All of the Voices by Bailey Bradford (little red riding hood read aloud txt) 📗

he’d…he’d…do something. Carlin waited, his heart still racing though not as bad.

Once he felt reasonably sure he was alone, or at least not going to be harassed by Conner or Aunt Mary or God only knew who, Carlin started the shower. He’d get cleaned up, then, if Matt was still fixing dinner, Carlin was going to call Severo and he and the ghost psychic were going to have a nice chat.

Chapter Eight

Matt stopped chopping up onions and cocked his head to the side. He could have sworn he heard Carlin talking to someone in the bedroom. Shrugging when he didn’t hear anything else, Matt resumed his odious task—he hated chopping onions but loved to eat them—only to hear what sounded like a yelp coming from the bedroom. Setting the knife down, he rushed to the bedroom and opened the door just as he heard the shower come on. He walked over and tapped on the bathroom door, and that was definitely a yelp he heard then.

“Carlin, are you okay?” Matt called out as he tried the door knob.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Carlin said. “You just startled me. All this talk about ghosts has got me kind of jumpy.”

“You don’t say,” Matt mumbled under his breath before speaking louder so Carlin could hear him. “If you’re all right, I’ll get back to dinner.”

“You do that. I’ll be out in a few minutes, then I’d like to call Severo if you think Laine wouldn’t mind.”

“He’ll be fine with it. See you in a few.” Matt left the bedroom and went back into the kitchen. He walked over to the cutting board and a bolt of panic shot through him. The onion was chopped into perfect tiny bits, just like he preferred them to be.

Matt grabbed the knife and turned to put his back to the counter as he looked around the room. Finding no one hidden behind any of the appliances, Matt checked the living room next.

His skin prickled as a sensation like a weak electrical current rippled over him. Something brushed over his short hair, and Matt yelped and nearly dropped the knife. “Shit! Cut it out!”

The odd sensation stopped and Matt glared around the room. Then he remembered Carlin’s yelp and wondered what had caused it, and why Carlin wanted to talk to Severo. Well. They were going to have a talk of their own first.

Matt went back into the kitchen, glad his legs held up since they felt quivery. He looked around and saw nothing else had been messed with, then he proceeded to finish making dinner. By the time Carlin strolled into the kitchen, the enchiladas were baking in the oven and Matt was seated at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Carlin smiled nervously and Matt pointed at the chair across from him. Once Carlin was seated Matt passed him the full cup of coffee. Before Carlin could take a sip, Matt casually asked him, “Did anything happen in the bedroom you want to tell me about?”

Carlin’s eyes widened and he set the coffee cup down.

Matt took that for a yes and continued. “Maybe you had a visitor or two? I heard you yelp, pretty much like I did after I came back in here, found the onion I’d left on the cutting board chopped up, then had something decide it’d be funny to play with my hair. I didn’t catch a single hint of oatmeal raisin cookies, though, so I don’t know who or what it was that decided to pay me a visit. That’s what made me yelp. What was your adventure?”

Carlin swallowed audibly then lifted the coffee cup back up and took a long sip. He set the cup back on the table then clasped his hands together beside the cup.

“Well, you said I could look Severo up, so I did, then my laptop went wonky and the keys started moving like someone was tapping them, then—” Carlin took a breath and glared at some point past Matt’s shoulder. “Then a blank document opened up on its own, and presto, a message from, uh, I think it was from Conner, appeared.”

Matt leaned back in his chair as he listened. He was familiar with Conner’s antics. His spirit hadn’t gone away once Laine was safe. No, Conner still hung around, teasing Laine and scaring the occasional person Conner seemed to dislike.

“What did Conner say?”

Carlin finally looked at him. “You believe me? About it happening, and about it being Conner?”

“Sure.” Matt shrugged and tried to set Carlin at ease. “Conner can be a prankster. He still likes to play with Laine’s badge and knock his hat off. Laine pretends to be irritated, but I think he likes having Conner around, and Severo doesn’t mind. He says he and Conner would have been great friends in life, but they can still have some fun even though Conner’s deceased.”

“He slapped me on the ass!” Carlin blurted out then promptly turned a cute shade of pink.

Matt laughed before he could stop himself. “I’m not laughing at you,” he said, needing to reassure Carlin, “It’s just Conner does the same thing to Severo, and Laine snarls and Severo does this purring thing that only eggs on Conner and Laine both. Laine’s office ends up looking like a tornado is in there—papers swirling in circles like you can’t imagine. Then Laine ends up laughing and Conner stops, like that was his goal all along. It’s funny, once you get passed being terrified.”

Carlin looked kind of terrified now.

“I’ll, uh, just check on dinner. Laine and Severo are number one on my speed dial if you still want to talk to Severo.” Matt pushed his chair back and rose, keeping an eye on Carlin. It wasn’t until Matt opened the oven that Carlin finally spoke.

“I think I’m still going to call Severo. Maybe he can tell Conner not to slap my ass or mess with my laptop. That shit is not funny.” He stood and left the kitchen just