Paranormal Agency BOOK 2 : THE FUNERAL HOME.

It was later that night and Alison was busying herself on the computer trying to figure out what to do about her job at the mortuary. The computer was set up in her living room in front of a large window because it gave her a nice view of her front yard. Greg was lying across the couch, his body just barely touching the cushions and his hands behind his head.

Alison typed the words “multiple hauntings” into the search engine and scanned through the list of links that popped up.

She clicked on a website.

The site claimed on everything that salt and iron nails were the answer. Iron. She had something like that before. Iron banishes evil, Alison thought to herself, recalling something Josh’s sister, Emily had said to her before she had died. Maybe there really was something to that, after all.

She continued reading. From there it just described various ways to arrange the nails and salt around the household to clear away any unwanted spirits. It suggested sea salt but explained that regular table salt would do just as well. Rusty nails were best for whatever strange reason, but fresh nails would also work. There were photos of a house being treated with salt. She left the site.

Another site described the many uses of holy water. It said to read a passage from the bible while splashing holy water around the afflicted areas of the person or house. Holy water could either be purchased from or borrowed from a church, or could even be made at home with some salt, some water, and a prayer. More salt. What were these people’s obsession with salt for? She wondered if it was something she should look into. Iron and salt were apparently a big deal somehow. It wouldn’t hurt to see if there was any truth to that.

She clicked on another link claiming to have footage from real live exorcisms being performed by priests. She watched four of them, noting the priests methods over her own. They were so spiritual. Everything was about the Bible and prayer. There wasn’t a whole lot of science to it. Nothing about the spirits needing to cross over, nothing about the spirits needing to learn they were dead before they could move on, and

nothing about the fact that the spirits were wandering souls that needed to be saved. It was all about God and evil and the Devil, and Hell. It didn’t sound very realistic to her. They were all things she had stopped believing in a long time ago.

Biting her lip, she tapped thoughtfully on the computer desk beside her keyboard. What was she missing here? She thought of the soulless she had fought a few weeks earlier. That thing hadn’t been a spirit. She was convinced that it wasn’t just some dead guy, that the thing had actually been a fucking monster from the real and actual Hell itself. She had never seen anything like it before. What if the priests were right? What if there really was a Devil? What if there really was a Hell? What if there really was such a thing as pure evil that only God could save them from? After her experience with the Soulless, she wouldn’t be surprised now. Anything seemed possible.

She clicked on a different link and watched as a new video popped up. This one was of a “real eyewitness account of the supernatural”, or so they said. She pushed play and watched as a glowing ball of light flew past the camera man and then went soaring through a dense forest of trees before disappearing from sight. Pretty typical. It looked authentic but it was just a normal spirit completely oblivious to the living and the camera filming him. Nothing new there.

She clicked on another exorcism video and took notes this time on a pad of paper. She watched as the priest worked, the bible in his hand, his face solemn as he read from it.

She glanced over at Greg. “So what are you thinking about over there?” she asked.

“Nothing. Just watching TV.”

Acknowledging the late-night thriller playing on the television, Alison returned her attention back to the computer screen. She tried another search, and typed in “faces in the mirror.”

The first page of several thousand links appeared on the screen. The first link she clicked on described an eye-witness account of a man named Berry Heldlem ho had seen a pale white face staring back at him from his dresser mirror. When it didn’t go away, he and his family had packed up their things and left.

Not much help there.

She closed the windows on the computer until nothing was left but her black and white wooden voodoo doll themed screen saver.

“You find anything good?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to try to perform a religious exorcism. You know, with a bible and holy water.” Why not, right? If a priest could do it, she could too. It may be a new useful tool for her to add to her list of exorcising skills.

“You think it’ll work?”

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t it?”

“Why don’t you hire a professional,” Greg suggested. “Someone that knows what they’re doing.”

“I can figure it out. It’ll be a good learning experience. I’m willing to try something different once in a while.” She lit a cigarette and put it to her lips, inhaling deeply. “Ugh. This stress. I’m going to get an ulcer if I keep this up.”

Smoking again. Sigh. No matter how many times she swore off of them, she’d find herself after only one smoke-free week later, sucking one down as if her life depended on it. It was pathetic.

“So, have you talked to Marissa lately?”

“Not since I saw her the other night.” Alison joined him on the couch, sitting at his feet. She leaned back against the cushions, puffing on her cigarette. She let out a deep breath. It had been a long day and she felt exhausted. “I’m tired, Greg,” she said.

“Go to sleep then,” he replied.

“In a minute,” she agreed. “Any last words before I kick you out?”

“Well, I tried out a new place the other day. It’s the big cemetery on Flourence Ave. Found some really neat people there.”

Really? A little insight into Greg’s life? It was about time. The jerk. He owed her. “And?” she asked, inhaling again from her cigarette.

“Got some information,” he said. “Not a lot, but a little.”

“What about?”

“The Soulless and the end of the world.”

“Huh.” Alison wanted to groan out loud. What was Greg’s obsession with this anyway? The end of the world? Why did everything have to be so dramatic? The end of the world was kind of a big deal, wasn’t it? She thought of the message Death had brought her, weeks before. He had said when the Blessed die, the world would end. Was that really going to happen to all of them? It was frightening. And what could she do about it? She felt like she was going crazy.

“There were a lot of people there,” Greg continued. “I even had a few practically intact, real conversations with them.”

Alison nodded. Spirits tended to be pretty out of it. It must be tough on Greg trying to be friends with them. She was the only alive person that could see and hear him, with the exception of Josh’s sister for a day, but that was in the past, and Alison could imagine how boring that must be for him. It must suck having no one but Alison to talk to all day long. No wonder he disappeared so much. He was sick of her. The thought was almost kind of amusing to her. “So, you meet any cute girls while you were there?” she asked jokingly.

“There’s no such thing,” he said, smiling at her. “You’re like the sun to me. I only have eyes for you.”

“You’re too sweet.” The flirt. Alison could only imagine what Greg must’ve been like when he was alive. What a slut.

He pulled himself up, floating towards her. When he was beside her, he leaned closer until his shoulder passed quietly through hers. “Not as sweet as you are,” he teased.

“Okay, okay,” she interrupted, pulling herself to her feet and away from him. She took the cigarette from her mouth and stuffed the dying thing into her ashtray on the coffee table. “Enough of that, Hon,” she said. “Too much affection and I’m going to throw up.”

Greg laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I can feel it coming on. It’s in my throat already.”

“There goes being nice to you, Alison.”

“Shut up! I never said you couldn’t be nice to me. Only be nice to me.”

“You just said it,” he argued. “I mean, I’m making you throw up.”

“Forget it,” she said. “I’m going to watch TV.” She grabbed the remote and upped the volume until she couldn’t hear Greg’s complaining anymore. “Anyway, if you happen to be out sometime, see if you can find anything I can use for the mortuary. Someone’s bound to know something. And I need as much help as I can get with that.”

“I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Thanks.”