The Ghost Files 2 (The Ghost Files - Book 2) (20 page)

1785, May 23

It has been so long since I had the strength of will to put thought to paper. My son was born just moments ago. I have named him Jonathan Nathanial Sinclair, although I am sure his new family will change it. I held him for but a few seconds and then sent him and Nettie away from this cursed house. She promised to see him taken care of. I hired an attorney to make all the arrangements and ensured Nettie could stay with my son. She is terrified of him, but she will keep him safe. She swore it to me. Wherever you go, my beautiful boy, you will be safe.

We discovered the presence stalking us was Jonas. His spirit walks these halls and I know without any hesitation he would have murdered my child. He has made several attempts to cause his death before Jonathan was ever born. There were several close calls.

I am dying. The birthing was hard on me and I am bleeding too much. The doctor says there is nothing he can do. I am using the last of my strength to warn anyone who enters this cursed ground to flee, run fast from here.

Jonas will never leave this place and inflict pain upon its residents for an eternity. He has truly cost me everything.

Do not let him do the same to you.

Chapter Twenty-Two

I close the journal softly and look up. The guys are still whispering in the far corner of the library, unaware of the journal I’ve discovered. I will bet anything that my soul sucking ghost is Jonas. It makes sense if he made a deal with a demon. I shake my head. Deals with demons? It sounds ridiculous. Can demons do that? Appear human and make a deal to damn your soul in return for something you want more than anything?

In Elizabeth’s situation, I can almost agree with her. If I were helpless and in her shoes, I might have done the same thing. Women who lived in the 1700s were considered chattel, the property of their husbands. They had no rights to speak of and in some cases were badly abused by their husbands. Poor Elizabeth. I can almost feel her pain just in the words she wrote. Her handwriting told her story. She went from angry, to sad and confused, then to desperate. It’s a feeling I’m all too familiar with.

Reading her story makes me think of all the things I have felt since I woke up in this house. Both Elizabeth and her husband were dealing with demons. Is that why she experienced what she did in the house? I think I remember Doc saying something about demonic infestation in one of his lectures I’d attended. There were three stages I think, but what?

“Doc?” I ask, my voice loud in the hushed whispers going on around me.

Instantly all eyes are on me, worried and concerned.

“Yes, Mattie?” Doc looks the most worried about me except for maybe Dan. Doc understands this gift so much better than I do, so maybe he knows there’s a reason to be worried. At this point, I don’t care. I just want the ghost responsible for killing Eric to pay a thousand times over.

“Didn’t you say there were stages when it came to demons and human activity?”

“Yes.” He nods slowly. “Infestation, oppression, and possession. Why?”

“Does the third stage have to be possession or could it just be a demon lurking about looking to make a deal?”

“How do you know about deals, Mattie?” Mr. Malone asks. “That isn’t common knowledge. Only humans who’ve made deals and my kind know about it.”

I handed him the journal and gave him a quick outline of what was in it. “I think they both made deals, but if the demon moved on, then why does the house still mimic the stages of activity?”

“Hold up.” Eli frowns at me. “Out of every book in this frickin' library, you pick up the one that talks about deals?”

Dan laughs. “She’s really good at this stuff. I keep telling her she’ll make a great cop when she graduates.”

“In your dreams, Officer Dan.” I scowl at him. “You’ve seen my rap sheet. Police stations and I don’t mix very well.”

“You’ve got a rap sheet?” Eli grins. “Well, now, I think you just got a whole lot more interesting, Hilda.”

“What did I tell you about calling me Hilda?” I ask through clenched teeth. I can deal with anger so much better than grief.

“Mattie,” Doc interrupts Eli before he can stick his foot further in his mouth. “The journal you found belongs to the wife of the original owner of the house. He had it built about a year before he married her. Everything going on with this house started with them.”

“Yeah, Doc, I think we figured that out already,” Eli says with just a hint of sarcasm.

The annoyed look Dan and Caleb give their brother has my eyes widening. It’s identical, and in that moment, it’s so easy to see they are brothers. I’m not the only one to see it, either. Eli blinks several times and then shakes his head as if to clear it, but the similarities between Dan and Caleb are too strong to ignore.

