Parrish

Great. Creepy Parrish Number One just ruined my already slim chance of sleep that night.

  “Hopefully we’ll have picked up some audio,” he went on, completely unfazed by the possible ghost in the bathroom.

  Like I said, he may have been infuriating, but he was good at what he did.

  “You had the camera recording when the bathroom light turned on?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I did, but I doubt it picked up the sigh. Just the light.”

  “Good work,” he said with a nod. “And for the record, I don’t think you’re only good for dressing up in costumes to lure ghosts out.”

  “What?” I asked, completely confused by his statement.

  “What you said in the car on the way here,” he said.

  I narrowed my eyes at him in the darkness. “You were supposed to be asleep.”

  “I like to pretend to be asleep so I can listen to the more interesting conversations sometimes,” he said, as if this were okay to admit.

  Suddenly, I had to take a mental recount of the conversation I’d had with Brighton to make sure I hadn’t said anything too embarrassing. I wasn’t quite sure what I would have said, since there was nothing to say on the subject of Jefferson and me. But still, I didn’t want him misunderstanding anything.

  “I just don’t want you thinking I don’t value your skill,” he said, actually being incredibly nice, even if he wouldn’t look at me while complimenting me. “Of course, coming from the weird creepy one, I guess that doesn’t mean much.”

  My face instantly went red as he repeated my own words back to me. Oops. I guess I had said something embarrassing in the car.

  “I didn’t mean that. I was just . . . kidding,” I finished lamely.

  Jefferson smiled over at me to show he didn’t care one bit about me calling him creepy. Something told me he embraced it. It worked for him.

  “Well, sadly, I think whatever was in your bathroom is gone now.”

  I didn’t think it was all that sad, but I nodded in agreement. Even with the lack of obvious ghosts in my room, I wasn’t going to be sleeping that night, but it did make me feel better to know that someone had come to check things out.

  “Thanks for letting me know,” Jefferson said, handing the camera over to me and walking out of the bathroom.

  “Anytime,” I answered, pretending like I had gotten him because I was concerned he’d miss evidence and not because I was two seconds from passing out from fear.

  “I’ll see you in the morning. I’ve got an idea for how we can get into the pool area, so be ready for that.”

  “I was born ready,” I said with a yawn.

  Maybe I would be able to fall asleep after all.

  “Goodnight, Sadie,” he said, turning to leave and stopping again abruptly. He turned on his heel to face me once more, scrunching up his nose and staring at me guiltily.

  “What?” I asked, checking behind me for the ghost.

  “I don’t have my room key.”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I said slowly. “Well, you’re not sleeping here. Go find Deacon.”

  There was no way I was letting Jefferson sleep in my room, no matter how helpful he had been tonight. Of course, sending him away to his cousin’s room did mean I’d be on the B deck all by myself, and something told me that wouldn’t exactly be conducive to sleeping.

  “He’s going to be mad if I wake him up.”

  Seriously? Was he really thinking I’d ever let him sleep in here? I wouldn’t even let him sleep in the bathtub.

  “I’ll wake him up for you,” I said, dragging him by the hand once more and leading him up the stairs to Deacon’s room.

  Luckily we didn’t see anyone in the hallways, since we were both barefoot and under-clothed. It probably wouldn’t have looked great.

  I knocked on Deacon’s door, Jefferson’s hands on my bare shoulders as he hid behind me.

  For someone so brave, he could be a real baby sometimes.

  The door swung open forcefully and Deacon stumbled out without his glasses on, mumbling a few incoherent curses under his breath.

  “What in the bloody—”

  “Jefferson locked himself out of his room and has to stay in yours tonight,” I said, cutting Deacon off before he could finish his inappropriate sentence.

  I pushed Jefferson into the room and began walking away from the Parrish boys.

  “What were you guys doing?” Deacon asked, his voice indicating that he thought our night’s activities were a lot more scandalous than they actually were.

  “Our job,” I called back, passing the staircase and continuing straight on down the hallway.

  I had given up on the delusion that I was brave enough to sleep in a room by myself, and there was no way I was going to face tomorrow on no sleep. Coming to a stop in front of Brighton’s door and trying to ignore the highly inappropriate questions Deacon was aiming at his cousin down the hall, I knocked loudly, hoping my friend’s ability to sleep through anything wouldn’t prove true tonight.

  Surprisingly, she answered the door only seconds after I’d knocked, holding her inhaler and looking pale.

  “I can’t sleep alone in that room,” I admitted in embarrassment.

  “Oh good!” she said, pulling me into her room. “I was just about to come to your room and say the same thing.”

  Chapter 7

  “I still don’t understand why you guys couldn’t have just asked the guy at the front desk for a room key last night,” Deacon said, still sore about being woken up.

  “It was late,” Jefferson answered absently. “I didn’t think about it.”

  He was back in investigation mode, staring at the split screen that held all four tapes from our rooms last night. Brighton wore headphones to keep track of the audio, and, as it was, Jefferson and I were running late for his “brilliant plan,” whatever it might be.

  “Van would have given you a key,” Deacon went on as I finished fluffing up my pixie cut and doing a once-over in the mirror.

