by J. E. Taylor
The closer to the door we got, the more jumbled my thoughts became. I really wasn’t ready to see Lucifer in Alex’s form. My mouth went dry with apprehension.
CJ glanced over his shoulder at me with eyes that carried the same dread pulsing in my muscles. His jaw tensed as he reached for the door.
The second entry was even dingier than the fist. Even with the sky outside bright and cloudless, the light barely penetrated the building. The doors that stood open in the hall layered bright swaths of sunlight across the path. These bright beacons of light interrupted the dullness of the rest of the hallway. It was a strange effect and one that made the penetration of the flashlight not as deep as if it had been shrouded in darkness.
We inched our way down the hall, testing the floor with each step before we put our weight down.
As we looked in each room, I scanned the windows and stopped CJ halfway down the passageway. “None of the windows are boarded up.”
CJ looked around again and huffed a laugh.
“This doesn’t fit Gabriel’s description.” I stepped gingerly into another room where the floorboards had seen better days. Every window was clear of wood. The panes were dirt-ridden, but the sun still shined brightly though the grime.
The floor groaned in a more alarming way than the other creaks we had heard along this path. I turned, meeting CJ’s gaze. Before I could leap to safety, the floorboards underneath me gave way, opening to a dark abyss behind me. My heart jumped into my throat. I reached my hand out as I started to plummet.
CJ’s fingertips just grazed mine and then I was freefalling towards spiked debris falling below me. Echoing bangs sounded just as loud as my wheezing breaths. I didn’t think I screamed, not with the rush of air whipping around me as gravity yanked me nearly three stories down.
“Stop,” CJ’s sharp command filled the air.
My fall stopped just as suddenly as it had started as if a rope had finally pulled taut around my waist.
I hung suspended in mid-air held by nothing but CJ’s willpower. I blinked up at the concentration written in the deep lines in his forehead as the strength of his powers pulled me back onto an intact spot by the door where he stood. He grabbed my arm and moved me to safety.
My temples pulsed with adrenaline as his concern turned to irritation. I inspected my arms to make sure I wasn’t bleeding anywhere, and all I found were a few scratches. I glanced back at the cascading hole I’d fallen into and shivered.
“You could have stopped yourself,” he said when I finished my examination, then he turned and stormed down the hall in the direction we had come.
I caught up with him, and movement at the far end grabbed my attention. I clutched CJ’s arm. He glanced in the same direction and then looked closer at me with a crease between his eyes.
“You don’t see them?” I pointed at the huddled group of people peering at us. They clung together as tightly as I gripped CJ. It took me a moment to realize they weren’t demons like I half expected to jump out at us at any moment. And they weren’t other haunted asylum adventurers like us.
They were ghosts.
Real ghosts. The kind that Tom used to exorcise from houses.
The only true ghost experience I had was when Tom Ryan died. I wouldn’t categorize the spirits I saw at Paradise Cove as ghosts because they were solid to touch. The things at the end of the hall weren’t solid. They were like wisps of smoke which somehow made me even more nervous.
CJ closed his eyes, and that crease of concentration appeared between his brows. After a moment, he glanced at me. “I can’t sense anything beyond fear from the ghosts, but keep an eye on them while we make sure…” He twirled his finger around.
I don’t think he wanted to say Lucifer’s name out loud, not with the group staring at us. Scratch that. Staring at me.
We inched down the hallway towards them. CJ turned me into a stairwell before we reached the surreal crew. The door creaked, and CJ climbed the steps, testing each one out as we climbed to the top floor.
We stood in one of the rooms that was as large as CJ’s family room. Even though the walls had peeling paint similar to the video, the state of the floor wouldn’t support multiple people, nor would the wall hold anything akin to a chain.
CJ shook his head.
I glanced around one last time before we went back down the stairs we had climbed. We probably only investigated half the building, but beyond the huddled ghosts, nothing else stirred.
“This place is a bust,” CJ said and headed for the exit.
Chapter 6
CJ took the driver’s seat again, and I was thankful. Just as thankful as I had been when he indicated the all clear of Willard Asylum.
He wiped his face and sighed as he stared at the building. “This isn’t it, even though it still doesn’t feel right.”
“I know what you mean.” The hair on my arms was still standing on end. “Maybe it was the ghosts?”
He shook his head and looked in the rearview mirror at the maximum-security wing of the prison within fifty yards of Willard Asylum. “Maybe it’s that place.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
That made more sense to me. After all, a prison was certainly a place where evil existed, despite the mantra of rehabilitation.
I glanced back at Willard. “This place is too much of a hazard. I mean, I’m surprised only one floor gave out.” I waved at the building as he started the car. “Thank you for saving me, by the way.”
He chuckled and pointed at me. “You really do need to master your powers. As far as the building, it would certainly deter anyone from entering the area, even Lucifer.”
“Should we do something with the ghosts?” I wrung my hands at the thought.
“They were just watching, not engaging. They seemed harmless.” He put the car in gear and started away from our first dilapidated asylum. We had five more to go before we regrouped and looked further.
