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“It’s time to move on,” she said. “Everyone deserves peace. You are no longer of this world. There is nothing here for you.”
She reached down and tapped a bell, the clear note echoing through the room. The screaming intensified as the ghost began to swirl in a mad, terrifying cyclone, but Jessica didn’t flinch as she closed the book in front of her.
“You have been lost for too long, trapped between two worlds. It is time to find your way.”
The screaming stopped, and for a single heartbeat, the ghost was visible in the center of the swirling darkness. Then the darkness exploded outwards and the ghost vanished. Jessica blew out the candle and the kitchen door suddenly swung open to reveal a new, beautiful day.
They stared at each other, all of them stunned by what had just happened.
“Dude, that was awesome,” Cody exclaimed.
Jessica smiled at him, but she had a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Can we move now?” Damian asked.
“Yes, the circle is no longer needed.”
He immediately drew her into his arms, studying her face.
“Are you all right, kitten?”
“Better than all right.” Even the memory of her time in the cellar seemed muted somehow. “The house feels… lighter, doesn’t it? As if a weight has been lifted.”
He tilted his head, considering, then nodded.
“You’re right. This feels like home again.”
“Thank you, Jessica,” she said with a great sigh of relief.
Her friend was putting the items from the circle into her satchel, but she smiled over at her.
“You’re very welcome.”
“What happened to the male ghost? I didn’t see him vanish. He isn’t still here, is he?”
“The house is safe now.”
Which didn’t exactly answer her question, but she let it drop.
“I can’t help feeling sorry for him. All these years of being blamed for something someone else did—and his brother at that.”
For the first time Jessica’s composure broke.
“I agree it’s not right. The living can impose terrible burdens on the dead.”
Damian suddenly frowned.
“When we were at the inn, you said that sometimes when someone dies they’re drawn back to the place where something like this happened. You don’t think this brother is going to show up, do you?”
“I doubt it. He doesn’t sound like he has much of a conscience, and people like that rarely linger.”
“Alexis did,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but she was trapped by her anger. That was her unfinished business.”
Jessica rose to her feet, shaking out her layers of clothing and making her jewelry chime.
“You know, I think I may stay on in Fairhaven Falls for a little while.”
