Ghostly Asylum

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Michael and the others could’ve easily searched this level,” Zander pointed out. “Wasn’t that part of the plan yesterday? They said they were up here.”

  Jared shrugged. “They said they were up here, but only briefly before giving up. I took that to mean that they stood at the top of the stairs and yelled for Lucy. I don’t think they did a very thorough search.”

  “They also could’ve broken off during the afternoon without us noticing,” Harper said. “We spent a lot of time yesterday going over the map. We were in the registry office for a long time, too. They were very bored with that part of the day.”

  “Then we spent a few hours going over the files Harper found once we couldn’t find Lucy in the basement,” Jared added. “I wasn’t paying attention to what they were doing while that was going on because I was trying to decide if Lucy took off on her own or was taken.”

  “I still think she took off on purpose,” Harper said, tilting her head to the side. “I think she was trying to make a very special episode of television. I simply think she ran into trouble once she separated.”

  “Of the human or paranormal kind?” Shawn asked.

  “That is the question, isn’t it?” Harper wiggled her eyebrows as she stood. “I wish Anna was around. We need help and I want to ask someone who seems relatively normal because we don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

  “Can you call her?” Jared asked.

  “She’s not a dog.”

  “No, but she seemed eager to talk to you before.”

  Harper couldn’t argue with that so she planted her hands on her hips, blew out a sigh, and nodded. “I can try.” She lifted her chin and raised her voice. “Anna?” Harper’s voice sounded eerie as it echoed down the hallway. She didn’t appear right away. “Anna? Can you please come talk to us?”

  Harper let her flashlight drift up and down the hallway as she looked for signs of Anna Pritchard. At one point, when she opened her mouth to yell for a third time, a gaunt-looking ghost in a nightgown popped into being in front of Harper and held a ghostly finger to her lips.

  “Shh!”

  Harper was so surprised that she stumbled backward, smacking into Jared’s broad chest as he brought an arm around her in a protective fashion.

  “What is it?”

  “The second floor is definitely more active than the basement,” Harper replied, working overtime to calm herself. “It’s probably because they associate the wards with being home, but I would’ve thought that they would spread out over the years. I just don’t get it.”

  “That’s because you can’t see the entire picture,” Anna announced, blinking into existence less than a foot in front of Harper’s face and causing the ghost hunter to yelp as she smacked into Jared. “I think you will soon, but it’s not an easy process to live with.”

  “Harper.” Jared clutched his blonde to his chest. He was working at a disadvantage because he couldn’t see what threatened her. It frustrated him to no end … and made him antsy. “What is it, Heart?”

  “Anna,” Harper squeaked out, sucking in gaping mouthfuls of oxygen as she tried to calm herself. “She’s here.”

  “Okay.” Jared slid his arm around Harper’s waist to keep her close. “What does she say?”

  “So far she’s essentially said ‘hello’ and then added something cryptic about me getting the full picture eventually,” Harper replied, recovering a bit. “Now … shh. Let me talk to Anna for a second.”

  Anna’s smile was serene as her gaze bounced between faces. “You’re surrounded by handsome men. Will you marry one of them?”

  “Maybe,” Harper hedged, uncomfortable.

  “I’m assuming that one is your best prospect.” Anna inclined her chin in Jared’s direction. “He’s very handsome.”

  “He knows that,” Harper said dryly.

  “The other two are handsome, too.” Anna smiled at Zander. “Especially this one.”

  Harper couldn’t stop herself from snickering. “He knows that, too.” Harper poked Zander’s side. “Anna thinks you’re handsome. Actually, she thinks all of you are handsome.”

  “We do our best,” Jared said. “Ask her if she’s seen any activity up here.”

  Harper shot him a quelling look. “I’ve got it.”

  “I’m starting to see what you meant by all of this time on top of each other affecting our relationship,” Jared muttered under his breath. “I kind of want to muzzle you a little bit.”

