Witch House by Dana Donovan

realize that my phone did not
yet ring. When it did, I pulled it out of my pocket, flipped it
open and said, “Yes, Lilith.”
    “Tony, you will never guess what. Ursula and
I were just….” She paused.
    “Just what?” I said.
    “Are you with a woman?”
    “I’m with Carlos. Does that count?”
    “Hmm, listen. Ursula and I were just looking
at a house across town.”
    “Oh?” I covered the mouthpiece and whispered
to Carlos that the girls found a house. “That’s nice, Lilith, but I
really can’t talk about buying a house right now. We are in the
middle of an investigation and—”
    “It’s haunted.”
    “Come again.”
    “It’s haunted, really. As soon as we walked
in, we got this cold chill and a vibe like there was something
paranormal afoot.”
    “A paranormal foot?”
    “No, Tony, something afoot—in the house,
there is something paranormal taking place. You should see it. The
minute you walk into a room, the mirrors and windows fog up, the
temperature drops. The floor shakes. We didn’t even see any rodent
or bug droppings lying around, and the house has been empty for
years.”
    “So, you’re saying it’s clean?”
    “I am saying we think there is a restless
spirit living there and we want to investigate further. Ursula and
I are going back with some candles and incense later. We want to do
a séance.”
    “Is the realtor going to mind you conducting
a séance in the house?”
    She laughed at that. “Tony, trust me. The
realtor won’t mind. She is too afraid to go inside again, but
that’s all right. The locks don’t work. Honestly, you have to see
this place. It’s a riot. There is this one room where you turn the
light on and it shuts itself off, but if you turn it on and off
real quick, it will turn itself on again. It’s a hoot, I swear,
whoever this ghost is, he’s not that bright.”
    “That’s great, Lilith.” At this point in the
conversation, I had turned the phone on speaker so that Carlos
could hear, too. “Just remember we don’t buy anything until a home
inspector checks it out.”
    “Inspector? You kidding? This place doesn’t
need an inspector. It needs a ghost buster.”
    “Lilith, please don’t make any irrational
decisions without me. You promise?”
    “What does that mean? You want to help me
make irrational decisions?”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “Tony, it’s just a séance. Chill. Here, say
hello to Ursula.”
    “No, Lilith, I don’t want to say—”
    “Greetings, Master Tony!”
    “Hello, Ursula. Listen, don’t let Lilith get
you—”
    “Oh, Lilith speaks of going now. I must say
fare thee well.”
    “Goodbye, Ursula.”
    I flipped the phone shut. “You see this? See
what I have to put up with every day?”
    Carlos only smiled and sipped his tea. I know
he must think I am a total bore. He has let me know countless times
how lucky I am to have Lilith, and even more so to have a second
chance at life. But it has taken me considerable time to adjust to
my new life, which seems funny, as I have walked in these shoes
once already. I guess the thing is, the first time I took that
walk, everything seemed so new and wonderful. Now everything still
seems new and wonderful, only in an old déjà vu sort of way. I
guess I am afraid of stepping on life’s little land mines a second
time around—one being Lilith, a powder keg with a short fuse. If
flirting with fire is living on the edge, then I am on the rim of
the volcano, sliding down its throat.
     
     
     
FIVE
     
    The clouds were beginning to break when we
arrived at Stephanie Stiles’ apartment. A good sign, I thought,
anticipating a break in the case as well. Her simple one bedroom
flat on the third floor of a low-rise condominium overlooked the
river along Edgewater Boulevard. She did not seem too surprised to
see us, although if she knew we were coming, I would have thought
she would have put on a robe. She answered the door in a sheer, if
not see-through, nightgown, unbuttoned to her