The thick curtains didn’t give me much wiggle room to see inside the dusty windows but I could tell whoever was in there did not have a housekeeper. It looked as old and deserted as the outside did. A solid foundation and good building skills were all I could give credit to this house for still standing.
“Just a little peek around the back won’t hurt anyone,” I whispered to myself, looking back at the door which remained closed and began walking quietly around the corner of the house. The atrium was gorgeous, and I saw various plants and sculptures inside. Live plants, despite the cover of the metal and glass, kept the misty rain from falling on their leaves. I hopped off the porch and walked around the atrium, looking through the once-again dirty glass and saw a library beyond the assortment of plant life. Nobody dead or human walked in the library now.
I tilted my head, listening for anyone opening a door. Surely it would creak or be loud as fuck, since it was made of heavy, solid wood. Still nothing, so I kept walking and observing the layout of the house.
“Holy shit!” I was surprised the words came out of my mouth instead of my breath staying stuck inside my lungs. I thought the house was the surprise in these woods with its glorious appeal, but I should have guessed there would be another mystery.
A cemetery.
A cemetery so vast with mausoleums, tombs, and headstones everywhere. I’d never seen anything like it except in pictures of New Orleans cemeteries. The owner of the house must have been from New Orleans to have put so much of its culture just outside of Seahill. My hands went to my mouth in disbelief at the many ghosts lingering by limestone and marble tombstones of the graveyard.
A joyous voice from behind me laughed and then two hands pushed me with enough force that I couldn’t keep my footing and began rolling down the hill into an endless gathering of the dead.
Chapter Five
Selene
“Ah!” I cried out as my body slammed into a headstone. The marble held like it had since 1873.
As if my entrance into the cemetery was a green light, all the souls began to come out from wherever they hid. Music and laughter filled the air as people had their fun with their eternal damnation on Earth.
“Take that, you pirate!” A ghost with a sword and an old British wig lunged with his sword at a . . . well . . . a pirate.
I’d never seen souls this old. Everyone in Seahill had been newly dead. These souls were centuries-old, different generations of souls having one hell of a party.
“Excuse me.” I stood and rushed to a woman dressed in a Victorian-age outfit. Her ringlet curls bounced along her face as she turned to face me. When she noticed I wasn’t a ghost, she gasped and floated away in another direction.
“What the hell is happening here?” I cursed as a rush of happiness flowed through me. Surrounded by so many souls, I had the itch to touch them, to bring them onward. It felt like the caress of a man against my neck. I wanted to lean into them and do as my own soul craved. I stumbled to crawl back up the hill I’d been pushed down but the ground was wet and my boots had trouble gripping the slick mud.
There had to be stairs and an entrance to this cemetery from the mansion. It was my only exit plan that had sense. If I stayed much longer, these ghosts were going to be deported and I wasn’t sure that was a good thing, yet. There was a much greater mystery here and I needed the souls around to ferret out the truth. Who the hell pushed me? Ghosts did not have power like that, unless someone had given it the power.
“A fleshie!”
“She’s alive.”
Ghosts gasped in awe as I walked into the cemetery in the direction I’d hoped would bring me to the entrance.
“Might I be of some use, my lady? It’s not very often we have such pretty guests in our lovely home.” A balding man wearing fancy clothes and shiny shoes bowed before me like a gentleman. I didn’t sense malice in his soul. If he were to move onward, he’d definitely see the lighter side of the afterlife.
“I need to get out of here.” If a ghostly escort was all I was going to get, then I would take it.
“This way, my lady.” He gestured straight ahead and lifted his arm up for me to rest mine atop. I didn’t think it would work but I raised my arm to his. It fell through, of course.
“Sorry. Old habits,” he apologized, his head bowing softly before looking me in the eyes and we began walking through the cemetery together.
“How are you guys still here?”
“How can you see us?” he countered before answering my question.
“I’m a reaper,” I answered honestly and noticed he didn’t move away from me, which took me by surprise. If they’ve been around long enough, they surely knew what I was and what I could do.
“You’re not afraid?”
“No, no, dear lady. We are stuck here. Even if you tried, you couldn’t take us onward despite how many wish you could.” He gave me a sad smile and then looked at the souls who danced among the headstones.
What he said didn’t make sense. None of this did.
“Be kind to my dearest great, great nephew. He didn’t ask for this life, but it’s the curse us male Mallorys face. He’s a good boy.” The kind soul attempted to pat me on the shoulder, then pointed toward our left. A grand staircase with large vases every ten feet led up to the large back veranda of the mansion.
