The Ghost and Little Marie

by Anna J. McIntyre

  Assaulted by the unexpected bright light, Danielle blinked her eyes as she looked up into the face of her abductor.

  “I got rid of your car,” Sunny said calmly. “Hopefully they will assume you went with it.”

  With balled fists resting on her slim hips, she stood in silence, looking down at her helpless captive. After a few moments, she shook her head. “What am I going to do with you? I should just finish you now before someone finds you and you tell them about me. I suppose it would be easy enough to smother you, or maybe use the needle like I did with our little chatty Cathy. But I have to say, it doesn’t feel right. You’re so young. Why are you making me do this? If you were old, it wouldn’t be so hard. A favor, really.” Now glaring at Danielle, she stomped her foot. “Damn you for making me do this! Why couldn’t you just mind your own business? I don’t want to have to kill you, but what choice do I have?”

  Glancing around the room in search of a murder weapon, Sunny spotted something that might work: plastic trash bags. Stepping to the shelving along the wall, she pulled a black bag from its open box.

  “I didn’t bring a syringe with me, and there aren’t any pillows in here,” Sunny explained as she walked back to Danielle, stretching the trash bag between her two hands. “But this should do the trick.” Leaning over the laundry bin, Sunny positioned the bag over Danielle’s face.

  By reflex, Danielle began to squirm, pushing her back against the linens and inside walls of the laundry bin, attempting to put distance between herself and her would-be killer.

  “She’s going to smother her!” Mabel shouted. “We have to do something!”

  “There’s nothing we can do!” Doris countered.

  Just as Sunny pressed the bag against Danielle’s face, something in her pocket began to ring.

  “Damn,” Sunny muttered, stepping away from the laundry bin to answer her cellphone. “Yes? Now? Fine. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  With a sigh, Sunny tossed the plastic bag on a shelf and looked back down at Danielle.

  “You’re just going to have to wait.” Sunny checked the time on her watch. “I’m going to have to leave for home in ten minutes, or the staff’s going to wonder why I’m sticking around so late. But I’ll come back tonight, later, like I did with Marie. I’ll take care of you then. It’ll be easier to move your body in the evening, with less people around.”

  Several minutes later, Doris peeked out of the storage room and watched Sunny walk away. “That was close! She’s safe for now. No thanks to you`.”

  “Don’t be blaming me,” Mabel snapped. “You said you were going to call the police. You obviously didn’t do that.”

  “At the time, I didn’t know I was dead!” Doris fumed. “In case you didn’t notice, the phone reception isn’t so terrific on this side! And if you had to tell someone, why in the world would you tell Sunny?”

  “She always seemed so nice,” Mabel muttered.

  “You didn’t believe me? Did you?”

  Hanging her head in shame, Mabel mumbled, “No, not really. But please, let’s not argue about this! I feel awful about Danielle. She was so nice. She brought me cinnamon rolls.”

  “I don’t think either of you are going to be eating any cinnamon rolls in the future, now that you’re on this side,” Doris grumbled.

  “Isn’t there something we can do?”

  “The only thing I can think of, we need to find someone like you,” Doris suggested.

  “Like me?” Mabel frowned.

  Doris shrugged. “Like you used to be. But someone a little brighter.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Mabel scowled.

  “Think about it, Mabel. You and I are obviously dead. And if we don’t hurry up and do something, Danielle is going to join us.”

  “I know that.” Mabel groaned. “And you’re the one who keeps saying there’s nothing we can do to help her.”

  “That’s not entirely true.” Doris glanced back into the laundry bin. She could see Danielle watching her. “It’s pretty obvious some people can see ghosts.”

  “Ghosts?” Mabel shrieked.

  “Yes, ghost, Mabel. What we are now.”

  “I always think of a ghost as someone who looks like a sheet. Or like Casper.”

  “Pay attention, Mabel. This is why we’re in this pickle. You need to focus.”

  “Fine, go on,” Mabel grumbled.

