City of Ghosts

by J. H. Moncrieff

  When I got to my seat, I found Kate had saved my dessert for me. With gratitude, I plunged my fork into the piece of cheesecake. At least it was edible, unlike the paper chicken.

  “Who were you talking to?” Kate wrapped her hands around a cup of green tea, blowing across its surface to cool it. I’m not sure if she knew what she was doing or not, but the gesture was incredibly sexy. Giving myself a mental shake, I forced myself to focus—I was on the verge of a huge story. Now was not the time to get distracted.

  “Oh, just some girl I met last night.” I took another bite of my cake. It was supposed to taste like mango or some other tropical fruit, but the only flavors I could detect were cream cheese and sugar.

  “Last night? But you weren’t on the boat last night.”

  “She was in the ghost city with me.”

  Kate glanced in the direction of where the girl had been and shuddered. “You mean a woman was trapped there overnight too? That’s terrible. The guide who left you there should lose her job. Talk about inept.”

  “No,” I said around a mouthful of graham-cracker crust. “This was different. I don’t think she was part of the tour. She says she used to live there. I think she went there on her own. To…you know…relive some old memories.”

  I didn’t tell Kate what she’d actually said—that she lives in Hensu, present tense. That would result in a whole whack of questions I couldn’t answer.

  “I can’t imagine anyone ever living there.” Meghan grimaced. “Even the two-hour tour was too long, if you ask me.”

  I hadn’t asked, but I knew that didn’t matter. “You were on the tour?”

  “Of course I was on the tour. I was sitting right in front of you in the van. Don’t you remember?”

  Her tone left no doubt that Meghan thought I was a complete moron. Kate ducked her head to hide a smile. “Oh yeah, that’s right,” I said, but I sounded unconvincing. The truth was, I tried not to notice Meghan whenever possible.

  “What a waste of time,” she continued with a world-weary sigh. “Just temples and steps, followed by more temples and more steps. I’m beginning to think that’s everything there is to see in this goddamn country.”

  Kate opened her mouth to argue, but I shook my head. It’s not worth it. What Meghan had said was ludicrous—we’d already visited the Great Wall, Xi’an’s famous Terracotta Army, and a Buddha so huge a crowd of people could fit in his hand, not to mention night markets and dozens of other amazing things. You could spend years in China without seeing everything or ever getting bored, but I knew there was no point trying to change that woman’s mind. She was determined to be miserable.

  “I think I need to get some air.” Kate tossed her napkin on her plate.

  “I’ll join you.” Eager as I was to get away from Meghan, I also hoped Kate might give me some insight into ghost cities. If anyone on our tour were an expert on the supernatural, it would be Kate.

  ~ Chapter Five ~

  Where does one go to be found?

  Shivering on the bench, I shifted my sore ass from side to side. I’d sat on the upper deck under the pretense of checking out the stars, but my hoodie wasn’t cutting it. It was another unseasonably chilly night on the Yangtze River. A cold wind sliced my face, making my eyes water. I wrapped my arms across my chest in a futile attempt to get warm and checked my phone again. A text from Roxi, and a few more from Brandi. How long did she intend to keep this up? Life was too short for this bullshit.

  The guys in our group had asked me to rent The Ocean Pearl’s private karaoke room with them, but if I did, the girl from Hensu would never find me. I had to stay visible. The invitation had proved too tempting for Kate, though—I’d lost her more than an hour ago.

  I thought again of the Chinese girl and how her eyes had gleamed when she learned I wanted to tell her story. There had to be a good reason she hadn’t found me. Something must have happened. That was the only explanation. She was too excited to have changed her mind. Wasn’t she?

  A security guard walked by for the umpteenth time, giving me a suspicious stare that left no doubt he didn’t trust me. What did he think I was going to do, hijack the cruise ship?

  His cold once-over decided something for me, though. Easing myself off the bench, I stomped my frozen feet to get the blood flowing. It felt like I’d been sitting there for months. Enough, already.

