Chasing Midnight (Dark of Night Book 2) (8 page)

“Nana, are you sure you want to try to do this?” That was Patrick’s deep voice.

“Hush now, boy. I’m almost ready. You’ll see. I ain’t no crazy person.”

I moved away from the tree I’d been leaning on, into the funnel of light from Patrick’s flashlight. “I’m here.”

Nana walked over, taking my hand. “I’m so glad you came, child. Here, you sit over here. I’m all set.”

I hunched down between two fallen headstones next to Patrick. He’d traded his black leather jacket for a pale green hoodie and dark jeans. Even the metal piercings he normally had in his face were gone. If it weren’t for the neck tattoo, he’d look just as he had when we were little. As it was, his face was soft, vulnerable, and a bit wide-eyed. He was as uncomfortable as I was. It made me feel a little better.

Nana was busy sprinkling some crushed herbs on the ground and lighting candles. I watched, fascinated, as she prepared for the ritual. I wasn’t sure what I expected, maybe a live goat or something, but it all seemed pretty benign. Finally, she lit a thick sage stick and blotted it out, letting the smoke dance through the air like half-formed apparitions.

“It’s time,” she declared, motioning for us to come to her.

Patrick and I exchanged a wary glance, reluctantly standing and walking over to her.

“Hold hands now,” she ordered. We obeyed and she began to chant, first in a language I didn’t recognize and then she broke into English, the words rolling off her tongue like butter. “Spirit from beyond, we call you to us now. Speak, bear witness, we are here to listen.”

Patrick repeated after her, and then I joined in until the three of us were chanting in unison. Nana’s eyes were closed, but mine were wide and alert as I chanted. I kept searching the darkness for some sign of… something. Nana’s hand shivered under mine, and goose bumps crawled up my back and into my neck.

“She’s here.”

As Nana spoke, I saw a young woman in a gauzy crème dress gliding towards us. As she got closer, her features sharpened, came into focus. It was an old-fashioned dressing gown, the kind people used to wear to bed. Her hair was dark and a mess of waves. Her face was gaunt, her features sharp, her mouth thin. Patrick dropped my hand, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the woman standing behind Nana. Slowly, the woman moved until she was standing in front of me.

Nana’s head came up, her eyes flying open. “Sue, this girl is like my own kin. I told you that she would come to help.”

“Sue Hardy?” I asked. I’d never been able to find a photo of her before she died. According to my research, she died in 1888, after a very difficult childbirth where the baby was lost. Everything else was just conjecture.

“I am. You have come for the girl?” she asked, her voice stern and cold.

“Nana says you saw something, a young woman being killed.”

Sue pointed to the tree. “It was right there, not four nights past. The girl was heavy with child. A man came and they talked for a while, then he put his hands around her neck and killed her. I tried to follow them, but he dragged her out there, to a shiny carriage with no horses. I wept for the mother and her babe. Elsie says you can help.”

Before I could speak, Nana asked, “Is the girl’s spirit still here? Can you tell me what she looked like? Anything?”

Sue shook her head sadly. “No. No rest. No peace. Forever separated from her child…” Her voice grew shrill and she cried out, a terrible sound like a train whistle making me cover my ears.

I looked to Nana. “I’m sorry. I believe that something happened, but with no name and no body, I don’t even have a physical description of the victim. I don’t know what I can do.”

Sue stopped wailing. “No, you must help! You must put them to rest!”

“I don’t think I can. I’m so sorry. I mean, I’ll go look through some missing person’s reports, but that’s about all I can do. I want to help, but without a description, I just can’t do much.”

The spirit of Sue Hardy wailed one more time and vanished.

“I don’t think she likes that answer,” Patrick said, his voice shaky.

I turned to Nana. “I’m so sorry, Nana. I’ll do what I can. But honestly, people vanish every day. There’s just not much to go on.”

She patted my hand. I hadn’t realized I was still clutching it like a frightened child.

