3

3
"Aunt Carol, why is it that Mina thinks you're house is haunted anyway?" I ask her curiously as I walk through the threshold and close the door. She stops in her tracks and sets Casey down, letting her roam freely, and stands up straight. She sighs lightly before turning to face me and takes a step closer, closing the gap between us and leans against the wall.
"James, do you remember a few years ago when your sister came to stay with me while she was in highschool?"
"Yeah.." I say cocking an eyebrow at her as I lean against the wall next to her, folding my arms over my chest.
"Well, a couple months after she moved after she moved in, she started noticing some of the things around the house were being casually moved around each time she'd leave the room and come back" she says as she glances over at Casey.
"Where you there when it would happen?" I ask curiously. She sighs lightly and looks down at the floor, her hair now covering her face slightly.
"Just a couple of times but, I never noticed it." She says as she looks back up at me. "Honestly I thought she was going crazy until she got it on film."
"Were you ever able to get rid of what was causing it?" I ask her as I glance over at Casey.
"Jay I've done everything from cleansing to having preachers come over." Carol says with a sigh. "No matter what I do though, Mina won't come inside or even up to the door...it's like she can still sense its presence."
"You could always move." I say pushing off the wall.
"If only it were that easy." She says looking over at a photo then back at me, folding her arms over her chest. "Nine times out of ten ghosts will follow a person, no matter where they go. Besides, it would take a while for me to even be able to attempt something like that."
"Could always move to L.A. when we do." I say suggestively as I begin to push off the wall.
"Now, I don't know about all that." Carol says as she glances over at Casey. "L.A. is a really expensive city to live in."
"True, but you can always talk to mom about it. I'm sure she wouldn't mind having you around until you got your own place."
"We'll have to see." She says with a slight giggle as she pushes off the wall and heads into the living room.
I push off the wall and follow her into the living room, sitting down next to Casey on the sofa. I shift a bit on sofa to get comfortable as the phone rings, Casey leaning against my arm as Carol answers the phone and heads into the kitchen. I glance back at her as she walks out of the room and shrug lightly and begin looking out the window, watching the sun as it sets slowly over the neighborhood. I could hear Carol talking on the phone occasionally laughing at something the person she had been talking to said. Curious, I listen in slightly as she talks, wondering what their conversation is about
"So how's the trip going?" Carol asks leaning against the kitchen island.
There's a brief pause as she waits for the person to respond before she asks another question. I c**k an eyebrow as I begin to think, curious of what the other person was saying and continue to listen in. They talk for another fifteen minutes, the conversation growing dull before Carol exchanges goodbyes with the person and hangs up as she comes back into the living room and sits down.
"Who was that?" I ask curiously.
"Your mother" Carol says as she sits back down on the sofa next to me and Casey. "She was just letting us know that she was almost to the next city and would call again when she got the chance."
"Okay" I say as glance over at Casey seeing that she has fallen asleep again.
"That car ride really made her tired" Carol says giggling a bit as she glances down at Casey then back up at me.
" Yeah, it never ceases to fail" I say smiling softly as I gently brush a strand of Casey's hair out of her face. "Guess I better put her in her bed. She'll probably sleep for the night." I push off the sofa ,picking up Casey in the process as I stand, and carry her down the hall to her room. I kick her bedroom door open lightly and carry her over to her bed, setting her down gently and pulling the covers over her. I look down at her and smile softly as I brush a strand of her hair out her face and tuck it behind her ear; before kissing her forehead and leaving her room, cracking the door behind me. The phone rings as I head back into the living room, and I hear Carol answer it. She drops the phone as I walk into the room and quickly grabs her keys and purse.
"What's wrong?" I ask confused about the situation.
"I'll be back, Make sure Casey eats if she wakes up" Carol says quickly as she heads out the front door avoiding my question completely.
I watch her as she pulls out of the driveway quickly, the sound of her the tires echoing loudly as she takes off down the road and vanishes into the darkness.