Strange Girl
Author: S.A. Hunter
Date: 2014-12-13 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Paranormal; Fantasy; Ghosts; Young Adult
Description: *You look awesome.* This is a typical text from Jake, the mysterious guy who saved Mary from the Shadowman. After everything had settled down, he started sending little messages to her. They brighten her day and make her feel special. She likes Jake. He's different like her. A freak. They send texts back and forth frequently, and Mary hasn’t told anyone about him. He's her secret friend. When the TV producer Regina Smith comes to ask Gran for help, Mary pushes Gran to take her up on the opportunity. Regina wants them to go to Alabama to help a group of paranormal investigators, who are making

Contents

Front Matter, Acknowledgements, Also by the Author

CHAPTER ONE Dancing Around

CHAPTER TWO What Dost Thou?

CHAPTER THREE Don’t Wanna Grow Up

CHAPTER FOUR Hide and Seek

CHAPTER FIVE An Angry Bea

CHAPTER SIX Hear No Evil

CHAPTER SEVEN Speak No Evil

CHAPTER EIGHT Evil Want to Play

CHAPTER NINE Saying Goodbye

Author Notes

Strange Girl

Book 4 in the Scary Mary Series

by S.A. Hunter

© 2014 S.A. Hunter

License Notes:

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people unless permitted by purchase agreement. If you would like to give this book to another person, please download an additional copy for each person.

This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover design by S.A. Hunter

The Scary Mary Series

Scary Mary

Stalking Shadows

Broken Spirits

Strange Girl

Other books by S.A. Hunter

Unicorn Bait

Dragon Prey

~Acknowledgments~

As always, I have to thank my my parents for their unfailing support of me and this crazy dream of mine. It is greatly appreciated and needed. I would also like to thank all of the readers who have shown their support to me over the years. I can’t believe we’re on book four. Here’s to many more!

If you wish to be notified when I publish a new book, please sign up for my mailing list. (I promise not to spam you.)

Sign up here.

CHAPTER ONE

Dancing Around

It was finally about to happen. Mary was going to a high school dance. She’d never thought it would happen, but here she stood, with a boy no less. She mentally ticked the box beside school dance. It was on a list titled “Normal High School Things.” Also on the list were graduating, first kiss, and t.p.-ing a jerk’s house. The list was short, but then again, Mary hadn’t thought she’d do half the things listed. All but one thing was left to be marked off now.

Kyle’s hand slid warm and comforting to the small of her back.

“Hey, ready?” he asked.

She looked up at him with a smile and nodded. He handed their tickets to the person manning the door and they entered.

The dance was in full swing. Music reverberated through the air, giving everything a low hum. People were on the dance floor and sitting at tables that lined the room. The couple paused at the school gymnasium’s entrance to take in the transformation by streamers and crepe paper instilled upon it for Homecoming.

“Do you have the overwhelming urge to set off the sprinklers and watch it all melt away?”

Kyle huffed a laugh. “No, and I see I won’t be able to let you out of my sight any this evening.”

“Oh come on, just imagine it. It would all melt into blue and yellow sludge. Maybe some of it would mix into green. Green’s your favorite color.”

Kyle shook his head with a grin. “Can we have one dance before starting the mayhem?”

A shiver went down Mary’s back at the mention of dancing. She smoothed her dress nervously. She was amazed that she was actually here. She’d figured she’d have to forgo all high school dances. The notion had made her sad, but she figured that her freak status had permanently revoked her dance card. But here she was in a dress that made her feel like an alterna-princess with a date that made her feel like a normal girl. Yeah, those were two pretty different feelings, but they were both good so she didn’t question them.

Noticing her nervousness, Kyle leaned in close. “Everything okay?” he asked.

He was in a sports jacket, dress shirt, and slacks. When Mary had first seen him, she’d been surprised by the little flutter in her heart. She hadn’t known suits were something she liked. He wasn’t wearing a tie and the top button was undone on his shirt. She found the small opening of the collar very tantalizing. She was staring at it now. She swallowed uncomfortably and snapped her eyes up to his face. “Everything’s fine,” she said, but the words came out a little garbled. It sounded more like “Very fine.”

Kyle put his hand once more to the small of her back. “Come on, let’s see if we can find Rachel.”

Mary nodded and let him steer her around the room. There were a lot of second glances as they went by. Mary wasn’t sure if they were for her or her dress. The dress was a sleeveless, dark blue, with an asymmetrical hem line. It had a layer of tulle in the skirt that made it flutter around her knees. She loved the dress. Gran wouldn’t tell her where she’d gotten it. When she’d presented it to Mary, the girl had gotten misty-eyed. She’d touched it reverently. Gran had assured her that it was brand new and ghost-free. After the disaster with the Goodwill dress, Mary hadn’t tried going dress shopping again and had resolved herself to wearing her swing dancing/funeral dress to the Homecoming dance. This was so much better. The outer shell of the dress was shiny and silky. A thrill had gone through her at her first touch of the dress, but it had not been due to anything paranormal. It had been a normal teen girl’s thrill at getting something nice, and this was the nicest thing Mary had ever received.

She’d immediately tried on the dress and it fit perfectly. She hadn’t taken it off until it was time to go to bed. She couldn’t stop going by mirrors to look at herself. She’d made excuses to go back and forth from the kitchen to the living room so that she’d pass the large mirror that hung on the wall. She’d slow down and look at herself as she went by marveling at how the material moved and hung on her. Gran had laughed at her, but it was obvious that she was very pleased that Mary liked the dress so much. Not as pleased as Mary. But close.

Things soured a little when Mary chose her footwear. Gran had planned to take her out to find dress shoes, but Mary hated dress shoes. She had a pair of lace up, knee high boots she wanted to wear. Gran had been adamantly opposed to her fashion choice. It had ruined the joy of the dress a little. At the end, Mary had offered to let Gran do her makeup if she could wear the boots. Gran had quickly accepted this, and the matter was settled. Having makeup control was a big deal. Mary had been known to draw scrollwork on half her face with eyeliner. Mary thought it looked cool, but Gran never wanted to go out in public with her like that.

So instead of a swirls coming out from the corner of her eyes, Mary’s face was adorned conventionally with a light layer of smoky eye shadow, some pale lip gloss, a smidgen of blush, and eyeliner that was only around her eyes. Mary, of course, didn’t tell Gran, but she’d had no intention of drawing all over her face. But letting Gran do her makeup meant she had on her boots, and she thought they rocked with the dress.

Kyle hadn’t seemed to mind the boots either. When he’d come by to pick her up, his mouth had hung open for a minute. She’d waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, she’d begun to worry.

“Having second thoughts?” she’d asked, beginning to fidget. Maybe Gran had been right and she should’ve gotten some heels. Or he’d finally come to his senses and realized he was about to be seen at one of the biggest social events of the school with the class freak.

Kyle shook his head. “What? No. You look great.”

“Don’t sound so shocked,” she said dryly.

He blinked. “Are you having second thoughts?” he asked uncertainly.

Mary blew out a breath. “No, I’m nervous. Are you sure about this?”

“Pictures! I need pictures!” Gran announced, coming into the room holding a disposable point and click. She took a moment to look over Kyle and gave him an approving nod. “You look very nice, Kyle.”

He smiled at Gran. “Thanks, Mrs. Dubont. Mary looks fantastic.”

Gran hmmed as she checked the camera. “Yes, I suppose even the boots are nice.”

Mary rolled her eyes.

Gran motioned for them to stand together. Mary moved over to him, and he put his hand on her back. “You do look great. I always thought you were pretty, but I’ve never seen you like this,” he murmured into her ear.

“Smile!” Gran said.

Mary put on a smile, but she really wanted to look at Kyle. His hand ran up and down her back. It made her shiver. Gran clicked the camera a few more times. “Okay, I guess that’s enough. Have fun tonight you two.”

“We will, Mrs. Dubont. Thanks,” Kyle said as he ushered Mary out.

When the door had closed behind them, Mary had known there was no going back. She was on her way to the Homecoming Dance. But first there was dinner. They went to Amici’s. The place had been packed with other Homecoming-goers. Everyone noticed Kyle and Mary, but no one messed with them. Mary knew it was probably because of Kyle. He was well-liked and formidable. She happily used him as a social shield. Thus dinner had been good.

And now they were at the dance.

“I see them,” Kyle said and led her through the crowd. She stayed close to him, holding onto his arm, using him as a physical shield now. As they crossed the gym, guys brushed past Kyle, giving him friendly greetings and slaps on the shoulder. Kyle returned all of them with ease. She gave nods and shy smiles to his friends and their dates, but they weren’t people Mary knew.

Kyle kept going with confidence and ease. Mary really admired that about him. She never wanted to be popular, but she had to admit that it seemed to make some people glow with happiness. Kyle practically had a golden halo by the time they crossed the gym.

Rachel and Taryn were sitting at a corner table. Rachel hadn’t gotten her wish exactly. Instead of being asked to Homecoming by someone she liked, she’d done the asking. Mary was so glad that Taryn had said yes. Rachel was dressed in a sexy lady suit while Taryn wore a beaded flapper dress. They looked awesome together.

Rachel hadn’t seen Mary’s dress before the dance. She blew a loud wolf whistle at the sight of her. Mary did a little twirl in response.

“Wow, Mary. Where’d you get that?”

Mary shrugged her shoulders. “Gran got it. She won’t say.”

“Well, I, obviously, need to go shopping with her.”

“You both look great,” Mary told the two girls.

Rachel slung her arm around Taryn’s neck. “We know.”

“You look great, too, Kyle,” Taryn said.

Kyle gently grabbed Mary’s waist from behind and stepped in close. “Thanks, but I know I wouldn’t look half as good on my own.”

Mary could feel her cheeks heating up.

Rachel hopped up. “Well, now that we’re all here. Let’s dance!” She turned and offered her arm to Taryn who regally took it.

Kyle gave Mary’s waist a gently squeeze. “Well?” he asked. His breath tickled her ear. Goosebumps went up her arms.

A fast song was playing, and the dance floor was only half full with other couples. There were several groups of only girls dancing as their dates leaned against the walls watching. Mary liked to dance, though she only had with Rachel. She took Kyle’s hand and led him onto the dance floor. They started dancing with Taryn and Rachel beside them. Soon they were laughing and joking while they danced, and Mary’s cheeks hurt from all of the smiling. It was amazing.

After another upbeat song, a slow song started. Kyle raised an eyebrow as he moved in closer. “Okay?” he asked as he put him hands on her waist.

Mary stepped in close and put her arms around his neck. She put her head on his shoulder. They began to sway. She sighed as her heart rate slowed and she calmed down.

“Still want to set off the sprinklers?” Kyle asked quietly.

“Evening’s gotta end at some point,” she said.

He chuckled and rested his head against hers. Mary relaxed and let him lead. The dance floor had filled up as all of the couples crowded on. It was a sea of swaying teens. Mary’s eyes drifted over them. It wasn’t often she was part of the crowd. Too often, she was on the sidelines looking on at everyone else. Being among them was an unusual treat.

As she looked around, she recognized another swaying couple. Cy and Vicky were dancing a few yards away. Mary idly watched them, curiosity keeping her attention on them. She’d never seen them doing couple-y things. Sure, she’d seen them together, but not holding hands or hugging or anything. They looked comfortable together and seemed to fit. Mary could admit they looked good. As the pair made a slow turn, Vicky spotted her. The cheerleader raised a silent eyebrow. Mary gave her a slight nod of acknowledgment before turning her gaze away.

Her eyes immediately picked out another familiar person. Mr. Landa stood by the wall, watching the dance floor. Ms. Myers stood beside him. They were shoulder to shoulder actually. Mary’s eyes bounced back and forth between them. They seemed pretty comfortable together. She wondered if there was some gossip there. Again, she stared too long and Mr. Landa spotted her staring. She gave him a small wave and he raised his punch glass to her. She wondered what he thought of her attendance. Maybe he’d put a check mark in her file.

Kyle laughed at something he saw from his side of the dance floor.

“What?” she asked, lifting her head.

“Rachel,” he murmured.

He swung them around so Mary faced that direction, and she caught the tail-end of the deep dip Rachel had performed with Taryn.

“Don’t do that with me,” Mary said.

“But we can’t let them be the better dancers,” he countered.

“Yes, we can,” she shot back.

He took her hand and firmed up his grip on her waist.

“Don’t you dare, Kyle,” she said, freezing up.

“I promise I won’t drop you.”

“Well, I promise to twist my ankle if you try.”

He laughed, and luckily, the music faded out before he could attempt anything. Mary slipped out of his arms and gave him a distrustful look. He grinned at her unrepentantly. He reached out and pulled her back to his side. She let herself be pulled and bumped into him good-naturedly. Everyone turned towards the stage as Principal Hoke climbed the steps with a microphone.

“If I could have everyone’s attention,” she said.

The gymnasium went quiet. She held up an envelope. “It’s time to announce the Homecoming Court.”

Mary noticed several of Kyle’s buddies turned and gave him enthusiastic thumbs up. He groaned and covered his eyes.

“What’s that about?” she whispered.

Kyle sighed. “They thought it would be funny to nominate me.”

“What?”

Mary hadn’t known this. The seniors voted on who would be picked for Homecoming king and queen while the lower classmen chose a prince and princess for their respective classes. She hadn’t wondered who was nominated among the seniors since she didn’t know many. Vicky and Cy had been on the ballot for the junior class. Mary had voted for them, but only because they were the only familiar names on the ballot.

Principal Hoke opened the envelope. She announced the prince and princess for the freshmen. Mary had no idea who they were. They went up the stage and accepted crowns and sashes to polite applause. Next were the sophomores. Again, Mary didn’t know who they were.

“The junior prince and princess are Cyrus Asher and Vicky Nelson.”

There was general applause for the couple as they went up to the stage. Mary wasn’t surprised that they won. It seemed inevitable really. Cy escorted Vicky up, and they received their crowns and sashes with general grace and nonchalance. This was just another feather in Vicky’s overstuffed cap.

“Jesus, of course, he won,” Kyle said under his breath, sounding unhappy.

Mary slipped her hand into Kyle’s and gave it a squeeze. She knew the brothers had a bit of friction. Kyle felt Cy was handed things to him while he had to work to earn everything. She didn’t think that was entirely true, but she could sympathize.

“Now allow me to present your homecoming king and queen Kyle Asher and Hilary Easton!”

The room erupted in cheers. There were loud hoots and wolf whistles. Stomping feet and energetic clapping filled the air as well. The sudden enthusiasm made Mary jump. Kyle shook his head and gave Mary a kiss on the cheek before heading to the stage. As he went, guys swarmed him to congratulate him. He gave them all rueful thanks and oaths of revenge. Mary watched his back recede in disbelief. She was dating the homecoming king? That couldn’t be right.

Rachel and Taryn came up and stood on either side of Mary. “Whoa, did not expect this turn of events,” Rachel said.

“I don’t know. Kyle does seem to be really popular,” Taryn commented.

“I can’t believe this,” Mary said.

Kyle accepted his crown, sash, and scepter. He waved the scepter at the crowd to general uproar. Hilary, a girl Mary only recognized vaguely, smiled hugely and put her arm around Kyle’s as they took position at the center of the assembled court. Mary remembered that Hilary did the beauty pageant circuit. Her picture had been in the paper when she’d won something. She looked natural in crown and sash. The room lit up with flash bulbs.

Mary once again felt like she was on the sidelines looking in. Even if most of the room was with her on the sidelines, it still twisted her gut a little. What was she doing here? Who was she kidding?

To her right, she heard one of Kyle’s buddies say to another, “Aw man, it’s so great that Kyle won.”

“I know, man. He totally tried to campaign against it.”

“I know. He threatened to send his girlfriend after us if we went through with it.”

“Yeah, but no matter what, it was worth it.”

“Totally.”

Mary glanced over at the two jocks. Nominating Kyle and getting him crowned homecoming king seemed like an odd joke to pull on someone. The fact that Kyle hadn’t wanted it was also a little odd. Wasn’t this what popular kids wanted? Vicky certainly looked like she’d cut anyone who tried to take her crown away.

Kyle and Hilary looked good together. She was only an inch shorter than him in her heels. Her arm fit perfectly around his. Mary wondered if they shared any classes. If they talked. If they were friends. What was Mary doing with him?

“Tell Kyle I went to the restroom,” Mary said to Rachel. Her friend gave her a questioning look, but nodded her head.

She left the gym and went to the bathroom. She stood at a sink and checked her makeup. Nothing was smudged. Her hair was a little tangled from dancing. She took out her brush and began to smooth it out.

From her purse, her phone beeped, indicating a new text message. She pulled it out to take a look.

*You look really nice tonight.*

She smiled. It was Jake, the mysterious guy who’d helped save her from the Shadowman. He’d always known when she was in trouble and who to call to get her help. He may not have been physically there to help her, but he’d earned the MVP award during that whole ordeal and her eternal goodwill.

As soon as she’d gotten her prepaid phone working again, he’d started texting her. They never talked on the phone, but practically every day, he sent her simple text messages like *Your hair looks nice,* or *Good luck on that test.* She hadn’t told anyone that he was texting her. She liked having a secret friend. She’d learned a few things about him, like he had a younger sister and that he hated math. Mary hadn’t needed to tell him much of anything about herself because he could just see it. His gift was called remote viewing. She hadn’t known what that was and had to look it up. It was a really odd but cool ability. The CIA and the KGB had actually studied it and tried to train operatives to use it. Mary didn’t understand how Jake’s ability worked. One website had described it as dowsing the universe. To Mary, dowsing meant using a Y-shaped stick to find stuff buried in the ground. She’d asked Jake about it, and he’d said he didn’t use anything. He just needed to think about what he wanted to see and an image would form in his mind. That was how he’d always known where she was and who to call when the Shadowman possessed her. When she’d asked him how he’d happened to think of her, he’d simply texted back that he’d wanted to know someone who was like him--Different. When he’d closed his eyes, there she was. For once her ability to talk to ghosts hadn’t alienated her to someone. It linked them. She liked that. And she liked Jake.

*Thanks. Did you see Kyle win Homecoming King?*

*Yeah, he seems really popular.*

Mary sighed at this. She had to face facts. Kyle was really popular, in spite of her. *I know. I can’t believe he’s dating me.*

*I can.*

That little statement made Mary’s heart flutter again. She smiled at her phone’s screen. Someone else came into the restroom. Mary looked up. It was Vicky, still in her crown and sash. Vicky’s eyes fell on Mary’s phone. She raised an eyebrow and gave Mary a knowing look.

“What?” Mary asked. She slipped the phone back into her purse.

Vicky went to a sink and looked at herself in the mirror. “Nothing. I just wondered who you could be texting since everyone you know is here tonight.”

“It’s none of your business.”

Vicky didn’t seem to agree. She checked her makeup and adjusted her crown. Mary waited, not sure why she didn’t leave. Once Vicky was satisfied with her appearance, she turned back to her. “So did you ever find out who that freak was that was calling all of us while you were possessed?”

Mary bristled at the casual insult directed at Jake. “He’s not a freak.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I’m going back to my date. Kyle’s waiting for you outside.”

Vicky gave herself one last look in the mirror and exited. Had Vicky come in just to harass her? Mary wondered dourly. She glanced at herself in the mirror, but couldn’t meet her own gaze. Her eyes dropped to her clutch purse and then darted away. She exited to find Kyle waiting right outside for her.

“Did you send in Vicky to look for me?” she asked dourly.

Kyle’s eyes widened a fraction. “Yeah, sorry? I wasn’t sure if you were in there and she was close by.”

“Well, don’t do that again. It just annoys both of us.”

Kyle dropped his head sheepishly. He still had on his sash and crown. She wondered what he’d done with the scepter.

“Homecoming king, congrats man!” A jock yelled into Kyle’s ear while giving him a friendly shake. Kyle shrugged the guy off with a friendly shove. His friend laughed and kept going. Once he was gone, Mary crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

“So I’m dating the homecoming king,” she said dryly.

Kyle’s good humor turned to embarrassment. “Yeah, I know it’s stupid.”

Seeing his discomfort and knowing that she’d caused it made Mary blanch. She pushed off the wall and stepped up to Kyle. She dropped her eyes and twisted from side-to-side shyly. It was only half an act. “Would the homecoming king like to dance with me?”

Kyle held out his hand. She raised her eyes to meet his. He smiled down at her. “I’d like nothing better.”

They went back to the dance floor. Kyle’s arms felt familiar now going around her. She rested her cheek against his shoulder and sighed.

“Having fun?” he asked.

Mary nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m really glad we came.”

“Me too,” he said as he slowly twirled them around.

They slow danced for several more songs. Mary only checked the clock when she needed to yawn. It was almost eleven. “It’s getting late,” she said.

Kyle hmmed but didn’t loosen his hold on her. Mary gently pushed him off with a smile. “Come on, take me home before I turn into a pumpkin.”

“I like pumpkins,” Kyle said, pulling her back. “One more dance,” he murmured.

Mary sighed and put her arms back around him. “Okay, homecoming king. One more dance.”

“It’s good to be the king,” he said. Mary had to chuckle at that.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mary snuggled into Kyle’s jacket as they walked to her back porch. When they’d left, he’d slipped it onto her shoulders before she even realized how much it had cooled down. She’d have to give it back to him in a minute, but she wanted to eke out a few more moments of enjoyment from it. She had to admit there was something inherently romantic about the guy giving the girl his coat. Maybe it was the fact that it was still warm from his body. It was like getting a sartorial hug.

Mary went up the step and turned to face Kyle. She was a few inches taller than him for the moment. The reversal in height made her smile as she tilted her head down to kiss him. She’d been feeling pretty content and a little bit sleepy so was startled when Kyle grabbed her by the waist and jerked her against his body. His tongue pushed into her mouth with a force that startled her. Overwhelmed by his sudden passion, she just tried to stay upright and not fall back onto the porch. Kyle broke off the kiss as quickly as he started it. He rested his forehead against hers while they both panted.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“For being the greatest girlfriend in the world.”

“If you think I’m the greatest, you don’t get out much. I’m sure there’s a girl in Zimbabwe better than me.”

Kyle shook his head. His forehead rolled against hers. “Nope, not for me. No offense to the chick in Zimbabwe.”

Mary smiled shyly. She shifted her head to give him a peck on the cheek. “Have fun at the game tomorrow.”

“You sure you don’t want to go?”

She shook her head. “I’ll let the guys have you to themselves, after all, you are their king.”

Kyle huffed at the reminder. “I still can’t believe they did this to me.”

Mary finally got to ask why that bothered him. “But why aren’t you happy about it? I thought people liked this sort of thing.”

“Would you want to be homecoming queen?”

Mary shook her head. Not even taking a moment to consider the idea. “The only way that would happen is if I was immediately drenched in pig’s blood.”

“But if there was no pig’s blood, would you want it?”

Now Mary didn’t know. She looked away and felt a little afraid. She wanted to be normal. Popularity was a part of normality. She knew, though, that she’d never have it. She’d hear ghosts and never be a happy, shiny person.

“You’re my homecoming queen.”

Mary’s eyes went back to Kyle. He was smiling softly at her. She pulled his mouth back to hers for another kiss. This one under her initiation. It was slower and less frantic, but seemed more intense than the previous kiss. Mary’s body molded to Kyle’s as they both tightened their arms around each other. She only broke away finally when she started becoming light-headed. They both panted against each other’s cheeks. Kyle’s hands kneaded her back. Mary pulled back and slipped his jacket off her shoulders.

“Night, Kyle,” she said softly.

He wordlessly nodded back still panting. He turned and stumbled like he was drunk. He quickly caught himself and made his way back to his truck. Mary watched him pull away before going into the house.

CHAPTER TWO

What Dost Thou?

“Don’t try tip-toeing up those stairs. You’d never manage it in those boots anyway.”

Mary sighed and turned away from the stairs that she had been about to tip-toe up. She went into the living room and found Gran stretched out on the sofa. The television was on but muted. Mary sank into the recliner.

“So how was it?” Gran asked expectantly.

She smiled. “It was really great. Kyle was voted homecoming king.”

Gran’s eyes widened. “He was?”

“Yeah, he didn’t want it, but all of his buddies got together and voted him in. It was a joke or something.”

Gran’s eyebrows lowered in confusion. “What?”

Mary’s shoulders went up. “I don’t know why they thought it would be funny. It didn’t seem like it was supposed to be a mean joke. They seemed genuinely happy that he won.”

Gran shook her head dismissively. “Were Rachel and Taryn there?”

Mary had asked Rachel if it were all right to tell Gran about Taryn. Rachel had acted like Mary hadn’t needed to ask. Gran had taken the news without comment, but the next time Rachel had stopped by, Gran had asked her some very pointed questions about Taryn and if they knew what they were doing and if they were being careful with not just their bodies but their hearts. Mary had found an excuse to be elsewhere, thinking that this was not something she should hear. Later she had asked Rachel if she were okay. She was worried Gran had upset her, but her best friend had smiled and said she hoped her parents took her dating Taryn half as well as Gran.

Mary nodded in answer to Gran’s question. “Yeah. They looked great together.”

“Do Rachel’s parents know yet that she’s dating Taryn?”

Mary slouched uncomfortably. “I think they might suspect, but they’re like waiting for Rachel to tell them.”

Gran sighed unhappily. “Rachel shouldn’t let this go too long.”

Mary didn’t comment, instead she asked, “So did you have a nice quiet evening without me?”

“Yes, I did. You can go to your room now. I’m glad you had a good time and tell Kyle congratulations for me and make sure he knows I mean it, that I’m not joking around.”

Mary nodded with a grin. “Will do. Night, Gran.”

“Night, dear.”

Mary went up to her room to undress. She put her dress carefully away in the closet. She hoped she got another chance to wear it. She really loved it. Her cell phone chirped twice. She pulled it out of her purse and found two text messages.

The first one was from Kyle. *Night, Mary. Sweet dreams.*

She sent back a quick text. *Night-night. Have fun at the game.*

The next text message was from Jake. *I’m glad you had a good time tonight. I forgot to tell you—I really like the boots.*

She smiled at the display. *Thanks. Good night, Jake.*

She turned off the phone and set it down. Was it wrong of her to be texting Jake? She’d never met him. He lived in another state. She hadn’t felt guilty until tonight. Maybe it would be all right to keep doing it if she told Kyle? But what was there to tell? They just chatted. He was nice and different like her. She didn’t know all of Kyle’s friends. He didn’t have to know all of hers. So why was Mary’s stomach being tied into knots while she thought about this? She grimaced. This was all Vicky’s fault. If the queen bee had kept her pointy nose to herself, Mary wouldn’t be worrying about this. Her thoughts turned to Vicky and how annoying she was. On safer mental ground, Mary was able to go to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the television, the anime Goth girl yelled at the pretty boys to get out of her room. She wanted to be left alone with her anatomy dolls and skeletons. Mary could appreciate the anime girl’s desire. Eating junk food and watching horror movies sounded like an excellent way to spend a Saturday. She sort of was herself. One of the pretty anime boys was yelling at the Goth girl that sitting alone in the dark eating junk food was destroying her. He showed her the acne that had popped up on her face and the bags that hung under her eyes. Mary raised a hand and patted her face tentatively. That wasn’t a zit forming on her forehead was it?

Mary’s hand dropped from her face at the sound of a car pulling up to the back of the house. Grateful for distraction, Mary went to the kitchen to see who it was. She didn’t recognize the vehicle. It was a dusty blue sedan with Alabama plates. Mary’s heart gave a little flutter. It couldn’t be…

A man wearing gold frame glasses got out of the car. He was in his mid-thirties and already thinning on top. He had on a short-sleeved button shirt tucked into a pair of worn out jeans. Mary rubbed her eyes and pressed her nose to the glass again because that couldn’t be a fanny pack around the man’s waist. She thought those had been outlawed in the late nineties.

Mary moved to the beaded curtain that divided the office and the kitchen. She stood to the side. There was no way to hide completely, but she wanted to stay unobtrusive. This couldn’t be Jake. She was sure of that in her hearts of hearts. He wouldn’t wear a fanny pack. She’d be able to tell if he did. This was some other random stranger from Alabama. Also, Jake was still in school. This guy was due for his twenty-year anniversary.

Gran opened the office door with a welcoming smile. “Welcome to Old Grannie Fortunetelling. What can the spirits and I do for you today?”

The man stepped into the room and looked around. He carried what appeared to be a very heavy backpack. “Hello, ma’am. Are you Helena Dubont?”

“Yes, what’s this about?” Gran asked, a bit of the charlatan shtick falling away.

“Regina Smith gave me your name.”

And speak of the devil, a bright yellow Mustang turned into the driveway, spraying gravel everywhere. It came to the back and parked sloppily beside the stranger’s blue sedan.

The fanny-pack man and Gran stepped out to greet the producer. Now Mary’s curiosity was fully piqued. She wanted to follow them outside, but she feared Gran would banish her to her room if she became aware of her. She opened the kitchen window and pressed her nose to the screen. Regina got out of her flashy car with a cell phone pressed to her ear and a briefcase under her arm.

“Mike, just get it done. I don’t care how,” she turned off the phone and slammed her car door. “Jim, good you’re here,” she said, heading toward the office door.

Gran stepped into her way with arms crossed. “Ms. Smith, what are you doing here?” she asked, coolly. She hadn’t warmed at all to the idea of being on television. Mary was about to pop out the screen, she was pressed so hard to it. She wasn’t wary of Regina Smith anymore. Now that she knew the abrasive woman’s deal, she would very much like to know why she’d come back. Was she going to offer Gran more money? Maybe her very own reality television show?

“We would like to show you some video,” Regina said, turning to nod to the man. “This is Jim Bambach, the founder of Alabama Paranormal Investigations.”

Jim offered his hand to Gran. She reluctantly uncrossed her arms to shake it. “I haven’t changed my mind, Ms. Smith. I have no desire to do reality television.”

Jim replied rather than Regina. “We understand, Mrs. Dubont. We would like you to maybe be a consultant?”

Gran sighed. She led the way back into the office and waved at them to have a seat. She sat down in her chair and crossed her hands. “Consult? And how would that work?” she asked.

“We can hash out the details later,” Regina said nonchalantly.

Mary didn’t like the sound of that. Gran didn’t do charity work.

“Very well. You mentioned a video?”

Jim spoke up again. “Well, you see, we think we may have gotten in a little over our heads at this one location, and we’re hoping maybe you can help us. I’ve got some footage that I think will really surprise you.”

Gran raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Mary unconsciously leaned into the room, knowing she wouldn’t be able to see whatever video they had from across the room. Regina noticed her and waved for her to come in.

“Mary, join us. Jim, this is Mary, Mrs. Dubont’s granddaughter.”

“Howdy,” Jim said with a crooked smile and a bob of his head. He opened his backpack and pulled out a large laptop. Regina rose and slid her chair over by Gran’s for Mary to sit in. Gran gave Mary a look as she sat down beside her, but didn’t say anything. Jim opened the laptop and fussed over it for a few minutes.

