“I thought Anna must have been the one to shut the door because she wanted to talk to me, but if that’s the case, it should be open again, right?”
“I have no idea. Don’t even think of moving away from me.”
Harper was doing her best to refrain from shaking Jared, but she could only put up with so much. “Jared, if you get any closer people are going to think you’re … um … mounting me in public.”
“She’s not wrong.” Shawn did his best to look anywhere but their direction. “I would leave, but I’m not supposed to wander alone so I’m kind of stuck.”
“Poor Shawn.” Harper poked his side, amused. “I’m sorry you’re forced to see this. He’s just a little … manic … right now. He’ll get over it.”
“I won’t.” Jared hugged her tighter because he knew it irritated her and he was happy she seemed to have her fight back. “I think we should leave so I can do this at home.”
“Oh, I think that’s a very bad idea.” Harper tilted her head back. “I’m angry now. I need to find the registration office.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to look up Anna Pritchard’s file.”
“I would assume all of the files were transported off the island.”
“And I would assume that’s true, too.” Harper tapped his wide jaw. “I would also assume that someone would take the couches and expensive antique chandeliers and yet they’re still here.”
Jared pursed his lips. “Will you tell me why this is so important to you?”
“Once we find the office, absolutely. I only want to tell the story once, though.”
Jared blew out a sigh. “Okay. I think we can make that happen.” He moved to walk toward the door and then remembered it was locked. “I wonder … .” He scanned the floor, grabbing a piece of discarded metal and slipping it between the jamb and door. He barely tapped the metal in before the door sprang open, revealing a myriad of surprised faces on the other side.
“Thank you!” Zander hurried through the door, blowing past Shawn and not stopping until he stood in front of Harper. “Don’t ever leave me again.” He drew her into his arms, slapping Jared’s hand away when he reached to rub her back. “I almost died without you.”
“We were only separated for fifteen minutes,” Harper pointed out.
“That’s plenty of time to suffer a broken heart and die.”
“Okay.” Harper patted his back and pinned Jared with a gaze. “It’s hell being loved sometimes.”
Jared cracked a smile. “I bet. Now, come on. We’ll find the registration office and you can tell us your story. After that, we’ll regroup and discuss our next move.”
“Wait … what happened?” Michael asked, perking up. He’d been standing on the other side of the door with a dejected look on his face only moments before, clearly bored. He was back to being excited. “Did you see a ghost?”
“I did,” Harper confirmed, ignoring the twin looks of doubt John and Steve exchanged as she breezed past them. “We need to find the registration office. I need to see if I can find patient files on Anna Pritchard.”
“And who is that?” Steve asked.
“The ghost who warned me not to be in this building after dark,” Harper replied. “She also claims the building is crawling with spirits and I believe her, because I’m pretty sure she’s not the one who shut that door.”
“The wind shut that door,” John argued.
“Not from that angle it didn’t,” Jared said. “There’s absolutely no way.”
“Come on.” Harper snapped her fingers. “I want to see those files and then I want some lunch. I think I’m getting my appetite back.”
Jared followed her, grinning. “You still have to let me pet you later.” He risked a glance at an intrigued Michael. “Not in a dirty way, you pervert. It’s a love thing.”
Michael didn’t look convinced. “If that’s your story.”
“THIS IS IT.”
Jared followed Harper back through the lobby, wrinkling his nose when she decisively veered to the left and pointed herself toward a small office. “How do you know that?”
“Because I looked at the plans.”
“Oh.” Jared grinned. “I thought you were going to tell me you had a feeling or something.”
“I have many feelings. In this instance, though, I simply remember from the map.”
Harper paid little heed to the debris on the ground, smoothly stepping over it and heading straight for a locked file cabinet. It was gun metal gray – or had been at one time – but now looked rusted throughout. Jared watched as Harper yanked on a drawer, enjoying the way she scowled when it didn’t open.
“Do you want some help?”
Harper shook her head as she extended her hand. “Zander, do you have my thing?”
“Yup.” Zander dug in his fancy man bag and pulled out a metal contraption Jared couldn’t quite identify. “Here.”
Jared narrowed his eyes. “What is that?”
“Tools of the trade.”
“Get out of the way,” Trey whispered, nudging Jared so he had no choice but to move out of the shot. “This is good stuff.”
“Yes, I always love watching my girlfriend break the law,” Jared muttered. “Why do you have a lock picking set?”
“If you knew what it was, why did you ask?” Harper held up the metal pins and selected one, leaning over and jamming it into the rusted lock before speaking again. “I need oil.”
Jared was perplexed. “Oil?”
“Got it.” Zander slapped a small bottle in Harper’s hand. “I figured you would. I don’t think that thing has been opened in forty years.”
“Yes, but it’s a big hunk of metal,” Steve pointed out. “It’s rusted. I guarantee there’s nothing in there.”
“Got it!” Harper’s smile was smug as she graced Steve with a condescending look. “I bet there are files in here. What do you think, Zander?”
“I think you’re always right, Harp.”
