Ghostly Asylum

by Lily Harper Hart

  “So you found out that you had a colorful past,” Harper said, tipping her head so she could watch Finn resume his pacing. “Did you come out here when you were a kid?”

  “I did.” Finn smiled. “My friend Rod had a boat and we came out here. He was afraid, whiny, but I felt as if I was coming home.”

  “I’m guessing that’s because he’s off his rocker,” Zander muttered. He’d remained largely silent for the bulk of the conversation, Molly tucked in quietly at his side as he calmed her, but his patience was clearly wearing thin.

  Harper ignored his statement. “Did you visit more than once?”

  “As often as I could manage, although Rod wasn’t always keen because he said it was depressing,” Finn replied. “Then I went to film school in California, changed my name because I never felt like a Hicks, and my life was different for a bit. I worked my way onto Phantoms at a certain point, though, and I knew that the show was the thing that would ultimately get me back here.”

  Jared let Harper ask the questions for a long stretch because Finn seemed to enjoy engaging with her. Now it was his turn to ask the hard questions. “Since you work for the production company, I’m going to guess that they sent people out here to scout the location before we landed. Michael did a good job of pretending this was the first time he’d seen the island in person, but that wasn’t true, was it?”

  “Actually it was,” Finn countered, his eyes darkening as he pinned Jared with a taunting look. “Michael isn’t one for manual labor. He goes to the locations, but only because he has to. I volunteered to scout this island myself.”

  “And it wasn’t empty when you got here, was it?” Jared was putting things together at a fantastic rate. “There were kids partying out here when you arrived and it irritated you.”

  “I was already out here when the partiers arrived. I stayed inside, willing them to go away, but one of the girls was braver than the rest. She decided to see if she could look around.”

  “Julie,” Jared muttered, shaking his head. “Where is she?”

  “She wanted to know the truth of the building, so I showed it to her.” Finn’s crazy smile was back. “I don’t think she got the truth of this place until the end. It was glorious when she realized it, though.”

  “The truth of this place?”

  Finn smiled at Harper. “You understand, don’t you? This place is immortal. Those who die within its walls come back. They’re immortal. I’m giving people the gift of immortality when I take them here.”

  “That’s not true,” Harper countered, not caring in the least that she risked agitating Finn. She was almost to the point where she wanted to deafen herself with Q-tips just so she wouldn’t have to listen to him talk for one second longer. “A place doesn’t have power. It’s the souls living inside – their strengths, their foibles, their weaknesses – that determine what happens in a place. The place itself is not powerful.”

  “You’re wrong.” Finn’s voice went cold. “You’re not looking at the situation correctly.”

  “Oh, I’m looking at it correctly and I’m pretty sure I have it all figured out,” Harper said. “You’re crazy. There’s no getting around it. You’re completely and totally mental and someone needs to lock you up and force feed you some meds.”

  “You take that back!”

  Harper refused to shrink back despite the shift in Finn’s tone. “You liked researching your genealogy – which isn’t a bad thing – but it sparked something in your mind. You were never a normal kid and what you found out only made you worse.”

  “I am not crazy!” Finn was beside himself.

  “You’re worse than crazy,” Harper argued. “You’ve convinced yourself that you’re on a mission, that you’re somehow doing good. You want to kill people here so they’ll come back as ghosts – ghosts you can’t even see, by the way, but maybe you have a touch of the gift and can feel them.

  “You think this gives you power, but it really makes you a scared little boy,” she continued. “You don’t really care about creating spirits that live forever. You get off on the pain and suffering of your victims. You’re nothing more than a garden-variety sociopath.”

  “I am not crazy!” Finn bellowed the words, clutching his hands at his sides as he took a step forward.

  That was enough for Jared. He’d come to the same conclusion as Harper and he wasn’t about to risk one more person falling to Finn’s twisted wrath. “Don’t you even think about touching her,” Jared warned, cutting the distance between them. “I won’t allow it.”

  “You don’t have the power here,” Finn scoffed. “I have the power. Me. This is my realm. This is my dark place. This is my … destiny.”

  “Oh, shut up.” Jared didn’t bother ordering Finn to surrender, or try to talk him down. Instead he smashed his fist into the man’s face, taking a bit of pleasure in watching Finn’s head snap back as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He went down hard, his body echoing against the tile as he flopped to a standstill.

