Masque

by Lexi Post

  “Over here!” Relief washed through her as Valerie, Jamie and Matt all carefully made their way over, giving the hole in the parapet a wide berth. After giving them a brief explanation of what had happened, they were able to use Jamie’s overdeveloped upper body and Matt’s strength to get Synn down to the entryway where they laid him on a fainting couch Valerie moved from the Blue Room. Rena knelt down to press on the wound. The material she had used was soaked through. “Where is the ambulance?”

  Valerie opened the front door, the hinges squeaking loudly. “The ambulance is here.”

  “I didn’t hear the siren.” She looked up as two EMTs strode in.

  Valerie made her stand away as the men went to work on Synn. Their efficiency calmed her, but when they decided he needed to get to the hospital right away if they were going to save him, she balked. “Can’t you help him here?” She must sound like a lunatic.

  “No ma’am. He needs a doctor and medical equipment we don’t have.”

  She worried the material of her wet robe. What could she say? If he started to freaking disappear, she’d say a lot. She walked next to him, holding on to his leg as they wheeled him out. It remained solid all the way to the ambulance. When they loaded him in, she hopped in beside him. Still, he didn’t disappear.

  On the road to the hospital, she kept touching him. The men in the ambulance looked at her strangely, but she didn’t care.

  Once inside, they wheeled him away from her and into surgery. Valerie and Jamie arrived a few minutes later. “Here.” Valerie held out a plastic shopping bag.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s dry clothes. Why don’t you go change?”

  Her strict vigilance over Synn remaining whole, the doctor’s concerned face when they wheeled him in, and her soaking-wet robe combined to stretch her to her limits. Valerie’s thoughtful gesture broke her. Tears coursed down her face.

  “Oh shit. It’s not a big deal. Now go in the bathroom and change or I’ll strip you right here in the waiting room.”

  She smiled a little at that and got a hold of herself. When she came back into the waiting room and Valerie handed her a hot cup of coffee, she almost broke again. “Thanks,” she managed with only a sniffle.

  While Jamie went in search of something for them to eat, she and Valerie sat on one of the cushioned couches to wait. Rena grimaced. “This isn’t exactly Mrs. McMurray’s coffee, is it?”

  “Yeah, about that. Where is everyone this morning? I woke up and it’s like a ghost town. No pun intended. Did they all leave already?”

  Rena sighed and explained the successful crossing-over event, leaving out the details of the part she played in the Masque. Then she told Valerie about Synn, including his latest vanishing act. “I don’t understand why he remained solid when the ambulance came or why he started to bleed in the first place.”

  Valerie leaned back and folded her arms. “I’d like to know who shot him.”

  Rena pondered the question and Synn’s words floated through her brain. All he found was me and seventy-three graves, so he shot me. She sat up straight. That was it. The wound the constable gave him had suddenly started bleeding. But why now? Synn must have been in some kind of stasis. He always said he was cursed. “Val, I think I know who shot Synn.”

  “Seriously? Well, shit! Then we should call the police.” Valerie pulled out her cell phone, ready to make the call.

  Rena smiled. “No, I don’t think we should because it was the police.”

  “Huh?”

  Rena explained her theory based on what Synn had told her. “So, do you think it’s crazy?”

  Valerie lifted one eyebrow as she pocketed her phone. “You mean crazier than having seventy-three ghosts in the house who are only solid for two weeks a month?” Valerie squeezed her hand. “You know, your theory may be right. Remember those curtains and the lack of dust in the Abbey before Jamie started making so much?”

  Rena smirked. Valerie was always on Jamie’s back about the stone dust, but how the man was supposed to cut into the stone without making dust was beyond her. “Yes, I remember. The curtains are like new. Are you saying maybe the whole abbey was frozen in time in some way?”

  Valerie shrugged. “It’s a little out there, but we are talking about a haunted abbey.”

  * * * * *

  Synn took another breath. Was that the scent of pomegranate? Rena? Breathing deeper, a shooting pain filled his chest. He opened his eyes. “Bloody hell!”

  “Synn. Are you in pain?”