“I do, too.” Harper slid open the door, frowning when it put up a fight but ultimately breathing a sigh of relief when it opened with a groan of complaint. Inside, visible thanks to the window over the desk, were hundreds of files. “Huh. It looks like I was right.”
Steve rolled his eyes, although Jared didn’t miss the way his lips twitched. “How do you put up with her, man?”
Jared shrugged. “I think she’s cute.”
“Even though I break the law?” Harper challenged, digging into the file cabinet.
“We’re going to talk about that lock picking set,” Jared warned. “Prepare yourself.”
“Somehow I think she’s going to get away with it.” Steve moved forward and grabbed a file, curiosity getting the better of him. “What do we have?”
“Patient files,” Harper replied. “I had a feeling that not everything was removed when they closed this place down. Given the fact that all of the furniture was left behind, I think whatever happened was fast.”
“Do you have any idea what that was?” Michael asked, selecting a file and flipping it open. “I can’t remember reading anything about the asylum being shut down. I mean … I know it was, but I don’t remember reading specifics.”
“People filed complaints,” Zander answered, watching as Harper riffled through the files until she found the one she was looking for. “Is that Anna Pritchard?”
“Who is Anna Pritchard again?” John asked.
“The ghost who found me in the recreation room.” Harper didn’t care if the others thought she was crazy. She only cared about finding information. “She said she was locked up for seduction and disappointment – as if that’s a real thing – and she gave birth here.”
“She told you that?” Jared moved so he could read over Harper’s shoulder, ignoring the way Trey vigorously gestured for him to stay out of the shot. “What happened to the baby?”
“It was a boy and she gave birth in 1949,” Harper replied, her eyes busy as she roamed the dat
a sheet. “She was told the baby was given to the father, but I’m understandably dubious given what we know about this place.”
“Do you think they killed a baby?” Lucy was horrified.
“I have no idea,” Harper replied, opting for honesty. “It’s probably entirely possible that the father took custody of the baby. He was her boss at a diner. Gerard Hicks. He’d be long dead now but the baby … .”
“Might still be alive,” Jared finished. “I can find out. I can text Mel and ask him to look it up. I get zero service out here, but we can find out.”
“I would appreciate that.” Harper turned her full attention to the file. “This is her intake form.”
“Wait … you actually found a file on Anna Pritchard?” Steve was openly impressed as he looked over the lip of the file. “You did. Right there. It says she was locked up for seduction and disappointment. That is … un-freaking-believable.”
“It’s also criminal,” Harper said. “Anna told me that Gerard was friends with her father and her parents willingly had her committed for the bulk of her pregnancy because they needed to keep it a secret. Gerard told Anna his marriage was on the rocks and he was going to divorce his wife to be with her.”
“Men never follow through on that promise,” Lucy lamented.
“It was all a lie anyway,” Harper said. “He didn’t really own the diner. His father-in-law did and he would’ve lost everything if he tried to divorce his wife. So he knocked up a seventeen-year-old girl and fed her to the wolves.”
“She was seventeen?” Jared was disgusted. “How could her parents have let that happen?”
“I have no idea, but Anna said that two men in white outfits showed up with a straightjacket and actually yanked her out of her house,” Harper said. “She was going to run away. She said she had no idea how she was going to survive, but she was going to try and run. She never got the chance.”
“So she ended up here,” Michael mused. “What happened then?”
“She shouldn’t have been here for more than a few months – her mother spread a story about her going to Iowa to take care of a sick aunt – and when she gave birth she was supposed to be released,” Harper supplied. “She wasn’t because she wasn’t cured. She was here for five years, and she believes she died a few days past her twenty-second birthday.”
“Wow.” Lucy made an “o” with her mouth. “She told you all of that? Can it be confirmed in the file?”
“Most of it is here,” Jared replied. “The birth is even listed and it says the baby was given to the father. There are some smudges at the end here, though. I think it says she died in December 1954.”
“She doesn’t know how she died.” Harper rolled her neck. “She says she was supposed to go downstairs for hydrotherapy and she can’t remember anything else. She woke up a ghost a bit later and someone else was already using her bed. She’s been stuck here ever since.”
“Does she want you to help her cross over?” Zander asked quietly, his eyes filled with sadness. “Did you tell her you can help make things better?”
“Cross over?” Finn cocked an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“Did you bring dreamcatchers with you?” Jared asked.
Harper nodded. “We brought a handful of them. Just in case, you know.”
“I think you might be glad you did.” Jared rubbed her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I know.” Harper smiled, her eyes lighting. “We’ll be able to help Anna. She hasn’t made up her mind whether or not she wants to cross over yet, but I think she ultimately will. She said the place is full of ghosts, though. She said I wasn’t looking in the right place when I mentioned she was the only one I saw in the recreation room.”
“What do you think that means?” Lucy hung on Harper’s every word, mesmerized.
“I don’t know yet,” Harper replied. “I think I need some air, though. Let’s take these files back to camp, grab some lunch, and discuss what we’re going to do with the rest of the afternoon.”
