Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

by Ally Blue

  God, his own uncle. How awful would that be?

  Maybe it wasn’t true. Adrian hoped it wasn’t. Just because Cassius thought that’s what had happened didn’t mean he was right.

  Unless he saw it. Maybe he was hiding somewhere nearby and witnessed Lionel Groome killing Lyndon. My God, what a horrible thing.

  Adrian shuddered. There was no point in creating nightmare scenarios in his head, especially when he could attempt to extract the information directly from Lyndon’s memories the next time he went to the castle. With any luck, having this information would make connecting easier.

  In the meantime, he needed to finish reading through the papers. There might be more clues, and he didn’t want his excitement over this one clue—huge though it may be—to make him miss anything else.

  Picking up his iPhone, he thumbed it on and called up the notes function. He keyed in the pertinent information from the article, as well as its location on the microfilm spool, then went back to reading.

  As he’d suspected, Adrian found nothing else of interest in the nineteen-oh-five papers. The library closed before he was quite finished with the December editions, but by that time he’d already decided there wouldn’t be anything else mentioned. He found it puzzling, actually, that there could be an accusation of murder against one of the town’s prominent citizens with only one mention in a back page column bordering on gossip.

  Maybe the “financial connections to the town” bit had something to do with the lack of further coverage. Walking out into the cold, damp night air, Adrian resolved to ask around and find out what the chances were that an influential man like Lionel Groome might have paid off someone at the paper to keep his name out of the headlines.

  With his brain busy laying plans for visiting Lyndon and reading further in the Chapel Hill newspapers—maybe finding out what had become of Cassius—the walk to his apartment passed quickly. He punched in the entry code, swung open the front door and climbed the stairs to the second floor. When he reached the top of the steps he stopped and stared, shocked.

  Greg sat on the floor outside Adrian’s apartment. He stood as Adrian approached. “Hi, Adrian.” His voice sounded rough and hoarse, and Adrian wondered if he was sick.

  “Greg.” Adrian clutched the stair rail, his heart thudding so hard it left him breathless. “How’d you get in?”

  “Lori let me in when she came home.” Greg gestured at the door across the hall, where Adrian’s neighbor Lori Young lived. “I’m sorry, I know I didn’t have any right to bust in like this, especially after I broke things off with you, but…” His gaze fixed on Adrian’s face, Greg moved closer. “Something happened today, and I just had to see you. I had to talk to you.”

  Adrian studied Greg’s face. His skin was deathly white, gray eyes wide and glazed. Worse, Adrian thought he saw…

  Forgetting all about his own wounded heart and the two weeks of hell he’d endured after the breakup, Adrian gently pulled aside the collar of Greg’s jacket. What he saw made his chest constrict.

  “Oh, my God.” Adrian stroked his fingertips over the purple bruises marring the skin of Greg’s throat. “What happened?”

  “Harrison was waiting for me outside my dorm this morning.” Greg dropped his gaze to the floor at his feet. “He tried to kill me.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Anger stained Adrian’s vision red. He breathed it away. Greg needed him calm and gentle, not enraged, regardless of the target of his fury.

  Resisting the urge to take Greg’s hand, Adrian walked to his apartment door on trembling legs. “Let’s get inside. I still have some of that mint tea you like. I’ll make you a cup and you can tell me what happened.”

  Greg followed him inside without a word. He sat in the armchair while Adrian filled a large mug with water, stuck a mint teabag in it and popped the whole thing into the microwave. They waited in silence while the tea brewed. When the microwave beeped, Adrian took the mug out and stirred in a dollop of honey. He handed it to Greg, then dragged a chair over from the dining table.

  “All right.” Adrian settled into the chair, all his attention on Greg. “First of all, please tell me that bastard Harrison is behind bars right now.”

  The corners of Greg’s mouth curved upward. “Yeah, he is. Steven sat on him until campus security got there, and the cops showed up not long after that. They carted him off to jail.”

  “Good.” Adrian clasped his hands together. The temptation to pull Greg into his arms and hold him was hard to resist. “What happened? You said he was waiting for you when you left your dorm, right?”

