I’d risen to leave when the door opened and Zelda appeared. “Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was going to show you how we can really reach your father and make him return.” The medium beelined for the box. “Inside is a little device that will call any spirit you want.”
“Thank you but no thanks. I’m just not interested, but I appreciate your help.”
I started to step toward the door, but wooziness overcame me. My knees folded and my palms hit the wooden floor hard, stinging my flesh.
Zelda’s arms slithered around me. “Dear, let me get Luis to help you. You’re still too weak to move.”
I started to argue, but Zelda disappeared out the door, calling for Luis. Her voice carried down the hall until it stopped abruptly.
I thought I heard Zelda’s inhale and her whine, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Zelda?” I called. “Zelda?”
The door had been left open, revealing a dark hallway glowing with gas sconces.
“Zelda?” I said again.
For a house filled with people, it was eerily quiet. Footsteps came closer, and suddenly Roan’s smiling face appeared. His smile quickly evaporated when he saw me on the floor.
“What happened?”
“I fell. Zelda was going to get help. Where’s my food?”
“I got sucked into a conversation with Traylor that I couldn’t escape, so I was just coming to check on you before I made you a sandwich.” He hooked two arms under me and hoisted me up. My fingers scraped against the glossy wooden floorboards as he dragged me to my feet. “Can you stand?”
My legs were strings of Jell-O, but I could manage it. “I’ll be okay. Zelda went to get someone to help me walk. Let’s just get out of here.”
“Should we tell her that we’re leaving?”
This place was getting crazier and crazier by the minute. “Let’s just go.”
We headed toward the front door, but a scuffling sound behind us grabbed my attention. A shadow swaying side to side moved down the hallway toward us. It thrust forward and I realized that the shadow was a person, and what it was thrusting were two long arms.
“Zelda,” I screamed.
She lurched forward, mouth gaping. I let go of Roan so that he could grab her. Adrenaline coursed through my veins now, making me able to stand on my own.
Zelda’s hands moved wildly as her mouth opened and closed like a fish drowning on land. Was she having a heart attack? A stroke?
All that draped velvet over her chest made it hard to see anything but a whirl of hands. She grabbed hold of Roan and slumped to the ground. Her arms opened up beside her and flapped against the wood.
That’s when I saw a long red stain marring the front of her dress. Zelda stared up at the ceiling, her eyes open but seeing nothing.
Roan knelt beside her. “She’s dead.” He spread the gown, revealing a gash down the front. “Stabbed.”
From inside the belly of the house, Christmas music played. The house itself creaked and groaned as it settled against the frigid outdoors.
“Murdered,” I added. “Zelda’s been murdered.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, Lemon, Traylor, Luis and Tex appeared in the hallway, all of them scrambling toward us.
“I heard you scream,” Lemon said.
Traylor took a commanding stance. “What’s happened?”
Luis flared his fingers to his chest. “Is that Zelda? Is she okay?”
Meanwhile Tex mopped sweat from his forehead. “It’s getting mighty late. I need to get going.”
