Call On Me (7 page)

“I don’t know
why I come with you on these things,” she said.

“Because you
love having the crap scared out of you.”

“By a real
ghost, not a phony like you!”

“Ohhh, nasty.
I’m not a phony.”

“You write
trashy, scary books and go ghost hunting with no real
paraphernalia.”

“Because
scientific equipment just kills the mood.” Finishing the last bite
of pie, Ghost rubbed his hand on his jeans. “You just have to have
faith.”

“I have faith
in ghosts. It’s you I lack it in.”

Catching her
hand, he tugged her into his side, grinning down at her when she
angled her head back to level an annoyed frown up at him. “Honey, I
promise I’ll be a good boy for the rest of the trip, okay?”

“Huh.”

“Since when
have I ever lied about that?”

“Being a good
boy? Let me see – oh, I might run out of fingers. We’ll have to
stop so I can take off my shoes and socks and start counting on my
toes.”

“And very cute
toes they are, too.”

“Don’t think
complimenting my toes will get you off my shit list.”

“I like your
tootsies. Always have done.” Grinning, he bumped his hip against
her. “Are you wearing red nail polish?”

“Good grief,
have you developed a foot fetish?”

“You didn’t
know?” Releasing her hand, he hooked his arm around her neck and
hugged her into his side, dropping a kiss on top of her hair.
“After all this time?”

She scowled up
at him. “Serve you right if I stopped coming out on these
excursions with you.”

“Where would be
the fun in that?” Certainly not for him, he rather suspected a lot
of the fun would disappear. But they’d had this conversation many
times, so he wasn’t worried that she’d carry through on her
threat.

That and the
fact that she had slid her hand under his where it rested over the
front of her shoulder.

Again he bumped
his hip against her. “Forgiven?”

“You bloody owe
me, Ghost.”

“Don’t I
always?”

She
grunted.

“Name it,
honey. Anything. What can I do to cool off your fury?”

“You couldn’t
afford it, mate.”

He eyed her
with interest. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re
going to be mad at me for the rest of this adventure?”

“Now you do
sound like a Boy Scout.”

“For not
wanting you to be mad at me?”

“For using the
word ‘adventure’.”

“But it is an
adventure. You, me, a possible ghost, a creepy story. Did I mention
you?”

A faint smile
quirked her lips. “You’re lucky to have me.”

He nodded.
“Abso-freakin’-lutely.”

“Then I guess I
can forgive you. But you’re on notice.”

“I’ve been on
notice a lot. Is this number five?”

“One hundred
and forty eight. Not that I’m counting.”

“Of course
not.”

They continued
along the track, walking up the incline and coming over the top
where they drew to a stop. In front of them stood the large pond,
the surface still under the moonlight. On the far side a small
stream wove its way into the dark, the bushes closing in. The
clearing around the pond was small. A plop sounded and a ripple
oozed through the pond.

“Did you see
that?” Ali whispered.

“Yeah.”

“What do you
reckon?”

“My guess? A
frog, a fish, or we’re about to discover that the bunyip is more
than an Aboriginal legend.”

The elbow in
his side wasn’t unexpected.

Laughing
softly, Ghost took the jabbing elbow and steered her towards the
far side of the pond.

“And we’re
going this way, why?” she queried.

“Because Parker
reckons he saw the woman’s spirit on the far side of the pond.”

“Then don’t you
think it makes sense to stay on this side?” Her tone might be
reluctant, but the thrill of the unknown was riding Ali, her every
step matching his.

“We might miss
seeing her. We need to be up close to get a good look.”

Even though the
moonlight flooded the area with grey light, Ghost still used his
torch to light up the ground in case of snakes.

Skirting around
the pond, he led Ali to a small incline before stopping and looking
around. “This is it.”

~*~

Standing beside
Ghost, Ali studied the surroundings. Bushes circled the pond at a
small distance. Dried grass and weeds shifted forward while greener
weeds rimmed the pond. The water shone like silver under the
moonlight. A slight breeze picked up, the warmth caressing her
arms.

Right now she
could almost fancy herself and Ghost as being the only people in
the world. The stars shone brilliantly in the night sky, the moon
glowed whitely, and the breeze stirred the bushes.

