“Okay, so we’re taking demands from ghosts now, Peyton. You realise how ridiculous that sounds?”
“It’s the only way.” I shrugged.
I’d been over this in my mind repeatedly, and I wasn’t overly keen on the idea, but it seemed to be the only way.
“He knows how to get rid of this ghost, and we need rid.”
“And even if I find this Rosemary and she’s the right one, what makes you think she’ll agree to this? After all, how long ago was it? She’ll be ancient now.”
“We have to try. If we can’t do this, then we’ve failed, and I refuse to give up until we at least try.”
“Fine. But don’t you think you should at least update Roman?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been avoiding talking to him.”
“He’s not the only one.” She turned back to her phone screen and the notepad at the side of her keyboard and continued scrolling.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You haven’t spoken to Adele in ages. You really should make a bit more effort.”
“I know, you’re right. I think I’ve just struggled dealing with pulling the business together. I’ll call her soon.”
“And, Peyton, I really think we need to consider getting the internet installed once this case is out the way. My phone can’t take much more battering like this. We need a website, desperately.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.”
Once this case was done and Roman had paid for our services, that was the first thing on my list.
I picked up the phone and dialled his number from the information sheet Olivia had plonked in front of me first thing that morning. He answered on the third ring.
“Roman Spearman, manager of the Starlight, how can I help?”
“Roman, it’s me, Peyton.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t sound too happy.”
“Sorry, I was just hoping that maybe it was a customer looking to buy some tickets.”
“Not just yet, sorry. I’m calling with some news.”
“Let’s have it.”
“We went to Hilltop House.”
“You didn’t!” He sounded as shocked as Olivia had when I suggested going there.
“We did. I spoke to the man whose body was found there. He’s called Lucas.”
“You’re actually serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes. And he’s not the one doing all this.”
“Oh, and did he tell you that?”
I could hear the smirk in Roman’s voice, and rage boiled in my veins. For someone who seemed to like the macabre so much, he was having a hard time believing this was real.
“Actually, yes. But I can sense it. He’s not the bad guy in this. It’s the guy who murdered him who’s actually doing all this.”
“And the plot thickens.”
“Exactly. Lucas—”
“Who?”
“The ghost,” I reminded him. “Lucas said he’ll help us, but we need to do him a favour first.”
“Of course you do.”
“So I just wanted to update you on the case. We’re both still working on it.”
“And let me guess, the fee is racking up?”
“Well, I don’t work for peanuts, Roman. I have a business to support and a home to maintain. But if you like, I can call it quits now and you can speak to someone else?”
“No!” he shouted, panic-stricken at the thought of being abandoned. “No, I didn’t mean that. It’s just, without much of an income, it’s going to be a tight budget.”
“I work on a tight budget every day, so I’m sure you’ll get used to it. Once we do this favour for Lucas and I’m able to get rid of the ghost plaguing your cinema, I’ll be back in touch. If you need anything in the meantime, please let me know.”
“Thank you.”
The line went dead.
“He sounded entirely pleasant,” Olivia muttered.
I shrugged. “Who knew he was such a skin-flint?”
“I’ve found something. I think.”
I slid down off the counter and landed hard beside her chair.
Olivia jumped, scowled, then resumed staring at her phone. “This is Rosemary Donaldson, daughter of George.” She pointed at the screen. “I’ve managed to trace her life right up until about a month ago.”
“She still lives in town.”
“Exactly.”
I scribbled down the address. “I think it’s time we go to see her.”
The door opened, and I was face-to-face with a woman in her late sixties, eyeing me with suspicion.
“Rosemary Donaldson?”
“Who’s asking?” Her voice suggested weariness.
“My name is Peyton, and this is Olivia.” I pointed to my best friend. “We’ve come to see you about your old home, Hilltop House.”
She frowned, adding extra wrinkles to her already creased skin. She was pale, cheeks sagging. Her eyes were still keen despite being surrounded in dark circles. Hair long and brushed back, the dark grey reminding me of a storm cloud.
“What do you want to know?” She clutched the door with gnarled fingers.
“Can we come in?” I asked, hopeful.
“You’re not trying to sell anything?” She still clung to the door, ready to push it shut.
“No. I promise.” I smiled.
“Okay.” She finally stepped back and motioned for us to enter.
What I found was reminiscent of a young woman. Despite her age, Rosemary had good taste, and her house hadn’t aged with her. Her sofas were plush leather, complete with red cushions that were to die for. She had a canvas on the wall, a young family with a baby and a dog, and I wondered what relation they were to her. A flat screen TV stood on a black, glass stand tucked in the corner, and she had a coffee table to match.
“Would you like tea?” she asked as we seated ourselves and she walked to the second door in the room.
“I’d love a coffee please, if you don’t mind?” I asked.
“No problem. Any for you?” Her eyes flicked to Olivia.
“I’ll have coffee, too, please.”
