The Ghoul Next Door

chapter Twenty-Three

“I just saw a shadow zip down the hallway,” Cooper said as he neared the door.

“What did it look like?” I peered out the door.

When I looked out into the hallway, all I saw was Mindy leaning against the wall as if a monster had nearly taken her life.

I rushed to her side. “Are you okay?”

Mindy clutched my arm. “Did you see that?” she asked breathlessly.

“Cooper saw it. It was a shadow? What did it look like?”

Cooper hurried down the hall looking for the shadow person.

“Like a shadow.” She scrunched her brow.

“Well, they can be different colors. So enlighten me,” I snapped.

Why had I snapped at her? That wasn’t like me. That strange feeling invading my body was increasing. The air seemed hot and oppressive. Mindy looked at me as if I’d just smacked her in the face.

I attempted a smile. “Sorry. I think the house must be getting to me.”

She stared for a second, then said, “It was a black blob… darker than the darkest dark.”

That was exactly what I was afraid she’d say. Shadow people were pure evil and always appeared in black. I tried to avoid them at all costs.

“Is it with us now?” I asked when Cooper returned.

My voice was barely a whisper.

“I don’t see anything. It was very dark, Larue.”

Cooper knew that that meant bad news for all of us.

“Where is it?” Mindy whispered. Panic was settling into her voice.

“All around us. I’ve never experienced anything like this. Plus, the spirit in that room is still trying to communicate with me.”

Why wouldn’t this man come out and stop playing hide and seek with me? It was as if he had a peekaboo fetish.

“What’s he saying?” Cooper asked.

“He says he’ll do whatever he wants. This is his house and we should get out.”

Cooper closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “I hear him too now.”

Mindy looked completely confused and terrified. She twisted her hands and I thought she’d developed a facial tic.

“He wants us out of here…” Cooper looked at me. “Except for you. He says the reason the evil is here is because of Larue.” Cooper pointed at me and Mindy let out a little gasp. “The demon is tormenting this family because of you, Larue. He’s playing a game of cat-and-mouse.”

My heart rate increased and sweat beaded on my forehead. I couldn’t show fear. “I’m better at the game than him,” I said.

I thought I heard the cameraman audibly gulp. He might throw the camera down and run at any moment.

Cooper continued. “He says the evil came to this family because it knew it could get you here. This is the demon’s entertainment. It wants to take this family to hell… and you too.”

If Cooper was going for the creep factor, he’d just succeeded.

Mindy pulled on my arm. “Larue, you have to get out of here.” Panic ran amok through her voice.

Cooper didn’t pay attention to Mindy’s fear. He continued relaying the message. “This demon sure likes to brag. The male spirit says the demon brags about what it’ll do to your family and friends.”

My head swam and my stomach turned. I couldn’t think about whether or not this demon really had anything to do with me or the things I’d seen at my home. I wouldn’t let this monster take anything from me. I had to banish him back to hell and finish the job I’d been called in to do.

We continued through the house going from room to room, but luckily, things seemed to have calmed down. One thing was for certain, it had drained the energy from all of us. My movements had slowed to a crawl and I needed rest. And food. Maybe an entire pizza.

Matt called over the walkie-talkie. “Why don’t we wrap this up for the day?”

Finally. The call I’d been waiting for. Putting an end to this for the day was fine with me. I needed a break from the place. I was psychically ill, but I still hated to leave Jennie there with that thing.

***

After filming ended, I needed to check on the bookstore. I wasn’t used to being away from it for this long. The crew had dropped me off at home and I needed to head straight for Book Nook. But before that, there was one thing that had been eating at me. The letter.

The letter was in an elegant cream-colored envelope. It looked so pretty compared to the other plain, boring envelopes. Even the handwriting was elegant. I grabbed the envelope. It was as if it was calling my name. Well, it did have my name right there on the front in big, black fancy letters. But I digressed. One odd thing though, it had no return address. Who could have sent it? There was only one way to find out.

I pulled out my silver letter-opener and sliced the top of the envelope. I almost hated to ruin the pretty letter, but my curiosity won out. I pulled the contents from the envelope. The scent of roses tickled my nose. A matching cream-colored piece of paper was inside. I unfolded the paper, anxious to find out what it said.

I read the letter.

Dear Ms. Donavan,

You don’t know me, but unfortunately, I know you. Frankly, I am sick of hearing about you. But I’ve finally remedied that situation. You don’t know it, but you are losing your boyfriend. Well, you never had a firm grip on him anyway, so this can’t come as a big surprise to you. Callahan and I dated for several years and we are soul-mates. I will do whatever it takes to make sure you are out of the picture. Oh, and if you know what’s good for you, you won’t mention this to Callahan. I love him and he is all mine. I will eliminate you from this equation.

Such fancy writing for such ugly words. Call me crazy, but I really didn’t like the tone of this letter. I thought the word eliminate was a little too much. I was picky like that.

“Oh, you have fan mail,” Candy Cherry said smarmily.

Mr. Fine laughed.

“If you weren’t dead I’d make you eat that letter.” I glared at her.

She wiggled her hands. “Oh, look at me shake. I’m scared.”

After tossing the letter down, I picked up my cell phone because my first thought was to call the police immediately. But right before I found the last one in 911, I thought better of it. She’d told me not to tell Callahan. If I told the police, they would question Callahan. What if this crazy woman harmed Callahan because I’d gone to the police? But then, I didn’t want to risk my life over this crazy woman either. Was the letter the real reason Callahan had cancelled our dinner? No. I trusted him more than that. I’d push that thought from my mind. One thing was for certain, I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I had to call Mindy right away.