Sinister Sanctuary

by Colleen Gleason

  “Right. That’s what I thought. And then I saw the thing. The bluish-green something—whatever it was.”

  “Where precisely did you see it? What did it do?”

  Teddy surveyed the area carefully before she responded. “All right. The first time, when we were up here, the—well, for lack of a better term—manifestation was right here.”

  “So it was standing right next to the door that had slammed shut and inexplicably locked.” Iva made a little humming sound. “Right here?” She bent to examine the area closely.

  “Yes. And it just sort of floated there—Oscar said it was algae or some sort of moss that might have blown up from the lake or something, but it wasn’t. I could tell. It was…amorphous. You could see it billowing and blowing like a cloud.”

  “Did it take any sort of shape? Or did it stay sort of permeable?”

  Teddy shook her head. “It seemed like it wanted to take some sort of shape. Like it was fighting to become taller and slenderer, and I thought at one point I saw something that looked like a limb—but it was so startling, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And then it just rose a little bit, floated, then dove off the walkway here—and down. And then it was gone.”

  Iva was watching her with wise, excited eyes. “The ghostly presence was showing you what happened. That person—it had to be Stuart Millore. Stuart, if you’re here, give us a sign,” Iva called out.

  Teddy waited, butterflies in her stomach, her hair blowing in the breeze, but nothing happened.

  “He’s probably still rather weak yet,” Iva told her calmly. “If he didn’t take any particular form, he may not have the strength to appear at will.”

  “Right. But I didn’t tell you about the scream.”

  “Yes, yes, that’s right. The scream—the one that comes every night. So that came from the Ghostly Manifestation?”

  “Well, yes, of course. I mean, where else would it come from? I just know the sound filled my ears. It was awful. Just bloodcurdling. And then, once it was over, Oscar noticed that the door was ajar. The one that we’d been unable to open. It was just…ajar.” Teddy grimaced a little, remembering how horribly eerie that moment had been, and how she’d put all thoughts of it away to deal with later—after she’d finished her book.

  And so now here she was.

  “So the scream came during the manifestation? Or after it disappeared?”

  “Well, hmm. It all happened very quickly, but I think it was after it went over the side of the railing and disappeared.”

  “Interesting.” Iva walked a little closer to the railing. “And the Ghostly Presence went over about here?”

  “Yes, right about there.”

  Iva eased back and looked at Teddy. “Well, that is where they found Stuart’s body. Straight down there.” She pointed to the ground below.

  Teddy swallowed hard. “All right.”

  “Now, when did you notice the temperature going back to normal? Or didn’t it?”

  Before Teddy could respond, the gallery door opened and Maxine poked her head out.

  “You solve any of it yet, Iva?” she demanded. “Time to get down and have a scone before Neety eats them all. Had to smell them all the way here, and there’s gonna be trouble if they’re gone by the time we get down.”

  When Maxine Took spoke of trouble, people listened. And so they started down the stairs, pausing at the landing just below the lantern room where their self-appointed leader gestured at a small door. “That goes to beneath the lantern. For repairs and storage. Probably got bats in there too.”

  “Come on, Maxie, get a move on. Now you’ve got me hankering for a scone,” Iva said. “Besides, I want Teddy to show me where they were standing the second time they saw the green ghost. You were on the ground, right?”

  “That’s right,” Teddy replied, studiously avoiding looking at Oscar, because she just knew he was rolling his eyes—at least internally.

  Back on the ground floor, the group was relieved to discover that Juanita had not only not devoured all of the scones, but she’d set up the table with cups and plates, and had made a fresh pot of coffee. She’d also found Oscar’s Tetley tea bags and had them out for Maxine, who informed Teddy that she never drank coffee.

  Bruce Banner, whom Teddy had never seen outside of his carrying bag, was prancing around the table trying to get the attention of anyone who’d give it to him. He bounced around, jumping up as if his rear legs contained springs, looking so cute that Teddy couldn’t keep from petting his soft furry head.

