A Whispered Darkness (33 page)

Gabriel and Grant took either of Mom’s arms and led her from the room. I watched with a frown. I didn’t remember Gabriel being there through part of the tour. But then, I was being pulled in so many directions, I couldn’t be certain.

George and Deon had to lift Bryan from the floor and were practically carrying him downstairs. The rest of us followed. I was concerned for his mind, but I figured Cain could make the ultimate decision. Melanie and Bryan had both gotten what they wanted—forgiveness. Where Bryan went from here was his choice. Assuming we got out alive.

“Wait,” Cain said, pausing at the top of the stairs. He waved George and Deon on, then looked at us. “We need to find this fourth floor, don’t we?”

“It would be best to know where to go when the time is right.” Laura couldn’t quite meet my gaze. “We don’t want to waste time later looking for it. I don’t think it would go well.”

“All right then.” I glanced at Haven. “Are you wanting to stay for this?”

He nodded. “I think I know where to look. I keep seeing flashes of things. If there’s a doorway, it’s in one of the alcoves. I can’t be sure which. The scenes are moving too fast.”

We broke apart and took opposite ends of the hall. As the others moved away, I tugged on Haven’s hand.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

He squeezed my hands in his. “I’m okay. Honest.”

I gave him a once over, and he smiled. “If I feel like I need help, I promise I’ll ask.”

“Make sure you do.” I gave him a quick kiss and then pushed him toward the nearest alcove.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Laura ran her hand along the wall of one recess.

“A door that would lead to an attic or fourth floor,” I said.

Cain moved the boxes out of the other alcove, then stepped inside. I studied the corners and the floor to see if it looked like there was unusual wear and tear at the end of the hall where there was a blank wall.

“Guys!” Cain’s deep voice rang out. “I think I found it.”

We rushed over, and he ran a small penlight around the wall. The glow revealed a strange, door-shaped bump in the wall.

“It’s been wallpapered over, but that’s got to be it,” I said.

Cain reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. I put a hand on his arm. “Not yet. Once we open it, all hell breaks loose. We’ll have to work our way up.”

“Good point.”

Laura cut her eyes at me. “What difference does it make?”

Haven answered. “It’s where all the power in the house comes from. We have to investigate and cleanse from the basement up. If we open this now, we’re finished. Somehow, there’s something about the seal on the door. Claire?”

“It’s holding her in,” I said. I flexed my mind against the doorway. It did not yield, and while I couldn’t sense anything concrete, there was still a shadow of something. “Once we open it, we release her completely.”

Cain checked his watch and folded the blade back into the body of the knife. “Then we had best get started. It’s almost eight now.”

When we went downstairs, George and Deon were in deep discussion to the side of the room. Julia sat in a chair on the other side of the room.

“Where did Bryan go?” I asked, panic fluttering in my gut. The last thing we needed was for him to do anything to himself.

She must have caught onto my fear. “Don’t worry. Grant went with him. He’s waiting while Bryan washes his face and gets himself calmed down a little.”

I wasn’t too worried, as Gabriel had included the bathroom in the warding earlier. Still, having anyone out of sight made me uneasy.

“What did we decide?” George took a seat behind the long plastic table holding the monitors and computers with all the equipment.

Cain and Laura glared at each other, but drew closer. “We’ve left it up to Bryan to decide whether he wants to talk to the police about all this.”

Julia cleared her throat. “I don’t want to sound like I’m the bad guy, but are you sure?”

Cain sighed. “Technically, he didn’t kill her, and we can’t prove he did. There’s no way a cop is going to believe the ghost did it. I don’t like it, but we all know if he goes to the police they’ll put him in a psych ward. Or worse.”

“True. It’s just disturbing it could get to anyone like that.” Julia hugged herself. “This place is far more intense than I planned.”

Laura flicked a glance at me. “What do you think, Claire?”

I held up my hands. “Whatever you decide, I’ll go with. Right now, he’s the least of my worries.”

“All right then. Someone will have to stay with him. We can’t take him with us. I want him watched until we can get out of here.” Cain’s words were hard. No one argued with him.

With a curt nod, he nodded to George. “I take it we’re ready?”

George pressed a few buttons. “As we’re going to be.”

