Read Flight from Mayhem for Free Online

jumped to my feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think anybody lived here.” And then I realized how ridiculous that sounded. Nobody did live here. At least, nobody who was alive.
    She laughed. “Nobody does, not anybody from your side of the veil. And yes, before you ask, I know very well that I’m dead. What’s your name? I’m Mary.”
    I stammered. I’d never met a talkative spirit before. Especially one who realized she was a ghost. “My name’s Shimmer. I’m your neighbor from across the street. I moved in a few months ago.” I paused, then added, “I just noticed this house today . . . really . . . and it . . . for some reason I wanted to come see it.”
    Mary brushed a hand across her forehead, pushing a curl of silver hair out of the way. “Oh, I know why. I was feeling lonely today and wishing I had someone to talk to. And . . . I wanted to meet you. You must have picked up on it.” Her eyes were twinkling. “I never would have thought there were dragons in the world. Not when I was alive. Everything seemed so small . . .” She paused, blinking. “I can’t quite remember it, to be honest. My life, that is.”
    A feeling of wonder and loneliness swept over me. I slowly edged my way back into the chair, still keeping on edge but breathing more slowly after the initial panic. “Why do you stay, then? Why not move on?”
    Once again, the duck of the head and a faint look of confusion. “I don’t rightly . . . I protect this house. It was my house, and there are evil creatures in the world. Evil spirits. I protect this place from the shadows that seek to claim it.”
    I had never thought that ghosts might battle against their own. I nodded slowly. “Not long ago, my friends and I fought against a creature who was holding a number of spirits trapped. It wasn’t a spirit or ghost, but it could control those of your world.”
    â€œThere are those creatures around. They’re dangerous, and they lurk in dark shadows. They haunt abandoned houses and long-forgotten forts. Sometimes, they see beacons thatattract them.” She raised her head, giving me a questioning look. “You . . . you and your fiery friend over there . . . you shine like a beacon in the night. I know you’re a sensitive. An empath. So I projected the need for you to come here, and you sensed it.”
    She sat down at the table on the opposite side. “This was my home, you know. I love this house, and I lived here from the time I was a bride . . . My husband, Leroy, passed away. He had . . . he was unwell. We had a passel of children. They were my joy. Especially my baby boy . . .” Again, her voice drifted. “But they didn’t want this house. I don’t know where they are now. I keep hoping they’ll come back so I can say good-bye one last time.”
    I wanted to make her feel better, to give her something to hold on to. “What do you want from me? Is there anything I can do?”
    She set the translucent tea towel to one side, then gently folded her hands on the table. “Yes, there is. Buy this house. Keep it safe. Make it a home again. It may not look like it right now, but this house has a heart. It has my heart in it. I cannot think of seeing it fall to a developer. Or crumble away.”
    I started to protest—I already owned a house and wasn’t really in the market for a new one—but then I stopped. Obviously, she was concerned about the energy in the area. “Why haven’t you nudged anybody else who has looked at this house to buy it? Haven’t you found anybody else you could contact?”
    She let out a long sigh that sounded like wind through dried corn husks. “No, every time someone came in the house who I thought might be able to hear me, something drove them off.