The Book Waitress (Book 1, The Book Waitress Series) by Deena Remiel Read Free Book Online

things, shouldn’t they?”
    “Here it is!” He pulled out a small LED flashlight and pushed the on button. “Oh, good. It still works.” He quickly put his menagerie back in his bag and stood up.
    “Good, you can go on your own . ” She ushered him onward. “ Not too fond of darkness.”
    “Is that so? I’m surprised to hear you say that given the fact you interact regularly with the ghosts around here.”
    “Ghosts are one thing. Let’s just say darkness and I go way back and leave it at that.”
    “Okay then, here we go, down a flight of stairs, to the deep, dark basement of horrors.” He walked down a couple of steps like a limping hunchback.
    “You’re a regular riot. A laugh a minute.” She swatted him playfully on his arm.
    “ And I’m here all week.” He winked.
    “All kidding aside, I have no idea what’s down t here, so be careful. I don’t even know if there is another light switch.”
    “No worries, Camille. Come on. ”
    “What? You mean you want me to join you? Down there?”
    “Yes, I thought you might be intrigued to see where those ghosts spent their last days as people. And maybe you could help me look for evidence.”
    “Well, I…I guess I could. ” She nibbled on her pinky fingernail. “ I mean what harm could it do? And I have been wondering about that couple.”
    “Then it’s settled.” He peered at her resolutely and reached for her hand, grasping it in his strong, seemingly capable one.
    They journeyed down the steep wooden staircase in silence. She had no idea what swirled around in Derek ’s mind . He said he was an investigative reporter. Did he do stuff like this all the time? Sneaking into places could be a regular past time of his if he needed to get to the truth of a story. The idea intrigued her.
    Curiosity had gotten the better of her and was why she followed him down those stairs. It’s one thing to have a knack for memorizing everything on the written page, and quite another to experience those very things first-hand. She’d never done anything like this before . With her parents gone and her life in a shambles, tonight seemed like a good time to start an adventure.
    “We’re at the bottom. Let me see if there’s a … yup. There’s a switch. Let there be light!”
    The expansive room flooded with light. They stood for a moment perfectly still and quiet. Camille didn’t know exactly what she expected, but the floor was piled high with boxes and old, broken pieces of furniture. A maze of pipes and wires, attached to the low ceiling, created dizzying designs. G urgles and pings reminded her o f her old house on the mainland .
    “Rather anti-climactic, isn’t it?” Derek quipped.
    “ So where do we start to look for evidence of satanic worship?”
    “There are symbols and objects that are frequently used. I would look to the floor first for a ny faint drawings of pentagrams , inverted crosses, and odd line drawings or scrawls . See if there are any candlewax remnants they may have missed scraping up. I have a black light. That’ll show me if blood, old or new, is present.”
    “Okay, do you want to split up then? You with your black light and me with my eyeballs?”
    “That sounds good. We’ll cover more ground that way. If you’re unsure about something, just call me over. I’ll go this way. ” He pointed left.
    “All righty. See you in the middle, then.”
    She smiled and began her trolling. Nothing unusual struck her as she scrutinized the cement floor and carpet tiles that lay strewn abo ut. Splotches of color were simply dried paint drippings around a few rusty cans. Sheets covered a few small tables. S he held her breath, a s a wicked imagination got the better of her. S lowly , she peeled each one away to peek underneath. Expecting to see a sacrificial altar with animal bones or something just as freakish , she let out a relieved sigh and laughed out loud when all she saw were metal book ends.
    “Hey, Camille! I found something!”