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Excerpt for What's A Ghoul To Do?
Chapter One
"Good morning, Miss Holliday," the real estate agent cheerfully greeted me outside 84 Dartmouth Street in Boston’s opulent Back Bay community.
"Hi there, you must be Cassandra," I said, shaking her hand. "Please, call me M.J."
"You’re younger and prettier than I thought you’d be," she commented as she nervously twisted the pearls at her neck.
"Thank you," I said then quickly got to the topic at hand. "I know we talked a little on the phone, but what can you tell me about this house?"
Cassandra paled slightly and looked up at the three story brownstone. "I’ve had the listing for almost a year, which, as you can imagine, is unheard of here in the Back Bay. Brownstones like this one sell around here in a matter of weeks, not months."
"Sticker shock?" I asked.
"No, nothing like that. At one million it’s an absolute steal! And we’ve had a lot of interest in it, despite its history. But every time we get close to making the deal, the buyer backs out. They all say the same thing, the place just has bad energy."
"You said someone was killed inside?"
Cassandra nodded, "Yes, the daughter of the current owners was raped and murdered a little over a year ago."
"That’s awful," I said, looking back toward the brownstone. "Did they catch the killer?"
"He was shot by police as he tried to make a getaway out the back. Unfortunately, they arrived too late to save the girl."
"So, really, two people died in the house."
"Yes, I suppose so," she said.
"And what’s been happening since then?"
"Well," she said, her hand going back to twist the pearls. "Every time I show the house I get the feeling I’m being watched. And more than that, sometimes I feel like I’m being followed. What’s more, people come in and don’t seem to want to stay. Most folks just take a tour of one or two rooms, then they leave like they’re being chased out or something."
"I see," I said, but I had a feeling there was more. "Is that all?"
"No," she said after a moment. "The other day I was showing the house to this couple who really seemed to be okay with the history of the place. They considered it a good trade-off for such a bargain. But just as we were getting ready to leave, we all heard a woman’s scream from one of the bedrooms upstairs. I thought someone had come in while I was showing the couple around so I ran up there and looked all over but no one was there. Then, just as I was coming back downstairs, I felt…," she paused.
"What?"
"I felt someone touch me."
"Like a hand on your shoulder or something?"
"No," she whispered, and her eyes were large and frightened. "Like someone touched me inappropriately."
"Ah," I said with a nod. Now I knew who the aggressor was. "Okay, if you’ll unlock the door I’ll get to work."
"Can you really help us, M.J.?"
"That’s what I do, Cassandra," I said. "I’m a ghostbuster. Give me a few hours and let me see what I can do."
Cassandra followed me up the six steps to the front door and unlocked it for me. "You’ll be all right in there by yourself?" she asked, her face suddenly worried.
"I’ll be fine," I said confidently. I’d far faced scarier stuff than this before. I paused as the door swung shut behind me. I moved into the foyer and looking around, I set my duffel bag down in the corner by the staircase. I wanted to get the lay of things before reaching into my bag of tricks.
I took a moment to let my eyes travel around the room, getting a feel for the brownstone’s configuration. The front foyer had several doorways leading to the rest of the house. To my right a corridor led to the kitchen. The living room was directly in front of me and off to my left was what looked like a study. From my back pocket I pulled out my electrostatic meter, a small gadget that measures variances in electrostatic energy. I held my arm out and waved it in a circle around the foyer, noting the thick, luxurious carpet, high ceilings, crown molding and expensive wall covering. The digs were definitely opulent and even without furniture you could tell this place oozed money. And, according to my electrostatic meter, the place oozed something else, too.
With an eye on the needle bouncing back and forth across the gauge, I moved ahead through the foyer and into the living room. The needle gave a jolt as I edged over to the French doors that swung out onto the terrace. The needle bounced again. I put the little gadget in the back pocket of my jeans and closed my eyes for a moment and got myself centered.
Before I was a ghost buster, I was a professional medium, which has proven to be the most beneficial skill for my success rate as a top notch buster. In other words, I can sense energies that have both crossed over to the Other Side successfully, and those that have become stuck, or "grounded", as we like to call it. In 84 Dartmouth I had immediately picked up the energies of two grounded spirits, one female and one male. I decided to focus on the female first.
Moving over away from the French doors I followed the small tug in my solar plexus, heading through the hallway and up the stairs. As I closed in on the female energy, something slightly disturbing happened. I felt the male energy, which was thick with ill will, begin to follow me. "Back off a little, pal," I said quietly to him. "I’ll deal with you in a moment."
The male energy didn’t want to listen, but continued to shadow me up to the second floor where I paused on the landing before continuing up to the third floor. There, at the end of the hallway, I saw a dark shadow dart into one of the bedrooms. "It’s okay," I said to the shadow. "I’m not going to hurt you." I walked down the hall and into the bedroom, and noticed an immediate dip in temperature.. I rubbed my upper arms and shivered slightly, feeling the icy coolness penetrate my clothing and my skin, seeping into my bones. I’d never gotten used to the deep chill that comes with rubbing up against spectral activity, but I pushed my discomfort aside and focused hard on the task at hand. "What’s your name, sweetheart?" I asked the empty bedroom softly.
There was no response, but I could feel the fear emanating from the woman spirit in the room. I sensed her in the corner of the room and sure enough, my mind’s eye flashed an image of a young woman in her early twenties, crouched and cowering in the corner. I moved over to that area and felt the temperature dip even lower. I knelt down and closed my eyes to concentrate. I said aloud, "I’m here to help you. He can’t hurt you anymore, honey. And I’ll make sure he doesn’t get away with what he’s done. Please talk to me. Tell me your name."
