Grave Danger (5 page)

Henry paused across the street from the congregation
of livings. It was one of the last tours of the night. Clarissa
halted mid-stride when she too noticed the group. They stood
watching the tourists and their guide, enjoying a free show as the
tour guide held up an EFM device, waving it around, searching for a
paranormal presence.

“
You see folks,” he talked loudly to the
group, “I’m picking up a bit of activity. It looks like we’re not
alone out here.”

A woman grabbed her boyfriend’s hand, an excited
smile on her face. The man in turn stared off into space, a
bored-out-of-his-mind expression on his face. He was one of the
non-believers.

“
When I move the EFM this way, you can notice
the change on the dial. Whatever it is,” he pointed the machine in
the opposite direction of the two ghosts. An EFM or electromagnetic
field meter was one of the basic equipment used by ghost hunters.
However, the thing didn’t always work properly in the field, other
frequencies tended to interfere with the paranormal currents. “It’s
in that direction.”

“
Have you ever actually seen a ghost in
person, not just one of their tricks like turning on the facet, but
a real ghost sighting?”Someone in the crowd asked the question, but
Clarissa couldn’t see who it had been. It had definitely been
female and something about that voice was almost
familiar.

The tour guide shook his head in assent. “I have.
‘Bout two years ago I saw a man going through my CD collection. At
first I thought I was being robbed, he looked so real. Black hair,
looked like he was straight out of some eighties cover band.” He
scratched his head, smiling to himself as he remembered the strange
encounter he would never forget. “I asked him what the hell he was
doing in my house. He looked at me, a stupid grin on his face like
he knew a secret I didn’t. He said I had a great collection and
wanted to know if I died could he have it. Then he vanished, one
minute looking as real as you and me and then nothing. It was the
greatest experience of my life.”

The bored man rolled his eyes, not believing the
story was anything but a ghostly tall tale. His girlfriend on the
other hand loved everything paranormal and was more than eager to
share her ghostly encounter. She believed her hotel room was
haunted and wondered how she could investigate it. The tour guide
was more than pleased to tell her that back at the shop, where they
began the tour, were EVP’s and other paranormal hunting devices to
outfit her as an amateur ghost hunter.

“
So, do you really think that woman saw a
ghost?” Clarissa asked Henry. “You know that ghost he described? It
sounds a lot like someone I know,” she said with a half grin. “What
do you think?”

Henry folded his arms, shook his head in
exasperation and nodded in agreement. Richard loved to put on a
show for the people, a left over trait from his living days. Most
of the paranormal activity in the city was conducted by him or
somehow connected with him. “That’s the kind of shit Richard lives
for – or dies for, either one – you know what I mean. I’m only
surprised he didn’t steal anything. But I guess it’s good for
business; can’t be a haunted city without haunting the living.”

Clarissa laughed, causing a stir in the air. The
street lights dimmed and brightened, causing someone in the crowd
to scream. The tour guide calmed her, trying to tell her that
ghosts are usually not malevolent and to think of them as wandering
spirits not demons.

“
Oh, sorry,” she said sheepishly. “Did I make
that happen? I didn’t mean to.”

Now Henry laughed, this time causing the street
lights to blink on an off in rapid succession. More people screamed
and you could hear the tour guide yelling over the startled voices
as he assured them that no one was trying to hurt them.

“
You’re as bad as Richard, Henry.” Clarissa
scolded him good naturedly. “When I did it, it was accidental. Now
make the lights stop blinking before you give those poor people a
seizure or a heart attack.”

“
I’m just keeping up business, remember?” he
explained with a devilish grin. “I’m making sure those people are
getting their monies worth. Hopefully they’ll go home and tell
their friends and family what a great experience they had in our
city and convince them to come for a visit as well. Word of mouth
is a strong tactic in business.”

