Authors: Lily Harper Hart
“We’re leaving this place right now,” Nick said, storming into their bedroom and immediately heading toward the closet. “We’re not spending another night in this house.”
Maddie, her stomach weak, sank down on one of the armchairs on the far side of the room and watched him angrily start rummaging through the closet.
“Where is that garment bag you brought?”
When Maddie didn’t immediately answer, Nick turned in her direction.
“What are you doing, Mad? Get packed. We’ll be home in an hour. I’d rather deal with whatever that thing is in your house than deal with this … crap.”
“Our house,” Maddie said, automatically correcting him.
“Our house,” Nick said, his face softening. “I promise to start calling it ‘our house’ once I move in.”
“Nicky, we can’t leave,” Maddie said, her voice low and plaintive. “You know it as well as I do.”
“I know nothing of the sort.”
“We can’t leave until we find Cassidy,” Maddie said. “She’s still here somewhere. I can feel it. We can’t just walk away. You’ll hate yourself if you do.”
“I don’t owe that woman any loyalty,” Nick said. “After what she did … .”
“She did it to me, too,” Maddie said.
Nick sighed, running his hand through his hair as he shook his head. “Love, I don’t even know what to say about what Cassidy and Marla did. I am so sorry.”
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it? You didn’t even want to come here this weekend,” Nick said. “I was the one who pressured you into this. You would’ve been perfectly happy staying home and just seeing these guys at the fair. I should’ve listened to you.”
Maddie licked her lips, considering her words carefully. “You didn’t ask me to do anything unreasonable,” she said. “I think you’ve been going out of your way to do everything for me since we got together. I don’t blame you. I’ve been … scared … and unsure of myself.
“The thing is, Nicky, you can’t protect me from the world,” she continued. “You made the right choice when you asked me to come here. I need to put myself out there more. You’re my world, but you can’t be everything to me at every moment of every day. It’s not possible.”
“Maddie, I love you,” Nick said. “The fact remains that I pressured you to come here. You have every right to blame me for all of this.”
“That seems like a waste of time,” Maddie said. “You didn’t do this to us, Nicky. Marla and Cassidy did.”
Nick pressed his lips together as he watched her. She was paler than he liked, and her face was drawn. There was no hint of playfulness on her features, and that realization made him inexplicably sad. He moved over to her and knelt in front of her, placing a hand on her knee to offer her comfort. “What are you feeling about what Cassidy did?”
Maddie shrugged noncommittally.
“Don’t do that, Mad,” Nick said. “We promised we were going to be truthful with each other from here on out. No more secrets. I know what Marla told us had to shake you.”
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” Maddie said, reaching over so she could brush her fingers against the side of his face. He turned his mouth so he could kiss her palm, but otherwise remained still. “I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed. I’m not embarrassed about what we were doing. That’s not it. It still feels like someone … took something from us.”
“What?”
“I don’t know,” Maddie said. “It was just a … violation.”
“It was definitely a violation,” Nick said. “They didn’t take anything from us, though. They can’t. You can’t give Marla the power to upset you, Mad. That’s what she wants. Marla has nothing to do with our relationship. You and I are … forever. Marla isn’t even a consideration for the next five minutes.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“How do you feel about what they saw?”
“I don’t know,” Nick said. “I don’t think I’m as upset as you are. Personally, I think I was on top of my game last night.”
Maddie barked out a hoarse laugh. “That’s an interesting way of looking at it.”
“You were on top of your game last night, too.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Maddie said.
“I know,” Nick said, sighing. “I guess that I feel … unsettled. It’s not what they saw us doing, though, that’s bothering me. I’m more upset that someone was watching us and I didn’t know. I’m supposed to protect you.”
“You can’t protect me from something when you don’t know it’s happening,” Maddie said. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I know that in my head,” Nick said. “My heart is a different story. My heart belongs to you, and when you hurt, I hurt. I saw what Marla’s admission did to you. It … scared me.”
“Because I fell apart?”
“You didn’t fall apart,” Nick said. “You were just … thrown.”
“No, Nicky, I fell apart there for a few minutes,” Maddie said. “Don’t make excuses for me. I was mortified that everyone knew what we were doing.”
“I hate to break it to you, love, but they knew what we were doing before Marla told them what she saw,” Nick said. “They’ve been trying to get me to tell them what you look like naked for two days.”
