“Did they say what ghosts they were hoping to find?” She told him no, that there wasn’t any ghost in the house. “But they thought there might be. Someone that they were going to capture on camera.”
“Ghosts don’t exist. They were just…I’m not sure. Anyway they came back in this van and I’d already gone to the barn. I was going to leave, take on another place, but I thought perhaps that maybe they’d not come back and I’d be okay. I should have known better. Nothing works out for me.” Nick didn’t point out that it had worked out for her, she was alive, but kept his mouth shut as she continued. “The man, I didn’t know his name, he came screaming out of the house. There was blood everywhere, and I didn’t want to believe it, I guess, and watched him. I suppose I thought that he’d…I have no idea what I thought. But as I watched him this woman came out of the house and cut his head off with a sword. It rolled across the yard and just lay there. I might have made a sound. She looked up at me, and I hid in the straw.”
“It was a machete. She removed his head and might have done more to him if you hadn’t made any noise. But we showed up, brought there on a tip. She was gone by the time we arrived.” Addie didn’t say anything but looked at the paper. “If I show you a picture of the woman, do you think you can tell me if it was her or not?”
“I can.” Nick got up to get the file just as Steele came into the room. He introduced himself and sat down. With him were Carlton and Billy. Nick handed the picture of Ellen to Addie and wondered what Steele was up to. “This is the woman. Her hair is shorter by a lot and her…she looks less serene than she does in this picture. Like she’s…I don’t know, sort of manic.”
“Her name is Ellen Wooten. Do you remember her? Or anything about her?” Addie told Steele that she didn’t. “She’s been locked up for a while now. Killed her family and the neighbors on either side of her when she was just a child. By the time she got to the Hicks, the last family that she killed, she had…I guess you could say perfected her method of murder. Her parents had been killed quickly and the others, slower and with more care. She was eight at the time.”
“And they let her out.” Steele nodded and that was when Nick noticed that two other people were in the room. “Why would they do that? I mean, she’s nuts.”
“She is. Her parents are afraid that should she not be caught soon, she’ll continue murdering people. They don’t want that. But they would like to know if you’ll help us.” Addie looked at him, then back at Steele. “You told Nick that there are no such thing as ghosts.”
“There aren’t. But I did noticed that you spoke of this girl’s parents after just telling me that they’re dead. Do you think you can try and prove to me that there are ghosts?” Steele nodded again. “I’m assuming that you think there are. That there are undead all around us at all times.”
“I do and they are. Everywhere. And if I can prove it to you—that there are all kinds of ghosts—will you help us?”
Again, she looked at Nick and he sat beside her on the bed. When she reached for his hand, Nick held hers in his and tried to think why Steele was doing this so quickly after her coming here.
“I need to tell you some things first. And you should take everything I say to you as the truth. It will save your life, and more than likely Nick’s. You have a ghost coming for you. Delaney and Nick’s stepfather are on their way here. I’m not sure that they can get past my barrier, but if they do, they will hurt you. And without you believing us, believing that there are ghosts, there is not much we can do to help you protect yourself. You have to believe that they’re here.”
“How do you think you can make me believe something that no one else believes?” She looked at Nick again. “You can’t think this is real, do you? That there are ghosts all around us?”
“I’m a necromancer. So is Steele. We help them, the clients we call them, when we can. The dead, they connect about their past, their loved ones, so they can move on.” She pulled her hand from his and stared at Steele. “Steele here is the best there is at this. And I’m pretty sure that he’s going to show you how true what we’re telling you is.”
Steele reached his hand out and connected his palm to that of the woman that Nick didn’t know. He had a feeling she was Ellen’s mother, but really wasn’t sure. The man took the woman’s hand, and they both sort of faded into the room. Addie just stared at them.