He nodded. “Of course. There aren’t many of us, but maybe they’ve had experience with ghosts before. We can ask.”
“Luci,” I said sharply.
He arched an eyebrow at me. “Yes?”
“Tell me about that place. What’s the big deal about it?” I stared at him until he sighed.
“It’s called the in-between. It’s where souls go when they die but refuse to pass on.” He rolled his eyes. “And I’ve never been able to get in there.”
“Why did you set it up for us to be on that train?” I asked.
Luci grinned wickedly. “That was a particularly genius plan of mine. I’d been told by other, shall we say, informants, that the ghost train would be passing near that train line. The ghosts have a bit of a network thing going on, and I happened to know there was a ghost near Philly that was supposed to be picked up.”
“A ghost that, what?” Olivia asked. “They didn’t say anything about picking up ghosts.”
Luci gave her a dry look. “How do you think there are so many ghosts on the train?”
Olivia shrugged and we exchanged a glance. I hadn’t thought about it either. “We haven’t exactly had time to go over all this stuff in detail.”
Luci waved his hand. “Anyway, I want you to do whatever you did and help get me on the ghostly plane. It sounds like a kick. And maybe I can help you with your big blobby thing.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “What do you say?”
I couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting to Drew.
He looked like he’d swallowed a frog.
“I say no!” I said quickly. “Me getting there was a case of being at the right place at the right time. I can’t just…” Oh, it was so hard not to look at Drew. “Do that again.”
Luci’s shoulders slumped. “You’re going to have to try, aren’t you? Gotta save mommy dearest. When you figure it out, let me know? I’ll help in exchange for a ride in and out of that realm.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What is so—” but he snapped his fingers and disappeared.
With a sigh, I turned toward the ocean in the distance, in the direction of where I’d seen my mom both times. “Mom, if you can hear me, I’ll come for you. Just keep safe from that thing. I’ll get you out of there.”
Sniffling, I sank into Drew’s arms and let him guide me back toward the house. As we reached the deck stairs, a big thump drew my attention. Snoozer was in front of Alfred, trying his darndest to jump up and grab Alfred’s string, the one threading his mouth together.
Alfred kept pushing him away, but it was like Snooze was a kitty obsessed. He kept trying, thumping back down on the deck when Alfred pushed him. This happened several times.
“Wallie, get that fat cat,” I said. “Tell him to leave Alfie alone.”
But as Wallie reached for the big idiot feline, it happened.
Snoozer’s claw caught the edge of the string and stuck. And as the oversized kitty fell back to the deck, the string came with him, yanking Alfred forward as his mouth unthreaded. He grunted low in his throat. Oh, geez, I hoped it didn’t hurt.
Apparently, it did. As the string’s end tugged through the stitch marks, his grunt turned into a high-pitched squeal.
And then it was out. Snooze sat back on his haunches and licked his paw, looking particularly proud of himself.
My jaw dropped as Alfred opened his mouth for the first time and spoke. “Snoozer, you’re a complete asshole and you always have been!”
Everyone gasped.
It was a female voice!
“Aunt…” I clutched my chest, shocked to my core. “Aunt Winnie?”
We are so sorry about the cliffy! There’s just so much you guys are going to LOVE and most of it is coming in an Animated Midlife. We’ll be hard at work to get it out for you ASAP!
If you’d like to read more about Hailey and the vamps across the street, check out Fanged After Forty: Bitten in the Midlife. Hailey’s going to think her new neighborhood really sucks.
If you haven’t already checked, be sure to head on over to www.instagram.com/shiptonghoul. **insert cheezy grin here**
More Paranormal Women’s Fiction by Lia Davis & L.A. Boruff
Witching After Forty https://laboruff.com/books/witching-after-forty/
A Ghoulish Midlife
Cookies For Satan (A Christmas Story)
I’m With Cupid (A Valentine’s Day Story)
A Cursed Midlife
Feeding Them Won’t Make Them Grow (A Birthday Story)
A Girlfriend For Mr. Snoozleton (A Girlfriend Story)
A Haunting Midlife
An Animated Midlife
A Killer Midlife
Shifting Into Midlife https://laboruff.com/books/shifting-into-midlife/
Pack Bunco Night
Prime Time of Life https://laboruff.com/books/primetime-of-life/
Borrowed Time
Stolen Time
Just in Time
Magical Midlife in Mystic Hollow https://laboruff.com/books/mystic-hollow/
Karma’s Spell
Karma’s Shift
Karma’s Spirit
Girdles & Ghouls, A Halloween PWF Anthology http://www.books2read.com/girdles
Find more books by Lia Davis here: https://authorliadavis.com/
Find more books by L.A. Boruff here: www.laboruff.com
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Sneak Peek into a New Series coming soon
A bunny bit me on the finger and everything went sideways after that.
That’s just the beginning of my insane life. The Fascinators, the local ladies’ club, suddenly are incredibly interested in having me join their next Bunco night, which is a thinly veiled excuse to drink and gossip.
I’ve been dying to get into that group for years; why now? I’m over forty, my daughter is grown, and all I do is temp work. What’s so special about me?
After I shift into a dragon, things become clearer. They’re not a Bunco group. The Fascinators are a pack of shifters. Yes, shifters. Like werewolves, except in this case it’s weresquirrels and a wereskunk, among others.
And my daughter? She wants to move home, suddenly and suspiciously. As excited as I am to have her home, why? She loves being on her own. It’s got something to do with a rough pack of predators, shifters who want to watch the world burn. I hope she’s not mixed up with the wrong crowd.