Poltergeist Party Girls Read online

  I looked away and glanced at the flyer. It had a haunted house on the poster. An idea suddenly popped into my mind.

  Dr. Hawthorne glanced down at his watch. “Time’s up. I will see everyone Thursday night.”

  I scooted up to the bulletin board and wrote down the contest website. I’d check it out later. Nana would’ve encouraged me to do this. My chest tightened.

  I missed her.

  “I think you should send something into the contest. From what I heard from your grandmother, you’re a talented writer,” Dr. Hawthorne said.

  Startled, I whirled around. Dr. Hawthorne stood behind me.

  “Did you know my grandmother?”

  “Yes. I see a resemblance in the eyes.”

  “Yes. I am.” I stiffened. Nana and Dr. Hawthorne must have worked together, or seen each other at staff meetings.

  “I’m sorry about her disappearance.” He shut his eyes.

  I waited. Usually, when someone inquired about Nana, they would offer their condolences, and then push for any current information on the investigation.

  Dr. Hawthorne opened his eyes. “She is a wonderful woman.”

  He didn't say ‘was a wonderful woman.' "Yes, she is, and I miss her." I bit down on my lips to keep from speaking my next word . . . I hope she's alive.

  Two

  The next morning at Crooked Spoons, I met my sister, Ava, who like me has unique abilities. She couldn't see ghosts, but her specialty was with plants and trees. She owned her landscaping company, Thyme after Thyme with her husband, Bryce. Laney, my other sister, owned a food truck, Greens, and Beans and she was busy this time of day serving food at the industrial park.

  “I think I may have lost my job at school.” I sat down in a booth that overlooked the square and the statue of Rudolph Clover

  “How?” Ava reached for some napkins.

  I explained what happened with Emma, the hard drive, and the ghost hunters.

  “Nana said don’t make contact with them,” Ava whispered.

  “Ghosts or ghost hunters?” I said.

  Gwen, the pink-haired waitress, brought over two white mugs and plunked them down on the table. "Hey, what's up, you two?"

  "Work," Ava said.

  I yawned, again.

  “Sorry, I had a late class. It was midnight before I pulled into the driveway.”

  Gwen brought poured coffee from a white carafe into my mug.

  I reached for the containers of cream and peeled back the tin lid and poured the contents into

  Someone left a copy of The Cloverville Telegraph on the table. I reached for it as I stirred the creamer. My spoon chinking against the cup. “What will it be?” Gwen held her pencil above the mint-green order pad.

  “I’d like sausage, eggs, and toast.”

  Ava made a face. She was a vegetarian. “I’ll have oatmeal and a side of fruit.”

  I sipped some coffee, and I grabbed the newspaper and read the headline.

  Local High School Boys Arrested. Small shivers waltzed up and down my spine. This sensation wasn't a ghost tingle. This was a foreboding danger ahead alert, but I had a new bud of an idea blooming. My writer's brain was cooking up something.

  Ava opened three sugar packs and swirled them into her coffee. “Why don’t you grovel and see if Dr. Smith will give you your job back? It’s not your fault ghost hunters showed up, and all hell broke loose. You didn’t mean to wipe out her hard drive.”

  "I tried. Dr. Smith screamed at me until large purple veins popped out on her face and neck. I thought she might explode.”

  A buzzing noise erupted from Ava's phone. "Hold on. It's Bryce. He's got a question about something."

  Gwen brought our food, and I read the article about the local high school boys.

  I sipped more of my coffee while Ava answered a text message.

  Three local high school boys arrested for trespassing at the abandoned Delta Beta Alpha Nu located at the back of the Cloverville Community College campus.

  Barnes warned any other local pranksters to stay away. The sorority was the location of the unsolved murders of three local college students in 1982...

  Deputy Barnes worked with our Uncle Joe.

  I lowered the paper and wondered at the stupidity of the male brain. This trio of high school boys sounded like dumbasses. It was an annual fall tradition for senior high school boys to sneak in to see the Poltergeist Party Girls as the locals called them. These idiots were the first ones to be caught in several years.

