Blackvine Manor Mystery (9 page)

“
A
ND HOW EXACTLY
DID THIS happen?” The nurse stands in front of George with a clipboard in her hands.

He looks up at Alexis from under his icepack and pleads with his non-swollen eye.

“He was mugged outside our apartment building. I think they had a pipe or something,” Alexis tells the skeptical nurse.

“Well he’s going to need a few stitches. The doctor will be a little while.”

“Great, thanks,” George mumbles.

The nurse cocks an eye at him. “Would you like me to ask the police to come in? An officer is already here finishing up a report with a stabbing victim.”

Alexis steps in again. “Actually, we have a friend on the force and I’m going to call him. Thanks though.”

The nurse shrugs and ducks out through the curtain surrounding George’s hospital bed. A man with a beer bottle concussion is moaning in the next bed over and two beds down a middle-aged flu patient dry heaves in between whimpers. The other emergency room patients are quiet or unconscious.

George whispers, “Thanks again. I have no idea what I would say to a police officer. An angry ghost beat me with a tripod because I may have accidentally picked up a clue to his hidden jewel stash if we’re thinking of the right dead person?”

Alexis perches on the edge of the bed. “I think you should worry about what you’re going to tell Alice. You think you’re going to follow her advice now?”

He winces. “Why don’t you get me one of those protection crystal necklaces along with some pain killers?”

“You know, I actually saw some in the hospital gift shop.”

“You had time to window shop while I was bleeding in the waiting room?”

She smiles. “Think you can handle getting stitches without me?”

“No, hurry back,” George squeaks.

“What happened to ‘I don’t need protection. I’m just the cameraman’?”

He gives her a pathetic puppy dog eye from under his icepack and she has to promise to hurry. After going down two wrong hallways, Alexis finds her way to the main entrance of the hospital. The small coffee shop there has a line even at 11 p.m. but the gift shop is closed. She’s waiting in line to buy George a giant oatmeal cookie when her phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Wait, are you out? And here I thought I’d be waking you up.” Alexis can hear Maxwell sulking through the phone.

“Yup,” she tells him, “I’m out on a hot date at the emergency room with George.”

“Really? He had an accident filming an empty room?”

She scowls and holds the phone away from her ear to order the cookie before saying, “Yeah, something like that. He’s getting stitches in a minute so I’ve gotta run.”

“No, wait, is he okay? Barry called me to let me know an ambulance came to Blackvine Manor. What happened?”

“You won’t believe me or you’ll call me crazy.”

Maxwell sighs. “Well George can corroborate your story when I get there and that will make it more believable.”

“Whoa”—Alexis winks at the barista as she pays for the cookie—“Why are you coming here?”

“You arrived in an ambulance; you’ll need a ride home.”

Alexis stops in the hallway and tips her head up to the florescent lights. He’s right but she can’t bear to agree with him.

“See you in ten,” Maxwell tells her and hangs up.

George is wincing under the iodine wipe down before his stitches when Alexis pulls back the curtain and rejoins him. “Gift shop closed?”

“Yup. Good news or bad news first?”

“That wasn’t the bad news?”

Alexis takes his hand while the doctor starts the stitches. “The good news is I bought you an oatmeal cookie. It’s giant and has chocolate chips.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is Maxwell called and he’s on his way to pick us up.”

George whimpers. “That’s not bad. He’s a good guy. Skeptical but good.”

The doctor interrupts. “The good news is that you only needed six stitches. You were unconscious when the ambulance arrived?”

“Yes, he was.” Alexis shivers as she remembers.

“But the report says you gained consciousness en route and you were speaking clearly by the time you arrived: all good signs. I’ll send you home with some literature about concussions. You’ll have to keep an eye on him tonight. Other than that, you are very lucky.”

“Yeah,” George tells the doctor, “the muggers didn’t even get my wallet.”

Maxwell whips back the curtain. “You were mugged?!”

The doctor steps around Maxwell. “The nurse will be back in a minute with your pain killers and the concussion pamphlet.”

“Thanks, doc.”

“You’re right”—Maxwell crosses his arms in front of his chest—“I don’t believe you. Nobody gets mugged in front of Blackvine Manor.”

