“I think I’ll be fine.” She grinned. “Thanks for staying with me last night.
I really needed it. But I’m feeling better today. I’m feeling… I don’t know,
safer. More confident. I think I can make this work. I want to make this
work.”
“Okay.” I slumped onto the fence. The remnants of the previous night’s
anxiety still hung over me like a cloud. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe there’s
nothing dangerous there. But… do you mind if we take some precautions
anyway?”
“I love precautions.” She laughed. “My life is a whole series of precautions stacked on top of each other. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
“Call me whenever you feel something weird”
I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to think. “And… I’d like to do
some research on the house. Maybe knowing its history will help us
understand why it’s like this.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“All right. Good.” I released a breath. “Stay safe, okay? You can always
crash at my place if you need to.”
“Thanks again, Jo.” She looked genuinely happy. I feel like
I’m actually starting to get my life together. ”
That makes one of us. I drummed my fingers on the fence as I watched
Ruby return to her home. I glanced over the street and saw Mr. Singh
watching me warily as he watered his plants. His massive bushy eyebrows
pulled lower as I turned towards him, and he shuffled around to face away
from me.
I looked down. I was still in my cat-print pyjamas. I sighed and hurried
back into the house. I made a quick breakfast for myself,
showered to get rid of the tacky sweat that had dried over my body, and
changed into fresh clothes. Then an idea occurred to me. I went to my room
and grabbed the phone off the side table.
“Lucky,” he answered after three rings.
“I wanted to talk to you”
“I’m busy right now” Can we talk later
“No, no! Hang on! Ruby, who lives there, she’s having sometrouble with a stalker ex. I stayed there last night. This guy kept driving by;
we were worried he’d try to break into her house.”
Lucky was silent for a moment. Then he said, “Sorry, I didn’t realise it
was a legitimate situation. What do you want me to do?”
“I was hoping you’d have some of those motion-sensor cameras. You
know, the ones that ring alarms when someone moves into their view.”
“You’re thinking of security systems, which is worlds away from my
industry.”
“Yeah, except neither Ruby, nor I have the money to pay for a security
system.”
He sighed heavily. “I’ll ring some friends and see if there’s anything we
can do. Call you back in twenty.”
“Thanks, Lucky.”
I dropped the phone as he hung up. I’d only half-lied. The security
systems would be useful for ensuring Raul didn’t cause trouble, but my main
motive for getting them was to see if they caught any sort of paranormal
activity.
Lucky took his time calling back. I spent my time pacing across my room,
alternately staring out the window at the house next door and fidgeting with
the hem of my shirt. When the phone finally rang, I pounced on it.
“Lucky?”
“Hey. Good news. A friend has motion sensors that will connect to my
cameras, and he’s going to lend them to me. Another friend has some
software to set up an alarm and make everything work. I can collect them and
be over there in four hours or so.”
“Perfect. Bring lots. We want to monitor the inside of the house as well as
the exterior.”
I could picture Lucky’s glare through the phone. “Jo. Please tell me this
isn’t about ghosts.”
“Well, I mean, if we’re going to be setting them up, we may as well—”
“Does this crazy stalker ex even exist, or are you just a pathological liar
now?”
I bristled. “He does exist. And so do the ghosts. I saw one last night.”
“Jo.”
“No, come on, Lucky. Ruby’s scared. She’s living in that big house all by
herself, and she’s trying to fight monsters on the outside as well as the inside.
She’s a classic damsel in distress. Don’t guys like that?”