LOGINShare
Too Many Questions
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56The thuds went on through the night, about every hour, for as long as the sky remained dark. They sounded like distant muffled bangs from my room upstairs, but they woke me up anyway. Every time I jolted awake, the ball on the chest of drawers near the door would flash, to let me know I wasn’t alone and Lizzie was right there, keeping me safe. That was the only reason why I didn’t sleep in my car.
Only by sunrise, when the thuds subsided, I was able to get a few hours of good sleep, so the Collins were already in the house by the time I got up. I came across Mike on the first-floor hallway.
“Morning, Mike. I need the basement key,” I said, still rubbing my eyes and feeling exhausted.
My voice drew Susan out of the kitchen. “Good morning, Miss Garner. Breakfast is…” She trailed off, noticing her husband visibly upset.
“The basement key?” he repeated, taken aback. “I can go get you anything you ne
Related chapters
Haunter The Truth About the Shadow
I settled on the couch across the room from the fireplace and the useless TV and set all my stuff on the coffee table. To compensate for the phone app being off, I opened the new text app.“You guys here?” I asked.“All of us.”I showed them how to use it and left it on the table. A moment later, my eyes were like grapefruits, watching the virtual keyboard being tapped, then the speaker icon.“It’s nice to use full sentences,” said the dull electronic female voice.“Yeah!”It amazed me how they displayed more and more skills to manipulate things. I had no idea if it was because they were growing comfortable doing it in front of me or if they were getting the hang of all this technology that didn’t exist when they were alive. I didn’t care, either. All the way around: it helped me feel I wasn’t crazy, talking to empty rooms and dubious apps.&
Haunter The Voice that Conjured Demons
I found the Collins in the kitchen, talking in whispers while Mike tried to sip a tea before his shaky hands spilled it all on his shirt. Speedwell, no doubt. God knew I needed a gallon.“Go home, guys,” I said to them, feeling so overwhelmed I sounded soft. “Take the rest of the day off.”Susan turned to me like I was a serial killer covered in her mother’s blood.“You talk to them!” she cried. “You talk with the ghosts!”Her accusatory tone took me aback. “Well, yeah. Hard to overlook them, being so many all over the place.”“You’re evil like them!”A chair was roughly knocked down behind me. I didn’t even glance at it.“They’re not evil, Susan. Please go home.”Mike grabbed his wife’s hand and pretty much dragged her out the backdoor, that slammed shut behind them.“Thanks,” I murmured, grabbin
Haunter The Shadow of the Haunter
The thuds went on all night again, so Lizzie came upstairs with me and promised to stay until sunrise, to help me feel safe. Edward was down in the basement, keeping an eye on the shadow, and his last report was that it was in its corner, banging the boards and growling, but he didn’t think it had enough energy to keep it up much longer.“Maybe my fear feeds him too,” I said to Lizzie, getting in bed.“Yes, it’s possible,” she replied.Another reason to face it. I didn’t know why, but I was sure that doing it would help me figure out the whole situation.“We need to contact a medium or something,” I muttered, searching my phone.Of course Trisha was still awake. She freaked out when I told her what was going on, minus the Blotters part, of course, and volunteered to help me find somebody that could at least advise me. She thought I needed the kind of psychic able not only to fe
Haunter One Funky Deal
I couldn’t turn the key to lock the basement door fast enough. Still dizzy, I snatched a soda from the fridge and gulped up half of it right where I stood, feeling I desperately needed a sugar boost.“Are you okay?” asked the tablet by the flashing cat ball.“Yeah, yeah, I just need a minute,” I panted. “And a tea.”“Speedwell,” said the phone.“That’s a great idea.”Five minutes later, I sat at the table, the phone offline on one side, the tablet with both apps open on the other. We lingered there until their dinner time, talking about what had just happened downstairs. Typing still demanded them a lot of time and energy, so Joseph and Lizzie shared the TTS, while Edward used the speaking up and Ann used my phone.What Edward had observed over those few minutes in the basement left me speechless.First of all, now he’d gotten a closer look
Haunter Good News
It was a sleepless night, trying in vain to find a credible source of information about binding spells or whatever. I gave up about an hour before sunrise, and left a note for Susan not to come upstairs until I got up. No wonder the first thing she did in the morning was come to dust and vacuum the master bedroom, right next door. And in order to vacuum the whole rug, she asked Mike to help her move all the furniture.So I woke up only two hours after falling asleep, to loud noises like I had a frigging construction crew working right by my bed. Exhausted and still upset about the whole basement situation, just hearing Susan’s voice triggered a homicidal fury I’d never known I had in me. I strode to the master bedroom and pulled the vacuum plug roughly. Susan turned around, surprised.“Didn’t you see the note I left you on the fridge?” I growled, definitely sick and tired of her.“Good morning, Miss Garner. Yes, I saw it. But
Haunter The Truth Behind the Shadow
