by Apryl Baker
My eyes go wide at that. Not touch me? Does that mean I won’t have to relive anymore death experiences? “Do you get visions when they touch you?”
“What we can do, Mattie, is very special. We need to be able to let them touch us, but first, you need to learn to control it. Once you do, it will get better, but until then, I had this made for you.”
As soon as my fingers touch the stones, it feels as if I’ve just laid them against a hot stove eye. I pull them back and they are in my mouth in a heartbeat. Why do we always have this insane urge to put an injured finger in our mouth?
Zeke frowns. “That hurt?”
I nod and Eli gently takes my hand and examines the pads of my fingers. They are red and swollen.
“It shouldn’t have done that.” Zeke is more perplexed than I am when he retrieves the necklace. “It should only do that to a ghost.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I’m basically made up of ghost energy, especially with Eric’s essence taking up residence, but I don’t. I can hear Silas in my head telling me not to let my father know what I can do. This isn’t bringing life to images, but I’m betting Silas would have a conniption if I blurted this little tidbit out.
“Maybe it’s defective,” Zeke says at last. “I do apologize. It was not my intention to harm you.”
“It’s fine.” I lean back and enjoy the feel of Eli’s hand as he softly strokes the back of mine. His fingers feel like silk teasing my skin.
“As much as I would like to stay a little longer, I must get this matter looked into so I can keep you safe.” Zeke stands and then places a kiss on my forehead. “Get some rest, ma petite, and I will be back tomorrow to visit.”
We are both quiet as he leaves and then Eli turns to me with a Holy Batman look.
What just happened?
Chapter Twelve
The private hospital room is much nicer than the other one. I’ve got to give CMC Medical Center props. It’s plush as far as hospital rooms go. They’d even brought Eli a fold-out cot to sleep on. He’d passed out about an hour ago and is sleeping soundly, which leaves me all alone with my thoughts. We’d not had time to really discuss everything once Zeke left. They’d started moving me to a new room less than five minutes later. The man worked fast.
I’m confused where my father is concerned. He seems so earnest in his feelings for me, but I can’t bring myself to trust him no matter how much I want to. I can feel in my bones just how bad of a man he is. And yet…he’s my father. What am I supposed to do?
The urge to pee becomes overpowering. I’ve been laying here for the last hour ignoring my bladder as I stared at the ceiling trying to sort things out. My bladder is now yelling at me. I grimace and sit up. A wave of dizziness washes over me. I sit still for a moment and it passes. Head wounds can be nasty, dizzy spells common. I’ve learned over the last few months to roll with it and it’ll pass. Standing up, I’m grateful the IV stand is on my side of the bed and not Eli’s. He looks exhausted and I’ve been careful not to wake him.
I owe him my life. Thinking about what might have happened if he hadn’t been there makes me shudder. I’d almost drowned because of one very angry ghost. I’m still having issues with this insane attraction I feel for him and I’m hesitant about it. I mean, really, who has ever fallen in love at first sight? Not that I love him, I just…don’t know. I’m confused. I feel like I’ve been in a constant state of confusion and don’t like it. I hate feeling vulnerable and lost and that’s exactly how I feel right now. More lost and alone than I’ve ever felt in my life, but I’ve got more people around me who care than I’ve ever had, before, too. See? Messed up, confused feelings. Hate that.
Sighing, I trudge slowly to the bathroom, sit on the pot, and then let out a little sigh of relief when my bladder thanks me. It feels good to get up and move around. My chest is sore and hurts when I breathe too deeply. No one ever tells a person CPR has some lasting painful effects. Though to be fair, I’m still breathing, so having the pain is worth it.
I take another step and grit my teeth when the dizziness hits again. I must have really knocked myself a good one on the tub. Reaching up, I feel the goose egg, but my fingers find three instead of just one. Yup, definitely have to be more careful. Once the new wave of dizziness passes, I open the bathroom door, intent upon getting back to bed. Just the simple task of walking to the bathroom has wiped me.
