Nearafter (D.E.A.T.H. bk. 1)

Chapter Nine [Ethan]

JT and Gretchen looked at each other in a way, suggesting to Ethan, that perhaps they were communicating telepathically. It would have been no surprise to Ethan though if such were the case. He had watched Clara move at a blinding speed, fending off over a dozen of those krawl creatures, so it would come as no real shock if telepathy, at least among reapers, was possible. The two did not speak for a short while, and then JT turned away.

"This is it," he said.

They all stood in the driveway of a home where inside a poltergeist was suspected of squatting. Although, the house did not look haunted. The place looked like all the other homes in the quiet, middle-class suburban community. Two stories, white, wood-framed, well kept. The only difference was the FOR-SALE sign jutting out of the recently mowed lawn like a tombstone. The sign had been pulled out and put back in so many times that the ground around the wooden stake was turning up dark lumpy chunks of soil.

"This place is haunted?" Ethan asked, disbelieving. The place just didn't fit the 'haunted house' image in his mind. But JT nodded.

"There's been reports of strange noises coming from inside at night- screams and wailing mostly," he said.

"Typical haunting stuff," Gretchen mumbled. It was the first time Ethan had heard her speak.

JT and Gretchen started across the yard without another word, and with Ethan tailing behind them. At the door JT turned to him.

"Can you-" he was about to ask, but then stopped, "never mind," he decided. Instead, he took Ethan's hand and said... "Just don't let go, no matter how you feel or what you see...."

Ethan was about to inquire further, when suddenly he felt himself being pulled into the door, and then through it. There was a moment when his soul felt like it shattered into a billion tiny pieces. And then he was rising into the air, slowly drifting away from his own mind. He panicked when he felt a blanket of cold settle over him. JT's grip on his hand tightened and then the feeling was gone. He felt normal again. And now he was standing in the entry hall, most likely looking dumbfounded.

JT released his hand. He didn't bother commenting on what had just happened, which Ethan considered to be kind of rude. He and Gretchen were pacing around the room as if they were looking for something, some clue. Gretchen must have found it first because she lifted her head and nodded.

"He's here," she said.

"This room?" JT asked. He looked hopeful. But she shook her head and pointed up.

"Another. Upstairs, maybe," she said. "The bedroom?" she guessed. They both looked at the ceiling.

Ethan followed their gaze, but saw only ceiling, an unusually high ceiling. How old is this house...? he wondered. It looked modern enough to pass for having been built in the last ten years or so. But the place had probably been refurbished so many times the Realtor could possibly get away with saying it was constructed a couple of years ago. Everything looked new, from the walls to the carpet and doors, even the furniture looked like it had been snagged directly from an interior design catalog. From the looks, it seemed the owner had a lot invested in the property on hopes that it would sell. Everything about the house looked fine, except that there was a poltergeist scaring away potential buyers and freaking out the locals.

"Did someone die here?" Ethan had to ask the obvious.

JT and Gretchen looked at him as if he'd just asked the dumbest question, which they chose not to even dignify with an answer. Ethan decided he wouldn't ask any more questions. He didn't know exactly what kind of senses it required to track poltergeists, but he got the feeling that his questions didn't help. Besides, it looked like JT and Gretchen knew exactly what they were doing. They probably tracked poltergeists all the time, and they still worked like they shared a brain.