Ghost Island (4 page)

“Maybe you saw that old woman before you had the dream, and you just forgot about it.”

“But we had the first dreams before we were even on land,” I said.
“Before we were in the hotel.”

“I don’t know. Maybe something in the brochures triggered them. Besides, we can’t help what games our brains play while we’re asleep.” Her shrug was far from convincing. “Sure, the whole scenario is kind of strange, but it’s harmless. Why keep obsessing about a stupid dream as if it’s the only thing in your life?”

“I’m not obsessing,” I told her, but that was a lie.

In spite of what she wanted to believe and what I pretended to, we were both obsessing. She couldn’t wait to see her sister again, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Aaron.

CHAPTER 5

The storm did not blow out the power. Grace and I joined everybody else in the theater. The old couple sat a few rows in front of us. Peggy turned and waved.

I waved back and thought about Aaron again. I had asked Peggy to tell him to call me, only I’d forgotten our ancient hotel didn’t have phones. Not that Aaron would call me anyway. Not that he even existed. Yet Peggy and Norm were real. So couldn’t Aaron be, too?

No
, I told myself.
Don’t even go there.
Sure, Chris had dumped me in the most humiliating way possible. He’d even said he still loved me. But just because I’d had the poor taste to fall for someone who hadn’t been able to stand up for himself, let alone for me, didn’t mean I had to start fantasizing. I had to admit it, though. When Aaron had looked at me with longing, I felt special. And more than that, I felt a connection.

Somewhere between
We Three Kings
and
Santa Baby
, Johnny had fallen asleep in his seat. Make that, passed out. Then he roused himself and left with Charles, who muttered something about “real gambling at a real casino.”

Emily sat stick-straight beside Ms. Gates throughout the production. Her long blond braid had survived the weather, but just barely. It hung even more limply than before. Finally, we were out of there. Ms. Gates told us that she had spoken with Daniel, and that he still hadn’t been able to locate the rest of our group.

“No one’s reported any accidents,” she said. “They’re probably on the other side of the island at Two Harbors. We need to just make the best of it before the weather gets even worse.”

Back at the hotel, Grace and I walked down the hall that divided the rooms. Her side of the building overlooked the hills, and I had an ocean view, the highest in the place. It was called the Purple Sage room, named as all of them were, after one of the first owner’s Western novels.

“Let’s meet at the pool for breakfast if the weather cooperates,” Grace said. “Do me a favor and forget about what we talked about tonight. Our dreams are nobody’s business.”

“We’ve got to talk about them.” I stopped by the rocky path that led to my room. “Whatever’s going on is beyond creepy.”

The black fringe of her scarf blew in her face, and she crossed her arms. “I just want to see my sister. That’s it, not creepy at all.”

“But how do you even know...”

Before I could finish, she turned and walked away.

Once I was in my room, I walked to the windows and looked down at the black waves and the tiny twinkling city of Avalon below me. The guy I dreamed about could be down there. Peggy and Norm had seen him. Maybe I could find him again.

A framed painting of a southwestern scene hung over my bed. I flopped down on the purple comforter and looked up at the Native American rug and baskets arranged on the wall to my right. Although this place was built in the nineteen twenties, it felt safe and free of those wandering souls I had seen in my dream on the boat. Finally, I crept under the covers.

The sheets were no longer cold, and the bed was warm and calming. I sank into it and immediately smelled lavender. My Grandma Marie had said that spirits frequently communicated with scents, and that had been my experience in the past.
Smoke, cedar, and for some odd reason, popcorn.
If lavender was part of the process, I was fine with it. I drifted off and wished for Aaron. I had questions for him. And I wanted to see him again. I didn’t just welcome sleep that night. I sought it.

From faraway, I heard rain. No dream, though. No Aaron. No memory of anything. My cell wasn’t working, but I guessed it was three or four a.m., way too early to get up. Maybe I could fall asleep again. Maybe still find him.

Someone banged on my door.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Me. Grace.”

I opened it, and she rushed in, wearing a drenched sweater and sweat pants.

“What happened?”

