Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (15 page)

“
There are two people here,”
I whispered to Cooper as we waited. “They don’t want to leave the
home.”

After all this time, I still had
nervousness and apprehension when confronting new spirits. I never
knew what they’d do or say. Would they attack me or be a sweet
potato like Elvis? It just never got any easier. Zach Duncan had
been my mentor before he’d retired. He taught me everything I knew
about demons and my spiritual talent. I’d been going on paranormal
investigations for over three years since. I’d never imagined that
one of those investigations would be in front of a camera
crew.

The memories of the demon I’d
encountered as a teenager flashed through my mind and left me on
edge. Maybe the stress had finally taken its emotional toll on me.
I attracted paranormal activity like a bug-zapper attracted
mosquitoes. But I wouldn’t let it stop me. I had a deep-rooted need
to find answers to the unknown.

Cooper could deny his apprehension all
he wanted, but based on the fidgeting, I’d say he was a little
nervous, unless he had to go to the bathroom, really, really bad.
So much for being Mr. Tough-Guy.

With Cooper standing so close, I
glanced over at him. He smiled half-heartedly, then gestured for me
to knock again and puffed out his muscular chest. He wouldn’t be
such a brave macho guy once he got a load of this demon. Why men
always needed to prove themselves, I’d never know.

The cameraman exhaled on the back of
my neck. I wanted to ask him if it was really necessary to stand
that close, but refrained. The last thing I needed was to look like
an ass on TV, although that was probably unavoidable. At some point
in this process, I knew I’d make a fool of myself.

Just when I thought no one would
answer, the door creaked open and a petite brunette stood in front
of us. She glanced from me to Cooper. It looked as if she hadn’t
sleep for days with the dark rings under her eyes and the mussed
hair.

“
Ms.—”

“
Ms. Blake?” I
interrupted.

“
Yes.” She
nodded.

“
Hi, I’m Larue Donavan and
this is Cooper Garrett.” I gestured toward my fellow medium. “We’re
with Chasing Demons.” That sounded completely strange as if I was
in a dream. Was I really going to be on TV? I glanced over my
shoulder and saw the big camera in my face, which answered my
question.

“
Please come in. Thanks for
coming. Call me Jennie.” She tucked a loose strand of
chestnut-colored hair behind her ear and let out a deep
breath.

This was it. The reality sank in. I
was on TV. The cameraman was in fact taping every word I said.
Every move I made would be scrutinized. By whom, I had no idea, but
scrutinized, nonetheless. The public could be brutal. I hoped I
didn’t embarrass my family. Cooper probably looked like a million
bucks on camera. Darn him.

Cooper stuck out his hand toward Ms.
Blake. “Nice to meet you, Jennie. Thank you for having us in your
home.” He flashed his million-watt smile.

I was sure the camera was getting his
good side and my bad side. Not that I was sure I even had a good
side. Why couldn’t my face be perfect like Mr. Male Model next to
me?

Jennie led us into the living room.
The room was full of new furniture, but with everyone from the show
crowded into the space, it was a tight fit. The whole area was cold
and uncomfortable in spite of the calming décor. A sleek gray sofa
was placed against the right side of the room with splashes of
fuchsia from the toss pillows and a vase of deep pink gerbera
daisies on the coffee table.

“
Can you tell us what made
you call us to your home?” I asked as I glanced around the
room.

She looked down for a second, then
finally met our gaze. “I’m terrified of the strange things going on
in the house. Everyone who comes into the house is being
affected.”

As I stood there, a flash went through
my mind. In my vision there was a dark room and in the corner a
young girl sat on the floor rocking back and forth. I had no idea
what it meant though. Jennie was still talking, but my mind had
tuned her out against my will. I tried to listen to her, but I had
no control over my visions at the moment.

The flash of the young girl ran
through my thoughts again. She had a huge gash across her face.
Next, she appeared in the corner of the living room and told me
that being dead wasn’t all that bad because she could watch the
people around her like she used to watch a soap opera. A disturbing
thought to most people to know that someone was watching you when
you thought you were completely alone. But hey, it was like dust
mites, you knew they were there on the bed, but you tried not to
think about it because it would just freak you out.

This girl wasn’t the only thing
haunting the house though. No, there was also something that was
very bad—the worst of the worst. It was outside the home for the
time being, but someone had called it to this house on purpose. I
had no idea who would do such a thing.

Cooper’s voice brought me out of my
trance. “What type of things are happening in your home?” he asked
Jennie.

She glanced around the room as if she
was looking for someone… or something. “I hear knocking sounds in
the walls. And I just feel things, like people are watching me. I
really think it’s connected to me. It messes with my
emotions.”

“
Like it’s connected to
you?” I repeated. “Has this ever happened to you
before?”

I felt this woman might be a sensitive
too. Whether she knew she might have this talent, I had no idea. I
had to know more before I could tell her for sure. Candy Cherry
floated around the room looking at all the knickknacks. She didn’t
seem fazed by the oppressive feeling. Elvis and Mr. Fine had
decided to wait outside. I thought that was the best decision
they’d made in a long time.

“
Yes, it’s happened to me a
lot. I always thought I could handle it. It didn’t just start here
in this house.”

“
So have you thought of
moving?” Cooper asked.

“
I thought about it, but I
know it would follow me.” She fidgeted with her hands. “At night
when I’m in bed, I hear footsteps coming closer and closer. They
walk around and around my bed. It happens every night.”

Mindy shifted from foot to foot behind
me. I knew this was making her uncomfortable. I didn’t blame her.
This woman’s story was creepy as heck.

“
Does this thing ever get in
the bed?” Cooper asked.