“It’s alright, darlin’. You do what ya can. The rest is up to God now.”

i

I practically ran back to my car. Adrenaline pumped like acid through my veins, making me shake and twitch. By the time I got home, I was in full-on letdown. It was all I could do to drag myself up the stairs and into a shower. Shane was either gone or asleep, which was fine. I was not ready to talk about my experience. In fact, all I wanted to do was wash that entire night down the tub drain. I stood under the pounding hot water, letting the heavy, warm air fill my lungs as the water massaged away the knots in my back. Lifting my head, I closed my eyes, rinsing out the last of my coconut-scented conditioner.

When I opened my eyes, I screamed. My brain didn’t have time to make sense of what I was seeing before, clutching the curtain, I fell sideways out of the shower and onto the cold, tile floor. There was a loud crack as my head came down, and the last thing I saw just as everything faded to black was the grey-blue eyes of Sue Howard Hardy.

i

I woke up to the sound of ominous mechanical beeping. I was sitting up, the familiar pinch of tape across my inner elbow, the lights dim. I pitched forward in a moment of confusion and the room spun. Moaning, I brought my hand to my forehead only to discover a large, square bandage. Next to me, a chair squeaked.

“How are you feeling?” Shane asked, making me turn slowly to look at him.

“Like I was hit by a bus.” I leaned back cautiously into the stack of pillows. “What happened?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you. I heard you scream. By the time I got to the bathroom, you’d fallen out of the shower onto the floor and you were lying in a puddle of blood.”

I touched my head again, and ribbons of pain unrolled behind my eyes. “I hit my head.”

“Yes. Hard too. The doctor did a CAT scan. Said everything looked okay. But you’ve been out for a long time, Isabel.” Shane pulled his chair closer to the bed and held my hand. The one with the monitor attached to my index finger.

I glanced behind him. “You didn’t call my mom, did you?”

“What? Like I’m a rookie?”

I exhaled in relief. The last thing I wanted was my mother playing worried hen and annoying the nurses. I squeezed his hand gently.

“So…”

Blinking, I tried to coax the memory out. I knew it was in there, rattling around in my brain. I could feel it, like a word caught on the tip of my tongue. Just out of reach.

“I was in the shower…”

“Yes, I worked that out for myself. The water and general nudity were a dead giveaway.”

“Shush. I’m trying to remember. I was in the shower… and I turned around and…” Nothing. It was blank. “I just can’t seem to… wait a minute. Did you bring me in here naked?” I stared at Shane in horror. I mean, it was the ultimate case of adding insult to injury.

He shook his head. “I put your robe on first.”

Thank heavens. Like it wasn’t bad enough to have fallen in the shower like some old lady, the idea of him carrying me into the ER in the buff might have killed me. It was at that moment that the doctor walked in. For a second, I thought my eyes were going fuzzy. I strained, staring at the young doctor who, as he came into clear focus, looked remarkably like a very young Tom Cruise.

I touched my bandage again, absently wondering just how hard I’d smacked my head.

“Hello. I’m Doctor Hines. How are you feeling, Mrs. Stone?” he asked, his voice mildly detached.

“Isabel, please. And I’m fine. Just slipped in the shower or something. Silly really.” I began folding down the bed sheets. “So if you don’t mind, I’ll just be heading home.”

Shane stood, glancing at the doctor with a nervous expression before the doctor walked over and motioned for me to stay down.

“Isabel, your CAT scan came back normal, but the fact remains that you have a serious concussion.”

Doctor hottie proceeded to walk me through a gamut of exercises like, squeeze my hands, follow my finger, and lame questions before he scribbled on his notepad and backed away, pushing the lever to bring the lights in the room to full brightness. I squinted, and it felt like someone had punched me in the back of the head.

“I’d like you to stay the night for observation.”

“Sorry, Doc. I mean, thanks for patching me up and all, but I need to be getting back to the office.”

The doctor glanced at Shane, as if looking for support. The look Shane gave him clearly said
,
You are on your own, buddy.

