Page 405 of Evil Hearts

“What’s up?” Suzie says as she leans over.

“The realtor says she’s not going to be able to make it. We can still pop in for a quick look if we want, but she says to be careful in the basement because there’s a loose step.”

“Ohh, so it’s just us then?”

I nod. “Ready?”

Suzie nods and grins wide. Quickly twisting in her seat as soon as she’s out of her seatbelt, she reaches into the backseat.

“You didn’t.”

She smirks. “I did, and you knew I was going to. I want to see if this equipment actually works. I just didn’t want to do it infront of the realtor.”

I can’t help but grin and roll my eyes at her. “Girl, I told you not to waste your money on that stuff—it’s not always accurate.”

“Yeah, well who better than you to compare this equipment with, hmm? We can give them honest reviews, glowing or not. The world will know for sure if these devices actually work.” With that, she opens the passenger door and exits my car.

I watch as she skips up the sidewalk, heading for the door. My gaze lifts, dragging up the length of the looming structure, and already feeling the pull this place has on me. There’s both dread and excitement filling me, knowing there are spirits just waiting for us, that they will be drawn to me like moths to an open flame. They’ll be desperate to connect.I’m going to have to keep my eyes on Suzie…

“The door’s locked.” I hear her say, and I grin, already knowing where the key is.

Stepping over to the stones on the left, I lift the one in the middle and reach down for the key, holding it up to her and making her eyes widen.

“How did you know that was there!? Did your psychic powers tell you?”

I shake my head and burst out in laughter. “No, the realtor just told me.” I hold up my phone to show her the text and she lets out a laugh. “And hey…” I lean in to whisper in her ear. “Ixnay on the owers-pay.”

“Ixnay—Oh! Don’t mention your–” She winces and glances around before leaning back into me to whisper, “Powers?”

I nod. “If they can’t sense it, I don’t want to draw attention to it.”

“Got it,” she says, snatching the key from me and sliding it into the lock.

“Don’t wander too far, please.” I say, knowing she won’t want to stick with me.

“You got it, Mamma,” she says with a smirk, before dashing off and flipping on the lights.

I can’t help but feel responsible for her. I gave her the taste for the supernatural long ago, when we were children. I had even befriended her to help her because I knew she was troubled. I discovered later what her life was truly like. She stayed at myhouse so much that my mom joked that she had pretty much adopted her. She tells me every chance she gets that I saved her.

The sound of our shoes tapping along the old hardwood flooring echoes throughout the house with every step as we explore. It’s definitely beautiful, but could use some TLC. I still don’t know what I would turn this place into…A safe haven for wayward girls or college students, a studio, or maybe a B&B…Then the idea pops into my mind of simply filling this home with my own family, and it has my heart soaring.

I imagine my kids running down the stairs on Christmas morning, flying towards the Christmas tree that would go perfectly in front of the bay windows next to the fireplace. They would rip open presents and beam with excitement at their gifts.If I had four or five kids they would take up the majority of the rooms upstairs. Then I could have two guest rooms downstairs, a study, and maybe even a storage room… or possibly a nursery next to the master bedroom, wherever that is.

Shaking the insane thoughts from my head, I side-eye the basement door and let out a resolute sigh before walking over to it. My hand reaches out to the knob, and I feel a cold zap to my palm.A clear warning.And yet, my hand grips the intricately designed doorknob anyway, twisting and pulling the door open. I’m met with a wall of black, and I have to hold in a gasp. Glancing down, I see the stairs fade into the blackness of the basement, a shudder runs through me and I quickly shut the door, not ready for that experience yet.

The more I explore this old place, the more I can see myself here. Ignoring, for now, whatever is in the basement, the rest of the spirits here don’tfeelthreatening.Then again, they’ve not shown themselves yet.I could easily help them crossover and leave the basement for last.Am I really thinking about it? Do I really want this place?

“Oh my god!” I hear Suzie’s yelp, and I rush to find her, taking off in the direction of her voice.

“Suzie?” I call out. “Are you alright?”

“You’ve gotta see this!”

I follow her voice into a huge room. There’s a large desk, and three walls with built-in shelves.So it already has an office—that’s an extra room for whatever I want.Dusty books adorn some of the shelves, with equally dusty and heavy looking wot-nots separating them. One is a bust of some guy I’m not interested in learning about at the moment, and the other is a brass eagle. Its wings are lined with cobwebs, much like the rest of the place.

“What do you think, Aim’s?” Suzie leans in and reaches out towards the desk, her EMF reader in hand. “It has a lot of potential, right?”

I nod, because it does and I’m pretty much sold on it. I’m desperate for a new place, and this is just too good to pass up. But my mind drifts back to whatever may be residing in the basement.Can I handle it? Is it confined only to the basement? Could there be more than one?

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