3 The Ghoul Next Door Read online

  “Do you know who this person is who hates you?” I asked.

  Her pouting wouldn’t work with me. I’d seen it all before. But I didn’t know what to think of this woman. She had a certain naivety to her, but an evil feeling underneath that. I’d never experienced that before.

  Mindy touched my arm. “If you get me killed today, Larue, I swear I will come back and haunt you and will be your worst nightmare. Mrs. Stevens has nothing on me.”

  “Duly noted, Mindy. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  If at all possible, Mindy had moved even closer to me and was hanging onto the back of my shirt.

  “You’re stretching out my shirt. Will you please loosen your grip? It’ll be fine. I promise.”

  Mindy eased off, but I still felt her breath on the back of my neck. She could be such a scaredy-cat sometimes.

  “Okay, Larue. I can’t even see her any more. I don’t like that woman. Can you get rid of her now?” Mindy said with a slight panic in her tone.

  What would Mindy think if she could see the look in the ghost’s eyes? That would really freak her out.

  “I agree with Mindy. You should get rid of her, Larue.” Elvis stood beside me.

  Mr. Fine took a drag from his cigarette, then said, “She’s a babe. I think she should stick around.”

  He would say that.

  “It’s not that easy to get rid of her, Mindy. I can’t always get them to leave.”

  The female spirit smiled devilishly. I knew there was no way she was going to move into the light peacefully without putting up a fight. It was going to be a long night. I needed that pitcher of margaritas now more than ever.

  “I’ll back off. I promise.” She smiled innocently.

  “Well, I know that’s a lie, but can you stay away from my friend?” I gestured over my shoulder toward Mindy.

  “Trust me, doll, she’s a pain in the ass. Larue isn’t much better, but at least she can hear us,” Mr. Fine said, then took another puff from his cigarette.

  I wanted to shove Mr. Fine out the window so bad. “Don’t listen to him. Listen, if you’re going to hang around, can you at least tell me your name?”

  “My name is Candy Cherry.” She picked an imaginary piece of lint from her dress.

  “Are you serious? I don’t want to play the guess-your-name game.”

  She glared at me. “That is my name. It’s a great name and everyone who I’ve ever known has loved it.”

  I held my hands up in surrender. “Okay. Okay. Candy Cherry it is.”

  Mindy snickered in spite of her fear.

  “Oh, she thinks it’s funny, huh?” Candy moved toward Mindy and Elvis stepped in front of her.

  Mr. Fine stepped from the corner. “I told you that one was a pain.” He pointed at Mindy.

  “I think we should give Larue and Mindy some time alone,” Elvis said through his gorgeous smile.

  To my amazement, after a brief pause, they both nodded and followed Elvis out of the room. He really was like my guardian angel. He stepped in and saved the day.

  “They left the room,” I said, then let out a deep breath.

  Mindy reached for the broom and began sweeping up the mess.

  “Well, that was bizarre. I still don’t know how that thing fell off there,” she said. “Didn’t it look like someone picked it up and tossed it to the ground?”

  So she had noticed that too. It wasn’t just my imagination. I smelled a rat… a rat by the name of Candy Cherry.

  Chapter Twelve

  We’d just poured the delicious margaritas and settled down to ignore the ghosts when the phone rang. Mindy and I exchanged glances.

  “It must be Callahan,” she whispered as if it was a secret.

  If Mindy was sitting in my living room, then who was calling? She was practically the only one who ever called me. Well, my mother called, but I knew she was having Bunco night with her friends.

  “Hello?” I asked, sure that it was a wrong number.

  “Is this Larue Donavan?” the male voice asked.

  Clients usually called my cell phone. Like I said, only a few people had my home number. I was thinking of getting rid of the thing because I never used it.

  “This is Larue,” I said with skepticism.

  “Congratulations, Larue Donavan, you get to chase demons on national television,” the deep male voice announced.

  My hand shook as I clutched the phone to my ear. “I get to what? Who is this? Is this a prank call?”