* * *

W
hen they return
to George’s apartment, he limps over to his computer and shows Maxwell his website.

“So, you’re telling me a ghost embedded a picture of a gravestone to your video, ruining your credibility as a warning?” Maxwell is very skeptical.

“And when he didn’t listen to good advice”—Alexis prods George—“the ghost returned for a more physical warning.”

Maxwell notices all the comments underneath George’s posted video. “A lot of people have seen this. Whoa, your website is very popular. That’s insane!”

“Thanks,” George groans before collapsing on his Futon.

Alexis, feeling the prickles of irritation at Maxwell’s continued disbelief, has a sudden idea. “Insane or not, I’m sure your potential buyer would be very interested in the video.”

Maxwell makes a face at her. “Luckily you don’t know who he is.”

“Actually, I know him better than you do. And unless you help me follow my own ‘crazy’ lead, I will show him all the evidence of how haunted this building is.”

“He won’t care, he’s going to tear the place down,” Maxwell tries to say confidently, “but if you’re going to do something crazy you should probably have someone to watch your back. Where are we going?”

Alexis smiles. “Back to Lakeview Cemetery.”

M
AXWELL GETS CAUGHT
UNDER THE fence and comes up covered in dirt, “You really want to follow in your mother’s footsteps, don’t you? First all the clairvoyant stuff and now the arrest for trespassing.”

“Shh,” Alexis whispers, clutching her black onyx necklace.

“Wait, why are you nervous? Isn’t this supposed to be part of your deal now, graveyards at night and spooky stuff?”

She smacks him on the chest. “You’re not the one who’s going to see spirits. They don’t exactly ask me permission before they appear.”

“Hmm, you might want to work on that,” Maxwell tells her as he turns on a small flashlight. “Now is probably a good time.”

They start walking and Alexis tries not to flinch at every little sound. She holds tight to the black onyx, telling herself over and over again that she is protected and not open to communicating.

“Any idea how to find one headstone in all this?” Maxwell whispers loudly.

“Actually, yes. The image on George’s video had a year on it. After he cleaned it up and zoomed in he said it read 1893. So, we’re heading to the oldest section.”

“Great, the longest hike to the spookiest spot. Wanna play the same game as last time?”

Alexis stomps past him. “You mean the one where I proved my abilities and you completely ignored it?”

“Alright”—Maxwell shrugs and follows her—“I haven’t figured out how you did that. A reflection off my sunglasses?”

“It was cloudy and I’ve never seen you in sunglasses. Why can’t you just believe me?”

“Look, it’s not that unreasonable for me to want a little more evidence before I jump on the crazy train.”

Alexis starts walking faster. She can feel a buzzing around her and there are faint flashes of blue light. The more irritated she gets, the less focused she is on protecting herself and spirits are starting to break through.

“Why not just let me sell the place?” Maxwell asks her.

“I like my studio.”

“You think it’s the only way to find your mother. Just like you’re clinging to this whole clairvoyant thing because you think it’s the only way you’ll connect with her. Why not hire a real private investigator? Between a P. I. and my grandfather’s connections, I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

Alexis spins to face him. “Did Otto suggest that? Did it ever occur to you that he wants her found because she’s the only witness to what he did? Maybe I have these abilities just so I can find her without his help. Maybe I don’t need your help either!”

She storms off, clicking off her flashlight and easily losing him among the tall headstones. Five hundred feet away from where she left him, Alexis regrets her rash decision. A young man stumbles out from behind a black granite headstone and reaches his hands out to her.

“Have you seen Chloe? You have to help me find Chloe.”

The cold slide up the back of her neck tells Alexis this isn’t just a teenager lost in the cemetery. His clothes are torn, bloodied, and faded. In fact, his image is completely faded.

She faces the ghost and stammers, “I think you’ve been in an accident. You need to really look at where you are.”

He blinks around slowly, taking in the uneven grass, the occasional bunch of flowers, the undulating rows of headstones, “Oh yeah, I know.”

Alexis sees the forlorn slump of his shoulders. “Who’s Chloe?”

“She was with me in the car. She died too, at least I think she did.”

“Where were you heading?”

The boy smiles sadly. “Spring break road trip, back to see her mother in New Mexico.”