“
Yes,” she said quietly. “I
don’t want it to follow me if I move. I go days without sleeping. I
can never sleep if I’m alone in the house. I feel
cornered.”

“
Has anything else
happened?” Cooper studied the room. Had he seen the girl in the
corner too?

“
When I was sitting in that
corner over there, something grabbed my arm and jerked me backward.
I fell right out of the chair onto the floor.”

“
Has that only happened
once?” I asked. Physical confrontation took this to a completely
different level.

“
Yes, just the one time. It
had never happened before, but it scared me. I started crying and
left the house immediately. It took me several days to come back.
That was when I decided to call. Whatever this thing is, it’s
aggressive. I tell it to stop, but it doesn’t listen.” She shook
her head as if she was trying to shake the memory away.

“
Thank you for sharing
everything with us, Jennie. We’ll do everything we can to provide
answers for you,” I said.

I might have appeared calm on the
outside, but on the inside I wanted to hurl. Having the camera on
me with all the lights was tougher than I thought it would
be.

Cooper shook Jennie’s hand and I
hugged her. It felt like the right thing to do.

“
We’ll start with just
walking from room to room, if you don’t mind?” I asked.

She nodded. “Sure. Go anywhere in the
house you need to. I really think he likes the attic.”

I froze, then looked around the room
for Mr. Fine. Candy Cherry and Mr. Fine were nowhere in sight. Mr.
Fine seemed like a cranky-pants, but I didn’t think he was capable
of this kind of behavior. The statement had caught me off guard
though.

I walked into the foyer, then made my
way down the hallway. Mindy, Cooper, the cameraman, and the sound
guy all followed me. Since I was used to being alone on an
investigation, this group of people behind me was throwing me off
my game. They had no idea that ghosts were walking through the
house with us. Random ghosts—the spirits didn’t speak or even look
over at me. There was a portal somewhere in the home.

The house was sparsely decorated with
neutral shades of beige on the walls. Nothing on the walls, no
photos or decorations. The hardwood floors appeared to be original
to the house as well. Wood could absorb a lot of energy and some of
the activity could be nothing more than a residual
haunting.

Cooper was behind me and, bless her
heart, Mindy was beside me holding her own as we moved through the
house. I knew she was a tough cookie when push came to
shove.

“
Things are being attracted
to this house and not in a good way,” I said as we made our way to
the end of the hall toward the bedrooms.

“
I sense they’re some of the
most powerful dead you can experience,” Cooper added.

I nodded. “You’re right. The dead here
are very powerful and can cause pain to the people living here.
They can even make them physically ill.”

Mindy swallowed hard. The cameraman
moved along behind us with the sound guy somewhere back there too.
I pulled out my digital recorder to see if I could collect any
electronic voice phenomena. Cooper held an electromagnetic field
meter looking for fluctuations in the air around us.

“
There’s a man in that
room.” Cooper pointed to the door on the right at the end of the
hall.

We paused, exchanging glances. It was
as if we were asking who was going in first with our
eyes.

“
A living person?” Mindy
whispered.

“
No, it’s a spirit,” I
answered. “His name is Heath. He’s grumpy and nasty.”

This ghost was communicating with me,
but not like ghosts usually do. He was telepathically sending me
messages. I liked when the ghosts actually spoke much better than
this way.

“
Yeah, he’s pissed.” Cooper
stepped closer to the door and I followed.

So he was doing the same thing to
Cooper too. This ghost was just trying to be finicky.

“
If he’s angry maybe we
should let him have some space. I know I don’t like to talk when
I’m having a bad day,” Mindy said.

Cooper stared at her, but didn’t
respond. The cameraman moved behind me again. Couldn’t he point
that thing at someone else for a change?

When I placed my hand on the doorknob,
I said, “This man doesn’t like anyone who lives here. He wouldn’t
like anyone who moved into the home. He doesn’t like us
either.”

I knew all this and I hadn’t even seen
him yet. That was how powerful he was. I couldn’t let him
intimidate me though. I had to press forward. We stepped inside the
shadowy room and the temperature was at least twenty degrees
cooler. A small bed was in the middle of the room with simple white
window curtains and matching bedspread. Again there were no items
on the walls or personal effects.

“
He wants us to get everyone
out of the home,” Cooper said as he eased deeper into the
space.

Mindy turned around so quickly I was
surprised she hadn’t sprung her ankle. “Well, he doesn’t have to
ask me twice.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her
inside the room. “We’ll be okay.”

The pained look on her face let me
know she wasn’t convinced.

The air in the room changed, and at
that moment, I wasn’t convinced of what I’d just said to Mindy.
This spirit really didn’t want us in the house, so were we really
safe?

Mindy eased her hand away. “I’ll just
wait in the hall.”

I didn’t try to stop her this time.
Based on the new vibe I was getting in the room, I wasn’t even sure
that the hallway was safe for her. I wasn’t sure I even wanted her
in the home. I should have warned her more about what could happen,
but I had no idea it would be this bad. What had I let them talk me
into?

“
He won’t talk to me,”
Cooper said as he walked across the room.

As I stood in the middle of the room,
I rubbed my temples. The spirit was next to me, circling me like an
invisible shark, but he wouldn’t speak to me either. “He won’t
leave me alone. He’s trying to take control of my thoughts and
actions. Everyone’s lives are in danger in this home. He doesn’t
want us here.”

The man didn’t speak, but I knew his
feelings. I could also see what he looked like. He wore faded denim
overalls with a white T-shirt and had thinning gray hair. His skin
was lined and tan from what was probably years spent out working in
the sun.

Why was he sending me messages and not
talking directly to me? It was as if he wanted to show me who was
boss. Apparently he didn’t know who he was messing with.