Happily Never After (11 page)

Here’s where it got tricky. Could I trust him
not to think I’d lost my marbles? Most people would laugh at my
conclusions and suspicions. I had already told him way too much.
What the heck, if he left and never came back it would probably be
for the best solution for both of us. I closed my eyes and blew out
a slow breath.

“I need you to keep an open mind, please.
It’s quite possible you might leave this house when I’m finished
and never look back.”

He came over and sat beside me on the bed.
“I’m a pretty tough guy. I don’t run away from things.”

I believed him. “I’ve told you how there have
always been strange things happening in the house, spirits and all
that.” He nodded. “Well, ever since Daddy died there’s been a
different presence here and it seems to have attached itself to my
stepmother. It’s hard to describe. A dark shadow has tried to take
her over and her shadow is no longer her own. It moves and pulses
on its own power.

“I think it’s what affects her behavior.
Sometimes she’s her normal nasty, rude, and demeaning self, and I
can live with it. Other times she’s vicious, cruel, threatening.
Those times, it’s as if the shadow or darkness or whatever it is
grows, changes the air, and expands out. The other morning I was in
the kitchen with her and all the cabinet doors and drawers slammed
open and closed. She didn’t even flinch. Last night, she spoke to
me in a voice that wasn’t quite hers. She told me I was a true
Roberts and I had no clue what my family was capable of.”

Jason took my hand and I realized my entire
body was trembling.

“Coming from anyone else, I’d think you were
full of crap. But after what happened last night and being around
you, I believe you’re telling the truth. Who knows, maybe you’ll
still find a rational explanation for all this.”

Relief blossomed in me. Until then I’d fully
expected him to say I’d lost my mind.

“That’s not even the worst of it,” I added.
“A few days ago, in Marietta’s salon, it reached out to me somehow.
I felt its presence again. And it said I wouldn’t see my eighteenth
birthday, which is a couple weeks away. Then, the same night I
found those letters, I laid here afterwards wondering about what
really happened. I’m not even sure what it was exactly but the last
thought I had was about Catherine and wondering whatever happened
to her.

“Suddenly, a weight pushed me down on the
bed. Cold fingers surrounded my neck. I couldn’t breathe, or move.
I came so close to dying and I remember accepting it, maybe even
welcoming it. But then a light exploded in the room. For a second I
got a look at the thing and then it was gone. I still don’t know
what to think but it was the same thing attached to Marietta. I
recognized it. And I’m fairly certain it’s Catherine.”

Jason stood and took a few steps. “You’ve got
to be kidding me, Quinn. You’re saying something in this house
threatened you and then tried to kill you? And you’re still here?”
He turned back to me. “Are you crazy?”

“Where can I go, Jason? I have no money of my
own yet and I’m still a minor for a couple more weeks. You can’t
imagine how much I’ve thought about this. I only have to put up
with this a little while longer, and then I'll get my trust fund.
The problem is now I’m worried about what’ll happen to Marietta and
her daughters. I don’t want them hurt.”

He sat back down on the bed, closer this time
and grabbed my arms. “From everything you’ve told me, it’s only
getting worse and you might not have time. If you’re as serious as
I think you are, this entity wants something from you. It’s not
going away.”

“I think it might be after some kind of
revenge.”

“What do you mean? Did you do something to
one of her ghost friends?” I appreciated his dry humor. Some of my
tension melted away even as I realized he might not actually be
joking.

“Nothing as simple as that. I believe it's
Catherine. If Jennings helped the Roberts family with the intention
of marrying into the fabled Southern lifestyle, Catherine was an
innocent pawn. Maybe she was abused and it resulted in her death so
she wants revenge against her family. It’s the only reason I can
think of that accounts for her disappearing from the public eye.
What if she was sent into a horrible situation?”

“True, being forced into a marriage,
especially an abusive one, would have changed anyone. Even more so
if it ended in her death at the hands of her husband. She might be
angry enough to take revenge on the last Roberts. You.”

