Finding the Way Back (34 page)

Emmett picked up the pot and poured me a cup
of the restaurant’s wonderfully dark, hot coffee. “Just don’t bite
me okay?” he said.

The wonderful aroma of the coffee filled me
as I added a little sugar and cream, then leaned forward and took a
sip, hoping my bad attitude hadn’t made the server spit in it. I
shrugged mentally being too tired to care. I would have to trust
the heat to kill any germs. It was amazing what didn’t bother me
when I was tired.

Ordering eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast
and pancakes perked me right up. It was my standard order to have a
little bit of everything. I couldn’t bear to miss out on any one
item. Feeling better as I dug in, I almost felt up to
conversation.

“So Laney, I filled Dean and Glen in on last
night and we’ve discussed a lot of ways we could go with this,”
Emmett said, taking a large bite of waffle.

“I’m listening,” I answered not looking
up.

“We think you should stay out of the house
while we pursue the investigation,” Emmett said quickly.

“Really?” I said, putting my fork down. They
might have thought they could move ahead with this exploration
without me but there was no way that was going to happen. I leaned
forward in my seat and looked Emmett in the eyes. “Not going to
happen,” I said almost spitting each word out. “I am the one that
they are contacting. They may not even show up without me there. I
know the risks and I will not be put aside.”

“Are you sure you know the risks, Laney?” he
asked seriously. “Your grandmother died there. Did you forget
that?”

“You think I don’t know that? Don’t you treat
me like I’m a little girl, Emmett, or I might just have to leave
you
out of this investigation.” I was itching for a fight
and it seemed as if he was going to give me one.

“Laney, just hold on,” my mother said. “I may
side with Emmett on this one.”

“You said I was in charge of this project,
Mom. I didn’t come to you, you came to me.”

“That was before all this bit about ghosts
and you getting hurt,” she answered.

I jumped up off my chair and marched into the
bathroom. Grateful it was a single stall, I locked the door. I took
a deep breath and wondered why I was so angry. I was just so tired
and I ached down to the bone. Surely, I would be more convincing if
I was level-headed. Leaning over the sink I turned on the cold
water, scooped some into my cupped hands and brought it to my
cheeks. I wiped my face with a paper towel and gazed at myself in
the mirror. My reflection looked back at me in disapproval. I was
deathly pale, there were deep circles under my eyes, and my greasy
hair pulled back in a messy bun looked like it hadn’t been washed
in days. No wonder everyone wanted me to stay home. This must be
what ‘death warmed over’ looked like.

I heard a knock on the door so I reluctantly
went to answer it. Expecting my mother, aunt or cousin, I was
surprised to see Emmett in the slit of the open door. He moved
forward pushing a hand against the door, forcing me to back up then
he shut the door behind him and locked it again.

“Laney, let’s just get one thing straight.
You’re not the boss of me.” He said it with such a grave expression
for a minute I thought he was serious but then he cracked a little
smile. “I learned that saying from you.” We both snickered and then
he pulled me into his arms. His lips met mine, and all my cares
fell away. My head started to spin and I returned his kiss, opening
my lips to feel his tongue flit between them. He released me and I
could still feel the endorphins coursing through my veins. I wasn’t
even appalled by the lack of romance of our location.

“That is why I don’t want you to go back into
that house,” he said as he leaned his forehead against mine.

I smiled and gave him another quick kiss. “I
understand, and I feel the same way. But this is something I feel I
must do. In some ways it’s for my grandmother who for some reason
is trapped in the house with that spirit, but it’s also for me.
This whole thing feels like a test of whether I can make it on my
own. I’ve been learning all kinds of things about myself throughout
this ordeal, and I need to see it through to the end just to prove
that I can.”

“You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone,
Laney.”

“Yes, I do. I have to prove it to me.”

He started to speak several times then paused
to reconsider. “I have a feeling I’m in trouble, I may never be
able to say no to those eyes.”

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed
him again to thank him.

“But you don’t have to do it alone,” he said,
returning the hug.