  “Like I said, it’s obvious you could see ghosts—when you were alive. And I’m pretty sure Danielle can see us. In fact, I know she can. I talked to her earlier.”

  “That’s what I don’t understand.”

  “What don’t you understand?”

  “Maybe I didn’t believe you when you told me what one of the nurses was up to, but why didn’t you just tell Danielle if she could see and hear you like I could? After all, I wasn’t your only option.”

  “Because I didn’t know I was dead!”

  Taking a step back, Mabel cringed. “You don’t have to shout!”

  “Sorry…” Doris took a deep breath to calm down. Of course, the deep breath, like her blue-rose-patterned pajamas, was all an illusion—more a habit held over from when she had been alive. “You see, I didn’t really understand that I was dead, or what had happened to me. Things were a little hazy.”

  “When did things stop being hazy?” Mabel asked.

  “When I saw Sunny shove that syringe into your arm and watched your spirit step out of your body. In that moment, I realized she had killed you. Suddenly, everything made sense. I understood why people ignored me. Why most people acted like they couldn’t hear or see me. Because they really couldn’t. Just like you, I was dead.”

  “So how is this going to help Danielle?”

  “We know some living people can see us. Now we have to find someone who can, and have them call the authorities to rescue Danielle.”

  “The last time you tried that, it got someone killed. Me!”

  “That was your fault!”

  Marie had hoped she might run into Eva Thorndike on her way over to Seaside Village. It had been several days since she’d seen the flamboyant spirit, and she could really use the company—and the help in tracking down clues to find Danielle. Unfortunately, she had no idea where she might find her.

  Like the last time Marie had been to the care home, it wasn’t necessary to key in the password. All she needed to do was walk through the back door—or even the wall, that would also work.

  Once inside the building, she went directly to the room where she had originally seen the spirit. Unfortunately, there was no sign of her. Marie suspected whoever the spirit was, she had probably already moved on. Walt had explained that tended to be the natural course in this dying business.

  She then went to the main nurses’ station at the front of the building, hoping to eavesdrop on the staff’s conversation. Perhaps one of them knew something. The first person Marie spied was Sunny, who was obviously preparing to go home for the night.

  Marie stood quietly and listened to the conversation. After saying goodbye to her co-workers, Sunny made a hasty departure through the front door while bundled up in a wool jacket over her nurse’s uniform and clutching her leather purse. Marie knew Sunny was more than a nurse. What is her official title? she asked herself. It was something like unit supervisor or director of nursing, or was it assistant director? Marie couldn’t recall. All she knew was that the woman was annoyingly cheerful and some sort of supervisor.

  “It’s you!” a voice behind Marie shouted. Assuming whoever was shouting was talking to someone else, Marie turned around to face the person, never imagining the person was talking to her. To Marie’s surprise, she found herself looking into the eyes of the spirit she had just been looking for.

  “I was hoping I might find you,” Marie told her.

  “You can see us?” Mabel asked.

  Marie looked from the spirit wearing the blue-rose-patterned nightgown to the woman in the pink jogging suit. She looked familiar. Mari
e then recalled seeing her a few times in the dining room at Seaside Village. If Marie had any question about the woman in the pink jogging suit being a living woman or now a member of the spirit world, her question was answered when another patient of the facility walked through her en route to the nurses’ station.

  “Yes, I can see you. But what happened? The last time I saw you, you were alive,” Marie asked.

  “That isn’t important,” Mabel said in a rush. “You need to call the police and get them down here!”

  Doris rolled her eyes and looked over to Mabel, shaking her head. “You really aren’t very good at this, are you?”

  Mabel frowned at Doris. “Exactly what is that supposed to mean?”

  The next moment Mabel’s question was answered when the patient who had walked through her returned from the nurses’ station and walked through Marie.

  “Oh…” Mabel muttered. She stared a moment at Marie. “You’re dead too.”

  “Obviously,” Marie snapped.

  “She’s the friend of Danielle’s who died here last week,” Doris told Mabel.

