Almost everyone murmured their agreement.
“So, that’s it then? We’re done?” Luke asked.
“We do have some good stuff to work with, Luke,” JT said.
“But we missed out on all the great stuff because our equipment was always going haywire,” Luke argued.
“Well, that’s a risk we take in this business. We still got plenty of evidence, more than enough to fill forty-two minutes of screen time,” JT reminded him.
The long silence that followed told Michael that Luke still wasn’t convinced, but he finally relented. “Alright fine,” he sighed. “That’s it. Goodnight, everyone.”
And without waiting for anyone to reciprocate, Luke brushed past them all and disappeared into the darkness. The rest of them followed silently, bidding each other awkward and stiff goodnights as one by one, they broke off and headed to their rooms. By the time they’d reached Gavin’s door, only Michael, Kate, and Gavin remained.
“Well, goodnight,” Gavin muttered gruffly without looking either of them in the eye.
“Hey,” Kate said, grabbing her brother’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he told her. “I’m just ready to get the hell out of here.”
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure that -” But before she could finish, Gavin had slammed the door in her face. “... that you weren’t hurt... Right. Okay then.”
Michael was considering barging into Gavin’s room and forcing him to apologize (how, he wasn’t sure, considering that Gavin could probably beat him up if he really wanted to), when he felt Kate’s cool hand slip into his. Her touch calmed him immediately.
“Come on,” she said.
He followed her unquestioningly to her room. Once again, they sought solace in each other’s arms. Michael thought he’d be asleep in seconds, but suddenly, his mind was wide awake.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked, as though she’d read his thoughts.
“Yeah,” he replied half-heartedly.
“You just seem really quiet tonight.”
“I feel like an idiot,” he confessed.
“How come?” she asked, propping herself up to look down at him. Michael almost didn’t answer her. He’d become distracted by the way the pale moonlight illuminated her hair. She was beautiful, ethereal, and in that glow, she should have reminded him of an angel. But to his horror, he realized that she didn’t.
She reminded him of a ghost.
“Um...” he mumbled. He’d forgotten the question. “What? I’m sorry. I’m... I’m really tired.”
“That’s alright,” Kate leaned down and kissed him gently. Then, she rested her head back down on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “God, what is it about this place?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you feel it? It gets inside your head. It messes with everything and it’s making everybody miserable,” she said. “I’m just glad that this time tomorrow, we’ll be home.”
Thank God. Michael thought.
“Sorry that Luke didn’t get his evidence,” he heard himself mutter.
What the heck? Where did that come from?
“Don’t be. Like Peter said, they’ve got plenty to work with.”
“But I could have told him about Sterling.”
“So could I, but I sort of forgot, to be honest,” she told him. “Besides, I don’t know that it would have made much difference even if we had said something. He was so hell-bent on getting that footage that he probably would have ignored us and gone on filming anyway.” Then, he felt Kate kiss his neck. The touch of her lips made him shiver. Did she not know the effect that she had on him? She didn’t seem to, because she continued, nonchalantly, “Don’t worry about it. Before you know it, Luke will be back to his old self, talking about how this was the greatest investigation ever.”
To his utter shock, he found himself hoping that she was right. He must have drifted off then, because the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to the soft glow of morning light drifting through the green, purple, and gold curtains of the Emerald Room.
His head still thick and heavy with sleep, he closed his eyes and tried not to wonder what had woken him, when a cool draft compelled him to pull the comforter up to his chin. It was only then that he realized how empty the queen-sized bed felt.
He opened his eyes again and looked around the elegant yet empty room.
Kate was gone.
Chapter 25
At first, he didn’t think anything of it. Kate probably just got up to get a drink of water, or maybe to stretch her legs. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well and was down in Gavin’s room asking if he had any Advil. Or maybe someone had called her because of an emergency back home and she’d stepped out of the room so that she wouldn’t wake him. There were multiple scenarios, each as plausible as the next. But as the minutes ticked by and she still hadn’t returned, he began to worry.
It’s this place, he told himself. It gets inside your head. She said that just last night. You’re just being paranoid. She’s okay. She has to be okay.
Still, he figured it was probably best to find her, just to make sure.
There was no sign of her in the hallway, the master bedroom, or the parlor. He didn’t want to panic, because panicking would mean acknowledging that something was very, very wrong, and that was something he did not want to do. He was overreacting. He simply had to be. Kate could very well have woken up early, decided she couldn’t fall back asleep, and gone into the kitchen for coffee. He didn’t smell coffee, but it was better than considering certain other alternatives.
His fleeting attempt at optimism proved in vain, however. There was no sign that she’d ever been in the kitchen or the dining hall.
Desperate, and unsure of what else to do, Michael sprinted back into the entry hall, the one spot in the manor that connected all the other halls and rooms and staircases and parlors. Standing beneath the extravagant and sparkling crystal chandelier, Michael called out, “Brink. Brink!”
His friend appeared immediately.
“Wow, you’re up early.”
“Have you seen Kate?” he asked, ignoring his friend’s remark.
“What?”
“I can’t find her. I woke up and she was gone. I have no idea where she went.”
