CHAPTER FOUR
Jess finished unpacking, mostly using the dresser drawers. Pretty much all the things she’d brought were summer clothes—shorts and cool cotton tops, none of which required hangers. The only thing she had to hang in the closet was a single sundress, which she had packed just in case.
While Jess put away her clothes, she thought about Allison’s concerns regarding the house and the experiment. She hadn’t anticipated that her fellow test subjects might be unhappy with their ghost-seeing abilities. “Well, ghosts or no ghosts, I think we’ll be all right. Although,” she teased Allison, “I haven’t seen Mrs. Hirsch. What’s she like? Is she human or some spooky turn-of-the-century chambermaid?”
Allison laughed and the sound made Jess feel more at ease with her new roomy. Sure, Allison had been through a lot, but Jess sort of understood. She’d never really thought about how lucky she was that her family didn’t look at her like a total freak. Jess never talked about ghosts outside of her family. People didn’t understand. But here, at Siler House, they were all the same in some way. They’d all been touched by something supernatural. It was one of the reasons Jess felt at home here.
“She’s not a ghost,” Allison replied. “But she is sort of scary. She’s big and kind of mean looking. Carries a huge hoop with a bunch of keys on it. Doesn’t talk much, either. When she saw me in the bathroom crying, all she’d said was that dinner was at six, and I should clean up before then.”
Jess put away the last of her clothes. “She sounds awful. We’ll stay out of her way, then. Do you want to go exploring? I’m dying to see more of the house.”
“I’d rather not,” Allison admitted. “But anything beats being in here by myself.”
“Seriously? This house gives you the creeps? Do you know the history behind it or something?” Jess asked. “I tried doing some research and didn’t find much. It’s supposed to be haunted, but so is every place else in Savannah.”
“Confession. I don’t see ghosts. Ghosts don’t sound too bad. I see evil…spirits. So yeah, I’m creeped out. This place makes me feel like I did when…” Allison gave an exaggerated shudder.
“When?” Jess asked.
“You do feel it, don’t you?” Allison asked, avoiding Jess’s curiosity.
Jess took a deep breath and listened, letting the house settle in around her. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to say that what she sensed here felt more like hope. The house had a presence, all right. But how much of that was wishful thinking? How much was because she wanted so badly for Dr. Brandt to prove her right about a connection between the real world and the world beyond? “Yeah,” she said finally. “There’s something here, but I don’t think it’s bad. Wait. You said you see spirits? Evil sprits?”
Allison put her suitcase in the closet on top of Jess’s and closed the door. “On second thought, I like your idea about exploring. Can we start outside?”
“Sure.” Jess couldn’t imagine what it might be like to see evil spirits. It had to be hard on Allison to have experienced what she had. Luckily for Jess, seeing ghosts had always been a gift, not a curse. The entire time Jess had been seeing them, she’d never encountered one she’d consider menacing. Pissed off, maybe. Like the ghost who made the guy at the bar spill his drink. But that was about as bad as it had ever been. The idea that all ghosts might not be benign had never occurred to her because it had never happened to her.
“We’ll go outside while there’s still light,” Jess said. “Then we’ll explore the house after dinner. Evil spirits, huh? Not to pry, but why do you think the ghosts are evil?”
Allison dug through her own clothes, selecting a t-shirt and pair of shorts. “They’re not really…never mind. It’s complicated. I’ll tell you later. Probably at dinner. I bet we’ll all have to talk about ourselves then.”
Jess didn’t push the subject further. Allison was already uneasy. Jess wondered again what had happened to cause such a huge rift between Allison and her family. Jess wanted to know, but decided she’d find out soon enough. One thing was obvious, though—this experiment wasn’t the best idea for Allison.
After they’d finished changing, they left the room and headed down the hallway.
The renovation crew had done a great job on Siler House. They had refinished the floorboards and put fresh paint on the walls. The whole place looked new—but Jess could imagine it might have looked the same back when the Silers lived here—elegant and grand, and yet charming and comforting. Siler House would make a great bed and breakfast—once all the renovations were complete. For Jess, the next couple of weeks at Siler House held nothing but amazing possibilities.
If Allison would only look at things the way she did—see how beautiful the place was, she might realize the house itself was nothing to be afraid of. Jess wanted to open the door of every room they passed, wanted to take in everything about the house. Once or twice, she absently reached out, letting her hand brush against one of the doorknobs, which might have been original or just a really good replica.
As strange and elusive as Jess found Allison, she drew comfort knowing the other participants would each have some strange experience to share, some line of connection.
“Just ghosts, huh?” Allison asked, as they walked out into the stifling heat of the early evening.
The mosquitoes were already out, and Jess swatted one on her arm. She flicked the body of the dead insect off and rubbed at the blood. “Yeah. Not for a while, though. I’ve been trying to get them to show up again, but nothing’s happened since...since my dad died right after the holidays. My mom thinks I made everything up. She thinks it’s my way of coping with his death, that everything I experienced can be explained some other way.”
“I believe you,” Allison said, taking a step off the front porch, apparently unfazed by the swarm of insects.
“I hate summers in the South.” Jess swatted at another mosquito that had decided her legs made a safer target. “There’s got to be millions of these little vampires.”
“Run!” Allison darted across the lawn, leaving Jess to chase her.
Jess glanced behind her, seeing nothing but the hovering swarm of insects. She ran after Allison, following her down the length of the yard and around the house’s corner, finally drawing up alongside her where she’d come to a complete stop.
