Where The Heart Is: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations story

welcome one. Shoving the uncomfortable thought away, Dean followed the others into the kitchen.
Sommer poured them all tall glasses of iced tea. Dean leaned against the counter and took a long drink, watching Sommer do the same. The way Sommer’s throat worked as he swallowed had Dean shifting uncomfortably in his suddenly too-snug jeans.
Ron drained his glass and sat back in his chair with a contented sigh. “That just hit the spot. Sommer, can I come work for you? I never get breakfast and iced tea at my job.”
Sommer laughed. “Be careful what you ask for, Ron. I’m a complete tech idiot, I could use some computer help around here.”
His expression turning serious, Ron leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “What do you need, man? I’ll help you if I can.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Sommer protested, eyes wide. “It’s not that big a deal anyway, I was just having some spreadsheet trouble. I’m sure I can work it out.”
“No, it’s no problem at all. Why don’t I give it a look, maybe I—”
“What the fuck’s that ?” Kerry shrieked, leaping from her chair and backing against the far wall.
Startled by Kerry’s outburst, Dean followed her frightened gaze.
Something white and amorphous was rising from the wide, pale planks of the kitchen floor.
Chapter Five
    As the four of them watched, the misty form pulled free of the wood and hovered in midair, undulating in slow motion. Through it, Dean could just make out the small panes in the back door window.
    “Oh my God, that’s it,” Sommer whispered. He moved closer to Dean, staring wideeyed at the thing in the middle of the room. “That’s what I’ve been seeing.”
“Is it dangerous?” Ron asked in a hushed, shaky voice. He still sat at the table, watching the filmy shape with mingled curiosity and fear.
Sommer shook his head. “I don’t think so. At least, it’s never hurt me before.”
Dean leaned his shoulder against Sommer’s. “Have you tried to communicate with it?”
The surprise in Sommer’s eyes said it all. “No.”
Taking his hand, Dean held Sommer’s gaze. “Try it. Try talking to it.”
Sommer looked terrified at the prospect, but he nodded anyway. Keeping Dean’s hand firmly clutched in his, he took a tentative step closer to the thing. “Uh. Wh-what are you? What do you want?”
No response. Dean wasn’t surprised. Apparitions sometimes communicated with living people, but they didn’t often respond to direct questions.
He was still trying to think of something else to try when the thing suddenly drifted toward the back door. It floated straight through the solid wood.
“It always does that,” Sommer said, sounding disappointed. “I guess it doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Inspiration hit Dean, and he acted on it right away. “Come on.” He pulled Sommer toward the door through which the thing had disappeared. “Let’s follow it.”
Sommer blinked, but didn’t argue. “Why?”
“Maybe this is its way of communicating with you,” Dean explained as he flung the door open and raced across the porch, dragging Sommer with him. “Maybe it’s trying to show you something.”
Sommer didn’t say anything, but Dean felt his interest in the way his fingers clenched around Dean’s.
Looking over his shoulder, Dean saw Kerry and Ron gaping at them from the kitchen door. “Stay there,” he called. “If anything else happens, write it down.”
Ron gave him a salute, then pulled a protesting Kerry back inside. Satisfied, Dean turned his attention back to the thing he and Sommer were chasing.
The nebulous shape was out in the yard now, drifting across the grass toward the woods behind the house. It was barely visible in the bright sunlight. Dean and Sommer took off after it, jogging to keep up.
The morning was already warm for January, and promised to be warmer still later on. Sweat dewed Dean’s forehead by the time they reached the forest. Sommer didn’t even slow down, but trailed the apparition between the trees. Dean’s sneakers pounded the dry leaf mold with a dull thud as he and Sommer ran. The bare branches rasped and sighed in the light breeze.
They’d run almost a hundred yards, near as Dean could figure, when the shape stopped moving, hovered for a second, then suddenly vanished. Sommer skidded to a halt, staring around with a wild look in his eyes. “Where’d it go?”
“Disappeared.” Dean walked over to the spot where the apparition had stopped, in a