Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out

Praise for Me and My Ghoulfriends by
Rose Pressey

“
Rose Pressey spins a
delightful tale with misfits and romance that makes me cheer
loudly.”

Coffee Time
Romance

“
Her characters are alive
and full of quick witted charm and will make you laugh. The plot
twists keep you turning the pages non-stop.”

ParaNormalRomance

“
I absolutely loved this
book! It had me chuckling from the beginning.”

Fallen Angel
Reviews

More books from Rose
Pressey:

How to Date a Werewolf (Rylie Cruz,
Book 1)

How to Date a Vampire (Rylie Cruz, Book
2)

How to Date a Demon (Rylie Cruz, Book
3)

Me and My Ghoulfriends (Larue Donavan,
Book 1)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Undead (Veronica
Mason, Book 1)

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells (Mystic
Café, Book 1)

Me and My Ghoulfriends

Copyright © 2011, Rose
Pressey

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction. The
names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the
writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to
be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead,
actual events, locale or organizations is entirely
coincidental.

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of
this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Published in the United States of
America by Rose Pressey

Dedication

This is to you, and you know who you
are.

Chapter One

Nothing says romance like taking your
date with you to exorcise a house. Candlelit dinners, flowers, and
demons….yes, going to a movie and dinner was far too normal for me.
I had to be different. No wonder I hardly ever had a
date.

“
Are you sure this is
safe?” Callahan slid out from behind the steering wheel.

I jumped out from the passenger seat
of his car and hurried over to the sidewalk. Callahan locked his
car, then joined me in front of the steps.

“
Define safe?” I asked,
while staring at the house. “Will we make it out alive? Probably.
Will you see things that will make you question everything you ever
believed in? Most definitely.” I glanced over to gauge his
reaction.

Callahan’s blue eyes widened, then he
furrowed his brow. I didn’t need psychic ability to know he
wondered what kind of mess he’d gotten himself into.

We stared at the house from the
sidewalk—a secure distance. At least no spirits had followed me.
Well, I take that back…Callahan’s sweet, dearly departed
grandfather sat in the backseat of his car. But he’d refused to get
out and join us. He wanted nothing to do with evil spirits.
Callahan had no idea his grandfather had tagged along for our date.
I’d just gotten rid of a slew of unwanted spirit hangers-on when he
showed up. My work was never done. Yeah, I talked to the dead. Just
like Melinda in that Ghost Whisperer show. My current dilemma? My
date had no idea I had intuitive abilities. Ghost hunting, yes.
Talking to ghosts…not so much.

Ghosts had been popping up in my life
ever since I’d been a child. No need to watch Casper when I was a
kid, I had my own real-life version. These were random spirits,
too. I never knew who’d show up. From Hollywood celebrities to
next-door neighbors—they all had unfinished business, or just
didn’t know they’d expired. Either way, I’d made it my mission to
help them. Not that I had much choice; they wouldn’t leave me
alone.

“
I have holy water, a
cross, my Bible, and rosary beads.” I pulled the necklace from my
pocket. “If I have to, I’ll call a priest.”

“
A priest? Holy...” He
glanced at me again, then back at the ranch style home.

“
Exactly. Come on, let’s
go.” I looped my arm through his and led him down the path to the
porch. The feel of his hard, muscular arm made my stomach
flip-flop. Touching him set off tiny fireworks in the pit of my
stomach. Too bad it wasn’t under different circumstances, though.
He looked so handsome in his jeans and blue casual button-down
shirt. His hair tousled in all the right places.

The house appeared as any ordinary
home—a one-story brick with red shutters and neatly trimmed hedges.
Similar houses surrounded it on the cul-de-sac. Not the typical
image that came to mind when the words haunted house were
mentioned.

I reluctantly let go of Callahan’s arm
(not an easy feat), stepped past the display of pumpkins up onto
the small porch, and made my way to the bright red door. The
cheerful color did nothing to ease my fear. Sure, I still had fear
on an investigation…I was only human. Evil waited for us on the
other side of that entrance. I’d been in more than my share of
haunted houses, but apprehension never eluded me. Needless to say,
demons were always the toughest part of my job.

Callahan stood behind me—his heavy
breathing loud against the quiet night air. I wasn’t sure how it
had worked out this way, but my hot date for the evening was
actually on a paranormal investigation with me. Typically, I go
alone, or with a handful of colleagues. No doubt when Callahan had
asked me out, he hadn’t bargained for fighting evil spirits. The
aforementioned dinner and a movie, maybe, exorcising the devil…save
that for the one-month anniversary.

Raising my fist, I hesitated, then
pounded on the door, holding my breath out of sheer habit—anxiety
had that effect on me. You’d think I’d be used to this sort of
thing by now; I’d been a ghost hunter for three years. I attracted
ghosts like a bug zapper attracted mosquitoes. Callahan’s breathing
increased. His apprehension zinged around us—I felt it. He was like
a coiled spring.

