Chapter 25
Pete
I wiped my tears away as I drove towards my newest assignment.
Daisy had been hurt, and that was all it took for me to agree to this.
Rino had called me sounding frantic and annoyed as hell.
Daisy hadn’t been the only one who’d ended up hurt.
Kyle was in the hospital with her, and from what I’d gathered from Rino’s ranting, so was he.
Not that Rino had been hurt, but it seemed he was the one they’d called.
A ghost was haunting up a storm and terrorizing the new owners.
The only ghost on the property, meaning it was dangerous.
Normally, when people sought out mediums, we knew they were exaggerating, but not this time.
The new owner had things thrown at her and refused to enter the home until we’d dealt with whatever horror was inside.
Daisy and Kyle had, according to Rino, entered and been hit with a candelabra and a picture frame.
They hadn’t gotten further in than the foyer before being attacked.
I willed my nerves to settle before I entered the house I was now parked in front of.
It looked like a Victorian era house. Pretty with wooden panels outside, a light blue paint job that needed touching up, and a darker blue front door.
The front yard was filled with flowers and the energy outside was homey and welcoming.
It was a lie, of course, but I couldn’t help but wonder why the ghost would be so worked up.
The calmness of the property and the beauty didn’t match what I’d heard.
I sent Rino a text to let him know I’d arrived, then got out of the car.
I couldn’t see the ghost, and neither had Kyle or Daisy before they’d been hit.
I felt so drained already having Jackson snap at me like that.
I knew he didn’t like that I’d be in danger, and I hated myself for lying to him.
I doubted his fear of ghosts would lessen if he knew just how dangerous they could be.
Not that Mitch and Nic were. They’d been the perfect ghost roommates so far, and after talking with Jackson about his fear of ghosts while they were in the room, they’d been even better at masking their presence.
Not unlike this ghost who opened the door for me as I approached.
Not creepy at all.
“Hello?” I called out, not daring to step inside until I’d seen the ghost. “I’ve come to help you out.” That was what I was here for, so it wasn’t a lie, but saying it out loud would hopefully make the ghost think twice before hitting me with something.
In a flash a young woman stood before me with wide hopeful eyes. “You can help?” I had to stifle a scream before nodding. She sighed. “Thank goodness! Come with me!” She waved me inside and I followed timidly behind her. She was not as frightening as I’d expected, but also a bit… twitchy.
“So…” I began as I followed her deeper inside the home. “What can I help you with?”
“Pearls,” she replied, not looking back at me as we stepped into what appeared to be the living room.
“Pearls?” I questioned, looking around the room before sitting down on the couch. It was the only furniture in the room besides a small table.
She leaned against one of the windows before answering with an angry sneer. “My sister stole my pearls! Those were given to me. Not her!”
Taking one look at her clothing, I knew she’d been dead a long time. Finding those pearls would be next to impossible. “Were they a necklace or earrings?” I asked, hoping to calm her down a bit as I gathered more information.
“Necklace,” she sighed, then floated over to where I sat and joined me. “Our mom left them to me when she died.”
“Ah,” I replied, nodding along as I tried to come up with more questions. It wasn’t always easy speaking with ghosts. Many didn’t know they were dead, and others really didn’t like to be reminded either. “When did your sister take them?” That seemed like a question she wouldn’t be too hurt by.
I hoped.
“I don’t know!” she snapped. “I died and when I went to find them they were gone!”
“She took them after you died?” It made sense, why leave them in an empty house? I would’ve done the same thing had I been the sister, but it appeared this ghost wasn’t okay with it.
“Yes. That gump! She’d always wanted them. She just couldn’t wait to pry them from my neck. Did you know that’s how she got them? She took them off my bloody neck as I laid there, having only been dead for less than thirty minutes!”
“Wait… She was with you when you died?”
She just stared at me. “Of course she was!”
Fuck. Had the sister killed her? Was this a murder case? She did mention her neck being bloody, or was that a phrase? Like instead of fucking, she said bloody?
I felt a headache start. This would take days, if not weeks to solve.
I had to find a dead woman and then somehow find the pearls she’d stolen from her sister, whom she had likely killed.
I really should think about quitting. My thoughts wandered to Jackson and I pulled out my phone to text him how sorry I was for leaving like that.
Not that he wasn’t to blame for it either, but I understood why he’d snapped.
He was scared for me. And honestly, how could I fault him for that?
I only managed to pull the phone out before the ghost picked it up and threw it at the wall.
“No!” she screamed. “Bad, bad, bad!”
“Um. That wasn’t very nice,” I said, as I stupidly watched her pace back and forth in front of what remained of my phone. I was surprised she wasn’t stomping on the pieces as she yelled ‘die, die, die’ like it was a spider that needed killing.
