Ghoul of My Dreams (Larue Donavan Series Book 4) (17 page)

Chapter 19

Stone appeared walking from around the fountain. How had he been back there? That was where the shadows had been. He had stepped out of the night like he had been a part of the darkness. His gaze settled right on us. I hoped he didn’t leave when he realized I wasn’t alone. He hadn’t told me not to bring anyone else, but he was somewhat strange, so I figured he may not like that Bethany was here.

Bethany and I sat in silence as we watched Stone come toward us. I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. Had he seen the shadows that had just been here? They had disappeared almost exactly where he had appeared. It was almost as if the spirits had left when they saw Stone. I knew that wasn’t possible, though. Why would his presence make them disappear? The dark shadow following me didn’t seem to mind when Stone came around. That dark shadow wasn’t afraid of anything.

Stone was dressed in black pants and a black shirt, so he kind of blended in with the night. He had changed since I’d seen him at the restaurant. I wanted to ask him about his ability to see and talk to spirits so badly. I hoped he was honest with me.

Stone stepped up to us. “I was wondering if you’d show up.”

He wondered if I would show up? I had expected him not to show.

“He seems as if he is really troubled by something,” Marilyn said.

Stone acknowledged Marilyn with a nod, but didn’t respond.

“He could just be weird. I never liked the guy,” Roger said.

A muscle flicked in Stone’s jaw and his whole body tensed. “Well, I didn’t like you either.”

“Roger, you acted as if you didn’t know him,” I said.

Roger waved his hand. “Of course I know him. He was living in the house I was haunting.”

I didn’t like the way Roger kept secrets. What else was he not telling me?

Stone directed his attention to Bethany.

“I hope you don’t mind that I brought someone along. This is Bethany McCarthy. She’s having a bit of a problem with spirits following her.” I quirked an eyebrow. “They’re similar to the one I have. She used a Ouija board.”

Bethany stared down at her sneakers, avoiding eye contact.

Stone nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” she mumbled.

I stood from the bench. “I’m going to have to use the Ouija board to contact the spirits she brought through.”

The expression on Stone’s face was shadowed with deep concern. “I’m not sure that is such a wise decision.”

“I agree with him, Larue,” Marilyn said.

“What other choice do I have?” I asked.

“You run the risk of bringing other spirits through.” Trepidation thickened his voice.

“Oh, that is the last thing you need, Larue,” Roger said.

“I understand the risks, but I don’t know of any other way. Do you have suggestions?”

If he knew so much about it, then he needed to offer up some advice instead of telling me what not to do.

“I might have another idea. If you are willing.” He studied my face.

I watched him. “Depends on what it is.”

If it was something completely weird, then I wasn’t game for that.

“It involves getting rid of the portal,” he said.

That sounded difficult and I wasn’t sure it would be possible.

“We saw the shadows right before you showed up.” I motioned toward the fountain.

He nodded. “I saw them, too.”

“Did you make them go away?” Marilyn asked.

He turned to her. “I asked them to leave.”

That was all it took? I wasn’t sure if I believed him.

“Just like that they left?” I eyed Stone up and down.

He shrugged. “Just like that.”

I scoffed. “Something doesn’t seem right about this whole thing.”

“I said I would never go back to that house.” Stone peered out across the park as if lost in thought.

What had happened in that house when he lived there?

“Why do you say that?” I pushed for an answer.

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Needless to say, it wasn’t a good time for me. Once I got away, I didn’t want to go through that again. I’ve tried my best to block out the spirits ever since.” 

“That’s impossible. Why would you even try such a thing?” I asked.

“It’s what I had to do for me,” he said.

“What happened in that house?” I tried to hide the anxiety in my voice.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I invited the spirit in.”

It sounded familiar to what Bethany had done.

“Did you use the Ouija board, too?” I asked her.

If he had been a teenager at the time, then that was a possibility. Stone turned and walked toward the fountain.

“Is he leaving?” Marilyn whispered.

Stone turned toward me and walked back. “I just invited the spirit in, okay? It’s not something I should have done.”

“Well, duh,” Roger said.  

James paced in front of the fountain. He appeared as if he was growing tired of our conversation. I couldn’t worry about keeping the ghosts entertained at the moment.

“What went on after you invited it in?” I asked.

“A lot of bad things happened and then we left. I got out of there and I said I would never go back. I shouldn’t have left it there, though; not knowing what I know,” he said.

James walked up to us as if he was going to say something, but turned away. He was acting awfully strange.

“That’s why I came back now,” Stone said.

“You came back because of the spirit?”

He released a deep breath. “I wanted to know what had taken place since I’d left. Then, I met you and saw the thing again.” 

“I guess you weren’t expecting that, were you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, not in the least. I felt guilty for not trying to get rid of it when I had the chance.”

“So, you came back now to get rid of it?” I asked.

He shrugged. “If it’s possible.”

“What do we do now?”

I knew what I would do, but I wasn’t sure what was on Stone’s mind. He said he hadn’t used the Ouija board, but I felt for sure he had. He probably didn’t want to admit it. 

“We should go back to the house,” Stone said. 

“I don’t think I like the sound of this,” Marilyn said.

I repeated Marilyn’s sentiment. “I don’t like the sound of this either.”

Stone moved toward the entrance and then turned to me again. “We have to go back there. Like I said, we will try to get rid of the portal.”

I moved a few steps and paused. “You know, that’s not a good idea if we don’t get rid of the spirits first. We don’t want the spirits stuck here forever.”

