by M J Waverly
“Hey, Sidney, you wanna grab a bite to eat?” Jason leaned against my desk, legs stretched out and arms folded across his chest.
“I assumed you’d be dining with Mandy.” The words rolled off my tongue before I even knew I said them.
“I assumed you might be meeting with your professor for dinner.” His expression remained blank, but several ink pens rolled off his desk.
Apparently, he didn’t like my association with Dr. Hawthorne. A little thrill shot through me. Jason was jealous. “It’s a writing group. We’re not dating.”
“He seems to be around a lot.” Jason’s pupils flared.
I didn’t think I should tell Jason that Dr. Hawthorne was a vampire. Jason might go batshit crazy. Batshit crazy. Vampire. Bad, I know.
“What about Mandy?” I sniffed.
He sighed. “She sees you as a threat.”
“I’m not a threat. We’re keeping our relationship strictly professional. You should explain that to her.” I grabbed my messenger bag.
Jason cleared this throat. “Yes, well . . . she’s not used to me being around other women.” He looked away and pretended to read something on my desk. A blank piece of paper. “I want us to stay close tonight during the hike. I have a feeling that maybe more than George the ghost will make an appearance.”
“I think you’re right,” I told him what I’d seen around Rudolph and also, Ava’s experience with the tree almost collapsing on her, but being saved by the squirrels.
“I need to somehow communicate with the squirrels in the park. Maybe they can connect me with the fairies,” I said.
“You think this means the fairies are working with the animals in the park,” Jason crossed the room, closer to me. I inhaled his clean soap smell. Something spicy and woodland.
“Possibly. How about some food before we go to the trail? If we run into some squirrels at the park before the hike, we can ask if they know George or the fairies.”
We took Jason’s car, and we drove through a burger place. At Thunder Mountain Park, we ate at a picnic table surrounded by towering hardwoods near Meadowpond Trail.
McDonald’s this morning, and now a burger. Good thing we were hiking.
“What about George?” I asked. “How do we handle him?” I unwrapped my burger. I removed the lettuce and tomato. I detested soggy bread.
“Tonight, we’ll observe. Stop him if he tries to hurt someone. Sounds like he has issues. Tomorrow, we’ll talk to his wife.” Jason opened a packet of mustard and squirted it on his colossal burger. Bacon stuck out from underneath the bun.
“We can’t exactly walk into the Iceberg Cooler company office and ask about her husband’s death and why he’s haunting Thunder Mountain Park.” I bit into a cold French fry.
“We’ll figure something out. We can pretend we’re there on Festival business.” Jason chomped into his huge burger, leaving mustard on his upper lip.”
“I read about his company, and it’s doing very well. His Iceberg Cooler is in the best outdoor stores across the country. People pay hundreds of dollars for each cooler.” I dipped my French fry in ketchup. I can’t understand why someone would pay that much for a cooler.”
“My dad has one. They’re great. They’re bear proof.”
“I’m not paying hundreds of dollars for a bear-proof cooler,” I said.
Jason winked at me and took another huge bite of hamburger. “You would if you were hunting or fishing. Could you imagine a bear unable to open a cooler filled with fish? Bears getting into trash, stealing coolers from campers in parks is a major problem.”
Something rustled up in the trees above the picnic table. I looked up, and a shiver traveled from my topknot down to my toes. Several squirrels and raccoons stared down.
“Jason.” I pointed upwards.
The temperature suddenly dropped, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose.
“Look at the two lovebirds sitting next to each other, talking about my cooler I invented,” A disembodied voice boomed.
Next, to Jason, a bear just like the Iceberg mascot polar bear in a blue velour jogging suit materialized. Its fake eyes stared at me. Or, were they real eyes? I wasn’t sure.
“Did you know a damn bear and a pack of coyotes ate most of my body before rescuers could find me? You must be Sidney Latimer.” George the ghost spoke in a gravelly, deep rumbly voice.
“I am.” I forced myself to remain calm.
The bear turned and waved a paw. “Hello, you must be Jason Hunsinger.”
