“Yes, he’s like a member of the family. We love Joey. I want to help him, but I think the only way to do that is to move Alice on. From what I saw in my vision, she tried to hang herself. Alice Loper was not murdered. She tried to commit suicide!”
“From what I saw, Anita fled that night because of Alice’s madness. Betsy died from the fever, and Annabel was hiding. They couldn’t convict Mr. Loper because he didn’t kill his wife. There’s a lot more to the story, though.” As Chloe went on, we began to hear sounds above us. A woman’s footsteps tapping back and forth, pacing the floor. I could feel her anxiety even though I couldn’t hear the ghost’s voice.
Kevin cocked his eyes up at the ceiling and said in a loud voice, “You need to come down here! No goofing off up there!”
I frowned at him and said, “What are you doing? Why don’t you just skip on up there and tell me what you see? It’s a ghost. It’s probably Alice Loper. I’m game if you’re game.”
Kevin put his hand out as if to steady me. “Whoa. I’m not saying I doubt you or I don’t believe Chloe, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to abandon my style of investigation. I thought the goal here was to work together, the three of us? Paranormal investigator, medium, and cop.”
“Sounds fine by me. You’re an investigator, and she’s an investigator. I’m the medium. Let’s go up there and confront the woman. Just a warning though, if she’s tossing down chandeliers and trying to kill us, she doesn’t want her secrets known. She doesn’t want us here, and she doesn’t want to leave. Come on, Mister Deputy. Get those handcuffs ready.” We both ignored Chloe’s mocking tone but obediently followed her out of the room and around the mess of glass and brass scattered across the front room. We quietly hiked up the stairs, nobody talking.
It was dead silent at the Dead House.
That didn’t mean we were alone. My fingers felt sticky as if they were covered with spider webs. It was not a sensation I enjoyed. I rubbed at them and tried to remove the invisible webs from my fingers.
“Who is that?” Kevin whispered beside me. The familiar hooded figure hovered at the end of the hallway. The Reaper had arrived, which could only mean one thing. He was here to collect someone.
“Nobody you want to mess with. Don’t make eye contact. Follow me. Let’s get out of here, Chloe. I think we should go to the nursery.”
I glanced over my shoulder, but the Reaper wasn’t making any moves toward us. God, what a horrible sight. Although I could not see the eyes of the hooded figure, he was watching every move we made. I got the feeling he expected a soul. That was his job. Where I got those ideas, I wasn’t sure, but I knew them like I knew my own name. He had no personality. There was nothing human about him. Like the Ferryman of old, he was merely doing his job. I shivered again and hurried into the nursery. If we were going to make contact with Mrs. Loper, this would be the place to do it. Even though we suspected Mrs. Loper or whoever she was had tried to commit suicide by hanging from the chandelier, she had died in this room. Presumably after her husband came home and found her downstairs. He had to have carried her up here. Chloe was right. There was no way she could have done the deed by herself. Technically all she would need was a rope and a ladder, but she wasn’t a strong woman and couldn’t have held the ladder by herself, could she?
Kevin was perplexed by what he saw. There was still the one dresser against the wall, and the closet door was open. There wasn’t much in the way of storage in here either except for a few boxes. Kevin pulled his big flashlight off his belt and began examining the inside of the closet. I don’t know what he thought he was going to find, but whatever it was, it did not present itself. There were no secret doors, no hidden cubbies. Whoever was walking around in this room, which we had all clearly heard, they had left.
We stepped back into the hallway to check the other rooms. There wasn’t a soul in the place, not even Joey. Thankfully the Reaper was gone. Make that invisible; he wasn’t gone. He still expected to receive his prize, and we could not disappoint him. I kept these thoughts to myself so as not to alarm my investigative partners. Not that Chloe probably didn’t know already.
We went back into the old nursery. Chloe began her appraisal in a very diplomatic tone, “Okay, boys and girls. This is the room that would be over the living room. We heard the footsteps traveling from this room to that room, but as you can see, there is nobody at all. Chandeliers are falling down, and we are hearing footsteps, and even you saw that entity at the end of the hallway.”
