The police let the ghost hunting team return to the Inn, and they continued the investigation. No one knew how many bodies were there or how long they’d been there? But one thing that was clear by the personal artifacts found in a pit-like shaft in the corner the bones would most likely come from various times dating back over a hundred years or more. Though some artifacts were only a few decades old. It was a mystery for them and as much a modern investigation as a historical one. They took copies of the list of disappearances from Greta, who’d done the legwork for them already. The few newer cold case files the police would dig up by themselves later.
One thing became quite clear before they got back to the Inn. Berry would not be staying. This job not only got too cold for his liking but too real as well. He would not
Billy stood outside of his grandmother’s home. It boasted one less wing. Sadly, that wing is where he knew his grandmother slept. This fire raged for a long time before the firefighters got there. It was a miracle that the fire hadn’t engulfed the whole historic old home. Billy feared the worst. When he’d found out about the fire, he’d gone straight to Gabby and explained it to her. She’d granted him the time off he’d need to deal with this. The officials now feared his grandmother didn’t make it out of the fire, and fire investigators were on the way to do their job. Until they did their job, no one could enter the building other than the firefighters themselves. He’d tried for several hours now to get in contact with his father. Billy left a text message for his mother. Knowing she’d want to know only for some sick pleasure, she’
Nyree finally made his way back into the Blue Moon Inn. The sword strapped to his back and rumours flew faster than his feet. It seemed everyone greeted him in the hidden room in the attic. This tiny place that the humans forgot about long ago. Here is where he kept various things, like the sword hidden from thieves. They greeted him with honeyed wine and bread. They celebrated for many days and nights. Until one pixy interrupted the celebration with the information that restless spirits caused problems within the region. A group of Fae burnt down a house, and a human died within it. The humans still had not found the anchor stone. They hid the stone within a clock in the very house that burned for many days. Nyree took it upon himself to venture further
Billy roamed the now cold remains of his grandmother’s house. He wouldn’t call it a home because it wasn’t. It’d been a showpiece. Something she could use to flaunt her wealth over everyone else. The whole thing wasn’t gone. Just the wing where she’d been sleeping when she died. The fire investigator didn’t find the cause of the fire and it had forced him to leave it as a cold case. Now Billy spent his off days finding out what he could salvage from the wreck. Once the estate settled in the courts, he’d be the one to work on this house. His father found out that he no longer appeared in the will for several years now. He’d found out that his father’s lawyer flatly refused to waste his time arguing an appeal over this because his father abandoned his mother and their busines
Eric juggled several packages. The packages came in the mail or were dropped off randomly at the front desk. Several who were new to Evergreen Grove complained about an uptick in strange events. These gifts supposedly carried a curse. One, Eric believed, was an old harness part for a horse. Who would haunt that? He didn’t know. The letters with the objects explained why they’d abandoned them were colourful. They carried insight into these people. The items ranged from an old rubber ball to a butter turn. Several children’s toys, books, and a lamp. At Greta’s door, Eric knocked. Greta greeted him, while she let him in. “More? What happened to these items before we arrived? I thought many believed it was our fault for the uptick in supernatural incidents.”
Eddie woke up at Hailey’s every time she left the bed for any length of time. Something would happen to Eddie. This time there was a pool of water forming on the bedsheet. It wasn’t where it should be if someone accidentally peed the bed. No, this was up near the pillows and the first time it happened, he’d thought he was having a nosebleed or some such thing. He sat up and looked about. Sure enough, Hailey was nowhere around. The window was open when he knew it was closed when they’d gone to sleep. Hailey liked a warm room, so he knew she didn’t open it. Something was trying to get him to move out by making his life miserable. He was getting the full treatment. Sour milk, cold wet spots while he slept, his tools and supplies tampered with, and his favourite, his clothes thrown out the window onto the f
Nyree finally wandered from the attic hideaway to find the one fae in the world Nyree wanted to be with, Belline. Nyree needed to thank the little green goddess for Belline’s help in finding the monster at fault for hurting Nyree’s human family. It didn’t have anything to with the kiss Belline planted on Nyree from Belline’swatery pool. Or the time after that. Or what happened during that time either. Nyree just needed to see Belline’s beautiful, glowing face with the smile that just lit Nyree’s fire.There Belline was, reclining in the water feature in the sunroom. The green of Belline’s hair blending with the leaves of the water plants. Belline loved the fact that Belline no longer needed to hibernate during the cold months. Belline could lounge here in the cool water in a space made to feel like Belline’s home outside.
