Page 51 of Ghost in the Cupboard

“Well,” I said, “I regret to inform you that you were Marcella Washington. And you are dead. You’re a ghost. I’m a medium. You’re trapped in my house and I’ve summoned you.”

One moan.

“I have no reason to lie,” I said.

Another moan. Frantic.

“Calm down,” I said. “I can prove it to you.”

A single moan, but less frantic. Somehow, this moan sounded skeptical. Scared.

“But I’ll need to trap you in a box again,” I said.

Another scared moan came from Marcella’s ghost and she began to drift backward.

“Wait,” I said firmly, and Marcella stopped, staring daggers at me.

She moaned once more.

“Marcella Washington,” I said, “I have two options. I dislike one, and I hate the other. You’ll feel the same about them.”

She stared at me but no moan came forth.

“You can let me trap you and take out of this house and prove to you that you are, indeed, a ghost,” I said, “or I have one other option.”

I nodded at the humidifier on the table and the bundle of sage.

“I will turn this on and fill this house with mist imbued with sage oil. I will burn this sage bundle and waft the smoke into every crevice of this house. You will have nowhere to turn. Nowhere to run. And it will hurt. Sage and silver hurt ghosts. I don’t want to hurt you. But to get you out of my house, I will do it. However, I will let you decide if you want to go willingly and painlessly by being trapped, or if you want me to go this the hard way.”

She moaned once but didn’t move.

“I’m a nice person,” I said. “I don’t like hurting anyone. But this is my house and you are not welcome and do not belong here. I will remove you, one way or another.”

Marcella stared at me, then her eyes shot to the table.

“If you make this difficult, I will simply remove you from this house and not help you any further,” I said. “If you cooperate, I will prove to you that you are a ghost and help you.”

She said nothing; didn’t move.

“Please don’t make me be a bad person,” I said, pleading. “Let me trap you. Prove to you that you are a ghost. And then I will set you free. I will not keep you trapped for a long time like you were in the cupboard.”

She looked back to me.

“I promise.”

It seemed like forever before Marcella reacted.

Two moans emanated from that gaping mouth.