Another plop
and ripple of the pond water had her peering intently over at
it.

Ghost lowered
the backpack to the ground before standing up and walking towards
the pond.

After placing
the video bag beside the backpack, Ali followed. “We might scare
her away.”

“She’s not due
for another twenty minutes,” he replied. “I just want to check the
pond.”

“For what?”

“Dead bodies
floating.”

“Ugh.” She
screwed her nose up. “Trust you.”

The deepness of
his quiet laugh was comforting, as comforting as his form in front
of her. Big, muscular, and dressed in his usual uniform of jeans,
sneakers and open long-sleeved shirt over t-shirt, his blonde hair
pulled back in the customary ponytail, Ghost walked with confidence
and no fear. It was his fearlessness that Ali relied on in these
situations. To be truthful, if Ghost wasn’t with her, there was no
way she’d have been out in the bush watching for restless spirits
or creeping through old, abandoned buildings with blood-drenched
legends.

The only person
with whom she’d ever felt comfortable doing these crazy, scary
things was Ghost. She had total faith in his ability to look after
her. She came along for the thrills, the fun, and yes, his company.
Plus he had a way of making her such a part of everything, even
when she was scared stiff and he was enthralled.

Like now, when
he reached back without looking and deftly snagged her hand,
pulling her to his side as he stood near the edge of the pond. He
didn’t have to look for her to know where she was, it was like some
weird instinct he had…okay, and the fact that she was almost
treading on his heels, not wanting to be left behind in the spooky
bush.

“The woman
disappeared from her home,” Ghost said quietly.

Ali perked up.
The story!

“Husband was
away on a trip. He rang home that night but there was no answer. So
he waited awhile.” Ghost’s voice seemed to blend in with the night.
“Rang again. No answer. It was getting late and he knew she should
be home. He started to ring everyone they knew, but no one had seen
her.”

Gripping his
hand, Ali stared out at the pond. “They found her body?”

“No. The cops
went to the house, found no one. The house was immaculate, nothing
touched. Her dinner was still on the table, only cold. Her cup of
tea was on the table. The food…” Ghost took a deep, slow breath.
“The food was half eaten.”

“So she just
got up and walked away?” Ali asked. “Why?”

“No one knows.”
Holding up one big hand, he spread his fingers wide and peered
through them at the pond as though sectioning it off.

“Illicit love
affair,” Ali suggested.

“Nothing
incriminating was ever found. No texts, no emails, no letters, no
unknown phone numbers. She simply…vanished.”

“Well, we don’t
know that she vanished,” Ali argued, shivering a little as weeds
rustled nearby.

Looking down at
her, Ghost angled his head. “We don’t know. No one knows. No one
knows what happened to the woman.”

“So how did
Parker know she was here?”

Never one to
ignore a good storytelling, Ghost continued as though she hadn’t
spoken. “The cops searched the town.”

“Not much to
search.” Ali laughed a little nervously. “Small place.”

He ignored her.
“They never found her car-”

“Maybe she took
a bike?”

Leisurely,
Ghost pulled her in front of him, nestling her back against his
hard, warm body as he placed one hand over her mouth, his other
hand splayed out over her curving belly. Okay, she got the message.
Holding up one finger, she circled it in the air in a ‘continue’
motion.

Lowering his
head, Ghost spoke softly in her ear, his breath stirring the
tendrils that danced loose from the messy bun. “No one heard
anything, no one saw anything, no one knew anything.”

She was dying
to comment to that, but since he wouldn’t take his hand away from
her mouth all she could do was sigh.

His voice
dropped, becoming almost a whisper. “She was all but forgotten
until one night when Parker came down here to do some night
fishing. Night like tonight, all moonlight, all quiet, the only
sounds that of the breeze and the nightlife, even the wildlife was
quiet.”

Yeah, come to
think of it, there was no sound of anything. No snakes slithering
in the weeds, no dingo howling, no owl hooting, no night birds.
Even the breeze seemed to have stilled. Freaky.
Spooky
.
Seeking reassurance, Ali pressed back against Ghost.

