Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out (16 page)

“
The real you? You mean
this is all an act? Are you putting on your best behavior? ’Cause
if that’s the case, I’d hate to see the bad behavior. I can't talk
about this right now.” I adjusted my purse strap on my shoulder and
stared at the elevator doors, willing them open.

Finally, the elevator dinged and the
doors opened again. Thank goodness this time I hadn’t been caught
talking to myself. Stepping out, I turned to my right, following
the arrows directing me toward room 416. The gang followed along
behind me, the clicking of their shoes against the floor only
audible to me. I was like a mama duck with her ducklings trailing
behind her. Again with the mama duck routine!

The sign outside the door announced
only two visitors allowed at a time. Too bad I couldn’t turn to my
ghosts and tell them to wait in the hall. Oh, how I wish I could
have. At least the nurses wouldn’t know I had others with
me.

When I entered the room, I was taken
aback. Just yesterday Karyn had been walking around full of life.
Now she lay motionless with a tube in her mouth and machines hooked
up everywhere. No one was in the room with her. Where was her
family? Where was her boyfriend? It felt strange being alone in the
room. Well, alone with no living people other than
Karyn.

Now that I thought about it, I didn't
know much about Karyn. Other than that she was the leader of the
coven and had helped me break the spell on Callahan. She hadn’t
talked about much other than my spell casting the last time I saw
her. She certainly hadn’t mentioned feeling ill.

My knowledge of witches and witchcraft
had been limited—still was limited. And she wanted me to oversee
the entire Magnolia coven? What would happen now that she wasn’t
capable of making a decision about who would take her place? Was
someone else in charge now? I’d have to find out. I'd never known a
witch before Brianna or Karyn, let alone had I known that there was
a coven in little ol’ Magnolia. Supernatural stuff had been going
on all around me and I had remained clueless.

Karyn’s long, silky blonde hair
cascaded out beside her on the pillow. In spite of being in the
hospital, her inner spirit shined through. She looked like Sleeping
Beauty. The machine beeped a steady rhythm. The room was private,
no other patients. A chair sat next to her bed, so I eased down. I
didn't know if I should talk to her or just be quiet. What would I
say?

“
Listen,” I whispered to my
gang of ghosts. “I can't talk to you all while I’m in here. I don't
want to be caught, again. If a nurse or doctor catches me talking
to thin air, I'll be kicked out for sure. Or sent straight to the
psych ward. So no yakking, all right?”

They nodded as if they were innocent
little angels.

I leaned in closer to Karyn, grasping
her hand in mine. “Karyn, it's Larue. The hopeless woman you’ve
asked to lead the coven. What’s happened to you? I hope you get
well soon.” I wiped a tear from my eye.

I should have tried to call Callahan
again to tell him about Karyn. He’d have wanted to visit. After
all, she had saved him from a lifetime of misery. After helping us,
Karyn had tried modesty, claiming that it was all me who’d reversed
the love spell cast on Callahan but, without her help, there's no
way I would have broken the spell. I’d tried to end the hex without
her and failed miserably. Callahan would have been on his honeymoon
right now if not for her.

I wasn't sure what else to say to
Karyn, so I picked up an issue of Cosmo magazine laying on the
nightstand and started reading from it, one of those
does-he-really-like-you quizzes. I glanced over at Anthony and he
wiggled his eyebrows. I didn't dare read the sex article out
loud.

Chapter Twenty-Five

After I'd read several magazines cover
to cover, I wasn’t sure what else to do. My mouth felt as if I had
swallowed a bag of pretzels. Unfortunately, there was probably
nothing else to do but go home. I hated leaving Karyn there, but I
was powerless. As I stood to exit, an older couple entered the
room. I recognized the woman right away. She had the same refined
facial features as Karyn, along with the same long, silky blonde
hair. She wore black slacks with a beige-colored blouse. The man
had dark hair sprinkled with gray. His large brown eyes narrowed
when he saw me.

“
Hello,” the woman said,
eyeing me suspiciously.

