Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Adrian smiled at Greg’s eager expression. “Just inside the edge of the woods, not too far from the back porch. We were right. I saw the exact spot through Lyndon’s eyes.”
Greg’s mouth formed a silent “oh”. “Do you think you could find it?”
“It might take a while, but there might still be traces of Lyndon’s psychic energy lingering around his body. I can use that to zero in if I need to. We have plenty of time, anyway.” Excitement surged through Adrian’s blood. He scrambled to his feet. “Are there any shovels or anything around here?”
“There’s a gardener’s shed out back. It’s padlocked, but I’m sure that’s not a problem for you.” Greg stood and linked hands with Adrian. “Come on.”
As they headed for the door, Adrian stopped and gazed at Lyndon, who still hovered in the middle of the room. For the first time, his melancholy gaze seemed to hold a certain measure of peace.
We’ll find you, Lyndon. I promise.
~ * ~
    The woods had grown closer to the castle since Lyndon’s time. It took Adrian almost two hours to locate the area with the angle best corresponding to the one from his vision. After that he spent another twenty minutes pacing back and forth with his eyes shut, his arm linked through Greg’s and his psychic senses wide open to follow the faint trace of Lyndon’s energy to its source.
    Finally, he stopped in a small, sunny space between two young dogwoods and opened his eyes. “Here. He’s right here.”
Greg glanced down at the unimpressive patch of dirt and weeds. “Here? You’re sure?”
“Positive.” Dropping to the ground, Adrian laid his cheek against the earth, his face toward the castle. “Yes. The angle’s perfect. This is definitely it.” He pushed to his feet again. “Okay. Let’s get the shovels.”
Greg stuck his hands in his pockets. “Should we mark this spot?”
“Probably. Or you could just stay here while I go get the shovels.”
“That works.” Greg pointed toward a green wooden building nearly hidden in the bushes on the other side of the back lawn. “That’s the shed over there.”
“Okay.” Laying his hands on Greg’s cheeks, Adrian leaned close and kissed him. “Be right back.”
Greg’s lips curved against Adrian’s. “I’ll be here.”
Adrian jogged over to the shed. A simple padlock secured the door. He unlatched it with a mental nudge, slipped it free of its metal loop and swung the door open. Inside, garden tools hung in neat rows from hooks on the walls. Skirting the mower with its attached leaf collector which took up half the floor, Adrian lifted two shovels from their hooks and left the shed, leaving the padlock hanging on the loop.
Forty-five minutes of hard digging later, he and Greg had carved out a roughly circular space in the ground about three feet across and four feet deep. There wasn’t room for both of them to dig in the shallow pit at the same time, so they’d started taking turns. Right now Adrian was scooping earth from the trench onto the growing pile at the edge while Greg sprawled on the thin grass a yard or so away.
So far, they hadn’t found anything more exciting than a couple of quarters, and Adrian had begun to doubt himself.
Sighing, Adrian thunked the blade of his shovel into the red clay at his feet and used his forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow. “Maybe this is the wrong spot after all. We haven’t found a thing.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s the wrong place. We don’t know how deep he’s buried. Plus I bet bones are hard to find by digging.” Greg rolled onto his side. “You want me to take over again? It’s probably about time.”
“It isn’t, and you know it. I can’t possibly have been digging for more than five minutes this turn.” He managed a tired smile. “But thanks anyway.”
Adrian curled his fingers around the shovel handle and yanked. The blade came free with such surprising ease that Adrian lost his balance and fell onto his butt in the dirt. The shovel slid from his grip and came to rest against the side of the pit.
“Oh, shit. Adrian?” Leaves rustled, and a moment later Greg peered over the edge. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine. I just pulled on the shovel too hard, I guess.” Adrian planted a palm on the cool clay to push himself to his feet, and stopped. Something brownish stood up from the ground where the shovel blade had dug in, something with a different texture from the earth around it. “Hang on a