uncle’s ghost,” said Julie nodding to Lily.

  Maya saw what Julie meant, but it was more that they seemed expressionless, at least initially. That changed as the video progressed. One of them, the one Maya had identified as Madeleine, seemed to become quite animated, happy even, in the middle of the video. She was smiling.

  “Someone must have said something funny,” Jason said.

  “Or maybe she’s remembering something pleasant.” Lily had a thoughtful look on her face.

  “Could be,” said Maya. “She lived a full life from what we could learn about her. We found more about the older sisters, but I imagine Madeleine’s life wasn’t all that different from theirs.”

  “Yes, she’s definitely the one I saw last night, brushing her hair while sitting at the foot of the bed.”

  Maya felt Lily’s breath on the nape of her neck. She must have been leaning in close. Maya didn’t want to look up. She told herself that this was because she didn’t want to miss anything in the video footage, but she could smell Lily. Maya couldn’t hold back any longer. She turned her head and her eyes were almost level with Lily’s.

  “You’re sure?” Maya asked.

  Lily, who didn’t back away, said, “I’m sure.”

  Maya flexed her fingers, a nervous habit she’d had since she was a child. She needed one of those squishy balls people used to strengthen their hands and fingers. If she could squeeze something like that between her fingers it would distract her from wanting to touch Lily’s cheek.

  “So she’s the hair brusher?” Eddie said. “Well I’ll be...I bet you’re sleeping in her old bedroom.”

  Now Lily straightened up. “She appeared on the foot of the bed, brushing her hair. Then it looked like she was talking to someone. I don’t know who it was. I only saw Madeleine. She didn’t stay long, though. I wanted to talk to her, but I couldn’t get my mouth to work, you know?”

  Steve nodded. “Yeah. I think we all know.”

  “Uncle Richard disappeared,” Julie said, pointing at the screen.

  “Listen! They’re whispering again,” said Penny. She turned up the volume on her laptop.

  Jason said, “Look at how close Maya got to them!”

  Maya remembered this bit when she had walked very close to the circle and the barrier it created. One of the sisters—the one who looked like Rosamund—came close to the barrier, too. The other two sisters reached out their hands toward her.

  “Uncle Richard’s back,” Lily said. “There! I go over to him.” She leaned down again, close to Maya. “What was he looking at?”

  “Now they’re leaving.” Penny peered closely at the images.

  The sisters faded away followed by Uncle Richard’s ghost disappearing once more. They watched the screen a few moments more even though there was nothing left to see.

  “Well, at least we know which sister is which. That’s something.” Maya stood up and found herself standing very close to Lily, who smiled and stepped back.

  Eddie said, “Lily, I heard you offering my husband some coffee earlier. Is that offer good for me, too?”

  “Sure is. It’s good for anyone,” she said.

  While Lily started coffee brewing, the others talked about their next steps. There were so many unanswered questions. What made the ghosts violent? What was the meaning behind the times that they were peaceful? Would the ghosts need to be chased out or convinced to just stop making trouble?

  “I think what needs to happen next is for us to come to bed with you,” Steve said, looking at Lily who immediately looked confused.

  “This is how you hunt ghosts?” she said as she placed some mugs on the table. “How is that going to help the sisters? And my uncle?”

  “What he means is that we’d like to set up in your room tomorrow night and get some footage and audio of Madeleine when she shows up,” Julie said. “We think she’ll be back. We think it’ll provide valuable information. So, how about it?”

  Lily looked around at the team. The coffee finished percolating and filled the kitchen with a rich aroma. Eddie held up his empty coffee cup with a smile.

  “I know it’s already been such a long day,” said Maya.

  Lily poured for Eddie and Julie, letting the situation sink in.

  “Let’s do it,” said Lily. “These ghosts need something. It’s causing them so much pain, anger, and fear. They’re taking it out on us and themselves.”

  “I’m glad you’re willing to do it. We could learn a lot.” Maya had so many questions for the ghost or ghosts should others show up. She also had questions for Lily that she didn’t ask.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Spending the night

  When the Paranormal Grievance Committee arrived at the Vinette home, Maya took Lily aside, ostensibly to talk to her about what to expect tonight. They went into the living room while everyone else went upstairs to set up the equipment.

  “What’s on your mind?” Lily asked.

