After admitting all of this to Michael, Daniel had asked him one favor; that he find his parents and tell them that their son was innocent. He didn’t need them to know that he hadn’t killed himself, and he didn’t want them knowing about the affair, but they had to know that he was no murderer. He’d advised Michael not to seek them out at their Waxahachie home, because they rarely answered the door unless they knew someone was going to stop by. Even if they were given a heads up, he felt they’d be less inclined to listen to a stranger who happened to know their address. Instead, Daniel had suggested that Michael seek out his parents at their church, Calvary Hill in Waxahachie. Michael had neither agreed nor disagreed.
“So what are you going to do?” Kate asked once he’d had finished recounting everything the ghost had told him.
“I don’t know,” Michael admitted, without tearing his eyes away from the road. “The problem is I know what I should do, but unfortunately, it’s the same thing I’ve been trying to avoid for the past ten years. What do you do in that situation?”
“You know, back in college, I had a friend who’d dated this one guy for like, five years. She’d been with him since high school. Now, all of us could tell she wasn’t happy in the relationship, but she stayed with him because she felt like she had to. Everyone they knew from high school told them how perfect they were for each other, and she felt like she had to put everyone else’s happiness before her own. Well, she finally worked up the nerve to break up with him near the end of our junior year and for the first time since I’d met her, she seemed truly happy.”
“No offense, but I really have no idea where you’re going with this,” Michael told her.
“The point is she spent so much time trying to do what she thought everyone else wanted her to do, just like you’ve spent so much time trying to be the person you think everyone wants you to be. But like it or not, that’s not who you are. You’re not normal and you never will be. And I don’t want to tell you what to do, but I do think that until you accept the fact that you’re not like everyone else, you can never really be happy. You said you spent the last ten years avoiding situations like this, but you really spent the last ten years trying to hide a huge part of what makes you who you are. And when you think about it, that’s really no life at all.”
“Kate, I know you’re trying to help. But this isn’t just a little quirk that people will embrace with open arms. I am a scientific - no - I am a spiritual abnormality. This isn’t the kind of thing where people pat you on the back and say that it’s okay to be different. This is the kind of thing that gets people committed.”
“I believe you,” Kate reminded him.
“You’re different,” Michael said.
“Luke believes you.”
“Luke is insane.”
“You know, I’m not sure how much you want to hear this, but he might be able to help you.”
“How?”
“Well, he does communicate with ghosts for a living. Maybe he has some advice.”
“You know, sometimes I wonder why he wasn’t the one born with Ghost-Vision. He’s the one who wants to see them.”
“Because then it wouldn’t be exciting for him. It’d be a boring, everyday thing. I know you think it’s a nuisance, but for most of us, the afterlife is this huge mystery. You’re lucky in the sense that you’ve never had to wonder what happens after we die, but at the same time, you’ll never feel that fascination when a vase goes toppling off a table with no explanation. For you, it’s someone pushing a vase off a table. For the rest of us, it’s something that can’t be explained. It’s proof that there isn’t always a rational answer. And that’s really cool to a lot of people.” Michael pulled up to a red light and looked at Kate. She could tell he didn’t know what to say, but she was pretty sure she’d gotten through to him. “I’ve probably put way too much thought into this,” she laughed nervously.
“I’m glad you did,” Michael told her. Then, with a sigh of resignation, he said, “Call Luke.”
~*~
An hour later, they were all three gathered at Michael’s apartment. Luke and Kate sat silently on the couch while Michael paced back and forth and relayed his encounter with Daniel Ford.
“That’s interesting. In between reviewing our footage and working on some new stuff for the show, I’ve been researching Grace and the murder. Almost every article I read mentioned something about Daniel being in love with her, but there was nothing about it being a mutual thing,” Luke said.
“Do you think that’s why she was so violent the other night?” Kate asked.
“Probably. She didn’t want anyone, including us, finding out about her affair. She’d rather have the world, especially her fiancé, believe she died an honorable, faithful woman than you know, a two-timing harlot,” Luke said, leaning back and propping one foot up on the coffee table.
“Charming,” Kate remarked.
“So what do we do?” Michael asked.
“Well, first we need to make sure these people are actually still in the area,” Luke said.
“The way Daniel was talking made it sound like they still lived here. I mean, he told me what church they go to,” Michael told him.
“Yeah, but hasn’t he been hanging out in the woods for the last two years? How would he know if his parents still go there?”
“He probably goes to check up on them. Brink still visits his family.”
“Really?” Luke asked. “So ghosts can travel?”
“You didn’t know that?” Michael asked.
“I wasn’t sure,” Luke confessed. “I always figured they had the ability, but considering several of the locations the Cemetery Tours crew visits have been haunted by the same ghosts for decades, some centuries, I couldn’t be one hundred percent positive.”
“So if ghosts are mobile, I guess that means Trevor did follow us here,” Kate said.
“Has he been around since before you moved?” Luke asked.
“I think so, but at the time, I didn’t realize we were haunted. I thought it was my imagination.”