“Isabel, with head trauma like this, there are always risks. I really—”

I cut him off. “You don’t seem to understand. I’m leaving. You can sign that little piece of paper and let me out of here nicely, or I’ll just wait till you turn your back and climb out of a window. But I’m not staying.” My voice was getting high, hysterical. I could hear it, but I didn’t seem to have any control over it. “Besides, Shane lives with me. He can keep an eye on me at home. First sign of problems and I’m right back here. Scout’s honor.”

The doctor narrowed his eyes, clearly unhappy. “Fine. I’ll let the nurses know that you are leaving, against my advice.”

He bustled out of the door, only too ready to have me in his rearview, judging by his dismissive wave. What can I say? Hospitals bring out my inner brat.

“Isabel, maybe you should—”

I cut Shane off too. “Unless your next words are stop and get something to eat on the way home, I don’t want to hear it. Hand me my robe.”

He obeyed, looking concerned and amused at the same time.

Before you could say jailbreak, we were on the way home, Shane driving, me in the passenger seat with my eyes squeezed closed, trying not to vomit as the car turned into a nauseating rollercoaster. I didn’t make him stop for food, but as soon as I was through the door, I wished I would have. Being on solid ground, the seasickness had passed and my stomach was growling.

“How long was I in the hospital?” I shouted as Shane rummaged in the kitchen.

“You were out for almost eight hours.”

“Eight hours?” I couldn’t believe it. You’d think sleeping that long, I’d have felt more rested. But as it was, I felt like I’d just run a marathon. Every muscle in my body ached and despite the lovely little pills the hospital had given me before my departure, my head was pounding.

I was curled on the sofa under my grandmother’s soft green quilt, just on the cusp of dozing off, when he poked his head in.

“How about some soup?”

My stomach gurgled angrily. “I don’t think that’s gonna cut it, Shane. Why don’t you order a pizza?”

He smiled. “Already done. I was joking about the soup. We don’t have any.”

“What would you have done if I’d wanted the soup?”

He looked at me and rolled his eyes. “You haven’t eaten since last night. I thought the pizza was a safe bet.”

He was right. At some point, in the middle of a slice of thick crust meat lover’s, I fell asleep.

And I remembered.

In the dream, I was sitting under a huge rainbow umbrella at Folley Beach. The sky was so blue it could have been a painting, the surf rolling gently on the horizon, and the milky foam kissing the copper sand. I dug my toes in, loving the feel of the beach under my feet. But I wasn’t alone. There was another chair beside me, a woman I didn’t know. I closed one eye, staring at her silhouette as the sun perched behind her. Her clothes were strange, a long, black dress with white, sailor-like trim and black stockings. She looked… uncomfortable.

“Why don’t you take off the panty hose at least, get a little sun on your legs? It’s good for you,” I offered, stretching my legs past the shade of the umbrella and into the sunshine. I could feel them warm instantly.

“Oh no. I wouldn’t want to give the gentlemen the wrong impression,” she said with an air of prudishness.

“Whatever. Suit yourself.”

I leaned back into the chair, looking away from her and back up to the sky. Then a familiar face came into view, and I smiled. Shane held out his hand, water dripping from his shaggy hair and rolling down his bare torso. He had a deep tan borne of a summer of surfing. His face was bright, his blue eyes gleaming mischievously. I gave him a long look over. His long, red board shorts came down low enough to reveal the perfect ripples of his lower abs. I bit my bottom lip.

“You are a wild thing, aren’t you? Positively scandalous,” the woman next to me chastised, her voice more playful now.

“It’s okay. I’m allowed to gawk,” I responded. “He’s my husband.”

As the words tumbled out of my mouth, I frowned. It was wrong. He wasn’t my husband. Suddenly, nothing made sense. Everything was just a little off, just a step to the left of what it was supposed to be. I looked back to my companion. Now she was standing, wearing a simple white nightdress and lace shawl, her hair wild around her face. She was pale, thin. Sickly looking, my mother would say. The blue sky was gone, replaced by low, grey clouds. The wind whipped past, making my arms break out in goose bumps. I forced myself to relax into the cold, knowing that tensing would make the bite of it worse.