“I guess I should give you a little background,” Jim said as he clicked things on the laptop. “I formed the API in 2005. We’ve investigated over sixty purportedly haunted locations. The current team has been together for about two years. We’ve investigated twelve locations as a group. Regina approached us about creating a reality show about six months ago.”

“They’ve got real potential. When I watched their videos, it was clear that the cast was already really strong. Each character is distinct, and they have a nice variety that will appeal to a wide demographic. You have Jim, the nerd; Ursula, the beauty queen slash kick-ass heroine, who is so very hot in nerdy circles; Carl, the dry-sarcastic everyman; and Jenny, the perky Goth”

Mary looked over at Jim for his reaction to Regina’s less than savory description of him. He appeared to wince slightly, but remained focused on his laptop. “Yes, well, we heard about the Laffoon Plantation from another paranormal group. They reported the standard stuff: mysterious footsteps, phantom touches, and cold spots. I contacted the owner and got permission to do an overnight investigation.

“I expected this to be a pretty mundane investigation. We set up our equipment and got to work. Ursula, the newest member of the group, started picking up some weird stuff right away. She reported multiple instances of hair tugging. I sent her off on her own to record. And it was like she was being led. She’d come to a split hallway and her flashlight would flicker when she pointed it in a particular direction. Here, rather than telling you, you can watch the video. It’s amazing stuff.” Jim turned the laptop toward them.

Mary rubbed her hands together as they suddenly went cold, remembering the last time Regina had tried to show her and Gran a digital video. She nervously looked down for her shadow. It was no threat, but she checked it anyway. Her shadow slanted away from the table, behind her.

She focused back on the laptop. The view appeared to be from a head cam. No one else appeared in frame, so this Ursula woman had to be wearing it. “You film everything yourselves?” Mary asked. Most paranormal shows had a separate film crew that sort of was invisible. Rarely were they referred to. It let the audience see the investigators, but when you thought about it, all these strange things that supposedly happened to the investigators never seemed to affect the film crew.

“Yeah, we use head cams. We might start using a film crew if the series does well, but for now, I think the first person POV sets us apart and really immerses the audience in the experience,” Jim said. Mary began to wonder if he dabbled in showbiz on the side. There were a number of paranormal investigators that had resumes on IMDB, making their particular interest in the paranormal a wee bit suspect.

“Like Regina said, we’re a four person team. I’m the lead investigator. I set up the jobs and make all the arrangements. Carl’s my second-in-command and is in charge of the equipment. Then there’s Jenny, who monitors everything from the van and helps analyze our findings, and finally there’s Ursula, our junior investigator. She assists in the field and helps analyze the findings. She’s a real go-getter. I think she may be our breakout star.”

And the future Mrs. Bambach, Mary thought.

“Ursula was the primary contact for the spirit encounters at the Laffoon Plantation. They seemed to strongly react to her. I think she may have some latent psychic ability.” Mary looked over at Gran, and they exchanged wry looks. It was amazing how many people thought they might be a bit psychic because some coincidence happened or a lucky guess paid off.

“Well, without further ado,” Jim said. He leaned over the laptop and clicked play. The view was of a dark room. It appeared to be empty with a lot of neglect. Wallpaper peeled off the walls and refuse littered the floor. The Laffoon Plantation appeared to be derelict. The camera bobbed with Ursula’s every footstep. Mary worried she’d get motion sick. The woman crept down the hallway, narrating as she went. “I’m making my way through the second dining room, heading towards the kitchen. I’m not sure if the spirit wishes me to follow or is trying to scare me off. I’ve had several hair tugs since my initial encounter. All tugs seem to be trying to pull me back and away. My flashlight has flickered quite a bit, and I’ve encountered several significant cold spots.”

The camera approached an empty doorway. “I’m approaching what used to be the kitchen. Hello? I’m coming in. Please don’t be afraid.”

In response to her announcement, the sound of clanging pots rang out clearly. Ursula stopped in the doorway and panned her flashlight around. The room was empty. A dirty table was in the middle of the room with cabinets, many with doors hanging half off. There were no sign of any pots.

“I don’t mean you any harm. I just wish to help you.”

What sounded like a storm of rattling silverware and breaking glass filled the audio, but the view of the video showed nothing that could be making the noise. Ursula stepped into the room. Mary knew then that this woman was an idiot. She was disregarding all of the ghost’s clear signals to go away. Ursula’s head cam panned the room. “Hello?” she called out again.

In response, a dark shape came flying at her. Ursula ducked and something hit the wall, punching into the old plaster. Ursula turned to it. It was an old crumbling brick. Mary was unhappily reminded of a frying pan flying at her own head and the terror that the incident had inspired. Ursula turned back to the room. “Hey! What was that for?” she demanded angrily.

More stuff crashed in the kitchen. The cabinets that had doors began to rattle. The camera swung around wildly as Ursula looked around. Her jerky movements made the chaos even more unsettling.

“I don’t mean any harm, and it’s not like I could do anything to you, anyway. It’s not like I could throw anything and hit you in the head, though I wish I could. You throw like a sissy.”

Gran hissed disapprovingly. Mary could only watch in grim fascination. Another brick came flying at Ursula. She barely dodged it. The mic captured the boom of it hitting the wall.

“Okay! Okay! I’m leaving. Don’t want to play with you anyway.” Ursula backed out of the room. She sounded more grumpy than afraid. Mary didn’t know how she could handle these events with such nonchalance.

Ursula went back through two rooms, the sound of rattling pots fading behind her. She rejoined the group in the main hall. “Hey, could someone go check out the kitchen?” she asked. Ursula’s camera showed Jim and another man that must be Carl standing in a foyer talking. They had what must be the head cams strapped to their heads. Carl was a twenty-something guy with a soul patch. He had close cropped hair and an earring in one ear. He looked a little soft around the middle, like he sat in front of a computer too much.

“Isn’t that where you just were?” Carl asked.

“Yeah, I got some weird readings. Could you go and double check them?”

Mary couldn’t believe she was going to send one of her co-investigators in there blind. Gran shook her head disapprovingly.

Carl shrugged. “I can go. Jim and I were going to check to check out the right side of the house. You wanna go instead?”

The camera bobbed. “Yeah, sure.”

Carl headed to the left while Ursula and Jim headed right. There was a brief moment of static. When the image cleared, the screen was split between two camera angles. One belonged to Ursula and the other must be Jim’s. They were standing at the entrance to a large room. It had a high ceiling. The walls were discolored with age and wind whistled in through a broken window.

“Hello, is anyone there?” Ursula called, panning around the room.

A few music notes tinkled within the room. They sounded mechanical. Ursula gave a happy sigh. “I’ll take that as a yes. Thank you.”

“Shit,” video-Jim murmured.

Ursula gave him a dirty look. “Don’t swear. You might offend the ghost.”

Oh now, she’s worried about pissing off the ghost? Mary wondered. She looked over at Jim, but he seemed engrossed in the video. Mary was beginning to wonder. A lot of this stuff could be easy to fake. Sound could be added in post-production pretty easily and this was all really incredible stuff, and this Ursula-chick was taking it all in stride too well.

Ursula went to the center of the room. “Hello, my name is Ursula. What’s yours?” She paused for a moment then the camera swept the room again. Video-Jim stayed in the doorway, watching her. It was a pretty desolate place with cobwebs and dried leaves strewn across the room. “I hope you don’t mind that we’re here. The other ghost didn’t seem to like me.”

Mary frowned. So now Ursula assumed that there were two ghosts? The tinkling notes began again. They resolved into what sounded like a distant music box. “Oh, that’s lovely,” Ursula said.

“Oh, wow,” video-Jim murmured. His camera swept the room left to right. “Where’s that music coming from?” he wondered aloud.

Ursula didn’t answer him. Her arms rose into a dance stance, but she had no partner. She took a tentative step back.

“Ursula, what do you think you’re doing?” video-Jim stage-whispered.

“He wants to dance,” she said and twirled around the room with an invisible partner.

“You can feel him?”

“Obviously. Now be quiet this takes concentration.”

Video-Jim shut up and just watched her. Ursula silently moved around in circles. The distant music box continued to play. She stepped from side to side and turned in slow circles. Her view showed nothing in front of her. Suddenly she gasped and stumbled forward.

“Wait, come back!” she called.

Video-Jim suddenly gave a yell and flailed about.

“A spirit literally went through me. It was the most incredible experiences of my life,” Jim told them earnestly.

Mary looked over at him skeptically. He knew it felt for a spirit to go through him?

The sound of rattling glass filled the room. “Oh, it’s you,” Ursula said dismissively.

Video-Jim held up an EMF detector. The indicator lights were flashing on and off. “Oh geez, the EMF is going crazy,” he said.

“I wonder how Carl fared in the kitchen,” Ursula mused.

“Why? What happened in the kitchen?” video-Jim asked.

“You’re about to see here.”

“Urs, don’t do anything stupid, please,” video-Jim begged. But Ursula’s sardonic grin indicated that she was most definitely going to do something very stupid.

“Hey! What’s your problem? I was having a lovely visit with the other resident. Why’d you scare him off? Huh? Are you jealous? Do you want him to dance only with you?”

“Urs, there’s no need to provoke the ghost.” Mary silently agreed with video-Jim. She also silently hoped video-Jim ditched Ursula and made a run for it. It would be the smartest move.

Ursula threw out her arms and turned around the room. “Hey, I asked you a question! What’s your problem? I left you alone when you indicated you didn’t want me in the kitchen, so why’d you follow me in here? Huh? Why?”

Video-Jim was backing out of the room. He seemed to be following Mary’s silent advice. He took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. “Carl, are you there? What’s your situation?”

Carl came back immediately. “I’m fine. The kitchen’s a mess, though. I’ve been taking pictures and recording for EVPs. How are things on your end?”

“Ursula’s provoking a spirit and succeeding.”

“What? No way! I’m coming to you guys.”

“Hey, if you wanted my attention, you got it! Come on, show me what you got!”

In response to Ursula’s taunt, something flew at her. Amazingly, Ursula caught it. Mary was duly impressed. It appeared to be a rock or maybe a chunk of plaster.

“Is that the best you can do? Come on, I’ll leave when you actually scare me.”

Mary wasn’t impressed anymore. She put her hands over her face. She couldn’t watch anymore.

“I’ve seen enough,” Gran said

“But we just got to the best part!” Jim protested.

Gran’s jaw tightened. Mary peeked through her fingers.

On screen, another rock flew at Ursula. She dodged it. “Ha-ha that was pathetic. Come on, scare me!”

“She’s insane,” Mary said.

“She’s our star investigator,” Jim corrected. Mary didn’t think that meant she was wrong.

The windows started to rattle. Loose bits of glass fell out of them. Long jagged tears appeared on the wallpaper, ripping apart loudly. They looked like they’d been made by large claws. Ursula laughed again. “This isn’t scary. If you want to scare me, show your face!”

Jim pointed at the screen excitedly. “See, that’s why she’s the best. She doesn’t let fear get in her way for the Holy Grail: actual photographic proof. If we can film a full body apparition, we’ll be legendary.”

“Isn’t everything else proof enough?” Gran asked.

Jim shook his head. “It’s good and exciting, but it’s not distinctive. The skeptics would claim everything was parlor tricks or other fakery. No, we have to film a real ghost.”

Ursula was backing out of the room, but she wasn’t doing it sheepishly. “You’re some piece of work, you know that? I was having a nice moment with your friend, but you had to come tearing into here and spoil it. Well, I’m going, but I’ll be back. And you can’t stop me.”

That seemed to piss off the angry spirit even more. A dust devil formed in the center of the room. “Oh, wow,” Ursula whispered. Finally impressed.

Suddenly, Ursula was yanked back. It was by video-Jim. “Carl, get back to the van,” he yelled into his walkie-talkie.

The video cut off there.

“Well, that was very thrilling. It will make an excellent television show,” Gran said dryly.

“Oh, we know,” Jim agreed.

Gran gave him a disapproving look.

Regina put away her phone. She’d been looking at it the entire time they’d watched the video. “We need you, Mrs. Dubont. We’re willing to triple our offer.”

“You need her for what? These guys seem to draw the ghosts out perfectly fine without her,” Mary said. If any of the video was real, they were also all suicidal idjits. If nothing was real, they were huge frauds. Either way, she was not about to let Gran go off in a van with them.

“Yes, but she can talk to the spirits. Give them a voice. We have the excitement and adventure covered. The missing ingredient is pathos.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Gran asked.

Jim sighed and hung his head. “We didn’t record a single EVP.”

“That’s because they aren’t real,” Mary muttered.

Jim’s eyes widened. “After seeing all of that, you’re going to claim that ghosts aren’t real?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “No, just EVPs.”

He calmed down and gave her a thoughtful look.

Gran rose, obviously done humoring them. “Mr. Bambach, Ms. Smith, thank you. I’m flattered that you came to me, but I really can’t help you.”

“Quadruple,” Regina said.

Jim’s eyebrows rose. “You may end up making more than the entire team by the end of this,” he muttered.

But Gran wasn’t swayed. “No, thank you. Please don’t ask again.”

Ms. Smith collected her briefcase. “You’re a tough nut, Mrs. Dubont. If you change your mind, you have my number.”

Jim rose, too and gave them a nod. “It’s a shame. I think we could learn a lot from you.”

“Thank you, sir. Good luck with your ghost hunting.”

They walked the two out and watched them drive away. “Lord, save us from reality television,” Gran said with a sigh.

“Do you really think it’s safe to let that group roam around a haunted house?” Mary asked.

“You think it was real?” Gran asked.

“It seemed pretty real.” While everything in the video could’ve been faked, it would’ve been really expensive to do it and that more than anything made Mary think it was real. There was no reason to actually show the wallpaper ripping when they could’ve had the sound happen off-camera and then turn to it and react to the evidence after the fact.

Gran sighed. “But you heard them—they don’t really want my help. They want drama.”

“Maybe but that Ursula chick is going to get herself possessed or killed if she keeps egging on ghosts.”

“And quite frankly, I wouldn’t much hold it against the spirits.”

“Yeah, but still, we can’t let them roam around a haunted house without any protection,” Mary said.

Gran peered at Mary suspiciously. “I don’t want to be on television.”

“And you don’t have to be. Regina said you’d be a consultant.”

Gran snorted. “You’re assuming they’ll listen to me.”

“No, I’m assuming you’ll put the spirits to rest. They’ll listen to you.”

Gran’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t know. I’m assuming this plantation is in Alabama. That’s a long way to go.”

Mary’s heart gave a little flutter at the thought of going to Alabama. “It could be like a paid vacation. We haven’t taken one of those in years.”

“We?”

“Of course, I’m not letting you go alone.”

“I’m not letting you miss school.”

“I can miss a few days. It’ll be fine.”

“You’ve missed too much school already.”

“I haven’t missed that much. Only…” Mary trailed off as she counted the days. “Five days,” she said, trying to make it sound like an inconsequential number.

“Yeah, that equals one week.”

“I didn’t miss them all at once and I’m fully caught up plus I’ll take my textbooks with me so I don’t fall behind.”

Gran shook her head. “You’re only allowed twenty absences before they possibly hold you back.”

That was a danger that Mary could take very seriously, but she was not about to miss her chance to go to Alabama.

“This won’t possibly take that long will it? Maybe a week max? I’ll still have plenty of days.”

“You’ll still fall behind. Your grades will suffer.”

“I said I’ll take my textbooks and Rachel can email me the assignments.”

Gran continued to shake her head. “It’s not the same. You need to be in class.”

“Well, we’re at an impasse then because you’re not going without me.”

A sardonic grin appeared on Gran’s face. “No, we’re not because I’m happy not to go. You can go to school, and I’ll continue with my non-reality show life.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed as she considered Gran. It was time to play a bit dirty. “One of those investigators, mainly that Ursula woman, is going to get hurt.”

“They’re big paranormal investigators. They can look after themselves.”

“Uh, did you watch the same video as me? That woman was egging the spirit on to dangerous levels. Daring it to hurt her. What if instead of her, the spirit hurt someone else instead?”

Gran’s lips thinned “You’re not missing school.”

Mary crossed her arms. “We need to go there and sort this haunting out.”

Gran mirrored Mary’s pose. “I’m the adult here.”

“And I’m the teenage delinquent you’re suggesting leaving home alone for who knows how many days. By the time you get back, this place may just be a smoking crater.”

“You forget. I know you. You’re not as bad as you pretend.”

“Fine. I’m not that crazy, but Rachel is.”

“I trust both of you.”

“Fine. I’ll start designing the fliers now and put the deposit down on the foam machine.”

Gran squinted at her, obviously unsure whether to call her bluff. Mary stared back. If Gran did decide to leave without her, Mary had no intention of burning the house down or even having a party, but she was sure going to be upset.

“We don’t know if Regina Smith is blowing smoke or not. She’s promised a lot, but we have nothing in writing. If she isn’t willing to front half before we go, we’re not going anywhere,” Gran said.

“Fine. Call her.”

Gran turned away and looked out the window. Mary sighed and retrieved the phone. She dialed Regina Smith’s cell phone. It rang twice before the producer picked up.

“Regina Smith, here,” she answered.

“Hi, Ms. Smith. This is Mary Hellick, Helena Dubont’s granddaughter.”

“Yes, hello Mary.”

“Listen, that video was really intense, and we’re worried about those investigators. They’re dealing with some dangerous stuff, and if they’re not careful, someone could end up seriously hurt.”

“Oh, don’t worry. They’re insured and do safety checks.”

“Ursula had bricks flying at her head.”

“Listen, Mary. You seem like a good kid, and I’m gonna level with you. I don’t really believe in this stuff. I just know what makes good TV and these ghost hunting shows make great, cheap TV. I’m sure Jenny or Carl was the one throwing the bricks from off-camera. It looked good. I’ll give them that. But, obviously, it isn’t real.”

Regina’s admission didn’t surprise Mary, but she didn’t know how to proceed. “Okay, I understand, but Gran’s concerned. What would consulting involve?”

“Like Jim said, Ursula is poised to be the breakout star. With a few tips, she could be the full-package: A psychic, ghost hunter not afraid of anything. If Helena could teach her a few things, show her how to consult the spirits, then we'd have the pathos we need for the show.”

“We’ll want our traveling expenses and hotel room paid for,” Mary said.

She could hear the frown in Regina’s voice. “Can’t your grandmother just video chat with Ursula?”

Regina had a point. If Gran was only going to consult, then she didn’t physically have to be there, but Mary was determined to get to Alabama. “Gran really doesn’t like to be on camera. She’d rather talk to Ursula in person to show her a few things.”

“We’re not your ticket to a free vacation.”

“Yeah, because Nowhere, Alabama is where we’ve always wanted to go,” Mary said dryly, though that was exactly how she’d sold the idea to Gran.

“Fine. I’ll get back to you.” Regina hung up before Mary could respond. Gran stood staring at Mary in disbelief. Mary turned off the phone.

“She’ll get back to us,” Mary said.

“I’m to teach her some tricks?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you said I’ll show her some things. What am I supposed to show her, Mary?”

“Maybe show her how to draw a few protective symbols or teach her a bit about the Tarot cards.”

“Oh, so that’s what I do?”

Gran had the full-advantage of the guilt attack. Mary floundered to deflect. “No, but we know this woman isn’t psychic. She can't be if she can stand being around all that phantom phenomenon without getting the least bit spooked.”

“So, again, what am I supposed to teach her? If I leave and she thinks she’s now psychic and can battle ghosts, she’ll be even more dangerous than before.”

Mary wanted to throw her arms in the air and yell, but took deep breathes to calm herself. “So we don’t teach her anything. You test her to see if she’s psychic, and when she doesn’t pass any of the tests, you’ll apologize and offer to show her some wards and Tarot cards instead. We just gotta make sure Regina gives us the money or at least half before we leave.”

Gran shook her head. “This isn’t right.”

“We’re trying to help them. How is that wrong?” Mary insisted.

Gran frowned, but seemed to be considering the idea. She sighed and shook her head. “We might as well drop it. We aren’t going anywhere if Regina doesn’t agree to pay for the hotel and gas.”

Mary had to nod in agreement, though now that the possibility of going to Alabama was before her, she wanted desperately to go. Leaving Gran in her office, she went up to her room. She took out her phone and tapped out a text message to Jake.

*Hey, have you ever heard of the Laffoon Plantation? Is it near you?*

Her cell phone beeped a minute later to indicate she had a new text message.

*It’s like twenty miles away. Why?*

*Because Gran and I might be coming out there. Maybe we could meet up?*

She sent the message and waited tensely for a reply.

*Yeah, maybe. Let me know when you get here.*

Mary grinned at the text and wiggled in her chair. *Will do!*

A car beeped from the driveway. Mary went to the window to look out and saw Rachel pulling up. She went down to greet her. She didn’t’ know why Rachel was there. They hadn’t made any plans to see each other, but it wasn’t unusual for her to drop by.

Mary went outside, but instead of getting out of the car, Rachel only rolled down the window. “Hey, get in. We’re going to a party.”

Mary looked down at her flip flops, jeans, and T-shirt. “Give me a minute to get ready.”

“No, need. You already got a boyfriend. Who you dressing up for?”

“Won’t Kyle be at this party?”

“Nope, lucky dog.”

Now Mary was confused. “Where is this party? Who’s throwing it? And why do I want to go?”

“One of the drama kids is throwing it. It’s at his house. And you’re a good friend.”

Mary remembered her recent threat of house parties to Gran. Maybe she should go and take notes. But Mary wasn’t sure of going to a party on her own. “I don’t know. You’ll be with Taryn. I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

“You could talk to other people. You aren’t a complete gibbering idiot.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks, but seriously, why should I go?”

Rachel pursed her lips. “Hey, if you don’t feel comfortable there, I’ll bring you back. I swear. As soon as you say the word, we’re out.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t want to go to this party, do you? You’re only taking me as a possible excuse note.”

Rachel sighed. “They’re planning to do an impromptu rendition of Much Ado About Nothing. It’s supposed to be fun. To which I reply, it’s iambic pentameter. Need I say more?”

“Wanna just tell Taryn that I had some sort of emergency that kept you from showing up?”

“No, I have to at least make an appearance. Come on, be good friend and suffer with me?”

“You know, Kyle didn’t expect me to go to the homecoming game with him.”

“And that’s why he’s a wonderful boyfriend. He’s ahead by one in who has the better significant other contest. Let’s go.”

Mary thought about it for a second and shrugged. She wasn’t doing anything. She might as well go. She stuck her head inside to call out to Gran. “Rachel and I are going over to a classmate’s house for some Shakespeare. We’ll be back later.”

“Okay, you delinquent you,” Gran called back.

Mary rolled her eyes at the jab.

She got into the passenger seat of Rachel’s car. “Let’s goeth.”

Rachel sighed and backed down the driveway. “The things I do for love.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Mary got home, she slipped into the house with a sigh. Three hours of Much Ado About Nothing had been three hours too many. Taryn had loved it. Rachel had grinned and bore it while Mary wondered why she was there.

Gran had left a note on the fridge. It said she’d run to the grocery story. Mary flopped onto the sofa and switched on the television. She needed a palette cleanser. Maybe there was a marathon of Jersey Shore she could kill a few brain cells watching.

A little over an hour later, Mary was practically drooling on the couch as she flipped through channels. Gran came home and called for help. Mary dragged herself from the couch and went out to the station wagon to grab groceries.

“How was the Shakespeare shindig?” Gran asked as she put stuff away.

“Too much Shakespeare, not enough shindig.”

“Hmm, can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Anything happen while I was gone?” She put the cans away in the cabinet as Gran wrestled to wedge stuff into the freezer.

“Regina Smith called back.”

“And?”

“She’s willing to pay our expenses, but I have to sign a waiver to let them use any footage that might capture me. I can tell she’s hoping I’ll slip up and let myself be on camera or maybe they’ll forget to turn the cameras off when they talk to me. I’m gonna have to watch them like a hawk.”

“Sounds like it. When do we leave?”

“You don’t have to go with me.”

Mary snorted. “Stop trying to talk me out of it. There’s no way I’m letting you go alone with those people. If something happens, who’ll help you?”

“There’s school.”

“Yes, there is. Your point? My grades are fine, and I’ll bring all my textbooks to keep up.”

Gran sighed. “You’re a stubborn cuss, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. I get it from my grandma.”

“Don’t know why you’d want to besmirch the good name of Rebecca Hellick. She was a sweet woman.”

Rebecca Hellick was Mary’s other grandmother. She’d died from cancer when Mary was two years old. And from photos and stories, Rebecca sounded like she had been a very sweet, loving woman. She, of course, was not the grandmother Mary was referring to, and Gran knew that. “Yeah, it’s a real shame that’s she’s gone. Good thing I have you to set such a good example.”

Gran snorted and swatted her with a kitchen towel.

She went to her computer and booted it up. She looked up “Alabama Paranormal Investigations.” Theirs was the first site to pop up. She clicked it and true to Jim’s fanny pack, it looked like it had been designed before Mary was born. After her eyes stopped wigging out at the dark green text on black screen, she was able to read “Alabama Paranormal Investigations (API) is based out of Mobile, AL. Our mission is to seek out evidence of the paranormal. If you think your home is haunted, please call us to set up a consultation. We offer our services free of charge.” Well, at least they didn’t charge for their services, Mary thought. Most paranormal groups didn’t charge, but there were some that did, and they were terribly predatory. The website had five main areas: Members, Investigations, Equipment, Contact Us, and News.

She clicked the button for investigations and scanned the list that loaded. The Laffoon Plantation hadn’t been added yet.

A list of locations appeared. Most were titled “Private Residence.” Mary clicked the first one.

Location: Mobile, AL

Date: Saturday October 21, 2014, 8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.

Investigators present: Jim B., Ursula A., Jennifer S., and Carl K.

History: The house was built in 1924. The current owner (Mike) has lived here about 10 years. Both current occupants (Mike and Liz) have experienced hearing someone running up the stairs to the second floor while they were in the shower (no one else was in the house at the time). Between the two of them, they've experienced it 6-7 times. All occurrences seem to happen in the late afternoon, usually during the summer. Liz saw the apparition of a dog in the dining room. Liz sometimes sees movement out of the corner of her eye, accompanied by the feeling of a presence. She has also had the television turn off and back on by itself. It is rumored that a former owner died on the back stoop. It is known for a fact that the previous owner committed suicide in the bathroom.

Mary’s eyes went back and forth from the details and the history. She had to roll her eyes to stop. Of course, the investigators went to the house at night during autumn to check stuff out, even though the homeowners themselves said stuff happened during the day in the summer. And 6-7 times over ten years? These ghosts were really lazy. And seeing stuff out of the corner of the eye was not uncommon. Floaters in the eye often caused people to see stuff. It was simple pattern-making. The brain always did it. It was why two dots and a curved line looked like a face. It was just two dots and a curved line, but the brain interpreted the grouping as a face to give it easy recognition. So if something inexplicable appeared, the brain would scramble to interpret it and would immediately see a face or a figure when it reality what appeared was a splotch. Mary scrolled to the investigation.

Investigation: We arrived at the residence at around 8:30pm. Jennifer interviewed Mike and Liz while the rest of us took background readings and control pictures. We placed video cameras in the attic, the stairway, and one on the second floor landing. Audio recorders were placed in the two bedrooms. The only event worth mentioning was that Carl got an EMF spike over the guest room bed at 9:35, which we were unable to trace to any reasonable source.

At 9:51, Ursula and I moved into the bathroom while Carl stayed out in the hallway. We turned on the shower for a few minutes hoping to re-enact the "footsteps running up the stairs" incidents. We had an EVP session, questioning the previous resident about why she had committed suicide. We did not hear footsteps, but please see transcript below of EVP session.

At 9:55 we moved down to the living room and dining room, where the homeowners were sitting quietly. Ursula sat at the bottom of the steps, and Carl and I sat down in the adjacent dining room. Thirty seconds into the session I heard a clinking noise next to me, like someone tapping on crystal. I heard it again a minute later. Soon after that, Carl and I heard the empty dining room chair between us creak, as if someone was sitting down in it. During this session we heard a number of creaks, clinks, and knocks that we were unable to find any explanations for. Sometimes they seemed to come in response to our questions. Carl also got a sharp pain in his eye during this session, as if he'd been poked. At the end of the session (18 minutes in) I got a picture of an orb moving across the curtain behind Carl.

At 10:20 p.m., we moved into the office. We asked the homeowners to join us, since we seemed to get better results when they were close by. We recorded three unexplained EMF spikes. A minute and a half into the session, we heard a noise on the ceiling above Carl. There is no second floor over this part of the house, so there is always the possibility that it was a bird or squirrel. A few minutes later, I got a moving orb over Ursula's head, followed by a faint moving orb on the floor of the office.

Just before 11:00 p.m., we headed back up to the second floor bedrooms, and spread out. Nine minutes into the recording session, I asked whoever was there to make a noise. Jennifer heard three bangs in the attic above her. The rest of us heard nothing. Next, we all headed to the basement. The only activity we documented here was the clinking noise, which Jennifer heard right behind her.

Conclusions: We obtained several intriguing EVPs, and we did get the knocking sounds on audio. We also got one orb on film, as well as a strange shadow at the bottom of the steps. Because of the angle of the wall at the top of the steps, we determined that the shadow would have to be cast from someone at the bottom of the steps (we were on the second floor at the time), right in front of the camera. We believe that our results warrant further investigation of this home.

EVP Transcript:

Question: Hello, can you tell us your name?

Response: Under analysis, we hear the name “Sally.” That was the victim’s name.

Question: Why did you kill yourself?

Response: We hear “Sad,” which makes sense when talking to a suicide victim obviously.

Question: Were you scared?

Response: No.

Mary wondered how many questions they actually asked. She also noticed they don’t mention turning off the shower for their EVP session. It was easy to hear ghosts when there was white noise to twist and distort. Under the transcript were several audio clips, as well as a number of pictures. Mary clicked play on the first audio clip.

“Hello? Can you tell me your name?”

The sound distorted as they’d obvious warped it in a sound editor to try and enhance whatever audio was there. Mary didn’t hear anything but noise, but from the transcript, it was obvious they thought they heard the name Sally. Since they’d probably known the suicide victim’s name was Sally that was what they wanted to hear. Again they were pattern making.

Mary sighed and clicked on the photos. One had all sorts of specks on it. The lens was obviously dirty, but they were presenting it as evidence. Another photo showed a small bright spot over Carl’s head like they’d documented, except there appeared to be a glass cabinet behind the curtain. The white spot was most likely reflected light.

Mary blew out a breath as she closed the browser. She didn’t need to read anymore. These guys were typical ghost hunters. They wanted so desperately to find evidence that they’d see it no matter what. Unfortunately, it now seemed like they had actually found some ghosts and they were far from ready to deal with them.