  Jared watched him for a long beat to see if he would move. When he didn’t, he bent over and searched Finn’s pockets until he came up with a key. He handed the key to a wide-eyed Harper before bending over to pick up Lucy.

  “Is he dead?” Molly asked, her voice trembling.

  “No,” Jared replied. “He’s just knocked out. “We’re going to lock him in down here and take you guys upstairs. Then we’re taking the boat to Whisper Cove and getting help. He’ll be fine down here for a few hours. It’s safer for us to know where he’s at.”

  Molly blindly nodded. “Okay, but … how are we going to get back to Whisper Cove without a boat? Eric and John left yesterday with the boat.”

  “They’re back,” Harper explained. “Well, at least Eric is. We’re not sure what happened to John.”

  “Once I have backup, Finn is going to tell us what he did with John,” Jared said darkly, cradling Lucy’s limp form against his chest. “We’re going to find him. I promise you that.”

  “Okay.” Molly let Zander guide her toward the door. “Is Eric okay?”

  “He has a concussion,” Harper volunteered. “He’s on the second floor with Shawn. He’s angry … and worried about you.”

  “Me?” Molly’s eyes went wide. “Did he say he was worried about me?”

  “He certainly did,” Harper confirmed. “He also told us you two have become something of an item.”

  “And you’re in big trouble for holding out on the gossip, missy,” Zander barked with mock severity. “You know I don’t like being the last one to hear about the gossip.”

  “I just want to see him,” Molly admitted. “I’m not sure what there is to gossip about. He decided he didn’t want to be with me after all.”

  “No, he didn’t,” Jared argued. “He got scared and said something stupid. Heck, knowing Eric, he probably said several stupid things. He regrets them now. Trust me.”

  “Did he say that?”

  “Pretty much.” Harper beamed. “I think you might get what you want after all.”

  “That’s good.” Molly managed a smile. “After today, I could use a few days of getting what I want.”

  “I think we all could,” Jared said. “Come on, people. Let’s get out of this place.”

  No one had to say it, but they all heartily agreed. The Ludington Asylum belonged in the past. Their futures were pointed in an entirely different direction.

  21

  Twenty-One

  Ten days later, they returned to the island.

  Harper, Jared, Zander, and Shawn were the only ones present for the return voyage. Mel loaned them his boat – threatening Zander with deadly force should something happen to it – but he almost seemed glad to see them off.

  This last bit of business weighed heavily on Harper and she wanted it done. When it was, she hoped to never again return to the Ludington Asylum. She knew that she would think about it, of course, even dream about it, but as for seeing it, this would be the last time.<
br />
  “So what’s going to happen to Finn?” Shawn asked, keeping close to Zander as they picked their way to the front door of the facility. The state police and Coast Guard banned travel to the island for more than a week as they collected evidence and discovered two bodies. One, Julie Newhart, had been missing from Canada for two weeks. That’s why Michigan authorities hadn’t heard about her disappearance. The other body remained unidentified, although Anna mentioned the name “Ashley” at one point, and Harper hoped she could get a last name to go with the first before leaving.

  “He’ll be charged with murder, kidnapping, assault, and whatever else they can pin on him,” Jared replied. “I’ll have to testify – you guys probably will, too – but the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department is taking over the bulk of the investigation.”

  “And what about Lucy?” Zander asked. “Have you heard how she’s doing?”

  “She was diabetic – something she apparently didn’t want people to know because it affected her company insurance policy – and she was in desperate need of insulin by the time the paramedics arrived,” Jared replied. “She was in a coma for a few days, but she’s expected to make a full recovery.”

  “That’s good.” Zander didn’t like the woman but that was hardly reason to wish ill will on her. “Did she say how Finn got her?”

  “She took off on her own like we thought, but it was because she needed to inject herself with insulin and didn’t want anyone to see,” Jared explained. “When she was finished, she had a bit of juice but got turned around when she tried to come back. She swears up and down she wasn’t trying to entice Harper into the basement.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  “I don’t know that it matters now, but I don’t believe her,” Jared said. “I think she did need her insulin, but I also think that she and Michael had a plan to draw Harper to the basement. Anna pretty much said as much to Harper, and she had no reason to lie. Finn probably stumbled across her when she was hiding and he put her in that room for safekeeping – I think he had plans to deal with her later – so Michael was legitimately confused when Lucy didn’t pop back up.”

  “Well, Michael has his own set of problems,” Harper said. “We withdrew consent for any of that footage to be aired and returned the money. If he tries to show it he’s going to be sorry.”

