The Ghoul Next Door

chapter Thirteen

Bright and early the next morning, Mindy and I sat at a table in the local hotel’s conference room. Why we had to meet the production crew at six a.m., I had no idea. Were they trying to punish me? My mouth didn’t even work beyond a few grunts until after eight a.m. and caffeine. Not to mention I really needed to cut down on the margarita fests. It felt as if I had tiny hammers pounding away in my head.

After the preliminary meeting this morning, the show would pick me up at my house tomorrow morning and take us to the undisclosed haunted location. We didn’t know exactly where it was yet, but we’d been told that it wasn’t far from Magnolia. That wasn’t a lot of information to go by. With any luck, I’d convince them that I needed an assistant so that Mindy could come along. Okay, they would probably think I was a diva, but it was the only way I could think to get Mindy on the show too.

As soon as Mindy had found out about Chasing Demons, visions of traveling across the globe sprang into her head. She talked about glamorous places like New York City and Los Angeles, but I was content with staying in Magnolia.

Mindy had been talking non-stop since we’d arrived. Not to mention my ghost friends had tagged along. Strangely, they sat at a different table across the room, as if they didn’t want me to know what they were saying.

“All I’m saying is why can’t they send you somewhere else? The whole point of doing a show like this is so you can get a vacation. But, no, we’re stuck right in the heart of good ol’ Magnolia.” Mindy shook her head.

I rolled my eyes. “The producer promised different locations if I’m asked to do future episodes.” He had emphasized the if part of the sentence.

Actually, I wasn’t surprised that we were staying in Kentucky for the show. The area had been a hotbed of paranormal activity as of late. I’d never seen so many ghosts and shadowy beings, not to mention all the black magic flying around. But the townsfolk had an inherent ability to ignore the fact that there were things that really did go bump in the night. They were oblivious.

Wicked people had been visiting our little town lately. Plus there were the spirits who had a way of slipping from the shadows right to my front door. Had another bad one had crept through? I wondered why I hadn’t heard about the haunting we’d investigate for the show before now.

Anyway, here we sat, waiting around a small table covered with a white tablecloth in the middle of a white room, a sea of tables around us. It looked like heaven’s orientation room with all the white. A female hotel employee set up water and glasses in the corner. The clinking of glass echoed across the large empty room. Mindy tapped her fingers against the table and I began to doze off.

After a couple seconds, Mindy tapped me on the arm and I jumped. “What? Where are we?”

“You’re drooling. Wake up before the show-business people walk in and think you’re a complete and utter nut.”

“I’m pretty sure they already think that. The psychic is always the nut, right?” I snorted.

Psychic Medium. As long as I’d been dealing with my gift, the title still seemed strange sometimes. I tried to keep my ability a secret as much as possible. Magnolia’s residents would now call me ‘special.’ That was their label for anyone who was unique. They already thought I was a little odd, I sensed it. Maybe they knew more about the paranormal than I thought.

My ‘special’ wouldn’t be considered the good special in their eyes. Yeah, now I’d be looked at with a suspicious eye. Whispered about and watched everywhere I went. Was being on TV worth all that? I wasn’t sure I was ready for the kind of attention this show might bring. But even if they did talk and give me odd looks, I would never leave Magnolia.

My grandfather had always encouraged me to embrace my talent. I spent many hours with him on that old fishing pond across town, and we’d talked the whole time. He liked to use colorful phrases. His favorite being: let sleeping demons lie.

I always asked, “Don’t you mean ‘let sleeping dogs lie’?”

“No, I mean demons,” he’d said with a wild-eyed look.

I still wasn’t sure I knew what he had meant, but I had my suspicions. Did he know more about the spirit world than he’d let on?

Mindy broke my reverie. “Do you think I’ll be possessed by a demon if I go on this investigation with you? ’Cause that could throw a kink in my plans.”

I patted her hand. “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about as long as you do what I tell you.”

I wouldn’t lie to her and say that having a demon become attached to her wasn’t possible. Possession was no walk in the park. I’d seen it before and it still scared the bejeezus out of me. I’d used a Ouija board once when I was young and hadn’t known any better. A nasty demon had come forward that night and it had stayed around me for a long time until one day it just went away. I’d always wondered and waited for the day it would return. Honestly, I’d known better than to use that darn board, but I’d tried it anyway. My world had been turned upside down at the time and I’d been in emotional upheaval, so it was no surprise. It was the teenage years, what could I say? Boy problems, school problems, and not to mention trying to get those little rubber bands attached to my braces on a daily basis. All of that was enough to make anyone a miserable mess, and therefore, quite appealing to demons.

Had that demon from years ago popped back up again like a nasty rash, only worse? There had to be some explanation for what I’d seen the other night. Perhaps getting involved in a show about demons wasn’t the wisest of decisions. It was like I was just asking for trouble.

“I’m getting a Diet Coke.” Mindy jumped from her seat, breaking me from my thoughts again. “Do you want one?”

“No, I’m good.” I stretched in the chair.

What was taking these people so long anyway? If this really was a joke, I’d be more than a little perturbed. I watched Mindy as she strolled toward the exit sign. Within seconds the door rattled, and Mindy hurried back in, allowing the heavy door to slam shut again. She panted and clutched her chest.

“My gosh, Mindy. What the heck? Are you all right?” I jumped up from my chair and rushed over.

“I ran,” she said between pants.

“Is something chasing you?” A fair question in my line of work. “Should I be concerned?”