Jason stared, mouth still filled with burger.
“We have a mutual friend,” George’s voice boomed like a sports announcer at a baseball game. “Big guy in a black cloak and hood.”
“What do you want?” My heart almost pounded out of my chest as I tapped into my abilities.
“What most ghosts want?” He removed the shimmering Iceberg Cooler polar bear mascot head to reveal a bloated face with missing chunks of skin. With his bear head tucked against his hip, George struck a Superman pose and zoomed upwards into the tall trees above the picnic table. Branches swayed, and a limb crashed down onto the picnic table with three squirrels clinging to it.
“Next time I won’t miss.” George’s voice echoed around us.
I didn’t think the situation could get worse until a familiar voice lilted in our direction.
“Darling, there you are. I’m ready to go on a full moon hike. ” Mandy waved. “It will be so romantic.” She leaned over, her long curls creating a curtain as she kissed him full on the lips.
Jason returned the kiss.
Chapter Six
I choked on my burger and sucked up bits of coleslaw up my nose like a clogged vacuum cleaner. It stung as if I'd inhaled a yellow jacket.
Jason pushed Mandy away and jumped to his feet. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, I held out my hand and drank some of my iced tea. “I’m fine.”
“You need to chew your food,” Mandy handed a napkin to me. “Do you need some water?” She removed a water bottle from her backpack.
Reluctantly, I accepted the napkin and coughed up the burger and wiped my face. My nose still stung.
“No, thank you.” I inhaled, and then wrapped up my burger and tossed it into the nearby trashcan.
“Why are you here?” A red-faced Jason glowered at Mandy.
She averted her gaze and shrugged. “A full moon hike around the mountain sounded so romantic, and I hoped you and I could talk like we used to do on our dates. Just you and me in the meadow. Remember.”
Jason opened his hands, and his shoulders relaxed. Must be remembering their time in the meadow.
He stepped closer and lifted Mandy’s face with his index finger, so she had to look at him. They locked eyes. “Now, is not a good time for us.”
Suddenly, I felt like the stranger and wanted to get away. I stood. It was as if fate had decided that Jason and Mandy should be together. I walked backwards and pointed behind my shoulder in the direction of the Visitor’s Center. “I’ll let you two catch up. I’ll talk to Teresa Duncan and get details on tonight’s hike. I’ll meet you inside.”
Grabbing my messenger bag, I hurried away, forcing myself not to bolt.
Above in the tree branches, several chattering squirrels followed me. Definitely not normal behavior. The evening’s activities had started with a bang. First with George in his bear suit, and now Mandy.
Outside of the Visitor’s Center, I plunked down on a bench. I needed a few minutes to gather my wits about me. Couples walked in and out of the building. Some held hands. Others lingered near one another exchanging secret conversations. A few lone hikers gathered near the end of the next bench. I inhaled the native herbal display planted next to the trees. This had to be one of Ava and Camille Green’s displays.
I had to accept the fact Jason was off limits. A crushing wave of sadness swept over me. Jason wasn’t like Camden, an evil bastard, but Jason returned Mandy’s kiss. He’d pressed his lips against hers. I held
my messenger bag close to me in an attempt to block the wave of hurt rushing over me.
Get on with the job. Be professional. Move on. You have to deal with a ghost in a bear suit. I removed Nana’s Book of Shadows, still magically disguised as an ordinary leather day planner.
I opened to September and glanced down at the date. The twentieth. The number swirled in upon self, and the page went blank, and an elegant script appeared.
Relieved, I might learn something that would help me with tonight’s full moon hike. And George.
Elementals, nature spirits, and or as they’re also known as fairies are very protective of their lands, and if an evil spirit takes up residence, then the fairy will do whatever is necessary to get rid of it.
How did I contact the fairies? I could use help with George. I flipped the page, and strange sigils of light appeared. Drawn to the page, I seemed to be falling into the Book of Shadows. Something connected deep within the area of my solar plexus, deep within me, as if a switch had been flipped.
