Page 42 of Ghost of a Chance
Nine
Kirsty got up at six as was her habit and sat on her bed writing on her laptop for an hour.She usually liked coffee when she was writing, but after last night’s disastrous encounter with Jasper she made do with her water bottle.It was still dark outside and the fall of rain against the windowpane made her want to curl on her side and scroll on her phone.
Words didn’t write themselves, so she forced herself to prop two pillows behind her back to make herself comfortable.Then she hopped out of bed, cracking the window and letting the damp, chilly morning air into the room.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to expel the tension that had dogged her all night making it impossible to sleep.As soon as she finished her pages for the morning, she googled around for mediums in the area.Maybe there was someone she could talk to and find out what she was doing wrong.Faking her way through wasn’t going to work.
There were two she could find, but both weren’t open until ten.She put the numbers in a new note on her phone and then set an alarm to call them later.
A quick shower and change of clothes and there was nothing else she could use to delay going downstairs.The TV had blared on at six thirty before being swiftly shut off.
Feeling surly, she slicked her hair back into a low ponytail, ringed her eyes in black kohl liner and then dressed in her armor of all black.The frown on her face was just an added bonus.When she got to the kitchen, she found Gia dressed in head-to-toe pumpkin orange and making pumpkin spice pancakes.Dan and Jasper both had loaded plates and “Autumn Leaves” by Ed Sheeran was playing on someone’s portable speaker.
She liked the song but this morning she was more in the mood for “Black Parade.”
“Great, you’re awake,” Gia said.“How many pancakes?”
“One.”
“Did you hear the TV this morning?I mean honestly how could you not?Woke me from a pretty good sleep,” she said, pouring pancake batter in the sizzling pan.
“I was already awake, writing.”
“I jerked straight up and fell out of my bed,” Dan said.“After that I came downstairs and set up the camera in the living room to try to catch the ghost.But nothing.”
Dan had a wide grin, probably looking for some reinforcement.Why did all of the men in this house remind her of Chewie?“Cool.”
“Shouldn’t that have worked?”Dan asked around a huge bite of pancakes.
“Jasper would know better.Does the book have to be near the TV to turn it on?”
Jasper glanced over her, only to answer Dan.“Nah, I keep it in a drawer at home and it still fucks with the TV.”
“Well that’s not great.I mean how am I supposed to capture the action,” Dan said, more to himself than them.
Gia handed her a plate with one pancake, carrying a second plate with one for herself.They sat down next to each other, eating slowly.The earthy pumpkin and the rich brown sugar were almost enough to melt Kirsty’s frown.
“I guess you could follow Jasper around.He seems to be the trigger,” Kirsty said.“I have to make a call at ten this morning, so why don’t you two focus on that?”
“Focus on what?I have no idea when Paul is going to be active,” Jasper said.
He was ticked.Looks like she wasn’t the only one good at holding a grudge.
“I made a list of some information we need to gather.We could divide it up and work on it this morning.”
“Like what?”Gia asked.“Dan, you could film that.Maybe if we’re all distracted Paul will show up to scare us.”
“Maybe,” Kirsty agreed.
The list she’d made was simple.
·Paul’s class schedule (G)
·People Paul saw on a daily basis (J)
·Reasons Paul doesn’t want to move on (J)
·Paranormal activity in Burlington/rental house (K)
