Authors: Josh Aterovis
I was sitting on the front porch later that afternoon waiting for Micah. I had dressed casual as he had suggested; a pair of faded jeans, a dark blue short-sleeved sweater shirt that really brought out my eyes (or so Adam had insisted) and my brown leather sandals. I was enjoying the cool breeze off the ocean when Micah pulled up.
I ran to his car and jumped into the passenger seat before he could get out and open my door for me.
“Hi,” I said as I turned to look at him, slightly breathless and not from the short run to the car.
He was smiling ear to ear, his dark hair falling appealingly over one eye. He was wearing a moss green button-up shirt over a white T-shirt and jeans. He looked, in a word, incredible.
“Hi,” he said back. “This was the longest day. I couldn't wait to see you.” He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before throwing the car into reverse and backing into the street.
I smiled and tried not to blush. “So where are we going?” I asked him.
“Do you still need to be in
Chicone
by eight?” he asked, a more obvious hint I've never seen.
“
We
have to be at
Chicone
by eight,” I answered him, stressing the `we'.
“So it's ok with, uh, Steve if I'm there?”
“Steve said the more the merrier as far as he's concerned. Plus I think he loved the idea of free publicity. Kane said you could take his place but Judy specifically said that she wanted everyone who was there the other night to be there again tonight.”
“So, is this Judy person a medium or something?”
“Not exactly.
She has…um, powers.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Able to leap small buildings in a single bound?”
I laughed. “Not quite. I guess maybe it's better to use her word for it. She's gifted. Sometimes she just knows things. For some reason when all this happened she came to mind and apparently
she's
very interested. She's quite a character, although she's mellowed a lot since I first met her.”
“How do you know her?”
“Well, er, she's my ex's aunt.”
“Oh, that's cool. Look, Killian, you don't have to be all uncomfortable about mentioning your ex. You had a life before me, I understand that. I had a life before you too. I've told you about some of it and if you hang around long enough you're bound to find out more.”
“So are you saying when you came out of the closet you left some skeletons in there?” I asked lightly.
Micah frowned and answered seriously, “You could say that.”
That certainly piqued my curiosity. “Like what?” I asked, examining his face.
“I'd rather not talk about it right now. Sometime, I promise, just not right now.”
I nodded somewhat uncertainly and we made small talk until we arrived at the restaurant he'd chosen. It was a small, cozy pizzeria with wine-bottles turned candleholders in the center of each red-check tablecloth draped table. They served an assortment of the usual Italian fare besides pizza but we ended up just ordering a pizza with everything sans anchovies. We both agreed it was unthinkable to eat whole fish on your pizza.
We chatted while we ate and soon the pie was history. Micah paid the bill and we walked out to the car. It was still early but Micah suggested we drive out to the house anyway. He was eager to see it and he wanted me to show him the graveyard before everyone got there. Turned out that Adam, Steve and Kane beat us there anyway. Kane was sitting forlornly on the front steps, while Adam and Steve were out of sight, most likely in the house.
“Hey Kane,” I said as we climbed out of the car. “Are Adam and Steve inside?”
“Hey Killian, hey Micah,” he said glumly. “Yeah, they've been in there for a while now. I think they might be painting. I refuse to go in until I have to.”
“I guess nothing's happened?”
“Well, no one's come out screaming and I haven't heard any signs of violent death, so that's the assumption I'm operating under.”
“Aren't you just a barrel of sunshine?”
“Bite me.”
“I think I'll
pass,
thanks.”
“Ok, you two. Jeez, you fight like brothers,” Micah jumped in with a grin. We both turned lethal glares on him and he pretended to cower behind a tree. We all laughed.
“So Kane, you want to walk back to the graveyard with Micah and me?” I asked. I didn't think there was much chance he'd accept so I was surprised when he jumped right up.
“Sure, anything is better than sitting here alone on this damn porch waiting for the icy hand of death to grab me by the shoulder.”
“Icy hand of death?”
Micah repeated. “Is he always this melodramatic?”
“Yeah, and he's the straight one,” I said. Kane threw a playful punch at me but I dodged and we all started walking back towards the graveyard. It didn't take long to show it to him since I wasn't up to climbing through the briars again and with the evidence of my last trip still quite obvious on my skin neither was Micah. The wind had picked up as we walked across the yard and dark clouds seemed to be gathering on the horizon.
“Is it supposed to storm tonight?” I asked.
`They said it was possible,” Micah answered.
“Great, the perfect setting for contacting the dead in haunted house,” Kane grumbled. “Steve couldn't have ordered better weather.”
“It's just a summer storm,” I said as we started back. “It's not an omen or anything. It'll be over in no time, probably before Judy even gets here.”
But Judy's car was already parked in front of the house by the time we came back around the corner. The wind had continued to pick up until it was blowing quite hard and the first fat raindrops had just begun to fall as we hurried onto the porch and inside.
“Whew!” I gasped once we were inside and the door was firmly shut. “
Man, that
blew up quick.”
“It was a dark and stormy night…” Micah said with a small smile.
“We're in here,” Steve called from the direction of the ballroom. We followed his voice and found him, Adam, and Judy standing close together by the fireplace, talking. The chandelier in the center of the room provided a soft, rather muted lighting effect that would have been perfect for a social gathering but wasn't quite enough to reach into the far corners, leaving the uneasy feeling that anything could be lurking there, just out of sight.
