Page 7

CHAPTER FOUR

Next morning, I ordered from the nearest chicken place for lunch.

Caitlin was over with Wren again, and Tad had let Wren know that we would cover any funeral expenses so at least that was one less worry for her.

I had sent flowers, and I texted Wren that I was here if she needed to talk, but I didn’t want to push too hard at this point.

I’d see her soon, but right now she would be too overloaded.

“Kerris will be in around noon,” I told Tad. “Then I’ll be taking off this afternoon to help her.”

“What happened?” Tad asked.

I frowned. “The Gatekeeper—you know who that is?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I do keep up with things in Whisper Hollow. Penelope’s the Gatekeeper, right?”

“Right. The Covenant of Chaos is working with Cú Chulainn’s Hounds, and they’ve managed to kidnap Penelope. She’s being held here in Moonshadow Bay. Kerris needs my help to rescue her.” I told them where we were going and why.

“The Wildcat Cove Pest House?” Tad asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s dangerous, January. I’ve got half a dozen reports of cryptids being seen down in that area recently.

We haven’t looked at them yet because we’re going through in the order we receive them.

But I remember seeing at least five reports that something’s lurking around the Pest House. Let me dig them out.”

Tad crossed to his desk and brought up the folder we kept reports in. We had an online form people could fill out, and the reports were filed in order received, but Tad printed out a summary of them.

“Here we go. There have been five reports over the past month of people being stalked near the Pest House. It’s inside the park, though on private property, and some of the park trails lead past it.

One woman says something was following her.

She said it looked like something between a coyote and a wolf, but she saw it stand on two legs at one point.

She managed to get away when she ran into a big group of hikers. ” He flipped through the pages.

“What else have you got?” I asked.

“Someone thought they saw what they called a zombie. They said it looked like a walking corpse.”

“That could be one of the Unliving,” I said. “Or maybe some kid in a costume?”

“I don’t think so. Her dog freaked out and she ran off.

Whatever it was, was slow, so she got away.

Two people claim they saw ghosts, which would make total sense.

And yet two more women report seeing a creature they could only describe as a demon.

I’m not sure what that means, at least to them, but they report a bipedal being with reddish orange skin, scales, and glowing eyes.

It jumped out at them from behind a tree. ”

“That sounds scary.”

“It went after one of the women but she had a stun gun. She shocked it, strongly enough that it let go of her and she and her friend were able to get away. All these reports have been within the past month or so. Something’s going on out there.”

“It sounds exactly like something we should investigate. I’ll see what we find today.

I can imagine there are a number of paranormal activities going on, given the history of the place.

Kerris told me that the Pest House in Whisper Hollow has been cordoned off, along with the part of the cemetery that belonged to it.

She said it’s been considered off-limits for as long as she can remember.

I know there’s a small graveyard belonging to this one too.

Have there been any reports from that area? ”

“The ghosts were reported near there. It looks like the other reports come from trailheads near the house itself.”

“So these other reports may not be due to the Pest House?”

Hank was busy searching on the computer. He turned around. “These aren’t the first reports. I did a search and there have been cryptid reports from that area since we’ve been in business. We’ve just never gotten around to investigating them.”

I glanced at the wall clock. It was almost noon. “Kerris should be here any moment. My grandmother will be here in about forty-five minutes. Do you think there’s any equipment I should take with me?”

Hank thought about it. “Unless we’re staging a full-scale investigation, just take one of the cameras set to capture thermal images. The other stuff all needs to be hooked up to take recordings.” He paused, then added, “This Gatekeeper—Penelope? So she’s a ghost?”

I shook my head. “The Gatekeepers are a different type of dead. They are corporeal, to a degree, which is probably why the Covenant of Chaos and the Hounds were able to kidnap her. I think the Gatekeepers phase in and out. According to Kerris, Penelope looks like she did on the day of her death. Her mother killed her, with the spell that apparently acted like an internal nail gun?”

“What?” Hank asked.

