A Walk on the Haunted Side (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 2) (12 page)

Brannon looked out across the library. I knew he was still hoping to see her. 

“That’s not the only reason you should bring the equipment here.”

He stared for a moment and then said, “What are you up to?”

I glanced down at my shoes. “I see the shadows here just like I see them at home.”

“Do you think it’s the same ghost?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think it might be the male presence. I think the female presence hangs out at my house. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Heck, I don’t know. There are too many ghosts hanging around.”

“Have they left any messages for you?” he asked.

“No, not yet, at least.”

“You’ll let me know when I can bring by the equipment?”

I nodded. I wasn’t going to mention this to the head of the library because I knew Mrs. Agnew’s answer would be no way. I supposed she wouldn’t even know, since she had never found out about the time I’d let Brannon investigate the library. I was kind of looking forward to what we might find out.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Brannon touched my cheek.

“I’m fine.”

“I guess I’d better get to work,” he said.

Brannon’s fangs made me giggle. It was hard to take him seriously with those things in his mouth. “Make sure to remove the fangs before you get there.” I pointed at his mouth.

He touched his mouth and blushed. “I almost forgot.” Brannon walked toward the door. Just before he opened the door, he turned and said, “Let me know if you get any messages, okay?”

I nodded. “I’ll let you know.”

He smiled and then walked out the door. As soon as the door had closed, my phone alerted me to a text message. I pulled it out and saw the message was from Annie.

I am too shy to talk with him.

That was so sweet. I looked over and saw Annie peeking out from behind the book shelf.

“Annie, there’s nothing to be shy about. Brannon is a nice guy.”

Just then a dark shadow darted around the book shelf to the left and disappeared down the hall.

“Are you sure that’s the only reason you’re not coming around?”

I didn’t see Annie and I got no response. She’d disappeared again.

That night I was at home relaxing on the sofa with a book. Something made me look over into the corner of the room. I wasn’t sure what, but it was a feeling that I should just look. When I glanced over, I spotted a piece of paper on the floor. I stood and walked over to the area. A cool breeze surrounded me and a feeling of being watched. I reached down and picked up the paper. That was odd. It was a piece of wallpaper. It was faded and yellow, but at one time, I imagined it had been pretty.

I remembered seeing the paper before. And that memory sent a chill down my spine. I knew there was no way that I had accidentally brought this home with me. It had been days since I’d been in the old house. I would have noticed something like that way before now. It was a rather large piece too. How had it gotten to my house? Something told me that the ghost was trying to send me a message. Now more than ever I felt that the ghost from the Helmwood House was at my place.

I studied the paper, but there wasn’t anything unusual about it. I had to find out how it had gotten here.

I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. Within a short time, I was pulling into the driveway of the old house. It was even spookier than it had been before. Maybe it was because I knew that this ghost had been following me and probably Brannon too.

I pulled the car up and turned off the ignition. For a few seconds, I stared up at the house and wondered if I was doing the right thing by going back in. I knew I had to find out what this paper meant though.

I opened the car door and stepped out. I forced myself up the porch steps and to the front door. Once on the porch, I pushed on the old door. It squeaked as I opened it. After releasing a deep breath, I stepped inside the dark foyer.

The moment I arrived, it was as if I was surrounded, but I couldn’t see who was there with me. I would have asked the ghost to show itself, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea when I was all by myself. Especially after what had happened to Hank. I was taking a big risk just by coming here alone.

I remembered which room I’d seen the paper in. A lot of it was falling off. I moved closer to the dining room. The room was empty and full of cobwebs. The floor squeaked under my feet. The paper on the walls matched perfectly with the piece in my hands. Now I had to find out how it had gotten from this house to mine.

I spotted a piece that was missing on the wall. After walking over to the spot, I lifted the piece in my hand up to the wall. It fit alike a perfect piece to the puzzle, as if someone had ripped the piece from the wall. That wasn’t the only thing though. There was a name on the wall and a saying.

Corabeth Willis.

Once your eyes have been opened, you can’t un-know or un-see.

It sent a shiver down my spine. The saying I’d seen before, but I couldn’t remember where.