I didn’t know whether to hope we found them or not. If we didn’t find them, it could mean they moved on, and it would be near impossible to find them.
“Do you think he’s sending us on a wild goose chase?”
He remained quiet until we pulled onto the highway heading south. “I’m not sure. I have the same unease that you do, but considering he’s preparing for us, I don’t think he’d just disappear off the grid. It’s not his style.”
I glanced out the window at the thick trees lining the highway and let the scenery lull me. My mind wouldn’t stop with the what-if scenarios either. My stomach growled loud enough to capture CJ’s attention.
“There are snacks in the bag behind my seat,” he said.
I couldn’t envision CJ putting together a care package like that.
“April put it together for us, so I’m sure it’s all carbs and will leave us with a hell of a sugar crash. I just hope it doesn’t come at the wrong time.”
I reached over and pulled the bag free. One glance inside proved he was right. Snacks wasn’t the right term. It was more like a candy explosion. I pulled a bag of gummy bears out and offered it to him.
“I’m good.” He focused on the road with his forehead creased in concentration.
* * * *
When CJ finally turned into Letchworth Village, we both gawked at the number of cars in the parking lot. Beyond it, the number of people walking the paths between the buildings wasn’t what we expected. Neither was the golf course bordering the village. It looked as if all the winter wallflowers had turned up for a nice walk between the actively used buildings and the boarded-up and crumbling monstrosities.
He parked, turned the engine off, and leaned back in the seat. “Lucifer isn’t here.” He sent a text to Valerie to let her know we had arrived at the second on his list, and that it was another bust.
I scanned the campus. “You don’t think he’d be in one of the remote buildings?” I knew it was a long shot especially with the number of people in the area, but I didn’t want to underestimate Lucifer.
He slowly shook his head. “I can’t sense a thing. Usually when I get near him, my chest feels like someone tightened a belt around it. My skin crawls with the evil in the air. And that isn’t what I sense here.”
“We should take a walk around just to be sure,” I said, even though I knew CJ was right.
I didn’t have any forewarning at Tom’s house when we’d pulled in and Lucifer stood from the side steps. All I knew was my heart had suddenly lurched, sending a shot of adrenaline through every muscle. The portals were different. What CJ had described was exactly what I felt like when I approached one of the breaches.
CJ pocketed the keys and got out of the car. He spared giving me an eye roll, and instead gave me a curt nod and waved me forward. He was just going through the motions. So was I, to be honest. The longer we stayed here, the more time we had to get our minds wrapped around what we needed to do once we finally found Lucifer.
It took us a half hour to walk the grounds, and he was right. No demons, just a lot of people cruising the paths on a nice spring day. I stopped on our way back and stared at one of the older buildings where a few of the panels blocking the windows had fallen. Faces peered out at me. At least a dozen of them.
CJ stopped and glanced at the building before backtracking to where I stood. I felt the tickle of his mind invading mine, and then it was gone.
“They’re just ghosts,” he said and wrapped his hand around my wrist. “There’s nothing we can do for them today.” He pulled me towards the parking lot.
“Didn’t Gabriel say he thought he saw ghosts?”
CJ sighed and glanced at the building again. “It’s too close to the town hall for Lucifer to gamble his freedom on.” He nodded at the building next to the boarded-up atrocity.
I gave the building next door the once-over. The lower windows were open to let in the warm breeze, and even if they had been closed, I was sure they weren’t noise-canceling. Someone inside sneezed, and I heard it clearly enough to be skeptical. If this was the building, an awful lot of people would have heard the screaming coming from inside.
The ghosts still stared at me, and I shifted from one foot to the other and then turned toward the parking lot.
CJ didn’t say anything on the rest of the walk until we got to the car. “I scanned the building while you were making up your mind,” he said and slid into the driver’s seat.
“Scanned?”
He tapped his temple like I should know what that meant, and then brought up his GPS. With a few keystrokes, a dot appeared on the map and he set the phone into the holder on the dashboard.
I stared at the map. “Pennsylvania?” I asked. “Why not New Jersey first?”
A dimple appeared in his cheek. “Because I said we’d loop around and then backtrack if you recall. That way we would only really have one or two left to deal with tomorrow depending on the time.” He started the car. “There were many that I didn’t even consider because of regular tours or ones that are now public parks or being renovated. I should have seen that this one was part of a greater village with buildings that are actually being used.” He waved at the landscape in front of us. “If I had, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
He navigated us back on a southerly route.
I leaned forward and flipped on the radio. I was tired of the silence and the restlessness of my mind. Static filled the car, and I scanned through the available radio stations and finally settled on a rock station. I wasn’t in the mood for ballads or country, and rap certainly wasn’t my thing.
When a Bob Seger song came on, CJ started singing along. His voice lulled me into a trance for the next two hours. Song after song poured out in the little car, and he seemed to sit taller and more assured each mile we passed.
It was hauntingly familiar. Tom had reacted to music in the same way, although his voice was not a gift from heaven like CJ’s. But the growing confidence that came with each tune started to grate on my nerves.
