Page 19 of Ghost Hunters 1

Jillian thought about it for a moment and then decided to tell him what she had experienced since she got here, “As soon as I arrived here, I felt it.This dark thing looming over this place and someone watching my every move.Then last night...”She paused and sighed.

“What about it?”he asked.

“In my room...”Her voice fell away as she felt fear again.She pictured the words written in that bright red.

Reaching over, Dino put his hand on hers and asked her softly, “What happened?”

She raised her gaze and stared at him.“You won’t believe me.”

He shrugged.“I know I’ve been like an asshole about all of this, but you can talk to me.”

She bit at her lip and then took a sip of her coffee.

“Does it have to do with what’s going on around here?”Dino wanted to know.

“Yes, someone wrote on the dresser mirror in the room I’m staying in.”

“Wrote?”He looked perplexed.

“In red lipstick.”She nodded.

“What did they write?”he asked as he leaned forward.

“A threat.They left a threat.”

“Like what?They will jump scare us by appearing in a white sheet and yelling BOO?”Dino scoffed and shook his head.

Jillian stood from her chair and glared at him.“See?You said you would listen then you give me crap about it.”She turned and stomped to the counter.She felt angry at his attitude.Turning around, she crossed arms over her chest and told him, “The three people that died that night had unfinished business.Someone or something stopped them from leaving here and they all need to know what the truth is.It sounds like Tilly was held against her will, Matthew couldn’t get back to her and Claire was trapped in the fire.I think if we find the truth, everyone will be able to move on, even your grandpa.”

“Even if you don’t believe in the supernatural you have to know she’s right,” Matthew spoke from behind them.

Dino and Jillian turned to see him standing in the doorway.

“Grandpa...”Dino began.

Matthew shook his head.“I know, I know.You don’t believe me but what Jillian said has some merit.Something happened here that shouldn’t have happened.The girls and I are caught up in something that can’t be explained but it’s very real.”He came over and sat down at the table.

Jillian got him a cup of coffee and brought it over as she looked at Matthew.“Speaking of Tilly, she came to me in a dream last night.”

Dino turned to ask her, “Was that before or after the threat?”He stared at her with those gold flecked hazel eyes.

Matthew leaned toward her.“I know...I can feel her.She’s very close and she’s calling for me.She knows I’m here.”He paused, then asked, “What threat?”

Jillian shrugged and stared at Dino as she quipped, “One supernatural thing at a time, ok?”She then looked over at Matthew.“She told me that you need to find her bones before the fire comes back.”

“Where do we begin?”Matthew asked.

Jillian walked over to where Matthew sat and knelt down in front of him, then she gently put her hand on his knee.“Can you think of any place in the Inn where a person could be hiding?A place where no one else could hear you call out if you somehow got trapped in there?”

Matthew started to shake his head but stopped like he had to think for a moment.“There was one place.I think Tilly called it the root cellar but I never knew where it was.”

“What was this cellar used for?Maybe that would give us a clue where to look,” Jillian told him.

Matthew thought about it and then nodded.“I believe Tilly said that at one time the Inn had been part of an old plantation.After it was destroyed in the Civil War, Thomas, their great grandad, rebuilt the main house and made it into a home for his family.Thomas grew up here and raised his children here.The Belmar’s have owned this land since like forever.She said the old root cellar was turned into a wine cellar by her father but she never took me there.She always told me no one had been down there since their own father died.Although before he passed away he moved most of the wine upstairs.So the girls had never been in the cellar.”

Jillian shrugged.“At least we know where to start looking.”

“And where is that?”Dino asked.