Jess and the Ghost

By Brian Schell

In book two of the "Jess and the Monsters" series, Jess is on her stolen motorcycle, fleeing from werewolves and the FBI. She needs to get herself established and "off the grid" before someone catches up with her.

Exhausted, she stops at Tony Samson's Bed and Breakfast for a rest. It's a nice place, and Tony seems like a nice guy, but when a turbo-charged ghost starts wrecking the place and terrifying the guests, it's up to Jess to stop the ghost before someone gets killed.

There appears to be more going on at Tony's than a typical haunting, and Tony seems to be hiding something as well. Will Jess figure out what's going on before it's too late?

This is the second episode of the bi-weekly serial, "Jess and the Monsters." Over the course of the series, Jess will encounter new friends and do battle with all manner of creatures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Schell
• Release date: Nov 14, 2013

Brian Schell

Brian Schell is a College English Instructor who has an extensive background in Buddhism and other world religions. After spending time in Japan, he returned to America where he created the immensely popular website, Daily Buddhism. For the next several years, Schell wrote extensively on applying Buddhism to real-world topics such as War, Drugs, Tattoos, Sex, Relationships, Pet Food and yes, even Horror Movies. Twitter: @BrianSchell Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/Brian.Schell Web: http://BrianSchell.com

Book preview

Introduction

We hope you’ve enjoyed the first episode of Jess and the Monsters in Jess and the Werewolf. When we left off, Jess had taken Jack’s motorcycle and run for her life, fleeing the FBI and werewolves. What’s next for her in this world of magic and monsters?

Here’s book two in the series, where we see Jess start to get more established on her road trip to secret knowledge and danger. There’s lots more in store for Jess and her friends.

So here’s the plan: We’ll be releasing a new stand-alone Jess tale every other week until the story ends. We’ll also be releasing the stories in six-book seasons. You can decide if you want each chapter of the story individually, or if you prefer to binge, you can pick up the whole season… just like a TV series.

BlueHouseBooks.com’s Releases

By Kevin L. Knights and Brian Schell:

Jess and the Monsters, Season One

Jess and the Werewolf

Jess and the Ghost

Jess and the Witch

Jess and the Carnival Killer

Jess and the Demon Zombies

Jess and the Swamp Monster

Jess and the Monsters Season One COMPLETE

Random Acts of Cloning 1: Impact

Random Acts of Cloning 2: Division

Random Acts of Cloning 3: Multiplicaton

Random Acts of Cloning 4: Exponents

Random Acts of Cloning 5: Explosions

Random Acts of Cloning 6: Mutations

Jess and the Ghost

Morning came. Jess had ridden all night, straight through except for several gasoline stops, paid for with cash. She didn’t dare try using her credit cards. She paused in a rest area just inside the Tennessee border and took a few minutes to eat. Breakfast consisted of a Snickers bar, a bag of plain potato chips, and the freshest-looking tuna salad the last gas station had. She washed it all down with a bottle of water and was almost startled by an orange flash that seemed to explode over the horizon. She tried to remember the last time she’d seen the sunrise and she couldn’t. When she was a teenager maybe, one time at summer camp? She’d forgotten how beautiful it could be.

Her hands shook a little as she took another swig of water and watched the sky lighten. She wasn’t used to riding a motorcycle. The exertion of going that long made her shoulders ache, and she could still feel the vibration from the engine thrumming through her.

She was a fugitive on the run, scared as Hell, alone and short on money. Yet she was filled with a kind of elation sitting there watching the new day start. She was free now, free in a way she’d never been before. No job, no ties, she didn’t even bring her phone. Where should she go? Definitely not in a straight line down I-75 as she had been. She should go off another way soon, probably the next exit.

Other than making her purchases in cash, she didn’t really know much about living off the grid. She had her laptop in the saddle bag, so she knew she’d have to do some reading on that when she got the chance. She’d stop for some kind of real breakfast at the first opportunity and use the McDonald’s wi-fi to connect anonymously. That’d be a start. It wouldn’t be too long until they found her car parked at Jack’s place and figured out she’d stolen his motorcycle. Then the bike’s license plates would become an issue. Still, she didn’t think they were going to catch on to her too quickly.

She finished up her water, gathered her trash, and groaned as she stood up from the picnic table. How could even her legs be so sore and tired? All she was doing was driving a motorcycle. No wonder bikers had the reputation of being so tough. Riding was hard work.

An elderly couple pulled up as she mounted the bike and they sat there looking at her through rolled up windows for a moment instead of getting out of their car. It took Jess a moment to realize that they were afraid of her. Yesterday she was a librarian. Today she was a badass biker. She laughed aloud inside her helmet. Things do change. She pulled away, revving the engine a little more loudly than she needed to before peeling out.

The Snickers and tuna wasn’t going to hold her long, so on the next highway exit, she stopped in at the McDonald’s there. The thought occurred to Jess that a lot of times people complained about the U.S. being turned into a fast-food nation, but there was something comforting about knowing you were never too far from something familiar.

She parked, popped out the keys and carried her laptop in. As she waited in line, she got distracted by the morning news show on the television mounted in the corner. She half-expected them to be talking about a national manhunt for the librarian who killed a cop, but there was no mention of it; instead they just kept going on about a spelling bee in Massachusetts.

Someone behind her touched her shoulder and she jumped. At the same time the employee at the counter said, Can I help you? It must have been her turn for a couple minutes while she was zoned out watching the news.

She ordered a sandwich combo and two cups of coffee from a girl who didn’t even look like a teenager yet and walked back to the dining area. She sat in a booth with an electrical outlet, plugged in her charger, and swung open the laptop. Her first online stop was to look at the Columbus Dispatch website. Surely the local newspaper’s web site would have something about last night.

There was no mention of a cop being killed, which was odd. She would have expected that to make headlines. Maybe they just hadn’t found the body yet. But then another link caught her eye. She clicked it out of curiosity. The headline read House Fire Claims Life. A photo of her home popped up, taken from the street, showing her home engulfed in flames. Eyes wide open in astonishment, she read on. Firefighters had arrived at 11 p.m. to find the house completely ablaze. They’d gotten the fire out after several hours. After entering the house, they found what they believed was the body of the occupant, Jessalyn Jensen, 30, formerly Head Librarian at the local branch of the Columbus Library.

I’m dead? was the first thought that came into her mind. Then she pieced together what must have happened. The body was burned so badly that they’d confused his corpse for her. Once a medical examiner took a closer look and compared