The Ghost Files 3.5 Read online

  As the hour passed, Noah got sleepier and sleepier. She saw his little head start to fall, and he caught himself, trying to keep his sleepy eyes glued to the TV. She smiled and gently pulled him into her side so he was lying on her. He could fall asleep without falling over. She stroked his hair while they watched SpongeBob, and she hummed her favorite lullaby for him.

  When she was sure he was sound asleep, she picked him up and took him to the nursery. He never moved as she tucked him in and turned on his nightlight. Mary stood for a moment and listened again, but there wasn’t a whisper of a sound. Maybe she really had imagined whispering in the park.

  Going back downstairs, she stopped by the kitchen to grab a soda out of the fridge. The faucet was on, a slow stream steadily falling. The Flynns must not have shut it off earlier when they were in here. Mary turned the faucet off and crinkled her nose. The most godawful scent wafted up from the sink. She fanned the air in front of her, trying to dispel it. Maybe the garbage disposal was backed up. She made a mental note to tell the Flynns when they got back. It needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Theirs had backed up last summer, and Mary remembered the stench that had invaded the house for days after it was fixed.

  Mrs. Flynn had stocked the fridge with Mountain Dew and Coke. Mary grabbed the Mountain Dew and snagged a bag of chips from the pantry. She went back to the living room, making sure the baby monitor was turned on so she could hear Noah. She snuggled down in the overly soft couch, turned the TV off, and started reading again.

  A faint noise from the baby monitor caught her attention a little while later. She picked it up and pulled it closer to her ear. There. It sounded like something scratching. It wasn’t static. This sounded like someone physically scratching at the wall.

  Mary got up, holding the monitor, and walked toward the stairs to go and check on Noah. He wasn’t crying, but the scratching was getting louder.

  A child’s laugh floated through the air, and Mary whirled, looking over the living room and into the kitchen. The Flynns had an open floor plan. There wasn’t anywhere to hide, no hallways or anything on the main floor. Just a main floor powder room, the door open. No one was hiding in there.

  She knew she heard a laugh, though. The scratching continued on the monitor. She’d look around down here after she checked on Noah. She ran up the stairs and into his room. He was sleeping, the nightlight off. Okay, Mary knew for a fact she’d turned that light on.

  Movement to her left caused her to turn, and she sucked in her breath at what she saw. A shadowy figure sat hunched in the corner. It was small, like a child, but wrapped in darkness and shadows. It looked up, eyes burning a bright yellow. Mary took a step back, her hand clutching the crib railing, as her other hand dropped the baby monitor and fumbled to turn on the lamp. When she finally managed it, and bright light lit up the room, the shadow child was gone.

  What in God’s name was going on?

  No way was she leaving Noah up here alone. She scooped him up, and he mumbled in his sleep. She held him tight as she inched out of the room and took him back downstairs. The Flynns had a Pack ’n Play in the living room, and she put Noah in there. Then she turned on all the lights and checked the time on the Time Warner Cable box. It was a little after ten. The Flynns would be home in two hours.

  Then she was making Caleb listen to her. Something was wrong here.

  Her phone rang, and she let out a shriek, not expecting the loud ringtone in the silence of the living room. She let out a nervous laugh and grabbed it from where she’d left it on the table. Mattie. Finally. Mary was dying to hear how her visit with her uber-scary dad went.

  “Hey, Mattie. Why are you only just now calling me?”

  “It’s Caleb.”

  Why was Caleb calling her from Mattie’s phone?

  “We’re all at the hospital. I told your mom I’d call, but I didn’t have your number, so I borrowed Mattie’s phone.”

  “What’s wrong?” Dread curled in the pit of her stomach. Mattie was always getting herself into situations that caused her to be seriously injured. What had happened this time?

  “There was an incident,” he said softly. “Dan’s in the hospital. It doesn’t look good, and Mattie’s shut down. She’s not talking to anyone, and we can’t get her to leave Dan’s side. She needs you.”

