Spells and Spooks (Witch Haven Mystery - a fun cozy witch paranormal mystery series Book 1)

by K E O'Connor

  Storm appeared in the doorway, a bag in her arms. Her gaze swept around the room before returning to me. “Wow! You really messed up this time.”

  I grimaced at her. “Thanks for nothing. Maybe we’d have gotten rid of the ghost if you hadn’t raced off the second I needed you.”

  She shrugged. “I got a lead on a job. Bills don’t pay themselves. But I brought snacks.”

  Odessa walked over, smoothing her hands over her wild hair. “Oooh! What did you bring us?”

  “Cookies.” Storm glanced at Odessa’s messy hair. “Exactly what have you two been up to? I thought you were just taking a look at the ghost, not... this.” She gestured at the mess.

  “This is the result of our unsuccessful ghost wrangling,” I said.

  We settled on the chairs in the room and all grabbed cookies.

  “Indigo caught the ghost,” Odessa said. “In one of my traps. We decided to bring him back here, to figure out what to do with him.”

  “I’m guessing he escaped?” Storm pointed at the goo coated basket.

  “We tried to keep him in there, but he got out. He was too strong,” I said.

  Odessa opened her mouth, glanced at me, then snapped it shut. “That’s right. We did everything we could. We used our magic to keep the seal on the trap intact, but it failed.”

  “So, why don’t we summon him back?” Storm said.

  “I didn’t know you were a ghost summoner,” I said.

  “I’m not. But I can’t be any worse than either of you when it comes to dealing with ghosts.”

  “I haven’t seen you deal with any ghosts since I got here,” I said. “I was the one left to hunt this thing out alone.”

  She gave another shrug. “That’s because I’m busy making a living. If we combine magic, we could force this thing to talk to us and see what it wants, then figure out a way to get rid of it.” Storm took a large bite of chocolate chip cookie.

  “I’m in,” Odessa said. “My magic’s pretty weak at the moment, but I can get a boost from you, Storm.”

  “Sure. I’m fully charged.”

  I looked around my already messed up living room. Things couldn’t get much worse by summoning the ghost back. “Let me grab a crystal ball and some candles from Magda’s cabinet.”

  We settled in a circle on the floor and joined hands. The candle in the center ignited, and I positioned the crystal ball in front of it to amplify the ghost’s energy so we could communicate. We all said the evoking chant.

  The lights dimmed in the room, and the air chilled.

  “It’s working,” Odessa whispered. “The ghost is coming back.”

  I kept my surprise hidden that it had worked so quickly. It wasn’t my magic summoning the ghost. Odessa and Storm were doing the heavy lifting with this summoning.

  The candle flame turned purple, indicating the ghost had arrived.

  Odessa nudged me. “You ask the questions. He’ll remember you.”

  “And remember how that turned out,” I said.

  “Go on,” she encouraged.

  I cleared my throat. “Spirit, why have you attached yourself to Luna?”

  “The moon is lunar.” The voice was barely a whisper. Perhaps the ghost trap had weakened him. Excellent. I could handle a weak ghost.

  “I’m not asking you about the moon. I’m asking you about Luna Brimstone. You invaded her home and attacked her. Why do you wish to harm her?”

  “It’s my home.”

  “You lived in the apartment before Luna?” If that was true, it would be easy to find out who the previous tenants were.

  “It’s not right. A young girl living on her own.”

  “Why should that bother you?” I said. “Did you know Luna when you were alive?”

  “It’s not proper.”

  I looked at Storm and Odessa. “Something’s off. The ghost I met cared nothing for Luna or her living situation.”

  “This ghost is talking like something out of the nineteenth century where women were supposed to be ladies and it was frowned upon to be unmarried,” Storm said. “You don’t think you caught the wrong ghost?”

  “There wasn’t more than one ghost in the apartment,” Odessa said.

  “There could have been,” I said. “We were only focused on the one I made contact with. Luna said there’d been several ghosts living there when she looked around.”

  “What’s your name, spirit?” Storm said.