“I saw Felicia. I’m not sure if it was a dream or if it really happened. All I know is she started to slip away from me, and then I realized I was outside, walking toward the casino.” Grace shivered, and water dripped from her hair to the carpet.

“Sit down and get out of those clothes.” I stepped into the bathroom, grabbed the first towel I saw, and handed it to her. Once she had ditched the clothes, I took the comforter from the bed and wrapped it around her. Her lips were b
lu
e.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’m freezing.”

She managed a smile, and the color began to return to her face.

“At first, it was perfect. I knew Felicia was in that building. Then the rain hit. I felt as if I’d been pulled into a storm, as if the warmth was being sucked out of me. My scarf blew away. That’s how strong the wind was.” She drew the comforter closer to her.

“You’ll be okay.” I squeezed her shoulder. “If your sister’s in the casino building, we can try to find out where.”

“How?” she asked.

Good question. All I wanted to do was calm her down.

“I have some ideas.”
Peggy and Norm.
Maybe even Aaron
. “Do you have a photo of her?”

She nodded then looked up at me. “I’m sorry for what I said about charity cases.”

“Not a problem. Why don’t you stay here for the rest of the night? If you try to go walking off toward the casino, I’ll wake up and stop you.”

She shivered in spite of the layers I wrapped around her. “She’s close,
Livia
. I know it. ”

“If she is, we’ll find her. In the meantime, we have at least three hours before we have to worry about it. Come on. Let’s try to sleep.” I expected one of her smart remarks in return. Instead, she began to cry.

I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I couldn’t. She had found and lost her sister. She had every right to those tears.

“Have you ever loved somebody?” she asked.

“I love my family,” I said, and thought about my mom, dad, and Drew. “I always will.”

“Not family,” she said. “Have you ever loved a guy?”

“Once.”
I forced myself to think about Chris and not Aaron.

“What happened?”

“He broke up with me.”

“They always do,” she said.

CHAPTER 6

We are dancing, and my head is resting on his shoulder. Not resting, actually.
Pressing.
Cradled.
The song is familiar, and yet I can’t place it. His scent is e
lu
sive too. Soap maybe, mixed with a hint of something deep and earthy. I nestle against him and remember planting herbs with my mother in a windowsill garden a few weeks before she disappeared. I can’t recall their names. I know only that the smell of him reminds me of those fresh, fragile green plants, and of her.

The colors and scents blend. I slide my arms around his neck, look up into his eyes.

“You are so perfect.” He touches my cheek then lifts my chin.
“So beautiful.”

“How did we get here?” I ask.

“Who cares?” His lips move closer.

I force myself to step away. “I care, Aaron, because I can’t remember.”

“Neither can
I
.” He loosens his grip on me, but we continue to move in rhythm. “All I know is I was studying and listening to music. Then you walked through the door. You look so good in black. All I could see were your eyes.” He brushes my bangs to the side, and I can feel the warmth of his fingers against my flesh.

“What then?” It hurts my throat to speak. I just want to move, just feel. “What happened next?”

“I’m not sure. The music changed, and we started dancing. I hope you’re not sorry.”

“So not sorry,” I say and wonder if I should let him kiss me, because that’s where this slow dance is going.
To a kiss, and after that, any number of things.
To give myself time to think, I say, “I ran into Peggy and Norm last night.”

He pulls me closer. “Peggy made a special trip to let me know. She asked me to call you, but your hotel doesn’t have phones.”

“I know,” I say. “My chaperone hasn’t heard from the rest of our group.”

“The weather’s crazy.” He slides his hand inside my sweater, up my bare back. “Maybe we should just dance.”

I catch my breath and absorb the heat of his hand. “The music stopped.”

He gazes into my eyes. “I still hear it.”

All of a sudden, so do
I
. It moves from a vibration to a powerful melody.

I lean against him but try to resist the pull I feel. “First, we’ve got to figure out what’s going on.”

“You’re not sure about me, are you?” He stops. “What can I do to make it right?”

“Only this.
I want to go down to the theater.
With you.”

“We can’t. I told you they’re making repairs.”

