Under a Ghostly Moon (Jerry Moon Supernatural Thrillers Book 1) (30 page)

"
A blighted place?" he whispered to himself.  "I wonder what's under there…"

Fifteen minutes later Sonia and Avril came downstairs and stood on either side of the doorway, presenting Ellie in her new role of Goth chick.  Moon had to admit that it suited her very well.  Her long blonde hair was held back with a fluffy black elastic tie, emphasising the heart shape of her face, which was covered in white base on which someone, Moon guessed Avril, who was good at such things, had painted a delicate spider web coming up around her right eye to her scalp. The spider itself dangled from beneath her lower lid like a black teardrop with a small red, adhesive gem for the body.  The rest of her eye make-up was a cunning combination of purples and pinks, which was complemented by the dark, sparkly purple of her lip gloss.  The spider theme continued to her ears, from which dangled tiny silver spiders and the top of her dress, which Moon recognised as one of Avril's, who was more Ellie's size.  It had a frill of black spider-web lace around the neck-line and a silver locket shaped like a dangling black widow hung amongst it, just above her generous cleavage.  The dress was corseted, with black silk ribs outlining dark purple taffeta panels, and it flounced out around the hips like a French maid's outfit, showing more spider web ruffles and a hint of frilly black panties.  Neither Avril nor Sonia wore Ellie's size in tights so Sonia had lent her a pair of spider-web stockings.  These left a larger than normal gap at the top of her long legs, which Moon couldn't help noticing - and found difficult to stop noticing once he had started.  The stiletto-heeled ankle boots with silver tips were Sonia's as well.  "You look... great!" said Moon, trying to walk the narrow tightrope between complimenting the girls on their efforts and upsetting Sonia by over-enthusing about how gorgeous her friend looked.  "And you both look stunning as well," he said to Avril and Sonia, who were also decked out in their Gothic finery.

"
Charmer," replied Sonia, flashing her Internet fangs.  "But you're far too dowdy to go out with us now.  Grab him, girls!"

Their
taxi arrived ten minutes later and the driver gave Moon a quizzical look as he climbed into the front seat.  "Halloween come early has it?" he asked dryly after they had told him their destination.

"
Something like that," replied Moon, from behind a mask of Goth make-up.  He gestured with his eyebrows towards the girls in the back seat.  "It wasn't my idea," he whispered.

"
Oh?" replied the cabby, nodding to confirm his membership of the brotherhood of long-suffering males.  "The things we do for love, eh?"

They arrived at the Hangman's Rest just after quarter to nine.  Moon paid the taxi driver, who gave Ellie's legs one final long appreciative look before driving off towards the city centre.  "Are you sure I shouldn't have worn a longer dress?" asked Ellie, as she hitched down her taffeta frills and tried to pull her stockings up further.

"
No, you look fantastic," replied Avril, shaking her head enviously.  "I just wish I had your problems."

"
Foin lookin' doxy you 'as there, mate,"
whispered a villainous-looking spirit, who often haunted the entrance of the car park.  He leered suggestively at Ellie. 
"'Ow much?"
he asked Moon, winking lewdly at the girls.

"
Not for sale, George,"
Moon vibed back.

"
Buggery!"
swore the ghost. 
"An' Oy does loike moy doxies.  Are 'ee sure, Moon?"

"
Of course he's sure,"
replied Sonia, who was listening in on the conversation. 
"Now, sod off!"

"
She'm got a mean mouth on 'er fer a sickly lookin', toiny titted 'ore, that one,"
said George, frowning and pointing at Sonia.

"
You're no oil painting yourself, Puss-face!"
retorted Sonia, shooting a dagger-filled glare at the lusty spook.

"
Sonia, we're not alone!"
interjected Moon, nodding at their companions and taking Sonia by the arm. 
"See you later, George."

"
Hey! I can hear you,"
vibed Sonia in surprise.

"
Yes, it has possibilities, doesn't it?"
observed Moon.  This was the first time he had used silent ghost speak around Sonia since she had begun to develop her own psychic gifts and it hadn't occurred to him that they might be able to communicate that way.

"
Is something wrong?" asked Ellie.  "Sonia, are you sick?"

"
No, I just felt a bit nauseous there for a second.  I'm fine now."

"
Are you sure you don't want to go into the main bar and sit down? We could get you a glass of water."

"
No, I'm alright; let's just get into the gig.  Okay?" Sonia looked up at Moon. 
"Who was that little maggot?"
she asked in ghost-speak as they headed towards the sound of
Blood Velvet's
opening number. 
"One of the bits of gallows' bait you said haunt this place?"