Another step lands me not in my hospital room, but somewhere else entirely. I look over my shoulder and the bathroom is gone. Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Another vision…but this has nothing to do with ghosts.
The scene in front of me is a ballroom full of people dancing and milling about tables on the outskirts of the ballroom floor. I recognize the dresses. We’d studied the Civil War in depth last year right before I’d left school to recover from my injuries. So…I guess I’ve landed smack dab in the middle of a ball.
My eyes close briefly in resignation, but then I open them and look down. As I thought, I’m wearing a hooped ball gown. Hoops and corsets. I grimace at the tightness surrounding my upper body. I’ve always thought those poor women depraved for fitting themselves into the torture devices and now I’m stuck in one. Plus the dress is pink…really?
I take a hasty step backwards, intending to turn and get away from the ballroom, but I bump up against a very hard, male chest. Turning slowly, l look up into a pair of familiar aqua eyes. It’s not the same man I’d seen in New Orleans when I’d had the vision of that particular guy killing me. This one is new. He’s taller, his hair a honey color that hangs to the collar of his Confederate uniform. It’s an officer’s uniform I think, but I’m not sure.
“Pardon, me, Ma’am,” he drawls, bringing my attention to his mouth. Those full, lush lips are quirked in a smile. “My name’s Captain Roman Hiller.”
His accent is very southern, maybe from Georgia or Alabama. It’s quite charming. I find myself smiling in return and then have to remind myself that this isn’t the Mattie-me. But, it sure feels real.
“I do believe it’s customary to return the introduction,” he says, still smiling.
“Is it?” I ask. Someone bumps into me and I’m startled enough that I can’t catch myself. Captain Hiller takes my arm. Fire erupts at his touch, the same fire I feel when Eli touches me. Captain Hiller looks as startled as I do, but doesn’t release me. Instead, he tucks my arm through his.
“Let’s retire from the floor, shall we?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, but leads me away from the dancing couples toward the table containing refreshments.
“Harper!”
I wince and look to see my mother hurrying over to me, or rather Harper. It’s not really you, Mattie, I remind myself.
“Harper?” The Captain can’t suppress a laugh.
“My father wanted a son,” I tell him quickly, feeling the girl’s outrage. Harper is a fine name, I say silently in her defense. Just not mine.
“A beautiful name for a beautiful young woman,” he whispers, his eyes shining with amusement at my upset.
“Oh, Captain Hiller.” Harper’s mother comes to a stop as soon as she gets a good look at my escort. “I didn’t realize you’d arrived or we would have met you.”
“That’s not necessary, ma’am,” he says with a nod. “I was honored at the invitation. The Sterling Family has long been good friends of the Hillers.”
Did he say Sterling? I have to fight the girl’s memories and thoughts while trying to latch onto that information. Claire’s last name was Sterling.
“I see you’ve met our Harper.” The woman beams at us both.
“I rescued her from a near fall on the dance floor,” he replies and gives me a warm smile that melts all the way through me. Good Lord, but he’s so much like Eli, it’s all I can do to focus on keeping Harper’s mind separate from my own.
“She is a bit clumsy, our Harper,” I heard Harper’s mother cluck.
“Well, then, I am glad I was there to catch her.”
I
smile shyly up at him. That Southern drawl of his does all sorts of things to me in places I shouldn’t even feel yet. The devilment in his eyes makes my heart pound faster and faster. A blush steals across my face and Harper’s mother takes on a predatory expression that alarms me.
“I must unfortunately return your daughter into your care, ma’am, as I must speak with your husband.” He turns to look down at me. “If your father’s agreeable, would it be acceptable to you, Miss Harper, if I called on you tomorrow afternoon? Perhaps we could take a carriage ride.”
“I’d like that,” I tell him, as my heart does little flip-flops. Harper has the same reaction to Captain Hiller as I do with Eli. This is freaky weird.
I blink and now I’m standing in the bathroom doorway, staring at Dan’s concerned face. He looks about as haggard as I feel. Dan? When did he arrive?
“Mattie, are you okay?” he asks. “You don’t look so well.”