  Mary felt like she’d been hit. Dan meant more to Mattie than anyone, even her. If it was as bad as Caleb was making it out to be, Mattie would be devastated. She’d lost so much already. She couldn’t lose Dan too.

  “I’m babysitting,” she murmured, shock starting to set in. “I…I can’t leave.”

  “Can you call and see if they can come home early?” Caleb asked, his voice grim.

  “Of course. I’ll call, and then see if my mom can pick me up, I guess.”

  “I’ll come get you,” Caleb told her. “Where are you?”

  “Across the street. I’m babysitting for my neighbor.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Mary stared down at the phone when he hung up. Dan was hurt? How? He wasn’t even on active duty. He’d taken time off to deal with everything going on with his mom and the Malones. Did it have something to do with Mattie and the ghost girls stalking her? She’d blame herself if it did.

  Sighing, she got up and went to the kitchen to find Mrs. Flynn’s cell phone number. She hated to do it to them, but this was a family emergency. She turned the water off as she waited for her to pick up her cell.

  Why was the water on? She’d turned it off.

  “Hello, Mary?” Mrs. Flynn’s voice came over the line. “Is everything okay?”

  “No, no it’s not,” she said, frowning at the faucet.

  “What’s wrong with Noah?” The panic in Mrs. Flynn voice snapped her back to the conversation.

  “Noah’s fine,” she assured his mother. “I just got a call, and I need to go to the hospital. There’s a family emergency. I hate to ask, but is there any way you guys can come home a little early? I need to get there as soon as possible.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I hope everything is okay.”

  “I don’t know yet. I just got a call to go to the hospital. It’s Mattie and Dan.”

  “Your foster sister and that young policeman?” Mrs. Flynn asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Let us say goodbye, and we’ll be straight home, honey. How is Noah? I was getting ready to call and check on him.”

  “He’s fine,” Mary murmured. “He’s been asleep since a little after seven.”

  “He hasn’t woken up at all?” Surprise colored Mrs. Flynn’s voice.

  “No. I did hear something on the monitor earlier. Noah was asleep when I checked on him, but I brought him downstairs with me in case the baby monitor wasn’t working properly. He’s passed out in the Pack ’n Play.”

  “Okay, Mary. We’ll be there soon.”

  Mary put her phone in her back pocket and inspected the sink. It wasn’t dripping, so why had it been on? She’d turned it off when she was in here earlier.

  Footsteps sounded behind her, but she didn’t turn this time. Instead she listened. They ran back and forth across the living room. They were small, the footsteps of a child. She turned ever so slightly so she could look at the crib out of the corner of her eye, but she saw nothing. She heard the whispering, though, the same whispering she’d heard in the park. And the smell was back, assaulting her in waves. It smelled like rotten eggs, making her gag.

  She ran over to the playpen and picked the baby up, holding him. Her gaze darted around the room, but she saw nothing. Why, oh why, wasn’t she like Mattie and able to see these things?

  “Hello?” she whispered, her hand gently patting Noah’s back to keep him asleep. “I can hear you whispering.”

  Silence answered her. She felt the temperature start to cool down. Her eyes narrowed. This wasn’t a ghost. That much she knew from talking with Eli. Ghosts ran cold all the time, not just when the mood suited them. This thing was trying to fool her
.

  “You’re not a ghost,” she said, “so stop trying to pretend you are.”

  The room didn’t get any colder, but it didn’t warm back up either.

  “Who are you?” The voice slithered into her ear, and she jumped, nearly screaming. Its voice sounded like smooth, silky velvet, which made it that much scarier. It could seduce, beguile, and Mary cringed away from it. This thing was dangerous.

  The stench kept her grounded. It was awful. It clustered at the back of her throat, making it almost impossible to breathe.

  “Who are you?” she countered. Never tell them your name. It was the only thing all the internet sites she’d read agreed on. Names were powerful.

  It chuckled, and she felt it against her back, the hot, putrid breath on her neck. She got the distinct impression it was sniffing her, and she shuddered in horror.

  A child’s laugh rang out, startling Mary. What was this thing? What did it want with Noah?