  “Yeah.” Kicking his shoes off, Greg curled his legs beneath him. He took a sip of tea. When he lowered the cup, his shaking hands caused the liquid to slosh almost to the rim. “I don’t know where he was, exactly. Maybe behind that big oak tree. Steven and Sandy were with me when I left the dorm, but none of us saw him until he attacked me. He ran at me and tackled me from behind, got me on the ground and started strangling me. He was yelling something at me, but I couldn’t understand him.” One of Greg’s hands went to his throat. His eyes took on a haunted look. “Steven and Sandy were both trying to get him off me, but they couldn’t. I could hear Sandy screaming for help. Finally, Steven kicked him in the face just when I thought I was going to pass out. That made him let go. Steven pinned him to the ground and literally sat on him while Sandy called nine-one-one. By that time other students had noticed and someone had called campus security too. I don’t know the time frame, but I know it wasn’t long before security got there, then the paramedics and cops showed up. It’s all kind of a blur after that.”

  “I bet.” Adrian eyed the bruises on Greg’s neck with concern. “Are you all right? I assume if the paramedics were there they at least checked you over.”

  “Oh yeah.” Greg let out a hoarse laugh. “They took me to the ER, and I got scanned and X-rayed and prodded within an inch of my life. The doctor said I have a little bit of swelling in my windpipe and vocal cords but it’s mild. She said the bruises make it look a lot worse than it is.”

  Relief brought a genuine smile to Adrian’s face. “Still, I’m surprised she didn’t want you to stay overnight, just to watch you and make sure it didn’t get worse.”

  Greg’s pale cheeks colored. “Um. Actually, she kind of did.” He lifted his mug and took a long swallow of tea.

  “But you refused.” Adrian shook his head. “Why? I thought you had better sense than that.”

  One of Greg’s shoulders hitched up in a falsely casual shrug that didn’t fool Adrian for a second. “I don’t like hospitals, that’s all. Waking you up to give you a sleeping pill and that sort of crap. And have you seen those stupid beds? It’s like they’re designed to keep people from getting a good night’s sleep.” He stirred his tea with one finger, watching the swirling liquid as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

  Warmth suffused Adrian’s insides. The fact that Greg had come here—not his dorm room, not any of his friends’ room, not even his parents’ house—spoke volumes. The truth was, he’d simply wanted to be with Adrian, not alone in a hospital bed. After enduring the past sixteen days alone, Adrian was content to know that without having to hear it spoken out loud.

  “You have a point there.” Adrian watched Greg drain half his mug in one draught. “I’ll tell you the truth, Steven and Sandy haven’t exactly been my favorite people lately, and you know why, but I’m very glad they were with you this morning. They saved your life.”

  “I know. Believe me, I know.” Greg snorted. “I’ve thought all day about how ironic that was, that they’ve been hanging all over me to protect me from you, when all along it wasn’t you I needed protection from at all. It was him.”

  A suspicion wormed itself into Adrian’s brain. He aimed a narrow look at Greg. “What are you saying? I thought he’d left you alone lately. You didn’t mention anything to me about him bothering you.”

  Greg stared at the blue and white UNC mug in his
hand for a moment, as if it held the answers to all life’s most pressing questions, then leaned over the arm of the chair and set it on the floor. Unfolding his legs, he scooted to the edge of the chair, reached out and took Adrian’s hands in his. “Adrian, I owe you a massive apology. And I owe you the truth. The whole truth, for a change. You’ve given me that. I realize that now. And you deserve the same from me.”

  Cold dread settled like a block of ice in Adrian’s stomach, but he didn’t let it show. He curled his fingers around Greg’s and nodded. “I’m listening.”

  For a second, the fear and worry melted from Greg’s features and his eyes shone with the elusive light Adrian had noticed on and off ever since that last night in Mobile. Only this time, it didn’t fade away. It remained, bright and beautiful, even when Greg’s brief smile vanished and the furrow dug into his brow once again.