Someone snapped their fingers bringing me out of my trance. "Sidney. Are you awake?"
I blinked and stared up into Jason’s face. "Yes." I closed the Book of Shadows. The sigils with interlocking lines and curves had been very strange like some weird form of geometry. What did they mean?
A guy in a long-sleeved shirt watched us from the shadows. He lowered his baseball cap down onto his head, and the sleeves of his shirt rose up his wrist, revealing odd-shaped tattoos, similar to the interlocking curves of sigils I’d seen in the Book of Shadows. Long-sleeved Guy disappeared around the corner of the building. Something wasn’t right about this guy.
“Are you ready?” Jason asked.
I jerked my head back, suddenly pulled out of my deep thoughts. “What?”
“Are you ready?” Jason’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead.
“Where’s Mandy?” I hoped she had departed for Buckhead.
Jason gestured toward the women’s bathroom accessible from outside of the Visitor’s Center. “She’s changing into her hiking boots.” He leaned in and touched the edge of his shoe next to mine. An uncomfortable tension hung between us. “Listen, this situation with Mandy. I know you, and I have this thing between us. “
How did I respond? I lifted my face, and Jason’s gaze locked with mine. My heart tugged, wanting me to say something encouraging. I stopped. I remember looking up into Camden’s face the night before he dumped me, taking my work with him. My world. I couldn’t go through that again. I had to protect myself. I didn’t want to ruin what I had at Third Eye. “Enough said. What we have is professional.”
Jason blew out a deep breath. “I agree. I can only handle so many complications at one time.”
Complications? Me.
I narrowed my eyes and pointed my finger at Jason “Complications. Me? The complication you don’t need is Mandy. Don’t place me in the same category as her.
Before Jason could reply, a frazzled Todd joined us. "The wedding ran over,” he adjusted the camera on the selfie stick.
A grimacing Cyrus arrived as he removed a camera from the bag. “It’s hard to tell the bride you can't take any more photos because you've got to film a ghost on a full moon hike. We do have a new gig. The production company which turned the old Chapman house out on Wickersham Road, into a commercial haunted house. The kind without real ghosts, but with people pretending to be real ghosts. They might want to hire Todd and me to do filming.”
“Just what Cloverville needs is a haunted house,” Jason grumbled and walked away towards the restroom area, apparently to wait for Mandy.
“What’s wrong with him?” Cyrus frowned.
“Mandy is here, and she’s hiking with us.” I managed a slight smile.
“No Way.” Cyrus shuddered. Rice scattered from the folds of his jacket.
Todd lowered his camera. “Really?”
“Really. And George introduced himself earlier. He’ll either be a man in a jogging suit, or the Iceberg Polar Bear Mascot in a blue velour jogging suit. Be careful.”
Cyrus and Todd’s jaws dropped open at the same time.
“Let’s find Teresa Duncan. She’s the ranger in charge.” I wanted to have it together when I encountered George since Jason was preoccupied with Mandy. I tapped inwardly into my abilities. I flexed my hand in case I had to use my telekinesis.
We walked toward the Visitor’s Center and joined the other people gathering for the hike, mainly couples holding hands and exchanging kisses and loving gazes near the front door. A crowd of all ages and sizes congregated near the flower beds with pansies and snapdragons.
A woman smelled the orange, yellow, and deep burgundy mums growing in a raised bed planted by my sister. Were these the ones she’d been planting when George whispered in her ear?
Pride for Ava’s gifted green thumb flowed through me as I took in the well-landscaped garden using native plants along with birdbaths nestled in trees and tall flowers. Artisan bird houses hung from the tree branches. The sun sunk behind the horizon as bands of burnt orange, cinnamon pink, and streaks of butter yellow blazed the sky. The full moon peeked on the other side of the sky.
The Thunder Mountain Park Harvest Festival Banner flapped above the Visitor Center’s door. The front door opened. Teresa Duncan stepped out followed by Sophie and a handsome ranger with a scruffy day’s beard growth. First time, I’d seen him. I cut my eyes over at Jason, who talked to Mandy. They acted like one of the couples waiting for a romantic full moon hike.
