by L. K. Kuhl
I began to read.
February Seventeenth, Two-Thousand-Thirteen
Lidia Forester, the heiress to the oil empire, Forester Oil, has passed away in prison. She was eighty-one years old, and had spent the last twenty years in prison for killing her husband, Samuel Forester, in nineteen-seventy-four in a skydiving accident. Lidia had no living children and left her fortunes to her only living heir, her great-nephew, Tate Forester. A complete obituary can be found on page three-A.
Another cold chill flooded through me, and I shuddered, the insaneness slamming its way through my head. Was this even happening right now? I squeezed my eyes tight. How could this be? This had to be a nightmare, and I prayed I might wake up from it soon. Lidia Forester…a ghost, too? Why had I seen her wearing a black cloak that day?
Another shock wave jolted its way through me. “I can’t believe this is happening, Aunt Bethany.” She sat in her rocker, watching me. “What do you think of all this? Are we seeing things, or have Marrian and I gone completely crazy?” The poisoned words struggled to leak out.
She put her hands together, tucking them under her chin as if she were meditating. “I believe you and Marrian have seen Mandy, Matt, and Tate. I don’t believe you’re crazy. You wouldn’t have come clear to South Carolina on craziness. Something or someone brought you here to live for the past two months, and it wasn’t just a whim. It was something. And I believe it had to be Mandy. They are ghosts, Sophia.” Her head nodded with assuredness.
“What do I do now? Where do I go from here? Do I just go home and forget everything?” I asked this more to myself than to her, getting up to pace the floor again. Tate was my world, and I was in love with him—insanely so—and now I find out he’s a ghost? What kind of a world was this? The sheer absurdity of it made my brain foggy, head ready to explode. Would I ever see him again, and what kind of a future would we have together, anyway? There would be none.
“I don’t know what advice to give you. All I can say is they must have contacted you for a reason. There has to be more to it than just inviting you here and leaving again.”
“Do you think I’ll see them again?” My voice crumbled, fighting against the grief that enveloped me.
“There’s no way of knowing.” She struggled up from her rocker, heading into the kitchen to stir the collard greens that still simmered on the stove. Her walk stabled now, and she shuffled with more ease. “But I believe they will present themselves to you again if they still need something from you.”
I stayed in the living room, pacing back and forth, looking at the photos that lined the mantle on her fireplace. A small picture of Mandy sat off to the right-hand side—one when she and I were in the second grade. She wore a T-shirt with a pink horse on it and displayed a shy grin, her top two teeth missing. Deep dimples indented both of her cheeks. The shirt she had on matched mine from second grade. We liked to wear the shirts to school on the same days, pretending to be twins.
Another picture of an older Mandy sat there, too. This one taken in her freshman year. Her beautiful smile unwavering.
A wave of sadness punched me and doubled me over. My stomach wretched, and I clutched at it, trying to make it stop. Hot tears came gushing out of my eyes, but I couldn’t stop them. Mandy was gone. I was never going to see her alive again. The whole ghost thing had me so caught up, I hadn’t even realized, until now, the impact of it all. All three of my best friends were dead.
Aunt Bethany came back out of the kitchen, and I wiped at my eyes, not wanting to let her see the tears. “Just as well stay and eat with me.” She sat a couple of plates down on the dining room table. Their clatter made me jump. “You don’t have anything better to do, do you?”
Out of habit, I glanced at my watch to see how long Mandy would be, unable to grasp yet that I wouldn’t be seeing her. “Sure…I can stay. I guess I don’t have any plans, now.”
We sat down at the table, and Aunt Bethany handed me the pot roast. “Help yourself.” It smelled delicious, so I took a big chunk of the steaming meat.
I took a bite. “Do you live here alone?” I chewed and chewed, but with my tight throat, I couldn’t swallow.
“Yes, my husband died five years ago, so it’s just me now. I do have a kitty cat named Jinx. He’s sleeping in my room because he’s a little shy around strangers.” Her eyes twinkled, and her bold features resembled Mandy and Marrian.