  He lifted his hand to his chest and found a bandage there before he focused on Rena’s bright-green eyes. “What happened?”

  She cupped his cheek, leaned over and kissed him. The feel of her lips upon his had the pain fading into the background as his body responded, but then she pulled away, smiling though her eyes were misty. “God, I’m so glad you are all right. You lost so much blood.”

  The pain was back full force and he tensed against it. “What happened?”

  She took his right hand in hers and squeezed. “I don’t know. One minute, we were standing on the roof and the next, you started to bleed and collapsed. I know this may sound strange, but I think your wound from when you were shot started bleeding again. The doctor said she removed a lead ball from your chest. She’d never seen one in a person’s body before, only in reenactments of historic battles.”

  “I was bleeding? But I couldn’t have been. I don’t bleed. I know. I have cut myself many times in the last century and not once have I bled.” Why would she tell him that? “Rena, don’t lie to me. Tell me what happened.”

  Her face closed down like the gate at the Abbey’s portal. “I’m not lying to you. Valerie and I think that you have been in some kind of stasis and for some reason it stopped.” She rubbed his wrist with her thumb. “Could it be because the ghosts crossed over?”

  He shook his head. It couldn’t be. He was cursed, to exist between being dead and alive to be the ghost keeper…but the ghosts were gone. Even as he grappled with the change in his existence, his stomach ached, a strange hollow feeling deep inside that made him want to eat. He was hungry!

  He glanced around the room for the third time. It was tan and white and had items in it he had never seen before. “Where am I?”

  She brushed back his hair, her fingers soft against his face. “You’re in a hospital.”

  A hospital. It wasn’t like any hospital he’d ever seen. He gripped her hand as he struggled with the panic squeezing his chest. “I can’t leave the Abbey.” His voice came out strained and he tensed, expecting the numbness to begin in his legs.

  Rena smiled a full, bright smile that took the edge from his anxiety. “I know. I watched very carefully, but you didn’t disappear, not even a little. Synn, I think you have started living again!”

  “Living?” The word was but a whisper, but it echoed inside his head as if he had yelled it in a deep cavern. Living. He took another deep breath, past the pain in his chest and the emptiness in his stomach. Living. The panic dissipated as wonder set in. He was living again. He could walk beyond the walls of the Abbey, smell the lilacs up close, swim in the pond. He grinned at what he and Rena could do in that pond and gazed at her.

  He could be with her.

  “Isn’t it amazing?” Her face was alight with sheer joy. “We can be together,” she hesitated and played with the sheet that covered him, “that is, if you want to be.”

  Damn, he loved this woman. Of course they could… Oh God! He pulled his hand from hers and crossed it over his chest as far away from her as he could get. “No, get away from me! Quickly, Rena!”

  “What?” The hurt on her face crushed him, but he didn’t want her to die.

  He tried to sit up, the tight pain from the physical wound mixing with the fear in his chest. “Go. Leave this room. Now! Please, Rena, I don’t want to lose you.”

  She stood, tears in her eyes. “I don’t understand. Why do you want me to leave?”

  “To save your l
ife!” Panic and desperation made his voice harsh. “Quickly! Blast, it could already be too late.”

  At the thought he’d failed to protect her, he slumped back into the pillow, hopelessness overwhelming him. He closed his eyes, wishing his heart would simply stop.

  “Synn, what are you talking about?”

  He opened his eyes. Rena stood no more than three feet away. “The Red Death. I’m a carrier. You may already be infected. Will my punishment never end?”

  She took a step forward, sealing her fate. “I don’t think the Red Death exists anymore. We eradicated many of the diseases you had when you were alive. I mean, back in the 1800s.” She gave him a tentative smile and gestured to the room. “The medical field has come a long way since then.”

  He closed his eyes and spoke. “But I’m a carrier and if I’m living again then so is the Red Death.”

  Rena touched his arm and he opened his eyes, resigned to losing her now. The irony of being alive again and losing her hit him full force. What had he done?

  “Synn, I’m going to get the doctor and see if she can’t shed some light on this. Okay?”

