by Kiki Howell
“So...you’re watching me sleep?” She frowned, not thrilled by that proposition.
“Only a little. Hoping you would wake up. I still don’t have anything to do, but I can watch you do things.”
Paige’s jaw went slack. Eventually she picked it up. “Man, being a ghost sucks.”
In his stoic way, he delivered a deadpan reply. “Undeniably and indescribably.”
“Hey. I might have something that can help. I mean, the spell Jane did wasn’t related to ghosts, more of a love spell, but maybe, when I have her talisman, I can cast something.”
Paige pulled her shirt off and looked around the room for Geoffrey, sure he would be interested in that. Catching her bare chest in the mirror, she clicked her tongue and hurried to dress. At least he was modest, apparently more than herself.
That wasn’t completely true. She had no real body shame, but she didn’t strut around in the buff either. Somehow, Geoffrey didn’t quite register as a person. It was like changing in front of Mittens at home.
Had she not accepted he was really there? Did she treat him the way it seemed Summer was before seeing him herself, like talking to thin air?
Opening the door, she found him in the hall. Thin was accurate. His frame was normal for a boy of her age, but he wafted like he might blow away.
“Sorry about that. After some coffee, I’m going to dig it up. Come with me?” She trotted down the stairs but he had no trouble keeping up.
“It’s here? Your ancestor lived in Salem?” His brow rose in surprise.
“Definitely, and Forest River Park is right beside the Pioneer Village. Just need to take a shovel, dig a foot or two, and bam, ancient relic.”
Geoffrey’s eyes narrowed and he seemed to get darker. Paige looked away to measure coffee grounds into the filter. “Ancient.” His tone told her all she needed to know.
She fought back a snicker. Was the ghost sensitive about his age? “Well, maybe not ancient, but pre-union. That’s hundreds of years.”
“Hundreds. It really seems like only a few months to me.” He gazed out the window into the yard.
Paige scratched her head. “Wait, months? We’ve been here months.”
“Exactly.”
Paige paused with the milk held over the cereal in her bowl. “You weren’t here before? You...got here when we did?”
Geoffrey made several grabs for the milk, his hand passing through each time. Paige gave herself a shake and poured some on before returning it to the fridge. “Sorry. I just figured you’d been haunting this house for—”
“No. I found myself here just before Summer came through the door.” He tried grabbing the mug that sat waiting while the coffee brewed. This time he nailed it on the first try. “Just need to practice, I guess. Soon—”
“No, stop.” She held up her hands. “I don’t want any knowledge of ghost touches. Got that?”
Geoffrey snickered. “Not what I meant. I can be helpful if I get better at it.”
Paige poured her coffee and carried it and the cereal to the table. “So you can do what, play Solitaire until kingdom come?”
He gave an exasperated sigh. “So I can protect Summer. And Ember and Gwen.”
“But not me?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “You don’t need protection.”
“Sure about that, are you?”
“No, but you always seem in control. Even here, Summer might own the house but you organize it.”
“Hope I’m not too bossy,” she muttered before stuffing a spoon of Cheerios in her mouth.
“No, not bossy. Direct.”
“I’ll take direct.” Rather than stay at the table, he wandered over to the foot of the stairs. As he circled, Paige remembered the spell they’d cast on that spot.
“He had it coming,” she muttered. Duncan mistreated all three of her roomies and if they could work some instant karma on him, she was all in.
“Does the power scare you?” Geoffrey asked.
“Power?” she mumbled around a full mouth.
“The magic. He fought to get out, but you were stronger. I only saw Mary cast once or twice, and never something as powerful as that.”
Paige drained the mug and carried it and her empty bowl back to the kitchen. The latter went into the sink and the former was refilled. “It’s the circle. Together is more than just adding our power together, it’s multiplying it, exponentially. I wonder if we’ll get to do anything like that again. Well, I’m going to take this upstairs and put my face on. Be right back.”
“Put face on?” The words sounded strange when he said them.
