by Ruby Raine
“Look,” Riley finally dared speak. “I totally get how awkward this is, for all of you. And I can only imagine what you’re all thinking... the Deane’s are here with some diabolical plan or something. But I swear on my dead parents’ graves it’s not like that. It’s just me and my brother, Lucas. We don’t practice dark magic, at all! Never even dabbled. Neither did our parents. I swear it.”
William was surprisingly the first to respond.
“Mr. Deane, I fear I must apologize for my ungodly behavior. It appears that my past prejudices are much more present in my memory than I realized. Regardless of who you are you did not deserve that provocation.”
“You can say that a few more times,” chastised Melinda, loud enough only the vampire could hear her. William gazed apologetically in her direction; she replied by tossing him a never mind look. It was impossible to stay angry at William. In her heart, she feared she had crushed the vampire all over again. That at least some of his anger was her fault. Or at the least caused by his feelings for her. Feelings he would not admit to having.
Riley, seeing that everyone seemed to agree, or was at least pretending to agree, replied graciously. “No harm done. I get it.” He couldn’t help but sound a bit miffed as he spoke though. And regardless of his saving Melinda’s life, they would not be allowed to see each other again. Their kiss really had been a final goodbye.
He’d have to wallow in that bitterness later. All he could do now was try to smooth things over and hope they were not too hard on her. “Look. My family was your enemy,” his emphasis meant to say, we aren’t anymore, “and here I go showing up, not just out of the blue but with someone you care about. I do get that you’d be upset and confused.”
“Yeah, about that,” started Michael, aiming his words at his sister. “I get the whole you had a dream thing, but how exactly did you end up here? The beach is easily thirty minutes from here on foot.” And the emotions drowning his sister were all saying she was afraid of something. And hiding something. Part of him didn’t care, and was just relieved to see she’d left her room, and the mansion.
Melinda hadn’t thought ahead enough to figure out how to explain them being at the lighthouse. She bit her lip, trying to come up with an answer. Riley had been through enough already, she didn’t need to reveal his feeling thingy to everyone on top of that. It was his gift to speak of, not hers.
The sound of an approaching vehicle suddenly caught everyone’s attention.
Thank God! Melinda repeated silently.
“Tourists?” asked Emily.
“They do like to come around as the evening approaches,” said the sheriff. “See if they can catch a glimpse of the ghost girl. I’d better call the deputy to come and block the entrance while we investigate the area. I’ll just explain to this one that it’s closed for the night.”
An old, rusted pickup truck came barreling around the corner, skidding to a stop. Melinda recognized this new arrival instantly.
First, by Riley’s reaction: the look on his face cried both relief and dread (relief, because he had someone on his side now, dread, because he knew how enraged his brother would be by this predicament).
Secondly, the man getting out of the cab was obviously related to Riley; they shared the same dark hair and matching molasses eyes, although Riley’s brother’s gaze was much more direct and intense. He was also taller and had an authoritative gait about his walk.
Before anyone could speak, Riley’s brother, Lucas, walked straight up to his brother and stared down at him as if waiting for an answer to an unheard question.
“This wasn’t on purpose,” Riley insisted quietly. “I swear, this just happened.”
The entire Howard family stood in awed and confused silence. Before them clearly stood two members of the Deane family. Charlie positioned himself in between his family, Eva and the sheriff. Even Mack stepped back, afraid a war might just break out. Michael kept hold of Emily while Melinda made her way closer to her brothers. She stood about half way in between her brothers and the Deanes, fearing just how ugly this scene would or could get, especially if Riley’s brother spilled the beans on their secret relationship. Her brothers didn’t know this part yet.
Melinda cast a quick glance toward William. She could not imagine what he was thinking right now. But he appeared wrapped up in the moment. Alert and ready to play defense if needed. She sighed. William could break the brother’s necks in a second flat. Sometimes she had to remind herself he was not human.
William surprised her though, by stepping forward, as if to speak on behalf of the Howards.
