Grave Danger Page 9

  He took his time walking around the store, every now and then looking over at the young woman behind the book. When the clerk had revealed her face to Clarissa she was able to note that the girl was young as well, likely not much older than the college boy. Her hair was black and straight with lavender streaks that matched her unusual eye color. From what little she had seen of her face in the brief seconds the girl had revealed it, Clarissa assumed the she was of Korean ancestry, but for some alternate features which looked more Western European.

  Clarissa watched the young man as he strolled about the store. She made sure that she kept a safe distance from him so that he wouldn’t accidentally bump into her or more likely step through her. But he didn’t even glance at Clarissa as if to him she wasn’t there. For a brief second it made her angry, to be ignored by the living was something she hadn’t quite accepted about this existence.

  Clarissa put down the book she was holding as she walked around to another table, standing just on the opposite side of the same table the college boy was standing next to. He was looking through the stacks, taking one and pilling it on another stack as he was going through them. Clarissa picked up a book from the stack of discarded books. Yet he continued to seem unaware of her presence. Even if he wouldn’t acknowledge her presence at least he should have seen a book mysteriously floating in the air. He didn’t.

  Clarissa picked up another book, holding both books in her arms. Clarissa continued picking up books as quickly as he placed them down in the discarded pile. At no time did he notice that his discarded pile remained the same height or question where the books were disappearing to. For some odd reason that irritated Clarissa more, though she didn’t know why. By now she had a huge stack of books that reached her chin.

  “I hope you’re not planning on stealing all those books,” a voice spoke up in the otherwise silent book store. The large ancient tome fell away from the young woman’s face as she placed it on the counter in front of her. She raised her eyebrows as she took in the scene in her store.

  The young man who was putting down another book in the discarded pile looked up and frowned at her. He assumed she was talking to him, considering he was the only customer in the store. “Excuse me?” he questioned in confusion.

  “Not you,” she corrected, looking at him then turning her focus on Clarissa who was looking back at her with an identical confused expression on her face. “I’m talking to the ghost across from you. Seriously, just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you can raid my store for books. So I hope that you plan on paying for all those books you’re holding.”

  “Who are you talking to?” He was looking across from him, but he couldn’t see anyone else in the store, ghost or otherwise. There was however a stack of books that seemed to be holding themselves up from the table. “Is this some kind of Halloween trick you play on your customers? There must be some kind of wire holding these books up like that.”

  “I’m talking to the other customer. She’s standing across the table from you and the books you think are floating she’s holding in her arms. If I’m not mistaken I think she was trying to get your attention.” The young woman addressed Clarissa. “Isn’t that correct? Would you like me to introduce you two? I could be like your dating medium. What do you think?”

  “Are you crazy?”

  “You can see me?” they both said at the same time.

  Clarissa dropped the stack of books back onto the table. The young man actually jumped when he saw the books fall, but he recovered quickly.

  “That’s a pretty good trick, but I don’t believe you’re actually conversing with the dead. If there really is a ghost in this store you’ll have to do something bigger than make books float in the air for me to become a believer.” He reached across to take a book from the once floating stack. For a moment he felt a chill at touching it as if someone had put the book in a freezer. He quickly dismissed the absurd thought.

  “What’s your name so we can be properly introduced,” the young woman asked him. Putting her elbow on the counter she leaned on her hand.

  The young man scratched his forehead, finding the idea of being introduced to a ghost something crazy paranoid people did. Some of his friends liked to believe in this paranormal nonsense, but he didn’t buy into any of it. He admitted the world was full of some bizarre anomalies, but ghosts were not one of them. “It’s Kevin,” he finally answered. “What’s yours?”

  She smiled coyly, brushing her fingers through her dark hair. “My name is Leah Moon. My family owns this store and I work here as their underpaid slave. What about you, are you from around here?”

