06 Hauntin' After Midnight Read online

  “You know you shouldn’t have even come to work today,” Tammy said.

  “Are you kidding? That’s just what the board members want. I can’t give them any other reasons to get rid of me.”

  The officer was sitting by the door.

  Tammy looked over at him. “He’s with you now, huh? Isn’t he worried that he’ll be next?”

  “He’d have to be, right?”

  We tried to act as if we hadn’t been staring at him when he looked over at us.

  “He’s kind of cute though,” Tammy said.

  “Well, maybe if this ever gets sorted out I can set you all up on a date.” I winked. “His name is Officer Ellison.”

  “What’s his first name?” Tammy asked.

  “Um, I guess I didn’t find out that much.”

  Tammy quirked an eyebrow.

  “I did find out he’s single.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

  “We’ll see.” Tammy blushed.

  Now I had to get to work. The time would pass faster that way and then I would be on my way to visit Elle. My phone sent another alert as I headed back to my office.

  I need to speak with you.

  “Annie, is something wrong?” I asked as I walked down the hallway toward my office.

  It’s important, she replied.

  Chapter 16

  Once in my office, I shut the door so no one would sneak in and see me talking to myself when in reality I would be speaking with Annie. I sat at my desk and Annie paced back and forth in front of me.

  “So what’s the problem, Annie?” I asked.

  She sighed and then I received the text on my phone.

  There is another ghost in the library. I saw her and I want her out of here.

  Annie was protective of the library, but I’d never seen her act this way.

  “Who is the ghost?” I asked.

  I don’t know her name, but she is trying to cause harm.

  “How do you know this?” I held the phone in my hands, waiting for Annie to answer.

  I’ve seen her following you around the library. The look in her eyes lets me know she is up to no good.

  Why hadn’t I seen this ghost? I had experienced a strange sensation a few times. Maybe that was when the ghost was following me and I didn’t even realize it.

  “What does she look like?”

  Annie had stopped pacing and was standing in front of the desk. She has dark hair to her shoulders. She wore a navy-blue dress suit.

  “Well, I’ll be on the lookout for her,” I said.

  Are you going to get rid of her? Annie seemed insistent that I rid of the library of this ghost.

  “I’ll certainly do my best, Annie. Sometimes it’s hard to get rid of spirits if they don’t want to leave. Is she harming you?” I asked.

  Annie shook her head. No, but I don’t want her to harm you.

  “I’ll be fine, Annie. Why don’t you talk with her and tell her to leave?”

  She won’t talk to me.

  That was probably part of the problem. Annie loved to talk and if this ghost wouldn’t communicate then Annie would be offended.

  “Don’t worry, Annie, I’ll take care of it.”

  Thank you. You’re a true friend.

  “You’re welcome. You’ve been a great friend to me too,” I said.

  Annie turned and walked out of my office.

  ***

  Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to see Elle Martin. It was now the end of the day and I was ready to start tonight’s tour. Officer Ellison was joining me for the tour tonight. Right after the tour Brannon would be able to take over. Actually, we had plans for dinner. I much preferred having him around than the other guys, for obvious reasons. Tammy had talked quite a bit with the officer who had been with me today. I’d caught them making eyes at each other several times. I was definitely going to have to put on my matchmaker hat for those two. Although maybe they would be able to handle it on their own.

  Annie had been guarding the main floor all day for any signs of the ghost. Maybe she had chased her away.

  I cleaned up my desk and grabbed my bags. All day I had watched the door expecting the board members to show up. They never did, which did nothing to ease my fears. I knew they were up to something. There was no way that they would let this latest thing go without saying something to me. It was probably going to be bad. I worried about Tammy and Annie if I was no longer working at the library. How would a new librarian treat them if I was no longer here? Would I be able to live on the income from the tour alone?

  What was I thinking? Of course I wouldn’t be able to survive on that alone. I would have to expand or get another job. Anyone in town would be reluctant to hire me now. It was like I was a death magnet. Not to mention they might think I was the killer. I would have to make do with whatever life threw my way.

  I stepped out of my office, locked the door, and headed down the hallway. I was looking forward to enjoying the warm spring weather on the tour tonight.

  Once at the end of the hall, I spotted a woman who looked a lot like the woman Annie had described. Her back was facing me. She didn’t look like a ghost though. I expected a ghost to be a bit more see-through, like Annie. This woman was as solid as any living person. There was no way she was a ghost, right? I guessed anything was possible. After all, Annie sent text messages, for heaven’s sake. If she could do that then this woman could make herself look like she was still in the living world.

  She had the dark hair and the navy suit. I hurried my steps so that I could catch up with her. She moved fast, almost too fast. Was she really walking or was that some kind of ghostly floating? I had to get a look at her face.

  Tammy looked my way and I motioned for her to stop the woman. She must not have noticed my gesture though because she went back to helping a patron. As I neared the reference desk the woman was headed out the main door.

  “Can you lock up?” I asked as I rushed by the desk.

  “Sure. Is everything okay?” Tammy called out.

  “Just fine,” I said over my shoulder.

  I rushed to the door and Officer Ellison hurried behind me.

