The Grey Girl, The Van Tassel Murders

The ride home was filled with uneasy tension and minimal discussion. Rain lashed at the windows, driven by the high winds. Even the radio was a whisper, its music barely audible under the rat-a-tat-tat of rain against the windshield, as if it didn’t want to disrupt the heavy thoughts of the car’s occupants.

Chloe held Alex’s hand. She knew he was worried but was trying his best not to show it. Arthur too glanced at her often in the mirror. Aaron played a game on his phone, but she could see his expression. It was all starting to grate on her. The rain, the glances, the way Alex absently rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. She pulled away and stared determinedly out the window. Alex sighed with frustration beside her but said nothing.

Arthur pulled into the familiar driveway of his old house, the house that Alex and Chloe now shared. Saying a quick goodbye, Alex took a breath before dashing through the torrential downpour to unlock the front door.

Her hand on the door, Chloe mirrored Alex’s deep breath.

“Chloe.” Arthur lightly grabbed her shoulder, stopping her with the door only slightly open. Aaron had earphones in and pretended not to hear anything. “I know you can take care of yourself. I know you’re very capable.” Chloe began to protest but Arthur put up a hand to stop her. “You are more important to me, and Alex, than money or more prestige.” He watched her face soften. “If you aren’t ok with this, the deal is off. No questions and no regrets.”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I feel like something’s off, but I don’t think we’re in danger.” She smiled. “I think we can restore a beautiful house and help a lost soul in the process.”

“That’s fine, but remember, your safety is more important, so if anything feels …” He chewed the word for a moment. “Bad, strange, you know. If you don’t like it, we leave, done, finished. Got it?”

“Thanks.” She forced a smile as she patted his hand. “I’ll make sure I let you know.” Her hand returned to the handle of the open door.

“He’s only being overprotective because he cares, you know,” Arthur stated, nodding in Alex’s direction. “And so do I.” he added as she smiled her thanks.

As the door opened, Aaron finally spoke without looking up from his game. “Yeah, I think you are …. tolerable.” He shrugged when Chloe stuck her head between the seats and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The disgusted look on his face caused Chloe to laugh. He smiled at her. “Seriously,” he said, “If anything happened to you, baby brother would be all kinds of lost. So if you say no, its no.”

“I love you both, too.” Chloe smiled then ran to the door, arriving soaked to the skin. Grabbing the towel that Alex handed her, she began to dry her hair as the two headed for the kitchen.

“What took so long?” Alex asked casually as he began to make coffee.

“Oh, nothing. Dad and Aaron just wanted to double check again how I felt about the job.”

Alex smiled to himself; he liked it when she called Arthur Dad. “Have you changed your mind?” he asked.

Chloe continued to rub the towel over her head as she walked toward the door of her bedroom. “No, I still want to do it.” The one-cup coffee maker was just finishing brewing. Chloe held out her hand at the door to her room and the cup flew right past Alex’s outstretched hand and into hers. She winked. “I still have a few things left over from, you know, before.”

“Yeah.” Her ability to move things without touching them still freaked him out a little. Frowning Alex continued, “I know you can take care of yourself but that …” He raised his voice as her door closed. “Doesn’t mean I don’t worry.” When she did not immediately reply, Alex began making another cup of coffee. In less than a minute he held the warm cup in his hand. His thoughts were still jumbled with worry, anxiety, and a bit of anger as he stood at the window, not really seeing anything, just watching the rain as it ran down the glass. “You really need to be more concerned,” he muttered.

Lightning flashed, his coffee cup shattered on the floor, and Chloe’s door banged open. His head snapped around at the noise. His attention was instantly split between the ghostly apparition standing in the yard and Chloe’s well-defined abs disappearing under a T-shirt.

“There’s someone here!” she exclaimed, rushing to Alex. He was pleased for a second until she pushed him behind her. Thunder rolled as more lightning flashed. “Oh, that is just not fair,” Chloe gasped. “How come he can leave his house?” She turned, clearly demanding an answer from Alex.

The man in their yard was gaunt. His clothes looked as if they had once been quite elegant, but the now-tattered material, along with his beard and hair, told of the late 1800s.