  He shook his head, glancing once more across the table from him. He still saw nothing. Kevin wasn’t even sure what a ghost should look like. He guessed that one would look like a normal human being only less fleshy and possibly see- through, like their body was covered in cheese cloth or something transparent. “I’m going to school at Flagler College. It’s my second year and I had some free time so I thought about checking out your book store. You got some interesting stuff here, but I can’t imagine anyone comes in this store often.”

  “We do well enough and even people like you who don’t believe in the paranormal seem to enjoy at least pretending for awhile that such a world might exist; a place where ghosts are in fact an everyday part of life. And speaking of ghosts, I didn’t get your name.” Leah turned to address Clarissa. “What’s your name?”

  Clarissa looked between the two livings. Kevin was trying to see her, but his focus was just off so that he was looking beyond her and not at her. He was trying too hard and he didn’t really want to believe she existed. However, the young woman, Leah, had her eyes focused straight on her face. She could see Clarissa.

  “My name is Clarissa Schofield. It’s very nice to meet you.” Clarissa smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement. “I just moved to St. Augustine and I had no intention of stealing your books. But you were right about the fact that I was trying to get his attention. I don’t appreciate being ignored.”

  Leah nodded her head in agreement. “Yes,” she sighed. “I can imagine that it doesn’t feel so nice.”

  Kevin stretched his hand out, reaching across the table as if trying to feel what he couldn’t see. “What are you talking about?” He almost came in contact with Clarissa’s form, but she jumped back just in time.”

  “Hey,” she shouted. “Tell him to stop doing that.” Clarissa backed away as Kevin came around the table to stand in the spot where Clarissa had once been.

  “It’s cooler here than it was on the other side of the table.” Kevin looked up, wondering if there was an AC vent above him that would explain the change in temperature. There wasn’t.

  “Clarissa didn’t appreciate it when you tried to make a grab at her.” Leah smirked as she watched this non-believer try to use logic to make sense of what was happening in the store. “In all honesty I can’t blame her. If she were alive you wouldn’t have tried that. Give the dead some respect, Kevin.”

  “Make her do something. I won’t believe you until you can give me actual, tangible proof that there is someone else in this store with us.”

  Clarissa put her hands on her hips as she glared at this living man who wanted her to perform tricks before he would believe in her existence. “Tell him I am not a trained dog to do tricks for his amusement.”

  Leah recited the message however she made a few alterations. “She said to tell you that she is not a trained dog and that she doesn’t do tricks for the living. But she thinks you’re rather cute and she wonders if you wouldn’t mind if she came and haunted your dorm room.”

  “Really,” Kevin drawled, not believing any of this for a moment. “And does this ghost have a number I can reach her at? Do ghosts even own a phone?” He walked over to the counter where Leah was reclining on her stool.

  “I said no such thing,” Clarissa grumbled. “The last place I would want to haunt is in some smelly college dorm room where there are li
kely all sorts of bacterial monsters and other bio-hazards that even the dead couldn’t stomach being near.”

  “She said you could leave me your number and she would get it.” Leah took out a pad of paper from under the desk and a pen. She watched as he wrote down his cell number and his name on the pad. He grinned at her as he pushed it closer to her.

  “Maybe you could come along and interpret for us. Or better yet, you could leave your ghost friend to her other hauntings and you could come alone.”

  Leah brushed her fingers through her long hair, batting her eyelashes in coltish flirtation. “I might like that. We could investigate your room to see if you have any anomalies that you don’t know about.”

  Kevin scratched his head. He wasn’t sure if she was being serious or she was just playing. She was cute and had the most amazing eyes he had ever seen on anyone. She batted her eyelashes at him and he felt like he was in some kind of trance. She was a witch with those eyes. “Sure.”

  He bought a book, not really looking to see what it was and walked back toward the front of the store a little bemused. Just as he was about to leave he felt something solid hit the back of his head and fall on the floor behind him. Quickly turning around he looked down at the book that was lying on the floor. Laying face up he could clearly read the title written in large black lettering on the front of the book. It read Haunted City: The Ghosts of St. Augustine.

