Ghoul of My Dreams (Larue Donavan Series Book 4) (18 page)

“We need to talk to you,” I said again, hoping I would get an answer this time.

Suddenly, the planchette started to move. We exchanged a look of excitement about what we might find out. Well, excitement blended with terror.

“We need to know why you are here.” I scanned the room as if something would appear.

Of course, it was never that easy. The planchette moved to the letter F. It continued on until it reached the letter O. Next was R. After a few more times of moving to different letters, it had spelled out YOU.

“For you,” I said, almost at a whisper.

Since I had asked the question, did that mean the demon was there for me? That had to be it, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a demon to get me by other means. They would have someone else seek me out unknowingly.

“Why do you want me?” I yelled.

To be honest, I was afraid to find out what the answer was. I had to push forward, though. We placed our fingers on the planchette again. The thing moved around the board like a ship lost at sea during a storm. This time it had spelled out FOR YOUR SOUL. The words sent a shiver down my spine. Marilyn gasped when she realized what the demon had said. In spite of the message, I had to be tough. This thing was just playing games with me. Yes, that was what I kept telling myself. If I gave into the fear, it would all be over. It would be able to truly get my soul.

Chapter 20

There was another question I wanted to ask this dark shadow.

I motioned for everyone to place their fingers onto the planchette again. “Is there more than one demon here?”

The object moved across the board to the
yes
.

“Oh, that’s it. We should get out of here.” Roger motioned for me to get up.

“Just stay calm,” I said.

“Yeah, right.” Roger paced across the room.

“How many more are here?” I asked.

“I don’t even want to know the answer to that question.” Marilyn crossed her arms in front of her waist, giving herself a hug.

The planchette moved across the board and stopped on the “2.”

“Well, thank heavens for small favors,” Roger said.

“What is the name of the other demon who is here?” I called out.

We watched the board and nothing materialized. The tricks that these things played was frustrating. Just when I was about to give up, the thing started to move around the board. However, it appeared as if it wasn’t really going to stop on anything. Finally, the planchette halted on letters again. So far, it had paused on the L and the A. I felt Stone tense up as he sat next to me. We continued to watch the letters until it had spelled out a name. LASME was the name it had given us.

Stone jumped up from his chair and backed away from the table. He almost stumbled, but managed to keep himself upright. His faced turned pale.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I ran over to him.

Stone looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Well, what a person who didn’t see ghosts on a regular basis would look like. It had something to do with the name the Ouija board had just given us. He swayed a bit as if he might pass out. Bonnie and I led him back over to the chair.

“Here, sit,” I pushed on his arm, forcing him down.

Stone did as he was told, but he still hadn’t spoken. It was as if he had been stunned into silence.

“Talk to me, Stone. Tell me what’s wrong,” I said.  

He stared me in the eyes. “That’s the same one.”

“The same one as what?” I asked.

His expression darkened. “The demon from the house. The one that has been following you around.”

That was what I was afraid he was talking about. Of course, I’d known the demon was still around. At least now, I had a name and maybe with that knowledge I could figure out how to get rid of it.

Apparently, hearing the name had brought back a lot of emotion for Stone. I really wanted to know more about what had happened to him, but right now it seemed as if he wanted away from the room.

“Do you think the demons are connected?” Bethany asked.

“I don’t know, but I think there’s a good chance of it,” I said.

How had Stone invited this spirit in? Had it been with the Ouija board and he wasn’t telling me? Whatever it was, he needed to be honest so we could figure out how to get rid of it.

I touched Stone’s arm. “Do you think you can ask more questions?”

He appeared to have calmed down some, but he said, “I don’t think I want to talk to it anymore.”

We could try to get rid of the demons without him, but it would be stronger if we had him. I didn’t want to seem weak to the demon. That was how the things were able to come through in the first place.

“I think there must be a portal in this house, too,” Stone said.

“What is that? What does that mean?” Bonnie asked with a bit of panic in her voice.

“It’s like a hole in this dimension for spirits to come through from their world,” I explained.

She frowned. “How does that happen?”

A noise sounded from the hallway and I turned around. Nothing was there. I focused on Bonnie again. “Well, it could have occurred naturally or someone could have caused it.”

Bonnie and I focused on Bethany. Bethany studied her shoes, but didn’t offer an explanation.

“How can we get rid of it?” Bonnie asked.

“Like I said, I think I have a way to close it,” Stone’s voice was low, as if he barely had the energy to speak.

“Yeah, but before we do that, we have to get the demons into the portal.” Every muscle in my body felt as if it was coiled with tension.

“That sounds impossible.” Marilyn sashayed across the room.

Stone watched her. “It’s not impossible, but it isn’t easy either.”

“How soon can you do this?” Bonnie asked.

“We can try now, but I can’t guarantee it will work,” I said.

I really needed Stone’s help. I sensed that he just wanted to close the portal and be done with it. Without getting rid of the spirits though, it would be a bad idea. I looked to Stone for an answer.

Finally, he nodded and said, “I will help all I can.”

Just then, a large glass vase flew off the mantel and through the air. The thing landed at my feet breaking into a million pieces. We all gasped in shock. Apparently this evil spirit wanted my attention and, worst of all, to possibly hurt me, as well. The room fell silent as we stared at the shards of glass.

“I’m scared,” Bethany whispered.

I touched her arm. “Remember what I said. You can’t be scared. You can’t let them know you are afraid. That’s how they get their energy.” 

Bonnie stepped over to her daughter and hugged her. It was easier said than done when I told them not to be frightened. I was fighting it with all the power in me. The demons wanted that power, too. They wanted us to be tired because we were more vulnerable then. Things were only going to get worse before they got better. I didn’t want to tell Bonnie and Bethany that, though. We had to prepare ourselves for a battle.

