Ghosts of Bliss Bayou by Jack Massa

Author:Jack Massa [Massa, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Paranormal, YA, occult mystery, ghost hunters, Mystery
Publisher: Triskelion Books
Published: 2016-11-11T07:00:00+00:00

13. Violet is through messing around

On Sunday I fly back to Orlando.

I’m kind of hoping the shuttle driver will be Timothy again, my friend from Belarus who drove me to Harmony Springs the first time. But it turns out to be some other guy. No matter: this time I can give the driver exact directions to Granma’s house.

And this time, Granma fulfills my fantasy by rushing across the front porch as soon as the van arrives.

Only instead of a sunny afternoon, the weather is dark and threatening.

In the summer, ferocious thunderstorms often flare up in Florida. I’ve heard rumblings ever since we got near Harmony Springs. As I climb out of the van, the sky is black, and wind whips the upper branches. Granma hugs me and says we’d better get inside. I tip the driver and pick up my suitcase and backpack. While we’re crossing the front yard, there’s a flash and a loud thunderclap. Just as we reach the steps, the rain starts pouring.

We sit in the kitchen and have a cup of tea. Granma’s opened the windows and screen door so we can watch the storm and feel the cool air blowing in. Sheets of rain dance across the backyard. The voice of the storm is a loud hiss, like air escaping a punctured tire. Sometimes it turns into a groan that makes me think of a sick woman in a hospital bed. Once, the thunder cracks so loudly it makes my shoulders jump, and Granma’s too.

We look at each other and laugh. Granma says, “I’m so glad you’re back, Abby.”



I wake from a dream of drowning in black water.

I sit up straight in bed. The room is icy cold, with a strong, swampy smell. The terror starts at the base of my spine and rushes up to squeeze my heart.

He’s standing at the foot of the bed, visible in the faint light that comes from under the bathroom door. When I first saw him, he was a flowing black cloud fresh from my nightmares. On the dock at Bliss Bayou, I saw him as a slumping man-shaped thing a head shorter than me.

Now he’s six feet tall.

“Yes…I am getting bigger.”

I shove down my panic and say as forcefully as I can, “Go away!”

“I too am glad you are back, Abby Renshaw.”

I remember the banishing magic. I trace a five-pointed star in the air with my finger. “Be gone from this place and leave us in peace!”

His head moves a little, but that’s all.

I stand on the bed and take up a self-defense pose. “I am Fighting Eagle, initiate of the Circle of Harmony. I have tasted the waters of the Five Springs. In the name of our founders, I banish you from this place.”

He leans back but does not go. “Abby…your fear comes from within. I am not your enemy.”

This attempt to reassure me only makes me more terrified. Desperately I try to think what else I can do. Thomas Renshaw’s ring lies on my bedside table.

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