The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

close, they always were, and for some reason it seemed more serious here than it had in their apartment. There was just something fancy about playing chess in front of the glow of a stone fireplace. The royal purple walls added to the luxurious feel of the room, while modern furniture was a reminder of the world they left behind.

“I think I want to make this space more Victorian,” Clara said as she waited for Ezra to make his move. “I really want to lean into the old-fashioned aesthetic of the house. I saw some Victorian, purple paisley wallpaper that I’d love to put up. We could maybe tie it together with some vintage furniture.”

“Sounds like a thrifting day is in our future,” Ezra replied as he finally moved his knight.

“Risky,” Clara’s eyebrows raised. “But yes, as much as I love this house as is, I think it’d be good to get started on making some changes. Perhaps check out a few antique stores in town. I have a lot of ideas on what we could do with the place, and I’m anxious to get started. However, there’s more to it than that.

“I think there’s a negative impression of this house in people’s minds. Like, more so than I initially thought. Not only do some people think Lyla and Richard killed their children here, but at least one person thinks a ghost made them do it.”

“A ghost?” Ezra asked.

“A ghost.”

“Why would they think that?”

“I suspect it’s too shocking for them to come to terms with otherwise,” Clara said. “So, they’re making up a narrative that’s easier to cope with.”

“You don’t think there’s any truth to those rumors, do you?”

Clara looked up from her careful study of the chessboard to give Ezra one of those looks. “No,” she scoffed. “Do you?”

He shrugged. She looked back at the board and noticed her queen was missing. She froze. A chill touched on the idea Brittany planted. It couldn’t be…

“Are you sure?” Ezra asked. He laughed as he revealed her queen. She rolled her eyes as he placed it back on the board. “Because you looked a little spooked there for a moment.”

“There’s no such things as ghosts,” Clara replied. “The only thing we need to fear in this town are people’s superstitions.”

Clara won the chess game, so Ezra carried her up to their room like the victor she was. They got ready for bed, then crawled under the blankets together.

“I think you forgot something,” Clara said sweetly. Ezra groaned.

“I got the light last night,” he said.

“I won the game tonight though.”

The light switched off.

Clara and Ezra sat there in the darkness. They moved a little closer to each other, though neither of them would admit their fear.

“Very funny,” Clara said, keeping her tone lighthearted. She wasn’t sure how Ezra had managed it, but it had to be his doing. She chalked it up to him trying to scare her like he had with the chess piece.

“What are you talking about?” he scoffed. “I didn’t have anything to do with that. If you’re trying to get me to believe in the ghosts, you’re not doing a great job. You’re going to have to find another way to repay me for the chess trick.”

“It’s not funny,” Clara replied in a clipped tone.

“I didn’t touch it, Clara.”

They let it go, each believing it had to be the other person. They weren’t sure how they had done it, but the alternative was too much to believe.

15

“Do you believe in ghosts?” Ezra asked as he stood in the empty room that would be transformed into a café someday soon. He had come in here to think about how he’d like to set up the space. He’d have to buy furniture for it soon, and he had to decide if he wanted to change up the design or keep it as is. Lately it was difficult to plan anything though. His mind was frazzled and scattered off in a million different directions.

That day, though he tried to forget it, his thoughts kept going back to the night before. Though he was certain Clara was behind the light incident, he was still caught up on how she managed to do it. She was in bed with him when it happened. He knew she didn’t get up; he would’ve seen her. She must’ve have done it somehow and yet…

And yet she did seem irritated at him this morning when he insisted he didn’t do it. But he hadn’t done it, so she had to have done, right? Somehow. He didn’t know how, so he kept coming back to that. To the how.

His brain fumbled on a possible explanation, electric problems. Maybe there was something up with the wiring. It was an old house. That was a suitable explanation. He clung onto it. Yes. The wiring, it had to be the wiring. It was an issue of perfect timing and minds already filled with ghost stories.

“No,” Nathaniel scoffed. “Though I know a lot of people around here do. Do you believe in ghosts?”

“Nah,” Ezra said, shrugging it off. “I was only asking because Clara heard some stories from the people in the book club she’s part of now. Apparently at least one person in town thinks this house is haunted. They think ghosts played a factor in the murders of the children who lived here before us. The disappearance of the owners. Made me curious.”

“That isn’t too surprising. Most of the people in that club are a bit… eccentric. Creative. I think you have to be a bit imaginative to enjoy reading enough to join a book club, so it doesn’t surprise me that they’re making up scary stories to get them through the winter.

“We’re not all like that though, don’t worry. Most of us are rational. Practical. We must be to survive around here. Winters get brutal, and even those who seem like their heads are in the clouds have good heads on their shoulders. I wouldn’t worry too