The Ghosts Of New Orleans (A PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND CONTAINMENT DIVISION (PRCD) CASE FILE) Read Free Page A

getting
several copies of these.”
    Eloise smiled.  She had a point. “So anything else?”
    “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot,” Sally said, “Local enforcement agencies have
us on their fax list; we’ve been getting some missing persons bulletins.”
    “I’m amazed they have faxing ability,” Eloise said, knowing that most
local law enforcement agencies were working out of makeshift headquarters with
little or no communication capacity.
    “Check the fax addresses,” Sally responded, “Some are from hotels and
other businesses, some are from home faxes – these guys are really doing the best
they can under pretty extreme circumstances.”
    She handed Eloise a half-dozen pages.  Eloise scanned them.
    “They’ve all been missing since the hurricane?” she asked.
    Sally nodded.  “In a couple of cases the person had taken the family car
back to retrieve some of their belongings.  They find the car – but can’t find
the person.”
    “They look to be all about the same age,” Eloise said.
    “Yeah, all young, pretty and missing,” Sally said, “Doesn’t sound good to
me.”
    “There are all kinds of scary things roaming around out there,” Eloise
said.
    “Yeah, and most of them have nothing to do with the supernatural,” Sally
agreed, “Speaking of which, you are scheduled for a rendezvous with Bert and
Ernie this evening.  There’s a small coastal town that was completely lost and
they need you to put things in order.”
    “I don’t think those two Marines would appreciate you calling them Bert
and Ernie,” Eloise said.
    Sally chuckled. “Well, as long as you don’t tell and I won’t tell –
they’ll never have to know.”
    Eloise nodded and then yawned.  She looked at the clock, it was nearly
six p.m.. “Okay – then I’m going to catch a nap before I have to go out. When
are they coming?”
    “Something hundred hours - I think in real language it was 8 p.m.,” Sally
said, turning back to the computer screen, “You nap; I’ll wake you up in plenty
of time.”
    Eloise moved back through the narrow hallway to her 6 x 8 foot sleeping
space.  She had a twin sized bed, a small dresser, a tiny closet and a small
folding table for her personal effects.  She unclipped her cell phone from her
belt, slipped off her shoes and stretched out on the bed. 
    She purposely did not allow herself to dwell on this afternoon’s encounter
with Andy.  Past experience had taught her that sleep would evade her if she
thought about it all.  Instead, she pictured herself driving through the
countryside of her hometown, Platteville, Wisconsin.  It was September and she
knew that the leaves would have started to turn.  She could almost feel the
cool breezes and smell the apples ripening on the trees.  As her mind drifted
and her body relaxed, she moved into a dream. 
    She was driving down the country roads, north, towards her favorite
spot in the Kickapoo Valley. The road was black and smooth.  The small towns
seemed to blur into each other as she drove by.  Occasionally she would see a
favorite restaurant or shop – but she noted that the doors were closed and the
windows boarded over.
    She came to the bridge that marked the entry to the Kickapoo Valley. 
The sand-bottomed river below the bridge was usually wide and shallow, and so clear
that you could see the white sand floor.  However, this time as Eloise drove
over the bridge, the river was swollen and dirty. 
    Looking further upstream, Eloise saw a large wave heading toward the
bridge.  As the muddy wave churned closer, she could see large tree limbs and
debris caught within the powerful surge.
    Panicked, Eloise turned the car around and punched the gas pedal for
speed.  At first the car did not respond. Eloise glanced back to the wave.  Now,
in the midst of the dark waters she could see faces, angry faces calling out to
her.
    Mesmerized, she watched as the wave came closer.  Finally, almost too
late, she realized the danger.