Ghostly Liaisons (Ghosts)

by Spear, Terry

  Michael joined her and scanned the article. He shook his head. “Ghosts, Emily. We’re searching for ghosts.”

  “Shoot, Michael. Didn’t we just read about psychologists trying to determine a scientific basis for our abilities? I mean, look at this. They tested the man over and over and it showed he moved the objects. Then he finally refused to be tested anymore.” She looked up. “Why should he be treated like a guinea pig? He did it, and they have to keep making him do it over and over again to prove that he could.”

  “Ghosts, Emily. We’re trying to find out who the ghosts are.”

  Maybe she could become an activist for people with special abilities, or a parapsychologist, although she might be somewhat biased. She read through three more articles while Michael sat beside her and skimmed through books on ghosts.

  “Oh...oh...oh, Michael. Look. Asheley’s Restaurant in Rockledge. That’s not very far from us. Some say a woman must have died during the Roaring Twenties and frequents the restaurant and the area outside of it, but they don’t know anything about her; where she was from, how she died, why she’s ‘stuck’ there. Others mention a young man died on the railroad tracks behind the restaurant or Highway US 1 out front. They’ve found cold spots in various places. Customers and employees have seen apparitions, or objects moving by unseen forces. Many have heard strange sounds. Several of the incidents occurred in the restrooms or the kitchen, though there have been sightings all over the restaurant. One guy picked up the woman in the parking lot wearing the twenties-style dress. When he drove down River Road in Cocoa, she disappeared.”

  Emily looked up at Michael. “What do you think, Michael? Maybe Granny, you, and I could check out the place?”

  Michael ran his hand over her back. “You sure are cute, you know? Okay, it probably won’t have anything to do with the business we’re checking into, but I’m certain Granny will be game. Though I hoped my first dinner date with you could have been a little less crowded...ghosts, grannies...”

  Emily’s whole outlook perked up. He wanted to take her out on a date...a real date. Fall dance, here they come.

  She turned back to the computer monitor. “Well, I don’t see anything else here. You want to go to the main library now?”

  “Sure, let me put these books back. There’s nothing in here to help us. Most of the sightings are in old St. Augustine.” He walked back to the bookshelves and disappeared.

  “That won’t do.” Emily shut down the computer, stood, and turned. She took a deep breath. “Michael,” she whispered, her skin crawling with goose bumps.

  “Yeah?” he called from between two rows of books.

  “We’ve got company.”

  Chapter 9

  The cold seeped into her bones, and Emily shivered involuntarily. Michael ditched the library books and ran to her side. “I don’t see anything, Emily.”

  Rubbing her arms, she tried to warm them. “Do you feel the cold?” Most ghosts left cold spots. She was used to that. But this one created bitter—even deadly—conditions, like climbing Mt. Everest in shorts and a T-shirt.

  “Yes, I feel it,” Michael said, his voice troubled.

  Even their breaths were like wisps of frosty vapor on a cold winter’s day. “It’s beckoning me to follow it.”

  She was torn between helping it and running the opposite way. Would it harm her again?

  The greater fear won out—knowing if she couldn’t help it find peace—it would continue to harass her, and she wouldn’t be able to learn anything at school.

  “Where does it want you to go?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure.” She slipped her fingers between Michael’s, not just because she wanted the comfort she felt when holding his hand, but she needed his help. Trying to make her words sound confident, she failed miserably when the words softly slipped out. “Let’s go see.”

  When they entered the hall, Emily said, “I’m going to need you to keep me on my feet. I’ve got to close my eyes and let my mind tell me which way it wants us to go.”

  “Lead on.” Michael gripped her fingers tighter. Her hero, all the way.

  She closed her eyes and walked at a slower pace, down one hall, then to another. The cold preceded her the whole way. Then Michael’s hand tugged at hers to stop. Her heart lurched, and she opened her eyes.

  Painted in bold letters across the door the sign read: Boys’ Locker Room.

  Emily raised her brows and cleared her throat. “It wants us to follow it in there.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t go in there.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be able to sense where it is, Michael.”

  He hesitated, then took a deep breath. “The things I do for you. All right. Let me see if the coast is clear.”

  He ducked into the boys’ locker room while Emily tapped her foot, annoyed at the delay. What if Michael took too long? What if the spirit gave up on showing her the way today?

  Then she wondered...what if naked boys filled the room to capacity? Her lips twitched when she thought of sneaking a peek.

  Before Michael reappeared, she sensed the spirit nearby. Had it been misleading them until it got her alone? Her racing breath fogged in the air, and she trembled.

  The entity moved away.

  Torn between following it, or sticking with Michael, Emily tried to examine her options swiftly. If she followed it and she fainted again, she’d need Michael’s help. But if the spirit wouldn’t allow her to pursue it with Michael in tow, then she’d have to go it alone.

  Still, she wanted Michael with her. After all, she promised they’d do this together.

  She pushed open the door to the boys’ locker room and whispered loudly, “Michael.”

  The smell of dirty sneakers and soured socks wafted to her nostrils. The air was heavy and humid, and the sound of showers ran in the background. She feared Michael couldn’t hear her voice.