  Kevin rubbed the back of his head as he looked to Leah wondering why she had thrown a book at him. She had clearly been interested in him. Throwing books didn’t fit in with flirtation in his mind.

  “It wasn’t me,” Leah defended herself. “Clarissa threw it at you. You didn’t say goodbye. I think you hurt her feelings.”

  “Ah, bye Clarissa,” he said to the store. “I’ll see you around, Leah.” He was out the door in the next instant, walking quickly away from the haunted book store. The further away from the store the more he questioned the possibility that ghosts could exist in this world. He knew the locals prided themselves on living in a haunted city, but he had always assumed it was just to promote tourism. Now he wondered if these creatures could be more than a tourist’s gimmick.

  “Did you just use me to get a guy’s phone number?” Clarissa glared at the younger woman behind the counter. “And I did not throw that book because he didn’t say goodbye. I threw it because he asked for proof so I thought a heavy book might penetrate that hard headed skull. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing that expression on his face when he turned around.”

  Leah chuckled. “I have to admit I enjoyed seeing that look as well. He might be having second thoughts right now about the possibilities of the paranormal. As for using you to get a guys number, I guess I did. But in my defense I didn’t think he would actually fall for it. Most guys who hear you talk about seeing a ghost are quickly turned off and make a hasty exit.”

  Clarissa walked up to the counter, looking down to the pad of paper where Kevin had scribbled out his name and number. “I hope you don’t expect me to haunt this guy for you.” Clarissa looked up and focused her attention on this living young woman who was able to see her in this form. “You are not like Mrs. Connors, but you are similar somehow.”

  “Yes,” she responded. “I’m an S.S. member like Mrs. Connors, but you’re correct we are not the same.” Leah took the large ancient tome off her counter and stuffed the massive thing underneath it. “I didn’t recognize you as a local and I assumed you might be from out of town. But you’re new to this existence. I can see that now. Most of the older ghosts have a different look about them, a different walk that makes them not quite human. You on the other hand, Clarissa, walk around like you are still living.”

  Clarissa folded her arms across her chest. She was a few inches taller than Leah and had the advantage of looking down at the smaller woman. Clarissa hadn’t realized that she behaved differently than the other ghosts. And she didn’t understand what was wrong with behaving like a human being. Because she was dead didn’t mean she wasn’t human anymore.

  Seeing the expression on the slightly older woman, Leah added,” I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just pointing out how I realized that you were new to this existence. There is nothing wrong with your behavior. In fact it’s kind of refreshing to have a ghost who doesn’t exploit their abilities. You act like you have to follow the rules of the living world and you don’t realize that you don’t have to anymore.”

  Clarissa wasn’t quite sure what Leah meant by that statement and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to find out. Thinking it best to steer the conversation to the topic that she had come in here for, she focused on the fact that Leah was an S.S. (Spectral Services) member.

  “So you’re an S.S. member. Then you must be aware that the city is being taken over by these killers from the island.”

  Leah nodded. “Yes. I’m more than aware of what’s happening in this city; perhaps more so than you in fact. You said earlier that you only recently moved here. We, the S.S. members, and the Eidolon Community have been dealing with the flesh-eaters for decades.”

  “You’re right,” Clarissa admitted. She hated the fact that she was coming in on the tale-end of this issue and had only a limited understanding of the players in this deadly war. Every day, she was becoming more familiar with this existence and how she fit into the old city. Eventually she would find a permanent residence and when her memories of her living self came back, perhaps she would be able to make a contribution to the community like Lizzy or Mr. and Mrs. Mendez did with their shops. But she still knew little about the flesh-eaters or the death bokor who was supposedly able to control these creatures.

  “That’s why I thought to come into your store. Perhaps you might have the information I need to understand what this city is dealing with.”

