CHAPTER TWELVE
Jess found Allison in their room, sitting on her bed, knees tucked against her chest as she rocked back and forth.
“Allison, it’s okay,” Jess said quietly as she sat next to her.
“I want to go home,” Allison cried.
“Can you call your parents or your aunt to come get you?” Jess asked, knowing they weren’t likely to answer Allison’s call, much less come and get her. Not if the incident yesterday was any indicator.
“No one will come get me,” Allison said, sniffling. “They all wish I’d go away. Or that Dr. Brandt will tell them I’m nuts enough to go to the psych ward again. They’d all prefer to have me locked up until I’m eighteen, at least. Then, they can force me to stay away from them. They wouldn’t have long—just another few months. I think it’s why they’re happy I’m here. It’s one less month they have to deal with me.”
Jess patted Allison’s back. She wanted to say her parents wouldn’t send her away, but she didn’t think Allison had lied about her family.
“I’ll talk to Dr. Brandt. Tell him you need more time—”
“I don’t need more time. I need to get out of here. But I can’t.” Allison swiped at her tears.
“I’m sorry,” Jess said. “But if this place scares you so much, maybe if I talked to Dr. Brandt—”
“No! I can’t leave because if I do, you’ll all die. They’ll kill you.” Her eyes met Jess’s. “They want to, you know.” She began to laugh. “It’s doing it. The house.”
Jess frowned. “Doing what?”
“Keeping us here, that’s what!” Allison said. “It’s started already. I found Dr. Brandt sitting in the Great Room this morning. He kept staring at the picture above the fireplace. He told me Siler House was the most incredible, most beautiful house he’d ever been in. Don’t you find that weird? He’s been all objective and scientific, but suddenly, he’s infatuated with the beauty of the place?”
Jess withdrew her hand. Allison had seriously lost it, and her behavior scared Jess more than anything Dr. Brandt had said about the murders or Riley. Yeah, it was odd to see a man so infatuated with a house—but that didn’t mean the house was doing anything to him. And his behavior wasn’t exactly alarming. Maybe old homes were his thing. It was Allison who made her feel uncomfortable. She’d have to talk to Dr. Brandt about the sleeping arrangements.
“I’m not crazy!” Allison insisted as though reading Jess’s mind. “He’s in there,” she said as she motioned toward the mirror. “He’s in all of them. You know, Jess. Deep inside you know what I’m telling you is true. But you doubt yourself. You know we’re being watched. The house is plotting against us.”
“I don’t see anyone,” Jess said, feeling a bit unsure. Was someone watching them? Or was she letting Allison get to her again? Why couldn’t she see them? “Allison, you have to stop doing this.”
“Stop doing what, Jess? Scaring you? Don’t you see how frightened I am? I’m staying for you, Jess. You and the others. I’m the only one who understands what we’re up against. I’ve done enough…bad things that maybe before I die I can set them right.” She took a tissue from the nightstand and wiped her nose. “If you believe in ghosts, then why don’t you believe what I tell you?”
What could she say? Allison had a point. Still, her weirdness and insistence that everything was demonic and out to get them didn’t sit well with Jess, especially since Allison had said she was staying for her? For Gage and Bryan, and Dr. Brandt, too? And what bad things had she done? That bit of information wasn’t exactly helping her see Allison’s cause. Maybe if she stayed calm. Maybe if she tried some logic, her roommate would relax a little.
“Allison, please. Understand that not all of us are afraid. We haven’t gone through what you have.”
Allison laughed again and pressed her hands into her face in frustration. “Oh, I suppose all ghosts are perfectly harmless!”
“I’m not saying they’re all perfectly harmless! It’s…it’s just that I’ve never had your experience,” Jess said in as calming a tone as possible. “Why don’t you tell me about the ghost who hurt you?” Jess couldn’t help but think she sounded like a shrink. But she had to calm Allison down.
“I’ve never seen one of your ghosts,” Allison said. “I told you, I don’t see ghosts!”
“Just evil spirits, like demons?” Jess asked. In her experience, all ghosts were like her grandmother and the others. Not like the demons Allison had encountered.
Careful what you let in, Jess.
“They’re evil! All of them! Every. Single. One. Ugh! Why won’t you believe me?” Allison wailed.
“Because I don’t think every ghost out there is evil!” Jess shot back.
Allison stared at her like she had three heads. “Sure, Jess. Whatever.” She got off the bed, shoulders slumped. “I’m going to take a shower. Then I guess we’d better start planning out what we’re going to do.”
“Good idea,” Jess replied, although she wasn’t sure what Allison had in mind as far as plans went. Or for what she was actually going to plan for.
Allison set her clothes on the bed and headed to the bathroom. Jess waited until she heard the shower start before collecting her own set of clean clothes and toiletry bag. Since there were more guest rooms, she thought she’d take advantage of one of their bathrooms and take a shower, as well. That way, they’d be ready for whatever Dr. Brandt had scheduled for the rest of the day—if anything. She hoped to finish and head downstairs to talk to him without Allison. It also gave her the chance to scope out a possible new room for her to stay in. Right or wrong, Allison’s emotional outbursts were exhausting.