“
Are you a friend of
Karyn’s?” the man asked.

“
Um, yes.” I didn't know
what else to say. Could I call us friends? I didn't know what our
relationship was, really. Yes, definitely she was a friend after
what she’d helped me with. Did I tell the man she’d chosen me to
take her place as coven leader? No, they may not even know about
the coven.

“
We're her parents. I'm
Maggie, and this is Steve.” The woman gestured toward her
husband.

“
It's nice to meet you. I'm
so sorry about Karyn. Do the doctors have any idea what’s
wrong?”

“
No, not at this point.
They’re running tests, but it's a mystery as of right now. Her
friend Becky went to her home and found her. Thank heavens. I can’t
stomach to think what might have happened if she hadn’t found
her.”

Becky Shultz, her fellow coven member?
I was surprised to hear that Becky had found her. I paused,
thinking of the right words. But what were the right words at a
time like this?

“
I'm sorry,” I said again.
I wished I could be more articulate, but that wasn't possible. A
fog covered my thoughts, weighing them down and pushing them out of
my reach. “I was just on my way out. My name is Larue, by the way.
I read a couple of magazines to her.” I placed them back on the
nightstand.

“
I’m sure she liked it. I
read to her, too.” Her mother smiled.

“
I hope it's all right that
I visited.”

“
Of course. I’m sure Karyn
is glad you did. Come back any time.”

After digging around in my bag, I
handed Maggie my business card. The card for Book Nook, not the
ghost hunting business. I wondered if they knew their daughter was
a witch. Were they witches, too?

“
Please call me if you need
anything.” I stretched my card toward her.

“
Book Nook? I thought I
recognized you. You own the bookstore in town. I know your mother
and grandparents. Actually, I’ve played tennis with your mother on
occasion when my shoulder isn't acting up. You look a lot like
her.”

“
I hear that a lot,” I
said.

Karyn’s father remained quiet. Not a
lot to say, I guess, but under the circumstances, I completely
understood why.

I leaned down and kissed Karyn on the
cheek. Karyn might not be the touchy-feely type, but I thought she
wouldn’t mind this time.

“
Well, goodbye and it was
nice to meet you both.” I nodded.

The nod was directed at the ghosts as
well, hoping they wouldn't stick around and cause trouble when I
wasn't there to control them. So far, I had to admit, they had been
well-behaved. Nothing like the ghost I’d recently pushed into the
light, Mrs. Williams. She had been a pain-in-the-butt ghost who had
hung around until recently. I’d finally convinced her to cross
over. Thank goodness, she was gone.

Traveling down the long gray
corridors, I finally made my way back to the elevators, praying not
to repeat what had happened on the way up. Anthony needed to behave
himself, or I’d really make good on that threat to call in an
exorcist.

No sooner had I stepped inside the
elevator when, he started with his antics. Singing. Again. He
really had a nice voice, but still… Another Fifties song. He had
the crooning thing down pat.

“
Your eyes are sparkling.
Have you been crying?” he asked.

“
No,” I said, pushing the
button for the ground level.

“
I'm sorry. I figured you
were worried about your friend and might want to talk about
it.”

“
Yes, I'm worried. She was
a healthy woman. It just makes me realize how short life is and how
we shouldn't take it for granted because in the blink of an eye it
can be gone.”

Mae frowned.

Oops, look whom I was talking to—guess
they knew all about the life is short thing. Now, the
afterlife…that was a different story.

“
Sorry, I forgot,” I
said.

“
No problem, doll.” Anthony
winked.

Mae looked at Seth, then she leaned in
close and whispered something in his ear, as they stood at the back
of the elevator—as far away from Anthony as they could get. They
really seemed to be striking up quite a friendship. At least they’d
kept each other entertained. Two less to worry about. Anthony was
enough on his own. I didn't need any more.