“I THINK WE SHOULD hit the basement next.” Michael acted as if he’d been giving the matter serious thought before voicing his suggestion over crab salad sandwiches and potato chips. “It’s the only logical step.”
“And why is that?” Jared mimed patience, but Harper could feel the tension practically rolling off of him.
“Because that’s where Anna died. She’s the heroine of our story.”
“I’m the hero of our story and I say that’s a bunch of crap,” Zander announced, wiping his mouth and shooting Trey a haughty look as the cameraman munched on a boring peanut butter sandwich. Zander was taking his feud with the man to new heights. “What do you think we should do, Harp?”
“Anna said she was due for hydrotherapy and that room was in the basement, but she didn’t say she died there,” Harper clarified. “She doesn’t remember how she died. We need to give her time to remember.”
“Will she remember?” Steve asked.
Harper shrugged. “It’s different every time, but most ghosts remember eventually. If Anna has truly been blocking it out for this many years, it might be worse than she can bring herself to remember. We can’t push her.”
“That was a very dramatic trick you pulled off in there,” Finn noted, taking great pleasure in munching on his crab salad in full view of Trey. “How did you know about Anna Pritchard? Did you read about her in one of the news articles?”
Harper shifted so she could study the man. “She told me.”
“Yeah, and that makes great television. How did you really know?”
“She told me,” Harper repeated.
“Harper is the real deal,” Jared said, balling up his napkin and slipping it into a garbage bag. “I’m sure you’ve dealt with a lot of frauds over the years, but Harper is not one of them.”
“But … .” John risked a glance at Michael, snapping his mouth shut when the producer shook his head in warning.
“Don’t make me take that sandwich away from you,” Zander ordered, his temper flaring.
John held up his hand palm out. “It was a simple question.”
“And she’s answered it,” Jared said.
“Yeah, yeah.” John shook his head. “I have no intention of pushing you on the situation. It’s just … the whole thing is so fantastical.”
“And it’s going to keep getting more fantastical,” Harper announced, wiping her hands off on the seat of her jeans as she stood and faced the asylum. “I’m not ready for the basement. I think we should check out the kitchen and dining areas next. We can go over some of the files by the campfire tonight, see if there’s anything good in them, and then make a plan for tomorrow after that.”
“That plan had better include the basement,” Michael grumbled.
“We’ll see.” Harper refused to give him the answer he wanted. “Let’s see what else we can find, huh?”
“How come you’re so much more gung-ho now than you were this morning?” Trey asked, tossing his plate before reaching for his camera. “You acted as if you were afraid of this place a few hours ago and now you’re eager to explore.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect this morning.”
“And now you know what to expect?”
Harper shook her head. “There’s something bad in that asylum. I have no doubt about that. The fact that someone good like Anna could survive without being swallowed whole, though, gives me hope that it’s not going to be as horrible as I initially envisioned.”
“I hope not,” Lucy said, missing the dark look crossing over Jared’s face. “That won’t make very good television.”
“Don’t worry.” Harper gripped Jared’s hand to keep him from spouting off. “I have a feeling you’re going to get some really great television before the end of the weekend.”
“And what are you going to get?” Finn prodded.
“I don’t want anything but to help a few displaced souls find closure,” Harper answered. “If I get that, I’ll be
perfectly happy.”
She meant every word, even if the members of Michael’s group didn’t believe her in the slightest.
9
Nine
Lunch was an excitable affair, Lucy and Michael energetically discussing what Harper discovered and how they could use it to their advantage. Trey and Finn spent the bulk of their rest time checking their equipment and grabbing special lights to enhance filming abilities inside the asylum. Molly and Eric loosened up enough to smile at everyone else in the group – although they continued glaring at one another – and Zander’s crab salad was a big hit so everyone was happy with the food.
Only Jared seemed taciturn.
“What’s your deal?” Harper joined him by the water while everyone else cleaned up and gathered their belongings.
Jared tipped his head and shrugged. “What makes you think I have a deal?”
“You’re thinking too hard not to have a deal.”
“Maybe you’re my deal.” Jared flashed a smile as he playfully grabbed her around the waist and tugged her into his arms, but Harper knew him well enough to know that it was a forced effort.
“Tell me.”
“Heart … .”
“I thought we weren’t going to keep secrets from each other,” Harper prodded, going straight for his jugular. “Isn’t that what we promised one another?”
Jared’s handsome face twisted into an angular scowl. “You know how to kick me where it hurts, don’t you?”
“I would never do that. Hurting you there hurts me over the long haul.”
“Ha, ha.” Jared flicked the end of her nose before resting his forehead on hers. “I’m … confused.”
“About me?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
Harper expected a different answer so she jolted. “What did I do?”
“Heart, you didn’t do anything,” Jared chided, gathering his patience and control. “It’s just … you were terrified of this place two hours ago and now you’re gung-ho to go back inside and look around. I think you’re even softening about going into the basement.”
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