  “No scones for Brucie,” Juanita said. “But I’ve got treats in my bag if you want to give him one.”

  Teddy obliged the little pooch, then was ushered outside before she even finished her scone to show Iva where they’d been standing when they’d seen the apparition the second time.

  “But it happened early that night,” Iva said. “Earlier than usual.”

  “Yes, it was closer to ten thirty.”

  “Have you seen the apparition every time you heard the scream?”

  “Uhm, no,” Teddy replied with a shame-faced smile. “I never looked out the window when I heard the scream. I—I didn’t really want to.”

  “Oscar, did you see the ghost on the other nights you heard the scream?” Iva asked.

  “Well, I never looked either,” he replied.

  “What about the chill? Did you feel that too? No? Well, you must have been too far away if the Ghostly Presence was up on the top of the lighthouse and you were all the way down here.”

  “So what’s the diagnosis, Iva?” Juanita said, brushing crumbs daintily from the corners of her mouth.

  “Definitely haunted. There’s significant supernatural activity—I can feel it. I suggest,” Iva went on, looking at Teddy and Oscar, “that you spend the night at the top of the lighthouse again—as soon as possible—and see what happens.”

  “Yeah, no,” Oscar said flatly.

  Teddy looked at him. “But—”

  “You can spend the night up there if you like,” he said, patting Iva’s hand. “We’ll even block the door open so you can’t get locked out.”

  “Well, now, Oscar, dear, you never struck me as the sort of young man who’d be—shall we say, nervous around a flimsy little ghost,” Iva said, fluttering her eyelashes. “Just like my dear, naive Gideon. He swore there wasn’t any such thing as a ghost until he met it himself, under very extraordinary circumstances.” Iva smiled at him. “You never know, I may just take you up on it, Oscar. Of course, I’d want Hollis to join me—I imagine it’s very romantic up there, watching the sun go down, isn’t it?”

  Maxine snorted and rolled her eyes, and that was when Oscar took the bull by the horns, so to speak. “Well, the open-air gallery is available for your camping-out pleasure any time you like, Mrs. Bergstrom. But for now, I’m afraid it’s time for Teddy to get back to the final touches on her book—you know, she’s not really done yet,” he added in a confiding whisper.

  The ladies all gasped and gaped at Teddy accusingly.

  “But we thought you were—”

  “We never would have come by if we knew you—”

  “Do you mean it’s not done? That’s false advertising.” Maxine, of course, drowned out everyone else.

  Oscar’s tactic had the desired effect, and after allowing Bruce Banner to lift his leg and water the climbing rosebush on the side of the cottage, the three elderly ladies piled back in to Maxine’s SUV.

  “Thank you, Oscar,” Teddy said, slipping her arm through his. “I really do need to get a little more work done—make sure the flash drive transfers, and setting up the new laptop.”

  Though he looked a little disappointed, Oscar didn’t argue. “Just go finish the book. Then you won’t have anything on your mind except…other things.” His grin was filled with promise. “Because when I get my hands back on your butt, I don’t want you thinking about anything but that.”

  She laughed and gave him a warm, sensual, body-rubbing hug. “Sounds l
ike a plan.”

  And she disappeared to her bedroom office.

  While Teddy spent the rest of that day working on her laptop, Oscar had his own things to attend to.

  He’d had a brilliant idea for a new research project and written up the specs for his grad students, and decided he’d open it up to some of the undergrads as well. Why not?

  He also did some more research on types of alga and moss that grew on the west side of Michigan. He was determined to identify whatever the glowing entity was.

  He went for a swim in Lake Michigan, which, surprisingly, was invigorating and not freezing.

  He hadn’t set his lab up fully since the break-in, but he did do a little hiking to collect more water samples for some basic study. None of them except the hot spring had the crystalline snowflakes in them. And that continued to niggle at him.