  “I heard that,” Harper snapped, ignoring the way he rolled his eyes and smiling for Anna’s benefit. “Do you spend most of your time up here?”

  “I travel all over the facility,” Anna replied. “I’m not limited by the rules. Others are … confused … about what is and what is not allowed.”

  That made sense to Harper in an odd sort of way. “Have you been watching us since we talked yesterday?”

  “I have checked in on occasion,” Anna confirmed. “I was very interested in this one cooking chicken in a fireplace. Everyone seemed to like it, though, so it went better than expected.”

  Harper snickered. “He’s a good cook. I wasn’t surprised the chicken turned out so well.”

  Zander preened when he realized they were talking about him. “I’m an awesome cook. I’m the best cook in the world. In fact, I should give lessons I’m such a good cook.”

  “He’s also humble.” Anna’s eyes lit with mirth as she swirled. “What is it you want to know, Harper Harlow? I’m surprised you remain on the property.”

  “We’ve had a few issues,” Harper hedged. “A few members of our team are missing.”

  “I noticed.” Anna looked sympathetic. “Will you stay until you find them?”

  “Yes.” Harper answered without hesitation. “I won’t leave without Molly. Do you know where she is?”

  Anna looked uncomfortable with the question. “No, but I might be able to find out. Is that what you wish?”

  Harper nodded. “I need to find her. We’re also looking for the woman who disappeared yesterday and two men who were on a boat. I don’t suppose you know where any of them are, do you?”

  “The two women are probably together, but I can’t confirm that as I haven’t actually seen them. It’s just an inkling,” Anna replied. “As for the men, is one of them hurt?”

  The question caught Harper off guard. “I don’t know. We didn’t see signs of struggle on the boat or anything, but I think it’s possible that one of them is hurt. Why? Have you seen someone who is hurt?”

  “Yes.”

  Harper’s breath caught in her throat. “Is he close?”

  “He’s very close.” Anna turned and floated down the hallway. “He’s also extremely ill. Will you fix him?”

  “I certainly hope so,” Harper replied, increasing her pace as she followed Anna. “Do you know who it is? What does he look like?”

  Anna didn’t immediately answer, instead pointing toward a closed door that boasted a rocking horse over the frame. Harper lifted her eyes, realization dawning. “This is the children’s ward, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Anna confirmed. “One of your missing friends is inside. I’m not sure which one … or if he can be helped.”

  Harper swallowed hard. “I guess we’re about to find out.”

  Since he only heard one side of the conversation, Jared was confused when Harper reached for the handle. “What are you doing?”

  Harper ignored him and lifted her flashlight as the door swung open, a small cry escaping her throat when she saw a head pop up from one of the beds and meet her gaze, glazed eyes expressing confusion and relief.

  “Harper?”

  “Omigod, it’s Eric!” Harper bolted into the room. “He’s alive.”

  “Of course I’m alive,” Eric muttered, resting his head on the small bed as he stared at the ceiling. “How long I’ll be alive is another question entirely.”

  17

  Seventeen

  Harper was the first to make it to Eric’s
side. In the limited light, she couldn’t see where he was hurt, but his face was covered with a thin sheen of sweat.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I believe everything is wrong,” Eric gritted out. “Where would you like to start?”

  Jared lifted his flashlight and focused the beam on Eric’s face, causing him to groan as he pressed his eyes shut and slung an arm over his face as a blocking mechanism. “We need more light.”

  “Hold on.” Shawn moved to the window on the far side of the room and tugged on the heavy drapes. They didn’t move, but that didn’t dissuade Shawn from trying again. This time the drapes gave way, ripping from the rod and falling to the ground in a heap. The light that spilled into the room thanks to the sunshine on the other side of the dirty window was a welcome sight.

  “That’s better, huh?” Harper forced a smile as she switched off her flashlight and rested a hand on Eric’s shoulder. “How did you get here?”

  “That’s a very interesting question,” Eric muttered. “I’m not quite sure. Everything is a jumble.”

