I run through all the things that I’ve been shown since her first appearance to me. It seems plausible that the ghost is using the images to detail how she died. I begin to spit out guesses, hoping that she can convey when I’ve said something accurate.
“You were murdered by a strange man.” She blinks out of sight and then returns.
I’m not sure if that’s confirmation or not, since she’s played the disappearing act every time I’ve seen her.
“It happened while leaving a bar?” Again, she flashes away.
“Your body was tossed in the bay?”
She doesn’t return, and I wonder if she’s departed when the volume flicks off mute and the worddeadblares through the speaker. Everyone but me shrieks, ducking their heads.
“No shit,” I deadpan. “Kinda guessed that.” I inhale through my teeth and try once more, running through the possibilities. “You were murdered by a man, leaving a bar, and dumped in water.”
A piercing noise that sounds like something a banshee wouldproduce echoes through the house. Our hands fly to our heads, but as quickly as it started, it stops.
The television shuts off, and the woman blinks in and out one final time.
“What the hell was that?” Lanie yells, jumping up from the table, head spinning around the room, searching for something that she’ll never find.
I blow out a breath, lips flapping at the force of air. “Sit down,” I instruct, and she does. “I guess it’s my turn to make a confession.”
Corinne narrows her eyes on me.
“Christmas Eve, I saw a woman across the street, wearing a sparkly red dress. No shoes. I deduced by her appearance that she’s spent some time in a body of water. Her hair was wet and matted to her head.”
“You mean Char was right?” Lanie says, sounding amazed.
“It would appear so,” I say. “I knew pretty quickly that the woman was a poltergeist. There were many similarities between her and Jenna Cruz.”
“What similarities?” Corinne asks, kneading at her head.
“Just the way she presents herself. She never talks. Hardly moves aside from flashing in and out.”
“That’s…creepy,” Lanie says, shoulders shaking.
I nod. “I’ve seen her a couple times since then, but more recently, she’s been seemingly using the television to try to communicate with me.” I glance over at the table where my journal is sitting. “Tonight, I believe she possessed me to send a message in my journal. I wrotestop himhundreds of times with no memory of it.”
“That’s…not good,” Corinne muses, eyes narrowed as she appears to ponder this development.
“Do you know who she is?” Nina asks.
I shake my head. “I haven’t gotten that far. Like I said, she’s not come around much. With Ava around, I couldn’t really investigate.”
“Good call. We don’t need to freak Ava out,” Lanie says.
“I planned to bring it up tonight, but Lanie came here with a very specific plan in mind, and I kind of forgot.”
“You kind of forgot about the poltergeist?” Corinne’s mouth is wide, and she blinks several times, looking at me as though I’m the world’s biggest idiot.
“What the heck is wrong with you? Those are not entities that you want to mess with,” Corinne barks. “Help them and send them on their way.” She throws her hand up into the air. “At the very least, cleanse your space and see if you can just get her to go away on her own.”
“I know that. And I have been taking precautions,” I snap.
Okay, so…maybe I haven’t really taken any precautions, but the woman doesn’t exactly scare me. Aside from looking creepy, she hasn’t done anything that gives me the impression she will hurt me.
Aside from possessing my body.
“So far, the poltergeists I’ve come into contact with have been frightening, but not harmful,” I explain.
