...a ghost.
Kenzie didn’t know how long she screamed before the ghost actually floated right through the window and kept floating toward her. Its feet didn’t touch the ground, but rather it hovered above it, creeping closer and closer to Kenzie until she was backed against the far wall, cowering in fear. Sage’s barking didn’t cease as she jumped in front of her owner to protect her.
“You get away from me!” Kenzie warned as she covered her mouth to stifle further screams and thrust her finger out toward the specter in warning. The ghost said nothing but kept creeping closer and closer...much too close for comfort.
“Damn it, back off!” Kenzie yelled, more menacing now. Anger was replacing fear; it was after midnight and a ghost was in her room for no reason, but what could it do to her? It was dead. Still, that worked two ways – what could she do to it? No weapon would work on a ghost. That left one possibility.
“I know a ghost hunter,” she hissed. “I’ll call him right this second if you don’t leave. I’m not kidding.”
Sage continued to bark mercilessly, but it didn’t seem to faze the ghost at all. But before Kenzie could make a run for her cell phone, something even more unexpected occurred. The ghost actually spoke to her.
“Please,” it said with an empty, forlorn voice, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Kenzie huddled against the wall even farther, but she found herself asking Sage to stifle her assault as she stared at the ghost. She took in his blue aura, tattered clothes, and messy hair. Then a thought occurred to her.
“Are you...Sean Plankington?” she asked tentatively. The ghost nodded.
“You’re the one that died, who was engaged to Morgan. And you’ve been trying to contact her, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, but she can’t see me. I don’t understand. You can see me fine, but I can’t get Morgan, the love of my life, to see me. All that happens when I try to reach out to her is floating furniture. It’s like I’m cursed.”
Cursed. There’s a thought...
“Sean, I don’t think you’re cursed, but I do think you might have a spell on you.”
“A spell? So you’re a believer?”
“I am now. And I also believe that there’s a witch running around that might be responsible for your death.”
“Maybe that’s why I haven’t left this place yet. I need justice. But more than that, I need to talk to Morgan. I want her to know that I’m okay and that I still love her and that I always will.”
Kenzie couldn’t suppress a smile. Morgan was a lucky girl to have someone care for her so much, even in death. Still, she had a few concerns.
“Why are you coming to me?” she asked Sean. “You don’t even know me. Why not go to someone else here in town that actually believed right from the start?”
“I’ve seen you around town. I can tell that you just want to help. You’re here to find out what’s going on at Morgan’s house, and I’m going to save you the trouble of investigating. I’ll just tell you everything. Plus, I’ve seen you in the paper before. I know that if anyone can help me, you can.”
“Okay...and how am I possibly going to explain that to my professor and the police? Witches and ghosts aren’t supposed to exist.”
“We’ll think of something. Just...please help me. Help me talk to Morgan.”
“If she can’t see you, she’ll never believe me. Maybe we can get through to her some other way.”
“You mentioned a witch and a curse. I can tell you right now who’s probably behind it.”
“Let me guess. Audra Spellmeier?”
“How’d you know?”
“I talked to her and Morgan. They both said they were involved with you, and both accused the other of casting a spell on you and killing you. Tell me, were you having an affair while you were engaged to Morgan?”
Sean sucked in his breath (did ghosts have breath?) sharply. The sound wasn’t unlike howling wind. Then he looked down, his expression contrite.
“I can’t explain it,” he said pensively. “I loved Morgan, I really did. And I still do. But there was something about Audra...I was just drawn to her. It was like I couldn’t control it.”
“Morgan said that Audra used a voodoo doll with her hair and yours to make you think about her. I’m starting to think she’s right, considering there’s a ghost in my hotel room at one in the morning.”
“That bitch,” he growled. “I should have known.”
“So you knew that Audra was a witch?”
“No, I had no idea. I didn’t even know such things existed. What kind of a crazy world do we live in?”
Kenzie bit her lip to keep from telling Sean just how crazy the world really was. Vampires existed, as did unicorns and magic, now witches and ghosts. What next? Aliens?
“One other thing,” she said instead, “why did you come here in the middle of the night?”
“I knew you’d be alone. I didn’t want to risk running into that psycho ghost hunter.”
“Oh, so you know Rafe.”
“I knew about him when I was...alive. The guy’s ruthless. If he finds me, I’ll be gone forever. I don’t know what he does with ghosts he captures, but I don’t want to find out. At least not until I can tell Morgan goodbye properly.”
“Well, he won’t hear anything from me. I’m glad you said something; earlier I was going to call him and make him come here and suck you up, or whatever he does with ghosts. And here I thought he was full of crap.”
“Unfortunately, he isn’t. There are a lot of people here in Barnacle Bay that believe in ghosts. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were still pirate ghosts around here somewhere.”
“How comforting.”
“Sorry. So, will you help me?”
“I’ll do what I can. But I can’t promise anything.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
Kenzie couldn’t restrain a yawn after that. Sean apologized for startling her, in the middle of the night, and said goodbye, but not before promising he’d return the next afternoon. It was a relief to sink back down under the covers, though Kenzie’s dreams weren’t exactly pleasant.
The sun seemed to rise too soon. Kenzie knew what she had to do, but she didn’t know how well it would work out. Still, there was only one way to find out.
Climbing out of bed and lethargically getting dressed, Kenzie whistled for Sage and headed out to her car. The previous day’s fog had cleared up and the sun shone brightly overhead. Just then, an elderly woman approached her. She stopped in front of Kenzie before saying in a craggly old voice, “Be cautious. Something sinister stirs.”
Kenzie furrowed her brow. She wasn’t in the mood for this.
“Excuse me?” she asked, perplexed.
The woman just nodded and said, “You may not believe it, and you may not know it, but something bad is going to happen. Beware.” Then, she backtracked her steps and continued on her way.
“Weird,” Kenzie muttered under her breath. Still, she hoped the enigmatic woman’s warning wasn’t some sort of prophecy of the future.
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