The Man in Black: A Gothic Romance (Crookshollow Ghosts)

by Steffanie Holmes

  “But why use Eric’s case at all? It seems ridiculously risky having him discover it. Why not hide the drugs in one of the guitar cases or—”

  “Eric was nothing if not a true rock star. He didn’t handle his own gear until he was about to go on stage. After Eric packed up his precious instrument, I’d take it out and place it in a secondary case, then we’d fill the case with the cash or the blow, and send it on its way. The airport staff are usually pretty lax about checking touring musicians – they figure we’ve been through enough airports already that someone’s already done their job for them. If we ever got caught, it would be easy to pin on Eric, since he was pretty insistent on being the only one who touched his precious case.”

  “But why? Ghost Symphony were doing well. You were living the dream! Why would you throw it all away for … for drugs?”

  “Just because we had a few radio hits doesn’t mean we’re rich. Not by a long shot. There’s a certain lifestyle that comes along with being in a touring rock band, and I couldn’t afford to live it on my current salary. And of course Eric was the star. He got all the sponsorship deals and the opportunities. He had two solo albums that sold just as well as the band’s material. Eric was the one invited to play with the London symphony and do guest appearances in Cradle of Filth music videos. So the rest of the band decided to supplement our incomes. Colin here was in it for the money, but me ... ” Allan pressed his lips against my cheek as he jammed the gun deeper into my chin. “I loved running a drug ring right under Eric’s nose. That tickled me.”

  “That’s ridiculous. What did Eric ever do to you? You were friends …”

  Allan snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding? Eric did nothing. That was the point. Everything was effortless to him. I was sick of having his cast-off everything—”

  While Allan was talking, I was thinking. What am I going to do? If I show them where I hid the case, they no longer have any use for me. As long as they are still talking, I’m still alive.

  But they’re in the house now. If I don’t comply they could just kill me and search the place. Eventually they’ll find it buried at the back of the closet.

  Maybe Allan will say something I can use? Maybe I should be listening to him, trying to talk him out of this path of action, trying to convince him to be reasonable.

  Or maybe you should just offer to join him in his life of crime. You could be Bonnie to his Clyde, Devil’s Advocate Elinor piped up. After all, he is quite attractive.

  Shut up, I willed her. This is no time for jokes. I had to figure out a way to keep Allan talking. Right now that was my best option.

  “—and all the women wanted him. Groupies would only deign to sleep with the rest of us if Eric had already gone home. Even my cock was a fucking Eric Marshell substitute.” Allan was still railing against Eric. “And I thought, fuck this! I am an accomplished musician. I studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and performed in front of thousands of people. And here I was, being glossed over as I stood in the shadow of the great gothic genius, Eric bloody Marshell. Even when I was interviewed by myself, every question the reporter asked me would be about Eric. It was Eric, Eric, Eric, all the time. After ten years of it, I really hated the guy. I don’t think you could understand how much.”

  As Allan talked, it dawned on my that I did know a little bit about what he was describing. I lived constantly in the shadow of others. At the law firm I was the girl who did all the work, but was overlooked for advancement time and time again because I wasn’t a size 0. The urge to define oneself, to be an individual with a unique identity, can make a person do crazy things. I was willing to get an image inked on my skin to stand out, whereas Allan was willing to break several laws in order to prove to himself that he was smarter than Eric.

  “I think I get it.” I choked out. If he sees I empathise with him, maybe he won’t kill me. “You had to do your own thing.”

  “Right,” Allan nodded. The barrel bobbed up and down. “I had to do my own thing. Sure, I could’ve made some solo records or designed my own brand of drumsticks, but when Colin here suggested a way to make some serious dosh right under Eric’s nose, and he already had the contacts in Prague and Amsterdam where we regularly toured. The opportunity was just too good to pass up.”

  “Allan, this is fucking stupid,” said Colin. “Let’s just kill her and get out of here. We have no idea when the police will be back.”