With relief I felt the name Carolyn float into my mind. I smiled sadly. The poor thing - not only had she been raped and killed by the beast behind me, but now she was stuck in a confusing state of limbo. Where are my parents? she asked me desperately.
"They’re safe, but they’re very worried about you Carolyn. They’ve asked me to help you. Will you allow me to?"
I opened my eyes and stared at the blank space in front of me. I couldn’t see Carolyn, but I could definitely feel and hear her. She didn’t answer me right away, so I continued to try and win her over. "I promise to keep you safe, but you’ve got to trust me. I will guide you home, but I can’t do that if you’re unwilling. Will you trust me?"
He promised!
"He promised what, honey?" I knew she was talking about her attacker.
He promised not to hurt me if I cooperated!
I sighed heavily. The rat bastard. I was going to enjoy dealing with him. "I know, my friend, I know," I said gravely. "He lied. But that’s in the past. He cannot hurt you again. I absolutely forbid it."
Where are my parents? This plea was even more urgent in my head than the first time she’d asked me. Carolyn was coming close to panicking, and if she did panic I’d lose contact with her. She would no doubt seek the comfort of the limbo plane that hovered just beyond the plane we existed on. This was where lost spirits typically hung out, only coming into our reality when they were strong enough to deal with what had happened to them.
"Carolyn, you must listen to me," I said sternly, hoping the command would snap her out of her desire to run. "You have to stay with me. I can get you out of here, but only if you do exactly as I say. I will guide you to safety, but we need to be quick –"
He’s here! she interrupted me. Quick! We need to hide!
"Damn-it," I muttered as I turned around. Sure enough, an ominous dark shadow hung in the doorway, floating back and forth in the opening. If I didn’t do something quickly, I’d lose Carolyn. "Stay right here, Carolyn," I said as I stood up. "I’m going to get rid of him if you hide right here until I return, I promise I’ll help you find your way. Will you wait for me?"
A feeling that I can only describe as a nod touched my mind. "Good girl," I said walking toward the black shape. As I got close, I could see my breath as I exhaled and my teeth wanted to chatter. I resisted the urge to shiver and walked purposefully at the black shape.
I came up short when the shadow disappeared in front of me. To my right came a loud thumping noise. I snapped my head to where the noise had come from, but only the wall stared back at me. "So that’s how we’re going to play it, huh?" I whispered, then gathered my anger and shouted, "Listen you miserable slug of human compost! You coward! You evil, vile excuse for a man! I think you’re afraid of me, and I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that you won’t follow me if I leave this room, because you don’t have the guts!" With that I dashed out of the room, and immediately felt the dark male energy give chase.
I tore down the hallway and grabbed the banister turning the corner to jump down several stairs in one leap. The dark energy behind me seemed to thrum with excitement as my adrenaline surged. I could feel him trying to gather his strength. In a moment he would try something dirty and I made sure to keep one hand on the railing for balance. It was a good thing I did, because in the next moment I felt a hard thud in the center of my back, and a micro-second later a strong tug on my right breast. "You son of a bitch!" I swore at him as I shook it off and continued down the stairs. "I’ll get you for that!" I said as I reached the first floor and dashed to my duffle bag. I scanned the living room, looking for what I knew had to be there, and feeling the slow prickly sensation of something snaking around my neck.
I scowled and moved forward into the living room, searching the walls intently. "Eureka," I said after a moment. "Got’cha you rat bastard!" I moved closer to study the small black hole that I’d spotted in the atmosphere just above the wall. The hole was nothing more than a small one foot by one foot section of air right next to the wall that to the naked eye looked vaporous and tinted a light grey. I could sense the energy behind me shift from hungry to nervous. "You didn’t think I knew about this little doorway of yours, did you?" I said over my shoulder as I set the duffel down and squatted to pull out my drill. "Let’s see how much of a bully you are after we close up this bad boy, shall we?"
I dug out three spikes made of magnetized metal and a hammer to help drive them home. The force behind me thudded into my back with all his might, and I pitched forward as my head hit the wall. "You ass!" I said turning to face him. In front of me I saw the dark shadow again and in my mind’s eye conjured a face that was mean and full of rage.
Stop! he shouted at me.
I laughed and held my drill up to him. "Time to shut the portal," I said and turned back to the wall. My drill was battery operated, which prevented the likes of him from screwing around too much with it, and allowed me to begin the drilling.
No! he screamed again and to my right there was an incredibly loud Bang!.
I laughed at his futile efforts and after I’d completed three holes I turned around. "Not so tough now, are you?"
The black shadow hovered in front of me and I could sense his attention was quite focused on the three spikes at me feet. "This is your little gateway, isn’t it?" I said, pointing to the area where I’d drilled the holes. "Well, let me tell you something, pal. I’m not going to stand for it. You have ten seconds to make a choice. If you stay here I will help you cross over to the Other Side, where you’ll have to face what you’ve done and be held accountable. Or, you can head through here now, and be locked in down there until you’re ready to face your own demons and go home on your own."
The energy in front of me wavered for a moment, and for a split second I thought I’d convinced him to let me help him. But I was sorely disappointed when the miserable scum grabbed my boob again! I growled low in my throat and whirled around, snatching the magnetic stakes and inserting the first into the hole. Behind me there was an audible male scream as I lifted my hand with the hammer, preparing to drive it home on the head of the spike. "Do or die time, buddy!" I yelled and brought the hammer down. A split second before I made contact with the spike I felt the ghost behind me dash into the portal I was preparing to close. "Coward!" I roared at him as his energy dissipated into the wall.
I finished pounding in that stake then moved on to the other two. After I’d finished I stood back a little, eyeing my handy work. The wall was a mess, with plaster and bits of drywall on the floor, but at least the portal was gone, never to return – that is as long as the stakes were in place.