“I see…I bet it gets lonely here by yourself.” My shoulders drooped. I pushed my food around on my plate. It smelled incredible, but my appetite failed me.
“It does at times, I suppose. But I have my Jinxy. He’s great company for me.” She cleared her throat. “Sophia…could I ask a favor of you?”
“Yeah, what is it?” I put my fork down on my plate.
“If I give you the number to reach Marrian, could you call her and tell her what you saw? Maybe then she won’t think she’s gone crazy, and she can get out of that awful place that Steve has her locked up in.” Her cloying voice became vile, and I detected a bit of distaste for Steve.
I stared at my plate and twisted my hands together, unsure if I wanted to get mixed up in their business. But I couldn’t let this sweet lady down, so I nodded. “Yes, I can probably do that. I’ll try to help.”
“Oh, thank you.” Her mouth turned up into a smile, and she wiped at her eyes. “I would be so relieved knowing that my sister was out of that hole. And, if she decides to stay with Steve and salvage their marriage, well, that’s her business.” She shrugged and took another bite of potatoes.
My watch glared ten o’clock when I glanced at it. In all actuality, time had flown by. “It’s getting late. I need to get going. I’ll go back to Mandy’s house, I guess. I don’t know whether she’ll show up or not.” I almost hoped she wouldn’t. Now that I knew what she was, I didn’t want to see her.
Aunt Bethany pushed away from the table and stood up. “I’m so glad I got to meet you. Albeit a strange way.”
She walked me to the door, and the jingle of a small bell tinkled by my feet. I looked down and a long-haired black cat wound its way around Aunt Bethany’s legs. “Is that Jinx? He’s pretty.”
“Yes, this is my Jinxy.” She picked him up, giggling, snuggling her nose against his. “He realizes you’re leaving and feels it’s safe to come out. He’s not a dumb cat.” The cat purred when she hugged him tighter.
The aroma of roses filled the room, and it dizzied me, surging a jagged electric bolt throughout my body. Hair prickled on the back of my neck, keeping me from wanting to leave the safe confines of her home.
But I pushed on the door. “Thanks so much for dinner, Aunt Bethany. It was a strange night, and I’m glad I found out what I did…I guess.”
“Oh goodness, I almost forgot to get you the number to that mental facility. Hold on, and I’ll run and get it.” She sat Jinx down and bumbled off to the kitchen. He looked up at me, arching his back and hissing, then he ran back to the bedroom.
Aunt Bethany came back. “Here it is, just call and ask for Marrian Stuart. They can ring her room.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.” I took the number, then reached over and gave her a hug. “Good-bye, Aunt Bethany. Hope we meet again.”
Her lips parted into a thin smile and she wiped at her eyes again. “Me too, dear…me too.”
Chapter 15
Overwhelmed with loneliness and grief, I walked toward Mandy’s car in a trance. The stabbing pain in my heart sliced through me; it wouldn’t let up…excruciating.
Mandy’s car still sat there, and an eerie shudder ran through me when it came into view. The world titled on its axis, hurling me to the edge, and I fought to hold on. I didn’t know if I should go back to her house.
“Sophia, wait.” A voice called from behind. Complete terror overtook me, and I froze. It felt as if someone was holding a gun to the back of my head, and I didn’t know whether to run or turn around and surrender. Mandy’s voice hung in the air. “I know you’re freaked out right now, but it’
s just me.”
I turned around and gasped, cupping my hands over my mouth. Then I cried. The tears broke like a dam when I looked at her and Matt standing in the dim street. They skulked their way closer and stood by the car.
“Oh, guys…I don’t know what to say. You’re right, I’m just a wee bit freaked out right now.” My quivering voice cracked, but I gave a small laugh. I swiped at my eyes, hoping my crying would simmer down. “I guess I want to tell you how very sorry I am, and…and…I can’t believe this happened to you.”
“There’s so much I need to tell you, now that everything’s out in the open, but I don’t have much time.” Mandy tiptoed closer and gave me a hug. “Why don’t we sit in my car and chat for a while. By the way, this is your car now. I won’t be needing it any longer.” She went around to the passenger side and opened up the door.