  The next day was much the same, though Teddy wasn’t cloistered away as she’d been before. She brought her laptop out to work on the porch, and they decided to grill a couple of steaks and fresh corn on the cob. So he ran into town to grab the groceries and a good bottle of red.

  And that was good—to give himself that little bit of space. Because as much as he wanted to plant his hands back on that enticing ass of hers, he managed to keep them to himself. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he didn’t want any distractions.

  He wanted her attention on him, and only him when he finally got her into bed—and undressed. Because once he got her there, he wasn’t intending to let her leave for at least a day.

  He grinned to himself at the thought, and talked his hormones down for the fiftieth time that day alone. It would be worth it.

  Oscar hadn’t looked at his phone all day, so it wasn’t until he was just about to prep the steaks for the grill that he noticed the text message.

  It was from Marcie.

  His heart lurched when he read the notification showing part of the text: Hey.

  As his palms went damp, he did some calculations and realized her wedding had been two days ago.

  Huh. He hadn’t even noticed the date had come and gone. He’d lost track of the days and time—for that purpose, anyway.

  Oscar smiled to himself, pleased and relieved. All good. He was moving on.

  He had moved on.

  So he didn’t respond right away—or even open the text message box. He was good. It was fine. Marcie was happily married to Trevor, and Oscar was…here in Michigan. With Teddy.

  Being haunted and broken in on, helping to plot thrillers, learning about brewing tea, and generally enjoying life.

  And counting the hours until she finished her book—really finished it—so he could get to the project of finishing her.

  He chuckled and set the phone aside to get the grill fired up.

  But later, after they’d eaten and cleaned up the dishes, and Teddy had gone to her room to work for a little longer, he picked up the phone and opened the message alert. He was surprised to discover that was all it said: Hey.

  At least she hadn’t sent him a picture of wherever she was—on her honeymoon, he realized—or, worse, a pic of the wedding.

  Because it was rude not to respond, he texted back: Hey.

  To his surprise, a little bubble immediately appeared on the screen, indicating she was responding.

  Finally, her message came through: I guess you heard.

  He frowned. Heard what?

  Her response bubble popped up, then disappeared. Then it popped up again, stayed there for a long, long time (what was going on?), then finally her response blipped onto the screen: I didn’t do it.

  Oscar stared at the words. A cold sweat slicked over his skin, and his stomach knotted. Didn’t do what? he replied. But his mouth was dry because he knew. And then her answer came through.

  I didn’t get married.

  He read the words again. Stared at the phone. Blindly walked out onto the porch. He needed air.

  Then, with fumbling fingers, he called Dina.

  “Hi, sis,” he said, casually. Very casually, even though his heart was pounding hard and fast enough to make him feel nauseated.

  “Hey, bro. How are you doing?” Did she sound cautious? Overly hearty? Blithely innocent? He wasn’t certain. “You still in Michigan?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s the name of the town again?”

  “It’s called Wicks Hollow. I’m staying in the keeper’s cottage of a lighthouse. It’s—interesting.” To say the least. “So what’s new there?”

  He waited, his heart still pounding—and even as he held the phone to his ear, he heard the soft ding of a text message coming in. And then another one. But he didn’t pull away the phone to look.

  “Keeping busy?” Dina said.

  “Yes.” Oscar felt his brows knit together as he began to pace the length of the porch. “What happened? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “About…?”

  “Come off it, Engadine! You know exactly what I’m talking about. Why didn’t you tell me what happened? Marcie didn’t get married. Why? What happened?”

  Her sigh was audible over the phone. “No, she didn’t. She called it off two days before.”

  “She called it off.”

  “Yes, she did.”

  “Why?” His question was hardly more than a breath.

  “You’d have to ask her that.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me, Dina?”

  “Oscar.”

  “What?”

  She sighed again. “Nothing. I suppose you’re happy about it.”

