All of the Voices Read Online Free PDF Page B

honest, open expression reassured Matt more than any words could have. “Thanks. I don’t know why I did it. Lord knows it was a thick, unruly mess, but, I dunno, something came over me and I just had to clip it down to next to nothing.”
    “Oh shit,” Severo hissed as he grabbed Matt’s forearm. “When you say something came over you, what do you mean, exactly?”
    Matt frowned and rubbed a hand over his head, liking the way the soft strands felt against his palm. He tried to think of how to describe the impulse that had made him want to take the clippers to his hair, but his memory of it was kind of fuzzy.
    Which was weird, because he had been totally sober by then. While he couldn’t remember clearly what had happened, he could remember other things that had occurred over the past few days and he feared he knew where Severo might be going with this.
    Having a friend who could speak to the dead was disconcerting at times like this.
    Not only could Severo speak to spirits of deceased people, but he could hear them, too.
    It might have sounded like a bunch of hooey to most people, but Severo had been called on by numerous police departments when a case had gone cold. There was documented proof of his successes, and even if there weren’t, Matt had seen Severo’s rather creepy abilities more than once since Severo had moved to McKinton.
    In fact, it was Severo’s communication with Conner, Sheriff Stenley’s deceased lover that had brought Severo to McKinton in the first place. If it weren’t for Severo, Stenley and Matt likely would both be dead, victims of the sadistic stalker who’d killed Conner. As it was, Matt knew he was lucky to have got away with only the deep scar that marred his stomach and the nightmares that still occurred too often.
    “Matt?” Severo tugged at his arm. “Look, I’m only asking because I get the feeling something is going on with you. Back in the restaurant, before you asked if we could talk, there was this… Well, it was almost like a current in the air. That’s not what I usually feel when there’s a spirit hanging around, but I’ve learnt I don’t know as much about spirits as I thought I did.”
    ALL OF THE VOICES
    Bailey Bradford
    26

    “You think I’m being haunted?” Matt was officially past creeped out. The strange comforting smells, the sudden need to make sure the elderly in McKinton were being taken care of, the buzz in his head… “Fuck. I am, aren’t I?”
    “I don’t know,” Severo said. “But if there is a spirit or two hanging around, I wouldn’t say you were being haunted. Protected in a weird way, or maybe guided? Those are definite possibilities. Have you experienced any strange visions, or heard unexplainable sounds?
    Caught the whiff of something familiar but not really there? Usually when a spirit wants to talk to me, I hear this buzzing in my head—”
    “Fuck,” Matt muttered again because no other word seemed to be applicable. “Yes to several of those. Shit.”
    “Huh.” Severo released Matt’s arm then propped his hands on his hips. “Looks like we both have some listening to do.”

    * * * *

    Carlin leant back in the chair in front of Sheriff Stenley’s desk and wondered if it was possible for him to have been an even bigger asshole. The sheriff had insisted—not that Carlin had protested too much to the contrary—on playing Aunt Mary’s last call to report a prowler. Hearing his Aunt’s voice, which was clearly happy and not tinged with even the least bit of fear, had torn Carlin up inside.
    The sheriff had also showed him a log of Aunt Mary’s calls, and frankly, after seeing the number of times she’d made false claims of a prowler, Carlin had been surprised the woman hadn’t been arrested. He was more surprised Deputy Nixon had arrived so quickly, as, all things considered, to quote Sheriff Stenley, Aunt Mary had clearly cried wolf dozens of times. Yet Deputy Nixon hadn’t hesitated, and had, according to the