She shook her head. “We were waiting for you. Betty’s been in there, of course, and she says it seems pretty quiet. I’m not sure, though.” Jesenia gazed around her. “I’m still getting a weird vibe about this place. I know Coleman wasn’t the only spirit haunting the inn, but I’m getting the impression that he’s still here. It’s faint, but my instinct so far tells me he hasn’t moved on.”
That disappointed me. I had hoped we’d helped Coleman.
Lonnie had been listening in to our conversation. “Personally, I’m kind of hoping he’s still here,” he said, wearing his usual cheeky grin. “Life was interesting when he was around!”
Jesenia wiggled a finger in his direction. “Oh, don’t you worry. There are other spirits roaming this old place. One little girl called Lisa has been talking to me since I came in here! And she’s got a crush on you, Lonnie, so you just watch out!”
I had no idea if Jesenia was kidding the young man or not, but his face grew serious. “What? A ghost has the hots for me? What the hell! She’s not watching me, you know, in the shower or anything?”
Jesenia didn’t answer him but merely smiled slyly. To the rest of us, she said, “Shall we go upstairs now? I’m anxious to get the feel of the room!”
The four of us traipsed up the stairs and made our way to the room I had so recently occupied. Mrs. Schultz had a key card ready, but we all paused at the door, almost reverently.
“I don’t know about anyone else,” Trey said, “but the hairs on the back of my neck are doing the Watusi.”
Jesenia placed her hand flat on the door panel. She shook her head. “I’m getting a faint trace of him,” she said, her eyes closed in concentration. “Maybe it’s just a residual impression, since his presence was so strong here. I can’t tell.”
Mrs. Schultz made a sour face. “Well, we’re not going to find out anything by lollygagging out here.”
She opened the door.
I didn’t know what I had been expecting. Maybe a burst of ghostly wind to come rushing out at us or the room bathed in a spectral blue hue. Instead, as we entered and Mrs. Schultz turned on the lights, we were met with a simple, quiet room.
Walking to the bed, I said, “I’m not getting anything myself.”
Jesenia tilted her head. “I feel… something. It’s faint but there.”
“Shouldn’t we do something, you know, like asking old Coleman if he’s still around?” Trey asked. “Get him to speak up if he’s still around? Maybe hold another séance?”
Mrs. Schultz’s face brightened. “Maybe we’re in the wrong room.” We all looked at her as she went on to explain. “This wasn’t Coleman’s room when he was alive. The Raven Suite was. If he’s anywhere, wouldn’t he be in the place he was most comfortable?”
“Can we go there?” Jesenia asked. “Is it occupied?”
“It’s booked, but they haven’t checked in yet. As long as we don’t spend too long in there….”
Moments later we were entering the Raven Suite. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I could feel a change in the atmosphere. When Mrs. Schultz switched on the lights, I almost expected to see Coleman sitting on the bed, awaiting us. The room, however, was empty. At least of visible entities.
Jesenia agreed with me. She spun around, arms outstretched, soaking in the environment. “He’s here!” she announced. “I can feel him!”
“He hasn’t moved on,” I whispered, moving over to the bed. I touched one of the pillows. “Why hasn’t he moved on?”
“Something is keeping him here, even still,” Jesenia said. “Maybe….”
She may have let the sentence drop, or maybe she kept on talking and I just didn’t hear her. Suddenly I wasn’t completely with them in the room. It changed for me, the furniture and surroundings shifting before my eyes. I grabbed the bedpost, feeling dizzy. Finally the change was complete, and I was seeing the room as it had been back in Coleman’s day.
But weirdly, I was aware that Trey, Jesenia, and Mrs. Schultz were still with me. I could see them, hazily, but I knew they weren’t seeing the room as I was.
Coleman was sitting on the bed, speaking into a telephone. He was alive, real. Not a ghost. I knew this, although I had no idea how I knew it. I was having a vision of some sort, a glimpse into the past. It was now 1983, and Coleman was wearing a tight white sleeveless shirt and shorts. He seemed worried as he spoke into the receiver.
“But Mr. Finn, I haven’t seen Bryan for days.” Coleman’s eyes were welling with tears. “Please, if he’s there—” He listened for a moment. “Okay. If he comes in, please tell him to call me right away.”