“She’s right. You have to admit there’s nobody up here, Kevin. I think we should move on to the next step. Are you ready?” The last question was for Chloe.
“Yes, I think so. And sooner rather than later before I chicken out. Do you think this will bring Joey back?” She twisted the edge of her shirt nervously.
“I’m not sure, but it’s worth a shot, and we don’t have any choice now that it’s here.” I assumed everyone understood who it was I was talking about. I was loath to use his name again. Talking too frequently about entities such as the Reaper often made them stronger.
“What are you two talking about? What’s the next step?”
I took his hand. It was my turn to calm him. “Now Chloe does her work. She’s going to call Mrs. Loper out and help her move on. We have to. She’s not going to go quietly, I suspect, but we have help. She’s supposed to be gone. It isn’t right for her to be here. Being dead and hanging around isn’t making her saner. It’s making her crazier.”
“And we want Joey back,” Chloe said to no one in particular. “I’m ready.”
Kevin shook his head at this whole idea. “I’ve never done anything like this, and I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. What should I do? Should I go downstairs and wait?” That last question wasn’t really a question, but I wasn’t going to let him off so easy.
“I think it’s best if you’re here with us. We all need to stay together. Just watch and learn. You’re right. I’m not sure how much help you’ll be, but this is your chance to see how we do things.”
“Are we supposed to have equipment? That’s what I’ve always seen. I’ve watched one or two of those paranormal shows. And your Periscope. I watch that too,” Kevin confessed as he eyed the space around us nervously.
I couldn’t help but smile despite the horrible situation we found ourselves in. “Really?”
“Focus, people. I need y’all to be quiet.” Chloe stood in the middle of the room and waved us away. I stood next to Kevin and tried to represent calm. The truth of the matter was these types of transitions were not always easy. How was he going to react when and if Mrs. Loper came through? We were about to find out. Talk about a trial by fire.
“Mrs. Loper? You destroyed my chandelier. You have no right to do that. Mrs. Loper? Why are you here?” Chloe’s head was down slightly, and her eyes were closed. She was breathing deeply, a practice she’d developed in recent weeks that appeared to help her focus her energy.
Nothing happened. We heard not a footstep, and no floor creaked. There was nothing at all. After a few attempts, I suggested we use the ghost box. I had experienced quite a bit of luck with reaching out to the dead with such tools. It was true many times the voices that came across the radio were tricksters, the dead and other entities who wanted to play pranks, but more often than not, sincere people came through and spoke.
Maybe Mrs. Loper was too weak to speak the way Chloe was used to. It did take a lot of energy to cast a chandelier down to the floor, and both of us had witnessed how erratically the thing was moving before it crashed.
“I’m open to that. I’ll stay here and continue to try reaching out. I think she knows what we're up to, and she doesn’t want to go.”
Kevin snorted. “Well, that’s too bad. I’ll stay here, but you should be careful near that glass.”
“Right,” I said as I sprinted out of the room down the stairs and into my room. I thought I had left the spirit box in my closet with the rest of the equipment, but it wa
s not in my closet. It was sitting on my bed, black and shiny with silver dials.
“Joey? Are you here? Please tell me you’re okay. Did you get this out for me?” There was no sign of my ghostly best friend. I got the spider web feelings again—the creepy ones that threatened to bind me. The Reaper was close. So close, and so willing to take whatever soul he could with him. I raced out of my room as if I had jet packs on my tennis shoes. This was not the way I’d expected to spend my day but if we could find some resolution and put this destructive spirit to rest, life would certainly be better for all of us.
You can’t go there. Just focus on the moment, I thought. I raced up the stairs and joined Chloe and Kevin in the room. She was pacing while Kevin leaned against the wall, observing nonchalantly.
He was shaking in his boots. At least he had a good game face, I gave him that. I flicked on the spirit box and put it on the floor in front of Chloe. I tinkered with the dials until I found a good setting and the right volume. We didn’t want it so loud it scared the hell out of us, but then again, we didn’t want it so low we couldn’t hear anything. It was always difficult to find a happy medium. Every situation had its challenges.
