Losing Hope | {BOOK 4}

11| Shapeshifter

As I was wandering around upstairs, I found a book on a bookshelf near the chalk outline of Stan's body that matched the cross I'd taken from Dean. Pulling on the book, a hidden door appeared in the bookcase. Pulling out the key, I unlocked the door and entered the passageway, picking up a rope and pipe. Turning on my flashlight, I looked around what appeared to be an attic. There was a rolled up rug with feet sticking out of one end, but before I could move toward it, there were footsteps behind me.

"Ellie?" Olivia asked.

"Olivia?"

"Thank God. I thought you were him."

"Him- who?"

"Phillip, the butler. He locked me in here because I wouldn't lie to the detective about what I saw."

"What did you see?" I asked.

"I saw him roll Collette's body in a rug," she replied.

"Clown college Collette? The butler killed her?"

"No, no. He just- he just hid her," Olivia corrected me.

"Then who killed her?"

Olivia swallowed, looking scared.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I saw it with my own eyes."

"Let me guess- Lance's ghost."

"No- Bunny's."

When Olivia got back to where everybody was, Sam was playing cards with Heddy and Beverly and Dean was sitting with Maddie and Zep on the couch. They both came over to me, Dean letting Zep lean against Maddie.

"Hey," Sam greeted me when they came over. "So?"

"Either of you seen the butler?" I asked.

"No, why?" Dean asked.

"'Cause if anybody has answers, it's him. We're dealing with two vengeful spirits. Apparently Aunt Bunny had a bee in her bonnet as well."

"Uh, husband and wife tag-team killer ghosts?" Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Could be us in the future," Dean joked. "Got to keep the marriage alive somehow."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," I rolled my eyes. "The key is to a hidden attic."

"Why would Bunny want Bobby to have a key to her attic?"

"I don't know. It gets weirder. I found Olivia and Collette locked inside."

"Clown college Collette?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, but she ain't studying balloon animals. She's dead."

"Now what does the butler have to do with this?" Sam asked.

"He's the one who locked them in there. Now, I don't know why, but he's covering for these spooks. He's acting like their Renfield."

"Alright, we gotta find him," Sam said. "I'll take upstairs, you two stay down here."

"Alright."

Sam disappeared back in the direction I came from.

"I'll stay with them if you want to look around," I told Dean, nodding to Maddie and Zep.

"Sounds good," he nodded, kissing me before exiting the room.

⁘

It turned out, we weren't dealing with a ghost, we were dealing with a shapeshifter. Maddie had fallen asleep beside her brother, so I left them in the billiard room with the others while I went to go help Sam and Dean track down the shifter. Phillip ended up dead, which is how we figured out it was a shifter. After clearing everyone, Olivia found the detective drowned in the toilet.