Me and My Ghoulfriends (20 page)

             
Me and My Ghoulfriends

Chapter 18

I didn’t think it was possible, but things with Brianna kept getting worse. Despite my denial, Brianna was convinced I was carrying out mischievous and hateful incidents against her. There was no doubt about it—I had to get the gang to leave her alone for my own sanity and safety.

“I need to talk to you guys. Where are you? Come out. I know you’re here somewhere.”

Of all the times for them to hide from me like children who knew they were in trouble and about to be punished. I crossed my arms in front of my chest to let them know I meant business.

“Come out right now. You too, Mrs. Williams. If you want my help, then show yourself right now,” I demanded.

After a minute passed, Abe appeared, looking at me innocently.

“Now where are the rest of you? I’d better see all of you at once. This is important.”

Vivian slowly materialized in the corner of the room. She was holding her head down bashfully.

“Mr. Haynes? Don’t be shy, now. Come out here and talk to me.”

“Hello, Larue.” Mr. Haynes popped up next to me, like he hadn’t known I’d been looking for him.

My
heart lurched. “Oh, don’t do that. You scared me to dea… Um, you scared me.”

I tried not to use the word death around them. No need to rekindle bad memories for them.

“What are you guys doing to Brianna? She has it out for me because she thinks I’m doing things to her. I know you’re up to something, and are responsible for the shenanigans.”

I was met with silence. “Come on, guys. I need to know what you’ve done.” Everyone was looking at the floor, not saying anything.

“Mr. Haynes, I know you will tell me.” I released a deep sigh. Why were they being so difficult?

“We merely made some noise.”

I raised my eyebrow. “And?”

“We hid some of her things.”

I couldn’t help but let out a snicker. “What kind of things?”

“Nothing major, a hairbrush here, a toothbrush there. And maybe her keys on a few occasions.”

I could see Brianna searching her house in vain for the items.

“You guys have to leave Brianna alone. It is causing me so many headaches. She’s suspicious I’m somehow involved in the pranks going on around her.” I gave an exasperated look and slumped further down on my seat.

“You
are
involved,” Mrs. Williams said as she stood across the room, leafing through one of the books.

I just gave her a warning glare. There was no point in arguing with her; she didn’t listen. She was one stubborn woman.

“Now does everyone understand me? Leave Brianna alone. I know you’re just trying to help, but right now, it’s
not
helping. Actually, it’s making things far worse for me. You’ll stop? No more pranks?”

I scanned everyone’s pale, somewhat transparent faces, waiting for an answer. Silence filled the space. No answer. I shot another stern look their way. Finally, everyone reluctantly nodded in agreement.

“Of course, dear,” Mr. Haynes said.

“Good, now that we’ve got that settled, we can drop the subject of Brianna. I don’t want to even think of her. Now, I need to get to work. Here comes a customer. Everyone, please do not do anything to her.”

My frown deepened as I eyed Mrs. Williams; she couldn’t be trusted.

After the customer had gone I took a seat behind the counter and grabbed the mail. I hadn’t opened it the day before, so a pile was quickly stacking up. Nothing but the usual letters and bills, until I spotted a neatly wrapped package.

I picked it up and eyed the return address. It was a package from my mother. I slid my finger under the edge and carefully opened it.
I wonder why she’s sending me a package to work
.

Inside the package was a pretty golden box of candy. Chocolate truffles to be exact. My favorite of course. I wondered what the occasion was; my mother never mailed me things. If she bought me something, she usually used it as an excuse to stop by. I guess I’d been hoping the box was from a secret admirer instead.

My mother knew how I loved chocolate, but she also never wanted me to gain an ounce, so it surprised me that she’d sent it. Me eating chocolate might impair my chances of meeting Mr. Right, her exact words. There was no letter included, though, so maybe she was finally easing up on her relentless badgering.

The shiny golden box was dazzling in front of me and oh-so-pretty. I just couldn’t resist breaking into the package immediately. I opened the top and retrieved a couple of pieces of chocolate. Hoping to eat them before the customer in the non-fiction section needed my help, I hurriedly popped one in my mouth. It wouldn’t look very professional if I got caught chewing a mouthful of chocolate.

Reluctantly, I sat the box aside and finished going through the mail as I nibbled on the other pieces of chocolate. Fortunately, I’d finished chomping them before the customer came over to pay for her book. I rang up her total and, as she exited the shop, I peeked down at the sparkly gold box again.
Okay, just one more piece wouldn’t hurt.
I still couldn’t believe my mother had sent the candy to tempt me; my day was looking up i
n
spite of everything. And all it had taken was a box of candy in a pretty gilded package.