Haven picked up a digital camera and a voice recorder from the pile on the table. “Everything has multiple batteries, right?”

George shot him a forced smile. Beneath his tan, he was pale. “Definitely. You sure this is how you want to start?”

I took an extra flashlight and set of batteries. “We’ll start it, and then we’ll finish it. You guys have to be the middle.”

“All right.” Cain said.

Gabriel pulled the bag strap over his head, the zippered pocket already open and a flashlight in hand.

I frowned.

Haven spoke up before I could. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.”

“I’m an ordained priest,” Gabriel said, crossing his arms. “If you’re going to bless something to drive out spirits, I’m as good as you’re going to get. I’ve already said I’ll go do it with each team in each room.”

Neither of us said anything else.

Gabriel shoved a finger into Haven’s shoulder. “You need an extra person, and you know it. You’re not always in the present.”

Haven’s face flushed. “What—”

“I overheard her ask if you were all right. With the way you’ve been zoning in and out, I figured it out.” Gabriel shoved an extra set of batteries in his bag. “Come on, Haven. Swallow your pride. What happens if you aren’t sure what’s going on and she needs help?”

Haven’s eyes cut to me and then away. “Fine.”

“All right then.” Gabriel held out one arm, indicating the doorway. “After you.”

Cain held out a palm sized walkie-talkie. “If you need us, use this.” I took it from his hand and clipped it to my waistband. “Otherwise, we’ll wait for your return before sending out the next team.”

“Give us about five minutes, and then we’ll cut the power at the main breaker.” I rubbed my hands over my face, sucking in a few gulps of air. Every nerve in my body was on high alert. I bounced on my toes, the energy in the house moving through me now, whether I liked it or not. I couldn’t block it all out. It pulsed around us, a living thing, and I had to resist the urge to scratch at my own skin. It was like it was stuck to me, and all I needed to do was get a grip and peel it away.

“Are you sure we have to go dark?” I asked again.

Cain paused, his eyes roving over the equipment. “For once, I wish I could say we didn’t. But the equipment won’t work as well—it’s all geared for complete darkness, and we are investigators.”

“Okay. We’re off then.”

Cain gave me a thumbs up and a smile, but his grin was forced. Grant and Bryan came back in. Bryan, did not turn his red-rimmed eyes from his toes. Grant took a seat next to George. Worry cut a line between his eyebrows.

“Be careful, Sis. Don’t be stupid.”

I gave him a mock salute, and a smile with more warmth than I actually felt. He saw right through it, but didn’t call me on it. Without any more delay, I led Gabriel and Haven downstairs. It would be different to be in the house with absolutely no light. Even when it was dark normally, there were little things. Clock lights in the kitchen, the porch light outside.

When I opened the door to the basement, a blast of icy air rushed out. I stepped inside anyway, flicking the button on my flashlight. “Ready or not,” I whispered. “Here we come.”

Gabriel cursed as we started down the stairs.

Teeth chattering, I glanced over my shoulder, “I thought you were a priest. Are you supposed to know those words?”

“Different kind of priest.” It sounded like he was gargling marbles.

I could understand why. The air was thick, almost like breathing soup. I made my way over to the breaker box, leaving Haven and Gabriel to start the cleansing. Haven lit a stick of sage, wafting the smoke around the room. Gabriel started a prayer, and I shone my flashlight on the box, finding the main switch.

“Are we ready?”

When there was no answer, I turned. Haven nodded behind me, his lips moving in some sort of prayer, though his words were inaudible.

I pushed the switch, and the house plunged into total darkness, except for the ring of our flashlights. They moved through the room, Gabriel’s voice calling out in Latin, firm in the darkness.

Wind, thick with the smell of decay, blew through, the icy tendrils biting into exposed flesh. I gagged, and heard Gabriel’s chant falter a moment as he did the same. It didn’t take much to sense the spirit around us, snarling in the dark. Gabriel’s light on the other side of the room went out, and I heard him stumble in the dark. His litany didn’t relent.

Haven moved into the last and farthest corner with the sage. The smoke moved through the beam of his light like ribbons. He stumbled and swore. I saw the flare of the smoldering end of the sage bundle and started toward it. His flashlight rolled a few feet away from him, and in the beam two bluish and rotting feet came into view.