“Makeup,” she called over her shoulder. He stood on the magic hotspot again.
“Oh, yes, face painting.”
She ignored what from anyone else might be insulting. To him, it must look like painting. She wasn’t doing much of that in any case, only planning to use an iron on her mane. The relaxing was still doing its job, so she had options beyond afro or ponytail.
Sipping between curls, she finished her coffee and hair about the same time. “Okay, Geoff. Let’s go.”
The wisps that formed his apparition grew dark. “Geoffrey.”
“I can’t call you Geoff?”
“No.” He turned away from her.
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and pulled on rubber boots. The streets were a wet mix of snow and slush. She might wish for something warmer when she got to the park, but it didn’t snow enough to make it worth buying winter boots.
From the shed, she retrieved a spade and headed down the alleys.
“Not the street?” Geoffrey asked.
“Nah. Don’t need any questions about the black girl and her shovel. I mean, it’s practically a weapon.”
Geoffrey’s brow furrowed and she was surprised she could make it out. “Oh. A thieving slave?”
She nodded. “Yeah, they’d probably think that too. Y’know, I really resent your ancestors.”
Geoffrey held up his hands. “We didn’t have any slaves.”
“No, but I bet you treated those in town horribly.”
He shook his head. “They didn’t go around town. I only ever saw them at church. They sang like angels.”
“Yeah? That’s not something I inherited.” Her boot squelched in a puddle.
“Too bad.”
Paige tried to recall ever saying more than a few words to the ghost. Never more than a few. “Do you talk to Ember or Gwen like this?”
“Not really. I’m sure they would, but it’s usually just me and Summer.”
“Yeah. That’s the difference, isn’t it? Wait.” She stopped and turned in a circle. “There.” She pointed to a tall thick oak. In Jane’s memory, it had been much smaller. “Be my look out? It’s early and Christmas, so I’m hoping no one is going to the park, but you can let me know in time to stop digging.”
The ghost nodded. “I can do that.”
“Perfect.” Paige put the tip of the spade to the grass and stepped on it.
Cutting into the sod, especially frozen, was tougher than she expected, but once she’d broken a square a couple of feet long, it was easy to pry it up from the soil beneath that hadn’t chilled enough to freeze. Setting the sod aside, the rest of the job took no time, and within an hour, the spade hit something. At first she thought it was just another root, but as she brushed it off, it had a rounded corner and wasn’t oak but a light wood, like birch or beech.
The box wasn’t exactly in the hole and she wished for something a little smaller, like a trowel, to get it out. Instead, she dug down and under, leaving the box hanging. Pushing and wiggling, she worked it free.
“Paige!”
At Geoffrey’s voice, she dropped the box in the hole, threw the spade back into some bushes and slipped the sod into place. It wouldn’t take much to notice it had sunken or the pile of dirt beside it. Thrusting dirty hands into pockets, she wandered, hoping she looked like another person enjoying the mild
winter.
“Merry Christmas,” a woman wearing a hijab said as she passed.
“Same to you,” Paige answered reflexively. Then she took in the other woman’s scarf. Wait. You don’t celebrate Christmas.”
The woman laughed. “No, but you do, do you not?”
“Uh, yeah. Happy whatever-holiday-you-have.”
“Thank you. I have boys with new toboggans. Do you know where the might be enough snow?”
Paige pursed her lips. “Not really. You could try Salem Woods. It’s a bit of a hike, but I bet there are some sheltered areas there.”
“Thank you again.”
“Enjoy the vacation.”
The woman chuckled. “That we will.”
When she rounded the bend, Paige turned to Geoffrey. “Any others?”
“Not a soul.”
“Perfect. I found it!” She rushed back to the hole, pulled away the sod, and set the box on the undamaged grass. Then she kicked the dirt in and placed the tuft on top carefully, so it didn’t look so obvious.
