Love In The Wrong Dimension (Romantic Ghost Story) (10 page)

“
Hey,” Susie popped her head through the wall, “why are you in here on your own? You’re missing all the fun!”

Jemma smiled at her young friend, and put her thoughts to the back of her mind.

“
I just felt like looking around the hotel.”

“
There’s not much to see,” said Susie. “Do you want me to show you around?”

“
Okay
, but what about your ghost hunting friends? Won’t they be wondering where you are?”

“
They’ve got more than enough evidence to sift through next week. Anyway, I’m getting bored. Come on, let’s go.”

Five minutes later, they were sitting in the bar having finished the short tour of the small hotel.

“
Shame about Tom not coming tonight,” Susie said, sitting on top of the bar with her legs crossed.

“
Hmm. Tell me about Tom. Was he married when he was alive?” Jemma asked, casually.

“
No. Why? Do you fancy him?”

“
No, of course not,” she lied.

“
Yes, you do.” Susie jumped up excitedly. “Jemma fancies Tom!” she sang.

“
Susie, shut up!” snapped Jemma.
“Anyway, what do you know about Max?”

“
Oh my god, don’t tell me you fancy Max as well?” Susie looked suitably horrified.

“
Don’t be silly, of course I don’t. I’m just thinking of having a chat with him, that’s all. He seems to be the only one around here who can tell me how to get out of here.”

“
You need to watch Max,” Susie looked serious now. “I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”

“
You said that he was just a harmless old spook.”

“
That was Tom, not me. Look, Max is bad news, Jemma. Be careful.”

“
I have to talk to him in order to get information out of him, no-one else is going to tell me. Surely he can’t be that bad?”

Susie’s voice
took on a new, urgent sound as she replied. “Jemma, Max is dangerous. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that he’s evil. Stay away from him, or you may just regret it.”

The following morning, Jemma was sitting alone by the kitchen window staring out into the garden, now a spectacular scene of stunning colours; brown, yellow, orange, red, every autumnal shade imaginable. It seemed ironic to her that something so beautiful, did in fact come from death. The dry,
crisp fallen leaves had once been vibrant and alive – a bit like her. She had been so full of life and vitality, and now she was just like the leaves – dead!

Being dead was certainly nothing like she had ever imagined, not that she had ever dwelled on it. Although she had never considered herself to be religious - she had never gone to church except for the odd wedding, and her mum’s funeral - she had assumed that when she did eventually die, she would go to Heaven and be reunited with her mum. But this? This was worse than she could ever have imagined. She couldn’t be with her loved ones who were living, nor be reunited with her dead family. Was this purgatory? Was this punishment for not being a better person? If she was here because she wasn’t meant to die, then why did she die in the first place? The questions were spinning around in her head, tormenting her, leaving her with a feeling of desolation and hopelessness.

“
Hi.” Tom’s voice interrupted her pensive mood. “Are you alright?”

“
Hmm, just thinking.” She didn’t turn around.

“
How was the ghost hunting last night?”

“
Okay
,” she sighed, and turned to face Tom. “Actually, I was a bit bored. Spooking people is alright at first, but you quickly tire of it”

“
I know,” he smiled, “that’s why I didn’t come.”

“
Alice was there, with Jack. They were together. You know, properly together.”

“
Really? That’s good, they’re well suited.” He looked at her, seemingly aware that she wasn’t her usual cheery self. “What are you up to today?”

“
Oh I don’t know. I don’t really feel like doing anything.”

“
You look like you could do with a bit of a distraction. Why don’t you come with me to a special place I go to when I’m in need of cheering up?”

“
Where?”

“
You’ll see. Come on, it’ll do you good.”

“
Okay
,” sighed Jemma. “Thanks.”

“
Hold on to my hand,” he instructed her, “and close your eyes.”

When she opened them again, she found herself standing on the most beautiful beach she had ever seen. The wide expanse of soft white sand stretched for miles ahead, and the deep blue, calm sea was sparkling in the sun as if someone had sprinkled silver and gold glitter onto it.

“
Wow,” she cried, forgetting that she was still holding on to Tom’s hand, “this is fantastic. Where are we? Seychelles? Bahamas?”

“
Norfolk!” smiled Tom, looking pleased with her delighted reaction.

“
You’re joking!” Jemma looked around again, noting the absence of a fun fair, donkeys and amusement arcades, normally what she’d associate with an English seaside. In the distance, a lone figure was walking along the water’s edge, with a dog running excitedly ahead looking like a tiny blot on the unspoilt, serene beach. Looking away from the water, she saw huge sand dunes with clumps of long grass waving gently in the breeze. They were so tall that she couldn’t see what was on the other side, adding to the feeling of isolation. The bright, crystal clear October sunshine reflected off the sand and bounced back onto the water, making the whole scene look like a shimmering image of perfection.

“
How do you know this place?” she asked, her eyes taking in every detail.

“
I used to come here as a boy for family holidays. There’s a row of Victorian cottages just on the other side of those sand dunes, less than a five minute walk away. One of the cottages was owned by some friends of my parents, and every summer we’d come and stay in the cottage for two weeks while the owners went abroad.”

“
You’re very lucky to have come somewhere so lovely as a child,” said Jemma, her only memories of seaside holidays being weekends at Brighton and Hastings, which, although she had always loved, were filled with noisy, over-crowded beaches and kiss-me-quick souvenirs. The complete opposite of this place.

“
I’ve got many happy memories here. I spent hours playing on this beach - I’ve built more sand castles than you could imagine. Me and my brother used to hide behind the dunes there, pretending they were fortresses and that we were hunting dragons and demons. My father would sometimes pretend to be a monster and would chase us into the water, where we’d have a water-fight. Then my mother would find some shade by the dunes, and lay out a picnic for us.” Tom looked sad as he recalled his nostalgic memories.

