“No. Billy went to get his friend to get this finished. I guess from what he said, this Graham guy has been here off and on over the last few weeks giving the little girl that lives here nightmares. But we’re here, according to Billy, to give the family some help. I’m not sure what it is, however. But I’m sort of...well, confused why that guy came to you and not his daughter. I mean...can she see him?” Addie told her she didn’t think so. “Do you think she will because of what Mitch is, or do you...? I guess I just thought since she was sort of dead she’d be able to see them as well.”
“She’s not. Dead I mean.” They both looked up at Connie when she spoke. “Victoria—that’s her real name as you might have guessed—isn’t dead. Not like someone who has been converted into a vamp. She’s a pureblood. Not a lot of those left from what I understand. And you should meet her grandmother if you want to meet stern and controlling. Not in a bad way, but she’s really different. I’ve been talking to her about what is going on with their family. None of it is very good or comforting.”
“How do you know her? Or do we want to know?” Connie looked around the room, and both she and Kari did as well. “This is going to be good, isn’t it?”
Connie pinched her lips, but Addie could see a hint of a smile behind it. “She was at a few functions I chaired at one time. It took me longer than I think it should have to realize she wasn’t human, but when I did...well, I might have made a slight fool of myself. I do believe there are a few of her friends that talk about it to this day.”
“What did you do?” Connie only shook her head at Kari. “Well, I suppose we could just ask Vinnie or her grandmother. By the way, just how old is her grandmother, anyway? I mean, Vinnie is nearly seven hundred and fifty. Her grandmother must be...sheesh, it boggles the mind. But I bet she’ll want us to—”
“I wore garlic around my neck to the next few meetings until they told me to stop it or they’d have to let me go. And I mean, like a dozen bulbs of it around my neck so big that it looked like I’d had a growth there all the time. I swear to you, even I thought I smelled really strongly of it, but Alexandra thought it was funny. I have never been so embarrassed...well, I had to make amends, and that wasn’t much better.” Connie smiled. “Of course, it was a bit of fun too. That Alexandra, she can be very funny when she chooses to. But as loyal as they come as well. She loves her granddaughter with all her heart.”
The little girl they were there to see came into the room, accompanied by Billy and the little girl’s father. It was true that the young and the mentally ill could see the ghosts. While most of them were harmless, there were a few, like Horatio, that were just evil and would do most anything to harm those that didn’t understand. Addie decided she’d talk to Vinnie about her dad and what it was her father wanted from her. But for now, she had a job to do.
“Hello.” The little girl looked up at Billy when Addie spoke to her. An older man was there, just behind the little girl, and was looking at her fondly. The grandfather, she’d bet anything. “I’m Addie Stark and this is my friend Kari Bennett. You’re Missy Stone, right?”
“Yes. My mommy is in the kitchen, but this is my daddy, Denton. He’s an inventor. Mommy won’t come in here because she told me not to talk to Grandpa anymore, and she said she wants nothing to do with this. But I want to. She said he’s gone and that I can’t see him even though I really can.” Addie looked up at the man behind the child, then back at Missy. “I love my grandpa very much and miss him all the time. Why can’t I talk to him?”
Why indeed, Addie thought. “Most people, like your mom, can’t see him anymore. Just very special people can do that. He’s here with us now, did you know that?” Missy bent her head back and smiled up at the man behind her. “He loves you very much, and has something for you that might help you, he told us. Something to help your family out.”
“I’d rather just have him back. Can we do that?” Addie told her she couldn’t. “I guess I can take it then. But I’d really like for him to be here. He was really nice and used to read to me all the time. I miss him making the voices of the stories.”
“I’m sure your mom and dad love you as well.” Her dad nodded, and Addie moved to the desk in the office. It was old and messy, but Missy’s grandda told her to go to the bottom drawer and pull it out. She wasn’t really sure that was a good idea, and had the child come and pull it out for them. Reaching deep into the back of the desk, she touched her fingers onto something made of paper. Denton came to stand by when she pulled it free and handed it up to him.
“I’ve gone over this thing a hundred times. I just wanted to find some part of my dad that I could give to Missy to help her.” Addie really wanted this to be good news and was pleasantly surprised when a thick envelope was pulled out of the dark place with Missy’s name on it. “That’s his handwriting. I’d know his perfect penmanship anywhere.”