Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1

was never a trustworthy source of information.”
“What about Josephine’s note?” Cecile asked. “She referred to that article, and she seemed to think she’d experienced the same sort of thing as that boy.”
“The part about the door opening sure sounds like the kid’s suicide note,” David agreed.
“I can’t be positive that she was talking about that particular article,” Sam reminded him. “I figure she was, because of the similarity between their cases, but there’s no way to be sure.”
Andre shuffled his feet nervously. “We know this place has a strong electromagnetic field. Isn’t it possible that it could’ve messed with Josephine’s mind? Made her see things that weren’t there?”
Andre was clearly still clinging to the idea that everything they’d experienced had been nothing but a hallucination. A few days ago, Sam would’ve readily agreed. Now he knew better.
“It’s not hallucinations, Andre,” Sam said. “Whatever’s happening here, it’s real. And I think that what happened to Josephine was real too.”
Bo tilted his head, giving Sam a curious look. “What do you mean, exactly?”
Sam held Bo’s gaze, trying to stop his mind from wandering to what he wanted to do with the man. “I know it sounds crazy, but I think Josephine meant precisely what she said. That something manifested through her and killed Lily.”
“And she tried to follow it.” Cecile’s expression was thoughtful. “Hm.”
Bo started pacing, a habit which Sam had begun to realize was a way of focusing his thoughts. “Okay, let’s think this through. Assuming that Sam’s right about this—and that’s a pretty big assumption—what then? Does it mean that whatever killed Lily is the same thing that killed the others in this house? If so, where did it come from, and how did it get here?”
“The boy in that article said something came through him,” Sam said. “And if I’m right, Josephine identified her own situation with that boy’s.”
Bo stopped and pinned Sam with an intense stare. “When she said that the door opens when she’s angry, she was describing the feeling of something trying to use her to manifest itself.”
“I think so, yeah.” Sam had to fight the urge to pull Bo to the floor and take him. The fierce intelligence that lit Bo’s face made Sam’s balls ache.
“So why wasn’t she catatonic, like everyone else?” Amy wondered. “How did she manage to channel this thing, witness Lily being killed, and still have the presence of mind to try to follow it back to wherever it came from?”
“Good question.” Bo resumed his pacing, hands stuffed in the back pockets of his jeans, gaze fixed on the floor. “If the circumstances of Lily’s death were the same as the other deaths here, and if Josephine saw the whole thing, how did she manage to keep her mind intact when no one else did?”
“That brings up something that I’m sure all of us have been thinking,” Sam said, speaking slowly as he gathered his thoughts. “Let’s say that Josephine was completely lucid and that what she said was true. That something from some other plane of existence manifested in this reality and killed Lily. Let’s also say that the same thing happened in the other cases where people have died here.” Sam looked up and met Bo’s curious gaze. “Why weren’t Josephine and the others like her physically hurt?”
Amy frowned. “I’ve thought about that as well. It doesn’t make sense.”
Bo nodded, one hand tugging absently on the end of his braid. “Okay. Here’s what I think we should do. Number one, finish the investigation as planned. Being thorough and meticulous is more important than ever now. Number two, we concentrate our research on trying to find precedents for what we’re dealing with here. Search the scientific journals first, then the amateur publications. Leave the forums and message boards for last, since that information is next to impossible to verify.”
“What should we look for, exactly?” Cecile asked. She leaned against David, who wound an arm around her shoulders. Her face was paler than ever and her voice shook. Sam didn’t blame her. He felt ready to jump out of his skin himself.
Bo slowed his pacing, brow furrowed in thought. “Hm. Good question. We might get the best results if we don’t try to go too specific. We could start with searching for unusual or atypical hauntings, I guess. Might want to research vortices as well. It could be that what