  Definitely a prank call. I should have known.

  “No, no prank. You can chase demons on television. Well, that’s if you want to, but I know you’ll want to. Who wouldn’t want to be on TV?”

  Okay, this guy was rambling and clearly insane. Why did I attract all the loonies? Living or dead, I was a magnet.

  “I can think of a lot of people who wouldn’t want to be on TV. And I’m one of them. I’m asking you again, is this a prank call?”

  I was getting ready to hang up on this nutcase.

  “Maybe I started this conversation off on the wrong foot, but I really need your help,” he said.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “My name’s Matt Kelly. Zach Duncan gave me your name. He says you’re exactly what we’re looking for. Purely by coincidence, the case we’re investigating is just a short drive from Magnolia.”

  “Imagine that. Aren’t I lucky?” I said sarcastically.

  Definitely crazy.

  He sighed. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  “Not in the least,” I said.

  “I’m the producer for a new reality show called Chasing Demons. We need a psychic for the show, so that’s why I called you.”

  Hmm. Okay, he had piqued my interest. On one hand I hated the thought of being on TV, but I had to admit, a part of me was a little excited.

  “Why do you need me?” I asked.

  “The medium we’d picked for the show can’t make it. Now I’m going to get fired if I can’t come up with a replacement like yesterday. Filming starts tomorrow.” He rushed his words.

  This was unbelievable. This had been one hell of a day. First Elvis, then a weird ghost in a ball, and now a reality show? The only reality show I felt like I was on was Pranked—as if my whole life was one long episode of the show.

  Mindy was looking at me with a wide-eyed curiosity. “Who is it?” she whispered.

  She wouldn’t believe it if I told her. I held up my index finger and mouthed, “Oh my God.” That statement only made her eyes grow wider.

  The whole town would soon find out that I talked to dead people. I’d managed to keep it secret for this long. Would it hurt my business if people knew the truth about me? I’d always been happy living in my safe little bubble. People were strange and I had no idea how they would react to the news. They’d probably think I was some kook. And I was most certainly not a kook.

  Wait until I told my mother. She’d be on the phone blabbing to everyone faster than she could say reality TV. I could hear her now: “Oh, you’re a celebrity.” Explaining to her that just because I’d be on a show didn’t mean I’d be a celebrity by any stretch of the imagination would be like explaining rocket science to a baby. Besides, I didn’t want to be famous anyway. I just wanted to work at Book Nook and help people who had problems with spirits haunting their homes. Those were the things I was passionate about. Cameras, ratings, scripts, and producers didn’t ignite the passion within me. Helping spirits cross over did.

  The new ghost leered at me from over Mindy’s shoulder. Candy Cherry’s hairstyle appeared instantly mussed as if her amplified anger had reached out with a metaphorical hand and rustled her perfect coiffure. I had no idea what her problem was.

  “You’d really be helping me out,” Matt said with a pleading anxiety in his voice. “It’ll just be for a few days, but who knows, they may ask you to do more shows.”

  I guessed I’d give the guy the benefit of the doubt. If it turned out to be a joke, well, it wouldn
’t be the first time I looked like a fool, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

  “Okay, I’ll do it.” A thunderbolt of excitement swept through me with the words.

  I jotted down the information of where and when to meet him.

  After I hung up the phone, Mindy jumped up, splashing margarita out of her glass. “What was that all about?”

  “Maybe you should sit back down.” I pointed toward the sofa.

  She plopped back in the overstuffed cushion behind her. The liquid in her glass went everywhere. “Well, tell me before I end up like the ghosts in your living room.”

  “They want me to be on a television show.” The words still didn’t register.

  “Shut. Up.” Mindy jumped up and grabbed me. She bounced me up and down in her embrace.

  My heart pounded from what had just happened. Everything seemed so surreal. It was a life-changing opportunity. I’d waited for something like this for a long time—something unusual and exciting. And now it had finally happened. Although I had hoped my something exciting wouldn’t involve ghosts. I wasn’t so sure if I wanted this opportunity. I didn’t know the first thing about television, but I guessed this would be my crash course. My grandfather had always said I reminded him of his father, always eager to try new things and willing to learn. Maybe he was right.

