Just Lucky that Way (9 page)

"Look, Rhys, sometimes I just need to be alone. I feel like I'm cracking up. Working in that barn--" Zed shrugged. "I dunno, it's getting to me. The lights and voices and--"

"Voices?"

"I know. Stupid, right? It's in my head, and the lights flickering is just the old wiring. It wouldn't spook me so much if Alex--"

Rhys turned to face Zed. "There has to be a logical explanation for the 'voices'."

"There is, I'm insane. But you know that."

"You're not insane." Rhys threw an arm around Zed's neck and almost dragged him back to the barn. "A little crazy maybe..."

Zed laughed, as he was supposed to, but he knew his brain didn't work the same way as everyone else's. It didn't matter what anyone said. Though hearing voices was new. The suicide attempt and anything stupid he'd done since then had been his own idea; no voices in his head telling him to do any of it. Mind you, maybe the alcohol had quieted them.

He stopped suddenly when they reached the barn. "Can you feel that?"

"What?"

"It's cooler. And... dunno, sort of..." Unsure of how to put his exact feelings into words, Zed gestured vaguely and darted a look behind him. "I feel like someone's watching... like they don't want me here... it's fucking scary."

Rhys looked around. "Nah, it's just the creepy run-down barn. Anyone would feel uneasy in there -- except maybe Igor." He grinned.

Travis caught sight of them and checked his watch. "Lunchtime, cool. C'mon guys," he called to Jon and Blake, who were in a stall. Travis picked up his discarded T-shirt and wiped his face with it, his deliciously bronzed torso glistening with sweat. There was something to be said for men who worked outdoors and spent their weekends chasing waves.

"Trav," Zed stopped Travis as he walked past. "Um... don't suppose you noticed--" Fuck, why didn't Travis put his shirt on? Seriously distracted, Zed looked over Travis' shoulder rather than focus on his pecs. "Er... anything strange. In the barn."

"Nah, buddy. You guys?"

Jon and Blake shook their heads. "Why?"

"Huh?" Zed dragged himself back from a quick fantasy involving him, Travis, a surfboard and a deserted beach -- he hated beaches. "Oh, just..."

"Zed being a girl." Jon finished Zed's sentence. "The mice and spiders spook you?"

Blake shot Jon a venomous look. "I haven't seen any mice, dick. Come to think of it, that's odd in itself."

"Whatever." Jon stalked off.

"There you go; it's only me." Zed gave Travis a wan smile instead of leaping on him. What was going on with everyone? Jon was back to snarky, and Zed had never felt sexually attracted to Travis. He was hot, sure, but also the most heterosexual male that Zed had ever met. While he was never anything but friendly toward Zed, his vibes had barbed wire on them. Zed found nothing sexually attractive in such an aggressively het male.

Rhys grabbed Travis' flashlight. "I'm gonna check it out -- you coming?"

"Not me, pal." Travis grinned. "Gonna grab Kitty and cool off, then eat." He wandered off in the direction of the girls.

Blake, on the other hand, led the way into the barn. He grabbed his flashlight and continued to the very back. "Why are the lights out?"

"Bad wiring," Zed offered by way of lame explanation. The air was already stifling, trying to choke him.

"But it's just an extension cord -- and a new one at that." Blake tapped his flashlight as it flickered.

The beam of Rhys' flashlight illuminated stray bits of straw, the tractor engine, dusty cobwebs. "You're right, Blake, no mice, living or dead. Not even any sign of them. And no spiders." He laughed. "Did you not think new batteries might be a good idea?"

"They are new." Blake frowned, and his light went out.

"See, there is something." Zed moved closer to Rhys.

"Doesn't mean anything." Blake muttered. "They might've gotten damp."

"In this weather?"

"Good point. Humidity perhaps..." Blake opened the flashlight and let the batteries slide into his palm. They were as corroded as any that had been left for years on end. "Nah, these were new. I've got more, I'll grab 'em after lunch."

Next to Zed, Rhys shivered. "It is cold back here."