  It wasn’t like I’d been difficult to find. After our little stroll, which gave Kate a full ten minutes to rant about Meghan, we went to the lounge and had a few drinks. We’d left once the “entertainment”—a group of German passengers singing folk songs—drowned us out, and I’d been sitting on the upper deck ever since. Even though the ship wasn’t the rundown junk I’d expected when I’d seen it on the itinerary, it wasn’t a luxury liner either. There weren’t a lot of places one could go, especially after sunset. The shops were closed and there was only the one lounge.

  Erik was lying on his bed when I got back to our room. He was wearing the huge pink Beats knockoffs he’d bought in Shanghai, but he removed them when he saw me.

  “Hey, where’d you disappear to?”

  “I was supposed to meet a girl, but she never showed.”

  He gave me a sly grin. “A girl, hey?”

  “She’s not that kind of girl,” I said, to my roommate’s obvious disappointment. “I was going to interview her for this article I want to write. Why aren’t you at karaoke?”

  Erik shrugged. “I was, but there’s only so much of that I can take. I’ve been blasting the tunes, trying to forget.” He indicated the lurid pink headphones.

  Even though I was still irritated at being stood up, his comment made me laugh. The last time our group had tried karaoke, we’d sounded worse than a bunch of wailing cats. I couldn’t say I blamed him. “So I didn’t miss much, then?”

  “Well, you didn’t hear Rose’s version of “My Heart Will Go On.” It was epically bad.” My roommate pantomimed shooting himself in the head, but it wasn’t necessary. The mere thought of that song made me cringe. Celine’s version of it was bad enough without hearing our tone-deaf tour mate attempt it.

  “Hey, I’m going to have a shower and crash. Cool?”

  Erik was already putting the headphones back on. “Knock yourself out, man.”

  Nothing in my life felt as good as that shower. Adjusting the spray to its strongest setting, I let the water pound on my body until the last shreds of irritation slipped down the drain.

  The room was dark by the time I got out of the bathroom, and I was relieved. As nice as Erik was, I didn’t feel like talking. The quicker I fell asleep, the faster I could pretend this wasted day had never happened.

  As soon as my head touched the pillow, I collapsed into a dreamless sleep.

  At first I wasn’t sure what woke me. The room was pitch black, with only a sliver of light coming from under the door. Groping for my phone, I pulled it under the covers to see the time. Three in the morning. Why the fuck was I awake at three o’clock? Then I felt a twinge from my bladder and understood.

  I made my way to the bathroom as quietly as I could, even though Erik was a fairly sound sleeper. His neat-freak tendencies made stealth easier. At least I didn’t have to worry about stubbing a toe on an errant suitcase or tripping over a pile of clothes.

  As I positioned myself over the toilet, a cold draft brushed across my neck, making me shiver.

  “Hello.”

  Biting back the shriek that desperately wanted to escape my throat, I yanked up my shorts and spun around to find the Chinese girl in the doorway.

  “What are you doing here?” I whispered, trying not to wake Erik. My heart was a trip-hammer in my chest.

  “I told you I’d find you.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t think you meant here. How did you get in my room?” It was difficult to keep my voice down. Erik was probably awake by now, snickering over what he would undoubtedly suspect was a booty call.

  “You said you would tell my story.” With
the fluorescent glare from the bathroom light hitting her face, she was paler than ever. She was not the reserved girl I’d met the night before. She sounded determined—forceful, even.

  My hands clenched into fists, and I took a couple deep breaths. I was furious, but there was no point taking my anger out on her. She was obviously unhinged. If being a journalist required putting up with this kind of shit, maybe I was better off in IT. “Yeah, well…I changed my mind. You need to go.”

  To my surprise, she stepped toward me. Feeling trapped, I scanned my surroundings for a potential weapon. I may have outweighed this chick by a hundred pounds, but size was no match for crazy.

  “You can’t change your mind.”

  “What are you talking about? Of course I can change my mind. And I’ve decided I don’t want anything to do with your fucking story.”

  “You have to tell it, and you will. You are the only one who can.”

