The Ghosts Of New Orleans (A PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND CONTAINMENT DIVISION (PRCD) CASE FILE) (13 page)

Eloise nodded.

“Well, the good news is that I’ve
just had my first paranormal sighting.  The bad news is that she saw me, too.”

Eloise looked out the window and
saw Delphine gliding quickly across the lawn towards the house, her glaring
eyes fixed on the attic window.  With her hair flowing behind her and her arms
outstretched in front of her, she floated over the ground at a pace that
mortals would consider a fast sprint.

“She’s going to be in the house in
a matter of minutes,” Eloise said, looking around the room. “And if the only
way out is the same way we came in – there is no way she’s not going to catch
us.”

“Will the amulet at least protect
you?” she asked.

Eloise shook her head, “Only if she
wants to snatch my spirit,” she said, “Not if she wants to fling a knife across
the room into my heart.”

“Crap,” Sally said, “We could
really use a little help about now.”

Sally felt a chill down her spine
and slowly turned around.  Standing next to her was a little black girl whose
wrists still held the leather thongs that she had cut earlier.  Her hair was in
braids and she wore a little cotton shift.  The child smiled up at Sally and
then motioned for her to come with her.

Sally tugged Eloise’s shirt and
Eloise turned, seeing the girl.  Sally’s eyes were filled with tears as she
looked down at the sweet little girl.

“Come on, I think my new friend
here is going to help us out.”

The girl led the two down the
staircase, but instead of continuing down the hall, she turned and pressed a
knob on the wall.  Instantly, one of the panels in the hall opened, revealing a
servant’s staircase.  The panel was about two feet wide and four feet high.

“A secret passage,” Sally
whispered. “I knew there had to be one.”

The little girl moved to the side
and motioned for them to go ahead.

“Can’t you come?” Sally asked.

The girl sadly shook her head and
stepped aside.

Sally turned grief stricken eyes to
Eloise.

“She’s safe for now,” Eloise
promised. “But we’ll come back and make sure that she goes home.”

They stepped through the doorway
and the panel slid back in place, leaving them in total darkness.  The stairway
was very narrow and steep.  They placed their hands on either side of the wall
and hurried down the steps.  Cobwebs brushed against their faces and the
scurrying sounds around them told them that they were not the only occupants of
the stairwell.  Sally stepped down on the next stair and something moved
beneath her foot.

“Oh, gross,” she whispered.

“Keep going,” Eloise whispered
urgently behind her, “I think Delphine is in the house.”

This reminder urged Sally down the
stairs even faster.  With an outstretched hand, she felt the door at the
bottom. 

She felt around for the doorknob
and some kind of large insect ran across the top of her hand, she pulled back
for a moment and then felt around until she found it.

Slowly she pushed the door open and
entered the kitchen.  They ran across the room and out a screen door.  A narrow
dirt path led directly to a small grove of pecan trees.  Rushing to the trees,
they continued running down the path, the full branches of the trees providing
them a cover from anyone looking out of the windows of the house.  After about a
half mile, the grove opened to a large meadow.  Eloise and Sally stopped at the
edge of the grove and leaned against the large trunk of an old tree, trying to
catch their breath.

“Okay, I think the SUV is in that
direction,” Eloise panted, pointing across the meadow and to the right.

“So, what’s the plan?” Sally asked,
bent over with her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths.

“Well, the way I see it is that
once we leave this grove Delphine can see us and will come after us,” Eloise
said, “So my plan is that we run like hell.”

Sally lifted her head up and met
Eloise’s eyes. “Good plan,” she said.

“Okay, let’s go.”

They started running across the
field, Eloise swerving back and forth in the field.

“Why are you running like that?”
Sally yelled, following Eloise’s steps.

“There are spirits all over the
place out here,” Eloise replied. “I’m trying to avoid running through them.”

Sally nodded. “Good idea,” she
said, paying more attention to exactly where Eloise ran.

When they had run another quarter
mile, they heard a terrifying scream of rage coming from the house.

Eloise turned back to Sally. “I
would guess that she’s seen us. Can you run faster?”

“Oh, yeah, after that scream, I can
run much faster.”

