Ghost of a Chance Book 1 in Above the Grave Trilogy (12 page)

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” She said hatefully
then stood up.

 

“Why are you angry?” He said.

 

“Well, let’s see. Where do I start exactly?” She went
to the bathtub and turned it on.

“First of all, someone slapped my face when I was
telling your sister that something fishy was going on. Then, as
I was leaving, someone tried to kill me with my own damn
lawnmower. Well, its Liza’s lawnmower, but you get the
point.

Then, I pass out and when I wake up I find that not
only the shirt that I was wearing is blood stained and that
another innocent shirt that had absolutely nothing to do with
it,” She held up her hand then as if to call attention to the shirt
wrapped around her wound, “has been ruined as well.”

She took off the shirt she was wearing along with the
one on her hand and threw them off to the side.
She then
stripped the rest of her clothes off and hopped into the bath.

He cleared his throat to remind her that he was still in
the room. She didn’t hear him though nor did she seem to care
as she kept on rambling.

“Now, you are upset because your sister and your lover
are roaming around in the cemetery,which don’t get me wrong
I completely understand, but hello, one of them tried to get me
to join them in the land of the dead!
I am so not ready to go
there, especially after what I have seen of it the last few days.
It doesn’t really seem to be looking all that promising after all.”

“I can see why you are angry.” He interrupted her.

“Well, good. Now, do you want to tell me what the
hell happened one hundred and fifty years ago? The truth I
mean! Whatever that dumb bimbo told me at the library can’t
be the complete truth. Otherwise, my faith tells me that Miss
Mary Ann would be flying around in heaven probably playing
the harp right now and Miss Lezetta would be burning in hell.
You? You may be in purgatory or something I haven’t figured
that one out either. I’ve always heard that if you kill yourself
you go to hell, but obviously not.” She slowed herself down
then realizing that she had gone too far.

“Brendan, either everything that I have ever been
raised to believe is not true or everything that girl told me was
a lie.
So, what is it Brendan?
I mean, my house and my
property are being haunted by some really pissy ghosts and I
want to know what the hell I did to deserve it!” She splashed
the water then with her hands. It burned her open wound like
an open fire making her scream, snapping her out of her rant.
It also made her realize that she was stark naked and in the
same room with a male ghost.
She blushed and covered her
breasts.

“Are you enjoying the show?” She said calmly.

 

“As a matter of fact.” He answered her. “Would you
mind telling me what you learned at the library?”

“I already told you.” She said. “Could you please
handme my robe?” She thought that she caught a glimpse of
him for a split second as he moved across the room. He wore a
long black coat and his hair was coal black, long and wavy.

“You have beautiful hair.” She said.

 

“As do… can you see me?” He asked warily.

 

“I only saw you from behind for a moment. You were
turned around the whole time?”

 

“For the most part.” He said slyly.

She had to smile.
He would be a gentleman she
imagined, but the word gentleman still contained the word
man.
Somehow he had made her calm down though just
hearing his voice. He was like a stress ball, only she couldn’t
squeeze him. The thought of squeezing him however gave her
goose bumps, the good ones again.

“My brother was the one with the beautiful hair.” He
said thinking back. “The girls all flocked to him when we were
just lads.”

“You have a brother?” Drew asked curiosly.

“Aye, we were twins. Danny’s hair was a bit darker
than mine though. I suppose everything about him was a bit
darker. The lad was troubled most of his young life. I am not
sure what happened to him as a man. He disappeared when we
were fifteen.” He spoke as he went for her robe.

“You told me that you read of me at the library. Who
was the girl that you speak of?”

 

“Turn around” She said as her robe floated closer to
her.

 

“Of course, my lady.” That made her smile again.

“I don’t know who she was.” She said as she stood up
and put on her robe. She carefully placed her hand through the
arm as to not touch her hand. Luckily she always kept a few
supplies around as she was quite prone to burning or cutting
herself. She dug into her vanity drawer and found the little
box. There were some bandages and some Neosporin inside.

“Here, let me help you.” He said.

She felt his hand on hers. It was warm and a bit rough
for a business man which she assumed he had been for as rich
as he was. She always imagined that if you could feel a ghost
it would be cold, but not Brendan.

“Put this stuff on it first. It will help keep it from
getting infected.” She closed her eyes as it was a little strange
watching Neosporin just squirt itself out of the tube and rub
itself onto her hand.

“She was the librarian. She told me that Lezetta was
jealous of your affection for your sister and that she was a
witch. She murdered Mary Ann and then was burned for her
witchery, and for the murder I suppose. She also said that you
hung yourself a year later. Is that true?”

He remained silent as he wrapped her hand with the
bandage. She opened her eyes to see the tape magically glide
itself along the crease of the bandage.

“You should call for a doctor. That looks to be a pretty
nasty cut.” He said still holding her hand. “I have money,
hidden around the house if you need it for the doctor’s fee.”

She saw his eyes for a moment though they were
transparent and she caught her breath. They were the biggest,
darkest eyes that she had ever seen, besides the man from her
dreams.

“Brendan?” She asked. “What did you do for a living,
I mean, when you were alive.”

 

He let go of her hand and she heard his footsteps across
the hardwood floor, walking away from her.

“I lived off of my parent’s money for the most part. I
inherited quite a bit after they passed. I wrote music now and
then, but not that anyone could see or hear. I suppose I should
have shared it but ‘twas mine own.”

“Please show me yourself?” There was a slight
prickling in the air. She could almost feel the power of the
feelings as they started to grow between them. She knew that
they were becoming friends. She also knew that if she wasn’t
careful, those “friendship” feelings could get them both hurt.

He had made his way back to her silently and picked
up her hands with both of his. It made her jump, more from
surprise than being afraid. Just then she heard her phone ring.
She felt his hands jerk in surprise as well just before he
dropped them.

