CHAPTER SIX
“Diseased?” Jess stopped and turned mid-point on the stairs. Allison was crazy. Not crazy in a way Jess feared, but enough to make her rethink the roommate situation. Allison’s eyes lacked the glassiness of medication. Instead, they were wide and very alert.
She’s honestly afraid. Afraid! Of Siler House!
Jess ignored the small voice inside her that had its own reservations. A slight chill traced its way over the nape of her neck. No, this was nonsense. She was reacting to Allison’s behavior and nothing more. It was a house, not a person. Not a spirit.
“I get it, Allison, and I’m really sorry you’ve had such bad experiences. But I didn’t have that,” Jess said, unsure of how else to handle the situation. “What would you have us do? Leave?”
“Yes! Leave! We should all leave. Right now. We shouldn’t even pack.”
Jess tried not to look surprised by Allison’s outburst. “Why would we do that? I mean, I understand why you might—you’re clearly afraid of ghosts and this house. But I’ve seen ghosts for years. Years! I’ve never had a problem with them. Ghosts are the reason I came here.”
Jess had no doubt Allison’s fear was genuine, but what was she supposed to do? Freak out because Allison’s experiences had been awful while hers hadn’t? Believe her about Siler House because she said so, even though it went against Jess’s own intuition?
Of course, she hadn’t been able to find any information on what had actually happened at Siler House. Had Allison been told something she hadn’t? Maybe Allison was reacting to some terrible tragedy that had happened here. Rationally, a tragedy didn’t necessarily mean the ghosts had to be bloodthirsty. Scary, needy, persistent, even annoying, maybe. Surely, if the place was as bad as Allison thought, Jess would have sensed something. She’d been able to sense when ghosts were in bad moods before, but so far she felt nothing but a sense of peacefulness at Siler House. Whatever lurked here, Jess needed to draw her own conclusions.
“Then, maybe I’ll just leave you here,” Allison replied. “Leave all of you here.”
“Dinner!” boomed a voice high above them, and both girls craned their heads back in attempt to get a better view of who had spoken. “Do not be late.”
“Mrs. Hirsch,” Allison whispered, as the woman’s shadow loomed large and wide on the stairwell wall. The housekeeper thundered toward them, her girth nearly filling the staircase, a large hoop with keys on it clenched in her thick hand, just as Allison had described. Mrs. Hirsch wore a button-up, baby blue dress and a white apron. Wiry, gray hair hung at shoulder length.
The girls slid over on the stairs to let her pass. Mrs. Hirsch didn’t acknowledge them further, continuing methodically down the stairs, into the Great Room and out of sight.
“I don’t think we should be late. There’s no telling what she’ll do to us if we are,” Allison said, seemingly forgetting that she’d been ready to leave. “Let’s just follow her.”
Jess nodded, feeling a bit better. Allison’s rat in a maze nervousness seemed more of a personality issue than a haunted house problem. The girl was afraid of everything, including Mrs. Hirsch. The head housekeeper was intimidating, but hardly scary.
They went down the stairs and through the Great Room, following the scent of food and sound of other voices.
“We weren’t supposed to dress up or anything, were we?” Allison asked.
Jess shrugged. “I hope not, but it’s too late now.”
Dr. Brandt was already seated when they entered the dining room. Bryan was still standing, as though he had been waiting for them to arrive. He held out Jess and Allison’s chairs.
On top of being cute, he was downright polite. Jess smiled up at him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Bryan replied as he walked past the new guy at the end of the table, offering him what seemed to be an apologetic shrug.
The new guy in the snug t-shirt, who, Jess couldn’t help but notice, leaned back in his chair. His eyes met Allison’s, then hers. “Hello,” he said with the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.
Allison seemed to blush, and Jess couldn’t blame her. The new guy was hot, but extremely cocky. Jess looked away. No sense in stroking his ego any further. She was all too familiar with guys like him. Sexy, desirable. Until you got too close. She’d been burned by an ex just like him, although he hadn’t been quite as hot as this guy. Which meant she’d be smart not to let those eyes and that perfect mouth distract her.
Once everyone was seated, Dr. Brandt tapped his knife against his water glass. “I thought we’d take a moment to introduce ourselves before we eat. Just give us your name and where you’re from. Jess, why don’t you start?”
Jess introduced herself, followed by Allison—who Jess learned was from Kentucky. Dr. Brandt’s eyes cut to the end of the table and the new guy. He was still leaning back in his chair, still looking smug and tempting.
“Gage Jackson. Blairsville, Georgia,” he offered.
Simple, to the point, Jess noticed. Right along with those hazel eyes and that totally kissable mouth…
Quit staring at him!
“Man,” Bryan said in a low whisper from across the table. It made Jess frown. Clearly, the boys had some inside joke going on between them at her and Allison’s expense. She’d been caught staring a second too long and Bryan had picked up on it.
Bryan’s comment caught the attention of Dr. Brandt, who motioned for Bryan to go next.
He cleared his throat and straightened. “Bryan Akerman from Easley, South Carolina. Nice to meet everyone.”
Dr. Brandt slid his chair back a little and all eyes turned toward him. Jess leaned forward, eager to learn exactly what they’d be doing here and how each of them had been selected.
