1,377The Denver Paranormal Society
Chapter Two — Case No. 186 Part Two
Here's part two a little early. Enjoy;)
Alice pointed at the water and Jasper stood near her. "Look," she said. In between one side of the river and the other, the water churned and bubbled.
"Fuck," Emmett said and let me go. Once he had, I was ready to jump into the water after Bella when her head bobbed out from under the surface of the water. Her eyes were closed as I cried her name again.
Suddenly, her body was thrown from the water, arching high above us toward the house. Everyone around me rushed toward her and there was screams as we saw Bella about to hit the ground.
However, that was not what happened. Instead, just a few feet before her back hit the deck, she slowed. The tips of her feet touched the ground first, before she appeared to be laid out onto the floor.
"What the fuck?" Jasper said from behind the camera. We ran toward her and once I reached her, I found her lips were chattering and blue in color.
"Damn it," Emmet said loudly. "She's fucking freezing, get her inside the house."
I lifted her into my arms and headed inside. I heard Lauren and Alice say something about getting towels and blankets as the followed me. "Emmett," I said, "tell me what to do." I was damn thankful that I had a licensed paramedic on my team.
"Take her clothes off and surround her with your body heat until we can get something for her to wear."
I nodded and tore Bella's jacket and shoes off. I proceeded to strip her as Emmett helped me out of my jacket. I wrapped my arms around her as the front door flew open and Rose stood there, looking thoroughly scared.
Bella whimpered in my arms. "Get her out of here," she gasped, her eyes opening slightly. "She's after her, its not safe for her."
"What the hell is going on?" Rosalie asked as she ran toward us. "Oh my God, I saw something from my neighbor's...is she all right?"
"She's cold and needs some clothes," Emmett said in a soothing voice. "She'll be fine though."
"What happened?" Rosalie asked again.
"Get her out of here!" Bella screamed as she looked toward the patio doors that led to the backyard. Is the ghost coming?"She's not safe here. The only reason she's still alive is because the kids are always with her!"
"What are you talking about?" Rosalie asked, taking a step closer to us.
"She blames you for Royce, his mother blames you," Bella said and started to shake violently. "Thinks you lied to the police. For his death. Killed my boy...killed my boy."
Rose shook her head. "I hadn't lied," she whispered gravely. "I don't even know her."
Bella sat up as Alice draped a blanket around her shoulders. She turned toward Emmett. "Get her out of here!" The back doors flew open. "Now!"
Emmett shrugged, he grabbed Rose by the hips and hoisted her over his shoulder. She screamed, pounding his back as he ran out the front door.
"Get me out of here, Edward. Everyone needs to get out of here. She's pissed." The kitchen faucet exploded as water rose in a geyser from it, causing Alice and Lauren to scream. "The farther away from the house and river, the less power she'll have over us."
I nodded and wrapped her up as best as I could. Everyone gathered their belongings and ran outside to where Emmett and Rose stood. "I hope you're insured against flood damage," Emmett said. "I'm going to see if I can turn off the main waterline to the house."
"Shit," Rose said as she watched Emmett and Eric make their way toward the side of the house. "Can you please explain to me what the hell just happened?"
Bella shivered in my arms. "She's been waiting for a time when the kids aren't with you."
"To kill me?"
Bella nodded. "She blames you for losing her only son."
"How do I stop her?"
Bella sighed. "I have to make a call. She won't listen to what you have to say. She doesn't care that Royce hurt you, said that you made the vows for better or worse."
"Bitch," Rose said firmly. "I don't know anything about her, but Royce said she left him and his father because her husband did the same to her."
"She must've found out about Royce some how," Bella said softly. "So when she killed herself, she immediately came to who she blamed for his death."
"Do you have somewhere to stay for a few days?" I asked, tightening my hold on Bella as she shivered in my arms.
"Yes," she replied. "I can stay at a friend's place."
"Don't go in there alone," Bella whispered to Rose. "But I think we'll be all right to get the equipment. She's gone now."
