The Ghost Hunter Chronicles - A Place of Nightmares Vol 1.

A Place of Nightmares - Epilogue.

We arrived at the Inn much to the delight of the O'Donnel's and half the country side!

After recounting what had happened since we all disappeared into the cellar, the owners of the Inn threw a celebration that might have lasted all night but for the wisdom of the two young bobbies who ordered everyone out at around eleven PM.

Maggie and Martin happily paid our fee and then some, and with at least a little trepidation returned to their new home with the two Cardinals as escort. Aiden and I couldn't bring ourselves to return.

We visited Jim Lonnigan at Devon County Memorial, he was much better and was sitting up and talking when we walked in. Aiden seemed delighted with his progress, but I still felt a tingle of unease when I sat beside him. Something was off, but it was subtle and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

We stayed at the Inn another night, and were visited by a very happy O'Donnel family before we left. Their gratitude balm for everything we had gone through in that place of nightmares.

They went on to have the most visited B&B in rural England, even being featured on the BBC show Most Haunted. No one had the heart to tell the Most Haunted team that the ghosts were long gone. Needless to say there were no incidents durning the filming. Much to the relief of a very nervous family.

At Macy's insistence the police were called to investigate the possible burial of children and patients of Rosenthorne Orphanage and Asylum. Whilst no bodies were found interred within the walls of the house, upon investigation of the gardens and grounds, the remains of at least fourteen children and five adults were found. All thought to be the victims of The Angel of Death, Diane Tweed.

Two bodies, Macy was sure belonged to that of James Oliver and McKinley Wagner were interred behind the Manor, in a belated ceremony by the O'Donnel family, as no living relatives of the orphaned youngsters could be found. Macy regularly brings them flowers and talks to them about her day. Never forgetting how they saved her life.

Aiden and I returned to the states. Our shopping on High Street forgotten. We wanted out of England and back to the States as soon as possible.

I went back to boring cases of broken lights and creeping floorboards.

Aiden asked his boyfriend to marry him and he said yes. I of course was asked to be best woman, naturally!

Father Jim Lonnigan has yet to return to the States. He resides at the Vatican under the care of the council. Something went wrong during our maligned stay in that basement. He needed specialist care.

They won't let us talk to him yet, but George and Ambrose keep us updated. I hope Jim will be home soon. I feel responsible, I wished I'd never gotten him involved. But as Aiden keeps telling me, even a Cherokee/Irish clairvoyant couldn't have seen what was coming.

I have to admit that every now and then I get the feeling we missed something. Sometimes I get the feeling of being observed, but nothing more. The only spirits visiting me at the moment were those of my Cherokee ancestors, helping to cleanse my soul and spirit of the evil that lurked for so long in Rosenthorne Manor.

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Three months later......................

The plane touched down at Philadelphelia Airport, at 12:00 noon October 31. A fitting date for Father Jim Lonnigan to return to the states. He caught a taxi back to the rectory. It was quiet and cool when he walked through the door. The other two priests now residing there out for the afternoon attending parish business.

Jim quietly put his suitcase on the floor, and looked around. He was afraid. All the months spent at the Vatican some one had been with him 24/7. He had suffered flash backs and panic attacks after the incidents in Devon. His dreams plagued by nightmarish visions of a yellow eyed demon clawing at his throat, trying to force it's way in.

At the Vatican Jim had been cleansed, nurtured and given specialist care. Round the clock doctors and psychiatrists. But none could know he still felt tainted, like something had been missed, something left behind from that night.

He swore he kept seeing something lurking on the periphery of his vision, just darting out of sight when he turned to face it. Feeling vulnerable and unprotected, Jim carried his things to his room. And then made his way across the lawn to the church. He would find safety and solace within it's walls. The scent of Bayberry candles and incense comforting. Nothing would dare touch him here.

He made his way up the ornate stone steps, sighed in relief and put his hand on the wrought iron handle. "Agh!" Jim cried and let go of the door handle. It burned him like fire.

"No, wait! What?" He gasped shaking his hand in pain and fright.

He gingerly tried again and this time was delivered an electrical shock. His heart began pounding in his ears. Panic was working it's way up from the pit of his stomach and stopping to give his heart a good old squeeze on the way by.

Something was wrong! He couldn't enter the church. God was not allowing him entry to the one place he knew he would feel safe. Suddenly he felt a shadow fall over him. He turned to face what he knew was leering down his back but nothing was there.

In blind terror and fear he rushed back into the rectory. He dashed into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. As he grabbed a towel to wipe his face he caught his own eyes reflected in the mirror above the sink. For a split second he could see something dark and nasty leering out at him from within his own depths. Something had hitched a ride with him. Back all the way from England. Lain dormant whilst he had been under the protection of the Vatican in Rome. Now it had him alone, now it was letting him know it was still here. Still riding him, still living deep inside.

That was when he stopped believing. His Faith wilting like dying flowers in a vase.

He still needed help, he needed a different kind of help, the power of the Vatican hadn't been able to stop this thing, but maybe some other power could. It was time to call Shania and Aiden. It was time to reconnect with his old friends, if anyone could help him, it was them.

Father Jim went to the office and picked up the phone, she picked up on the third ring, "Shania? It's Jim, we have a problem."

THE END - for now.

Stay tuned for the second book in The Ghost Hunter Chronicles, The Possession of Jim Lonnigan. Coming later in the year. Thank you for your readership and support and it means so much to me!

Work commences soon on my new series Jayde Midnight.