“Whatever that was, I’m unable to connect with it.” Natalia muses, mostly to herself. “This is a very rare poltergeist situation.”
I bob my head. “Corinne alluded to that possibility, but what’s the difference between these spirits”—I motion toward the guys—“and the woman?”
She purses her lips. “Poltergeists manifest out of pure anger. Their spirits can’t move on because only love and joy can ascend.” She taps her chin. “This woman had to have died in a horrible way.”
I swallow. Having just witnessed her death, I know that Natalia has hit the nail on the head.
“How do I help her?”
“Restless spirits need justice more than the average ghost. Uncover what happened, and she should move on.”
“Do I need to be worried for my safety? Ollie was able to make physical contact. Can she?”
That thought is more terrifying than anything.
“These spirits want your attention. Give it to them, and there shouldn’t be anything for you to worry about.”
I tap my fingers excessively on my leg, overwhelmed by all the pressure on my shoulders.
“What about him?” I ask, turning the focus back to the two in the room.
Natalia and I look to Jackson, waiting on him to shed some light on why he’s here. “After I left Clementine’s, I was murdered by someone in a red truck.”
Chills spread all over me as the truth sinks in. We’re all connected by a red truck. Their deaths and my accident were all due in part to someone driving a red truck. The same one? That’s to bedetermined. Regardless, it’s become increasingly clear tonight that I’m stuck with these spirits until I find the answers and bring them justice.
“If he was murdered, why isn’t he a poltergeist?”
Natalia half rolls her eyes. “I’m not all-knowing, girl.” She tsks, picking at her fingers. “But I’d suspect the woman knew her killer intimately.”
A raging ghost who’s seeking revenge on a past lover?
Freaking fantastic.
Three of Cups
“IT’S A LITTLEdisconcerting watching you talk to air,” Nina says, kneading the pizza dough a bit harder than necessary.
Thursday wine night looks a little different at the present moment. I’m in no mood to socialize outside these walls. Not with the events that have occurred over the last two weeks. Even with Billy and Jackson hovering about, my home feels like my only sanctuary.
Even if it’s a sanctuary I no longer choose to sleep in alone. Lanie moved in last night. I called her immediately after leaving the Moradi Mortuary and begged her to stay with me. She’ll be sleeping right next to me every night, until I can get my unease under control. It wasn’t even enough to have her down the hall. We have to spoon for me to sleep. Pathetic, but reality these days.
The image of Jenna Cruz truly haunts me. The way the woman died, and the fact that she was potentially killed by someone she was close to, is tragic.
“It’s alotdistressing that I have a pesky ghost that won’t leave me the hell alone,” I snap in Billy’s direction.
It’s been two weeks since he sent me streaking into the night, right next door to a man who could never understand what I was experiencing. The same man that Billy is now trying to convince me is our only hope of salvation.
“You need to go to West. Tell him what you know.”
I level Jackson with a scowl.
“Since when do you agree with him?” I jab my finger in Billy’s direction.
Jackson shrugs.
“Natalia saidIneeded to solve this. Not Nick.” I pop a grape into my mouth, done explaining this to the thickheaded ghouls.
“You couldn’t solve a Rubik’s Cube with a step-by-step guidebook. I’m not leaving my fate in your incapable hands.” Billy’s arrogant voice has the effect of nails on a chalkboard.