Handsome Ranger Guy apparently worked out with the way he filled out his pants.
Pursing her lips, Teresa Duncan paced back and forth behind as Sophie and Handsome Ranger compared their clipboards.
Concern coursed through me, raising my anxiety levels. George had already shown himself he wasn’t afraid of human contact. He taunted us with his earlier appearance.
I needed to speak with Teresa . . . Alone, so I could update her about George’s visit.
“Hey, how long do we have to wait?” A skinny guy with a baseball hat pulled down his low forehead shouted. He held hands with a curly-headed woman wearing a Panda-Monsters tour tee-shirt. I checked to make sure it wasn’t the guy with the long-sleeved shirt. Nope.
“We’ll start soon,” Teresa reassured him. Her eyes darted through the crowd. I waved, and her shoulders relaxed when she saw me.
Sophie waved her clipboard up in the air. "Everyone gather here.”
The crowd moved forward en masse.
“When I call your name I'll take you off the list,” Handsome Ranger spoke in a loud booming voice, calling out names. People answered with a yes, or other shouts of affirmation.
“Sidney Latimer,” I joined the crowd.
Jason, Todd, and Cyrus joined me after they were ticked off the list. Mandy appeared and slipped her hand through Jason’s hand. "I'm here.”
Jason inhaled and released his breath. "This will be a long night.”
I stepped next Todd and Cyrus as they adjusted their cameras.
"Do you need any help?" I asked.
Cyrus handed me a selfie stick attached to a camera. "Here, go film something."
"Thanks.” I walked around the perimeter.
“When are we getting started?” A salt and peppered hair man in the leather jacket shouted. I caught a whiff of beer breath. His cologne clogged my nose.
His elegantly dressed girlfriend wobbled in her heels. "John, be patient."
Sophie ignored them and checked more people in for the hike. The moon shone brighter in the darkening sky. Couples snuggled in anticipation of the walk.
"Jason, don't be that way." Mandy's voice drifted as the wind picked up.
Teresa Duncan motioned for everyone to gather around.“Tonight, we’re talking about the nocturnal life of the park and other local legends.”
“Are we gonna see that ghost everyone is talking about?” The guy called John called out.
Cyrus and Todd kept their cameras focused on the ranger
s and the people. “The Bear Falls Trail was named when local settlers discovered the falls down below. The Cherokee claimed that the Bear Spirit claimed this mountain as his. When people walked this trail, they were attacked by a large angry bear, growling and snarling., protecting sacred caves. The bear spirit struck terror into the hearts of the Native People and many fell to their death. Thus, this is how the trail came by its name.”
I didn’t know that. Perfect place for George to make an appearance.
“If you will follow me, we’ll make our way to the Trail of Terror,” Sophie announced.
Teresa talked about the history of Thunder Mountain. I held out my selfie stick and started to film. I kept my senses opened, anticipating a visit from George or the Blood Collector since they seemed to be buddies.
Handsome Ranger talked about the nocturnal animals we would see on the walk. The man in the long-sleeved shirt with the strange tattoos hung back from the crowd. He kept his baseball hat low on his forehead. Strange. Very strange.
Voices growing louder, Jason and Mandy argued as we strode down the trail. People turned and stared at them. Cyrus shook his head, and I bit down on my lip to keep from laughing. The full moon shone brightly illuminating the trail.
At least, I wasn’t part of the Mandy and Jason equation. As we hiked further along the trail, the temperature dropped, dark clouds covered the full moon, and a strong wind surged through the trees.
“This is a great atmosphere,” one the hikers whispered.
“Spooky,” Another hiker exclaimed.
“How about some zombies jump out of the trail?” Leather Jacket John shouted.
“Storm is coming,” Todd said. “The weather report didn’t say anything about that.”
I lowered the camera and circled around. A presence grew stronger.
I stepped aside as the crowd moved along the trail and waited for Jason and Mandy. I needed to warn him. I walked in step with Jason and Mandy. “He’s here.”
