Kingston
The gargling kaaof a raven called me from my sleep. My eyelashes fluttered open, and as I slowly awakened, I stared up at the façade of the castle that had been haunting me. Sighing with relief that I wasn’t inside this time, I hoped I’d pass through tonight without encountering the man.
I didn’t know who he was, but there was something familiar about him, which didn’t make sense to my natural mind. I know I’d never met him before. After seeing him several nights in a row and obsessively racking my brain throughout my days, I’d remember him by now if we’d ever met.
My nighttime explorations had always been whispers of the past, but this felt different. The energy felt like now. The air tasted like the present instead of dusty remnants of the past. What had changed? Why the differences? What was I supposed to do?
Spinning, I carefully catalogued the property. The long drive leading from the house disappeared around the surrounding copse of trees. The land itself appeared uncaredfor, overgrown with weeds and wildflowers native to this part of New Jersey.
I shook my head. It didn’t make any sense. I dragged Jetty along with me as I surveyed damn near every area of our small town. Were these images taking me outside of my home where I’d grown up?
Blowing out a breath, I turned back to the huge house that I’d been visiting repeatedly. My vision shifted of its own accord, like an old-timeView-Mastersliding between frames, and a small mote suddenly surrounded the ancient building. It had a bridge to cross over that led straight to the many stairs that led to the front doors. What the heck? That hadn’t been there before, and at this point, I’d seen this home from all angles—both inside and out.
Tipping my head back, I focused on the setting sun. The oranges, purples, and pinks lighting up the sky were a preferable picture to what awaited me inside. What had started out as grainy images of apparitions hovering near, who I assumed was the owner of the home, had begun to solidify.
I’d seen the same thing happen time and again out at Beckoning Pond as the long-dead who resided there got used to my presence and began to reveal themselves or new spirits came, alone and confused, settling into the fact that their lives were over and embracing their new existence.
The entities in this mansion felt different, though. The malicious way they tracked the man’s movements made me uneasy.
Fearful.
Unlike all the paranormal things I geeked out on for as far back as I could remember, these aberrations made me want to grab the guy and run.
But this was only a dream, right? Or maybe Jetty was right, and I slipped somehow, moving into a place where nightmareshaunted me. Was this house, this man, real or were they a figment of my imagination? What would happen if I didn’t move, didn’t explore, but just sat out here right on my butt? Could I stay here until my body woke or was I here for a reason?
I jerked my head around toward the nearest clump of trees when I heard the gurgling croaks of a conspiracy of ravens. “Great. That’s not spooky at all.”
Kaa. Kaa. The beat of flight drummed in my ears, and I threw an arm up over my face as the brush of wings narrowly missed my face. One of the birds landed at my feet, followed quickly by another.
I guessed that answered my question of whether to stay outside or at least go into the entryway of the house. Steeling my spine, I ran up the stairs and…
I was in a narrow hallway. The sounds of two men laughing came from straight ahead. A large spiral staircase was behind me, leading up to other floors. Swallowing heavily, I crept forward slowly, wishing the floor under my feet wasn’t so solid.
What I wouldn’t give to go back to the hovering, observing from afar, never feeling like I was awake, always knowing it was a dream. But this…except for being outside of the castle one minute, then inside the next, I could just as easily be awake as asleep.
Reaching an entryway to the right, I peeked around the corner, gasping at the sight before me. The man was there again, but so was Skylar. My Sky. I hadn’t seen him in days, not wanting to hear about all the fun he was having with his popstar. I hadn’t even been to the pond since Ego—with the dumb douchey name—was staying at the manor. I missed my safe place. I missed my friends.
The other man showed Sky something on his phone, sending my—friend into peals of laughter. The two of them were facingthe wall with fabrics laid out on a table in front of them. What they were saying came through garbled and disjointed, but it was very obvious that they were looking at samples to design this room.
That made sense—it was Skylar’s job, after all—or was I getting a look into the future? Sky’s future? This was the type of man he should be with. One who owned a castle that had, at one time, been surrounded by a mote.
Someone who could probably whisk him away on vacations I’d never be able to afford on my meager township salary. It didn’t help that he had the toned body of a dancer and the smile of a modern-day Casanova.
Since they were unaware of my presence, I took my time to drink in my fill of Skylar. Generally, I tried to be careful. With all the ghosts and nosy family around, I could never be too careful. I didn’t want to get caught staring, indulging my ridiculous crush, but it was hard.
He was so beautiful with his huge, bright smile and his infectious laugh. The sassy way he flipped his hair off his shoulders and sashayed around the room. He glowed like sunshine wrapped in rainbows, twinkling like the stars.
“Magnificent,” the guy with him said. The first thing I’d heard clearly.
He smiled at Skylar as he said it, and I didn’t know if it was a decision they’d made regarding fabrics or if this person saw the same thing I did. Probably both. That was fine. Sky deserved it. All the happiness and his every heart’s desire. Who was I to whine and moan?
A shuffle from the depths of the entrance on the other side of the room cut my pity party short. Even with the sunlight streaming in through the window, the mouth of that hallway sat in dark shadows. A quick glance to Skylar confirmed that hehadn’t heard a thing. So this was obviously not either of their nightmare, so was it mine?
Gradually, a foot came into view. Not in the technicolor that I was used to from the manifestations from the other side that I knew and loved, but certainly more solid and real than I’d seen them thus far. The muted gray that I’d almost been able to ignore or pretend wasn’t there had clear lines. There was no longer mistaking the humanoid shape.
My eyes widened as the figure came far enough into the room to stand in the light. The entity looked like it had once been a woman, but death had been more than unkind—or maybe that had been life.
The being focused on the two blissfully unaware men through one foggy eye as the other socket sat empty in her head. A goopy blend of black and deep, dark red sludge down her cheek from under the ghastly hole, splatting snowball-sized drops onto the floor in front of her.