CHAPTER THREE

Don’t Wanna Grow Up

Mary and Gran loaded up the station wagon in the wee hours of the morning. Stars were still out and the birds were still asleep. Mary drank coffee, but wondered if chewing the grounds would do better. Gran and she worked quietly, both still bleary-eyed. Luckily, they were both too sleepy to be grumpy. As Gran started to pull out of the driveway, she said the most wonderful thing to Mary, “You can go back to sleep now.”

And Mary did. Even with two cups of coffee in her, she fell back to sleep quickly and didn’t wake up until the sun was well and truly up. Her eyes fluttered open as the car swung into a turn. She looked out to see Gran was pulling into a gas station. She stretched and yawned.

“Do you want something to eat?” Gran asked.

Mary blinked and had to think a minute to figure out if she were hungry. She wasn’t ravenous, but she should probably eat. “Yeah, please. But I’ll get it. Do you want anything?”

Gran parked the car by a fuel pump and pulled out her wallet. “I wouldn’t mind an egg biscuit and a cold soda. Here’s some money.” She held out a ten dollar bill. Mary took it into the gas station. She ordered two egg biscuits and picked up two cold sodas. She looked around for clues as to where they were.

She knew they had to be just off I-85. They’d be traveling it for most of their trip, leaving North Carolina, dipping through South Carolina, across Georgia and finally reaching Alabama. She looked at the meager selection of T-shirts. They were emblazoned with big, angry roosters which were gamecocks. So they were in South Carolina. Still two more states to go. Mary sighed in resignation. It was going to be a long day. She went back to the car and gave Gran her biscuit and soda.

Gran parked the car away from the pumps to eat her breakfast before getting back on the road.

“How long was I asleep?” Mary asked, taking a bite of her biscuit.

“About three hours. We’re almost done with South Carolina.”

Mary nodded. “Do you want me to drive for a while?” She still wasn’t terribly confident behind the wheel, but she was okay on the interstate, and Gran couldn’t be expected to drive ten-plus hours straight.

Gran shook her head. “I’m good. You ready to go?”

When they were back on I-85, Mary turned on the radio and found an alternative rock station, but soon enough, the station was breaking up. She was about to try and find a new station when Gran reached out and turned off the radio.

“Let’s talk,” Gran said.

Mary sat up straighter on alert. She didn’t have a good feeling about this. “Okay, what about?”

“Your future.”

Mary groaned and slouched in her seat.

Gran gave her a wry look. “This should not be a groan-inducing topic.”

“I’m going to college. Don’t worry,” Mary said.

“And what will you study?”

“I don’t know. Whatever I’m best at and makes good money.”

Gran shook her head. “That shouldn’t be how you choose what to do with the rest of your life.”

Mary scrunched up further in her seat. “I’ve got plenty of time to figure out what I want to do.”

“But don’t you have a passion? You used to have all sorts of ideas about what you wanted to be when you grew up.”

“I wanted to be a ballerina-firefighter. Is there a college that offers a firefighting and dance dual major?”

Gran’s shoulder’s rose. “There might be. Is that what you want to do?”

Mary sighed. “Honestly, I figured I’d just get a job in some office and that would it.”

“If you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, then you’re not really living life.”

“I thought I’d be doing my living off-the-clock.”

“If you think that’s true, you haven’t fully comprehended what the term full-time means. Working will take up a huge chunk of your life. If you don’t love what you’re doing, you will be miserable.”

Mary frowned and looked out the window. She always figured that once she was out of school that life would be better. No one would call her Scary Mary. “All I want is to be normal. That’s my highest aspiration. It has been since I was six. Even the ballerina-firefighter dream was more because I thought that was what other little girls wanted, but I don’t even like tutus.” Mary kept her face turned away. She was afraid to look at Gran and see the disappointment there. Gran wanted the best for her and believed in her, but Mary knew better. She worked hard to keep her grades up, but she had no special talent in any subject. The only thing that made her special was the thing that she hated most.

“I know growing up hasn’t been easy for you. And being different has set you apart, but don’t change yourself or deny yourself in the hopes of life being better. You’ll be disappointed.”

Mary watched trees flow past the window. “I don’t want to work with ghosts, and I’m afraid that’s all I’ll be good for.”

Gran was silent in response to this admission. Mary knew she’d practically said that she’d hate to do what Gran did. She wasn’t ashamed of Gran, far from it, but Mary dreaded that fate had basically dealt her only one option and that was talking to ghosts, and she wouldn’t be able to ever not be anything other than the freak who talked to the dead. The living would shun her while the ghosts clamored for her to listen to them. No one would listen to Mary.

When Gran stayed quiet, Mary worried she’d upset Gran. She finally turned back to her. “You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes, but I wish you could be as proud and as amazed by your ability as I am. I’ve always thought of it as a gift rather than a curse.”

“I wish I could think of it that way, too.”

Gran sighed. “And yet, you’re the one who convinced me to drive ten hours to help some complete strangers deal with a couple of ghosts.”

“I know that I’m contrary,” she said sheepishly.

Gran grinned. “I know I said this before, but the fact that you feel compelled to help people even when you don’t need to makes me proud to call you my granddaughter.”

Mary’s heart warmed, though there was a small stab of guilt as she knew the real reason she’d campaigned for this trip. The chance to meet Jake was more important to her than the reality show paranormal investigators.

“Back to your great career, what subjects do you honestly like in school and don’t just tell me the one you do best in, which one engages you the most and makes you happy?”

Mary knew the answer to this one. “I like English best.”

Gran nodded encouragingly. “Good. There are all sorts of jobs that could suit you like journalism, teaching, editing, or all sorts of things.”

“I don’t know if I like English that much.”

“Then what do you like about English class?”

“I like reading the books. I like that they’re stories. Reading textbooks is super boring.”

Gran pursed her lips as she thought about this. “Okay, I can see that, so would you like science better if you were reading something like Jurassic Park?”

“Yeah, definitely, but I’ve read it already.”

“But you know what I mean.”

“Yeah.”

“So let’s take novels out of the equation. Is there another subject you like? You watch a lot of nature programs.”

“That’s because a lot of prime time stuff is crap.”

Gran huffed. “Well, then, what do you like?”

Mary hunched her shoulders. “I don’t know. Something that makes a lot of money with little work. I don’t have any clear ideas like I want to be a doctor or a lawyer. Fact is, I know I don’t want to be either of those, but I don’t know what I actually want.”

“Well, maybe that’s something you can talk to Mr. Landa about. Do they still do that aptitude test that suggests what job you would be best suited for?”

“Um, no, I don’t think so,” Mary said, not knowing what she was talking about.

“Mine said I should be a librarian. I was mortified.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because librarians were so boring. They were little old ladies with too many cats. They wore cardigans and horn-rimmed glasses. I guess they’ve gotten better now, but back then, no, no, no.”

Mary laughed. “I wonder if Mr. Fletcher looked like that.”

“Does he still haunt the library?”

“Yep.”

“He was a hunched-over, little man with a nasal drip. He wore tweed all the time. He used to flirt with me, too. Made my skin crawl.”

Mary’s nose scrunched up. “Gross! Did you tell him to stop?”

“No, because he was the only man who would. Helped my ego.”

“Aw, I’m sure there are plenty of guys who’d like to take you out. Maybe you could go to some mixers or something.”

Gran’s nose scrunched up this time. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe Nina could go with you as your wing woman.”

“Maybe.”

The conversation petered out after that. Mary looked out the window and wondered if she should have dreams and what they should be.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mary looked at the sign of the Motel 6 with relief. Gran had gone inside to check-in. It was just after six o’clock. Mary had driven for a few hours in the afternoon while Gran napped. It had been boring, but kind of nice. She felt a little more mature, driving on her own sort of. She wondered what Jake was doing. She wondered a lot about him. She was an open book to him with his ability, but she had scant clues about him. She knew he had a younger sister named Mel. He lived with both his parents. His favorite class was math. But she didn’t know what he looked like. If he had a girlfriend. She didn’t even know how old he was. When she’d asked him that, he’d played coy and texted back he wanted to keep a little mystery. She’d raised an eyebrow at that. If he were any more mysterious, she might not know he even existed.

Gran came back from checking them in and pulled around the motel to their room. Mary grabbed most of the bags while Gran opened the door. The motel was on a busy roadway with an empty lot across from it. Scene-wise, the place was butt ugly, but still, it was stationary and had beds. Mary dropped the bags in the room and fell over onto one of said beds with a groan.

“I’m going to nap until we need to go meet Jim and his people. What about you?” Gran asked, lying down on the other twin bed.

“I don’t know. Nap, too, I guess. I can’t believe we have to meet them tonight.”

“Like Regina said, she isn’t paying for us to take a vacation,” Gran said.

Mary nodded into her pillow. Gran set an alarm to make sure they woke up on time and quickly began snoring. Mary dozed for an hour, but she couldn’t fall asleep. Quietly, she got up and took her cell phone into the bathroom. She closed the door and called Kyle. She’d told him the night before the plan to go to Alabama to help with a haunted house. He’d asked a lot of questions, many of which Mary had only given vague answers to. She’d felt guilty, but she didn’t want him to worry. She’d reassured him that everything would be fine, but he hadn’t seemed to believe her.

He picked up after the first ring. “Hey, are you there?”

“Hey, yeah. We just checked into the motel. Gran’s resting.”

“Was the drive okay?”

“Fine. Long but nothing unexpected.”

“That’s good I guess.”

“How was school?”

“Fine. Long but nothing unexpected.”

Mary grinned. “Hey, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“What now?”

“Gran was asking me about that while we were driving here. I don’t really know. Do you know what you want to do when you finish college?”

Kyle didn’t immediately answer.

Mary started to feel uncomfortable. “If you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay. Or if you don’t know, that’s fine, too. Like I just said I don’t know.”

“What? No, that’s not it, but I don’t want you to laugh at me.”

“Now it’s my turn to say what? Why would I laugh?”

“Because it might not be something you’d expect me to say. Or anyone to say really.”

“And I repeat what? I promise I won’t laugh, unless you say circus clown but that’s like a good reaction to something like that.”

Kyle kept quiet.

Mary’s eyes widened. “Please don’t tell me you want to be a circus clown because honestly, I wouldn’t laugh, I’d be creeped out. I’ve never liked clowns. It’s Stephen King’s fault.”

Kyle took a deep breath. “No, I want to be an accountant.”

Mary had to cover her mouth to stifle the disbelieving laugh that wanted to escape. “For real?”

“Yeah. My uncle’s one, and he let me work in his office this last summer. I liked it, and I think I’d be good at it. I know it isn’t macho or exciting, but I mean dealing with money is clear cut and it’s important. You can’t do anything without money, right?”

She still found it hard to believe that Kyle would want to be an accountant, but he sounded sincere. “Okay, I can get that. And hey, you’re better off than me. I don’t have a clue about what I want to do after college, and I sort of need to have some idea if I want to pick a major and what not. Gran tried her best to help me figure out something, but I don’t have any idea. I just know I don’t want to talk to ghosts for a living.”

Kyle was a quiet a moment. “You know, I could see you doing something brave and physical like a firefighter.”

Mary could feel a gentle blush cover her cheeks at his comment. “I did want to be a ballerina-firefighter when I was little.”

“So you’d wear a tutu and a fireman’s helmet?”

“Yep.”

“I wanted to be an astronaut.”

That sounded more like Kyle rather than an accountant. “Why’d you change your mind?”

“Because it’s not like in the movies. It seems pretty boring and a lot of hard work and there’s no guarantee that I’d ever go into space.”

“Hmm, that would suck.”

“Mary, it’s time to go,” Gran called out.

“Oh, I gotta go,” she told Kyle.

“Talk to you tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

Mary left the bathroom with her cell phone still in hand. “Talking to Kyle?” Gran asked.

“Yeah, he wants to be an accountant when he grows up.”

Gran’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

“He worked for his uncle’s accounting office last summer and liked it.”

“Hmm, it’s a good field.”

“Yeah and guess what, he said he could see me doing something brave and physical like being a firefighter.”

Gran smiled. “Maybe your younger self was onto something.”

They grabbed something to eat at a MacDonald’s before heading to the Laffoon Plantation. They found themselves on an empty rural road.

Gran slowed down as they came up on a gravel driveway. A rusted mailbox was at the end of it.

“Can you read it?” Gran asked.

Mary pressed her nose to the window. She could just make out Laffoon on the side of the mailbox.

“Yeah, this is it.”

Gran turned onto the old driveway. An old house was just visible from the road through the trees. Parked in front was a white, box van with A.P.I. on the side. Gran slowed the car to a crawl on the dirt road.

“Mary, I want you to be very careful around these people. I’ve let you come with me, but don’t let them let them know what you can do. They can have no inkling.”

“Okay, but why so serious?” Mary asked.

“Because you have more psychic ability than they will ever see. If they find out that you can communicate easily with ghosts, they’ll try exploiting you. You know how they exploited those that were different in freak shows?”

Mary had read a bit about it. Many of them had lived sad, lonely lives.

“Well, you’ll be put in the next generation freak show. Instead of traveling in a wagon from town-to-town, you’ll star in some reality TV show called The Ghost Translator or some such nonsense.”

Like Gran, Mary had no interest in being on TV, but she played devil’s advocate. “But fame and fortune aren’t bad things.”

“They are if it’s for something about you and not something you’ve done. All you’d be would be a curiosity, not a person. They’d put you on display and throw coins at you to perform. Trust me, it would be an unhappy life.”

“But you make money by doing séances and palmistry. How’s that different?”

“Because I’m my own boss. No one’s telling me to do it. If you let people like Regina Smith know about you, then you’d suddenly have an agent or a manager who would run your life, telling you where to go, what to do, what to say. You’d die inside.”

“I’ll be careful to not reveal myself, but you be careful, too. You saw all the stuff that one spirit was throwing around. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Don’t worry about me. I should be able to handle these ghosts. I think they’ll be much more receptive to someone who isn’t trying to egg them on with a video camera strapped to her head.”

Mary nodded with a grin. “Yeah.”

Gran parked the car a bit away from the van. The sun was beginning to set. The light was a soft gold, casting the mansion in warm hues, softening its dilapidated appearance. Jim and his team came out of the mansion to greet them.

"Is Regina going to be here?" Mary asked.

Gran shook her head. "No, I don't think she's planning to come down here at all."

Mary wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. If there was some sort of disagreement with the team, who was going to mediate? But if Regina were there, she would be pressuring Gran to go on camera or trying to sneak Mary onto the show.

Jim held up his hand in greeting as they came up to the house. There were five other people with him. Mary recognized four of them from the API website. The fifth man in the back wasn’t familiar and didn’t look like an API investigator. She figured he must be the property owner.

"Mary, Helena, great you're here. How was the drive?" Jim said, coming down to greet them. He held out a hand to Gran.

"Long," Gran said, shaking his hand.

Jim nodded and raised his arm to indicate the group. "Of course. Well, this is the team. You should recognize Ursula and Carl from the video and the little lady is Jenny, she monitors everything for us from the van. Everyone, this is Helena Dubont and her granddaughter Mary."

Carl and Jenny both smiled and nodded hello. Jenny was quite petite. Mary had a few inches on her. Jenny’s hair was in a pixie cut, and she had a pierced eyebrow. Her blue eyes were lined in black, and she had on dark red lipstick. She was wearing all black, down to her Doc Martens. In short, she looked like someone Mary would happily hang out with.

Ursula brushed past Jim to reach Gran and pulled her into a hug. Gran was clearly a little surprised by this. She patted the woman’s back lightly, but didn’t fully embrace the woman. While Jenny was small and Goth, Ursula looked like a blonde, Amazonian, sorority sister. The video had not indicated just how tall Ursula was. She had to be five ten at least, a good four inches taller than Jim. She had on fitted jeans and a tight pink t-shirt. Her tennis shoes were also pink. Her makeup matched her attire with light pink eye shadow and pink lip gloss. She was the polar opposite of Jenny, and Mary couldn’t believe this pink entity was interested in chasing ghosts. She looked more likely to chase shoe sales or something.

"Helena, it is such a pleasure to finally meet you! Jim has been telling us all about you, and I think you're going to be an excellent addition to the team,” Ursula gushed.

"I'm only here to consult," Gran protested as she pushed Ursula politely away.

Ursula wouldn’t let her go though. She leaned back at least, but she kept hold of Gran’s upper arms. “Oh, I know, but it’s just so great to have a real medium here. I have so many questions! I can’t wait to pick your brain.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice,” Gran said, though her enthusiasm was weak.

“Urs, you’ll have plenty of time to ask Helena all you want. Let’s not keep Mr. Forrester here all night,” Jim jokingly ordered.

Ursula let Gran go and turned immediately to Mary. Mary quickly side-stepped around Gran to get out of hugging range. She caught a glimpse of Carl and Jenny smirking at her quick footwork.

“Mr. Forrester?” Gran politely, asked looking at the tall older man in back.

He stepped to the front and held out his hand. “Please, call me Marvin.”

Marvin was somewhere north of sixty years old with shoulder-length gray hair and a good sized paunch. He had on a pale blue and yellow striped polo shirt with khaki shorts and flip flops. He had a pair of aviator sunglasses perched on the top of his head. He looked like a beach bum slash real estate agent.

“Welcome to the soon-to-be Laffoon Plantation Bed & Breakfast,” he said.

Mary wondered if ‘Haunted’ would be added later. Many faltering businesses would appear on ghost-hunting shows as free advertising and would offer special haunted packages to ghost enthusiasts afterward. It was amazing how much business a faulty flashlight and one reported “cold spot” could generate.

“So you’re renovating?” Gran asked.

“We should begin soon. I just need to finalize paperwork with the bank,” Mr. Forrester said.

“I asked Marvin if he wouldn’t mind giving you ladies a small tour in case you have any questions about the location. We’ll finish setting up while he talks to you.”

Gran frowned slightly at this. Usually, a psychic would be brought to a location cold. She wouldn’t be told anything so anything she revealed wouldn’t be construed as prior knowledge. But Jim didn’t seem to be concerned about this. Actually, most ghost-hunting shows seemed to take pride in “investigating” locations prior to arriving at them and talking about any macabre history the place had while they worked, usually spooking themselves in the process. It highly skewed the results and made anything that might possibly be found questionable.

But Gran didn’t tell Mr. Forrester to stop. He clearly was itching to tell them all about his property. Mary wondered if he already had brochures printed up detailing everything he was about to tell them.

Marvin Forrester led them into the foyer of the Laffoon mansion. Mary stepped in after Gran and looked around the entry hall. The walls were a faded mauve with yellowed molding lining the ceiling. Brown age spots dotted the walls and made it appear to have an almost leopard print. In the ceiling above, there dangled a cut cord. A chandelier had hung there at one time but had either fallen or been taken down.

Mr. Forrester stood right below the cut cord and turned to them with a proud smile. “Laffoon Plantation was built in 1835 by Thomas Laffoon. The plantation grew primarily cotton. Originally it was 1580 acres. Parcels were sold off or given to family down through the years. Now the plantation retains only 18 acres of the original land.

“Thomas Laffoon, his wife Laura, and two children Clara and Royce lived here for twenty years. They were buried in a plot close to the mansion to the east. The family was murdered in a slave uprising in 1857. The local militia was able to subdue the uprising, but the entire Laffoon family was killed. Thomas Laffoon’s younger brother Tobias took over ownership. There was never another uprising after that even at the height of the Civil War. There are stories that the uprising was caused by inhumane conditions and rampant abuse of the slaves.”

Mary hugged herself as she listened to the grisly history. The room seemed to darken with this new information.

“Royce, where are you?” Mary’s eyes widened a fraction at the ghostly question. It was a young woman’s voice. Gran must have picked up on the ghost’s presence because she wordlessly wrapped a comforting arm around Mary.

“Are you descended from the Laffoons?” Gran asked.

“Come out, please. I don’t feel like playing.” If everything on Jim’s video had been true, there had seemed to be two ghosts haunting the mansion. If the brother liked to play, then was the female ghost the one with the short fuse?

“No, ma’am. I bought this place at auction a year ago.”

“I guess we’re playing hide and go seek. I will find you.”

“Did you know all the history when you bought it?” Mary asked, trying to ignore the ghostly comments.

Marvin Forrester gave her a bit of a Cheshire cat smile. “I knew some bad stuff had happened here.”

“Did you know it was haunted?”

Gran’s arm tightened around Mary in silent warning.

Marvin’s Cheshire cat smile widened slightly. “No, but I figured it might be.”

“Royce, where are you? I’m gonna find you. And when I do—”

A loud thump sounded upstairs. They all looked up at the ceiling. Marvin’s Cheshire smile slipped away. “Bambach!” he yelled. He leaned on the banister and looked up the stairs. Yellow caution tape crisscrossed it, blocking anyone from going up.

Jim came out of the side room. “Yeah, Marvin?”

“I told you the upstairs is off limits!” he said. His face slowly going red.

Jim’s eyes went up the stairs and then back to Marvin. “We know. No one’s gone up there.” He lifted his walkie-talkie and said, “Hey, guys. Could everybody join me in the foyer?”

In less than a minute, the rest of the team came into the room from either side of the building. No one came down the stairs.

“What’s up?” Carl asked.

“Mr. Forrester, what happened?” Jim asked.

“No one was upstairs?” Marvin asked, scanning the API team.

“No, sir. As we promised, no one has ventured up there. We take our safety very seriously.”

Marvin rubbed the back of his head.

“What happened?” Jim asked again.

Gran answered for him. “We heard a loud thump from up there. That’s all.”

“Really?” Jim’s eyes lit up. “Carl, snap some pictures.”

Mary and Gran stepped out of Carl’s way as he went to the bottom of the stairs and snapped pictures with a digital camera.

Mary knew Gran was trying to downplay the thump, but there was no chance of that with these guys. Anything could and would be construed as paranormal. And unfortunately, there was paranormal present. And as sure as she was of ghosts, she knew some yellow caution tape wasn’t going to keep the API guys from going upstairs.

“Ollie ollie ockenfree.”

Mary rubbed her arms and refused to look up the stairs.

CHAPTER FOUR

Hide and Seek

Marvin Forrester left soon after the incident upstairs. He seemed a bit spooked, but also chipper. Mary overheard him commiserating with Jim that the bang wasn’t caught on film. Maybe he hadn’t printed brochures yet; maybe he was holding off so he could include pictures of orbs and EVPs.

This was when Ursula sidled up to Gran again.

"So what did you think of the tape?" she asked.

Gran's eyebrows rose as she considered her answer. "It was quite frightening," she said.

Ursula's eyebrows crashed together. "Frightening? It was incredible!"

Gran nodded tentatively. "That too, but what you were doing was very dangerous. Someone could've gotten hurt."

Ursula waved off her concern. "So how do you talk to ghosts? Do you use a Ouija board?"

Gran shook her head. "I invite the spirit in to talk to me."

Ursula's brow puckered. "Yeah, but what do you use?"

The other members of the team had drifted closer to listen. Of course, to them, anything could be done with the right equipment. They just needed the proper gizmo to detect the ghosts.

Gran held up her hands. "I don't really use anything. Sometimes I'll use a quartz crystal to enhance my concentration if the spirit's presence is weak, but from what I saw in your video, I didn't bother packing one. The ghosts appear to be quite strong."

The API members didn't seem impressed.

“That’s not going to make very interesting TV,” Carl finally said.

Gran gave him a wry look. “Well, that’s okay, since I’m not going on TV.”

“Regina said you could show us a few things,” Jim said uncertainly.

Gran nodded with a sigh. “I can, but I’d like to commune with the spirits a bit first. Would that be all right?”

The team looked at each other. Jim shrugged. “Sure, go ahead. Just don’t bother any of the equipment. Do you need us to leave?”

“You don’t have to leave the building, but if you could leave me alone in a room, I would appreciate it.”

Everyone nodded. Mary wasn’t sure if she should stay with Gran or go out as well.

“Hey, Mary, wanna see the van?” Jenny asked.

She cast a look to Gran silently asking her what she should do. “I’ll be fine, Mary. You can go.”

Mary followed Jenny to the van. It was a basic white utility van. The API on the side was a large magnet sign, not a custom print job. Mary was tempted to lift it to see if it said Orkin or something similar underneath it.

Jenny opened the back of the van for Mary to see and she was duly impressed. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to custom fit the interior to hold a bank of monitors and have a small counter for keyboard and mouse. It looked like a surveillance van straight out of a cop drama. Jenny climbed into the folding chair that was set up before the monitors.

“So I’m like the hive mind here. I see everything the team sees. And these hard drives here record everything from the wireless head cams and stationary cameras.”

Mary had to hunch over to not hit her head on the roof of the van. She kind of thought Jenny got van duty more for her size than anything else. She peered at the cameras. Most of them were showing close-ups of the team as they hooked up and tested settings on the cameras.

“So Mary, are you in college?” Jenny asked.

Mary got a slight thrill at the question. Being confused for older was always a compliment for a teen. She wished she didn’t have to tell her the truth, but with Gran around, she couldn’t lie. “No, I’m a junior in high school.”

“Oh,” Jenny’s interest seemed to deflate at Mary’s statement.

“Are you in college?” Mary asked, hoping to reengage her. Of the group, Jenny seemed the coolest to her, though she didn’t have much competition.

Jenny shook her head. “I’m taking a year off while I get my financials in order.”

“Oh.” Mary didn’t know how to respond. She wondered if that was something she might have to do. She knew Gran was saving up money, but she didn’t know if it was enough for four years. She’d been thinking about getting a job this summer, but until she got her driver’s license, it didn’t seem feasible. She didn’t know where she’d work anyway. Working at a fast food place or a store seemed soul draining.

“Does this stuff pay?” Mary asked.

Jenny snorted. “I wish. We have to pay for everything ourselves.”

“Oh.” At least their trip was paid for, Mary thought.

“If the show takes off, we’ll at least start making some of our money back. I know Carl has had to put a lot of money out for a lot of this equipment.”

“Yeah, but I get a pretty sweet discount from the store I work at,” he said, appearing at the back of the van. “Batteries, please.” Jenny pulled out a storage bin and handed several battery packs to him.

Mary looked back at the camera bank. Carl was still on one of the screens.

“These are on a delay?” she asked.

Jenny held a finger up to her lips. And Carl didn’t verbally respond. He just grinned conspiratorially. Mary wasn’t sure what the delay was good for, but decided not to ask.

“So do you have any experience with ghosts?” Jenny asked.

The question caught Mary off-guard. It would make sense for them to ask, but she had no idea how to answer. The truth wasn’t an option, but if she pretended not to believe in the paranormal, Jenny might completely ignore her, and Mary didn’t want to ruin any chance she had at making a cool new friend.

“Well, Gran talks to them, of course, and I remember feeling something in this old house once. It was really spooky. I’m sure it was haunted.”

Mary was glad they were in another state so none of her friends could possibly hear her.

Jenny nodded. “Cool.”

“What do you think about this haunting?” Mary asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from herself.

Jenny’s eyes lit up. “It’s amazing. I mean we’ve got real proof. None of the skeptics will be able to disprove it. It’s going to make us rich.”

Mary looked at Carl for his thoughts. He had the same satisfied look on his face. They might as well have cartoon dollar signs over their eyes. A little fissure of unease went through Mary. It was one thing to believe in ghosts. It was another thing to want to exploit them. Gran was right, Mary needed to keep what she could do on the down low. If they found out about her, they’d strap a camera to her head and push her out the van in no time flat.

The sound of her cell phone receiving a text was a relief. Carl grinned proudly at her. “I set up a repeater so we could have service out here. Pretty sweet, huh?”

Mary nodded and climbed out of the van. “Is it okay that I use it?”

“Oh, sure. It’s no problem.”

She walked to the front of the van for some privacy. She pulled out her phone and opened the text. She grinned when she saw who it was.

*Where are you?*

This was perfect.

*Can’t you tell?* she texted back.

*You’re not home. Where are you?*

*You’re psychic. You tell me.*

*Fine. I will.*

Mary looked down at herself. She was dressed okay, but she went to the side mirror of the van to check her hair. The phone buzzed again.

*You’re outside some old-looking house. And you got something in your teeth.*

Mary immediately checked her reflection. Her teeth were fine. *Ha. Ha. Where am I?*

She wandered around the gravel driveway as she waited for Jake’s reply.

*You’re in Alabama?!*

*Ding, ding! Gran’s doing a job. Wanna meet?*

Mary held her breath as she waited for Jake’s reply. She couldn’t hold it long enough. She stared at her phone as it remained silent. When there was still no reply from Jake, Mary wondered what she should text back. She felt hurt that he hadn’t answered with an immediate yes.

*Jake?*

When she still received no acknowledgment, her finger brushed the power button. It would be kind of petulant to turn the phone off, but she didn’t want to sit and wait for a text that didn’t come. She let the arm holding the cell drop to her side. She looked at the front of the Laffoon mansion and back at the API van. What if he didn’t want to meet? Had she guilt-tripped Gran into coming here for nothing? The phone buzzed announcing a new text. Her arm sprang up like it was on a lever. She looked at the text.

*Hey, chica. How’s ‘Bama?*

Mary’s shoulders slumped; it was only Rachel.

*Bored. Gran won’t let me mess with the ghosts.*

*What about the ghost chasers?*

Mary smiled at that. *Can’t. They’re weirder than me.*

*Perish the thought!*

*I’m at the haunted mansion now.*

*Are Scoobs and Shaggy keeping you company?*

Now that was an interesting idea. Of the team, Jim would probably be Fred, and then that would make Ursula Daphne, Jenny would be Thelma, and Carl would be Shaggy. Mary wondered then if that meant she was Scooby. No, Gran would be Scooby. That meant Mary was Scrappy. She suddenly hated this analogy.

*No, I’m by myself. Gran’s trying to quietly get rid of the ghosts without the team knowing.*

*Is that safe?*

Rachel’s question made Mary wonder. She returned to the back of the van and looked in. Jenny sat before the video monitors, watching the multiple feeds. “Can you see my grandma?” she asked.

Jenny pointed at one of the monitors. “Yeah, she’s talking to Ursula in the foyer.”

Knowing there was a delay, Mary left the van to go back into the building. She opened the door and stuck her head in. Gran and Ursula turned to look at her. “Everything okay, Mary?” Gran asked.

Mary relaxed at the sight of her. “Yeah, just checking on you.”

“Your grandma is awesome, Mary. You’re really lucky. Both of my grandmas are sweet, but boring.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’re lovely,” Gran said.

“About this ritual, do the candles have to be white? Could we switch it up a little?”

Gran patiently shook her head. “No, the color has meaning.”

“But red or even yellow will show up better…”

Mary backed out of the front door and let it close. Gran was fine. Her patience might be wearing thin, but she was okay. Mary went back to van. She quietly climbed in and watched the monitors from over Jenny’s shoulder. Jenny had on a pair of headphones. It looked like she was focused on Jim and Carl. The pair was walking around in another part of the house. Jim held out a small digital recorder. He must be attempting an EVP session. Mary often wondered if ghosts had ever tried replying to the paranormal investigators. She imagined it could become quite frustrating.