  Cautiously, Emily stepped into the room. A metal labyrinth of wall lockers blocked her view of the showers.

  “Michael,” she whispered again.

  Her heart beat way too fast and the sound of her blood rushing pell-mell filled her ears. Where in the world was Michael?

  She peeked around the corner and caught sight of Rocky inadvertently mooning her when he pulled the towel off his dripping wet body. Whirling around, she ran dead ahead into Red’s chest.

  A muffled cry escaped her lips as she squelched the urge to scream out loud. Red grinned evilly.

  He grabbed her arms to keep her from running. “Tsk, tsk, look at what we have here.”

  She glanced down at his towel, still secured at the waist. “You’re losing your towel.”

  As soon as she said it, he grabbed for his towel. She shoved him aside and sprinted for the door. She knew then she’d have to find the spirit without Michael’s assistance.

  Slamming the door behind her with a loud metal clunk, Emily leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Her clothes, damp from the sauna-like shower room, crinkled with frost with the spirit’s return.

  “Show me the way,” she whispered.

  Attempting to follow the spirit proved difficult as it seemed to walk through walls, disappearing from time to time. Then, as if realizing its mistake, it would come back for her.

  After several false starts, it brought her to the cafeteria. What could have happened in the cafeteria, of all places?

  The chairs rested on top of the tables, waiting patiently for the cleaning crew to mop the floor. Everything was quiet except for the roar of her heart in her ears. Emily’s throat grew dry with fear, and she suddenly wished Michael stood next to her.

  Cold air swirled around her, and her breath appeared in icy puffs of smoke.

  A misty form appeared like a white shadow of a figure, too hazy to determine whether it was a girl or boy. The spirit moved to one of the tables and hovered. Emily approached cautiously. She was certain it was trying to show her something…some connection it had with the lunchroom.


  Suddenly, a chair crashed to the floor, her heart skipped a beat and, she jumped back just in time to avoid being hit. The noise reverberated through the large room. She was certain the chair was the same one that had bumped her before.

  “Emily!”

  She screamed.

  Michael dashed across the cafeteria. He’d nearly given her a heart attack. She took a couple of deep breaths to settle her jumpy stomach.

  Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

  Before he could scold her, she started in on him. “What in the world happened to you? I didn’t see you anywhere in the boys’ locker…” She quit speaking when his brows rose in surprise. “Well, I mean, the spirit tried to separate us, and I waited, but it wanted me to follow. I didn’t want to go alone.”

  He shook his head and folded his arms. “Together, remember? We’re to do this together.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “Coach Jacobs caught me and tried to convince me to join the swim team.”

  Emily glanced down at Michael’s trousers. She wondered what he would have looked like wrapped in only a towel.

  “I sure wish I could read your mind, Emily.”

  Her face grew hot and her gaze instantly shifted to his face. “What did you say?”

  “I wish I could read your—”

  “No, to the coach about the swim team.”

  He wiggled his brows. “Would you cheer me on?”

  “You bet. Are you a good swimmer?”

  “Yep. I even served as lifeguard this summer at the public pool.”

  “A lifeguard?” Wow, Michael could rescue her any time. “So, how many cute girls faked drowning over the summer to catch your attention?”

  His eyes sparkled with a devilish glint. “None. I hate to ask, but did you catch sight of anyone in the locker room, well, rather more importantly, did anyone catch sight of you?”

  “No one of consequence.” And she didn’t believe teenaged girls hadn’t tried to get his attention at the pool either.

  He shook his head. “Red and his thugs were in there...trying out for the swim team, of all things.”

  “Maybe they need to focus some of their terrorist energy into something good.”

  “They’d probably try to drown the other team members. I wanted to warn you they were headed for the showers and would soon be leaving the locker room. But the coach caught me and said he wanted to talk.” He frowned. “I never in a million years would have thought you’d enter the boys’ locker room…”

  “You were supposed to be my protection.”

  “Who saw you in the locker room, Emily?”

  Glancing down at the chair resting on its back on the floor, she said, “The ghost did this.”

  “Emily? Who saw you?”

  She could see he wasn’t going to let her slip by without telling him. “Maybe Rocky saw me. I...he...his backside was turned to me. But when Red spoke to me…”

  “Jeez, Emily.”

  Shrugging, she righted the chair. “He wore a towel.”

  “That’s not what I was worried about.” He groaned and lifted the chair on top of the table.

  “It worried me.” She attempted to change the subject again. “The ghost knocked the chair from the table. This is where it wanted me to come.”

  “What did Red say to you?”

  Inwardly, Emily was amused. “Nothing important. I just told him his towel was slipping, and when he let go of me to grab it—”

  “Jeez, Emily. He had hold of you? I can’t leave you alone two seconds without you getting into more trouble.” He grimaced in annoyance. “What about Rocky?”

  “He wasn’t exactly dressed, though I imagine he was working pretty hard on it when I ran into Red.”

  “Hell, Emily.”

  “The ghost, Michael.” She pointed to the chair. “It brought me here and knocked the chair down.”

  “So, what does it mean?”