If I reached out to touch Coleman, to offer him some comfort, would he feel it? Was I just a shade, watching but helpless to interfere, like Scrooge when shown events from his youth by the Ghost of Christmas Past? I sat on the bed. It felt real. And I could smell Coleman’s cologne.
I looked back, and Trey, Mrs. Schultz, and Jesenia were standing together, watching me with interest. Jesenia’s mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear the words clearly. Something about me being in a trance and that they shouldn’t disturb me. I turned back to Coleman. He had hung up, and he clutched the phone to his chest, his face in agony.
The door opened and Darryl Hollis entered. He was younger than the Hollis I knew. There was no gray in his hair, and he had less of a gut. “I thought I told you to stay off the phone,” he growled.
“I’ve got to find Bryan,” Coleman replied, putting the phone onto his nightstand. “I know—”
“I don’t want you seeing him. I told you that.” Hollis’s voice was hard, cruel. “You’re better off without him, and the sooner—”
“I don’t want to be without him!” Coleman shouted, rising to his feet. His cheeks were flushed with anger. “I love him! And you can’t do a fucking thing about that!”
The effect of this outburst on Hollis was frightening. He stepped forward, his hands clenched at his sides. There was murder in his eyes and countenance, and I shrank back instinctively, even though I was sure he couldn’t see me sitting there.
“No son of mine…,” he began.
“Oh no. No son of yours could be a faggot.” Coleman’s lip quivered, and he chuckled mirthlessly. “You’re pathetic. I hate you. And I’m not staying here another day.”
“Leaving town is probably the best thing for you,” his father said, snarling.
Coleman shook his head. “Oh, I’m not leaving. I’m going to go stay with Marshall, at least until Bryan and I can get up enough money to get out of here. I know you’d rather have me out of your sight entirely. Can’t have the town know that your only son is a flaming homosexual. Well, guess what, Daddy darling? They’re all going to know. I’ll make sure of that.”
Darryl Hollis picked up an ashtray. A big, heavy glass one. The remains of a joint and several cigarette butts went flying as he raised it high over his head.
And then he brought it down onto his son’s skull.
I BLINKED.
I was no longer in Coleman’s room, but now in a car. An old model Buick, but it looked fairly new. Hollis was driving. It was dark, and we were turning onto the road by the church. I was in the passenger seat, frightened by the man sitting next to me, even though he seemed unaware of my presence. There was a tiny moan from the backseat, and Hollis growled, “Just sit tight. We’ll soon be there.” He seemed to think he was saying something funny, because he chuckled. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “I’d bury you with your little friend, but there’s not room for two in that trunk. That, and it’s just too dangerous. I can’t believe Gary talked me into burying him in that lot. Sure it was out of the way, but… right in the middle of town. No, we’ll take you out where no one will find you.”
We were heading over the bridge. While it still looked rickety to me, it at least looked like it would hold the weight of an automobile. Outside, the moon shone down, bright and stark, as if in judgment of Darryl Hollis and his actions. It was an angry moon, holding him in contempt.
I turned. Coleman was bundled into the back. It was hard to see him, but he looked half dead. Blood was running from a wound on his temple, dripping down onto his face. His eyelids fluttered, and I wondered if he knew where he was and what was happening. Had Coleman died in pain?
I felt a gentle hand touching my elbow. “Michael? Are you okay?”
It was Trey, his eyes full of concern. I shook my head, and the car, the bridge, poor Coleman, and his father were gone. I took a deep breath and realized I was crying. Wiping my cheeks, I said, “Yeah. I just… I just had a vision.”
Jesenia asked softly, “What did you see, honey?”
“I saw it all.” I sat on the bed, feeling suddenly weary. “I saw Darryl Hollis kill Coleman. I saw him drive out to the woods. Coleman was in the backseat. I think he was still alive at that point, but only barely. I saw—”
I put a hand up to my temple. Flash. In my mind, I saw a shovel striking earth. I saw Darryl grunting as he piled the dirt aside. The hole he’d made was nearly ready. Coleman’s body lay off to the side, eyes open, the blood drying on his face. Oh, so dead. Oh, my God. What a waste. How pointless.
Flash. Darryl Hollis and Gary Thornton, sitting in a restaurant. I didn’t recognize it. They were huddled over coffee cups, talking low.
“It’s over,” Hollis said, unable to make eye contact with his friend.
“You convinced him to leave town?” Thornton asked.
