Grim Grim Grinning Ghosts

Out of The Woods

Chapter Two-Grim Grim Grinning Ghosts

When Jacob returned home, I could tell he was preoccupied. He dropped his keys on the small little table in the hallway and then he appeared in the doorway to the living room. I had tucked my legs beneath me on the couch and was in the midst of reading a book. I quickly put it down and jumped to my feet.
"I saw the news," I said biting my lower lip. "Is that what's bothering you?"
Jake sighed and pulled off his suit jacket. He carefully slung it across the back of the chair and stood with a hand on his hip. He raised the other hand to his forehead and rubbed his temple.
"Yes," he said closing his eyes. His handsome features were twisted into a mask of anguish and anxiety; a look that did not suit him one bit. "But whatever killed that poor girl is still on the loose out there."
"Was it a rogue?" I whispered.
"No," he said shaking his head and eventually raised his eyes to meet mine. "That's what's bothering me. There was no scent there...nothing. I have no idea what could've done this."
I hugged myself and felt a shiver run down my spine. If Jake had no idea what killed her, then something was wrong.
"Hey," he said softly coming over to me and gently taking my elbows. "I won't let anything happen to you; you know that. We'll get to the bottom of this I promise."
I nodded but kept my eyes off to the space beside him not wanting to look him in the eyes. I felt him gently take my chin between his index finger and thumb and tilt my face up forcing me to look into his eyes.
Eep! My mind screamed.
"Try not to worry okay?" he said softly studying my expression.
I swore he looked more and more like he stepped off the cover of GQ. He could've actually gone into modeling he just had that look about him and a certain je ne sais quoi. But he'd decided that he'd wanted to get into law enforcement. His parents were pretty supportive of him and his choices. His mother was in a nursing home on the edge of town. She was a werewolf too--the whole family was as he had been born into it. Most are thrown into it from a bite or scratch. If you are born into it, you are pretty much able to control your transformations. While you're really supposed to morph during the full moon, there are some occasions when you can morph on non-full moon cycles. It's not really advised but those that are thrown into this 'lifestyle' tend to have a much harder time and end up going rogue.
I offered him a wan smile and gently pulled my chin from his grasp. I wrung my hands together as I returned to sitting on the couch.
I was honestly worried about him, but my conscience was telling me that he could most certainly handle himself. After a few moments, we relaxed and watched some TV. I felt my eye lids getting heavy. I felt myself slumping sideways. I felt my cheek hit the cool material of his shirt on his bicep. My eye lids got heavier and I eventually found myself dozing off and falling into a peaceful sleep.
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The next morning, I awoke to the warm sunshine on my face. I heard a soft snoring beside me and realized I'd fallen asleep against Jacob. I quickly sat up, feeling the heat creeping into my cheeks from embarrassment. I had hoped I hadn't made any kind of noises during the night because that would traumatize me for life if he had heard them. He was asleep too, with his head against the back of the couch.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, which caused him to jump a mile. He ended up kicking the coffee table and let out a few choice curses and a hiss as he scrambled to his feet. He limped over to the front door and I heard it open.
"Hey partner, ready?" I heard his partner, Carlton's cheery voice.
"Come in," I heard Jacob say.
I heard footsteps on the hardwood floor and looked up. His partner was standing in the doorway, one shoulder leaning against the frame. He had his arms crossed across his chest with a knowing and smug expression on his face.
"Why what went on here?" he teased winking at me.
That only caused my cheeks to flush with color more as I sank into the couch and physically wanted to disappear at this point.
"Knock it off," Jacob muttered in slight irritation. "Nothing we just fell asleep together on the couch. Nothing more. I'll be right back."
"Suuure," Carlton sung in a mock tone but he was grinning broadly none-the-less. "Hey listen," he said to me. "You need to come along. The chief gave me instructions to bring Emma in."
Jacob had returned at that moment from a quick shower and a fresh suit and tie. He was just pulling on his tie when he had heard Carlton's statement.
"What? Why?" he demanded glancing at me before returning his attention back to his partner.
"I think it's because the Chief's not stupid mate," Carlton said frowning. "He noted the coincidence about the victim's appearance that matches Emma's."
"Okay," I said slowly getting to my feet. "Let me go change."
