walking past the Maritime Museum would have thought something was wrong with the lights, or perhaps someone was working with welding equipment.
None of them would have suspected a ghost was taking a terrible beating.
* * *
Maya sipped a soda and wondered what to do. She’d hoped Blake would be waiting for her at the bowling alley, even though she’d been two hours late. But there was no sign of him anywhere. And it wasn’t like she could ask any of her friends if they’d seen him.
He could have done the Hamster Dance in front of them, and they’d have never known.
“You gonna bowl or just stand there?” Lucy asked.
Maybe he went down to the beach. He seems to like walking there. “No, I think I’m gonna go home. Work sucked, and I’m tired. I’ll catch you tomorrow, okay?”
Lucy frowned. “Are you sure you’re all right? I could--”
“Hey, Lucy! C’mon, you’re up!”
Lucy raised her middle finger towards Gary, one of the many unladylike habits she somehow managed to pull off without seeming crass. “I’ll be right there. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
“Go ahead, Luce. I’m fine.” Maya forced a smile.
Lucy gave her a close look, but in the end the lure of fun and flirting won out. “All right. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She gave Maya a quick kiss and then ran back to the lane and grabbed a ball from the rack.
Maya watched them for a moment longer, tempted to stay and enjoy herself. After all, she deserved a night of fun. But even stronger was the feeling of guilt at having stood Blake up. She owed it to him to try and find him and apologize.
God, could this night get any worse?
With a sigh, she headed for the exit.
* * *
Blake watched as Gavin and his men passed through the museum doors and out into the night. Guilt weighed on him as heavily as the Atlantic waters on a drowning man. He’d tried to hold out, but in the end Gavin’s punishment was too severe. He’d begged for mercy, told them everything he knew. How Maya had the ability to see and speak with ghosts. How being near her enabled a ghost to be solid again. Gavin hadn’t believed him and had beaten him a second time for lying.
Afterwards, however, one of the other sailors, the old timer named Childs, had pulled Gavin aside and spoken with him. They’d kept their voices low, but thanks to the way sounds carried in the cavernous room, Blake managed to hear most of what they said.
“’Tis possible, it is, sir. I’ve heard tell of such things. My pa, he was from the old country. Said ‘twas something some folk could do. Most times it got them burned at the stake for witchcraft, it did.”
“If what you’re saying is true, then simply by keeping her near us we could regain our corporeality and actually search the museum for the key.”
“Aye, I guess. But there’s more to it than that. ‘Ccording to the tales my Pa told me, if the lass in question be a virgin, then taking her womanly blood would make you whole again, forever.”
A note of black desire had crept into Gavin’s voice. Blake felt unclean just from hearing it. “You mean, if I make this girl’s virginity my own, I’ll be...human again?”
“That’s what the stories say. I’ve never met a witch, so I can’t say with any authority as to the truth o’ that. But then, so far the tale seems true enough, eh?”
Gavin eyes had flicked towards Blake. “I wonder if he knows this girl well enough to say if she’s a virgin?”
“I don’t know about her, but her friends are.” Anton Childs stepped forward. “When we was watching them, we saw them talking with a whole boodle of lasses. And they was holding signs in the air. I couldn’t read them all, but I saw the word virgin on some of them.”
“Really?” Gavin’s voice indicated he didn’t believe the sailor’s story.
“Swear on me mother’s grave, sir. T’aint no hornswaggle. ‘Twas the opposite of the docks when we was alive. There the whores
None of them would have suspected a ghost was taking a terrible beating.
* * *
Maya sipped a soda and wondered what to do. She’d hoped Blake would be waiting for her at the bowling alley, even though she’d been two hours late. But there was no sign of him anywhere. And it wasn’t like she could ask any of her friends if they’d seen him.
He could have done the Hamster Dance in front of them, and they’d have never known.
“You gonna bowl or just stand there?” Lucy asked.
Maybe he went down to the beach. He seems to like walking there. “No, I think I’m gonna go home. Work sucked, and I’m tired. I’ll catch you tomorrow, okay?”
Lucy frowned. “Are you sure you’re all right? I could--”
“Hey, Lucy! C’mon, you’re up!”
Lucy raised her middle finger towards Gary, one of the many unladylike habits she somehow managed to pull off without seeming crass. “I’ll be right there. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
“Go ahead, Luce. I’m fine.” Maya forced a smile.
Lucy gave her a close look, but in the end the lure of fun and flirting won out. “All right. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She gave Maya a quick kiss and then ran back to the lane and grabbed a ball from the rack.
Maya watched them for a moment longer, tempted to stay and enjoy herself. After all, she deserved a night of fun. But even stronger was the feeling of guilt at having stood Blake up. She owed it to him to try and find him and apologize.
God, could this night get any worse?
With a sigh, she headed for the exit.
* * *
Blake watched as Gavin and his men passed through the museum doors and out into the night. Guilt weighed on him as heavily as the Atlantic waters on a drowning man. He’d tried to hold out, but in the end Gavin’s punishment was too severe. He’d begged for mercy, told them everything he knew. How Maya had the ability to see and speak with ghosts. How being near her enabled a ghost to be solid again. Gavin hadn’t believed him and had beaten him a second time for lying.
Afterwards, however, one of the other sailors, the old timer named Childs, had pulled Gavin aside and spoken with him. They’d kept their voices low, but thanks to the way sounds carried in the cavernous room, Blake managed to hear most of what they said.
“’Tis possible, it is, sir. I’ve heard tell of such things. My pa, he was from the old country. Said ‘twas something some folk could do. Most times it got them burned at the stake for witchcraft, it did.”
“If what you’re saying is true, then simply by keeping her near us we could regain our corporeality and actually search the museum for the key.”
“Aye, I guess. But there’s more to it than that. ‘Ccording to the tales my Pa told me, if the lass in question be a virgin, then taking her womanly blood would make you whole again, forever.”
A note of black desire had crept into Gavin’s voice. Blake felt unclean just from hearing it. “You mean, if I make this girl’s virginity my own, I’ll be...human again?”
“That’s what the stories say. I’ve never met a witch, so I can’t say with any authority as to the truth o’ that. But then, so far the tale seems true enough, eh?”
Gavin eyes had flicked towards Blake. “I wonder if he knows this girl well enough to say if she’s a virgin?”
“I don’t know about her, but her friends are.” Anton Childs stepped forward. “When we was watching them, we saw them talking with a whole boodle of lasses. And they was holding signs in the air. I couldn’t read them all, but I saw the word virgin on some of them.”
“Really?” Gavin’s voice indicated he didn’t believe the sailor’s story.
“Swear on me mother’s grave, sir. T’aint no hornswaggle. ‘Twas the opposite of the docks when we was alive. There the whores
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