Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (7 page)

“
I love all your songs… and
your movies. I went to Graceland once and took the deluxe golden
tour.” I used air quotes with one hand while steering with the
other. “Like the whole shebang. I saw everything and even stayed in
the Heartbreak Hotel.” Okay, way to stay cool, Larue. I was a
blathering fool. Thankfully, I’d left out the part about crying
over his grave and secretly looking for his ghost.

Elvis gave a hearty chuckle—a sexy,
hearty chuckle. “I’m glad you enjoyed the visit. I know a lot of
people go to Graceland and I’m happy that it’s there for everyone
to enjoy.”

“
I bet you enjoyed it when
you lived there.”

“
Yes, ma’am. But I had to
buy the place. The neighbors at my old house got tired of all the
fans around. It wasn’t fair to them, so I found
Graceland.”

“
I can see their
point.”

To my disappointment, we pulled into
my driveway and it was time to end the conversation. With any luck,
we could pick back up later without the interruption of Mr.
Fine.

I hadn’t lied to Mindy when I said the
day had been an uneventful one, all things considered. I would
admit though, having ghosts hanging around wasn’t easy, but when
one of them was Elvis Presley, well, that was almost too much to
handle.

I made my way through the front door
with Elvis and Mr. Fine following close behind.

“
Please make yourself at
home, Elvis. My home is your home.”

“
Hey, you didn’t say that to
me.” Mr. Fine pointed at me with his cigarette.

“
Exactly.” I
smirked.

“
You have a lovely home,”
Elvis said as he looked at the photos on the mantel.

“
Thank you.” I
smiled.

“
Whatever,” Mr. Fine
huffed.

I’d bought an old farmhouse of the
outskirts of town. It was a great combination of old and new. I’d
painted the walls with warm yellows, greens and browns and added
splashes of color around to add cheer. One of my favorite things
was the overstuffed sofa. I loved to curl up with a good
book.

I made my way from the living room
into the kitchen, but something was different. The house now held a
strange vibe. It was as if it was being haunted, but it wasn’t the
ghosts standing next to me that made me feel that way. Had the
shadow being returned? Becky Schultz had been a nasty witch who
sent a shadowy being to harass me. She’d been taken away for
practicing black magic just like Brianna.

I wanted to chalk the feeling up to my
imagination, but I’d only be fooling myself. There was something
else that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, and I was usually very
good at finding the source of bad vibes. This one had me perplexed.
I really needed another living person around to help me shake the
bad feeling. Since Callahan was busy doing inventory at his shop
tonight, I couldn’t ask him to stop by. I’d have to beg Mindy to
come over after her class.

Sure, I hadn’t allowed Mindy to talk
me into pole fitness, but I knew I’d owe her a class attendance.
She’d get me soon enough. In reality, she should beg me not to
attend. I wasn’t exactly graceful. Most other students in the
classes I took part in spend the whole class watching me make a
fool out of myself instead of actually exercising. But I
digressed.

If I asked Mindy over for a margarita
night and burritos, maybe I could sweet-talk my way out of a few
classes. Not to mention, she wouldn’t be able to resist coming over
to hear more about my latest celebrity ghost.

Mindy picked up the phone after one
ring. “You think you’re so clever by calling me after
class.”

“
Hey, I haven’t scared
anyone with my gyrating body moves, bruised myself, or embarrassed
you, so I think you should thank me.”

“
You can’t get out of doing
my class forever. I’ll catch up to you,” she warned.

“
Why don’t you come over for
burrito and margarita night?” I said in a singsong
voice.

“
Darn you, Larue. You know I
can’t say no now. You have Elvis Presley in your living room. I
know I can’t see him, but just knowing he’s there. He’s still
there, right?”

I glanced over at Elvis who was trying
to be polite to Mr. Fine by listening to his God-awful
caterwauling. “He’s still here. He’s actually singing in my living
room right now.”

Okay, I lied. That
was
so
not nice of
me, but I figured it was a little payback for all the embarrassing
pole fitness classes. I’d make her tough it out for a minute, then
confess the truth.

“
What! That is so not fair.
I want to be psychic too.”

“
Careful what you wish for.
It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.”

“
So what song is he singing
now?” she asked around a sigh.

I couldn’t hold back my giggle. “He’s
not singing right now. He’s just sitting in my kitchen.”

“
I’ll get you for that,
Larue Donavan.”

“
Are you coming over here
for margaritas or what?” I asked.

“
I’ll be over in a
few.”

“
Oh, pick up some cheese,” I
said. “We need lots and lots of cheese.”

“
Yum. I miss cheese,” Elvis
said.

Note to self: don’t bring bananas or
peanut butter into the house while Elvis was there.

A short time later, the front door
squeaked and I knew it must be Mindy. Scratch that, I assumed it
was Mindy. For all I knew, the footsteps could be from another
ghost ready to camp out at my house. Thank goodness she was there
though. Maybe now I could forget about the strange vibe that hung
in the air.

“
Mindy, is that you?” I
called out.

I hoped she replied. I really didn’t
want to deal with another ghost right now.

“
I’m here. I have the stuff
for the burritos,” she said as she entered the kitchen.

“
Oh, great. It’s her again.”
Mr. Fine snorted.

“
Shut up, Mr. Fine,” I said
without even looking in his direction.

Mindy placed the bags on the counter
and began scanning the area. I knew who she was looking for and I
felt sorry for her not being able to see Elvis. He was her
favorite.

I pulled the cheese from the bag.
“I’ll start the food if you get the blender.”

“
What’s this?” Mindy pulled
the witch’s ball from the package where I’d left it on the table
that morning.

