Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door

The Ghoul Next
Door

by Rose Pressey

The Ghoul Next Door

Copyright © 2012 by Rose
Pressey

Smashwords Edition

Me and My Ghoulfriends (Larue Donavan
Series, Book 1)

Ghouls Night Out (Larue Donavan Series,
Book 2)

More books by Rose Pressey:

How to Date a Werewolf (Rylie Cruz
Series, Book 1)

How to Date a Vampire (Rylie Cruz
Series, Book 2)

How to Date a Demon (Rylie Cruz Series,
Book 3)

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells (Mystic
Café Series, Book 1)

Pies and Potions (Mystic Café Series,
Book 2)

Veronica Mason Series:

Rock ‘n’ Roll is Undead

Spells, Demons, and Rock ‘n’
Roll

All rights reserved, including the
right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form,
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise)
without the prior written permission of the copyright
owner.

This book is a work of fiction. The
names, characters, incidents, places, and brands are the product of
the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. The
author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of
various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have
been used without permission. The publication/use of these
trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the
trademark owners.

Dedication

This is to you and you know
who you are.

Acknowledgements

To my son, who brings me joy every
single day. To my mother, who introduced me to the love of books.
To my husband, who encourages me and always has faith in me. A huge
thank you to my editor, Em at Proof of Romance. To the readers who
make writing fun.

“
Do you believe in all that
exorcism, possessed-by-the-devil stuff? ’Cause I got to tell you,
Larue, the more I think about it, the more freaked out I get. I
don’t want to start speaking in a weird language and get glowing
red eyes.” My best friend, Mindy Winters paced the length of her
front porch.

I’d rushed to Mindy’s house the second
she showed up at my front door in a panic and looking rather
frazzled, demanding that I get rid of a ghost in her house pronto.
I’d turned the ringer off on my phone so I could spend some quality
time with the hunky Callahan Weiss. It always freaked her out if
she couldn’t reach me on the phone.

Normally Mindy let the waves of her
golden hair fall against her shoulders, but tonight she had her
strands thrown into a drooping ponytail. I’d never seen her wear
lime-green sweats and a black-and-yellow striped tank top at the
same time before. Sure, she had always dressed a little bold, but
this was insane clown apparel.

“
You got dressed in a little
bit of a hurry, huh?” I stared at her baggy pants and let my gaze
move up to the bubble-bee tank.

She unlocked her door and stepped
back, motioning for me to come in. “You’re damn right I got dressed
in a hurry. You would too if a ghost was trying to kill you.” Her
voice had reached ear-bleed level.

She could be so dramatic.

“
Mindy, I need you to take a
deep breath, let it out, and repeat. Think calming thoughts.
Nothing bad is going to happen.”

Okay. I couldn’t guarantee that
nothing weird would take place, but I’d keep that little tidbit to
myself. In fact, I did believe in that
exorcism-possessed-by-the-devil stuff. I’d seen it with my own
eyes. It wasn’t something I ever cared to see again, either. Yet
something told me I would see it again.

Mindy took in a deep breath, but she
forgot to let it out. I slapped her on the back.

After grabbing her hands, I said,
“Okay, if you freak out, I’ll freak out, so stop worrying. I can’t
afford to freak out when I’m working.”

She scowled, but luckily didn’t smack
me back.

In all the time that I’d known Mindy
she’d never once had a paranormal bone in her body. I’d even tried
to take her to fake haunted houses, but she’d always refused. Well,
except for that one time. I’d gotten her inside one, but the first
monster that jumped out wielding a chainsaw sent her screaming out
the entrance door, knocking a few teenagers down in her path. She
just wasn’t into it.

To her credit, Mindy had always
believed me when I said I talked to ghosts. She was a great friend
like that. So when she said she had a ghost in her house, I knew
that something was really going on with her. She would never make
up something like that. Was it her imagination finally getting the
better of her? Maybe. But I’d soon find out.

Mindy had seen so many crazy things
lately that maybe it was finally getting the better of her. Heck,
she’d just recently gotten rid of a black magic spell that had been
cast on her. Either way, I had to find out what was going on in her
home.

“
What makes you think you
have a ghost?” I asked as we stepped through her front
door.

My boyfriend Callahan Weiss was beside
me as we stepped into the foyer. I still loved saying that—my
boyfriend. It never got old. Well, technically it had only been a
short time that we’d officially been dating, but still…

If he was going to stick around with
me, he’d better get used to the ghost-hunting and other crazy
paranormal antics in my life. I’d been seeing and speaking to
spirits ever since I was a child. Then there was the little matter
of the new witchcraft skills I had apparently gained. The local
coven had wanted me to be their leader, but I wasn’t sure I was cut
out for something as big as that yet. I had enough to handle with
running my bookstore and all the spirits I dealt with on a daily
basis.

I had a revolving door for ghosts. As
soon as I got rid of one batch of spectral visitors, there was
another batch just waiting in the wings to harass me. And they
weren’t always every-day, normal ghosts either. I had famous ghosts
as well. Recently I’d attracted Abe Lincoln and Mae West. An odd
combination, right? Luckily, I’d been able to help them cross over.
I’d picked up Abe Lincoln while visiting his birthplace which was
close to my hometown, and Mae had been hanging out in a little
ranch-style house after she’d been conjured up by a Ouija board.
But I digressed.