Thank God. Or did that just make Rhys crazy as well? "You feel that? It's icy cold." The chill permeated Zed's bones. "It was like a sauna here yesterday."

Rhys' light died; it didn't even bother flickering. In the short, uncertain silence, a high pitched giggle sounded.

Zed froze. It wasn't rational, he knew that, but he was terrified. "Hear that?" His voice shook. "There's something there. Fucking Opal's ghost." He took off, not stopping 'til he was at the pond, in the sunlight -- warmth seeping back into him. He dropped to sit on the grass; his heart was thumping and he was breathing hard -- more like he'd run a marathon rather than a few hundred feet. But there were noises. Happy; his friends shouting and laughing, splashing and swimming. Normal, hot, day-to-day noises. Nothing sinister.

Rhys' and Blake's footsteps signaled their arrival a scant minute later.

"Did you hear it?" Zed demanded. "Her fucking laughing at us."

"Yeah," they both answered, their faces drained of color.

"So either you're crazy, too, or there is something there."

"There's something there all right," Blake whispered.

"I heard something, but there has to be a logical explanation..." Rhys countered.

"That's what I thought, until she spoke," Zed said, in an attempt to seem more rational. "Maybe trees moving against the barn roof or something. And those batteries? What about them?"

Blake looked toward the barn, worrying his bottom lip. "A bad batch?"

Zed nodded. "Uh-huh. Perfect one day, corroded the next. Not even those batteries Scott bought from the dollar store were that bad. And they were pretty bad." Vibrating toys that only vibrated for a few minutes at a time tended to disrupt passionate foreplay.

"A bad batch mixed with all this 'fresh' country air," Rhys said, determined to find a logical reason.

Zed shook his head, and grinned. Like he actually wanted there to be a ghost. Or did he want Rhys to be unable to explain something? There were times when Rhys' superior intelligence got on his nerves, but Zed had never wanted him to fail. Zed would much rather one of Rhys' explanations made sense, than the alternative. Mainly because the ghost seemed to have singled him out. He stood. "Face it, pal. This is something your science won't explain. Trust me, I wish it could." He peeled off his T-shirt and jerked his head towards the pond and their friends. "Coming?"

"Just make sure everyone stays clothed."

Zed managed to look innocent, widening his eyes as he popped the top button of his cargo shorts. Rhys laughed, Blake rolled his eyes.

"Woohoo!" Mel called out from the floating deck. "Take it off, Zed!"

"You first, sweetheart," Zed called across the pond.

"Oh, if only you meant it." Mel laughed.

A real laugh. So unlike the tinny laugh of the... voice in the barn. Out here, in the bright warmth, Zed found it hard to believe that mere minutes ago he'd run from the barn like a hysterical girl.

Blake ran past Zed, shoes and T-shirt already shed, and bumped him. "C'mon then. Last one in's a girl."

Zed kicked off his shoes, leaving them where they fell, and chased after Blake, Rhys on his heels.

***

A photo of Alex flashed up on Tania's monitor. Zed blinked and looked over at his boyfriend. He was beautiful, looking like one of those Abercrombie and Fitch models. Sun streaked brown hair, blue eyes, healthy tan. Zed smiled -- the perfect 'boy next door' look. It had been just his luck that Alex had been the boy next door.

Early evening, work was over for the day, and dinner was all but finished. Mel and Jon were still picking at the remnants of a crisp garden salad, and most of them had a cool drink. Kitty had offered an impromptu showing of the photos she'd taken over the last couple of days. Everyone gathered around Tania's fifteen inch lap top screen and marveled over Kitty's photos. Zed had to admit that she was excellent, and hoped he remembered to ask her for a copy of that one of Alex.

The next photo showed Becca looking up at Alex, laughing. The slight breeze moving her blonde hair away from her face. The perfect golden couple... hadn't someone called them that when they'd dated in high school?

That shard of ice stabbed Zed's heart again, and he closed his eyes. Kitty's photos were wonderful. She seemed to capture personality, whether she was taking a photo of a person or a building. It was all lighting and placement of subject, Zed knew, but Kitty managed it expertly... and effortlessly.