“That’s just guy stuff. That’s not the same thing.”
“I don’t want you to ever feel … unsafe … when we’re together,” Nick said. “I can’t help but feel my armor has a big chink in it now because I failed to protect you from Marla.”
“You can’t protect me from Marla,” Maddie said. “It’s time I started protecting myself from Marla. You’re right on that front. The good news is that you’re right on just about every front this morning. We were both on our games last night.”
Nick smiled, lifting his hand and pushing Maddie’s hair away from her face. “There’s my girl.”
“We still can’t leave,” Maddie said. “No matter how angry you are with Cassidy, you’re not going to be able to let this go. Our best shot of finding Cassidy is to stay here, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Okay,” Nick said, giving in. “We’re hanging a blanket over that mirror, though.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Maddie said. “We also need to go back to the cemetery.”
“What? Why?”
“I need to talk to Rose,” Maddie said. “If anyone can help us find Cassidy, it’s her.”
“Do you think whatever that thing was in the mausoleum is what took Cassidy?”
“I don’t know,” Maddie said. “Even though I heard noises in there, I can’t say with any amount of certainty that the entity had corporeal form.”
“You need to dumb that down for the jock,” Nick said.
“I heard noises, but I can always hear noises when it comes to ghosts,” Maddie said. “In my head, I thought there was something physical in that room. That doesn’t mean there was. I was terrified. My mind was a blank.”
“So … I don’t know what that means.”
“Most ghosts aren’t capable of affecting physical surroundings,” Maddie said. “Take my mother, for example. She can pop into my room – and we’ve had a talk about that, by the way. She’s decided she’s not going to do that once we’re officially living together. She doesn’t want to risk seeing something that would kill her a second time.”
Nick chuckled softly. “That’s good to know. Thank you.”
“Anyway, Mom can watch things, and she can talk to me, and she can understand what’s happening around us, but that doesn’t mean she can open a door, or touch me in a way that I can feel.”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“For my mother, yes,” Maddie said. “The idea of other ghosts being able to touch me freaks me out a little bit.”
“Wait a second,” Nick said, his expression thoughtful. “If ghosts can’t affect physical beings, what went after you and Maude in the house?”
“That was something else,” Maddie said. “I’ve been giving it some thought, and I think it was a poltergeist.”
“How is that different from a ghost?”
“A poltergeist is kind of like an angry spirit,” she said. “They’re all rage and no soul. They don’t know anything but anger. They can funnel that anger into physical manifestations.”
“How many poltergeists have you encountered?”
“Only two,” Maddie said. “I’m also starting to think that’s what was in the mausoleum.”
“You’re not sure, though, are you?”
Maddie shook her head. “I’m not sure of anything right now. I need more time to investigate.”
Nick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “What are the odds that a poltergeist would show up at your house and then follow you here?”
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Maddie said. “I think the poltergeist lives here and somehow was drawn to me at home. I don’t know why yet, but I do think it’s the same poltergeist. Sometimes they can just feel when someone is psychic.”
“Is there any way to communicate with a poltergeist?”
“No,” Maddie said. “Most of them exist until the object of their rage disappears.”
“Do you mean until the object of their rage dies?”
“Sometimes.”
“Okay,” Nick said, rubbing his hands against Maddie’s thighs. “Here’s what’s going to happen: We’re going to snuggle here for five minutes because I have an overwhelming urge to hold you. Then we’re going to hang a blanket over the mirror before we head down to the cemetery.”
“Nicky, can you put the blanket up first?”
“You’ve got it, love.”
“ARE
you sure this is a good idea?” Christy asked, keeping her voice low as she grouped in a corner downstairs with Maddie and Nick. “What am I supposed to tell people when they ask where you are?”
“Tell them we went for a walk,” Nick said. “Do not mention the cemetery. I don’t want anyone going down there looking for us.”
“Just tell them we’re looking for Cassidy,” Maddie suggested. “They’re not going to find that suspicious.”
“I guess not,” Christy said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“I’m sure I want you to stay up here and keep an eye on Marla,” Nick said. “I don’t trust her and you’re the only other person here who I know hates her as much as I do.”
“Everyone here hates her,” Christy said. “Don’t kid yourself.”
