Haunted (52 page)

"You've lost me, Amber. You and David will have to tell me more after these people clear out. It's just too fantastic." She grinned. "Especially the part about the chief of police buying into all of this."

"Well, Dad told me that he's going to be here tonight, so you can ask him yourself."

"Quiet, everybody!" called a gravel-voiced crewman. "We're going to roll."

Romero, who had been bent over Pelinore giving her last minute instructions--or staring at her tits--rose and seated himself in an empty chair directly across from her. "Ready," he called.

Amber settled comfortably on the couch and turned her attention to the séance table.

"And five, four, three, two, one," called the crewman. "And action."

The lights were slowly dimmed until the glass-encased votive candles flickered eerily on the table, underlighting the faces of the sitters. Except for her dad, Romero, and Pelinore, Amber didn't know any of the rest of them, though she was pretty sure that the youngest, a sandy-haired man in his early twenties, was a grocery clerk in Greenaway's. For some reason, that struck her as funny.

"Everyone please join hands," Pelinore ordered imperiously. She waited for her sitters to comply, then continued on in the same tone. "Tonight, I will attempt to contact some of the spirits inhabiting this house, and perhaps send them into the light, but to do so I shall need everyone's cooperation. You must remain silent until the spirit indicates it is ready to answer questions, and you must remain seated. I will first call upon my guide, Spiros, and Reverend Alice will ask him certain questions before we go on." She looked at David and then at Romero. "Spiros is a benevolent teacher who lived thousands of years ago on the lost continent of Atlantis. He is here to offer us his wisdom and guidance and he presents no danger to anyone here. But--" She arched her eyebrows meaningfully. "But the poor misguided spirits within these walls may be very dangerous until we convince them we're their friends and want to help them."

Give me a break! Amber and Mel exchanged a roll of the eyes.

Theo was still yammering away, as if she were queen of the universe. "I must insist that, no matter what you see or hear, you do not break the circle. Keep your hands firmly grasped and on the table at all times. If the chain is broken, I, as your channel, am in great bodily danger."

Break it! Break it! Amber glanced at Melanie and barely contained a giggle. They both knew that the main reason a charlatan psychic didn't want a circle broken was to ensure that she could perform her under-the-table hocus pocus with less chance of getting caught in the act.

Pelinore closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Spiros, are you here?" A long moment passed, then her eyelids snapped open, her posture turned from relaxed to rigid, and she examined the others with bird-like intensity.

"I am Spiros," she said, "and may you all be blessed."

If E.T. were from India, he’d sound just like her. Amber clamped her hand over her mouth and didn't dare look at Melanie.

"I have a question, Spiros," said a tiny middle-aged woman.

Theo cocked her head as if she were ready to snag a worm with her beak. "Sister Alice, ask your question."

"Tonight, Sister Theodora is going to try to release the spirits trapped in this house. I ask you to protect everyone here and to give us your blessing. In return we give you, as always, our eternal faith and devotion."

Gag me. Amber tried not to fidget, wishing Pelinore would get on with the show.

"As always, I am with you."

"Can you give us insight into the nature of the spirits trapped here?" Alice asked.

"They are legion--"

Suddenly, the spotlight nearest Romero blazed so brightly that the sitters' skin looked paper white. An instant later, it exploded. Romero cringed but stayed put as sparkling bits of shattered glass fell into his hair. "Did you get that?" he called as one of his crew raced to the lamp.

"Got it," called the man at the main camera.

The minicam operator came around the table and focused on Romero.

"Folks, things are starting to happen here. One of our lights has just exploded and now the room seems to be filling with some exotic flower scent."

Amber jumped as something touched her arm, but it was only Melanie, staring at her questioningly. Amber leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Christabel's here." Melanie nodded and took her hand.

"Beware!" Theo called in the Spiros voice. "There is danger here!"

POP! Another light exploded, then three more, the sounds mixing with screams from several of the sitters and Romero's frantic cries of "Did you get that? Did you get that?"

The revolting odor of decayed flesh began to underlie the jasmine, stronger than Amber had ever smelled it before, and as the final bulb exploded, she heard Romero doing a blow-by-blow, Pelinore doing Spiros, someone sobbing and someone else retching, all that behind her own breathing, which was loudest of all.

Melanie's hand gripped hers like iron. "What--" she began to whisper, then stopped, as Christabel's laughter rang through the house.

"Jesus, did you get that?" Romero screamed.

"Not registering," called the crewman.

"Keep rolling!" Romero ordered as the crew scurried.

"Not enough light, but we're rolling!" called the camera operator.

"Fix the damn lamps!"

"We're working on it, Jer," called the gravelly-voiced one.

"Ted, turn on the overheads!"

"They're not working! Mr. Masters, where's the fuse box?"

"In the kitchen." David started to rise, barely visible in the flickering candlelight

"Don't break the circle!" Alice ordered.

"I'll show you!" Amber called out. She rose, Melanie with her, Ted following them as she headed toward the doorway that led to the dining room and through the kitchen.

Suddenly, something cold and invisible slammed into her, and she fell backward, toppling Melanie and the crewman like dominoes.

"Amber!" cried her dad.

"We're okay, Dad!" she called, scrambling to her feet. As she helped Melanie up, Ted moved past them, his arms out in front of him. He reached the doorway and flinched back. "It's there," he said in a shaky voice. "It won't let us through."

"Nonsense." Romero rose.

"Don't break the circle!" Alice ordered.