“Could you tell me your name?” “Bob.” “Just talk into this recorder as best as you can.” “Why the heck would I do that?” “We want to help you. What can we do to help you?” “Could you tell the teenage girl next door not to play her music so loud?” “You have nothing to be afraid of.” “Well, thanks for that. Wasn’t really afraid of anything…” “I’m going to set this flashlight down here. It’s really easy to turn on and off. Flash it twice for yes and once for no.” “You know unscrewing the cap like that will make it flash on its own, right? Look there it goes.” “I see you understand. That’s great.” “Yeah, I’m not an idiot. But I’m beginning to think we don’t have that in common…”

Mary stepped away from the van when Ursula and Gran came out of the mansion. The young woman gave Gran another hug, telling her how much she loved having her there and asked if she was sure she didn’t want to stay.

“No, you are about to put on your head camera things, and as I said, I prefer to not be on the show.”

“But you’ll be back tomorrow?”

“Yes, and I’ll bring that list of books like I promised.”

As they drove away, Mary turned to Gran. “So did you get a sense of these ghosts?”

Gran’s brow furrowed. “There may be only one.”

“But the tape seemed to indicate two and that female ghost kept calling for her brother Royce.”

“I only sensed one.”

Mary wasn’t in the house long enough to know if there’d been one or two ghosts. She’d definitely only heard one.

She thought back to the video. The only evidence of the one ghost was Ursula dancing with herself, and Jim’s earnest testimony that the ghost had passed through him. “You think they’re manufacturing a fake haunting at a real haunted house?”

Gran shrugged. “I don’t know. I couldn’t get a good read on Ursula.”

“Jenny and Carl were very excited about how much money they’ll make.”

“Ursula seemed to honestly be interested in the paranormal. She listened to everything I had to say and had a lot of questions.”

“What about the ghost? Did you make contact with her?”

Gran shook her head. “She’s firmly anchored and is not about to leave of her own free will. I could feel her sweeping through the mansion as if searching.”

“She seemed to think her brother Royce was playing hide and seek.”

“If he were, he was doing a very good job. I never sensed him.”

“What are you planning to do tomorrow night?”

“If this spirit won’t move on, I’ll have to see about how best to quell it.”

“Why not just destroy her anchor?”

“That should only ever be the last resort.”

“She’s clearly violent and unstable.” Mary still disagreed with Gran on how best to deal with difficult ghosts. She saw no reason not to just smash an anchor when a ghost presented as a problem. Gran preferred to counsel the spirit into letting go on their own instead. Mary couldn’t understand why she was so gentle with them. They were dead and if they couldn’t act right, it was simple enough to get rid of them.

“Maybe,” Gran said, clearly not wanting to get into an argument. She sounded tired. Mary let it drop.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day, Gran and Mary slept in. They were going to be spending another late night out with the ghost hunters. For most of the day, they stayed in the hotel room. Mary read her textbooks while Gran wrote down notes for Ursula and the other paranormal investigators.

Mary kept her phone close. Rachel sent her assignment info as she got it during school, and Kyle sent her a few friendly messages, but those weren’t the texts she was waiting for.

Whenever her phone buzzed, she’d pick it up quickly in excitement, but then deflate. Jake never texted her. She didn’t text him either, though she started quite a few to send, but always deleted them.

They went back out to the Laffoon Plantation that night.

As soon as they were there, Ursula immediately laid claim to Gran and was glued to her side. Mary left them alone and joined Jenny at the van. The Goth girl was again perched in her folding chair before all of the glowing monitors.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Jenny asked as she scanned the monitors.

The question surprised Mary. “Yeah, his name’s Kyle.”

“How long have you two been going out?”

“Only over a month.”

Jenny nodded, though she didn’t look away from the monitors.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Mary asked.

“No, I don’t have time. Between this stuff and work, I have no time to meet anyone.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“Are Jim and Ursula dating?” Mary asked.

Jenny laughed. “Jim wishes, but Ursula isn’t interested.”

“What’s Ursula’s deal? She doesn’t seem the sort to chase ghosts.”

Jenny nodded. Her eyes were still glued to the monitors. “She told me once she lost someone close to her. A boyfriend. It made her interested in the afterlife and ghosts.”

Mary absorbed this. It made sense. Gran’s customers were often recently bereaved and wanting assurances that their loved one were all right. She would assuage their worries the best she could, but she often couldn’t give them direct proof. Those who died rarely hung around.

“What do you plan to do after college?” Mary asked.

Jenny turned to look at her. “What?”

“What are you majoring in and want to do after college?” Maybe this was a sore subject for Jenny if she couldn’t afford tuition right now, but she had to know why she wanted to continue her schooling.

“I want to work in forensic science.”

“Like the crime shows, collecting clues and analyzing them?”

“Yep, I want to be a CSI.”

“Really? Why?”

Jenny shrugged. “It seems interesting and would be steady work. I read up on it and saw my college offers a certificate in it. It sounds pretty easy to get.”

“Huh.” That didn’t sound like a life’s mission, more like an easy goal.

“I thought about nursing because again, plenty of jobs, but I don’t like dealing with people.”

Mary nodded. “Yeah, I’m not that good dealing with people either.” But she didn’t have any real desire to be some sort of lab tech either, no matter how good the job field was.

“What do you want to do?” Jenny asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, anything with computers is a good idea.”

Mary nodded, but Gran had asked her what she was passionate about. She wished she had an answer for Gran.

“Jim to Jenny. Is Helena at the van?”

Mary came to attention at Jim’s question from the walkie-talkie.

Jenny picked up her receiver. “No, she’s not. I don’t have her on any of the cameras either.”

Mary scanned the monitors to confirm. Ursula and Jim were together in the east wing. Carl was fixing the angle on a stationary camera on the other side of the building. Gran wasn’t on any of the monitors. She didn’t have a walkie-talkie either. They couldn’t page her.

“Hey, Carl, do you know where Helena is?” Jim asked into the walkie-talkie.

“Nope, haven’t seen her.” Carl replied.

“Helena!” Jim called out.

Mary waited tensely for a reply. Gran did not call back.

“I’ll check outside,” Ursula said.

Mary watched her head cam as Ursula made her way outside and panned the front area of the building. The API van where Mary was came into view. What was she doing sitting still while the others looked for Gran? She opened the van’s back door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Jenny asked.

“I’m going to look for Gran.”

“I’m sure she’s okay,” Jenny said.

Mary looked at the bank of screens again. None of them showed Gran. “Something’s not right,” she said.

“Stay here, I’m sure we’ll find her any second. We’ll review the footage and see where the last time she showed up,” Jenny said.

Mary grabbed a spare walkie-talkie. “You do that. You can let us know what you find.”

“Mary,” Jenny called, but she wasn’t listening. She slammed the van door and walked to the front door. She turned on the walkie-talkie and turned it to the band frequency the group was using.

Mary stopped at the front of the mansion and looked up. All the windows were dark and empty. No one was supposed to go up there, but could Gran have gone up there? Ursula came back around the side of the house.

“Do you know where Helena is?” she asked Mary.

Mary shook her head.

“She’s not out here. She must still be inside,” Ursula said.

Together they went into the mansion.

She could hear Carl and Jim calling out from either side of the building. “Gran!” Mary yelled. There was no verbal reply to their shouts. The dangling wire above them sparked instead.

Both of them looked up at it.

“Oh…” Ursula said. “Hello?” she called, still looking up at the dangling wire.

The halogen lights set up by the team began to flicker.

“Mary, maybe you should go,” Ursula said, motioning her back.

Mary stayed where she was and stared at the sparking wire. She wasn’t scared. She wasn’t intrigued. They could marvel over an electrical problem all night if they wanted. She was finding Gran. No matter what.

Jenny’s voice came through the walkie-talkie. “The last shot I have of Helena is in the back kitchen area.”

“Where’s the kitchen?” Mary asked.

Ursula let herself look away from the wire. “Mary, you need to wait outside. We’re filming, and we don’t have a release for you.”

“I don’t care about releases,” Mary said.

She’d find the kitchen on her own. She strode across the room. The wires sparked more.

“Mary, wait,” Ursula said. Her eyes went back to the crackling wires.

“I’m checking the kitchen,” she said without pausing. “If you want to be able to use anything you film tonight, you’ll leave me alone.”

“Where’s Royce?”

Mary didn’t pause. She couldn’t acknowledge the ghost with Ursula right there.

“You won’t find her.”

Mary entered the next room. The room had a high ceiling and peeling wall paper. It was empty of furniture. Mary didn’t know what purpose the room once served. Carl was there, still working on a camera that had been set up in the far corner. He jumped up when he saw her.

“Hey, we’re about to start filming,” he said.

“I’m looking for Gran,” she said.

“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” he said.

She didn’t have time to argue with him. She went through the room to the next. It was another empty room. A little smaller than the last one. The Laffoon mansion was huge. Gran could be anywhere and unable to hear them.

Mary closed her eyes and threw her head back. With all of her might, she screamed, "Gran!"

"She can't hear you," a female voice lilted.

"Where is she? What have you done with her?" Mary demanded.

“We haven’t done anything, Mary,” Carl said in alarm. He’d followed her into the next room.

Mary looked back at him and motioned for him to go away. She needed to get far away from the others. She went through a door and found herself in a narrow hall. Three doors were on it. Two at the very beginning across from each other and a third at the end off to the left. She pushed on the door to her right. It swung open and a large stone stove was visible on the other side of the room. This was the kitchen. A crumbling brick rested at Mary’s feet, left there from when the ghost had thrown it at Ursula. Old rotting cabinets hung from the wall and lined the room.

“Where’s Gran?” she asked the empty room.

"She's safe. Don't worry," the female ghost said dismissively.

"You said don't worry. You've kidnapped my grandmother. How am I not supposed to worry?”

“She’s fine.”

Mary walked further into the kitchen, looking around for clues, but there were no sign of Gran. She knew why Gran had come in here. The anchor’s signal buzzed through her. Gran could communicate better with ghosts when closer to their anchor. She must’ve come in here to better connect with the female ghost, but she’d left for some reason or another, and Mary couldn’t tell where she had gone. “Where is she?" Mary repeated.

"Where's Royce? Bring my brother back, and I'll give you your grandmother."

"No," Mary said. She wasn't negotiating with the ghost. She was not going to play nice. They'd broken the rules when they'd kidnapped Gran. There were no more rules.

"Give me back my brother."

Mary’s fists tightened. They were just throwing demands back and forth. The ghost was proposing a trade, but Mary had no brother to offer. She had to switch tactics. It was time for threats. "I don't care about your brother. You tell me where my grandmother is this instant or I send you to the great beyond."

"You think you can threaten me? I'm dead."

"Yeah, I know, but there's dead and then there's dead. If you don't give back Gran, you're gonna find out the difference."

"Not without Royce. You give him back."

"I don't know where he is."

"Then find him. Or Grandma stays with me forever and ever."

Mary’s eyes widened at the ghost’s threat. She took a sharp breath as her rage increased. She turned stiffly to the cabinet where the anchor’s signal was coming from.

"Really, it’s simple. Bring Royce back and I give you your grandma. I don’t want to hurt her, but I have to have him back."

Mary went to the cabinet. "Either give Gran back or I find her on my own. You picked the wrong people to mess with."

"You won't find her. Not without my help. How long do you think she can last?"

Mary crouched down and opened the cabinet. An old rodent nest was inside. She reached in and pulled out the twigs and paper.

"What are you doing? She's not there!"

"I know, but you are." With the nest out, she peered into the back of the cabinet. The anchor’s buzz filled her brain, but she couldn’t see it yet.

"Get away from there!" The cabinet doors rattled.

“Oh, are you starting to get scared? Tell me where my grandmother is and I’ll stop.”

“No, not without Royce.”

The ghost’s stubbornness was beginning to really piss off Mary. She wanted to destroy her anchor now just to get rid of her. She knew they could find Gran. She had to be somewhere close by. She stuck her arm into the cabinet and felt along the back. There wasn't a solid back to the cabinet. Her fingertips touched wall. Soft wall. She began clawing at it. She lifted out the shelf that was in the cabinet and reached in as far as she could.

"No, leave that alone."

"Where’s Gran?" Mary asked again.

“Do you think she’s safe? Do you think I can’t do anything to her, to you?”

Mary didn’t pull out her arm. She pulled out clumps of crumbling wall. Clara sounded scared. Mary wasn’t going to back down.

“Do something to Gran, and it’s all over for you and then I’m gonna find Royce and it’ll be worse for him.”

"What are you doing?" Jim asked in alarm.

Mary looked over her shoulder. The three paranormal investigators were clumped up behind her. She needed to get them out of there, but she didn’t want to stop pursuing the anchor. “Why aren’t you looking for Gran?” she demanded, hoping that would send them away.

“We’ve searched the house. Ursula even went upstairs. We can’t find her. What are you doing? That doesn’t look safe.”

Politeness probably prevented him from saying what he really meant. Mary knew she looked like a crazy person with her arm in a cabinet while her grandmother was missing. Of course Gran wasn’t in there. She wondered how much they had heard. “She has to be here. Go look outside.”

None of them made any move to leave. Jim crouched down to be at her eye level so he could try to cajole her. “Mary, why don’t you leave that and come out to the van?”

"Don't interfere," Mary said as she banged at the wall in the back of the cabinet and pulled away more loose bits of drywall.

The cabinets began to rattle. Carl panned his camera around. “Oh, wow,” he whispered. Jim cast a nervous glance around and flinched at a loud bang that was particularly close. Ursula’s eyes stayed on Mary.

“Go look for Gran!” Mary yelled.

None of them budged. They were in middle of a paranormal event. Of course they weren’t going to leave. Mary turned back to the cabinet, deciding to ignore them for now. If Jim or any of the others tried to stop her, she would attack them. If the ghost tried to stop her, she would destroy the anchor. She was getting Gran back. Nothing was going to stop her.

She’d finally made a hole big enough to reach through. She could just barely reach through it to the hollow space beyond. Her hand scrambled around, unable to bend and reach far, but her fingertips grazed something, and the buzz shot up her arm. She pushed herself further into the cabinet and reached in further. Her fingers snagged the item and she pulled it out. She pushed herself away from the cabinet. She clutched the anchor to her chest. The buzz from it made her body hum. She hadn’t even looked at it. She stood up and held the anchor out. She had to find Gran. The API team was doing nothing to help. Gran could be hurt or unconscious somewhere. Mary had to take action. This was exactly what Gran had warned her not to do, but she didn’t see any alternative. She had to engage the ghosts with the whole team there to watch.

With the anchor held out before her, she said, "I don't make threats. If you want to see another day on this plane, you'll release my grandmother. Now."

"Not until you return Royce."

"Royce is gone. He doesn't matter."

"He's all I have!"

"No, you're all you have," Mary said. She finally took a good look at the anchor. It was an old book of children's stories. She opened it up and without hesitation, ripped out the first page.

The spirit screamed.

"Where is Gran?" Mary demanded. She tore out another page. It floated to the floor at her feet.

"Mary, what are you doing?" Jim asked. Carl and Jim were looking at her with wide eyes, the rumbling cabinets forgotten.

Ursula, though, was looking at the rattling pots and doors. "Please, stop," she said.

Mary ignored the group. "Where's Gran?" she repeated. She tore out another page. The book was several inches thick. It had hundreds of pages. She could slowly continue to destroy the ghost's anchor for the rest of the night, but if she didn't start talking, Mary would begin to tear out five sheets at a time.

The ghost screamed again. The group’s flashlights began to flicker. "You're a monster!" Clara wailed.

Mary laughed. "I'm the monster? I'm not the one kidnapping grandmothers. Where’s Gran?" She tore out two pages this time and let them float to the ground.

"Stop! I'll bring him back."

Everyone turned to Ursula. "What?" Mary asked, her hand clutching a page, but not pulling.

"I have the ghost. I took him. I'll bring him back."

Mary snapped the book shut and shook with repressed rage. "What?"

"Ursula?" Jim asked.

"He's with me. I stole the portrait. I swear I didn't know this would happen. I thought I could help him."

"Bring him back!"

Mary rolled her eyes. "Where's Gran?"

"Not until you bring him back."

Mary opened the book.

"Tear out all the pages. I'm not helping you until he's back."

Mary could hear the determination behind Clara’s words. She turned to Ursula. "Where's the portrait?" she demanded.

"Don't you get it? He's an actual ghost that's willing to talk to me and show the world that he exists."

"And his sister has kidnapped my grandmother and hidden her somewhere in this building and won't tell us where until he's returned."

“How do you know that?” Carl asked.

Mary’s eyes darted to him. She’d revealed too much in her haste to find Gran and was beginning to regret it. “Isn’t it obvious?” she said, hoping to still salvage her secret.

“And how did you know that book was there? And what’s up with the book?” he continued.

“Obviously she’s psychic like her grandmother,” Jim said.

“No, not like her grandmother. Better than her,” Ursula said.

“Why aren’t you getting my brother?” Clara interjected.

Clara had a point. “We need to bring the portrait back.”

Ursula dismissed her statement. "We'll find Helena. I'm sure of it. But this is the find of the century—Actual proof of life after death."

“You’ll still have it even if you bring the portrait back. You’ll have two finds of the century, actually.”

“He doesn’t want to come back.”

“What?”

“What?”

“He told me. I may not be as psychic as you, but I know. He doesn’t want to come back here. We’ll find Helena, don’t worry. But Royce has to stay with me.”

Mary swung around to Jim. "Is that what you think, too? Is my grandmother's life less important than evidence of a ghost?"

Jim didn't answer correctly, mainly by not answering immediately that Gran's life was more important than a ghost. His silence infuriated her. She stalked out of the room with the book. "Take me to the painting," Mary demanded.

"Now wait, we need to talk about this more," Jim said.

Mary turned to Carl. The only one of the group who seemed to be the least bit sane. "Where is Ursula staying?" she asked.

"At the Ramada Inn on Yates Street."

"Carl!" Ursula protested.

"Thanks," Mary said and headed to leave.

"I'm not letting you into my room," Ursula protested.

Mary waved the book. "You don't have to. Our friend here can get in without invitation."

"Jim, stop her," Ursula said.

"Jim, if you don't want a colossal law suit and criminal charges filed against you, you won’t come near me," Mary replied.

"Let's talk about this. Come on. Like Ursula said, we'll surely find your grandmother."

“Not until you return Royce.”

Mary wasn't listening anymore. She headed to the exit, but she was grabbed by Ursula and pulled her back.

"Hey, get your hands off me!" Mary yelled.

"Urs, what are you doing?" Jim exclaimed.

"Grab the book," she ordered.

Mary struggled to free herself, but Ursula had twenty pounds and at least six inches on her. Jim came up and pulled the book away.

"Let me go!" Mary yelled again.

"Guys, what the hell?" Carl asked.

"Oh, will you stop filming and help me?" Ursula said.

"Uh, no. I'm calling the cops if you don't let that girl go. She's a minor for God's sake. Do you know how much trouble we could get in?"

Mary cried out as Ursula pulled her arms up and back, making her shoulders scream and struggling painful. “Who has a zip tie?” Ursula asked.

Gritting through the pain, Mary tried to wiggle out of Ursula’s grasp. She did not want to get tied up.

“Help me!” Mary begged, though she didn’t know who she was asking. Anyone would do.

“This woman has Royce. She will take me to him,” Clara said.

“No, she won’t. She’ll hurt you, too.”

Ursula pieced together the conversation and said, “I’ll take you to him. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”

Jim had pulled out a zip tie. With both of them holding her, they were able to wrap the strong piece of plastic around Mary’s wrists and cinch it tight.

“Seriously, you’re doing this?” Carl asked in disbelief.

“We’re doing this,” Jim said.

Carl gulped.

“No, you can call the cops and get help. Please,” Mary begged.

“What are we going to do with her?” Jim asked Ursula.

She appeared to be in charge now.

“Zip-tie her feet,” she replied.

“What? Wait, come on!” Mary said.

She fell to the ground as they both grabbed her feet. “No, don’t,” she begged. A large zip tie was soon cinched tight around her ankles. She lay there and stared up at the paranormal investigators. Carl looked horrified and a little green around the gills. Ursula was stone-faced. Jim was wide-eyed and panting, but he would do whatever Ursula told him to do.

“We need to pack up,” Ursula said.

Mary’s eyes widened. “You’re leaving me here?”

Ursula didn’t reply. She turned and walked out, carrying the book. Jim followed at her heels. Carl looked back at her. “Just wait here. We’ll be back,” he said.

Mary lay in the derelict kitchen and stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t believe this. She tried to move her wrists, but the zip ties bit into her skin. If she struggled too much, they would bleed. She couldn’t wiggle her legs at all. They were starting to go numb. This was bad. She needed to find a way to cut the zip ties. It took a lot of struggling and banging her body against the cabinets and floor, but she was able to stand. Her eyes were streaming, and she coughed from all of the dust in the air. The room was dark. They hadn’t even left her with a light. She could make out the doorway to the hall, but she wouldn’t be able to make it. She couldn’t walk at all. She twisted her upper body around in the hopes of seeing something that could help her—Some glint of metal like a knife or a piece of broken glass. Nothing glinted in the dark.

She heard footsteps in the hall. She panicked. Should she lie back down? Should she try to hide? That thought was laughable. She couldn’t move. In the end, she stayed standing. She wanted to see whoever came through the door. Maybe it would be Carl. He’d promised to come back, but the way he was going along with Jim and Ursula didn’t give her much hope of any help from him.

To her surprise, it was Jenny who came through the door. Jenny silently held a finger up to her lips. Mary nodded and bit her tongue. She knew it. Goths were awesome. When she got out of there, she’d buy a set of black candles and burn them in homage to Robert Smith. Jenny came over and knelt at her feet. She had a pocket knife. She carefully slid it between Mary’s ankles and under the zip tie. She began sawing. It took her several seconds to get through the hard plastic. When the tie finally snapped, Mary nearly fell over. Her feet tingled as the blood reached them normally again. She leaned against the counter and panted.

“This is so messed up,” Jenny whispered. She moved around to get to Mary’s wrists behind her back.

“You’re telling me. What’s Ursula saying?”

“Just that we’ll be famous, and everything will be all right. I snuck out from the van. Do you know where your grandmother is?”

“No, I still don’t know.” And that fact made Mary shiver. The only one that knew was Clara and Ursula had her. The zip tie around her wrists snapped. Mary sighed in relief and massaged her arms. “Thanks,” she whispered in gratitude.

“You should go.”

“What?” Mary exclaimed.

Jenny made hushing noises and turned to the door in apprehension, but they didn’t hear anyone coming their way.

Jenny shrugged off the bag hanging from her shoulder and pushed it into Mary’s hands. Mary realized it was Gran’s purse. “Urs has gone off the deep end. I don’t know what she has planned for you, but I don’t think you’d like it. I’ll try talking to the others. But you need to go for your own safety.”

“But Gran—”

“We’ll keep looking for her. She has to be around here somewhere.”

“But what if she’s hurt?” Mary asked. Clara had said she was all right, but Mary wasn’t about to trust the ghost’s word.

Jenny grimaced. She opened her mouth to say something, but her walkie-talkie crackled to life. “Jenny, where are you?” Jim asked.

The Goth pushed Mary toward the door. “Shit, you have to go before they find you!”

“Jenny, come back,” Jim called from the walkie-talkie.

“Go to the sunroom at the end of the hallway. There’s a door out there,” Jenny said as she raised the walkie-talkie to her mouth.

Mary headed to the hallway. She still didn’t have a flashlight, but she turned right and went to the end of the hall. She was able to feel her way along the wall and find the door Jenny had told her about. She pushed it open and found herself in a room full of large smashed windows. The moonlight streamed in and bounced off scattered shards of glass to reveal an empty doorway across the room. She went to it and was outside on the backside of the house. She’d need to go around to the front get to the station wagon.

She stopped to listen for the others. She couldn’t hear anyone, but she could see light coming from the central windows of the house. She hugged the wall and began creeping along. She hoped nothing happened to Jenny for helping her, but she couldn’t do anything about that. She ducked beneath windows and kept going. She came to the front of the house and saw the station wagon. It was parked at the other end of the house. She’d have to go in front of the main doorway. Jim appeared on the landing. Jenny was with him. They carried coiled cables to the van.

“Is she all right?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, but she’s freaked out. What are we going to do with her?” Jenny asked.

“Ursula will know.”

“Will she? Jim, this is seriously messed up.”

“You saw everything that we did. We’ll be heroes.”

“Really? How many heroes are charged with kidnapping and endangering a minor?”

“It’ll work out. Go help Carl pack up the rest of the equipment.”

“Fine. But where’s Ursula?”

“She had to go. Don’t worry. We’ll regroup later. Just get everything packed.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, boss,” Jenny said.

Jim didn’t reply.

They went back into the house. Mary slumped against the wall. Ursula had taken the book. Clara wasn’t there to tell her where Gran was. And when Jim found out she was missing, they’d search for her and find her, unlike Gran. Jenny was right. She needed to get out of there. She needed to get the book back and make Clara tell her where Gran was. She could call the police, but tell them what? Her grandmother was missing. They’d search for her, and what if they didn’t find her? She couldn’t tell them that a ghost knew where she was. They’d take Mary into custody and then what? She had no other family that they could release her to.

She would end up in foster care and Gran would die alone and lost. She had to get the book back. She didn’t know where the Ramada Inn was. She’d have to ask someone for directions. Who could she ask? The name came to her like a flash of inspiration. Jake! She didn’t even need Clara if Jake could tell her where Gran was.

“Jim! Jenny! She’s gone!” Carl shouted from within the house.

She had no choice but to run now. Mary broke from her hiding spot and sprinted to the station wagon. They hadn’t locked the vehicle. She jumped behind the wheel and dug out Gran’s car keys. She sprayed gravel as she put it into reverse and floored it. The station wagon swung around. Jim and Carl appeared at the front door, shouting her name. She threw it into drive and fish tailed it out of there. She white knuckled the steering wheel and left skid marks as she got onto the paved road. She kept one eye on the rear-view mirror as she sped away, looking for the van’s headlights. Her rear-view mirror stayed dark.

Though she knew it was unsafe driving, she fished out her cell phone. As she clutched the phone, she made herself take deep breaths to calm down. She had to get control of herself. Her heart was racing and she was drenched in sweat. She was exhausted and dirty. But she couldn’t rest now, not with Gran still in danger. When her breathing was back to normal, she dialed Jake's number. As always, it went straight to voicemail. The automated voice read off the number and told her to leave a message after the beep.

"Jake, it's Mary. Please call me. Some bad stuff's happened, and I don't know what to do. Gran's missing, and the people we were supposed to be helping have turned against us. I need you to find Gran. Please look for her and tell me where she is."

She hung up the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat. She’d go to the motel and get their stuff. The API guys probably already knew where they were staying. If not, one call to Regina would tell them. It wasn’t safe to stay there. She didn’t know where she would go though. She couldn’t rent another hotel room on her own. She wasn’t old enough. She didn’t know what to do, but she’d figure something out by the time she’d packed the car.

When she parked the car at the motel, she tripped on the curb in her rush to get to the door. She knew she was on a clock. They could show up at any moment. She unlocked the door and slumped against it once she was inside. She let herself rest a moment as she looked around the room. Gran had insisted on unpacking everything when they’d arrived. Mary wished she’d dissuaded her from that. She grabbed their suitcases and set them out on the bed. She began grabbing all of their stuff and tossing it in, not slowing down to pack neatly. When she picked up Gran’s clothes, a shudder went through her. Where was Gran? Was she all right? What if she were cold? She had to push these questions away. Everything would be all right. Once Jake called and told her where Gran was, she’d go and get her and they’d put Alabama behind them.

Her arms were loaded with toiletries when her cell phone rang. She dumped them into a suitcase and clawed the phone from her pocket.

“Jake!” she cried into the phone. Her voice came out in a sob.

“Mary?”

It wasn’t Jake. It was Kyle.

Mary wiped her nose with the back of her hand and tried to get it together so she could talk to Kyle without freaking him out. “Hi Kyle,” she said, trying desperately for calm and failing miserably.

“Why’d you think it was Jake?” he asked.

Mary didn’t even know whether to lie or not. “Because I just called and left him a message, so I thought he was calling back.”

“You called him?”

She didn’t know what to tell Kyle. The truth would upset him and any lie she told him would hurt him. She tried to not tell him anything at all. “Yeah, because we’re in Alabama, and he’s in Alabama. I thought we could meet.” She continued to throw things into the suitcases.

“O—kay,” Kyle said, not sounding thrilled.

“What’s up?” Mary asked, trying to steer to conversation away from Jake, but feeling the shakes set in again as she worried about Gran and what she should do.

“I wanted to talk to you. See how you are. Are you all right?”

Mary clenched her teeth to keep herself from speaking until her breathing evened out.

“Mary?”

She forced herself to swallow. She had to say something to reassure him. “I’m fine. It’s been kind of crazy.”

“Crazy how?” he asked.

Mary considered making crackling noises and hanging up the phone. She couldn’t do this right now. She needed to find a new place to stay, find Gran, and then get the hell back to Snyder, North Carolina.

“You know. Television. I’ve got to go. Gran’s calling me.”

“Mary?”

“Bye, Kyle.” She didn’t wait for his farewell. She hung up the phone and slumped onto the bed. She took a deep breath and looked around the room. She grabbed the last few items and threw them into the suitcases and closed them. She still didn’t know where she should go. Maybe an all-night diner? She could just go to a twenty-four hour store and sleep in the station wagon.

There was a knock at the door.

Mary froze in terror. They’d come for her. She’d have to abandon everything. She wouldn’t be able to take it with her. She ran to the bathroom to see if she could climb out the window, but it was too small, even if she busted out all of the glass.

There was another knock at the door. Louder this time.

“Go away!” she yelled.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed 911 but didn’t hit the call button. She waited tensely for their response, the phone shaking in her hands.

“Mary? It’s Jake.”

CHAPTER FIVE

An Angry Bea

“Jake!” Mary was so relieved. He was here! He’d help her! She was no longer alone! They’d find Gran together and everything would be okay. Mary undid all of the locks and threw the door open.

“Jake, I’m so glad you’re he-re.” Her voice cracked on the last word as her brain registered who was standing on the other side of the door. Her eyes first met the old woman’s. She was scowling at Mary. Like really scowling. Her face was pinched so sharply her lips had disappeared, and all of her ire was directed at Mary. Mary didn’t like meeting her hard gray eyes.

She had to look down to see Jake. She blinked and looked at him again. “Jake?” she asked in disbelief.

He ducked his head but nodded. “Hey.”

“Are you Mary Hellick?” the woman demanded.

Mary turned to her. She was still stunned. Jake was a kid. A little kid. She hoped he was in middle school at least. Because if he was still in elementary school, she might be sick right there. If he were in middle school, she’d get sick after they were gone.

"Are you Mary Hellick?" the woman demanded again.

She turned to the old woman and nodded her head. "Yes, and you are?"

"I’m Beatrice Rathbone. Where's Helena?"

“Um, you see…” Mary didn’t know what to tell her.

