Raine was normally one of those people who didn't take life's ups and downs too seriously. But when it came to communicating with the spirit world, she took on a whole new persona. She almost didn't even look like the easy going, colorful friend I knew so well. Her face was a waxy mask of concentration and her voice took on an unfamiliar, almost lulling tone. Considering the ridiculous friend moments we'd spent together, laughing wildly about silly things, it was hard for me to keep a straight face. I wanted to ask 'who is this stranger with the stony mask and monotone voice and what have you done with my friend, Raine?' However, I kept my questions and my smiles to myself and worked hard to put on the same serious expression that was slowly transforming the pretty faces around the table. (With the exception of Lana, who was most likely trying to figure out how she could check her Instagram feed while pretending to be part of the séance.)
The one disruption, at least for me, was Edward's unexpected appearance in the parlor. He found Raine's exploits and adventures into the spirit world humorous, or, at least, humorous in that condescending way he had mastered.
Raine had lit two candles on the table, the only light in the room. The flames wavered from our slight movement of the table as we connected hands. "We are going to start." Raine broke her trancelike state for a second. She looked pointedly at Lana. "No bathroom breaks once we've begun."
Lana nodded. "Guess I should have stopped after the third glass of lemonade."
Raine rolled her eyes, then with a flick of her eyelashes she pressed back into her still as a statue expression and low voice. With one quick breath, she blew out both candles and the room was devoid of most light. "Everyone, keep a grasp on your neighbors' hands and close your eyes."
I was that person, the one who always snuck a peek when everyone was told to close their eyes. I knew Lana was that person too, so I wasn't too surprised when our sneaky peeks collided across the table. Even in the darkness, I could see the glint of amusement in her eye. It seemed the old photos of the inn hadn't changed her attitude about ghosts in the least. I was slightly relieved and, at the same time, rather astonished. The photos were pretty darn alarming, the main reason I'd kept them secret. But having one sister, especially the oldest and person with the loudest opinions, skeptical was probably a good thing.
"Everyone," Raine continued after a short monologue to the spirit world imploring the ghost of Cider Ridge Inn to reveal himself, "I need all of you to clear your head of thoughts from the outside world. We need to make sure that there are no negative or stray thoughts circling the room."
"I'm bored already." Edward's voice, in the otherwise silent, darkly tense room, startled me.
Lacey leaned closer. "Did you feel something?" she whispered so quietly, it couldn't be heard over the flap of a butterfly's wings but Raine pounced.
"Please, I'm sensing stray thoughts," Raine said sharply. "We must focus. If one person is out of step in mind and concentration then the chain is broken."
Lana sighed with irritation.
"Sighs will also break the chain," Raine warned.
My own sigh, a release of breath when I sensed that Edward had left the parlor, was more of an inward shoulder slump.
A breeze had kicked up outside, providing us with just enough occasional knocks and creaks to build up some tension. We were enveloped in darkness with only the big, empty rattling walls and windows of the inn surrounding us. Then there was Raine's low voice, almost like the hum of a dozen bees, droning through the lightless silence, pleading with the Cider Ridge spirit to come forth, assuring him we were friendly entities from this life who just wanted to learn more about him.
I gripped both Lacey's and Emily's hands. They seemed to be tightening their fingers in anticipation.
"It's all right, you can talk to everyone through me," Raine offered. "I'm happy to relay any messages you have for the owner of the inn and her visitors." She paused dramatically to see if he took her up on the offer.
A wind howled through the empty second floor, giving us just enough of a ghostly sound effect to cause a ripple of gasps around the table. I joined in but mine was more of a show of support and not a genuine reaction. I was well past startling at ghostly sounds.
Overhead, a loud scraping sound caused a second round of louder gasps. Mine too. That darn ghost was up to his tricks, it seemed.
"What was that?" Emily asked, shakily.
I squeezed her hand. "I hear all kinds of sounds in this house. It's always settling. You know, like the way grandma used to groan and moan when she sat herself down on the easy chair."
"That was not settling," Raine said with the same amount of tremble in her tone. It always amused me how quickly she frightened at the prospect of actually conjuring a spirit.
"It sounded like it came from upstairs," Lacey said. She seemed less shaken than the others (with the exception of Lana).
"It was right overhead," Lola added. "Maybe we should go upstairs and check it out."
Raine seemed reluctant to break the circle. "I'm not sure that will work. If we have brought him out of the shadows, then searching him out will just scare him away."
"That's a good point," Emily said.
