“Why is she important.”
“I think she’s haunting people.”
Jared looks back and forth from me to the image of Lynn on my computer several times. And then my screen saver turns on, turning his attention solely on me.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“But you are going to do something?” he asks eagerly.
“Yes.”
“That’s so cool.”
I give him his glass of water. “It’s a little cool.”
“Are you going to do a hunt like they do on those ghost shows on TV? Do you have equipment to measure EMF and record EVPs and all that fun stuff?”
His excitement isn’t bad on its own, but I’m getting a bad feeling from it. Ghosts are dangerous—obviously. The chances of him running into a ghost are low, I suppose, but when there’s an angry spirit out there, I don’t want him taking a single chance.
“I don’t think so.”
“How are you going to find the ghost then?”
“You’ll find that out one day. Maybe. I’m not making any promises on that, actually.” I take another drink of water, sweltering already. “Come on, let’s go outside and take a stab at the lawn mower.”
Jared nods, and I motion to the back door.
“This house is pretty damn cool, you know,” he says, eyeing the back staircase.
“Yeah, it is. Though not in the literal sense right now.”
“Not having air is rough.”
“There are worse things, I suppose. But it is rough when you’re used to having it.”
“My dad’s always wanted to buy your house. Don’t sell it to him.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t want to live in a haunted house?”
“Is it really haunted?”
“Not by ghosts.” I open the back door and let him out first. He looks down at the line of salt he just stepped over. “And it won’t be anytime soon.”
“Why are there salt lines?”
“I told you, to make sure ghosts don’t haunt my house.”
Jared blinks a few times, mouth opening to ask a question but the words leaving him. We make it a few paces into the yard before he speaks again.
“What’s the story behind the ghost you’re looking for? Was she murdered and is vengeful now?”
“Her death was ruled accidental,” I say, and something clicks in my mind. If her death was an accident, why is she so pissed off? Did I rip her from heaven by opening the rift? I’d be pissed too. But that doesn’t sit right with me. She’s attacked two men who were at the falls the day before she attacked them.
“So it’s a residual haunting.”
“Not quite. This is one of those things where the less you know, the better.”