Next was a photo of Zed. Dark and brooding, he was just in the shadows at the back of the barn. Typical, Alex got the light, and he got the dark.

"What's that behind him?" Mel asked.

Everyone moved in closer. A blur of misty white was behind photo Zed. It looked like dust motes had been kicked up in a swirl of wind with the sun glinting off them.

"Trick of the light?" suggested Jon. "There's light at that window and the hole in the roof behind him."

Kitty shook her head. "No, it wouldn't do that. Besides, I saw them when I took the picture. There was nothing else there, just Zed."

"Can you zoom in on that bit?" Jon asked.

"Should be able to, hang on." Kitty clicked the mouse a few times.

Zed's gaze was glued to the screen, as the unidentified misty swirl magnified with each click. The swirl came into focus, losing its mystique... or perhaps gathering more.

"What the hell?" Blake said, breaking the silence that grabbed hold of the others as the shape took the form of a woman.

The shadows of the barn prevented perfect clarity, but it was a woman.

Suddenly feeling vulnerable, Zed wished he and Alex were talking. He never felt more protected than when he had Alex's strong arms wrapped around him. But, as that wasn't to be, he looked around and moved closer to Rhys. "That her, you think?"

"It's a trick of the light," Rhys said with such conviction Zed wanted to believe it. But Zed knew what he'd heard in the barn and a trick of the light wasn't going to explain that as easily.

"I've never seen light do that," Kitty retorted, still examining the photo.

"It's possible." Rhys crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The window panes reflecting something in the barn -- there's so much junk in there."

"Not anymore." Zed shook his head. "Me and Alex got most of it out yesterday."

"You're convinced the place is haunted, aren't you?" Blake gave a derisive laugh. "Is that your ghost? Is that any easier to explain?"

"Guess not," Zed mumbled. "But it does look like the shape of a woman."

"Not that you're any expert, but I guess," Jon conceded.

"I do know what one looks like, asshole. I've got eyes."

"So have I," Kitty broke in, stopping another potential argument. "And there was nothing there but Zed when I took that photo. That's why I took it; it's beautiful, poignant."

"Only one way to settle this." Alex grinned. "Grab your camera and we'll go investigate the barn. We'll see if 'she' makes another appearance."

"I'm not going back in there." Zed was decisive on that matter.

"Ghosts never hurt anyone," Travis said. "It'll be great -- just like those ghost hunters on TV--"

"Yeah, maybe they'll do a show about the farm," Jon interrupted. "We'll be on TV."

"If you guys think I'm having you anywhere around decent TV folk, you can think again." Phil laughed. "Go on then, if anyone can get rid of a ghost from my barn, it's you."

They moved, as one, to the barn. Zed trailed the group, not wanting to be left alone, but no way was he going in there. He leaned against the door, watching his friends deep in the barn, listening to the dull echoes of their voices. The air grew chill, the scent of Chanel strong.

"I loved you."

"Fuck!" Zed didn't bother looking around; he just ran. Into the barn where his friends were. He didn't give a flying fuck whether ghosts hurt people or not; this one was scaring the crap out of him.

"'Sup, Zed?" Travis asked. "Ghosties after ya?"

Zed gave Travis a withering look. "Yes."

"Bullshit, he just loves the drama," Alex muttered.

Zed chose to ignore that, after one more shard pierced his already broken heart. He shook his head, much rather the drama was happening to someone else or, better still, not happening at all.

"Can you see her?" Kitty asked pointing her camera in Zed's face.

"Stop pointing that in his face," Travis snapped. "You're freaking him out."

"Shut up." Kitty turned her attention back to Zed. "Can you still sense her? I'm taping you, maybe we'll see her."

Zed hesitated and shrugged. It was hot and humid again in the back of the barn. "Don't think she's here."

"They ask questions on Ghost Hunters," Becca informed them. She moved a little away from the group and looked into the murky gloom. "What is your name?"