The street lights darkened, plunging the streets
into darkness then in the next second they came back on, burning
overly bright before returning to normal. At first the group was
completely silent. Standing motionless as if afraid that even
though everything appeared normal and safe, something could easily
pop out and kill them. That wasn’t far from the truth. After a few
hesitant moments the group of livings took the opportunity to move
on to the next destination on the walking tour.

“
I think they got their monies worth and then
some.” She watched as the group ambled away from them, some of them
huddled together for protection from the things that darkness
hides. “I even think you made a believer out of some of them.”
Clarissa noted the man who had earlier looked so bored and
uninterested, now scanning every little shadowy corner, waiting for
the night creatures to leap out and attack. He held tightly onto
his girlfriend’s hand, clutching hers in a death grip.

“
We need to go now, Clarissa,” Henry said, all
the lightness of a moment ago gone. His tense, clipped words
worried her. Just like that something had changed, the situation
turning serious. “I didn’t realize how late it was getting and I
need to get you home before it gets any later.”

They continued onward, their leisurely pace replaced
by hurried steps. Clarissa didn’t understand what had changed from
a few minutes ago, but whatever it was, she realized that the
darkness was something not only the living feared but the dead as
well.

“
Henry,” Clarissa nearly shouted, “Slow down,
you’re walking too fast. I can’t keep up. What’s the matter? Why
are we in such a hurry now?” She thought for a moment, using senses
that she had yet to completely understand. “What are you afraid
of?”

They were moving through backyards, cutting between
houses. They had left the bustle of downtown and were now on
residential area, far from tourists. Few street lamps glowed around
them, making the tension more oppressive with the lack of
light.

Henry didn’t slow down, but he did explain. She
would find out soon enough and it was for her benefit that she knew
the truth about the world around them. It was a complex situation
and would take too long to go into full detail. But he could give
her a basic tutorial so that she would know how to be safe.

There were some aspects of their world that even
Henry couldn’t fully comprehend, secrets that were kept even from
him.

“
It’s not safe to be wandering the streets at
night.” He began. Clarissa was too newly developed and didn’t fully
comprehend her own paranormal abilities. She would be an easy
target for the flesh-eaters and if caught unaware by one of them
she wouldn’t know how to defend herself. Clarissa was also an
appealing soul to their dark appetites, her soul strong and bright,
and a tasty treat for the damned and soulless.

“
What do you mean? We’re ghosts, Henry. The
night is when we are supposed to roam. At least that’s what all the
stories about us seem to reason, we haunt the living at night when
they are most afraid. That’s how it works isn’t it?” They were
dead. Nothing could harm a ghost. At least that’s what she assumed.
Well, except for maybe an exorcist or a catholic priest. But even
then she wasn’t so sure. As a ghost, Clarissa believed that danger
was eliminated once she was beyond the grave and that such troubles
wouldn’t be part of her afterlife. It seemed she had been
wrong.

Henry stopped walking so suddenly Clarissa smacked
in to the back of him, causing a spark of electricity to arch out
from the contact. He swiftly turned, a blur of movement, taking her
shoulders, steadying her as he bent down to look directly into her
startled eyes.

“
The night does not belong to us anymore,
Clarissa. I should have told you from the beginning what you were
getting yourself into when you first came to our city. I guess I
didn’t want to scare you away and I was hoping to wait until you
were completely settled in to this existence before forcing this on
you.”

“
Scare me?” Clarissa murmured. “Aren’t we the
ones who do the scaring around here? You can tell me Henry.
Whatever it is, it can’t be as bad as you think.”

Henry furrowed his brows, squeezing her shoulders as
if he could somehow impart this information through their connected
touch. Most ghosts did not touch one another as it was seen as an
intimate connection between souls and if Clarissa had been any
other learned ghost she wouldn’t have let Henry touch her. It was
also a way to control a spirit, to touch one and manipulate it to
do whatever you wanted it to do if you had the power to do so. But
Clarissa knew none of this; for now.