  “I led him here,” Anna supplied, causing Harper to stare at the ghost. She was more transparent due to the light, but Harper could still make out the bulk of her features.

  “You led him here?” Harper was understandably surprised. “How?”

  “He was outside,” Anna replied. “He was confused and had trouble standing. I coaxed him in to get him out of the elements.”

  “Do you remember that?” Harper asked Eric.

  “Remember what?” Eric asked, his voice weak. “I can’t hear her. You’re the only one who can.”

  “She said she led you inside,” Harper prodded. “Was this last night?”

  Anna nodded. “It was dark.”

  “I don’t know.” Eric’s expression was pained. “Everything is fuzzy.”

  “Tell me what you do remember,” Jared prodded, kneeling next to Harper and gently running his hands over the back of Eric’s head. “You have a knot here. I think you hit your head.” He flashed his light in Eric’s eyes again, ignoring the way the other man protested. “I’m not a doctor, but I think you have a concussion.”

  “That would explain the pounding in my head,” Eric muttered. “As for what I remember, it’s all kind of murky.”

  “Did you make it to Whisper Cove?” Zander asked hopefully. “Is Uncle Mel on his way?”

  “We didn’t make it to Whisper Cove,” Eric replied. “The weather changed. We were closer to the island than town. We thought we would be safe if we marked our progress by returning to the island and then setting out again after the storm passed. Neither one of us was very good with the equipment.”

  “I was afraid of that,” Jared muttered. “I wouldn’t be good with it either. I’m not much of a boat person.”

  “So what happened?” Shawn prodded. “You came back to the island and … what?”

  “It was a rocky wait,” Eric explained. “We dropped anchor so we wouldn’t drift, but the boat was up and down so much that I got sick.” He was chagrined to admit it. “We had to take cover below deck and I spent the entire time throwing up in a bucket.”

  “Then what happened?” Jared asked.

  “I kind of lost track of time for a bit,” Eric admitted. “The storm eventually slowed enough for John to go above deck. He was hoping to get your attention on the beach.”

  “We weren’t on the beach,” Harper said. “We had to take cover inside.”

  “That makes sense.” Eric rubbed the tender spot between his eyebrows. “That storm was something else.”

  “Go back to the boat.” Jared’s tone was gentle but firm. “You were downstairs throwing up and John went to the deck. What happened after that?”

  “I have no idea,” Eric replied. “I slept a bit, but he never came back. When I was finally feeling well enough to stand, I went upstairs and he wasn’t on the boat. He was just … gone.”

  “Gone?” Harper’s eyebrows winged up. “Do you think he tried to swim to the island?”

  “That was my initial guess,” Eric supplied. “I waited for him for a few hours, but I didn’t hear anything on the island or in the water so I decided to head that way, too. I figured the boat would be safe because it wasn’t very far offshore.”

  “No,” Jared agreed. “Did you take the boat keys?”

  “I did.” Eric dug in his pocket and came up with the item in question. “I don’t know why, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to leave the key in the ignition so I grabbed it.” He handed it to Jared. “I didn’t want to risk them leaving us. I had no real proof they would do that, mind you, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t happen.”

  “You did good,” Jared said, exhaling heavily as he pocketed the key. “You did really good. You still haven’t told us how you got injured, though.”

  “The water was cold and the storm, while dissipating, wasn’t completely gone,” Eric supplied. “It took me longer than I thought it would to get to the shore, and when I did, I was exhausted.

  “I sat on the beach to rest for a minute,” he continued. “I figured you guys were inside, and while I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of going into the asylum at night, I guessed you were right in the main foyer.”

  “We were,” Harper pressed her hand to Eric’s forehead. He didn’t seem to have a fever, but he was clearly struggling.

  “I don’t know how long I was out there, but I don’t think it was very long,” Eric said. “I heard something and looked over my shoulder, but by then it was already too late. There was a shadow and … then next thing I knew I was on the sand and really confused.”

