Ghosts of Coronado Bay

by J. G. Faherty

  He’d gone through the contents of an entire table when suddenly his hand passed through a broken jewelry box in the middle of picking it up.

  “NO!” he cried, as the box tumbled to the table. “No! I’m not finished!”

  All through the museum, light bulbs exploded as excess energy coursed through them. Thunder boomed over Coronado Bay and lightning flashed even though there were no clouds. In the buildings on either side of the museum, the power went out for several minutes.

  Gavin’s furious shrieking continued, but by then no humans could hear him.

  Chapter 15

  “But Mom, it’s just for a couple of hours. I have to go.” Maya hoped her inflection was just right, not too whiny, showing just the perfect amount of urgency.

  “You don’t have to do anything,” Emily Blair said. “You can study at home. I don’t want you running around town while there’s a murderer on the loose.”

  Since its discovery earlier in the afternoon, the dead girl’s body had been the primary topic of conversation at school and in town. She’d been a senior at Boston College, working part-time at the museum for an internship. Like all small towns, news in Coronado Bay traveled faster by mouth than by radio or TV, although media types from as far away as New York City had already converged on the museum, eager to tell the world the story of the “shocking murder in the small seaside village.”

  “I won’t be running around town. I’ll be at the library with Lucy. I have to do research for a school project.”

  “Tell Lucy to come here. You can check the books out or use the damn Internet for something other than games and gossip.” Emily Blair’s voice was edging towards finality, and Maya knew she only had one more chance to change her mother’s mind.

  “We can’t, Mom. The books we need are reference books, and you can’t check them out of the library.”

  Mrs. Blair’s eyes narrowed. Maya held her breath. After what seemed like forever, her mother sighed; Maya knew she’d won.

  “Fine. But I will drive you there myself. And, when you’re done, you go straight from the library to the diner.”

  “I promise!” Maya gave her mother a quick kiss and ran upstairs to call Lucy before her mother could change her mind.

  * * *

  “I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Lucy Patton stared at the pile of books on the table and grimaced. “You know Thursday nights are for Beverly Hills Cheerleader and Vampire Princess.”

  “You’ll be home in plenty of time to see them,” Maya said, flipping pages in one of the massive books. She was searching for any information she could find about the Black Lady and its disastrous trip. It would have been easier just to go back to the museum, but they’d closed the place indefinitely because of the murder. Besides, she had no desire for Blake to find her researching his history.

  “I better be. Everyone at school’s gonna be talking about them tomorrow; if I haven’t seen them, I’ll be sooo pissed.”

  “You have my word. We’ll be out of here before seven.” Maya closed the book and grabbed another. She purposely didn’t mention that the library closed at seven. “Sooner, if you start helping me.”

  “The things I do for you.” Lucy opened a book and started reading.

  Once Lucy stopped complaining, Maya lost track of time as she read through one tome after another, seeking out any mention of the Black Lady. Most of the books were historical treatises about New England’s shipping industry, but a few were actual port logs, containing manifest records and details of ships leaving and entering Coronado Bay’s harbor.

  Around them, the library was a vast cave perpetually cloaked in twilight, the only sounds the muted echoes of whispered voices or soft footsteps. Once, someone several racks away dropped a book to the floor, and Maya jumped in her seat.

  “This place is totally creepy,” Lucy said, even her usual animated personality muted by the oppressive atmosphere.

  “Mmm-hmm.” Maya barely heard her. She’d caught the words Black Lady as she skimmed pages. The mention turned out to be a list of port entries from Manhattan, dated 1908.

  “Lucy! Look at this!”

  Someone shushed her from a nearby table, and Maya lowered her voice. “This is it. The Black Lady. Left Manhattan in 1908, heading for Boston. It’s the ship’s manifest, I think.”

  “What’d they have? Gold? Jewels?” Lucy leaned forward, a hint of interest on her face.

  “I haven’t found that yet. But here’s the crew. And the captain, Jonas Freeman. And passengers. Oh, crap. Look.” Maya pointed to a name.

  “Gavin Hamlin of Boston Towne? Isn’t that the name of the guy you met? Some coincidence.”

  “Yeah.” Maya’s stomach turned over as the significance of finding Gavin’s name struck her.

  The clothes. The formal way he acted.

  His cold hands.

  Oh, crap. I’m an idiot. He’s a ghost, just like Blake. They were on the boat together, even if Blake’s name isn’t on the manifest. That means they know each other.

  “Maybe he’s a relative,” Lucy said. “That’s why he’s doing research at the museum. You should ask him next time you see him.”

  “I’ll do that.” Maya stood up. “I’m going to make photocopies of these entries. Be right back.”

  The copy machine was sequestered in a small alcove away from the main reading room, so as not to disturb anyone. On her way there, she noticed all the other patrons had left, leaving her and Lucy alone. As Maya walked down the aisle, a book fell over on one of the shelves with a soft thump, and her heart jumped a beat in response. All of a sudden, the library didn’t seem so safe. Just the opposite, in fact. The lights seemed too murky, and the shadows too sinister. The murder at the museum fresh in her memory, Maya quickened her pace, but the click-clack of her heels on the granite floor only added to the nervous feeling growing in her chest.