Riley opened his mouth to say something but his brother’s hand flew up, motioning for him not to bother. Melinda assumed Riley wanted to warn his brother that William was a vampire, not that it wasn’t obvious up this close, to anyone aware of vampires being in existence. William’s skin was pale white, looking almost pasty against his high-collared black jacket. His emerald green eyes drilled into Riley’s brother’s, but his fangs and temper remained under control.
“I am to assume you are this young man’s brother?” prodded William, in his usual compelling tone.
“That assumption is correct. My name is Lucas. Lucas Deane,” he spoke clearly, as if needing to confirm it out loud, that yes, he was a Deane. “And you are?”
“The Vampire, William Wakefield.” His eyes never left Lucas’ and neither pretended this was a desired greeting.
Unlike Riley, Lucas did not flinch at the vampire revelation. Of course, he didn’t have fangs attempting to rip his throat open, either.
Lucas nodded and addressed everyone, aiming his words towards the Howards.
“I don’t like confrontation. And I won’t fake stupidity. The situation we have here is less than ideal.”
Melinda heard Michael mumble, “Clusterfuck comes to mind.”
Lucas ignored it. “This isn’t how I intended on introducing ourselves to you.” He took in a breath. “You have no reason to trust us. No reason to give us a chance. But I do ask that you give us the opportunity to prove ourselves. Because basically,” he paused for a moment, his intense façade fading. “I won’t lie. There’s no reason to, other than pride. My brother and I are here because we have no other place to go. After our parents’ deaths, we lost almost everything. The old house here on the Isle is all we have left of our family’s heritage. It’s all we have left.”
“Regardless of your reasons,” it was Charlie that now stepped forward to speak, “you have to understand our concerns.”
“How can I not? What my family did here... I’ve heard the stories. I know the history. I never thought I’d see the day we would ever return. But that day is here. All I can ask is that you give us the chance to prove ourselves. Perhaps even start making amends for everything our ancestors did to you, and to The Demon Isle.”
Everyone went silent again.
The clouded sun faded overhead, and the group was so electrified by the conversation, they hadn’t noticed the fog rolling up over the Cliffside. Or the sudden drop in temperature.
Charlie took a quick glance at William, looking for some sign.
The vampire made no movement, but something in his eyes gave Charlie the strength to do what he did next. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Perhaps it is time to put the past behind us.”
Melinda saw Riley shrinking as if he’d blown himself up with a huge amount of air which suddenly leaked out.
Michael allowed his empathy to reach out and read the brothers. They were feeling the same mix of emotions as his own siblings. He didn’t want to believe it. And didn’t trust it. Perhaps his family’s emotions were screaming so loudly he wasn’t properly picking up how the Deane brothers were feeling.
Lucas stepped up, accepting Charlie’s call for a truce.
When their hands connected, everyone gasped.
A ricochet of thunder and lightning exploded overhead.
The ground shook under their feet as the thunder rolled and the light
ning cracked.
They released their handshake, eyeing each other with distrust.
Quicker than any of them had ever seen before, the sky turned dark. A mass of swirling clouds and streaks of electricity. Fog came in thick and fast, threatening to make prisoners of them all as their visibility lessened by the second.
“What’s going on?” panicked Emily.
“My thoughts exactly,” the sheriff bellowed.
Michael grasped Emily firmly, throwing distrustful looks toward the Deanes.
“It’s not us,” Lucas stated, tossing the blame back at the Howards.
The fog grew thicker still, forcing the group to huddle together. Melinda’s side collided with someone. She looked up to see Riley. He kept a few inches between them, but needed her to be safe. She wanted to reach out and touch him, grab his hand, but didn’t dare.
“Dammitalltohell!” spouted the sheriff. “I got no idea if this is supernatural or what, but we’re gonna be blind, fast.”
“To the lighthouse,” ordered William. “We can ride out this storm inside.”