  “Go to hell, you insane b—”

  “Jackson? Everything okay in there, man?” Great, now Erik was awake. I’d never hear the end of this.

  She gave me a look that conveyed more than I ever wanted to know. At that moment, I had no doubt this woman would try to hurt me if I didn’t do what she wanted. No female had made me feel threatened before, and I didn’t like it. A hot, aching fury filled my gut.

  “You will keep your promise. You will tell my story,” she said. Her words echoed in the tiny room.

  “Jackson?”

  In the split second I was distracted by Erik, she left. I could hear the rustle of her dress as she left our cabin, and I lunged out of the bathroom after her. There was no way I was going to let her walk out on me. She had to realize I was serious about not writing the article.

  I grabbed the doorknob and froze with my hand still gripping the cold metal. The deadbolt was still in place.

  * * *

  “Did you give her a key?”

  “Of course I didn’t give her a key. Do you think I’d be this freaked out if I’d given her a key?”

  My bedside lamp was on, but it wasn’t enough. I had the urge to switch on every source of light we had, including my flashlight.

  Erik shook his head as if to clear it. “This doesn’t make any sense. Tell me who this chick is again?”

  Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself to be patient. I hadn’t told Erik all the details before. But since he was my roommate and this woman had invaded our cabin, he had a right to know. When I’d shared the information I had—which admittedly wasn’t much—Erik slumped against his pillow. He tried to stay cool and maintain his surfer-boy vibe, but his smile faltered.

  “That’s fucked up.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. It’s completely fucked up. Maybe I shouldn’t have promised her anything, but I thought ‘I’ll find you’ meant at the bar or something—not in our fucking room.”

  Erik frowned. “You have to tell Harold, man.”

  I mentally recoiled at the prospect of going to Harold with another problem. If there was anyone I liked less than the unhinged woman from Hensu, it was our temperamental guide.

  And maybe Meghan.

  “What’s Harold going to do? He has no authority on this ship. Besides, I don’t even know her name. What am I supposed to say? ‘A Chinese woman broke into my room’? Do you know how many Chinese women are on board? They’ll never find her.”

  “Still, you should tell him. She sounds crazy. She could be dangerous, man.”

  I thought back to that moment in the bathroom when I’d searched for a weapon and found nothing. Being guys, we didn’t even have a can of hairspray we could use as makeshift Mace. It was difficult for me to admit, even to myself, that I felt threatened by a woman, but I did…just a little. My dad had made me watch Fatal Attraction once and warned me never to screw over a woman. The message had been received.

  “You might be right.”

  “But if you really don’t want to talk to him, I guess it doesn’t matter much. You won’t see her again after tomorrow, anyway.”

  That was news to me. “How do you figure?”

  “We leave the boat in the morning, right? She’s probably staying on, but even if she isn’t, there’s no way she’s going to follow us to Yangshuo.”

  My shoulders lowered to their normal place, away from my ears. So much had happened in the past day I’d forgotten we were leaving. I just had to get through the night, and then it would be over. He was right—I’d never see her again.

  Erik repositioned his pillow. “We should try to get some sleep, dude. It’s almost four in the morning, and we have to be up at seven.”

  I groaned. Never a morning person at the best of times, I knew tomorrow was going to be brutal. “Sorry about all this, bro.”

  “No worries.” My roommate’s voice was muffled by his pillow. “You can keep the light on if you want.”

  It felt silly having a nightlight, like I was some five-year-old kid who’d had a bad dream, but the thought of her pale face looming over me in the dark was too creepy.

  I kept it on.

  ~ Chapter Six ~

  “Jackson! Jackson, wake up. What’s wrong with you? Is he stoned or something?”

  A man’s voice that wasn’t Erik’s startled me. I tried to open my eyes, but it felt like they were weighed down. Two blurry faces hovered over me. I blinked, bringing Matt and Erik into focus. Both were dressed, and Erik was wearing his pack.

  “Are you trying to drive Harold batshit? We’re supposed to be ready to go by seven thirty.”

  I fumbled for my cell, but it wasn’t on the bedside table where I’d left it. “What time is it?”