  The ghost didn’t respond.

  “We can send you on,” Odessa said. “If you need help to leave, we can offer that. You just need to answer our questions. We’re trying to keep our friend safe. Did you hurt her?”

  “I saw what happened. She deserved it,” the ghost said.

  “No one deserves to be attacked and drained of their magic,” I said. “Was it you?”

  The ghost simply laughed.

  “This is getting us nowhere,” Storm said. “Let’s blast this spirit out of existence. Maybe that’ll fix things with Luna.”

  “No blasting,” the ghost whispered.

  “I need to see this ghost,” I said. “I have a bad feeling we caught the wrong spirit. The voice sounds different.”

  “A reveal spell should work,” Storm said.

  A wave of light-headedness hit me. If I didn’t stop trying magic soon, I’d pass out.

  Odessa gave my hand a squeeze. “You sit this one out. We’ll do the spell. Have another cookie and take a breather.”

  Storm narrowed her eyes at me, then nodded. “We’ve got this.”

  I eased back from the circle, feeling giddy and sick as I left them to the magic. My days of being a powerful witch were like a dream, almost like I’d been a different person. It felt like I’d never get my powers back. That was probably for the best, but at the moment, I was worse than useless.

  “He’s manifesting,” Odessa whispered.

  A wispy, indistinct image of an old man in a stiff collared shirt, his hair scraped off his face, appeared. He scowled at me.

  I sighed and shook my head. “This is a different ghost.”

  “Did you see the ghost in Luna’s apartment?” Odessa said.

  “Not clearly, but whenever he manifested, he looked like a beast with glowing eyes and claws. This is just a little old man.”

  The ghost glared at me and jabbed a finger in my direction. “Less of the old. Respect your elders.”

  “You said you saw what happened to Luna,” Odessa said. “Do you know who attacked her?”

  The ghost drifted over to Odessa. “A bad spirit. One not to be trusted.”

  “You know who it is?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I want to leave. Help me to leave.”

  “This is a waste of time,” Storm said. “Let’s send away the old guy.”

  “I’ll help you,” Odessa said. “Focus on the candlelight and head toward it. Don’t think about anything else. Just imagine yourself at peace, in the quiet, and happy.”

  “I haven’t rested for a long time,” the ghost said. “I lost my way. I was waiting for my wife. She’s late for everything.”

  “You’ll find her,” Odessa said. “Just keep concentrating on the light. That’s it.”

  The ghost drifted closer to the candle flame, until he appeared to slide inside it, and then he was gone. The candle returned to its normal color.

  What a waste of time. We’d gotten nowhere in solving Luna’s problem. All we’d done was deal with an old man with an attitude.

  I grabbed the candle and stood. “I’m done. I can’t help Luna.”

  “You are helping,” Odessa said. “You saw the ghost that hurt her, and you’ve just helped another ghost. We’re making progress.”

  “I was lucky not to be killed by the ghost when I confronted him,” I said. “I don’t have the power to deal with this trouble.”

  “You have power. Although it was lucky when Olympus caught you,” Odessa said.

  “Back up a few steps. What did I miss?” Storm said.r />
  “I got slung out the window by the ghost we were supposed to trap.”

  “And that gorgeous guy from the Magic Council, Limpy Duke, caught her in his arms. He saved her life,” Odessa said. “It was amazing.”

  “It was humiliating. And it shows he’s following me around. I need to be more careful. The Magic Council is watching me. If I make too many wrong moves, I’ll be back in magical rehab.” I flexed my fingers. “Not that I’ve got much magic left to lose.”

  “You’re definitely not running on full steam,” Storm said. “But that doesn’t mean you should quit.”

  “I’m not quitting anything. I’m just focusing on what I came here for. I should never have gotten involved.” I slammed down the candle. “I’m not here to help Luna. She came to me. I didn’t chase after her. She’s the one who made the mistake. Why should I have to clear up her mess?”

  “Because she was once your best friend,” Odessa said. “You must still care for her.”

