“Can I come?” Lanie asks, looking way too excited by the possibility.
“No. Mother does not like a crowd. Besides, I just listened to you snub your best friend over the idea of ghosts. You don’t get to poo-poo the woo, and join in when it suits you.” Corinne turns to me and winks.
I’m not even sure how to react. I didn’t think I’d see the day when Corinne came to my defense. I wasn’t even sure she liked me.
Lanie harrumphs, falling back onto the couch.
“Why exactly are we meeting with your mother?” I ask, not sure I’m on board.
“She’ll know how to handle the situation with the poltergeist, and how to help you protect yourself from future spirits.”
That all sounds important, but my gut tells me it’s going to be an epic shit show.
“Look,” Lanie says, pointing to the television that’s on mute.
We all turn to see breaking news lighting up the screen.
“Turn it up,” Corinne barks, and I leap for the remote.
“Authorities are searching for a local woman whose car was found in a remote part of Olt Forest, just off Thistlehill Road. Friends and family say Jenna Cruz has been missing for two months. They became worried after she failed to show up for a shift at Clementine’s in Knox Harbor, where she’s worked as a bartender for many years.”
The interview shifts to a woman who must be in her eighties, holding on to the bar likely to steady her fragile frame. “Jenna wouldn’t do this. She was like family.” The woman’s raspy voice warbles with emotion. “Even if she wanted to leave town, she never would’ve done it like this. She vanished without a trace.”
A picture of a young woman with large hazel eyes and long brown hair flashes onto the screen. My stomach plummets and a whimper breaks through my closed lips.
It’s her. The woman who keeps appearing.
I feel Corinne and Lanie staring at me, but my eyes remain forward, needing to hear the rest.
“Nobody has been able to get in contact with her since she was last seen on the night of August tenth. Silverton police got the tip about the stranded car from a local hunter who stumbled across it. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, says it was obvious someone was trying to hide it based on the location and how it was covered. Police are asking the public to come forward with any leads on Ms.Cruz’s whereabouts. Family and friends say this is unlike Jenna, who loved her job and was happy.
I stare at the woman’s picture until the news switches to a story about a local dog shelter. I can’t speak. Can’t move. This is all too surreal.
“She’s dead.”
Nine of Swords... Reversed
“PLEASE TELL MEyou didn’t drag me outhereto go inthere.” Nina points as though I don’t see the house right out of a horror flick. “I refuse.”
There was no way I was coming to meet Corinne’s mom without a safety net. If the woman is even half as batty as her daughter, it’s sure to be another bizarre night.
I intertwine our arms and lean into her. “Stop being a chickenshit.”
“You can’t tell me you’re not at least on edge.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I mull over our current situation and find that Nina is not wrong. Who wouldn’t be teetering on the brink of madness with everything spiraling in my life? It doesn’t help that Corinne’s mother only seems to deal with the dead at night.
“Can you please explain why this must occur so late? Are you people nocturnal?”
“You people? As in mediums?” Corinne huffs. “Include yourself in your generalizations; you’ve joined the ranks.” She mumblessomething under her breath about how unfair it is, but I’m too distracted by the dark and creepy funeral home in front of me to pay much attention to her ramblings. If the foreboding building wasn’t enough, the light mist that hovers across the yard has me ready to abandon the mission and deal with the ghosts myself. A shiver runs up my spine and my limbs jiggle in response.
“Seriously?” I shake my head in utter bewilderment. “How can this situation just get increasingly odder?”
Corinne shrugs her shoulders, and one side of her oversized black sweater falls down her arm, revealing a tattoo I can’t make out in the dark. I turn my attention back to the Addams Family mansion, not letting go of Nina’s arm for a second.
“Are you going to explain to me what is going on?” Nina whispers into my shoulder.
I haven’t had a chance to fill Nina in on all the happenings of late. My assumption was that Lanie had already done that for me. Apparently not. And there definitely wasn’t enough time to get into it now.
