Tortured Souls (The Orion Circle) by Kimber Leigh Wheaton

in a while I enjoy a long walk with the drops falling on my face. It leaves me feeling calm and refreshed.
    When we reach Logan’s car, I stop in surprise. Water drips from my damp bangs, and I brush them aside to stare at the beauty before me. With a wistful sigh of appreciation, I run my fingers down the side in a light caress. This is one gorgeous car. The Mustang is black, but not just any black, there’s glitter in the paint that makes it glow in the floodlights brightening the parking lot. It has been detailed with several chrome accents. Red racing stripes run across the hood to continue over the roof and end at the rear spoiler.
    “Logan, it’s beautiful,” I gasp in a soft whisper.
    Okay, I admit it, I have a thing for cars, and this is one fine automobile. Rain all but forgotten, I circle around the car wondering how he managed to nab such a sweet ride.
    “Would you like to get in out of the rain? The inside is pretty nice too,” he comments with a crooked smile while hitting the button to unlock the doors.
    I open the door and dive inside to escape a sudden gust of wind. It roars through the empty parking lot, blowing the rain almost horizontal. Once both doors are shut, we stare out the windshield at the impressive storm.
    “Guess we made it just in time,” Logan remarks as raindrops pelt the car from all sides. “Probably shouldn’t drive in this downpour, my Dad would kill me.”
    We both take a moment to text our families to let them know we’re still at school waiting for a break in the storm to leave. Sitting in companionable silence, we watch the fury of nature as she unleashes an amazing show of water, wind, and lightning. The lightning is close enough to light up our surroundings as if the sun was making a quick appearance through the black clouds.
    “I’m so glad we have four rubber tires protecting us from the lightning,” I murmur after another loud boom of thunder follows the flash of lightning too close for comfort.
    When I glance at Logan, he’s smiling—that smile Gavin uses when I say something cute and incorrect.
    “What?” I ask ready for a lecture though I’m not upset, I love to learn new things.
    “It’s simple physics really. It is safer to be in a car than out in the open but not because of the tires,” Logan says, eyeing me for my reaction. When I grin at him and nod he continues. “The vehicle acts as a Faraday cage—the lighting will travel along the metal of the car before traveling into the ground through the tires which keeps the occupants protected. If you’re touching anything in the car connected to the outside metal cage you could still be electrocuted.”
    With a shudder, I move from leaning on the door to leaning on the leather armrest between the seats. This puts me very close to Logan who’s also leaning against it.
    “This effect doesn’t work in a convertible or a car made of fiberglass, so no hopping into a Corvette during a thunderstorm.”
    “I thought rubber didn’t conduct electricity,” I say, a bit confused by what I always thought to be fact.
    “Rubber is an insulator and doesn’t conduct electricity, but lightning is so powerful that rubber tires aren’t going to protect you,” he murmurs.
    With every lightning strike I flinch a bit, glad when the time between flash and thunder begins to increase.
    “Will Friday night work for you?” At my blank expression he adds, “To check out the inn in the Queen Anne District. We could get dinner first along the River Walk if you’d like.”
    “Sounds good,” I reply, feeling a bit giddy.
    Can I consider this a date? No doubt Celia would since we’re having dinner together. Ghost hunting seems a bit odd for a first date. But what about my life has ever been normal? I don’t think most girls have to put up a barrier to keep from seeing dead people on a regular basis. Nor do they have to politely ask the spirits living in their house to move on to the next plane of existence. The idea of