Free Pure Hell (Seventh Level Book 1) by Charity Parkerson, Regina Puckett

would.”
    Anne shrugged. “I was only ten, myself. I called her a liar but then she began remembering more about the guy’s appearance after mom and dad’s funeral. Maybe it’s one of the reasons I never believed her because when she first mentioned this person, she just said he was a dead guy. But with each and every retelling, she remembered more about him. Eventually, she began having these horrible nightmares. She would wake up everyone with her screaming saying he was trying to steal her away. She had the same dream every night.”
    Again, he moved closer to her. “Why didn’t you believe her?”
    She stared at the dimple in the center of his chin and tried to remember the details of Kylie’s nightmares. “Well, it was a dead guy,” she answered, feeling as if it should have answered everything.
    “Did anyone ever think to get her some help if she was seeing things?”
    “I think our aunt was a little scared of her. At first, it was only the guy who saved her from the fire but then it was someone different all the time. Sometimes the people would be kids and she would play with them almost as if they were imaginary friends. Other times, it was adults who wanted her to do things.” She glanced away guiltily. “I think I was a little scared of her too.”
    Mark looked thoughtful. “Maybe it was her way of dealing with the trauma of your parents’ death. After all, she made it out and they didn’t. A seven year old has to have some way of handling something so huge.”
    “You’re probably right.” She drew in a long breath.
    “What?”
    The hairs on her arms stood up and a shiver ran throughout her entire body as she admitted her most shameful fear. “Sometimes I wondered if she just slowly lost her mind.”
    * * * * *
    “You’re the only person I can touch,” Kylie confessed. “I tried touching Cindy while you were questioning her, but my hand passed right through her.”
    He chuckled. “Are you complaining? Is there some other guy out there your palms are itching to touch?”
    She pretended to consider his question and he goosed her side.
    “I feel very lost,” she admitted. “I know it sounds crazy but I thought finding out who killed me would give me peace. It hasn’t. Death is very different than I thought it would be.”
    Silence stretched out between them and for a moment, Kylie wondered if she’d upset Liam. She didn’t want him to think she was unhappy being with him. It wasn’t that. It was as if something was missing. Somehow she didn’t think this was the normal way people spent their afterlife.
    “Do you want to tell me about this Septem you mentioned in your journal? The one who was tormenting you?”
    Kylie went completely still at his question. “Not really, no.” When he didn’t say anything, she sighed giving in. “He’s a demon. I picked him up during a séance when I first began working at Madame Curion’s. According to the Madame, he’d always been there lurking about, but since I didn’t acknowledge him he didn’t have any power. Once I opened the box, I couldn’t close it.”
    Liam brushed his fingers along her arms while staring off into space as if lost in his own thoughts. “Do you think it’s possible Septem took possession of Mr. Rogers and used him to kill you?” he asked after a moment.
    Kylie shrugged. “Anything is possible but unless my memories miraculously return, I’ll never know.” She paused and turned the idea over in head. She thought she’d rid herself of Septem shortly before her death, but he could have been playing opossum. “I can’t believe you’re going with me on this line of thinking. I thought cops were supposed to be logical and deal in the facts.”
    A bark of laughter escaped Liam’s lips. “Take a look around, Kylie. Say that to me again.”
    She kept her thoughts to herself. Believing in life after death was one thing, what she’d seen of the other side was another. There was an entire world running parallel to