  It was always nice when we weren’t doing a night investigation because I could wear normal clothes. Jefferson had told me to dress like a tourist today, but I just took that to mean “dress in what you would normally wear,” so I sported a mustard yellow tank top, black skinny jeans, and yellow ballet flats. He wore dark brown corduroys and some old band T-shirt he’d borrowed from Deacon, and therefore actually managed to look normal.

  I had to admit, it was kind of nice to see him in something other than his trademark old fitted slacks and a white button-up shirt.

  “Who is Van?” I asked, washing the hair gel from my hands.

  “The guy at the front desk,” Deacon said. He furrowed his brow at me.

  “We caught the light turning on in your room,” Jefferson said over his shoulder.

  “We also caught you running away faster than I’ve ever seen anyone move,” Brighton added with a laugh.

  “Shut up, it was scary,” I said, trying to look hurt.

  Deacon and I made our way to the monitors to see what they were talking about, and sure enough, the light under the bathroom door flickered on, and I ran for my life, making it across the room in one second flat.

  “Nice form, mate,” Deacon joked, nudging me with his elbow.

  I rolled my eyes at him but didn’t respond.

  “You also see the light turn off just before we come back in,” Jefferson said.

  He was much too happy about all of this. Granted, I was excited that we’d caught evidence, but it wasn’t exactly comforting to know that the activity had decided to localize around my bathroom for some reason.

  “I guess tonight we’ll need to set up a camera in the bathroom to see if we catch anything,” I said. “But for now, we need to let Deacon and Brighton go over everything. We have some mysterious appointment to keep.”

  “What are you guys doing?” Deacon asked.

  Maybe he’d get it out of Jefferson, since h
e definitely wasn’t telling me anything.

  “Getting into the pool,” he answered with a wide grin.

  He was definitely proud of whatever scheme he’d concocted. I just had to hope it would actually work, because if it didn’t, I was about two seconds away from breaking down the doors into the pool area to investigate.

  “Bring cameras,” Brighton said, handing each of us a tiny camera—one with night vision capabilities and one thermal imager.

  “You guys all seem really optimistic that we’ll actually be able to get into the pool,” I said suspiciously. “What do you know?”

  “They trust me, love,” Jefferson said. “Now let’s go.”

  ~

  I had to laugh. The fact that our big sneaky plan for getting into the pool area on the Queen Mary was to go on the “Ghosts and Legends Tour” was a little idiotic. If we were trying to be important and respected paranormal investigators, we weren’t doing a very good job.

  “I’m glad you’re so brilliant,” I said to Jefferson as we walked through the ticket area and waited with a small group of tourists in a cold metal room on the ship.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, seeming puzzled as usual.

  “I guess technically you’re right; we will get into the pool area by doing this. But getting to walk through it and actually investigating are two completely different things.”

  “We’re going to investigate, Sadie. Just calm the classic Cuban temper for two seconds and follow my lead.”

  “I’m sure your next move is brilliant,” I said, my words still oozing with sarcasm.

  “Hello, everyone.” A young man walked into the room and shut the heavy metal door behind him so that we were instantly engulfed in a muffled silence. “My name is Van and I’ll be guiding you through the more . . . sinister parts of the Queen Mary today.”

  He spoke in a way that I’m sure he hoped was slow and menacing, but just ended up being a bit cheesy.

  “Van works at the front desk,” I whispered to Jefferson, who had suddenly stepped behind me.

  “Why do you know that?”

  “I’m just repeating the useless information your cousin fills his head with.” I watched as he dug around in the pockets of his corduroy pants for something. “Although I’m not sure how he has any room to store these facts when his head is so full of important information like Brighton’s favorite yogurt flavor.”

  Jefferson stifled a laugh behind me, and as I looked back at our tour guide, I realized he was staring at me.

  In fact, everyone in our group was staring at us.

  “Sorry, what?” I asked, thinking they must have asked us a question.

  “We were just asking what brave souls have decided to join us on our journey today,” the tour guide repeated, trying to keep the overly dramatic eerie tone to his voice.

  Apparently everyone had introduced themselves but us.

  Suddenly I felt Jefferson’s arms encircle my waist from behind as he bent over and rested his chin on my shoulder. His cinnamon smell hit my nose instantly. Had we not been surrounded by sweet families on vacation, I would have punched him right then and there.

  “We’re on our honeymoon,” he said, his voice so sickeningly in love that it made me queasy. “But someone can’t wear her ring because her dope of a husband got it a size too big and had to send it to the jewelers.”

  I glanced down at Jefferson’s left hand that was currently resting on my stomach and noticed a small gold band on his ring finger. When on earth had he gotten that?

  “Isn’t it still so funny to hear, honey?” he asked me, forcing me to look over at him and try not to appear too uncomfortable with how close our faces were. “Husband,” he repeated, looking like he was relishing in the title.

  The entire group was silent, watching us with knowing smiles on their faces (except for the tour guide who looked annoyed with our fake love).

  “It still seems unreal,” I said through clenched teeth. I tried to keep a forced smile in place and refrained from squirming out of Jefferson’s grasp.

