It was almost 8 a.m. and for once, she was early; already almost to the office in her small blue Toyota. Once she saw a parking space, she pulled in and parked like a pro. She gathered her things and promptly got out of her car and walked towards the firm.

Once she was inside, she went up to the lobby desk and asked the receptionist where Mr. Warrance's office was. The bespectacled lady pointed down the hall to the right. She thanked her and quickly found the office and gave it a firm knock.

A tall older looking man answered the door.

“Ah, you must be Ms. Janette Daweson, you’re just in time.”

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Warrance. Although I wish it was under different circumstances." Janette said as she saw the shocked and scowling faces of her family and what appears to be Elenore's family. Her two older sons and younger daughter with their spouses and a few children. Her brothers and sisters all had fiance's and one of her brothers, Lukas, was to be married on the 14th on Valentine's day next month. Janette was apparently the only single lady in the family. And until she felt comfortable with the right guy, she was staying that way. No matter how much her mother pushes her.

She sat on an open seat and ignored the glares she received.

“What are YOU doing here?” Lukas demanded.

“Have you landed yourself a man yet?” Her mom questioned.

“Who tattled?” her older sister Jeanne asked around in what she tried to be a "whisper".

Janette didn't look in their direction. Choosing to ignore them and not feed into their behavior. "Mr. Warrance, I think we're all here. Can we start the proceedings?" Janette asked with a firm voice.

Mr. Warrance couldn’t blame her, in the few minutes that they’d been waiting for Janette, he’d grown very annoyed with these people. Janette seemed like the most sensible person to him. “Yes, quite right. Mrs. Stone’s will was quite long, so I copied down the important bits, that being what each of you inherited.” He passed papers around the table for everyone to see for themselves.

Apparently Elenore's oldest son inherited her vineyard and wine business, her other son her collection of vintage cars and some of the family heirlooms, and her daughter, three of her villas in Italy. And for the little ones, aimless amounts of toys that she bought them for the upcoming next Christmas.

For Janette's family, she gave her sugarcane business to her parents. For her triplet brothers, starting from the oldest brother, Lukas, a country club on the shores of the Caribbean. For Louis and Lawrence the second and third oldest, each of large mansion-like homes on the coast of California that had everything essential in it. For Jeanne the older twin sister, her chain of jewelry stores in New York. And for Jasmine, the other twin, her chain of restaurants in Los Angeles. And finally for Janette….. everyone was shocked to see the list. Janette had her own file for Pete's sake! Apparently she had inherited the rest of her possessions and her prized Victorian styled mansion in the bayous of Louisiana. But there came a clause. An option.

"Uhhh, why is there a waiver with this file?" Janette asked. 

“That… is for this.” Mr. Warrance walked over to a box that had an old radio in the corner of the room. “Her prized 1920's radio. It was her absolute prized possession, you have to sign that waver or none of that list goes to you.” He explained.

Both families held their breath but at the same time, whispering about the "rumors" about that radio.

“Would you like to see it?” Mr. Warrance offered, seeing the unease of the families. He was enjoying it too.

Janette remembered that old radio. Her Aunt Elenore showed it to her when she was small. Janette remembered that, even though it was so outdated, it still crackled with life. That was around the same time where she would not only visit her but to her imaginary friend that always seemed to smile genuinely at her. When her siblings picked on her or when her parents tried to harshly "punish" her for no reason. He was there to scare them away and protect her. Ever since she grew older and couldn't spend as much time with her Aunt, it seemed as though the only thing that she remembered about her imaginary friend was a dark shadow with an impossibly wide smile. And lots of red for some reason. She was only six at the time, so she couldn't remember everything. But seeing the old radio again after so long…

"Yes please." Janette warmly smiled.

He gently picked up the box, moving it over to the table before removing the radio from said box. 

The old radio looked worse for wear. But Janette saw potential in it. She looked at it like it was looking at an old friend.

"Can I borrow a pen?" She asked politely. A series of gasps erupted throughout the room. Some even yelled in protest and had to be escorted out by security. It was a relief to both Janette and Mr. Warrance who kindly handed over a pen. 

“Here you go, ma’am.”

She signed the waiver and handed him the document. "So when do I move in?"

“Whenever you want.” He replied. “It’s all yours now.”

The gravity of the situation finally seemed to settle on her shoulders. Her Aunt, who was the one of Louisiana's--- no! The country's most wealthy business women to ever live. And now the rest of her businesses, property, and possessions, are now hers…

Le time skip

It took over a week to get all of Janette's stuff packed and ready to move to her new "house". When the movers finally arrived at the place, they were a bit nervous and skeptical. But the lawyer that held the box at the door who called for Janette when she arrived, reassured their feelings. At least most of them. Now it was just moving the furniture in without breaking anything expensive that got their fears riled up.

"Mr. Warrance! How're you today? I'm assuming the radio is in the box?" Janette asked.

“Indeed it is, moving in already?” Mr. Warrance asked with a smile. It’d been a bad work day and he was glad to see the sensible woman.