Anyway, with any luck, the ghosts
would give me a little vacation now that the latest bunch had
crossed over. I needed a rest.

“
So tell me what’s going
on?” I asked while looking around her living room.

Everything seemed normal in the room.
The toss pillows were neatly aligned on her beige sofa. The side
chairs were perfectly parallel from each other and the floral area
rug didn’t have a speck of lint. Typical Mindy—all looked normal to
me.

She tucked a loose curl behind her
ear. “Well, I didn’t mention anything over the past few days
because I was, well, under that crazy spell and not in the right
frame of mind, but a lot of strange things have been going on in
here.”

Like I said, Mindy had been affected
by a black magic spell. A witch who wanted to be the coven leader
got a wee bit jealous and thought she’d hurt me by attacking my
best friend and turning her against me. Luckily, it hadn’t worked
out for her. Thank goodness.

“
What have you heard? Have
you seen anything?”

Callahan stood beside me taking in the
whole conversation. His blue eyes seemed sharper under the glow
from the overhead light. He’d slipped into his blue T-shirt and
jeans when we’d rushed over to Mindy’s. The casual look suited him…
well, any look suited him.

“
There have been footsteps
up in the attic.” She gestured above. “I’ve heard my name called
out and mumbling. I’m not sure what the voice is saying, but it’s
definitely there. Oh, and one more thing. I smell cigarette smoke.
No one smokes in my house.”

Why was it always the attics? Why did
the spirits like the dark and spooky spaces? Not to mention the
spiders and mice that liked to call those places home
too.

Taking in a deep breath, I prepared
myself for what I might find. Since spirits talked to me and I
talked to them, if I didn’t mentally prepare myself, the spirit
could take over, drain my energy, and I’d be in big trouble. “Okay,
I’ll go up and check it out.”

“
Larue, why don’t you let me
go check it out.” Callahan touched my arm.

I wrapped my fingers around his hand
and squeezed for reassurance. “Callahan, if it’s a spirit, it may
hide from you. But if I go up, the person will know that I can
communicate. I really appreciate the offer though.”

How sweet was he? He’d been through
hell ever since he’d met me and I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d
never spoken to me again. Lucky for me, he didn’t choose that
route.

He sighed, then let go of my arm.
“Just be careful.”

I made my way toward the stairs, then
eased up each one. I didn’t look over my shoulder, but I knew
Callahan and Mindy watched my every move. I felt their stares on my
back. Unfortunately, I was wearing my baggy sweatpants that said
‘Got ghosts?’ on the rear end. They had seemed like a cute idea at
the time. Regrettably, now I knew Callahan was watching the words
as they ascended the steps. Not so cute anymore.

When I reached the landing at the top
of the stairs, I pulled down the little ladder from the ceiling
that led up into the attic. The space was nothing but pitch black
when I stared up into it. It was now or never. After climbing to
the top, I poked my head in the opening and looked into the dark
space. Alone in a spooky attic with spiders, mice, or ghosts… it
was not where I wanted to be at the moment. I could think of many
more enticing scenarios—number one being in bed with Callahan’s
arms wrapped around me. But if I had to pick between the insects,
rodents, or spirits, I’d much rather have the ghosts. Although some
of the ghosts could be very ornery.

Air escaped my lips as I exhaled, made
my way up the rest of the stairs, and stepped onto the attic floor.
It didn’t help that I was afraid of heights too. Ghosts were about
the only thing I wasn’t afraid of.

“
Is anyone up here?” I
called out.

A lame way to approach a ghost maybe,
but there was no magic way to summon a spirit. They didn’t have a
special code. There was no response, only silence filled the air.
Then after a few seconds, a rustling noise sounded from the corner.
Oh heavens, please not a rat. Or even a squirrel or a
possum.

“
If there is someone here,
please speak to me,” I said.

I swore that was when I heard a cough.
Since I was pretty sure possums or rats didn’t cough, I felt a
little bit better knowing that a wild animal wasn’t waiting to eat
me. Of course, now I had to worry about whether this was a demonic
force. That was a whole different story that I didn’t want to have
to deal with at the moment. I would for Mindy, but I really just
wanted a break for a day. Was that too much to ask?

“
What’s going on up there?”
Callahan called from downstairs.

“
Everything’s fine,” I said,
trying to sound confident.

The ghost would never speak to me as
long as Callahan or Mindy kept talking to me. That was why I’d
always liked to go on investigations alone. Not as many
distractions. I appreciated his concern more than he’d ever know
though. No one had ever expressed as much concern for me as he
did.

“
Who are you?” I asked. With
any luck the spirit would answer and we could get this show on the
road. There was a comfy bed calling my name.

Still no answer. The spirit was
playing games with me.

“
I know you’re here,” I said
as I moved further into the room, trying to avoid banging a knee.
“I heard you moving and coughing.”

Then the thought hit me: maybe Mindy
had a squatter in her home. That could be very dangerous. If it was
a spirit though, I wouldn’t leave without it speaking to
me.

“
Look, you’ve been bothering
my friend and this is her home. So if you’re not going to speak
with me, then you need to leave.”