  “Do you think he will?” Shawn asked.

  “I think that he’s worried about opening himself up to lawsuits more than anything, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” Harper shifted the bag she carried to her other arm so she could link her fingers with Jared’s. “He has his hands full with the Finn situation because Julie Newhart’s parents are making noise about suing. I don’t think he’ll be focusing on the footage any time soon.”

  “It won’t bring back their daughter, but I hope they do sue,” Jared said. “It might teach Michael a lesson.”

  “And John?” Shawn asked. “What about him?”

  “He’s still in the hospital,” Jared replied. “He took a bad blow to the head on the beach and then got a bad bout of hypothermia. He says he recognized Finn on the beach that night – he came back like Eric suspected to talk to everyone – but Finn was behind him as they headed for the asylum and hit him with something. He’s honestly lucky to be alive.”

  “The police found him in a small room down the same hallway where Finn was keeping Lucy and Molly,” Harper added. “He was unconscious when they arrived but woke the next day and started talking.”

  “What about Trey?” Shawn asked. “Did he know what Finn was doing?”

  “He claims he didn’t and I have to believe him,” Jared replied. “He’s a complete and total jerk, but I don’t think he was privy to the story. If he was, he would’ve used it to his advantage. The fact that he didn’t tells me that he was in the dark.”

  “Just not the dark place,” Harper murmured, gripping Jared’s hand tighter.

  Jared slid her a sidelong look. “How is Molly? I haven’t seen her around the office the few times I’ve stopped in over the last week.”

  “We gave her some time off,” Zander supplied. “She deserved it and … well … Eric is playing nursemaid.”

  The corners of Jared’s mouth tipped up. “I see. Are they officially a couple?”

  “They’re not using those words, but when I stopped by with some gossip magazines and ice cream the other day, I caught them cuddling on the front porch,” Harper said. “I think they’re well on their way to being a couple. Eric might fight it a bit longer, but I don’t think he’ll have much luck.”

  “And Molly?”

  “She’s still traumatized. Eric says she’s been having nightmares.”

  “Which means he’s been spending the night,” Zander pointed out. “Once they’re both back at work full time, you’d better believe I’m going to get to the bottom of this story. I want to know exactly how it happened.”

  “I would expect nothing less.” Jared slowed his pace when they reached the front door, giving Harper a searching look as she grabbed the strap of her bag. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “There are a lot of spirits inside this place that want – no, need – to be set free,” Harper replied. “We brought as many dreamcatchers as we could make in one week. I’m going to do what I promised to do.”

  “You could just help Anna and call it a day,” he pointed out.

  “I want to do more than that.”

  Jared understood. He knew she would say that. He gently tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. “We should get to it, right? We’ll probably be here for the entire afternoon as it is.”

  “I brought lunch,” Zander volunteered. “Chicken salad sandwiches, fresh fruit, and chocolate cake.”

  Harper brightened considerably. “How did you know I would want chocolate cake?”

  “I’ve met you.”

  “Good point.” Harper mustered a smile as she studied the building. It was small but genuine. “This is the best part of our job.”

  “Then I’m happy to see you in action,” Jared said. “We need to go over the rules before we go inside, though.”

  Harper rolled her eyes. “I know. I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone because I’m a female and I need to be protected.”

  Jared shook his head. “No, you’re not allowed to go anywhere alone because I’m scared of ghosts and need you to protect me.”

  Despite herself, Harper giggled. “That was a really good response.”

  “I meant it.”

  “That’s almost better than chocolate cake.”

  “Don’t ever hate on the cake,” Zander warned. “Now, come on. We have souls to save and cake to eat.”

  “And then we’ll say goodbye to this place,” Harper said. “I’m not sorry I came – I’m really not – but I’ll be happy to leave.”

  “I think it’s safe to say that goes for all of us, Heart.”

  The four friends walked into the building together, hope fueling them instead of fear this time. It wasn’t work that would make them famous, but it was definitely work that would leave them fulfilled.

  For all of them, that was more than enough.

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  Acknowledgments

  I’m a romantic at heart. A true romantic. I love the idea of a happy ending, so much so I have trouble writing a sad one. The world is sad enough. I like escaping in fiction. That’s just me. I like sarcasm and snark – but I’m not sure a sad ending is in me. If you’re looking for an edge like that, you’re probably looking in the wrong place. Just FYI.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names
, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

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