They turned towards us as we came into the room. Judy's eye immediately fell on Micah.
“Judy, this is my friend Micah Gerber,” I introduced quickly. “Micah is a reporter for the local paper. Micah, this is Judy Davis.”
They shook hands while Judy looked him over. Micah shifted uneasily under her scrutiny. I couldn't blame him. It was almost like she was looking into him. I remembered being trapped in that gaze myself and didn't envy him for a second.
To look at Judy you would never think for a second that she could be so intimidating. She's petite and pretty with short curly blonde hair that always reminds me of Meg Ryan's infamous locks and bright, piercing blue eyes.
Judy released his hand and nodded. “Ok, but try to stay out of the way, ok?”
“Sure thing,” Micah said. “That was the understanding.” He immediately drew himself away from the rest of us and lounged against the wall by the door that led back into the hall.
“Ok,” Judy said and all eyes were immediately on her. We knew instinctively that this was her show, we were just bit players. “I've never really done anything like this so we're all going to be working blindly.”
“That doesn't inspire confidence,” Kane muttered under his breath, but Judy heard him anyway.
“I don't think we have anything to be afraid of, Kane. From what I've been able to gather the spirits in this house, if there are any, and it seems there are, have never been violent or dangerous. I think, like Killian said, that she, meaning
Amalie
, just wants to tell us something.”
“Well, what do we have to do?” Steve asked, obviously eager to get started.
“I think the first thing we need to do is see if there's anything that all her, er, manifestations have in common.”
Everyone thought for a moment but no one volunteered anything. A sudden crack of thunder made us all jump.
“I can't think of anything,” Steve said. “And I've been here every time, although I haven't seen her.”
“Well, that's something. If you've been here every time…”
“But I've been here lots of times when nothing has happened.”
“Something has happened every time I've been here,” I spoke up.
“Me too,” Kane added.
“Yeah, but you've only been here once,” I said.
“How many times have you been here, Killian?” Judy asked.
“Three or four.”
“Actually,” Steve said slowly, “The only times I can remember anything obvious happening was when Killian was here.” Every eye turned my way.
“Ok, we may be getting somewhere,” Judy said.
“What?” I yelped. “What do you mean? Why are you looking at me?”
“You might be some sort of catalyst, Killian,” she said. “Sometimes certain people seem to draw supernatural activity, no one knows why. It's usually a young child right around the age of puberty, but some people have been known to attract them throughout their entire life. And then there are
sensitives
.”
“
Sensitives
?”
Adam asked.
“A sensitive is someone who is, well, sensitive to that other plane beyond the one we move in. They are more aware of things many people never see or feel. It used to be called the sixth sense, which is where they got the name of that movie.”
“I see dead people,” Kane whispered. I shot him a dirty look. I couldn't help but think about Seth and what he'd said the night before.
“Are you a sensitive?” Adam asked Judy.
“A fairly strong one,” she said. “But what I'm more interested in now is whether or not Killian is.” She faced me. “Usually a sensitive knows if he or she is. What do you think, Killian?”
I thought about my conversation with Seth. He hadn't used the word sensitive but he had said that I was special and that's why I could see him and talk to him. But then, why hadn't I ever felt like that before? I hadn't had I? Not that I could remember. I shook my head in frustration. “I don't know.
Maybe.”
“Well, so far you are the only person who has seen her. That's a good sign right there, that she would let you see her.”
“I don't think she really expected me to see her,” I said slowly, remembering my impressions. “She seemed almost as surprised as I was.”
“Really?”
Judy said with interest. “Then you may be a very strong sensitive if you can see her even when she doesn't necessarily want you to.”
“Well if Killian's presence is what's causing her to act up, why are things happening when he's not here?” Steve asked. “We've been having a lot of trouble with work crews getting so spooked they actually quit. I don't think it was anything major, certainly no one saw her that I know of, but things disappearing, footsteps where no one is supposed to be, and that damn baby crying.”
“Killian isn't causing her to act up. She's trying to get our attention for some reason. She may sense that Killian is a sensitive and step up her efforts when he is here, but it seems like she's attempting to make some sort of contact all the time.”
“She's been quiet tonight,” Adam pointed out.
“Good,” Kane threw in.
Just then a huge flash of lightning lit up the room followed almost instantaneously by an ear-shattering crack of thunder. The whole house seemed to shake as the light flickered and threatened to go out.
“Maybe the storms just drowning her out,” Steve said dryly.
“Do we have any candles here in case the lights go out?” Adam asked Steve.
“Oh, great, just what we need,” Kane wailed. “Being in a haunted house during a storm just isn't complete without the electricity going out and everyone stumbling around with candles. How cliché can you get?”
“Kane,” Adam said in a warning tone. It was clear his patience was beginning to wear thin with Kane's constant bitching.
Steve cleared his throat. “No candles, but I have a flashlight out in the car, maybe I should go get that.”
“I have one, too,” Judy said.
“Me too,” Micah added. I'd almost forgotten he was there, he'd been so quiet.
“Come on, Micah,” Steve said, “You and I can go get them. No sense in all of
us getting
wet. Where is yours at Judy?”
“In the glove compartment,” she told him and they hurried from the room. She turned back to me once they were gone. “I think Steve said that she seems to have a fixation on the door that leads to the cupola and that's actually where you saw her, right?”