Poltergeist Party Girls Page 9

  "I heard her services would be this weekend at the graveyard."

  “I drove by the graveyard last night, where I saw a black dog at the entrance.”

  “Ah, yes, he is the black dog of death and keeps the souls inside the graveyard that want to escape.”

  I shuddered.

  “Your powers are growing if you can see the black dog of death.” Rudolph glowed brighter.

  “I don’t think I like that.”

  “No luck with your search for your grandmother’s Book of Shadows?” The ghost fidgeted slightly as if uncomfortable.

  I shook my head. Jason and I are asking Dr. Smith today if she used spells to keep Emma out of her office. We think she had a Book of Shadows.”

  “Then it confirms what I feared.”

  “Please share this fear.”

  “Dr. Smith was a member of the coven,” Rudolph said.

  “I figured that one out.”

  “Elizabeth, may not have been the victim. And there have been others in the past. We need a list of coven members in order to save them. They protect this town from the evil entities.”

  I swallowed back the fear and it slid down into my stomach like a slick eel. “What if Dr. Smith tells me who they are? We can warn them.”

  “Jason is on his way.” Rudolph faded out. “We’ll talk later.”

  I wanted to ask Rudolph if Dr. Hawthorne was a vampire and if ghosts could send text messages.

  Jason navigated his way over to me and sat down on the bench where Rudolph had been. He handed a coffee to me. "I don't know how you like it, but I said one sugar and a little cream."

  “That’s great.” I took the cup. My fingers brushed against his, lingering for a second longer. Tingles danced through me. It had been so long since someone had touched me. I ached to have someone hold me and tell me it would be just fine.

  Jason pulled his hand back as if he sensed my deep need. “Who were you talking to?”

  I lifted the coffee cup up to my lips, and then took a deep breath. “No one in particular. I’m working on a writing project, and I was talking out loud.”

  Jason’s lips quirked upward into a charming smile.

  He didn’t believe me.

  “Ready to head over to the administration building?” He asked. “I’m curious about Dr. Smith’s current state.”

  “Sure.”

  Jason drove us in his green van.

  He sipped his coffee, and a dimple popped out.

  Too cute. Resist temptation.

  After Cyrus’s conversation yesterday, I couldn’t fall for Jason. It was business. All business. However, I could admire Jason from afar.

  One thing, I wanted in this working relationship was trust. Suddenly, compelled to speak out the truth, I started talking fast before my courage failed me. “I’m talking to Rudolph Clover, the founding father of our town. He’s been advising me.”

  “I thought so. Why didn’t you tell me?” Jason kept his eyes on the road.

  "I had a difficult previous working relationship with someone. This person broke my trust, and it's hard." Jason didn't need to know it was my old boyfriend.

  “I understand. I broke up with my fiancée three months ago.”

  “Cyrus told me.”

  “He acts as my protector. I had a tough time.”

  “I can relate.”

  Jason flashed me a smile. “What does Rudolph say about the sorority sisters?”

  “He says a dark entity is growing, and he says the barriers between our town and the Void are breaking down.

  Jason turned the wheel too far to the right, and the hot coffee sloshed through the slot in the cup, spilling onto his hand.

  I searched for tissues in my messenger bag. I had a small package at the bottom. I handed several to him. He placed his coffee into a cup holder and took the tissues. "Thanks." He wiped coffee off his hand

  “No problem.”

  “What else does he say?” Jason pushed back against his seat.

  "He wants me to find my grandmother's Book of Shadows. My sisters and I are going to my grandmother's house tomorrow to see if we can find it."

  “That’s good.”

  “My mother had a book she’d consult when she did things to protect the house.”

  “It might have been a Book of Shadows.” I leaned forward.

  “We’re here.” Jason parked in the visitor parking space in front of the administration building, the same Victorian house. It had remained empty while the police continued their investigation into Dr. Smith’s murder.

  “You think she’ll appear?” He tilted his head.