I stumbled, dizzy, still a little scared of them, but went to the driver’s side and got in. “Gee, thanks, Mand, but are you sure?” It amazed me that I was out here talking to a couple of ghosts.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She giggled. “Ghosts don’t need cars. It was all for show.”
We sat in the car, and she told me her story. “I just want to start out by saying that I’m sorry I had to break the news of what happened to Matt and I by sending you to Aunt Bethany’s, but it was the only way I knew to make sure you’d believe it.”
“Guess I wouldn’t have known any other way to do it, either. I’m stunned, though, because I never did believe in ghosts before this, let alone see and talk to them. It’s just so hard to fathom.” I paused, pressing my elbows into my sides. “Does everyone who dies become ghosts?”
Mandy shook her head. “No, you only become a ghost if you have unfinished business when you die. If you don’t have unfinished business, then you go on to the next level.” She hesitated. “But…there are other ghosts.”
“Other ghosts?”
“Yeah…the Livids.”
“Livids?” My head flinched back. The heat crept along my neckline, so I rolled down the car window.
“Yep, the Livids are the evil ghosts. They become evil ghosts because they have either killed themselves or someone else when they were alive. Never can they go on to the next level. They’ll be Livids for eternity.”
“Are the Livids the ones I saw in the black cloaks?”
“Yes, the day I told you that Matt and I had a fight…we really didn’t. It was the Livids fighting with us. They try to keep us from fulfilling our unfinished business—try to keep us here with them, to join them—so they fight with us. They even intruded inside of me. That’s why I sounded so grouchy and evil at times. It wasn’t me who was talking—it was the Livids. The Livids can entrap us and make us cross over to their side, so we can never move on.”
“Can they hurt me?”
“Yes, don’t get too close to them. They capture mortals with their eyes, forcing you to stare into them. But, if you do, you’ll be unable to look away and they’ll burn you. The heat from their stare will blind you because they’re on fire. It’s like a welding arc.”
I shivered and rubbed my necklace back and forth over my mouth, not finding a lot of solace in her words. “Scary. I’ll make sure to stay away.”
“The Livids hate water, and they hate the cold. If you are encountered by them, you can try to fight them, but the only sure way to get rid of them is to throw ice water on them. But, Sophia, be careful. They are still on the hunt for Tate, and they want him to join them.”
I grimaced and stuttered. “I’ll remember that. Hopefully, I won’t have to deal with them.”
“Let’s hope.”
“So…you, Matt, and Tate all had unfinished business?”
“Yes.”
“What was it?”
“First, I have to tell you the whole story of how things went down the night we got killed.”
I exhaled. “Okay.”
“The night we got killed was a Friday—homecoming. Tate and Matt were seniors. I was a junior. Although we were still in high school, the three of us lived in my parents’ old house on Maple Avenue, the one that you’ve been staying in on the beach.”
“How did your parents move that big house to the beach?” I stared at her, puzzled. None of this made any sense to me.
“They never.” She snickered and gave a sidelong glance to Matt. “It’s still sitting on Maple Avenue. A mirage. I moved it to the beach to concoct my plan. No one else can see it, only you. Ghosts can do anything.”
Matt looked over at me, smiling. “That’s why the pictures that your mom sent of baby Meyer never arrived. It was a bogus address.”
I put my fist to my mouth, trying to grasp this. “Am I the only one who can see you?”
Matt continued. “Yep, we can make ourselves be seen by the people we want to see us, but we don’t want to freak people out, so we don’t. We just roam around in the air, and no one knows we’re there. The Livids show themselves to the same people we do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see them either.”
I dipped my head. “Interesting.”
Mandy continued on, the glow of the night lighting up her eyes. “The old room that I told you was my parents’…well, it was Tate’s. That’s why you found his classical CD in the drawer. I still remember the night he told me he lost it, we looked high and low and never did find it. Guess we know where it went now.” She laughed.