They set every piece of equipment up within the Doll Hospital. They’d received access to every floor this time. From the old workshop basement to the new attic workshop. Greta spoke to Hailey. She respectfully listened to Hailey’s concerns and observations. Everything started when Eddie worked there. Whatever spirit was doing this was old and didn’t belong to a doll or was very new and moved in unnoticed. “This makes it difficult. With the discovery in the mine. Paranormal activity has increased within the general area. Can you remember if this started before or after they brought the bones out of the mine? I’m just trying to work out a timeline so we can find a place to start.” Greta carefully spoke in a gentle voice, and she gave Hailey plenty of time to think of her answer.&
“I’m sorry to bother you. I know you’re just coming back from investigating things over at Hailey’s. But have you figured out what to do with that stone? I’ve been having such nightmares since we pulled it out of the old clock.” Jody approached Greta hesitantly. It was true. Neither Jody nor Billy could sleep well since they’d pulled that stone out of the clock. “Truthfully, I’ve been waiting for a meeting with a local storyteller and shaman. That’s happening later this morning. I’m hoping he can spread some light on what to do with it. We’re glad you gave it to us because we suspect it’s the last piece of the puzzle with the town’s curse. We must destroy the stone to free the town. But we’re having problems finding out how we’re supposed
Gabby could feel Olivia was close. She slipped away from her nice warm spot in the bed beside Donny and made her way down to the secret room, where Olivia died all those years ago. They’d not truly spoken with each other in quite some time and Gabby missed the comforting feelings she received from her ancestor. As she laid out the things that would help Olivia to come through, Gabby felt something different in the presence that answered. The presence wasn’t that of Olivia. Well, not fully. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but the presence felt male. Her mind instantly went to the possibility that it was Ian. Had Ian come with Olivia, or was he there alone? Something felt different. Gabby wasn’t sure if it was because the spirit was different, or their conversation would be world changing. That’s how it felt for Gabby. Both excitement and dread played with the information her intuition gave her. “Hello? Who’s that? I know it’s not Olivia, the one I summ
Kelly finally dared to approach the house of one of Evergreen Grove’s original witch families. There were originally fourteen. Thirteen were part of a coven that settled here when they formed the town. The fourteenth was a lone practitioner. The Blue Moon Inn was the home of that family. This house, now the doll hospital, was the family home of the one banished witch family. Kelly had found this mentioned within the coven’s history. Hailey’s ancestor placed the curse, and the coven banished then because she would not remove the curse after she placed it. Oddly this conflicted with another section that claimed she placed the curse because she’d been kicked out of the coven. That would probably never be explained or corrected. That lone practitioner was the only one able to take on the curse. She wouldn’t share the responsibility, nor did she accept a place within the coven. She couldn’t end the cursed spell because she didn’t have control of it. What she did
So much happened over the coming months. Winter inched away, leaving Spring in its wake. The paranormal situation settled down, with much of the weaker spirits disappearing almost instantly. Kelly claimed their foothold in the land of the living wasn’t strong enough to stay and the curse was the only thing keeping them here. Spirits like Olivia and Ian, though, they were invested in the living, and they were the ones unwilling to leave. So, as the programs aired on television, the town stood poised to see how the world would react to their way of life. A town haunted and cursed in the idyllic countryside of Canada. A working modern-day ghost town. That was how the show portrayed them, with snapshots of their lives sprinkled with scenes of ghostly activity. Interviews with local artisans defending their way of life and their continued relationships with their ancestors. It pleased Gabby that the show didn’t portray them as all crazies and lunatics. Greta did
Kelly Jones, the owner of Page Turners, came armed with several bags. At first glance, she looked like she was coming to stay. But that wasn’t the case. They needed everything she brought with her for the ceremony. But she carefully stored all her equipment and supplies in what appeared to be custom storage containers.Gabby couldn’t do more than block windows and the section of the back garden from the guests as there wasn’t time to cancel bookings and she wouldn’t evict guests in the middle of their stay. They’d been warned of the haunted nature and odd happenings. This was just another odd happening. Or at least that’s how she instructed Jody to explain it. The guests didn’t need to know exactly what was happening in the back garden on a cold winter evening.Eric stomped his feet to get some warmth into them. This differed from being in the on the island. They couldn’t have any electric current close to this location at the time of the ritual for fear it might affect the results of