  I shrugged. “Let’s try, but I’m sure we’ll run into Emma.”

  We walked up to the administrative building. The crime scene tape hung around the front door.

  “I don’t know if we should go in there,” I said.

  The front door opened.

  “I think it’s an invitation,” Jason swept his hand forward.

  I ducked under the tape and entered. Inside the eerily quiet foyer, everything appeared to be the same.

  Dr. Smith walked through her office door and hovered in midair. “It’s you. Thank goodness. I never thought I’d be glad to see you.”

  Jason stared open-mouthed at Dr. Smith. Yep. I’d been right his abilities were growing.

  “Having a good time with Emma? I asked.

  “She needs medication.” Dr. Smith scowled and gestured dramatically with her arms. “I can be floating and almost remember who killed me, and then she starts screaming, rips her head off her neck and tosses it at me.”

  “Have you remembered any details?” I asked.

  "No, I do remember my tea tasting bitter." Dr. Smith leaned against the reception desk but fell back through it.

  “I hate this.” She soared up through the desk and hovered in front of me.

  “From what I understand, it takes time to adjust to your new reality,” I said. “You said your tea tasted bitter.”

  “You could’ve been poisoned,” Jason suggested.

  “Who would want to poison you?” I asked.

  Dr. Smith patted her chignon. “My husband for one. He was having an affair with some bimbo. I hope he gets a venereal disease.” She sniffed. “He was most unhappy when I blocked his destruction of the sorority house. The historical society stepped in and declared it a landmark.”

  Historical society. We were getting somewhere.

  “You knew Mary, Kara, and Jeannie? You were on the student council together, and you were members of the historical society along with possibly being coven members.”

  "You have some detective skills, don't you? I'm stunned." Dr. Smith gave a slight nod.

  “Did you know the sorority sisters?” Jason asked.

  “Yes. Sidney is right. We were coven members. In this town, who isn’t

  a member?”

  “There are more than one.”

  “Oh yes.” Dr. Smith nodded.

  “Can you tell me the names of the other members?” I asked.

  “I can’t.” Dr. Smith wrapped her shawl tighter around her shoulder.

  My mouth dropped open, and then I closed it quickly. “Why not?”

  “We used a spell to keep our identities secret. When we came to the secret grove, we remembered each other, but when we left, our memories of who attended faded.”

  “Alice Hartley was a member of your coven, wasn’t she?” I asked.

  Dr. Smith pursed her lips. “Alice doesn’t always follow the rules.”

  “Did she have a reason to kill you?” Jason asked.

  Dr. Smith nodded. “Yes, she had several reasons to kill me, but I think she was upset with me because I caught her embezzling funds from the library. Those were the numbers Emma saw me adjusting. I was going to fire her, but she blackmailed me and said she’d reveal my participation.”

  "Sounds like she had a motive. What about the sorority sisters?" I asked. "Do you think Alice killed them because Jeannie took Fred Barne
s?"

  “You’ll have to ask them.” Dr. Smith shrugged.

  “They can’t speak.”

  Dr. Smith frowned. “The poor dears, whoever killed them, used a spell to ensure their silence. Sidney, you have to find a way to free them.”

  Fourteen

  We left Dr. Smith, who drifted back and forth at the top of the staircase in the foyer, contemplating her murderer.

  Back in the van, Jason opened the passenger side door for me.

  Startled, I looked at him. “Thank you.” Camden never would’ve done anything so chivalrous.

  “I think we need to talk to Alice,” I said when he entered on the driver’s side.

  “We need to go to work, first,” he said. “If it’s slow at the store, we’ll go this afternoon, or we can talk to her this evening.”

  “I have class,” I reminded him.

  Jason tensed. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. “How well do you know Dr. Hawthorne?”

  “Not very well. I only met him on the first night of class.” I wasn’t saying my writing professor has super long canine teeth that retracted back in his gums.

