Beneath the Elder Tree (8 page)

- CHAPTER TEN -

Bad Company.

I kept a safe distance from Laura for the rest of the day. She remained holed up in her room and her phone never left her hand. Her mother, who was giving off some seriously nasty vibes, woke late that afternoon and took over the sitting room. This left me little choice other than to vacate the apartment completely.

   I roamed the building for a few hours and spied on the other inhabitants of that foul place. There was little to hold my attention, and I ended up on the rooftop by evening. I sat and watched the distant city as I entered night world once again. It was therapeutic to gaze on the luminous world. I really needed to lay my eyes on some form of beauty for a change. There had been little more than dreariness to endure for days on end.

   I was starting to understand why Emily had been so desperate to pass on and leave the mirror world behind forever. It was a deeply troubling way of life to look into a parallel existence and not to be able to influence it properly. Sure, I had some measure of control over Laura’s thoughts, but that morning had served as a lesson that she would always have a will of her own, and when she was determined there was little I could do to stop her.

   From the rooftop I saw the city in majestic colour, shining like an exploding sun over Millbrook. A million auras were mingling together in the greatest lightshow imaginable. Everything looked so clean and enchanting in the night world - even Millbrook.

   I watched the figures far below on the streets of the housing estate, some hurrying along to avoid trouble, others loitering hoping that trouble would present itself. They all had their own auras but I realised that some were stronger than others. To my disenchantment, it was the trouble makers who had the most powerful auras. That made me think that evil was rewarded. Good was weak. Good was vulnerable. Wickedness seemed to go hand in hand with power. It was depressing.

   ‘The world is so messed up,’ I screamed, believing no one could hear me. ‘There is no sense in all this. Everything is wrong!’

   ‘I totally agree.’

   I spun around with fright to see a shadowy figure on the opposite side of the roof. It was crouched low and there was no visible aura emanating from it. It wasn’t properly alive, whatever it was.

   ‘Who’s there?’ I demanded. ‘Mia, is that you?’

   ‘There is no logic in life of any kind,’ the voice spoke as two red eyes appeared from within the darkest of the shadow. It looked directly at me and I knew it was smirking, amused by my frustration. ‘You’ll give yourself a headache if you search for any plan or pattern.’

   ‘Show yourself,’ I raised my voice. ‘You don’t scare me.’

   I watched the spectral figure rise from its squat position. It was tall, had thin limbs and moved with an elegant swagger, like a tipsy cat. It’s eyes retreated from aggressive red and faded to a more passive shade as it took a few steps toward me. Moonlight began to shimmer over it so I could make out who and what it really was.

   ‘I know you,’ I said. ‘I saw you in the city the other day.’

   ‘And you didn’t even say hello,’ he said playfully.

   It was the ghost that Emily had warned me not to talk to. We’d passed him in the street near the cemetery. He’d looked bewildered and lonely at the time. Now he looked far more confident … or perhaps crafty was a more appropriate description. Crafty and very sexy. His face was illuminated by the aura of the city and his smooth features were even more alluring than they were the previous day. Part of me was ecstatic that he had found me. Another part of me was more than a little wary of him. His body was covered in glossy black clothing that clung tightly to him, like a second skin. He was very tall and his hair fell in raven tangles around his strong neck. I’d have been happy just to look him for the entire night.

   ‘Have you been following me?’ I asked, edging away from him.

   ‘I have,’ he admitted with a cocky grin, his eyes pulsing brightly for an instant. ‘It’s been tedious around here for the last few months. I tried talking to your friend Emily a few times but she kept ignoring me. Very rude, if I may say so. There’s been nobody else for me to talk to. So, I confess, I have been following you. Is that such a big deal? Is it a crime?’

   ‘It’s against the rules of this world.’

   ‘Following you seemed more important than the rules.’

   ‘You’re a spirit stalker. Great.’

   ‘I’m not a stalker. I’m just bored. I’ve been wandering this desolate place for six months. Street to street. House to house. Watching the living. Reading their minds. It’s so boring.’ He came closer and leaned on the low rooftop wall next to me. ‘I’ve been tempted to entertain myself by playing the haunted game. You know, making things go bump in the night, but I know I shouldn’t. It’s not very fair on living.’

   ‘You can’t be around me. You must understand that.’

   ‘Why?’

   ‘Because.’

   ‘Because what?’

   ‘Because you’re a…’

   ‘A ghost?’ he laughed.