Jake turned to Ms. Beatrice Rathbone. "I told you, Grandma. Great Aunt Helena isn't here."

Mary stiffened and turned her eyes back to Jake. Great Aunt? She didn’t know what he was talking about. "Did you get my messages?" she asked him.

“And what were you doing calling a thirteen year old boy with your problems?" Beatrice demanded.

Mary winced. "I didn't know he was thirteen." But she was grateful to hear he was in his teens. Just barely, but he definitely was not in elementary school. “I thought he was the same age as me.”

Jake crossed his arms and looked a little guilty. "I didn't want you to know. I knew you wouldn't listen to me if you knew."

"Jake Rathbone," Beatrice said in a stern voice.

They needed to get back on track. "Um, I was hoping Jake could help me find Gran," she said. He might be a kid, but he was her best hope of finding Gran.

Beatrice's frown deepened. “What? Where’s Helena?”

Mary felt awful saying it but had to confess. “I don’t know. She’s missing. I need Jake’s help to find her. He’s my only hope.”

Beatrice turned to Jake. Her scowl was now directly fully at him. "You’ve been peeping."

"Peeping?" Mary asked.

“Looking where he shouldn’t,” Beatrice said.

Mary shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I need him to.”

“It’s not okay. He shouldn’t be doing it at all. He’s done it before for you, hasn’t he?”

"Yeah, he saved my life a month ago with his ability. If it weren't for him, I could be dead."

Beatrice turned her scowl back at her, and Mary stiffened at the icy glare. Her look seemed to say that Beatrice thought that death might have been a fitting end for her. Mary drew back.

"Jake knows he shouldn't be peeping. I came to speak to Helena about it. She knows we want no contact with her or hers. And to let a little boy talk to her in secret is just reprehensible."

"It wasn't her he was talking to. It was me," Mary said. And they were spending too much time on this. She should be working on getting Gran back. "You don't understand. Gran has been kidnapped by a ghost. I can't find her. The ghost has been taken away by some people, and I'm scared to confront them because they’re too many. Please, Jake, can you find Gran?"

Beatrice had been shaking her head before Mary began her plea, and the shaking only increased as she spoke until the old woman was vehemently shaking her head, her tight curls a gray blur as she made her impatient denial to all Mary asked.

"No, we don't mess with that type of devil work. We’re good Christian folk."

"We're good people, too," Mary protested. No, she and Gran didn't go to church but that didn't mean they weren't good.

"You mess with the dead."

"Because the dead need help."

"And who’d you say kidnapped Helena? How's that helping?"

Mary swallowed. "The people who brought us here stole the anchor of a ghost and upset the other ghost. I don't know what they're planning to do, but the upset ghost did something with Gran, and I can't find her. This isn’t her fault."

Jake had leaned against the door frame. His eyes were unfocused. Mary stole tiny glances at him. Was he doing it? Was he searching for Gran?

Beatrice noticed Jake's dazed expression as well. Her mouth screwed up, and she grabbed his arm. "No, you don't! You stop that right now."

"I saw her!" Jake cried, struggling to shrug Beatrice's hand off him.

“Where?” Mary cried, her heart leaping to her throat.

“I’m not sure. It was really dark. I think it was underground. Let me look again,” he asked Beatrice.

“No. You’re not doing any more. You’re to stop looking for her right now.”

“What? Please, let him. If he can tell me, I can go back and get her,” Mary begged.

“No. And you’re to stop asking.”

Mary opened her mouth to ask anyway, but closed it silently. The words wouldn’t come out.

“Grandma,” Jake whined.

"You just wait until I see your parents. They know they’re supposed to keep you from peeping," Beatrice said.

"Oh, great. They’re just gonna drug me even more. Why not? That's healthy. That's normal."

Beatrice's eyes narrowed. "What now?" she asked in a softer voice, though the sense of menace behind the words was increased by a power of ten. Mary would not like to be Jake’s parents when Beatrice talked to them. And she definitely didn't want to draw her attention, though she had questions like how was she related to Gran? If Gran was Jake's Great Aunt, would that mean Beatrice was Mary's great aunt? Did that mean Beatrice and Gran were sisters? Was that how it worked? Jake’s parents drugged him? Why? And what most importantly, what had Jake seen?

Beatrice leaned through the doorway and looked past Mary into her room. She finally seemed to notice the hastily packed bags of Mary's imminent departure. "And where do you think you're going?" she asked.

Mary clutched the strap of her purse nervously. "I gotta go. They know where we’re staying. I'll find a room somewhere."

Beatrice straightened and looked down her nose at Mary. Her lips thinned and disappeared again. Mary wondered what she looked like when she was happy. She probably wouldn’t even recognize her. Beatrice’s eyes moved to glare at Jake. Jake stared back at her with big eyes. "I see," she said icily.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Mary said. She didn't know what she was apologizing for anymore. She needed to pack the station wagon and go. If the paranormal investigators showed up now, she didn't know what she could do. Jake was a kid, and while Beatrice seemed fierce, she didn't think she could do anything against Jim, Carl, and Ursula.

Beatrice pushed Jake past Mary into the hotel room. "Load up," she said to him. She moved past Mary as well and took the toiletries bag. She turned back to Mary. "Come on," she said to her and went out.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Mary asked in alarm. Her eyes darted around the parking lot. It was silent, but she expected a large white van to pull up at any moment.

"You're coming home with me.” She set the bag at the trunk of the station wagon.

Mary shook her head. "Thank you, but I'll just go to another motel."

Beatrice glared at her. "And rent a room how? You're what—Sixteen? You don't have a credit card I bet and they won't let a minor stay somewhere by themselves, especially without any contact with a guardian. You're coming home with me. I'm not arguing."

Jake pushed past with one of the suitcases. “It’ll be all right, Mary,” he said, carrying one of the larger suitcases. He crabbed walked with it to the station wagon and set it down by the toiletries bag. His assurance assuaged Mary’s worries a little, but she still wasn’t sure about this. Beatrice did not seem like a friend, but if she were family…

Mary finally asked one of her many questions. "Are you my great aunt?"

Beatrice’s scowl came back, obviously not happy about the question. "Yes, your grandmother is my sister. When we get to my house, you're gonna tell me all about this mess she's gotten herself in and then I'll decide if I'm going to clean it up or not."

Mary stole a glance at Jake. He was waiting to the side of station wagon, beside all of the bags. "You don't have to do anything. I'll take care of it." Mary said, though she’d need Jake’s help. She couldn’t believe her only hope was a middle-schooler.

“You’re coming home with us. Stop arguing.” Beatrice turned and pressed the button on her key fob. The lights flashed on the large pick-up.

Mary went to the station wagon. She fished out the keys and popped the trunk. Jake helped her slide the suitcases into the back.

"Is it really okay to go with her?" Mary asked softly.

Jake shrugged. "I don't know. She's never drugged me though," he whispered back.

That was another piece of the conversation that had whizzed by before Mary could fully absorb it. "Your parents drug you?" she asked.

Jake shrugged. "It's to keep me from looking out."

Mary stared at him in disbelief. There was horn blast from the truck.

Jake turned to the truck. "I guess I gotta ride with Grandma Bea. I won’t be able to look again for Great Aunt Helena tonight."

“Was she hurt?” Mary asked.

Jake shook his head. “No, but she didn’t look happy at all. She looked a lot like Grandma Bea when she’s itching to smack someone.”

Mary sighed in relief. An angry Gran was a good thing. Mary took Jake's shoulders. "Please keep looking. I have to find her. I have to.” Mary could feel her eyes beginning to sting. There was another honk from the truck. Mary let him go. "I guess I'm following you guys."

Jake nodded and went to the truck. Mary got into the station wagon. She shouldn't be driving by herself, but considering Gran was currently being kept God knew where, she didn’t have any other options, unless she wanted to squeeze into the truck with Beatrice and Jake, which she didn’t. She wanted to keep some independence and having her own vehicle afforded her that. She strapped in and backed out carefully. Beatrice signaled to the right out of the parking lot.

As Mary pulled onto the road, she wondered where the paranormal investigators were and what they were planning. Would they come looking for her? If Jake couldn't find Gran, her only other hope were the ghosts which meant finding Ursula and taking the anchors from her, and Mary knew she wasn't going to give them up easily.

She hoped Jake could figure out where Gran was. Gran might be all right for the moment, but they couldn’t leave her wherever she was. They drove for about twenty minutes on a rural highway, and then they turned onto a county road. Mary began to wonder how much further they had to go and if she’d be able to find her way back to the Laffoon Plantation. She really began to worry when Beatrice turned off the county road onto a dirt road. Mary slowed down and took the turn cautiously. Beatrice's truck got a head of her. The truck’s taillights winking out of sight as she drew further away. The road was washboard bumpy, and bushes closed in tight on both sides, brushing the sides of the station wagon. The road was straight at least and did not fork any. If it rained though, Mary feared she might not be able to get the station wagon back out to the road. Thankfully, after only ten minutes of driving at ten miles an hour, she saw the lights of a house ahead and the brake lights of Beatrice's truck in front of it. Mary wasn't sure where to park. There didn't seem to be any clearly designated spot. She pulled over beside the truck and got out cautiously.

Jake came around to meet her. "Is this where you live?" she asked him.

Jake shook his head. "No, only Grandma lives here. I stay with her most weekends though. Mom says it’s so someone can keep her company, but I think they just want to get rid of me for a while."

Mary didn’t respond, but silently she began to wonder about Jake’s parents.

Beatrice appeared at the back of the station wagon. "Well, come on let’s get inside," she said.

Mary grabbed the toiletries bag and a suitcase. She still wasn’t sure about spending the night here or trusting this woman that she didn't know, but she was Gran's sister. Gran had never told Mary about her, but she had mentioned she had an older sister. The way she hadn’t said much had made Mary assume that she was dead and that Gran didn't like talking about her. The latter was probably true, but the reason was obviously not death. It was probably just general dislike, and the feeling was clearly mutual.

Beatrice unlocked the front door and left it open for Mary to bring in her bags. Jake brought up the rear and closed the door for them. Mary still had questions, but as Beatrice turned on lamps and Mary took in her new temporary lodging, they all died on her lips. Beatrice, or someone close to Beatrice, liked to hunt, and they liked to show off what they killed. Glass eyes glinted at her from all around the room. It was Chowder all over again only with wild animals who clearly didn't like people.

With their entrance, the room filled with barks and caws. Mary found herself nervously inching away from a stuffed rattle snake on a hanging shelf to her right as it rattled its tail and hissed at her. She didn’t think she could be affected by ghost venom, but she didn’t really want to find out for sure. At her feet, a raccoon stood on its hind legs with a paw outstretched. Frozen in a position of reaching for something. Its ghost grabbed her pant leg. She swung her suitcase between them and it withdrew with a growl.

She couldn’t help ducking down as something buffeted her head with a caw. She looked around the room and found the culprit wired to a branch. Beatrice was standing in the middle of the animals looking at her shrewdly. “Did you stuff all these yourself?” Mary asked, trying for polite interest but panic was slowly creeping over her.

“No, my husband did. They were his pride and joy.”

Mary nodded and stiffened when she saw the black bear raised up on its hind legs in the corner. She hoped its spirit hadn’t hung around. Every stuffed animal there couldn’t be haunting the living room could it? The bird buzzed her again, making Mary duck.

“They’re all here aren’t they?” Jake asked eagerly. “You can hear them? They’re haunting Grandma’s living room. I knew they were here. This place is super weird, isn’t it?”

Mary opened her mouth to deny the weirdness to be polite, but all that came out was a gurgling sound as something large and furry brushed up against her. She flinched and stepped back toward the front door. It had been large, but it hadn’t felt bearish. Maybe it was the stag, whose head was mounted on the far wall. Wait, could ghost antlers hurt her? “I don’t know if I can stay here,” she said, getting ready to bolt and run back to the station wagon.

As if sensing her fear, the dead animals began to hiss and growl. Mary began to shake. She let go of her bags, ready to abandon them. The phantom hisses and growls slowly increased, filling her head with wild malice.

“That’s enough!” Beatrice said. “You don’t hear any ghosts.”

All of the animals fell silent. Mary blinked and looked around. Beatrice even scared ghosts?

“Helena hasn’t taught you a damn thing, has she?”

“We’ve just started working on my focus so I can block out ghosts.”

Beatrice shook her head. “That’s not how you stop being haunted. You ignore them. Disavow them. Know they don’t exist.”

Mary thought Beatrice didn’t believe in ghosts. “But they do exist. I can hear them. Feel them.”

Beatrice’s face darkened. “You don’t hear or feel anything. It’s all your imagination.”

“What? No, I’m not making this up. Look at—” Mary pointed at the small hanging light that was swaying gently. “The crow did that as it flew past.”

Beatrice’s eyes didn’t waver from Mary’s face. “No, it’s just a draft. There are no ghosts.”

Mary stared back at her in disbelief. How could she say that? She knew. She’d even yelled at the animal spirits. Hadn’t she? No, she’d been yelling at Mary and Jake to stop pretending. Mary rubbed her forehead. She felt a little dizzy. She shouldn’t argue. Beatrice was her only safe haven at the moment. She shouldn’t anger her and maybe it was just a draft that had caused the light to sway. She didn’t hear or feel the ghosts now. She was safe here. “Sorry,” she said. She looked around the room again. It was quiet. She noticed some of the animals had a bit of dust on them. They looked more unnatural than undead. They were just objects. Nothing more.

“Now, Jake’s already in my one guest room so you’ll have to sleep out here on the sofa bed. Understand?”

Mary nodded sheepishly. She had to be a good guest. Beatrice was going out on a limb for her, letting her stay with her when she was a stranger, family or not. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you again.”

Beatrice nodded in satisfaction. “Put your stuff down and help me pull out the bed.”

Mary did as she was told and joined Beatrice at the sofa. They set aside the cushions and pulled out the bed with a creak. “I’ll go get some clean sheets. Wait here.” Mary nodded again, and Beatrice left the room. Jake had been hanging back, silently watching them.

“Can you still hear them?” he whispered.

Mary shot the door Beatrice had gone through a nervous look, worried she’d hear them talking about ghosts and rush back to scold them again.

“Mary?” Jake hissed.

She sighed, “No, I don’t hear them anymore.” If Beatrice heard them, she was pinning all the blame on Jake.

Jake shook his head with a sad frown. “She did it to you, too. I don’t know how she does it, but she did it.”

“Did what?” Mary asked.

“Made you normal.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “You know that’s impossible,” she said.

But Jake didn’t answer.

“Jake?” Mary asked again.

But Beatrice reappeared, carrying sheets and pillows. “Help me with these,” she told Mary.

They went to work making up the bed, and Jake didn’t say anything more. Once the sofa bed was made up, Beatrice fluffed the pillows with a sigh and stepped back. “Well, it’s late. Everyone should get to bed.”

“But what about Gran?” Mary asked. She couldn’t stand the thought of Gran spending a night alone wherever she was.

“Helena is fine. We’ll figure something out tomorrow. It’s too late to do anything now.”

“But we can’t just leave her out there,” Mary protested. Her anxiety and panic came back to her like a switch had been flipped. Her skin felt prickly and her muscles all tensed. She began to shake. “She doesn’t have any food or water. What if there are—”

“Helena is fine. Stop worrying.”

Mary’s body relaxed. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I know my sister. I said it’s late. Time for bed.”

The panic switch was flipped back to off. Mary let out a sigh and nodded. She did feel sleepy. “Thank you,” Mary said.

Beatrice motioned to the hall that shot off the living room. “Bathroom’s the first door on the right. You can get changed and ready for bed. Jake, bed.”

Jake was staring at Mary with sad eyes. She didn’t understand it. Was he worried about Gran, too? Beatrice said Gran was fine, and she was her sister. She knew best. Mary gave him a comforting smile. His eyes remained sad. He turned and went down the hall. At his door, he said, “Night, Mary.”

“Night, Jake. Good night, Beatrice,” she said.

Beatrice grunted and went all the way down the hall to the last door.

Mary dug into her bags and pulled out pajamas and toiletries. She took them into the bathroom and quietly shut the door behind her. Speaking of comfort, she needed to call Kyle to let him know everything was all right. She knew she’d worried him during their last call.

She dug out her cell phone and turned it on. No service. She wouldn’t be able to call anyone. She turned it off and wondered if Beatrice would let her use her phone, but she knew better than to go to Beatrice’s bedroom to ask permission. She’d have to wait until morning. What was she going to do tomorrow? If Jake didn’t give her any clues, she’d be stuck. She had to figure something out. She changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth. She went back out to the living room and sat on the sofa bed’s mattress. She looked around the dim room. The sight of the stuffed animals creeped her out, but they made no noises. Maybe her imagination had created the sounds. She was overstressed and exhausted. She got under the covers and turned off the table lamp. She fell asleep. She’d figure everything out the next day.

“Wake up,” Beatrice said.

Mary opened her eyes and sat up with a snap. She’d been asleep and then instantly awake. Beatrice stood at the end of the sofa bed looking down it at her. She was a heck of wake up call. Mary combed back her hair, trying to look a little more presentable. Beatrice snorted and walked into the kitchen.

“Go take a shower and get dressed,” she ordered as she entered the kitchen. Mary nodded, though Beatrice was out of eyesight. She folded back the blankets and cautiously got out of bed. She looked around the living room. Sunlight filled it, falling on fur and claw. The animals looked more mundane in the daylight, but they were still unnerving. She grabbed what she needed from her suitcases and went to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and changed into her clothes as quickly as possible, not wanting to irk Beatrice in some unknown way. She dressed in jeans and a plain T-shirt, hoping they’d meet with the old woman’s approval. It was the best she had. She made up the sofa bed without prompting, and with difficulty, folded it away. After she put the cushions back, she sat down to put on her Docs. She hadn’t heard or seen Jake yet.

“Come help me,” Beatrice called.

Mary went to the kitchen, which was off the living room and stopped at the entryway. There was coffee brewing, and Beatrice held a mixing bowl which she was stirring batter in. She opened a cabinet and slid open a drawer. “Set the table,” she said.

Mary took down the plates and stocked up on utensils. The dining room was across from the kitchen. It was crowded with an over-big table and china cabinets. Beatrice must have had a large family at one time. Mary wondered how many children she had. She had a son obviously who was either Jake’s father, but she hadn’t heard of any other children. She looked around the dining room for pictures, but there weren’t any. She hadn’t seen any in the living room either. Just the taxidermic animals. Mary set three places and went back to the kitchen for glasses. Mary took down three.

“How many kids do you have?” she asked.

“None of your business. Finish setting the table.”

Mary blinked in surprise at Beatrice’s brusque answer. She didn’t ask anything else. She hoped Jake got up soon.

When Mary came back to the kitchen after setting the glasses down, Beatrice was flipping pancakes. Mary went to the fridge and looked for syrup without prompting. She also grabbed the margarine and orange juice. Once those were on the table, she hovered in the doorway. She finally broke her self-imposed silence, “Is there anything else you want me to do?”

Beatrice cut her eyes to Mary. She seemed to be considering her. Mary didn’t know what she was thinking, but couldn’t help nervously fidgeting. “Go get that boy up, then come back here.”

With a nod, she turned and went to Jake’s room. When she knocked, she received no answer. She cautiously opened it. The guest room was plain. It had a bed and a dresser, but nothing else. Jake lay sprawled on the bed, his sheets tangled around him. She went to the end of the bed. “Jake, it’s time to get up,” she said.

He didn’t twitch.

She moved to the side and shook his shoulder. “Jake, it’s time for breakfast.”

He groaned and put his pillow over his head. Mary huffed. “Jake, wake up.”

He didn’t respond. She crouched down and snatched the pillow off him. “Jake, wake up!” she shouted into his ear.

Jake jumped and flailed about, reaching for his pillow. When he nearly fell off the bed searching for it, he stopped and rubbed his eyes. He blinked blearily up at Mary. “You’re worse than Grandma,” he complained.

Mary’s mouth quirked as she threw his pillow back onto the bed. “I tried to be nice.”

He blinked sleepily some more.

This might be her only chance to speak to him privately. “Can you find Gran?” she asked quietly.

He turned and blinked a couple more times at her. Mary bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing at his atrocious bed head. He looked like a bedraggled porcupine. He lowered his head. “Give me a minute. Let me see.”

He closed his eyes and Mary worried he was going to doze back to sleep. She was about to pinch him when he shook his head in frustration.

“No, I can’t see her.”

Mary sighed in disappointment. “That’s okay. Could you try looking for the anchors instead? One’s an old children’s book. The other is a painting of some sort. The woman Ursula has them both.”

“Do you have pictures of the anchors? It helps me focus.”

Mary shook her head.

Jake sighed. “I’ll do my best, but it might take a while.”

“Kids, breakfast!” Beatrice yelled.

“Better get out there, don’t want to make Grandma mad.”

Mary nodded. It was frustrating to have work around Beatrice. She knew Jake wouldn’t be able to look while in his grandmother’s presence. And she still had a lot of questions about Beatrice, but all of that would have to wait. As she followed Jake to the dining room, she was struck again by how much younger he was. At a foot shorter than her, he still had a lot of growing to do. An uneasy lump formed in her stomach as she realized how much she was relying on him. He was still a kid.

Beatrice had finished setting out all the food. She sat at the head of the table with Mary and Jake on either side of her. Mary reached to begin loading her plate but an irritated cough from Beatrice had her pulling her hand back. Beatrice folded her hands and bowed her head. Jake was already in praying mode. Mary folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head.

“Jake,” Beatrice prompted.

“Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen,” Jake said the prayer quickly and in one breath. Gran and she never said grace. One of them might have at one point uttered the phrase, “Rub a dub dub, let’s have some grub,” but, Mary was sure Beatrice would have considered that blasphemous.

Beatrice had put her napkin in her lap. Mary mimicked her and didn’t immediately reach out again, which was a wise move as Beatrice held out her hand. Mary passed her plate, and Beatrice began loading it. Mary waited self-consciously for her food. Gran had stopped putting food on her plate when she was ten, but this was Beatrice’s table, and she ruled it.

When Beatrice handed her plate back with pancakes, eggs, and bacon neatly placed upon it, Mary made sure to say thank you. Beatrice didn’t say she was welcome. Mary knew better than to pick up her fork before Jake and Beatrice had their plates before them. She waited until Beatrice had taken her first bite before reaching for her fork. She hoped her food hadn’t gone cold during the wait. They ate in silence. Mary glanced at Jake a few times, but his eyes were always firmly on his plate. She didn’t look at Beatrice, afraid to possibly engage her. When her plate was clean, she set her fork down and sat back. Beatrice was already done. She sipped her coffee. Mary wished she had some coffee.

“Start from the beginning,” Beatrice said.

Mary had been thinking about how to get coffee. “Pardon?”

“Tell me how you and Helena ended up down here. She should’ve known not to come to my neck of the woods.”

Mary didn’t know what to tell her. She hadn’t known this was “her neck of the woods”. “We were offered a job with a television show.”

Beatrice’s mouth pursed.

“Gran didn’t want the job, but they showed us evidence that they were dealing with real ghosts, and they were being reckless about it. We were worried that the paranormal investigators would end up getting hurt if we didn’t intercede.”

“You should leave the dead alone.”

“Not all ghosts are bad,” Mary said, thinking of Chowder.

“The dead and the living have no business with each other,” Beatrice said, and Mary could tell from her stern tone that she wouldn’t be able to argue this with her.

“We’ll go back to North Carolina as soon as possible, but I need to find Gran.”

Beatrice’s eyes cut to Jake. He’d gotten seconds and was scarfing down his breakfast while they talked. He was a messy eater. A bit of egg was at the corner of his mouth.

“Well?” Beatrice said to him.

“You want me to look?” Jake asked, around a mouthful of food.

“I know you’ve been peeping. Might as well get it over with,” Beatrice replied.

Jake sat up straight and put his fork down. “Now?”

Beatrice sighed. “Wipe your mouth. Finish eating while we clean up and then you’ll do it. Mary, help clear the table.”

Once the dining room was clear and all the dishes washed, Beatrice sat Jake in the living room and took his hands. “This is the only time I will ever ask you to do this. It is not something you should be doing, but this once, I’ll allow it.”

“You’ve kept me from looking for her,” he said to her. It wasn’t a question. Mary looked around the living room at the stuffed animals. The animals she could no longer hear.

“Yes, because it’s unnatural.”

“I was born this way, Grandma.”

“Doesn’t mean you should be that way.” Mary felt uncomfortable. This sort of talk had been lobbed at others before. Beatrice took a deep breath and held it a moment. Mary could see that she squeezed Jake’s hands. “Go ahead.”

Jake closed his eyes and dropped his head. Mary watched silently, sitting on the edge of the recliner with her hands clasped tightly.

“I see her. She’s somewhere dark. It’s got a dirt floor and old stone walls. She’s alone.”

“Is she hurt?” Mary asked.

Beatrice turned a cold glare at her. Mary flinched back, but sat forward again when Jake shook his head. “She seems okay. I think she can sense me? She’s pointing at a door.” Jake fell silent for a second. “It’s barred from the other side. It’s a cellar. I know where it is.”

“Where?” Mary asked.

He straightened and opened his eyes. “I can lead you to it.”

“Or you can just tell us how to get to it,” Beatrice coolly countered.

Jake turned to his grandma. “I could.” He didn’t say anything further.

Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. Mary rose and grabbed her bag. “Please, can we leave now? The longer we take, the longer Gran’s trapped down there.”

“Fine,” Beatrice said through clenched teeth. She rose and grabbed her purse.

Jake grinned and shot out the front door.

“Do you want to take just the station wagon?” Mary asked. Beatrice’s truck could fit three in the cab, but not four.

“That's probably best.” Beatrice held out her hand for the car keys.

Mary’s hand tightened on them. “I can drive.”

“Don’t argue with me, girl. All you’ve got is a learner’s permit. I don’t feel like playing teacher.”

“You went through my bag?” Mary was shocked by this, especially as she didn’t know when Beatrice might have done it.

“Just give me the keys, girl.”

Mary handed them over. “My name’s Mary if you’ve forgotten.”

Beatrice snorted and marched out the door. Mary followed behind. You’re going to save Gran, she reminded herself. There was no time to get sidetracked by the underhanded actions of a great-aunt.

Mary rode in the front passenger seat. The ride to the plantation was silent. Mary glanced back at Jake and saw him zoned out. “What are you looking at?” she asked.

“I’m watching your grandma. She’s all right.”

“Thanks, Jake.”

Beatrice silently stepped on the gas.

When they arrived at the plantation, Mary was upset to see the API’s team van parked out front. No one appeared to be in it, but that could mean everyone was inside. Beatrice silently turned to Jake. He got in front and led them around the side of the building. Mary kept a wary eye out for the paranormal group. She didn’t really want to try taking them on with only an old woman and a tween to back her up.

Jake ducked between some hedges. “The entry door is here,” he said.

“What in the world was Helena doing in the bushes?” Beatrice exclaimed.

Mary didn’t have an answer. There was an old door hidden by the shrubbery. Jake grabbed the door handle and he gave it a hard tug. It opened with a creak. The door was short. Mary had to duck down to keep from hitting her head. She stepped down into a root cellar. By the preponderance of spider webs that reached from dirt floor to old wood beam ceiling, Mary surmised that no one had been down here for a very long time.

“Here,” Jake said, going to the far wall and pushing some wood beams that had seemingly fallen across another small door. But Mary suspected they’d been nudged to fall.

“Gran, are you in there?” Mary called as she helped Jake clear the old wood beams.

“Mary?” Gran called back. Her voice sounded hoarse. Mary couldn’t imagine how long she must have been calling for help and not receiving an answer.

“I’m here. We’re going to get you out.”

They finished clearing the last of the wood beams. The door was latched with a simple peg. Mary scowled briefly at it before pulling it out and opening the door. Obviously that hadn’t just dropped into the slot. Sunlight reached the root cellar from a pair of old warped windows, but whatever the room was beyond the root cellar was in pitch darkness. Looking into it made Mary’s skin crawl. “Gran, where are you?” she called.

Gran crawled into the light. She held her dirty hands up to shield her eyes and blinked at her. “Mary, who’s that with you?”

“It’s Jake. Oh God, Gran, are you all right?” Mary went through the doorway and knelt down to help Gran to her feet.

“I’m thirsty,” she said. Mary nodded dumbly. Gran hadn’t had anything to drink for a day. She was probably dehydrated.

“We’ll get you some water, right away. Let’s get out of here.”

Mary helped Gran out of the room. Jake closed the doors for them. They squeezed back through the shrubbery to where Beatrice was waiting.

“Good Lord, Helena. What’s happened to you?” Beatrice exclaimed.

In the full light of day, Mary realized Gran was gray, and her face appeared more wrinkled. She looked ancient. It was mainly due to soot and dust, but it made Mary’s heart seize up to see her like this.

Gran squinted at the other woman, the light still hurting her eyes. “Beatrice? What are you doing here?”

“Let’s just go. I’ll tell you once we’re back at the house.”

“Mary? Ms. Dubont?” Mary turned and saw Jim and Carl.

They’d come around the side the house. They now stood between them and the car, but the men didn’t look combative. They looked relieved.

“Ms. Dubont, I’m so glad to see you’re okay,” Jim said.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Gran said.

“Where were you?” he asked.

“In the old coal room, I think. Got trapped there.”

“Where was that?”

“We’re going,” Mary said, turning Gran away from them and beginning back to the car. They didn’t owe them anything.

“Ursula’s missing,” Jim blurted out.

Mary didn’t have an ounce of concern for the woman. “Does she have the anchors?” she asked.

Jim didn’t reply, but Carl nodded.

“There you go. She’s run off with the ghosts. Good luck with your show.”

“Please, wait,” Jim begged, moving to block them.

Beatrice stepped forward. She got in Jim’s face. “You are Godless people who don’t deserve what the Good Lord gave you. You pulled my poor, delusional sister into your make-believe nonsense and she almost died. If you don’t want the law asking you what the tarnation you think you’re doing, you will get out of our way.”

For once, Mary was grateful for Beatrice’s Bible-thumping condescension. The two men dropped their eyes and backed off. Mary helped Gran as Beatrice swanned ahead.

“Oh boy,” Gran muttered. “I’d forgotten how she could get.”

They all piled into the car. Mary let Jake have the front seat so she could ride in back with Gran. Beatrice started the car and silently drove. Gran looked around and weakly protested, “This isn’t the way to the motel.”

“You’re coming for a visit, Helena. Deal with it. I am,” Beatrice said.

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” Gran muttered, but she seemed too tired to protest further. Her eyes closed, and she slumped against Mary.

Mary tightened her arm around her. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen now.

CHAPTER SIX

Hear No Evil

Mary woke Gran when Beatrice pulled up to the house. Gran looked around with bleary eyes. “Gracious, I hope we don’t hear banjos,” Gran said. The comment made Mary laugh, but unfortunately, Beatrice heard her, too and slammed the driver’s door in obvious irritation.