“Don’t imagine you thought you’d be hunkering down in the lighthouse so soon?” Eva jested, running alongside Charlie.
“Have to say no.”
She didn’t know what was happening any more than the others, but was pissed she was stuck in the middle of some old family feud rather than searching for her missing father. However, until this freak storm passed there was nothing they could do.
Upon arrival at the lighthouse, Charlie used the same spell as previously that day to open the locked door and tossed a few magical orbs of light into the air, while William held the door open to let everyone through.
Once all were safely inside, William slipped through and allowed the door to slam shut. Upon doing so they found themselves plunged into darkness. Charlie’s light orbs had gone out.
The only sound was heavy breathing as no one dared speak, for fear that one side or the other was about to start a war. Clearly, putting the past behind them was not going to be as easy as a handshake.
Fingers wove into Melinda’s, gripping tight, needing to know she was okay and near. It was Riley, and she didn’t fight it. Whatever was happening with the weather, with the lights going out, this was neither due to the Howards or the Deanes. This was something else entirely. She inched closer to him, waiting, along with everyone.
Charlie decided to try the lighting orbs one more time. He lifted his hand to do so but caught his breath when a hazy glow began shimmering down over them.
Riley let go of Melinda, fearing someone might catch them holding hands. But stayed close.
Nervous breaths turned to gasps as a figure emerged from the haze, and although surrounded by a glimmering shadow, the figure was dressed in a black lace gown from her chin down to her toes. Her light brown hair floated around her head as if suspended by an invisible breeze.
She hung in the air staring into each of their eyes, in turn, and when finished, did an even more surprising thing.
“Finally,” she stated quite clearly. “Howards and Deanes in the same place and agreeing to a truce. I trust you all enjoyed my little show. Neat trick, huh?”
“DID YOU JUST SPEAK?” Michael stared, dumbfounded.
“Yeah, um, how’d you do that?” squeaked Emily. “I’m still me, right,” she whispered to Michael. He nodded, calming her fear, while never taking his eyes off the specter.
Charlie had not yet told his siblings or William about his and Eva’s encounter with the ghost girl, or that she had spoken. He had thought it odd, but had thought no more of it until now.
“And I’m to believe that you are the protectors of the Isle,” the ghost girl scoffed at the Howards. “You have no idea what I am, do you?” She sounded annoyed that she might have to explain.
William took the lead and got closer to the ghost girl. The Howards recognized the look on his face; he had figured out something vital.
“My dear lady, you are not a ghost at all, are you?”
Ghost girl lifted a brow in his direction. “At least one of you is showing signs of intelligence.”
Melinda wondered how this ghost, supposedly hundreds of years old, spoke as though she were familiar with the tongue of the day.
William spun around and addressed everyone standing in the lighthouse. “What we have here before us is not at all a ghost, but a ghast.”
“A what?” asked a mystified Charlie.
“I have never, in all my years, ever crossed paths with a ghast, and I admit until this moment, assumed their existence myth.”
“And?” prodded Michael impatiently.
“A ghost is the spirit of someone who has died and not yet moved on, willingly remaining in this plane of existence. Usually because they have unfinished business. A ghast however, is a human spirit forced out of its living form, cursed to wander this plane of existence, the world of the living, until such a time as it is returned to its body.”
“That’s possible?” muttered Riley, his voice horrified by the thought. Melinda agreed. By the looks on everyone’s faces, they all agreed. Melinda noticed Lucas step closer to his brother as if making himself a human barricade between the ghast and his brother.
The ghast girl let out an irritated sigh, putting her hands on her hips.
“Well, now that’s out of the way.”
“Um, wait. Hold up,” implored Charlie. “Let me get this straight. You’re not an actual ghost? You’re not even really dead?”
“What’s so hard to understand about that? And I heard you were the eldest.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “C’mon people, it’s really not that hard. Do you need another minute to get your confused little brains around it all?”
“Why have you been haunting this lighthouse for like, two hundred years?” asked Michael.