  I avoided that side of the college because it gave me the shivers like the ones I experienced when I passed graveyards.

  Horror movies. My brain caught fire with several thoughts at once. We had to come up with three loglines. Still. This idea would make a great. . . Horror movie. Poltergeist Party Girls. One thousand dollars. New Tires.

  “What a freakin’ fabulous idea.” I slapped the table with my hands.

  Ava jumped and dropped her phone into her fruit cup.

  She pursed her lips and pointed her index finger at me. “You got that crazy look in your eyes.”

  “What crazy look?” I asked.

  “The one that makes your eyes gleam like a crazy creature. The glazed over eyeballs Dad used to get when he claimed he had a creative idea.”

  Don’t get me started on my father and his creative ideas. My face burned hot. I hated being compared to him.

  Ava twirled her fingers around her head for dramatic emphasis.

  “I’d like to think it’s the glow of determination.” I countered. I turned the paper around and pointed at the headlines. “I’m going to investigate the Poltergeist Party Girls because. . .” Did I dare say it? Why not? “I’m going to write a horror movie."

  "Horror movie? After what happened with Camden." Ava pointed at the black and white photograph of the abandoned sorority in the newspaper. “Do you want to go there?

  “I’m going do it.” Hope filled me. New energy surged through fueled by a new purpose. I googled Poltergeist Party Girls into my phone.

  Bingo. One thousand hits. I scanned through them until something familiar caught my eye. Hunsinger. Couldn’t be? Goosebumps rose up on my arm.

  I clicked on the site. Yep. It was Jason Hunsinger. I would recognize his handsome face anywhere. His two friends stood beside him.

  They’d uploaded a new video last night.

  “What are you watching?” Ava scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal.

  “These guys were there yesterday when Emma had her episode. They’re ghost hunters.”

  The Third Eye Investigations' website with its bloodshot eye graphics. He had a YouTube link. I tapped on it, and it took me to his channel listing.

  I clicked on his latest video. How informative could this be? Maybe I could pick up some research tips from him and work it into my screenplay. Save me time Googling for the details.

  "Hey Fans," Jason spoke into the camera with comfortable ease found enviable.

  “He’s cute.” Ava smiled. Since you see ghosts and he films them, you two would have a lot in common.”

  He stood outside Cloverville Community College Library. The whirr of passing cars on the adjacent street echoed in the background. “Today, we’re investigating the ghost of Emma Bailey. Let’s go inside.”

  The camera followed Jason.

  “This is the current library built in 1965.” He walked up to the checkout desk.

  The camera focused on Alice Hartley, the main librarian. She nodded her head. "Do not disturb our patrons." A sweet elderly volunteer, Martha Williams waved from behind Alice.

  "You're not going to find Emma Bailey here." Jason stared at the camera.

  The next scene showed him standing outside a blue Victorian house which sat in the middle of the campus. "

  Ah yes, the Cloverville Community College Administration Building, where I used to work.

  “This house was built in 1909. He pointed at the stained glass windows. “This is where we'll find Emma Bailey."
/>   My stomach fluttered. I hadn’t seen him filming, yesterday.

  Jason walked up the steps and onto the porch. The floorboards squeaked as he reached for the doorknob. He slowly turned it, and it opened with a loud squeak. He walked into a foyer. A large wooden staircase was on the right. Bookshelves lined the wall.

  “As you can see, Dr. Smith isn’t here; however, this is the very spot where Emma Bailey landed when she jumped from up there.”

  The camera angle showed an enormous wooden desk cluttered with a push-button telephone along with a large flat computer screen and keyboard, and me working. Furious, I was ready to reach through the camera, grab Jason Hunsinger by his scruffy beard, and punch him in the nose. He'd filmed me without my permission.

  “Legend says when the library opened back in 1909, Emma jumped." Jason’s voice narrated over the footage. She threw her body down to the ground on the very spot where this desk is located.”

