Unnatural Occurrence (An Anna Morgan Novella (Part 1)) (3 page)

I decided at the last moment to go in and make a report instead of calling the police. By the time I actually got to the station, I was ready to turn around and make a run for it. I might have even done that except for the wraith hovering nearby, ready to swirl around me until I was driven insane. I’d never been around such a determined and annoying spirit. I met Professor Young at the top of the steps of the police station.

“Just for the record, I think this is a very bad idea,” he stated for the tenth time. I held up a hand.

“I know. But this isn’t going away any time soon. I’ll go crazy if she continues to stalk me like this,” I said softly. “And…I don’t want to run from this anymore. I’m tired of looking away.” His eyes held mine and even though his jaw was locked and I could tell he really wanted to talk me out of going through the door, he nodded his head. He would help me as much as he could. I released a breath, unaware I’d been holding it, hoping he’d stay with me.

“Okay then, let’s do this and hope they don’t admit you,” he said, only half kidding. I flinched. Too close to my fears for comfort. I squared my shoulders and entered the station with Professor
Young and the wraith of Julie Reese.

“Excuse me, I’d like to make a report.” The
thin officer behind the glass looked up from the newspaper, his small, black eyes flitting over me and then briefly over Professor Young. He pulled out a notebook and picked up a pen.

“What kind of report?” He rasped out, his voice rough as if he smoked a pack or two a day, his eyes not meeting mine. His aura was
a muddy green…sickly and barely flickering. It wouldn’t be long before his aura would disappear altogether. Then he would be a wraith just like the one that hovered at my elbow.

“I’d like to speak with a detective to make a report, preferably in a room. I’m not going to do this standing here with all these people out here.” I motioned to the busy station. People were being booked, people were making statements. The place was a zoo.
The officer behind the glass raised an eyebrow.

“Listen, we don’t have the time or space to accommodate
special requests
,” he said. He was testing me to see if I’d back down, to let me know my place. I opened my mouth, to say what, I don’t know, but I was going to make sure he understood the importance of my report.

“We’d like to talk with Detective
Williams,” Professor Young interjected. I turned to look at him. “Tell him that Dr. Christopher Young would like to speak with him. He’ll want to see me, I’m sure,” he added. I raised a brow, but kept my mouth closed. The officer behind the glass stared us down a minute longer before huffing and placing a call.

“Detective Williams will see you,” he grumbled. Just then a door swung open and a tall, severe looking female officer asked us to
follow her. We didn’t say a word as we were led to the back of the police station and past several offices. The female officer, whose name tag read Sgt. Pallens, stopped outside of a door and jerked her head for us to enter.

“Dr. Young, what brings you
here to see me today? It’s been a while.” The detective, probably in his early forties, sat behind a small desk covered in files and papers. I had no idea how he was able to find anything. I watched him through my sun glasses. His face remained aloof, but his light brown eyes were sharp as he talked to the professor. He was taking in every single detail he could about me without even appearing to have noticed anyone else in the room. His attention to detail was disconcerting. I squelched the inexplicable need to hide behind Professor Young. I was being ridiculous of course, but I always felt uneasy when I was being scrutinized so intensely.

“Yes it has.” He motioned toward me, drawing the detective’s direct gaze to me. His eyes
studied my face, the contrast of his honey colored eyes to his espresso-colored skin was stark. His aura was glowing brightly, but I could tell it had once been
more
. There were several black stains upon his aura, as he’d been touched by darkness or death a few times. I imagined both were true. “I’ve brought a new student of mine to talk to you.” The detective raised a brow and asked us to take a seat.

“What can I do for you…I didn’t catch your name.”

“Anna. Anna Morgan,” I said softly.

“Anna, what brings you here?” he asked, his eyes never leaving my face. I glanced over at Professor Young and then over at the wraith, who was still following close beside me. I’m sure the motion was not lost on the detective. I took a deep breath.

“There was a girl in class on Monday. Her name was Julie Reese. She wasn’t in class today,” I began.

“You said was,” the detective interrupted. I snapped my mouth closed and nodded.

“Yes I did.” I looked up into the grayness, into the emptiness that once was a young woman, full of life and dreams and smiled sadly. “Julie Reese is dead.” The detective didn’t say anything at first as he weighed my words and my actions.

“And how do you know this?” he asked, his voice low, but not
giving away his own thoughts on the situation. I unclutched my hand from my lap and put a shaking hand up to my face. I slid my glasses down and met the detective’s stare without flinching. Except for the slight pupil dilation and a soft breath of air he sucked in, I wouldn’t have guessed the detective even noticed my eye.