  Adrian stared, fascinated, his pulse galloping and his mouth dry. Finally, finally, he thought he could put a name to what he saw in Greg’s eyes. But he refused to voice it, even to himself, because being wrong would destroy him. Instead, he forced the revelation to the back of his mind and focused on what Greg was about to say.

  “Harrison never left me alone.” Greg’s fingers kneaded the backs of Adrian’s hands, a sure sign of his nervousness. “In fact, the stalking’s gotten worse since that day we saw him on the street.”

  Adrian nodded. He’d expected something like that. “And to think I thought I’d scared him away. Stupid of me, really.”

  Greg frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I gave him a little taste of my psychokinesis. Just enough to scare him off, or so I thought.” Adrian shrugged, feeling his cheeks heat as Greg’s eyebrows shot up. “I know it was dumb. It just made me so angry, the way he treated you.”

  “I know. And I’m not starting that fight again.” One corner of Greg’s mouth turned up in a wry half-smile. “I guess that explains why he kept telling me you were a demon.”

  “Probably.” Adrian ran a thumb over Greg’s knuckles. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t make things worse for you.”

  “With Harrison, it’s pretty hard to tell, but I’d say you didn’t.” Greg sighed. “Anyway, up until this morning he’s mostly been either calling me or showing up out of the blue to tell me that you’re a demon who’ll steal my soul away to hell, or that I belong to him and we’re destined to be together. A few times he’s told me that he’s coming back to take me away to paradise, whatever the fuck that means.”

  Adrian blew out a breath. “Good grief. He sounds certifiable, Greg. Why didn’t you try to get any kind of protection from him?”

  Greg’s eyes flashed. His jaw took on a familiar stubborn set. “I didn’t take out a restraining order because I know Harrison, and it would’ve just set him off and made him violent. And before you say it, yes, I know what happened this morning. That was completely out of the blue. I didn’t expect it.” The defensiveness disappeared from Greg’s face. His shoulders slumped. “I actually talked to the cops earlier about having him committed, and I found out it would be impossible for me to do since I’m not next of kin. The police said I could do a restraining order, but that was my only option until Harrison actually attacked me or something.”

  “Jesus.” Unable to help himself, Adrian lifted Greg’s hands and kissed them both. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all that. I’m glad he’s in jail. I hope they put him away for a long, long time.”

  “Me too.” Twisting his hands in Adrian’s, Greg wove their fingers together. “Now for the apology I owe you. I’m sorry I accused you of lying when you told me about your…your abilities, and what happened to you when you were a kid, with the portal and all. It must have been really hard for you to tell me that, and I threw it in your face, just because I was scared of being hurt.”

  Adrian swallowed against the tightness in his throat. “Well, to be fair, I had lied to you about Groome Castle, and Lyndon.”

  Greg shook his head, his intense gaze never wavering from Adrian’s face. “Yeah, but it’s not exactly the same thing. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never, ever, told a deliberate lie to someone’s face. You’ve never said something that’s completely untrue. And you’re certainly not the type of person to make fun of somebody the way I accused you of doing. I should never have said those things to you, and I’m sorry.” His hands tightened around Adrian’s. “Can you forgive me?”

  Adrian didn’t even have to think about his answer. “I forgave you ages ago.”

  Relief lit up Greg’s face. He slid closer, his knees bumping Adrian’s. “Can we try again?”

  Happiness made Adrian lightheaded. Still, he had a responsibility to make sure Greg wasn’t just reacting to the trauma he’d suffered.

  You have the potential to hurt him worse than Harrison ever dreamed of doing. Never forget that.

  Dislodging Greg’s grip on his right hand, Adrian touched Greg’s cheek. “I want that so much it hurts. But you have to be sure of this. After what I did—”

  Greg cut him off with a hand against his lips. “I know what you did. And I know what I said about it. Believe me, I’ve thought about this a lot over the last couple of weeks. And I realized that in spite of what you did in the cemetery, you don’t have it in you to be an abuser.”

