A Ghoulish Midlife (Witching After Forty #1) - Lia Davis Page 0,28
occupied for a while.” I paused as he took the remote and quickly figured out how to use it. “This is your room. You are free to roam the house. My room is at the end of the hall. I’m not a morning person so don’t wake me before noon.”
He nodded as he sat on the end of the bed and flipped through the movie choices. I wondered if I should put a parental block on his account. Then I shook my own head. He had obviously been a grown man when he died. Or was he created?
Damn I needed to find out more about Alfred and his origin. But I’ll deal with all of that tomorrow.
“I’m going to bed,” I said. “Knock on my door if you need me. And remember not to go downstairs when the workers are here.”
After he nodded to let me know he heard me, I went downstairs to grab my dinner. I hadn’t given Alfred a tour, but I’d had all I could take of this day. I grabbed a soda out of the fridge and took my food upstairs, then locked my bedroom door.
Then I dragged my dresser in front of it. The last thing I needed was some creepy ghoul coming into my bedroom in the night while I was sleeping.
Ugh.
Pulling out my phone, I sent Wallie a quick text. Hey Wal Wal, love you bunches! If you have a spare minute in between your studies can you research if there’s any true witch hunters out there?
He must’ve had his phone right in his hand because he replied immediately. Like Buffy?
Rolling my eyes, I chuckled at my boy’s sarcasm. Non-fiction. Just if you can, sweetie.
Sure, ILY.
I didn’t have to look up what that acronym meant. I hated text-speak, but I used it sometimes to make my son happy. ILY2
Chapter Nine
After scarfing down my burger and fries, I sighed. No way I was going to bed anytime soon. My mind was running a marathon with all the crap that happened today.
My phone beeped, alerting me of an email.
Spam. As usual.
While I had my phone in my hand, I contemplated calling Sam. He could help me figure out what in the world to do with Alfred. The ghoul had said he didn’t want to be released from his fleshy half-life, but I didn’t know jack about ghouls. Was he a real person? Did he have a personality or a soul? I had no idea.
I pressed the buttons to call Sam and put it on speaker, then rethought my actions. If I talked on speaker, Alfred might hear things I didn’t want him to. I wasn’t sure how aware he really was. He seemed able to answer questions, but did he have memory?
So many questions.
“Hello?” Olivia chirped in my ear.
Ugh. She was the last person I wanted to talk to after the day I had. “Hello, Olivia.” Why was she answering Sam’s cell? “Is Sam around?”
“No, he’s on duty. He forwards his calls to me when he’s working.”
Lucky me. I wondered if she could hear my eyes rolling.
“Can I help you with something?”
Pretending to gag silently as she spoke, I shook my head. “No, I was just hoping to run something past Sam.” But then it occurred to me. Olivia was the town's busybody. If anyone knew who the new necro in town was, it would’ve been Olivia. “Actually, there is one thing. Have you seen a guy around town, tall, kind of greasy? He’s got shoulder length black hair and looks like a total creeper. He said his name was Owen Daniels.”
Olivia went quiet. “I’ll be there in five.”
The line went dead. “Um,” I said to the phone. “No?”
Shit! Why did Olivia have to attach herself to me like an unwanted ghoul? I already had one of those. I scrambled off the bed and shoved the dresser out of the way. “Alfred,” I called as I yanked the door open.
I stopped short and found him standing on the other side with one of his weird hands raised. His facial expression couldn’t really change, but his eyes had widened. He looked surprised and more than that, I felt surprise coming off of him.
Damn this town! I didn’t want to start divining the emotions of ghouls. “Were you about to knock?”
Nod.
“Did you need something?”
He stared back at me as if he didn’t know how to express what he wanted. I didn’t have time at the moment to play charades with a ghoul.
“Can it wait?”
Another nod.
“Well, you’ve