“Where should we start?” More unease came into his eyes.

I hoped I had to right answer for him. Everyone was waiting for my answer expectantly. 

“First, we have to let it know it can’t have my soul. Or anyone else’s for that matter. We should gather around and give the demon the message.” I motioned for everyone to join me in the middle of the room.

We clasped hands and moved into a circle. The energy weaved around us and a charge shot up my arm when I held Stone’s hand. I’d never felt anyone have that much energy before. I’d only felt it within my own body.

“We have a message for you,” I said in the loudest voice I could muster. I wanted my intentions to be loud and clear. “You are
not
welcome here.”  I paused for a moment and then added, “You can't have my soul,” I said even louder.

I made my intent perfectly clear now. There was no way I would allow this to happen. We continued to hold hands and then, suddenly, one by one, the pictures fell from the walls. They flew across the room onto the floor, landing by our feet. Bonnie held my hand tighter on one side and Stone tensed up even more on my other. I wasn’t sure how long we could continue if things escalated. I didn’t want to put everyone in danger.

I had to stop this before it got out of control. I released their hands and stepped back. “We should go search for the spot where the portal is located.”

“You’re sure there’s a portal here in the house?” Bonnie asked.

“We think there is. Do you think you can find it?” I asked Stone.

He nodded, but looked nervous. “I can try.”

That was about all I could hope for at the moment. Stone closed his eyes and I knew he was trying to get in tune with the supernatural around us. That in itself was a dangerous thing.

After a couple of seconds, he opened his eyes and released a deep breath. “I think I know where it is.”

I exchanged a look with Bonnie and Bethany.

“You shouldn’t do this,” James said in a stern voice.

He’d been quiet as he’d watched us from the corner of the room. Now, James glared at me when I focused my attention on him. I wasn’t about to let a ghost tell me what to do.

Stone started walking toward the hallway and we followed him. When the ghosts didn’t come along with us, I figured they decided to stay behind. I wasn’t so sure it was any safer in there than it was out in the hallway. James cast an agitated expression my way when I walked by.

Stone moved down to the end of the hall, past the staircase, and into a small area that led to the rear entrance of the house. On the left was a small laundry room. He paused and looked around for a moment and then peered up at the ceiling.

He pointed. “There it is, right there.” 

We all gazed up, but there was nothing there. Of course, it wouldn’t be something we could see with the naked eye. I stepped closer to Stone. Now, I was supposedly standing right under the spot where the portal was located. Instantly, the pull of the energy came down on me.

I nodded. “This is it. I can feel it.”

“Oh, Larue, don’t stand under it. Get out of there.” Marilyn stood at the end of the hallway while the others peeked out from the room.

Even though I was nervous, I needed to feel what it was like. I suppose I was inspecting it. Was there a way to truly close this thing? Then, another thought crossed my mind.

“Do you think it’s connected to the other portal that was in the house on Heritage Street?” I asked.

Stone studied my face for a moment. Finally, he nodded. “Yes, I think they could be related.”

“I feel like you could enter one and then end up at the other house on the other side. I don’t think this is two separate portals. I think it’s one that’s connected,” I said.

“This is too heavy for me,” Roger said.

“You should leave the portal alone,” James said.

The ghosts now stood closer to us. They hadn’t been able to stay away. There was no way I would leave the portal alone. It had to be dealt with. Stone turned and walked toward the front door.

“Where you going?” I chased after him.

He tossed his hand up. “I can’t do this.”

“What do you mean you can’t do this?” I asked.

He
had
to do this. My life depended on it. Didn’t he care?

“Wait. Stop,” I said as I ran out the door after him.

Stone paused at his car and leaned against the hood.

“Are you okay?” I asked, touching his arm.

He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I lost it there for a minute.”

“Maybe you had a panic attack,” I suggested.

It was obvious he couldn’t return right now. We needed a rest time to figure out what we would do next. It was getting late anyway and I wanted to go home and wrap my mind around what was happening. My phone beeped and I pulled it out of my pocket to see a missed call.

I checked the message. It was from Callahan and he sounded even worse than I thought he would. He was convinced I was avoiding him on purpose. I needed to call him back and explain, once and for all, why I hadn’t been talking to him. It wasn’t fair for me to leave him in the dark like this. However, I was torn about also wanting to save him from dealing with the dark shadows.

“We should go home for the night,” I told Stone.

He appeared defeated, but nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right. We should call it a night.”

The ghosts had moved out of the house and were standing by the door. It was nice of them to give me some time alone with Stone.

“We should plan to meet in the morning. We can go to the house and check out the portal there.” I didn’t want to give him the option of backing out of doing this. He would have to handle it.

He studied his shoes for a few seconds, and then met my stare. “Okay, we’ll check out the portal in the morning.”

After heading back to the porch, I told Bonnie and Bethany we were leaving for the evening. I hated to abandon them alone in the house, but I didn’t know what else to do.

“We’ll be going now.” I motioned over my shoulder.

“I think we’ll stay at my friend’s house,” Bonnie’s voice wavered as if she was about to break down.

I touched her arm. “That’s probably best for now. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

After hugging Bonnie and Bethany, the ghosts followed me back to Stone’s Mercedes.

“Is he going to be okay?” Marilyn whispered.

“I certainly hope so,” I said.

We hopped in so Stone could drive me back to my car. After riding in silence, we finally pulled up in front of Book Nook.

Stone glanced at me. “I can pick you up in the morning, if you’d like.”

“That’ll be great.” I opened the door.

Before that meeting, I had someone else I needed to see.