They sprinted across the field,
their goal another small grove of trees at the far end.  The screaming
continued, but it was getting closer.  Sweat dripped from their faces and they
wiped their arms across their foreheads to keep the sweat out of their eyes. 
They entered the grove at a full run and found a narrow path that was overgrown
with branches and thickets.  They barreled through, uncaring of the scratches
they received on their arms, legs and faces.

“I think this is the path that led
to the carriage house,” Eloise cried. “We can turn up here to get back to the SUV.”

They turned up the path and
continued to run.  The screams echoed in the woods. They ran faster.

“How far can she follow us?” Sally
asked.

“I guess we’re going to find out,”
Eloise said.

They broke into the clearing and
ran towards the parked SUV.  Eloise reached in her pocket for her automatic
door lock switch and unlocked the doors as they ran.  They pulled open the
doors and climbed inside.  Looking out the windshield, they could see Delphine
flying down the final few yards in the grove.  Her face was contorted with rage
and here eyes glowed with fire. Eloise fumbled with the keys, trying to insert
them into the lock.

“Hurry, hurry,” Sally cried,
watching Delphine fly out of the grove towards them.

Eloise stuck the key in and turned
the car on. She immediately threw it into reverse and floored the accelerator. 
The SUV spun backwards and scattered gravel and dirt everywhere. Then she
pushed it into drive and flew across the uneven ground toward the road.  In her
rear view mirror she could see Delphine was still pursuing them, only yards
behind the car.  Eloise pounded the accelerator; the vehicle flew over a small
hill and hit the ground with wheels spinning and dirt flying. The wheels hugged
the ground and jumped forward upon impact. They pulled onto the road and, to
Eloise’s relief, Delphine stopped at the property line.

When they were five miles down the
road, Eloise pulled off to the side of the road and turned to Sally.

“You okay?” she asked, her breath
coming out in gasps.

Sally stared at her wide-eyed for a
moment. “Where did you learn to drive like that?” she finally asked.

Eloise grinned. “Four-wheeling in Wisconsin. Where did you learn to run like that?”

Sally shook her head and a smile
finally appeared on her face. “Shut up.”

They both grinned at each other,
Eloise put the SUV into drive and they headed home.

“Begging your pardon, ma’am,” Sgt.
Turner said, as Eloise and Sally climbed out of the SUV at the base camp. “But
we had orders to protect you starting this morning. Your trip was clearly
unauthorized.”

Eloise looked at the big burly man
with a mask of surprise and innocence on her face. “Oh, I’m so sorry,
Sergeant,” she replied. “I had no idea.  I thought you were coming this evening
at eight p.m.”

“No, ma’am,” he replied. “We were
distinctly told to report at 0800 hours.”

Eloise shook her head and tapped
her forehead. “Oh, you know, I always get that military time confused – you
meant eight o’clock in the morning and I thought eight o’clock at night. It’s
totally my fault, I am so sorry.  I certainly hope we didn’t worry you.”

She smiled at him with her most
apologetic look.

Sergeant Turner looked confused.

“Well, I suppose as long as no one
got hurt, it’s fine, ma’am,” he said.

“Thank you, Sergeant, I really
appreciate your understanding,” she said. “Could I at least make it up to you,
can we offer you some lunch or something.  Sally’s cooking.”

The sergeant, quite aware of what
Sally considered cooking, politely and quickly declined.

“No, uh, I mean no thank you, ma’am,”
he said. “Me and Sergeant Anderson are set up fine.”

He pointed over to a large
double-room sized tent complete with generator and running water. 

“Okay, sergeant, just call out if
you need something,” Eloise said as she and Sally entered the motor home.

“Using my cooking as an evasive tactic
was not nice,” Sally said, “Effective, but not nice.”

Eloise chuckled. “I’ve got to use
what I can,” she said, “Now, let’s get cleaned up and start looking over these
journals.”

Eloise stripped off her uniform and
stepped into the tiny bathroom.  She reached inside the shower and turned the
water on – hot and strong.  She slipped off her underwear and then reached up
to untie the ribbon that held the amulet around her neck.  She slipped the
amulet off and retied the ribbon, hanging it from the shower caddy surrounding
the shower head.  She stepped in the shower, enjoying the feel of the hot stinging
water on her body. She lathered up, using her favorite lavender soap, trying to
wash away the sweat and the memories from the day. 