“And why do you talk like you’re from now?” added Melinda.
“Oh. My. God. You don’t think I pick up things? As you said, been around for a while. And do you think I did this on purpose? Do you actually think I wanted to spend eternity haunting a freakin’ lighthouse?” her voice rose to a new level of caustic.
“Starting to understand why someone might have done it,” mumbled Michael under his breath.
Charlie was about to ask a question when William motioned him to stop.
“It is clear you have somehow orchestrated this meeting. Why don’t you explain why we are all here?”
“Yes! About time. Let’s get down to business.” She paced in a floating circle over their heads, preparing for what appeared would be a long-winded speech.
Lucas leaned in past Riley and whispered to Melinda. “This commonplace on the Isle?” Although his voice was quite serious, she froze and could not answer; his intense stare made her catch her breath. She just nodded and shook her shoulders at the same time, giving him no definitive answer. Plus, though abnormal circumstances, talking to a Deane as if they were friends or allies, was not the smartest move.
The ghast girl cleared her throat. All eyes and ears put full attention to her.
“It all started just under two hundred years ago when my fiancé attracted the undesired attention of a young woman- a witch.”
The Howard’s eyes trailed to the Deane brothers, but the ghast girl made a tsk tsk sound followed by, “Naughty naughty! Blame them before you’ve even heard me out,” she accosted. “The witch in question had the last name of Howard.” She looked at them as if to say, ‘Take that!’
Charlie opened his mouth to reply but the ghast shouted, “No interrupting! And before you go getting any ideas,” she aimed at the Deanes, “I’m no fan of yours either.” She breathed out heavily. “Now, this Howard witch cursed me, turned me into this, so that my fiancé would believe me dead. And the real kicker, only she knew where my body was, and whoever controls the body, controls the spirit. She forced me to pretend that I had committed suicide by jumping off this damn cliff! And then forced my fiancé to watch my spirit jump! She, of co
urse, hoped he would just forget all about me and fall in love with her. Like that would really happen, I mean, look at me.” She made a face that shouted, Duh...
It was a little hard to make out her shape in her ghastly form, other than thin; however, Lizzy had a perfectly proportioned face, pouty lips and penetrating eyes.
“Regardless of her attempts,” the ghast explained, “my fiancé never betrayed me, even after he thought me dead. He never once even considered loving that witch. And you want to guess how he died?” She paused as if waiting for someone to ask.
“So how did,” Charlie started but was cut off.
“He jumped. For real. Right here off Suicide Point. Thinking he’d follow me and be with me forever.”
“Why didn’t you just tell him the truth?” Michael shook his head. “Sorry, right, no interruptions.”
“Your question is valid,” she conceded. “I could not tell him. The witch controlled my ghastly form, at least until she died. And it took an infuriating amount of time to learn how to use my new spirit body. I’m not so different from a ghost; the main difference being I can talk, they cannot. Ghosts can move on from this wretched life, I cannot. By the time I had learned how to use my spirit body and to speak, it was far too late. Everyone I had ever known in this life was dead.”
The room silently waited for her to continue.
“Oh don’t look so sad!” she suddenly spat out. “I got over it a long time ago. However, this brings me to the next part of my pathetic tale.”
The ghast sighed woefully. William imagined she had not truly gotten over her losses. How could she? Being trapped in this form. He pitied this female. Sympathized with her plight. The life she was forced out of. The choices taken away. The loneliness she must have felt all these years, these were things he could understand.
“After the witch finally kicked the bucket and her control over me died with her, I located my body.” The ghast stopped her circling to speak. “I was free for a little while. No one controlling where my spirit had to be. What it had to do. My body was perfectly preserved and ready for habitation. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how to get back into my body so I made the next biggest mistake of my life. I went to my family, seeking their help. Believing surely they’d want to see one of their own, a long thought dead cursed soul, returned to her body; allowed to live the life she should have lived before it was stolen away from her. But no, I wasn’t to be so lucky.”