Romero glanced at her as he pulled his hands free. "We've got something real here, lady."

Amber watched as Romero, followed by her Dad, ran toward them.

The telejournalist, still talking into his mike, approached them. "What did it feel like?" he asked Amber.

"David!" Melanie said as he put one arm around her and the other around his daughter.

"Can you tell me what it felt like?" Romero persisted.

"Feel it for yourself," David said, leading Amber and Melanie back to the couch with him.

"Hold this." Romero handed the wireless mike to Ted, then put his hands out. "Jesus," he whispered. "That's cold." He took the mike, said something into it, then called his minicam operator over, refusing to listen to his protests that it was too dark to get anything on tape.

An instant later, he backed up, then ran forward, barreling into the doorway. He yelled as he was thrown halfway across the room to crash into a side chair, face first.

"You okay, Jerry?" Ted bent over him.

Romero sat up, hands cupping his nose. "I think it's broken."

"You want to go to the emergency room, boss?" Ted asked hopefully.

"No. David, are there Band-Aids in the bathroom?"

"Medicine cabinet."

"I'll be right back."

The moment Romero left the room, the air became sodden with the stench of jasmine and decay.

"Look!" Amber said, as a blackness partially occluded the candlelight.

"Christabel," whispered David.

The dark mass moved toward Pelinore and then her face was veiled with the blackness.

Pelinore started to scream, but then it turned into a laugh, Christabel's laugh, rising higher and higher.

Body House's lights came to life and the horrible odors disappeared at the same moment that Jerry Romero, a Band-Aid across his nose, reappeared.

"What's going on?" he asked, staring at the disheveled group. "Are we rolling?"

"Rolling," confirmed the gravel-man as Ted handed Romero his mike.

"Folks, what we're seeing here tonight confirms Body House's infamous reputation and--"

"David, why did it stop?" Melanie asked softly as Romero talked on. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I'm not sure."

"Christabel’s in Pelinore," Amber whispered.

"Maybe," he allowed. "But look at her. Does she look possessed to you?"

Pelinore was smiling and nodding and answering Romero's questions.

"I guess she looks normal," Amber said finally.

As they watched, Pelinore turned and said something to the channeling group, most of whom still looked pretty green. After a moment, they rose en masse and filed from the table.

While Pelinore lingered, talking to Romero, Reverend Alice approached, pale and shaken, her crystal-packers in tow. Mr. Masters, thank you for having us at your-- " she hesitated, "ah, at your home tonight."

"My pleasure," he said smoothly.

Alice only nodded, and they all high-tailed it for the door.

A moment later, engines hummed to life and several sets of headlights played against the stained glass as the New Agers turned their cars around and drove off.

"Guess they couldn't take it, huh, Dad?"

"Kiddo, I wasn't sure I could take it." He shook his head and gave them a helpless smile. "Will you ladies excuse me a moment? I want to get Theo out of here and have a word with Romero about tomorrow."

Body House: 12:43 A.M

"David, hello," Theo said warmly as the novelist joined her and Jerry Romero by the séance table.

Masters studied her suspiciously before returning her greeting and she wondered if, despite the lack of lighting, he'd seen Christabel join with her.

Of course he did! Christabel told her impatiently.

The woman who called herself Theo thought she was in charge, but, in truth, she was little more than an interesting detail in Christabel's mind. She certainly appreciated the woman's strong, voluptuous body and she was amused by her arrogance and lusting, selfish nature, weak though it was. Because of Theo's infatuation with her and her willingness to be used, Christabel had so far allowed her to think she was a partner in this, just as she had that night in the ballroom. A cooperative victim did much to strengthen her powers, which was what was necessary at the moment: the theatrics she'd displayed during that farce of a séance had drained her and she would need all her strength to complete her plans.

"Quite a show," Romero was saying to Masters.

"Yes, it was," the writer agreed. "Think you got any of it on tape?"

"I hope so. I was just telling Ms. Pelinore here that she's quite a talented channeler."

David nodded. "Speaking of which, Theo, the rest of your group has left."

"I know--I dismissed them. They were rather shaken by the evening's events."

David gave her a plastic smile. "I assume you're on your way out now, too?"

"I didn't realize we were in a hurry to leave." She smiled disarmingly.

"We're tired," he said coolly. "We'd like to get some sleep."

He turned his gaze on Romero. "You're intending to be back bright and early, aren't you?"

The man nodded. "We've got spare lights with us, so we'll be back by nine A.M."

"How's your nose?" Masters asked.

His civility to Romero infuriated Theo, and Christabel had to exert her influence to keep her serenely smiling.

"I got lucky this time," Romero said, peeling off the Band-Aid. "Just a cut and a bruise, I think." He cocked his head. "So, are you actually going to sleep here tonight?"

David glanced at Theo before answering. "We haven't decided yet. We might go to a hotel."

"That's what I'd do," Romero commented as his crew began carrying their equipment out. "We were going to leave the big camera here, but given what happened earlier..."

"Good idea," David said. “Before you leave, I'd like to speak with you in private for just a moment."

He wants to talk to him behind my back, Theo thought.

Of course he does. This woman was stupid, Christabel realized. She'd done one brilliant thing and that was to take the doll of Peter Castle. It was still hidden in her skirts and Christabel could feel the presence of her former lover all around. It drove her mad. She wanted to set him free, but as soon as Theo had walked in and she'd sensed Peter was here, she'd performed a hurried spell to force him back in the broken doll, at least until she could take care of him permanently.