“Dizzy,” I whisper. Disoriented, too. It’s not the easiest thing to literally step from one era into another. “Cold,” I whisper and shiver.
“Let’s get you back to bed, okay?” He reaches out and grabs me around my waist. I’m grateful. The concussion is worse than I’d thought.
We slowly start to make our way back over to the bed, but I bang the IV monitor against the wall when I stumble. Eli jumps up, eyes almost feral as he looks for me. When they land on Dan, they narrow dangerously. “Took you long enough to get here.”
“Don’t,” I whisper, my head starting to hurt something fierce. “Please don’t fight.”
“You’re shaking with cold, Mattie!” Dan exclaims. “Why are you even out of bed?”
“Needed to pee,” I mutter, embarrassed.
“You should have woken me up, Hilda,” Eli sighs. “I would have helped you or gotten a nurse.”
Um, no way. How could I have explained going away to a make-believe land of Civil War balls and gallant Confederate soldiers? I’m pretty sure I looked like an idiot while off on my picnic to La-La Land.
I can hear my own teeth chattering by the time I make it to the bed. Dan looks worried as he bundles me up in the blankets the hospital provided. “You need more blankets, let me check with a nurse…”
“I got this,” Eli interrupts him and slides in beside of me, turning us so my back is against his chest.
Insta-heat. As soon as his skin hits mine, I feel it begin to emanate from him. I sigh in sheer joy at the sensation. It has nothing to do with Eli and everything to do with the cold that had been nearly paralyzing me. “Thank you,” I murmur on a sigh.
Dan stares, not sure what to say, I think. Even I don’t understand the heat box that Eli turns into around me.
“Should I make a movie reference here?” Dan finally asks.
Eli snorts. “My sister watches those religiously and that is not what this is.”
“What is it, then?” Dan’s brows furrow as he pulls a chair over and takes a seat.
“It’s complicated,” Eli tells him after a long pause, “and something I need to talk to Hilda about first, anyway.”
Oh, now that can’t be good, I think. Complicated seems to sum up my life these days.
“Did everything go okay?” I ask Dan before he can start to grill his brother. I see the intent in his eyes and I really don’t want to deal with the answers just now.
Dan sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Depends on your definition of okay, Squirt.”
“That bad, huh?”
He nods. “Yeah, I had to cut my phone off while I was at the courthouse and then I forgot to turn it back on when we got home. It’s why I didn’t get here earlier. Mom and Dad started fighting the minute we left county lock-up.”
I can feel Eli tense up. For once I hope he can keep his mouth shut.
“At least she’s home, yeah?” I ask.
Dan rubs his bloodshot eyes. “Cam and I thought there for a while Dad was going to throw her out, but I think having us there softened his reaction a bit. Hard to throw out the mother of your sons while they’re standing right there in front of you.”
I wince at the rawness in his voice. This is tearing him apart. “I’m sorry, Dan.”
He gives me a crooked smile. “It is what it is, Squirt. Now, tell me what landed you in the hospital this time.”
“I guess it kinda starts with Silas making himself at home in my bedroom and ends with one of the murdered girls trying to drown me. Well, not trying. She did drown me, I guess.”
“What?” Dan whispers, horrified. “You drowned?”
“Yeah, she was dead,” Eli confirms, his voice grim. “Took me a couple minutes of CPR to get her back.”
“Your heart stopped?” Dan leans forward and grabs my hand. The stark fear in his eyes makes my own heart hurt. He’s been through so much the last week without having to worry about me.
“I’m fine, Dan,” I tell him. “Good as new.”
He gives me his ‘really’ face about the same time Eli snorts. “Besides, I don’t even remember dying, just that girl’s memories.”
Dan sighs. “You up for answering some questions? The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we make sure they never hurt you again.”
Well, no, I’m not up for it. I’m dizzy and my head hurts like nobody’s business, but he’s right. We need to get this one solved before I take a hit even I can’t come back from. “Sure, Officer Dan. Hit me with your worst.”