“Thank you for following me into the
bathroom,” I said, smiling at him.

He smiled back. “Any time.”

We walked out of the bathroom to find every
eye at the table watching us. Blithely ignoring everyone, I sat
down with aplomb to pour another cup of coffee. One down, five to
go.

Once I had Emmett’s backing, it wasn’t too
surprising that I could talk the rest of the group into allowing me
to continue in the house with them. They all seemed to respect and
trust him implicitly. We came up with some ground rules together
and I agreed to follow them. First, never to go anywhere in the
house alone; second, to speak up immediately if anything ever felt
off; and third, no crabbiness. I might have had my fingers crossed
when I promised the last one, but I was going to put my big girl
panties on again so I planned to make every effort.

As we drove up to the house I looked for any
telltale signs that it wasn’t just an ordinary house. It was the
same old, charming fixer-upper I had seen when I arrived only a few
short days ago. It felt like I’d been here for months.

Emmett got out of the truck first and ran
around the outside to open the door for me. “By the way, nice
outfit,” he whispered as I stepped out.

“Thanks,” I replied.

“Actually, I’m really missing the old one.”
He chuckled.

“I’m sure you are, but if you don’t watch it
you’re not going to get another chance to see it.” Holding my head
up haughtily, I tried to make my way daintily up the sidewalk.
Unfortunately, dainty is difficult when your chin is in the air and
I tripped on one of the steps.

I caught myself on the handrail and proceeded
more carefully. I was no longer dizzy but if I hit my head again I
feared they would take me out of the game.

My mother, Aunt Shelly and Connie were just
pulling up to the curb when I got to the door. “Wait for us,”
Connie yelled out the window.

Dean and Glen were stopping to pick up some
new gadgets and would be at the house soon, then the Scooby gang
could get started planning our assault. I would be astonished if
anything happened with such a large group descending on the house
but at least if safety was to be found in large numbers, we were
golden.

Emmett and I entered the porch then waited.
It seemed a little silly to me. I wasn’t alone if Emmett was with
me. I peeked through the windows in the front door. The angled
panes reflected rainbows of light across the walls and floor, but
everything seemed still.

When we all were perched outside the house on
the porch, I slowly swung the door open. The air inside was still
musty and old smelling but I didn’t feel any unusual vibes. I
stepped into the front entryway and stopped. Everyone crouched
behind me, waiting for me to get out of the way.

Everything was exactly as we left it. The
television and some lights were still on, but thankfully I couldn’t
see anything out of order. Emmett pushed past me and advanced
further into the house to check in the kitchen and study, then
headed upstairs. We waited quietly near the door for the all
clear.

He came down the stairs, relaxed. “All is
fine.”

“Fabulous, I’m going to go take a soaking
bath,” I said.

“I’ll go up with you,” Connie said, following
after me.

Walking back into the master bedroom, I
searched for signs of anyone present or something out of place.
Everything seemed to be in order. As a matter of fact I felt a
sense of peace in this room that I didn’t feel in the rest of the
house. I wondered if Teoline was here watching me.

Connie sat on the bed while I found something
comfortable to wear. I leaned down and pulled out some sweat pants
and a t-shirt from the drawer, feeling every battered and bruised
point on my body as I moved.

“I’m going to take an Epsom salt bath,” I
said. “I’ll leave the door to the bathroom open. Just let everyone
know they can’t come up.”

I traipsed into the bathroom and looked at
the claw footed bathtub. It would probably take ten minutes to fill
the entire thing. I hoped the hot water held out, because I needed
this more than I had needed anything in a long time.

Connie yelled down to everyone on the first
floor, not taking any chances on leaving me alone upstairs. Then
she pulled a chair into the doorway of the room and sat it facing
away from me. She found a book and seated herself to be my
warden.

