The Long Island Anti-Medium

Maddox, the second name floated across Jane's thoughts.

"Finally there was the owner and barkeep of the grungiest saloon in all of Creekmouth," came Randolph. "An expert in all of those same pastimes, he had plenty of booze, gaming, and whores available at his establishment. In fact, Genie rented her rooms above his saloon and not only drank there but entertained her company there. She was also caught up with the barkeep herself, using her body to pay her rent to the man. He was known as a rough around the edges sort, but he did have a soft spot for Genie herself."

Garth. The final name. How did she know this? How the fuck did she feel like all of this was familiar?

"You may imagine there was a bitter rivalry between Genie's lovers, and there absolutely was," M said dryly, to more laughter. "These three in particular hated each other, but never brought it into the open because all of them loved her, and to her, they were all having a fair slice. They were all paying customers, or at least were trading service for service. We think, from the records we were able to track down, she loved them, in her fashion. She was just an enterprising and ferociously independent woman doing things her own way at the time."

"All three of these men were in the mine the day it collapsed." Calvin was speaking again. "Elias Conrad, the miner, had been to town that day to see Genie, recover his life savings, and have a meeting with his employers and owners of the mine. Conditions had become treacherous, and sickness was tearing through the workers. He was there to advocate for his men and petition for safer conditions. The shaft was incredibly rich with coal and even gemstones, but the pay was insulting considering the wealth to be had and the amount of work needed, and the owners were not paying attention to the structural integrity of the shaft. There were signs of imminent collapse well before it actually fell."

Oh yes. Elias had been in town earlier that day, and fucked her like a beast before and after the meeting. Before, because he was pent up with frustration, and after because he was so angry. Genie gave him the second round on the house given the circumstances.

Jane swayed on her feet.

"The meeting went poorly. Elias was laughed out of the room and threatened with having his pay docked for insolence. In a rage he went to recover his money from the bank, only to find his accounts restricted. The owners had notified ahead to cut him off from his savings in an effort to force him to work. He returned to Genie once more, and when he left, he went back to the townhouse were the men were gathered, axe in hand. They were all slaughtered."

Jane felt her body shiver violently, and a marrow-deep change began to fall over her.

"News spread fast." Randolph picked up the tale again. "Garth Dennings watched Elias leave in a huff after seeing Genie, and he went up to check on her. He found her washing up, wearing only this necklace. He shrugged his shoulders, and returned to his bar. After the rampage happened, Elias fled back to the mine to warn his fellows, and was subsequently in the shaft when it fell. He never had to face justice, but directly after word spread around town, Garth closed up the saloon and tore off to the mine himself, outraged that Elias would do this, especially when he saw Genie's face. She was drinking at the bar when the news broke. He wouldn't know it then, but it was the last time he would ever see her."

Quite a shock, yes, that polite, sweet, level-headed Elias would snap like that and slaughter the men who wronged him so quickly. Especially not knowing there were children and women in the same townhouse- all their wives and families visiting while the men met and discussed the business of working others to the bone and extracting as much valuable material from the earth as they could. Jane felt clammy and overwhelmed. So sad. Too much to bear!

"Meanwhile, Maddox Lexington was strolling about with one of his 'sweethearts', a young well-to-do society miss whose father was one of the ones killed in Elias' rampage. As people began rushing about, screaming about the slaughter, they were separated in the crowd. Maddox searched for the girl, but imagined she'd rushed home to find the rest of her family, and instead he went back to the saloon to check up on Genie." M was incredibly serious as he began to bring the story to an end. "He found it closed, but entered through the kitchen, which he knew was rarely locked. It had likely been around twenty minutes to a half an hour or so after Garth's departure, and Genie was no longer at the bar. No one was, so he went upstairs to her rooms. She was not there, but she had been recently. To his horror, besides the normal signs of her recent toilette, there were also signs of a struggle. A violent one. The mirror was off the wall and smashed. Blood was everywhere, and one of Genie's gowns lay tattered on the floor. It was still warm, as if only just taken off her body. She, however, was completely gone. Just like that."

Oh horror! Horror! Jane almost blacked out, and groped for anything that could hold her steady. That turned out to be Calvin, who caught her by the waist.