She wasn’t getting it and Henry hated having to
frighten her to make her understand. She already had enough to deal
with just being dead. She was young, not just in human years, but
in death years as well, only a few days old and already faced with
danger. A grave danger that could end her existence, a death unlike
the one she had already passed through, a complete annihilation
that would destroy what was left of Clarissa Schofield.

“
Come along, I’ll explain,” he whispered,
pulling her arm and propelling them quickly to their destination,
moving so fast now that their feet barely touched the
ground.

“
Let’s begin with this. We have an
understanding of sorts with the creatures who reside over on
Anastasia Island, just over the Bridge of Lions. We call them
flesh-eaters, but you might have heard them called by other names,
zombies in particular. They can only cross the bridge at full dark,
but they usually never start to hunt until much later.” It was a
lot to cover and the history of these creatures was unfamiliar to
Henry. But Eleanor knew, she could tell Clarissa all about them. He
just wanted her to know not to trust them or to ever let herself be
alone with one of them. The strange relationship the Eidolon
community had with these monsters still confounded Henry and he
didn’t like having to share his city with them, let alone its
people.

“
During the daytime hours, the city belongs to
us. You know that the shops, restaurants and tourism stuff, that’s
run by us. Every ghost tour you’ve ever been on, here or in any
other state is operated by a ghost. Tourism itself keeps the city
alive and running and we all prosper from the exchange. It’s a
solid partnership we have with the living.” Henry turned his head,
looking behind them, making certain that they were not being
followed. He couldn’t detect any of them close, but he knew they
would be out there soon, taking lives. It made him sick if he
thought about it too long and he couldn’t do anything to change the
status quo in this world.

“
When night falls,” he continued, facing
forward and moving them quickly to Mrs. Connors home, “we must turn
the city over to the flesh-eaters.” He paused, remembering when
they had first encountered the clan of flesh-eaters. They had come
back after so many decades and this time they couldn’t be put down
so easily. The flesh-eaters were here for good and they all had to
make sacrifices to keep the peace. It was a utilitarian method,
sacrificing the few to save the many, but one death to spare
thousands was still one death too many in Henry’s view.

“
Are you telling me that we have zombies
living in St. Augustine and that their eating the locals? That’s
awful.” It was more than awful it was disgusting and cruel to allow
such creatures to wander their streets at night devouring people.
Killing innocent humans, there was no reason to allow such
atrocities of nature to exist.

But that didn’t explain why Henry feared for her
safety, and he did. He was worried something terrible would happen
to her. Something involving one of them that would truly destroy
what was left of her existence. “What can a flesh-eater do to one
like us? Can we be destroyed or devoured by one? Is such a thing
possible?” Clarissa didn’t really know anything about these
creatures but she guessed that they needed blood or flesh of living
humans to keep themselves intact. A ghost had no body or blood and
couldn’t possibly meet their needs.

“
Yes,” he answered. “We can be just as easily
destroyed as a living human. Only if they consume us, without a
body or blood there isn’t much left; they kill us for good. There
is nothing left of us to exist in this world or the next. It would
be as if we really no longer existed, our energy would become
theirs and we would be lost. A ghost is not the flesh-eaters
primary source of nourishment, but there is something about the
fact that our form is composed from a human soul that makes us
appealing to the soulless creatures.”

Mrs. Connors house was coming into view. A two story
wood planked structure with intricately carved hurricane shutters
on the front windows. The front porch was a wraparound, large with
wide sets of stairs leading up to the double door front entrance. A
Florida southern house, it dated back to the late nineteenth
century, passing through the generations until it came into the
ownership of one Madeline Connors; a special lady with unique
paranormal gifts of her own.

All the lights were on in the house. She was indeed
expecting them tonight. Clarissa and Henry stepped up onto the
front porch which was occupied by outdoor furniture: a set of
chairs and tables, potted plants and hanging vines from a trellis
that ran along the entire front of the house. It was a place to
spend quiet afternoons drinking iced tea and talking with friends
and neighbors.