  “The man said he thought I was a top-notch psychic and perfect for the show.”

  “Well, duh, he got that right,” Mindy said.

  I didn’t know about me being a top-notch psychic, but I’d take the title. Maybe I was considered one of the leading psychics around my little group of paranormal colleagues, but I helped people because they needed it, not because I wanted to be on some silly show.

  “This is so exciting. Can I be on the show too? Can you get in a commercial for pole fitness?” She laughed.

  “Take a deep breath.” I watched her exhale, waiting for her to get a hold of her excitement.

  “I’m calm. I’m calm.”

  She wasn’t calm, but it was close enough.

  “But yeah, maybe I could tell them you’re my assistant and you have to be on the show too. Can you believe it? We’re going to be on TV. Real TV.”

  “Yeah, not the cable access channel either.” Mindy did a little dance around the room.

  “I can give you a few tips on entertainment if you’d like.” Elvis leaned against the door frame with a smile on his face.

  “Well, yeah. That would be awesome,” I said. Entertainment advice from Elvis? I’d take it, although I knew for a fact I’d never be singing or dancing in front of the camera. They’d pay me not to do that.

  Candy Cherry rolled her eyes. “Please. They must be desperate if they asked you.”

  “Hey, you don’t even know me, so why the nasty comments?”

  “What did the ghosts say?” Mindy asked, still trying to temper her excitement.

  I waved off Candy’s smirk. “She’s just being mean about the show. I’m ignoring her. Anyway, the producer said we start day after tomorrow, but I have to meet them in the morning. Tomorrow! How will we sleep tonight?”

  “I’m pretty sure we won’t sleep at all. Guess we’ll have to have more margaritas to celebrate.” Mindy raised her glass in a toast.

  I grabbed my glass and clanked it against hers. “I have to call Callahan.”

  When I glanced over at Mindy, I thought she was actually breaking out in a cold sweat. “Honey, do you want me to get you a cold rag?”

  “I just remembered that Elvis is here. This is too much for a girl to handle.” She took another swig from her glass.

  “Too bad Elvis can’t sing a song for us to celebrate.” I stared at Elvis in the hopes that he’d take the hint.

  “I guess I could do one song.” He winked.

  Mr. Fine snorted. “Oh, brother.”

  “Shut up, Mr. Fine.”

  “Yeah, shut up and let the hunk show us his moves.”

  I scowled at Candy Cherry. She had a point, but she was still rude and I didn’t like her.

  The first lyrics of All Shook Up slid from Elvis’ lips. The words came out smooth and floated across the air to my ears like silk. It was then that I realized Elvis couldn’t help but move. It was as if his lower body was controlled by his vocal cords. And I was not complaining. Mr. Fine pouted in the corner, while Candy Cherry was mesmerized. I wondered if Elvis could keep her in that state permanently. I couldn’t blame her though because he had the same effect on me. Electric buzzed through my body as I listened to him sing.

  “This is so not fair. What’s going on?” Mindy asked.

  I felt bad that she couldn’t see Elvis. I needed to remember to tell him to only perform when we were around. The sacrifices I made, right? I wasn’t looking forward to telling Mindy what Elvis was doing.

  “Um, Elvis was singing, but he’s finished now.”

  Mindy fell back on the sofa. “Oh my God. I may faint.”

  Next thing I knew she’d take off her underwear and throw them in the general vicinity of where she thought Elvis was sitting. I knew what she meant though. And to make matters worse, I could see Elvis performing. His movements were sexy even now in ghostly form. And that was saying something because I’d seen everything on TV nowadays. More than I needed to see most of the time. His voice was just like velvet.

  We spent the rest of the evening finishing off the margaritas. Mindy planned what we would wear to the red-carpet premiere. I told her I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be a red-carpet event. But she tuned me out and had me in a red dress with killer heels and her in a lovely shade of blue with a big flower in her hair.