“I don’t think we outran the mosquitoes,” Allison said.
Allison’s observation was probably an understatement. But, either they’d managed to outrun a few thousand or this side of the house had fewer hordes.
Jess waved away one of the bugs buzzing at her ear. “How come you’re not being eaten alive?”
Allison shrugged. “Bad blood, I suppose.”
Her voice sounded distant, far off. Jess stopped swatting her arms and legs long enough to see what Allison was staring at. It was a garden. Nothing like back home in Asheville, probably because the hot summer sun scorched the flowers here. Small plants with tiny red flowers, a white hibiscus and several pots with ferns lined the garden pathway.
At the end of the path was a tall iron fence, complete with arched gate. Inside the gated section was a gravesite with an elaborate monument in the shape of two young girls, carved from marble in amazing lifelike detail. Both girls wore their hair long and loose across their shoulders, with bows at their temples. Both wore matching dresses and ankle-high, lace-up boots. At the base of the monument were more flowers, one sporting soft pink blossoms.
“Wow!” Jess said. “This has to be the most amazing gravesite I’ve ever seen. Come on.”
Decorative, spear-like posts sat atop the iron fence. Jess pulled on the arched service gate, but it didn’t budge. “Damn. It’s locked.”
“It keeps people like us out,” Allison replied. “But wow is right. I wonder who they were? It’s amazing! You can even see their boot laces.”
Jess pointed to the base of the monument. "Emma and Grace Siler. April 3, 1899, died August 1909. Twins! But there’s no actual date of death, only the month. Kind of weird, don’t you think?”
“It’s because they’re still here.” Allison tugged at Jess. “We made a mistake coming out here. We need to go. Now.”
“What? We just got here.”
“They’re here,” Allison said.
“I thought you don’t see ghosts,” Jess said, confused. If ghosts were present, she’d like to see them. She tried to imagine cute little girls with white dresses, each holding dolls or teddy bears. She scanned the area. Nothing.
“There, in the woods.” Allison pointed to a section of trees a hundred or so yards from where they stood. “They want us to follow them.”
A whitish, shadowy object moved behind a range of trees—or so Jess believed. It didn’t look like a person, much less two girls, but she had seen something. Hadn’t she? Adrenaline raced through her, but she tried to remain calm. Still, it might be the first step in finding her way back to seeing ghosts again. Maybe even Grams and Dad. Her pulse kicked up a beat.
…Overactive imagination…
We’re waiting for you, Jess.
The first voice she heard inside her head was her mother’s, the second voice her own. Except, this time, the voice didn’t sound entirely like hers. It almost sounded like a young girl.
Jess took a step toward the woods. “If you say someone’s there, then let’s follow them.”
“No!” Allison pulled harder now, nearly toppling Jess backward. “Never mind. It was nothing. I...I was kidding. I do that sometimes—make stuff up. Please, Jess. Let’s go. We’ll be late for supper. Mrs. Hirsch will be mad.”
Jess gave the woods one last look. Nothing moved. If she went to investigate she would be late. The mosquitoes were voracious and beads of sweat had begun to trickle down from her breasts to her stomach. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go eat. Besides, I’m tired of being dinner for the insect population.”
They reached the front porch and Jess opened the door, relieved they were going back inside and away from the hungry insects and humidity.
Allison stared up at the windows, just as Jess had done a short while ago. “It’s like this house is watching us.”
A thrill ran over Jess’s skin. Yes, she thought. If any house could be a portal for talking with the dead, Siler House was it. Sure, her excitement contained an ounce or two of fear, but the way Jess saw things, it was like rock climbing or skydiving must be. A little fear and a little risk made life all that more adventurous.
“I suppose,” she said to Allison. “But honestly? I don’t think there’s much to worry about. Trust me a little here, all right? I’m not sensing anything to be afraid of.”
Allison was certainly uncomfortable here. If Jess were a glass half-full kind of person, then Allison would be the kind to imagine the glass half-empty, with the remainder tasteless, poisoned water. They stepped inside, and the cool air of the Great Room greeted them along with the enticing scent of food.
“The house has fooled you,” Allison said. “It’s fooled you into thinking it’s something it’s not.”
“How do you know?” Jess asked, curious. “Have you seen anything here?”
“No—”
“Heard anything?” Jess asked, hoping that Allison had.
“No. I just know, that’s all.”
“Why don’t you give the place a chance? Keep an open mind until something does happen?” Jess suggested.
The clock on the fireplace mantel told her they had barely enough time to get ready for dinner. Allison didn’t reply to her question about the house as the two of them headed up the stairs. Jess liked Allison, she really did. But, she wasn’t giving this whole experiment a chance. Could bad spirits be roaming the halls at Siler House? Sure. But until someone could prove it, Jess decided to keep a positive attitude. Why was Allison even here if she didn’t want to be part of this? Why couldn’t Allison’s family understand that rational or irrational, her fear was real? She hadn’t asked Allison her age, but maybe she was underage and had been forced to come here.
“Sorry,” Jess said sympathetically. “But, I’m not getting the same vibes you are. I’m not uncomfortable here. In fact, to me, it’s just the opposite—Siler House seems warm and inviting.”
“It’s in the walls and floorboards.” Allison’s expression became pinched with fear or deep concern—Jess couldn’t figure out which. If she hadn’t been so determined to keep an open mind, she would have found her words unsettling.
“It’s everywhere,” Allison whispered. “It’s like Siler House is diseased.”