  “Someone hit you from behind,” Jared murmured, rubbing the back of his neck as he tilted his head. “Do you think it was John?”

  “I don’t know. I honestly can’t say that with any degree of certainty. I jumped to that conclusion last night but … I didn’t see him. For all I know, John could’ve been attacked, too. He could’ve been left for dead on the beach.”

  “We searched the beach this morning,” Zander offered. “We saw the boat and realized you were back. Harper and Jared swam out there, but it was empty.”

  “And we couldn’t figure out what happened,” Jared added. “At least now we know you didn’t make it back to Whisper Cove. We’re on our own for at least another night. Mel should realize something is wrong when we don’t come back. How long he’ll wait to come looking for us is the question.”

  “He won’t wait long,” Zander said. “He loves me too much.”

  Jared rolled his eyes. “Let’s hope so. Eric is our other concern. We need to keep him quiet. He can’t be traipsing all over the asylum in his condition.”

  “I still don’t understand how he ended up here,” Shawn said, his hand gentle as he wiped the sweat from Eric’s brow. “He can’t see ghosts and yet Harper’s ghost said she led him up here. How come?”

  “That’s a good question,” Harper mused, turning to Anna. “Why did you lead him up here?”

  “He looked injured and I wasn’t sure who did it,” Anna replied. “He was very … confused. He slipped between two worlds.”

  “He slipped between two worlds?” Harper had a very vague idea what that meant. “Are you saying he was drifting between consciousness so you managed to make him see you when he was more open to the second sight?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps.” Anna did her best approximation of a shrug.

  “How come you didn’t lead him to us?”

  “Because I was unsure who injured him,” Anna replied. “I thought he would be safer up here.”

  Harper turned so she could study the room. “This is the children’s ward, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you have a lot of children here?”

  “Very few. The ones that were here were … damaged.”

  “Damaged how?” Harper shuffled closer to one of the empty beds and bent over, retrieving a misshapen lump of wood that resembled a long-forgotten toy. The children�
�s ward wasn’t exactly clean, but it wasn’t nearly as ravaged as other parts of the asylum.

  “They were examples of individuals who really needed to be here,” Anna answered. “They were lost in their own heads. One was even violent.”

  “Violent?”

  “He stabbed one of the nurses with a needle and she almost died.”

  “It wasn’t Nurse Stinson, was it?”

  Anna chuckled, the sound low and throaty. “It was. How do you know that name?”

  “One of your fellow ghost refugees warned us not to be loud in the hallway,” Harper replied. “She said that Nurse Stinson wouldn’t like it.”

  “Probably Jessica,” Anna supplied. “She was always terrified of Nurse Stinson.”

  “And how did Jessica die?”

  “Badly.”

  Harper tilted her head to the side and fixed her full attention on Anna. “I don’t suppose you remember how you died, do you?”

  “No. I don’t want to remember.”

  To Harper, that indicated Anna probably did know what happened to her, but she was uncomfortable sharing the details with others. That was certainly her right, but Harper couldn’t help being curious. Instead of pressing Anna on the issue, though, she shifted back to the topic of the children’s ward.

  “From everything I’ve read, no children ever went missing here,” Harper said. “How were they treated?”

  “Better in some respects … and worse in others,” Anna answered. “It was a very long time ago.”

  Jared did his best to remain patient throughout the discussion, but he was perilously close to losing it. “Harper, I know you’re interested in this stuff and I promise to sit here and let you have a long conversation with Anna when the situation warrants it, but we need to focus on the here and now.”

  Harper knew he was right, but that didn’t stop her from chafing a bit under his directive. “I’m working on it.”

  “Work faster.”

  “I do kind of remember hearing a voice last night,” Eric supplied. “It was a woman. I thought it might be Molly at first so I followed. I’m not sure how I ended up here, though. Wouldn’t I have walked right past you guys? Even if you were sleeping, it seems as if one of you would’ve woken and noticed me.”