He pulls out his phone and pulls up the recorder app. “All right, Mattie, start at the beginning. You said Silas was in your room?”
For the next hour I recount the events that led up to the attack in the bathroom and then the memory of how she died. I remembered it all, including the names of her friends. That should help a ton. The only thing I can’t remember is the guy’s face. I should be able to, though. I looked right at him. This frustrates Dan as much as it does me. I can tell by how many times he keeps coming back to it, but no matter how many different ways he asks, my answer is the same: I just don’t remember!
I debate about telling them about the Civil War memory. I need to because of the name Sterling. Somehow Dan’s mom’s family is involved in whatever happened. Maybe they started the whole chain of events that led up to the killing of that woman I’d witnessed. I wish I knew how Eli would react.
“There’s more you need to know,” I say softly, struggling with myself. They need to know. Both of them.
“About the girls?” Dan asks.
“No, about later, when my father came by and then what happened when I went to the bathroom.”
“You got dizzy,” Dan frowns.
“No—well, yeah—but it was because of another memory.”
“What are you talking about, Mattie?” Dan asks, puzzled.
“This is hard for me, just let me tell it, okay?”
“Okay, start with your father.”
Taking a deep breath, I explain to him about my dad’s visit, how Zeke’s story differed so much from his mom’s and Silas’s. Then I tell him about the iron burning my skin and finish off with my trip to the bathroom and the Civil War escapade. I sort of neglected to tell him about the first vision-memory episode I’d had while in New Orleans.
Dan stares at me mutely for a long while. “Harper Sterling? You’re sure that was the name?”
“Yeah. Do you know anything about your mom’s family?”
He shakes his head. “No, she doesn’t talk about them at all. Her parents died before she met Dad and the only other person she ever talked about was her sister, and that was only after she died.”
“My mother’s great grandfather’s name was Hiller,” Eli tells us grimly. “The Captain Hiller in your memory had my eyes?”
I nod.
Eli lets out a curse. “The Captain would have been his brother.”
“How can you be sure?” I ask.
“Because we have portraits,” he says. The only member of the Hiller family back then who had eyes like mine was the one who died in th
e Civil War.”
“So your family and Dan’s family have been intertwined for a long time, then,” I say softly, ignoring the way Eli stiffens at the mention of the Sterlings being Dan’s family. “Why am I having memories of them, though?”
“I’ll ask my mom about him.” Eli shifts, bringing me closer. “She’s the family historian, so she should be able to answer some questions not only about Captain Hiller, but about just how close the Sterlings and the Hillers were.”
“If your mom is your family historian, she would have recognized the name Sterling.” I frown, my head starting to pound. “Why she didn’t she say anything when Dan’s mom was arrested?”
“That’s a good question,” Dan mutters darkly. “What’s she hiding?”
“My mom’s not hiding anything,” Eli denies.
“No fighting,” I remind them both. “Eli, you can question your mom about it, and Dan, you can try asking your mother about it, too. See if either of them sheds any light on it.”
“Fine,” Dan mutters. “We need to call Doctor Olivet in the morning, though. He might have some ideas as to why iron is affecting you the way it does a ghost.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Eli says, relaxing a little. “Couple things might be causing it or maybe a combination of it all. Doc says she’s basically made up of ghost energy, yeah?”
We nod.
“Well, before that wasn’t as dominant as her own soul, her own energy that makes her unique, but then she reaped a ghost. His energy became hers. She hasn’t held any iron since. She also died again, making her soul just that much more…ghostly, for lack of a better word.”
“So what, I’m turning into a living ghost or something? Like that cartoon, Danny Phantom? The boy who could morph into a ghost when he wanted?”
“You only wish you were as cool as Danny Phantom, Hilda,” Eli chuckles and I elbow him in the ribs, which makes him laugh.
Dan shakes his head and stands to stretch. “I’ll check with Mooresville PD in the morning to see if they have a missing persons case reported out by Lake Norman. One of the guys there was in my academy class. He’ll get me the files if they have any cases that match.”