“I was there tonight, and so were Peggy and Norm.” Now I’m the one touching his face, brushing my fingers across his cheek. “Please, Aaron.”

“All right, if that’s what you want, we’ll do it.
But not now.
It’s too late, and there’s too much music.”

I realize he’s right. The music is pouring on us like rain, heavy and cold, drowning out our words. I try to shove it away and realize I’m pushing free of him.

“
Livia
, wait.”

“How can I find you again?” I ask.

“I’ll be here until the storm blows out,” he shouts over the noise. “If you get lost, ask Peggy.”

He reaches out for me. I reach out for him, but we are pushed farther apart. The sky splinters, and I close my eyes.

CHAPTER 7

The pounding music became a pounding torrent of rain, rattling the windows of my room and shooting daggers of lightning at my bed.

Grace cried out, and I was afraid, for a moment, that she had been hit by it.

That was crazy, of course, but no crazier than everything else that had been happening to us.

“Holy shit,” she mumbled and sat up in bed.

“We’ll be okay,” I told her, but I was thinking of Aaron, of how close we had been not long before.

She went to the window. “It’s flooded. How are we going to get down there?”

“We can work our way around the pool. There’s an overhang.” I faced the mirror and piled my hair on my head. “It would be nice if I had more than one jacket.”

“Be glad we packed some clothes in our backpacks,” she said. “Charles and Johnny have only the stuff they’re wearing. Do you really want to go out in that?”

“We have to if we want to eat breakfast.”

“I smuggled in some crackers.
And this.”
She took an orange out of her pocket and used a fingernail to peel back the skin. Its fragrance reminded me how hungry I was. “Want part of it?”

“We need to go down there.” I stopped fooling with my hair. Whatever I did to it wouldn’t matter once the rain hit. “Come on. Let’s make a run for it.”

We left my room and hurried down the rough stone path to the patio. Finally beneath the overhang, I sneaked a glance at the casino in the distance and knew she was doing the same. I felt a tug. If only I could be there back with Aaron in front of the fire. I wondered what would happen if I went there right now, wide awake.

“
Livia
?”
Grace’s tone was wistful. The gray knit hat framed her face.

I knew she must be thinking the same thing I was.

“Breakfast,” I said, and reached for the sliding glass door.

Narrow and cramped, the main room was rectangular with everything arranged to face the view. A long table set with worn utensils and paper napkins took up most of the space. Several chairs inc
lu
ding a large leather recliner crowded on either side of the only television in the entire hotel. At the far corner of the room, stood a small sink, a coffee pot, and stacks of white porcelain mugs.

“Home away from home,” Grace said under her breath.

A handmade afghan of b
lu
e and white stretched across the recliner. She picked it up and put it around her shoulders.

Just then, Charles and Emily walked in. At once, I realize that Emily looked different. The braid was gone, and although her bangs were still too short, they made her eyes look huge. Maybe she’d just finally put on b
lu
sh, but whatever had changed about her was more than the glow of her cheeks and the way her shiny hair fell over her shoulders. She had been shy and colorless. Now there was something almost cocky about the way she looked up at Charles.

He didn’t seem to notice. From across the table, he caught Grace’s eye, and I thought about how well they matched. Even if I hadn’t known, I could have spotted the two rich kids on the cruise, not just by the way they dressed, but by the easy, confident way they interacted.

Emily flashed us a wide smile then took his arm as if she owned it.

“Where would you like to sit?” she asked.

“What’s wrong with her voice?” Grace whispered to me. “Where’d she get the cheesy accent?”

There was something different about the way she spoke. I just wasn’t sure what. “She looks as if she’s had a makeover,” I said, “and she also looks as if she’s very much into your guy.”

She squinted at them. “Charles? He is
not
my guy.”

Charles glanced at Grace, then shrugged and sat uneasily across from us. Emily slid into the seat beside him and beamed.

“I trust you all slept well through this storm,” she said.

“Not a storm,” Grace corrected her.
“A soon-to-be hurricane.”

“By any name, the wind is frightening.” Emily moved closer to Charles. “Perhaps we should stay indoors today.”