“I think a lot of sensitives think they’re just imagining things. At least at first.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘sensitive.’ I just think that Trevor makes his presence known because he wants us to know that he’s there.”
“I don’t know. You seem pretty in tune to me,” Luke told her.
“Not as much as you guys.”
“Well, no one is as in tune as Mikey. But I really had to work at it. You know, seeing my grandfather as a kid was kind of a freak thing. Even after that happened, I could never tell when a ghost was around. But when I started investigating and really immersing myself in that world, I began to recognize the feelings, the subtle changes in the atmosphere... You feel that, don’t you?”
“I guess.” She remembered the night before, the creepy sensation she’d felt standing outside the barn. She’d known that whoever was in there hadn’t wanted them there, and she’d been right. Then earlier that evening, she’d been able to tell that something was off just as Daniel Ford showed up. “But it’s all new for me. I mean, I never noticed anything until the break-in.”
“You know why I think that is? I think it scared you.”
“Of course it scared me. Someone broke into my home.”
“No, I mean it scared you so bad that you suddenly became hyper-sensitive to everything going on around you. It’s a defense mechanism. I once dated a girl who had a bad experience with roaches when she was a kid, and ever since then, she had this super-sensitive hearing. If there was a roach around, she could hear it from across the room and pinpoint its location.”
“It must be so odd being you,” Michael remarked. Luke shrugged. Kate decided to try to steer the conversation back to where it had been.
“So let’s say we actually go to this church tomorrow. Then what?” she asked.
“Well, I’m assuming that even though Mikey told you about his little talent and the world didn’t expl
ode - ”
“You told her,” Michael interjected.
“ - he still doesn’t want anyone else to know, which means that we can’t just walk up to them and say, ‘Hey listen, our friend here sees ghosts and he has a message from your son.‘ So the real question is, ‘How do we tell them about their son in a way that they’ll believe us without telling them about Mikey?‘ Fortunately for you, I have the answer.”
“We tell them that he came to you instead,” Kate said.
“No wonder we get along so well.” Luke grinned at her.
“Wait, I don’t understand. What makes that so believable?” Michael asked. Luke and Kate both looked at him.
“Hello, world famous ghost hunter? Host of Cemetery Tours? Ringing any bells?” Luke asked.
“What if they don’t watch the show?”
“Hey, I’m offering to do you a favor here, Mikey. If they have any doubts about who I am or why they should trust me, I’ve got more than enough to convince them that I’m someone they should be listening to. And of course, you two will be there to back me up.”
“Okay, so what’s our story?” Kate asked.
“No story. We tell them the truth. I’ll introduce myself, tell them about the show, how the new season will be on the Discovery Channel in September, every Monday night at 8. Then I’ll say that we were investigating that old cemetery and we came into contact with Daniel and he asked us to deliver a message. It’s as good as gold.” To Kate, it sounded like a reasonable plan. Michael didn’t look quite so convinced, but he didn’t say anything.
They agreed to meet the following morning at 7:30 and drive to the church together. Thankfully, Kate managed to talk Luke out of bringing all of his film equipment. Since they had such an early morning ahead of them, Luke bid them goodnight and left shortly thereafter, though Kate could have sworn she noticed him wink before letting himself out.
“We should probably get some sleep too,” she said once she and Michael were alone. “Gotta wake up bright and early for another fun filled day of ghostly adventures.”
“Oh, yay,” Michael quipped. Kate grinned and kissed him lightly. “So are you going to be alright? I mean, do you need to stay here tonight? You know, after this afternoon and everything?” Kate could tell he was trying his hardest not to sound like he was expecting anything from her. It was cute.
“I think I’ll be okay. Gavin should be out of it by now.” By then, it was almost midnight. Even if Gavin had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for her, he slept so heavily, she was sure she’d be able to sneak by without waking him. “But thank you.”
“No problem.”
He walked her back to her apartment, and after a sweet kiss goodnight, Kate slipped silently into her apartment. Inside, it was so dark that she could barely see a thing, but she heard Gavin snoring softly from the couch and realized she’d been right about him staying up to wait for her. Under normal circumstances, she would have found the gesture touching, knowing that her big brother worried about her, but at the moment, she was still angry at him for conspiring with their parents. She crept silently past his sleeping form and into the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas.
Climbing into bed, she let her thoughts drift back to Michael, and she realized just how drastically her life had changed over the course of a few short days, mostly because of him. So far, the changes were all good. But the sound of wandering footsteps just outside her door reminded her that it wasn’t over. Another change was coming.
And this time, it was going to affect everyone.
Chapter 18
Gavin was still asleep on the couch when Kate dragged herself out of bed just a few hours later. She showered and changed into a skirt and blouse before meandering into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. She was so tired, she was sure it would take at least five cups before she was suitable for any sort of social interaction.
Around the same time she downed her second cup, Gavin came shuffling into the kitchen with disheveled hair and dark circles under his eyes.