“Apparently, Penelope’s covered with spikes, or nails projecting out from her skin.”

Tad grimaced. “I remember when my parents told me about her. They told me stories about a number of the spirit beings in Whisper Hollow. All I can say is that, given what we have seen over the years, I’m grateful we don’t live there.

A lot of those beings in Whisper Hollow are deadly, and they rule the town, in some ways.

My grandpa was taken by Diago, a spirit that visits the hospital and feeds off the ill.

And the thing is, a lot of the spirits in Whisper Hollow are corporeal; you can touch and feel them.

And that means they can touch and feel you. ”

“I really don’t want to think about that,” I said, shivering. “I think I’ll just stay right here in Moonshadow Bay.”

At that moment, the takeout delivery person showed up.

Tad paid him and brought the chicken and sides back to our main office.

He had installed a bell on the reception desk for anybody who might come in looking for help.

Wren was our usual receptionist, but I had the feeling we’d be hiring a temp until she was ready to come back full-time.

My phone jangled and I glanced at it. Kerris had just texted me that she was out in the parking lot. I told her to come on in through the door next to the reception desk.

A moment or so later, she opened the door and peeked into the room. We waved her in.

“Hey,” I said. “Join us. The food just arrived and it’s piping hot.”

She sniffed the air and smiled. “It smells good. Bryan is taking care of business today so he won’t be with us.” She looked around. “Is Killian coming with us?”

I shook my head. “He’s a vet, and he has a full schedule today. It’s just you and my grandmother and me. But trust me, Rowan’s a powerful witch. She doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She was one of the original founders of Moonshadow Bay.”

After I introduced Kerris to Tad and Hank, we settled down at the table and began to eat lunch. Tad showed her the reports he had showed me.

“It sounds like a typical Pest House,” Kerris said.

“They’re all filled with remnants of the past, both on an astral level and a physical level.

They were horrendous places, and a lot of people were abused before they died.

Remember, they’re from a time when a lot of people thought the devil inhabited sick individuals.

And they were around when people consigned their mentally ill family members to institutions, where they were treated like animals or worse. ”

Tad and Kerris began to discuss Whisper Hollow, as I wandered over to Hank’s desk. He seemed overly quiet today. I settled on the chair next to him. “So, how are things going?”

He shrugged, letting out a long sigh. “It’s been a rough past month,” he said. “My favorite uncle died, and my girlfriend left me. I haven’t talked about it much, because I don’t tend to bring my personal life into the office. But I’ve had better years.” He gave me a sad smile.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I thought about asking why his girlfriend left him but didn’t want to rub salt in the wounds. But apparently he decided he was ready to talk.

“She left me because of my obsession with UFOs. The whole Men in Black thing terrifies her. To be honest, I actually believe she was abducted. She has so many traits similar to other abductees. But she doesn’t remember anything like that, and I think with my fascination with the subject gets too close to repressed memories. ”

I didn’t exactly know what to say to that.

I wasn’t even sure what I thought about UFOs.

I believed they existed, but I didn’t know what they were—whether they were alien spacecraft, interdimensional creatures, or what.

The truth was, talking about them made me uneasy.

I wasn’t sure why, though I knew I had never been abducted by one.

I patted his arm and gave him a hug, then encouraged him to come over to the table for lunch.

We sat there, eating until Rowan showed up.

“Well, I guess we should get moving,” I said after Rowan made her hellos to Tad and Hank. Kerris shouldered her bag, and I grabbed mine and we headed out to the car. My grandmother had volunteered to drive and I happily accepted.

As we pulled out of the parking lot, all I could think about were the reports that Tad had told me about, and what we might be walking into.

* * *

Larrabee State Park was located on Samish Bay.

Almost three thousand acres, it was on Chuckanut Mountain.

The park offered everything from fishing and boating to beachfront property to campgrounds and hiking trails.

It had been first established in 1915, on land that had been gifted to the state by Charles Larrabee.

The Pest House had been in existence in the late 1800s, and it stayed intact, as the park built up around it.