“Perhaps,” Grace mocked, and Charles’s face f
lu
shed.

Emily scowled. “We have plenty of tea, and we can always play some games. You needn’t be so negative, Grace.”

“She’s not being negative,” I told her. “Being stuck here with a hurricane coming sucks, okay? You can play all the games you want, but what’s going on here isn’t exactly normal.”

“Don’t,” Grace told me, and whispered, “I’ll take care of this.”

“Would you like some tea?” Emily gazed up at Charles.

“I’ll have coffee. Anyone need a refill?” His eyes didn’t leave Grace.

“I can get my own.” Grace got up and went to the coffee pot. Charles followed. I watched Emily watch them, as Charles leaned down and spoke quietly in Grace’s ear.

Emily looked over at me and stiffened in the chair, as if I had caught her eavesdropping. Then I looked down at her hands. The French manicure was no more. Her fingernails had been bitten down to jagged edges. The sight of them chilled me, although I wasn’t sure why.

“What’s the matter?” Emily asked, and shoved her hands in her lap.

“Nothing,” I replied. “I’m going to enjoy the show.”

“What show?” She looked confused.

Grace sat back down next to me, and this time, Charles pulled up a chair beside her.

“This one,” I said.

Even without makeup, Grace was something. She managed to flirt without acting flirty. Instead, she made solid eye contact with Charles, who quickly lost his self-confident attitude. Then she took off her hat and shoved her fingers into her hair, so that it spilled over her shoulders. Finally, she stirred a large spoonful of vanilla sugar into his coffee, then handed it to him and asked, “Sweet enough?”

No one at the table could have guessed what she had gone through last night. No one except me, of course, since I had witnessed her reaction a few hours before.

Charles could only grin and sip from his cup. Emily pasted a phony smile to her face and fumed. Her eyes radiated jealousy.

Finally, she pulled her chair from the table. “I’ll be off now. If any of you want to pass some time, I’ll be in my room.” With a final, fake-sexy smile in Charles’s direction, she left us.

Charles leaned close to Grace and spoke in a voice too low for me to hear.

“Later,” she said. “I need to talk to
Livia
for a minute.”

“See you, then.”

Perfect, I thought. Grace and Charles were from similar worlds. Emily was too strange for either one of them. She was even too strange for me.

Did she really believe Charles would rush to her room when he had a chance with Grace?

He left re
lu
ctantly.

“Finally,” Grace said to me.

“He’s cute.”

“Too short.
Besides, I’m not worried about him.” She shoved her cell phone into my hand. “I wanted to show you this.”

I gazed down at it and saw a pretty blond girl about our age smiling up at me. She wore a flimsy b
lu
e velvet top that dipped off her right shoulder.

“Felicia?” I asked.

Grace nodded. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“What made her run away from home?”

The moment I asked, I knew I shouldn’t have.

“I’m sorry, but how is that any of your business? I just wanted to show you her picture.”

“I understand.” I got up from the table, embarrassed that I had tried to probe so c
lu
msily into her life. “I thought you might want to talk, that’s all.”

“I just wanted you to see her, okay?” She stood as well. “And now I should go meet Charles, if only to show Emily who runs the world.”

“Have fun.” She looked away from me. I stepped around her so that she had to see my eyes. “You should probably stay in my room tonight.”

She shook her head and continued to avoid eye contact. “I like my privacy.”

“I like mine, too, but I’m worried, Grace.”

“I already have a mother,” she said in that snob-girl voice she’d used on Emily.

“Oh, really?
Where was she when you were bawling this morning?”

“I can’t deal with this,
Livia
. I told you not to push.”

“And I told you I’m worried. You banged on my door soaking wet and cold as a
freakin
’ corpse.”

“Charming comparison.”
She pulled the hat down over her head. “I can’t argue with you right now. I promised to meet Charles.”

“I get it,” I said. “Meet him. Have fun. But tonight, don’t stay by yourself, please. Don’t be alone when you dream.”

“That’s ridiculous, and so are you.”

“You know I’m not,” I told her. “I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

“Don’t bother. I’m not coming.”

I’d leave the door unlocked anyway.