“I’m not crazy,” I stated as a precursor. He blinked in surprise. That was not what
he expected me to say. Somehow I felt like that was a point in my favor. “I’ve never told anyone about my ability. Never. I only recently told Professor Young,” I stated. Detective Williams glanced over at the professor. The professor looked slightly ill. I knew how he felt.

“Go on,” he encouraged
in a very discouraging voice.

“
I died when I was three. I came back after seven minutes. Now I can see more things than a normal person. Unexplainable things.” He hadn’t said anything and his face gave nothing away. “Julie is dead. I know that because I saw her
after
she died. I saw her wraith…her ghost.” I pushed my glasses back into place and bowed my head. This is the part where he called me
crazy
and placed a call to the local psych ward. This is where he had me committed. This was going to suck so badly. After a few moments, the detective still hadn’t said anything. I sighed deeply and stood.

“You know what? We’ll just go
. I shouldn’t have bothered you,” I started.

“Sit down,” Detective Williams snapped. I immediately sat. The Detective looked peeved, his normal, stone-face demeanor had changed and he looked ready to throttle someone. Luckily, his ire was quite pointedly aimed at Professor Young. I wondered what had happened between them.

“I’m sorry,” Professor Young said softly. “You’re the only person I could think to bring her to,” he added. The detective’s jaw was grinding shut and a muscle ticked in his cheek. He was not happy at all.

“My past doesn’t mean I believe this young woman. It doesn’t affect my detective work or my
professional deductions.” His voice was serious, his eyes piercing Professor Young. The professor nodded in understanding. “If I look into this and I do find out that this young woman, Julie Reese, is dead or even
missing
, I will be knocking on your door to talk to you two. You will both be my prime suspects and I will put this entire conversation into my reports,” he snapped. I gulped. Oh crap, I hadn’t meant to drag the professor into this.

“I understand,” Professor Young said, his own voice more serious now.

“Where can I find you if I need to, Miss Morgan?” Detective Williams took out a pen. I opened my mouth only to slam it closed. I’d actually slept in my car the last three nights. I still hadn’t found a place to stay. I spread my hands out on my jeans and gave a little shrug. Crap.

“She’s staying at my place,” Professor Young offered. Detective Williams and I both raised a brow. News to both of us. “You remember the address?” he asked in the silence. Detective Williams clenched his jaw and nodded.

“Your
student
, huh?” he asked with a skeptical crease between his brows. They stared at each other. They definitely had a history there somewhere.

“Actually, I’m only auditing the class,” I piped in, breaking through the tense atmosphere.

“Indeed,” the detective answered without taking his eyes off of Professor Young. “I’m going to look into this with my partner.” His eyes finally swung back around to me. “I
suggest
you stay in town where I can find you if I need to.” I nodded and stood back up.

“Thank you, Detective,” I said softly. His nod of acknowledgement was almost imperceptible. We left the office quickly and didn’t breathe
easily until we stepped back out of the front doors.

“Well, that was interesting
,” I said, glancing up at the professor as he stared out at nothing in particular. “Let’s get going…
roomie
,” I added sardonically. He grimaced and looked over at me with an apologetic smile.

“I wanted to help, but now I’m seeing how this could be a problem.” He ran a hand through his hair, curls bouncing in agitation.

“I’ll only stick around until their investigation is finished. I’ll make sure I find something quickly…that is, if after all of this is over, you still want to go on with our agreement?”

Professor Young stared at me a moment before heaving a sigh. “We’ll talk about it once this is all over,” he offered. My shoulders sagged. This wasn’t going to end well. I was going to have to start figuring out what to do once I left North Carolina. Maybe move to Florida? Nah, too many tourists.

“I guess that’s all I can ask for,” I answered after my half-minute of self-pity was over.

“Follow me and we’ll get you settled in at my place for the duration of the investigation. Hopefully it will be over soon.” Geez, that was pointed.

“They will find her body. She is dead.” I felt the need to point that out to him as silly as it may have sounded. He believed me enough to stick his neck out and go with me to the police department, but I wasn’t so sure he actually realized what a dead body showing up on campus meant…for him and for me. Like the detective said—we were going to be prime suspects in a murder investigation. He descended the steps of the police station quickly and turned to talk to me as I followed.

“I understand more than you know,” he muttered.

I was left wondering what he meant as I drove behind him to his place.

Professor Young’s place wasn’t far from the college
. It was in a very nice part of the city where the apartment buildings had great security and, in most cases, a doorman. Once we were inside we stepped onto an elevator. I grasped the handrail along the wall of the elevator.

“Are you sure that’s all you have?” he asked when the door closed. I closed my eyes when the elevator lurched
and began climbing.