“My name is Tamara, and I’m here to talk with you. This is Chloe and Kevin. We want to talk to the person responsible for breaking the chandelier.”
An eruption of sounds burst from the spirit box. Crackling, hissing, the typical things one would experience with a radio-based voice box. It was as if everyone wanted to talk. There was more than one ghost here at the Dead House.
Kevin’s nonchalance quickly vanished as he asked, “Did you hear that?” Chloe and I both shot him a quizzical look. What did he think was going to happen?
After a few seconds of listening to the static, I twisted one of the knobs and put it back on the floor. As soon as I set it down, I heard a familiar voice say, “Hey, y’all!” I couldn’t help but clap my hands and grin at Chloe. It was Joey!
“I can hear you. Joey? I hear you! Are you okay?” Chloe was pounding him with questions, but we didn’t hear him again. The voices called in on one another once more. A woman with a raspy voice, a whining child, and maybe a male voice.
“Is Mrs. Loper here? We need to talk to Mrs. Loper. Do you prefer Alice or Lavinia?” More erratic noise but nothing coherent. “Joey, if you are here, can you point Mrs. Loper toward the microphone? It’s right here on this box.” I heard his voice once more, but it was garbled. He wasn’t happy. Then a second voice came through.
Not Alice!
“Not Alice?” I glanced at Chloe, but she was not giving me any clues.
“Lavinia? Is this Lavinia?”
Yes...killed me...
“I saw what happened to you, Mrs. Loper. Andrew did not kill you.” Chloe’s combative answer earned her a scratch. “Hell! Am I bleeding on my back? I think she just clawed me.” I pulled up her shirt discreetly, and sure enough, saw a red welt rising up on her skin. This wasn’t good. Not good at all.
I barked at the invisible. “Hey, you aren’t allowed to hurt people! You can’t touch us, Mrs. Loper! Lavinia! We are only trying to help you. That’s all we want to do.” I put Chloe’s shirt down and whispered to her. “You’re going to have to slow down with her. She can’t remember, or she doesn’t want to remember. Either way, this is going to be tricky.”
Suddenly, Chloe dug in her jacket pocket and pulled out her charm bracelet. It was loaded with hematite, a stone that supposedly weakened negative forces. This woman, the dead Mrs. Loper, was definitely a negative force.
“Got it.” Chloe clutched her beads and began again. “You were hurt really badly, weren’t you, Mrs. Loper?”
Hurt.
More static and a scream. Kevin swore beside me, but he remained in place.
My head hurts. Betsy... The last bit crackled off.
“Betsy had a fever, Mrs. Loper. She died from a fever. You didn’t hurt her, and neither did your husband. She was sick, Mrs. Loper.”
My Annie...
“Yes, I know about Annie, but I am here to help you. Just you, Mrs. Loper.”
Kevin had been doing a great job of being quiet until he was violently pushed. “What the hell was that?”
“What happened?” I asked stupidly. “I mean, what did you feel? Anything? Hands? Coldness? Dizziness?”
“I thought I saw a man standing beside me, about my height, maybe a little shorter. I turned to get a better look, and I got shoved from the other side.”
“Let’s gather up,” Chloe suggested as she held out her hands to us. “It’s Mr. Loper. He thinks you’re a threat. He’s just trying to protect his family.”
Kevin shook his hands as he rubbed his side. “His wife hung herself, and he thinks I’m a threat?”
“Have some sympathy, Kevin. They are stuck in their own kind of hell. Hey, that’s it! I know why she won’t pass on.” Chloe’s eyes widened as her new awareness led her to close her eyes again. The spirit box continued to crackle and random voices came through, but none of them made sense.
“Mrs. Loper, I know you’re afraid, but your husband is here with you. He hasn’t left you. He never left you. He forgives you, Lavinia.”
No! I’m not... Crackle and a dull humming sound that lasted for at least five seconds.
“You do forgive her, don’t you, Mr. Loper? I know you do.” To my surprise, a male voice echoed through the box.
Yes. Lavinia.