  The camera zeroed in on a dark maroon spot on the floor. I didn’t like where this was going.

  The camera went upwards showing the viewer the third balcony and scanned back to Jason's cute face. ”Sad indeed that dear Emma took her life after her fiancé broke her heart when he called off their engagement.”

  “Now, we’re going to ask Dr. Smith what is the real story about Emma,” Jason said.

  "Can I help you?" I asked. My hair looked good, but I had a dumbfounded expression on my face.

  A shot of Jason sitting at a desk appeared. “Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties, and we didn’t interview Dr. Smith. However, something unusual happened.”

  Small sparks of energy rippled around the computer monitor and then zigged up the desk lamp and spread through the rest of the room.

  “Wow.” Ava stared. “Emma is powerful.”

  “Yes. She is.”

  The next segment of the video was an up-close shot of Jason. "I truly believe that Emma was there, yesterday. We're going back for more footage. Keep posted for future videos."

  “Good luck with that.”

  “It’s better you're not in that building," Ava said.

  "I know, but I need a job. I wish Nana were here to give me some advice."

  “Has Uncle Joe said anything about Nana to you?” Ava’s voice choked.

  I shook my head and looked out the window as I held my coffee mug.

  A glimmer shone around Rudolph Clover’s statue, and that’s when I remembered what he’d asked me.

  “Ava, did Nana have a Book of Shadows?”

  “What Book of Shadows?” Ava lifted her coffee cup and halted in midair. I never saw her with one.”

  "I leaned forward. She could have collected arcane spells or recipes.”

  Ava leaned back against the booth. “Are you saying Nana was a witch? I thought she could speak to ghosts, and that was it.”

  “I don’t know. She had abilities. Maybe she was. I think Laney, you, and I need to search through the books at Nana’s house. We might find a clue to her disappearance.”

  I glanced down at the newspaper photo of the sorority house, and this compulsion to go flowed through me.

  Three

  My truck sputtered to a stop when I pulled up in front of the old brick red sorority house.

  There was a sketchy green Ford van parked across the street, but other than that the area seemed abandoned. I surveyed the area for any potential dangers. I checked in with my ability. I sensed nothing.

  This part of the campus was on an old isolated side road the maintenance crew used to come and go to the utility sheds, which held the mowers, weed eaters, and other grounds-keeping equipment.

  Apparently, they didn't work on the old sorority house. From what I could surmise, the maintenance workers hadn't been here in ages. Tall prairie-like grass grew all around the place. Weeds broke through the sidewalk, and an ominous oak tree with gnarly branches stood in front of the building. The roof had torn shingles, covered by a crusty blue tarp held in place with broken bricks. Broken glass shards like jagged teeth glistened in a window pane.

  I opened my glove box and removed my mace spray.

  A creepy sensation drifted through me like a slow-moving fog. Nana would say ‘evil is rooted here, and where evil is rooted, you just best keep walking.’

  I should keep walking, but I remembered my truck tires with the tread showing. Soon, I'd be driving on steel belts. Screenplay inspiration. That was why I was at the sorority.

  Something else pushed at me, somehow connected to Nana.

  With all the determination I had mustered up, quickly abandoned me, but I still had enough to make myself go into the sorority.

  I grabbed my cell phone and then removed the keys from the engine. "Five minutes. I'd record inside, so I know how to describe the interior when I wrote my screenplay."

  Funny, I hadn't known I was going to write a screenplay about the Poltergeist Party Girls, but my writer's brain had been busy. I still needed to create a logline for homework.

  Brown leaves crunched under my feet as I walked up the sidewalk. The only noise in this otherwise dreary area was silence. Not even a bird tweeting in trees. Something brushed up against my legs. It felt like a cat rubbing its face against my skin. I looked down, but there wasn’t anything, but air.

  Soft purrs came from near my feet. Could there be a cat in the bushes? I peeked underneath a thick patch of dark green waxy leaves.