Over lunch, Amy asked the Blotters a lot of questions about their plane or dimension, and how they perceived the world of the living. With two TTS and two speaking apps, the conversation with them flowed better than ever. I left her chattering with the Blotters at the table to clean the kitchen. I was just about to finish when we heard a thud from the basement. Amy turned to me, suddenly apprehensive.“That’s the shadow,” I said, nodding. “It surely sensed you. I told it about you, and bet it can’t wait anymore to meet you.”“You told it? It’s conscious?”“Conscious and intelligent,” Edward replied.“Okay, let me grab a few things,” she said, and hurried to grab her bag from the east parlor.I opened the basement door and stuck my head in. “Coming, Kujo! Just a minute!”Amy came back with a fat white candle, a funny rosary and a small glass bot
Haunter The Haunter Supreme
I paced up, leaving Amy behind, and trotted to the end of the trail. In the Manor garden, a black pickup truck idled behind Amy’s car, and Mike was coming to meet the man stepping out of the passenger seat. I only got to see he was tall, all clad in black baggy clothes. I came out of the trail to the garden and waved my hand high.“It’s okay, Mike! I got it!”Mike stopped halfway but lingered there, like making sure I was fine, or safe, or whatever. Brandon Price looked back and started around the vehicle towards me. I was about to approach the truck when Amy grabbed my arm from behind to stop me.“Keep your distance, Fran. This man carries at least half a dozen parasite demons attached to him,” she warned, her eyes fixed on him.“Joseph will protect me,” I replied, freeing my arm.Brandon Price waited for me by his car. As usual, his face was half-hidden behind his glasses and under his stubble and b
Haunter Befriend Thy Enemy
After Amy left, the Manor felt quiet and empty for a while. I loved living with the Blotters, but only now I realized I’d been missing some regular human company as well. Especially someone like Amy, who didn’t force me to hide what was actually going on in my life. I took a longer jog that day, and spent a long while playing the guitar, not at the east parlor, but in my room. The Blotters respected my need for solitude and didn’t give any sign of their presence, save the usual little noises.The next morning, a glance at the calendar was enough for me to understand why I felt so down and lonely. The anniversary of Mom’s death was around the corner, but it’d never been about just that day. After years of fighting a lost battle against the cancer that kept coming back, she’d spent her last days in the hospital, drowned in morphine and still in excruciating pain. The day she’d passed hadn’t been anywhere near as bad, because it ha
Latest chapter
Haunter The Third Time's the Charm
The traveling crews came back to Los Angeles for the holidays a couple of days later, and Brandon decided he felt brave enough to host a dinner for all of them at one of the restaurants they used to go to.It would be like his big comeback to society, leaving behind almost four months of reclusion and darkness. And to mark the occasion, he warned me that Cake had leaked the date and place to a few reporters.“Meaning my friends will be there?”“Guess so. The problem is that ban on you. I don’t want them to leave you out of the report. The other way around: I want everybody to know we’re together.”I looked up at him with a heartfelt sigh. But like it always happened over the last week, meeting his eyes focused on mine made me so happy, I couldn’t refuse. So I called Greta Arbosky, who said she would take care of letting them know about this one exception. I disconnected and faced him, raising my eyebrows.&
Haunter The Hard Way Back
Against all odds, Brandon was the easiest, most complying patient in history. I think the scare of almost losing all his sight gave a whole new meaning to this opportunity to restore his eyes to full health. He never complained about the awful cream he had to apply directly on his eyeballs, he never missed drops or meds time, he slept on his belly, and kept his eye shields on around the clock.The first week was the hardest, of course, while he still wore the dressings. However, his determination to walk the line, no matter how hard, annoying or frustrating, helped us find our way around it faster than I’d ever expected. Just like the doctor had said, Brandon had been so stressed up over the last two or three weeks, he was plain exhausted, so he slept a lot over the first three days.My hovering tendencies kept me always within a few steps from wherever he was. At first, I thought he would soon get sick and tired of my relentless watch over him, but it was actual
Haunter A Brand New Day
I jumped to my feet when I heard Brandon move. His fingers flickered slightly and I covered his hand with mine, my heart hammering my chest. His head tilted a little toward me and his lips parted.“Hey,” I whispered. “Easy there.”He tried to speak and frowned.“It’s okay, Bran. The surgery worked alright.”He frowned deeper, trying to press my fingers. I took his hand to my lips to kiss it.“It worked, Bran,” I repeated, just in case. “You’re gonna be fine.”His shaky sigh told me he’d understood. His other hand came slowly up to brush the dressing covering his eyes.“That’s gonna stay there for a few days.”“Did it?” he mumbled, as his fingers explored the dressing further.“Yes, love. It worked. If we do what the doctor says, you’re gonna be fine in a few months. Maybe even better than before the inf