With the evidence gone, she carried the box back into the bushes where the spade had landed. Rather than search for it, she opened the box. The ankh sat atop a variety of small items, including several stones, a small glass vial and a ball of yellowish thread. She shifted them around, curious, but only recognized the medallion.
“Hey, Geoffrey—”
“Mary used those.” He pointed to the stones. “I saw her wave them over things, or rub them.”
“Awesome. But I wanted to know if you saw exactly where the spade ended up.”
He pointed, and with the box tucked under her arm, Paige picked up the shovel and headed home. Geoffrey followed at her side.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked.
“I think I might work on a love spell. If I reverse what Jane did, I think I can win a heart instead of pushing his affection away.”
“Who? That man at the party doesn’t need a spell.”
Paige missed a step. “Ben? No, we’re friends. I’m thinking about one of my professors; a young handsome doctor.”
“Mary tried to turn my love away, make me want someone else. It didn’t work and I got the impression that sort of thing was both unreliable and sometimes dangerous.”
She shook her head. “Dangerous?”
“It’s probably nothing, but being seized by lust sounded as bad as any other form of possession.”
Paige walked the next block without speaking. Eventually she said, “I hope my dreams will tell me more.”
“That would be good. Maybe you should wait for Summer to come back. She will know something.”
As much as she didn’t want to wait, despite her fingers itching to touch everything in the box, he had good advice. “Yeah. I’ll wait. It’s only another week.”
At home, she plucked out a stone, rubbing it in her hand while she watched Die Hard. She didn’t know what the purple mineral did, but before she put it away that night, she felt calm with a pool of power in her belly. Would the next stone build it up?
A week seemed much further away than it had that morning.
HANDS CIRCLED HER WAIST, pulling Paige back from the rug she was beating. A warm breeze blew through the leaves of the trees and made her wisps of hair tickle her cheeks where they’d escaped her cap.
“Jane,” a familiar breathy voice whispered into her ear. Pulled back, there was no mistaking the hard length pressing into her.
“Master Charles.” Her breathy protest didn’t deter him in the slightest.
“Yes, your master.” He inched up the back of her skirt.
Paige craned her neck to look in all directions, afraid of being caught.
“No one to see us,” he assured her. His fingers traced along her hips as he kissed the back of her neck. “No one to hear you.”
He bit her earlobe, which made her shriek just as he thrust into her.
Everything about this was wrong. She was his slave, not his wife. And wasn’t she supposed to save this for her husband? He was old enough to be her father. All wrong, except the feeling of him inside her. Their bodies fit perfectly. She leaned back into each of his thrusts, letting out grunts and squeals that encouraged him to fuck faster, deeper. When he throbbed inside her, she clapped a hand over the scream erupting from her. Her entire body felt like flame and her insides boiled, churning, until he slipped from her and the blinding pleasure passed.
“Be sure you get that carpet clean, Jane.” He smacked her bottom before he left, smoothing his hair as he walked away.
One of these times he would get her killed. It should make avoiding him her priority, but it didn’t. It left her wondering if she could bring him a brandy that night. She tried to nip that thought in the bud. “Paige, don’t hang yourself.”
The strangeness of her name woke her and she shuddered, imagining she could still feel their mixed wetness inside her thigh. Paige jumped up and ran for the bathroom, in desperate need of a shower. She scrubbed until her skin tingled.
Downstairs, she found Geoffrey standing on the hot spot, watching the door. “She comes back today, right?” Paige asked.
“Yes. Not for hours yet but today.” He didn’t look uncomfortable standing; his weight didn’t shift. He could stand there forever.
“Um, I think I’m going to do some shopping. Did you want to come with me?”
Geoffrey’s eyes stayed on the door.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“No,” he said, dropping his hands to his sides. “I’ll accompany you. It’ll make the time pass more quickly.”
“Yeah, that’s good. Give me time for a quick coffee and we’ll head out.”