  He shrugged. It didn’t matter now. Everyone in the hospital would soon die. Why didn’t the devil take him and stop this torture?

  * * * * *

  Rena led Dr. Forrester into the room. “Synn, I’ve brought the doctor.”

  Synn opened his eyes and Rena’s heart clenched. When he had awakened, the clear blue of those orbs had taken her breath away, but now there was only despair reflected there.

  The doctor checked the monitors and then sat in the chair next to Synn’s bed. “So, Ms. Mills tells me you think you are a carrier of the Red Death.”

  He eyed the woman with suspicion. “You’re a doctor?”

  Dr. Forrester rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am. What were you expecting, an old man with a beard or something?”

  Synn looked away and Rena smirked. He had a lot to adjust to, and she would be by his side, making it as easy as possible.

  The doctor stared Synn in the eye. “So, you think you carry the Red Death?”

  Synn nodded.

  “Well, the last time that disease was seen here in Canada was in 1861 when it swept through this town. However, it was still in Europe for another decade before they found a drug to cure it, so if anyone has contracted it, we can make them better.”

  Rena grinned. This doctor was good. She put Synn’s biggest fears to rest first.

  Synn raised a brow. “There is medicine to cure the Red Death?”

  Dr. Forrester looked affronted. “Yes, there is. I think I would know. However, I doubt you are a carrier of this plague since that would mean you are over one hundred fifty years old.”

  Rena coughed, a bit of Synn’s worry now catching up. Could he really be carrying the Red Death?

  Synn tensed as well. “Is there enough medicine to give everyone in the hospital?”

  The doctor stood and chuckled. “Okay, I see I haven’t convinced you. Very well, I will run a test to see if you are a carrier.” She turned to Rena. “Insurance won’t cover this.”

  She nodded, relieved that they could find out for sure. “That’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

  The doctor strode toward the door, but turned back and looked Synn in the eye. “I hate to take more blood from you after all you have lost, but if you insist on this test I will have a nurse come in.”

  Synn gave her his regal nod. “I insist.”

  Rena swallowed a laugh as the doctor left the room. “You are going to have to learn to be a little more diplomatic in this era.”

  Synn raised his brow. “Is she really a doctor?”

  Rena sat next to him and couldn’t resist holding his hand. If they did have the Red Death, at least there was a cure, so no one could keep her from touching him. Not even him.

  A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in.”

  Valerie entered with Jamie in tow. “How’s our almost seventy-fourth ghost?”

  She looked back at Synn, his brows lowered in worry. She squeezed his hand, then leaned over and whispered, “There is medicine. It’s all right.” She faced their visitors. “He’s going to make it. May not like all his limitations,” she glanced back at him, before continuing, “but he’ll live.”

  Valerie bent over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad.” Her genuine affection for him warmed Rena’s heart.

  Jamie stepped up to the bed. “When will they let you out of here?”

  Synn shrugged. “Don’t know yet.” He glanced at Rena. “But I hope in a couple days.”

  “Excellent. We will need to fill in the hole from the breach and I’d prefer to have your advice.”

  Synn’s gaze turned sharp. “What hole?”

  Jamie’s bushy brows rose high. “You didn’t see it? It’s why the parapet gave way.” He pointed toward the ceiling. “It goes from the roof straight down to a third floor bedroom.”

  Rena’s gaze met Synn’s. “Eric.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I’d like to inspect this hole. See what other damage it might have done.”

  Jamie stepped closer. “Also, I wanted to show you a spot for a new walkway between two of the courtyards.” He pointed his finger at an imaginary drawing on the blanket. “I think if we—”

  “Oh no, you are not talking shop with this man. He almost bled to death.” Valerie pulled Jamie away from the bed. “There is more to life than work, you know.”

  Jamie pulled her into his arms. “Really? Maybe I need a reminder.”

  Rena grinned to see the couple so happy and gazed down at Synn, who was staring at her. She cocked her head. “What are you thinking?”

  He lifted his good arm and stroked her cheek. “I’m thinking that you have made my life worth living.”