“Fine,” Nick said. “Everyone hates Marla.”
“That would be a great sitcom,” Maddie mused.
Nick grinned. “It would be the top-rated show in Blackstone Bay, that’s for sure.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Christy said, patting Maddie’s arm. “I’m really sorry about what happened.”
“I am, too,” Maddie said. “It happened, though, and dwelling on it isn’t going to do me any good. I have to put it behind me.”
“That’s a healthy attitude, in theory,” Christy said. “I’m not sure how practical it is in reality, though.”
“I can’t think about that right now.”
“We hung a blanket over the mirror,” Nick said.
“I don’t blame you,” Christy said. “I would ask to switch rooms.”
“This is our last night here regardless,” Nick said. “I’m not moving all of our stuff. Once sunrise hits, we’re out of here.”
“We’re staying until we find Cassidy,” Maddie corrected.
“Mad, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but there’s an off chance we might never find Cassidy,” Nick said.
His words were sobering. “What?”
“We don’t know where she’s at,” Nick said. “We don’t know that seeing us together didn’t … cause her to snap.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“Oh,” Christy said, realization dawning. “You think she might have killed herself, don’t you?”
“I think that’s a possibility,” Nick said. “That doesn’t explain the broken necklace, though. I know Kreskin said that it could’ve accidentally fallen off, but I don’t believe that. I think someone … or something … took her from that room.”
“Something?” Christy asked, arching an eyebrow. “Like the something that went after Maddie in the mausoleum?”
“Exactly,” Nick said. “That’s why we’re going down to the cemetery. We need you to hold things together up here while we’re gone.”
Christy clicked her heels together and mock saluted. “You can trust me, sir.”
“You’re cute,” Nick said. “I’m serious, though. Don’t tell anyone where we’re going and keep your eyes and ears open. We need you with all of your faculties intact … so no drinking.”
“Honey, if I never drink again it will be too soon,” Christy said. “Trust me on that front.”
“Just be careful,” Nick said. “Maddie is my priority, but I’m partial to you, too.”
“Right back at you, handsome.”
“Absolutely not.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and fixed Maddie with a firm look. “You are not going into that mausoleum alone.”
“I’m not asking to go in alone,” Maddie said. “In fact, I’m terrified to go in there alone. I’m asking you to go in there with me and let me look around to make sure there’s nothing … freaky … in there. Then I want you to leave me alone so I can talk to Rose.”
“Why can’t I be in there when you’re talking to her?”
“I don’t think she likes you.”
Nick stilled. “Why not? I’m a charming man. Just because I can’t see her, that doesn’t mean I can’t schmooze her.”
“You’re the most charming man in the world,” Maddie said, poking his ribs playfully. “I don’t think she dislikes you because you’re not charming. I think it’s because you’re a man.”
“Oh,” Nick said, straightening. “I guess I can live with that.”
“Awesome,” Maddie said.
Nick linked his fingers with hers and walked into the mausoleum first. He made sure the door was wide open so there wouldn’t be any mistakes, and then he proceeded to search the small room. “Cassidy isn’t in here,” he said.
“Did you expect her to be?”
“No. It would’ve made things easier.”
“It would have,” Maddie agreed. “Since when do we do things the easy way, though?”
Nick shrugged. She had a point. “Do you see anything else in here?”
Maddie glanced around, leading Nick completely around the room for another turn before she was satisfied she was alone. “It’s not here.”
“I’m still not keen on leaving you alone in here, Maddie.”
“You’re going to be right outside the door,” Maddie pointed out. “You’ll hear if I need you.”
“I … promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise.”
Nick pulled her close and gave her a warm hug. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” Maddie whispered, giving him a soft kiss.
“That’s not possible, love.”
ONCE
Maddie was alone she found she wasn’t sure how to proceed. She’d never tried to summon a ghost before. Rose was different than the other spirits she’d encountered. Instead of trying to cling to the mortal plane – or being anxious to cross over to the other side – she was stuck in limbo. It made her … unpredictable.
“Rose?”
Maddie waited to see if the woman would appear. For some reason she had the distinct feeling that she was being watched – and not in a creepy way. It felt as if Rose was present, but apparently she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of showing herself.
