“And Kate’s brother,” Michael continued. “Come on, he’s definitely going to notice. Sterling, we’re supposed to leave today. Please...”
But the callous look in Kate’s eyes told him that there was no point in begging. Sterling wasn’t going to yield, and he knew that Michael could threaten and bargain all he wanted, he would never do anything that might put Kate in danger. There was only one option.
“Tell the others to leave. I don’t want them here.”
“You think that Luke and the others are just going to agree to leave Kate and me behind? You think Gavin is going to agree?”
“You are in love with her. Tell them that you’ve decided to stay. That should require no further explanation.”
Oh, it shouldn’t, but it would. Luke and Gavin and the rest were all fully aware of how miserable Kate had been. Michael too, for that matter. They’d never believe that they’d willingly extend their stay at Stanton Hall, even for a romantic getaway. But if he had no other choice...
“Okay,” he agreed.
“Good.” Kate’s face broke into a satisfied smiled.
For one fleeting moment, Michael could have sworn he saw a flicker of Kate, the real Kate, peeking out at him. It was all he could do not to grab her by the shoulders and scream her name, imploring her to hear his voice and to fight against the entity that held her captive. But if he failed, and Sterling tore her away from him, he could lose her. He couldn’t take that risk.
Brink, who had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout the entire exchange, stood staring at Kate with what Michael could only describe as helplessness. Even though she’d never seen Brink, Kate always acknowledged him whenever she knew he was around, and Michael knew how much Brink cared about her. She was the second best friend he had, and he didn’t want anything happening to her any more than Michael did.
Wordlessly, the three of them, or perhaps the four of them was more accurate, descended back down to the ground floor, with Sterling leading the way. Although he never said as much, Michael got the feeling that Sterling wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. He was going to direct Michael every step of the way.
By the time they reached the entry hall, everyone else already had their luggage ready and waiting by the front doors. Michael realized then that he hadn’t even begun to pack. He’d been too distracted by, well, everything.
Good thing I’m not leaving yet, he thought bitterly.
“Morning, Mikey,” Luke greeted him, lugging one of his equipment bags to the entry hall. “Hi, Gorgeous,” he said to Kate.
Michael felt a bony elbow jab him in the side. Sterling cleared Kate’s throat. There was no beating around the bush with him.
“Uh, Luke?” Michael began, hoping he sounded at least a little like he was telling the truth.
“Yeah, buddy?” Luke asked, sounding tired and distant. “You two are packed, aren’t you? We’re getting out of here as soon as we finish breakfast.”
“Well, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” Michael said. “You see, Kate and I... well, we’ve decided to stay.”
That got Luke’s attention.
“You’ve what?”
“Just for a few days,” Michael added hastily.
“I’m sorry, I’m not comprehending,” Luke said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. “You want to stay here? I thought you were both miserable.”
“Well, yesterday, you know, we spent some time on the beach and... you know, we might not even stay here. We might go get a place a little closer to town.” Even to his own ears, the words sounded phony. Luke heard it too.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked, crossing his arms and staring Michael down like a policeman interrogating a suspect.
“Nothing,” Michael responded a little too quickly. He cleared his throat and then said again, with a little more confidence, “Nothing.”
“Kate?” Luke asked. “You’re being awfully quiet. Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“Yes, of course,” Sterling replied. Although it was Kate’s voice that spoke, anyone listening could’ve told it wasn’t her at all. The response was too distant, too robotic, not at all like Kate’s normal chipper and lively timbre.
“Well, if that’s what the two of you really want to do,” Luke said. His eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, but it was enough to let Michael know that he still wasn’t convinced. “You think Gavin will be okay with it?”
“Um... Probably not,” Michael answered.
“What we do is none of his concern.” Sterling spoke in a tone much harsher than Kate would ever use.
Michael closed his eyes. There was no way Luke would ever believe that there was nothing wrong with her. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes again, Luke was staring at him, and he knew that his friend could see the truth written all over his face. Parts of the truth, anyway. He knew something was wrong. Michael could deny it all he wanted, but it wouldn’t do him a shred of good. He only hoped that Sterling wouldn’t take it out on Kate.
Of course, Michael couldn’t be sure how much of the truth Luke had figured out. Did he know that Kate wasn’t herself? Luke had been a paranormal investigator for a while now. Surely he’d recognize a possession when he saw one. For a moment, Michael wished he was as psychic as everyone believed him to be. Then he could communicate telepathically and tell Luke everything he needed to know.
But maybe, just maybe, Luke was “sensitive” enough to figure it out on his own.
“Alright,” he finally sighed. “I personally don’t understand why you’d want to stay, but I will respect your decision.”
“Thank you.” Sterling sounded pleased.
“Oh, by the way, Kate? Can you tell me what color my shoes are?” Luke asked.
Sterling looked confused, like he couldn’t figure out why Luke would ask him such a question, but he replied without hesitation, “They’re green.”
Luke flashed sharp and suspicious eyes over to Michael, who nodded grimly.