Haunter Better Angels
We woke up early the next morning. Brandon couldn’t have breakfast before surgery, but we were both too anxious to even feel any hunger. Cake arrived as we were coming down to the first floor, looking rested and ten years younger than the night before. On the way to the hospital, I took advantage of being alone in the backseat of the car to send a few texts. To Amy, to let her know I’d gotten to LA fine and everything was peachy. To Isaac, to let him know I was already in town, going with Brandon to the hospital, and I’d text him how the surgery had gone as soon as I found out. And finally to Harry, to ask him to remind Hugo to send all his light and all his angels to come lend a hand.“Who are you texting to?” asked the control freak from the passenger’s seat.“The press, obviously. Your NY Barbie and her gossiping friends will be waiting for us at the hospital.”He turned in his seat, frowning at me from behind h
Haunter Hold On Tight
I woke up at about three. Brandon was sound asleep, so much so that I was able to sneak between his arms without him even flinching. Back from the bathroom, I heard noises downstairs. Then I remembered the disaster zone the living area was when I’d come into the house. I got dressed and headed to the first floor, still trying to tie my hair in a ponytail.Guadalupe had arrived while we were upstairs, and her grin when she saw me threw me off. She and Cake had sort of cleaned up the living area, but the place still looked like the guys from A Clockwork Orange had dropped by to say hi. The kitchen was still a mess, with a lot of glass and smashed mugs all over the floor, wine and all kinds of things spilled on the floor. And when I say all kinds of things, I mean even mayonnaise. So I wore an apron, put on rubber gloves and set to clean up disaster zone number two.Guadalupe and Cake materialized in the kitchen, looking spooked. I faced them with
Haunter Shattered
I had a glimpse of the whole living area completely trashed, like a hurricane had blasted through it, but I couldn’t care less. I rushed to the stairs and up to the second floor, to storm into the master bedroom. I froze just past the doorway. My heart, which was about to crack my chest open, suddenly stopped, and everything spun around me.Because Brandon was lying on his bed, unconscious, a bleeding cut on his forehead that had sprayed blood all over him. Cake was right by his side, lifting his limp legs up to the bed.“He tripped in the kitchen and hit his head with the isle,” Cake managed to say, panting after carrying Brandon all the way upstairs.I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move.“Fran! Bring me a wet towel!”His shout made me snap out of my shock. I dropped my bag on the floor and ran around the bed to the bathroom, where I grabbed the first towel I
Haunter The Longest Hours
I sneaked out of the sleeping bag the moment Brandon left his seat.“Gina!” I called, crawling on all fours out of the tent.“What is it, Fran?”“Gina, I’m so sorry, but I can’t stay to come tomorrow night,” I said, wiping my tears away just to make room for more to rain down my face.“It’s okay, Fran. Don’t worry about us.”“Kujo protect,” he said, coming to stick to my side.“You guys sure?”“Yes. Go do what you have to do.”“Okay,” I mumbled, and got back into the tent to grab my phone.The first morning flight from Philadelphia International to LAX was scheduled to live after six AM. Shit. It was hardly past midnight. Whatever. Better late than never. I bought a ticket online, already doing the math. I could check in about five thirty, so I had to leave Pennhurst
Haunter The Redemption
Brandon walked across the Manor garden in the sunset, hands in his pockets, looking around absentmindedly as he spoke.“I had to watch the footage to actually remember what had happened, and her words shocked me. She called me a puppet. She knew what was going on. Back then, I only understood they wouldn’t let me get to her, especially when Isaac turned his back on me. I couldn’t believe it. He’d betrayed me! My best friend! How powerful could this demon be to turn the man who had been my best friend for the last twenty-five years against me? I was trapped, all alone. I might have to fight for my life.” He looked at the camera. “You must be wondering if I stayed. The answer is yes. Why?” He let out a bitter chuckle. “The truth is I have no idea.” He shrugged. “I was so out of my mind that night, I can count at least half a dozen reasons why I stayed. And none of them make any sense.”They cut back to the
Haunter The Demons We Breed
“Here she comes,” Brandon said, his voice reflecting exactly the same as his face. “The little witch comes to protect the demon. Not this time.”I felt Kujo brush his face against mine and realized I was holding my breath, still shaking from head to toe. His warm touch helped me snap out of it.Brandon kept taunting and provoking Kujo until I got there, trying to burn him with his holy water. And then he’d come at me, triggering Kujo’s reaction. After Kujo attacked him, hurting me in the process, I saw him jump back to his feet and try to fight Kujo with his bear fists, punching through him like a madman, almost stomping on me, ‘cause I was pretty much unconscious at his feet. Amy stormed down the stairs as Isaac managed to pull him away from me, and forced the camera into his hands to carry me up the stairs in his arms, while Amy kept Brandon at a safe distance.“Kujo mad.”“But y