"
Actually, Gallows George was the local hangman a few hundred years ago.  He stays around because he misses the old days."
Moon grinned. 
"These days he has several fast friends among the people he executed.  Funny old world, isn't it?"

"
If you say so…" 
Sonia was still fuming at being mistaken for a Georgian prostitute… a prostitute with the ‘Pox’, to add insult to injury, if she had interpreted George’s scorn filled comments correctly.

They were joined by Roger, who had been waiting for them outside the function room door. The ticket desk was the same beer-stained bar table at which Moon had first met Sonia and Avril several months earlier.  This time it was being manned by the diminutive Ragger and his girlfriend Suzy, who was a stunningly attractive white-blonde Amazon of a punk-goth.  The sides and back of her hair were shaven in a kind of shaggy Mohawk, which showed off a coiled dragon tattoo that ran around the back of her head from left to right.  Suzy was over six feet tall and had piercings in just about any place you could conceivably have one.  When Ragger had first introduced Moon to Suzy he had thought the two of them were an odd couple.  However, he had come to know them both on a more friendly basis over the numerous visits he had made to the
Rest
since then and had grown to appreciate the strength and love in their apparently mismatched relationship.  Suzy was rather shy, despite her size and taste in metal-wear, and Moon suspected they had both been victimised at school because of their unusual heights, which possibly explained the powerful bond that had grown between them now.

"
Hi, Moon, how goes it?" asked Ragger, treating their company to a cheeky grin.  He noticed Ellie.  "Hey! A new face, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"
Hi Ragger, this is Ellie, she's a friend of Sonia's; Ellie, meet Suzy and Ragger, two stalwarts of the Hangman's Rest."

"
Oh, I'm a bit too short to be a stalwart," said Ragger, self-effacingly, "although some people might agree to the 'wart' part." He grinned again and stuck out his hand.  "Nice to meet you, Ellie, and welcome to the
Rest
."

"
Pleased to meet you," replied Ellie, shaking his hand with obvious amusement.  "And you too, Suzy." She smiled up nervously at the tattooed and pierced Amazon who towered over her.

Suzy smiled shyly and muttered a muted,
"Nice to meet you."

"
The great buff and beautiful one told me to put aside some tickets for you," said Ragger, whose impression of Uri hadn't improved over the last few months.  Grabbing a rubber stamp from the table, he pressed it onto the back of Moon's hand, leaving the black outline of a grinning skull with a rose in its teeth imprinted on his skin.  As he did this Ragger caught Moon's eye, looked over at Ellie and whispered conspiratorially, "Wow! Legs!" then rolled his eyes and whistled softly.

"
Yeah," Moon whispered and nodded.  "Quite phenomenal, aren't they?"

"
Are you two through with ogling my friend?"
vibed Sonia testily. 
"Or do you want me to ask her to let you have a closer look… If she can avoid treading on your tongues, that is?"

Moon
was beginning to wonder if being able to communicate with Sonia by vibing was a good thing
.  "Sorry, love, but you have to admit they are very nice legs, and you and Avril have displayed them to wonderful effect.  Blokes just can't help being appreciative of that sort of thing."

"
Okay, but just remember that I'm wearing a miniskirt too.  A few more appreciative glances in my direction wouldn't go amiss!"

Moon checked out Sonia
's short but shapely legs.  They looked very nice under a pair of fine, slightly sparkly, black tights with a border of stylised batwings running down the outside seam. 
"Your legs are lovely,"
he replied truthfully. 
"It's just, well, stockings... You know, that little gap at the top does strange things to the male libido."

"
You never told me that you had a lingerie fetish."
They entered the function room and were greeted by a wall of sound and heaving bodies.

"
I don't,"
replied Moon petulantly
.  "No more than any other guy, anyway.  I think it's just plumbed into our genes. You know, like poor personal hygiene and an aversion to weepy movies."

"
What does everyone want, it's my shout?" asked Moon as loud as he could over the sound of the band.  Blood Velvet were playing one of their livelier numbers.  It was called 'Violet Moonshine', and combined a traditional gypsy violin dance tune with Roanne's heavy bass guitar and ethereal vocals, all supported by a strong, pulsing rhythm from Charli on drums.  Uri leapt around the small stage like an electrified demon and sawed at his violin with his bow, so passionately that Moon would not have been surprised to see smoke rising from the strings.  Down at the front of the audience several Uri look-alikes of assorted shapes and sizes attempted poor impersonations of his style.  "God, he’s got his own fan-club," Moon muttered under his breath.