All I could do was nod. I wasn’t even sure if
it was true, but it made a strange kind of sense. Her vicious
attitude towards our family made sense now. Killing me seemed a
little extreme but, like Jason said, maybe it changed her in the
worst imaginable way.

I looked at him as the implications sunk in.
Until now, I hadn’t been able to come up with a tangible reason for
her threats. So much of the puzzle was still missing. I needed to
figure the rest of it out. In order to do that, I needed to keep a
low profile.

Jason studied my face and leaned in closer. I
wondered if he would kiss me but before he did, he jumped.

“Something moved over by the desk.” He
sounded scared and after the stories I’d been telling, I didn’t
blame him.

I’d been so distracted by Catherine and Jason
and wondering if he was going to kiss me, I didn’t notice George
leaning near the desk. I looked at him in my peripheral and saw him
studying Jason closely.

It almost made me laugh. Right when I thought
I’d shared every strange thing about myself, something else popped
up.

“Don’t worry. Remember I told you there were
other spirits in the house, peaceful spirits?” He jerked his head
up and down in quick movements. Then it occurred to me. “You can
see him?”

“Yeah,” Jason whispered. “Not if I look at
him straight on but from the corner of my eye I see a little black
boy with bare feet. What the heck is going on, Quinn?”

I laid my hand on his shoulder. “Ever since I
was a little girl, I’ve called him George. He’s a good spirit,
Jason. You don’t need to be afraid of him. George, this is my
friend Jason.”

Jason let out a crazed laugh. “You talk to
him?” His voice rose to a higher pitch.

“You have to imagine being a nine year old
girl. Talking to a little boy I saw would have felt normal. I guess
I kept doing it out of habit. He can’t talk back but he understands
me.”

Eventually, Jason seemed to relax a little.
“I–I don’t know what to do. I mean, does he just hang out?”

George smiled which made me do the same.
“Sometimes he does. I haven’t seen him since the night I was
attacked. He disappeared before it happened.”

I noticed George flicker and a feeling of
helplessness crashed through me. I turned my attention to him.
“It’s okay George. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything to
help. I’m glad you came back though.”

“You don’t think he was the one who made that
thing go away?”

George shook his head sadly.

“No, whatever saved me was powerful. For the
life of me I can’t come up with any theories about what the light
was. I’m stumped.”

We were both quiet for a long time and I
sensed George getting weaker. Eventually, he faded away
completely.

Jason let out a relieved sigh. “Wow.”

“I’m happy you could see him. I think he did
it on purpose to show you I wasn’t alone here.”

“You’re one interesting girl, Quinn
Roberts.”

I grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad
thing.”

He returned the smile cautiously. “It’s not a
bad thing. Maybe intriguing would be a better word than
interesting. I’m filming a movie about the paranormal, about
vampires, and here I am in the middle of a real life paranormal
experience.” He wiped a hand over his face. “Give me a chance to
catch up.”

“Okay, let’s get out of here. I think you’ve
had enough of my house for one day.”

He stood and followed me down the attic
stairs. “Good idea. Where are we off to?”

“I need to do some more research. I
understand if you wanted to go do something different or more
glamorous.” I almost hoped he would jump at the chance.

“Are you kidding? You’re not alone anymore
Quinn. I want to help you figure this out. Maybe George thinks I
can help. I’ll warn you though, if you keep giving me crap about
being all ‘Hollywood’,” he made quotation marks with his hands,
“I’ll come right back with an ‘I see dead people’ joke.”

I laughed loudly at him and it felt good to
let go. Before I answered him, I locked the house as we left and
took a deep breath of the fragrant air.

“Fine, no more Hollywood remarks but I can’t
have you squealing like a girl again because I’m thinking this is
only going to get more unreasonable and scarier the farther we go
with it.”

“Awesome,” Jason muttered.

Chapter Fifteen

We spent most of the day at the historical
society and same as before, there were only mentions in the society
columns and newspaper about Catherine’s strange absence from
events.

“Wow, this place is awesome,” Jason said as
he studied a brittle copy of an old newspaper. “Is it still
standing?”

