Page 46 of The Devil You Know
“I’m calling this the ‘Vlad the Impaler Tour’ on social media,” Jesse said. “I need to start whistling that song from that old movie Dad made us watch—the one with the forced march where they blow up the bridge.”
“Mom just likes to make the most of our time,” Seth said, as Linda enthusiastically lectured Brian on some bit of trivia that had caught her fancy. Brian’s look of fond forbearance struck a chord in Seth.
I want that. Someone who still thinks I’m fantastic even when I talk their ear off. Someone who will indulge my crazy vacation planning because it makes me happy. Someone who loves me the way Dad loves Mom.
They reached the pump house, and as soon as it came into view, Seth recoiled. “I don’t think we should go any closer.” He tried not to let his voice shake. Herememberedbeing here, in a place he’d never seen before but knew intimately. He could see the large ruined ballroom on the second floor and the huge, disassembled mechanical apparatus for the river pump on the first floor.
Seth remembered the ghost too. How it had chased and nearly caught him.
“I don’t think it’s wise to go inside.” God, how he hated making his warnings sound bland and unlikely to induce panic. All Seth wanted to do was scream,“Go back! It’s not too late. Stop now!”
“It’s supposed to be haunted,” Jesse added, backing him up.
“I want to see the ballroom. They used the top floor for social events back in the day,” Linda replied.
“It’s locked except for occasional tours,” Seth told them, unsure how he knew. “If they aren’t running now, we’re out of luck.”
“Let’s go to Hollywood Cemetery instead,” Jesse suggested. “There’s a mausoleum that’s supposed to belong to the ‘Richmond Vampire.’ Plus, a lot of famous people are buried there.”
Seth groaned inside, not wanting to go. But his instincts didn’t warn him away from danger. Instead, he just felt an aversion, as if something important but unpleasant had happened there.
“Sounds like a plan,” Linda said, while Brian let out an exaggerated moan, tempered by his smile.
Seth didn’t hate going to the cemetery, but he was jumpy and hypervigilant. While his mother and father commented on the well-known names on the monuments, and Jesse snapped photos of the more unusual markers, Seth kept watch.
“You don’t look like you’re having fun,” Linda observed, walking up to stand beside him. “You’re standing like a bodyguard.”
Seth forced a smile. “Old habits. I saw something online about purse snatching and pickpockets taking advantage of tourists. Itisrather deserted here. I just didn’t want you to be bothered.”
Linda stretched up to kiss him on the cheek. “My soldier. You’re on vacation too. It’s okay to relax.”
“I’m trying.” Seth wasn’t lying. He didn’t know how to let go of the memories—or hallucinations—that were tied so strongly to the places they had visited.It’s almost like out of all the places we could go, something keeps drawing us to the ones from my visions.
“I know it’s hard to switch gears,” she said, gently rubbing between his shoulder blades with her knuckles like she used to when he was little. He realized how much he had missed her touch while he was away.
“I know that you and Jesse are all grown up now, and you’re building lives of your own,” Linda said. “Maybe you’ll join us now and then for vacation, but you’ll get busy. I’m glad to have a family road trip—like it used to be—before that happens.”
Seth felt overcome by emotion, far more than the situation warranted, and he had to swallow a few times to speak. “Me too, Mom. Thanks for this.”
He noticed that while their dad was wandering among the monuments, focused on the epitaphs, Jesse hung back, doing something on his phone. Linda wandered away to join Brian, and Seth caught up to Jesse.
“What’s up?”
“Just looking for that psychic you wanted,” Jesse said. “We need to figure out what’s going on so one way or the other, you can be fully present.”
Jesse’s effort on his behalf meant a lot to Seth. “Did you find someone?”
His brother nodded. “Maybe. Out of all the ones listed, I found a few who had comments that made me think they could have some ability—and not just be good at social engineering or reading behavior clues. I mean, if you have a person’s name before the appointment, it doesn’t take much to go find their social media accounts and read up on what’s been going on in their lives.”
“Makes sense.”
“But the woman with the best comments knew things that the clients swore they never posted online—or even told anyone. Not the kind of stuff you could guess, either,” Jesse replied. “I figured that while Mom and Dad go to the garden after breakfast tomorrow, we could go see ‘Madam Annabelle.’”
Seth snorted. “Seriously? That’s her name?”
“Probably not her real one, but I can’t blame her for having a stage name. I imagine she runs into a lot of crazies in her business.”
“I’ll try not to be one of those people.”