With Beatrice out of earshot, Mary asked, “Does Beatrice have psychic powers?”

Gran sighed and looked down. “Her special power is hypocrisy.” Mary knew that wasn’t the whole truth, but didn’t push for more.

Mary got out of the station wagon and went to the other side to help Gran out. Beatrice had gone into the house. Jake had at least stayed around to help them. He held the front door while Mary helped Gran up the steps and into the house. She helped her to the couch. Gran let out a long sigh once she was seated.

Beatrice returned from the kitchen and held out a blue sports drink to Gran. “You need to drink this.”

Gran’s mouth twisted. Mary knew she didn’t like the blue kind. “Do you have another flavor?” she asked.

“No,” Beatrice said without a shred of regret.

Gran took the drink with a sigh and sipped it. “We have to help them,” she said.

“Help who?” Beatrice demanded.

“The paranormal investigators. Ursula doesn’t know what she’s dealing with.”

“Gran, they may not have trapped you in that cellar, but they might as well have. They had no intention of finding you.”

Gran shook her head. “We have to help them.”

“Listen to your granddaughter, Helena. Let those idiots find their own fate without dragging you along.”

Gran gave Beatrice a brief glare before turning back to Mary. “It sounds like Ursula has two ghost anchors. She has no idea what she’s dealing with. She thinks the ghosts will help her, but I doubt they have any interest in that. We have to help her.”

“Ursula tied me up,” Mary said.

Gran’s eyes widened. “What?”

“When I couldn’t find you, I threatened Clara if she didn’t tell where you were. Ursula took the anchor from me, and then she and Jim tied me up while Carl watched. I only escaped because of Jenny.”

“Oh, Mary…” Gran blinked and looked away, clearly upset.

“So, yeah, I’m not real eager to help them,” Mary said.

“I can understand that, but we have to rise above.”

“There are no such things as ghosts,” Beatrice said in a commanding voice. It sent a chill down Mary’s spine.

“You stop that right now and don’t you ever do it again to my granddaughter,” Gran said, clenching her fists.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do under my own roof, Helena,” Beatrice said.

Gran grunted and tried to lever herself up. “Fine, we’ll go.”

Mary pushed her back down. “No, Gran. You need to rest.”

Gran shook her head and batted Mary’s hands away. “I will not have us under her thumb. She may control her family with an iron fist, but I won’t let her do the same to us.”

“Uh, I think you should see this,” Jake said.

Everyone turned to him. He stood in the doorway holding an open laptop. “What is it?” Beatrice asked.

He set the laptop down on the coffee table in front of Mary and Gran. Beatrice grumbled as she moved in behind the sofa bed to see the screen. He had API’s website up. They’d posted a video. He clicked play and expanded the screen.

Ursula stood in a living room with the book. “This is video one, where we prove ghosts exist. We have a ghost here that will perform what we ask. I will now ask her to move the chair there. As you can see, there are no hidden strings attached to the chair. The floor is perfectly level. It is an ordinary chair.” The camera panned around the chair showing it from all sides. It was an ordinary wooden chair. Ursula placed a marble on the floor to show the floor was level.

“Now move the chair,” she commanded from off-camera. The camera stayed focused on the chair and the chair did nothing.

“I said move the chair.”

The chair remained still.

Then very faintly, they heard the sound of ripping paper. The chair lifted up and flew past the camera.

“Holy shit,” Jim said and turned the camera to Ursula. She held the old book tight to her chest. “Are you all right?” he demanded.

Ursula smiled and nodded. “You got all that, right?”

“Yeah.” The video ended there.

Mary’s stomach twisted. She’d shown Ursula how to torture the ghost Clara, and now she was using that knowledge to make her perform tricks for her. Mary had no love for the ghost, but she didn’t like the idea of her being made into a circus act either.

Gran shook her head with a sigh. “They don’t know the danger they’re courting.”

“Smoke and mirrors,” Beatrice said.

Gran ignored her. She turned to Mary. “We have to get those anchors back.”

Mary still had no love for Ursula, but she felt slightly guilty over Clara’s situation. “How? We don’t know where Ursula took them.”

Gran turned to Jake.

He straightened. His eyes darted nervously to Beatrice.

“No, no, no. I will not let you do devil’s work in my home,” Beatrice declared.

“It’s not devil’s work. God gave us these gifts, and He expects us to use them to help others.”

Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you even try claiming to believe. We both know you’re a heathen through and through.”

“Just because I don’t go to sleep with the Bible clutched to my chest does not make me any less goodly.”

Beatrice grunted and turned to Jake. “You go to your room right now. You hear me? I’ll have none of it.”

Jake’s face went slack, and he nodded.

“He’s your grandson!” Gran protested.

“That’s right, he’s my grandson,” Beatrice said. She focused on Jake again. “Now go to your room and stay there until I call for you.” Jake nodded. He picked up his laptop and left the room. His eyes never strayed to Gran or Mary. He moved listlessly. Like he was entranced.

Gran crossed her arms and pushed herself back into the sofa cushions with a grunt. Her lips were pressed together in displeasure. Mary wasn’t sure what to do. She looked back and forth between Beatrice and Gran. Both of their faces were closed off and unhappy. She slunk over to the nearby arm chair and got into it. She clasped her hands together and watched them. She pretended to be invisible.

Beatrice silently turned and went back into the kitchen. Gran sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. “We can’t stay here,” she said.

“But they know what motel we’re at,” she said.

“Then we check into a different one.”

“Or we could go home.”

“No, we have to get the anchors from Ursula. I can’t in good conscious leave them with these people.”

“But why? They’re just ghosts. Plus, Clara trapped you. She was going to leave you to suffer.”

“She wanted her brother back that’s all.”

“I don’t care! They deserve whatever they get.”

“Really? You think Clara deserves to be tortured for cheap tricks?”

Mary dropped her eyes. She’d basically done the same thing to Clara when she’d been searching for Gran. “Why do you care?”

“Because they were once people. They may be dead now, but they don’t deserve this.”

Short of tying her up and driving back with her gagged in the backseat, Mary wasn’t going to get Gran back home.

“Jenny might help us,” Mary offered.

Gran’s mouth stretched into a smile. “Let’s go,” she said.

Mary jumped up with her hands out. “No, no, no, you stay here and rest. You haven’t even finished your sports drink.”

Gran looked at the half full bottle with distaste. “I feel fine.”

“I’ll call Beatrice in if you don’t stay put.”

Gran’s eyes narrowed at the threat.

“Let me go and see what I can find out. I’ll be super careful and be back in a few hours.”

Gran clearly didn’t like the idea, but Mary wasn’t going anywhere with her. She still looked tired and weak. She needed rest. “Fine, but be careful.”

Mary nodded and grabbed her bag. “I will. See you in a little while.”

She let herself out of Beatrice’s house with a wave of relief. She got into the station wagon and started it up. She still shouldn’t be driving by herself, but she was willing to do it if it meant Gran stayed behind.

She wondered if Beatrice would get mad at her for leaving. She hoped the sisters didn’t get into an argument. Gran needed her rest and thinking of Gran as having a sister was weird. She couldn’t imagine what they’d been like at her age. Had they fought over boys? Fought over clothes? She was sure there’d been fighting in any case. She realized Gran had never really told her much about her childhood. She’d told her stories of about her grandpa and her and about Mary’s own parents but nothing before that. She wondered why.

Now that she didn’t have any monstrous worries hanging over her head like Gran being missing, Mary bounced along the old dirt road and couldn’t help smiling. She was beginning to enjoy driving the car by herself. It made her feel like an adult. She was completely on her own and free to go wherever she liked. She turned on the radio and found an alt-rock station. She hummed along to a song as she drove down Beatrice’s dirt road. It felt good to be on her own.

When she got to the main road, she pulled out her cell phone to check the signal. She had a few bars. She noticed she had voicemail. She checked missed calls and saw that there were three from Kyle and two from Rachel. She ignored them for now, not knowing what she could tell them without upsetting them. She dialed Jenny’s cell. It rang three times before the Goth girl picked up.

“Hello?” Jenny answered uncertainly.

“Jenny, it’s Mary.”

“Mary? Hi, Carl told me they saw you. Hey, how’s your grandmother?”

“She’s getting better. Listen, do you know where Ursula is?”

Jenny sighed. “No, she isn’t answering Carl or my calls or responding to our texts. Carl said Jim did speak to her. I think he’s gone to see her, but now he isn’t answering us. Where are you?”

Mary got a brief chill at the question. Jenny might have helped her escape, but she was getting the feeling the Goth may have sided with her fellow investigators again. “I’m with family. Do you know where Jim went?”

Jenny didn’t immediately reply. “Have you seen the video?” she asked instead.

“Yeah, do you know where they shot it?” Mary asked, thinking maybe that would be a place to look.

“It’s amazing isn’t it? I wish I’d been there. I get goose bumps every time I watch it.”

Mary’s stomach twisted at Jenny’s comment. She could agree with Gran that torturing a ghost to perform simple tricks wasn’t cool. She forced herself to agree with Jenny. “Yeah, it was cool. Where were they?”

“I’m not sure. I remember Ursula mentioning her family owned a cabin. It looked like they might’ve been there.”

“Where’s the cabin?”

“I don’t know exactly. It’s somewhere on Lake Purdy.”

“Where’s that?”

“It’s like half an hour away to the east, but it’s over a thousand acres.”

“Oh.” Mary didn’t know what to do now. She’d hoped she could find Ursula and Jim easily and get the anchors from them.

“I can find them,” Jake said, popping up from the backseat.

Mary jumped and dropped the phone. Thankfully, she’d put the car in park before calling Jenny so it didn’t move when she jumped. She whipped around to look at her cousin. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“You can’t go on your own.”

“Beatrice told you to stay in your room.”

Jake gave her a sly grin as he climbed into the front seat. “No, she said go to my room. I did, and then I decided to leave.”

From the fallen phone, Mary heard Jenny’s voice. “Mary, are you still there? Do you want to meet up?”

She fished the phone off the car floor. “I’m gonna have to call you back,” she told her and hung up the phone.

“Wait, Mary—” Jenny said, but Mary cut off the phone.

She turned to Jake. “I’m taking you back,” she said.

Jake put up his hands in alarm and shook his head. “No! You need me! I can find Ursula and Jim for you.”

“That might be, but I’m scared of what your grandmother will do to me if I don’t bring you back.”

“Pretend you don’t know I’m here.”

“And where am I supposed to go?”

“Lake Purdy?”

“I don’t know where that is.”

“Can’t you find it on your phone?”

She held it up to show him that it was an old model. “It’s a dumb phone.”

“Well, pretend you called Rachel, and she fed you the directions.”

“Or I could just do that instead, after taking you back to your grandmother’s.”

Jake crossed his arms. “And do you really think your grandmother will let you leave this time without her?”

Mary gritted her teeth. He had a point. If she went back, Gran would most likely insist on going back out with her and short of tying her down with bungee cords, Mary had no way of stopping her.

“Fine, I won’t take you back, but when Beatrice asks, I didn’t know you were in the car until I was on my way back from Lake Purdy.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Like she’ll believe that. Tell her I popped up when you got there.”

“And then ran off before I could stop you?”

Jake nodded. “Sounds plausible.”

Mary slanted her eyes to him. “Don’t run off when we get there.”

He grinned. “But you’ll want some truth to the story though.”

“Don’t,” Mary repeated.

Jake gave her a sly look and settled comfortably in his seat.

Mary didn’t have a good feeling about this. “Which way do I turn?”

“Right and keep going for ten miles.”

She checked the road carefully before pulling out. Her happy sense of freedom and maturity had vanished.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Jake, wake up. We’re here. Do you know which cabin is Ursula’s?”

Jake lifted his head from the car window and looked around owlishly. He’d dozed off after giving Mary the final directions. She would’ve preferred he’d stayed awake to make sure she didn’t take a wrong turn, but hadn’t had the heart to keep him from napping.

“I wasn’t sleeping. I was looking. I think I know which one it is.”

“You think?”

“They’re not at it, but I saw that book Ursula had. It’s the ghost’s anchor right?”

“Yeah, that’s Clara’s.”

“Do you know what Royce’s anchor is?”

“Ursula said that it’s a portrait.”

“I saw something that looked like an old portrait of a guy.”

“Good. They’re both there. Clara shouldn’t be any trouble if her brother’s with her.”

“Trouble?” he asked, his voice going up on the word.

Mary glanced over at him. He’d sounded much younger with that single word.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re gonna wait in the car.”

Jake’s back straightened. “I can help!”

“You already have. Which cabin?” Mary asked again.

Jake’s jaw jutted out.

Mary rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’m taking you back.” She pulled off the road and looked around, preparing to make a U-turn.

“Left! Go left!” he said, putting his hands on the dashboard. Mary pulled back onto the road and made the left turn.

Jake directed her the rest of the way without prompting, but she knew they’d have another argument when they reached the cabin.

“There,” Jake finally said.

It was a log cabin nestled in the woods. It looked like something out of a teen slasher movie. Cozy. “Are you sure Ursula and Jim are gone?” she asked, parking the car further down the road on the opposite side to hide it some.

“Yeah, I’m sure. They’re gone, and I know where they keep the front door key,” Jake said as he unfastened his seat belt.

“Jake, no. You need to stay here,” Mary said, making her voice as stern as possible.

He gave her a defiant look and kicked open the door.

Mary blew out a breath in frustration. The stubbornness must be genetic. Their whole family had oodles of it.

“Jake, don’t get ahead of me,” she called, throwing off her seatbelt to catch up with him.

Even with Jake’s assurances that Ursula and Jim weren’t there, Mary still looked for signs of them. Jake showed no concern. He went up to the cabin’s front door and lifted the doormat. He picked up a key and showed it to Mary with a smirk.

“So? I would’ve looked there. Don’t know why they even lock it if they’re going to keep the key right there,” Mary said.

He unlocked the door and it swung open. He made to go inside, but Mary grabbed his shoulder and held him back. She peered cautiously into the building.

The cabin had an open floor plan. The den was in the front and transitioned to the kitchen in the back. The back corner was walled off. Mary guessed it was the bedroom.

“What?” Jake asked.

Mary didn’t know. She didn’t hear anything. She didn’t feel anything. The place was silent. “Are you sure the book’s here?” she asked.

Jake pointed at the kitchen table in the back. “Isn’t that it right there?”

An old hardback book was open on the table. Mary couldn’t see it very well from that distance, but it could be Clara’s anchor. She couldn’t sense it though. It was right there out in the open, and she felt no hum.

“Clara?” she called out, though she didn’t want to speak to the ghost. She wondered why the ghost wasn’t saying anything to her. Or threatening her rather.

“I bet the portrait’s in there,” Jake said, pointing at the closed room.

“Yeah,” Mary said. She was still spooked by the silence. Maybe Ursula had damaged the anchor too much and broken Clara’s tether to the book?

Knowing they couldn’t stay hovering in the doorway forever, Mary let Jake go and they both stepped inside.

“Check the bedroom, I’ll grab the book,” Mary said, feeling that the book was the more dangerous anchor. Clara didn’t seem the most stable of ghosts, and she had plenty of reasons to lash out. Mary was prepared to destroy the book on the spot if necessary, but she’d rather get it outside first.

“Wait, look at this.”

Jake had picked up some loose papers from the coffee table. He shuffled through them and handed them to Mary.

They were covered with erratic handwriting. A lot of it was just mindless loops, but a few words were crudely written among the loops. “Take me away…want out…Help me…Royce.” Mary knew what this was: Automatic writing or the fancier term psychography. It was a supposed way to communicate with spirits. The practitioner would hold a pen or pencil and let the spirits guide her hand, writing messages for them. It looked like Ursula had been practicing it with Royce. She shuffled through the pages and scanned them again. She noticed there appeared to be no mention of Clara. And she couldn’t understand why, but she felt like she didn’t have all of the sheets, like Ursula had written more, but it wasn’t here. If Royce had communicated with Ursula, he wasn’t making a peep now.

She set the papers back on the coffee table. “They don’t matter. Let’s just get the anchors and get out of here.”

While she went to the kitchen, Jake went to the bedroom door. “It’s locked,” he called.

“I’ll be there in a sec,” she said. She went over to the kitchen table and cautiously touched the book. Nothing happened. She felt no tingle, and Clara still did not say a word to her. Ursula must have torn out too many pages and broken the anchor.

She left the book on the table. If Clara was gone, then there was no point in taking the book. It was just a book now. A very damaged one at that. She joined Jake at the bedroom door. She looked at the handle. It was a simple silver interior door knob. She glanced around hoping they’d left the key in plain view since they’d left the front door key in such an obvious location, but they seemed to have taken the security of the bedroom a smidgen more seriously than the front door’s.

“Should we try kicking it in?” Jake asked.

Mary shook her head. “No, let’s try something less likely to break bones.”

She went to the kitchen and opened drawers until she found the silverware drawer. She grabbed a butter knife. She brought it back to the door and stuck the tip of the dull blade into the key hole and turned, unlocking the door.

“Whoa, where’d you learn that?” Jake asked, impressed.

Mary gave him a half-smile. “Youtube.”

She let the door swing open. She’d been right. It was a bedroom. A queen-sized bed took up the majority of the room. The blankets were rumpled, indicating someone had recently slept there. A bureau, with a mirror over it, sat against the far wall. Mary and Jake were reflected back, framed in the doorway. Mary couldn’t help noting how much shorter Jake was beside her. What was she doing with this kid?

A framed picture leaned against the bureau. She walked across the room to pick it up.

“Is that it?” Jake asked.

Mary held the portrait before her. It was an oil portrait of a young man in an old-style summer suit. He stood on a veranda of the Laffoon House. He was handsome, but his smile had a bit of a sneer to it that made Mary think she wouldn’t have liked him when he was alive. She noticed there was a tear in the top left corner of the canvas. The exposed edges of the canvas were clean, indicating the tear was recent. Had Ursula tried to make Royce perform for her like she’d done with Clara? She still heard nothing, and the portrait did not hum in her hands, but this had to be Royce’s anchor. Maybe Royce was no longer anchored to the portrait. The tear didn’t look substantial enough to cause the ghost to be released, but she felt nothing.

“Hello?” she asked. She received no reply.

Even though it seemed to be just a portrait now and no longer an anchor, Mary decided to take it with her to show Gran. “Let’s go,” Mary said.

Jake headed out of the room ahead of her. He was just out of the doorway when something flew at him and hit the side of his head. He cried out and went down. Mary dropped the portrait and rushed to his side.

“Jake! Are you all right?” she asked, crouching down beside him. A wineglass had been the object. It had shattered when it hit him.

Jake groaned and sat up. “What just happened?” he asked.

Mary looked around the room, but no one else was there. “I don’t know. Hold still.”

There was a cut across his forehead and more cuts above his ear. Blood streamed out of the gashes. Mary sickly peered closer to see if any glass was embedded in his scalp. There was a piece. Mary hissed in empathy. She gently pinched it and pulled it out. She didn’t see any other glass fragments thankfully. Jake confusedly touched his head and jerked his hand back when it encountered blood. He held the bloody fingers up to his face in surprise.

“Can you get up? Careful of the glass.”

Jake nodded, but the motion made him wince. Blood ran down his neck and shoulder. They needed bandages or towels. She ran to the kitchen to grab some towels, giving the book on the table a suspicious look. She still heard and felt nothing. A towel was draped over the oven door handle. She moved to grab it when a cabinet swung open, hitting her in the head. She hissed and jumped back. She touched her forehead, but the cabinet door hadn’t broken the skin. Something wasn’t right. She still heard and felt no buzz. Mary began to grow afraid. She snatched the towel off the oven and ran back to Jake. “Press this against the cuts. We need to get out of here.”

Jake took the towel and pressed it to his head. “What about the portrait?”

He was right. Though Mary still didn’t know what was going on, they should take it with them. She went to retrieve it from where she’d dropped it in the bedroom, but the door slammed shut before she could set foot inside. She tried the handle and hissed in pain. She jerked her hand back. The doorknob was burning cold. There was no denying this. There was a ghost. And Mary had no sense of it.

“Mary?” Jake asked.

She grabbed Jake by the arm and hauled him out of there. She didn’t look back.

“Mary?” he asked again.

She didn’t answer. She didn’t have an answer. What had just happened? They went back to the car, but Mary didn’t start it right away. She was going back to Beatrice’s house. She didn’t know where else to go, but her world was on tilt at the moment and she felt nauseous.

“I couldn’t hear them,” she said.

“You mean the ghosts?” Jake asked.

She glanced over at him. He still had the towel pressed to his head. It was soaked through. Jesus, would he need stitches? What had she gotten him into? What was Beatrice going to say? Or worse, what would she do? Mary shivered.

Jake sighed. “Grandma hasn’t released you, has she?”

“What?”

“That first night we came to the house, and you freaked out about the stuffed animals. She told you not to listen to them. She squelched your power. And then she never turned it back on for you.”

Mary’s eyes widened. “She did what?”

Jake shrugged helplessly. “She’s done it to me. Usually it’s the first thing she does when I come over. It’ll wear off, but it takes a few days.”

Mary shook her head. “Start over. What did she do?”

“She told you not to hear ghosts and you stopped. She can order people to do stuff and they do it. It’s like mind control.”

“Mind control?” Mary repeated, her stomach twisting in dismay.

Jake sighed. “Yeah, it isn’t fair. Like she can just tell me to do chores and I do them. It sucks, but she’s not all bad. Not really.”

Mary shook her head. “She has to undo this. I almost got us killed because I couldn’t sense the ghosts. I actually thought they were gone because I couldn’t feel or hear them at all.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You’re not the one who deafened me.”

She started the car. Now that she knew what had happened, she didn’t feel so off-kilter. But then the reality began to hit her, Beatrice had turned off her special ability. Gran had been trying to train Mary on how to do that, but they’d gotten nowhere with it. With a few simple words, Beatrice had done it for her. For all intents and purposes, Mary had been normal. And she realized that frightened her more than being in a house full of ghosts.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Speak No Evil

Mary parked the station wagon beside Beatrice’s old truck. Jake hadn’t fallen asleep on the ride back, probably because his cuts hurt. She really hoped he didn’t need stitches. She hadn’t had the stomach to take another look at his injuries. He’d taken them with surprising stoicism. He hadn’t complained or expressed any fear. He’d looked out the window quietly, silently switching arms to hold the towel to his head as one grew tired. She’d asked him if his head hurt or if his vision were blurry. He said the cut hurt, but he was okay. His eyes looked fine. Mary couldn’t help worrying. The wet red towel made sure of that.

When they got back, Jake released his seatbelt and got out. Mary followed him into the house with a churning stomach. Gran was sitting on the sofa bed. She’d taken a shower and changed clothes. It looked like she might’ve been dozing before they came in. She blinked owlishly at them and smacked her lips. When her eyes fully focused on Jake, they widened.

“Beatrice, you need to come in here!” she called out urgently.

“What is it, Helena?” Beatrice said irritably, coming into the living room from the kitchen. When she saw Jake, her eyes went saucer wide.

“Oh Jesus, Jake,” Beatrice exclaimed. She rushed to him, but she didn’t seem to immediately know what to do. Her hands went out and hovered uncertainly over the bloody towel.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, Grandma,” he said, but his reassurance didn’t seem to register with her. She took him by the shoulders and steered him to a chair and pushed him down. She crouched down beside him on the side that was hurt and gently took away the bloody towel.

“Are you all right, Mary?” Gran asked.

She nodded and gave Beatrice and Jake a wide berth as she moved to stand by Gran.

“What happened?” Beatrice demanded.

“It’s my fault,” Jake said.

“No, it’s mine,” Mary said.

“What happened?” Beatrice repeated with a bit of growl in her voice.

“We went to get the anchors,” she answered.

“Without an adult?” Beatrice demanded.

Mary took umbrage at being dismissed as an adult.

“We’re old enough, Gran,” Jake quietly protested.

Beatrice gave Jake a look but turned to Mary. “Go on.”

“Nobody was there. I thought it was completely empty, until Clara started fighting us.”

“What?” Gran asked in confusion.

“I couldn’t hear or feel the ghosts because it seems Beatrice turned off my abilities.”

Gran’s jaw dropped. “Beatrice!”

Beatrice cast a glare at Mary. “Fine. Hear all you want.”

Mary’s ears popped, and the room was filled with sound, except no human voices were speaking. A bear growled, a fox yipped, and a raven cawed. Mary whirled around, cataloging all of the different animal sounds, trying to gauge the possible danger in each one. Adding to her panic, her head began to pound due to the multiple spirits.

“Mary?” Gran asked as Mary turned this way and that to face each sound. A bobcat purred in the corner. She heard the hiss of a snake somewhere at her feet. Her eyes were going blurry. She cowered where she stood.

“Gran, can’t you sense them?” she asked.

The animal noises increased at her statement. She began backing toward the front door. She jumped as something brushed against the back of her legs. It wasn’t corporeal.

“Beatrice, rein in your menagerie,” Gran told her.

Beatrice looked far too satisfied to comply. “She wanted to hear them.”

“Stop terrorizing my granddaughter!”

Beatrice shrugged innocently. “What am I doing?”

“Grandma,” Jake said, sternly.

She turned to him and raised a gentle hand to the gash on his forehead. “She hurt you.”

“No, she didn’t. I made her take me with her.”

“You didn’t make her do anything. She should’ve known better.”

Mary stood paralyzed, only a few steps from freedom, but there were things blocking the door. She was surrounded by hissing and growls. She was afraid to move in case one decided to strike. A drop of blood fell from her nose.

Gran heaved herself from the sofa bed. She came over to Mary and took both of her hands. “Step where I step,” she said.

“They’ll bite,” Mary said, beginning to shake.

“Then we’ll bite them back.”

That got a smile out of her. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Do you really think I can ever control my powers myself?”

Gran shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I thought maybe, but maybe not.”

Beatrice snorted. “If I can tell you to not hear them, then you should be able to tell yourself.”

Mary looked over at her. “How?”

Beatrice raised her eyebrows. “You just do.”

Gran huffed and gave Mary’s hands a gentle tug. “Let’s go outside to clear your head.” Mary stayed rooted in her spot, but not in fear, she honestly wanted to figure out how to control her powers. She wanted to be able to shut out the ghosts. She closed her eyes to focus. She’d been deaf to all of these sounds moments ago. She hadn’t heard a single hiss or growl while Beatrice had commanded her. Like Beatrice said, if she could tell her to not hear ghosts, Mary should be able to tell herself. Mary scrunched her brow as she tried to reach for the silence, to pull it back around her. It was like searching for some unknown muscle to flex it. She could do this. She knew it was possible. The hissing and growls quieted. The realization sent a little thrill through her, but a smidgen of doubt wondered if the animal ghosts were simply settling down, growing used to her presence as she was growing used to them. She wanted to focus her listening to figure out if they were simply quieting down or if her hearing them was fading, but that would be counterproductive. She had to continue concentrating on not hearing them. Calm settled over her. It felt like a piece of cloth had been draped over her. An image of herself in an old-fashioned ghost costume came to her that made her mouth quirk. Mentally, she pictured herself in the old-fashioned costume, only looking out of two cut eye holes. The ghost noises faded away. She took a deep breath and let it out in relief.

“Mary?” Gran asked.

She opened her eyes. “I did it,” she said in a soft voice, her mouth stretching into a pleased smile.

Gran’s face brightened and she squeezed Mary’s hands. “You don’t hear them at all?”

Mary shook her head.

“Well, I don’t think you need stitches,” Beatrice pronounced to Jake and heaved herself up off the ground.

“Can I have some aspirin?” he asked.

Beatrice shook her head. “You can have some ibuprofen. Aspirin thins the blood. It might make you bleed more.”

“Oh, okay.”

Beatrice turned and headed to the kitchen. Jake followed behind her. The towel still pressed to his head.

“Well, what did happen?” Gran asked.

“Clara attacked us when we tried to take Royce’s anchor. She threw a wineglass that hit Jake. I’d thought Clara’s anchor was broken since I couldn’t hear her. I couldn’t hear Royce either of course, but I figured I should take his anchor nonetheless. When I realized something was very wrong, I got Jake and me out of there.”

Gran nodded, clearly deep in thought.

“What should we do now?” Mary asked.

“We need to get both anchors away from that girl. She’s not stable.”

“Who are we saving who from?” Mary asked.

Gran gave her a look. “Ursula is not a bad person. She merely doesn’t understand what she is dealing with. We can’t turn our backs on her. If she’s hurt, it’s on us.”

“She turned her back on you. I can’t muster much sympathy for her.”

Gran sighed and shook her head.

Beatrice passed through the living room with Jake. She escorted him down the hall to his bedroom. He had a bandage on his head and a glass of water in his hands. He walked reluctantly. They heard the bedroom door close and Beatrice came back by herself. She came to stand before Mary and Gran. Mary didn’t like the height difference this made. She considered standing to be on the same level as the older woman but kept her seat for the time being. She could stand whenever she wanted.

“What are you two talking about? Are you trying to figure out how to get rid of the ghosts?”

Mary opened her mouth to answer, but Gran cut her off. “Not every ghost needs to be vanquished.”

“Why not? They’re dead. They should be gone.”

Beatrice’s word echoed things Mary had said and thought in the past. She felt uncomfortable knowing she agreed on something with Beatrice. It made her feel like she might need to reevaluate her opinion.

“Not all ghosts are bad,” Gran said.

Mary could agree with that, but she still wondered if any ghosts should exist. What purpose did they serve? The world was for the living.

Beatrice crossed her arm. “They’re unnatural.”

“How can you say that? Death is natural, and ghosts are a result of death.”

“If ghosts were meant to exist, then everyone who died would become a ghost. Only Godless heathens become spirits and every one of them should be purged.”

Now Mary didn’t agree with that, and she especially didn’t agree with the venom in Beatrice’s voice. She’d never asked any of the ghosts if they were Christian, but she didn’t think being non-Christian had anything to do with becoming a ghost. She was sure that some of the ghosts she’d interacted with would’ve considered themselves Christians. She’d just never asked them. She also felt that a lot of hidden feelings were swirling in-between Gran and Beatrice’s words. This was not the first time they’d discussed this and disagreed.

Gran shook her head at Beatrice’s words. “Just because you don’t understand them doesn’t make them wrong.”

“And just because they exist doesn’t make them right,” Beatrice said.

Gran clenched her jaw. It looked like she was restraining herself from saying something. It probably had something to do with all of the unsaid things hanging between the sisters. Mary wisely stayed out of it, though she silently wondered if Gran would tell her about it later when Beatrice wasn’t around.

“We should go. We’ve impinged on you long enough,” Gran declared. She grabbed onto Mary to pull herself up.

Mary tried to keep her from standing. “Gran, wait. You need to rest.”

She shook her head and continued to struggle to stand. “No, no. We don’t want to wear out our welcome.”

“Helena, sit down and shut up.”

The words made Mary’s neck hairs stand up. Beatrice had used her power on Gran. Gran sank into the sofa and scowled at Beatrice.