  Finally, she got him off the subject of the naked bullies. “I’m not certain. Sometimes I can sense something from an object that’s connected to a spirit.” She reached down and ran her hand over the chair, cold to the touch, then turning warmer. Her lips parted in surprise. Uneasily, she sensed a boy’s body had warmed the chair while he sat during a lunch hour some time before.

  Her chest tightened, her breath shortened.

  Pain. She felt excruciating sharp pain streaking through her stomach. Leaning over, she wanted to throw up. Her mind blurring, her legs shaking, an overwhelming feeling of sorrow filled her soul when she tried to sort out the spirit’s frustration.

  Keeping her from collapsing, Michael grasped her arm. “Emily, what’s the matter? Emily?”

  The overriding pain began to fade, along with her vision, her own thoughts, the hum of the fluorescent fixtures overhead.

  “Emily,” echoed in her head. “Poisoned,” the voice whispered, angry, vengeful, male. “Find them.”

  “Who? Who are you?”

  “They killed me. They murdered me because I was different—like you. Find them. Set me free.”

  Chapter 10

  By the time she seemed aware of her surroundings, Emily was sitting quietly on the chair that she’d said the ghost had knocked off the table in the lunchroom. Michael remained crouched before her, his hands holding hers, the room growing warmer. Even though he’d tried to “rescue” her from the entity at first, he realized she had to do this her way, like his grandmother and he had to when they used their abilities. Still, he wanted to yank her out of this deadly business and take her from here at once.

  “It’s…it’s a he and he was poisoned in the cafeteria. He said he wanted me to free him,” Emily whispered, tears in her eyes.

  Michael suspected the situation could only get worse. But if someone had murdered a student at school, they probably would find a news report at the main library. How to solve the murder was another story. What if the perpetrators were still at the school? What if they suspected Emily’s meddling and tried to silence her, too?

  “Did he say who did it?”

  She shook her head. “His thoughts were so scrambled, I barely was able to focus on much more than his saying he was poisoned, and he wanted me to find them. I imagine he means for me to expose who did it so they can face prison time. But he also said he was like me. I think he had special abilities like us.”

  The first thing Michael thought of was going to the police, but they had no evidence of anything. Who the perpetrators were, how they did it, when…nothing. Not even an actual death unless they could find proof. Without something more to go on, they couldn’t do anything. Yet, he wanted to hand the whole matter over to the police and let them investigate it.

  “Special abilities?” Michael asked Emily, leading her outside to his car.

  “I think maybe he could read minds.”

  Michael didn’t like the spirit targeting Emily, putting her life at risk. “Is that why he sought your help?”

  “Most likely. He must feel I’d sympathize with him more. Or else he knew I’d done this before.”

  Wondering how much more he didn’t know about his new girlfriend, Michael drove Emily to the main library. How often did she put ghosts’ spirits to rest? Did this mean he’d have to become her protector while she was Miss Emily Ghostbuster? “You didn’t tell me you’d done this before. Do you think he knows?”

  “I’ve always had a connection with the spirit world, Michael.”

  She hesitated, wrung her hands and looked out the window, as if there was something more she needed to tell him, but then couldn’t.

  “I can’t really explain it, except to say, they like to talk to me. Sometimes they need help in crossing over. Other times they want to stay where they are. But in this case, it’s different. I fear this spirit wants revenge.”

  Michael’s skin crawled. He got the same feeling from the entity, the cold, the way it led Emily away from him and got her alone. He didn’t think it only wanted to find solace. Certain
it wanted to use Emily to find its killers and bring them to him, Michael was torn. If Emily was to continue to attend school, they had to find a way to get rid of the ghost. But he didn’t want to put her life in danger to do it.

  On the drive to the main library, Emily’s feelings still were running amuck while she considered how someone had murdered a teenage boy at the school. How could her life have gotten so complicated? Never before had she had to deal with something this sinister. Teen suicides, ghosts bent on revenge, but only for minor offenses, none where someone had murdered another person. Was it more recent, or long ago? How long had the school been here?

  Emily had fully intended to start her new school just like anyone else. But now, she definitely had to ditch her New Year’s resolution. Finding the boy’s killers was her new goal. No one should be able to get away with something so horrible.

  Michael pulled into the library parking lot and glanced at Emily. “Tell me how you helped a ghost find peace.”

  She cleared her throat. “Well, the most recent case wasn’t anything really. Not like this.” She hadn’t ever planned on telling anyone about the other experience. Not even her parents knew about that.

  He nodded.

  She sighed, figuring there could be no secrets between Michael and her, not if they had to face lethal spirits together as a team. Except for her death experience. Kids back home who learned of it called her the zombie kid. She just never talked about it to anyone.

  “A kid drowned in the high school’s indoor swimming pool. He’d been horsing around with some others. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Not like what happened here.”

  “But?”

  She ran her hands down her denim-covered thighs, trying to wipe away her nervousness. “He felt such remorse for the others getting into trouble over it—three of the boys were suspended from school—he haunted the pool for weeks. I loved swimming there, but the pool was closed down, supposedly for repairs. In reality, the spirit of the dead boy scared everyone away.

  “After classes one day, I stole the key to the indoor pool room. I thought maybe I could communicate with him and try to help him leave there in peace.”