  “I can’t believe it either, dear,” he said, giving me a squeeze and resting his cheek against mine.

  The tour guide cleared his throat and continued on with his spiel.

  “I’m going to murder you in your sleep,” I whispered to Jefferson in a singsong voice, still smiling as our tour guide talked.

  “I can’t wait, petal,” he answered. He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

  Yeah, he was definitely a dead man.

  “If you’ll all just follow me,” our guide said, ushering us through a door and beginning what was sure to be the most awkward hour of my life. “Stay close together. I wouldn’t want to lose any of you to the spirits who may join us.”

  We made our way through various parts of the ship, with ghostly sound effects and staged water leaks popping up at unexpected moments. Had I not been so mad at the boy who was currently holding my hand and occasionally rubbing my back lovingly, I probably would have thought the tour was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I was too busy not killing Jefferson to pay any attention.

  “This next room is one of our most famous on the ship,” our guide finally said, flipping off a light switch and turning on his flashlight in the pitch-black room. There were no windows to let in even the smallest bit of illumination. “The pool area has been host to a number of sightings, ghostly encounters, and paranormal activity.”

  “We’re here,” I said over my shoulder, unable to contain my excitement despite the fact that Jefferson was, once more, hugging me from behind and invading my personal space bubble in a way that he would definitely be punished for once the tour was over.

  “Just stick close to me,” he whispered in my ear.

  “I don’t really have a choice when you’re hanging all over me, now do I?” I asked, still keeping the overly sweet lilt to my voice.

  “Just wanted to show everyone how young and in love we are,” he said, matching my fake tone almost perfectly.

  “You’re sure doing a good job of acting like you enjoy being this close to me,” I said.

  “I just can’t keep my hands off you, Sadie,” he said without an ounce of sincerity.

  The tour group began to move again and I was aware of the fact that I’d missed everything our guide had said. It was a pity, really, since I was genuinely interested in the various claims in the pool area. I’d read most of them online, but it was always fun to hear them from someone who was paid to know their stuff front and back.

  I tried to walk with the group, but Jefferson’s hold around my waist tightened, forcing me to stay behind with him. I was pressed tightly against his chest in the darkness.

  The beam of our tour guide’s flashlight moved farther and farther away until finally he and the entire group passed through a door, closing it behind them and leaving us in a darkness so complete that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. Jefferson instantly let his hands drop from my waist and I heard a ruffling sound before his own flashlight popped on, giving us a small glow that only stretched a few feet.

  “I’m pretty sure our tour guide can count, so I give us five minutes tops to do some investigating,” Jefferson said from somewhere behind the flashlight. A tiny red light suddenly came to life out of thin air, indicating he’d turned his camera on.

  I followed suit, taking the camera out of my purse and turning on the night vision capabilities. I may not have been able to see, but at least I could sort of make things out in the viewfinder.

  “Did you bring an EMF reader?” he asked, his voice suddenly so close that I jumped.

  “Yeah, hold on.”

  It was difficult enough holding on to the camera when I couldn’t see where I was going, but holding two handheld objects was going to make the whole navigating-in-the-dark thing kind of difficult.

  “What does it say?” Jefferson asked, barely giving me time to turn the EMF reader on.

  “
Wow,” I said, giving a little whistle for effect. “The electromagnetic field in here is at a point one.”

  The beam of his flashlight bobbed up and down as he walked away from me. “Why does that impress you?”

  He should have warned me we’d be walking around in the dark. I would have packed my own flashlight.

  “It doesn’t. I’m actually surprised it’s so low.”

  From the spastic movements of Jefferson’s light, I could see that we were only a few steps from the empty pool, which looked much too deep for comfort. The room was set up like an atrium, with the pool in the center and a second story balcony lining the walls. There was a small, straight waterslide that didn’t look even close to being safe, and the tiled staircase our tour group had climbed to leave the room sat just to my right.

  Jefferson shone his flashlight in my eyes. “Why are you just standing there? We only have a few minutes.”

  “I don’t have a flashlight. I’m not walking around here in the dark. I’ll probably fall in the pool and die.”

  He let out one long-suffering sigh before lowering the light from my eyes and approaching me, clicking on another small flashlight and handing it over. It was difficult to juggle all of the equipment in my hands, but I managed to shine the light at the EMF reader, thinking that was the most important thing to see at the moment.

  “Hello?” I called, getting right down to it, since Jefferson seemed to be waiting for me.

  My voice echoed around the tiled room, coming back to me with a distorted quality. I heard a few drops of water and aimed my flashlight at Jefferson to see what he thought. His head was tilted to the side as usual, but his large eyes were closed as he listened.

  “There’s no water in the pool,” I whispered. “Should we be hearing water?”

  “We are on a ship,” he said. “I wouldn’t say hearing water is all that special when you’re on a ship.”

  I shrugged in the darkness and looked back down at my EMF reader that sat stubbornly at a point one.

  I sighed at our bad luck. This place was supposed to be full of paranormal activity and we might as well have been standing in the middle of a Wal-Mart.

  Shining my light over at Jefferson, thinking he’d have some great insight into our problem, I found him walking away from me.