“
It’s called a witch’s ball.
It captures bad spirits. At least that’s how the story goes.
Anyway, it was on my front porch this morning. I’m not sure who
sent it or why.”

She placed her hand on her hip. “I
can’t believe you didn’t tell me about it.”

“
I know. I guess I was a
little distracted by Elvis.” I pulled the glass pitcher from the
cabinet.

Elvis winked and I blushed.

“
Where are you going to hang
it?” she asked, spinning it around from the string attached at the
top.

I looked at the twirling ball. “How
about in front of that window?” I pointed toward the small kitchen
window.

“
It’ll look nice there,”
Elvis said.

Yeah, well, he looked nice anywhere in
my house. I liked the touch he added to the scenery.

“
Elvis likes it,” I added
with a grin.

Mindy looked around and giggled. I
know it had been awhile since Elvis had experienced this kind of
giddiness, but he probably never forgot the type of reaction he
stirred in women. Mindy reached up and hooked the ball to a small
nail that I’d hung over the window. I’d had a sun-catcher there
until I’d accidentally broken it while knocking down a
cobweb.

The sun shone through the ball,
cascading the purple and blue colors across the room. When I
watched the ball twirl, a strange sensation took hold. I’d had this
feeling many times in the past. It was the same creepy feeling I’d
had recently when the strange dark shadow had followed me around,
but that had been associated with the black magic Becky had
performed. I was glad that witch was no longer in Magnolia. But why
was I feeling this again?

As Mindy reached up to attach the
string on the nail, she said, “You know, I’m getting a bad vibe in
your house tonight, Larue. Something is giving me the creeps. And I
have zero psychic ability. If I’m picking up on it, what are you
feeling?”

Should I tell her that I felt the same
way? Since I couldn’t keep secrets from her, I knew I had to say
something.

Mindy had stepped away from the
ornament, watching it dance through the fading sunlight. Without
warning, the ornament floated away from the nail and smashed onto
the hardwood floor below.

“
What the hell just
happened? Did you see that?” Mindy’s eyes widened and her mouth
hung open.

The ornament had shattered and wisps
of smoke danced up from the broken pieces. The dark mist floated up
from the floor away from the shards of glass and then the cloud
swirled and grew in intensity until reaching the ceiling. Once
there, it slithered over to the corner of the room, crawling down
the wall until it reached the floor.

A dark figure hovered in the corner
and seemed to watch us. I couldn’t be sure though, because it had
no distinguishable facial features. A strong presence emanated from
this mist—anger, distrust, and jealousy came off it in waves.
Whatever this thing was, I knew it was aware of us.

The thing felt like a demonic spirit
and it had come right out of the witch’s ball. How had the glass
fallen? Had Mindy not hung it securely on the nail? It had looked
as if it had been thrown from the nail by unseen hands. I knew it
wasn’t Elvis or Mr. Fine because they’d been standing behind me the
entire time. I prayed it wasn’t a demon. I could handle a person or
ghost, but I didn’t want to face a demon.

The spirit continued to take shape as
it remained in the corner of the room, watching us as if we were
the intruders. The bad vibe continued to waft off the spirit,
floating across the room and smacking us in the face. Yeah, this
was definitely not a happy spirit. How could the foreboding feeling
be so strong and fly all the way across the room?

As long as it stayed over there in the
corner, I wouldn’t have to tell Mindy to run, but if it came
closer, she’d have to get out of the house before it attacked her.
I couldn’t risk the consequences of having this thing assault my
best friend.

The thing continued to hover a few
inches off the floor. A white glow ringed the outer edge of the
otherwise pitch black form. The eyes weren’t visible, so I had no
idea if this thing was watching us at the moment. The glowing ring
around it expanded, growing wider and wider. I shifted from one
foot to the other, not sure what my next move should be.

My heart rate increased. I might have
dealt with spirits all my life, but no matter how hard I tried, I
couldn’t hold back my fear. Demons fed on fear, though, so I had to
keep it in. I’d learned to conceal my emotions years ago—the hard
way. Plus, I didn’t want Mindy to panic. I needed to put on my
big-girl panties. Mindy and I surely could kick some demon ass if
we had to, right? I’d taken on the role of ghost-hunter, now I
needed to live up to that title.

What did this thing want from us? Was
this the same dark shadow that I thought I’d gotten rid of when the
black magic stopped? Or had it never left in the first place? Had
it really attached itself to me? Maybe I was just overreacting, but
having a demon attached to me would not be cool—more than a slight
inconvenience.

Mr. Fine and Elvis stared at the
thing, standing in a guarded position. They would be no match for
an evil spirit. They didn’t have the energy needed to fight this
thing.

I shifted from foot to foot
again—ready to fight if I had to. I’d waited long enough. We needed
to get out of there before something bad happened. If this evil
spirit attacked Mindy, I might not be able to stop it.

I opened my mouth to tell Mindy to run
when this black shadow began to take an actual human form. A ghost
was appearing from the mist. Maybe my instincts had been wrong.
Maybe this was just a regular spirit and I needed to give the ghost
a chance to come forward before I pulled out the holy water. As
much as the ghosts annoyed me, I did enjoy helping them cross from
this world to the next. Most of them had unfinished business or
just wanted to talk with loved ones and they didn’t mean anyone
harm.

Finally after several seconds, the
ghost appeared brighter than I’d seen any ghost in a long
time.

Mindy let out a gasp. “I can see her,”
she said.

“
That’s because she’s
sucking so much of our energy. Your visual of her will fade in a
minute. She’s obviously a strong one.”

The ghost had long, flowing blonde
hair and dewy, perfect skin. Her red dress hugged her bosom and
hips and flowed out just above her knees. Her red heels and red
lipstick matched the dress.

“
What do you want?” I asked
the ghostly woman.