Darkwood Falls Paranormal Investigators Book One: The Dead Truth

Chapter Six

"With memory set smarting like a reopened wound, a man's past is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the present: it is not a repented error shaken loose from the life: it is a still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter flavors and the tinglings of a merited shame." -George Eliot, Middlemarch

     After I pretended to be Nick's girlfriend in front of his ex, the rest of the work day went surprisingly well.  When Nick came back from lunch he didn't talk much, but when he did, he was polite, and never once insulted me.  That counted as a win for me.  He did bolt out right at 5:00, though. 

     As I watched Nick head out of the main office door in a hurry, I wondered if he was on his way to take another stab at bringing some random drunk chick home for the night.  Brandon and Axl joined Ruby and I at her desk.  I assumed Richard was still in his office. 

     "I heard you found an interesting case today," Brandon said. 

     "Yeah, I did.  Did Richard tell you?" 

     "Actually, it was Nick." 

     "He talked to you?  When?"

     "We bumped into each other in the hallway on the way to the bathroom earlier.  I expected him to start shouting at me, but instead he just started talking to me like he had never been an insufferable ass.  It was the first time we had a normal conversation in like two months.  He told me you found that case and how it seemed like you had a better understanding of what needed to be done." 

     Axl looked over at us, smirking. " I guess you made an impression on him.  Maybe you're breaking down his walls." 

     "Someone would need a fucking sledge hammer to break down those walls.  I just helped him with something personal today.  Perhaps it lifted his usually dark mood temporarily.  I wouldn't count on it to continue, though." 

     "How would you know?  You don't know him," Brandon said, frowning. 

     "No, but I know people.  They are disappointingly predictable." 

     He shook his head. "You never cease to amaze me." 

     "I am pretty amazing," I joked. 

     "Shawn, I called that client from the letter that you found, and set up an appointment to meet her and investigate her home.  We're going Friday night, and we'll probably be there Saturday night, too," Ruby told me. 

     "That's good, I guess." 

     "You guess?" Axl said. 

     I shrugged. 

     "You don't believe her, do you?" Brandon said. 

     "I believe that she thinks something weird is going on.  If we can help her see that there's nothing to be afraid of, then that's good," I said. 

     "You are really in for a rude awakening," Brandon said. 

     "Yeah, sure," I said dismissively. 

     I knew it was certainly going to take a lot to convince me that anything could be paranormal at that point.  Unfortunately, Brandon was right.  I did have quite a rude awakening in store for me. 

     Friday night came, and instead of going home at 5:00 pm like we usually did, we stuck around to get ready for the investigation that night.  We were all gathered in the lobby by Ruby's desk for a short meeting.