When I envisioned his sweet breath in
my ear, it hadn’t been like this. Sitting in front of a crackling
fire with a glass of wine was more what I’d had in mind. I glanced
over my shoulder at him. He smiled half-heartedly, then placed his
hand on my back and puffed out his muscular chest. How sweet was
he?—the brave macho guy. Men needed to prove themselves that way, I
guess. Why, I’d never know. My best friend Mindy Winters told me to
stop trying to figure out the male mind. She said a man’s brain was
simple, and that’s what made it complex. She was full of sage
advice. Or just full of it, whichever.

From the other side of the door, the
clomp-clomp of loud footsteps echoed. Callahan met my gaze once
again. His lips opened slightly, as if he wanted to speak, but he
remained silent. A few loud clangs and muffled speech seeped
through the door, then it whipped open. I stumbled back, and
Callahan grabbed my arm, steadying me.

One of my dearest friends, Mark
Pendleton, stood in front of us—we’d met a few years ago on a
historic ghost tour. I’d helped him out of a few scary situations
with evil spirits over the past couple years. Mark had a real knack
for attracting the mean ones; much more than I did. Poor guy.
Apparently, this was another one of those occasions.

Earlier in the evening, just as
Callahan and I had prepared to sit down for a lovely dinner, my
cell phone rang. Mark needed my help. What choice did I have but to
lend a hand? He would have done the same for me. Luckily, Callahan
understood—or so he said—and even wanted to trail along. A decision
he may now regret.

“
Hi, Larue. Thanks for
coming,” Mark said. Darkness circled his eyes. He ran his hand
through his disheveled chestnut-colored hair.

“
What’s going on?” I asked,
glancing over his shoulder into the house.

A small lamp on a console table
provided a faint glow in the foyer. The house was neat, with warm,
inviting colors, but the unmistakable sulfur odor that hung in the
air wasn’t so welcoming.

Chapter Two

“
Please, come in.” He
gestured with a sweep of his arm, then stuffed his hands in the
front pockets of his wrinkled jeans.

Before moving forward, I glanced at
Callahan. He looked as if he might decline the invitation, but
ultimately followed me into the deceivingly cozy house. We trailed
Mark through the foyer and into the room to our right. The living
room was ghost hunters central with the usual equipment spread
across the area. Instead of the typical half dozen investigators,
it was just Mark and Dallas.

“
Hey, Dallas.” I
waved.

“
Thank God you’re finally
here, Larue.” He ran his hand through his ginger-colored hair and
let out a pent-up breath. His large shoulders slumped over as if
the tension weighed them down.

“
No offense, guys, but you
look like crap,” I said.

“
None taken, I guess.”
Dallas attempted a half-hearted grin.

“
Dallas, this is Callahan.
Callahan, Dallas.” They shook hands.

Mark sat on the arm of the sofa, then
folded his arms in front of his chest. “We don’t know exactly what
we’re dealing with here. When we started this investigation, it
seemed like any other. As normal as a haunting can be, you
know?”

I nodded. “Yeah, ‘normal.’” I made air
quotes with my fingers.

“
Then things turned ugly,
quickly.” He picked up an electrical cord and moved it out of
Callahan’s way. “You remember Stacey?” Mark asked.

“
Yes, bubbly redhead,
right?” I asked.

“
Yeah.” He nodded. “When
she got here, things started going crazy. Objects were thrown
around the room, even religious items. People were being pushed and
scratched. We captured some great evidence, but things have
escalated, so we stopped until you could get here.”

I cast a quick look at Callahan to
determine his reaction. He was wide-eyed and focused on both of us.
He had no idea I talked to the dead. Heck, he’d only just found out
I was a ghost hunter earlier in the evening.

“
Well, obviously it sounds
demonic with the attacks and the throwing around of religious
items. I suspect they opened up a portal with a Quija board. We’ll
have to somehow close it if we ever want the family to have
peace.”

“
A portal?” Callahan gave
an incredulous look.

“
Yes.” I shook my head.
“Portals to the other side. A lot of hauntings have them. A portal
between the physical plane and the spiritual plane—sort of like a
doorway between both worlds.”

The energy from a presence zinged
around me. A spirit was in the room with me. The eerie force of
something supernatural encircled me.

Ugh. I thought he said he was staying
in the car.

“
I’m really glad Callahan
found a doll like you.” Callahan’s grandfather, Seth Weiss, leaned
against his cane. He beamed at his grandson. “But this is some
date, I must say. When Callahan was a little tyke, he was afraid of
his own shadow, now look at the lad. He slept with that ridiculous
night-light until he was twelve.”

If Callahan knew his grandfather had
followed us on our date and was now sharing embarrassing childhood
stories, he would probably want to crawl in a hole and hide for a
very long time. Seth had popped up in the backseat of Callahan’s
car when he’d picked me up for our date. He seemed to be quite
content on following us around.

Callahan looked at me expectantly,
making responding to Seth impossible. How was I going to continue
to hide my ability to speak with the dead from him? After all, that
was the whole reason Mark had called me on this
investigation.

“
So, can you help, Larue?”
Mark asked.

“
I’ll need to explore the
home alone if y’all don’t mind?” I looked from Mark to
Callahan.

I prayed Mark took the hint. That was
my sneaky attempt at getting Callahan to stay behind. He didn’t
need to see me talking to an empty room. Not yet. It was a special
skill that needed to be announced at just the right time. Like on
our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Wishful thinking on my part,
sure, but a girl can dream.