Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

disappearance might have passed more or less unnoticed.
Of course, the existence of Lyndon Groome’s ghost made a happy ending to that scenario unlikely. Lyndon had died young and violently, and his phantom still haunted the Groome Castle tower room over a century later. That meant either he’d died right here in the tower, or something about this place had been important enough to him in life that it kept his spirit anchored here even after death. Judging by the visions Adrian had just experienced, he guessed the latter. Lyndon and Cassius must have spent enough time together in this room that it became a place of emotional importance to Lyndon. Adrian wondered if the rumor of Lyndon’s murder by thieves in the forest was true, and if Cassius had been killed along with him.
The sound of high-pitched laughter from outside startled him out of his thoughts. He glanced at his watch and was surprised to see he’d been up here less than fifteen minutes. It felt like much longer.
Rising to his feet, he shuffled across the floor on legs that felt weak and rubbery. His throat still ached with the threat of tears. What a terrible thing, to find the kind of love so many people only dream of, only to have it all torn away. No wonder Lyndon radiated such heartbreaking sadness.
At the door, Adrian paused a moment to get hold of his rattled emotions. If Greg saw him looking like this, there would be awkward questions, and Adrian didn’t want that. He smoothed his rumpled shirt, raked his fingers through his hair and blinked rapidly until the lingering moisture dried from his eyes. As soon as his cheeks cooled and he felt in control of himself once more, Adrian descended the steps.
A quick glance around showed the back hallway to be empty. Relieved, he hurried into the main hall. A steady stream of students moved in and out of the tremendous space, hauling the wooden frameworks outside to load onto the flatbed truck Marisa’s boyfriend had brought. Spotting Chelsea across the room struggling to lift one of the frames by herself, Adrian hurried over.
“Hi, Chelsea.” He lifted the trailing side of the bulky structure. “Need some help with that?”
“Oh my God, yes!” She beamed at him. “You’re a lifesaver, thank you.”
“No problem.”
They fell silent as they made their way through the foyer and outside. The rain soaked through Adrian’s clothes in seconds. As soon as they’d swung the frame onto the truck, Adrian retreated to the meager shelter of the doorway, shivering. “Damn. I wish I’d thought to wear my raincoat today.”
Chelsea grinned. “Want to borrow mine?”
He suppressed a shudder at the mental image of himself in Chelsea’s green-and-white polka-dotted jacket with the tiny bows decorating the sleeves and the rounded collar. “No thanks.”
She laughed. “Fine, let male pride give you pneumonia.”
“You don’t get pneumonia from getting wet. You get it from bacteria or viruses.”
“Yeah, whatever.” She patted his dripping head. “I’m gonna go grab some coffee. You want some?”
“No, thanks. I was just looking for Greg, actually.” Adrian frowned, realizing for the first time that he hadn’t seen Greg since well before he’d headed upstairs to the tower room. “Have you seen him?”
“He was out on the back porch a little while ago, I think.”
“Oh, okay.” Adrian gave Chelsea a warm smile. “In that case, I think I’ll come with you and get a cup of coffee myself, since it’s on the way.”
“Cool.” Chelsea looped her arm through his. They went back inside, heading for the large kitchen where the group had set up coffee and snacks to keep themselves fed and caffeinated while breaking down their haunted house and putting Groome Castle back to its normal state. “I think it’s so awesome that y’all are together now.”
“So do I.” Adrian glanced at her as he led her into the narrow hallway branching off the foyer. “How did you know we’d…um, gotten together?”
“Please, everybody knew the second you two walked out of the Love Room last night.”
Adrian groaned, his face going red in spite of his attempts to keep his blush at bay. “Oh, hell.”
She gave his arm a squeeze. “Don’t worry, I seriously doubt anybody thought anything of it other than ‘it’s about damn time.’ Well, except Erin, but c’mon, she already knew she didn’t have a chance with you.”
Sighing, Adrian pushed open the kitchen door. “I swear, I’ll never get used to other