Almost imperceptibly, Hollis shook his head. I had the impression that what I was seeing was the morning after he’d killed his son, but it could have been days. The man looked like he’d aged overnight. His eyes nearly had a sadness in them. “I… he’s out in the woods. No one will find him.”
Thornton didn’t answer right away. He looked around, making sure no one could overhear their conversation. “Maybe it’s for the best. We’ll just say they ran off together. I’ll talk to Martin Finn, make sure he won’t kick up a fuss. Doubt if he will. We’ll convince him his son up and left. Martin’s a good buddy. I’ll get him to believe that Bryan met some boy and they took off together. People in town are already pretty sure that boy is queer.” He spat out the last word.
“Without any of his belongings?”
Thornton smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. “We’ll make it work. The guy he met had money. We can make him a sugar-daddy type. Hell, Martin will be happy we took care of his problem for him. Janice I’m not so sure about.”
Hollis set down his coffee cup and stared at his hands. The hands of a murderer. “I didn’t mean to do it. I just lost my temper.”
“Of course you did. Who wouldn’t? Those boys were sick, perverted. Believe me, you’ve done the world a favor. Darryl, this is a small town. You couldn’t put up with people talking behind your back, could you? Having a son that’s a fruit? No, this is best. After a month or so, you can tell people you’ve heard from Cole, and that he’s living out in New York City or someplace. A year or so from now, you can tell people he’s gotten married. Together, we can spread enough rumors that people will think he’s still alive and well. And not a fucking faggot.”
“Yeah.” Hollis sighed deeply. “Maybe you’re right.”
“MICHAEL?” TREY
shook my shoulder. He was sitting next to me on the bed. I hadn’t been aware of him at all while the scenes had played out in my head.
I looked at him sadly. “I saw everything. Darryl Hollis strangled Bryan Finn. I’m not sure he meant to do it. He lost his temper. A day or so later, he killed his own son. Hit him over the head with a glass ashtray and then buried him out in the woods. All because Coleman and Bryan loved each other. No other reason. Just because of love.”
Trey put his arm around me and pulled me close. I cried into his shoulder, letting it all out. Betty Schultz and Jesenia stood by, silently. As my sobs began to subside, a look came over Jesenia, as if she heard something. She moved over to the window. Looking out, she gasped.
“Michael, come over here, quick!”
I wiped my nose using the sleeve of my sweater and stood slowly. Once I was sure I could walk without my knees giving out on me, I joined Jesenia at the window.
Outside, the moon was shining down brightly. The stars were out. But that wasn’t what Jesenia wanted me to see. Down by the gazebo, I could see two misty figures. They were in a sort of blue glow, but I immediately recognized them as Coleman and Bryan. They were holding hands and looking back at us. Coleman had a tear running down one cheek, but I could see the happiness in his face. He was beaming, oh so happy. He looked lovingly at Bryan and then back up at us. He waved.
Mrs. Schultz had joined us at the window. “Oh, my Lord,” she muttered.
The figures turned and began to walk off. With every step they took, they became more and more indistinct. After several yards, they vanished altogether.
“What? What’s going on?” Trey was attempting to see, but the three of us were blocking his view. “What’s out there?”
Jesenia smiled at him. “They’re together now. They’re at peace.” She took in a deep breath, holding out her hands. “Oh, yes. I can feel it now. Coleman’s spirit has departed. There’s nothing keeping him here any longer. He’s been reunited with his love.”
Trey finally wedged himself in between me and Mrs. Schultz, but there was no trace of the spirits remaining. “They were out there? Both of them? And I missed it?”
“They’re happy now,” Jesenia said.
“Yeah, I’m glad for that. I really am.” Trey was peering out, hoping to catch just a glimpse. “But I went through a lot for those two, and I don’t get to see the big good-bye? That kind of bites. I hate to say it, but the least they could do—”
I kissed Trey on the cheek. “I’ll make it up to you, handsome.”
Betty Schultz sighed. “Well, I guess that’s that. I don’t suppose we’ll see Coleman’s ghost hanging around the Raven’s Rest anymore.”
“No,” Jesenia agreed. “He’s gone for good.”
“I wonder if….”
She didn’t finish, because at that moment the door to the room slowly creaked open.
I could see nothing, but apparently Jesenia could. Maybe her psychic abilities were more finely tuned than mine, or maybe I was only able to see Coleman Hollis because of the connection between us, me resembling Bryan Finn so much. Jesenia smiled at the empty doorway.