Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

brushed a stray lock of hair from Adrian’s eyes. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
Adrian’s throat tightened. “Of course you can. You can always stay here, you know that.”
“Yeah, I know. I just like to hear you say it.” Greg pressed a light kiss to Adrian’s lips, then pushed to a sitting position. “I’m hungry. Let’s get cleaned up and go eat, huh?”
Right on cue, Adrian’s stomach growled. “Spinach lasagna in the dining hall tonight. Let’s go.”
Greg jumped up and pulled Adrian to his feet. They headed to the bathroom hand in hand. As they climbed into the shower together and Greg melted into his arms, Adrian felt a swell of hope. Maybe everything would be all right after all.

Chapter Fifteen
    The next day, Adrian joined some of his classmates at Alpine Bagel for lunch since Greg was busy, then headed to Groome Castle to try connecting with Lyndon once more. He hummed to himself as he strolled up the gravel road. It felt good to have the whole thing out in the open. He wondered if that honesty would make a difference in his attempts to communicate with Lyndon. Maybe the stress of keeping secrets— lying , he reminded himself—had been holding him back all this time. Now that he’d come clean with Greg, maybe he’d be able to break through the last barrier and find the final pieces to the puzzle of Lyndon’s death.
    Inside the tower room, he settled cross-legged on the cold stone floor and closed his eyes. He drew a couple of slow, deep breaths and relaxed his control over his psychokinesis. All the hairs on his arms stood up as his power crackled through the air. “Lyndon? Are you here?”
    When he felt the telltale warmth pulse through him a heartbeat later, he didn’t even try to hold back his laughter. He opened his eyes and smiled at Lyndon, who hovered a few feet away. “Hello, Lyndon. I hope you feel like talking today, because I’m ready to listen. More ready than I’ve ever been.”
    Lyndon’s pale eyes fixed him with the same melancholy stare as always. The phantom lips moved, shaping the only word Lyndon ever spoke— Cassius…
The name echoed in Adrian’s head, along with a sense of loneliness and loss so huge it made his throat ache with the threat of tears. He blinked away the sting behind his eyelids. “I’m trying, Lyndon. I’m looking for Cassius, so I can hopefully find out what happened to you. But the quickest way for me to do that would be for you to show me. I know you remember. We’re both going to have to try harder, that’s all.”
Lyndon didn’t answer, but Adrian thought his gaze sharpened a little.
Adrian’s pulse quickened in response. He forced it to slow down again. If he was to accomplish his goal today, he couldn’t afford anything less than complete relaxation.
“I’m going to go into a trance state now. I’m going to try to go deeper than I have before, and give you more access to my mind. I want you to show me everything you remember. Okay?” Adrian studied Lyndon’s translucent features, trying to determine whether or not he understood. His expression didn’t change, but then again it rarely did. All Adrian could do was try and hope for the best. He smiled. “All right. Here we go.”
Adrian closed his eyes and began the breathing exercises designed to open his subconscious mind. To his delight, the semi-trance state he sought came easier to him than it had in months. It only took a few moments for his body to relax and his mind to focus inward. His awareness of the world around him drifted away until he no longer noticed the room’s damp chill, and the susurration of the wind through the branches outside became nothing more than a whisper at the edge of consciousness.
As reality faded, Lyndon’s presence grew more solid, until Adrian swore he could almost hear the faint patter of blood on stone and the soft sound of Lyndon’s breathing. Adrian concentrated on the thread of Lyndon’s energy intertwined with his own and forced all other thoughts from his mind. There was no hurry. He had time. Impatience would only destroy the fragile connection between himself and Lyndon. Stillness strengthened that bond. He pictured his mind as an empty crystal bowl, waiting to be filled with Lyndon’s memories, and prepared himself to wait as long as necessary.
Before long, the familiar visions began to flow from Lyndon to him. Adrian watched them as they flickered past, allowed the associated emotions to wash through him and let them