  She melted. Despite Valerie and Jamie in the room, she brought her lips to his in a gentle kiss. She’d show him more fully what he had done for her life when they had some privacy.

  The door to his room opened again and a police officer stepped in. “I understand there was a shooting. I’m Officer McMurray and I’m here to take your statement.”

  The man was in his early fifties with dark hair, lightly sprinkled with white. His eyes reminded Rena of Matt. “Excuse me, Officer, but are you related to Matt McMurray?”

  He smiled, the answer was clear on his face even before he spoke. “That I am, Miss. And you are?”

  “I guess I’m Matt’s employer.”

  The man’s smile softened his features and made him seem more approachable. “Then you must be Ms. Mills who owns Ashton Abbey. It’s a pleasure to meet you. How is my nephew doing up there? Not messing anything up, is he?”

  Jamie spoke up, “Actually, he has—”

  Synn spoke, “Done good work on the pond.”

  Officer McMurray nodded. “Uh-huh, he told me about that. He’s really keen on getting everything working just right.”

  Rena couldn’t keep her curiosity contained. “So, how can we help you, Officer McMurray?”

  He took off his hat and sat down in the chair on the other side of the bed. “Call me Ray, everyone else does. I’m here to find out how this gentleman here got shot.”

  Synn looked at her, and she shook her head at him before turning her attention to the officer. “How did you know he was shot?”

  Ray took out a pad of paper from his shirt pocket. “The hospitals have to report any gunshot wounds and since there were no crime reports this morning, I had to come down and find out what happened.”

  While the officer searched for a pen, Rena looked desperately at Valerie. What could they tell him? The truth was so unbelievable he’d be sure to investigate further and they’d soon find themselves in an insane asylum.

  Synn looked ready to tell the truth.

  She blurted out the first thing that came to her head. “It was an accident.”

  Ray looked up at her, pen at the ready. “Yeah, I figured that. No real criminal goes around shooting off antiqu
e guns, especially a Colt.”

  She nodded. “Exactly.”

  He wrote down a word on his pad. “So, tell me what happened.”

  “Well, it wasn’t exactly planned.”

  Ray chuckled. “Accidents rarely are.”

  “We were testing things.” Valerie’s voice from across the room was a sheer relief. She had always been the one faster on her feet.

  “Testing things?”

  Valerie had Ray’s full attention now. “Yes, you know, clothes, furniture, weapons. There is a lot of old stuff in that abbey and we were trying to figure out what worked and what didn’t.”

  Rena caught on to Valerie’s story instantly. It was perfect! “Yes, I wanted to plan a fun opening to the Abbey when it’s ready and thought we’d have people dressed in period costume, maybe hold a mock duel, those kinds of things. Really make a splash.”

  “A splash. Right.” The officer wrote on his pad.

  Valerie took it up from there. “Yes, did you see the clothes he was wearing when he was shot? Rena, where are Synn’s clothes?”

  “Umm, I think they are in this bag.” She moved over to a dresser and removed Synn’s bloody ripped shirt and pants and boots.

  Ray got up to take a look. “These look authentic and in great shape.”

  Rena smiled. “He was really handsome in them too.”

  Synn broke in. “Rena, I don’t think the officer needs to know how I look.”

  Ray turned back to him with a chuckle. “That’s okay. The woman is obviously smitten.”

  Rena warmed with embarrassment, but she still took Synn’s hand as he slipped it between hers and her sweatshirt.

  “So, how did you get shot?”

  The room went quiet as all four of them looked at each other. Ray was friendly, but not slow. “Listen, folks, I can tell this was an accident, no one will be going to jail for attempted murder. Just tell me who did the shooting.”

  “I did.”

  Everyone turned to Jamie. Rena wanted to hug him, but Valerie was staring at him open-mouthed. He ignored her. “I find weapons fascinating. I have a few old guns and a saber from that era, but I don’t have bullets. I didn’t even think something that had been around for over a century would be loaded. I turned around with it and pulled the trigger to feel how it worked and didn’t realize Synn had come back into the room.”