Page 10 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman
Once she hit the fresh air, footfalls didn’t follow her. She wasn’t idiotic enough to lure the demon to her porch either, so she looped around the neighborhood to the park where she would enter through her back gate.
Stevie waited at the park for a few minutes, surveying the area as her fingers twitched. Only one ghost lingered—a little boy wearing a baseball hat sitting on a swing. His gaze met hers and she held his stare.
Her conscience got the best of her, knowing she needed to at least offer the ghost kid some assistance. “Hey! Do you need help finding anything? Figuring out your unfinished business?”
“Stranger danger!” he shouted and fled away from the park with his arms flapping around like a bird, the creak of the empty swing filling the air.
“No more going out of my way to search for ghosts in abandoned places. I’ve learned my lesson,” she whispered to herself as she opened the gate.
Chest heaving, heartbeat relaxing, Stevie took out her phone and messaged Reese back to pretend the incident with the Headless Horseman had never happened.I can’t tonight, but how about tomorrow?
Sounds perfect. I’ll bring dinner to your place.
I won’t shoot that down.
With a smile, she entered her home.
Ghostless.
Chapter Five
“Goodbye, Headless Horseman,” Stevie chanted as she shut the door behind her. No matter how tempting it might be to go back to the abandoned house to check out the basement and see what could be down there—ghost heads?—that was a definite no crossed off her list of things to do.
She fished out the bent collector card from her back pocket, satisfied she’d at least found Nasty Nick. Still, she’d put Roxy in harm’s way, but to be fair, she hadn’t suspected that the Horseman would’ve made a grand swaggery entrance. She always assumed he was either hovering at a cemetery or hidden deep in the woods somewhere. He’d said that he knew she could see him, and yet he hadn’t followed her. Maybe he just wasn’t impressed by her which would brighten her day.
“Roxy, are you here?” Stevie called, heading to her room to slip the card into her collection binder.
No bark in reply.
She set the binder back on the desk and checked the time on her phone. Still early. That meant her sidekick might not come home for a few more hours. At least Roxy had been in a safe zone while Stevie was traipsing around the Headless Horseman’s abode.
She sent Lucia a quick text as she padded toward the kitchen.I’m back.And guess what?
Stevie swallowed, her throat parched. She knew exactly what she needed. Opening the fridge, she grabbed a carton of milk and chugged the remainder of it down. She shook the carton, finding a couple sips that would have to hold her over until she went grocery shopping tomorrow. There was normally enough, but Gideon had come over the previous morning and hogged most of it.
As she went into the living room, she was a few words into her message to Lucia about what had happened at the abandoned house when rustling, the shuffle of fabrics, stirred from the couch.
“Are you trying to get yourself stuck in the blankets again?” She laughed, then froze when her gaze didn’t meet Roxy’s furry form but instead an ethereal white muscular build of a man—absent of a head.
Stevie screamed, inwardly cursing herself for pretending like she couldn’t see the devil of a ghost. Lucia’s wards hadn’t prevented this entity from entering.
If the Headless Horseman had a face she could see, Stevie knew he’d be smirking. His cape lay on the back of the couch, taking up half its length, as if this were his home. He leaned back, his legs spread wide, the buttons of his shirt fastened pristinely to the top collar like a proper gentleman. A gentleman who reaped heads for funsies.
How did he know she was here? She thought she’d been sly by going the back route and making sure no ghosts were in sight. There hadn’t been a sign of him at the park at all, but maybe the little boy ghost was a narc? No, he’d run off in the opposite direction like a chicken with its head cut off. Unless … the Horseman had found him and…
Stevie stood still, staring at the blank space above his partial neck while they played some sort of game of who would speak first since she now knew he couldtalk.
“We meet again,” the Horseman drawled, his voice just as deep and hypnotic as before. “You can see me. Don’t deny it.”
Well, she wouldn’t deny it since at this point the jig was up. “You have two minutes to leave my house before I spell you to the darkness, deep into the Hollow, demon!” Stevie whirled around and bolted to her room, hoping he wouldn’t catch her bluff. She had a few witchy brews near the bed that she neededto deliver, but they were for healing sicknesses, bringing dead plants back to life, getting over a loved one, looking younger, and none of those would do a thing. Even after priests had blessed the lands of Sleepy Hollow, here the Headless Horseman still was, ruining her life. Overdramatic? Maybe. But not if it was protecting Roxy who could come home at any moment.
Ah-ha! The crucifix inside the head vase!
Stevie opened her china cabinet stuffed with antiques, selecting the ceramic head vase that was crafted in a bust of Lucille Ball, showcasing all her giant eyelash glory. Pulse thrumming, she glanced toward her open door while plucking a solid silver crucifix from inside, followed by the toad brew that was still in her pocket. When she discovered that the Horseman hadn’t followed her, she frowned instead of rejoiced. Was he waiting for her to skip back into the living room? Or maybe he’d listened and fled.
As she moved to place the vase back on its shelf, a glimpse of white caught her attention in front of the window. She flinched, tripping over her own two feet. The ceramic slipped from her grasp and crashed to the floor. The pieces slidingeverywhere. That was it. The last straw.
Gritting her teeth, Stevie looked up at the Headless Horseman, and even though he had no face, her gaze latched onto where she assumed his demonic eyes should be. And glowing red at that. “Look what you made me do!” Stevie growled, holding up the crucifix. She then sprayed him with the toad brew, but of course he didn’t turn into an amphibian since he wasn’t a living man.