“
It sounds like you were all very close,” said Jemma, remembering what Susie had said about his mother’s absence at his funeral, which didn’t quite fit in with her image of a happy and close family.

“
Yes, we were once. It’s all different now. My father died the year before me, and my brother moved to Manchester after he graduated, so my mother’s on her own now. She never comes here now. That perfect, happy family doesn’t exist anymore.”

Jemma looked at Tom and felt an overpowering wave of affection towards him which took her completely by surprise. She wasn’t entirely sure where the feeling came from, whether it was pity, empathy or something far deeper and, afraid that she was going to say something stupid, she gave his hand a comforting, silent squeeze.

She looked up at his face and smiled. “Susie said something about you visiting your dad at the cemetery, are you buried there too?”

Tom’s eyes clouded over as he looked away into the distance. “No,” he said bitterly, “it was my only wish and she wouldn’t even grant me that.”

“
Who? Your mum?”

“
Yes. She knew that I
wanted to be buried next to my father, but she had me cremated and got rid of the ashes. So much for being a close family!” he said, bitterly. “I think that’s one of the reasons I’m here.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I
was
meant to die, Jemma, unlike you. I died of a brain tumour, it was diagnosed a week before I died, and my last request was that I was buried next to my father.” He stared angrily out at the vast sea, clearly still devastated by his mother’s betrayal.

“
Tom, I’m really sorry. I don’t know what to say.” Jemma studied Tom’s handsome face, now filled with a mixture of anger and pain. She desperately wanted to ask why his mother had been so cruel, but didn’t want to upset him any further, so she decided to keep her questions for another time, and instead stood quietly next to him, staring out at the distant horizon in a congenial silence. She stole a discrete sideways glance at him, admiring his handsome profile - his straight nose, strong chin and long eyelashes. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she didn’t need to, she knew them by heart now, the deep emerald green which flashed fiercely when he was angry, but which also showed a man who was intelligent and kind. It was the way they twinkled as he smiled though, that Jemma loved the most, the corners crinkling as they hinted at his sense of humour and good natured temperament. She sighed as she wondered whether ghosts ever fell in love with each other, but wistfully pushed the thought out of her mind, as the chances of anything romantic happening between them seemed pretty remote.

“
Let’s walk,” she said, softly, and linked her arm through his.

“
I’m sorry if I’ve been a bit distant lately.” He paused and looked at her, his eyes smiling again. “When you arrived you were like a breath of fresh air, I think both Susie and myself needed someone like you to come and ruffle our feathers. It’s easy to become complacent and drift through each day on autopilot. Your arrival, and refusal to accept your fate, gave us a bit of a shake-up. But it also brought back memories of when I first arrived, which has made me ask myself some questions that I’d been avoiding.”

Jemma stopped and turned to face him, looking up again into his strained face. “Is the fact that you’re not buried next to your father the only reason you’re here? I get the feeling that there’s more to it.”

“
Yes,” he sighed, “there is, but I don’t want to talk about that now.”

“
Why? Jemma frowned, “Don’t you trust me?”

“
Oh Jemma, of course I trust you. But it’s not about trust, it’s something that I can’t talk about, to anyone. It’s personal.” He touched her arm lightly, hoping to see her smile return, but her frown had deepened and he could see that she wasn’t going to leave it there.

“
That’s all well and good, but it’s not just you this affects. What about Susie?”

“
What about Susie?” Tom looked genuinely confused.

“
She’s lonely, Tom. She misses her mum and desperately wants to go home. I think it’s possible that she could come with me when I go, but she won’t even consider it because of you. She doesn’t want to leave you behind on your own. Don’t you see? Because you won’t face whatever it is that’s troubling you, you haven’t got a chance of ever moving on, which means you’re stopping Susie from moving on as well.”

Tom glared at Jemma, his eyes narrowing as they became cold and angry.

“
I see, so it’s my fault that Susie’s unhappy and stuck here is it?”

“
No, I didn’t mean it like that. All I’m saying is that Susie needs her mum, and she may have a chance of getting out of here with me. But she’s loyal and won’t leave without you.”

“
What makes you so sure that you can help her leave anyway?” snapped Tom, “You have no idea how to get out of here yourself, if I remember correctly.”

“
Not yet no, but at least I’m prepared to try and find out. Tom, stop being so bloody stubborn and defensive. I’m not your enemy, I was only trying to let you know that Susie is feeling a bit down. I’m trying to help.”

“
By accusing me of keeping her here against her will?”

“
Oh for god’s sake. I didn’t say that.” Jemma’s voice had gone up an octave, which was a strong indication that she was on the verge of losing her temper. It usually took a lot for her to get that angry, but when she did, she flew off the handle and often said things she later regretted. In an attempt to diffuse it, she kicked her foot hard in the sand, with the full force of her frustration. To her amazement, the action resulted in the sand flying through the air, the way it would have done if she were alive. She stopped dead in her tracks, her anger forgotten instantly.

“
Wow, did you see that?” she turned to Tom excitedly, “I just made the sand move.”

Tom’s anger also dissolved just as quickly, and he smiled at her excitement. “That takes a lot of energy. You must have been really pissed off!”

Jemma noticed the smile, and grinned back at him. She decided to leave the subject of Susie for now, although she certainly wasn’t going to let it drop for good, and so instead decided to find out what he knew about this thing that Max had spoken off.

“
Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“
That’s okay
. I will think about what you said. I didn’t realise that Susie was unhappy.”

They started walking again, watching in amusement as a flock of seagulls started screaming and fighting over a dead fish that had been washed up on the beach.