A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns all of these characters. And she rules all life. With that said, enjoy the next chapter...
I put on a brave face and stepped forward.
"I've heard a lot about you, Edward. I'm Bella." He looked at me and then down at my hand, then back at my face.
"I don't need you or your fancy equipment. I'm doing absolutely fine on my own, thank you very much." He spat out and glared at his siblings. Emmett was slowly shaking his head side to side, while Alice looked like she was going to throw up. Concerned, I rubbed her arm and smiled warmly.
"Well, like it or not, I'm staying here until my job is done. Your family hired me, so I'm here to the very end. Do you happen to have a spare room by chance? The nearest hotel is about a half hour away and if something happens, I want to be right there when it happens." Edward stared at me dumbly and growled. I straightened and stood my ground. The entire room was silent. I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes until Edward broke. He grumbled under his breath and pointed to a set of stairs. And without another word, he turned around and left. I slowly turned around and was engulfed in another of Emmett's bone-crushing hugs.
"I like you more every second. You are the only other person besides my mother that can stare down Edward like that. Congrats, I think you've made yet another friend."
Emmett and Jasper helped me unload my things and carried them up to my room. I hadn't seen hide nor tail of Edward after the stare down, and I really didn't care at the moment. I was going to be spending every waking moment in his house, so we were bound to run into each other. I decided to get through some preliminary interviews to pass the time. I learned some interesting things about the house and its owner. But one thing caught my attention. Emmett and Jasper were being interviewed together, and Jasper began telling me about one night they held a séance in the living room.
"Alice went out and bought this board….a Quija board. Some crazy shit happened that night, let me tell you. Every door in the entire house started slamming and it was freezing-"
"Wait. Back up a minute. A Quija board?" I interrupted Jasper by holding my hand up.
"Yea, I remember that part. The plastic thing started moving on its own. Scared the living daylights out of me." Emmett said, nodding his head. I groaned and buried my face in my hands.
"This is very, very bad." I mumbled and dragged my hands down my cheeks. Jasper and Emmett looked at me curiously.
"Why?" Jasper asked quietly.
"A Quija board, if used in the wrong place at the wrong time, is basically a portal from one world to the next. At least, that's what the theory is. I've used the board with some great success, but I've also had to deal with the consequences. Before I jump to some major conclusions, I have to ask. Did most of the happenings around here start before or after the Quija board séance?" Emmett and Jasper looked at each other for a moment before Emmett spoke up.
"There were some minor things before, but everything else has been after." I groaned again. They had opened a portal and let someone or something into the house. I watched them pale as I told them that.
"Do you still have it?"
"No. Alice made us burn it a few weeks back. She didn't like the vibes coming from it." Jasper admitted. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair.
"We can go and get another one, Bella." Emmett said, touching my hand.
"Don't you dare bring one of those things into this house. It's bad enough you did it the first time, but all you'd be doing is creating an entirely new portal. And by destroying the old one, there's practically no way to close the one opened here. This is starting to become a difficult case," I sighed and scribbled on the piece of paper in front of me. For the second time that day, the room was silent. Shaking off my annoyance, I opened my eyes.
"What does Edward do, exactly?"
"He's a doctor at the local hospital." Jasper grabbed a folder from a stack on a chair and pointed to the label on it. Great.
"So he deals a lot with the sick and dying?"
"Everyday, basically." The man was a walking spirit magnet. I wrote down some key words and was about to dismiss the two men when the faucet in the sink turned on. I jumped up and ran over, murmuring into my voice recorder.
"Whoever just did that, can you tell me your name? Or if you're shy, why don't you do something else to show that you're still here with me?" The drawer in front of me opened and slammed, loudly. I grinned like a child on Christmas and turned around to see if Jasper and Emmett were watching. They were, and they looked like they were ready to run.
"Isn't that amazing? It responded to my question! Okay, okay. Let's see…can you try and touch me? Just so I know you're here," I stood still, daring myself not to breathe. I thought I imagined it when I felt it, but when it started to travel along my back, I knew it was real. It felt as though someone had run their fingers up and down my spine.
"Thank you." I said simply and walked out of the kitchen. Emmett and Jasper followed me.
"What just happened in there, Bella?" Emmett asked, his voice slightly shaky.
"I communicated with a spirit in there. I wanted to make sure it just wasn't something random, but a planned occurrence. When it responded to my demands, I knew it was right in front of me." I wrote down my experience and when I mentioned the part of feeling it touch my back, Jasper gripped my shoulder. Hard.
"It touched you? You let it touch you?"
"Again, sole purpose here is to communicate. It didn't seem evil, if that's what you're getting to," I looked up from my paper and glanced over at Jasper. He was visibly shaking and was extremely pale.
"I asked for it, Jasper. It wasn't unwanted. I do it all the time. I'm fine. Don't worry about me, I'll let you know if it starts to get bad." I placed my hand on his arm and squeezed. We all jumped when the air around us began to pick up and soon it was like we were in a wind tunnel. Pictures flew off the walls, figurines hit us. As soon as it had started, it stopped. I found myself in the middle of a Emmett and Jasper sandwich. We were all breathing a little too hard, a little too fast.
"Okay, that was bad." I gasped and let out a trembling laugh.
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