  That night passed by slower than pond water. I tossed and turned. I mean, it was almost more than a girl could handle—an appearance on a TV and Elvis somewhere in my home. Not to mention my gorgeous boyfriend, Callahan. What was he doing anyway? He’d seemed distracted when I’d told him the news, but then again, he had been taking inventory. I was always out of it when I did that.

  Chapter ThirteenBright and early the next morning, Mindy and I sat at a table in the local hotel’s conference room. Why we had to meet the production crew at six a.m., I had no idea. Were they trying to punish me? My mouth didn’t even work beyond a few grunts until after eight a.m. and caffeine. Not to mention I really needed to cut down on the margarita fests. It felt as if I had tiny hammers pounding away in my head.

  After the preliminary meeting this morning, the show would pick me up at my house tomorrow morning and take us to the undisclosed haunted location. We didn’t know exactly where it was yet, but we’d been told that it wasn’t far from Magnolia. That wasn’t a lot of information to go by. With any luck, I’d convince them that I needed an assistant so that Mindy could come along. Okay, they would probably think I was a diva, but it was the only way I could think to get Mindy on the show too.

  As soon as Mindy had found out about Chasing Demons, visions of traveling across the globe sprang into her head. She talked about glamorous places like New York City and Los Angeles, but I was content with staying in Magnolia.

  Mindy had been talking non-stop since we’d arrived. Not to mention my ghost friends had tagged along. Strangely, they sat at a different table across the room, as if they didn’t want me to know what they were saying.

  “All I’m saying is why can’t they send you somewhere else? The whole point of doing a show like this is so you can get a vacation. But, no, we’re stuck right in the heart of good ol’ Magnolia.” Mindy shook her head.

  I rolled my eyes. “The producer promised different locations if I’m asked to do future episodes.” He had emphasized the if part of the sentence.

  Actually, I wasn’t surprised that we were staying in Kentucky for the show. The area had been a hotbed of paranormal activity as of late. I’d never seen so many ghosts and shadowy beings, not to mention all the black magic flying around. But the townsfolk had an inherent ability to ignore the fact that there were things that really did go bump in the night. They
were oblivious.

  Wicked people had been visiting our little town lately. Plus there were the spirits who had a way of slipping from the shadows right to my front door. Had another bad one had crept through? I wondered why I hadn’t heard about the haunting we’d investigate for the show before now.

  Anyway, here we sat, waiting around a small table covered with a white tablecloth in the middle of a white room, a sea of tables around us. It looked like heaven’s orientation room with all the white. A female hotel employee set up water and glasses in the corner. The clinking of glass echoed across the large empty room. Mindy tapped her fingers against the table and I began to doze off.

  After a couple seconds, Mindy tapped me on the arm and I jumped. “What? Where are we?”

  “You’re drooling. Wake up before the show-business people walk in and think you’re a complete and utter nut.”

  “I’m pretty sure they already think that. The psychic is always the nut, right?” I snorted.

  Psychic Medium. As long as I’d been dealing with my gift, the title still seemed strange sometimes. I tried to keep my ability a secret as much as possible. Magnolia’s residents would now call me ‘special.’ That was their label for anyone who was unique. They already thought I was a little odd, I sensed it. Maybe they knew more about the paranormal than I thought.

  My ‘special’ wouldn’t be considered the good special in their eyes. Yeah, now I’d be looked at with a suspicious eye. Whispered about and watched everywhere I went. Was being on TV worth all that? I wasn’t sure I was ready for the kind of attention this show might bring. But even if they did talk and give me odd looks, I would never leave Magnolia.

  My grandfather had always encouraged me to embrace my talent. I spent many hours with him on that old fishing pond across town, and we’d talked the whole time. He liked to use colorful phrases. His favorite being: let sleeping demons lie.

  I always asked, “Don’t you mean ‘let sleeping dogs lie’?”

  “No, I mean demons,” he’d said with a wild-eyed look.