  “You know Danielle?” Marie asked. “Any chance you’ve seen her?”

  “She’s in a pickle,” Doris told her. “And if we can’t find someone from the living world to help her, she’ll be joining us!”

  “Where is she? Can you take me to her?” Marie asked.

  Relief washed over Danielle as she looked up into the comforting face of Marie Nichols. While her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she would not have been able to see Marie if not for the dim night-light still plugged into the far wall. Her old friend’s face looked rather ghostly looking down at her with the room’s lack of proper lighting, and under other circumstances Danielle would have found that observation amusing. At the moment, she found nothing amusing.

  “Oh dear, you look so uncomfortable!” Marie reached down in an attempt to remove the duct tape from Danielle’s mouth, forgetting for a moment that would be impossible. When her hand moved through Danielle, she quickly pulled it back.

  “We need to find her help before she comes back!” Mabel reminded them.

  “Don’t you worry, Danielle, I’ll get Edward. He’ll help you. I know where he is.”

  By Danielle’s questioning frown, Marie guessed what she must be thinking. Smiling down at Danielle, she said, “Don’t worry, dear, he’s with Evan. They’re at the pier, looking for you.” In the next moment, Marie vanished.

  Thirty-Nine

  Bundled in his jacket, Evan walked along the beach with his father, the quarter moon lighting their way. Taller than other second graders his age, he might be mistaken for an older boy. Yet, upon closer inspection, it was obvious he was much younger. His delicate features, with thickly lashed brown eyes, gave him an innocent quality more typical in a younger child.

  However, Evan MacDonald was no innocent, at least not when it came to life and death. Unlike most children his age—or even older ones—he had touched death. Well, figuratively, at least, if one considered making friends with ghosts like Walt Marlow touching death.

  “I don’t want to find Danielle,” Evan announced when they returned to the pier.

  Edward MacDonald glanced down at his son. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because that’ll mean she’s dead. And I don’t want her dead,” he explained.

  “I can’t say I blame you, bud, but frankly I’m not sure what else to do. No one has seen her, and we’ve had people out searching the area where she was last seen. It’s like she’s vanished into thin air.”

  Just as Evan stepped onto the pier, he stopped abruptly. Seemingly staring at nothing, he said, “Oh, you scared me! Where did you come from?”

  Standing by his son’s side, MacDonald looked down and said hesitantly, “Danielle?”

  Evan shook his head and looked up to his father, a smile on his face. “It’s Mrs. Nichols. She found Danielle. She’s alive, but in big trouble. They have her tied up in a storage room. We have to hurry quick, because she’s going to come back and kill her tonight!”

  Dropping to his knees so he could look Evan in his eyes, he placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders and said, “Who wants to kill Danielle?”

  Evan shrugged. “She’s not really sure. She forgot to ask who it was.”

  Edward MacDonald never used his cellphone when driving with his sons in the car. It was far too dangerous. However, tonight he would make an exception. Calling for backup was not an option. How could he possibly explain to Joe or Brian that a ghost was leading him to Danielle. While Brian might be rethinking the possibility of Marlow House being haunted, he didn’t think the officer was ready to deal with the existence of Marie’s spirit.

  Taking his son into a dangerous situation was not an option, in spite of the fact he was willing to use his cellphone while driving with him. That was the extent of the danger he was willing to put Evan in. His only option, call Chris. He knew Chris and Heather were already somewhere in the vicinity of Seaside Village.

  “Did you find anything?” Chris asked when answering his phone.

  “I need you and Heather to meet me at the back parking lot of Seaside Village.”

  “We’re about a block away,” Chris told him. “What’s up?”

  “I’ve Marie with me in the car. She’s found Danielle, and she’s in danger. But I need you to come with me so Marie can tell us where to find her, and I need Heather to take Evan back to Marlow House.”

  “Dad!” Evan cried out from the backseat. “I want to help save Danielle!”

  “You’ve already helped, bud,” MacDonald called back to his son.