  Leah came around from behind her counter. Clarissa could now see the rest of her. True to her lavender streaked hair she was attired in a similar color scheme. Black was the dominate color in her wardrobe, a combination of a black velvet skirt with lavender stitching that created a swirling pattern over the fabric, a matching velvet blouse with puffy sleeves with a lavender fishnet long sleeve fitted shirt under it. The only jewelry she wore was a necklace with a small silver charm that was the Korean word for spirit.

  Coming around the counter, Leah looked up at the older woman. “You’re the first new ghost I have ever met who has been so interested in solving our problem. I wonder why that is? Who were you when you were in living form? That might be a reason you seem to have such an obsession with the flesh-eaters.”

  “I don’t have an obsession with the flesh-eaters,” Clarissa retorted, offended that Leah had come to such a conclusion, even if it very well might be true. “What would make you think that?”

  “Because,” Leah said, brushing her long black hair over her petite shoulder. “Not only am I a S.S. member which usually means I have certain capabilities that allow me to see the supernatural world. I am a witch. I know more about the paranormal than most of the Eidolon. Well, at least as much as my grandmother knows. She was a shaman in the old country before she married my grandfather and moved to the states. I legally changed my last name to Moon, her name, when I was eighteen.”

  “What was your name before that?” Clarissa knew that Korean women did not take their husbands last name when they were married. She didn’t know how she knew this, but the information just seemed to come into her brain unknowingly.

  Leah made a disgusted face before she answered. “Scott,” she made the normal sounding surname sound abhorrent. To a self proclaimed witch, it probably was. “My mother married an Englishman and because she was born in the States she took his last name. It’s fine for her, but I wanted a name that bespoke of my beliefs. Both my mother and grandmother are S.S. members too.” Leah walked around Clarissa’s form. “And right now I can see the trouble with the flesh-eaters has really got to you, even more than the others who have been here decades longer. It’s more than just sympathy fo
r the citizens of this community. It’s like your brain in programmed for these creatures, but there was a glitch and when you died you forgot everything you were supposed to know.”

  “I know nothing about flesh-eaters except what people have told me,” Clarissa reiterated. “And if my curiosity seems like obsession then it’s because I can’t stand to see innocent people slaughtered like animals by these monsters you call flesh-eaters. I think it is past time that something is done about them and I intend to be one of those people who help exterminate the lot of them.”

  “I would be more than happy to help you, Clarissa.” Leah smiled at the ghost woman. She liked this woman and believed her to be a wonderful asset to their community. “However, not to get your hopes up, but there isn’t a lot of written material on the flesh-eaters. It’s difficult to study a creature that consumes anything living within its radar. Anyone who has gotten close enough to find out about them has ended up in their digestive tract. But let’s see what I have in stock.”

  Chapter 7-

  “Let me see,” Leah mumbled to herself as Clarissa followed the woman around the book store. “We have a lot of stuff on vampires if you’re interested. In some ways they are almost like flesh-eaters; walking dead corpses consuming living blood to sustain their existence. Except in the case of the vampire, they suck daintily at a person’s neck. A flesh-eater would likely snap your neck in half then suck out all the insides. Then gnaw on your extremities like they were a delicious turkey leg. But flesh-eaters don’t like their meat processed or cooked. I guess they’re on the zone diet or the raw diet.”

  Clarissa didn’t comment on Leah’s idea of a dark humor joke. “Do you have any books on the religion of vodou? I sort of remember that the practitioners of this faith have some understanding of the creation of zombies.”

  “They do, but I’m not sure it will be enough.” Leah moved on to another aisle where there was a collection of spiritual books from a religious or occult perspective. Most people used the word occult to describe a system of beliefs that was dark and usually favored a demonic character like Satanism or demonology. Most forgot that before Christianity became one of the dominant world religions, it too was cast in the light of an occult. The ingesting of the body and blood of Christ could seem to some as a form of cannibalism, an illegal practice in much of the ancient world.