“Yup. This is all I have.” I patted the medium-sized duffle bag and smiled. The elevator
heaved again as it stopped. I groaned. When the doors finally opened, I made a hasty exit. Professor Young chuckled and withdrew his keys from his pants pocket.

“This is me,” he said as he opened the door to his apartment. I stepped inside behind him, taking i
n the huge space. The room was enormous, with windows on the far wall that stretched from floor to ceiling. The floors were a gorgeous, deep honey-colored wood and the furniture was a modern style dark brown leather. I walked further into the room, feeling more and more out of my comfort zone. There was a staircase that led up to a loft area which overlooked the living area. I could see the edge of a desk and several overflowing bookshelves up there. The professor had an amazing office space.

“My room is back there.” He pointed down a short hall. “It’s the last one at the end of the hallway. The first door on the right is a small guest
room with a bathroom directly across the hall. You’re welcome to use that room.” I nodded. Everything was crazy. How did I get to where I was? Oh, yeah, I decided to be a Good Samaritan and help the annoying wraith that decided to make my life a living nightmare. I sat my bag on the couch and then sat next to it with an
umph
.

“Professor Young, I really am sorry about this,” I began. I glanced over at him and offered up a weary smile. “I didn’t mean for this to happen and I’ll get out of your place as soon as this blows over.” I let my head fall back and rest on the couch
cushion behind me.

“Don’t worry about it, Anna. We’ll figure this out and if you’re still up to it in a few days, I’d love to go ahead with our plans to do some research and such.” My eyes widened and my mouth flopped open. He still wanted to exchange information? I nodded in agreement. “A coupl
e things though. You should drop out of my class first thing in the morning.” I smiled up at him.
That
I could do. He smiled back at me and ran a hand through his hair nervously. “Yeah, I figured that wouldn’t be a loss to you,” he said wryly.

“And what is the other thing?” I asked.

“Ah, well, since you’re
not
going to be my student anymore and we are kind of living together temporarily, I think you should call me Christopher.” He grinned broadly and I found myself smiling back like a goofy teenager bathing in his magnanimousness. Dude had game.

“I’ll try to remember that, but I gotta say
,
professor
suits you.” His smile dimmed a bit and I laughed. Let him figure out if that was a compliment or not.

“Would you like a soda or something to drink?” he asked as he disappeared behind the kitchen counter.

“Have any bottled water?” I asked.

“Sure do.” He tossed a bottle at me as he came around to sit down on a recliner across from me. I took a swig from my bottle and then sat it down on a coaster on the coffee table.
“So, why did you come to my class? Why did you decide to see if I’d be able to help you? You’ve had this since you were little. Why now?” he asked, his eyes searching mine. Ah, I was wondering when he was going to ask me that.

“
Well, when I was small, after the accident, I didn’t realize what I was seeing. My mom knew something was different, but her grief over losing my father blinded her to what was really happening. She thought I was just going through some weird things because of the accident. You know, trying to deal with death as best as a three-year-old could.” I swallowed and continued on. “It wasn’t until I went to kindergarten, a little over two years later, that she realized just how different I was after my father’s death.”

Professor Young smiled at me, inviting me to continue on with my story. I relaxed back into the comfortable sofa. I never talked this much. I wondered if he had once been a
shrink or something. He had the gift.

“
At first my teacher blew off my weirdness. Even after I told her she ‘had something in her tummy’ before she told anyone she was pregnant. I’d seen a special little spark in her, the life of her child in her womb. I had no idea that no one else could see all the pretty colors that I could see. I couldn’t remember how I was before the accident, only after.” I sighed. It had been so long ago and yet I could remember everything like it had happened yesterday.

“Then one day, which must have been months later, the spark wasn’t a spark anymore. It was a gray smudge hovering over her stomach. I had no filter, as most kids don’t, so I told her the spark in her tummy went out
and only grayness was left.” I glanced over at Christopher and shrugged. “You can imagine what happened. She was just freaked out enough to call her doctor and make an appointment. Her baby had died in utero. She thought the baby hadn’t been moving because she was almost due. She thought the baby was running out of space. But the baby had died. I didn’t take long after that or many more incidents for me to realize I wasn’t the same as everyone else. By second grade I had already figured out how to mostly ignore ghosts, auras, or anything else that would make my momma cry, people look at me strangely, and so on.”

“I’m sorry, Anna.” His face held sorrow for
my younger self and his aura pulsed such a deep blue that I thought for a second he might even cry. He didn’t, but it made me realize the depth of his compassion for others.