  The doorbell rang and she did scream, waking Noah up. He started to cry.

  “Mary!”

  She let out a sigh of relief, recognizing Caleb’s voice. She didn’t think twice, just ran for the door. It took her a minute, but she got the deadbolt unlocked and ripped it open. She saw Caleb’s eyes widen, but she guessed the panic and the fear must be plastered across her face.

  “What’s wrong?” he demanded, pushing his way in.

  “There was something here,” she said. “I think it wants the baby.”

  Noah was crying, and Mary shifted him, trying to soothe him. Maybe he could see whatever it was. “Easy, little man,” she shushed. “Nothing is gonna get you while Mary’s got you.”

  “Tell me what’s going on.” Caleb closed the door and took a quick look around.

  Mary ignored him, focusing on Noah. He was scared and clutching her like she was the last life vest on a sinking boat. His big blue eyes were wide with fear, and she cradled him as best she could and started to hum as she rocked him.

  Caleb walked upstairs, clearly realizing she wasn’t going to do anything until she calmed Noah down. Mary was relieved he was here. At least if something was still present, he would see it.

  It took her nearly fifteen minutes to calm Noah, and then another ten to get him back to sleep. She didn’t want to put him in the playpen again, so she held him. When she heard the key in the lock, Caleb stood from his position on the couch. The Flynns came in, looking from her to Caleb.

  “This is Caleb Malone,” she introduced, keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake Noah. “He came to take me to the hospital.”

  “Malone?” Mr. Flynn looked at Caleb thoughtfully. “James Malone’s son?”

  “Yes, sir.” Caleb nodded.

  “I’ve met your father a time or two,” Mr. Flynn said. “Good man.”

  “You know my dad?” Caleb’s eyebrows shot up.

  Mr. Flynn gave him a rueful smile. “We’ve called him on a case or two when I was a detective in Chicago.”

  Maybe Mr. Flynn wouldn’t be so opposed to thinking something was in the house, then, if he knew Caleb’s dad, who worked the Spook Squad in the FBI.

  “We need to get going, Mary.”

  Mary handed the sleeping baby to his father. “Don’t put him the nursery by himself. Keep him in your room tonight.”

  He gave her a questioning look. “Trust me, Mr. Flynn. Keep him with you tonight.”

  Before he could ask any more questions, she grabbed her purse and fled the house, grateful to be out of there. She was seriously spooked. And she needed to know what was going on with Dan and Mattie. Caleb could explain it on the way to the hospital, and she’d tell him about what happened at the Flynns’.

  Chapter Five

  Caleb leaned against the doorway watching Mattie sit at his brother’s bedside. Her face was white, her eyes bruised and haunted. Eli hovered in the background, looking worried and helpless. It was a feeling they were all experiencing. They’d just found Dan, and now, if the doctors were right, they were going to lose him. It had been three days since they’d admitted him for head trauma. He wasn’t on life support, but his brain activity was slowly dying. He was dying.

  His brother was dying.

  What should he feel? If it were Eli lying there, he’d be beside himself, but he and Eli grew up together. Dan was new, both of them trying to feel each other out. He was sad, upset, and his heart ached for Mattie, and the Richards family, but he didn’t love Dan like he did Eli, Benny, or Ava. And that was the reason he felt so guilty.

  Mattie made a nonsense sound, and he swung his eyes back to her. She looked beaten and broken all at once. She made that weird keening noise sometimes. He’d heard it once before when he was about nine. A woman his dad was helping ended up losing her husband. He’d watched her hold the man and make that same sad noise. That was the first time he’d seen an aura. The emotion had been so intense, it had awakened his gift. The bright blue light had lit them up until his aura died out. The bond between them snapped and that was when the noise had been torn from her. She’d felt his death. His mom had explained that she had loved her husband since they were children. She’d been the other half of his heart and his soul.

  Caleb suspected this was the case between Mattie and Dan, even if neither of them recognized it.