  “Wait! Don’t you need me to show you where the drugs are?” I was close to full-on panic now.

  “I’m sorry, Elinor. You see, I’ve spent enough time with you over the last couple of days to know that you won’t be able to live with yourself if you did that. For a lawyer, you’re remarkably honest. And you’re too smart. You have more than enough evidence to turn me in. So you have to go. But I’m not going to kill you here. That would create bloodstains and unnecessary questions. No, you’re going to get in the car with me, and we’re going to go for a little trip.”

  “No!”

  Colin pushed me forward, so I fell against Allan. He quickly grabbed my arms and pinned them, twisting me around so I had no choice but to walk ahead of him. The gun swung up and the barrel connected with my temple. My head spun from the pain, and white stars appeared in my vision. Allan began to drag me toward the kitchen door.

  “No, no, no! Somebody help me!” Eric, where are you? Why haven’t you come?

  I grabbed at the edge of the counter, but Colin prised my fingers off with ease. “Keep on screaming all you want, princess. There’s no one nearby to hear you. Colin, grab that knife. We might need it.”

  I was dead.

  Eric

  “Eric, help!”

  Elinor’s screams tore at my heart. I wanted nothing more in the world than to go to her and save her, but just as I’d started to move towards her, my foot slipped through the stairs. I was back to my ghostly form again. I could do nothing except lurk in the shadows, punching my arm through the wall every few seconds to see if I’d miraculously gained a solid form again, and listen to Allan describe how much he hated me and what he planned to do to the woman I loved.

  I watched from the top of the stairs, my heart sinking, as Allan returned to the hall once again. He held Elinor against him, one hand over her mouth, and the other wrapped around her throat. Colin pulled the door open and cut down the police tape with a sharp kitchen knife, while Allan tried to push Elinor through the doorway.

  She was putting up an impressive fight, grabbing the doorframe, the heavy sideboard, even trying to claw at Allan’s face. But nothing could halt her inexorable journey toward the doorway. Not even me. I punched the wall again. My fist went straight through the plaster.

  “Eric, please!”

  Elinor’s pleading, terrified voice wrenched my soul. Tears of frustration raced down my cheeks. I couldn’t just stay up here and watch her. I had to try something. If only ...

  Allan laughed. “He’s dead and buried now, love. You won’t get any help from Eric. Now, if you would please step out the door—”

  “She’s not going anywhere with you, Allan.”

  My voice rang out, booming down into the hall below. Allan’s head whipped up, searching voice the source of the sound. He heard me. That was a good sign. I floated out of the shadows, so that I was standing an inch above the first step.

  Allan’s eyes bugged out of his head as he recognised me.

  I reached down, and wrapped my hand around the balustrade. The wood felt cold against my fingers. Cold and real. I stared down at Allan with cold eyes, and smiled.

  “Hello, Allan.” I said.

  Allan’s eyes fell on mine, and whatever he saw there terrified him. His skin turned as white as his hair. “H-hello, Eric.” he said, his voice cracking on my name.

  Elinor didn’t say anything, but her eyes were wide with hope. Just hold on, my love. I won’t let them hurt you.

  “You’re dead,” Colin jabbed a fat finger at me. His face didn’t register any emotion, but his eye
s darted back and forth nervously. “We saw them put you in your tomb. This is some kind of trick. She’s done it, made a hologram of him or something.”

  I took a step forward, landing on the next stair. Allan grimaced and stepped backward, dragging Elinor with him. “No trick,” I said. “I’m dead. You killed me.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Allan moaned. The gun in his hand shook violently.

  “Let her go,” I said, taking another step forward. As I descended the staircase, I caught a glimpse of myself in the large mirror on the wall. I’d floated past it several times in the last week, and every time, the only thing I saw was the stairwell beyond. But this time, I met my own gaze, my eyes ringed with fire.

  I don’t know what had happened, but something had snapped inside me, the connection that tethered me to the world between the living and the beyond was gone. I wasn’t alive again, but my essence was now firmly back in the world of the living. And I had some serious arse to kick.

