Kayla stopped walking and turned to face Liv. Her hands flew to her hips and she spoke sharply. "I am not moody! And I’m certainly
not
a baby."
Liv stopped as well, then stepped backwards so that several people who were scurrying up the street could pass between them. She pinned Kayla with a glare. "I didn’t
say
you were."
The scowl on Kayla’s face was replaced by a tense, worried look.
Oh, shit.
"I… uh… I just— "
"You read my mind," Liv said evenly.
Kayla cringed. "I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to." Her heartbeat sped up.
This is where things go all to hell and I get accused of spying on her thoughts.
I’ve got to learn better control! I—
"I was just walking along and the thought popped into my head."
Liv chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, fighting the urge to get good and pissed off. Then her better judgment took over and she sighed. "Did you do it on purpose?" she asked, already fairly certain of the answer and hating the poorly veiled anxiety she saw in Kayla’s eyes.
"No!" Kayla moved forward in reflex, needing to close the gap between her and Liv. She looked around self-consciously to see if anyone was staring. "No," she repeated a little more quietly as her eyes met and held Liv’s. "I swear."
There was an intensity to Kayla’s answer that made Liv’s heart ache and she gentled her gaze.
Time to start working on this. For both our sakes.
She reached out and took Kayla’s hand. "Relax, will ya? I’m not mad."
The dark-haired woman remained warily silent.
Liv sighed again. "You might need to remind me of this every once in a while, but I really shouldn’t get mad at you for something you didn’t intentionally do. Okay?"
Kayla blinked dumbly at Liv. She couldn’t have heard her right. "You-you shouldn’t?"
"No," she told her seriously, "I shouldn’t."
Who did this to you?
"Honey, I’m not going to blame you for something out of your control." A smile tugged at her lips when she saw Kayla’s face begin to relax.
That’s it, love.
"Unless I have PMS." She grinned recklessly. "Then you’re screwed." Liv’s words where greeted with a tiny burst of laughter from Kayla that was equal parts happiness and relief.
I am so lucky. I’d better not fuck this up.
Kayla looked at Liv with utter affection "Thank you," she said simply, still a little dumbfounded, but not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"You’re welcome."
You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. We’re going to talk about this… just not in the middle of the sidewalk.
"So," Liv deftly steered the conversation in another direction as they began walking again, "were you surprised that Bridget was still alive?"
Kayla willingly allowed herself to be distracted and her brows knitted as she thought. "I guess not," she finally decided. "I know it’s all fantastic, nearly too much to believe. "But deep down inside I had this niggling suspicion that their story wasn’t quite over yet."
Liv tucked an errant lock of fair hair behind her ear. "Mmm," she acknowledged with a small nod.
Kayla carefully guided them around a tall postcard stand and a pack of student tourists. "You?"
Liv took several steps before answering. "Oh… Well, the same as you, I guess." She didn’t feel comfortable sharing with Kayla that her stomach had been in knots until Badger made it very clear that Bridget had survived the cliff. There was something indefinable about Bridget Redding that reminded her of Kayla. It went beyond the obvious physical similarities, touching on subtle, emotional elements that Liv found undeniably interesting as well as attractive. She thought about that for a moment and Kayla’s over reaction a few minutes ago.
Maybe there is something about this story that stirs something in us both. Maybe.
* * *
Liv and Kayla turned off the Royal Mile and began winding their way through the Gothic streets of Old Town. Within a few moments they were standing in front of the Keith House, a tall, narrow three-story structure that had clearly undergone recent renovations. The centuries of chimney smoke that stained so many buildings from that time period, and added significantly to their eerie mystique, had been scrubbed clean.
Though Liv would always associate Gothic architecture with the Adams Family and consider it ‘classic horror film spooky’, the Keith House, at least its exterior, already had a less haunting feel than many others she’d seen. It retained the beauty of the era without the foreboding. Which was odd, Liv considered. Since
this
was thehouse they were about to investigate for… She couldn’t remember what Kayla had called it exactly, but it had some long, technical name that had to do with blood and the paranormal. Not that it mattered. Liv’s mind had already settled on ‘some seriously spooky shit’.