  “Or has all that dark magic addled your brain?” Storm said. “Maybe there’s nothing left of the old Indigo.”

  “You’re right. There isn’t. It’s time you both left. There are things I need to do.”

  Storm climbed to her feet. “Fine by me. I’m busy, too.”

  Odessa stepped in between us, a cookie held in each hand. “Rather than fighting, let’s do something useful.”

  “I’m not going on another ghost hunt,” I said.

  “Agreed. So, let’s visit Luna and see how she’s doing.” Odessa shoved a cookie in my mouth.

  I took a bite. Yum, it was dark chocolate and orange. I looked around the room. I had to get on with clearing the house.

  “Or have you quit your friendship with Luna, too?” Storm grabbed the cookie from Odessa.

  I glared at her. “I’m not a quitter.”

  “Then let’s go cheer up our friend.” Odessa patted us both on the cheek.

  I huffed out a breath. “Half an hour, then I’m done.”

  “Quitter,” Storm muttered.

  I flung a piece of cookie at her. She caught it and tossed it to Nugget, a smirk on her face.

  I’d show her. I’d make a success of my time in Witch Haven. I’d sell this house, make a ton of money, and never see anyone from here ever again.

  Chapter 12

  Neither Storm nor I spoke much as we made our way to the hospital. I didn’t appreciate being called a quitter. Why would no one listen to me when I said I couldn’t take on this fight? Firstly, it wasn’t my problem to deal with, and secondly, I wasn’t equipped to take down this ghost. They could sense how weak my magic was, but they kept on pushing.

  And although I didn’t fear getting into more trouble with the Magic Council, their punishments weren’t fun, and there was no way I wanted to go back into magical rehab. I was still recovering from the last time.

  We walked through the main entrance of the small hospital set at the edge of the village and headed to the reception desk.

  “She’s in room twelve,” Odessa said after she’d spoken to the nurse on duty. “This way.” She skipped along in front of us.

  I glanced at Storm. “It’s best if I don’t hang around for much longer. And I know you don’t want me here.”

  She shrugged. “Stay or go, I don’t care. I have bigger issues to deal with.”

  “Like what?”

  “You’d know if you’d been here.” She increased her pace.

  I frowned at her back as I let her get some distance from me. Had Storm forgotten I’d had no choice but to leave?

  Her rejection stung more than it should. Although I’d always been closest to Luna, Odessa and Storm had been good friends too, and we’d usually hang out at least once a week. Storm had always been on the sharp side, but back then I’d appreciated her honesty. I didn’t appreciate it now.

  “It’s this room.” Odessa knocked on the door and then walked in.

  I failed to hide my grimace when I saw how pale Luna was. She was propped up on pillows behind her, a sheet covering her legs. She had dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks looked sunken.

  I pushed away the guilt that gnawed at my stomach. I hadn’t done this to Luna. She’d gone after the ghost on her own. This wasn’t my fault, even though it felt like it was.

  “Hey, you’re looking really good. Better than the last time I visited. Is it all the gorgeous doctors making you feel better?” Odessa kissed Luna’s cheek.

  “You always were a terrible liar.” Luna’s voice was barely a whisper. “It’s good to see you all. It’s nice to see the gang back together.”

  I gave Luna’s hand a squeeze. “It’s like I’ve never been away. How are you feeling?”

  She tilted her head from side to side. “Tired. I have no energy. The doctor can’t detach the ghost from me. He keeps draining me.”

  “Who needs doctors when you have your friends? We’re working on fixing your ghost problem,” Odessa said.

  “You are? Do you know what he wants with me?”

  “Not yet. But we caught the ghost, so the mystery is almost solved.”

  “You captured him?” A weak smile appeared on Luna’s face. “I don’t feel any different. When did you get him?”

  “Odessa,” I muttered. “We haven’t fixed things yet.”

  “He escaped before we could figure out what to do with him,” Storm said.

  I was surprised she hadn’t dumped me in it by revealing I’d been the one to lose the ghost.