“Okay, buddy, calm down. Take a deep breath. She probably just had to use the bathroom or something.”
“She didn’t. The one in our room is empty. I’m telling you, Brink, I’ve checked everywhere.”
“Are you sure? It’s a big mansion. To be honest, you guys haven’t even seen most of it. Granted, a lot of parts are under renovation, but there’s still a lot up there. There’s the old piano room and the library, and there’s this room at the very top of the stairs with the -”
“Brink!” Michael snapped. His friend looked startled. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but this isn’t helping.”
“You don’t know that. Kate’s a pretty adventurous girl. Maybe she wanted to get one last look at the house before we leave in a few hours.”
“No. No, I really don’t think she would do that. This house scares her. She wouldn’t have just gone wandering off on her own.”
Brink sighed. “I don’t know what else to tell you, brother. I mean, it’s not like she could have just vanished into thin air.”
The problem was Michael was beginning to dread that that was exactly what had happened. How or why, he couldn’t say. All he knew was that Kate was gone and he didn’t have a clue where she might be or why she might have left.
“But what if she did?” he asked meekly.
“Michael. Come on, you know that didn’t happen. I know that you’re pretty open-minded about this kind of stuff, as you should be, but people, living, breathing people, do not just disappear,” Brink insisted. “Listen. I am going to search the entire house. It won’t take me that long, I can walk through walls. In the meantime, you go look and see if she’s outside. I’ll come get you if I find her.”
>
“Okay,” Michael agreed, relieved and grateful that he could rely on his best friend to be calm and cool during a crisis. He hadn’t forgotten that it had been Brink who’d gone to alert Kate when he’d been abducted. If not for Brink, then Kate and Luke would never have found him in time. If not for Brink, he might very well be a ghost himself. He owed Brink a great debt that he would never be able to repay.
Of course, at the end of the day, Brink was just happy to have a friend.
As soon as Brink disappeared, Michael darted outside, not bothering with shoes or a jacket. The early morning air was still cool and damp, but Michael barely noticed as he ran around the side of the house to the hill overlooking the forest. Still no sign of her.
There was, he realized, one place he still hadn’t checked, and it was the place that he’d been deliberately avoiding. Not because he was afraid he wouldn’t find her there, but because he was afraid that he would.
Anxiously, he dashed through the woods, cold, dry leaves crackling beneath his bare feet. His heart pounded in anticipation of what he might find at Sterling’s grave, but when he finally arrived he found... nothing. The headstone stood alone and untouched as last he’d seen it. He was relieved that he hadn’t found her there, but at the same time, he was totally lost. If she wasn’t there...
Stop it. Just stop it, Michael. She’s here somewhere. She has to be.
He could try calling her. He hadn’t even thought to check to see if her cell phone was still in the room. If she had gone off exploring, then she may have taken it with her to take more pictures to send to Val.
Yes! Yes, that had to be it! She’d been so taken by all the fantastic rooms and windows and decorations. She just wanted to take a few more pictures before their flight left. It was so obvious Michael didn’t know why he hadn’t realized it sooner!
His hopes were so high that as he practically flew back up the hill, he almost didn’t notice the figure waiting for him at the top.
“Michael!” Brink called down to him. “I found her!”
“Oh, thank God. Where is -” But before the words were out of his mouth, Brink broke into a sprint that Michael wasn’t sure he’d be able to match.
Running as fast as he could, he followed his friend around to the side of the manor, until, all of a sudden, Brink stopped. Michael looked frantically around, but Kate was still nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she? I don’t see her!”
“Not here. There!” Brink pointed upward.
Michael’s heart stammered to a stop. There, in the open window of one of the many towers, a figure stood, dressed in a white, billowy bathrobe. Her arms were extended across the length of the window, her hands pressing against the aged and splintered blue shutters.
“Kate!” Michael shouted. “KATE!”
She didn’t respond. Michael didn’t even think she looked down. What was wrong with her? What was she doing?
“Come on!” Brink beckoned him.
Without a second thought, Michael followed his friend back into the manor and up the grand staircase.
“What is she doing up there?” Michael panted as Brink led him through the derelict halls of the upper floors. “Is she alright?”
“I don’t know, man. As soon as I found her, I came to get you. I mean, it’s not like she could have heard me if I’d tried to say anything to her.” It was true. “You know, that window does face east. Maybe she wanted to get a picture of the sunrise.”
That may have been it, but somehow, Michael doubted it.
Racing through the dust and decayed fragments that had piled up over years of neglect, they finally reached what may have at one point been a beautiful mahogany door but now just seemed like rotten red wood on a hinge.
“This is it! Come on!” Brink said before he disappeared right through the door.
Michael yanked the door open so hard that a cloud of dust and splinters rained down on him, irritating his eyes and his throat. He coughed and sputtered, but nevertheless raced up the rickety, enclosed stairwell and into what appeared to be an attic.
At first glance, Michael thought they had the wrong tower. The room was a cluttered wreck of old tables, maps, books, a globe, a spyglass, a full length mirror, and several bookshelves, all ancient, broken, and dusty. It must have been Sterling’s study.