“I know you’re here, Rose,” Maddie said, hoping her voice didn’t betray the edginess clouding her heart. “I really need to talk to you. If you could just spare a few minutes, I promise I’ll be quick.”
Maddie heard Rose before she saw her. “I thought you were dead.”
Maddie swiveled, following the sound of the voice until her eyes landed on the filmy woman in the corner. “Hi.”
“Seriously, I thought you were dead,” Rose said. “What are you doing back here?”
“I need to talk to you,” Maddie said. “Something bad has happened.”
“Yeah, you almost died.”
“Worse than that,” Maddie said.
“What’s worse than that?”
“Have you seen anything … weird … around here this morning?”
“Well, I did see a blonde woman hanging around a mausoleum so she could talk to a ghost.”
Maddie made a face. “You have an interesting personality.”
“Right back at you.”
“One of the women staying up at the house with us has disappeared,” Maddie said. “You haven’t seen her, have you?”
“I haven’t seen anyone but you,” Rose said. “My social life isn’t exactly buzzing these days.”
“What about the … thing … that was in here with me yesterday?” Maddie asked, changing tactics. “Have you seen that again?”
“No.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“Evil.”
Maddie sighed, frustration bubbling up. Getting Rose to open up was like pulling teeth. Since she was dealing with a ghost who didn’t have any teeth, it was starting to feel as if she was climbing a mountain. “Rose, I’m really tired,” Maddie said. “I’ve spent the past three days sharing a roof with the woman my boyfriend used to sleep with and the pain in the ass who has gone out of her way to make my life hell for as long as I can remember. I need your help.”
“Maybe I need your help,” Rose countered.
Maddie was surprised. “How can I help you?”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said. I want you to help me pass over to the other side. I don’t know what will be waiting for me there, but it has to be better than here.”
“If I help you, will you help me?”
Rose nodded
“Okay,” Maddie said. “I need some information first, though. How did you die?”
NICK
was restless as he paced outside of the mausoleum. The walls of the small building were thick, and even with the door open he couldn’t hear Maddie. He’d stuck his head in briefly, relieved to find her holding a one-sided conversation, and then stepped back out. He’d promised to give her space to work, and he had every intention of keeping that promise.
“What are you doing out here?”
Nick jumped when he heard Max’s voice, swiveling quickly. “I’m … um … what are you doing out here?”
“I’m looking for Cassidy,” Max said, his face unreadable. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“That’s what I’m doing, too,” Nick said.
“Alone?”
“Maddie is in the mausoleum,” Nick said, opting not to lie.
“Why would she possibly go back in there?” Max asked. “After yesterday, I would think she’d be terrified of that place.”
“That’s not how Maddie rolls,” Nick said. “When she’s scared of something she likes to meet it head on. She’s hanging out in there until she isn’t frightened.” As far as lies go, it was a lame one. Nick couldn’t think of a better story on the spot, though.
“I guess that makes sense.”
Thankfully for Nick, Max was dealing with a hangover so he wasn’t exactly quick on the uptake. “Did you find anything while you were searching?”
Max shook his head. “The truth is, I was looking and yet I wasn’t just looking. Does that make sense?”
“Not without the proper context,” Nick admitted.
“I didn’t realize that it would be so hard to come back here,” Max said. “It’s been almost six years since I’ve seen this place, and for a long time I considered it my home even though it never really was.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure you’ll understand this … heck, I’m not sure I even understand it,” Max said. “The thing is, I’ve always been jealous of Aaron. I was worried I would still feel that way when I came back.”
Nick furrowed his brow, confused. “You guys have been best friends for twenty years. If you’re jealous of him, you’ve done a good job of hiding it.”
“I’m not saying I sit in a little room and hate on him,” Max said. “It’s just … my mother was a servant in that house. Aaron always treated me as an equal, and his father didn’t treat me like I was anything other than an equal, but his mother always looked down her nose at me.
“Even though I lived under the same roof for years, I always knew that living below the main floor wasn’t the same as living above the main floor,” he continued. “I was a kid, and I shouldn’t have grasped that people have certain stations in life, but I always did.”
“I don’t know what to say, Max. I never thought about you having to deal with stuff like that. I guess I was never a very good friend to you.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Max said. “I like you, but it’s not like we were close. Your life was all about Maddie even back then. She was your best friend.”
“Does Aaron know you feel this way?”