I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of the spot on the wall. I wanted to see if I could find out anything on the name.

Footsteps sounded from behind me and I whirled around. No one was there, but I felt the presence.

“Who’s here?” I called out.

Of course I didn’t get an answer. It was time for me to get out of there. Something about this presence seemed even angrier now. Maybe I was letting all the rumors get to me. I was worrying too much. One thing was for sure, I needed to get out of there immediately.  

I made it out of the house with that feeling of being followed trailing me all the way to my car. I jumped in and sped out of the driveway.

***

The next morning I made it to the library, past the graveyard, and through the doors. Tammy was waiting for me by the reference desk. Annie was standing behind her and Jane Austen was sitting on the counter staring at me. She meowed a hello.

“What are you up to?” Tammy asked.

I pulled out the piece of wallpaper. “This is what I’m up to.”

Tammy frowned. “You’re thinking of papering your walls with old wallpaper?”

I plopped my purse down on the counter. “No, this was in my place, so I went by the old house to see if it matched the wallpaper there.”

My phone dinged at that moment and I didn’t have to check it to know that Annie wasn’t happy with me going back over to the house. It was too late now.

“What did you find out?” Tammy asked.

I waved the paper through the air. “It was a match.”

“So what does that mean?” Tammy asked.

“How did it get there?” I asked. 

Tammy frowned. “Hmm. I’m not sure about that.”

“And that’s not all.”

“What else?”

My phone dinged again and I pulled it out. Annie wanted to know what I had found out too.

“There was a name, Corabeth Willis, and a saying on the spot where I matched the paper to the wall.”

“What did it say?” Tammy asked.

“Once your eyes have been opened, you can’t un-know or un-see,”
I told her.

“Are you going to look up the name?” she asked.

“I’m doing it right now,” I said, as I marched over to the computer.

I had to see if there were any news articles with the name Corabeth Willis. I sat down in front of the computer. After it turned on, I typed into the search bar. I wasn’t prepared for what I found. Why hadn’t anyone ever told me about this? How had I not known? I found an article about a woman dying right outside the library. The name was Corabeth Willis.

Tammy let out a little gasp. “I can’t believe that.”

I stared at the screen. I couldn’t believe it either. “Annie, do you know anything about this?”

Yes, she was murdered. I don’t know what happened after that. I’m sorry.
she texted.

I would have to find out more. Was Annie telling me the full story?

“There has to be a connection, right?” Tammy asked.

“Yes, there has to be a connection.” I would not stop until I found out. 

I continued to look through the pages on the screen. I hoped that I could find something else—anything else—that would lead me to more information about this woman. That was when I stumbled on another article. It was a wanted poster. Heydon Emmett.

“Look.” I pointed at the screen.

Tammy leaned closer. “What did you find?”

“This is supposedly the man who killed her. I guess they never found him.”

“What does it say?”

“He apparently went missing after getting on a train and was never found.”

“Wow. I wonder what happened to him.”

“Well, it seems like the police wanted to find him for the murder.”

“How did he murder her?” Tammy asked.

I looked at her. “I don’t know.”

“Are they sure he did it? Did they prove it?”

“That I don’t know. I wonder if her ghost is still roaming around trying to find her killer? Is that why she was following me? Does she want me to find her killer?”

“Even if she doesn’t, I know you will want to anyway.”

“Well, I would only find the ghost of her killer. He’s been dead for a long time.”

“What else can you find?” Tammy asked.

I turned around to face the screen again and placed my fingers on the keys.

“Did you find something else?” Tammy asked.

For a moment, I couldn’t speak. “I don’t think I have to solve the case. It says here that that man was the one who killed her because witnesses caught him over her body.”

“So what does she want you to do then?” Tammy asked as she sat down on the chair beside me.

“I don’t know.” I leaned back in the chair and released a deep breath. “I guess that puts me right back where I started.”

She frowned and patted me on the back. “You’ll figure it out.”

“I hope it’s soon because I want this ghost to stop following me.”

My phone dinged. I looked at the screen.

Why don’t you just ask her to leave?

I frowned. “I don’t think that works, now does it, Annie?”

No, I suppose it doesn’t.