"Alarmed, Maddox took off for the mines himself. A mob was already forming to track down the killer Elias, and the conman pushed himself hard to reach the shaft before the rabble could. He made it, out of breath, and delved inside to find Garth already hollering at Elias for terrifying Genie. Maddox only made it worse by telling them Genie was gone and her rooms were bloody and destroyed. Accusations flew. The screaming got worse and worse, and things got physical."

"By then it was too late." Randolph had the capper. "None of the other miners could stop the fight, so instead they tried to leave and disassociate themselves from Elias, as they knew they had no time to waste before the posse came, or the sheriff, to arrest the murderer. However, as they evacuated, the groaning and rumbling in the shaft began. The three men, and a few dozen others, were still down there when the rock and coal swallowed them all up."

"Oh my God," Felix gushed, stars in his eyes. "This is the best tragic, violent, old Appalachian mining town story I've ever heard."

"It's a fantastic foundation for the main thread of our investigation. Three quarreling rivals in love, a missing woman, foul play, innocent deaths... Absolutely incredible," Alessandra said. Her pen flew along her notepad, when she wasn't gesturing with it. "I assume that the crime scene in Genie's apartment was discovered after the mine collapsed. What happened to her?"

"You're right," M nodded back, "in that Genie was discovered missing, with blood all over her small dressing room, after the town collected itself in the wake of the collapse. It was tragedy piled on tragedy piled on tragedy that afternoon. However, Genie was not found. Nor were there any suspects left after the mine fell! They were all killed in the mine collapse."

"So the sheriff only suspected the three men who all died down there?" Alessandra asked, writing rapidly.

"Yes," Randolph confirmed. "Elias couldn't have done it, but some of the miners who did escape before the collapse heard him screaming accusations at the two others, and neither of the others was convinced Elias didn't, in fact, do it. Garth had apparently been adamant Elias could have laid low for a short while after the killings, and returned to attack Genie, possibly dragging her with him. But no one saw her in the mine before it fell."

"And Maddox hadn't been near Genie all day, but he 'discovered' her missing. The other two men couldn't rule him out, either." Calvin rumbled.

"So you had three men turning on each other for the same woman, too occupied with their hatred boiling over to notice the danger they were in. What an absolute whirlwind of violence. A perfect storm and surefire way to get some ghosts," the producer was bouncing on his heels as he spoke.

"This is absolute gold for two hours of excellent TV," Jane's lead investigator agreed. "What do you think, Janey?"

The Long Island Anti-Medium herself was... standing there but not standing there. She was overcome with emotions and a tremendous rush of familiarity. She'd almost broken into a cold sweat. Alessandra calling her name disrupted the haze a little, but not enough to free her from what felt like a miasma of thick air that held her in place. Still, she looked up, compelled to answer.

"This is one of the saddest stories I've ever heard," she said readily, genuinely feeling that. Her eyes darted up to the necklace, still in Calvin's hand, and she felt compelled to reach for it. He let her graze it with her fingers. "You say you found this in the mine?" She looked up at him, and found a glint in green eyes that looked achingly known. Fuck, she'd missed it. How was that even possible? "How did it get there, if she was last seen wearing it, and she was never seen in the mine?"

"That's part of the mystery," M replied gravely.

"Her murder or abduction was never solved. There were no witnesses, and the sheriff had his hands full with the traumatic axe-slaughter. Genie's body was never found, either, so she could only be presumed dead." Calvin's grave tone.

"Genie's ghost has never been seen, sensed, or contacted either. Not once," Randolph put the last nail in it. It cemented Jane's choice.

"I think this will be the greatest episode we've ever done," the woman finally told them all, imagining that necklace on her throat, nothing else on, as one of these men lay on top of her and drove himself inside her body. "So tell me the rest of the bet?" She looked up at the three of them and saw them smiling. They were so happy, and she shook, knowing it was because she was standing there in front of them.

"Well for starters, we want you in costume during the investigation," Randolph shamelessly flirted, "wearing that." He nodded at the necklace as Calvin opened the clasp and brought it around Jane's front.