  “Don’t come any closer!” Allan cried. “I’ll do it! I’ll fucking kill her!” Elinor whimpered as he tightened his grip around her throat, the gun pointed at her temple.

  “I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” I said as calmly as I could, as I took another slow step down. “I’m already angry enough at you for murdering me. But if you do anything to Elinor, I’m going to be really pissed off.”

  Allan laughed. A high-pitched, psychotic-sounding laugh that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Only Eric bloody Marshell would come back as a ghost. You always had to be special, didn’t you, Eric? You couldn’t just die like the rest of us. Well, it’s too bad, because now you have to live with watching her die, because that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to blow your frigid little virgin’s brains out right in front of you. And we’ll see how smug you feel then, Mr. Ghost.”

  “Allan, he’s coming closer,” Colin muttered, slinking back toward the open door.

  “He’s a fucking ghost!” Allan cried. “He can’t fucking touch anything. How’s he even going to hurt us?”

  Allan cocked the trigger against Elinor’s temple. She squeezed her eyes shut, and let out a strangled sob. I moved so fast I couldn’t even detect it. One moment I was on the stairs, the next, I was standing beside Allan, my hands wrapped around his wrist, twisting his arm back, away from Elinor.

  “Holy shit!” Allan cried out as the gun slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. I pressed my heel against the barrel. To my surprise, as I leaned my weight on the pistol, I felt it give way beneath me, the metal making a scraping noise as it folded in upon itself. I lifted my foot, and inspected the pile of mangled metal that had once been a perfectly functioning gun. The spot where my heel had been was flat as a pancake. That gun wouldn’t be firing any time soon.

  “That’s it,” Colin moaned, “I’m out of here.”

  He seemed to have forgotten about the knife in his hand, for it clattered to the floor as he bolted for the door. I was faster. I slammed it shut behind him, and glared at his red, terrified face. “You’re not going anywhere, big guy.”

  Colin backed away again, pressing his back against the locked door to the study. “Hey, man. This wasn’t my idea. I was all for breaking in here, taking the goods and splitting. But Allan here wanted—”

  “Shut up!” Allan screamed at him. His head darted from side to side as he tried to formulate a plan of escape. I thought he would head toward the receiving room, so I stepped toward it.

  Allan’s face twisted with rage, and he pounced on me, only to land in a heap on the hall rug as I swung to the side, searching for something I could use as a weapon. The hat stand in the corner. It was made of twisted iron, and heavy. I lunged toward it.

  Allan launched himself at me, his momentum knocking out my legs and sending me flying. I crashed into the door and fell back against him. I swung my fist up and connected with his face. Blood gushed from his nose. Allan screamed and lunged at me again, knocking me to the floor and pounding my back with his fists.

  While I was occupied, Colin lunged for the door, twisted the handle, and yanked it open. I scrambled to my feet to go after him, and Allan pounced on me again, his hands grabbing for my face as he tore at my eyes with clawed fingers.

  Allan’s momentum threw me off-balance. I staggered back, my heel clipping against the floor, and I toppled backward, pulling Allan down with me. We sailed right through the open door and clattered together against the porch.

  The open door …

  My back crunched as it hit the porch. Pain exploded inside my head.

  Inside the house Elinor screamed, the sound tearing through my heart. Fear welled up within me as I felt a familiar numbness start to spread up my arms, down my legs. I was outside, and the house could no longer protect me. I could feel the veil of the world slipping away. Oblivion was coming to take me at last.

  Allan brought his fingers to my throat. I felt the briefest press of his hands against my skin, and then, nothing. Allan’s expression turned from rage to shock as his fingers went right through me.

  “Huh? What’s going on?” Allan sat back and swiped at my neck again. His fingers moved through me, like a spoon through treacle. I felt the heat of his touch, but nothing more. Allan’s mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear his words. My ears buzzed.