“Yeah, and it was playing.” I shivered again, remembering.
“We got out of school early that day. I was up in my room getting ready for the homecoming dance, when Matt and Tate came bursting in. They thought they were being funny, trying to catch me getting dressed. Tate happened to see the picture I had of you on my dresser, and that was all it took.”
“My picture from the eighth grade? And what do you mean, that’s all it took?”
“Yep, that picture. And I mean, that’s all it took for him to fall in love with you. The instant he saw you, he was hooked.”
Matt laughed. “Yep, I remember that moment very well. He picked up your picture and just stared at it. Then he asked, ‘Who is that girl? I have to meet her.’ He didn’t want to even set the picture back down. We almost had to pry it away from him.”
Mandy giggled. “Oh yeah, it was love at first sight for Mr. Tate Forester. We left for the dance, and all night long he kept wanting to know things about you—where you lived, what school you went to, what you were like, what your family was like. It was never ending. He said he had to meet you and bugged me the whole night about you.”
Amazed, I shook my head. I couldn’t believe that Tate wanted to meet me just because of that bad, eighth-grade picture. What kind of a guy would do that? “He didn’t have a date for the dance? A guy like Tate should have had girls swooning all over him. I imagined him having to beat them off with a ball bat for events like this, or that he would have had a steady girlfriend, already, being a senior.”
Mandy shook her head. “Nope, Tate wasn’t like that. Didn’t go after a lot of girls. I rarely remember him even having one girlfriend—since I’ve known him, at least. He was shy and stayed to himself most of the time.
“But anyway, after the dance we headed out to the party at Party Cove. On the way there, I made a vow to Tate that I would contact you and invite you here for the summer so he could meet you. He was so happy that night.” Her gaze drifted as she remembered. “He grinned from ear to ear and told me to call you first thing in the morning after the party. Well, we never made it home again.”
“Wow, that’s something. All this time I thought it was just happenstance that we met, and now I learn it was planned the whole time.” Then it hit me. “Is that why you’re a ghost? Was I your unfinished business?”
Mandy nodded. “Yes, you were both mine and Matt’s unfinished business. Matt and Tate were best friends, so Matt was in on the deal of hooking you two up, also. The Livids tried to keep us away from you.”
“Do you have other business left undone, or was it just to ha
ve Tate meet me?”
“You two were it, I think. As a junior in high school, I didn’t have a lot of things left undone. I just flew by the seat of my pants most of the time—you know how it is with us teenagers.”
“But you and Matt were planning on getting married, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s good. So, once you resolve this unfinished business, what next?”
Mandy glanced at her watch. “We go.” I noticed how transparent both she and Matt were getting. “Which is why I said when we first began talking tonight, we don’t have much time.”
“How much time do you have, and how do you know this?”
“Let me get back to the night of the accident. After the dance, and me promising Tate that I would call you first thing the next morning, we were speeding our way out to Party Cove…and I do mean speeding. Matt was driving his black SUV, I was sitting up front with him, and Tate was in the back. I thought we were all seat-belted in…but evidently not. We had the top down on the SUV, letting the fall night wrap itself around us. I kept yelling at Matt to slow down, that we were going way too fast, but he wouldn’t listen.
“There was a lot of alcohol involved and also lots of laughing and loud music. The last thing I remember was Matt saying ‘oh crap’ and the sharp curve to Party Cove was upon us. He tried to make the curve, stomping on the brakes and making a hard left, but that’s when he lost control and went rolling.
“I think we must have rolled about three times, and then we struck a tree. Matt and I were seat-belted in and got killed the moment we struck it. Tate didn’t have his seat belt on and ended up getting thrown out. The SUV landed on top of him. There wasn’t much left of his body.”
I gasped and shrieked, covering my face. “Oh gosh…I can’t believe that happened to all of you.” After I absorbed the devastating words, I shuddered. The truth stung my ears, especially to find out my beautiful, perfect Tate had been crushed. This was a horrible, awful nightmare, and I pinched myself, wanting to wake up from it very soon.