“No, it’s incredibly rare. Only thirty-one have ever been recorded. Out of them, only eleven had detailed records. Their hauntings are spite filled and they gain strength because they capture weaker spirits and force them to merge.”
“You suppose that’s happening here?” I asked, wondering whether to mention my thoughts.
“I’m not sure. The entity has many facets, typical demon and poltergeist activity, which makes me think filament, but they are just that rare. It’s probably something else; I was using a filament as an example,” Michelle nodded.
“You’ve studied them?” Where had she got this information from? Fifteen years doing this, yet I was unaware of this type of haunting.
“Haunt, I have access to books you probably don’t. But yes, I’ve studied many obscure spirits and entities. Most people deal with residuals, interactive, poltergeist and demon. There are more classifications than that. There are orbs, vengeance spirits, mimics, doppelgangers, banshees, roving, and so on.”
“The majority of those I’ve met. But yeah, there is shit out there I’m unaware of. I did have a thought,” I replied and described it.
“That actually fits in a certain way, but you’re right, it’s not one hundred per cent. It rings a bell.” Michelle frowned. “Gah, I should know this.”
“Only a fool presumes he knows everything,” I teased, and Michelle grinned.
“Like your friend Chauncey. His website is illuminating around his ego and self-confidence,” Callie muttered, scowling at the screen.
“Ain’t no friend of mine, darlin’, I’d sooner piss on him.” Callie laughed, and her face lit up. In that instant, I recognised why Sunny was head over heels for her. A spike of jealousy lanced through me. I’d love a relationship like that.
“Well, Chauncey’s set himself up as the grandaddy of the paranormal society, but there’s a load of testimonials complaining about his methods. Sure, there are some good reviews, but overall, I’d say he’s not very well-regarded,” Callie replied.
I barely held back a smirk; that appeased me more than it should.
“Okay, I’ll go join the others. You going to be okay down here?” I asked, getting up.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Callie murmured, her eyes on the laptop screen. A smile crossed my lips as I headed out. Good job my ego didn’t need attention. I wasn’t bad-looking and kept myself fit. I wasn’t a supermodel, yet women looked at least once and sometimes twice. The lack of interest from Callie and Michelle amused me.
Callie
The Mermaid Inn’s records contained an overwhelming amount of information. There were inventory lists and even a grocery delivery receipt detailing the items. This was serious history. I reviewed a ledger dating back hundreds of years. Several deaths were connected to the Inn, and there were tons of documents relating to the smugglers. A name jumped out as I was reading a random report. Jeremy.
It wasn’t a far stretch from Jeremiah[ii] to Jeremy. Tracing the name down the rabbit hole, I tracked it back to a detail for Jeremiah Bellowes. Friends had shortened his name to Jeremy. He’d been a prominent member of the smugglers and then disappeared. The report stated that rumours claimed he’d been killed by someone in the gang and his body hidden. Members of the gang were questioned, including the main suspect Thomas Kingsmill[iii]but no evidence was found. Jeremiah’s body had disappeared, and over time he became forgotten.
“Michelle, I’ve got something.”
Michelle shunted forward and read the report. “That might be him,” she agreed.
“I’ll keep digging,” I said.
Before we ate, I discovered no other associated with the Inn.
“Do you think you found the entity?” Haunt asked as we ate.
“He’s a likely option,” I agreed.
“Can’t say I’ve ever been made aware of him. But if Jeremiah was murdered here and then stuck here, yeah, it fits. Plus, if no one ever saw him, or mistook his actions for another spirit…” Coffee pursed his lips.
“Gonna be a lot of anger in that,” Dive agreed.
Lucky nodded. “That would make sense. A murder victim, perhaps killed here, and the killer escaped?”
“That would cause a shitload of resentment,” Ghoul agreed. “If the spirit wasn’t strong enough to manifest…”
I sat up straight as something tickled my mind. “Say that again.”
Ghoul frowned, but repeated his words.
“Energy ghoul,” I gasped.
