Dead City Read Online Free Page B

airbrushed on the doors.
    The two eponymous women emerged from either side, and Ashley left the safety of her car to introduce herself. They were younger than she expected, but looked exactly how she pictured them; skinny, long black hair, naturally pale to the point of essentially being goth without trying. They were wearing white t-shirts and black overalls with name tags sewn on the lapels.
    “You're Ash?” the first sister asked.
    “Yeah, you're...”
    “I'm Hannah, she's Anna”
Ashley was confused.
    “Your name tag said Anna.” she said.
    “Shit.” said Hannah, turning to Anna. “We did it again...”
    “Fucksticks. This shouldn't happen so often. We should sew our names on them or something!”
The ExorSisters laughed, Ashley smiled politely, not finding her situation funny.
    “This the house?” said Hannah, indicating to the building they had parked up in front of.
Ashley looked up at the house and nodded. The curtains were drawn at all the windows, and she found herself feeling uncomfortable, trapped outside the home she once loved.
    “Keys?” asked Anna.
    She handed them over and watched as the two dainty women opened up the doors of their van, pulling out flight cases that looked heavier than the two of them put together. Once all the gear was out, they pushed the cases to the door and Anna inserted the key.
    “You coming in with us?” asked Hannah.
Ashley shook her head, remaining by the van.
    “Here we go...” said Anna, turning the key and pushing the door open.
A soft squeal whined out as the hinges reticently stretched their mouths wide.
    “Looks good so far...” said Hannah, giving a smile back to Ashley, who still wasn't convinced.
Anna took a step towards the threshold of the door and was rewarded with it slamming into her face, her nose exploding with blood.
    “Jesus!” shrieked Ashley, as Anna took some steps back, hand at her nose.
    The ExorSister turned, decorating the garden with a rain of bright crimson.
    “S'fine!” said Anna, putting her head back. “Happens all the time.”
    “Told you we should've worn crash helmets on this one.” said Hannah.
    “Little late for that now...” muffled her sister, blood snaking its way down through her fingers as it heeded the call of gravity.
She reached back for the key and turned it again, the door squealing as it opened inwards, and took a step beyond the threshold. Again, the door came for her, but this time she blocked its path with a steadfast boot.
    “Nice try, Casper.” she said, wiping her hands on her overalls and turning to Hannah. “See, this is why black is a good colour for overalls – clients never see how much you bleed.”
    “Apart from when you're actually bleeding in front of them...” said Hannah.
    “Apart from then, obviously.”
    Anna pushed the door open and held it as Hannah started wheeling the cases inside. When they were all done, Hannah beckoned Ashley to join them as her ExorSister set up the instruments. She refused, but the woman insisted on at least fetching her some clothes and letting her change in the back of their van whilst she waited for them to get the lay of the land inside her former home.
    Half an hour later they were up and running, spectre-scopes and EVP detectors in every room sending signals back to the base-camp they had set up in the hallway.
    Ashley watched from the garden, kicking at the dried blood on the path, wondering if it would stain and lower the price of the house, then wondering if she cared. The ExorSisters walked out and joined her in the garden to give her a summation of their findings thusfar.
    “Well, we have good news and bad news...” said Anna.
    “Both are kinda bad, but there's good sides to one.” added Hannah, swiftly being nudged by her sister to shut up.
    “So what is it?” Ashley asked.
The ExorSisters looked at one another.
    “It's a poltergeist alright, but not your average poltergeist.” said Anna. “Usually poltergeists are multiform, in