Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1

respond to anyone. He died two days later in the hospital. His heart just stopped, no one was sure why.”
“I’m sensing a theme here,” Andre said.
Bo nodded. “You’re sensing right. The house’s title reverted to the bank after George and Sarah died. In 1965, Lily Harris and Josephine Royce bought the house together and completely renovated the whole thing.”
Cecile raised her eyebrows. “Lesbians? In Mississippi?”
Amy glared at her. “Cecile, even in Mississippi in the sixties, people looked the other way if you didn’t rub it in their faces. Besides, nobody ever knew that for sure. They claimed to be cousins.”
Sam smirked behind his hand as Cecile’s face flushed and she looked away.
Bo took a deep breath. “Whatever their relationship was, they renovated the place and opened it up as a bed and breakfast. Right from the start, there was trouble. Guests sometimes complained of strange noises and cold spots, and some people saw things that scared them. It wasn’t constant by any means, but it was enough to make people nervous, and the word got around that Oleander House was haunted.
“According to the man who delivered groceries to the house, Lily wanted to sell and move out, but Josephine insisted on staying. Business kept getting worse, and by 1972 they were nearly bankrupt. They moved out and the title went back to the bank. Lily was relieved, but Josephine never got over it. She always talked about going back.
“In 1979, some school kids broke into the house on a dare. It had a reputation for being haunted, so of course kids were always hanging out here whenever no one was living here. Anyhow, these kids broke in and found Lily dead. Josephine was never found. The landlord where she and Lily had been living said they’d headed off for a weekend trip to the country, but he didn’t know exactly where they were going. The cops suspected Josephine of killing Lily, but of course they never could prove it. She’d been ripped to pieces, just like the others. A hard thing for one middle-aged woman to do.”
“Quite a story,” Sam said after a silent moment. “So who lives here now, anyone? It looks like it’s in great shape.”
“Carl Gentry’s the current owner, as you know. He bought the house from the bank the year after Lily was killed.” Amy twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “He spent a shitload of money fixing the place up, and he lived here for about sixteen years without ever experiencing anything unusual. He moved to a penthouse condo in Mobile and opened Oleander House to the public for tours in 1996. It got to be pretty popular because of its reputation.”
“I heard about it in college, when Mr. Gentry was still living here,” Bo added. “I’ve been dying to investigate it ever since. I started trying to get permission as soon as I had the resources for a real investigation. Mr. Gentry ignored all my calls and letters for years. I’d about given up completely when he called me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I’d investigate it.” Bo shook his head. “Some kid that was touring the house with her parents got bitten by something and died. Mr. Gentry paid all her medical bills and the burial expenses. There was a police investigation, of course, but no negligence on Mr. Gentry’s part could be found. The story slipped right by the news, but the whole thing shook him up pretty badly. He closed the house again and called me. And here we are.”
The group sat in shocked silence. “So what bit the kid?” Andre asked after a moment.
“No one’s sure,” Bo said. “The bite looked sort of like a cat bite, according to the tour guide I interviewed, but something about it was not quite right. He said it looked ‘skewed’. His word, not mine. I asked him what he meant, but he couldn’t explain. The wound got badly infected within just a few hours, in spite of antibiotics and everything, and the little girl died the next day. Her bloodstream was full of an unknown chemical, and the cultures grew out an organism that no one could identify.”
David let out a low whistle. “Damn.”
Bo leaned against the big round table and gave the group a solemn look. “I don’t think I need to tell you that this could get dangerous. I won’t make anyone stay against their will, but I also won’t have anyone giving less than one hundred percent. If anyone feels like you’re not ready for that, tell me now.”
No one spoke. Bo nodded, clearly pleased.