Abigail turned away, her eyes on the horizon. Finally, she nodded. “This is your show, Hannah,” she said finally. “It’s up to you to decide how to handle this. Just ... do what you have to do.”
“Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you,” Astra drawled, smirking.
Hannah shot her a dirty look. “How about you try to be anything other than yourself and we go from there, huh?”
“That doesn’t sound like any fun to me,” Astra groused.
“You’ll survive.” Hannah turned her attention to the ghosts and started counting. There were eight of them. “Let’s do some introductions,” she said. “Then I’m going to ask for stories about Velma. One of you — hopefully more — must have something of note to offer.”
Several of the ghosts exchanged wary looks, but they nodded all the same.
“We have stories,” one of the ghosts, a petite brunette with a ski-slope nose, finally acknowledged. “Velma was not a good person.”
“We figured that out on our own,” Hannah reassured her.
“Yes, you’re preaching to the coven,” Astra drawled.
Hannah shot her a look. “So, since we have so many of you, we’ll do this in an orderly fashion. Who wants to go first?”
The ghosts looked at one another and Hannah was convinced none of them were going to volunteer. The brunette who had already spoken let loose a sigh. “I’ll go first.”
Her name was Heather Trent and she was clearly nervous. Olivia and Abigail positioned themselves on either side of her and offered nonstop reassurance.
“My sister is Laurie Vreeman,” she explained.
“Vreeman?” Maddie ran the name through her memory. “Your sister is a lot taller than you, right?”
Heather nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. “We always used to joke that she got the height and I got the boobs. We’re twins.”
Maddie was taken aback. “Twins?” She gauged the age of the ghost and the woman she’d briefly met the first day she arrived in Casper Creek. “That means you haven’t been dead very long.”
Heather shook her head. “Not long at all. A few months. I ... can’t leave until I know she’s going to be okay. We shared the same womb. We thought we would have decades left together. She’s not ready to let me go.”
Maddie’s heart went out to the woman. “I’m sorry. That sounds awful.”
Heather shrugged. “Life isn’t fair. I knew that before I died.”
“That doesn’t mean this isn’t difficult.”
“No,” Heather agreed. “It’s something we have to deal with, though. I’m not unhappy. I want to see my sister achieve the things I know she’s destined to achieve. The afterlife can wait.”
Honestly, Maddie found it to be a healthy attitude. “Well, that’s good. What can you tell us about Velma?”
Heather’s formerly sunny smile disappeared in an instant. “She’s a horrible person.”
Hannah chuckled lightly. “You’ve said that multiple times.”
“And I mean it.” Heather was fierce. “It started about four years ago. Laurie was always different when we were growing up. Her abilities made her afraid. I served as something of a guard for her, so when Velma heard about my sister’s abilities and invited her to a get-together in Colorado, we were both excited. Things weren’t what we expected, though.”
“What happened?” Hannah asked gently.
“From the moment we arrived, Velma was on us,” Heather replied. “She wanted to know how old Laurie was when she first realized she could talk to ghosts. That’s the part she was most interested in, although Laurie could do other things.”
Maddie nodded in understanding. “What happened then?”
“I couldn’t understand what she wanted. This was before I died, mind you. I didn’t even realize I had cancer at that point ... although I did. I was dying and didn’t even know it. That’s neither here nor there, though.” The ghost readjusted her conversation trajectory. “The thing is, Velma pulled Laurie aside and grilled her relentlessly for hours. We both thought it was weird but couldn’t figure out why she was doing it. Then, the next day, we heard various women talking. They were describing Laurie’s childhood experiences but attributing them to Velma.”
Astra snorted. “I told you she was a fraud. The only reason she even wanted to hang around other psychics is so she could steal their stories and pretend they were her own. That made the pile of crap she was shoveling more believable.”
Heather’s eyes narrowed but she nodded. “That’s basically it,” she agreed. “Laurie was heartbroken. She looked up to Velma. All that died that afternoon. Laurie confronted Velma and instead of being ashamed, Velma turned the tables on her and accused Laurie of stealing her stories. She then started badmouthing her to anybody who would listen. It was ... awful. Laurie fell apart.”
Hannah tugged on her bottom lip, considering. “That’s the mark of a master manipulator,” she said after a beat. “She didn’t panic when called on her actions. She simply turned the tables.”
“Which means it probably wasn’t the first time,” Maddie noted. “I’m guessing she made a habit of it through the years.”
“I’m guessing you’re right.”
“My sister was really upset, but she’s not one to rock the boat,” Heather said. “She didn’t want to pick a fight with Velma, although I think part of it was that she assumed Velma would win. She was famous, after all. My sister didn’t have a name to back her up.”
Hannah slid her eyes to Maddie. “You never met her, right?”
Maddie shook her head. “No, but I read her books. I thought she was powerful ... and a good person. All I knew was what she wrote, though. I feel a bit stupid now.”
“You couldn’t know,” Olivia countered. “I’m the one who kept those books around. I thought she was a good person, too. When I found out you were reading them, I thought they would be good for you. Now, I can’t help but think I made a terrible mistake.”
“It’s over and done with.” Maddie forced a smile. “I’m going to find those books and burn them in the fireplace when we get back home, though.”
“Definitely.”