  “I’ve got to …” I tried to speak, but my words choked me. I gasped for air, for life. I had to cling to the life I’d been given, or Elinor would die. I poured my strength into my legs, and kicked out at Allan. I was still solid enough that I managed to knock him off-balance, and I scrambled back toward the door.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Allan grabbed me around the waist, and pulled me backward. His hands sank into my body, but I still had enough mass that he could pull me back from the door. “You stay out here, where you’re weakest.”

  Faintly, I heard Elinor screaming.

  My vision swam, red blotches appearing where the world should have been. Elinor lay on the hall carpet, her fingers outstretched toward me, her body pinned in place by Colin …

  Elinor … her face swam through the pain, the vision of an angel, come to carry me off to the beyond. I reached out to her, in my mind, feeling the heat of her fingers against mine, the surge of energy that bound us together, and she pulled me up and out of myself, dragging me over into the other realm.

  Then the light exploded, and consumed me.

  Elinor

  “Eric, no!” I tried to struggle out of Colin’s grasp, but his beefy hands held my shoulders down, while his knee dug painfully into my back. All I could do was flail uselessly and watch as Eric’s body faded and faded into nothingness. Allan swiped at the fading form, throwing all his weight and anger behind every blow, but his punches fell on thin air.

  Eric turned toward me, his faded mouth open in a silent, agonising scream. His eyes flicked over mine, and then he disappeared completely from view, his grey outline fading into the porch behind.

  “No.” Tears sprung to my eyes, tears of longing, tears of regret. He’s gone forever, and I never had the chance to tell him that I ...

  Allan continued to punch and kick the air where Eric had been. His dance would’ve looked quite comical if my heart wasn’t tearing in two, my whole being ripping down the middle as part of me died alongside Eric.

  When he was certain there was nothing left of Eric, Allan got up, dusted off his fingers, and came back inside, slamming the door shut behind him. He stared down at me, his face bruised, his nose bleeding, his mouth twisted into an evil grin.

  “Now, where were we …” Allan sneered, as he reached for the knife.

  Someone pounded against the door. Allan jumped a foot in the air. Hope surged in my chest. Is it Eric? Has he returned somehow?

  The pounding increased.

  “Elinor? Are you there?” Bianca called through the door. “I finished my client early. I thought you might like a hand with all the books. Open up, would you?”

  “Jesus fuck!�
� Allan cried. “How many freaks are we going to have to deal with tonight?” He held up the knife, and turned the handle.

  “Bianca, get help—” I cried out. Colin clamped his hand over my mouth, and the rest of my warning came out as muffled grunts.

  Allan frowned at me. “We should have gagged her while we had the chance,” he said. “Keep her quiet, and I’ll get the door for our guest.”

  Colin yanked me up and turned me around, pressing the knife against my throat and shoving me back toward the kitchen so I couldn’t see what was happening at the door. I tried to bite Colin’s hand, but he held my neck firm, and I couldn’t get any of his skin between my teeth. Allan flung open the door. The next moment, I heard a thud as something heavy fell to the floor. I started to cry. Bianca. This was all my fault. You’re completely innocent, and now—

  “Allan?” Colin called out, glancing back over his shoulder. His voice sounded concerned.

  No one answered.

  Colin dragged me backward, heading back toward the hall. “This isn’t the time for pranks. We’ve been shagging around way to long. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Still no reply from the hall.

  “Move, Princess.” Colin shuffled toward the door, his hand on my throat now and the knife pointing toward the doorway. I whimpered, and he pushed his hand even tighter against my face, so all I could breathe was his sweaty skin. My stomach churned. Bianca, I’m so sorry ...

  “Allan?” Colin stepped into the hall. I saw a flash as something moved beside me, and the next thing I knew, the hand on my mouth dropped away. I gasped for air, barely noticing that I had been freed.

  “Don’t just stand there,” said Bianca, slinging her lucky cricket bat over her shoulder as she stepped over the slumped bodies of Allan and Colin. She grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the staircase. “Upstairs, quickly, before they come to!”