Bowing over
her, he sheltered her in the warmth and strength of his arms and
body.

“Parker went
fishing. Sitting out here all alone, line in the water, waiting for
the bite of fish.” Ghost’s cheek moved against hers, his five
o’clock shadow scratching lightly along her skin as he looked
across the pond, his voice growing hushed. “And then he saw
her.”

Ali held her
breath, her gaze tracking Ghost’s hand as he levelled it out and
swept his finger slowly back and forth towards the pond. The silver
depths now seemed wrong, hiding secrets, flat like a mirror
reflecting things, concealing things, and she shivered in a mix of
dread and delight as a ripple appeared, then another, and a
third.

Luckily a fish
chose that moment to spring from one of the ripples. It was either
that or start shaking in her sneakers. For a second she’d half
fancied she saw something shift beneath the surface, something
start to appear. Not the fish, but something else.
Someone
else.

Naturally,
Ghost was attuned to her thoughts. “Parker thought it was a fish,
too.” He waited a heartbeat. “But it wasn’t.”

Oh boy. Ali
inhaled deeply.

Ghost slid his
hand from her mouth, resting his palm at the base of her throat.
“The surface rippled, like it’s rippling now, and from the depths
appeared the top of a head, then the whole head, long hair running
with water. Shoulders, torso, arms, the figure rose higher and
higher and all Parker could do was stare, frightened so badly. The
figure rose…”

Surely that was
a ripple she saw even as Ghost spoke? The ripples growing wider,
but then they vanished and she relaxed. A little.

“Finally the
figure was free of the pond, hanging there in mid-air, and he could
see it was a woman. Her hair was long and straggling over her face,
water pouring from her, her dress clinging to her body, but what
scared him the most, Ali, was the fact that some of the water
pouring from her was dark, really dark.” He paused.

“Like blood?”
Ali whispered, mesmerized.

“Like blood.
And now he could see her clearer, because she had turned slowly in
the air, turned around so that she was facing him, and then she
sort of drifted across the pond surface, her toes not quite
skimming the surface. He could see that it was blood pouring from
her. Not pond water, Ali, but blood.”

Laying her hand
atop his where it rested on her belly, Ali squeezed.

Ghost’s voice
remained hushed and she had to almost strain to hear him.
“Paralysed with fear, Parker could only watch…watch…as she came
closer, drifting ever closer, and then she was before him, and she
lifted her head slowly…so slowly…and the blood-drenched hair slid
back and he could see her face. Or what was left of it.”

Oh crap, that
couldn’t be good. Ali swallowed.

“No eyes, Ali,
just dark, bloody holes where the fish had eaten the eyes out.
Bloody sockets. Nose half eaten off, lips gone. Skin so white, so
thin, so rotten. She opened up her mouth and…”

Tense, Ali
gripped his hand tighter.

Ghost
straightened.

“What?”
Whipping around, Ali looked up at him.

“Parker doesn’t
know. He woke up and she was gone.”

“He woke up in
bed?” Ali asked ironically.

“No, honey, he
woke up right here.” Ghost pointed down towards their feet.

“Probably had
one too many to drink.” Suppressing a shiver, Ali glanced over her
shoulder at the pond.

“He’d have
agreed, but he woke up drenched in pond water.”

“Fell in.”

“No. He was wet
with pond water and he hadn’t gone into the pond or dragged himself
out.” Reaching out, Ghost tugged a strand of hair that tickled her
chin. “He can’t explain it.”

“Freaky.” Ali
looked down at her feet. If Parker had been fishing right here, had
fallen right here, then that meant – she swung around to stare at
the pond.

“Yep,” Ghost
said calmly. “The woman came from there to here.”

“Wonderful.
Well, I’m going to sit way over there, waaaaay over there.”
Hurriedly, Ali started walking back towards the place he had left
the backpack. “Move it, Ghost.”

“We’ve got
another five minutes yet.”

“Five minutes?”
She moved faster. “Did you bring salt?”

“Salt?”

“And holy
water?”

Amused, Ghost
followed. “Have you been watching ghost hunter shows again?”

“Those hunters
are hot. And they carry protection.”