At least she was willing to admit that.

Tammy stood from the chair. “I guess I’ll get back to work. Are you coming?”

“I suppose I should get some work done today. This will have to wait.” I stood from the chair and followed Tammy across the floor.

Jane Austen followed us, meowing as she walked.  

Corabeth’s killer had never been arrested, but maybe I wasn’t dealing with the ghost of Corabeth at all. I had just assumed it was her because she was the one who had owned the house. But I had seen a male figure too. Plus, the presence had felt less than friendly. It could definitely be him. That sent a shiver down my spine.

I didn’t like the sound of that. As I typed on the computer behind the reference desk, Annie sent me a message.

Maybe it is the ghost of the killer. I feel the negativity around you. You should definitely be careful.

Annie had obviously been thinking the same thing.

“I promise I will be careful.”

She nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. I would now have to find out more about Corabeth Willis and her killer. Maybe then I could get the ghosts to move on. Wherever that was that they were supposed to move on to. I just didn’t want them around me.

“You okay?” Tammy asked.

I knew that I had been in a zone for far too long.

I snapped out of it. “Sure, I’m okay.”

She grinned. “You had me worried there for a minute.” 

I knew that some people believed there was a hex involved with the Helmwood House. I wasn’t sure I would be able to convince certain people that there was no hex. After finishing my work around the front, I headed to my office. Annie disappeared again and I wondered what she was up to. Had she seen the shadow again?

I sat behind my desk and thought about everything I’d figured out since I started looking into the case. As I thought about all the clues that I had right now I went through the motions of my work. What else could I do to find out where Hank’s killer had gone? Plus how could I confirm who the ghosts following me around were?

This was getting out of hand. Soon I wouldn’t even be able to keep count of the ghosts if they kept showing up. I was rethinking my idea of doing the ghost tour. Maybe I was attracting too many ghosts. It wasn’t too late to stop the tour. If it was going to lead to this then maybe I should. But it was something that I loved and that I had wanted to do for a long time. I was torn and didn’t know what to do. 

There was another thing that was on my mind. Was Corabeth’s murder way back then connected to Hank’s murder now? How could it be? They were years apart and Hank had had nothing to do with that woman, right? Just because he had been to the house right before he was murdered didn’t mean that there was any kind of connection. But I was curious. It was obviously just a coincidence thought. It did give some credence to that whole hex thing though.

As I sat in front of my computer, the screen lit up. I paused, waiting for the message from Annie. The word ‘HELP’ appeared. My heart sped up. The message didn’t stop and the word was written over and over again, filling up the whole screen.

I spun around. “Annie, are you okay? Where are you? Annie, can you hear me?”

Just as I was about to jump up and run around the library looking for Annie, she appeared at the doorway of my office. The expression on her face didn’t look as if she was in any kind of distress. My phone dinged. I grabbed it and peered down at the message.

What’s wrong?

I pointed at the computer. “Did you leave this message? Are you okay?”

Another text appeared on my phone.
That’s not from me.

My eyes widened. “You didn’t leave that message?”

She shook her head. If Annie hadn’t left the message then who had? I scanned the area, but didn’t see anyone. Was this another of the ghosts I’d seen? Honestly, I had been surprised that they hadn’t been able to communicate before now. But how did I know if this was really one of them? Was there a different ghost?

As I sat at my desk working my phone dinged again letting me know I had a text message. I glanced up to see if Annie had returned. She wasn’t in the doorway. I glanced down at the screen. The message wasn’t from Annie. This message was similar to the one that had been on the computer screen, except this time the word was ‘MURDER.’ It was typed over and over again on my phone’s screen. It sent a shiver down my spine. I set the phone down. What should I do now? I got up and went to the door.

After releasing a deep breath, I peeked out from my office. I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but there was nothing there. No one in the hallway. I would say that the message wasn’t intended for me if I hadn’t already received a message on the computer earlier. Help and murder. Those words seemed to go together. Was the message from Hank? He had been at the library right before his murder. Maybe his ghost had found its way back here.

Another text message popped up on my phone. I raced over to see what this one said. ‘TOMBSTONE.’ What did that mean? Hank had died next to tombstones.