  Eli was beginning to see what Caleb saw too. He’d watched the knowledge dawn upon Eli as they’d all sat around waiting for Dan’s condition to change. It was the look on her face, in her eyes. The way she sat hunched over, refusing to move, eat, or speak. She hadn’t said a word to anyone since they’d brought him in. Even Mary couldn’t get her to talk. If Dan died, she’d never get over it.

  His father had told him the demon, Silas, had used Dan as a guinea pig for a demon spell he wanted to use on Mattie. The spell wasn’t what put him in a coma. It was the head injury he’d sustained in the process. From what his dad had said, Mattie had forced Silas to protect Dan from the reaper trying to take him. Silas had hidden him, even from Mattie. She was helpless to do anything but sit and watch and pray.

  Anger bled through Caleb. Rage ate at him the more he thought about a demon using his brother as a science experiment. He wanted to blame Mattie, but he couldn’t. He should blame her, but the magic in his blood designed him to protect her, a living reaper on Earth. It wouldn’t let him blame her.

  His father tapped him on the shoulder and motioned him to come outside. Caleb followed him to the waiting room. James Malone looked as haggard as Dan’s adoptive father did. It was different for him. He’d loved Dan while their mother was pregnant with him. James had mourned him, rejoiced when he found out he was alive, and was now contemplating losing him again. It just wasn’t fair. To any of them.

  “This situation with Mary’s neighbor, is it serious?” His dad ran a hand through his hair. “Or can it wait a few days?”

  “I think it can wait. From what she said, it sounds like the early stages of infestation.”

  “Demons.” Disgust rolled off James’s tongue.

  “Yes. It’s only in the first stages—odors, scratching at the walls, the faucets turning on and off, things like that.”

  “She thinks it’s attached itself to the child?”

  Caleb sat down, his brow furrowed. “When I first met the boy, it was the day we all went to the police station. He was with his mother in the park across the street. What caught my attention was the fact that he had two shadows.”

  “Two?”

  “Yeah, I had that dumbfounded look on my face too.” A faint smile appeared. “I still don’t understand it. I’ve never seen any creature or demon that can do that.”

  “I need to do some research on it,” James said. “Don’t do anything until I tell you to. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  His father didn’t have to tell him twice. He and Eli had once gone out and hunted a demon without researching it. They’d both nearly died that night. If their dad hadn’t saved their butts, neither of them would be here.


  “I’m going to take your mother and Benny home. They’re tired. Will you call if anything changes?”

  Caleb nodded. “Yeah, I’ll sit out here with Ava. She’s dead on her feet, and I don’t want to leave her alone in the waiting room.”

  “How is he?” Ava asked as soon as their father disappeared around the corner.

  Caleb glanced over, surprised she was awake. He’d assumed she’d passed out. “He’s getting worse.”

  A tear slipped down her cheek. She’d been so excited for a new brother, but that was Ava. She’d loved him from the moment their father had told her. Didn’t matter if Dan returned her love or not. She had enough for both of them.

  “It’ll be okay, Sissy.” Caleb moved and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her hunched shoulders. “Remember what Mom always says. When it’s our time to go, then we’ve served our purpose, and we can die peacefully knowing we did good things on this Earth.”

  “It shouldn’t be his time,” she railed. “We just found him.”

  “It’s not fair.”

  They both glanced up to see Mr. Richards, Dan’s father, standing across from them. He looked so exhausted, worse even than their own father.

  “I wish you’d gotten to know him. He was such a good kid, always helping people. He loved his family more than almost anything in the world.”

  “Don’t forget Mattie,” Ava reminded him, her gaze wandering to the door leading to Dan’s room.

  A hollow chuckle slipped out of Mr. Richards. “Dan loves that girl more than anyone in this world, and I know Mattie loves my son. You can’t pry her away from him. I thought she was going to commit homicide when his mother told him it was all right to let go. If there is any hope of him coming out of this, my bets are resting on Mattie. If anyone can will Dan back, it’s her.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Ava whispered.

  “So do I,” Mr. Richards said. “I have to get my wife home before our little ragamuffin in there sees her again.”