I looked around. The beach was gone. No tide and surf. Shane was gone too. In his place, a monolithic marble statue of an angel holding her head in her hands, her frozen wings wide. I was in the cemetery. A fresh wave of goose bumps broke out that had nothing to do with the crisp air.

“Sue?” I moved toward her in slow, sleepwalking steps. “How are you here? I thought you couldn’t leave the cemetery?”

“There was only one way.” She looked up at me, her petite frame straight and bold. “I’m so sorry I had to do this. But I needed you to see.”

I nodded. “Show me what you saw.”

Behind her, a man was moving toward them. He was tall, lean, and wearing what looked, even in the soft moonlight, like a very expensive, well-tailored black suit. His shiny shoes gleamed as he moved with swift deliberation past us, through us, as if he couldn’t even see us. He strode forward. We followed, past the old, faded headstones in the direction of the towering willow tree where a young woman leaned against a mausoleum. She must have heard him coming because she turned, her floral print dress dancing across her knees and pulling up tight around her bulging belly. With one hand, she flipped her golden ponytail over her shoulder and approached him with her arms folded across her chest. She looked unimpressed, disappointed maybe.

“That’s the girl,” Sue whispered.

I nodded but said nothing. It was magic, what I was witnessing, and I didn’t want to break the spell.

“What are you doing here?” the young woman demanded, reaching into her purse and pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.

“You know why I’m here. You sure that’s a good idea?” he asked, pointing to the smokes.

“You my dad now?” she snapped.

Reaching into his inner jacket pocket, he snorted. “He asked me to give you this.”

He handed her a plain white envelope, which she snatched, stuffing the cigarettes back in her purse. Sliding a sharp fingernail under the edge, she tore it open and pulled out a slip of paper.

She stared at it, slack-jawed, and then glared at him. “What is this?”

The man tucked his hands into his pockets. “You can either use it to take care of the situation on your own, or leave town. Either way.”

She looked back down at the check, her face slipping from anger to bare sadness. “He wants me to leave?”

“You have to know that this is a bad situation for him. The slightest whiff of scandal and it’s all over for him. You don’t want that to happen, do you? You know what this means for him.” The man reached out as if to put a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away.

“I don’t believe you. He loves me.”

“He loves you enough to give you this. It’s more than I would have done.” He brushed off his sleeve.

She tore the check in half and tossed it at him. “Forget it. I don’t want his money.”

“Fine. Either way, he doesn’t want to see you. You can’t call him or go back to the office. You need to disappear for a while. Let things cool off. He’ll get in touch with you when he can.”

Her face fell. “He doesn’t…” She stammered, “He doesn’t want to see me?”

“How did you think this would end? Did you honestly think he’d leave his wife and kids, throw away his career, and run off into the sunset with you? His nineteen-year-old intern?”

She struck in the blink of an eye, slapping him across his face. She was crying, her damp cheeks glistening in the moonlight. He straightened and then slapped her back, sending her sprawling to the ground with a surprised shriek.

“You dumb bitch.” He kicked her and she cried out, grabbing her belly. “You think that little bastard you’re carrying makes you something special? You. Are. Nothing. Just another one of the mistakes I have to keep sweeping under the rug.” He kicked her again, and she started screaming for help.

“Shut up!” he demanded. Reaching down, he grabbed her by both arms and pulled her to her feet. Shaking her hard, he pulled her close to his face. “I said, shut up.”

She was choking back the sobs, whimpering through pressed lips. He put his hand over her mouth, and she bit down. He cursed and spun her so her back was pressed against him. She started screaming again. His hands flew to her neck, cutting off the sound. They struggled. All I could see was him, squeezing her with his back to me. I launched forward, ready to pull him off her. I didn’t connect. My hands passed right through him.

“No!” I screamed, as if the word would make him tangible, could somehow end the grizzly scene. But it didn’t. A few seconds later, the girl fell to the ground, her eyes glassy and open.

The man cursed, kicking her lifeless body. Then, after a few moments, he grabbed her, lifting her into his arms and dragging her off in the direction of the parking lot.

I blinked, and they were gone. As if they were the ghosts and we were the real people. Turning to Sue, I groped for the words but came up empty.

