Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Ghost of a Chance

A damaged detective, out of a job

A relationship on the rocks

What does the future hold for David Snow?

Just when he thought life couldn’t get any worse

A ghost with a grudge adds to his pain

A ghost, hell-bent on stopping him from rebuilding his life…

Halloween Excerpt from Ghost of a Chance

The basement door was easy to overlook; it looked like a cupboard. It opened easily, revealing a dark hole leading down into the bowels of the earth. I looked for a light switch, my hand searching where my eyes could not but found nothing.

As we made our way down the stairs in the dark, I used the torchlight on my phone to see the way. I found the light switch at the bottom of the stairs.

The air in the basement smelled old and musty, with the faint odour of tobacco. We were in a large room, set out like an office with an old desk and overflowing bookcases. An older leather armchair sat in the corner, surrounded by a neat stack of cardboard boxes.

Laurie must have read my mind, saying precisely what I was thinking.

‘Phew, thank God there’s no freezer, nowhere to hide a body….’

I kept my next thought to myself, maybe the body had been cut up and was in all those boxes.

A loud noise made Laurie jump and me shriek, which was when the light went out.

‘What was that? Snow, where are you?’

‘I’m here, Laurie. I don’t suppose you remember seeing any torches when we were here before?’ Stand still while I switch on my phone light.

The little light from my phone isolated us as we stood at the bottom of the stairs. I strained my eyes, trying to see the further corners of the room. It looked as it did moments ago but didn’t feel the same. Weird rustling sounds, creaking, and whispering came at me from all the corners of the room.

Laurie must have heard it, too, for she turned away from me. ‘I’ll look for a torch, shall I?’ And shot up the stairs like an athlete.

I wanted to follow her, but something kept my feet rooted to the floor.

The whispering came closer and seemed much louder. Something brushed against my face, and the image of a bat crossed my mind. This was unlikely, as there didn’t seem to be any access to the outside, something bats had to have.

I shone the light around the room again, and as it reached the leather armchair in the corner, the light flickered and went out, but not before I thought I saw someone sitting there.

I barely had the time to consider this when something shoved me.

I felt hands on my lower back, strong enough to cause me to stumble.

Instantly, my arms thrashed around, expecting to contact whatever had touched me, but I found no one.

‘Laurie, is that you?’

The room was silent; the creaks and the whispering had stopped as if waiting for someone or something to answer my question.

I tried to make my way up the stairs, but my feet refused to move.

I felt the hands on my back again, a growing chill spreading from the contact site. ‘Who are you?’

The whispering grew louder when the voice began to speak, creating a tornado of sound circling me.

‘You don’t need to know who I am, MR Snow. Get out of my house!’

When the shove came, it sent me flying across the room, and I found myself in the leather armchair, pinned down by the hands that sent me there.

Stunned and disorientated, I tried to make sense of what had just happened as I sat there. A flickering light appeared, bobbing up and down. Now what, I wondered, my rational mind not quite accepting any of this.

‘Snow, where are you? I found a torch; it’s a bit feeble but better than nothing.’ She shone the light around the room and found me sprawled in the armchair.

‘What are you doing? Don’t tell me you wanted a rest; what are you like?’

A small laugh escaped from my mouth as I thought about trying to explain what I thought had just happened.

I did my best to describe what had just happened to me. Laurie listened, but I wasn’t sure she believed everything I said. We agreed that we were trying to help a lonely and confused woman, not get involved with ghost hunting…

Happy Halloween, everybody!