  Mental note: Pick up garlic at the grocery store.

  “We need to find out a list of the coven members,” I said. “If we compile the members of the historical society and the nineteen eight-two student council, we could find some commonality.”

  “Sounds like a good idea.” Jason’s mind seemed far away as if he was thinking of other things than ghosts, and I didn’t want to pry. Keep it on a business level.

  I gazed out the window. Seeing ordinary businesses and homes. All normal looking. This area was a magical gathering place. What and who else was out there?

  "Mandy, my fiancée, cheated on me," Jason said. "I haven't been able to talk about it, not even with Todd and Cyrus. One day out of the blue, she texted me that it was over. She found someone else. She couldn't deal with the crazy ghost chasing. She wanted normal." He turned to me. His intense gaze locked with mine.

  Everything suddenly became intense. The space between us seems to shrink to mere inches. "Is this show and tell?" I asked.

  “Do you talk to anyone about your breakup?” He flicked his gaze back onto the road.

  “I guess you didn’t buy the former working relationship thing, did you?” I wiped my sweaty palms down my jeans.

  “No.”

  “I have sisters, and they have a supernatural ability to detect a secret, and will pry and nag until you tell them.”

  “I have a younger sister. She was best friends with Mandy.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah.”

  “My boyfriend, Camden and I met in a television writing class at UCLA. His dad got him an agent. I kept writing and sending out stuff.”

  Jason turned and studied me. “Intense.”

  Words spilled out. “Camden and I were from different worlds, but we dated. I fell in love, and we moved in together. I worked at a clothing retail store, and he wrote. I wrote at night after my job.”

  “What about school?” Jason asked.

  “I was only going to take one semester off. A year later, we’re still struggling and arguing. We broke up after he cheated on me.” I wasn’t ready to share my Zombietown betrayal story.

  “Damn.” He gave a low whistle.

  “Yep. I did key the hood of his new car.”

  “Whoa.”

  “He took out a restraining order.”

  Jason laughed, and I did, too. It felt good like this substantial tight knot inside of me released this dark anger.

  “I toilet papered Mandy's house. I know it’s stupid, but it felt good to do something.”’

  “I know.”

  Snowball materialized on the car dash.

  Jason swerved, and the van went over the yellow line but straightened the van.

  “You can see her?” I pointed at the blue-eyed glowing bundle of fur.

  He nodded.

  “Wow. Our abilities are growing, and I don’t know if that is good or bad.”

  An overwhelming urge and fearful need to go to the sorority house filled me. The image of Kara, Mary, and Jeannie formed in my mind. I broke out in a cold sweat. “We need to get to the sorority, now.”

  “What’s happening?” He asked as he took a sharp right turn.

  “Something is wrong.”

  Snowball meowed, but only silence came out of her little mouth.

  Jason narrowed his eyes. “Ingrid said the person who killed the sorority sisters could’ve used a spell of silence on them. I’ve heard Snowball meow before, and now she can’t.”

  “Hurry.”

  Jason and I snuck into the sorority. Quiet permeated the walls. Too quiet.

  Inside the foyer, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. I didn't hear Snowball’s familiar purring, but I sensed her near me.

  Dust motes floated in the air, but the wooden floors recently had been cleaned. The overpowering smell of bleach filled the air.

  “This is odd,” I said. “The floors.”

  “Someone’s been here, but why would they clean the floors?” He asked.

  “You need to ask them who killed them when they make contact?” Jason stood beside me.

  The room grew cold. I breathed out a misty breath, and goosebumps dotted my arm. The hairs lifted on the back of my neck, and cold sank deep into my bones and wound its way up my spine. Ghostie senses unleashed.

  "I don't think we have to wait." Jason pointed up. Three balls of lights materialized in the upper right corner of the room.

  The three orbs floated down around us and began spinning in a circle above Jason's phone as the music increased in volume.

  “Holy shit," I said.

  “Close your eyes, " Jason said softly.