  “Well, of course I’m— Well, I don’t know. I’m still a little shocked. You don’t have any idea what happened? He didn’t—do anything to her, did he? Cheat on her? Or—or anything else?”

  “Not that I know of. I think she just realized it was a mistake. Oscar…”

  There was silence for a moment. Another text notification came in, but he didn’t look just yet.

  “What, Dina?”

  “Just… I don’t want to see you get hurt again, Scary.”

  Her use of the nickname she’d adopted when she was too little to say “Oscar” made him smile a little. “I’m a big boy, little sis. I can take care of myself.” He drew in a breath, still struggling to make sense of everything, still pacing—as if that would somehow clear his mind. “How’s Bethany? Everything going all right with the two of you?”

  “Everything’s great—though I have to admit, she was pretty disappointed she wasn’t able to be my date for the wedding after all. We were sort of looking forward to making a statement, too. She said she couldn’t wait to see me in a skirt, since I was going to be a bridesmaid. But thank goodness I didn’t end up having to wear that awful dress Marcie picked out. And don’t you ever tell Marcie I said that!” she added fiercely.

  Oscar laughed because she made a joke, but he was surprised that Marcie had insisted Dina wear a dress. “If I had known you were going to wear a skirt, I might’ve come just to see that. The last time I saw you in a dress was your first communion.”

  “Shut up,” she said, laughing. “Tell you what—if you ever get married, I’ll wear a dress. And happily. As long as it’s not in that horrible fuchsia Marcie picked out.”

  “No way, sis. You’ll wear a tux if that’s what you want to wear.” His sister had had a rough time growing up as someone who knew she was a lesbian from the age of twelve. It wasn’t until she got to college that people stopped trying to pigeonhole the blue-eyed, strawberry-blond china doll into frilly dresses and lots of makeup. That had never been her style.

  “Oscar,” she said, her voice sober. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to get all—well, to get your hopes up. I don’t know what Marcie’s thinking, or how she’s feeling, or anyth—”

  “She texted me. Out of the blue. To tell me.”

  Dina muttered something he couldn’t quite make out, but it didn’t sound nice. “What are you going to do?”

  He shrugged, even though she couldn’
t see him. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t have to do anything, you know,” she said quickly.

  “I know. Hey, I’d better let you go. I know you have to get up early tomorrow. Give Bethany a hug for me. I’ll be in touch.”

  “Love you, Scary.”

  “Love you too.”

  Oscar disconnected, feeling strangely unsettled. Then he looked at the text messages that had come in while he was talking to Dina.

  You didn’t know? Didn’t Dina tell u?

  Oscar, we need to talk.

  Are u there?

  He looked down at the messages. His hand was slick and his head felt light.

  His dream had come true. His deepest hope and most secret of wishes had come to pass.

  Marcie was free.

  And she’d contacted him.

  Maybe there was something about that hot-springs water after all…

  He replied to the text messages: Okay.

  Then he walked into the house and went to his bedroom.

  Twelve

  Teddy overheard Oscar’s conversation.

  She wasn’t being nosy, but the window in her bedroom was open and he’d been pacing around on the porch just a short distance away as he talked to his sister. So she knew what had happened.

  She’d wait until the next morning to find out whether he’d mention it or not…but she didn’t come out of her room. She was too much of a coward.

  And she didn’t sleep well at all.

  When the nightly shriek came—she automatically checked her clock; it was back on time at one thirty—for once, it didn’t give Teddy goosebumps.

  She had other things on her mind.

  When she came out the next morning, she found Oscar standing in the living room, looking at what was left of his lab.

  And she saw immediately that he’d begun to pack up a few things. Her heart sank and her mouth felt dry as dust.

  Thank God I didn’t tell him.

  “Hey,” she said brightly. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, Teddy.” He looked at her, and she read exhaustion and something else she couldn’t decipher in his expression. He seemed blank and bleary. “I’m just… I have to leave. Unexpectedly. I’m starting to pack up.”