  She looked a little less weary than the day before, but she still managed to make sweatpants and a t-shirt look sexy. Maya hoped she was finally getting some sleep. She felt suddenly shy. It was something she felt when she had a strong attraction to a girl. She fought through that so she could act professionally.

  “Let’s sit down.” Maya gestured to the sofa, as though she was hosting Lily at a casual coffee klatsch, and took a seat.

  Lily joined her, sitting close but not so close that they were touching.

  “I really appreciate you being willing to...” Maya started. She nearly tripped over her words like a teenage girl with a crush, but she didn’t because she was an adult on a job. Lily cut her off before she was able to finish the eloquent words she’d been rehearsing in her head about how the team wanted to use Lily to lure the ghosts out but how they would keep her safe.

  “Be the bait? I’m bait, aren’t I?” She sounded serious but unafraid.

  Maya nodded and smiled. “Yeah. We’re going to have to use a summoning spell to make sure she shows up. We also want to be able to interact with her without things going crazy. Most of us still have bruises and cuts from earlier. You know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  Lily reached out to touch Maya’s hand, but stopped short of making contact. “Of course, I want to do it. I know I don’t have to, but I really want to. I know the ghosts have done horrific things. I really want them out of here, but Madeleine showed up last night again just brushing her hair on the end of my bed. We can figure out how to set them free. It’s the right thing to do. So, is that what you wanted to talk to me about? Tell me that I don’t have to go through with this?”

  Maya wanted to say more, but she didn’t. “I just wanted to warn you that it could be dangerous.”

  “It’s been dangerous for you, hasn’t it?” Now Lily touched Maya’s hand.

  Maya felt a shiver run down her spine. She glanced around the living room before answering. “It’s a little different for me. I’ve got this ability. The dead usually reach out to me. Sometimes, they need to use me as a host if there’s something they really want to communicate to the living.”

  Lily appeared intrigued and impressed. She sat back, removing her hand from Maya’s hand and didn’t say anything for a few moments. Lily gazed at Maya, regarding her with, well, Maya couldn’t quite figure out what. Awe? Fear? Incredulity? Maybe it was a combination of all three.

  Finally, Lily said, “Usually? What do you mean they usually reach out to you?”

  “They come to me.”

 
; “But they haven’t this time,” Lily said.

  Maya sighed. “This time it’s different. The sisters don’t seem to want to come to me the way others have. I can’t figure it out.” She shook her head, frustrated. “I thought that maybe since one of the ghosts seems to be reaching out to you that maybe with you there, they might be more receptive to me.”

  Lily laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “This is so ironic. When I was a little girl, I was really easily startled. My brother had a blast, jumping out at me from around corners and from the inside of my closet. I peed my pants one time. Made my mom so mad. I was just embarrassed. There was one Halloween that was particularly terrifying, but when Madeleine first appeared to me, I wasn’t startled like I’d been when my brother used to do his jump scares at me. Does that make any sense? I feel okay. I feel like I’m seeing something I need to see.”

  Maya said, “Makes sense. Madeleine didn’t make you feel threatened like your brother did. And maybe you have an affinity for ghosts, too?”

  Lily thought about that for a moment and shook her head. “I just don’t think you need to worry about me, Maya.”

  “Yeah. I think you’ll be fine.”

  Maya and Lily headed upstairs to her bedroom. Penny had her camera on a tripod pointing toward the bed. Steve had placed a voice-activated audio recorder on the dresser.

  Lily followed her usual bedtime routine, including getting into a pair of red pajamas and reading for a few minutes in bed. She was the one who had insisted on that because she was convinced that the ghosts were watching her.

  “They’ll know if I don’t stick to my routine. I think they should feel like nothing has changed, despite your presence,” she had said.

  Maya had agreed with her. Ever since Lily had told them the full extent of the hauntings by the ghosts, especially the one they determined to be Madeleine, Maya had been even more intrigued. What was it about Lily that drew Madeleine to her? It seemed to be more than just sharing a bedroom in different time periods. Lily was very attractive, to be sure, but Maya was certain that a ghost might be looking for something more than physical attraction. She continued to wonder about Lily’s affinity for ghosts. She may not have it for all ghosts, not even all of the sisters, but she certainly had it for Madeleine.