It wasn’t long before the kettle boiled and we both had coffee mugs in our hand, with a tin of chocolate biscuits perched between us. I’d already had one and was dangerously close to picking up another, when Rosemary started talking.
“You said you were here about the Hilltop?” Her voice was soft, and as her gaze jumped between me and Olivia, I saw the concern hidden in the depths of her blue pools.
“Yes.” I nodded.
“I knew this day would come.” She paused. “I saw the newspaper article and I knew someone would come knocking soon.”
I felt Olivia’s stare burning into the side of my head. I kept my gaze fixed on the woman in front of me. She had aged well, but I could see that she was exhausted.
“Why do you say that?” Olivia asked.
A small smile flicked onto Rosemary’s lips, skin around her mouth stretching, wrinkles fading, and then it was gone. “Because I know what sort of man my daddy was.”
“Are you saying you know what he did to Lucas?” I asked, pushing myself forward on the cushion.
“Of course not,” she snapped, eyes crossed with rage. “But I always suspected. He hated the thought of anyone liking me. He thought I was too good for everyone. Of course, I knew different. Not that I had eyes for Lucas, but he wasn’t the only one to show me affection and then disappear.”
“Your dad had done this before?”
“Like I said,” she started, same wry smile thinning her lips, “I know what sort of man my daddy was, but I never saw anything.”
She knew more than she was letting on.
“Rosemary.” I set my cup on the floor. “I’ve been to the house, and it’s causing a few problems.”
“And you think he’s at the heart of it?”
“I do, yes. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Then why are you here?”
; “I’ve spoken to Lucas.”
Rosemary’s jaw opened and closed, eyes bulged. She cleared her throat, took a sip of coffee, trying to process the words, then finally took a deep breath.
“How?”
“I’m a ghost hunter. People employ me to get rid of spirits.”
I expected another stunned silence, but instead she spoke like she’d just heard the most natural thing in the world.
“And you’re here to deal with my dad?”
“To deal with the ghost that’s haunting the Starlight cinema. But, yes, we suspect it’s your dad. Do you know the place?”
She shook her head.
“It’s a small independent cinema that specialises in the bizarre and real. There was a film shot at the location of your old home by two avid ghost hunters. Partway into the footage, the film ended abruptly. They were found dead in the house.”
“Oh, my.”
“But that’s not the only thing. There’s a shadow, a dark figure that emerges from the screen. It’s plagued the film’s audiences, and now the cinema is struggling. I’ve been hired to find out what’s going on and why.”
“So why do you need me?”
“Well, we’ll have to go back to Lucas for that. He told me it’s your dad causing the trouble. It’s him who’s haunting the cinema and caused the deaths of Rick and Karen. He said he knows a way to help, but he wanted me to do something for him in return.”
“Let me guess.”
I nodded. “He wants to see you, Rosemary. You’re his unfinished business.”
For a long while, the old woman stared into the depths of her coffee like it was going to contain all the answers she could possibly want. She was still and quiet, eyes taking on a glassy sheen, and I knew she was mentally at the house.
“I’m not sure if I can do it,” she finally said, head shaking as she continued to stare into the cup.
I glanced at Olivia and watched her shoulders heave as if to say don’t look at me. I repressed the sigh that threatened to escape and instead decided I needed to remain positive if I was going to have any hope of convincing her that I needed her help.
“Rosemary, I know that going back to a place in your past can be difficult—”
“Difficult?” she snorted. “Ha. You don’t have the faintest clue what living with a tyrant was like. Everything I did was his choice. He decided when I slept, when I ate, what I learned. I had such a sheltered childhood, and all of it down to him. The day he died was the best day of my life. He’s the reason I didn’t want to take the house. It held too many bad memories.”
I bit my lip. I hadn’t expected such an outburst, but as we stared at each other, small pants escaping her chest like she’d just run a mile, I realised I was delving into the depths of someone’s life while asking them to make a huge sacrifice for me. There was nothing in this for her. How could I expect her go back to the home she grew up in—a home that obviously had a lot of bad memories—when she had moved past it and was living her life.
Selfishness. I was there for my own reasons, and not once had I considered her. Not once did I think about how dredging up the past might affect the woman sitting in front of me.
“And that’s why I’ll come.”
Her words were shocked me. I jerked my head up, twisting a nerve in my neck. I cursed and settled my hand over the red-hot heat there as I stared at the woman in the chair opposite.
“You will?”
Rosemary nodded. “My dad was an awful man, and if he’s still tormenting people in his death, then he must be stopped. I’ll come. I’ll do what’s needed.”
“Great. How about tomorrow?”
“That would be good. Gives me time to prepare.”
I stood up. She’d agreed to come, and now it was time for us to depart.
Olivia followed suit, putting her bag strap over her shoulder. “Thank you, Rosemary. You have no idea how much this means.”
“Of course I do. He was my father.”
I made for the exit and left the old woman sitting in her chair as the door shut behind us.