I nodded and Rose told Bella where some clothes would be for her. She also asked if we could pack some more things for her and her kids. Lauren and Alice followed us inside to help. I walked into Rose's room, fearing that the spirit was inside and refusing to put Bella at risk again.
"I hate water now," Bella murmured, her lips close my neck. "I really, really do."
"I don't blame you," I said, brushing my lips on her temple. "Are you sure she's gone?"
Bella nodded and asked for me to put her on the bed. "When we get home, I'm taking a long, hot shower or bath."
"Why don't you know how to swim?"
Bella sighed and bit her lip as her eyes met mine. "There was this one time, my parents took me somewhere, I was about seven or eight. It was a water park in California. I was learning to swim and I went to the deep end and put my head underwater. I opened my eyes and saw someone floating there. A little boy. He had drowned the year before."
"So you couldn't get in the water after that?" I said as I pulled a simple brown sweater over her naked chest.
"No," she whispered. "I just got used to not going swimming. It guess it kind of scared me too much to try again."
"Is that why you had such a reaction to seeing Hayley drowning when Garrett showed you?"
Bella nodded and pulled my face to look up at her. "I'm fine, Edward," she said softly. I hadn't been aware of the trembling of my hands, as she slipped hers into mine.
"I just need to get you out of here," I said firmly and knelt to the ground to help her into a pair of pants.
"I understand."
~TDPS~
As we made our way home, Bella warmed her hands in the warm air from my truck's vents. "I have to make a call."
"Who are you calling?"
"My version of Ghostbusters," she replied as she pulled her phone from her purse. "What would you have done in this situation?"
"I have a demonologist who would've came out to see what he can gather," I said thoughtfully. "Though he would go in as I do, not expecting to find anything and attempt to debunk what we've seen."
"Can you debunk what we saw tonight?"
I rubbed at my face and shook my head. "The spots on the floor could indicate that there's older plumbing under the house that is no longer in use. Only ripping it out may tell us if there's any leaks."
"I thought you said you had an inspector look into those kinds of possibilities."
"Maybe he wasn't as thorough as I would've liked." I looked at her and smiled. "Though I think you're presence may be the reason why the spirit chose to make a scene."
Bella smiled and shrugged. "She was upset to find the kids gone and Rose, too. She really hoped Rose was alone. She may have tried something if I wasn't with you, though possibly not like she did tonight."
"You going to call your friend," I said, merging onto a highway.
"Yes. It's for a voicemail box," she murmured. "He'll call me back once he gets the notification." I nodded, though I had no clue what she was talking about. "Dean, it's Bella. I have a monster-in-law with limited control of water trying to kill a woman. Need your help." She continued by leaving her number.
After hanging up, she explained that she had a couple of friends that were, in essence, ghost hunters, only going after those that hurt people. "How do they stop a vengeful spirit?" I asked
"I have an idea," she said softly. "But you're not going to like it."
"What, Bella?"
"We have to grab a couple of shovels and—" her cell phone rang, which she immediately answered. "Hey, Dean. Yeah, I'm back in Colorado." Bella proceeded to tell him what happened at Rose's house. "All right, I figured as much. You know how much I hate having to go that route, but we don't have much choice here. No it's fine, you don't need to come down here. It's not that," she looked at me and grimaced. "No, I'm seeing somebody." My eyes narrowed as I watched her grimace again. She was talking to someone she used to see; that was the only conclusion I could come to. After she hung up, she gave me a tight smile.
"He was the only one I could call," she said firmly. "He and his brother are the only ones I trust and know how to handle situations like this."
"How did you meet him?"
"They were passing through California," she said, as she looked out the window. "I lived there for a summer and I met them. Haunted bar."
"And?"
"Edward, are we really going to do the ex's talk after what just happened?"
I sighed and shook my head. "Sorry," I said bitterly. "I'm just having a hard time with the thought of you with someone else."
