Page 79 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
After breakfast, he followed her anyway, back upstairs to the bedroom across from hers.
Lucky had found the gift in the office next to her company-issued laptop. Wrapped in lovely green paper with a bright blue ribbon, it had a card attached.
Try your best not to break it. You seem the overzealous type.
—Xander
Unfortunately, she’d have to make him pay for that.
The drone was heavier than expected. Bigger than her hand, it had four propellers, flood lights, and built-in storage for recording. The controls had a monitor—figuring out how to use it reminded her of playing an intuitive video game. She mastered it in under five minutes.
Crawl space exposed, she sat with her back against the wall as she navigated the drone inside and forward.
Lucky frowned as she heard the window opening behind her. The summer air displaced the house’s constant near-perfect temperature. “Not now.” She said it as if swatting a fly.
The drone whirred insistently under the floorboards and echoed around the metal passage. At what she suspected was the room’s threshold, the passageway made a sharp left. After a few more feet, she could turn either left, right, or continue forward. Choosing left, she maneuvered through the passageway until reaching a dead end in front of a small grate.
The passageways led to the rooms. If one could fit, they allowed someone to spy on other occupants.
A triumphant chill shivered through Lucky despite the heat. She’d uncovered another one of Hennessee’s secrets. But why did it show her this? There was no one else in the house.
“Great. Fantastic. Another wild goose chase and for what?” She navigated the drone back to her.
All this discovery did was waste more of Lucky’s time, which was running out.
Her experience at Penny Place solidified that her work hadn’t been pointless. Whether or not they knew it, people were powerful—as individuals and as a collective. Their place within the supernatural realm existed. There were more ESPers, moreurban legends brought to life in the world waiting to be found. She’d thought Hennessee House might have a place within her work too, but if she couldn’t find a connection or what caused its sentience, she’d be a failure.
Failures and grad school rejects didn’t get funding for their research.
Since writing her name didn’t work, she’d have to try something more drastic.
Lucky decided to film her daily self-tape outside in the gazebo. Surrounded by partially cloudy skies, the perfect amount of warm summer breeze, birds chirping and bathing in the small fountain, and the faint sounds of the neighborhood, she’d never felt more content on a lazy morning.
Rebel had taught her quite a bit about framing and drilled into her how important it was to look at the lens and not watch herself on the screen while talking. Pretending to tell a story to a friend made the best videos apparently.
Contractual obligations expected her to make these videos good, so she put Rebel’s excellent advice to work.
“I can definitively say, without a doubt, that last night was the most disappointing I’ve had in the house so far. I know what you’re thinking—but Lucky you heard creaking floorboards and footsteps, banging on the walls, wind screeching in the hallway, doors rattling, windows slamming, literally everything all at once, supernatural activity running rampant throughout the house. And to that I say, it was…boring. Hennessee House is supposed to be exceptional—talk about a waste of potential. It’s giving nothing but stereotypical haunted house tripe.
“Granted, maybe if that happened during my first couple of nights, I would’ve been excited, but this is mythirdweek. Iresisted Hennessee’s formidable compulsion for so long before giving in and writing my name on the wall because I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to show I was strong enough to be here. I haven’t seen even a single confirmed illusion or specter. Either I’m preternaturally strong-willed, which is very likely, or my predecessors had it worse than I did. Because so far, I haven’t experienced anything capable of sending me screaming into the night.
“I know they say you’re supposed to be careful what you wish for. I know there’s power in that. But I’m wishing for it anyway. Otherwise, what’s the point in me being here?”
Satisfied with her performance, she cut off the camera and turned to Gengar. “How was that?”
He blinked at her, almost asleep. She’d given him some special snackies to sedate him for his vet trip.
“Remember, once means yes. That means you agree with my choices.”
“Lucky?”
She whirled around at the sound of her name. Maverick was walking toward her from the side of the house. Every time she saw him still felt as remarkable as the first. She stood to meet him on the steps. “How did you know I was back here?” The sounding breathless part could go any day now, though.
“The house. I was about to ring the doorbell when I smelled flowers.” He sighed with resignation. “It’s your perfume. That’s what it uses for me.”
His specialized scent was…her? “Hennessee didn’t lead you around before I got here?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “What do you think?”