“I would say that Jonas made a deal for eternal life, but his wife’s deal trumped it,” Mr. Malone says thoughtfully. “The demon he made the deal with couldn’t un-ring the bell, so maybe he gave Jonas eternal life through the ghosts trapped here? As long as he’s able to siphon energy off them, he can maintain his base of power.”

“Old Jonas is having issues with that,” I tell them. “He’s losing his hold on some of the ghosts in residence. He told me that they’re growing just as strong as him.”

“And that’s why he wants you,” Mr. Malone’s shrewd gaze centers on me. “Doc says you are made up of ghost energy, a beacon of shining light to lost souls. If he has you, he can pull more ghosts in and feed off you for an eternity, he’d cement his power.”

“That’s exactly what he said,” I agree, “and that’s exactly why we have to stop him.”

“Mattie, it wouldn’t just be him we’d have to contend with.” Mr. Malone sighs. “There seem to be a lot of the bad ones here. You’ve met some of them.”

“Yeah, there are a lot of bad ones.” I nod. “But there are so many that are just lost. They call to me and I can’t ignore them, not after what I felt, what he did to me.” I shudder at the memory of all that despair that consumed me. I was ready to just give up after a couple hours. I can’t even begin to imagine what these other ghosts have gone through for God knows how long.

“Your gift is still working properly, then?” Doc asks, relieved. “I was worried that the tattoo the boys gave you would cause it to have issues.”

“It was hard at first,” I tell him. “Took me a minute to figure out how to hear only one voice in the hushed whispers, but piece of cake now.”

“So we just need to find his bones and torch him,” Caleb says. “If he was buried in the cemetery, it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“It’s never that easy,” I say. “This guy, he’s twisted, Caleb.”

“Mattie’s right,” Doc interrupts us. “I did a lot of research into the history of the house and its occupants. Jonas Sinclair was rumored to be of the devil himself, dabbling in sorcery and alchemy.”

“But he’s dead,” Dan interjects. “Doesn’t that mean he can’t do as much damage as he could before?”

Caleb and Eli both stare at him as if he’s a simpleton. Dan has never wanted any part of the supernatural world, but because of me, he’s had to learn about it. He just doesn’t want to wrap his head around it or he’d know better than to ask that question. Just because you die doesn’t mean you’ve lost your hold on anything.

“And how long have you been hanging out with the ghost chick?” Eli asks, his voice full of derision.

Dan glares at his brother. “It’s my fault I didn’t grow up a freak show like you?”

I wince. Does he think I’m a freak show, too?

“Brilliant,” Eli sighs, looking right at me. “Now you’ve upset Mattie…again.”

Dan whirls to face me. I try to keep my expression as blank as possible, but he knows me too well.

“Mattie, I didn’t mean you…”

Whatever,” I wave it off. There isn’t time to think about it right now. “Back to getting rid of Jonas. Why do you burn the bones?”

“His bones are a physical part of him,” Mr. Malone explains. “They keep him anchored to this plane of existence. If we destroy the bones, his anchor goes away and he moves on.”

“So all the ghosts I see are anchored here because of their bones?”

“Not necessarily
just
the bones,” Mr. Malone tells me. “It just has to be something with a strong emotional or physical tie to the ghost.”

“Something like this house?” I ask. “He’s spent a long time here, this house is his power base.”

Mr. Malone frowns. “Well, it just got a little complicated.”

“You don’t say?” I ask sarcastically. “Considering he probably knows exactly what we’re planning, what would you suggest?”

“No element of surprise,” Caleb muses, “but what if we split up? Two of us take the bones and the rest of us stay here and combat the house?”

“You make it sound like we’re going to war,” Dan scoffs.

“We are, little brother.” Caleb grins. “Welcome to the family business.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dan pitched a fit when Caleb suggested he go to the cemetery with him, leaving me here at the house. It’s not like I can leave. Jonas isn’t going to willingly let me out of this house. He plans on feasting off me, which means I have to die. Dan has no idea how to combat a vengeful spirit, especially one that made a deal with a demon. Caleb was right to make him leave. He’ll only get in the way of what we need to do here.