“Anyway, it wasn’t until after my mom died that I decided to really open myself up to my gifts again. The cops say she killed herself, but I know that’s not true. I just need to figure out what happened to her, to know what else is out there in the world, so I can be prepared.” Christopher
looked at me, his face a mask of thoughtfulness.

“What else?” he asked. “As in the paranormal? The unexplained?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is something truly evil was in my kitchen, something not
quite
human,” I whispered the last, but I know he heard me. I’d never said it out loud before. I felt a little silly saying it then. I was grateful that he didn’t laugh or have something snarky to say.

“Anyway,” I continued, “I was eighteen when my mom died. I sold our home and left about six months later to find anyone I could to teach me or to help me understand more about my abilities
, so I could really find out what happened to her. I’ve been traveling around the U.S. for three years now, picking up odd jobs to support myself—mostly waitressing and crap like that. I’ve slept my car more times than I care to admit, and I’ve run into dozens of dead ends and phonies. I was about to quit. You were my last lead. My last hope.” I took a drink of water and fiddled with the loose label.

Christopher looked taken aback. He was shaking his head.
“I can’t promise you anything, Anna. But, I will help you as much as I can. I’ll do everything in my power to help you come to understand your gifts and I hope that will lead you to the answers you’re looking for.”

I smiled and nodded. That was all I was asking for.
“So … what’s with you and Detective Williams?” I asked after a moment of awkward silence.

“Ah
,
that
I’d rather not discuss,” he said as he plucked his glasses from his pocket, picked up his bag, and brought out what looked like a planner.

“You guys obviously have a history. And from the way he looks at you with thinly disguised hostility,
I guess it isn’t a good kind of history.”

Christopher peered over the rim of his glasses at me and I choked back a laugh. Definitely the professor type. Nerdy.
Sexy nerdy. “You always ask so many questions?”

I flinched. Actually, I didn’t usually pry at all. I kept to myself and never got too close. I guess I was nervous or something. Trying to fill up the silence. I took another drink of my water and looked away.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I didn’t mean to snap.” He sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just been a long day and even though you’re right—we do have a history—I don’t have it in me to talk about that. I’ve tried to forget the entire incident for a long time now.”

I nodded my understanding. It wasn’t right for me to pry. “It’s okay. I didn’t mean to pry or babble. I’m not used to being around someone this much. I’m usually on my own. I try not to get too close to anyone.” I smiled over at him and picked up my water bottle to peel off the stupid plastic label.

Christopher stood and took his stuff up to his office space.

“That’s a gorgeous space,” I offered. Christopher came over to the edge and looked down over the bannister to the living area where I sat. He was smiling broadly.
“This office space was the clincher that sold me this condo. Once you get settled, you’ll have to come up and check out my bookshelves. I’ve got tons of reading material, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

I
beamed up at him. He might as well said here’s the key to all the treasure in the world. Books had been a friend to me when no friend would do.

Christopher came back down stairs a few moments later.
“Let me go check out the guest room and make sure it’s in decent shape,” he said as he looked around his place like he didn’t know what to do with himself. “I’m not used to visitors and I don’t think the guest room has even been used more than once or twice.” He marched down the hallway and disappeared into the spare bedroom.

There was a stack of various magazines on the coffee table. I snagged a few to look through until my room was ready. I should have told him not to even bother, I’m sure the room was a lot nicer than most of the places I’d stayed over the past few years. I’d been super frugal with the money my mom had left me, hoping to stretch it as far as possible since I traveled so much to find someone who could help me learn more about my gifts. I sat the two very boring magazines aside and unearthed a pile of fliers and
junk mail. One flier was lime green and touted the most epic toga party of the ages. I rolled my eyes.

Several fliers later I came across a light yellow one that advertised a masked party that would be celebrating the newest members of all the school’s elite sororities.
The party was going to be that evening. I held the flier in my hand and stared at the words for several moments. The wraith that had never left me—even if it had calmed since the classroom incident—began to swirl in agitation. I opened my senses up further and looked again at the flier in my hands. The tiniest of inky blackness still clung to the paper. I dropped the flier on the top of the table and stood quickly.

“Pro
fessor…
Christopher
?” I called out.

He stuck his head out of the door
of my new bedroom. “Yeah?”

I stared down at the paper and then closed my eyes. This was going to be even worse than outing myself to the police.

“Anna? What is it?” He came out of the room and now stood directly in front of me. I glanced over at the paper on his coffee table.

“You got plans for tonight?” I asked grudgingly.

“Uh, not really. Why?” He glanced over to where I was staring and his eyes widened.

“Do you happen to have any masks?” I asked
. “Looks like Julie wants us to go to a masked party,” I muttered.

“Bloody
hell.”

I agreed completely.