  An overhead light flickered, sending the aisle into momentary darkness. In that brief second, a chill breeze brushed across her back. Goosebumps sprouted on her arms. She emerged from the aisle and welcomed the slightly brighter glow emanating from the copier alcove ahead of her.

  Thirty feet, she told herself. Nothing can happen in thirty feet.

  But that wasn’t true, was it? All sorts of things could happen, especially in a dark, empty room filled with hiding places. Against her will, her thoughts returned to the girl at the museum. She’d been alone in a room, too, and someone had slit her throat. Then her killer had walked down the hall and up the stairs, leaving a trail of blood the whole time, as if he didn’t care in the least about getting caught.

  Up the stairs and into the Black Lady exhibit.

  That’s where they’d found the last of the footprints and handprints. Whoever had killed the poor girl had trashed the exhibit and then escaped without being seen.

  As if he’d disappeared.

  Like a ghost.

  More cold air washed over her, and she wrapped her arms around herself, clutching the heavy book to her chest. Halfway to the alcove. With each step, her mind continued down lines of thought she didn’t want to consider.

  Why didn’t I notice he was a ghost?

  Because you were so moon-eyed over him you wouldn’t have noticed if he carried a butcher knife and had a white hockey mask hanging from his belt.

  Was he the killer? He did have a temper.

  So does Blake. Could he be the killer?

  How well do they know each other? Could they be in on it together?

  How could either of them have done it? They can only be solid around me.

  Of course, how do I know that’s true? I only knew one ghost before this. Maybe they’re all different.

  Five steps away. Three. The idea of reaching the alcove seemed like the most important thing in the world.

  Two.

  “Maya.”

  She gasped at the sound of someone speaking her name, then realized it was only Lucy.

  “Oh, hell, you scared the crap out
of me.”

  “Yeah.” Lucy smiled. “Gotcha. Told you this place is major creepy. I stuck the other books on a returns cart. Let’s make your copies and get out of here. You can treat me to a piece of pie before you start your shift.”

  Maya dropped a quarter into the machine with a shaking hand.

  “You’ve got a deal.”

  * * *

  Several aisles away, Gavin Hamlin stood in the shadows, watching as Maya and her friend finished what they were doing and headed for the front of the library. Although he’d been afraid to approach too close, lest Maya’s ability make him visible to her, he’d managed to catch part of their conversation, enough to know they’d discovered something about the Black Lady.

  “Why didn’cha just kill her?” Anton asked from behind him. All the remaining sailors from the Black Lady had gathered with him, in the hope that Gavin would find a way to slice the girl open and use her blood to set them free.

  “I need a weapon, something to make her bleed.”

  “You could have dropped books on her noggin’ ‘til she bled.”

  He shook his head. “Her friend was too close. She would have seen.”

  “We could have killed them both.”

  Gavin turned to Anton, his dark eyes colder than the ocean depths. “You idiot. It’s only Maya who gives us shape and weight. To the other you’d be nothing but cold air. She would have had plenty of time to escape before we drew any blood.”

  He gave them time to realize the logic of his words then continued. “When the time is right, when she is alone, that is when I will take her life.”

  “You’d best do it soon. The deadline approaches.”

  “I’m well aware of the deadline, Mister Childs. Over a hundred years I’ve waited. I won’t let this opportunity pass. I will kill the girl.

  “And her blood will be mine.”

  * * *

  Thanks to the murder, business was slow at the diner - for a Thursday night, at least. The majority of the regulars showed up, mostly single men and women and older couples who preferred eating out to staying home alone, all of them going on and on about the killing, picking at each tiny detail like crows feasting on a highway carcass, until there was nothing left. Then, as people in a small town are wont to do, they began adding their own details, until a casual listener might have been excused for thinking a full-scale massacre had occurred.

  But not many families came in, and those that did ate quickly and hurried home. By the time nine o’clock rolled around, only a handful of people remained seated at the counter, and all the tables and booths were empty. Maya’s father told her she could go home early, as long as Manny Esposito, a heavily-muscled teenager who doubled as a dishwasher and kitchen assistant, walked her home. Eager to leave, Maya accepted without an argument.

  Once she was safely locked in the house and had called her parents to let them know, she poured herself a glass of ice tea and brought it to her room where she opened her laptop.

  And yelped in surprise when she saw a face reflected in the screen.

  Turning, she found Gavin Hamlin standing by her closet door, looking as cruelly handsome as ever. He wore the same clothes as before, only now Maya understood why. As a ghost, he could never change them.

  “Hello, Maya. I am sorry for startling you. But I had to see you again.”

  He stepped into the meager light from her desk lamp, and as it illuminated him better, Maya felt a small measure of relief when she saw his clothes were free of any blood stains. No one could have killed that woman without getting tons of blood on them. That, along with the fact that she had never heard of anyone besides herself who could make ghosts solid, convinced her Gavin couldn’t have done it.

  It has nothing to do with how hot he looks.

  She chose to ignore that last thought.