“Gran?” Mary asked. She rose and knelt in front of Gran. She was worried about what Beatrice’s command had done to her.

Gran looked at her but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were angry, though.

Mary turned to the other woman. “Beatrice, undo this.”

She looked at Mary with a raised eyebrow. “No, you sit down and shut up, too.”

Without any conscious thought, Mary turned around and sat back down beside Gran. She stared at Beatrice in shock. Neither Gran nor she could protest. Mary tried but it was like she no longer knew how to speak. Her mouth opened but nothing would come out. She strained her jaw, but not a peep came from her throat. Mary tried to stand. Her feet were on the ground. She had good footing, she put her hands on the sofa and pushed, but her back wouldn’t unfold. She tried to scoot off the sofa, but the coffee table was in the way. She pushed it forward with her feet.

Beatrice pushed it back. “Stop that and stay there,” she said.

Gran took Mary’s hand and patted it. Mary turned to her in horrified disbelief. They couldn’t speak and they couldn’t move. Mary’s butt felt like it was melded to the sofa now. She couldn’t move an inch on the cushion. Gran nodded. She knew this was bad, but she wasn’t panicking. Mary needed to stay calm, too. She took deep breathes and let them out slowly. Gran nodded again, and rubbed her hand.

Beatrice watched them for a moment then without another word went back into the kitchen. Once she was gone, Gran turned to Mary with a powerful scowl on her face. Mary understood the sentiment. She pulled out her phone and typed out a text, but she didn’t send it to anyone. She turned the phone’s display to Gran.

*How long will we be stuck on the sofa?*

Gran raised her shoulders, not knowing.

Mary typed in another text, but this one she did send. She hoped Jake had his phone on.

*Beatrice has us stuck on the sofa. Can you do anything?* It didn’t look like Beatrice had ordered him to his room with her ability. Mary hoped she was right.

Mary fumbled to cover her phone as it dinged to announce a new text. She hoped Beatrice didn’t have sharp ears. Jake had replied. *Yeah, I’m fine. Are you okay?*

*Yeah, we’re fine. We just can’t move or speak. Is there any way to counteract Beatrice’s command?*

A reply didn’t come immediately. Gran leaned over and looked at the blank cell phone. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at Mary. Mary shrugged. She didn’t know what Jake was doing either.

They soon found out what he was up to when he tip-toed into the room. He came in with his book bag on his back. They watched him silently, waiting. He went across the room, stepping carefully so as to keep the floorboards from creaking and picked up Mary’s satchel. She expected him to bring it to her, though she didn’t know what she needed from it. He didn’t bring it over. He opened it and reached inside. Gran snapped her fingers loudly to draw his attention.

“Shh, or Grandma Bea will come in here,” he whispered.

Mary silently held out her hand for her satchel. If he needed something from it, she could find it more quickly than him, and she was sort of annoyed he was looking inside it without her permission. He didn’t hand it over to her. He pulled her key ring out and set the satchel back on the floor. He put his fingers to his lips to indicate that they should stay quiet and slowly crept to the front door.

Gran didn’t do as he asked. She began stomping her feet and clapping her hands loudly to draw out Beatrice. Mary followed suit. She didn’t know what Jake was thinking, but there was no good reason for him to have her keys.

“You two hush!” Beatrice yelled from the kitchen.

Mary and Gran both suddenly stilled. They could no longer stomp or clap. They could make no sounds at all.

The station wagon started outside, but Beatrice didn’t seem to notice. Mary craned her neck and watched Jake slowly back their car out and turn it around. She looked toward the kitchen, but there was no way to call to Beatrice. She’d effectively muted them. She looked down at her cell phone.

*Jake, come back! What are you doing?*

Her phone buzzed with a return text.

*Don’t worry. I’ll get the anchors.*

*No! It’s too dangerous. Come back!*

Mary and Gran waited tensely for a reply, but none came. Mary shook her phone in frustration. She didn’t know what to do. All she had was her phone.

She started tapping out a new text.

*Kyle, call Jake and tell him to come back. He’s stolen our car and is going to confront some ghosts by himself. We can’t go after him. I’ll explain everything later. Can’t now.*

She sent the text and knew it was a long shot. Kyle might not even have his phone on. He usually kept it off while he was at school. It was a quarter after ten. He’d be in class.

She began tapping out a similar text to send to Rachel when her phone buzzed. Kyle had texted her back.

*Where are you? Are you okay?*

*We’re fine, but we’re stuck. CALL JAKE.*

Mary hoped Kyle did what she asked. Gran, growing frustrated, picked up her half empty sports bottle and hurled it across the room. It knocked over a lamp that broke.

Beatrice stormed back into the living room. “That’s it! Both of you go to sleep. Go to sleep right now!” Mary and Gran didn’t have a chance to indicate anything was wrong. Their eyes shut and they slumped over.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to impose.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble. And you’ve come such a long way.”

“Well, thank you. Um, are Mrs. Dubont and Mary all right?”

“Yeah, they can wake up now.”

Mary stirred. “Kyle? Did I oversleep? Were we going somewhere?” She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She blinked and looked around in confusion. She was in Beatrice’s living room, but she’d heard Kyle’s voice. She looked down at her phone, thinking she’d accidentally called him. He came into the room with a glass of lemonade, followed by Beatrice.

He gave her a smile. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

She stared at him, and then rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, he was still there. “Kyle? What are you doing here?”

Beatrice sat down in her chair and took a sip of her lemonade. “He came all the way to Alabama because he was worried about you.”

Kyle stood to the side, holding his sweating glass in both hands. Beatrice noticed he was still standing and waved at the couch. “Have a seat, young man. Unless you’d rather stand after sitting so long?”

He smiled uncomfortably. “Thank you, you’re right. I’d rather stand.”

Beatrice nodded.

Mary looked back and forth at them. The scene still seemed a bit surreal. It was mainly due to Beatrice’s politeness and pleasant smiles to Kyle. She turned to Gran who was still slumped over. She shook her shoulder to rouse her. Gran stirred with a groan.

“Where’s Jake?” Mary asked them as Gran sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Beatrice’s face formed a scowl. “That’s what I was going to ask you.”

Gran rose from the sofa and stretched. Mary hadn’t even thought of moving. She got up as well and stretched in relief. “We tried to tell you,” Gran said with her own scowl.

“Did you call him?” Mary asked Kyle.

He nodded and stepped closer to her. He reached out and stroked her arm. His touch was reassuring. He was really here. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly, but didn’t feel comfortable doing so in front of Beatrice and Gran. She reached out and returned the gesture tentatively. Her fingertips were tickled by the hair on his arms. She was fascinated by the appearance of goose bumps where she touched him.

He twitched his arm away from her and took a quick sip of his lemonade and coughed as some went down the wrong pipe. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand holding the lemonade. Mary was mildly amused by her effect on him. She made a note to explore this further later.

“I talked to him. He said he was going to take care of everything. I told him I could help, but he said he could do it on his own. How old is he?”

“Thirteen,” Beatrice answered with a scowl.

“Really?” Kyle repeated in relief.

Mary crossed her arms, embarrassed to be reminded of how young Jake was.

“Thirteen going on forty,” Gran muttered.

“He told me how to get here. I explained to Mrs. Rathbone that I was your boyfriend and that I was worried about you. She let me in and gave me lemonade. Then you two woke up.”

“Shouldn’t we go after Jake?” Mary asked, surprised that Beatrice was sitting and drinking lemonade while Jake was out by himself, driving no less. She wondered how he reached the pedals.

“Don’t know where he is, now do we?” Beatrice said.

“I know where he went. Let’s go,” Mary said, heading to the door.

“Stop right there,” Beatrice ordered. Mary stopped in her tracks. Not again, she thought and turned back to the old woman.

“Beatrice, stop doing that!” Gran ordered.

Kyle didn’t know what was going on, but he could sense something was wrong. He stepped between Beatrice and Mary.

“Ma’am, let us go get your grandson,” he said.

Beatrice leaned over to look around him at Mary. “How did you get such a nice, normal boy?”

Mary’s jaw dropped at the question.

Kyle answered for her, “By being awesome, and saving my life didn’t hurt either.”

“Bea, aren’t you worried about Jake?” Gran exclaimed.

Beatrice put down her glass and folded her hands in her lap. “He has defied me for the last time. There’s no help for him. If he wants to go down the path of evil, I can’t stop him.”

“He’s trying to help someone, possibly save her life! I’m pretty sure in every religion that’s considered good!” Mary said.

Beatrice continued to sit calmly in her chair.

“Let us go, please Beatrice,” Gran asked.

Beatrice’s eyes went to Gran. They shared a silent look. Beatrice finally blinked and looked out the window.

Gran’s shoulders slumped with a sigh. She motioned for Kyle and Mary to go out the front door. “Come on you two. Let’s go.”

They filed out. Kyle’s truck was parked in front of the house. He unlocked it and all three of them piled in. Mary sat in the middle. “Where we headed?” he asked as he started the truck.

“To Ursula’s cabin, I’ll direct you.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Evil Want to Play

Mary sighed in relief when Ursula’s cabin came into view. She’d been half afraid she wouldn’t remember the way back to the place.

“That’s it. Keep going a little further and pull over,” she said.

Kyle drove around the curve, and they all saw the station wagon parked on the side of the road, but there was no sign of Jake. Kyle pulled up behind the station wagon. Mary tried once again to call Jake’s cell, but it went straight to voice mail. They all got out and began walking down the side of the road back to the cabin.

“Mary, don’t forget to reactivate your abilities,” Gran said.

The reminder made Mary pause. That was right, her ears were turned off again, but at least, she could turn them back on now. She closed her eyes and flipped the switch. Goosebumps rose on her arms.

Kyle was looking at her curiously when she reopened her eyes. Mary could feel her cheeks heating up as she dropped her gaze. She didn’t know why, but telling Kyle about her new found control made her embarrassed. Like she’d been lying to him and now had to fess up. She hadn’t known how to use her superpowers. Would he still think she was awesome when he knew how clueless she was about herself?

“I can stop myself from hearing ghosts now,” she told him with her eyes still dropped to the ground.

“That’s good, right?” he asked.

“It’s wonderful,” Gran said. “Before if there were too many ghosts, they’d hurt her badly if she couldn’t get away from them.”

Mary scowled at the ground, wishing Gran hadn’t told Kyle about that.

“I didn’t know hearing ghosts could hurt you.”

She nodded, her gaze darting up to his face. He looked surprised and concerned. She didn’t want him to look at her that way. She wanted him to see her as awesome like he’d told Beatrice, but she didn’t know what to say to reassure him. Too many ghosts talking at once could floor her worse than anything. She’d run into that situation too many times. Knowing now that she could mute the ghosts and not be debilitated was a huge relief.

“I can just switch it off now and go deaf to them. It isn’t a big deal.” Her eyes focused pass Kyle at Gran. She hadn’t stopped with them but had kept on trucking to the cabin. Mary had to dash to catch up with her.

“Gran, wait up!” she said, overtaking her.

Gran shook her head and rubbed her hands. “Something’s happened, Mary. I can feel it. Jake’s in danger.”

Mary turned to look at the cabin that had come into view. She trusted Gran’s premonitions, though she wished she hadn’t had one at this moment. She tried calling Jake’s cell again. She thought she heard its ring tone from inside the house.

The door to the cabin was ajar. The sight sent a chill through Mary. Kyle tried to take point, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “I should go first to sense the anchors.”

Kyle sighed unhappily. “Fine, just be careful.”

“Promise.”

She pushed the cabin door open with her fingertips.

“Jake?” she called out.

She received no answer.

She didn’t sense any ghosts either, though recalling her last visit, she didn’t drop her guard. The place was a wreck. Her boots crunched on shattered glass. She had to move around overturned furniture, and step carefully over discarded books and small knick-knacks. Gran and Kyle came in behind her and took in the mess. Mary looked to the kitchen, but didn’t see Clara’s book on the kitchen table.

“I don’t think anyone’s here. Ghost or otherwise,” she said, going to the bedroom where she’d last seen Royce’s anchor.

The portrait was gone.

“Jake!” she yelled.

Silence was her only answer.

“Oh God, what have they done with him?” Gran asked, looking around the room.

Mary called Jake’s cell again. They all heard it ring. Kyle straightened the overturned sofa and lifted the center cushion to find the phone. He held it up grimly.

Gran held out her hand. “Give it to me,” she said.

Kyle handed it over. Gran fiddled with the phone a moment and put it to her ear. Mary wondered who Gran was calling. Was she contacting the police? It might be time. Kyle came into the bedroom. It wasn’t ransacked like the living room. The bedding was still messy, but the furniture wasn’t moved around. There was a laptop set up still on the small desk in the room. Kyle turned it on.

“Is she calling the police?” he asked, looking over the desktop. Mary didn’t know.

Gran had the cell phone up to her ear. “Beatrice, Jake’s not here. He’s in danger. I thought you should know, even if you’re pretending not to care.” She snapped off the phone.

“Should we call the police?” she asked her.

Gran shook her head with a sigh. “No, they’ll take too long. We have to find Jake ourselves.”

“It looks like this Ursula woman sent some emails only half an hour ago to a Jennifer and a Carl, telling them to bring their gear and meet her and Jim at the house.”

“But where’s Jake?” Mary wondered.

“They have him. I’m sure of it,” Gran insisted.

“Have him? But why would they take him?” Mary asked.

“We need to go now,” Gran said, heading toward the door.

Kyle shut the laptop. Mary looked around the cabin one more time. Had Jake been here when all this happened? He was so small. He’d be easy to hurt. She felt sick contemplating it

What were Ursula and Jim doing with Jake? Why take him? Was he all right?

They went back to the vehicles. Gran used her keys to get in the station wagon. Mary got in the truck with Kyle to give him directions to the plantation.

“Kyle, thank you so much for coming all the way out here,” she said.

He shrugged off her gratitude. “I had to come. When you answered the phone thinking I was Jake, I could tell something was really wrong. I couldn’t handle the thought of just sitting and waiting to hear from you again.”

“Do your parents know where you are?”

He grimaced. “No. I told them I was going on a fishing trip with a buddy and his dad. My dad almost invited himself along.”

Mary’s eyes dropped guiltily. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”

He reached over and pulled her to his side. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just relieved you’re okay.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing into Kyle’s side. She was still worried about Jake, but she was so glad to have Kyle there. Now she at least had two people she could trust implicitly. She would like to add Jake to that number, but the younger teenager kept doing stuff to break that trust like lying about his age, stowing away in the backseat, stealing their car. Typical teenager stuff, really, except nothing was typical with their family, and he was in real danger now.

“So about Jake,” Kyle said and let the name hang in the air.

Mary had been playing with Kyle’s fingers that dangled over her shoulder. Her hand dropped from his and she slid out from under his arm, feeling a bit guilty. “Yeah?” she asked cautiously.

“You like him,” he said.

“He’s my cousin and he’s thirteen,” she said.

Kyle looked over at her. He wasn’t fooled. “Yeah, but you didn’t know that when you drove nine hours to meet him, did you?”

Mary slumped against the window. She couldn’t lie to Kyle and tell him that she’d traveled all this way just to help the paranormal investigators. She didn’t care about them. Even now, she barely spared any concern for them. “He’s different,” she said.

And because Kyle was a good listener, he understood that she meant different as in not normal. “And you’ve never known anyone else different?”

“The closest I’ve gotten is Rachel.”

“She’s pissed at you by the way.”

Mary closed her eyes briefly and swallowed uncomfortably. “Why?”

“Because you’re having an adventure out here while she’s stuck back at home.”

“Oh.” She looked down at her lap. She’d smooth things out with Rach when she got back; at least she hoped she could. She was pretty sure she’d ruined whatever she had with Kyle.

“I guess I’m pretty boring, huh?”

Mary looked up from her hands. Kyle was looking at the road with a humorless smile.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not different. I want to be an accountant for Pete’s sake.”

“But that is different,” Mary said, a furrow forming between her brows.

“Maybe, but it’s not the different you want.”

Mary opened her mouth and then closed it, the furrow between her brows deepening. Kyle wasn’t pissed at her like she expected. He sounded sad. She didn’t know why he would be sad. He shouldn’t be. He was a great guy. He just had lousy taste in girlfriends. He should be mad at her. She’d lied to him to meet a boy, and when she got into trouble, he drove hundreds of miles to save her, and now he was on his way to help the boy she’d lied to him to meet. Why wasn’t he yelling at her? Why hadn’t he pulled over and told her to get out and then turned the truck around to head back to Snyder? She was such an idiot. She’d had a great boyfriend and she’d screwed it up because a boy she’d never met had said he liked her.

She shook her head with a hollow laugh. Kyle glanced over at her. “I’m not different. Not really. I’m, actually, really simple. Tell me I’m pretty and I’ll like you. That one thing more than anything made me want to meet Jake. He was nice to me. He said I was pretty, so when the chance came to go to Alabama, I tricked Gran into going. I wanted to meet him. And now I have and now I’ve messed up one of the best things in my life for something so simple. I’m not different. I’m an idiot.”

She turned and looked out the window. They were on a rural highway. Farmland stretched out all around them. It was rather pretty. This wouldn’t be a bad spot for him to kick her to the curb.

Kyle huffed. “But you are pretty.”

Mary grimaced. “No, I’m not.” That was why when someone did tell that her she was pretty, she immediately liked them.

“Mary?”

“I’m really sorry, Kyle. You deserve better.”

“Mary,” he said again.

She turned to look at him. Was he ready to yell at her now?

He turned away from the road to look her in the face. “You really are pretty.”

“Kyle, don’t,” she said with an uncomfortable sigh and turned back to the window.

“Hey,” he said. He took his hand off the wheel to tug at her elbow.

She looked over at him. “Come here,” he said.

She looked down at his hand still on her arm. “You’re not mad at me?” she asked.

He sighed. “I’m not sure what I am at the moment, but it doesn’t seem like we’re breaking up, so that’s a relief.”

“We’re not?”

He frowned. “I don’t want to break up if you don’t want to break up.”

Mary didn’t want to break up. She cautiously slid across the bench seat. “You’re sure?”

He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. “I’m sure.”

She let herself relax and leaned into him. “I am sorry for upsetting you.”

“I get it, sort of, but maybe next time, imagine how it would feel if I dropped everything and drove across several states to meet a girl.”

Mary grimaced. She hadn’t really thought about what it would feel like from Kyle’s side. She’d been pretty self-absorbed about this whole thing. If Kyle had done like she had, it would’ve felt like a knife through the gut. She really had done him wrong. She didn’t know how she’d make it up to him.

“So Jake…” He said again.

Mary scrunched her brows together. “Yeah?”

“He’s thirteen.”

“Yeah?”

“And still in middle school?”

“Yeah.” Mary’s teasing detector was starting to go off.

“How tall is he?”

“Like five feet,” she said.

A wide grin stretched across Kyle’s face.

“Stop it. It was embarrassing enough when I met him.”

“How’d you meet?”

“Beatrice brought him to our motel room.”

“His grandma was with him?” Kyle was eating this up.

“It’s not that funny,” she protested.

“Yes, yes, it is,” Kyle assured her.

Mary harrumphed and crossed her arms, but she stayed pressed to Kyle’s side and he squeezed her shoulders.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When they pulled into the gravel driveway for the Laffoon Plantation, they saw the big white van for API and a few other vehicles parked there. Mary looked for Gran and realized she hadn’t followed them.

“Did you see where Gran went?” she asked Kyle.

He looked around, too. “No, I thought she was following us.”

The station wagon was nowhere in sight. Mary pulled out her cell phone and called Jake’s phone which Gran had. It went straight to voicemail. She ended the call. There was no point leaving a message. Gran wouldn’t be able to get it. Where had she gone? Of course, she knew how to get to the plantation. Had she stopped for gas? Had she gotten a flat or something?

“What should we do?” Kyle asked.

If Gran was right and Ursula and Jim had Jake, they needed to get him. She still didn’t understand why they would’ve brought Jake to the plantation, but she didn’t need Gran’s premonitions to know that it couldn’t be good. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve hopped back into the truck and gone back out to search for Gran, but these weren’t normal circumstances.

“Let’s circle round and try to figure out where they are,” she said.

Kyle nodded and motioned for her to lead the way. She avoided the main walkway and slipped in among the trees that surrounded the plantation. She peered through the windows to the main entry, but didn’t see anyone.

“It would save time if you went around one side and I went the other way. We could meet at the back porch,” she said.

Kyle shook his head. “I don’t think we should split up.”

“You heard Gran. Jake’s in trouble. This place is too big to search together. He might not even be in there. There are over ten out buildings in the back. If he’s not in the mansion, he may be in one of them. Come on, it’ll be okay. Just be careful.”

“You, too. Don’t do anything without me.”

Mary nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Promise, see you in a little bit.” They split up. Mary crouched down to run along the side of the mansion, peeking cautiously through the windows she passed. The Laffoon mansion was laid out in a long rectangle. Kyle had gone down the kitchen and dining room side while Mary had the library and office side. She peered carefully into the parlor and saw no one, but Carl’s command station was set up. Were they planning to film another episode?

She kept moving and peeked into the office next. Jennifer was in there on her cell phone. She appeared to be arguing with someone. Mary quickly ducked back down before the Goth could see her. Next was a guest bedroom. The room was empty. The end of the house was comprised of a pair of bathroom slash dressing rooms. The windows were too high up for her to see into. She quickly rounded the building and crept to the next available window which was to a guest room on the other side. Each room she peered into had a camera set up.

She crept along to the library. She looked in and this time saw Carl setting up another camera. The overgrown entrance to the coal room was on her end of the building. She squeezed in between the wall and the shrubs at the door. She pulled it open and nearly fell into the room.

“Jake?” she called softly. The cellar was silent. She closed the door and continued creeping along the buildings outer wall.

She looked into the main entrance once more, but it was empty. She at least knew where Jennifer and Carl were, but she really wanted to know where Ursula and Jim were and most of all, Jake.

Kyle was already waiting for her at the stairs to the back porch. “Did you see Jake?” she asked, coming to crouch by him.

He shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone. You?”

“I saw Jennifer and Carl.”

“Mary, we should call the police.”

“And tell them what? Jake and I broke into Ursula’s cabin. We’d get into just as much trouble as them.”

“But this is over our heads. There are four of them and two of us. We won’t be able to force them to give us your cousin.”

“I wondered when you would show up. Who’s he?”

Mary froze at the sound of Clara’s voice.

Kyle noticed her sudden stillness. “Mary?”

“One of the ghosts just spoke to me.”

“Well, that means Ursula and Jim are definitely here, right?”

Kyle had a point.

“Clara, where’s Jake?”

“Royce has him.”

“What does that mean?” Mary asked, though she did not like the sound of it.

“I told you all to leave us alone. Royce is only good to family. That woman should not have gone where she wasn’t allowed. I tried to keep her out, but Royce was already intrigued. It’s been so long since he’s had anyone new to play with.”

“Are they upstairs?” Mary asked. It was the only area of the mansion they hadn’t been able to check.

“Yes.”

Mr. Forrester had strictly forbidden anyone from going upstairs because it wasn’t safe. So in addition to being out numbered, they could also fall through the floor, there was also the matter of the ghosts. Things weren’t looking good.

Mary checked the main hall again. She didn’t see Jennifer or Carl. She hoped they were still where she’d last seen them. “We gotta go in and get upstairs,” she told Kyle.

“Is it safe?” he asked.

“Nope. Be careful where you step and if I tell you to run, don’t hesitate.”

Kyle’s face became grim, but he nodded.

They slipped up the stairs to the back entrance. When Mary tried the door, it was locked. “Clara, could you open this?” she quietly asked.

“If I help you, you have to promise not to hurt Royce. He’s all I have.”

Mary nodded, though she was lying. If Royce tried to stop them, she would not hesitate with destroying his anchor. But if it came to that, she’d have to destroy Clara’s as well. She didn’t relish the thought of going up against two ghosts.

Clara unlocked the door, and it silently swung open. Mary and Kyle quietly slipped through and went to the bottom of the stairs. Mary put her hand on the banister and looked up. Some of the steps were obviously sagging.

“Avoid the fifth, seventh and twelfth steps,” Clara instructed.

“She says the fifth, seventh and twelfth steps are bad,” Mary relayed to Kyle. He nodded and together they crept up the stairs, skipping the indicated steps. They reached the top and looked at the line of closed doors.

“They’re all in Royce’s old bedroom. It’s the middle one.”

In confirmation, Mary could hear Ursula and Jim’s voices coming from the indicated room. The door was open just a crack. Quietly, they crept to it and crouched down outside the door.

“Urs, I really think we shouldn’t have the kid up here,” Jim said.

“I heard you the last three times, Jim.” Ursula sounded like she was speaking through gritted teeth.

Mary leaned over to look into the room. The pair had set up a large folding table. A single arc light shined directly onto it. Jake lay on the table. Mary’s heart lurched. For a moment, she feared the worst, but then saw the young teenage boy’s chest rise and fall. He was only unconscious. What had they done to him? Mary noticed the notebook that Ursula had been using for her automatic writing also rested on the table. She couldn’t imagine what Royce had been telling her. Ursula and Jim stood on either side of the table. Ursula’s back was to them. The portrait hung on the far wall, seemingly overseeing everything.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” At the sound of the new ghost’s voice, Mary ducked back out of the doorway. He sounded younger than Clara and a lot meaner.

“They’re just here for the boy, Royce.”

“But I like the boy. He’s perfect.”

If Mary hadn’t wanted to alert Ursula and Jim, she would’ve asked what the heck Royce meant by that, though she had a sinking suspicion that she didn’t want to know. She had no idea what to do now. Clara had gotten them this far, but with Royce in the mix, she didn’t think they could rely on her any further. There was no way to sneak Jake out of the room with Jim and Ursula still in there. Maybe they could draw them out, get them to leave Jake with a distraction?

Mary’s half-formed plan evaporated when Jim shouted, “Ursula, no!”

Blindly, Mary and Kyle sprang up and ran into the room. When they crashed in, they found Jim struggling with Ursula for control of a box cutter. Their entrance distracted the pair for a moment. They turned to look at them. Mary took in the scene with a glance. It seemed clear that Ursula had intended to use the box cutter on Jake, who still lay unconscious on the table.

“Kyle, get Jake!” she said, moving to block Ursula and Jim if they tried to stop them. Kyle scooped up Jake and turned to run out.

“No! He’s mine!” The bedroom door slammed shut in Kyle’s face. He tried to ram it open with his shoulder, but with Jake in his arms, he couldn’t throw himself very hard at it. He moved back and kicked the door. It shuddered but stayed shut.

“Royce, stop before something bad happens!”

With Ursula and Jim still arm-locked over the box cutter, Mary ran around the table, heading for the portrait. Destroying the anchor was their best hope.

“Oh, but this will be fun!”

Mary had reached the portrait. She had her hands on it to take it down when Ursula tackled her. She went crashing to the ground with the taller girl on top of her. Ursula put the box cutter against Mary’s throat. Mary froze.

Ursula stared down at her face. She didn’t look crazed. She looked desperate. In a clear, loud voice, she said, “Put the boy back on the table, or Mary gets a new air hole.”

“Don’t hurt her,” Kyle said, but he kept hold of Jake.

“Put the boy on the damn table, NOW!” Ursula ordered. The box cutter’s point bit into Mary’s neck. She hissed at the sting. Kyle caught Mary’s eye, looking for advice. Mary wanted to shake her head. To tell him not to do what Ursula said, but there was a dribble of blood going down her neck. If she moved, she’d be cut more. She swallowed uncomfortably, scared that even that slight action would push the blade in further.

“Put him down, Kyle,” Mary said. Her voice broke on down.

“That’s right, Kyle. Put him down,” Ursula repeated.

He set Jake down gently on the table. Jim stood to the side, clutching his arms. His eyes were wide, and he was sweating profusely. He was the pictorial definition of freaked out. Ursula shoved off Mary and held up the box cutter. She motioned with the blade for Kyle to move over to Mary. He did, giving Ursula a wide berth. He knelt down by her and helped her up. He checked her neck gently.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Ooh, look she’s bleeding. Make her bleed more.”

Mary touched where Ursula had cut her. It seemed to be only a scratch. She wiped her neck with the collar of her shirt, grateful it was black. Her neck stung, but she’d live. She gave Kyle a quick nod and turned back to Ursula. “What are you planning to do with Jake?”

“He’s going to be our vessel,” Ursula said.

“Vessel for what?”

“The ghost.”

“That’s not possible.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I know ghosts. I can talk to them and hear them. And I can hear Royce and he’s psychotic. Even if he could possess Jake, you wouldn’t want him to.”

“He can possess him. We just need to bleed him enough to weaken him and give Royce the chance to take his place.”

The idea was macabre and insane. “That won’t work.”

Ursula glared at her. “How do you know? Have you tried it?”

“No! Because you can’t just switch out whoever is in a body. It doesn’t work like that.”

“And you’re an expert. A high school girl?”

“A high school girl who can hear ghosts,” Mary coolly corrected. “Royce just wants to paint the walls with blood. He’s tricking you.”

“You don’t know the half of it. I want to do more than paint.”

“Royce, please stop,” Clara pleaded.

“Why are you doing this?” Mary asked Ursula.

Jim spoke up. He was still very upset though. “If-if we can p-prove the existence of ghosts, everyone w-will have to believe us then. We’ll be famous.”

Mary continued to stare at Ursula. “But that’s not why you’re doing it.”

Ursula gave Mary a considering look. She nodded. “You’re right. I don’t care if we show the world that ghosts exist. I just care about one ghost.”

“Who?”

“My boyfriend Matt. He died in a car accident last year. But I know he’s not gone. He’s just on the other side.”

Mary swallowed nervously. Ursula really believed her boyfriend was out there somewhere, waiting for her, but Mary knew that wasn’t the case. Matt was gone. She couldn’t reveal that though. Ursula could decide to hurt Jake in anger or do something else equally drastic.

“Then let my grandmother help you. She knows how to contact ghosts. She can put you in touch with Matt.”

Ursula moved to the table. Mary stiffened, fearing she was going to hurt Jake, but instead, she pulled a pen out of her pocket and put it to the notebook. Her hand started moving. She wrote blindly. Her other arm still stretched out, holding the box cutter.

When she stopped writing, she pocketed the pen and glanced at the notebook. She picked it up to show them. In large letters was written, “LIAR.”

“You can’t trust Royce. Let my grandmother help you,” Mary insisted.

Ursula put the notebook back down and shook her head. “I admit your grandma gives me the heebie-jeebies. She’s got something, but why go to a clairvoyant to reach a ghost when I have a ghost willing to help me?”

“How is Royce supposed to help you?”

Ursula looked at Jake. Mary was concerned that he still hadn’t woken up. What had they done to him to knock him out? “He needs a body to occupy. Then he’ll be able to talk to me. To help me reach Matt.”

“That’s right. Give me a body, and I’ll have so much fun. Imagine, Clara, what I’ll be able to do.”

“This isn’t right, Royce. You’re getting too excited. Remember what Father always said when you got too excited.”