"I understand," she said in a teasing tone. "That waitress flirting with you at the restaurant the other night, I was ready to claw her eyes out." I smiled, feeling better that at least my emotion wasn't one sided. Stupid, I know, but it was the way I felt.
"I only have eyes for you, Bella," I said, smiling.
"It's a good thing your eyesight hasn't gone yet," she said and giggled.
"That's three days before you made an old man joke. A record," I teased. She laughed some more and the tension from the terrible night was gone. "Tell me what we have to do to make Rose's house safe."
After she told me, I chose not to bring it up again, until the following day. Emmett had returned to the office immediately with the others to start going through the footage and recordings. He was excited as Bella and I entered.
"We hit the motherlode, boss," he bellowed as I made my over to him.
"Tell me," I said as I pulled out a chair for Bella to sit.
"First," he said, turning to Bella. "You okay? That flying squirrel thing you did was freaky as hell."
Bella nodded. "I'm fine. Once I got home in a bath, I felt much better."
Emmett wiggled his eyebrows and made a lewd comment about me helping in making her warm. I smacked the back of his head and asked him to get on with it.
"Rude," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't hear any denial though, boss." I figured there was no point in denying it, since he was right. He gave me a grin and pointed to the screen.
After all was said and done, we captured an image in the window of a woman, water that seemed to gather from nowhere near Rose's bed and Bella catapulting from the water and then slowing down.
"Did the ghost put you down?" Emmett asked, looking at Bella with wide eyes.
Bella shook her head. "I was aware and I thought about slowing down and it...um, happened."
We stood quiet at her explanation. "You never said you had those kind of gifts, Bella," I said, confused and honestly scared as hell.
"It's never happened before," she whispered, her eyes wide and luminous.
I shook my head and sighed. "It's not the first time I seen something happen to you like that," I said thoughtfully. "Outside my house, when Garrett showed you how Hayley died, you seemed to be held up by something."
"It was Jacob," she said.
"I don't think so," I replied. "The way you moved was so much like last night."
"Regardless," Emmett said. "It's fucking cool. Anyway, as far as recordings, we got a few weird things."
He proceeded to show us two recordings, one from when he went outside. A hoarse whisper of Rosalie's name and another time when Lauren, Eric and Emmett were in Rose's room.
"Where is she? Rosalie killed my boy."Bella shivered and closed her eyes after hearing the disembodied voice.
"What's the plan, boss?" Eric said. "We have to do something for that poor woman and her kids."
"He's right," Alice said softly. "There's a good chance the spirit will be angry after last night, take it out on them."
"Bella called a friend," I said, though "friend" came out more like a hiss. "Told her what we need to do."
Bella explained, and again, the office was silent.
"So we're not only in the ghost hunting and debunking business, we're gonna go after those that try to hurt people?" Emmett said as he rose to his feet. "I've got a couple shovels ready, I'm game."
"Same here," Jasper said. "Probably not a good idea to record that though." He grinned in my direction. "You know—evidence since it's illegal to dig up graves."
I nodded. "We can't have too many people. Jasper, Emmett and I should be just fine."
We agreed and discussed out next outing and marked a date for the following week. Eric was going to work on the website the following morning while Emmett, Jasper and I go to the local cemetery later in the evening.
After spending the rest of the day with Bella at home, I finally figured it was time to talk about something. "Bella," I said as I shifted her onto my lap. She had fallen asleep while we watched a movie in our bedroom.
She hummed and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm sleepy," she whispered and nuzzled her nose against my neck. So much for talking, but it was for the best, discussing our future should be done when she's fully awake. I shifted her to my side and pulled a blanket around us.
"I love you," I whispered and kissed the top of her head as I pulled her close. I was actually thankful that she'd fallen asleep, at least this time, I wouldn't have to worry about her trying to convince me to take her to the cemetery in a couple of hours.
There was just some things you did not do with the one you love, that includes digging up the dead.