Dr. Brandt situated his napkin in his lap. “As you know, I’m Dr. Gregory Brandt. I work as a parapsychologist at EPAC, a government-funded organization sponsoring this experiment. Each of you has been carefully chosen. And before any of you asks, yes, I honestly do believe in the paranormal. At least to an extent. Ghosts, mostly. Also, evil spirits and demons, but not werewolves or vampires—the sparkly kind or otherwise.”
Jess and Bryan laughed. Gage smirked. Allison didn’t seem to enjoy Dr. Brandt’s attempt at humor.
“Which agency? Why is the government interested in us?” Gage asked.
“Why not?” Dr. Brandt replied. “The government funds a lot of studies, ranging from the effects of global warming to various health issues. Why not paranormal activities?”
“What branch of the government?” Gage asked again.
“Various ones, Gage. That’s not important right now. EPAC, if anyone is wondering, stands for Experimental Paranormal Activity Coalition.”
Bryan laughed. “Paranormal activity. Like the movie?”
“No. This is nothing like Hollywood,” Dr. Brandt responded. “Speaking of funding, each of you agreed to the same compensation, so there’s no need to discuss the amount. You’ll be here for one month. We’ll go over the history of Siler House and how it affects our experiment. As for the house itself, you’re free to wander except for the few rooms that are locked, and after ten p.m. you should stay in your rooms unless we’re all together conducting our experiments. Also, you’ll be expected to join the rest of us for meals at the times specified in your paperwork. Please be on time. We wouldn’t want Mrs. Hirsch to have to go looking for you.”
This brought on a short bout of laughter between the boys.
“No doubt you’ve already met her,” Dr. Brandt said. “The estate once belonged to her family, and she has recently taken on the position of overseeing Siler House. We will meet in the Great Room at eight-thirty every night. During your stay, I will be observing each of you. Also, as explained in your paperwork, there will be no television, no internet, and phone calls are limited. You’ll be allowed to make calls twice a week. You can return calls as needed, but no more than once a day. Tonight’s agenda is to get to know one another better—including what brings each of you here. Then, we’ll move on to the specifics.”
“Dinner is served,” Mrs. Hirsch said as she entered the room. “The cook has set up a buffet in the kitchen.” She narrowed her eyes as she looked at everyone except Dr. Brandt. “You are expected to clean up after yourselves, as the cook has already left for the day. The entire staff has left. Except for me. I stay on full time. But I’m not your mother, so I don’t clean up after you.”
Her eyes shifted to each of them again, then she walked steadily out of the dining room.
“She’s a charmer,” Gage said as they made their way to the kitchen. “In a dour sort of way.”
“More like Lizzy Borden,” Bryan scoffed. “Maybe at night she carries an axe instead of a key ring.”
Jess noticed that Dr. Brandt watched and listened, but did not join in their conversation. Part of the whole observation thing, she supposed.
“There are worse things here,” Allison told them once they’d all loaded their plates, filled their glasses and sat down to eat. The cook had prepared homemade Southern food at its best: fried chicken, buttery corn on the cob, sautéed green beans with onions, and biscuits—no pizza here.
“Is that so?” Gage asked. “So, what spooks you, Allison? Spiders? Mice? It can’t be anything supernatural, right?”
A moment of silence went by as each of them waited for the other to speak, to say what they might be afraid of. Jess cut her eyes to Allison, who had apparently decided not to say another word.
Gage seemed to take the hint, so maybe he wasn’t trying to be a jerk, after all. “Maybe we all need a history lesson or something, right, Doc? To put us in the mood.”
“Perhaps after dinner,” Dr. Brandt said, spreading preserves onto his biscuit. “We’ll learn a little about Siler House every day. But before we begin, I’d like for us to talk about what brings us here, and what we think of Siler House thus far.”
“It’s haunted, right?” Jess asked.
“Tell us about the ghosts and how they got to be ghosts,” Bryan chimed in.
“We could have a séance,” Gage suggested. He winked at Jess. “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”
Oh yeah, Jess thought. Gage was definitely the kind of guy who knew he was eye candy. She returned her focus to Dr. Brandt, who was avidly watching their interactions. It was beginning to unnerve Jess.
“Jess, why don’t you start by telling us of your experience with ghosts? Enlighten Gage a little,” Dr. Brandt finally said.
All eyes were on her, and her heart raced. She rested her fork against her plate, wondering where she should begin and why Dr. Brandt had selected her to go first.
It’s now or never, Jess. Tell them and be done with it. They won’t think you’re crazy. They were all here for the same reason—because they had some sort of paranormal experience or ability.
“I see ghosts. Well, I used to, anyway. The first ghost was my grandmother.” She fumbled with her fork. “A little after Grams, I started seeing more ghosts. In restaurants, hotels during family vacation, coffee shops. Almost everywhere. About two years ago, Grams stopped coming around. She said it wasn’t a good idea anymore and that if she went away, maybe the others would stop showing up, too. But they didn’t stop. Not until later. Like I said, they were everywhere. Then, my dad died at the beginning of the year. I thought he’d show up, too, but he didn’t.”
And that’s when you had the breakdown. Tell them, Jess. Tell them you had the breakdown not because you saw ghosts, but because you stopped seeing ghosts.