Page 92

The lights flicker back on and the temperature begins to return to normal. Our ghostly friends are standing still and silent across the room from Nigel, watching him. Their anger from earlier is gone and in its place is a sad kind of acceptance.

Callum helps Nigel to his feet.

“What’s going to happen now?” Nigel asks in a trembling voice.

Callum shakes his head. “I can’t say. We were brought in to investigate the haunting in this building and figure out how to stop it, but now the official investigation of the fire has been handed over to the proper authorities. They’ll no doubt be contacting you very soon. If I were you, I’d get my affairs in order.”

Nigel bows his head. “Somehow, I always knew this day would come.” He gives a sad smile when he looks up again. “It’s strangely a huge relief.”

“Carrying something like that for so many years takes a toll on the body, mind, and soul,” Callum tells him. “I can’t say what the Crown Prosecutor’s Office will do, but you were underage and coerced by the adult whose care you were in. It’s unlikely you’ll end up serving any serious time.”

“You’ll probably be doing yourself a favor if you go in and relate your story to the authorities of your own volition,” I offer.

Nigel nods slowly and looks around, clearly still spooked. “This place is really haunted by them, isn’t it?”

“Yup.”

He gulps. “That was them talking to me… through you?”

“Yes, sir.”

He moves closer to Callum, looking at me like I’m some kind of freak. I heave an internal sigh. I’m used to that kind of reaction, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting whenever I get it.

“I’m what folks would call a ghost whisperer,” I explain. “I can converse with ghosts, plus the dead can speak through me if I allow them to.”

Nigel swallows convulsively. “Are they still here?” he whispers.

I nod.

He blanches again.

“Is there anything you want to say to them? This might be your only chance,” I tell him.

“Can they… understand me?”

“They can.”

He closes his eyes, exhaustion and regret written all over his face. “I know it doesn’t make up for what happened, but I want to say I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.”

Callum shepherds Nigel outside to help him call a cab home as he’s clearly in no condition to go there by himself, while I stay behind.

It’s almost time for the six spirits trapped in this building to say goodbye.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

RULE #8: ZOMBIES ARE NOT REAL (PROBABLY)

Zombies, ghouls, the living dead––however you want to describe them, do not exist as far as we know at the time of writing this manual. While such creatures abound in the horror movie genre, we have never come across any in the course of our professional work.

Now, that isn’t to say they definitively do not exist. We merely contend that the likelihood is marginal at best.

If you should by some strange circumstance find yourself in the presence of a zombie, we recommend running. If they are indeed flesh-eaters, you don’t want them taking a bite out of you. Be aware, however, that there has not been a universal consensus in the slow- vs. fast-moving zombie debate. Your guess is as good as ours whether said undead creature will lumber after you slowly or run you down like a lion chasing down a zebra in the Serengeti.

Either way, using maximum speed is highly recommended.

And if you survive, be sure to document and report the incident at headquarters ASAP.