"Nah you can stay that way I won't mind,"
"You are such a horndog," I said rolling my eyes but I headed into the guest bedroom and changed into a pair of jeans, a pair of black ankle boots and a white poplin shirt. I quickly gathered my hair into a side braid and fastened it. I turned and hurried back out to meet Jacob and Carlton.

At the precinct, I sat in the chair in front of the Chief's desk. I had my hands clasped on my lap. Flanking me, were Jacob and Carlton.
"Alright," the Chief grumbled. "I'm sure you two are aware of the uncanny resemblance to Miss Coleman. (They nodded) So, I'm putting you two on guard duty. We don't know what's going on or if there is any connection here but I want to be safe than sorry."
"Right Chief," Carlton said in a serious tone.
The Chief turned to me and his expression softened slightly.
"Don't worry we'll get to the bottom of all this mess," he said and turned his attention onto the case file on his desk. "Dismissed."
We exited his office and I felt Jacob put a hand on the small of my back, leading me over to the chair. I sat down. Jacob sat down behind his desk. He began doing some filing. Carlton had headed over to his own. I looked around. The bullpen was busy. There was a soft murmur of chatter floating around from the police officers and detectives. Papers rustled, coughs went around and the good-natured banter. Phones rang off their hooks as well adding to the already hectic atmosphere. I reached up and tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear as I crossed my legs. I had my purse on the floor under Jacob's desk.
Suddenly, the air in the bullpen seemed to almost freeze. I tilted my head slightly and turned around. It was suddenly as though a chilly breeze had swept through. Papers fluttered to the floor on their own. I could hear puzzled and confused murmurs going around now. Filing cabinet doors were yanked open and the contents went spitting into the air. Several officers were now on their feet, completely alarmed and dare I say spooked.
"What on earth...?" I heard Jacob say slowly rising to his feet.
The phenomenon seemed to be getting closer to me. I dug my fingernails into the back rail of the chair. There was this palpable silence that hung in the air. At that point, something had grabbed one of the legs of the chair I was sitting on and yanked it out from underneath me. I landed on my hands and knees. I was just starting to get to my feet, when something grabbed my ankle. It felt like ice cold hands gripping me. The fingers dug into my skin as I suddenly felt myself being dragged across the floor. My leg was raised in the air by this invisible 'thing' as it pulled me along the bullpen.
"Emma!" I heard Jacob shout.
I screamed as several officers tried to grab my arms as I went by but to no avail. I could see the look of fear, anxiety and determination flashing across Jacob's face. Carlton was right behind him also.
Jacob made a dive for me and managed to grab my arms.
"Hang on," He instructed.
I gripped his forearm tightly. I felt bad that my fingers were digging into his skin through his shirt, but I hung on for dear life. I could feel whatever had my ankle give a fruitful tug, but due to Jacob's strength, eventually whatever had me let me go. The chaos in the bullpen had died down. My legs dropped to the floor as Carlton caught up to where we were. We had been inches from the front door. Jacob pulled me against him as he was on his knees at this point. I was too as I gathered a bit of his shirt in my hands and pressed my face into it. His arm wrapped around my shoulder and gently placed a hand on the back of my head. His other arm snaked around my waist.
"What the hell is going on?" I whimpered shutting my eyes.
Jacob was silent. I think he was at a genuine loss for words. His only response was to pull me tighter against him.
"Jake, look at her ankle," I heard Carlton whisper softly. I felt him gently touch my ankle. I slowly peeled my face away from the front of Jacob's shirt to look down at my ankle. There were four red finger prints on my ankle that were ice cold to the touch.
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Jacob decided to head the library and see if there were any occult books that might be able to help us identify what's going on. He found three books and now, sitting with him on the couch in his house, along with Carlton, we poured over them. My ankle felt like it had been dipped in an ice bucket. I was reading one book, Jacob had the second and Carlton had the last. I looked up at him.
"Are you...okay? Food wise," I said carefully meaning if he had taken enough blood to sustain him for a decent amount of time before having to 'refuel'.
"Yeah don't worry," he said grinning at me so that I caught a faint glimpse of his long canines. "If I bite you Jacob will kill me."
Jacob snorted at that but I knew that Jake would be good on his word.
"Here's something," I said suddenly sitting up right and handing the book over to Jacob. "It says something about a poltergeist."
"Hmm," Jacob mused looking over the article. "Even poltergeists leave some form of trace behind that I could pick up."
