Love In The Wrong Dimension (Romantic Ghost Story) (9 page)

Jack hesitated briefly, then looked into her eyes before replying, in a quiet, husky voice, “Yes, I do as it happens.”

They were standing very close now, so close that she could smell his faint musky scent. She raised her face to his and closed her eyes briefly, waiting for her much anticipated kiss.

But Jack started to turn around and Alice saw the moment begin to slip away - again.

“
Oh no you don’t,” she said and pulled him back toward her. She planted her lips firmly on his, before he had a chance to object, and kissed him, gently and tentatively at first, but then more urgently as she felt him respond.

“
Wow!” he gasped, as she finally pulled away. He looked into her face, flushed and glowing, and stared at her in wonderment.

Alice giggled, hardly able to believe what she had just done. “Sorry about that,” she grinned. “But I was beginning to think you were never going to kiss me.”

“
Oh, I’ve wanted to. I came pretty close a couple of times, but I didn’t want to push you. You’ve been so fragile since Jemma died, the last thing you needed was me as an added complication.”

“
Complication? You silly thing, that’s the last thing you are. I thought you didn’t like me,” giggled Alice.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “I’ve fancied you from the moment we met at the party, but I wasn’t sure if you were just interested in the psychic group, and then Jemma died and it didn’t feel right. I didn’t want you to think I was taking advantage of you.”

“
I’d never think that. I don’t know how I would have got through all this without you. I do feel a bit guilty though, feeling the way I do about you, when my best friend has just been buried.” Alice could feel his heart beating and wanted to stay there forever, safe in their first embrace.

Jack pulled gently away though, and ran a finger softly over her face, slowly tracing the outline of her lips. “That’s why we have to take this slowly. You’ve still got to come to terms with everything that’s happened. You’re special Alice, I don’t want to risk losing you because we rushed into this before you were ready.”

Leaving the dishes in the sink, which was highly uncharacteristic of both of them, they returned to the living room and cuddled up together on the sofa, talking occasionally, kissing a few times, but mainly just enjoying being together. Alice couldn’t believe that her feelings for Jack were finally reciprocated and that she was there now, snuggled up to him, her head leaning against his chest, feeling the rhythmic beating of his heart. She felt a surge of happiness, followed immediately by a sinking feeling of guilt that she should feel this happy, when she was still mourning Jemma.

Much later, just as Alice was dozing comfortably in his arms, Jack groaned. “Oh no!”

“
What?” Alice raised her head off his chest and looked up at him, loving the way his long, dark hair was disheveled, with a stray wisp flopping over his eyes. She lifted her hand and gently brushed the offending hair away, delighting in the pleasure such a simple act gave her.

“
I completely forgot, I promised to meet a couple of people from the psychic group at a ghost hunting vigil at the Marling Hotel. I’ll ring them and tell them I’m not coming.”

Alice was intrigued. Ghost hunting? Suddenly, she didn’t feel tired anymore.

“
No, don’t do that. Why don’t I go with you? It could be fun, I’ve never been ghost hunting before.”

“
Are you sure? I mean, it’s already late and we won’t be back until the early hours.”

“
I’m not tired and anyway, tomorrow’s Sunday. We can have a lie-in.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “We?”

The hotel was smaller than she had imagined. It probably used to be a private house, a rather large private house, but not the grand imposing building she had been expecting. In fact, it was quite beautiful with its Victorian facade and sash windows.

“
How many rooms are there?” she asked, staring up at the dark windows.

“
About fourteen
or so. There’s a small bar, restaurant and reception area on the ground floor and that’s about it. It’s the two bedrooms at the top that make this place so interesting for ghost hunting.”

“
What about the guests, won’t we disturb them?
”

“
Most of the rooms are vacant at weekends. This isn’t really a tourist area so it’s mostly business people who stay during the week, and then go home for the weekend,” he explained. “The owners only use the two haunted bedrooms if they’re really busy, because they got so fed up with frightened guests coming down in the middle of the night, demanding to be moved to a different room.”

“
Why, what happens?” Alice asked, feeling the first twinges of apprehension.

“
That’s what you’re about to find out,” grinned Jack.

As they walked into the small reception area, a bohemian looking lady wearing a long flowing purple dress, came rushing up to them, waving her arms wildly in the air.

“
Jack, darling. We were beginning to think you weren’t coming.” She flung her arms around him dramatically, and squeezed him tightly. “Hello!” the lady turned to Alice, with a smile. She had the wildest, flame red hair Alice had ever seen and reminded her of a fortune teller that you might see at an old fashioned fair. Every finger on both hands were adorned with rings set with bright, colourful stones, and her arms rattled with the numerous bangles and bracelets she wore. Round her neck was a large, silver pentagram resting against her tanned chest and on her right shoulder was an old, faded tattoo of some Egyptian looking symbol that she thought might be an ankh.

“
Alice, this is Maggie, ghost hunter extraordinaire, and Maggie, this is Alice, a good friend of mine. She attends my psychic group,” he added.

“
You’ll know Chris and Mary then?” she smiled and took Alice’s hand. “Now dear, have you ever been on a vigil before?”

“
No, I’m afraid I’m a complete novice,” Alice replied, liking this rather eccentric woman.

“
Don’t worry, love, just watch what we do and enjoy yourself. I’m a medium, by the way. Not all ghost hunters use mediums, but my gifts have come in useful a few times,” she chuckled and her bangles rattled furiously.

Alice looked at Jack, and he squeezed her hand gently.

“
Are you up for this?” he asked.

“
Definitely!” she grinned. “I can’t wait.”