I leaned over to see. He pointed to a faded
black and white photo of the long torn down Pulaski House. Once, it
was the finest hotel of its time, which always amazed me,
considering it had been owned by Yankees. The hotel, known for its
lavish parties, was too lavish for some Southerners to resist.

“It has been torn down for a long time but
was supposedly haunted. I heard even the building that replaced it
has reports of the same kind of paranormal activity. That is one
place I would love to investigate.”

“You and your ghosts.” He smiled and shook
his head. “What caught my eye was that it talks about Catherine
being at these parties, at least until she married. The most
notable thing after that is Catherine not being in attendance. They
mentioned it a lot. Her absence was noted by the papers as well as
the patrons. Then, after a few months, they stopped printing
anything about her at all. At least until they found her body. I
kind of get the feeling she was the ‘it’ girl of her time.”

Jason surprised me. He threw himself into the
research, claiming it was exciting. I guess it would be if I didn’t
have the nagging feeling my life was in danger. And he was good at
the research. He could skim an article or page and pick out
anything interesting. Must have been a habit he picked up from
reading all those scripts.

We also found an older article hinting about
her impending engagement to the son of a wealthy landowner. All
that did was add more speculation to the fire. I tried not to be
discouraged even though I related to a soldier going off to war and
not understanding my enemy.

Jason and I left the historical society
building with his bodyguard conveniently blending in as a normal
tourist and walked downtown to the riverfront where we found a
small seafood restaurant that wasn’t too busy. After we sat down
and ordered, Jason brought up our fruitless search.

“I don’t think digging up the past is turning
out to be very productive. Maybe you need to look at this from
another angle.”

“Well, I hope you have ideas because I’m all
out.” I sipped my sweet iced tea.

“I might have a few.” I liked him better in
his ‘disguise’. It made him more approachable, in a sense, even
though the girl in the corner booth kept eyeing him. He continued,
“What if it’s a form of possession? Try looking at it from a
paranormal standpoint. I’m sure there are plenty of others doing
the same thing as you and Abby. You should find people with more
experience to help you with this.”

I thought about that for a bit. It actually
made sense. I wasn’t the only one who’d ever had a nasty encounter
with an evil entity. Someone else might have some ideas on how to
deal with it, especially if it was a possession. I’d been thinking
more along the lines of a haunting and possession hadn’t yet
entered my mind.

It would be nice to have a knowledgeable
person tell me if it was something I could fix.

“That’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought of
that. I’ll get Abby on it. She spends a lot of time at Moon River
Brewing now that she’s working there part time. Quite a few
paranormal groups come through there. See, you’re good for
something.”

I texted Abby as the waiter delivered our
food.

“So, how come you’re free today?” Jason
asked.

“My stepmother and stepsisters are in
Atlanta, probably looking for pageant stuff or costumes for your
masquerade ball.”

He winced. “I forgot about that. The ball is
this weekend, isn’t it? I thought it was a lame idea but the studio
heads wanted to do it as a ‘thank you’ to the city for allowing us
to film. I’m really not looking forward to it.”

“I hate to break it to ya, but you’re in the
wrong business if you don’t enjoy dressing fancy and sucking up to
people. Most of an actor’s job is publicity.”

“I realize that, it just makes me feel more
like a piece of meat than I already do.” He looked embarrassed and
pushed his food around on the plate. “I’m aware of how ungrateful I
sound, too.”

“Nah, you’re right. You’ve still got a couple
years before you become a true self-centered celebrity.”

“I hope not. Please tell me you’re going to
come to the ball. I need someone there to keep me grounded. Think
of all the people we can make fun of.”

I stared at him, wide-eyed as we stood up to
leave. Had he just asked me to go with him? Or was he only
wondering if I’d be there?

“Probably not a good idea. Have fun though.”
Any dreams of going to a stupid ball with Jason were dangerous, not
because Marietta and the twins would be there but because of my
growing feelings towards him. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that when
the movie wound up production, he would leave. I didn’t need to be
doing anything crazy such as going on a pretend date.