  “Oh! I wondered why I wasn’t feeling any better. If you’d taught him a lesson, he’d have let me go right away.” Luna sighed and closed her eyes. “He’s a strong ghost.”

  “We’ll get him again,” Odessa said. “He just surprised us. And we’re still figuring out how to get rid of him completely.”

  Luna let out a soft sigh, a slight wheeze in her chest. “I’m grateful for anything you can do. I’ve never felt so cold before, and all I want to do is sleep. It feels like I’m aging about ten years every day. I must have done something terrible to get all this attention from such a nasty spirit.”

  I shook my head. “There’s nothing bad about you. You always were the good one in the group. You never broke curfew, always did your homework on time, and you didn’t even sneak out on dates with unsuitable guys like all of us did.”

  “You’re the regular goody two shoes of the group,” Storm said.

  Luna ducked her head. “I don’t know about that. And things change. Something must have gone wrong. Otherwise, why am I being haunted?”

  “The ghost said something about you having secrets. Does that make any sense?” I asked.

  Luna’s forehead wrinkled. “He’s haunting me because of a secret I’m keeping?”

  “I’m not sure. But is there anything you need to get off your chest?”

  “No, it’s bad luck, that’s all,” Odessa said. “The ghost could have been in that apartment when you moved in. He took a liking to you and now won’t leave you alone.”

  “I’m not hiding anything that should make a ghost angry. I just don’t think he likes me at all,” Luna said. “I should have moved out as soon as I realized there was a problem, but it’s such a beautiful apartment.”

  “And it’s free,” Storm said, a wicked gleam in her eyes.

  Luna’s cheeks flushed. “The rent’s very reasonable. I got a great deal. I’ve been saving up for my own place, and my uncle’s not getting any younger, and he’ll retire soon. I want money to invest in the business when I take over. I’ve got so many plans, and they cost money. I was an idiot to put up with this ghost, but I didn’t think it would get this bad.”

  “You aren’t an idiot. You’re planning for your future.” Odessa perched on the edge of Luna’s bed. “Once we get rid of this ghost, you can move back into your apartment and enjoy all the luxuries. It’s your home. You won’t be driven out.”

  Storm pulled out her phone. She flicked her fingers across the screen. “I need to leave. Duty calls.�
�� She patted Luna on the shoulder. “Don’t go dying on us now.”

  “I’ll do my best not to.” Luna’s smile looked weak as Storm left the room.

  “Why’s Storm always rushing off?” I said. “She raced off when we went to your apartment. I thought she didn’t want to see the ghost.”

  Odessa and Luna exchanged a glance.

  “What am I missing?” I said.

  “You weren’t here when her sister vanished,” Odessa said.

  “Eden’s gone missing?”

  Odessa nodded. “It happened five years ago. She was taken in the middle of the night. Whoever did it, snuck into the house, and took her out of her bed.”

  “Any idea who grabbed her?” I said.

  “There were no clues left behind, just a faint residual of dark magic lingering in the air.”

  “No ransom note or message? Nothing to say what was going on?”

  “Nope. It was like something evil be-spelled Eden away,” Luna said.

  “The Storm family never had anything to do with dark magic while I lived here. Did something change?” I said.

  “Not that we know of,” Odessa said. “The whole family was questioned, but they had no idea who’d want to take Eden. She was always a sweet girl.”

  “Is that why Storm changed careers?” I said. “When I was last here, she wanted to be a doctor.”

  Luna nodded, her eyelids drooping. “And she was for a while. She did the training, got the qualifications, and was working a residency here when it happened.”

  “Storm quit her job and set up a private investigation firm because she wasn’t happy with how the Magic Council were investigating the case,” Odessa said. “To begin with, she was only looking for her sister and learning from a mentor how to follow leads. That was all she cared about.”

  “Which is no surprise,” I said.

  Odessa nodded. “She was so close to Eden. Storm followed every lead and traveled hundreds of miles when someone got in touch and said they’d seen Eden. But she had to start earning money, so took other jobs on the side. She still goes after any lead linked to her sister, though. She’s never given up hope that she’ll find her one day.”