“Is that Henry Van Tassel?” Alex asked, looking around Chloe’s shoulder.

“I don’t know for sure, but it feels the same as at the house.” Chloe frowned. “So, what? The murderers get to wander around, but I got stuck in that damn house.”

“How do you not know?” Alex asked, ignoring her complaint.

Annoyed, she glared at him. “Being a ghost isn’t a club. We don’t get together for meetings, you know.”

“Oh shit. He’s getting closer.” Alex grabbed Chloe’s shoulder, pulling her back slightly. Together they backed away from the window as the apparition grew closer.

The ghost passed through the wall to stand in front of their kitchen sink. “You.” He pointed straight at Chloe. He cocked his head as if he had never seen anything like her. “You don’t belong here.”

“This is my house.” Chloe stood defiantly. She poked Henry in the chest. “How are you out of yours?” Confusion was plastered over Henry’s face as he reached out a hand toward Chloe. Alex swatted at it, but his hand passed right through Henry’s arm. Chloe batted the skeletal hand away.

Henry was now inspecting his hand. “How?” he asked.

“That is none of your business,” Alex exclaimed, stepping forward. “This is my house, and, and you are not welcome here.”

Henry turned his gaze from Chloe to Alex. Fire blazed in the empty eye sockets. “And you are not welcome in mine.” He began to float back through the counter. “You would do well to keep”—his finger pointed at Chloe while his eyes never left Alex—“that … abomination away from my house as well.”

“How dare you,” Chloe shouted. Her hand splayed out in front of her. The ghost of Henry was blasted through the wall. There was no sign of him through the window. Chloe still held her hand out in front of her as Alex turned his attention fully on her.

“I have three questions.” He swallowed. “One, how did you do that?” He glared at the empty wall. “Two, you can’t seriously be considering going back to that house now?” He stared into her eyes, clearly expecting an answer

Time passed. Chloe stood waiting, her foot tapping out her annoyance. “Well? What’s the third?”

“The third?”

“Question?”

“Oh, right.” He had been holding her by the shoulders, but now he took a step back, looking down at her stomach covered by the T-shirt. He reached a shaking hand out and pulled the hem up slightly.

Chloe gasped and slapped his hand away, shocked.

He looked back into her eyes. “When the hell did you get abs like that?”

A smile crept over her face, replacing her anger. “I have been able to move things since I came back, as you know.” She smiled sheepishly. “I just didn’t do it around you too much, but that isn’t all. I can see ghosts, touch them. I don’t know …”She looked away, pink tingeing her cheeks. “Sometimes it’s like I’m still a ghost or . . . maybe something in between.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want to scare you.” She looked at his face. “I shouldn’t have been concerned, I guess.”

He nodded grumpily.

“As for the second question. Yes, Yes we are going back there. No uppity ghost is going to call me an abomination and get away with it.”

Alex’s jaw dropped. “But … but, you … no … but.” He pointed at the empty counter and window.

“Yeah, and I forced him out of our home.” Chloe held Alex’s face softly in her hands. “It’s ok. I doubt he’ll be back tonight.” She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll protect you. And I promise not to tell Aaron you hid behind a girl.”

“What? I … I didn’t hide. You pushed me. I wasn’t hiding,” Alex grumpily argued.

“Oh, you’re right.” She laughed. “You weren’t hiding.” She headed back toward her room.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“I have some thinking to do, and I’m tired.” She shrugged. “Good night.” She kissed his stunned face again. “Oh, and,”—the shy smile was back—“I’ve been working out.” She flashed her stomach at him before shutting the door.

“That was cruel, you know,” he shouted through the door. Frustrated, he dropped onto the couch. “I wasn’t hiding,” he muttered.

“Like a little girl.” Chloe’s muffled voice came back to him. Alex frowned at the closed door. “Don’t make that face. It doesn’t suit you.”

“What? Can you see through walls as well?” he shouted.

“No, I just know you,” she replied, matter-of-factly.

Glaring at the closed door, he shook his head. His mind was a jumble of worry and annoyance. Knowing the television would not offer a distraction, he got up and began to look for a book that might explain why Henry was able to follow them home. “More importantly,” he mumbled. “How do we to keep him out.”