AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” Georgie said. “When did we have one?”
“Just a moment ago—the basement was shaking.” Bree paused, then added. “You didn’t feel anything?”
Georgie shook her head. “Not up here. All I heard was you guys suddenly shouting and then your footsteps on the stairs.”
I dropped into a seat by the table. “If something can shake the basement, it can take us out. Bree, call the sheriff. Maybe I can talk her into letting me destroy that paper.”
“I doubt it. Daisy runs things by the book unless there’s a damned good reason. But yeah, we do need to call her. Skeletons in the closet, if they’re as old as they look, aren’t usually the typical stuff found in a basement.” She put in a call. We decided that, having stirred things up, it might be prudent to wait out on the front porch for Daisy and her crew to appear.
* * *
Ten minutes later,Daisy Parker and several of her officers showed up, along with the coroner. We spent twenty minutes explaining the entire evening, the haunting, and what we found in the basement. Luckily, she took us seriously. As her men headed down into the basement, at least one of them let out a loud yip—he was a wolf shifter.
“Damn it, something pinched me, hard,” he said.
I turned back to Daisy. “Sheriff, that’s why I need this paper. I need to burn it to break the spell.”
She took it from me and tucked it into a paper bag. “Sorry, I have to take this in as evidence. Can’t you exorcise the spirits?”
“Not when they have an anchor downstairs. And when you collect everything and leave, that won’t necessarily break the spell. I should salt the bones, or salt the anchor and burn that incantation. There aren’t easy substitutes for houses that are haunted this badly.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” she said. “It’s procedure. There are no statues of limitations on murder cases and, while this can’t be ruled a murder yet—the women could have already been dead of natural causes when their bodies were put in that closet—the fact is that homicide can’t be ruled out yet, either. If somebody murdered them, then I have to do my job.” She looked frustrated.
I sighed. “Of course, yes—you need to do your job.” I turned to Darla and Georgie. “Things may get worse. I recommend your family find a different place to live for a while. You might want to stay with friends.”
“Will the ghosts follow us?” Georgie asked.
“I don’t think so. I think they’re anchored in the house.”
Darla shook her head. “Kevin won’t go for that. I can take the kids and leave, but he’s not going to, I’ll bet you anything,” she said, staring at the floor.
I wasn’t sure what to say to her, but at that moment, Kevin appeared at the door.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked, a storm cloud brewing in his expression.
“Kevin, this is Elphyra. She came over to deal with the ghost problems—” Darla started to say.
“Ghosts? We don’t have any…” He caught sight of the sheriff. “And what the fuck are the cops doing here? What are you doing in my house?”
“We found two skeletons in the basement,” Darla said, but he cut her off.
“You’re shitting me. I had a long day at work, I wanted a night out with the guys and then to come home and relax, and this is what I find? Cops in the house? Strangers filling your head with this ghost bullshit? Darla, what the hell happened to making me happy? Where’s my sandwich?”
“I’m sorry—” Darla started to say, blanching.
“Ease up, dude,” I said, stepping in front of her. “The facts are these: you have entities in this house that want tohurtyour family. You have two skeletons in your basement that were tied to their chairs and left there. And here you are, complaining about Darla not making you a fucking sandwich? Get real, for fuck’s sake!” I had no use for gaslighters and whiny-assed men-children.
He stared at me. Then, before I could move, he backhanded me so hard I went reeling back against Bree and fell on my ass. My cheek stung, and I rubbed my bruised jaw as I jumped up, ready to tackle him. As I lunged, Daisy stepped in between us as two of her deputies tackled Kevin to the ground. He thrashed, shouting obscenities.
Bree examined my face. Darla and Georgie hurried over to me.
“How are you—” Bree started to say, but I waved her off.
I straightened my shoulders, wincing as I gingerly touched my cheekbone. I brought my hand away, my fingers slick with a trickle of blood. I turned to Kevin, who was being held in handcuffs between the two deputies, and gave a strong mental push and he let out a loud shriek and hunched over.
“Get this straight. Nobody, butnobodyhits me and gets away with it. You try again and I’ll nail your ass to the wall, literally. Be grateful I targeted your balls and not your head.”
“Hold on!” Daisy brought a whistle to her lips and blew. The resulting sound echoed through the night air. “Elphyra, I’m going to let that one go, given he hit you first, but that’s enough.” She turned to Darla. “We’re going to run him in for assault. You want to meet us there to bail him out?”
