Grave Danger (6 page)

Henry pushed the button on the doorbell, setting off
the chimes inside the house, loud enough that they could be heard
from outside. They stood silently as they waited for Mrs. Connors
to answer her front door. If Maddy was any other kind of woman she
might have been scared out of her wits at finding two ghosts
standing at her front door. But she wasn’t easily scared and to
her, the supernatural world wasn’t so different from her own.

“
Don’t ever go outside this house alone at
night, Clarissa. I am very serious about this. If you need anything
at all, just inform Mrs. Connors and she’ll contact one of us. Do
you understand what I’m telling you?” Henry’s face drew tight with
concern, his usual cheerful eyes turning cold.

“
I understand, Henry,” she assured him. “I
won’t go out unless I’m with you or someone else. But tell me
something. Why would we allow these creatures to exist in our city?
If they’re as evil as I think they are then we should not be making
bargains with them, allowing them to have our city. It’s like
making a deal with the devil. You may think you’re sparing the
masses, but you’re not. In the end the devil always
wins.”

She looked up at one of the nicest ghosts she had
met and wondered more about his past. He was a protective sort of
man and she could appreciate that to some extent. Right now she
sensed he was extremely concerned for her well being, her safety.
“Why are afraid for me? I don’t scare that easily.”

“
I know and that is exactly what worries me.”
He looked off into the distance, into the night that consumed the
old city. Tonight someone would die a most horrible death and he
couldn’t do anything about it. Death was part of life; he had
firsthand experience with the reaper. His own death had been
gruesome and unnatural, but the fact that he knew people were dying
tonight and his people were allowing the murders to happen in their
city made his insides twist in knots; a purely psychological
reaction because he didn’t have any guts to knot up.

This woman was special, a much needed addition to
their community. Or maybe she would be a threat to them all. It was
yet to be decided. Henry wondered how the night creatures would
react to her. He never wanted to actually find out, hoping that she
would keep away from them as long as possible.

“
There is more to you than you realize,
Clarissa.” Henry spoke, looking down at her ghostly form. “You are
a powerful soul and you don’t even realize it. The flesh-eaters
would literally kill to possess you. Stay away from
them.”

Clarissa wanted to speak with him further on the
matter, but just as she opened her mouth to speak the front door
opened revealing an older woman, a warm cheerful expression on her
slightly wrinkled face.

“
Oh good,” she sighed. “You’re both finally
here.” She extended her hand in welcome. “Do come in, Henry.” She
turned to eye Clarissa intently, “Ms. Schofield, it’s lovely to
meet you at last. It will be such a delight to have you in my home.
Well, come in. I’ve made up your room, Clarissa.”

Mrs. Connors continued to twitter away as they
followed her into her house. Henry closed the front door as he and
Clarissa were shown around the house. He had visited Maddy many
times in the past as he had known her since she was a child, giving
her the nickname Maddy when she was just a kid. Now his little
Maddy looked older than he did and one day she would die and leave
him. But it was something that his kind always faced. And the truth
was that he didn’t want this existence for her. When her time came,
he didn’t want her to stay behind like the others even if that
meant he would never see her again. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to
concern himself with this for a few more years.

“
Mrs. Connors is different isn’t she? There is
a strange glow about her that I haven’t seen on the other livings
in the city. What is she?” Clarissa walked beside Henry as they
trailed behind Mrs. Connors, who was still talking up a storm about
her home, explaining the history of the house and the décor in
intricate detail.

“
Maddy is a psychic among other things. Isn’t
that right Maddy?”

Mrs. Connors looked behind her, scanning between the
two ghostly persons in her home. She nodded her ascent before
turning around and continuing forward. “Something like that Henry,”
she answered simply. Then she resumed the detailed tour of the
house. Maddy wasn’t boastful about her abilities, preferring to
allow others to come to their own conclusions about her. She was a
simple woman with exceptional skills when it came to the unnatural
world.

Henry left the women after several minutes,
insisting that he had much to do before the morning lights touched
the city. Kissing Mrs. Connors hand in a gentlemanly fashion, he
gave Clarissa a single look that reiterated his earlier statement.
She was to remain inside Mrs. Connors home until Eleanor came to
get her in the morning and under no circumstances was she to leave
the house before full light. And so Henry left her in the more than
capable living hands of Madeline Connors, psychic and other things
not yet guessed at, a woman who Clarissa could see was more than a
simple living woman.

Clarissa couldn’t help but notice that Henry planned
on walking home alone despite his warning that it was unsafe to
travel through the city streets during the darkest hours. These
safety rules he had imparted upon her apparently didn’t rule his
actions in the city. But he was an aged ghost, far more familiar
with these dark creatures than she and could likely take care of
himself if he had a run-in with one of their kind.

She didn’t ask anything further of Henry on the
issue of flesh-eaters in their city, nor did she think it
appropriate to discuss the matter with Mrs. Connors. Though,
Clarissa was sure that the woman knew just as much about them as
anyone else in town. She, as a living, was most at risk from an
attack by them. It disturbed Clarissa to know that the ghosts Mrs.
Connors served could easily put her in jeopardy by allowing the
flesh-eaters to roam the streets. The humans were caught in the
crossfire’s of this strange alliance; used as food for the undead.
Clarissa wondered if knowing the truth was better than not, or if
simply be blissfully ignorant like most of the living was best.

Clarissa watched through the front parlor windows as
Henry strolled away from the house, his steps unhurried but quick.
Then he disappeared, swallowed up by the night so she could no
longer see him.

She turned away from the window, hearing the
footfalls of Mrs. Connors as she came down the hallway to join her.
Mrs. Connors had left her in the parlor as she had gone to the
kitchen to return a phone call from her grandson, Jackson. He would
be coming over here tomorrow for one of his weekend visits. Jackson
kept late hours like his grandmother, much to his parent’s
disappointment. They feared he was more like her then he should
be.