"The other half of our bet is going to be quite outlandish, but it'll be the perfect enticement for the entire theme of the episode," M smiled, charming as anything. "If Janna Diana does indeed have the ghostly encounter she's always wanted down in that mine, where so many people lost their lives tragically, she'll go out on a date with us. All three of us."

Alessandra gasped. Felix squealed.

"I accept," Jane said, and her lip quirked upward on one side. A little smirk she couldn't help. Her producer and teammate both looked her way with shock written on their faces, but she saw the same machination ticking away in each of their heads: This was going to be a phenomenal episode of their show.

The men smiled darkly, and Calvin's hands placed the necklace around her throat, securing it above the collar of her shirt. It clashed horribly with the orange turtleneck, but out of the costume, she knew the piece would suit her well.

That acceptance was not just for the date, though. It was a secret for the four of them, but she was accepting their outrageous proposal.

"We are so elated," M said for all of them.

"Felix, Alessandra," Jane firmly stated, turning to her companions, "now that we've outlined the episode, I need to hammer out some details with these three incredibly bold and enterprising men. If they're so convinced I'll have an experience down in the mine they demand a date for it, I'm pretty sure I'll need to demand some reasons why." Jane crossed her arms over her chest, surreptitiously nudging the cameo with her wrist. It was gorgeous, and it fit her so well. "You both can head back to the hotel."

"Are you sure, Jane?" Alessandra eyeballed their hosts with extreme scrutiny. "You don't feel this is just a wee bit... extortiony?" Ever practical, she was. Jane smiled, genuinely, at her friend.

"Mmmm... a wee bit," she conceded, looking them over. "But they have to have one hell of a reason for pulling this whole bit, even beyond the publicity for their tourist attraction. This is... personal to them. And clearly it is going to become very personal to me."

"I still expect you back to the hotel tonight, by midnight," the investigator warned her. "And if she isn't there by twelve on the dot, I'll be back with a baseball bat." She nodded once at Jane, cast a glance over the men, and gathered her things.

"Well, typically I wouldn't leave a star unaccompanied," Felix began warily, "but I'm not one to tell Jane what to do with herself. She built this show." The man shrugged. "That and I know she's always armed."

"He's not kidding," Alessandra smiled viciously, throwing her purse on her shoulder.

"Alright alright," Jane loudly badgered back. "They can't afford to jeopardize a show they have such a huge stake in, and setting one damn toe out of line will do just that. That said, this will be one of the greatest stories we will ever feature on the show, and as a born storyteller, I have to get this one just right."

That was all it took. Felix and Alessandra departed with many thanks and goodnights, and when they were gone Jane turned to the men who loomed over her. She touched the necklace fully, caressing it, holding the skull cameo in her palm.

"Alright, tell me the truth. Do you think I'm her, or do you just want me to be her?" She may not hear spirits, see them, or feel them, but Jane Callahan did have extra senses when it came to people, and these three guys were... all over the place. That and the whole thing with the names, it was just too freaky.

Something was off here.

"Fuck, how do we even explain it?" Randolph was the one to answer first, and without an audience, it was like the leash was off. "What if we told you the bet's already settled, little girl? That you've already been touched by the ghosts in that mine, spoken to them, seen them?" He advanced, pressing her backward into the cold stone of the fireplace. His hands caged her around the head.

"Easy dude," Calvin urged, coming closer, grabbing his brother's shirt by the collar. "We said it would happen in the mine, and it will."

Jane panted, hypnotized by the man's wild eyes. "Just tell me," she urged.

"The men came to us in the mines," M said, appearing on the other side, hoping to calm his friend. "Garth, Maddox, and Elias. Their spirits stuck down there until we stumbled on the collapsed shaft and unknowingly fueled them. Each one of them chose one of us, and it's been... interesting, given that we're almost the opposite of who they were."

"We've been best friends since we were kids," Calvin supplied.

"And we're also looking for a woman to share," M smiled, gaze flashing with heat. "Unlike our restless companions."

"They all wanted Genie, but none of them wanted to share her," Randolph jumped back in, voice thick. He dropped his arms and allowed his friends to pull him back. Jane oddly missed being trapped by his slight body. "It was a bit of a nasty shock to latch onto three guys who wanted one sweet little whore to split between them."