“Do you hear that? He forgives you, Mrs. Loper. He is right here, and he is inviting you to come with him. I’m going to open a door for you, Mrs. Loper. It’s okay.”
Andrew...
“That’s right, Mrs. Loper. Andrew is waiting by the door.” Chloe dropped her voice and asked me to turn off the spirit box. I obediently agreed and was glad for it. It was completely quiet, but we weren’t alone. The air crackled with activity.
“See the light, Mrs. Loper? You don’t have to be afraid of it. It is soft and warm, and inside of it, you will find Andrew. He’s there, and he’s waiting with Betsy and Annabel.”
Kevin’s hand tensed in my own, but I did not dare open my eyes. I was too busy trying to visualize a door, trying in my limited way to help Chloe lead the dead woman through the darkness and into the light.
“No one here judges you, Mrs. Loper. Even your husband forgives you. Can you see him? He’s wearing the blue suit that you like. Yes, it is the suit he wore when you got married. Andrew brought you flowers that day. Tiny white flowers, like baby’s breath. You pressed them in a book, but you lost the book.” Chloe paused to listen to Mrs. Loper. Clearly, they were having a conversation with one another. Kevin twisted slightly, but he did not let go of our hands. I guessed he was being touched again.
“Yes, I will look for it, Mrs. Loper. I promise I will search high and low.” Chloe sniffed, and I peeked at her. Tears were flowing, not the terrified kind but the kind that promised healing. “She’s going,” she said softly. “See the door now? There’s Andrew! He’s there, and he has flowers. He has those soft white flowers you love so much. Go to him, Mrs. Loper. Go with him, Lavinia. It’s okay.” As we listened to Chloe whisper and cry, the house shook one last time.
Then everything went still.
14
Tamara
Days went by and then a full week, and everything was quiet at the Ridaught Plantation. Chloe appeared happier, but we both missed Joey something fierce. I knew she felt responsible for what happened, for Joey’s moving on or whatever had occurred. I reminded her no one ever made Joey do anything he didn’t want to do.
Never.
We picked up the pieces and carried on as best we could. I couldn’t bring myself to believe I’d seen the end of him. Kevin spent quite a bit of time working. One of his fellow deputies had come down with the flu, so he took double shifts for a few days. I suspected he was trying to put some distance between us, but when I showed up with lunch one afternoon, he appeared very happy to see me. I got a chance to meet Willie Mae and a few of the ot
hers who worked at the substation.
He was supposed to show up tonight with a few beers. I grilled chicken breasts, and Chloe made a tasty salad to go with our dinner. I was glad to hear she and Lynn had made up, and although I didn’t get the details, I was certain Chloe had stood up for herself. Whatever happened between them, they both needed to love and respect one another, just like Tina Louise and me.
Maybe that wasn’t a great comparison, considering all the secrets my late best friend had, but I loved her still, and she’d loved me enough to trust me with her greatest treasure, her daughter.
Angelina Webster, a curse breaker from Mobile, Alabama, was set to arrive next week, and I was feeling kind of nervous about it. I’d never worked with a curse breaker before. However, she came highly recommended by more than one friend in the paranormal field. She couldn’t be worse than Quentin. Like everything else here at the Dead House, we would take things one day at a time.
Kevin arrived on time, and after a quick conversation and an even faster meal, Chloe disappeared upstairs to do her homework. She never mentioned Trey anymore, so I suspected they had broken up. She was much more grounded than she used to be, and for that I was grateful.
After supper, there was a lull in the conversation. I felt as if Kevin had something he wanted to say but didn’t have the courage. It was a beautiful night, and I’d been itching to go back to the road and try again to make contact with the young man who’d died back there. Now was as good a time as any. If possible, I wanted to keep Chloe out of this particular investigation. She’d been through enough. I wanted to give her some time to get over what she’d been through.
I barely got the suggestion out of my mouth when Kevin said, “Let’s go. But let’s not record it for Periscope. If this kid actually comes through, I wouldn’t want his family to hear anything. It would hurt them. He’s got a sister. I talked to her just the other day. You understand, right?”
Always Dead (Welcome To Dead House Book 2) Page 11