  “It’s not nice to break into people’s houses.” She tried to put some anger into her voice, but even she could hear how weak it sounded.

  His smile grew wider, more arrogant, and she knew he’d seen through her pretense, as well. “I didn’t break in.”

  “Right. You drifted in, or floated, or passed through the window. Whatever it is you ghosts do.”

  Maya took some pleasure in seeing Gavin’s self-confident grin fall away. She had a feeling he was a hard person to surprise.

  “What? How did--”

  “How did I know? I saw your name on the Black Lady’s passenger list. I should have guessed sooner, from the clothes and the way you talk.”

  He sat down on her bed, eyeing her in a new way. Almost as if he was really seeing her for the first time.

  “And this doesn’t frighten you?”

  Now it was Maya’s turn to smile. “Why should it? I’ve known all my life that I can see ghosts, that the closer they are to me the more solid they become. That I can talk to them, even feel them. So, how many of you are there?”

  “Ghosts?”

  She laughed. “No, silly. People from the Black Lady. How many of you are hanging around the museum?” A sudden thought struck her. “Were you there when the girl got killed? Did you see who did it?”

  A strange expression crossed Gavin’s aristocratic face and then was gone in an instant. He shook his head. “Sadly, I did not see the events that took place this afternoon. I was...exploring the town. I spend much of my time doing that, since there is so little else to occupy my days and nights. When I returned to the museum, the police had already taken the body away.”

  “You make it sound like you hate being at the museum.”

  “I don’t enjoy being around reminders of my own death.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Maya found herself moving toward him before she even considered what she was doing. As if it were her body, not her mind, that decided to get up and sit next to Gavin on the bed.

  “Your body is smarter than you,” she imagined Lucy telling her.

  Maya placed her hand on Gavin’s, felt a chill run through her at the feel of his cold flesh, a chill that quickly turned to quivers of excitement as he leaned forward and kissed her. It was like kissing someone on a cold winter night, or after sucking on an ice cube, except that the other person’s lips never warmed up. She moved closer and his arms went around her. His tongue met hers, ice to her fire, and she marveled at how different his kisses were than Blake’s or Stuart’s. Forceful and confident, just like his personality, as if he knew he was good at what he was doing. Was proud of it.

  Maybe Lucy’s right. I should date more people. Does everyone kiss differently? Are there people out there who are better at it than even Gavin or Blake? Or is it the thrill of kissing someone not human that I get off on?

  Before she could ponder the answer to her last thought, Gavin’s hand slipped beneath her shirt, his palm icy against the flesh of her stomach. She twitched slightly, but didn’t break the kiss.

  Why shouldn’t she do it? What was the point of holding out when everyone said it felt so good?

  “You go, girl!” Lucy’s voice in her mind again, and this time Maya agreed.

  Breaking the kiss and the embrace, Maya pulled her shirt off and lay back on the bed. Gavin’s face loomed over hers, the expression she once thought harsh and cold now nothing but seductive. His kisses moved from her lips to her neck, and then down to the small triangle of skin between neck and breasts. It reminded her of running an ice cube over her flesh on a hot day. A soft moan escaped her lips as one of his hands came up and squeezed her, his coolness seeping through the thin material of her bra.

  “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he whispered in her ear. Each word was an autumn breeze against her flesh.

  “So have I,” she said. She reached back to unclasp her bra.

  And then she screamed as the house went crazy around her. Lights flashed on and off, the house phone and her cell phone rang simultaneously, and the house alarm system triggered, filling the air with its strident howl. On her desk, her small flat screen TV came alive.


  Maya pushed out from under Gavin and jumped off the bed. “What the hell’s going on?”

  Before Gavin could answer, the noise stopped and the lights came back on.

  “What the...?”

  Gavin reached out and took hold of her hand. “Everything is normal again. Come back to me.”

  “Are you crazy?” Fear had totally banished Maya’s lust. “I have to call my parents. Either something’s wrong with the wiring or someone tried to break into the house.”

  Gavin tugged at her arm but Maya pulled harder, breaking his hold. “This is not the time. I am seriously freaked. You better leave.” She picked up her cell and hit the number for the diner. Then, seeing the look on Gavin’s face, she quickly said, “Come see me tomorrow, okay?”

  He nodded and, then, stepped out the window, just as her mother answered the phone.

  “Mom? Something really weird just happened here. I think you better tell Dad to come home.”

  * * *

  From behind a large tree in the neighboring yard, Blake Hennessy watched as Gavin’s spirit floated out of Maya’s window and headed back towards town. Had he still been corporeal, Blake would have fallen to the ground, his legs too weak to hold him up. As it was, he barely had enough strength to fight the pull of the Black Lady, which wanted to yank him back to the museum. He’d used every bit of energy he had to cause the electrical commotion in Maya’s house, but it had been well worth it. Not only had he stopped Gavin from taking Maya’s virginity, but he’d learned that he, too, could control the spirit energies the same way Gavin did, if not as powerfully.

  Not yet, anyway. But I will. I have to, if I want to keep Maya safe.

  He waited and watched until Maya’s father came home, then slowly headed down the road that led to the beach.