A few of the doors were locked, including the room Mrs. Hirsch had caught her in. Eventually, Jess found an available room down the hall from hers and Allison’s. The room faced the back lawn and Jess had a clear view of Gracie and Emma’s gravesite. Jess locked the door behind her and set her clean clothes on the corner of the bed, stripped down and headed for the shower.
The bathroom was smaller than the one she and Allison shared, and although the window shades were closed, Jess peeked outside to make sure the back lawn was void of voyeurs. Not that anyone would be able to see up to the third floor and through a shuttered window, but still…
It felt as though she wasn’t alone. “Hey! Some privacy, please?” she called out in case any ghosts happened to be around.
She turned on the water and stepped into the shower.
Once showered and feeling clean again, she towel-dried her hair. If a ghost had been in the bathroom with her, they’d gone somewhere else.
…your imagination. Your misplaced imagination…
Allison had mentioned Riley being in all the mirrors. Jess pushed that disturbing little thought from her mind.
She gasped when she stepped into the bedroom. Her clothes lay in a heap on the floor as though someone had snatched them off the bed and thrown them there. Allison. She was clearly still upset.
Jess glanced around the room. Empty. Clutching the towel around her, she checked the door. Still locked.
“Hello?” she tentatively called out, uncertainty beginning to pool in her stomach.
No response.
Harmless. Ghosts were harmless. They couldn’t touch people much less throw things around. It had never happened before. It had to be Mrs. Hirsch. Jess gathered her things from the floor, considered the mirror for a moment, then hurried back to the bathroom to fetch another towel and threw it over the mirror. She dressed quickly, putting on her underwear and bra, then throwing her t-shirt on and sliding the pair of shorts over her hips as quickly as possible. The idea of a ghost in the room didn’t frighten her as much as one seeing her naked. She hadn’t thought about how weird that would be until now. Okay, so maybe she was a little afraid. But that had been Allison’s influence.
After she collected her things, she opened the door and stepped quickly into the hallway, half expecting to find Mrs. Hirsch waiting for her, but it was empty. She padded toward the room she shared with Allison, and entered. No Allison.
“Allison?” she called out. She checked the bathroom. No Allison there, either. She must have already gone downstairs without her. Jess turned and walked back into their room.
“You shouldn’t be here,” said the little girl standing in front of the dresser.
Startled, Jess took an involuntary step back. She thought she’d be used to the way ghosts appeared and disappeared by now, but she wasn’t. Probably would never get used to it. The girl wore a pretty white dress and black shoes. The dress was tied around the middle with a red bow that matched the one in her curly, dark hair.
She’s a ghost. She’s the ghost of either Gracie or Emma Siler, Jess thought, aware of her quickening heartbeat. Finally! Her first ghost sighting in months! The girl looked young and sweet, so why did she feel so jumpy? Probably because her roommate would have her believe the small girl sporting dimples and curls was Satan in disguise.
Damn you, Allison!
Her face didn’t look anything like Jess would have expected of a child who had been murdered. The girl’s complexion was healthy, with a glow like that of a living ten-year-old. Not one who had been dead for well over a hundred years. But, ghosts were like that—appearing how they wanted you to see them, or so she believed. Or, maybe it was how they saw themselves. Jess had never thought to ask.
She could still see ghosts, which meant there was hope—hope of seeing Grams again and her father, too! Jess’s unease began to fade.
The girl waited patiently for her to do or say something.
“Hello,” Jess said softly.
“Hi,” the girl replied.
“I’m Jess. Are you Emma or Gracie?”
The girl smiled. “I know who you are. I’m Gracie.”
Jess tried to keep the remaining nervousness from her voice. “Thanks for letting me see you, Gracie. I like ghosts.”
Gracie’s smile faltered. “You’re still a little scared. I can tell. Are you here to hurt us? To make us go away?”
Ghost or not, Gracie’s words melted Jess. Hurt her? Never. Jess knelt down in front of Gracie. She reached out for Gracie’s arm, realizing she couldn’t actually touch the child—the gesture was simply automatic. Gracie stepped back, her arms still at her sides.
She thinks I’m going to hurt her, Jess thought. “No, Gracie. I’d never hurt you. In fact, I’m here to help you.”
“You’re very kind,” Gracie said, looking down at her shoes.
“I try to be,” Jess replied.
Gracie’s head jerked toward the mirror, then back to Jess, her eyes wide. “I have to go now. You should go, too.”
“Is someone there, Gracie?”
She nodded.
“Who’s there? Is it Emma?” Somehow, she didn’t think it was Emma at all.
Gracie frowned. “It’s Riley. He says I can’t talk anymore right now.”
Jess stood and looked in the mirror. Once again, she saw nothing but her reflection and oddly, Gracie’s, in the old mirror. Unease seeped back into Jess’s skin.
“I’ll help you Gracie. You and Emma. I promise,” Jess said, although she had no idea how to do that yet. She turned back to the child, but Gracie was gone.
Slowly, as if a child were writing it from the other side of the mirror, the word hurry appeared. And underneath, we need you.