Love In The Wrong Dimension (Romantic Ghost Story) (5 page)

“
By talking to others who have been here for decades, even centuries. And then, as you experience it for yourself, it all seems to fall into place. It suddenly all seems so obvious. It does take time, though, to be able to communicate effectively with the living. You have to start with something simple, like a gentle touch and once you know how to do that, you’ll find it gets easier with practice.”

“
Oh. Will you show me now, on one of these people here?”

“
Yes, of course, but first I want to ask
you
a question.”

“
What?”

“
Why are you so desperate to talk to Alice? I mean, what makes you so sure that she can help you?”

Jemma wasn't sure what to say. How could she explain that Alice always knew what to do, had always advised and helped her whenever she got into a muddle – which was quite often – and that Alice had a profound intuition that hinted at her innate spirituality. It could well be that Alice wouldn't be able to help, but just hearing her tell her that she would be okay, would be a huge comfort and would give her the confidence to fight her way out of there. But she couldn't possibly expect Tom to understand that though, so, instead, she shrugged and said, “I just do. Please, Tom, just show me.”

So Tom got up and walked over to one of the people in the group, still in deep meditation. Jemma couldn't help noticing his tall, athletic build as he moved across the room. His clothes were a bit dated, but seeing that he died over 20 years ago, she could forgive him that. His dark brown hair was quite short, showing off his handsome face, and when he smiled, with that beautiful perfect mouth, she was shocked to find that her stomach did a little somersault.

“
I'm going to make this woman feel my hand brush against hers. Watch.”

And she watched. And she saw the deep concentration on his face, as he was thinking about what he needed to do, and then, at just the right moment, he gently ran his fingers along the woman's hand. She watched as the woman jumped and glanced down at her hand in surprise. She must have thought she'd imagined it, because she shut her eyes again quite quickly, and resumed her meditation. But she had seen Tom make contact with a living person, and it gave her hope.

Susie clapped at Tom's success, and promptly went over to tickle a woman on the nose, although nothing happened.

“
Damn!” she exclaimed. “I can hardly ever do it, it's sooo annoying.”

“
You're too young to concentrate that hard,” explained Tom. “Keep trying though, don't give up. You will get better at it.”

“
How old are you, Susie?” asked Jemma.

“
Nine,” she replied, “although I'd have been twenty nine now if I'd still been alive.”

It didn't take a genius to work out that Susie must have died 20 years ago then. Around the same time that Tom died. Were they related, she wondered. What was their connection here? How did they die?

She realised that there were so many questions she wanted to ask. Why were they trapped here in this dimension, and why were they haunting Jack's house? What were these circumstances relating to Tom's death, that he couldn't accept? And what about Max? Who was he, and why was he there? For the first time since she'd died, she realised, she was thinking about other people, and that had distracted her from her own problems – briefly.

She decided that she'd have plenty of time for questions later – if she was still around. Right now though, she just wanted to try and make contact with Alice, while she was still there. She walked over to where her friend was sitting and stood behind her. As she started to clear her mind, ready to concentrate, she looked up and saw Tom give her an encouraging smile. She smiled back, and realised that that was probably the first time he had seen her smile.

It felt like ages before she was ready. She felt her body relax as she closed her eyes and willed her mind to become more focused. She felt heavier and heavier as she concentrated harder and more intensely. Finally, somehow, she knew she was ready and, slowly, she leant over Alice, pursed her lips and gently blew on the back of her neck.

*****

“
Oh shit!” cried Alice, as she jumped up in shock. Everyone opened their eyes and looked at her.

“
I'm so sorry,” she mumbled, feeling herself blush.

Jack came to her rescue. “Tell you what guys, let's have a break. I'm sure you could all do with a drink. We'll lighten things up a bit for the last hour.”

As everyone dashed for the kettle, and the loo, Jack came over to her.

“
Are you alright?” he asked, his gorgeous brown eyes showing genuine concern.

“
Oh Jack, I'm sorry about that, but I felt something on my neck. I've been feeling really uncomfortable for a while, and that was just the last straw.”

“
What do you mean by uncomfortable?”

“
I'm not sure to be honest, but something's not right. I can feel a really strong presence and it's making me feel quite odd. I can't describe it.”

“
It's interesting you say that, because I've felt something too. Normally the presence here feels quite calm, but this afternoon, it's distinctly unsettled. Something's changed. Look, seeing that we both have similar feelings, why don't you stay after everyone's gone and we'll try to work out what's happening?”

Alice felt a warm glow wrap itself around her like a giant hug. Jack wanted her to stay after everyone else had left. Wow!

“
Sure. Okay, if that's alright,” replied Alice, trying to sound more casual than she felt.

As Jack went into the kitchen to check that everyone had what they needed, Alice wondered how Jemma was getting on at college. She was tempted to send her a quick text, but Jack had asked everyone to turn their mobiles off before they started, and she couldn't be bothered to dig it out of her bag now. And anyway, by the time she'd switched it on, it would be time to switch it off again. No, she'd wait until they'd finished, and then give Jemma a call. She couldn't wait to tell her all about the meeting, and Jack. She decided that tonight they'd snuggle up on the sofa, with a take-away and a bottle of wine, and tell each other every single detail of their day. What a perfect end to a great day!

An hour and a half later, the meeting was over and the last of the group had left. Alice and Jack were chatting leisurely while clearing away in the kitchen, when Jack suddenly stopped, turned around and looked behind him.

“
What's wrong?”

“
I don’t know, I just felt like I was being watched. I suppose I should be used to it by now. How about you? Do you still have the same feeling you had before?”

Alice nodded “It's really strong, and I swear that something or someone touched me before.”