Her first stop was the supermarket. She spent all her time in the produce aisle, picking up fresh cut herbs and sniffing them. No, not dill. Oregano wasn’t quite right. Thyme! That scent was very familiar. It had been among the herbs Jane burned. There were others though, at least four or five. She set the bundle in her basket and kept looking.
In the end, she only found the thyme there, but in the flower shop next door, she gathered rose buds, lavender, and chamomile daisies.
“Did you find them all?” Geoffrey asked when they left the florist’s.
“Nope. At least two more, but I’m almost there.”
“I’m glad. I’m also glad you’re done. She’ll be home in an hour or so.”
Paige opened the door for Geoffrey, although he didn’t really need it, and stepped through behind him. “Great. I’m going to do some web searches. See if I can puzzle out what I’m missing.”
He turned to face the door again, resolute and stoic.
“Try not to have too much fun without me,” she muttered, climbing the stairs.
After fifteen minutes, Paige had to admit she knew even less than she believed. White flowers in a bunch and pink heart-shaped flowers were useless search terms. If she knew what the leaves were like or some other detail, if she could search by smell, she might have more luck.
The front door opened, followed by Summer’s feet on the stairs and the closing of her bedroom door. If she and Geoffrey had been talking, they were so quiet she couldn’t hear it at all.
Of course, they might not be talking... No, she didn’t want to think about that. Summer would probably know what flowers she needed. Ripping a page from the back of her notebook, she planned to diagram them. The flat-topped bunch of white flowers were simple, mostly plain circles. The side-view was better.
The second bloom was harder. The pink heart in the middle was easy, but there were several dangling bits that she couldn’t quite get right.
After chewing up the top of her pencil, she gave up and approached Summer’s door. Before she knocked, the door opened and Summer gasped, clutching her chest.
“God! Paige, I didn’t expect you to be right there.”
Paige chuckled. She’d been startled, but not as bad as Summer. “Heh, sorry. I wanted to pick your brain on something.” She held out her pictures.
“Magic, right? Geoffrey told me you discovered something.”
“Yeah, a box with goodies in it. Want to see?”
Summer glanced at the sheet. “Bleeding Heart.”
“Huh? No, no hearts. Gross.”
Snickering, Summer turned the paper over and tapped the heart-shaped flower. “It’s called Bleeding Heart. My Mom has some in her garden. No idea if there’s any in Mary’s.”
“Oh, they don’t have them at the flower shop?”
Her brown curls swung. “No. It doesn’t pick well, not a bouquet flower, and too big for most pots. Also, it won’t bloom for months. Neither will this one, I bet. I know it... It’s familiar, but...bother. It’ll come to me.”
“But you know it. I figured it was too...generic.” She frowned at her simple figure.
“No, it’s good. You found a box?”
Paige brightened. “Yeah, with crystals and stones Geoffrey says you used.” Leading her to the box, she held it out. “What are they?”
“Um...discord, it makes people fight. This one veils, hides things. Growth, it will extend life and speed healing. That first part is meant for plants. It does weird things to people.”
“Cool.”
She didn’t get to the ankh or other items before Ember called from downstairs. “Hello? Happy New Year.”
“We’ll talk more later,” Summer promised, closing the lid.
Paige tried not to be too disappointed. She knew more than that morning. She could try using the crystals, even though she didn’t know how. And with the name, she found tons of pictures of bleeding hearts. Summer was right, though, she could buy plants but not flowers. Even the plants wouldn’t be available for a month, according to the website. Just in time for spring planting. She couldn’t wait a month, she’d go mad. There had to be another way.
“Paige? Wanna order pizza?” Ember called.
“Yeah, sure, be right there.” Closing her laptop, she descended to join her roommates.
Chapter Five
GWEN CAME HOME the next day. Spying Paige and Summer in the yard, she rounded the house and joined them. “Hey, isn’t it early for gardening?”
“Hi, Gwen. Enjoy the holiday?” Summer asked.
The blonde shrugged. “It was okay. Caught a stomach bug.” She rubbed her middle. “It’s no fun when you can’t gorge on sweets.”