"
Sad, isn't it?" yelled Avril, nodding to indicate a particularly chubby Uri clone.  "They don't seem to be able to understand that they look utterly absurd!"

Moon glanced
surreptitiously at Avril's generous figure, trussed up in an artful combination of black lace, purple velvet and corsetry – all combined with well applied make-up to give her the required blood-starved undead look. Thoughts of pots and kettles filled his head.  "Aw, give the guys a break," he yelled.  "They're enjoying themselves.  Where's the harm in it?"

Despite the crowd at the bar, it didn't take long for Moon to get attention because Kate was serving and she was still pleased with him for the free publicity his article had given the
Hangman's Rest
.  Leaving the bar with their drinks on a tray, Moon found his way blocked by a mass of gyrating bodies. 
"Where are you?"
he vibed at the top of his ghost-voice. 
"Over here!"
The replies came from several different directions, but Moon recognised Sonia's vibe and studiously ignored the beckoning arms of an assortment of spirits situated around the room. He made his way carefully to a small table in an alcove, where the girls had established themselves out of the main blare of the music.

"
They're really good!" Ellie shrieked over the music, nodding towards the band.

Moon nodded his head vigorously then paused in mid-nod as he glanced towards the stage
.  Wispy blue tendrils of spirit energy drifted towards the stage, where they coalesced into three distinct streams that seemed to earth themselves in the foreheads of each of the vampires.  He vibed Sonia and nodded at the stage,
"Do you see?"

Sonia
gazed at the band. 
"Yeah, I think I do.  Do you think they’re feeding off the audience, somehow?"

Moon nodded. 
"Uri told me about this, they feed off the energy and belief generated by their fans.  He reckons it's totally benign but it's still weird to watch it happen."

"
I think it's actually quite beautiful,"
replied Sonia. 
"A true symbiosis, they give the audience music and a really great time and we give them power."

"
Plus plenny to spare!"
It was one of the ghosts who had answered Moon's hail earlier on.  Up close, Moon recognised him as Dick, the card-sharp, who haunted the window corner in the main bar and, to Moon's surprise, he was glowing with bright blue energy.

Moon
watched tiny sparks of lightning flickering at the edges of the ghost's translucent frame. 
"So all that's caused by the energy build up in here?"

"
Aye, an' it's wunnerful.  All this life energy fillin' the place gives a body a real boost."

"
Who's your friend?"
asked Sonia.

"
Sonia, this is Dick.  I don't really know much about him except that he haunts the barroom."

Dick doffed his floppy hat, revealing the thin bald dome of his skull, and said,
"Richard Reese M'dear, gen'lman gambler an' frien' t' the ladies."

"
And that's a line I bet you've used a million times,"
replied Sonia.  Clearly charmed in spite of herself by Dick’s shabby brand of gallantry.

"
Hey everybody!" squealed Ellie excitedly, pointing in the general direction of Dick.  "Do you see a kind of glow in the air over there?"

"
Best scarper,"
vibed Dick.  He quickly blinked out of sight and appeared an instant later, elsewhere in the crowd.

"
Oh, it's gone," said Ellie disappointedly.

"
I suppose it was just a trick of the light, love," replied Sonia. 
"Might have guessed she'd be a borderline psychic with the number of late-night discussions we've had on the subject,"
she vibed to Moon.

"
Yeah," said Moon.  "There's a lot of smoke in the air in here, I guess an oddly shaped wisp got caught in one of the stage lights."

"
You must be right," Ellie agreed reluctantly.  "But just for an instant there it looked like a face.  Old places like this, you know, they soak up a lot of psychic energy." Moon nodded in mild agreement, as if it were something to which he hadn't given much thought.

Avril looked sharply at Moon and Sonia
.  She clearly thought something supernatural and dangerous was going on.  "It's okay," Sonia mouthed to her flatmate while Ellie's head was turned towards the stage.  “I’ll tell you later.”

They stopped trying to communicate over the music and sat back to enjoy the show.  When Uri announced their next number, 'Lilies and Lace', Sonia dragged Moon to his feet announcing, "We're going to dance to this one, see you later guys."

The song was a slow, romantic number with a waltz-like
beat.  Uri's violin added a clear and soulful counterpoint to the combination of Roanne's soprano and Charli's keyboard accompanied mezzo-soprano.  "This is beautiful," commented Moon, as he and Sonia held each other tightly on the dance floor.

"
Yes, I've been wanting to dance to this one with you ever since we first met," she replied, reaching up with her mouth and kissing him.