What that is, though, I don’t know. Eli, his dad, and Doc have been clustered together in the corner since Dan and Caleb left. I asked where Ben was and discovered Mr. Malone sent his youngest son back to the hotel with his mom earlier. That’s why I hadn’t seen him all night. I’m glad the kid’s safe from this mess. I know he’s probably used to it, but I don’t think it’s something someone so young should have to deal with.

I know there’s talk about burning the house down, but I don’t think it’ll work. It’s not just the house. There’s a cellar, a barn, slave quarters, and numerous other buildings on the property. We can’t burn it all down. Personally, I think our best bet is Eli’s sword. Jonas ran from it earlier. The problem is getting it close enough to him to do some damage.

“How you holding up?” Eli asks, startling me.

“Peachy,” I tell him. “You guys come up with a plan?”

“Dad wants to burn it down, but it’s not gonna work.” Eli shakes his head. “There’s too many buildings he could have left a piece of his DNA in.”

“I had the same thought.” I nod in agreement.

“We’re having a hard time coming up with an alternative plan. Our usual smash and bash isn’t gonna work here.”

“There’s one thing I can try,” I say hesitantly. It’s not something I want to do and I’m not sure I can since they put that tattoo on me. “I can ask the ghosts in the house. They may or may not answer.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Mattie,” Mr. Malone says from behind us. “A séance could cause a lot of unwanted problems, though. There are bad things in this house that could use it, too.”

“You’re looking at the ultimate Ouija board standing in front of you,” I remind him. “No need for a séance. I just have to open myself up and ask.”

“Can you still do that?” Doc asks. “Will the tattoo let her do that?”

Mr. Malone shrugs. “It didn’t alter her abilities, just gave her a buffer to them until she learns to control them. If she was talking to a ghost earlier, I’d say she’s on her way to doing that, but I’m not sure if it’ll hinder her from talking to all the ghosts at once or not.”

“Won’t know till we try,” I tell them.

“Do you need anything in particular?” Mr. Malone asks me.

“Just quiet so I can concentrate.” I go over and plop down on one of the couches. “I’ve only done this once before and those ghosts wanted to talk to me, so I’m not sure it’ll work here or not.”

Mr. Malone nods and he and Doc take a seat on the other couch. Eli settles himself beside me. I ignore the queasy feeling his presence causes and instead close my eyes.

The room is quiet and I let myself relax. I can feel the energy in me that allows me to speak to the ghosts. I’ve been getting better at accessing it since my time as a hostage. I grasp hold of it and let it spread through my body, and when I feel it reach my hands, I let it spiral outward, encompassing the whole of the property. The ghosts can feel my power and are drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. They are unable to escape my call.

Cold creeps into me, burning me, as the spirits flood the house. The air turns frigid and I can hear the kitchen sink down the hall start to run. I know without looking that every window and mirror in the room have iced over. I’m shaking from cold and Eli pulls me onto his lap, wrapping me in his heat. For once it actually lessens the pain of the cold, it takes the edge off. Odd, that’s never happened before.

“I need help,”
I call out to them, speaking in my head.
“I want to help you, to free you from this place, but I need your help to do that.”

Immediately, I’m bombarded on all sides and my head explodes in pain.
“Stop, stop,”
I say.
“Not everyone at once, I can’t understand you all.”

Instant relief. I’m shocked they stopped so quickly, but then again, I’m offering them freedom.

“How can you help us? We have been trapped here for an eternity.”

I open my eyes and see a man of about forty or so standing in front of me. He’s wearing an old bowler hat, his pants and shirt so reminiscent of the 1920’s. I blink. Moonshine runner is my first thought. He grins at me and nods.

“How did you die?”
I ask him.

“My brother and I were coming back from a run and we got shot by the sheriff. We was in a territory we didn’t know, so we didn’t know how to dodge him. Ed lived and I died.”

I loved his accent. His i’s were stressed, giving his speech the quaint charm of the mountains.
“You were a long way from home if you were in New Orleans.”