Lacey shook her head. "I'll be honest, I don't think I can just sit here and banish stray thoughts. Curiosity is going to eat at me like a hungry mouse on a block of cheese."
We all laughed.
Raine leaned back. "Well, the chain is broken now anyhow so we might as well go up and search around. Maybe we can find the source of the noise."
"We've got to take candles," I said. "I haven't had any light fixtures or bulbs put in upstairs. It's as dark as a raven's wing up there." I winked at Lacey. "A little tribute to Kingston."
She smiled. "I wonder how my bird is doing?" We stood up from the table. "For that matter, I wonder how Ryder is doing. He's house sitting for me and taking care of both Kingston and Nevermore, my cat."
Lana and I both stopped at the name of her cat. My sister turned around, her face perplexed in the candlelight. "Let me get this straight, Lacey. You have a crow, kind of a raven, named Kingston, but your cat is named Nevermore. Like in the Poe poem The Raven?"
A laugh spurted from Lola's mouth. "Poe poem, I love that. The Raven is a Poe poem. I wonder if the guy decided to write poetry because his name sort of required it."
We had a good chuckle as we climbed the stairs. Considering I lived in the house, I could count on my hands and maybe toes the number of times I'd climbed them. There just wasn't any reason for me to go to the second floor. It was drafty, dusty and in such need of repair it always depressed me a little knowing that it would still need restoration and gobs of money.
The candle flames danced wildly and caused chaos with the shadows as we reached the top step. Our laughter softened to a curious silence.
"Wow, it's much colder up here," Lana said. "No wonder you avoid coming up the stairs."
"Ursula and Henry say there's almost no insulation and the old windows aren't fitting well in their openings. And then there's the roof, and if I keep going I'll work myself into a lather about everything that still needs to get done so I'll stop."
Since the noise seemed to have been overhead while we were in the parlor, we went straight to the bedroom that sat directly above the séance room. I already knew there was nothing inside but a broken light fixture and the rusted metal frame of an old bed. I was holding a candle, and since it was my house, I felt obligated to lead the ghost hunt. As expected, I found one, a ghost, that is. He was perched on the edge of the bed frame with his legs and arms crossed, looking pleased as punch that he'd been able to add some entertainment to the evening. I managed an eye roll before the rest of my ghost hunting team joined me in the empty room.
Again, the unsteady candle flames added a spooky ambience to the entire scene, at least for my guests.
The women spread out snooping about in the shadows, but I wasn't entirely sure what they were looking for. I pretended to do the same, but I mostly spent the time shooting Edward my wide nostril expression of 'was this really necessary?'
"This bed has been moved recently," Lacey said triumphantly. Everyone skittered through the dusty, gritty floor to the bed frame. Lacey pointed down. "Look, you can see where it was standing, possibly for many years. There's a deep dent where the leg of the bed stood."
"You can see where it was pulled along, through the dust, to its new position on the floor," Raine added. There was just enough giddiness in her tone to assure me that she was certain she'd woken the Cider Ridge spirit.
"Since there's no dust in the original mark on the floor," Lacey explained, "that means it was moved recently. It hasn't had a chance to fill up with the dust of time." She was a good detective, darn it.
All at once, everyone turned pointedly to me.
"What? I was with all of you at the table. I didn't sneak up here and move the bed." I figured if Raine wanted so badly for the inn to be haunted (which it was but she could never know that) then I would go along with the whole thing. "No one comes up here. We all heard it, so I guess someone or something"—I flicked a glance toward Edward who was listening with sullen surprise—"must have moved the bed. A large object being dragged across the floor," I continued. "That's what we all heard."
"Then the ghost might be sitting in this very room, watching us right now," Emily said quietly.
I glanced around and stopped only for a brief second on the actual ghost before scanning the entire room. "It seems you might be right, Emi."
Emily scooted closer to Lana. Even Lacey and Lola shortened the space between them. It was dark and all our faces were lit with the uneven golden glow of candle flames, but Raine's was a few shades paler than normal. I would have thought she'd be thrilled and dancing on happy feet, but she looked as shocked and scared as the others.
Right then, a loud knock thundered through the entryway, startling everyone together into a protective huddle.
Edward laughed. "My work here is done." With that he vanished.
"It's just someone at the door, guys," I said. "Maybe we've had enough ghost hunting for one night."
"I know I've had enough," Lana said. "I'm heading in for seconds of Emi's apple crisp." It was hard to know exactly what my very pragmatic sister was thinking but she seemed a little shaken too.
As we headed down the stairs with our candles, the person knocked again. I wondered who it could be at this hour.