Page 16 of Ghost Hunters 1

“She’s still here then,” Matthew said.“She’s got to be here.”He struggled to his feet.“We have to find her.We have to.It’s the only way to stop this curse.”

Dino stood and steadied his grandpa.“Then we’ll find her but first you need to settle down.”He helped him back to his chair.“It’s been a long day.I think we all need some rest.”

Matthew nodded.“Maybe you’re right.It has been a long day.”

Dino tried to lighten the mood in the room and joked, “Of course, I’m right.I know what’s what.”He glanced at Jillian.“Except when it comes to her.”He grinned.“I may need some help making up for that one.”

Chapter Ten

Alittle while later, Jillian made her way to her room.Like Matthew said, it had been a long day and she was tired.She was close to finding the truth but she wasn’t quite there yet.She had a feeling there was more to the story than anyone realized.

When she opened the door to her room she looked up and froze in place.Her gaze was locked onto the dresser mirror.There, written in red, were the words.

Leave now or die in three days.

Jillian took a deep breath and released it.She had been startled but took a few steps toward the mirror.Running her fingers over the words, the tips of her fingers smeared the letters.She glanced down at the dresser and found an open tube of lipstick.Someone was playing a trick on her.“Your little tricks aren’t going to work, Claire.”

Glancing around the room she didn’t notice anything else out of place.The bed hadn’t been disturbed and the books she had been reading were still where they should have been.Jillian walked over to the closet and opened the door.Her clothes were hanging in the same place they were earlier.Feeling a bit scared she even looked under the bed.When she had checked every conceivable place to hide she went back to the closet to check again for anything that shouldn’t be there.

Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered and for a second, Jillian could have sworn there was a pair of red glowing eyes staring back at her.But when the lights came back on, the red glowing orbs were gone.She took a deep breath and slowly closed the closet door.

She went over to the bed and sat down.

The red eyes had made her want to scream but she hadn’t.Was she afraid?Hell yeah, she was.But this only told her that she was getting closer to the truth.Those glowing eyes were just another piece of the puzzle.She got the sensation very briefly that it hadn’t been Claire standing there.But who else could it have been?

Jillian didn’t even bother to get undressed.She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.The soft light from the lamp on the table still lit the room.She was so tired but how could someone sleep after all of this?She considered going down to the parlor and sleeping on the old sofa down there.

She scoffed at being run out of the bedroom.So she curled up on her side and brought the covers over her head.She slept undisturbed for a little while then Jillian began tossing and turning.Her dreams were being disturbed by the sound of someone calling her name.

She frowned in her sleep as she tried to place the voice with a name.When she didn’t hear it again she settled into a deeper sleep.

A little bit later the voice called out her name again.

Instinctively, she called back, “Tilly?”The voice she’d heard was not unlike Claire’s voice in the way she spoke but this voice was gentler, more feminine.Jillian struggled against the interruption but the voice running through her head was insistent.

It called her name again,“Jillian, time is running out.Please hear my plea.You must stop this insanity.Go to the family plot and dig around my great grandfather's headstone.You must dig up a small pouch and keep it with you.”