“We’ve never talked about it,” Max said. “It makes me feel ungrateful to complain about stuff like this when he’s been such a good friend to me. He never once talked down to me, even though he would’ve been allowed to because that was his house and I was just a temporary guest.”
“Aaron isn’t the type of guy to look down on someone,” Nick said. “He’s a good guy.”
“He is,” Max said. “I’ve never understood why he moved away, though. I’ve always loved that house. I thought he did, too. It’s almost as if he hates being here, though. I think that’s why he invited everyone to stay here this weekend. He didn’t want to be alone.”
Nick stilled, an idea niggling the back of his brain. “When you were living here as a kid, did you ever see anything … abnormal?”
“I once saw Aaron’s mother throw a thousand-dollar tea set away because one cup had a tiny chip,” Max said.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a cemetery on the property,” Nick said. “It would make sense that maybe there were other things – ghosts even – hanging around. Did you ever see anything like that?”
“Are you asking me if I ever saw a ghost?”
“I … yes.”
“No,” Max said. “No offense, man, but I don’t really believe in that stuff. Do you believe in ghosts?”
“I believe in a lot of different things,” Nick said. “I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that the human soul exists beyond this world.”
“I guess,” Max said, shrugging. “I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a ghost, though. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
The two men lapsed into silence for a little bit. Finally, Max broke it. “I’m going to head back up to the house. Do you want me to wait for you?”
“I’m just waiting for Maddie,” Nick said. “We won’t be long.”
“Okay. I’ll see you up there.”
“MY LIFE
wasn’t happy even when I still had it to live,” Rose said, her face taking on a far off quality. “My husband wasn’t interested in being married to me, and the only reason he did it is because he was expected to deliver a male heir.
“The times were different then,” she continued. “Women were expected to work in the house, never outside of it, especially when they were well off like we were. I didn’t want to marry anyone when I was younger. I wanted to be a nurse. That’s all I ever wanted. Still, I was raised to listen to my father, and when he told me I was expected to marry Jim, I did what I was told.
“I wouldn’t say that our life together was happy, but it wasn’t terrible either,” Rose said. “Once I gave birth to a son, Jim pretty much left me alone. I wasn’t a priority to him and he wasn’t a priority to me. We even had separate bedrooms.”
“That sounds awful,” Maddie said.
“When you have responsibilities, awful is a state of mind,” Rose said. “I did the best I could, and when I announced to my husband that I wanted to be a nurse, he didn’t put up a fight. I expected him to, but he seemed just as excited to get me out of the house as I was to leave.
“The last few months of my life were the best months I ever had,” she said. “I was working sixty hours a week, and yet I was never tired. I found a purpose for myself that didn’t revolve around running the staff or mothering an entitled child.
“Oh, don’t look at me that way,” Rose said. “I loved my son, but he was a brat. His father gave him everything he wanted, and that kid learned at a young age that all he had to do to get some attention was to pitch a fit.”
“I wasn’t judging you,” Maddie said hurriedly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rose said. “I’m getting off track anyway. You want to know how I died. This is just a long way of telling a short story. One night a few weeks before Christmas I came home from a particularly late shift at the hospital. I was the only one up in the house. Everything else was dark.
“I took a shower. I had a late snack. Then I went to bed,” she said. “I was sound asleep when it happened. Something woke me up. I wasn’t sure what it was right away. I was groggy and confused when I opened my eyes.
“Everything was still dark around me, and when I lifted my hands I found that a pillow was pressed against my face,” Rose said. “I have no idea who was in the room with me. I never saw a face, and I never heard a voice. I struggled to fight whoever it was off, but it was too late.
“After about a minute and a half, I just … drifted away,” she said. “It was almost peaceful.”
“That’s horrible,” Maddie said.
“In the grand scheme of things, there are worse ways to go,” Rose said. “I know you’re going to try to help me pass over, but that’s all I have for you to go on. I don’t know who killed me.”
“Do you think it was your husband?”
“That would be my best guess, but there really is no way for me to know,” Rose said. “I’m not sure he had the courage to kill anyone. Can you help me without knowing who killed me?”
“I hope so,” Maddie said. “I need to give it some thought, though. While I’m doing that, I need you to do something for me.”
“You want me to look for the missing girl, don’t you?”