Their second visit to the house came two weeks later. Her grandmother had some health concerns to tend to and Dana had a family emergency that needed her attention. That left Juniper at home with her sister and few distractions from the tense atmosphere of the house. Their talks were brief and straight to business. It was everything Juniper could do not to mark off the days on her calendar until she moved out.

The realtor had seemed shocked that Juniper wanted to go back to the house and was still considering it after a month of radio silence. She was happy to make time for them to come back. They went out on a pleasantly cool day in late September, riding in Gram Gram’s lumbering beast of a Jeep.

There was no need to tour the house a second time to see if there was something they might have missed. They’d both paid a good amount of attention the first time. Fern seemed less inclined towards bullshittery now that she knew they were interested despite the elephant in the room, and that Marjorie was there, who was fairly well-known in the state as far as creature-wrangling and gardening competitions were concerned. After taking a quick peek around, she seemed satisfied with the facilities of the house, at least, and could see why Juniper was drawn to it. She really could start whatever kind of business she wanted just with what was around. She confirmed the same thing that Dana and Juniper had felt- that despite the evidence of something causing a great deal of wanton destruction on the property, its presence couldn’t be felt unless they were in its immediate vicinity.

When the three of them arrived at the closed door to the bedroom, her grandmother stood with her shoulders back and her chin out. There wasn’t a speck of fear or unease in her whole demeanor. She’d encountered almost every type of natural or supernatural creature that was known in this area, and some that were rarities. After being called on so often to be the “spider squisher” of the witch world, she had developed a reputation for being as unflappable as she was capable.

The three of them entered, with Marjorie walking purposefully halfway to the bed. She inclined her head in greeting. “If no one’s filled you in on what’s happening, my granddaughter is looking to buy this house. If you’re inclined to stay, you two will be coexisting whether you’re a fan of the arrangement or not.” She paused as though listening to a response that only she could hear.

She chuckled and turned back to Fern, Dana, and Juniper, exiting the room with her back turned to the thing under the bed. “I won’t say it’s harmless by any stretch, but you two will at least be evenly matched in stubbornness.” She smiled at Juniper and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Take the house. Most likely scenario is you two will annoy the ever-loving shit out of each other until one of you caves.”

Juniper laughed too and found herself able to at least look at the void under the bed without feeling frozen by unease. As much as she didn’t like it, every house had its secrets, didn’t it? Houses were like families. None of them perfect, none of them without skeletons in the closet. At least with the house and its stowaway she would get to be herself. And, if she really let her mind wander to the absurd, perhaps a house with a bit of haunt to it would fill the empty spaces in her own life.