Sole Possession by Bryn Donovan

Author:Bryn Donovan [Donovan, Bryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Horror, Romance
ISBN: 9781426894503
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

David and Andi drove into the Evanston neighborhood on Halloween night. Carved pumpkins glowed from porches and front windows. Andi saw one with an elaborate, artistic design, a cat surrounded by swirls. Most of them were more traditional, though—crude smiles or mean faces chopped out with a regular kitchen knife. She’d always hated the angry jack o’lanterns.

As they came to the street where the homes became larger and grander, there were no more jack o’lanterns, and then they reached the mansion, standing by itself, its windows vacant and black.

Andi got out of David’s car. A profound silence surrounded the place, as though it were cut off from the rest of the world. A half-moon, shining through the few ragged leaves left on a branch of an oak tree, somehow illuminated nothing.

It was the least festive house she’d ever seen in her life. And here, more than anywhere else, it felt like Halloween.

David asked, “Should we go in?”

“Yeah.”

They hung out in the front parlor, and in a few minutes, Morty came to the front door. He brought in a large black suitcase, set it down and clambered to a seated position on the floor, saying, “You could use some chairs in here, you know.”

Andi sat down near him as he took out a set of keys big enough for a custodian, found one tiny key and unlocked the suitcase. She caught only a glimpse of the contents—a couple of silver flasks, an old clothbound book—before he pulled out a board and some other object and slammed the suitcase shut again.

“Talking board,” he said as he set it out on the floor.

Damaged bamboo framed the long, narrow artifact. Worn paint spelled out the letters of the alphabet in straight rows, with an “and” symbol, an ampersand, after the “z.” The words YES. and NO. occupied the upper corners. Andi wondered vaguely why in the old days people used to put periods after so many things. The bottom corners read GOOD-EVE. and GOOD-NIGHT.

“A Ouija board,” David complained. “It’s a kid’s game.”

Andi ignored him and sat down.

“You think so, huh?” Morty rejoined. “They’ve been around since about twelve hundred BC. Started out in China, but they didn’t just stay there. Pythagoras had one. The math guy.” Morty placed a triangular object on top of the board. “This one’s from eighteen ninety-two. Isn’t she a beaut?”

Andi said, “My sister Lissa and I used one once, when we were kids. I think it worked.”

David looked surprised. Then he sat down. “Your sister was putting one over on you,” he suggested.

“She was only six,” Andi told him. “She couldn’t really spell.” She told them about her experience, with the woman who introduced her to the word “whore.” She could tell that David believed her and that he didn’t like it.

The psychic believed her too. “I’m glad to hear this. Sounds like you’re a good conduit. That means my friend Mr. Girard here won’t have to worry about whether I’m scooting the planchette around.”

“Planchette?” Andi asked.

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