“He’s dead! Everyone’s dead! Who cares about them? There are so many people to play with. And no one to stop me.”

This was bad. Mary didn’t know if she could talk her way out of this. “Ursula, listen, Royce isn’t stable. He’s using you. He can’t reach Matt. And he doesn’t want to. All he cares about is hurting people. He likes hurting people. That’s why the slaves revolted. They couldn’t take it anymore. All the stuff Royce did to them—it was awful, monstrous. He’s a monster, Ursula.”

“You’re lying.”

“Was Mr. Forrester lying? Are the historical records lying? Royce tortured the slaves. And he wants to torture more people. You’re helping him get what he wants.”

A flash of doubt crossed Ursula’s face. It gave Mary hope.

“Maybe Mary has a point, Urs. Maybe we should talk about this some more. I want to help, but I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Ursula’s jaw tightened. “Sometimes hurt is all you have.” Mary’s little spark of hope fizzled at Ursula’s words. She wasn’t perfectly rational. She was desperate and upset. They weren’t going to be able to talk her out of this.

Mary looked over at Kyle. He’d been quiet this whole time. He was watching Ursula and Jim. His face was tense. He was ready to help her however she needed him. Why’d she get him into this? He should be home playing video games or shooting hoops, not stuck in a haunted house watching her back.

“Ursula, Jim? Are you up there?” Carl called from below.

“We need to talk to Jenn and Carl,” Jim said.

Ursula rolled her eyes. “They don’t matter.”

“They’re part of the team.”

“They don’t matter!” Ursula yelled.

“Jim?” Carl called uncertainly. It was clear he’d heard Ursula’s outburst.

Ursula brandished the box cutter at Jim. “Tell him everything’s fine. Tell him to stay downstairs.”

Jim’s face fell. “Urs, please. Don’t do this.”

“Everything’s fine, Carl! How’s everything down there?” Ursula shouted.

“I’m coming up,” Carl yelled back.

Ursula looked wildly around the room, panicked that Carl was coming up. She moved to grab Jake, but Mary lunged forward with Kyle and they dragged Jake off the table. Mary pushed Jake into Kyle’s arms.

“Clara, help us!” Mary pleaded.

“NO! He’s mine. You’re all mine!” Royce said.

Kyle had Jake slung over his shoulder. The hall door swung open without anyone touching it.

“Go, quickly,” Clara said.

“Kyle, go. Get him out of here.”

Kyle dashed out of the room. Mary was on his heels, but Ursula grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back. “You’re not going anywhere,” she said. The door slammed shut again.

There was a crash from the stairs. Mary gasped. “Kyle!” she screamed.

“Carl fell through the stairs,” he yelled back.

“Help!” Carl screamed.

“Carl!” Jennifer screamed from below.

“Oh God, Carl are you all right?” Jim yelled, rushing to the door and trying to open it. It wouldn’t budge. “Ursula, help me!” he pleaded as he tugged at the door.

“We’ll use Mary. She’s probably better than the boy since she can hear ghosts.”

“Yes, bleed her. Bleed her dry!”

Jim wasn’t listening to her. “Ursula, we need to get out of here!”

“No! We’re doing this.”

“Doing what?” Mary demanded, struggling to free herself. She grabbed Ursula’s wrist with the box cutter and held it away from them. “Royce is lying to you. He can’t help you contact your boyfriend. Your boyfriend’s gone. And all Royce wants is to splatter the walls with our blood.”

“Ooh, splatter. I like that idea.”

Mary rolled her eyes at the ghost’s words. She so wanted to take Ursula’s box cutter to the portrait. It was the perfect tool to slash the painting. She’d rip it to shreds if given the chance.

Ursula struggled to bring the box cutter to Mary’s throat. “You don’t know anything,” she said through gritted teeth.

“I can talk to ghosts, and the only ghosts here are Clara and Royce. You boyfriend isn’t here. He’s passed on. Royce is tricking you.”

“No, Matt wouldn’t leave me.”

“He didn’t have a choice. He died. You have to let him go.”

With a wordless yell of rage, Ursula shoved Mary away from her. Mary stumbled and fell to the floor. Ursula tried to lunge at her while she was down, but Mary rolled away. The box cutter scraped against the floor leaving a long, ugly scratch.

Ursula turned around and rose. “You don’t know anything. Royce promised to help me.”

Mary got to her feet and put the table between her and Ursula. “You can’t trust him. He doesn’t want to help you.”

Ursula shook her head wildly. Her actions were getting more erratic as she became more desperate. “No, Matt is just on the other side. He’s waiting for me. I know it!”

“He might be, but Royce can’t help you. Royce isn’t on the other side. He’s stuck here with us.”

“Aaarrrggghhh!”

Mary looked at the closed door in alarm. The scream had come from Carl.

Royce giggled.

CHAPTER NINE

Saying Goodbye

“Oh God, somebody help me!” Carl screamed. He sounded in terrible pain. Mary’s stomach twisted. She didn’t know what was going on out there. She hoped Kyle and Jake were all right. She was worried that she hadn’t heard from either of them as she’d struggled with Ursula.

Jim let go of the door handle in defeat. “We have to get out of here. What can we do?” he asked them.

“We have to destroy the portrait,” Mary said. The only problem was Ursula. She was between them and the portrait. Mary faked right and went left to get around the table and past Ursula, but Ursula didn’t fall her feint.

She blocked her and swung out with the box cutter. Mary had to leap back to avoid being sliced. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Ursula, stop. We have to destroy it.” Jim ran around the other side of the table towards the portrait.

Ursula tackled him. “Jim, no!”

They fell to the floor. The room groaned. Mary froze and stayed still. Ursula and Jim continued struggling unaware of the danger.

“You promised not to hurt him,” Clara said in an accusing voice.

“He’s leaving us no other choice, Clara. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let him kill us. If you know a way to get us out of here without having to destroy the portrait, please I’m all ears.”

“Clara won’t help you. Will you, sister?”

“Please, Royce. Calm down. Let them go.”

“Calm down? Let them go? God, you’re boring.”

“Royce, please!”

“No.”

The floor groaned more and began to shift under Mary’s feet. Dust rained down on them.

“Royce, stop!”

“Mary!” Kyle yelled from the other side.

“Get Jake out of here!” Mary yelled back.

“He’s safe! I came back to get you. Get away from the door.”

Mary jumped back when Kyle’s body slammed into the door. She saw someone stand up in her peripheral vision. She turned and saw Ursula was standing. She was staring down at Jim. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slack. Jim was curled on the floor. He was clutching his stomach.

“Ursula, what have you done?” he asked in pain.

“Oh, God,” Mary breathed as she saw the red bubbling up between Jim’s fingers. She rushed to his side and put her hands over his wound as well.

“Jim, can you get up?” Mary asked. They had to get out of there.

He struggled to sit up but cried out in pain. More blood seeped out from around their hands.

“Royce, do it. Use Jim,” Ursula said.

“Oh he’s already coming along nicely. You on the other hand…”

“Ursula, drop the box cutter!” Mary screamed.

Ursula’s eyes widened as the hand holding the box cutter rose. She tried to hold it back down with her other hand. “Royce, what are you doing?” she asked as she struggled to control her own actions.

“Making you pretty,” he said.

Ursula’s hand continued to inexorably rise to her face, the blade inching closer and closer.

“Royce, stop!” she cried.

The portrait was only a yard away from Mary. She stood from Jim’s side and rushed to the painting. She grabbed it, intending to smash it.

“No, you don’t!” Royce slammed Mary against the wall. The plaster crumbled behind her, and the room shook. The slam dazed Mary. The portrait slipped out of her numb hands. It floated over to the other side of the room to rest against the wall. Kyle threw himself at the door again.

Ursula, free of Royce for the moment, threw the box cutter away. She went to Jim’s side. “Oh God, what have I done?” she asked.

Jim was pale and ashy. He was losing too much blood and needed to get to a hospital right away. Mary struggled to stand on her own. The slam had left her dizzy and confused.

Ursula reached toward Jim’s hands tentatively. “Let me see,” she said.

Jim weakly shook his head.

“This is so much fun! I always loved playing with puppets!” Royce crowed.

“Ursula, get away from Jim!” Mary yelled, but it was too late.

Ursula’s hands jerked forward. Instead of going to Jim’s abdomen, they covered his nose and mouth. Jim struggled to throw off Ursula’s hands, but he was too weak. Ursula eyes were round saucers.

“Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!” she screamed over and over, unable to control her body as she smothered Jim.

The portrait was too far away for Mary to reach again quickly, instead, she threw herself at Ursula, tackling her and pulling her off Jim.

“You are becoming a real annoyance,” Royce said to her. He shoved Mary again, knocking her away from Ursula.

Kyle rammed the door once more and it flew open. His momentum sent him tumbling into the room. He picked himself up with a dazed shake of his head. His eyes immediately sought her out. “Mary, are you all right?”

Mary groaned as she sat up. She was pretty bruised and battered, but she didn’t think that really warranted a no to Kyle’s question. “How’s Jake?” she asked instead.

Kyle came over to her and helped her up. “He’s fine. I climbed down a trellis and got him outside.”

Mary sighed in relief.

“You can go now. The boy’s safe,” Clara said.

“Are you serious? What about everyone else?” Mary asked. She pulled Kyle over to Jim to help get him out of there.

“Stop helping them!” Royce demanded.

“Royce, let them go. You’re overexcited.”

“Stop helping them! They’re mine! All mine!” he screamed.

“I think the sister ghost helped me get down the trellis. It should’ve fallen under our weight, but stayed firmly in place,” Kyle murmured to Mary.

Mary could appreciate that Clara had kept her promise, but she wanted to get everyone out of there. No one was safe with Royce, maybe not even Clara

“How are we going to get him out of here?” Kyle asked.

“I think I can stand,” Jim said.

“Yeah, but can you climb?” he asked.

Jim gave Kyle an uncomprehending look. He hadn’t been following their conversation. He winced and sat up. “Where’s Ursula?”

Ursula was crouched in a corner. She had her hands covering her face. She looked out between her fingers. She was crying. She looked petrified. She might have to be carried out though she probably wouldn’t go willingly. Royce had done a number on her.

Jim stood up on wobbly legs. He began going over to Ursula.

“No, don’t come near me!” she screamed.

“Urs, it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me,” Jim said. Mary wasn’t sure about that. Ursula had been in control of her body when she’d struggled with Jim and stabbed him with the box cutter.

“Just stay back! All of you stay away!”

She was going into hysterics and beginning to hyperventilate. If they didn’t do something soon, she could pass out. Jim had stopped approaching Ursula. He swayed on his feet, looking at her. He had both hands over his stomach. His shirt was soaked with blood. There was no way he could climb down a trellis.

“What are we going to do?” Mary wondered aloud.

“The stairs collapsed with Carl. He’s pinned by the debris,” Kyle told her.

“Clara, is there another way to get downstairs?” she asked.

“No more helping them!” Royce cried.

“I’m doing it for you, brother. They’ll destroy you if you don’t let them go safely. Please, let them go.”

“You always were such a fraidy-cat. ‘Royce, don’t burn the slaves. Royce, don’t cut them. Royce, stop that!’ Well, big sister, I don’t have to listen to you anymore.”

“If you had listened to me, maybe we would’ve lived to ripe old ages instead of dying in our twenties!”

“Pfft, who wants to get old?”

“I would’ve liked the option!”

The floor was rumbling again. Clara and Royce were struggling with each other. If these two decided to have a knock out drag out fight, the living would be the ones left bruised and bloodied.

“Clara, is there another way downstairs?” Mary yelled again.

“You want to go downstairs? Here allow me to escort you,” Royce said.

The floor shook and there was a loud crack. The floor beams began to break. Kyle grabbed Mary. They tried to reach the door, but the floor fell open, and they slid down the splintered beams. They wrapped their arms around each other. Another set of arms wrapped around them as well. They were incorporeal, but Mary knew that they were Clara’s. They fell probably fifteen feet, but Clara softened their landing, causing them to get barely winded. The room crashed around them. It was a cacophony of arboreal shrieks and groans. Mary held onto Kyle tightly as the chaos settled around them. Eyes closed and heart pounding, she prayed for Jim and Ursula. She’d caught a glimpse of Jim as the floor collapsed. His hands had still clutched his stomach. He’d looked pale and had a sheen of sweat on his face. She didn’t think he could’ve helped himself during the fall. She feared the worst.

“Mary, are you all right?” Kyle asked. His hands roamed over her, checking for injuries.

She’d landed on top. She lifted herself off Kyle and coughed as she tried to breathe through the dust that clouded the air. She hoped the building was too old to have asbestos.

“I’m okay. You?” she asked.

Kyle lifted a hand and wiped her cheek. His face was covered in grime. She could only imagine hers was just as bad. “I think I’m okay,” he said. He was relieved for her. And she was grateful for him. When this was over, she had to figure out a way to pay him back. But considering everything he had done, she didn’t know what she could do. She may owe him forever. Looking down on him, she slowly became aware of their positions—him lying down, her straddling him. Her cheeks began to heat up. She hoped the dust masked it. Some of the blush must have shown through though because Kyle’s mouth stretched into a knowing grin, and his hands went to her waist. This wasn’t the time or place for this and suddenly the absurdity of it hit Mary and she laughed. Kyle chuckled, too and gave her waist a squeeze. Yeah, they were okay.

“Jim? Ursula?” Jennifer called from the entryway.

Mary and Kyle’s giddiness slid away at Jennifer’s voice. They tensed listening. Jim groaned somewhere in the debris to their left. There was no answer from Ursula.

“Don’t move. I’ve called 9-1-1,” Jennifer said.

That got Mary moving. Clara had kept them safe in the fall so nothing more than dust and small fragments had landed on them. She helped Kyle stand, and they took in the wreckage. The ceiling was a gaping hole. Beams slanted up like jagged spikes from the floor with large slabs of drywall littering the place. It looked like a war zone, and Royce had done it. Any first responders that showed up would be in danger. Mary didn’t want to contemplate what Royce might do to them. It was then that she noticed the muted sounds of Clara crying.

“Clara?” she called.

“He’s gone. He’s gone and I failed. I’m so sorry, Royce. I tried. I really did. You got overexcited. Father always said it was dangerous for you to get that way. I should’ve looked after you better. Please, forgive me.”

Mary peered through the settling dust and spotted the portrait. The frame was busted, half of it was missing. The picture had been impaled on a fallen support column. The canvas was destroyed. Royce’s image was obliterated. Mary felt no hum that indicated it was an anchor. Royce was gone.

“You did everything you could for him, Clara,” Mary said. She was relieved that Royce was gone, but she felt bad for the pain Clara was going through.

“Mary? Is that you? When did you get here?” Jennifer asked from the entrance to the room.

Mary turned toward the Goth girl. “Yeah, it’s me. How’s Carl?”

“I think his leg is broken. What happened?” she asked.

Mary surveyed the rubble once more. “You guys should never have gone upstairs.”

Mary was worried that they still hadn’t heard from Ursula.

“Ursula!” she yelled.

They waited tensely for a few seconds. There was still no response.

Kyle took her hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“But Jim and Ursula need help,” she protested.

Distantly, they heard the sound of sirens.

Kyle tilted his head toward the sound. “Let the professionals handle it.” His eyes went up to the gaping hole. An edge of floor still hung up there, but it looked precarious. “I’m worried more will come down on us at any moment.”

With the sirens growing steadily louder, Mary nodded. Together they picked their way out of the room. They passed by Jennifer who still stood at the edge looking in, clutching her cell phone in both hands.

“Are you two all right?” she asked them.

Mary nodded. “Yeah, this is my boyfriend Kyle. Jim is hurt bad. I don’t know about Ursula.”

Jennifer’s eyes widened. “What happened to Jim?”

She didn’t know what to say. If she told the truth, Ursula could go to jail or to a psych ward if she told anyone about Royce. “You’ll have to ask him and Ursula,” she said. She doubted Jim would tell what Ursula had done. She had no idea what Ursula would say.

They left Jennifer standing at the room’s entryway. Jake stood in the front doorway. Mary was relieved to see him awake. He looked lost, scared, and alone. She opened her arms, and he ran straight into them. It wasn’t romantic. It was pure, familial comfort. They wrapped their arms around each other and stood like that for a moment. Kyle stood by and watched. This was his first look at Jake. Mary caught his eye, hoping he wouldn’t be upset by them embracing. The corners of his mouth lifted in an understanding smile. She gave Jake a comforting squeeze.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded against her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

She smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

“Mary? Kyle?” Gran called from outside.

“We’re here!” Kyle called back. Mary and Jake stepped apart to greet her.

But it wasn’t just Gran who appeared, Beatrice was with her. Mary wondered how Gran finally convinced Beatrice to come with her. The older woman had seemed adamant about staying out of this. Maybe she did care more than she let on about her grandson.

When Beatrice saw Jake, a terrible scowl came over her face. “Boy, I’m gonna skin you alive.”

Her statement didn’t seem to upset Jake; instead he left Mary’s side and rushed to his grandmother. “I’m sorry. I’ll never do anything like this again.” He hugged her and held on.

The scowl vanished and her face became worried. “Did they hurt you?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him.

“The ghost choked me until I passed out. I thought I was going to die.”

Mary covered her mouth. “Oh Jake, I’m so sorry.” Gran also covered her mouth in dismay.

Jake pressed his face against his grandmother’s chest and didn’t respond. Beatrice held him tightly.

“Are you two all right?” Gran asked Mary and Kyle.

Mary glanced at Kyle. He nodded. She did as well. “We’re a little banged up, but we’re fine.”

A fire truck pulled up with an ambulance right behind it, sirens on both machines blaring. Jennifer rushed out to meet them. Mary and the others moved away from the front door to give them room. Firemen went in first and surveyed the building. Jennifer was pointing at the stairs, telling them about Carl and then into the parlor where Jim and Ursula still were. The paramedics waited outside with a stretcher. A fireman came back out and waved the paramedics in.

Watching the emergency responders, Gran asked, “What about the others?”

Mary shook her head. “Jim is hurt bad and so is Carl. We’re not sure about Ursula. She hadn’t been hurt too badly before the floor collapsed, but she won’t respond to us now when we call out to her.

Gran’s eyes widened. “The floor collapsed?”

“Yeah.” Mary didn’t want to say too much more within earshot of Clara.

“Are the ghosts gone, Mary?” Jake asked. With his arms around his grandmother and the side of his face pressed against her, he looked half his age.

“Royce is gone. Clara is still with us.”

“I want to be gone, too,” the ghost said, making herself known.

They all watched the paramedics carry Carl out on a stretcher. Jennifer was with him, holding his hand. A pair of firefighters ran back out and got another stretcher. They hustled back into the house, and five minutes later, came out carrying Jim. A bandage had been wrapped around his stomach. He was loaded into the ambulance as well. It pulled away, lights flashing. The fire truck remained. Mary could hear the firemen calling out to Ursula.

Their group waited tensely for some sign that the firemen located the young woman. Minutes went by with no indication that they’d found her. Mary hugged herself. She was beginning to fear the worst. Gran wrapped an arm around her.

“That woman is still alive and she was not wounded mortally,” Clara said.

Mary blinked and straightened. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. She is unconscious, but she will live.”

Clara’s reassurances relieved Mary. She let some of her anxiety melt away.

“Clara said Ursula will be okay. She was knocked out by the fall, but isn’t badly hurt.”

Gran nodded. “That’s good to hear.”

“Please, will you help me?”

“Are you sure?” Mary asked her.

“Yes, there’s no point remaining now. Please let me go.”

“Clara would like her anchor destroyed,” she told the others.

They nodded and waited for her.

“Where is your book, Clara?” she asked.

“They left it in the formal dining room.” That was the room opposite the one they fell into.

Mary nodded. She moved to go inside, but Kyle caught her arm. “Are you sure you should go back in there?”

She looked at the building. She’d labeled it as ramshackle the first time she’d seen it. Now it was hazardous, but she thought she might be able to slip into the room Clara meant without too much worry. “Yeah, and I owe it to Clara.”

“Well, I’m going with you,” Kyle said.

Mary flashed him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

As they went to go back in, a fireman flagged them, “Do you know where Ursula was when the floor collapsed?”

Mary pointed into the room, toward the far corner. “She was crouched over there. I heard her cough, but she wouldn’t respond when we called out to her. I think she must’ve been knocked out.”

The fireman nodded and relayed the info to the others. They began picking their way over to the far corner. Mary and Kyle turned away from them and faced the dining room. Mary was glad she’d been able to relay some of what Clara had told her to the firemen. She was still a little worried about the other woman, but she was too exhausted to muster much anxiety. The paranormal investigators’ command center was set up and forgotten in the dining room. At least Carl hadn’t lost all of his equipment. At a corner of the folding table, Clara’s abused book sat, torn pages poking out of it every which way. Mary carefully picked it up.

“How do you want us to do it, Clara?” Mary asked.

“Burn it. I wish the whole house could be burned with it, but I suppose you won’t do that.”

Mary shook her head with an unhappy sigh. “No. Especially with everyone still here, and I don’t want to hurt Mr. Forrester any more than we already have.” Thinking of the mansion’s living owner, Mary felt a sick wave of guilt. The place was beyond any hope of renovation now. It would be condemned.

They rejoined the others outside.

“Clara wants us to burn her anchor. Any ideas?” Mary asked.

Gran looked around in thought.

“There’s an outbuilding with a fireplace that will serve, behind the house.”

Mary’s eyebrows came together. “They’re all locked,” she said.

“I can get you into this one. Please, I want this over.”

“She says we can burn it in a building out back.”

Gran shrugged. “It’s up to you, Mary.”

“Jake and I are going,” Beatrice announced.

“But Grandma, I want to stay,” Jake protested.

She didn’t listen to him, instead she pushed him toward the truck.

“Beatrice, stay,” Gran said.

“No, this is pure devil work now. You can’t tell me it’s Christian.”

“She may have a point. Maybe we were condemned to Hell and only delayed the inevitable.”

Mary chose not to relay Clara’s comment to everyone else.

“Bea, please. This is not evil. It’s good. Stay, be a part of it.”

Beatrice turned to glare at Gran. “You’ll never change will you?”

Gran smirked. “Nope, no matter how many times you tell me to.”

Beatrice scowled.

Mary coughed to attract their attention. The two elderly sisters turned to her. She held up the book. “Clara’s waiting.”

“Grandma, please,” Jake said.

Beatrice clearly wanted to go, but she sighed and let her hands fall from Jake’s shoulders. “Fine, you can watch, but that’s all.”

“Tell us where to go,” Mary said to Clara.

“Around the right side of the building.” In a line they walked behind the mansion, leaving the fire truck and the firemen still inside, searching for Ursula. Another ambulance was coming up the driveway as they left.

“What building are we going to?” Mary asked.

“It was the butler’s house.” Mary’s eyebrows rose. She really didn’t know much about plantations. She wouldn’t have assumed the butler got his own house. Behind the Laffoon Mansion, smaller buildings fanned out in a rough half circle. Some of them had caved in roofs with trees reaching up from inside.

“It’s just past the kitchen house,” Clara said.

Listening to Clara identify the old buildings, Mary realized just how much history they could learn from her. Most of the ghosts Mary had encountered were all from the last fifty years, but Clara was from a different time entirely. What she had known and lived would be completely alien to her. If things were different, if Clara hadn’t lost her only reason for staying on this plane, Mary wondered what they could’ve learned from her. But she couldn’t delay granting Clara’s wish to move on.

The butler’s house had fared better than the other out buildings. Its roof was intact and the door was still intact and even locked. Clara managed to unlock it for them. Cautiously, Mary and Kyle entered. The room was covered in dust and had a moldy smell. While it was in better condition than the other buildings, it was clearly unusable. A fireplace sat in the wall. Kyle helped Mary sweep out the leaves and dead bugs that had accumulated there.

Mary set the book inside the fireplace, open in the middle. She realized she had no way to set it on fire. She turned back to the others, the question on her lips, but the question was obvious without being asked.

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” Beatrice complained. She swung her purse to her belly and began digging in it.

“I know I have matches,” Gran said, opening her own purse and beginning to rummage in it.

“I have a lighter,” Beatrice told her.

“No need to trouble yourself. I’m sure I have matches,” Gran replied.

“What if your matches are bad? The lighter will be better.”

And suddenly, it became a race between the sisters of who would find fire first. Beatrice won and shoved the small plastic lighter into Mary’s hands.

“Take it and get on with it,” she said.

Mary clutched the lighter and turned back to the fireplace. Things turned somber again as she faced the task before her.

“Clara, are you sure? Is there anything you want to say?”

“Just do it. Everyone I had is gone. There’s nothing more to say.”

Mary nodded and knelt down. She lit the lighter and held the flame to the edge of the pages. The pages caught fire slowly. Mary watched them creep across the book in dread, fearing this would be an agonizingly slow destruction, and Clara would have to suffer more pain than she already had.

“It doesn’t matter who or what they are, you have to love your family. It’s a wretched curse.”

“It can be a wonderful blessing, too,” Mary said.

“Yes, I suppose for the lucky. Thank you.” The book suddenly whooshed and was consumed in flames. After a second, a warm breeze blew out of the fireplace, but it carried no smoke with it.

“Clara is gone,” Mary announced.

“Wow,” Jake said.

Mary turned to him, thinking he was commenting on the anchor’s destruction and Clara’s departure, but his back was turned to the fireplace. He was crouched down looking into a hole. He’d found what appeared to be a secret compartment.

“Boy, what are you looking at?” Beatrice asked in exasperation, moving over to peer over his shoulder.

“Oh my,” she said.

Now all of their curiosities were piqued. They crowded around Jake to see what he had found.

“What is it?” Gran asked.

Jake held up a tarnished candelabrum. “It’s really heavy,” he said.

Beatrice took it. “It looks like real silver.”

“There’s like a whole stash down here,” Jake told them. He held up cups that were also black with tarnish.

“Oh my, indeed,” Gran said, examining one of the cups more closely. “This is definitely silver, too.”

“We need to give these to Mr. Forrester,” Mary said.

Both sisters blinked and looked at her. Mary frowned at both of their blank looks. “The mansion is ruined. This will help him rebuild or at least recoup whatever he lost.”

“It’s a literal silver lining,” Kyle quipped.

Mary nodded. She took the cup and candelabrum and put them back in the secret compartment. Gran sighed and nodded. Beatrice was still looking into the secret compartment. Mary forced her to take back her lighter to get her attention off the treasure. “It’s not ours,” she said.

Beatrice sighed and dropped the lighter back into her purse. “Yes, you’re right. Let’s go before the devil tempts us more.”

They went back to the vehicles. The second ambulance was gone but the fire truck was still there. Mr. Forrester was talking to the firemen. He looked upset. He recognized Mary and Gran and came over to them.

“Do you know what the hell happened?” he asked.

Gran shook her head. “We weren’t here, but it seems like the group may have gone upstairs. I’m so sorry.”

Marvin ran his hands over his head. “I can’t believe this. The place is ruined. I can’t afford to rebuild.”

He looked close to tears.

Mary nudged Jake. “Tell him what you found.”

Jake turned to her unsure.

“Jake, my cousin here, snuck into one of the outbuildings and found something,” Mary told the man.

“Found what? Most of those buildings are collapsed.”

“It was the second building. I found some silverware and stuff,” Jake said.

Marvin wasn’t fully listening to them. He kept turning to look back at the mansion, clearly still upset over the mansion’s state.

“It looked real old, and well, real,” Mary said.

Mr. Forrester glanced at her.

“You should really go take a look at it,” she said again, looking him in the eye.

He seemed torn. He looked again at the mansion. It sounded like more of the floor collapsed inside. He sniffled.

Beatrice stepped forward and caught his eye. “Oh, go look in the damn butler’s house for crying out loud. There’s a treasure trove waiting for you.”

Marvin blinked.

“Go,” Beatrice told him.

Marvin turned and began making his way to the back of the house.

“Well, our work here is definitely done,” Gran said.

“I don’t think we can be proud of a job well done,” Mary said, watching the firemen come out of the mansion.

Beatrice turned Jake toward the station wagon and pushed him forward. “Come on, let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gran stopped at a KFC to pick up a bucket of chicken and sides for everyone. They all ate around Beatrice’s large dining room table. Beatrice didn’t lord over them, or rather she couldn’t. Gran wouldn’t let her. She scowled a number of times, but Mary also caught her grinning a few times as well. Jake seemed to really enjoy it. Now that he didn’t have to secretive anymore, he had all sorts of questions for Mary and surprisingly Kyle. He wanted to know what sports he played. How often he worked out. What he did to work out. Mary suspected Jake might call Kyle more often than her after they left.

That night, Kyle was forced to bunk with Jake in the guest bedroom. Gran raised an incredulous eyebrow that Beatrice would give the boys the bed while putting her sister and grandniece on the sofa bed, but Beatrice wasn’t going to be swayed on the room assignments. It was obvious who she favored and who she didn’t.

The next morning, they woke up super early. Beatrice fixed them coffee and sausage biscuits. She made sure Kyle got two. When it was time to get in the vehicles to head out, Gran grabbed Beatrice and gave her a hug in spite of their continued differences.

When she let her go, Gran smiled cheekily. “Well, now I know your number. I’ll give you a call.”

“I won’t pick up.”

“Fine with me.”

Beatrice glared at Gran, whose smile only widened.

“Get out of here and don’t ever darken my doorstep again,” Beatrice said.

Gran’s eyes narrowed for a moment and then widened in surprise. “You don’t really mean that!”

Her sister frowned and looked away.

Mary nudged Gran. She didn’t want her to tease her sister into meaning it. “Let’s go.”

Gran nodded. Jake came out, bed head in full effect. They’d tried to stay quiet so as to not wake him. They’d all agreed that he needed the rest, but he’d roused on his own. He ran to Gran and hugged her. “It was really nice meeting you, Great Aunt Helena.”

Gran’s face softened. She wrapped her arms around him. “It was good to meet you, too, grandnephew.”

When she let him go, he moved to Mary. He hugged her, too, though Mary thought his arms wrapped a bit tighter around her than Gran. “Hey, you can call me whenever you need to talk about stuff,” she murmured, remembering what he’d said about his parents. He nodded against her shoulder.

When they parted, he turned and stuck out his hand to Kyle. Kyle pulled him in for a manly chest bump which seemed to please Jake to no end.

Mary got into the driver’s seat of the station wagon while Gran strapped herself into the passenger seat. Kyle got into his truck. With a honk of their horns and a final wave, they pulled away from Beatrice’s home.

As the house receded in their rear view mirror, Mary said, “You know, I really hope we do have a chance to come back here sometime.”

“Yes, I suppose. Just not too soon,” Gran said. She curled up against the door and shut her eyes. Mary smiled and turned her eyes ahead.

~Author Notes~

Thank you for reading Strange Girl! I hope you enjoyed it. I am working on another Scary Mary book, but I don’t know yet when it will be ready. Please check my blog for updates: http://www.sahunter.net

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