  “Where are you going in such a hurry?” he asked.

  I wished I didn’t have him tagging along and asking questions. But then if he wasn’t there someone might try to kill me. Actually, the killer could easily try to kill us both, but two against one was much better.

  “I have to follow that woman.” I hurried out the door with the officer right behind me.

  “Did she steal something?” he asked.

  “No, nothing like that,” I said.

  How would I explain that I thought she might be a ghost? Wait. Could he see her?

  “You see the woman?” I asked.

  “No, I don’t,” he said.

  So that was why Tammy hadn’t stopped the woman. She couldn’t see her either. Why was I the only one who saw her other than Annie?

  Officer Ellison probably thought I’d lost my mind. Brannon would understand. As soon as I got a chance I would call him and explain. In the meantime, I had to catch up with the ghost. I followed her down the sidewalk with the officer following along behind me. No one else seemed to notice her either. More and more I was beginning to really think she was a ghost. We reached downtown, but she kept going. I was almost out of breath at this point. She was walking so fast that it was hard for me to keep up.

  “Is there a reason you’re walking so fast?” Officer Ellison asked.

  “It’s because she’s moving so fast.”

  He raised his eyebrow, but didn’t say another word. The longer we walked the more I began to suspect where she might be going. I glanced over my shoulder. Yes, the cop was still back there. He probably wouldn’t like where I was headed. I called out to the woman, but she didn’t stop and she didn’t respond. I couldn’t follow her forever, but I figured she would be stopping at the house soon. I had to get back to the graveyard though. It would be time for the tour.

&nb
sp; We made another turn and the house came into view. My suspicions were correct. At least I was almost positive she was going to the house. Why was she going there? Was she the ghost who had told me about the book? I still hadn’t seen her face. I wanted to know if she was the woman from the library who had talked with me. She turned down the front path and headed right toward the front door. How would she get into the house? If she was a ghost I guessed she’d walk right through the door.

  That wasn’t the way she’d gone out of the library though. She had opened the door like any other living person. That was what had thrown me. I didn’t know if she was real or not. Since the officer couldn’t see her though she had to be dead. I reached the front path.

  Officer Ellison grabbed my arm. “I can’t let you go in there.”

  I watched as the woman reached the door. She turned to look at me. I recognized her right away. It was the woman who had talked to me at the library. Was she the ghost?

  “I need to talk with that woman.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t see a woman. I don’t know who you are talking about.” He had a tight grip on my arm.

  So he really couldn’t see her. I had hoped that it was all a misunderstanding. Now he really thought I was nuts. He should know that Brannon and I saw ghosts. It shouldn’t be such a surprise to him. I watched as the woman walked right through the door. The look in her eyes let me know that she had wanted me to follow her.

  There was no way the officer would allow that though. I would have to give up tonight. Maybe Brannon would come back with me. Once I told him what had happened I was sure he would want to know more.

  I should explain to the officer what had happened, but I decided to just go back and start the tour. I’d tell Brannon and maybe he would tell the officer what I was doing coming to this house.

  “I guess we should get back to the graveyard now,” I said.

  He didn’t look all that thrilled about that either. He probably thought I was weird for hanging out in a graveyard.

  “Sure,” he said and then fell into step behind me.

  I looked back at the house one more time, hoping to see the woman again. She wasn’t there though. Did she have a message for me? If so, how would I ever get it if they wouldn’t let me near the house? Yes, I would have to tell Brannon. Maybe the woman would come back to the library again.

  Officer Ellison followed me through town once again until we finally came to the graveyard. The group for tonight’s tour was already waiting for me. That wasn’t exactly professional of me. I apologized and started the tour.

  “Welcome to Devil’s Moon Haunted Tour. My name is Ripley Van Raden. Tonight I will lead you through the haunted buildings and streets of town.”

  When I glanced over my shoulder I spotted Mrs. Clatterbuck. She wasn’t alone either. The woman from the library and the house was standing behind her. Did they know each other? How had she gotten there so fast? Oh yeah, she was a ghost.

  Did she come to Mrs. Clatterbuck because she thought she would relay a message to me? That was questionable. It was Mrs. Clatterbuck, after all. She only talked to me when she wanted to, and only about the things she wanted to discuss, which had always been just the fact that she wanted me to stay out of the cemetery. Never about the weather, never about how I was doing. Always just, “Stay out of the cemetery and quit disturbing the souls!” Why was she here? For a moment I’d become distracted. The group was staring at me.

  “Sorry, I thought I saw something,” I said.

  That of course caused the group to become even more interested. The ghosts followed us as we traveled through the tour. Officer Ellison had stood guard by the front gates. I wanted to ask Mrs. Clatterbuck what she wanted. Would this give me a chance to talk with the woman? After all, the group was here for a haunted tour. If a ghost was around they would probably want to know.

  As I finished my story the whole time I contemplated if I would mention the ghosts following us, since apparently I was the only one who could see them. I couldn’t understand why no one else could see them. Mrs. Clatterbuck didn’t need electronics to communicate with me. The other ghost had talked to me too. Now I needed the ghosts to do the same thing tonight.