I sat on the edge of the tub and turned on
the water. Adding the Epsom salts, I leaned over to swish the water
to help it dissolve. Undressing, I carefully stepped over the side
and lowered myself into the water. It was as hot as I could stand
and I leaned against the back to enjoy the sensation of warmth
spreading through my muscles. I closed my eyes and started to relax
for the first time in a week.

After about five minutes I got the feeling
someone was watching me and I slowly opened my eyes to peek. My
grandmother was sitting on the toilet gazing at me. She was wearing
the blue peignoir.

My eyes flared open and I sat up quickly.
“You have to help us. There’s another spirit in the house and we
don’t know what to do.” I spoke quickly, trying to get to the point
of our trouble before she disappeared. I leaned over the side of
the tub and grabbed my towel, stood and wrapped it about my
body.

Her whole demeanor transformed as she sat up
fully and her eyes got wide with fear. Connie turned around as I
spoke.

“We must not speak of him,” my grandmother
quavered. “He’ll hear us.” Then looking towards the door, the image
of her entire body trembled and began to fade. She looked at me one
last time and she whispered, “Find the clock.” Then she vanished
from my sight.

Chapter
Thirty-Six

Before I could say anything to Connie, I
could feel an unearthly presence coming up the stairs, and then the
footsteps in the hall confirmed it.

“I saw her too,” Connie began, but I cut her
off.

“No time for that now. He’s coming!” I
gasped, grabbing my clothing and pushing past Connie’s chair as I
took her hand and pulled her down the hallway with me. I ran for
the master bedroom, not daring to look at what was coming, more
afraid now after the thing I saw in the basement. I slammed the
door behind me as soon as we got inside and I began hurriedly
throwing my clothes on.

“I don’t think a closed door is going to stop
him,” Connie said worriedly, holding the doorknob tightly. She
heard the footsteps too.

“Emmett!” I started yelling then Connie
joined me.

It was only a few seconds later when we heard
Emmett pounding on the bedroom door. Connie let go and the door
burst open as Emmett arrived looking concerned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, breathless.

“That was fast! How did you do that?” I
asked.

“I heard your voices talking in the bathroom
excitedly then I heard a door slam. I ran up here as fast as I
could.”

“Did you see it?” Connie asked.

“I thought I saw a dark shape as I rounded
the landing at the top of the stairs, but by the time I got here it
was gone.”

“We saw Grandmother again,” I said. “Then she
vanished and I could feel the other coming.”

“We’re fine,” Connie said to our mothers,
Dean and Glen who had joined us upstairs and were just coming down
the hall.

“We can’t seem to let you do anything without
getting in trouble,” Dean teased as he walked into the room to look
out the front windows.

I quickly explained what happened and my
mother walked toward the bathroom to look inside while the rest of
us tried to calm down. She returned momentarily and asked
plaintively, “Is she still here? Can you feel her? I would so love
to see her again.”

I looked at my mom with sudden, sad
recognition. Of course, she missed her own mother terribly. I tried
to sense if there was another being present. “I don’t think so. I’m
so sorry, Mom. I can tell her you’d like to see her.”

“That’s okay. It’s probably for the best,”
she said, but not very convincingly. She sat on the bed dejectedly.
“I hate to think of her trapped here for all these years.”

Aunt Shelly sat down next to her and wrapped
an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll figure out a way to fix this,
Tess. I don’t know how, but don’t worry. We’re not leaving until
this is resolved.”

That was one thing that I had always loved
about my mother and aunt. They had nerves of steel and when they
made up their minds to do something, it was going to happen. It was
a family trait I needed to encourage more in myself.

“If you only heard footsteps this time maybe
he’s not strong enough in daylight to manifest,” Glen suggested.
“That could be an advantage for our side.”

“I wonder,” Connie said, hefting herself onto
her favorite perch, the dresser. With what little room there was I
was tempted to join her. “Is anyone interested in having a séance?
We could try to find someone who could help us.”

“That seems a tad dangerous,” Emmett said,
pacing in the small space at the end of the bed. He accidentally
knocked into me as I tried to slip past to the closet. “We don’t
want to provoke anything.”