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There is nothing I like better than watching the fools scare themselves. It really is quite amusing. They dig out their high-tech equipment and fancy night goggles and try to find ghosts. I had a flashlight and the ability to laugh quietly.
“Did you see that?” Jason whipped around, staring at a wall.
“What?” Bob tried to follow his point, but there was nothing for him to see.
“It was like a blur against that wall. Check your camera. Maybe we got something.”
There was nothing on that wall, but I wasn’t about to tell them that. I was paid to hunt out haunted places and do some minor research, then. Mostly I stayed in the background and let them do their thing.
“What do you think?” David was over my shoulder. I shushed him as one of the ghost hunters turned to me.
“Did you say something, Angel?” Bob asked, bent over his task.
“No,” I said. “Just thinking out loud.” He stared at me for a moment and then went back to him sleuthing.
“They’re such idiots.” The voice was a whisper in my mind and I nodded. Again, Bob looked up and studied me.
“I sense another presence here. Is it you, Mary Kat? We’re not alone,” he proclaimed.
No shit, Sherlock, I longed to say. Between them, the film crew, the techs, and the various hangers on crammed into the room, there was hardly a place to stand. I was honestly surprised that the floorboards hadn’t given out by now. However, Mary Kat was not with us, nor was she likely to be.
I waved a hand and walked away, back down the stairs. Avoiding the jam-packed home base that had been made to look like it was one guy and a couple computers, I headed for the crew mess table. At this time of the night, those sugary snacks were a magnet for me.
The truth was there are ghosts all around us, most of the time. At times they attach themselves to a place, like a house or the spot they died. Other times, they found solace in an object. Then there were those who attached themselves to a person. They made my head itch and I scratched it.
“None of that now.” David was always quick to stop me. When it first started, I nearly scratched my head raw. He was my conscience and always helped. I’d be lost without him, in more ways than one.
I nodded, fluffed my hair, and got some coffee and three glazed doughnuts. Thus armed, I wandered into the ‘ballroom’ as one of the ghostbusters, Dougie, I think, baptized it that. He seemed truly in love with our locations. He loved going through the long abandoned buildings, imagining them at their height. He brought them back to life and light.
However, now, in the dark, I could relax and just breathe. I lit a cigarette and watched it burn. I didn’t smoke, but the smell brought me an odd comfort. It reminded me of a blue can for some reason.
“I don’t like them here.” The ghost was that of a petulant teen. She hovered close to the bridal cake trim along the ceiling, glaring down. “They are bossy, and they are rude, especially that one guy. He reminds me of Cousin Charles. Perhaps I should nail him to a tree.”
Inwardly, I agreed with her. “I know you don’t like them, Mary Kat. Just stay out of sight and you’ll be okay. The last thing you want is for a mess of folks to come tromping in behind them. Neither you nor Constance deserve that. They’ll be gone by sunrise and you will all be left in peace again, you and Uncle Julius.”
“Thank you.” Constance rarely spoke. She smiled sweetly at me and I lowered my head. She seemed serene and calm, but I knew better. I knew what she could be like if she felt threatened in any way. She would fight like a banshee if she needed to.
“Shh, someone’s coming.” David warned and suddenly I was alone or as alone as you can be in a room filled of spirits from the past. A light beam appeared a second later.
In walked Stubbs. He was the one Mary Kat was referring to. There was a nasty bit of work. He was mean and abusive to the women on the show, pandering to the men, but he was smart enough to not get caught. I didn’t like him, never had, not from the moment he joined the show. It was a two-way street.
“Why are you skulking in here?” I held up the cigarette and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “That will damage the equipment.”
“Which is why I’m in here away from it.”
“Dumbass,” David whispered and it was all I could do to keep from laughing. I bit my bottom lip instead.
Stubbs’s expression grew hard and he was suddenly in my face. I could feel the ghosts gathering around behind me, protectively. They needed me as much as I needed them. “You need to back off, Stubbs.”
“Oh, what? You’ll run whining and crying to the producers? I’ve been talking to them and you’re history. They don’t need you anymore. Now they have me.”
“This isn’t a competition. I’m just doing what I was hired to do.” And it was because of me that the ratings for the show were never higher and the producers knew it. “Now, step back.” It felt like my skin was on fire and I prayed for control.
“Or what?” His face was an inch from mine and I could smell garlic on his breath. He really thought that would keep him safe from restless spirits. The reason they didn’t bother him is that they didn’t like him anymore than I did. He jabbed my shoulder with a stiff forefinger.
“Ouch. Leave me alone.” I dropped my cigarette, remembering to crush it out. This house had already had one fire. It didn’t need a second.
“Ooo, what’s the little girl gonna do? Cry on me?” He flapped his hands. “Oh, boo, hoo, hoo. Poor little me. Try that and see how many people don’t care.”
“This is your last warning, Stubbs. I’m not kidding. You don’t want to see me lose my temper.” I was at the end of my rope, which wasn’t all that long to begin with.
He laughed. “Do your worst! You can’t hurt me.”
“You know what” You’re right and I’m done.” That’s when Stubbs finally saw me, the real me. The look of terror in his eyes – oh, if I could bottle that and swim in it. He’d have screamed, but I was holding his throat. I crushed it and let him sink to the floor, gurgling. He wasn’t dead, but he was going to wish he was before David and my friends finished with him.. ”He’s all yours, guys. Take him someplace fun.”
Oooo, I can only imagine what they were going to do to him. I regained my composure and calmly sipped my coffee as he vanished and his cries died in my ears. They had been getting anxious for something to feed on. This would hold them for a while now.
“Angel?” Dougie came in, carrying some coffee. “I thought you might like… oh, you have some.” He looked at my empty cup.
I smiled. “Thanks! That’s still sweet of you and I appreciate it.” Dougie was very kind. He was a little slow, but that made him even more special in my eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Something interesting just happened.”
“Really?” Even though I knew the answer, I acted innocent.
“There was this huge burst of psychic energy, right off the charts. Bob and Jason are beside themselves. They want us all in the front room. Have you seen Stubbs?”
“He came and went.” A slight white lie. I wouldn’t be seeing him for a long time if what they tell me about the afterlife is true. No one would.
Dougie grinned at that. “He’d do us all a favor if he’d leave. I don’t like him, Angel. He’s not nice like you.
“Thank you, Dougie. You’re very kind. I thought maybe the producers wanted to get rid of me?”
“You? Never you!” He beamed and then gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You are our guardian Angel! If you see him, let him know I’m looking for him.” Dougie waved and was off again. Like a gas molecule, he never stayed still for long.
“He’s got that right.” David slipped out from his hiding place. “Just as long as he keeps his hands to himself, of course. I’m not sharing.”
“Yes, I know.” Jez, what a demon had to do these days for just a few more centuries on the planet… I fluffed my hair, made sure my masking was in the right place and went back out among the humans. For if you look closely, every angel is terrifying. The trick is not to look.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror,
which we still are just able to endure,
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Every angel is terrifying.
All the ghosts represented here are from the novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.