Ghost Town

by Jason Hawes

  She looked at him and smiled. “Like you aren’t? On the surface, you may be an educated, rational, modern man, but underneath, you’re still a caveman protecting his mate.”

  Drew grinned. “Ugh. Me no comment.”

  They were in Tri-County Community College’s library. The building had two stories, with an open-air atrium that rose all the way to a skylight in the ceiling. Erin’s crew was setting up near the circulation desk on the first floor, where the library’s director stood chatting with Connie while waiting to be interviewed. Not far away, Trevor was taking readings with the EMF detector, while Carrington tried to capture EVP with the digital audio recorder. Erin stood equidistant between them, filming first one, then the other, with her handheld camera, as if she couldn’t decide which man was more important to focus on.

  Drew and Amber had decided to take a walk through the library to see what, if anything, she might be able to sense about the place. Currently, they stood next to the second-floor railing, gazing down at the scene below. In the middle of the atrium was a landscaped area filled with flowers and green plants of various kinds, and next to it was a small lounge area where students could buy coffee and pastries, sit at a table, and chat or watch whatever was playing on the flat-screen TV. Rows of computer stations took up the rest of the main floor, and Drew wondered if the library had any physical books at all and, if so, where they were kept.

  “Looks more like a student center than a library,” Amber said, echoing his thoughts.

  “I guess if you want students to register for classes these days, you have to up the fun factor,” he said.

  “Well, it certainly looks like they take their fun seriously here.”

  The library had been transformed for Dead Days. The staff members were dressed in old-fashioned black suits or dresses, making them resemble Victorian-era undertakers. Most of the students wore costumes, and while a few of their outfits were whimsical—one couple was dressed as a plug and a socket—most were ghoulish in theme: monsters, ghosts, zombies, masked slashers, and the like. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was playing on the flat-screen, and the students in the lounge area were laughing and singing along with the lyrics. Erin had told them that there was a maze of some kind there, but so far, Drew hadn’t seen it. Maybe it was farther back on the first floor, where it couldn’t be seen from above.

  “I wish Erin hadn’t insisted on coming here,” Amber said.

  “Do you sense something?” Only a couple of months ago, Drew would have dismissed the notion of paranormal abilities as nonsense. Now here he was, asking his lover if she was picking up anything on her psychic radar, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Life could be pretty damned strange sometimes.

  “You know how it is in August, when the air is so humid and heavy it feels like a weight pressing down on you? It’s felt like that to me ever since we set foot on this campus. I don’t have any trouble believing this place was built on the site of an old prison and that a lot of people died here. I’m worried that the college is a can of gasoline, and Erin’s a match.”

  She shuddered, and Drew put his arm around her shoulder. “Erin was right when she said we couldn’t stop her. It’s not like we could’ve taken out a supernatural restraining order on her.”

  Amber smiled. “I suppose not. I just don’t understand why someone who knows that dark forces exist—and that they’re responsible for the deaths of four people—would knowingly provoke those forces.”

  “Ego,” Drew said. “Erin believes she’s stronger than any supernatural entity, and she intends to prove it by documenting proof of paranormal activity for the world to see.”

  “And get famous in the process,” Amber added.

  Drew nodded. “It’s also possible that on some level, she is deeply terrified of the supernatural, and because of that, she’s driven to confront it. Some people flee what they fear, some attempt to face it and overcome it, and some are compelled to rush headlong toward it, regardless of the consequences. They can’t help themselves. Erin may be expressing a death wish.”

  Amber frowned. “Isn’t that the title of an old movie about a vigilante who hunts criminals in New York?”

  Drew smiled. “Yes, but it refers to one of Freud’s theories. He postulated that all living things have an innate desire to return to the inanimate. In other words, the purpose of all life is to die.”

  “That’s a cheerful thought.” She fell silent for a moment before continuing. “Drew, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Mitch before. I guess I was just too ashamed.”

  He still had his arm around her, and he tightened his grip to give her a hug. “I understand, but as far as I’m concerned, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  Amber slipped her arm around his waist. “I love you, Drew Pearson.”

  “I love you, too.”

  They turned toward each other then, embraced, and kissed.

  “Isn’t that sweet?”

  They broke apart and turned to see Connie standing there, a mocking grin on her face.

  “Erin’s ready to start filming her interview with the library director. I thought you’d want to be there . . . that is, unless the two of you have something better to do?” She gave them a teasing smile, then turned and headed toward the stairs.

  “You work for a very strange woman,” Amber said.

  Drew sighed. “Tell me about it.”

  “The land the college is built on has a unique history,” Erin said. “Can you tell us a little about it?”

  The library director, a scarecrow of a man dressed in a black suit and wearing a large top hat, seemed nervous at the prospect of being filmed. He glanced at Ray or, more precisely, at the camera he was holding, and then he eyed Sarah’s boom mic with suspicion, almost as if it were a snake that might attack him any moment.

  “Uh . . . where do I look? At you or the camera?”

  Erin’s smile was a bit strained as she answered. “At me. Just pretend the rest of my crew isn’t here.”