“Michael! Over here!” Brink called from the far side of the room, where a sunlit shimmer of blonde hair caught Michael’s eye. He hastily maneuvered his way through the maze of tables, shelves, books, and scattered papers to the window.
“Kate!” he called.
She turned her head slowly to look at him. It was only then that he realized what exactly she was doing. She was standing in the window, her feet perched on the sill, her hands gripping the sides to hold herself steady. But one wrong move, one little slip...
“Kate, what are doing? Get down from there!” he cried.
Still, she said nothing. Michael felt his mouth run dry as he struggled to read the expression on her abnormally solemn face. Her hazel eyes bore into him, but what he saw wasn’t love or relief, joy or sorrow. Her eyes were simply... blank.
Was she sleep-walking? He’d never known anyone who sleepwalked before, but he’d always heard that you weren’t supposed to wake them. Then again, he wasn’t sure that rule applied when the sleepwalker was standing on the ledge of a window over five stories high.
“Kate, please. Listen to me. Get down.”
Finally, she acknowledged him.
“And?”
Michael was confused. “And what?”
“What would you do for me in return?” Her voice was softer, lower than usual.
“In return? Kate, what are you talking about?”
“You said you would do anything for her, didn’t you?”
At first Michael didn’t understand what she meant. But as she stared him down with cold, conniving eyes, eyes that did not belong to the girl that he loved, the true meaning behind the words hit him like a ton of bricks.
“No...” He croaked, almost too breathless to speak. It couldn’t be true. Sterling had moved on. There was no way.
“Michael, what is going on?” Brink asked.
“She’s possessed.” Michael answered without tearing his eyes away from Kate’s. Her beautiful face broke into a strange, sadistic smile. “Sterling... Listen, I know you’re mad. You’re mad because of Joanna, you’re mad because of the intruders, and you’re especially mad at me, because I couldn’t help you. But please, please hear me when I say that she had nothing to do with this. If you want to punish me, then do it. Just please, let her go.”
“I don’t want to punish you, young man.” Hearing Kate speak in such a slimy, condescending tone made Michael’s skin crawl. “If I wanted to punish you, she would have jumped three hours ago.”
Three hours. He’d had her up there for three hours. And where had Michael been? Safe and warm and fast asleep in bed. He should have been awake. He should have been protecting her. What was worse, he could have protected her, if only he’d seen the ghost coming. But Sterling had made sure that that didn’t happen. He’d stayed away all night and given all of them the false hope that maybe, just maybe, he was gone for good.
“Then what are you doing?”
“You mean you haven’t figured it out?”
“Well, maybe if you’d let my girlfriend come down from that windowsill I’d be able to think a little clearer.”
“It’s simple. You help me find Joanna; I let your Kate go.”
Michael was flabbergasted. He thought he’d made it clear to Sterling that it might not be possible to find Joanna.
“Sterling, listen to me. If I could find Joanna, if I even knew where to begin, I would get her for you in a heartbeat. But, what you’re asking... I’m not sure if anyone in the world can do that.”
“But you can, and you will. For her.”
Michael didn’t want to ask the question, because he was fairly certain he already knew the answer, but
he asked anyway. “And if I don’t?”
“If you don’t,” Sterling answered slowly, “she jumps.”
Chapter 26
Michael listened intently as Sterling laid down his ultimatum. He wanted Joanna. If Michael couldn’t find her, then Sterling wanted to know where she’d gone and why she hadn’t waited for him. Furthermore, he didn’t want Michael telling anyone, especially Luke, about their deal, a word that Michael would have used very loosely under his current circumstances. A deal required some sort of agreement. What Sterling was doing was coercion.
“But Luke might be able to help us,” Michael argued. “This is what he does for a living. He investigates the paranormal.”
“I don’t trust him,” Sterling crossed Kate’s arms and narrowed her eye. It would have been funny to see Kate so put off by the idea of Luke if it weren’t for the possession and the blackmailing.
“Why not?” Michael asked, though it really wasn’t that difficult to figure out. Luke was rash and brazen and loud, all the qualities of a confrontational reality television star who spent most of his time screaming at ghosts hoping to get some sort of reaction from them, not so much the qualities of someone altogether trustworthy, like a therapist.
“He’s a brute, a bully. If he were to find out, he would try to force me to let her go,” Sterling explained. “You must understand that I don’t want to hurt her.” But I will. The words, though unspoken, were there.
“Look, I know Luke seems a little thick, and yeah, he can be a bully, but he’s smart. He’s going to know something’s off.”
“Then you’ll assure him otherwise.”
Michael wanted to argue, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t do him much good. He’d never dealt with a possession before, but he’d had enough exposure to Sterling and his twisted mind to know that reasoning didn’t work. If he’d had any sort of logic on his side at all, Sterling would have realized that there was no way Michael could ever hope to know anything more about Joanna than her own husband. If Joanna had already moved on, Sterling already knew about it, at least on some level. He just wasn’t willing to accept it.
Between Worlds (Cemetery Tours Book 2) Page 19