Her thoughts turned to the scenes
from the attic.  She could easily take the horrible images from her dream and
transpose them onto the bodies in the attic.  She could envision their cries of
pain, their eyes filled with agony.  Tears slipped down her cheeks, mingling
with the water from the shower.  She could picture the sweet little girl who
helped them. 

She closed her eyes for a moment,
to bring the sweet face back into view. But this time, instead of a smiling
face, the girl was panicked.  She was trying to yell at Eloise, fear in her
eyes.  Eloise felt a cold chill run down her spine.  Then she felt a slice of
pain on her face.

Eloise tore open her eyes and
grabbed for the amulet just as the room started to get hazy. Her fingers closed
around the red material and tightened, as she felt herself being pulled away.  With
her amulet in her hand, the hazy feeling withdrew, leaving Eloise standing in
the shower, adrenalin pumping through her body.

“No, you can’t hurt me,” she cried
out loud. “You can’t have me.”

Eloise leaned her head against the
side of the stall and took a deep breath. With deliberation, she untied the
ribbon and retied it around her neck.

“Thanks, little one,” she murmured,
once again grateful for Sally’s small act of kindness towards the little girl.

Eloise walked out of her room a few
minutes later, dressed in an oversized tee shirt and cut off shorts.  Sally was
already in the kitchen, dressed in a black sports bra and black runner’s
shorts.  She was grilling a couple of hamburgers on the stove.

Eloise was amazed.  “Don’t tell me
that you are actually cooking red meat,” she exclaimed.

Sally grinned, without turning to
look at Eloise.

“I feel I’ve had a traumatic enough
day to be justified in regressing to our cave dwelling ancestors,” she replied.

“Sally, after our day today – you
deserve a side of beef.”

Sally laughed, but her laughter
stopped when she turned and looked at Eloise.

“Crap, what happened to you?”

“What do you mean?” Eloise asked,
perching on the stool next to the counter.

Sally picked up a small mirror on
the counter and handed it Eloise.  Eloise held it up and saw, to her horror,
that she had a long jagged red scratch across her cheek, surrounded by a red
mark in the shape of a hand.

She reached up and touched it,
wincing at the tenderness.

“Ow, well obviously someone needs a
manicure,” she replied, setting the mirror back on the counter.

“What happened?” Sally demanded.

Eloise shrugged. “I was stupid and
took the amulet off in the shower.  Delphine tried to take me away again – but,
thanks to the help of our new little friend, all she got in was a good left
cross to my cheek.”

Sally opened the freezer and pulled
out an ice pack and placed it on Eloise’s cheek.

“Looks like she’s pretty pissed,”
Sally said.

Eloise nodded. “I’d say so.”

“I could call tall, dark and
military,” Sally suggested.

Eloise placed a firm hand over
Sally’s that held the ice pack in place.

“Sally, we don’t call Paul,” Eloise
said, “You saw what Delphine is capable of – she’s going to try and destroy
anyone who gets in her way.  I can’t risk Paul and, since she’s seen you, I
don’t want you going back to the plantation again.  Since we weren’t connected
through my dream, I think you’ll be safe here at base.”

Eloise released Sally’s hand and
Sally dropped the ice pack on the counter. 

“Don’t you understand that the
people who care about you are willing to risk their lives in order to help
you?”

Eloise nodded. “Yeah, I do,” she
said, “But if you were in my shoes, would you accept their help?”

Sally turned away. “I don’t know,
yes…, no…,” she shook her head, “All I do know is that I would gladly go back
to that plantation with you and run until my lungs burst, if that would help.”

Eloise stood up, walked around the
counter and gave Sally a hug.

“Thanks, I appreciate that, I
really do,” she said, “But perhaps we’ll find some information in those
journals that will help us get her without going back.”

Sally sighed and then moved away
from Eloise.  She flipped the burgers and stood at the oven for a moment and
then said, “You don’t really believe that do you?”

Eloise went back to the stool and
sat down, propped her elbows on the counter and lowered her head into her
hands. “No, I think that I’m going to have to go back, if for nothing else to
release the spirits of those she tortured,” Eloise admitted.

Sally slipped the burgers onto the
prepared buns and handed a plate to Eloise. “Well then we better make sure that
you have the upper hand.”

Eloise smiled and took a bite out
of the burger.