Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Natalie led the procession. Or rather, Jake did, walking backwards ahead of them.

Besides the fact she feared he was going to fall down a flight of stairs or something doing that, and then die and she'd have one more ghost to deal with, she didn't love being the focus of his lens. Not at all.

She'd have to give him something else to focus on. And in the back of the theater, young usher Horace provided just the thing.

"There's a presence here. Look." She held the machine near Horace.

His eyes widened as he glanced at the device and then at her.

"It's okay," Natalie said, worried the already shy spirit would bolt and possibly be emotionally scarred for the rest of eternity. "It won't harm you. It just let's everyone who can't see you, know that you're here. That's kind of fun, right?"

Horace visibly swallowed—she was endlessly fascinated that the habits and ticks from life carried into the afterlife—then he nodded. She treated him to a smile that only he could see, then turned around to face the others.

The numbers of both living and dead had increased considerably. It seemed the members of the cast and crew who had been glued to Madame Letisha's side for tonight's investigation had jumped ship. Here they all were surrounding Natalie.

Derek the YouTube star, dressed as if he was about to hit the skatepark rather than hunt ghosts, stepped forward. "You talk to them like they're… human."

Natalie frowned. "They are human. The only distinction is living versus dead."

Amid a round of applause from the dead in the area, Evie nodded. "That's what I've always said."

"Exactly!" Vincent agreed.

Bobby LaRue, clapping loudest of all, said, "Preach, girlfriend."

She'd listened and learned when the Mudville spirits had lectured her on ghost etiquette. Apparently that paid off in helping her win the trust of the theater's inhabitants.

"And do they, like, communicate back to you?" asked Tiff the former child star, who'd proven herself to be generally clueless regarding anything ghost related.

How did she answer that question? This was getting tricky, which shouldn't be a surprise. Straddling the fence between lies and truth was bound to get uncomfortable.

It had seemed simpler in the planning stages. One, continue to deny her ability to her friends in an effort to preserve the status quo of the life she'd built in Mudville. The life she loved. All while, two, using her ability to expose Madame Letisha.

That meant she had to pretend to her friends that her ghost powers were all an act, just like she'd done when she'd held that fake séance for the real ghosts last Halloween. At the same time, she had to convince the PNC people her ghost powers were real.

"Um, yes. Sometimes," Natalie finally said, noncommittally. She held up the EMF device closer to Horace again so everyone could see the lights jump in response.

"But do they respond with actual words that we can hear?" the doctor demanded.

"Not everyone can hear spirits," Natalie answered. Again, it wasn't quite what he'd asked, but it seemed like a good answer.

"But can you hear them?" he asked.

Natalie should have known it wasn't going to be this easy. Doctor Oliver Finch was over-educated with a superiority complex as well as a die-hard skeptic.

Fine. Time to up her game. Just as Madame Letisha came around the corner with Megan in tow, most likely to see where her entourage had gone, Natalie said, "Yes. Yes, I can hear them."

Another cheer went up amid the ghosts who'd lectured her the night before about the importance of coming clean about what she could do.

Little did they know her plan hadn't changed. As far as Harper and Alice and the livings in Mudville were concerned, this was all a really elaborate and well-crafted act and she was as big a fraud as Letisha.

"Natalie?" One of the production assistants saying her name had Natalie turning.

"Yes?"

"Sam would like you to come with me."

Her pulse sped. "Um, why?"

"It's just for a one-on-one. You can hand the EMF over to one of the others."

A one-on-one? This couldn't be good.

The summons had the feeling of being called into the principal's office in middle school. Downright frightening.

Her body reacted just like it would have then. Her heart pounded. Her breathing was fast and shallow. Her hands trembled and suddenly, she really had to pee.

Then she remembered she wasn't in school anymore.

The worst Sam could do would be to kick her off the show. Then she'd get her cell phone back and be able to go home to Liam and her shop and her own comfortably familiar ghosts.

Yeah. That wouldn't be bad at all. Harper and Alice could do plenty to embarrass Letisha without her. It wouldn't take much. Letisha was pretty embarrassing all on her own.

Natalie nodded and said, "Sure. No problem."

She turned and thrust the device toward Harper, who drew back, eyes wide. "I don't want it."

"Oh, here. Give it to me," the doctor scoffed. "Honestly, as if there are any ghosts here anyway."

Their resident skeptic spun to leave and ran directly into Horace who appeared too surprised to move out of the way. The device blinked wildly one more time in response.

Doctor Finch paused and stared at the device in his hand. "I'm sure if we got an electrician in here he'd tell us that is because of the electrical wiring. It's probably reacting to the exit sign."

"No doubt." The YouTuber nodded. "I got electrocuted once. Hurt like a bitch, but that video got over a million views. Well worth it. I'd totally do it again."

With those words of wisdom still ringing in her ears, Natalie exited the theater and followed the production assistant down the grand staircase to the lobby floor.