“Holy crap,” Haven whispered I scooped up the bundle, then found Haven and helped him to his feet. He pulled the sage from me.

Gabriel finished the last line of prayer and padded closer. I flipped up the flashlight in time to see him fling holy water in the direction of the feet, shouting a few Latin words.

A growl reverberated around us.

“I don’t think that helped much,” I said, backing toward the stairs and catching Haven’s hand with mine. “What else do you have in your bag of tricks?”

I heard Gabriel hiss in the darkness and then his light flickered back to life. He tossed holy water out again with another shouted command. This time it seemed to work. The growl escalated to a roar.

I ducked, and the ghost sped past us, fleeing. Anger and stench followed the wind it created, riffling our hair. The ghost had left and retreated upstairs to dwell in another dark place for a time.

“Not as easy as I hoped,” Gabriel said. “Are you two all right?”

Haven’s voice was breathy. “Yeah. And to think, that was only the beginning.”

I grimaced, though neither could see me in the dark. “Let’s not think about it. The others will be thrilled, though. I think we got all of it on camera. Including the creepy feet.”

“Screw the camera.” Gabriel led the way back to the stairs. “Let’s just make sure we all get out of here in one piece.”

Haven and I stayed in the living room with George while Cain, Laura, and Gabriel went through the back rooms. Sitting in the dark, with a few camp lanterns for light wasn’t easy, even though the warding on the room provided some relief. Mom sat in the rocking chair in a dark corner, moving back and forth.

Somehow, though I couldn’t see her face, I could feel her smiling at our discomfort.

“Breathe.” Haven leaned close enough to whisper in my ear. “You’re letting them get to you.”

“I know.” I sat back, leaning against his side. “How are you?”

His lips pressed to my hair. “In here, I can relax a little. Out there—” He paused, and his muscles tensed under my cheek. “I don’t know if I’m going to be a help or a hindrance.”

“Do you need to stay behind?” I sat up and looked him in the eye. “Be honest.”

He ran a hand through his hair, digging his fingers into his scalp. “I can’t sit here and let you go up there alone. I can tell the difference between what is a replay and what is reality. I may be useful, in the end.”

“Not what I asked you.” All at once, it was hard to swallow and the room grew hot. “Haven? Answer me.”

“You can’t rely on me.” His voice was hoarse, and barely audible. “We need to take someone else with us, besides Gabriel. Just in case.”

His arms slipped around my waist and he pulled me against him, squeezing tight. “Just don’t leave me behind, okay? I can’t stand that.”

I licked my lips. “If you think that, maybe you
should
stay here.”

“I’m just being overly cautious.”

“You can’t take it back now, Haven. There’s nothing wrong with staying here.”

He released me and glared. “Cain doesn’t understand your gifts. Gabriel I don’t trust. You’re not leaving here without me.”

“Fine.” I took a deep breath. “But if you cause problems, I reserve the right to knock you over your head and toss you back downstairs.”

“Deal.”

“You two are getting too mushy for words,” Grant said, flopping into a chair next to us. “I’m feeling ill just watching you.”

I stuck out my tongue.

“Shouldn’t you be helping George out?” Haven asked, refusing to let me off his lap when I tugged on his hand.

Grant rolled his eyes. “Chill, lover boy. George sent me over here. He’s flipping out over one of the cameras. It keeps fuzzing out.”

Though he kept his sarcasm, I could see the tiny line between his brows. His eyes kept flicking back to the computer bank and George’s face, illuminated blue in the glow from the screens.

“What is it showing?” Haven’s hands finally relaxed their hold and I slid onto the seat next to him.

“I think it’s the group in the back room.” Grant hooked his arm behind his head. “I thought this would be hard, but I didn’t count on it being this hard.”

Mom stood up, and every eye in the room, including George, focused on her. She stepped closer. Light from the lanterns played with her features. Her nose seemed broader. Her chin more defined.
She’s nearly gone.
My eyes burned.
I’ll lose her and no one will even know the difference.

Haven straightened, scooted to the edge of his seat. Mom crouched next to Grant. “Poor baby. Did you think this would be like a nightmare you could just wake up from?” She clicked her tongue. “Even if you left this house now, I would haunt you forever. Even better,
I would enjoy it.
”