Page 89 of Soul Sucker

She gave him a bright smile. “I don’t know. We seem to be managing quite well by ourselves. I hate reading instructions anyway. Oh, look. Food.”

She made Vadim try her cheeseburger and he reluctantly agreed that it was rather good. He offered her some of his spinach, but when she pretended to gag he retreated and focused on forking the obnoxious slippery greenery into his mouth. She liked watching him. He was incredibly neat and cut the food up into similar size bundles before eating them.

When the banana split was placed in front of him, he moved it into the center of the table. It was a sight to behold. Three types of ice cream, a whole banana— one half on each side—whipped cream, nuts and cherries on top.

“A classic. It’s almost a shame to dig into it, but I’ll force myself.”

“Be my guest.” Vadim gestured at her with his long spoon. “I won’t be able to eat all of it.”

“Don’t worry about that. Desserts are my specialty.”

He took a small scoop of the strawberry ice cream and Ella watched his expression change.

“Good?”

He smiled at her and she almost forgot to swallow. “To borrow a phrase from you—that is awesome.”

“I think they make their own ice cream.”

“You can tell.”

It didn’t take long for them to finish the whole thing and then Mark reappeared, took away the remaining plates and sat down beside Vadim.

“My uncle wants to talk to you. I hope that’s okay?”

“Sure, we can pop into the kitchen after this.” Ella pushed her water glass out of the way. “So, what’s been happening?”

Mark grimaced. “For the last month or so, every time we open up, the kitchen is a mess. There are broken plates, spilled water, smashed glasses…”

“Do you have a security system?”

“Yeah, that’s the kicker. We upgraded it recently so we have cameras and everything.”

“And nothing is showing up?”

Mark hesitated. “Well, there issomething, but it’s not so much a person as a green, swirling mist.” He attempted a laugh. “That sounds ridiculous, right?”

“Not at all,” Ella reassured him. “What do your uncle and aunt think is causing this?”

“They think it’s a poltergeist.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because they recently gave a job washing up to their youngest grandson, my sixteen-year-old cousin Erik.”

“And they think Erik is creating the disturbances?”

“Yeah, because he’s been in a lot of trouble recently at school: drugs, alcohol, you know the kind of stuff. They gave him the job to help him straighten himself out. He’s not taken to the working life real well and they reckon adolescents can cause disturbances in the psychic field.” He grinned. “What can I say? My auntie Vita watches a lot of crap TV.”

“It makes sense, though. Do you think Erik could be doing it?”

Mark shrugged. “If itishim, it’s not deliberate.”

“What do you think it is?” Vadim asked.

Mark’s gaze switched to Vadim. “This is going to sound strange, but when I looked at the footage, I was sure that I could see somethingsolidat the center of the mist.”

“And what did it look like?”

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