Sinister Entity Read Online Free Page B

you, but I have no intention of getting you lunch.”
    Dr. Froemer pushed his glasses to the top of his head and smiled. His gaunt frame was lost amidst the plush leather chair. He had a trio of large textbooks perched on his bony lap and struggled to keep them from slipping.  
    “I’m so glad you stopped by, Eddie. I’m sorry about all that. You know how Danielle is always trying to force feed me. I thought she was coming back for round three.”
    Eddie sat opposite the doctor. “I think she got the hint. She was nowhere to be seen when I walked in.”
    “Hardest part about coming to work here. Everyone loves to eat.” One of the books dropped onto the floor and when he went to retrieve it, the other two fell as well. Eddie went over, picked them up and put them on his desk.  
    Dr. Froemer gave him a quizzical look.  
    “I’m a little hung over today. It’s best to do my light levitating manually,” Eddie said with a short laugh.  
    “Yes, I suppose you’ve done your share. It’s a damn shame you’re taking leave of us. Is there anything I can do to convince you to stay?”
    Eddie smiled. “I appreciate all you’ve done for me and despite how I may have reacted at times, I did enjoy this past year. I learned more about myself than I ever thought possible, which is all the more reason to leave now. Everything’s been about me. It’s time I went and thought about someone else for a change.”
    “You know, your father said the same thing to me when we had him here thirty years ago. What a talent. I wish there was a way to go back and work with your great-grandfather, D.D. Home. Like you, he absolutely vexed anyone who attempted to debunk his abilities. Did you know that Arthur Conan Doyle befriended him and was his biggest supporter?”
    “I sure do,” Eddie replied. It was a point of pride in the Home family that they were connected to such a legendary figure. Stories were passed down from one generation to the next. D.D. Home came out of the explosive spiritualist movement of the late 1800s. He spent decades bewitching and bewildering lay and professional people alike with a seemingly endless store of preternatural abilities. His faculties ran the gamut from ESP to levitation and talking to the dead. Every top scientist of the day had studied him. Not a single person had ever found anything that would lead them to believe his powers were anything but real. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a man whose interest in the paranormal was quite prodigious, found in D.D. Home the embodiment of truths greater than any known to man.
    Dr. Froemer huffed. “Of course you do. Never mind an old man who tends to tell the same stories over and over again. Your great-grandfather was the gold standard in parapsychology.” He raised a thin finger at him. “But you, you have all the potential to be the platinum.”
    “I wouldn’t go that far,” Eddie protested, embarrassed by the doctor’s sense of his worth.  
    “So, what’s her name?”
    Eddie shook his head, confused. “What do you mean?”
    Dr. Froemer laughed. “Men your age don’t make big moves unless there’s a woman involved. It’s what keeps the species alive.” A mischievous light danced behind his eyes.  
    Eddie reached into his back pocket and placed a printout on the desk. “And people say I’m the psychic.”
    “What’s this?”
    “The girl.”
    Dr. Froemer read the article. It had been posted by a now defunct paranormal team in Washington State. It described an entire Alaskan town disappearing seemingly overnight. There were rumors of multiple deaths. The catalyst may or may not have been an amateur ghost hunter and his family. It was one of the great, under-the-radar paranormal mysteries of the past twenty years. Four supposedly went to Alaska, and three made it out. One of them was a young girl. She should be just about twenty now.  
    “I take it you know this girl?” Dr. Froemer said.  
    “Never met her before. But I do have a very