  When MacDonald reached the rear parking lot at Seaside Village, it was empty save for Chris’s car parked in the shadows away from the rear entrance. MacDonald pulled up beside Chris, leaving the engine running, and got out of the vehicle. A moment later Heather was out of Chris’s car and in the chief’s, on her way to Marlow House, where they would be waiting for news of Danielle.

  “You don’t know who abducted Danielle?” Chris asked as he keyed in the password to the rear entry of Seaside Village. Marie had given him the password a moment earlier.

  “I’m sorry, Chris, I was just in a hurry to get Edward,” she said apologetically.

  When MacDonald and Chris entered Seaside Village, they were relieved to find the rear lounge empty. Down the long corridor leading to the main nurses’ station and front entry, there were a few people milling around, but from this distance it was difficult to tell if any of them were looking in their direction.

  With Marie leading the way, Chris following her and the chief trailing behind, they stealthily made their way down a corridor to the right, perpendicular to the main hallway leading to the front of the building.

  Just as they rounded the corner, they came face-to-face with Sunny, who was preparing to unlock the door of the storage room. Startled by the sudden appearance of MacDonald and Chris, she looked blankly at the two men.

  “What are you doing here?” Sunny asked.

  “She’s in that room!” Marie pointed to the door Sunny was about to open.

  “We need to get in that room,” Chris told her.

  Sunny frowned at Chris. “Who are you?”

  “He’s with me,” Edward explained.

  “I still don’t see why he—or you—are here at this time demanding to go into one of our storage rooms.” Sunny tucked the keys she had been holding into her jacket pocket.

  “Sunny, I’ll explain later. But please, just unlock that door for me,” the chief asked.

  “Do you have a search warrant?”

  Sunny’s request startled MacDonald. “Search warrant?”

  “Yes, search warrant. I would think someone in your position would be familiar with a search warrant. I can’t have you making unauthorized searches whenever you feel like it. My responsibility is to Seaside Village. I would like you to leave now and come back with a search warrant; that’s if you can find a judge to give you one.”

/>   Marie, who had disappeared when Sunny started questioning the chief, reappeared. She looked at Chris, panicked.

  “Chris, please, do something. Danielle’s unconscious. She doesn’t look good! You have to hurry before it’s too late!” Marie pleaded.

  In the next moment, Chris lunged at Sunny, yanking the keys from her pocket before the chief could intervene. Instead of staying and demanding the chief take Chris and leave, Sunny ran off, her parting words—as she ran—threatening a lawsuit and promising that MacDonald would lose his job.

  “Not sure that was the best way to handle Sunny,” MacDonald grumbled as Chris frantically searched for the storage room key.

  “We don’t have time. Don’t worry about your job; if I have to, I’ll pay the dumb woman off to keep her mouth shut.” Chris unlocked the door and swung it open, flipping on the overhead light.

  What the police chief couldn’t see in the room were the three spirits huddled protectively over the laundry bin. Chris saw them, yet his attention was more focused on the unconscious woman buried in the pile of dirty linens, her complexion unnaturally pale.

  Danielle opened her eyes. She was in a hospital room, her arm hooked up to an IV. Licking her parched lips, she turned her head to the right and spied Lily and Chris sitting quietly by her bedside.

  “You’re awake,” Lily whispered, standing up. Walking closer to the bed, she leaned over and kissed Danielle’s forehead. “You scared the crap outa us. Don’t do that again.”

  Chris, now standing, stood next to Lily. He reached out and gently touched Danielle’s brow. “Hey, kid, how are you feeling?”

  “Thirsty as hell,” she muttered.

  Lily snatched the water cup off the nightstand and positioned its straw for Danielle to take a sip. “Chris here is your hero. He practically decked Sunny to get the keys to unlock the storage room.”

  Finishing her sip, Danielle licked her lips again. “Sunny? She’s the one who—”

  “Yeah, we already know,” Chris interrupted. “Mabel told me when we found you.”