The Ghoul Next Door

chapter Ten

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.

Like most women, she was focused on one thing in the room, and that one thing was Elvis Presley. The devil could have been standing in front of her ready to spear her with his pitchfork and she would have pushed him to the side to keep him from blocking her view of Elvis. And I had to admit, I couldn’t blame her. I probably would have done the same thing.

I snapped my fingers. “Hello. Over here,” I said. “You can ogle Elvis later, but right now I need you to tell me who you are and what you are doing here.”

She finally forced her gaze away from Elvis. “Well, princess, I’m here because I’ve been trapped in that ball.” She pointed at the shards on the floor. “You were gracious enough to break it and let me free. For that, I am always grateful.”

Another one. Unbelievable. Had someone listed me as a contact for the dead? See Larue for spirit activity? I couldn’t believe that myth about the witch’s ball was true.