  I did.

  "Talk to them," Jason whispered.

  “We need to speak to Jeannie Powell, Kara Ross, and Mary Turner.” I mimicked something I'd seen on television. “We’re here to help you. Show us what we need to know.”

  The temperature dropped several degrees, making it feel more like January rather than September. An abrupt wind whipped my hair across my face. It felt as if I was twirled around, but I kept my eyes closed as motion sickness hit me.

  “Hang onto my hand, no matter what happens,” Jason shouted.

  The music became louder as our bodies whirled superfast, and then I came to a sudden stop like I did when I stomped down on my truck brakes whenever a squirrel ran out in front of me. I opened my eyes as I stood in the foyer, looking into the main room of the sorority. “We're here, but it’s different.”

  “Where just happened?” I gasped.

  “I’m not sure.” He grabbed my hand and led me into the main room. No one noticed us.

  People danced to the heavy metal ballad, My Heart Beats for You by Vintage Velvet. The song would be stuck in my head forever.

  I recognized the three sorority sisters. Wow! They were alive and happy. The music blasting was the same that played on Jason's phone.

  The piano was pushed back in a corner, draped with a lace tablecloth. Balloons hung from the ceiling, and the crystal chandelier cast a soft glow in the room.

  “What do we do?” Jason asked.

  “We should make our way over to Kara, Mary, and Jeannie,” I said.

  As soon as I said it, the girls moved out on the dance floor followed by three guys. They coupled off. People in the room didn’t notice us. It was as if we were invisible, and we didn’t even have an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter.

  “I think they sent us back in time,” Jason pointed at the calendar. Underneath a hot air balloon photo was the year, nineteen eighty-two.

  “I asked them to show us something important. Wow.”

  “Let’s dance.”

  I imitated the other dancers, capturing their movements and danced around him. "You're very graceful." Admiration glinted in his eyes.

  I moved my body up next to his, feeling hard muscles unde
rneath his polo shirt. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and he embraced just as another slow song began to play.

  “This is my speed.” His eyes locked with mine. My pulse quickened as we moved to the music.

  A wintry cold like an Arctic bitter wind bore accompanied by a shadow of revolting evil swept through me.

  I shuddered and pushed Jason away. "Something is here.”

  He craned his neck so that he could see all around the room.

  I inhaled in an attempt to control my fear. Even in our invisible state, my heart thumped wildly.

  In the corner of the room, I sensed the evil from my dreams, but something else, a malevolent entity accompanied it. I had been in its presence before.

  I leaned in close to Jason, peeked over his shoulder, and scanned the room and doorways. “I think the murderer is here, watching.”

  Jason didn’t turn. “Can you see the person?”

  “No”

  “Okay. Stick close to me."

  We exited the dance floor, and I noticed Kara speaking to a familiar face, but this one wasn't age-worn like it was now. Nor, did he wear the sheriff's uniform. It was a young Fred Barnes. He reminded me of an actor from an eighties sitcom my Mom loved.

  Another handsome man accompanied Fred. He was striking in any era with thick curly hair and stunning blue eyes. He walked over to Mary Turner. She laughed at him, and then he swung her up in his arms.

  I sensed great anger blanketing the room. I turned to the doorway that led to the kitchen, but I didn’t see anyone.

  The evil sensations disappeared when Alice Hartley entered. I stopped and winced as she pressed her hand against her chest.

  Kara laughed at something Fred said in an intimate embrace. Alice Hartley watched Fred with longing in her eyes. I recognized the hope and jealousy as she observed Fred and Kara slow-dancing, laughing at one another. A ring sparkled on Kara's finger as Fred swirled her around the room. It was evident from her expression she loved him.

  Alice Hartley had the motivation to kill the sorority sisters. She must have loved

  Fred. Had she been the owner of the black candle, the silver knife, and the book of dark magic?

  The music became distance as if I was being pulled back in a tunnel.