Rosemary met us right on time outside Hilltop House. As we pulled to a stop just outside of the boundary of weeds, she was standing there as if she had never moved. Her hair swayed in the breeze that blew over the dirt, and the tall weeds wafted side to side, creating a comforting rustling sound.
I stepped out of Thumper, slammed the door, and moved towards her. Olivia was close behind. She’d been that way ever since we left the cinema, but I wasn’t going to hold it against her. She needed company, and I was quite happy to oblige.
“Rosemary,” I greeted, “how are you?”
She was quiet for a moment, contemplating as she stared at the place she’d lived for most of her young life. “Coming back here is . . .” She sighed and shook her head, grey hair moving in the wind.
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” I reached out and grasped her arm.
She turned to me, smiling. “I’m fine. Just coming back here is making me remember.”
“Are you ready to go back inside?”
She nodded. “Lead the way.”
I treaded through the tangle of weeds for the second time, feeling them creep against my hips as I brushed past. As Rosemary followed, I could hear the brush of her jeans against the plants. Olivia brought up the rear.
The house loomed above us, a hulking mass in the morning sun. In the daylight, it was certainly less imposing, but it didn’t make me want to go inside any more. I knew we were safe as long as Lucas was there, but there was another who wanted to hurt us.
I finally passed the boundary of tall grass and stepped up to the porch. Rosemary was still close behind, but as she paused at the front door, a shadow cast over her face. She stared at the door for a minute as if debating whether she could actually go inside, eyes roving over the house’s exterior.
She eventually eased beside me, took hold of the door, and pushed it open.
I watched as she took it all in. Her face changed as she scanned the interior. I knew she was seeing it as it once was, all the while registering what it was now. I knew because that’s what I did whenever I ended up back at the funeral parlour.
It hadn’t happened in a long time because I hadn’t been drunk in so long, but I would always remember that feeling. The feeling of knowing how much I’d had and what I’d lost. It was all there, like the ghost of emotion, hiding in the shadows, always ready to resurface at a moment’s notice.
The sound of her footsteps on the bare floor boards brought me back to attention, and I watched as she ventured further into the house. She moved into the living room, feet disturbing the dust. When she turned, I saw tears glistening in her eyes from the light in the open doorway.
“If this is too hard—”
“No.” She shook her head and sniffed. “No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting . . . this.”
“It’s hard seeing your home in a different light,” Olivia whispered.
It hit me that she’d been through the same thing. When her parents died, their home was put on the market and bought by a young family. She saw it most days going to school and watched another pair of siblings grow up there, when it should’ve been her. Life could be a cruel thing, and in this instance, it was.
“Yes,” Rosemary agreed. “I think that’s all it is.”
“He’s down in the basement,” I told her. “Do you think you can go down there?”
“Yes. I think I can.” She nodded.
“Follow me.” I moved around the staircase that took up the centre of the house and led the way to the basement door.
This time, as I travelled down the concrete steps, there were two pairs of feet close behind. I hit the bottom where the pathway split, and rather than checking out either direction, I went straight. I skirted around the puddle of water and heard Olivia groan as she did the same. Then we were at the door.
“Okay.” I paused, hand on the handle. “This is it. Are you ready?”
Rosemary took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
I pushed the handle down. The door swung inward, and the darkness was absolute. I shone my torch around the room and found that it was still empty. Empty of a physical being, at any rate. I could feel him inside my mind, and I sensed his elation.
Rosemary stepped over the threshold, and I felt a spike in the atmosphere. Lucas was happy. Happier than he’d ever been.
“Lucas?” she murmured.
She’s here!
The room was silent.
I took a deep breath. “Lucas, she can’t hear you. You’re going to have to speak up.”
“You can hear him?” Rosemary whispered.
Olivia’s eyes were wide. She knew more about my abilities than anyone, but it was still a surprise for her to see me use them.
“Rosemary?” The voice was nearly inaudible but there.
Rosemary gasped, hand going to her mouth and tears glistening for the second time that day. “Lucas? Is that really you?”
“Rosemary.” His voice full of something other than the rage he’d held all this time. “It’s me.”
“I . . . I . . .”
“I know how this must seem to you, but it’s no trick.”
Rosemary looked into my eyes for a moment, as if assessing the truth of the statement, and then went back to scanning the room, still looking for his form even though he wasn’t going to show himself.
“Rosemary, I wanted to see you one last time.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your father has been terrorising this house. He has hurt people. He followed people home.”
“And he’s manifesting as a dark shadow in a local cinema,” I added.
Rosemary’s eyes widened.
“I made a deal with Peyton. I would help her get rid of his spirit in return for bringing you here one last time.”
“Why?” she breathed.
“My love has never dwindled. All this time, I’ve held on to the hope that you would return. Maybe restore the Hilltop House to its former glory, and in doing so, I could finally be set free.”
“If I hadn’t come?”
“Then I would’ve remained trapped here until the very foundations of the house rotted beneath the place where my body has laid all these years.”
Shadows At Starlight Page 7