   ‘Listen, I don’t want to offend you or anything, but I was warned not to even speak to you.’

   ‘What harm is there in talking to me?’

   I didn’t know what to say. Emily told me that ghosts are malicious and destined to become insane. I couldn’t admit that to him, though. “Oh, I can’t talk to you because you’re going to go nuts soon enough and turn into a monster.” I wasn’t that cold just yet. The human trait of compassion still remained.

   ‘Well?’ he persisted. ‘Why can’t you talk to me?’

   ‘I have to guide my chosen. I can’t have any companions. They will only interfere with my judgement.’

   The human trait of lying also remained.

   ‘Suit yourself.’

   He skipped up onto the wall and prepared to dive onto the street below. The fall wouldn’t hurt him, but out of instinct I reached out and grabbed hold of his forearm. There was a strange and intoxicating sensation running through me as we touched. Dark energy and positive aura sure felt good when they mingled. A smile flickered across his face as I pulled him back onto the roof and his eyes blended from a faint grey to searing red. That slightly needy expression that he’d had on the street the day before had also returned.

   ‘You shouldn’t have touched me,’ he said, taking a step back onto the roof. ‘I can tell you’ve recently bonded.’

   ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

   ‘When a spirit makes the bond it can easily become attached to any other spirit or living person that it touches in the days that follow.’

   ‘I’m not going to get attached to you, don’t worry.’

   ‘Oh, I’m not worried,’ he grinned. ‘Not one bit.’

   I watched him in silence for a moment and he became more and more alluring. I just wanted to jump on him and stick my tongue in his mouth. It was a real struggle to contain myself. Maybe he was right about becoming attached to another spirit… Had I made my second big mistake?

  ‘You feeling all right?’ he asked. ‘You look like you’re a million miles away.’

   ‘I’m fine.’ I forced myself to look away from him. I stared at the distant glowing city until the unexpected surge of desire fizzled out.

   ‘You look like you need someone to talk to,’ he continued. ‘There’s no harm in speaking to me. No one’s going to punish you for that.’

   ‘Maybe we can chat... from time to time...’ I regretted saying it the instant the words left my mouth. I’d just invited a ghost into my life - albeit an incredibly attractive ghost.

   He shifted close to me and sat on the wall with his arms and legs crossed, his eyes big and full of colour and enthusiasm. ‘So, what shall we talk about?’

   ‘You’re pretty quick to take up an invitation.’ He was right, there was no reason in the world not to talk to him. It was a better prospect than being alone and screaming profanities at the night. I climbed onto the wall and sat facing him. ‘What do spirits have to talk about?’

   ‘Introductions first,’ he said, offering his hand. ‘I’m Tim.’

   ‘Lucy.’ I took his hand and found him icy cold. He was much colder than Emily had been, even in her dying moments. The same tickling sensation coursed through me as our hands touched - I’d made the mistake of touching him again. His eyes began to glow brightly, betraying his own excitement by the mix of energies.

   ‘You feel lovely,’ he said, without breaking his stare for an instant.

   ‘And you feel cold,’ I replied, snapping my hand from his.

   ‘Loneliness makes one cold,’ he replied. ‘So, how’s the afterlife treating you, Lucy?’

   ‘I’m standing on a rooftop shouting at people who can’t hear me. How do you think it’s treating me?’

   ‘Sucks, doesn’t it?’

   ‘Pretty much,’ I shrugged. ‘It’s incredibly bor-  Hey, hold on a minute, what did you mean when you said you could make things go bump in the night?’

   ‘What do you think I meant?’

   ‘I don’t know. You’re the one who said it.’

   ‘I can scare people.’

   ‘How?’

   ‘You know, move a cup, make a door swing open, creak a floorboard, make a light go on and off, etcetera, etcetera.’

   ‘How can you do that? We can’t interact with the world of the living in a physical way.’

   ‘I can.’

   ‘How?’

   ‘I, unlike spirit guides,’ he nodded in my direction, ‘can move objects in the real world.’

   ‘How come you can do it while I can’t?’

   ‘Because I’m banished. Being banished means you’re trapped here in the spirit world. And how they trap you is to tie your energy to the living world. It’s almost like having a chain wrapped around you that’s tied to the living world. You can’t break free of it, but you can yank the chain if you want.’ He grinned deviously at me. ‘I live in the spirit worlds but can reach into the domain of the living if I wish.’

   ‘It must be terrible being banished.’

