Shadow of a Life

by Tifani Clark

CHAPTER 22

  “Good morning, sleepyhead.” I woke with a start and found myself staring into Sophia’s big blue eyes. She was laying on her stomach on the other half of my bed, propped up on her elbows, her face just inches from mine.

  “Sophia. You promised not to do that anymore.”

  “I’m sorry, but I might not be a ghost for much longer and I’ve got to get my fill of scaring people while I still can.”

  Suddenly realizing that Nick was a ghost and could very well be in the room too, I covered my head with my pillow. I was sure I looked scary that morning.

  Embarrassed, I mumbled from beneath the pillow, “Is Nick in here?”

  “He went to get some food for you guys. Why are you all still in bed?”

  I pulled the pillow off my head, rubbed my eyes, and looked at the clock sitting on the bedside table. It was ten o’clock.

  I groaned. “Sorry. I guess we stayed up too late last night. Cam!” I yelled and tossed a pillow at the sleeping body in the other bed. She pulled the covers over her head and rolled over.

  “I guess I’ll shower first. Maybe she’ll be awake by the time I get out,” I told Sophia as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up.

  “Okay, but before you get too far, I should warn you that Peter’s already in your shower.”

  Crap. I’d forgotten he was still there. I looked in the mirror hanging over the dresser. My hair looked like a rat had made a nest in it. The curls Sophia had so carefully created the day before didn’t look so good on day two. I grabbed a hoodie, pulled the hood over my head, and sat back on the bed to wait.

  “How was your night?” It was an awkward question to ask someone that was technically on their honeymoon and it slipped out before I could stop it.

  She laughed. “It was nice. We talked all night and we’re definitely on the same page about finishing our business. I know you were worried about that.”

  “Good. I wouldn’t want to waste a perfectly good trip to find a mysterious missing map.”

  I heard the bathroom door squeak outside the bedroom door and footsteps retreat towards the living area of our suite. I waited a moment longer and, not hearing anything, opened the door a crack. I didn’t see anyone so I quickly ran across the hall to the bathroom, pushed the door open, and then slammed it shut behind me.

  “Uhh . . . good morning.”

  I looked up to see Peter still standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror.

  “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. I thought you’d left.” Mortified, I kept my head down and pulled the strings of my hoodie even tighter.

  Peter laughed. “I did leave, but then I came back. I forgot something and had to go get it out of my suitcase.” He stepped toward me with his hand out and I jumped back.

  “Calm down—I’m just reaching for the doorknob. The bathroom’s all yours now.”

  I locked the door behind Peter and sat on the floor with my back to the door, the hood of my jacket still covering my head. I wished I could crawl down the shower drain and never come out. I guess I had a new “most embarrassing moment” to share the next time the subject came up. I took a long shower letting the warm water wash away the sleepiness I still felt. It wasn’t until the water started to turn cold and I realized Camille would kill me that I shut it off. I dressed quickly, ran a comb through my hair, and then darted back across the hall. I could finish my morning primping in the bedroom and let Cam have a turn in the bathroom—if she was even awake.

  “Is there any water left?” She was sitting cross-legged on her bed staring at the wall.

  “There’s definitely water left, I just can’t guarantee it will be the temperature you’re used to.”

  She rolled her eyes and crawled off the front of her bed to rummage through her suitcase for clothes.

  “Where’d Sophia go?” I asked.

  “I dunno.”

  “She didn’t say where she was going?”

  “I haven’t even seen her yet this morning. I think I heard voices in the living room a minute ago, but it might just be Peter watching TV.”

  “Oh.”

  She continued to sit on the floor in front of the suitcase, staring at me while I applied my makeup.

  “What?” I snapped without thinking.

  “Nothing,” she said defensively. “I just find it amusing that you’re suddenly so interested in your appearance. I’ve been trying for years to get you to care. Sophia comes along and all of a sudden you look like a prom queen.”

  “What are you saying? You don’t think I look better?” I frowned into the mirror.

  “That’s not it. You look great. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Was it Sophia that made you change, or Peter?”

  I looked at her behind me through the mirror, but didn’t answer.

  She smiled. “Are you guys together, then?”

  “No. I mean, I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.” It was hard to explain something that I didn’t completely know the answer to.

  “I think you guys would make a cute couple if that helps.”

  I turned and smiled at her. “Thanks. That means a lot coming from someone who can always find a date.”

  She shrugged and left the room.

  “I agree. You guys are really cute together.”

  “Sophia. Stop doing that. I’m not going to be much help as a soul saver if you give me a heart attack before I can finish the job.” I looked in the mirror as Sophia reappeared. She was still lounging on my bed, right where she’d been when I’d first left for the bathroom.

  “Have you been in here the whole time?” I asked.

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “Why didn’t you talk to Cam?”