Bella
Something roused me from my sleep, and I felt unexpectedly cold. Which was highly usual, considering that Edward usually smothered me in his sleep. I stretched and realized why he wasn't in bed with me.
Damn it! He went without me. I sprang out of bed and scrambled downstairs, calling out his name. I checked the duffel bag I had left on the kitchen table that I packed with the instructions and things he would need to get rid of Rose's problem.
It wasn't there, but the box of sea salt was. I groaned and ran back upstairs to change. I quickly found my cell phone and cursed when it went straight to voice mail. I prayed that Edward didn't have a signal and something hadn't gone wrong. I dialed Emmett's number.
"This is the E-man, can't answer the phone because I'm in the middle of saving the world. You know what to do. If this is an emergency,call Ghostbusters."
I wanted to laugh as his laughter faded when the voice mail box beeped, but I couldn't. Something could be wrong; why wouldn't they have their phones on? Once I had a sweater I on, I tried Jasper's number and the same thing occurred. What were the chances of all of them having no signal at a cemetery?
With the salt in hand, I ran out to the garage and prayed my jeep would start, it'd been giving me trouble for the past week. I dialed Alice's number when my car thankfully started. "Alice," I said as she answered. "Have you heard from Jasper today?"
She seemed reluctant to answer. Did she really think I wouldn't know that he spent the night with her already?"Why?"
"They forgot the salt," I said, pulling out of my driveway. It was freezing, so I turned on the heat as I made my way down the street. "Once she figures out what they're going to do, she's going to try and attack."
"Bella," Alice said gravely. "There's a pond in that cemetery and an extensive sprinkler system."
I moaned and stepped on the gas. "I'm on the way, keep trying to reach them."
"I will. Be careful, Bella," she warned. "She's pissed at you."
"She wouldn't be first one," I said lowly, hanging up.
It'd taken me several minutes until I finally reached the gates of the cemetery, but I didn't see Edward's truck. Or any vehicle for that matter. I cursed when I realized that a car out this late at night, might be noticed. I made a mental note to call my Dad, just in case my car was seen by nosy neighbors.
I made my way further down the street and parked a block away. I carried the box of salt under my jacket and walked toward the back fence of the cemetery. I scratched my elbow as I climbed over and cursed as my foot twisted a bit when I landed on the other side. My phone rang, telling me that getting a signal shouldn't be a problem for the guys too.
"Anything," I whispered as I walked toward a more lighted area.
"None of them are answering," Alice said. "What are you going to do?"
"Go save their butts," I said firmly. I squinted my eyes and tried to focus on something ahead. It was pitch black outside. There was a couple of beams of lights bobbing toward the west end of the area. "I think I see them. Their flashlights are moving. That has to be a good sign."
I hung up and started to run in their direction. "Run!" Emmett said as he barreled toward me. Water started to spew out from every where, drenching me in seconds. He made to grab me but I side-stepped him and ran toward Edward and Jasper. Edward's eyes widened when his eyes met mine.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he roared as he ran toward me. "We really pissed her off!"
"You forgot the salt," I screamed as I scrambled toward the small basic headstone. I tore off the top of the salt box and poured a handful in my palm. "Where is she?"
"I have no idea," he said as he reached me. "But we're not waiting to find out."
"We have to put a stop to her now," I said as I tore away from his hold. "Hurry!" Suddenly, the angry spirit was in front of me as she screamed in my face. I stepped back, almost falling into her grave, Edward managed to catch me. I threw the salt toward her face, causing her to hiss and retreat. I murmured a quick summoning spell and poured the salt around the grave.
"What are you doing?" Edward asked as he kept a strong hold on my arm. He looked over his shoulder as the sound of footsteps came toward us.
"Where are the matches?" I asked as I fumbled for the small bottle of lighter fluid on the ground.
The simple coffin inside the grave started to rattle, I felt Edward's grip intensify. "Holy fuck," Emmett said as he skidded to a halt just inches from the grave's edge. "Is she back in her bones?" He shook his head. "Bugs! Worms!"