  As we walked back toward the gate to finish the tour through the rest of town, the ghosts appeared in front of me. Now I had no choice but to stop. Well, I supposed I could have walked right through them.

  “Is there something wrong?” a woman asked from over my shoulder.

  How would I explain the whole situation? “There are ghosts here,” I said. What else could I say? They’d come for a haunted tour and that was exactly what they were getting.

  Silence filled the graveyard except for the owl high in the treetop. He hooted as if he was aware of the current situation.

  “We don’t see anything,” another woman said.

  That was the thing with Mrs. Clatterbuck, she didn’t always show herself to everyone. She liked to play games like that.

  “She’s here, but I’m not sure she will show herself to everyone.”

  I felt Officer Ellison watching me. His stare let me know that he was skeptical. Brannon had seen Mrs. Clatterbuck, so it wasn’t as if I was the only one. Her brown pocketbook was draped on her arm.

  She narrowed her eyes as she stared at me. “I see that you are still bringing people into the graveyard even after I told you not to. You are making the ghosts angry.”

  She always said that. None of the other ghosts were coming forward right now to voice their concerns. I supposed she was acting as their spokesperson. I didn’t want to get into an argument with a ghost in front of the tour-goers. I didn’t want to argue with her at any time.

  “We’ll continue with the tour,” I said as I started to walk around the ghosts.

  They appeared in front of us again. I stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” the woman asked again.

  “The ghosts are in front of me again.”

  When I looked back at the tour-goers they looked a little scared. They probably wondered if I was doing this just for show.

  “I brought her here because she wants to talk with you,” Mrs. Clatterbuck said.

  I was surprised to see the ghost with her. What was her message?

  “She needs you to follow her to the house.”

  I knew what house she meant. I couldn’t do that right now. Officer Ellison would stop me, so it wasn’t an option. I would have to ignore them. I figured they would just step in front of me again, but this time I wouldn’t stop. I would just keep moving. What was the worst that could happen? I pushed my shoulders back and moved forward.

  “If you’ll follow me we’ll continue the tour now.”

  This would make Mrs. Clatterbuck even angrier with me, but I would have to talk with her later. I walked forward and moved right through her. It was icy cold, as if I’d stepped into a freezer. Some of the others walked right through the other ghost.

  “That was freezing back there,” the woman said, rubbing her arms.

  When I looked back I released a breath of relief to realize that Mrs. Clatterbuck and the other ghost were gone. That was short-lived though because when I looked down the alleyway I spotted them. It looked as if she wasn’t going to leave me alone tonight. I would just continue to ignore them. The wind whipped in front of us. We stopped and looked around in shock.

  “Is that a ghost?” someone asked.

  Before I answered the wind died down. Where were the ghosts now? Maybe they had finally given up. Mrs. Clatterbuck was just trying to scare me so that I would talk with her. She should know that wouldn’t work. We continued down the alleyway until we reached the street. Just as I turned to the left to head toward the first stop I spotted the ghosts waiting for us. So apparently she really was going to follow me all night.

  It wasn’t the first time she had done this, but usually she stayed back in the graveyard. Maybe this really was important. I had a bad feeling about following the ghost to the house
though. I had to get the message to them that I couldn’t go right now. I wouldn’t be able to go until I got the all-clear from Brannon. The police were watching that place now and I wouldn’t get anywhere near it.

  “I see something now,” one of the women said.

  “What do you see?”

  “It was faint, but I thought it was two women.”

  “Really? You saw that?” the other woman asked.

  “Yes, that was exciting.”

  “That’s exactly what I see,” I said. “The ghost is at the graveyard a lot. She just wants her presence known.”

  “Well, she’s doing a good job of it,” someone else said.

  The ghosts faded again.

  “Okay, they’re gone now. We should continue.”

  I had a feeling I would see them again tonight. Would they be waiting when I finished the tour? They might even follow me home. The group followed me down the sidewalk. We stepped inside the first building and I started recounting the stories that people had told about what had happened in the building. The group hung onto my words, but they seemed to be on the lookout for Mrs. Clatterbuck too. So far she hadn’t returned. Though I had a strange feeling someone was watching us. It could be the ghost that haunted the building or Mrs. Clatterbuck and the woman ghost. Maybe it was all three this time. A chill fell over the room.

  “It feels cold in here.” The woman beside me rubbed her arms.

  “Well, it is warm outside. Maybe it’s the air conditioner,” her friend said.

  “I don’t think they’ve turned the air conditioner on yet,” I said.

  As spooky as it seemed, I pushed on with the tour. After all, it was a haunted tour. Spookiness and fear was part of the job.

  Chapter 17

  After the tour, I walked over to the tavern so that I could talk with Tammy. She wasn’t into the paranormal like me, but she had heard enough about it that I knew I could confide in her. Officer Ellison was standing outside the door. At least I could see him. I felt as if I had to keep an eye on the police now. Who was guarding whom here?

  Tammy was behind the bar waiting on a customer. I waved and headed across the bar. It seemed like forever since the first night when I’d spotted Brannon standing at the back of the room. That had been almost a year ago now. Who knew we’d have so much in common? Though I figured I was frustrating him now with my need to solve the murders.