  Nothing.

  I stepped across the old sorority’s threshold, and something nebulous brushed against my skin.

  The wind blew in through the broken windows. A sheer torn curtain moved like a living creature of fabric.

  I pulled out my phone. This place was great for atmosphere. I began recording, but I knew it would be shaky when I watched it later.

  Think like a writer.

  "Meow." A white cat materialized, and its fur glowed with a silver translucence.

  Booted feet thumped down the stairs.

  The cat disappeared.

  Frozen in place, I couldn’t move. Could these boots belong to the murderer of the ghost of the sorority girls?

  I heard the clattering of metal and a loud “Oh. Shit.”

  Something was familiar about the voice. I turned around and watched as Jason Hunsinger and his copious amounts of camera equipment slid down the last three steps. He landed bottoms up.

  I ran over to him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Stay where you are, or you’ll mess up the reading.” One of the ghost hunter guys took long steps into the room holding a camera, followed by the third one.

  His monitor thingie began to make a strange crackling noise. “I’m picking up energy readings from around your ankle, and they’re off the chart.’

  "You've got a reading. Don't move." Jason tried to untangle himself from a tripod and a camera. "

  The cat swished its ghostly tail and then disappeared.

  One guy lowered his monitor. “It’s gone.”

  Frowning, Jason bit down on his lip. "Damn it. If the poltergeists were around, then they're gone now. What are you doing here?" He asked in an irritated voice.

  Camden had used that tone of voice with me, and it pissed me off. I wasn't about to tell Jason Hunsinger anything Placing my hands on my hips, and I tapped my foot impatiently. "I'm here on a school project, and since your little spectacle yesterday, I lost my job."

  “Sorry about that.” Jason scrubbed his face.

  “And you filmed me without my permission.”

  “I was going to call you and have you sign a form, but in the excitement of the computer explosion, I forgot.”

  The ghost cat meowed. Jason looked around the room trying to find the source of the sound. I didn't know if he was psychic or not. Sometimes people reacted strangely when you told them you could see and hear ghosts. I acted nonchalantly and folded my arms across my chest.

  He bent down to look through his camera, which was aimed at me. He backed up and peered around his equipment. “Do you
hear a cat?”

  “What cat?” I asked. I didn’t want to reveal my ghost-seeing ability to him.

  Jason bent back down and looked through his camera. “I thought I saw a cat.”

  I shook my foot, and suddenly it was lighter, but the purring still could be heard. “I’m going to do my research, while you do yours.”

  One of the door blew opened and slammed against the wall. The skies had darkened, and a cold wind blew through the room, scattering the piles of dust on the floor like a desert sandstorm. It was September, but it had been around seventy degrees when we walked into the house. Holy Cow! It felt as if the temperature plunged down to freezing.

  Jason turned around. “I think it might be a good idea if you ran.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said.

  Jason held up his box. “Energy is spiking super high.”

  An Arctic chill swept through the room.

  "Come on. It's just a creepy building." I forced my teeth not to bump into one another. My nipples hardened, and you could see them through my thin tee-shirt. I noticed Jason flicking a quick glance in my direction. He gave a slight grin. Music began playing, and it sounded like ancient techno dance club music.

  “Is that you?” I asked Jason.

  He shook his head, and his monitor crackled with a loud static.

  In the ceiling of the foyer, three round balls of sparkling and gold iridescent light bounced in mid-air down the staircase.The glittering balls reminded me of disco balls as they danced round and round in tune to the music.

  I tried to remain calm as I sensed pain, fear, and darkness

  Jason edged closer to me. "We need to get out of here."

  Bright lights flashed, and I shielded my eyes with my arm. When I moved it, three young women dressed in high heels and long flowing gauzy dresses stood in front of us. I could see straight through them to the wall on the other side. Fear flowed through me like Freon in an air conditioner as I dropped my phone.

  "It's time to run," Jason shouted.