Greta and Eric sat, eating their dinner in companionable silence. “So, what do you have in mind to do tonight?” Greta didn’t know what Eric was planning, but if the way the Inn’s restaurant was slowly clearing out and no new patrons were replacing them, she knew he had something planned. “I was thinking we could actually spend some time together without work getting between us. At every turn, it seems to be in our faces. We chase disembodied creatures, but they are acting like a barrier between us.” They were now on dessert, and she’d missed how time had gotten away from them as they’d lingered over their meal. This must have been the first time they’d not shovelled food down in a rush to return to work. Greta was enjoying it. “Did you hire the dining room for the evening?” Greta wasn’t stupid. There were only two other tables occupied beyond theirs, and this was a time when the dining room would hop with diners. “I may have. Look, if I tried to get you to
Eric entered the dining room with several books and papers. He dropped them down at the table where Greta ate and searched the internet while she could connect to it. The struggle to get onto the internet and stay connect was a nightmare. Now, with the uptick in paranormal activity, it wasn’t just spotty internet, but batteries draining at an unnaturally fast rate, and equipment powering down at random. One machine used to make spirit voices available for them to hear, appeared to become possessed by several spirits that all needed to talk at once. None were interested in taking turn or working with the others. It forced them to shut it down and keep it turned off from then on. Which was no simple task when it would switch itself back on at random or they could say it was the will of the spirits. “I just got back from the bookshop, and she let me look at her private collection of documents on the history of ‘certain’ families in the area. Sure enough, Hailey’s family was conn
Jody put away the last of the laundry and looked around the small apartment. She couldn’t believe with everything going on that Billy insisted she move in with them. She watched Abby run past the bedroom door excitedly because her brother gave her permission to turn on cartoons for a while. This was his day off, but most of it was dealing with the horrific mess his family saddled him with. His mother would have nothing to do with the family. She’d washed her hands of it. That left Billy and Abby to pick up the mess. Between the funeral, police investigation, and the management of the estate after the fire, Jody wasn’t sure what Billy would do with it all. She didn’t feel it was right for her to speak up right now. But he was in the kitchen making dinner tonight for them. He claimed it calmed his nerves. If he hadn’t been at the Inn working when the fire happened, Jody figured they’d be suspects, because they didn’t find the cause of it during the investigation.
Eric found Greta scrolling through the internet looking for information. This was her job for the show. It was her duty to research these things. But he didn’t envy her, her job. Much of this wasn’t easy to find, and she’d be up late contacting people or searching the internet. Digging in old archives or libraries. “Have you found anything yet?” Eric came into the upstairs library and spoke to Greta. He’d just finished retesting the equipment that appeared to malfunction on them. Also, he had a message from Hailey for Greta. “No, but I’m sure whatever is bothering Eddie and Hailey, someone kept it in that cabinet. When they moved it, the seal broke and now it’s roaming about probably angry about being sealed up like that for this long. We don’t know if they have more to be angry about, either. Has Hailey decided if we can unlock that book, we found? I don’t want to open it if she’s not comfortable with it. But I truly believe it will tell us a lot about what
Liam walked the streets of Evergreen Grove with Olivia. The evening was beautiful and surprisingly busy. People walk by them, taking little to no notice of them. However, he could see they weren’t all living. Several clearly dead people walked by them. One or two even acknowledge their presence. The bookshop was still owned by a witch, who could see the dead and communicate with them. Her cat was interesting. Liam could see that it wasn’t a normal animal. It’s spirit was far too complex for a common animal. Then there was the wolf, or man. It was a creature with two forms. But it was cursed. But there in the bookshop now sat several ancestors of the witch, many attempting to have her banish the wolf-man creature. They didn’t stay long enough to communicate before they were moving on. “I feel a little so