“No, I know, but I think we can get rid of the spirits first.”

“Get it to return where it came from?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

He made it sound so easy, but I knew it was anything but. It would be one of the hardest things we’d ever done.

Stone must have noticed the suspicion in my eyes, so he said,
“
It’s probably too late to go to the house tonight.”

“You’re right. We’ll have to wait until the morning.”

Bethany walked after us. “What about me?”

“Yes, we should help her first,” I said. “Your mother will be okay with that?”

Bethany hurried ahead of us. “She should be more than okay with it. She just wants things back to normal and so do I.”

“I can drive us there if you tell me where to go.” Stone motioned toward the street.

I couldn’t believe Stone was offering to help. What made him change his mind so abruptly? Something had to have happened.

We walked the rest of the way through the park toward the street. I was on high alert the whole time, waiting to see the dark shadows again. It felt as if they were watching us, so I knew, beyond the edges of the park, they had to be there waiting. If they came for us would Stone simply tell them to leave? After all, he said he simply told them to leave and it had worked. Gray clouds had quickly made their way over the moon, blocking out what little light we had over the park. At least the clouds had waited until we were leaving to make an appearance.

“This is my car,” Stone said when we reached the Mercedes.

I remembered it from that first day in the parking lot.

“Nice ride,” Roger said.

“Where are we all going to sit?” Marilyn asked.

“You’ll have to ride somewhere in the back,” I said.

“There’s no room,” Roger proclaimed.

Bethany climbed in the back seat and I got in the front passenger side. The ghosts stood on the curb looking confused.

“Can’t you just zoom and be there?” I motioned with a wave of my hand.

“No, we need to follow you.” James crossed his arms in front of his chest.

I sighed. “Okay, Marilyn can sit up here with me and the other two can squeeze in the back.”

The ghosts nodded, satisfied with my solution. I didn’t feel her, of course, but I scooted over to give her room anyway. I’d never thought I’d be sitting that close to Marilyn Monroe in a car as I was headed to fight off demons. Such was my life with ghosts.

After giving Stone directions, within a few minutes we had arrived at Bethany’s house. We all headed toward the front door, even the ghosts. I’d figured this might be the one time they’d stay in the car since they hadn’t seemed too keen on facing the dark shadows.

Bethany paused when she reached the door. “I hope my mom isn’t mad.”

“You talked to her. She’s fine now.” I put my arm around her shoulders.

Before Bethany had a chance to grab the doorknob, her mother pulled it open and then embraced Bethany in a hug.

Bonnie looked at me and said, “Thank you.”

“Is everything quiet now?” I asked.

“I heard some footsteps a few minutes ago.” She motioned over her shoulder.

Bonnie eyed Stone up and down.

“This is…” I paused unsure of what to call him. “A colleague… Stone Watkins. Is it all right that he came along? We need to come in and check out a few things. Maybe we can get rid of the problem.”

She waved her hand. “It’s perfectly fine. Please anything you can do.”

Bethany eased into the house. Stone and I followed her into the dimly lit living room.

“I can go get the board if you’d like?” Bethany scanned the room while asking.

“You’re going to use the Ouija now?” Bonnie asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid it’s something we have to do.”

She sighed. “Well, I guess you know best.”

Roger snorted. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

I gave him a dirty look. Bethany bound up the stairs to retrieve the board while Stone and I arranged chairs in a circle. After a couple seconds, Bethany returned with the board clutched in her hands. Anxiety danced in my stomach at the thought of using the thing, but I had used one in the past, so we just had to be careful.

I gestured toward the chairs. “Bethany and Bonnie, why don’t you sit there, and Stone and I will take the two chairs across from you.”

Once we’d formed our circle, we placed the board on the small table in front of us. Bethany knew how to use the board, but Bonnie seemed confused.

“We place our fingers on the planchette.” I motioned toward the plastic pointer. I took a deep breath. “I hope this works.”  Turning to Bethany, I asked her, “Did this demon give you a name?” I asked.

Bethany nodded. “Yes, he did.”

Much as I didn’t want to know, I had to find out.

“What’s the name?” I asked.

“It said its name was Hilson.”

Since I’d never heard of this demon before, I wasn’t sure what I was dealing with.

“If you’re here, can you talk to us?” I called out.

We watched the board, waiting for the planchette to move. Nothing occurred. This time, Stone called out to the demon. Still there was no answer. It felt as if something was watching us, though.

“I think the board is broken,” Roger said as he paced across the floor.

I stared at Roger. “The thing is messing with us, you should know that Roger.”

He held his hands up. “Hey, I’m not a demon.”

I smirked. “No, you just act like one sometimes.”

That shut him up. He didn’t say another word. Of course now Bonnie and Bethany were eyeing me as if I was a sandwich short of a picnic.

“I have a couple ghosts that followed me, but they’re nice, I promise.” I attempted a smile, as if that would make what I said sound completely normal.

Bonnie and Bethany’s eyes widened. They didn’t say anything, but I was sure they wanted to run away from me now. They really would be shocked if they knew one of the ghosts was Marilyn Monroe.  

A nervous Marilyn fidgeted on the sofa. The ghosts weren’t participating in the Ouija board session, but she was uneasy just the same. Still, we weren’t getting a response from this thing. I didn’t know what we could try next if this didn’t work. I was all out of ideas and I wasn’t sure if I trusted Stone’s idea of closing the portal. I might not have a choice but to give it a try.