There was no sign of the press and so Kayla eagerly trotted up the steps to the front door and inserted the key Glen had given her the day before. "Time to earn some money." Her excitement was clear and Liv tried to grasp hold of that and make it her own, disregarding some of the nervousness that had been building since they turned off the main road onto this lonely street. This was the start of a new career and she was bound and determined to push past her own silly fears and be of real use to Kayla.
The door to the Keith House was heavy but it opened without a sound.
They walked inside into a large foyer with high ceilings and freshly painted walls. Liv spun in a circle, taking in her surroundings openmouthed. "Wow."
Kayla nodded. "Wow. Not exactly what I was expecting."
"Me neither."
The house was completely empty. No furniture. No rugs. No paintings. Nothing.
Liv carefully crept a few paces deeper into the foyer. "Looks like Mr. Keith is going to do a little… all right, a
lot
of redecorating before his grand opening." Her quiet words sounded unusually loud in the hollow room. She poked her head around a corner, finding nothing but vacuous space. It was only early evening, but the house’s interior was already cast in long gray shadows that seemed to move with Liv as she walked. But more than that, it was deathly quiet. Silent as a grave.
Okay,
this
I don’t like.
"See anything interesting?"
"Yaaaaaaah!" Liv jumped at the low voice right by her ear. "Jesus, Kayla!" She whirled around to face her tormentor, laying her palm across her own chest and feeling the pounding heart. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Kayla bit back a smile and jerked her thumb towards herself. "Who me?" Puppy dog eyes blinked at her.
"Oh, no!" Liv’s eyes turned to slits. "Don’t give me that ‘I’m-too-cute-to-do-something-mean’ face. "
"Cute?" Kayla managed to sound mildly insulted at the idea. But her lips continued to twitch.
"You’re trying not to laugh, aren’t you?"
Think disgusting thoughts. I. Will. Not. Laugh.
"Of course not." The words were said soberly, but Kayla’s quivering chin betrayed her.
"Liar!"
"I’m… I’m…" Kayla dissolved into laughter.
Liv crossed her arms over her chest and whined, "It’s not funny, Kayla! You know I’m not used to this creepy stuff yet."
"Sure it is." Kayla continued to laugh, not stopping when Liv gave her a plastic smile. "Okay, okay," she conceded reluctantly. She grabbed hold of Liv before she could stalk out of the room. "I’m sorry."
Liv arched an eyebrow. "No, you’re not."
Kayla crossed her heart and held up three fingers. "I am. Honest."
Now Liv was holding back her own grin, delighted at the appearance of Kayla’s more playful side. "You know I’ll get you back," she informed her haughtily.
Two dark eyebrows shot skyward. "You can try, Liv."
Liv pinched Kayla’s flat stomach. "Ooo, I know when I’ve been challenged. Don’t think I’ll forget."
Kayla rolled her eyes, feeling very comfortable in her own environment. She loved her job. "I live in fear."
"Funny." But Liv smiled and stood on tiptoe to give Kayla a quick peck on the lips.
"Liv?"
"Hmm?"
Kayla’s face turned serious and she slowly grasped Liv by the shoulders as though she was going to shake her. She didn’t. Instead, she held her firm. "I need to give you your first lesson in paranormal research." Her voice dropped an octave. "This is
very
important."
Liv’s ears perked up and in the blink of an eye she was mirroring Kayla’s serious expression. "Okay, I’m listening."
"This will help you in almost any circumstance, no matter what you’re doing. I can’t tell you how many times this tip has gotten me out of deep, dark situations that make me shudder just to remember."
Eyes wide, Liv gulped.
"It’s something I don’t want you to ever forget." Kayla paused meaningfully. "Understand?"