I reached over to turn the radio off, but CJ grabbed my wrist.
“Leave it.” He resumed singing.
I crossed my arms over my chest, fisting my hands while I glared out the window, unable to voice my irritation.
He stopped singing abruptly. “Whenever Tom and I would lift cars, we used to cruise around with the radio so loud the car vibrated. And we sang louder. It’s a brother thing.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “You stole cars?”
CJ smiled and shrugged. “Tom did. It was part of his rebellion period. I went along with him to make sure he didn’t wrap the car around a tree or something. But every time we did it, we got caught, and Steve would smooth it over and then ream the hell out of us at home.” His smile faded as he continued to drive. “I lost my brother. I can’t lose my son, too.”
I bit my lower lip and blinked the sudden blur of tears out of my eyes. I didn’t want to lose his son, either, but that really wasn’t up to us. That was a hand that had already been dealt, and all our bets were down. All that was left was to see the dealer’s cards.
Chapter 7
Pennhurst Asylum was as creepy as I thought it would be. The number of brick building clusters left me on edge. We pulled onto the side of the road, and CJ turned off the car. He shivered as he scanned the campus.
“Ready or not…” He pocketed the keys and stepped out of the car.
I slowly got out. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I traded a glance with CJ.
He bit his lip. “There’s a lot of darkness here,” he said, and he flexed his shoulders as if he were trying to steel himself for what we were stepping into.
I nodded. My skin tingled with it, but it wasn’t like the evil from the breaches. It was heavier, as if it had formed over years of neglect.
As we approached the closest building, the door opened, and we both stopped. A blonde woman in what could only be categorized as patchwork clothing climbed down the stairs and grinned at us, making the wrinkles around her eyes look as welcoming as her smile.
“We aren’t open for tours today,” she said.
“You have tours?” I couldn’t help the surprise in my voice as I glanced at the buildings and over at CJ. I was beginning to think his research skills were faulty.
If he’d heard my thoughts, he ignored me.
The woman stopped halfway down the stairs, and her eyes widened. Her hand fluttered to her mouth as she stared at CJ.
“Are you…”
CJ’s cheeks reddened. “Am I?” He smiled, and his eyes twinkled.
“CJ Ryan?” she whispered, turning red and fanning herself the way I would have envisioned my mother doing if she had ever had the opportunity to meet her favorite crooner of this century.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and actually bowed and kissed the back of her hand.
I swear, she was close to passing out from excitement.
CJ’s magnetism and his stage persona manifested in a blink. And his easy smile was just as intoxicating as Alex’s was. CJ could be a smooth-as-silk entertainer, but to me, he no longer was the voice that could soothe my fire. He had just become Alex’s dad.
“And I’m doing a little ghost hunting with my niece here. Do you think we could look around?” he asked, tilting his head in such an endearing way that I almost laughed out loud.
“Please, call me Kathy,” she said demurely. Her back arched so her chest stuck out more, and she smiled in a way that made me want to vomit. “Well… I guess I could show you the place.”
“If you have some place to be, we could explore on our own,” he said, and winked. “I promise we won’t disturb anything.”
“Oh, but I know all the places people have experienced ghosts,” Kathy said excitedly and turned back to the building, leading us inside.
CJ rolled his eyes at me, and I could almost hear his under-breath curses. Neither of us wanted a chaperone. Not if we had to fend off demons and other traps. Although with tours, my gut told me we shouldn’t bother, but the heaviness in the air
gave me pause.
I doubted Kathy had seen the news the day before. It had never even entered her mind beyond the fangirl reaction to CJ Ryan. If she had, perhaps the star power of being in his presence chased it right out of her mind.
The minute I passed through the doors, I knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant. There were enough ghosts to leave me chilled and my hands itching to ignite even with the leather gloves warding my fire power. I tried not to make eye contact with any of them, but I thought they sensed me as much as I sensed them.
CJ sent a worried look over his shoulder at me and then beyond me, like he had seen what I had seen.
The walls inside were too pristine to be the ones in the video.
“Do most of the buildings look like this or are there some that are in more dire need of repair?” he asked as we walked down yet another hallway with at least a dozen ghosts loitering.
She glanced over her shoulder with a crease between her eyes. “Excuse me?”
“This place is actually in pretty good shape compared to some we’ve seen,” he said. “But is all of it this well-kept?” He tried to backtrack and get the doubt out of her head.
“There are a couple buildings that we don’t let people go into because they aren’t safe.” Kathy continued walking down the hallways, explaining the different rooms to us.
But I wasn’t listening. I was concentrating on being invisible to the ghosts, but it wasn’t working. They followed as we passed, and I was afraid to look over my shoulder at the growing crowd. They didn’t engage. Yet. I pulled my glove off my right hand, just in case. I didn’t want to be the cause of the building burning down, but I also didn’t want to be accosted by a mob of angry ghosts.
CJ stopped. Put the glove back on. If they attack, I will take care of them.