“
I'm here for you if you
need to talk.” Anthony inched closer to me. In the blink of an eye,
he was beside me. He had just been on the other side of the
elevator. I wished I could do tricks like that. As close as Anthony
was, I couldn't believe Seth wasn't having a hissy fit. But when I
glanced back at Seth, I realized why. He was too busy giggling with
Mae. Some help he was.

Anthony reached out and brushed back a
strand of my hair. His fingers lingered and grazed my cheek. My
breath caught in my throat. Like I said, I usually didn’t feel the
ghosts. On rare occasions, I’d been able to interact with them,
like when Abe Lincoln had hugged me goodbye, but this was
different. Anthony had a lot of stored energy. His touch was soft
and not as cold as the others had been.

“
You're warmer than I
expected,” I said, looking at him.

He smiled and then the door dinged
open. No one stood in front of it this time. I was thankful for
small favors. Me staring at the wall would have appeared a tad bit
strange. Sure, I was looking at Anthony, but they’d only see a
crazy woman staring and talking to the wall.

Weaving through the maze of dreary
corridors, past the information desk where the little old lady
still pecked at the computer keys, I made my way back to the
parking lot, the clip-clop of my army of ghoul friends hot on my
heels. This was ridiculous—couldn’t a girl ever get any
privacy?

The sun had set while I’d been inside.
The lights around the parking lot had switched on in preparation
for the coming darkness. Clouds shifted slowly across the sky,
concealing the stars. I pulled my jacket closer to fight off the
chilliness. But was the chill from the night air or the creepy
feeling that had its strong hold on me.

I hurried across the lot, sure that
I’d seen the dark shadow again, and slipped into my car. Before the
ignition had completely turned over, my groupies had slipped in
with me. I’d have left them there, and they knew it. Of course,
that wouldn’t have stopped them from tracking me down again, but
still…it would have bought me a few minutes of peace—something that
was hard to come by nowadays. Surprisingly, Mae hadn’t fought with
Anthony for the front seat. Perhaps they sensed I wasn’t in the
mood for bickering. I flipped the switch on the radio, flooding the
car with oldies and everyone listened without arguing; it was nice
for a change. Doo-Wop was like a pacifier for them.

As I made my way around a curve, the
sensation of fingers brushing against my hand made me jump; the car
almost swerved off the road. Anthony’s presence lingered against my
skin for a second before I glared at him. He smiled, showing his
perfect teeth. He looked like the handsome lead actor in one of
those movies set in the Fifties.

Callahan’s gorgeous face popped into
my mind. Not only was Mindy ignoring me, but also Callahan had
distanced himself as well, after overhearing my ghostly
conversation. What was he doing tonight? He hadn't called or
stopped by. Would he show up for our date tonight? Maybe it was
just as well, I needed the time to come up with a plan to help
Mindy. I needed to figure out exactly what was going on with my
best friend.

The only explanation was that he was
mad. He’d overheard my conversation. Callahan probably wouldn’t
believe any lame excuse I came up with to explain what he’d heard.
I didn't know how I would mend this little quandary. I wasn't
dating anyone else, but what if I were? Would that be any reason
for him to just give up on me? Didn't he want to fight for me? Win
my heart and all that kind of romantic stuff. Guys could be
clueless.

I wanted to call Callahan again to see
if our date was still on, but the thought of picking up the phone
after I’d left that voice mail for him was paralyzing. Calling
would mean maybe hearing that things were over between us. If I
didn't talk to him, then it wouldn't officially be over.

No, I’d wait. He’d realize that what
he thought was something was really nothing at all, and he’d show
up at my door, ready for our romantic dinner. I missed his smile
already and it hadn't even been a full day yet. The more I saw him,
the more I fell for him. The big question was, did he feel the same
for me? I might never find out the answer.

My driveway sat a good distance from
the road. I pulled in, the gravel crunching under the wheels.
Darkness had completely taken over the sky. The small lights on the
front porch were normally my only means of illumination but,
unfortunately, I’d forgotten to turn them on before I’d left. I
hadn’t anticipated being out so late. Not to mention there was less
daylight nowadays as winter was quickly approaching.