She shivered. “Don’t like it.”
“My phone?”
“Feels… off. Dangerous.”
I sighed. I knew older ghosts weren’t always keen on technology.
Many feared it. Which was why they often played around with lighting and such, not to bring attention to themselves, but out of curiosity.
“Well, that phone you just broke was how I was going to help you find your pearls. Now I need to leave to buy a new one.”
Her eyes flashed to mine. “No leaving!”
I felt the fear return. She wasn’t fully in control, and I could very well be hurt before I managed to banish her, which I needed to do if she posed a bigger threat.
We mediums had to help the ghosts so they could pass on, if we did it against their will it wasn’t pleasant for them and it would take longer before they were reincarnated.
I had to help her so she could pass peacefully.
I took some calming breaths before speaking firmly.
“I need either a phone or a computer to help you. If you don’t let me grab either of those, you’ll never find your pearls.
” I knew she had no idea what either of those things were, but I also had a feeling she wasn’t feeling up for a history lesson on what had gone down since she died.
She sneered at me. “I don’t trust you enough to let you leave! What if you never return?!”
“Well, if you hadn’t broken my phone I wouldn’t have had to leave,” I pointed out.
That only earned me a glare in return, so I slumped down on the couch and accepted my fate for now.
I knew logically it would help her mood if I would leave her be for now, but there wasn’t really much I could do in this house while she stewed.
I also didn’t believe for one second I would be able to find her pearls.
It was one thing if she’d simply lost them in the house, but to track down where her sister would’ve left them…
. Yeah, I didn’t see that ending well. If I had to guess, this ghost had died somewhere around the 1850s, meaning her sister would be long gone, along with her kids, if she ever had any.
She left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts, which I preferred.
I still hadn’t gotten her name, and I needed it to search for her sister’s relatives.
I rubbed my temples; glad I at least had a comfy place to sit while I waited for her to cool down.
It took a lot out of me to be around her energy when she was this agitated, she was forcing my entire body to flood with adrenaline to protect myself from the danger she posed.
I decided a quick nap might be good for me.
I knew ghosts didn’t feel time passing like us living people did, so who knew how long it would take for her to return.
I briefly considered making a run for it, but then our chances of ever helping her would be gone.
I couldn’t stay here forever, I knew that, but I could give her a few hours.
Closing my eyes I thought of Jackson, hoping he wouldn’t be too worried if he tried to contact me. Then I let sleep take over.
A heavy knocking woke me up, and I scrambled off the unfamiliar couch. It slowly came back to me where I was, but I still couldn’t explain where the knocking came from. I rubbed my eyes as I followed the sound to the front door.
The ghost leaned against it with her arms crossed protectively over her chest. “Don’t even think about leaving.”
I sighed, then called out. “Who is it?”
“It’s Rino! Are you okay in there? You haven’t replied to my calls or texts!” he sounded worried, which I appreciated.
“I um, I’m not allowed to leave, and she broke my phone,” I called back.
“The fuck? Does the ghost not want help?” He spoke a little louder than before, likely trying to poke at whatever ghost was hiding in the house. He still knew nothing about her.
“I explained I needed my phone or a computer to help her, but she’s from the 1800s so I’m guessing it means nothing to her,” I explained casually.
“No wonder then. The house has been empty for years, no idea why, but the family finally sold it and the new owner wants to renovate it. If the ghost doesn’t want our help, I’ll remove her myself.” It was a clear threat and she didn’t seem to like it one bit.
“Um, Rino, just how long has the house been empty?”
“Around fifty years, why?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” I said, a little too quiet for Rino to hear through the door. Louder I asked, “And you’re positive about that?”
“I am. Why do you ask?”
“Well, the ghost died around the 1850s I believe, and she’s acting like she just died.”
“Explain.”
“She’s angry at her sister for stealing her pearl necklace and maybe killing her? And she scared off the new owner and hurt Daisy and Kyle. But what happened in all the years before then? Who lived here? And why didn’t she bother them?”
“Enough!” she snapped. “I don’t like you talking over my head like that! I might be a woman, but I deserve respect too!”
I nodded. “Then let us help you. You want the pearls so you can leave this place, right?” She nodded. “Then I need a phone so I can collect information on it. Technology has advanced since you were alive, and all I need to help you is what we call a phone.”
She moved away from the door. “Fine, I agree to your demand, but you cannot leave. The man outside must locate this phone for you and you can retrieve it at the door.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can!” Rino called, having heard her loud and clear. Now I just needed to find a way to pass the time until he returned.