As she finished drying a mug, she glanced, absent-mindedly, out of the window. How strange. There was a young boy standing outside in the garden, looking in and staring at her.

“
Jack! Who's that?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“
Where?”

“
Outside. The young boy. Does he live here?”

She turned back to the window, but the boy had gone. Oh well, she shrugged, probably some neighbour's kid.

“
Nevermind, he's gone now. Is it alright if I make some more coffee?”

Jack grinned, “Yes, that'd be great, thanks.”

Armed with their coffees, Alice and Jack went back into the living room and talked about their spiritual experiences. It felt so right, sitting next to him on the sofa and listening to him talk about his house, the group and the resident ghosts.

“
Jack?” Alice looked at him seriously. “Something did touch my neck earlier, honestly. It was very deliberate and I'm in no doubt that it was specifically intended for me. Don't ask me why, but I just have this really strong feeling that something's not right.”

“
There's no doubting your psychic skills,” he grinned. “But what about me? I'm the one who's got to sleep here on my own tonight.”

Was that a hint? Was he making a pass at her? She glanced up at him, but, once again, his face was completely deadpan. Damn!

Just then, Alice felt something touch her gently on her leg. “Aahh,” she screamed and jumped up in fright.

Jack laughed, as he picked up a very fluffy white cat. “Sorry about that. This is Casper. Where have you been all day, Puss?”

Casper looked disdainfully at Alice, before jumping down from Jack’s arms with a grunt.

“
I guess that's my cue to leave,” smiled Alice, getting up from the sofa.

“
Oh, don't take any notice of Casper, he just wanted to check you out.”

“
It's not Casper – he's lovely. I really do have to go though. If the spooks get too much before our next meeting, let me know and I'll come over and chase them away for you,” she flirted, as she switched her phone on. She wanted to send Jemma a quick text before she left to see if she fancied some wine and a takeaway tonight.

“
I might just take you up on that. What's wrong?”

“
I'm not sure. I've got about ten missed calls and four messages.” Alice dialled her voicemail to listen to the messages. When she'd finished listening, she looked at her phone with a worried frown.

“
What?”

“
The messages are from Jemma's college, asking me to call them urgently. Apparently, she had put me down as her next of kin. Oh Jack, something's wrong.”

As Alice dialled the number the college had left for her, she had a deep feeling of misgiving. The tiny knot of concern she had felt in her stomach a minute ago, was growing into a harder, tighter ball of fear.

Jack watched as Alice was put through to the Principal of the college, and saw her face turn white, before she passed out in front of him.

“
Alice. Alice. Wake up….
” Slowly Alice became aware of the distant, but persistent voice calling her name. She opened her eyes and looked up into Jack’s concerned face, his image becoming blurred as tears welled in her eyes. She tried to sit up, but she was shaking so much that she nearly passed out again. It had to be some mistake. The woman on the phone had said that Jemma was dead, but she couldn’t be.

“
I only saw her this morning,” she gasped, as great wracking sobs took over her body.

“
Who? Alice, what’s happened?”

“
It’s Jemma. Jemma’s dead. Oh my god!” Alice lost all sense of time and place as her grief overwhelmed her. She clung to Jack, desperate for him to tell her that the college had just called back and said they had made a mistake, that Jemma wasn’t dead. She’d just banged her head a bit, but now she’s fine. But of course, he didn’t. He just held her while she cried like she’d never cried before.

It was a couple of hours before she finally regained her composure, stood up and calmly thanked Jack for looking after her. As if in a trance, she picked up her coat, ready to leave.

“
Where do you think you're going?” asked a bemused Jack.

“
Home. I've burdened you enough already. Thanks again.” She was on autopilot and her voice was monotone and flat.

“
Are you going to stay with your parents?”

“
No, they're away right now. I'm going home, to our flat. My flat.”

Jack was incredulous. “No way! You're not going anywhere. You can stay here with me, you shouldn't be on your own right now.”

“
Oh, Jack, that's really sweet of you, but I'm not exactly good company right now and ….” Alice's voice tailed off as she ran out of things to say. She was drained and didn't have any strength left to argue.

So Jack showed her to the spare room, jumped in his car, and drove to her flat to pick up some clothes and toiletries, came back and made her some beans on toast. He left her alone when she needed to cry, and listened patiently when she had wanted to talk about Jemma and her memories of their friendship.

“
How are you feeling?” asked Jack a few days later, as he brought a cup of tea to her room.

“
Okay.” She answered, her voice sounding small. She was sitting by a small dressing table in Jack's spare bedroom, putting the final touches to her make-up. It was a peaceful room, small and uncluttered with cream walls and pale blue curtains. The only furniture was a single bed, a small wardrobe and a dressing table and stool. It was all she needed.

Jack's kindness had touched her deeply. She had known him such a short time, and yet, he had let her stay with him, here, in his house, in this safe, calm room. She somehow felt closer to Jemma in this house, she wasn't sure why, but it was a comfort to her.

But, today was the day she had been dreading. How was she going to face everyone, to smile through her grief whilst burying her best friend?

“
We need to make a move,” Jack came over and gently put a hand on her shoulder. “It'll take a couple of hours to get down to Kent, and we need to allow for traffic.”

“
Okay,” Alice nodded at Jack and got up from the stool. “Thank you, Jack,” she whispered, “I don't think I could've faced today if it hadn't been for you.”

Jack smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “Come on, let's go.”

They didn't talk much during the journey to Stenhurst, a pretty little village in the heart of Kent. Jemma's aunt, Tess, had wanted to bury her there, close to the town where Jemma had grown up and near to her mother's grave. Tess had offered to organise everything, which had been such a relief. She dreaded to think what kind of funeral Jemma would have had, if she'd been left to organise it.