  “She looked like a zombie sitting on her bed and staring at the wall. I didn’t know if she was really awake or just on the verge of sleep walking so I decided to ignore her. Did you walk in on Peter a little while ago?”

  “Maybe.”

  She started laughing. “I thought I heard his voice in there after you slammed the door shut. You need to loosen up, sister. I’m going to go see if Nick’s back.” She left the room and I was finally alone.

  Loosen up? What is that supposed to mean? I finished getting ready and opened the bedroom door. I would have to face Peter at some point and I figured I should just get it over with.

  The three of them—two ghosts and one living soul—were sitting in the living area looking totally relaxed. Sophia and Nick were next to each other on the couch and Peter was in a chair. Thankfully, he just smiled and nodded when I came out. I was grateful that he wasn’t going to make me relive my embarrassment.

  Nick had bought a variety of doughnuts and juices. I grabbed a maple bar and an orange juice.

  “I only had doughnuts a couple of times before I died, but I really miss them. I keep eating them, hoping I can remember the taste, but they just taste like everything else,” Nick commented as he took another bite of a chocolate and sprinkle covered doughnut.

  “I’ll just have to eat them for you then, bro,” Peter said as he grabbed another one from the box and took a bite. Mmm . . . that’s good.”

  Nick threw his half-eaten doughnut at Peter who stuck his arm out to deflect it. It ended up hitting me in the cheek.

  I rolled my eyes and reached for a napkin. “What are we doing today?” I felt like I’d been asking that question a lot.

  “Well, we thought we should try to find my old home and see if any of it still remains. Chances are it doesn’t, but we should check. I’m hoping that even if the structure of the old barn is gone we can still dig around in the dirt and see if anything is buried out there,” Sophia responded.

  “What if something is built on top of the old site?” I asked.

  “That’s a real possibility, but I’ve got to check. I can’t just wonder forever.”

  “Does the city look anything like it did when you were here before?” Peter asked.

  “Only geographically,” Nick answered. “We s
hould be able to navigate fairly well just because the landmarks have stayed the same. It’s a good thing Jeremiah and Elsa lived so close to the waterfront. That will make it easier, too.”

  “There are a lot of nice homes built near the water now. I hope you guys can get close enough to see anything without getting caught trespassing,” Sophia added.

  “What do you mean by ‘you guys’? Won’t you be there?”

  Nick and Sophia exchanged looks. They did that a lot.

  “Umm,” Sophia began, “we think it would probably be best if you three did the actual searching—after it gets dark tonight. Nick and I can watch from the edges of the property for anything—or anyone—that appears out of place.”

  “That makes sense,” Peter said.

  “Maybe I should watch from the shadows, too. I don’t have an aura like you two. Or maybe I should wait with the car. Someone should definitely wait with the car,” Camille said as she came into the room with a towel wrapped around her hair. She plopped onto the couch with Nick and Sophia.

  “If we find a place to search, we’ll park the car far away, Cam. I don’t think you’d want to sit in it. If you’re nervous, you can always stay back here at the hotel. We’re fine with that.”

  Camille crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her chin. “I’m not nervous. I just don’t think three of us should be poking around someone’s property at night.”

  Peter rolled his eyes. “We can’t exactly poke around someone’s property during the day, Camille.”

  “Let’s just check everything out before we decide what we’re doing. For all we know there’s a prison or a school or a grocery store built where the barn used to be. We can’t make any definite plans until we see what’s out there,” Nick said.

  We continued eating the doughnuts and juice while waiting for Camille to finish getting ready. By the time we left the hotel it wasn’t even morning anymore. We climbed into the car with a map of the city we’d gotten from the concierge at the hotel. Sophia and Nick stared at it for a while, pointing and talking quietly. Finally, Sophia turned to the three of us in the backseat.

  “Okay. We can tell on the map where the main part of Newport News is. I assume that’s the part of town that was just starting to boom when I was alive. I lived south of the town so we’re going to take a road down that way. Hopefully we can see the water from this road,” she said, pointing to a squiggly black line on the map.

  “Sounds good. We have no idea what to watch for so we’ll just be along for the ride. I trust you to navigate,” I said.

  Nick pulled out of the hotel’s parking garage and into a bright June afternoon. The sky was blue except for a few gathering clouds off in the distance. He navigated through town by listening to Sophia’s instructions and within a few minutes we were on the road they hoped would take us to Sophia’s former home. We were all pretty quiet on the drive. Sometimes someone would make a comment about this or that, but for the most part, conversation didn’t exist. We drove around for half an hour—turning onto side roads, making U-turns on roads that ended in nothing, and basically not finding much.

  “Wait,” Sophia suddenly yelled as Nick was about to turn off a road he’d been on. “Drive to that ridge over there. I know where we are.”