  Drew figured that the crowd of students and staff that had gathered to watch the filming wasn’t helping the director’s nerves any. And neither were Trevor and Carrington. Trevor continued scanning the area with the EMF detector, while Carrington was using the infrared thermal scanner. From what Drew understood, the latter device could be used both in light and in the dark, but he didn’t see how it could get a decent reading with so many people gathered around. Wouldn’t their combined heat signatures interfere with the scanner?

  Unlike everyone else, Connie paid no attention to the director and Erin’s crew. She glanced right and left, looked up, down, backward, and forward, her head continuously moving, as if she were searching for something. No, Drew thought, more as if she were scanning for something, using her senses the same way Trevor and Carrington used technology. It was a ridiculous thought. As long as he had known her, she had never demonstrated intuitive insight, let alone the kind of uncanny perception that might be considered psychic. She was a straightforward, logical, and, above all, unimaginative thinker. At least, she had been before now. People could change. Drew sincerely believed that, or he wouldn’t have become a psychologist. But in his experience, people didn’t make radical changes within the space of a few hours. So how could he explain Connie’s atypical behavior? Perhaps she was simply doing her best to adjust to the situation she found herself caught up in. Or perhaps she was feigning interest in the investigation in order to get closer to him. Just because she had appeared to make nice with Amber, that didn’t mean that Connie still didn’t consider her a competitor. Or maybe there was a different reason, one far more sinister in nature. A lot of strange things had happened since they had come to Exeter. Maybe the change in Connie’s personality wasn’t so much situational as supernatural. It was a far-fetched idea, to say the least, and his suspicions could very well be a product of his imagination. After all, he was only human, and it was only natural to become a bit paranoid when dealing with malevolent otherworldly forces. But
it was precisely because they were dealing with such forces that he decided to keep a close eye on Connie from then on. If she had been tainted by Darkness, as they suspected Mitch had been, they needed to be on their guard.

  The director started to answer Erin’s question, coughed a couple of times, and asked one of his staff for a bottle of water from the snack bar. Everyone waited while the water was fetched, and the director took a long drink before capping the bottle and setting it down on the circulation counter.

  “OK,” he said, “I’m ready.”

  He didn’t look ready to Drew. He looked more as if he might throw up any moment. But Erin nodded and repeated her question.

  The director cleared his throat and began speaking. “Exeter State Prison used to stand on what are now the campus grounds. In fact, this very library supposedly rests on the site where the prison gallows once stood. The prison was damaged during the flood in the 1920s, and the buildings were demolished afterward. The land remained empty for a number of years until construction began on the college in the late 1950s.”

  The director relaxed the more he spoke, and Erin was clearly relieved. “What happened to the prisoners during the flood?” she asked.

  “The least dangerous ones were released by the guards. But the worst ones—the murderers, rapists, and the like—were left behind. The prison staff didn’t have the manpower to guard so many men, and the warden didn’t want to risk unleashing such violent offenders on society. Not a very humanitarian choice, but the floodwaters rose quickly back then, and there was little time. The prison staff vacated the buildings, and when the waters flooded the prison, those left behind were trapped in their cells and drowned.”

  “How awful,” Erin said, although her pleased expression told how she really felt.

  “Afterward, the land was reputed to be cursed, which was why it remained vacant for so long. Eventually, people forgot about the curse, or at least, they didn’t take the rumors seriously anymore, and plans were made for constructing the college.”

  “But it wasn’t long before people began reporting paranormal activity on campus,” Erin said.

  “True. Over the years, students, faculty, and staff have reported stories of invisible hands touching them, sinister laughter coming from nowhere, the sound of footsteps echoing when no one is present, doors slamming shut, elevators working on their own . . . In fact, there have been so many reports over the years that during Dead Days, we conduct ghost tours around campus.”

  “So, like the rest of the town, the college has embraced its reputation for the paranormal.”

  “Yes, especially during the Dead Days celebration. It’s all in good fun, of course, but it does present educational opportunities, too. Many professors present units on the history of the town—the flood and the prison in particular—and the science faculty discuss the scientific method and compare it with the pseudoscientific approach of the psychics and mediums who flocked to the town after the flood.” He glanced at Trevor and Carrington. “Uh, no offense.”

  Ray swung his camera around to capture any reactions Trevor or Carrington might have, but neither man seemed to be paying attention.

  “EMF readings are rising,” Trevor said. “Fast.” He looked up at Drew. “This isn’t good.”

  “It’s getting colder,” Amber said. “Can’t you feel it?”

  Drew did. It felt as if someone had turned the air conditioning up full blast, except that there was no breeze.

  “Well, I’m not picking anything up on this,” Carrington said. He lowered the infrared thermal scanner and smacked it on the side. “Then again, maybe I’m not operating the damned thing correctly. I never did read the instructions.”

  Connie was gazing toward the skylight. “Point it upward,” she said.

  Carrington frowned at her, but he did as she suggested. And when he peered into the device’s visual display, he gasped. “There are cold spots—dozens of them—circling above us. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

  “We need to get these people out of here,” Amber said. “Now.”

  Drew had no idea what was happening, but he didn’t hesitate. “Listen up, everyone! We need to evacuate the library immediately!”

  The director looked at Erin. “I’m confused. Is this some sort of improv?”