She let out a light chuckle. "Yeah… My apartment complex is being bulldozed in a few days due to my "landlord" selling it without notifying anyone till last minute and then hightailing it somewhere in Florida with both our money and our pride." She gestured that she wanted to see and hold her now beloved treasure.

He passed her the box. “How unfortunate. Good thing you got the estate when you did, hm?”

"Yeah, the luck is incredible. Now I just have to explain all this to my boss, coworkers, and whatever friends I have in this town so they don't think I'm dead. Heheh." She opened the box and saw her radio. The nostalgia and happiness that seemed to ooze out of her was contagious.

He smiled more. “Maybe there’s an Angel watching you… or something else..” He muttered the last bit under his breath. 

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Janette not hearing what he totally said.

“I remembered that I have an appointment later.” He sighed heavily. “What fun..”

"Ohh, I'm sure it is. What is it about? Or is that private? Because it sounds draining from the way you talk about it." She then turned her attention to the moving guys who were moving her podcast and paranormal equipment. 

"Hey, fellas?! Be careful with those ok? It's very sensitive equipment!" She called out to them, receiving a few grunts and "okay's" in response. 'Well at least they're being somewhat considerate…'

“Just some rich snob with a superiority complex… Most of my work is rather draining, but it's good work.”

"So that narrows down to my brother Lukas or my mother…" she said in mock thought.

“I never said anything.” He replied, realizing that he WAS talking to Ms. Daweson about her family.

She giggled. "Let me guess, one of them thinks they deserve more out of the will and wants something out of what I got?" She said with a raised brow and a sassy hand on her hip.

“Well, yes actually. You seem to know your family quite well… I suppose you should, you’ve lived with them for 18 years of your life.” 

"Nineteen if you count my mother slashing my tires before New Year's so that I'd insist on staying and meeting up with a guy that she had set up with me for the party." She said with disdain.

“... Isn’t that illegal?” Mr. Warrance asked. 

"It's legal if you don't have any evidence that it was that person. And it's true. I don't. But I know it was her. Judging how smug she seemed when I went to my car to get the essentials for my apartment." She said with displeasure.

“Damn..” He really didn’t like that woman, she was a pain in his ass that thought since she raised Janette, she deserved more from her. The will had been clear though, and he believed, due to how much more Janette got then the rest, that Elenore had favored Janette over the others. He didn’t know why, he didn’t really care either. She deserved it. 

"So now one of them is throwing a tantrum and if my assumption is right, if they can't get their way with you, then they'll either bribe me with either affection or through worldly gains. Or they'll threaten me in some way, shape, or form. It usually comes down to the last one when it comes to getting what they want. The only time where my mother backed off was when she threatened to disown me if I didn't get a man soon. I countered with my own threat. And she seemed shocked? But didn't say anything more after that." 

“Good for you. I won’t be giving in, so I do hope you're prepared.” He informed, with slight regret. 

She sighed. "I will be as soon as everything is put away. You don't need to perform the "Be Prepared" song by Scar in order for me to know that a tidal wave of a headache is coming my way."

He laughed. “How did you know I was preparing my singing voice? Are you a psychic or something?” He mused in amusement.

She looked back and forth to see if people were listening in. "I'm gonna let you in on something. I actually am."

He blinked. “Really?” He was startled. She didn’t seem like the lying type though. 

"Yep. I'm what the psychic community calls a "physical medium". It's where we feel, see, and hear the ghost or any supernatural phenomenon is going on. My grandma, who was my father's mother, was one too. She mostly raised me when I was young, teaching me the ins and outs of how to deal with the "other world". I might've been too young to remember, but I may have caught a conversation between my grandmother and aunt Elenore mentioning my "gift". But they immediately changed the subject just as quickly. I think my grandma sensed that I was near. But like I said, the memory feels more like a dream to me. So I'm not exactly sure if that's what happened or not."

“I see. That is quite curious..” Now he could see why Elenore favored Janette over the others. Especially with that radio..

"Yeah. But lucky me that I was able to keep it from the rest of my family. If they knew, Heaven knows what they would've done. It would've been like a witch-hunt crossed with a freak show. Not anything good." She then noticed how the house looked so worn down. "I just realized. Why is the house so worn down? Didn't Aunt Elenore have anyone to help her out with the uptake?" Janette said with confusion.

“No she did not, it was just her and her things.” ‘And the spirits attached to those.’ he thought to himself. 

"Huh. You'd think that with all that money, she would hire some help…" The place was basically falling apart. Shingles were coming loose, paint peeling on the outside walls, overgrown ivy trying to take over the house. And…. Was that an alligator in the backyard pond?!

“She’s tried, but it’s never worked out. Usually they would quit within the week.” Mr. Warrance admitted, looking at the old place. “You’ll likely see why soon. I hear they are quite talkative.” He checked his watch. “I must be going, have fun with the house! I’ll be checking in in about a week!” He called as he walked to his car. 

Janette wanted to ask him about what he meant but he already drove off. 'That was quick… tooootallly nothing suspicious…. Right?'

She looked to the house and saw that the movers were done. She quickly paid them and they left in a hurry for some reason. "Ooookaaaayyy…." She turned around to face the house with the radio in hand. "Well… time to see what Elenore has in store for me…"