  “Seven twenty-five,” Matt said.

  “Jesus Christ.” Leaping out of bed, I pulled on my jeans so fast I squashed my nads pretty good. The resulting wave of nausea made me stumble. “Shit, shit, shit. Can one of you guys stall him?” I was nowhere near as neat as Erik—my stuff was all over the place. I’d expected to wake up early enough to pack. Grabbing my bag, I shoved clothes and toiletries into it as fast as I could. Good thing I’d showered the night before.

  “I tried to wake you before I left for breakfast, but you were totally out of it,” Erik said with a guilty expression on his face. “I figured you’d set an alarm.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I called over my shoulder as I raced to the bathroom, pulling a T-shirt over my head. “You’re not responsible for me. Just please guys, stall Harold, okay? I’ll be down in five minutes, tops.”

  Glancing in the mirror, I winced. I looked like complete crap, with my bloodshot eyes and three-day scruff. My head could stand another shave too. Well, no time to worry about it now. Pulling on a cap, I took a swig from a miniature bottle of mouthwash. It would have to do. Cramming the rest of the toiletries into my bag, I hunted for the elusive smartphone and found it under the bed. I checked the time. Seven minutes. I was seven minutes late. Harold was going to kill me.

  Throwing both of my bags over my shoulder, I snagged the key from the desk and ran out the door, hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything important.

  The group was waiting for me in the lobby, their assorted packs and bags scattered around them on the floor, oversized kids on a field trip. One thing I both loved and hated about this tour was that everyone was always early. If we were meeting for dinner at six thirty, you could bet people would be in the lobby by six fifteen. You were never stuck waiting for anybody, which was great, but if you were late, you felt like total shit.

  I’d expected some hostility aimed my way, but my tour mates seemed sympathetic, or at least neutral. As soon as they saw me, they grabbed their own bags. We had a long day ahead of us, beginning with a two-hour bus ride.

  “Sorry I’m late. My alarm didn’t go off.”

  “No problem,” Kate said with a wink. “Happens to everyone.”

  I resolved to be more compassionate with stragglers in the future—if there ever were any on this trip, which wasn’t likely. Adjusting my pack on my shoulders, I f
ell into step beside her, grateful to leave the boat. But before I could get comfortable, Harold descended.

  “Jackson! We were waiting for you. Why are you late?”

  The rest of the group quickly passed as Harold confronted me. He was so furious I was surprised his eyes weren’t snapping sparks.

  “Uh…” Over Harold’s shoulder, Erik caught my eyes, giving me the thumbs-up. “We had a bit of an incident last night, so we didn’t get much sleep.”

  “Erik was on time.”

  “I’m sorry, Harold.” This was like being in elementary school again, getting shamed by the teacher. It was ridiculous. I was a grown man, and I’d paid good money for this trip. Maybe I was seven minutes late, but we were adults. Shit happened. “I didn’t mean to hold up the group. It won’t happen again.”

  “Did you check out?”

  Before I had a chance to respond, Harold snatched the key card out of my hand. “Go join the others,” he said, his English more clipped than usual. “We’ll talk later.”

  Following my group to the bus, I felt even worse than I had before. I didn’t give a shit if Harold liked me or not, but the man could make my life miserable for the rest of the trip, and that wasn’t cool. And what kind of shitty tour guide was he? I’d mentioned an incident had kept me from sleeping last night, and he hadn’t bothered to ask about it or show the slightest bit of concern. Maybe he didn’t understand what I’d said, but I was willing to bet he just didn’t care.

  Even the driver seemed put out that he had to wait an extra two minutes to load my bag into the cavern underneath the bus, which was already filled with a rainbow-colored assortment of packs.

  Sighing, I climbed the steps to the bus and assessed the situation. There was an empty seat beside the driver, which was undoubtedly reserved for Harold. Other than that, the only free seat was beside…Meghan.

  Of course.

  Thank God for earbuds is all I can say. Meghan appeared to be in a bad mood as well, so I didn’t have to engage in small talk before putting on my music and shutting my eyes.