“I see,” Luke said. For a moment, Michael thought he might call Sterling out, but instead, he clapped his hands together and announced, “Well, I’d better get back in there and tell the others to get a move on. Plane leaves soon, don’t want to be late.”
And just like that, he was gone. Michael suddenly felt more at a loss than ever. He’d thought, or at least hoped, that Luke might be able to help him. But maybe it was all for the best. Kate was already in enough danger. If Luke had indicated in any way that he knew about Sterling...
Michael didn’t want to think about it. Not that he could really think of anything else. He was supposed to be trying to find Joanna, but the truth was he didn’t know where to start.
Sterling, on the other hand, didn’t seem worried at all.
“Well done, young man,” he said, resting Kate’s hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Well done.”
~*~
Sterling suggested they wait in the Fireside Room until the others had left in order to avoid any further confrontations. Half an hour later, Michael watched from the window of his bedroom as the crew loaded up the vans they had rented and drove them through the gate and off the premises. Kate, or Sterling, sat straight-backed and rigid on the foot of the bed while Brink paced anxiously back and forth through the walls.
“Okay, they’re gone,” Michael told them as soon as the vans were out of sight.
“Good. Now then -”
But before Sterling could get the words out, the bedroom door slammed open and Luke appeared, camera in tow.
“Alright, it is time for someone to explain to me what the hell is going on,” he announced loudly.
Sterling was on his feet in an instant.
“What are you doing here?” he hissed.
“I don’t know, Sterling. What am I doing here?” Luke shot back. Sterling stared at him, mouth agape. “Funny thing about possessions. If you want to pull them off, you’d better know everything about the person you’re supposed t
o be. Otherwise, you might slip up and ruin the whole damn thing.”
“How did you know?”
“Well, for one thing, you’re mean. Kate is not mean. For another, she has that thing with colors. What is it Mikey?”
“Color Anomia. Are you filming this?” Michael asked.
“You see, Sterling,” Luke continued without acknowledging Michael’s question, “the real Kate wouldn’t know green from purple from traffic cone orange. But you did. And finally, there’s no way Kate would want to stay here after all the crap you’ve pulled the last few days. I’m a huge advocate for the dead, Sterling. I like to give people hope, but I also like to show them that ghosts aren’t evil. They’re not out to get the living or make them suffer. But you? Wow. You are a genuine asshole. And I stood up for you! Those first few nights when Peter thought you were some kind of weird stalker, I defended you. Even after the way you’ve been scaring poor Emily Drake and basically anyone who sets foot in this house, I still tried to cut you some slack. But this? This is over-the-line unacceptable.”
“You are filming this, aren’t you?” Michael asked.
“Shh,” Luke hushed him. “So Sterling, are you going to let Kate go?”
That was it. As grateful as he was that Luke had stayed behind to help, Michael wasn’t going to have him risking Kate’s life just for a few minutes of film.
“Luke, stop it,” he said, placing himself between Kate and the camera. “Please, just don’t provoke him.”
“Mikey, relax. This isn’t my first possession. I know you’re not a fan of the show, but trust me. I know what I’m doing. We’ve all been possessed.”
“Not like this,” Michael assured him. “Luke, if we don’t help him find Joanna, he’s going to kill her.”
Finally, Luke lowered the camera and looked Michael in the eye, his expression absolutely serious.
“Well,” he said. “That changes a few things, doesn’t it?”
Chapter 27
Things could have been worse. Luke didn’t really know how, but he was sure if he put some serious thought into it, he could come up with something.
It was true; they had dealt with possessions before on the show. The first time, it had been Peter, and it was one of the scariest moments of Luke’s life. His friend had gone completely lethargic, his eyes blank, his breathing deep and rattling. He hadn’t said much. Occasionally, he’d mumble a bit of nonsense. After the spirit had left him, Peter had no recollection of the event. Luke had experienced the same phenomenon.
The problem was all of those possessions had lasted about ten minutes, if that. He’d never seen a spirit hold on to a host for so long, and although he had his theories, he had no way of knowing how Sterling did it, how long it would last, or what kind of effect it might have on Kate. Of course, he wasn’t about to bring that up. He knew Michael was doing his best to stay calm, but the distress he felt was written all over his face.
For a kid who’d been trying to live a lie his entire life, he wasn’t very good at it.
As for Sterling, Luke wasn’t convinced that he would follow through on his threats to end Kate’s life if they didn’t help him track down his precious Joanna, but he didn’t want to take any chances. After all, the guy had existed as a ghost for a hundred and fifty years without realizing he’d bit the dust, so they knew he wasn’t exactly sane.
“Alright, Sterling. You want us to help you find Joanna? You tell us where to start looking. We’re all yours,” Luke said.
“No,” Kate - or Sterling - snapped.
“No?” Luke wasn’t quite sure he’d heard that correctly. “I don’t understand, Sterling. I thought you wanted our help.”
“I want his help. Not yours.”
Luke shook his head. He’d seen a lot of weird stuff in his years of investigating. For the most part, he’d learned to shrug it all off and accept it. But it was hard to see Kate - sweet, happy, beautiful Kate - look at him with such intense revulsion. And if it was hard on him, he couldn’t imagine how Michael felt. What was it like to look into the eyes of the girl you love and see another person? Not only that, but a person who was willing to let you and your love suffer for his own agenda?
