Chapter Three
Jeff looked all around as his friend ran off towards the restroom. He walked and looked in every shop at every person. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, and no one saw him. He walked the entire mall and noticed all the shops were open except for the three. A trendy clothing store was closed for renovations, but it was in a different wing. Two shops in the wing he disappeared in were closed. A punk accessory shop, which had a coming soon banner in empty shop windows. The other shop had white paper taped up over the windows and glass doors so you could not see inside, Fortuness was the shop name. As he neared Fortuness he heard something inside, so he walked through the glass wall and looked at an old woman. Eartha Mandell narrowed her eyes at the intruder. Jeff was relieved someone could finally see him, even if they weren’t happy about it. He exclaimed, “You can see me!” Eartha moved her dark messy curls back into a bun held in place with a pencil she picked up off the counter. She looked like a gypsy woman, it was what she called her best prop. The truth was she was half native American Indian half Canadian, and she had always been able to see “Spirit Walkers”. She did not speak back to the boy, she knew better than to speak to the dead. The real dead. People paid her to put on a show, a show of mystery steeped in knowledge. They came to ease their consciences, and eliminate their fears and anxiety. She was more like a psychologist or therapist than anything else. She gave her advice, using various props and potions. Available for sale in the lobby, of course. Jeff moved in front of the woman who unpacking boxes and ignoring him. “Why wont you talk to me?” Eartha continued moving around her new shop, placing things where she wanted them. This boy was not the first nuisance to bother her, she would outlast him just as she did all the others. Over time they give up seeking attention and go away. She only hoped this wouldn’t be like last time. Last time was terrible. She had set up shop in the southern state of Louisiana, and had a great following. Many people came from miles around just to see her. Just to seek out her advice. Then the “Spirit Walker” came in. He tried to get her to speak to him, to acknowledge him. She would not. For several months he would hang around her shop, knocking things over. Then things began to escalate when he saw her using props and pretending to speak to the dead for loved ones. He went poltergeist and she had to move, he was chasing off her costumers. Not this time though. Eartha spent all her resources finding out how to rid the physical domain of spirit presences.Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141