Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I get everyone fed and brushed, take care of my chickens, and then go back into the house. Nik and Ethan are in the kitchen, and I stop when I get through the back door, smiling as I watch them both. Nik is sitting at the counter with a bowl full of ice cream in front of him. The sugar bowl is at his side, and my teeth hurt just thinking about the spoonfuls of sugar he no doubt dumped on top of the ice cream.
My phone rings as I walk to the pantry. I quickly grab a bottle of red wine and dash back into the kitchen to answer it. It’s Keith, and I think for a second if we had plans I forgot about or not. He always texts me instead of calling.
“Hello?” I say.
“Oh, thank god,” he huffs into the phone. “Are you home?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong?”
“My aunt bought a house to turn into a bed and breakfast. It has Hill House vibes so my cousin well…she…had had a seance to see if there were any spirits in the house who would talk.”
Well, there goes my quiet night. “There’s no chance you’re calling to say nothing happened and the place isn’t haunted, is there?”
“Not tonight. Something answered, Anora. And it talked about you.”
Chapter
Six
“What do you mean, it talked about me?” My brows push together, and I shake my head, looking at Hunter. He’s able to read my thoughts, more or less, and gets to his feet, coming over and pressing his nose against me.
“I was telling my aunt about my friend who’s really in tune with the paranormal and I’d probably be able to get you to come out and just get a read on the place,” Keith starts. “I didn’t know my cousin was trying to record ghost voices at the time. When we went back and listened to it, you hear me talking about you in the background and then you hear someone whisper she’s a witch on the recording.”
“Where is this house?” I push my hair back and turn around, seeing Ethan looking at me, brows slightly pushed together. He’s holding a wooden spoon in his hand, and the vegetables he’s sautéing splatter oil on his arm. He doesn’t wince but turns the burner down and gives me a look, silently asking what’s going on.
“In town. My town,” Keith adds, meaning Paradise Valley. “I don’t know much about the house, but it was built in the 1940s and is in serious need of an upgrade since the last one happened in the early 90s and I really don’t understand why geese in hats were ever a trend.”
“Reminds me of my grandma’s house.” I let out a slow breath, debating on how much to share with Keith. Both he and Rene now know that I’m far from the only witch in Thorne Hill, but I’m not about to share all the coven’s secrets. “We don’t go to Paradise Valley that often, and when we do, it’s to the feed store or we stick to the downtown area and go out to eat. Send me the address and the EVP recording if you can. I’ll listen and let you know what I think.”
“Thanks. We were supposed to start emptying the place but I don’t know if I want to go back in.”
“Did anything happen? I mean, other than capturing the EVP?”
“Not to me, but I get a really bad stomach-hurting vibe from the place.”
“That can usually be pretty telling,” I admit. “Did anyone live there before?”
“A long time ago. We’re still working on digging up the real history of the place. My aunt got it dirt cheap from the bank who suggested she tear it down and build something new,” he says ruefully. “The place has good bones…and probably a decent amount of mold. But I know it was built by a rich family who didn’t live there all that long and then it was subdivided into apartments. Then it was sold and bought with the intention of turning it into a wedding venue. We’re guessing the owners ran out of money and abandoned the project. Luckily, they sealed up the house pretty well which kept it from getting vandalized or exposed to the elements.”
“Interesting. I’ll look into it.”
“Do you want to stop by?” Keith asks. “I mean, this kinda seems like something right up your alley.”
“Oh, it is,” I say and try not to get too excited. Having been a medium all my life, I love checking out places nons consider haunted. Most of the time, the places are actually haunted, but not in the way most people think. The spirits are more like echoes of memories left behind, walking a familiar hall, or calling out the name of a loved one. Seeing and hearing something like that can be spooky, but there usually is no danger around those kinds of spirits. They make me sad, really, to know that they’re stuck in a loop with little energy left. Not all of them are even able to cross over or move on once they’ve reached that point.