"Yeah," Carlton agreed nodding. "Vampire sense of smell is also very sharp. But I too, didn't pick up anything from the last crime scene."
"We have to keep looking," Jacob said handing the book back to me.
I nodded.
About another hour went by, and Jacob suddenly sat up straighter. By the look on his face, I knew he'd found something.
"What is it?" I asked leaning closer and peering over his arm at the book.
Carlton came over and stood next to the couch, bending over slightly.
"Uh oh," I heard him mutter under his breath.
"What?" I prompted looking from him to Jacob.
There was silence for a moment before Jacob spoke.
"It's something called a Veruct," he explained. "What that is, is a spirit working for someone. This person has the power or ability to help cloak that spirit's energy, which is why we couldn't pick up any residual scent of the ectoplasm. This person controls the spirit to track down targets and drag them to the underworld where they will stay permanently."
I was not liking where this was going at all. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as he continued.
"Someone has a vendetta against you," Jacob said skimming over the paragraph before closing the book. "I don't understand why, but we need to find this person and put a stop to this."
"Did you tick anyone off?" Carlton asked tilting his head to the side and placing his hands on his hips.
"Of course not," I said scandalized. "I'm just as shocked and confused as you are."
"Okay," he said calmly holding his hands up defensively. "I just have to make sure in case there are some leads that we could follow up on."
"But this definitely means she's going to need protection," Jacob said looking up at his partner. "They already tried to grab her once already today in broad daylight in the middle of the police station so we know whoever's behind this isn't afraid and has guts."
Carlton nodded. Jacob ran his hands over his face to shake off fatigue.
"I think it's time to get some shut eye," he said turning to his partner. "You're sitting outside to keep watch right?"
Carlton nodded.
"Yeah I'm taking the first watch," he said before turning his eyes onto me and giving me a mock salute. "Night Ems."
"Night," I said softly.
Jacob put the books on the coffee table and turned to me.
"Try and get some sleep," he said. "I know its hard but definitely try."
I nodded and got to my feet, before turning and heading into the room.
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Now that we had an idea on what it could possibly be, that didn't make it any less frightening and scary. I had no idea who would want to hurt me like this or why. I generally got along with everyone or at least tried to. I couldn't wait to find out who was the one behind this.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER.
It was a little frustrating having two 'baby sitters' still but I knew it was for a good reason. Jacob understood my frustration and grumblings. I hated sometimes snapping at him and would often apologize the moment I realized I'd done it. It was just the pressure of the unknown that was really bothering me at this point.
I was standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror running a brush through my hair. I stared at my own reflection. There were slight dark circles under my eyes as I hadn't been sleeping well at night. My cheeks were still naturally rosy and my eyes had this dull light in them. As I continued to brush my hair, I noticed that my reflection seemed to have stopped following my movement. I stopped brushing too, staring at it as fear crept into my chest. My reflection's expression changed too to this sinister smirk.
"You like the attention you're getting from Jacob aren't you?" It asked in an odd gravelly voice as though it had been underwater for a long period of time. "Yeah...you are. You just want to sleep with him. You're curious. He wouldn't want to sleep with you though. He thinks you're revolting."
I shut my eyes willing the image to go away. I counted to five and opened my eyes again. My reflection was still there but then, the glass shimmered and rippled like the surface of a pond. At that moment, a decaying hand shot out from the center and tried to grab me. I let out a cry and stumbled back.
My reflection cackled in the mirror before I heard Jacob's shout. I heard a knock on the door.
"Ems are you okay in there? I heard you cry out," I heard his voice on the other side of the door filled with concern.
By now the glass in the mirror had returned to normal as though nothing had happened. I cleared my throat and slowly got to my feet.
"Yes I'm fine," I called as I slipped past the sink and opened the door. "I just saw a spider crawling down the sink. Sorry I scared you." I offered sheepishly hoping he would buy the lie, but I didn't think so. He was too smart. He only frowned but said nothing more.
Just then, his cell phone rang. He remained standing in front of me and reached into his pocket.
"Detective Wilson here," He said and then was silent. I saw a look of shock and surprise flitter across his face. "Are you sure?" (another pause) "Alright. I'll be right there." He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket. I looked at him puzzled.
"Apparently, there's been another murder," he said studying me intently. "This time, it's a young girl."