   ‘The thought of staying here forever isn’t very appealing, but mirror world isn’t so bad when you get to break all the rules. You’d be amazed by what’s possible when you are free of the constraints of guiding.’

   ‘You mean there’s more that spirits can do?’

   ‘There’s a lot more that we can do.’ He stepped off the wall onto the flat asphalt roof, a wide smile on his handsome face. ‘So much is possible for spirits in this world. I can be myself here…’ Tim stretched out his arms and did a twirl. ‘I’m very much like the living person I once was - just like you are now. I can also be other things. I can be the very essence of evil.’ Tim inclined his head for a moment before he straightened and looked at me. Suddenly his face was hideous, skeletal and twisted. His arms grew long and his fingers became silver talons.

   ‘Stop,’ I yelped. He was horrible to look upon and I was starting to regret engaging in conversation with him. ‘Change back to the way you were.’

   Within the blink of eye his form had returned to its natural alluring state.

   ‘I can be the ghost that the living have nightmares about.’ He laughed playfully, his eyes glowing bright again. Then he fell serious for a moment, staring at me intently. ‘Be careful of your thoughts, Lucy. They are loose and easy to read. Try to close your mind while you are in this place. It’s not wise to allow others to know your deepest secrets and your hidden desires.’

   ‘You can read me?’

   ‘As well as you can read the living.’

   ‘And what do you see in my mind?’

   ‘Physical desires that have remained with you, despite you no longer being a physical entity.’

   ‘Emily told me those feelings would fade in time.’

   ‘Why would you want to let them fade away? Those feelings are what make us human.’

   ‘We’re not human anymore, Tim.’

   ‘We’re human spirits, Lucy. A part of us should remain human. That makes us who we are. Why fight those instincts? Why fight our natural desires?’

   ‘Because they are forbidden in this world.’

   ‘You’re a real goody two shoes.’

   ‘Far from it. And what desires are you talking about?’

   ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t say…’

   ‘Yeah, perhaps you shouldn’t.’

   ‘Perhaps I should show you instead.’

   Tim took a step away and turned his back on me. His body began to slowly transform. His tight black clothes became ragged and lose, then flowing and playful, like a long silk dress. His hair became wild and alive, growing longer and longer. His thin yet strong body grew curvaceous and soft. He turned to me and his face was no longer masculine. He was now a she. I was now looking at a woman’s face - beautiful and full of life, sharp and wonderful. Her black lips were full and glossy. Her eyes were wide and circled black with the irises rising from pink to warm red. Tim had just changed from the man of my dreams to the girl of my dreams.

   ‘I see your desires, Lucy,’ she said seductively. ‘I see what you want and need. I can be so many things in this world. I can be everything you ever wished for.’

   I struggled to speak, so mesmerised was I by the beauty that was before me. I felt a stirring of aura within me as she approached with arms outstretched. Those gentle hands were coming to me like moths to a flame. There was fire and ice in the feeling that spread through me as she touched my forearms. An electric mix of fear, excitement and lust filled me as our arms entangled. Tim’s female face came close and I couldn’t fight the desire to press my lips on hers. Opposite energies ran along our tongues and created warmth and chill and tiny explosions in our mouths. I could have stayed like that forever.

   I opened my eyes to see Tim had transformed back to his masculine form. The swirling sensation inside me became a tempest of arousal, such was the attraction to him. His arms snaked under mine and he lifted me from the rooftop and pressed me tight against his chest. The collision of opposite energies was the most incredible sensation I had ever experienced. I never wanted to let go. I was almost in a trance…

   ‘Feel good?’ he asked, suddenly severing the connection between us and stepping away.

   ‘Words can’t describe…’ I breathed. I slowly emerged out of the fog of arousal and came to my senses. ‘That was quite something…’

   ‘And that’s just a kiss. There’s much more that two spirits can do.’

   ‘I don’t know if this is right, Tim.’

   ‘Maybe it’s not.’ He turned away from me then leaned back against the wall. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have given you a taste for what’s possible. Most of what feels good will get you banished.’

   ‘You’re teasing me.’

   ‘I’m just playing.’

   ‘Stop playing with me, Tim.’

   ‘As you wish.’ He knew he’d gotten to me. He was well aware that I wanted more, and would eventually ask for it. ‘Would you rather simple conversation?’ he asked.

   ‘Yes,’ I lied. ‘How about you tell me what broken rule got you banished?’

   His eyes bleached over white when I said it and his smile disappeared instantly.