The Edge Of The Cemetery by Margaret Millmore Read Free Book Online

had found was a dream interpretation: if someone dreamed of glasses, it was supposed to represent a clearer view of a problem or situation—we assumed, as ghost killers, we could see a problem that no one else could. Billy thought it was all a stupid waste of time, and as far as she was concerned, if the clothes looked old and they were wearing round-rimmed glasses, she stabbed them with her chopstick, they swirled away into a grey mist, and that was the end of it. I, on the other hand, liked to know the power of the ghosts and demons, and their clothes were a direct indication of how long they'd been dead, which also gave me an idea of how much power they'd amassed.
    “Do tell, dear, what was he wearing?” Justine asked excitedly, and Billy rolled her eyes and moaned audibly, which netted her a slap on the wrist by Justine. “Billy dear, don't be rude. You know that I enjoy learning about these devils, especially their clothing.” She winked at me and I described our musketeer clothed demon.
    After I finished my description of the ghostly garments, Justine asked, “What about Frederick's papers? I believe you said that Mr. James has been studying them. Has he found any references to this young man? I would think a ghost killer of this boy's caliber would have been on Frederick's radar.” Justine was referring to Phil…as I mentioned earlier, he'd been assisting the Watchers, and one of his new duties was to attempt to decipher Vokkel's notes and journals.
    I shrugged. “I know he's been working hard on it, but I'm not sure he's had time to search them for references to the kid. I'll check with him when we talk this afternoon.”
    A few hours after Frederick Vokkel's death, Aris had sent four men to his house. Since we knew that Vokkel had a home security system and assumed there would be a safe, our guys went prepared, bringing along two professionals—a security systems hacker and a safecracker. The Watchers have an eclectic group of associates who usually don't ask questions as long as the price is right. They were able to infiltrate the house and safe without leaving a trace, unless of course, you counted the absence of Vokkel's papers. Vokkel had dedicated his life to the phenomenon that is our world, and we were hopeful we'd find something useful. They left with a stockpile of boxes containing unorganized research notes and journals. Vokkel was a madman, and his writings were reflective of that. He preferred his own version of code and shorthand, some of which Phil had managed to decipher, but there was still some that he'd made no headway on whatsoever.
    Vokkel had started out as a garden variety shrink. At some point he was exposed to several patients experiencing a form of anomalistic psychosis and it fascinated him, so much so that he focused his research on these types of patients and their disease. He discovered that the paranormal delusions weren't delusions at all, nor were they the result of mental illness. These people actually saw ghosts, and they could kill them. It turned out that Vokkel had latent paranormal abilities of his own, but he had no control over them. All of this led him to another discovery; not all ghost killers were alike. Some were more powerful and could communicate with the more powerful ghosts and demons. This discovery prompted him to open a “school” in Switzerland that wasn't much better than an institution, and that was where he met Billy's grandmother and my mother. We knew from the journals that the school started out small and he expanded as he came across more and more people who exhibited paranormal abilities, including two longaevus, Edgar and Anne, half-siblings that became his protégés and did his bidding.
    Eventually Vokkel closed the Switzerland school down and moved to San Francisco, primarily to be near Grandma Billy, because she was by far the most powerful ghost killer he'd ever encountered, aside from my mother. Knowing that the type of power Grandma