Clarissa’s hearing had improved with death, other
senses heightened as well. Mrs. Connors heart beat was a heavy
rhythm in Clarissa’s ears, her blood pumping through her body, a
cascading rush of fluid in a being that was complete, living.
Clarissa was drawn to the presence of the living, sensing them even
from afar. She felt her own wrist, pressing her fingers to the
veins there and felt nothing, no flow of blood or twitch of nerves.
Her system was silent, her flesh cool, but there was something
living there under the illusion of skin. It was not the flow of
blood that coursed through her system, but the energy of the
immortal soul and something else she couldn’t name. And in
Clarissa, it was strong.

Mrs. Connors entered into the front parlor, seeing
immediately her newest house guest. She was young, her skin pale
and glowing in her deathly state. Anyone seeing her in this
existence might mistake her for one of the angels. But Maddy knew
about such deities to know the difference. For death to take a
person at such an age was a sadness that many of the living
experienced. Death did not discriminate. He took any and all who
crossed his path and without remorse.

Maddy took in the sight of this young ghost and
wondered what she would be like in a few years, even in a few
months after living here in St. Augustine. Even now after only
being recently created, it was clear that she was an exceptional
being. Clarissa possessed a powerful soul that with enough time and
encouragement could easily rival the aged ghosts who ran the oldest
city. And they might not be so pleased to know that someone could
usurp their authority in the world of the dead.

“
Would you like to come and see your rooms
now, Clarissa? I’ve set you up in one of the rooms that face the
front yard and the city. You can see a bit of the church from your
bedroom.”

Clarissa tilted her head, a single nod. “Thank you,
Maddy.”

They had agreed earlier to set aside formality and
call each other by first names from now on. Madeline was accustomed
to being called Maddy. At first it was only Henry who had called
her by such a name and then it had suddenly caught on until she was
Maddy to everyone as well.

Clarissa followed Maddy up the narrow staircase to
the second floor. At the moment Clarissa was the only dead resident
staying at the house. Henry and the others in the city had homes of
their own and after a time so would Clarissa. It was one of the
requirements that all ghosts asked for, a home of their own where
they could be at peace and feel safe. It was obviously something
left over from their living days.

Maddy told Clarissa about her grandson, Jackson. He
would be over some time tomorrow afternoon after school. A senior
in high school, he didn’t have any future plans for himself after
graduation. Maddy knew he would figure it all out in time. His
parents were constantly away on business trips and so left their
only son with his grandmother a lot. It was clear that he loved his
grandmother despite it being un-cool for someone his age to want to
hang out with an old woman. And it was clear that Maddy loved her
grandson unconditionally.

Jackson could see ghosts just as easily as his
grandmother. Another thing his parents found disturbing about their
son. Conversing with the dead was not something they approved of
and they secretly hoped that he would go away to college and forget
all about his grandmother’s gifts and her paranormal friends. But
so far Jackson had no intention of ever stopping his visits to St.
Augustine or his grandmother any time soon.

“
I hope your stay here will be pleasant
enough. I know it must be difficult sharing with a living. But I
promise that as soon as things can be arranged we will find you a
place of your own.”

They had by now reached the landing and were making
their way down the silent hallway to Clarissa’s room. “You must be
exhausted from your journey.” She opened the door on her left,
letting Clarissa walk through first.

Clarissa was tired, an improbability considering she
was dead and no longer needed sleep to survive. But she was wary.
She just wanted to rest in peace, to think about her new
circumstances and to simply relax her brain. Going to the window
that faced the front yard and the city, the river and sea coast
beyond. Lights illuminated the old city and somewhere out in the
night the flesh-eaters were taking down the living like cattle.

What did they look like, she wondered? What poor
soul was being taken down by them at this moment, exterminated by
the monsters of the night? It was a strange world she found herself
part of, the dead and the living so close yet never completely
united. The ghosts allowed them, the living, to be sacrificed to
these undead corpses and they thought that was okay. It wasn’t, not
by any standards okay to condone murder.

Clarissa drew the curtains closed, turning away from
the window, trying to block out the image of a living being
consumed by an animal of the night. Instead she took a close look
at her rooms. Her space consisted of a small sitting room which she
was now standing in. A connecting French door, that was now set
open, led into a moderately sized bedroom. The entire apartment was
outfitted in reproduction antiques, though some of the pieces were
likely authentic. The style of the décor was elegant and stately,
dating to a time in American history that enjoyed luxury, turn of
the twentieth century or slightly earlier.

“
Is there anything I can get for you?” Maddy
questioned as Clarissa moved about the sitting room, touching
objects as she passed: a crystal vase of flowers, a ceramic bowel
and pitcher, a lace doily that lay on a circular end table. She
touched these things because she wanted to see that she
could.

“
No, thank you though.” Clarissa responded
quietly, not looking at the woman, still lost in her own thoughts.
She took a seat on an upholstered arm chair, folding her pale hands
on her lap. She looked down at her hands, running her fingers along
her jeans. “I’m a little tired it’s true, but you don’t need to
fuss over me. I can take care of myself.”

Maddy nodded her head in understanding. “Okay,” she
said. “If you need anything, remember I’m in the room across the
hall from yours.” She backed out of the room, taking hold of the
brass doorknob. “Good night, Clarissa. I’ll see you in the
morning.” With that said, she pulled the door closed, leaving
Clarissa alone with her thoughts.

Chapter 4-

“
Did you rest all right last night, Clarissa?
Mrs. Connors told me over the phone that you kept your lights on
all night.” Eleanor had phoned the house earlier that morning for a
quick chat with Maddy and to see how her newest guest was
doing.