A fiery blue gaze burned into Liv and the older woman promised solemnly, "I won’t forget."
"Good." Unexpectedly, Kayla let go of Liv’s shoulders, turned on her heel, and purposefully strode across the floor. When she reached the doorway, her arm shot out and with a tiny ‘click’ the room was cast in a warm, buttery glow. She spoke without turning around, her unseen, crooked grin a mile wide. "Turn on the lights."
Liv blinked. "Son of a—"
Kayla’s shoulders started to shake with silent laughter and then she was gone, off to find the equipment that was supposedly waiting for her.
Liv could hear the smug chuckles growing more distant as Kayla padded deeper into the house.
Ooo, I am so going to get her for smokin’ my butt that way
, she mused, with more than a hint of admiration."I hate you, ghostbuster," she called out.
"No, you don’t," came the sure reply.
Liv smiled to herself. "No. I guess I don’t," she muttered dreamily. She looked around again, almost casually at first. Then, she began to notice that with Kayla’s absence, the room’s silence had somehow become a little unsettling. Not too much. But enough that Liv’s gaze flickered around the room as she sought to reassure herself that everything was all right. That she was, indeed, alone.
She forced herself to relax and take a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "Get a grip, Liv."
Suddenly, she felt a cool rush of air that sent chills skittering across her skin, lifting the hairs on her arms as if a tiny current of electricity had shot through her. Then, as quickly as it had come, it disappeared. "Oh, boy." She shivered in pure reaction and began inching towards the door. "Hey, um… Kayla?" Liv picked up her pace. "Wait up!"
* * *
"Okay, another one in that corner." Kayla pointed, while Liv fished another infrared motion detector from the metal trunk and headed across the room.
She bit her tongue and her eyes narrowed slightly as she considered its exact placement.
I wonder….
"Kayla?"
"Mmm?" Kayla’s eyes remained trained on the detector in her hands. She gave it a little shake and the green activation light popped on. "Piece of—"
"What if I put it here instead?" Liv stepped sideways three long paces and put the small device on the ground, angling it between the doorway and where Kayla was crouched. "Then the beam should not only cross with yours but the one shooting in from the hall. We can avoid that gap you were complaining about before."
Kayla glanced up at the doorway to the hallway. She cocked her head slightly as she gauged the distance and angle. Her face broke into a proud grin. "Yeah, that should work." She gave a satisfied nod. "Great idea. I was just going to lay down another detector. Now we’ll have a spare for upstairs." The house had more rooms than Kayla had anticipated and she wasn’t pleased with the spotty coverage she was going to have to settle for in some places.
Liv grinned. "Cool." She stood up and dusted her hands off on her jeans. They’d been placing motion detectors, and video and sound recorders, around the large house for nearly three hours. It was pitch black outside and Liv could hear Kayla’s stomach growling from where she was standing. But they still had one final room to set up in before they were done for evening, the room where Mr. Keith had awoken to strange noises and a very gruesome sight.
Kayla stretched her arms high over her head. "I need to do some thermal readings next," she began idly. "But I think I’ll wait until tomorrow morning and see if we pick up anything strange tonight." She yawned. "This place is huge and hopefully it will focus us on where we need to test." Kayla grabbed the last three motion detectors and the rest of her video cameras. "Ready?"
Liv gave herself a quick, silent pep talk, then nodded. "Ready."
The Keith House’s master bedroom was enormous, taking up a full third of the second floor. The taller woman’s nose twitched as she entered the empty room and flicked on the light.
Again Liv was surprised. This room was not just empty, it was antiseptic. "Fresh paint." Even the door appeared new.
Kayla’s eyes darkened as she approached the mysterious wall, her sneakers silent on the bare floor. She had expected to see lurid streaks on the walls… Not this. "Dammit, Glen!" she exploded. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Liv joined her and lay a calming hand between her shoulder blades. Heat was radiating through her sweater.