She was crying quietly, kneeling in the bluegrass. “Now you’ve seen,” she said after a minute.

I nodded. “Thank you for showing me this. I’ll find him. I promise I’ll find him.”

She looked up at me, her eyes impossibly arctic blue. “I know you will. I can’t leave until you do.”

“What do you mean?”

She tapped her head. “I’m here now. I can’t let go until it’s done.”

I jerked awake, dropping my half-eaten slice of pizza onto the carpet.

“Whoa there, turbo. It’s alright. You fell asleep. The doc said I should keep you awake, but you looked so tired. Then you started moaning, so I woke you up.” Shane was rubbing my arm, soothing me.

“Excuse me.” I practically shouted it as I jumped up and bolted for the bathroom.

“Sure, I’ll just clean this up,” he hollered after me, his voice teasing.

I slammed the door shut and locked it. The shower curtain was still splayed across the wet floor, still a small, sticky patch of my blood crusting over on top of it. I turned to the mirror, bracing myself on the sink.

Deep breath
s
, I told myself.

Turning on the hot water, I splashed my face, and then reached for the hand towel. As I looked up into the mirror again to dry myself off, I noticed something off.

My normally dark brown eyes had a rim of bright blue around the outer edge.

“What the…?”

That’s my faul
t
, a voice whispered in my head.

Not my voice.

I spun around, gripping the edge of the sink behind my back as the towel fell to the floor. “Who’s there?”

It’s m
e
, the voice said calmly.

It was formal, old-fashioned sounding, like…“Sue?”

Yes.

I slid away from the sink, pressing my back against the door, every muscle in my body tensing. “Where are you?”

Insid
e
.

“Inside what?”

You.

“Get out,” I demanded, my initial fear morphing into rage.

It’s not that simple.

“Get out!”

Calm down. You’re going to faint.

She was right. I was breathing too hard, too fast. The room blurred and my knees buckled, but somehow, I didn’t fall.

“I’ve got you.” The words came out of my mouth, but I hadn’t spoken them.

What the hell?

I tried to speak again, to call out for Shane, but the words only echoed inside my own head. I reached for the door, but nothing happened. My body didn’t respond at all. I screamed, mentally beating against the walls of my own mind.

“Hush now. You’re fine.”

I growled. She was using my voice. My body. I was trapped, clawing at the cage like a wild animal. I raged. She ignored me.

My body moved, making me go still inside. It stepped forward, scooped up the towel from the floor, folded it, and replaced it on the rack. Then it moved back to the mirror.

“Isabel, calm down. I’m just trying to help.”

By taking over my body
?
I screamed it. If it had been actual words, my mouth would have bled from the force of them.

“No. I had to show you what I saw. It was the only way.”

Who the hell told you it was okay to park yourself in my body?

“It was the only way.” My voice was a whisper. I could see her through my own eyes. She was pulling at my face, playing with my hair.

Fine. Mission accomplished. So vacate the premises, sister, like now.

“I can’t. Not until it’s done.”

Until what’s done?

“Until you find the man who killed that poor woman. We have to put her and her baby to rest.”

They are already dea
d
.

“But she didn’t move on. She can’t. Not until their remains are found and buried properly. Not until we bring them justice.”

How do you know?

She ignored me, still examining my face. “Your husband is a kind man, isn’t he?”

Who? Shane? He’s not my husban
d
.

“He lives with you?”

Yes. We were engaged to be married. It didn’t work out.

“Why?”

That’s none of your damn business. Now give me my body back.

“I can’t leave. I’m stuck inside of you until this is finished.”

I don’t have the time or patience for this
.
Internally, I wriggled, trying to push myself back in and her out. But I was too weak. Finally, I gave up.

“I can’t leave,” she said again, more forcefully this time, her calm demeanor cracking around the edges. I had that effect on people.

Fine. We’ll deal with it… somehow
,
I thought, thinking of Heather. If anyone could exorcise my unwanted guest, it’d be her
.
But right now, I want my body back.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

Why?

“Do you know what happens to an exorcised spirit? They become nothing.”