“Are you just getting home?” he mumbled gruffly. Kate didn’t answer him. Part of her wasn’t awake enough to talk. The other part was still mad at him. He knew it too. “Look Kate, I’m sorry about yesterday. But I told you not to tell them about your invisible friend.”
“You make me sound like a mental patient,” Kate snapped, her voice rough from her lack of a full night’s sleep.
“Well, for the record, I don’t want you to move out. But if Mom and Dad think it’s for the best - ” Kate didn’t want to listen to his excuses. Breezing past him, she sought sanctuary in the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and applied a light layer of makeup. When she emerged, Gavin had disappeared. She guessed he’d given up trying to be nice and had gone back to bed in his own room. Good. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.
Without leaving a note or poking her head into his room to tell him where she was going, she grabbed her purse and walked out the door and across the landing to Michael’s apartment. He answered the door and greeted her with a sleepy, “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself,” she replied. She had been worried that her confrontation with Gavin would leave her surly and unpleasant for the rest of the morning, but just being around Michael, she felt her spirits begin to lift. Of course, that may have had something to do with how handsome he looked in a pair of sand-colored slacks and a button-down shirt the color of clouds. He also smelled good; like Old Spice. “So are you ready to get this show on the road?”
“No,” he remarked. Kate laughed.
“Everything is going to be fine. You’ll see.”
He didn’t look like he believed her, but he didn’t contradict her. Instead, he took her hands and pulled her closer to him. “You look beautiful.”
Even though they were kind-of-sort-of-dating (or so she thought; they hadn’t really talked about it), Kate still felt her heart skip a beat. It was amazing, the effect that the simplest sentiment from the right guy could have on a girl’s entire day.
“Thank you,” she smiled, rising up onto her toes to kiss him. Lost in his touch, she felt airy and light-headed and she found herself wondering why she’d ever worried about a thing in her life. She’d just wrapped her arms around his neck when suddenly, he pulled away, almost like her touch had burned him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Um... Brink just appeared,” he replied, blushing furiously. Kate felt the blood rushing in her cheeks as well. “And he’s um.. he’s not very mature...”
Oh God... Kate could only imagine.
“Do I want to know?” she asked.
“Probably not.”
Luke arrived a few minutes later, as energetic and ready to go as ever.
“Good morning, friends,” he greeted them with a chipper smile. He looked good too. In dark jeans, a button-down shirt the same color as Michael’s, and a vest the color of a thunderstorm, he easily could have stepped out of a copy of GQ.
“You’re very awake,” Michael observed.
“I’m a morning person. Always have been.”
“I didn’t know that,” Kate said.
“Oh yeah. During the first season of the show, I needed a lot of carbs and sugar to be able to stay awake to film at night. Now I’ve sort of trained myself, but I still enjoy mornings.”
“Good. That means you get to drive,” Michael told him.
“Fine by me,” Luke agreed.
Once they were on the road, Kate felt herself perking up a little more. She’d volunteered to sit in the back seat thinking she would want to take a nap, but as they sped along the highway toward downtown, the combined effects of the coffee, the lure of adventure, and the classic rock blaring through Luke’s car’s stereo had been enough to keep her awake and alert and able to enjoy the ride. Michael, on the other hand, was either still half-asleep or deep in thought. Kate guessed it was probably the latter.
The ride seemed to be going smoothly until they hit a massive tr
affic jam halfway through downtown. With traffic at a standstill and no real escape, Luke whipped out his iPhone and checked the conditions.
“There’s a lot of road work about two miles ahead of us,” he announced.
“Are we going to be late?” Kate asked.
“Probably,” Luke muttered. “But as long as we get there by the time the service lets out, we should be okay.”
“Isn’t it kind of rude to walk in in the middle of a service?” Michael asked.
“Depends on what kind of church it is. I grew up Episcopalian and we were always late to church,” Luke responded.
“I’m Presbyterian and we have people walk in late all the time,” Kate said. “Do we know what Calvary Hill is?”
“As far as I can tell, they’re non-denominational. Why?”
“Just curious,” Kate replied as she glanced out the window at the stationary cars lining the highway. The driver in the car next to them seemed to have abandoned all hope of getting anywhere any time soon. He’d pulled out what was either a Kindle or an iPad and was flipping absentmindedly through the screens. The woman behind them looked frantic and angry and depressed all at once as she yelled into her cell phone. The driver in the car catty-corner kept glancing around, like he was looking for some sort of escape route. Luke seemed to be of a similar mindset.
“God, does this just never end?” he griped. “This is ridiculous. If they’re gonna do this, they need to give people a heads up. Or a way out.”
“Welcome to Dallas,” Kate muttered.
~*~
They pulled into the parking lot of Calvary Hill at 9:18, almost twenty minutes after the service began. It had taken them thirty-seven minutes just to get past the road work that had shut down two of the three interstate lanes, and although Luke had sped like a madman to reach the church on time, the highway patrolman who’d pulled him over just as he was getting ready to exit wasn’t as understanding (or as big a Cemetery Tours fan) as Luke had apparently hoped he’d be.
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