Chapter 3 #2
“Ooh.” Georgina bats her lashes. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a fine specimen of a man.”
“Which you can do nothing about, dear Georgina,” I remind her. “What do you know about the Horror? Can you help us?”
She pops her bottom lip in a pout, patting her messy blond updo. She died after falling into a frozen lake while out on a solo walk one day, sometime in the 1700s, I believe.
“Spoilsport,” she mutters. “I can help. There was a Horror here for three days, but it left yesterday.”
“How?” I ask.
“In an object. A book. Some poor soul bought it, even though we tried to scare them away.”
I glance at Borja, who’s staring wide-eyed at Georgina.
“Do you know who bought it?”
“No names were exchanged but the woman said she taught at the university.”
Borja huffs then. “Harvard is huge, and it’s not the only university in town. That’s a needle in a haystack.”
“Do you have any idea what the book title was?” I ask.
“I do.” The spirit of a young boy pops out of the wall, dressed in Victorian-era clothing. How did a child get out? He must not be from my region since I don’t recognize him. “I saw it.”
“What was the title?”
“Early Spiritualism Practices. Written in 1901 by William Grosvenor.”
“That’s helpful, thank you.”
The boy nods. “I followed the pretty lady. Only for a block though, because she went down in the tunnel where the fast machine lives.”
“The subway?” Borja asks, but the boy shrugs.
“On her bag, it said W. Carole.”
“W. Carole,” I repeat. “That is very helpful. Thank you.”
“You’ll keep it from coming back, won’t you?” Georgina asks. “It was nasty.”
“In what way?”
“It was looking for something,” another voice says from behind us.
A male spirit dressed in fairly modern clothes appears. Ah, CJM1873, died 2014 in a skiing accident.
“It flipped through items,” the spirit continues. “Books mostly, but some pictures before it attached to the item it chose.”
“It must’ve been intentional. We need to find out more about that book.”
“But you’ll keep it away?” Georgina asks again. “We have a peaceful life here. We don’t cause any trouble. No one wants a malicious spirit among us.”
“I’ll do my best. It’s why I’m in the Above. Do summon me if it returns.”
“We will,” Georgina says, wrapping her arm around the small boy.
“Thank you all,” I say before gesturing for Borja to follow me.
Once we’re outside, he bends over, placing his hands on his knees and gasping for breath.
“Are you alright?”
He looks up at me. “Am I alright? I just saw three ghosts and we talked to them.”
Oh dear. He’s going to panic, isn’t he?
“That was fucking cool as shit,” he gushes as a wide grin takes over his face. “It’s real. It’s all fucking real.”
“Yes. Apologies for not realizing how monumental this is for you. It’s quite normal to me.”
“No apologies necessary.” He shakes his head.
“It’s wild. I used to watch those ghost hunting shows, desperate for proof of the other side, but I never bought it.
I’ve heard all the stories, watched the movies and the documentaries, read the books, but nothing supernatural has ever happened to me or in front of me. Not until today.”
“Welcome to the world beyond the veil. Were you frightened?”
Borja shakes his shoulders out as he rights himself. “A little at first, yeah, but then I saw they acted like regular people.”
“It’s important to remember that they are not regular people. They are not people at all. They are remnants of lives lived, memories, nothing but lingering energy attached to their mortal coil long shed.”
Borja nods. “Right. Okay.”
“The reason you have to remember it is because you may have to do things that you wouldn’t want to do to a living person. No matter how much they cling to their former humanity, they are dead, Borja. They do not belong here with the living, and when one wishes to cause harm, we step in.”
“I understand.” He drags his hand through his hair. “Still fucking cool though.”
“I don’t remember my first reaction, but I’m sure I was just as astounded as you are now.”
Borja opens his mouth, then snaps it shut before a smile takes over. “Look behind you, quickly.”
I turn around just in time to spot two men standing in front of a business, their foreheads pressed together, their lips moving in quiet whispers.
Then one of the men pulls back, lifts the other’s face with a finger under the chin and presses a soft kiss to his lips.
They embrace before one of the men waves and disappears inside the building.
The other man stands there for a few seconds, hands in his pockets and a warm smile on his lips.
People pass by, ignoring the man and the tender exchange that just took place, and I… well, I’m a bit shaken up.
Borja squeezes my shoulder. “Welcome to the modern era, Farnsworth.”
“Yes. Er, we should… carry on.”
“Yeah, sure. Where are we going?”
It takes a moment for my thoughts to settle and the strange warmth spreading through me to cool. “Harvard. We need to find the woman with the book.”