  Adrian blinked. “But… But I…”

  “You got angry. You lost your temper, like all of us do sometimes.” Greg ran his fingertips across Adrian’s cheek and over the corner of his jaw. “I’m not excusing what you did. If I’d gotten pissed off at you and punched you, there’d be no excusing that either. But the thing is, if I did that, I know—I know—it would only happen once. I’d be so horrified by what I’d done that I’d make damn sure it never happened again. And see, I know that’s how you feel. I know you’ll never hurt me again.” A smile tugged at Greg’s mouth. “In fact, I have extra confidence in you because you have more self-control than anyone I’ve ever known. You’re almost super-human that way.”

  That surprised a laugh from Adrian. “I’m definitely no Superman. But I do want to be with you again. God, yes, I want that.”

  “Good.” Greg rose from his chair to straddle Adrian’s lap. “You promised you wouldn’t lie to me, and I’m promising right now that I won’t lie to you either. I’m still a little scared. But I trust you.” He let go of Adrian’s hand, cradled Adrian’s face in both hands and pinned him with a stare that pierced him to the core. “Don’t make me regret that.”

  Adrian shook his head, his throat tight. “Never.”

  “I know.” Beaming, Greg leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Adrian’s lips.

  It felt so good Adrian wanted to cry and whoop with joy at the same time. He settled for wrapping an arm around Greg’s waist, burying the opposite hand in his hair and taking the kiss deep. Greg’s resulting moan sounded sweeter than any music to Adrian’s ears.

  When they drew apart, Greg rested his forehead against Adrian’s. “Can I stay with you tonight?”

  Tonight, and every night. I want you with me forever. Adrian ran his fingers through Greg’s curls. “Of course. You don’t even have to ask, you know. You have an open invitation to stay here with me.”

  Greg’s breath hitched. His fingers dug into Adrian’s shoulders. “Thank you.”

  Tilting his head, Adrian brushed a chaste kiss across Greg’s mouth. “Come on. I think you should lie down and get some sleep. You’ve got to be exhausted.”

  “It’s not even ten yet,” Greg protested, but he stood anyway and let Adrian lead him to the bathroom to brush his teeth and change into a borrowed pair of sleep pants and a T-shirt.

  Adrian had planned to work on his math paper before going to bed. The sight of Greg in his bed changed his mind. He set his alarm for an hour early the next morning, brushed his teeth and changed, and crawled under the covers with Greg instead. Greg curled into Adrian’s embrace, his back molded to Adrian’s chest and their legs tangled together. Adrian hooked an arm aroun
d Greg’s waist and breathed in the familiar scent he’d missed so terribly.

  I love you, he mouthed into the bend of Greg’s neck. Maybe one day soon he could speak the words out loud. Maybe he’d even hear them in return.

  Warmed by the thought, Adrian closed his eyes and let the rhythm of Greg’s breathing lull him to sleep.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Adrian waited until Saturday to broach the subject of visiting Groome Castle. Partly because he wanted a time when he could communicate with Lyndon without worrying about classes, but mostly because waiting put five days of distance between Greg’s assault and the need to have the Lyndon conversation with him.

  Of all the things they needed to talk about, Adrian dreaded that one the most.

  He made cheese omelettes for breakfast, then took the plunge while they were still sitting at his table sipping their coffee. “Greg, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

  “Uh-oh. That sounds serious.” Greg set his mug on the table, his expression wary. “What is it?”

  Adrian rubbed both thumbs nervously over the Bellingrath Gardens logo on his mug. “Well, I hope it isn’t. The thing is, on Monday night when you came over here, I had just found a major clue to Lyndon Groome’s death, and I was thinking that maybe I’d go over to the castle today and…you know, talk to Lyndon. See if I could find out if what I learned could possibly be true.”

  Greg gazed at him in thoughtful silence. Adrian drew a deep swallow of coffee, then another, and tried not to fidget. Finally, Greg leaned forward, a determined look in his eyes. “I want to come with you.”

  Of all the responses Adrian had imagined, that hadn’t been one of them. He gaped at Greg in astonishment. “You… What? Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I thought you had play practice today.” Greg had landed the role of Fiyero in the school’s upcoming production of Wicked, and he’d spent at least a portion of most days lately at practice.