“Damn it. Liza, I called you this morning.” She said
to herself as she dug through the pocket of her jeans that lay on
the floor next to the bath.

It wasn’t Liz
a though, she saw on the caller ID. It was
her mother again. “Ugh, what did I do to deserve a call from
her two days in a row?”

She heard him snicker and she wished again that she
could see his face. It would make conversations with him so
much easier, and something about his voice made her believe
that he wouldn’t be so bad to look at.

“Hello again, mother.” She said and rolled her eyes.
She placed it on speaker phone and sat the phone down on her
vanity. She picked up the hairbrush and began to brush her
hair.

“Drew?” Her mother sobbed. “Drew, Honey there is
something that I have to tell you.”

“What is it mother? Going through another divorce?”
Drew had no sympathy for her mother’s broken hearted love
affairs. It was her own fault; she sure knew how to pick them.

“Drew, I need to tell you something and I need you to
listen very carefully. This is very serious.” She heard the
sincerity in her mother’s voice this time. “I need you to know
that I am here for you, ok?”

“Ok, mom, what is it?” Dr
ew moved the mirror
towards her now; she started to braid her hair, the best that she
could with a sore h, and waited for her mother to speak.
Instead she heard more sobbing.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” She dropped her hands. She
watched the mirror turn itself around, but not before she caught
another glimpse of that gorgeous long black hair and then felt
her hair being braided where she had left off. She closed her
eyes.
Being pampered actually felt really good.
It
was
something that she could definitely get used to.
Plus, the
throbbing in her hand appreciated it as well.

“It’s Jack.” Her mother cried loudly this time and
Drew sat up straight in the chair. She felt the gentle tug of the
braiding slow down. “What about him mother?” Drew said
through her teeth as she felt the blood drain from her face.
“You know that I don’t want to talk about him. I don’t even
want to hear his name.”

“He was murdered. I always wished terrible things on
him after I found him trying to rape my baby girl but…” Drew
flipped the phone shut. She didn’t want Brendan to hear
anymore. She didn’t want to hear anymore herself.

“Excuse me.” Drew said and ran for the toilet. She
threw up. She had never felt sicker in her life.

She lay her head down on the toilet seat and cried. She
cried for what seemed like an eternity.
Then, when she
couldn’t cry anymore she felt him lift her up off of the floor.
She was floating across the room towards her bed. Once she
was tucked into her bed she closed her eyes and laid her head
back on the pillows.
He brought her a warm rag and began to
wipe her face with it.

“You are so sweet.” She sobbed. “I am such a child. I
promised myself nothing would ever make me cry again and
now I let that son of a bitch do it again. He doesn’t deserve my
tears.”

“I’m sure that he doesn’t.” He said softly. He had
brought her a glass of wine and placed it up to her lips now.
She kept her eyes closed and drank deeply.

“Did you bring the bottle?” She asked.
“Aye.” He laughed. “Would you like more?”

 

“Please.” She said.

 

“I didn’t hang myself.” He said as he poured more
wine. She opened her eyes again though she didn’t see him.

 

“Let me see you.” She said again trying to hold back
the tears that desperately wanted to fall again.

“Not now. You’ve had
enough surprises for one day.
Get some rest. I just wanted you to know that I didn’t hang
myself. Or, kill myself in any other way for that matter.”

“I’m glad to hear that. What happened to you then?”
Drew asked. Her mind was beginning to free itself of Jack.
She knew that it was probably the wine, but it was Brendan’s
doing as well and she appreciated it.

“I suppose you won’t be letting me get away without
telling you now will you?” I don’t know to be honest with you.
It was here in mine own home. I was upstairs in my study and
just getting ready to call it a night when something struck me in
the back of the head. I felt the blood run down the back of my
neck and the next thing I know I’m looking through what
seemed like a tunnel.”

He saw her reach for him blindly and he held her hand
with his. She relaxed then. “Could you hold me while you tell
me the rest? Please?” She said and sniffled again.

He put his arm around her then and she laid her head
on his chest. It was strange but she felt so at home. She closed
her eyes. He smelled of firewood and mints, a manly smell.
She opened her eyes again and as if to look up at him, even
though she couldn’t see him, and said, “Please, tell me more.”

“As you wish.” He whispered at first as his throat
felt
very dry. He wasn’t sure what was choking him up more,
feeling her in his arms, willingly, or remembering the night of
his death.
They were both very different feelings. If a ghost
could be emotional he was definitely in a whirlwind of it. “It
was very cold, I was shivering. I could see that I was in my
study. I saw no one there with me.

I felt the back of my head for blood and there was
nothing there. When I looked down at my hand I saw my body
lying on the floor. There was so much blood. My vision was
fading. I couldn’t see anything around me, just what lay right
in front of me. I heard the footsteps walking away, but when I
turned to see who it was it was too late.
They were already
gone.
I was too stunned to chase after them right away.
I
turned around and just stood there, staring at my own self.
When I came to my senses, if you could call it that, I ran after
the being.
The front door was left open.
When I tried to
follow I kept finding myself back in the study.” She felt him
shiver.

“I’m so sorry, Brendan. You never found out who it
was?” She asked.

“No. I never did. Why someone would say that I hung
myself is beyond me. An autopsy clearly would have shown
that I was struck in the back of the head.”

“Maybe there was never a
n autopsy.
Things were
covered up back then a lot easier than they are now.” She sat
up and reached for her wine glass. After she drank an entire
glass in almost one gulp she asked, “Did Lezetta murder your
sister?”

“I don’t believe so. I have no proof
. They were both
out that day. Lezetta’s alibi was not with me. They burned her
on my property. I lost the woman that I loved and mine own
sister on the same day, both on my land.” She felt him shiver
again and held him tighter.