The bed was noticeably missing from the room. Alone, Mandaline walked in. She made a beeline for the nightstand on the right side of the bed, closest to the bathroom. Nothing.
She walked over to the left nightstand and knelt down again. There, underneath it and all the way behind it, in the shadows by the baseboard, Mandaline found Julie’s crystal pouch, the black leather cord broken from where George Simpson had yanked it from around her neck.
She sat back on her knees and held it up. “This was hers,” she softly said.
Sami’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I never saw it.” Behind Sami, Matt, and Ellis, who’d all walked into the room, she saw a woman standing in the doorway. Dressed in clothes from early in the last century, she wore a smile. In front of her stood three smiling children, two girls and a boy.
Mandaline could see through them to the end of the upstairs hallway.
She chose not to mention them to Sami right at that moment.
“It’s okay,” Mandaline assured her. She stood and walked over to Sami. Mandaline put the pouch in Sami’s hand and closed her fingers around it. “She would want you to have it,” she said.
“No, I couldn’t.”
“Consider it a housewarming present.” She looked around and took a deep breath. “The bad history is all that remains of the evil that once lived here. A small part of Julie’s spirit will always be here, just like Evelyn and the children. And the others.”
“Not George?” Sami asked.
“No, not George. He’s gone. Only good energies remain.”
They continued up to the attic. Mandaline walked over to the window seat in the cupola. Evelyn Simpson sat on the window seat and stared out at the yard. She looked up as Mandaline approached.
Mandaline couldn’t hear her speak, but it looked like she said, “Thank you.” Before she faded from Mandaline’s view, she noticed Evelyn held a journal and a pencil.
“You know,” Mandaline said, knowing she was the only one who could see the ghosts, “maybe leave a journal and pencil here for Evelyn. And a couple of toys for the children.” She turned to look at Matt and Sami. Both of them wore knowing smiles. Behind them, Ellis remained silent but looked confused.
“We will,” Matt said. “So, all clear?”
She hugged them. “All clear. Let me know when you get all the demolition completed, and I’ll come in and do a house cleansing for you. Another one before you move in, once construction’s complete.”
“It…that won’t hurt…them, will it?” Sami nervously asked.
Mandaline knew she meant Evelyn and the children. “No. We’ll ask that only positive energies remain of their own free will, or move on if they choose, but we’ll welcome them if they wish to stay.”
They both looked relieved.
Ten minutes later, with their good-byes said, Matt was letting them out of the gate.
As the house disappeared behind them, Ellis finally broke his silence.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
He seemed to chew on it for a while. “In the attic.”
“Yes?”
He turned to face her. “I didn’t want to say anything and freak out Matt and Sami. But am I the only one who saw the woman sitting in the window? She was only there for a minute, and then she was gone. Or am I losing my mind?”
Mandaline let out a long, deep, belly laugh. “You should have said something. I would have introduced you to Evelyn Simpson.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Saturday morning, Ellis ran over to the house to check on the contractor’s progress. He returned at lunchtime with good news. “Looks like they’ve got all the mold cleaned up. We have to wait until next week though to get the results of the testing to make sure.”
“You’re still going to stay here, though,” Mandaline said. “Right?”
The men exchanged a glance before joining her in the kitchen. Ellis looked down at her. “We stay wherever you want us to stay.”
“I mean…” She swallowed back her relief, which had threatened to swamp her. “It doesn’t make sense to leave here when the house still needs so much work.”
He smiled and cupped her cheek with his hands. “I think we have to sit down with the plans and go over everything with you and get your input.”
“Yeah,” Brad agreed, nibbling on her neck. “Like the kitchen, the master bedroom, everything. We want you to tell us what you want.”
She had a hard time thinking with their bodies so close. “I…I…”
Brad lifted her up, sitting her on the counter. “Did I ever tell you I love that you wear skirts so often?” He pushed it up over her thighs while Ellis spread her legs and knelt between them.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. He pulled her panties aside and flicked his tongue over her clit.
Her whine was muffled by Brad’s mouth on hers. Then he slipped an arm around her shoulders while his other hand went up her blouse and freed her left breast from her bra. “Don’t worry,” Brad whispered. “We’re not letting you get away from us.” His mouth closed on hers, muffling her cries again as he pinched her nipple.
Between her legs, Ellis now had a finger inside her and was vigorously fucking her with it in addition to sucking on her clit. She grabbed the edge of the counter and held on, praying Sachi didn’t choose that moment to come upstairs.
Ellis quickly blasted her through two orgasms, which left her trembling and breathless. Then he got up and left the kitchen, quickly returning a moment later.
“I can’t resist, baby,” he said as he dropped his jeans. He handed a condom to Brad and rolled one onto his own shaft. Then he grabbed her behind the knees and pulled her to the edge of the counter. At the perfect height, he sank his cock all the way inside her cunt.
He grinned. “Hang on, baby.” He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her as he fucked her, hard and fast, slamming into her and pulling another orgasm out of her before she realized it. It didn’t take him long to come, and before she could even process what was happening Brad changed places with him and was soon also fucking her hard and fast.
She closed her eyes and kissed him, feeling like her spirit was in free fall. With each thrust his body slapped against her clit, until one last orgasm made her cry out into his mouth.
“Yes!” He pressed his face against her shoulder, quietly grunting as he finished inside her and fell still, panting.
She started laughing.
Ellis, who’d stayed to help keep her from falling off the counter, smiled. “What?”
“I wonder if that was quiet enough for Sachi,” she whispered.
Brad grinned. “Oh, you think you’re funny? Well, guess what, lady. You get to go back downstairs after lunch just like that, freshly fucked.”
Her eyes widened. “You can’t be—”
“We are,” Ellis chimed in, an evil grin on his face. “Wet panties and all. You don’t have any readings this afternoon. Just be glad we don’t have a butt plug or something to put inside you and keep you hot and squirming all afternoon.”
“But…” She looked from one man to the other and knew they meant it.
Brad pushed her shirt up again, this time freeing her other breast. Both men leaned in, nibbling on her nipples and making her squirm on the counter. When she tried to push them away, they simply each caught a hand and held her pinned there.
It wasn’t until a few minutes later when they released her. By then, they’d already got her worked up again, her clit throbbing and wanting more attention, her panties soaked through with her own juices.
“We’re going to make you feel a fraction of what you do to us,” Ellis told her. “We go around all day thinking about you and wanting to be with you. So today, it’s your turn.”