Brannon smiled and I knew he was happy that I asked about the theory behind this empty jar. I mean, it didn’t look like anything special, just glass with a black screw top and wire wrapped around the top.
He picked up the jar and unscrewed the cap. “It’s treated glass. The energy will draw the spirit and then trap it inside.”
“Don’t you have to put the cap back on though? You know, to trap the spirit in there?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s the tricky part,” Brannon said as he screwed the top back onto the bottle.
“How so?” I asked.
“Well, I need good timing. As soon as I know the spirit’s in there, I run over and screw on the top.” Brannon mimicked putting the top on the bottle.
“How are you going to know the spirit’s in there? You can’t see it. It’s not like it’s going to be a genie in the bottle,” I said.
“Well, actually, that’s the theory. You know, like the dybbuk box. The spirit gets trapped in there and is locked away.”
“I know that’s the theory, but you have to be fast enough to get over there. Plus, you can’t see the spirit.” I blew the hair out of my eyes.
“The energy from the spirit should cause a foggy cloud inside of the bottle,” Brannon said.
“Well, when do we test this out?” I asked.
“As soon as possible.” Brannon scanned the room. “Any sign of the ghost today?”
“Nothing so far, but I have a feeling she’ll show up soon.” I looked at the time on my phone. “Ten minutes until the library closes. I say we do it right now, as soon as everyone’s out of here. There are only a couple of people left upstairs anyway. When they check out their books, I’ll lock the doors and we’ll get started.”
Brannon smiled. “I like the way you think. That’s why we make the perfect couple.”
I leaned across the counter and Brannon kissed me.
“We do make the perfect couple, don’t we?” I asked.
“What do you think you’re doing? This is the library,” Ms. McMillian snapped.
I jumped back, startled by her comment since I’d had no idea she’d walked into the library. She was sneaky like that.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “No one is in the library.”
Just then the man and woman who had been upstairs walked around the corner from the staircase.
Ms. McMillian raised an eyebrow and smirked. “No one?”
“They were upstairs. It’s fine. They couldn’t see,” I said.
“There are cameras all over this library, Ms. Van Raden,” She waved her hand.
I scowled. “Well, we weren’t making out.”
Brannon chuckled and then caught himself, wiping the smile from his face. Ms. McMillian flashed a hostile look at us as the patrons walked up toward the counter. While I helped Mr. Bradshaw and Ms. Kim with their books, Brannon guided Ms. McMillian to the side by the romance section so that he could talk with her in a more private situation. He had a way of schmoozing with people that calmed them down. That was part of what made him a good detective, I suppose. She would have to get out of here in order for us to test out the ghost trapping jar.
After helping the customers, I wasn’t sure if I should approach Brannon and Ms. McMillian or wait until they were done talking. Since I didn’t enjoy chatting with her much anyway, I decided to finish up with a few tasks so that when she left Brannon and I could get on with our experiment.
As I placed mystery paperbacks on the shelf, I didn’t realize that Brannon stood behind me. Since nothing felt negative around me, I’d assumed the presence had been Annie.
“Ms. McMillian’s trying the experiment with us,” Brannon said.
I whipped around. “What?”
I’d asked louder than I had intended. Ms. McMillian stood next to Brannon. She forced a smile. There had to be a catch. She wasn’t going to let us do this without complaints, right? Was this some kind of trick?
“I’m not sure what to say. Are you all right with this?” I asked.
“Perfectly fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I want to make sure that this ghost is gone. It’s probably best if I oversee what you’re doing.”
She thought that she could make sure we were doing it right? Whatever she wanted, I suppose. Brannon and I had a lot of experience with this sort of thing so I felt confident that if anyone could get rid of the ghost we would. And if not Brannon and me, then Porter surely could. I hoped. Was my confidence fading? Perhaps Ms. McMillian had sparked doubt in my mind. Even more reason she should leave.
“Well, now that the customers are gone, I guess we can get started. I’ll just lock the doors,” Brannon said.
Ms. McMillian pointed toward one of the tables. “I think we can do it right over here.”
I thought maybe it was better to let Brannon decide where the glass jar needed to go since he was the expert. He’d made the contraption, so it was up to him.
“On that table is fine,” Brannon said.
Did he really mean that or was he just giving in to her? Nonetheless, I appreciated the fact that he was trying to keep her happy so that she wouldn’t fire me. I wanted this to work badly. Lucky for us, Brannon seemed extremely confident.
Seconds later, I noticed that a heavy feeling filled the air and I wondered if the ghost was somewhere nearby. Annie had left because she hated having any part of being around when other ghosts were here. The fact that Annie had taken off made me suspicious that the other ghost was truly waiting for just the right time to pop out.
I scanned the whole room, but there was no sign of her. I had a feeling she watched us, and we just couldn’t see her yet. When the ghost was ready, she’d let her presence be known.
Brannon placed the bottle on the table. He unscrewed the lid but kept it in his hand for when he needed to seal the bottle quickly. I glanced at Ms. McMillian. This was the first time that she had given me a look that seemed genuine. Was that a look of fear on her face? She’d always seemed so tough like nothing ever bothered her. Her feelings were understandable though. I was unsure of this whole thing too. Anxiety pulsed through my body like a booming speaker turned up too loud.
“Okay, I understand that you want the spirit to go into the bottle, but how do you get the spirit to do that? I mean, it’s not like you’re going to ask her, and she’ll just do it.”
“She’ll be attracted to the bottle. That’s the point of the film that coats the glass and the way that it’s made,” Brannon explained.
She shrugged. “Well, I guess that makes sense in theory, but I hope that it actually works.”
“We’re about to find out,” I said.
“So we have some kind of little séance to summons up the spirit?” Ms. McMillian asked.
“Yes, I suppose that’s what we have to do, but it is dangerous, I will warn you. I mean, there’s a portal to the other side in this library.” I pointed across the library.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her about that. Though I suppose it wasn’t exactly a secret.
“What are you talking about?” she asked with wide eyes.
I guess I assumed she already knew this part, but apparently somehow, she’d missed that memo that the rest of the town gossiped about. Now I had to explain the whole thing. She looked at me like I was crazy of course. I knew the idea sounded nuts, but it was one hundred percent the truth. Soon she might just see with her own eyes.