by J. E. Taylor
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 see
n 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.
His thought barreled through my head. I slid the glove back on as we continued through the halls. We climbed another flight of stairs, and my unease grew as our guide explained that the section we were entering used to be for the criminally insane.
My heart picked up, and I swallowed hard as the door creaked open. I nearly choked on the malignant air that rolled out over us. CJ’s hands curled into tight fists as the darkness washed over us.
As much as I wished Lucifer were here in this building, both of us knew the moment Kathy had mentioned tours that he wouldn’t be here. At least not in the buildings with access. But evil did occupy the buildings. The ghosts following us were not made of the same dark components as the wing we entered. I chanced a glance over my shoulder, but the collective of ethereal beings stayed on the stairway. Their faces reflected the same horror riding my blood.
The door closed on them, and Kathy droned on. I froze in place with the door at my back. CJ stopped as well and stepped closer to me. Finally, Kathy stopped and turned toward us, her head cocked like an inquisitive puppy.
I felt it before I heard it. From the end of the hall that was gated off to any foot traffic came a horrific howl. Both CJ and I turned. Just like the other floor we’d visited, there were several ghosts here, but they were darker, baring their teeth like a pack of wild animals. All of them reeked of malice.
And it was aimed squarely at us.
I took a step closer to CJ, and my movement seemed to set them off. They charged, their growls of derision rising until I wanted to block the sound. I couldn’t get my glove off fast enough to blast them. Before any of them reached us, CJ lifted his hand, angel fire shot from his palm, and eviscerated the ghosts with white light.
Their dying screams echoed in the hallway. I covered my ears. The darkness overshadowing this building faded with the screams, and warm relief swept through me.
The tickle present in my head disappeared as CJ met my gaze. It was only then that I realized he had been in my head, seeing what I had been seeing since we’d stepped inside the building.
We turned back to a very wide-eyed and very pale Kathy. Her gaze was still stuck on the last place the burning mass of ghosts had been. When she swiveled to us, CJ shrugged and smiled.
“You still have ghosts in the building, but they aren’t dangerous like these ones were.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
“What are you?” she asked, her voice shaking as much as her body.
CJ crossed until he stood right before her. “You will not remember that,” he whispered and exercised the same power I had used to influence the customs agents in Australia.
She blinked a few times, and then her sunny smile was back, along with the droning descriptions of the building we were touring. Whatever darkness had hung over Pennhurst when we’d arrived was gone.
“Is it possible to see the other buildings? The ones you don’t let people explore?” CJ asked after an hour of exploring the buildings on the Pennhurst campus. “We’d just like to see them.”
Kathy led us back to the stairwell we had come up, and when she pushed through the door, the sea of ghosts parted to let her through. I stood on the top step as she and CJ descended. They watched CJ pass with awe inscribed in their faces and then turned to me.
“You are free to go,” I said softly.
“You can see us?” one of the younger girls asked.
I crouched down to look her in the eye and put my hands out. The girl placed her palms on mine. She stared at the connection of our flesh, and her wide eyes found mine again.
“I can see you.” I smiled at her and then looked around. “All of you.”
Kathy and CJ stopped on the landing below and stared up at me.
“What are you doing?” Kathy asked, her voice sharp enough for me to look away from the ghostly posse surrounding me.
“She’s talking to the ghosts,” CJ said.
Kathy’s face paled. “Ghosts?” she asked, her voice filled with fear.
CJ glared at her to shut her mouth.
I looked back at the girl. “They aren’t bad ghosts. They’re just lost.”
The girl smiled back. “No one has ever actually seen us,” she said, and excitement filled her voice.
“Well, I’m a little special that way.” I glanced around as an idea sparked. “Can you tell me if Lucifer is here at Pennhurst?” I figured these ghosts might know.
They shook their heads in unison.
“Is that a no you can’t tell me or a no he isn’t here?”
“No one by that name is here,” the little girl said. “At least not in this wing.”
I didn’t know whether to be disappointed or not. I shook the weird ambiguity away and focused on the ghosts in front of me. Especially this sweet little girl whom I couldn’t believe had been locked up in such a hideous place. “Thank you. You know, I might know someone who can help you get out of this place.”
Every ghost’s eyes widened with hope.
“Join hands,” I said and moved one of my hands from the little girl’s, to the ghost next to me. I stood as they took hands until we had a full loop. “I promise it will be okay.” I smiled reassuringly and looked at the ceiling. “Nick?”
The space next to me shimmered, and in a blink, Nick appeared next to me. Death in person was not intimidating in any way. Even if he put on a cloak and carried a scythe, he would still not be anywhere in the realm of frightening. And when he smiled like he was now, he looked like the proverbial kid next door.
The ghosts seemed to sense what he was and pulled back the way I had when I first encountered him. I kept my grip on their hands.
“Trust me. He is a cool guy, and he will show you some really cool places. You don’t need to be afraid.” I transferred the little girl’s hand into his. “He will take you to a much nicer place than this one,” I added, and Nick gave the little girl an even more dazzling smile.
“Faith is right,” he said, and his voice seemed to soothe the tension.
I put the other ghost’s hand in Nick’s free hand, completing the loop. The connection flowed through every one of them, filling their ethereal forms with light.
CJ squinted up at the lights.
“Y’all ready for an adventure?” Nick asked, and the ghosts nodded.
Kathy swayed on the step, her face slackened in disbelief and her eyes rolled back in her head. CJ reached his arm out, catching our fearful tour guide. But his eyes never left the vision of the ghosts rising to the ceiling with Death himself.
Just before they disappeared, the little girl waved at me.
I waved back and turned to CJ, who held a limp Kathy with one arm and wore a smile of such awe.
“I’ve never seen so many leave so peacefully,” he said. “Usually they are like the ones up there.” He nodde
d towards the door behind me where the warped and evil ghosts had been.
I climbed down the stairs. “I assumed that bad feeling was them until they wouldn’t cross the threshold on the upper floor.”
CJ nodded. He turned his attention to the dead weight hanging over his arm and tapped Kathy’s cheeks gently.
She blinked and she nearly shot out of his grasp, her gaze darting from me to the stairwell and back.
“You fainted while you were telling us about the buildings out back,” CJ said. His voice held concern as he looked at her.
The air rippled in the space between CJ and Kathy, and she started blinking.
“I...” She glanced around and then back at him. “I haven’t eaten anything today, and all the excitement...”
“Well, if you don’t mind us wandering the grounds, you should get something in your stomach so that doesn’t happen again.” His smile was warm, and she just nodded and headed back to the ground floor and out the door in the stupor that always follows having your mind bent to our will.
We followed out onto the front steps and watched her wander off.
“I hate doing that,” CJ said after Kathy turned the corner out of our sight.
“It is unnerving, but I’m not sure we would have gotten out of here without the national media descending on us if you hadn’t.”
He huffed a laugh, and we turned and crossed the overgrown lawn to the rear buildings, which were far worse than what we had just walked through.
“I don’t think he’s here,” CJ said as we stood in front of the dilapidated structure.
None of the foreboding I had felt when we originally arrived presented itself as we looked from one condemned building to the next.
“Gabriel said he set traps. Do you think the ghosts were a trap?”
CJ rubbed his chin and studied the structure in front of us. “Probably not, but I don’t want to underestimate Lucifer, so I guess we’re searching these after all. Just be careful where you step.” He held the rusty old door open for me. “Calling death was a nice touch, by the way,” he said when I walked through.