"Yet they begrudgingly found common ground, because Genie herself never would have chosen to forsake any of them for one of them, and they knew better than to demand it." Calvin caressed her cheek as he spoke. "Even Elias, and he snapped that day because the men who owned that mine took away his future with her."

"None of them killed Genie," she blurted, knowing it, and knowing that they all knew it. "But you have no idea who did, and neither do they." She watched them all, body beginning to tremble. Looking deeper into their eyes than before, she searched for the men they weren't. Her heart was slamming into her ribs. A lightheaded feeling made her reel, and she had to sit down for this. "So the three of you really are just entrepreneurs who stumbled onto a forgotten coal boom town with a heavy, blood-soaked past, but you tangled with forces beyond your control, and what? Wound up possessed?"

The three of them fell back as she sank onto a couch, overcome, and they glanced over one another, taking ragged breaths.

"We made a deal," M informed her. "Once they made contact with us, we couldn't really deny that ghosts were real, and we had a haunted fucking abandoned mineshaft on our property. The men who died here want answers, and they want... well, they want Genie. Whatever happened to her, she's not down there. Her spirit, I mean. And we've had psychics come out to comb this place, and not one of them has ever found her. We deliberately don't bring her up, either, just to make sure nobody fakes contact."

"I'll get one of my trusted mediums here for this lockdown, not to worry." Jane assured them. "Now, why do you think I'm the key?" The real heart of the matter. She waved a hand over herself as she spoke. "I could be an absolute charlatan."

"It was a fluke, actually," Randolph admitted. "We had been playing with the idea of getting a ghost hunting show down here. As Cal said on the phone, ghost tours would be a fantastic addition to our entertainment prospects."

"Your show popped up and quickly became one of our favorites, even before we found the mine. After we did, well, the men insisted on you."

"You look just like her, they say," M hoarsely groaned, not resisting his urge to reach out. "That's why they think she was born again. As you. It might explain why her ghost isn't hanging around." His fingers entangled in her hair. She found she rather liked the contact.

"However Genie died, she died without leaving unfinished business behind," Jane posited. "And the three men, her lovers... each one of them died angry, sad, and scared- fighting over the woman they loved. There was no peace to be had there."

"Genie always did find her way, no matter what," Randolph spoke wistfully. "I guess she made peace with death."

"If she really was anything like me, she never feared death in the first place. And I'm guessing, whether I am Genie or not, these men want to find her, or figure out who killed her, or they cannot rest in death."

"You fucking nailed it," the dark scrawny one fired back. "We each bear one of them, and it was because we-"

"As vessels-" M interjected.

"...Already had a bond of trust that we were quickly able to figure out none of them killed their lover. Each one of us sees into the soul of the man inside us. I'm Garth."

"I have Maddox," M said.

"And I'm Elias," finished Calvin.

"After extensively researching the town's history, records, journals, letters and newspapers from the time (not easy), we compiled as much evidence as we could to come up with some alternative suspects."

"I'm guessing that, really, there's not much motive or gain to be had for anybody else in town around them. Maybe a son, wife, or other relative of one of the men Elias killed?"

"We did consider that, but the sheriff's posse accounted for all the witnesses in the townhouse at the time of the killings, and none of them would really have known anything about Elias' connection with Genie, as most of them wouldn't even know Elias," Calvin said. Clearly they had thought this all through.

"Maybe another lodger, sex worker, or bar patron? A John who wanted something she wasn't up for doing at the time?" Jane probed.

"That's not a bad theory," Randolph- and Garth- said, stroking the scruff at his chin. "There were a few lodgers, including other women who plied their trade, living above that saloon. I, or he, didn't think any of them would be a danger to Genie. He knew everybody living there."

"What about the saloon itself?" Jane queried. "Who took it over after Garth's death? Did the other people living there all turn up afterward?"

"According to the town records, the only person missing from the saloon after the collapse and the dust settled was... Genie. And the sheriff recorded their statements as witnesses against her disappearance. They all seemed shocked as hell to see her rooms." M ran his fingers through his hair as he spoke. "Even a desperate John wouldn't have been enough to take Genie down."