They followed Maggie into a small room, with a modest bar in the corner and a scattering of old, round wooden tables and stools. The walls were flowery, as was the carpet and curtains, and with the subdued lighting, it looked a bit like an old pub. Sitting at one of the larger tables were about six people, all busy chatting while they were finishing their drinks. Alice recognised Chris and Mary from the group and smiled as Jack introduced the others. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and she quickly felt at ease as they discussed the plans for the night ahead.

“
John and Mary, can you start with EVPs tonight. Chris and Janet, you take the EMF meters. Jack, would you set up the IR cameras please.” As Maggie efficiently delegated, Alice was wondering what on earth EVPs, EMF meters and IR cameras were. “Emma and Julie, are you okay helping the others set up while I fill Alice in on all our paraphernalia?”

As the group headed for the stairs, carrying their heavy bags and equipment, Maggie sat back down next to Alice.

“
You’ll hear us talking about EVPs. That’s Electronic Voice Phenomena. We leave digital voice recorders running in both the rooms and sometimes, if we’re lucky, we find voices recorded on them that you can’t hear at the time. The voices are usually those of the spirits. Sometimes, we ask questions, other times we just leave the recorder running to see what happens.”

“
Wow, do you really get voices from ghosts on those recorders?” Alice was fascinated.

“
Oh yes, love, not every time, but we often get something. Now, EMF meters are simple devices that measure the electromagnetic field in the room; the energy from a spirit can affect the electromagnetic field and these meters have become an important tool for a lot of ghost hunters. IR cameras are just infra red cameras that can see in the dark, we leave them running and then go over the footage afterwards; we also carry hand held video cameras.”

“
I had no idea there was so much technology involved,” said Alice, “I just assumed it was a group of people walking around an old building waiting for something spooky to happen.”

Maggie grinned, “I’m afraid this isn’t the most exciting venue tonight, but that’s not a bad thing, it’ll give you a gentle introduction. We don’t want you getting so freaked out that you never come back. We believe the two bedrooms at the top are haunted by two different spirits. We’ve managed to make contact a few times, but they’re not always in the mood to comply so it can be very quiet sometimes. However, occasionally we make contact with a child, and she’s anything but quiet. Right, are you ready?”

“
Yes.” Alice got up, and headed for the door.

“
Wait. Just one more thing.” Maggie was rummaging in her large bag and pulled out a small purple card. “As you know, I’m a medium. If you ever need a reading or any guidance spiritually, just call me.”

Alice took the card and looked at it. It was a homemade business card with Maggie’s name and mobile number on. She wasn’t sure why Maggie would think she’d need her guidance, but she thanked her and absently popped the card into her coat pocket.

When they joined the rest of the group in the first bedroom on the top floor, the equipment was set up and they were just about ready to begin. The atmosphere was charged with excitement and expectation, and the group were engaged in jovial banter as they finished checking the cameras.

“
Okay
guys, lights out!” called Maggie, and the room was thrown into darkness.

*****

Jemma smiled as she watched Alice hold Jack’s hand in the dark. She was so glad they’d got together, they were clearly made for each other, and it was good to see Alice smiling again. She hadn’t felt like going tonight, she wasn’t in the mood for spooking a group of ghost hunters, especially now that Alice was one of them, but Susie had persuaded her at the last minute.

“
Is there anyone here?” called Maggie, her clear voice breaking through the silence. “Who are you? Did you die here?”

“
Here we go,” said Susie, “better not disappoint them.” And with that, she knocked loudly on the table next to her.

“
Are you a child? Knock once for no and twice for yes.”

Susie knocked twice and laughed when she saw the excited reaction of the group.

“
Are you alone?”

Susie knocked once and the group gasped.

“
Are there others here with you?”

Two more knocks led to more excited gasps.

After about ten minutes though, Jemma started to lose interest and decided to go for a wander around the house. As she walked through the nearest wall, she found that she was in the second room that was being used by the ghost hunters. The cameras were running, silently filming any possible movement. They wouldn’t see her though, as she wasn’t using enough energy to make herself visible to the living world. She stood quietly and looked around at the equipment, and then noticed that a voice recorder had been left on. She walked up to it and stared at it, aware that it was there to catch the disembodied voices of ghosts. Ghosts like her!

“
Alice?” she said, quietly into the recorder, “It’s me.”

She stood very still for a moment, staring at the recorder. She had tried so many times to make contact with Alice and failed, why should this time be any different? It was time she accepted her fate; she was dead, trapped in a dimension she wasn’t meant to be in, and unable to talk to her best friend. She could only watch as Alice continued her life, but one day, Alice would grow old and die, hopefully naturally, and move on to her next world, and then what? She’d still be here, still trapped, still alone. Only she wasn’t alone. She had Tom and Susie, but Tom was wrapped up in his own troubles, and Susie, although fun and sweet, was always going to be a child. Was this really her fate? She remembered the moment at her funeral when she had realised that she had never meant to die, and how she had automatically assumed that this had meant an easy way out of this place. But she was still here, still no wiser as to how she was going to leave.

Except, she did have a clue. Hadn’t Max told her to find a thingy-hole, whatever that was? Surely that was a start? All she had to do was find out exactly what it was, then find one and finally work out how the hell it was going to get her out. Easy! Another thought occurred to her, if this thingy-hole could get her out of there, where would she go? Would she end up in yet another dimension, or her final resting place, wherever that might be, or maybe she’d find herself in a different universe altogether. She’d heard about parallel universes, but she’d never paid much attention. Maybe it was time she had another chat with Max. He seemed to be the only person who knew anything about this, or at least, the only person willing to talk about it. Tom had known what Max had meant, but had dismissed it.

The thought of talking to Max again though, reminded her of the feeling of unease she had felt the last time she had spoken with him. She would rather not have to talk to him unless she absolutely had to, he still gave her the creeps.