An hour later and my stomach was not being kind to me. Sharp pains were shooting through my abdomen like tiny knives were being jabbed at me by unseen hands. Not since my twenty-first birthday had I been so sick. Waves of nausea were overpowering my mind, making every thought fuzzy.

Slipping down to my knees from my stool, I managed to crawl across the hardwood floor to the
open
sign dangling on the front door and flip it to
closed
. With a low groan, I reached up, stretching as hard as my body would allow and switched the lock shut; I was in no condition to wait on customers. I rolled my body over slightly and reached into my pocket to grab my cellphone.

The room was becoming increasingly dark. The edges of my vision were going black. In a daze, I fumbled with my phone, finally able to punch in Mindy’s number. Thankfully, she picked up right away.

“Hello,” she said cheerfully.

Words would not form, nothing came out of my mouth.

“Larue, is that you? Are you all right?”

I could sense the concern in her voice. Still, I couldn’t force the words to materialize. I tried to move my mouth to speak, but I was too weak.

“Larue, are you there?” Mindy was becoming increasingly alarmed.

With my luck, Mindy probably thought I’d accidentally dialed her number. I’d made that mistake in the past. One time, while driving down the highway with my phone stashed in the bottom of my purse, I’d accidentally called her phone. She’d gotten the treat of listening to me sing along to the radio for at least five minutes on her voice mail.

“Sick.” That was the only word that finally sputtered out of my dry lips.

“I’m on my way.”

Relief glided over me, it was good to have a best friend I could count on, and Mindy was always there for me. Sure, she got on my nerves at times, but she really was great. Lying on the floor, I opened one eye to see the squad of spirits hovering over me.

“What do you think is wrong with her? What do we do with her?” I heard their voices chatting.

Their voices were muffled, as though I was hearing them through a tin can. They were talking amongst themselves as if I couldn’t hear them. For all they knew I couldn’t.

Mindy was there in what seemed like hours, but in reality was more like seconds. I heard the faint sound of her key pushing through the lock and then the rattle of the knob as the door opened. The bell above the door chimed, the sound exaggerated in my mind as the tone swirled in my head.

Mindy burst through the door and fell to my side. “Oh My God, Larue. What happened? Never mind. Don’t try to answer me. Let’s get you home.”

Mindy draped her arms under mine and lifted me up in one big heave. I guess those pole dancing classes were paying off for her, after all. Struggling with me down the sidewalk, she eased me into her car, and hurried back to lock the door behind us.

I couldn’t even help myself sit up. As I slumped over in the seat, all I remembered thinking was I didn’t want to hurl in her nice new Audi.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my bedroom. Everything seemed exceedingly bright, like a thousand fluorescent lights were shining down on me. My ghostly friends were huddled around the bed, waiting for me to come to life. I must have looked like hell, but that’s the good thing about having dead friends—no matter how bad I looked, I always looked better than they did.

They smiled down at me, and I gave my best attempt at a smile back. Thank God for a comfortable bed. My down comforter had never felt so good. As I opened my eyes to see the sun dancing through the window and bouncing off my bedroom walls, I was grateful for the decision to paint my walls a soft yellow. On that particular morning it was more soothing than ever.

I really didn’t remember any of my trip home the evening before. I’d been drifting in and out of sleep the entire time. Apparently Mindy had stayed with me, because I could hear her in my upstairs shower. My head was still slightly foggy, and I felt as if I’d been drugged. I felt like I had the worst hangover in the history of hangovers. The thought that instantly popped into my mind was:
What the hell kind of candy did my mother send me?

Trying to move as little as possible, I fumbled for the phone on the nightstand beside my bed. Still hazy, I punched in my mother’s number.

“Hi, Dear. This is a treat. I’m so glad you called.” My mother had finally discovered Caller ID.

“Mom, why did you sent me that horrible candy?”

“What do you mean, sweetheart? Are you all right? Your voice doesn’t sound right.”

“The chocolates you sent me. I got them yesterday and they made me really sick. I mean like deathly ill.” I was a little frustrated.

“I didn’t send you candy.”

I really was confused. “What do you mean you didn’t send any candy?”

“I mean I didn’t send you anything, sweetheart. I wouldn’t tempt you like that. I don’t want to spoil my chances of being a grandmother. With your nice figure, I think you’ll eventually attract a husband. At least I hope you do.”