“Well, that’s too bad, Sterling. Because you see, Kate and Mikey, they’re my friends. They’re two of the best friends I have, and the only way you’re going to get me out of here is to let them go with me.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Luke noticed Michael staring at him with a funny expression on his face. Was that actual gratitude? From the world’s most reluctant medium? Luke might have fainted from the shock if he hadn’t had a more pressing issue on his hands.
“So, there you have it. You want those two, you get me. I would ask you if you could live with that, but that might be a little insensitive of me, so I’m just going to go ahead and assume it’s okay.” Luke recognized the look on Kate’s face. It was the look everybody gave him when they wanted to punch his lights out because deep down, they knew they weren’t going to win. He got that look a lot. “You know, Sterling, you really should be thanking me. After all, two brains are better than one, and let me tell you, with Mikey, you’re not getting much.”
Both Sterling and Michael glared at him.
Okay, it was too soon for jokes. Noted.
“One wrong move from you,” Sterling warned, “and she’s gone.”
“Sterling, I have been telling you from the beginning that all I wanted was to help you out. That’s what I do. I find troubled spirits, I figure out why they’re troubled, and I try to help them out. But what I’m going to need from you is cooperation, and frankly, a better attitude. You know, there are ways of asking for favors that don’t involve possessing and endangering a young woman’s life.” Sterling didn’t seem to agree, but at least he kept his mouth shut. Luke took a deep breath. “Well, I think I’ve said everything that I wanted to say. Now we just need a game plan. Any thoughts?”
“What about Marian?” Michael asked.
“The thief?” Sterling asked.
“Technically, you stole from her,” Luke reminded him. “You know, she might be more inclined to help us out if we could get that necklace back to her.”
Sterling still didn’t acknowledge him. Luke scowled. That was going to get really old really fast. He’d rather have someone flat out yell at him than ignore him completely. Maybe it was the egotistical narcissist coming out in him, but he needed at least some sort of response.
“Do you think she’ll be there today?” Michael asked.
“She should be. If not, someone there will have her phone number. We’ll be able to track her down somehow,” Luke replied. “Now, we still have a few things we need to take care of. First, we need to talk to Carolyn and make sure it’s okay that we stay here a few extra days, but I don’t think she’ll mind. Also, I had to let the guys take the vans back to the rental place, so we’ll need to call a cab to take us into town. Mikey, why don’t you take care of that since I’m assuming our friend Sterling here has never used a cell phone and I’ll explain things to Carolyn.”
“Wait. You’re not going to tell her -” Sterling began, but Luke cut him off.
“Relax, Sterling, I’m not going to tell her anything. Not that she’d believe me if I did.”
“Actually, she’s more open to it now,” Michael remarked.
“Oh. Well, good to know.”
Still, Luke figured it was in everyone’s best interests (Kate’s especially) to keep things on a need-to-know basis. He decided to tell Carolyn the same thing he’d told the crew: that he, Kate, and Michael had decided to stick around for a few more days of filming. Like the others, she didn’t question him at all and assured him they were more than welcome.
Later, while they waited for the cab that would take them back to Dock Square, Michael asked, “So, what did the others say when you told them that we were staying?”
“That we were crazy, but to each their own,” Luke summarized. There had been a bit more profanity, but the
y were all so eager to get away from the manor that they really didn’t care what their friends wanted to do.
“What about Gavin? Is he worried about Kate?”
“He didn’t seem to be. Of course, he doesn’t know that he has a reason to worry about her. He thinks she’s safe and sound with her boyfriend and the Chuck Norris of ghost-hunting.”
“The Chuck Norris of ghost-hunting?” Michael sounded incredulous.
“What?” Luke asked. He’d thought it was a perfect metaphor.
“You know what? Never mind,” Michael sighed.
“Who is Chuck Norris?” Sterling asked.
Neither Luke nor Michael bothered to explain. Though the question did bring to light another flaw in Sterling’s oh-so-brilliant plan to manipulate them into bowing to his selfish and cowardly will.
“You know Sterling, you’ve been cooped up in that mansion for a long time. A lot has changed since you were alive.”
“Yes?” Sterling asked, clearly waiting for him to get to the point.
“If you don’t want people thinking there’s something wrong with Kate, then you’d better act like a functioning member of the twenty-first century. In other words, don’t draw attention to yourself.”
“Why would I do that?” Sterling asked.
“Oh, you just never know,” Luke replied lightly.
Sure enough, when the cab pulled up ten minutes later, Sterling flew into a full-blown panic attack. It took Luke and Michael an additional few minutes to convince him that the vehicle was perfectly safe, that people rode in them all the time, and that they weren’t trying to send him to yet another death. By that point, Luke was sure that the poor cab driver was more than a little wary of the crazy girl who’d apparently never seen a modern automobile in her life, but fortunately, he didn’t say anything. Luke made a mental note to leave an extra generous tip.
Between Worlds (Cemetery Tours Book 2) Page 20