Jasper had a small camcorder and was pointing it inside the grave. "That's fucking cool," he said. "Toss a match someone."
I looked at Edward, holding out my hand. He shrugged and patted his pockets. "I don't have them," he hissed, turning toward Emmett. "Damn it, they fell when Emmett started to scream like a girl."
"We don't have much time," I said as I knelt to feel for the matches on the ground. "If the wind makes a hole in the line of salt, she'll escape."
"Something tells me Little-Miss-Ghost-Eliminator has done this before," Emmett said, shaking his head on his knees looking for the matches too.
"You think," Edward spat, clearly angry that I knew what I was doing.
"Found them!" Jasper cried out. I jumped on my feet as he pushed up to his.
"Hurry," I said excitedly. He held up the matchbook and tried to light one, it immediately was extinguished from the wind. Just as he tried for another the coffin stilled. I froze, my eyes checking the line of salt I poured earlier. "Now, Jasper," I whispered.
The coffin rattled and the top flew out, luckily Edward pulled me back in time. The body inside sat up and looked as if it was screaming. Emmett fell on his butt, cursing and retching. Refusing to dwell on what she looked like, I pulled the matchbook from Jasper's frozen hand.
Lighting a match, I turned back to the body, the hands raised as if she tried to reach for me. I watched as the match fell from my hand, the flickering flame immediately growing as it came into contact with the lighter fluid.
A terrible scream filled the air, that was the end of the Lady of the Water.
Edward
I pulled a tired and cold Bella from her jeep, lending mine to Emmett so he could go talk to Ms. Hale the following morning. "Well, I'm really going to have to rethink you coming along," I said as I closed the front door.
"Whatever," Bella said as she made her way to the kitchen. "That's fine, but I'm still doing my own stuff."
I rolled my eyes. "Have you had to do that before?" I asked, following her.
"Yes," she whispered and took a drink of water from a glass. "I've been like this since I was a child, Edward. I had to learn the tricks of the trade. There's always a risk that a vengeful spirit could decide to take its revenge on me. I had to learn."
"Has a spirit latched onto you before?"
She nodded. "There's been a few," she replied. "That's the best way to get rid of them. Destroying the body, but sometimes, it's an object that the spirit is tied to, like for instance, a house. I had a blip on my record, for arson, but there wasn't enough evidence."
My eyes widened. "You had to burn down a house because it was the only way to destroy an evil spirit?"
She nodded again, her shoulders falling in defeat. She turned to look at me. "Do you still want to marry me and have babies with me?"
I shook my head and quickly closed the distance between us. "You silly, girl," I murmured, pressing my lips to hers. "Of course I want that with you. Why do you think that would change?"
She shrugged, wrapping her arms around my neck. "My baggage is a lot to handle, Edward," she said, nuzzling my neck. "I don't want you to have regrets."
"I have to admit, I'm afraid," I said softly. "Afraid for you, afraid of losing you. You're like a big target for supernatural things, it takes a little to get used to."
She nodded and brushed her lips against mine. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I won't keep anything from you."
"Is there anything else I should know?" I hummed as her lips sucked on my neck. "I don't have to worry about vampires and werewolves, do I?"
She tensed in my arms and looked up at me, then started to laugh when she saw my horrified expression. "I don't think so," she said, still laughing. "Though, you can never be sure in this world."
"I draw the line at vampires," I said in a firm tone, trying to keep a straight face. "Water-wielding ghosts and moving corpses is enough for one night."
"I don't think we'll ever get Emmett to step into a cemetery ever again," she said, grinning.
"I don't think so either." I kissed her once again and led her upstairs. "Now, can we get back to the topic of making babies?" I smirked and walked toward our bed. Bella giggled as I tossed her on the bed. "Wanna practice?"
AN: Thanks to kyla713 for your help, love you darling. If you have a story to tell, an incident let me know. Thanks to all those that are continuing on this little ghost ride.