  Erin paid him no further attention. “Point the camera up!” she shouted at Ray.

  The students and staff looked at one another, unsure what was happening and what, if anything, to do about it. Several students thought it was a joke and began laughing. One of them called out, “We’re all gonna die!”

  Connie sighed. “I really wish you hadn’t said that.”

  One instant the air above them was empty, and the next it was filled with circling shapes. They were human—or at least humanlike—all wearing long-sleeved gray shirts and gray pants, although their feet were bare. From their basic physical forms, Drew assumed they were male, but given the state of their bodies, it was difficult to know for sure. Their skin had sloughed away in numerous places, revealing bleached bone, and what skin remained was blanched, swollen, and wrinkled. They moved slowly through the air, arms stroking and legs kicking as if they were swimming.

  “It’s the prisoners!” Amber said. “The ones who drowned!”

  The students and staff just stared at the apparitions circling like ghostly sharks through the air above them. But then one of the students let out a whoop, another yelled, “Awesome!” and everyone began to applaud.

  “They think it’s some kind of special effect,” Drew said. “A Dead Days surprise.”

  “It’s going to be a surprise, all right,” Connie said. “A nasty, bloody one if we don’t get these idiots out of here!”

  Erin was grinning like a kid on Christmas Day. “Don’t you miss a single second of this, Ray!”

  Ray had his camera pointed toward the floating specters, but he didn’t look happy about it. “Erin, this is way more intense than some words scratched into walls!”

  “Don’t I know it!”

  “I don’t mean that in a good way,” he said. “I mean it in an I-hope-we-all-don’t-die way!”

  Sarah and Pattie also looked scared. Sarah still had hold of the boom mic, but she didn’t seem to know where to direct it. Her eyes kept darting back and forth as the ghosts swam through the air above. Pattie stood close to her, one hand on Sarah’s shoulder, looking upward with wide eyes, lips moving silently. Drew wondered if she was saying a prayer.

  Carrington stepped forward. “There’s no need to panic!” he said in a loud, authoritative voice. “These apparitions have no physical substance, and therefore they cannot hurt you!”

  “Tell that to Tonya and those two people in the museum,” Trevor said, but Carrington ignored him.

  A young woman in the crowd who was dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein, complete with towering hairdo, stretched her hand above her head as one of the ghosts swam near.

  “This is so cool!” she said. “I wonder how they—”

  One of the prisoners swam down toward her and wrapped fingers that were half bone and half rotting flesh around the woman’s wrist. His eyes bulged from their sockets, and his wrinkled worm lips were pulled back to reveal a mouthful of jagged yellow teeth. There was hunger in his gaze, and he grinned in savage delight as he swam upward, pulling the screaming woman off her feet and into the air along with him.

  Erin clapped her hands together and actually jumped up and down in excitement. Ray shouted, “Fuck me!” but continued filming. Sarah dropped the boom mic and turned, sobbing, toward Pattie. The older woman embraced her lover but could not take her eyes off the spectacle of the girl being carried aloft by a grinning corpse.

  Without thinking, Drew ran forward and jumped, making a grab for the girl’s legs. He missed the left one but managed to get his fingers around her right ankle. As he started to fall, his arm jerked, and for an instant, he feared that the ghost was strong enough to carry both of them aloft. But then he plummeted to t
he floor, dragging the girl down with him. He landed hard on his right side, pain flaring in his chest. He had bruised a rib or two for sure, maybe even broken them. But he wasn’t concerned about himself; he was worried about the girl. She had hit the floor pretty hard, too, and she might need medical attention.

  He pushed himself up to a sitting position, breathing shallowly to keep his ribs from hurting any more than they already did. And if he had broken any, the last thing he needed right then was to puncture a lung. The girl was lying facedown on the floor, and in her Bride of Frankenstein costume, she looked as if this were the ending scene of a horror movie, in which the Bride had been slain and would return to the grave to await resurrection in a sequel. The girl lay completely still, and Drew couldn’t tell if she was breathing. He scooted forward, intending to check her pulse, but he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see a ghost swimming through the air toward him. He thought it might be the same one that had tried to abduct the girl, but he couldn’t be sure, and he supposed it really didn’t matter. One murderous apparition could kill him as easily as another. And if the ghosts possessed enough physical reality to grab hold of a person and pull her into the air, they surely were solid enough to kill someone.

  Drew steeled himself to meet the specter’s attack, although he had no idea how to fight the damned thing. But as the airborne corpse came toward him, bone-claws reaching out, eager to find purchase in his flesh, Connie stepped forward, raised her foot, and kicked, slamming the point of her shoe into the ghost’s head. The heel broke through the creature’s skull and sank into its rotten brain. Watery black goo dribbled forth from the wound, and while the ghost appeared to suffer no pain from the blow, it veered off its attack and swam upward, taking Connie’s shoe with it. As her shoe popped off, she almost lost her balance, but she hopped a couple of times in place and managed to keep from falling over.

  “I didn’t know high heels could be so useful,” she said as she watched the ghost ascend.

  Amber rushed to Drew’s side and helped him to his feet. “Are you all right?” she asked.