Alexis has an idea. “Was Chloe from New Mexico? Would she be buried there?”

His smile widens and he’s gone in a smear of misty light.

She lets herself sink to the grass and takes a few minutes to pull all her energy back in. She concentrates on the gold chain of her necklace as a wall between her and the spirits. Just as she feels the black onyx working as a pulsing deflector, she stifles a scream.

Striding out from the headstone behind her, Maxwell says, “Psychic or not, this place is not friendly at night. Let’s find Willow and get this over with. You okay?”

Alexis lets him pull her to her feet, glad for his strength and size. She allows herself to lean into him for a few seconds, breathing his aftershave, “You’re still here.”

Maxwell smiles and gives her a squeeze. “Yeah,
I
must be the crazy one.”

She laughs and pushes him away before heading toward the oldest section of the cemetery. “So, does that mean you’re ready to hear my theory?”

“You think Otto caught my grandmother and that jewel thief, Collin Fenton, meeting here. Fenton told Delia to meet him under the willow tree, where he let her know the location of his hidden jewel stash. And you think that stash is in the grave marked with the Willow headstone.”

Alexis steps into the darker shadows of the oaks that grow in the oldest section of Lakeview Cemetery. As her eyes adjust, she stops, frozen by what she sees ahead.

“What I don’t get is how you think this will lead you to your mother.” Maxwell bumps into her.

“Because she’s here.” Alexis points with a shaky finger.

She inches forward, her eyes riveted to the woman kneeling in front of the Willow headstone. “Amelia? Mom?”

“I’m sorry, Al,” Amelia says and suddenly she is gone.

“Alexis”—Maxwell takes her arm—“there’s no one here.”

“
L
EAVE ME ALONE
, MAXWELL!” ALEXIS kneels down in front of the headstone marked Willow.

He kneels down behind her, pulling her into his arms. “Maybe it wasn’t your mother.”

“Come on, you don’t believe I saw anything.”

“No,” he says gently, “I didn’t see anything except you. What happened?”

She fights the urge to bury her face in his chest. “I saw my mother. What if she’s already dead?”

Maxwell is at a loss. “If you saw her ghost then she’s gone?”

Alexis straightens her back, taking a deep breath, “Or it could have been her wraith. Either way it means I might never find her.”

He has to let her go as she starts to claw at the grave in front of her. “No, we’ll find her. What are you doing?”

“Whatever is buried here is the reason she’s … she’s in the state she’s in.”

Maxwell catches Alexis under the arm and hauls her to her feet. “I’m going to stop you before you outdo your mother’s legacy by adding grave robbing to your arrest report.”

“I need to know if it’s here. If Fenton’s stolen jewels are here then we can stop him from hurting anyone else.”

Maxwell pulls her back again. “Fine. If I’m going to be your accomplice, we’re at least going to be smart about this. Otto has a metal detector. We swing by his place and borrow it.”

Alexis swipes the hair out of her face. “Okay, fine. You go get it. I’ll wait here.”

“Alexis, please, come with me.” He tugs her gently away from the headstone.

“But what if she comes back?” She blinks tearfully.

“We’ll come back, I promise.”

The drive to Otto’s house is quick and silent. As they turn the corner to his house, Maxwell tightens his grip on the steering wheel. The garage door of the craftsman is wide open and the dusty retired Crown Victoria is gone. Alexis opens her door just as Maxwell throws the car into park. Johnny is barking inside the house, scrabbling at the interior door of the garage.

“He’s gone. Where would Otto go in the middle of the night?”

Alexis’ eyes go wide. “Oh God, what night is it?”

“Thursday, why?”

She grabs his arm and pulls him urgently towards the car, “Tonight is the anniversary of Delia’s death. He’s at Blackvine Manor!”

* * *

M
axwell’s car
squeals up to the curb outside Blackvine Manor just as lights start coming on in all the upstairs apartments.

Alexis’ phone starts ringing. “George? George, what’s going on?”

“Someone is in the penthouse, he’s yelling loud enough to wake the dead!”

Maxwell sprints into the apartment building and up the stairs with Alexis right behind him. He shoos the residents back inside their apartments, telling him his grandfather is suffering from dementia and he can handle him. George grabs Alexis by the arm as Maxwell heads up the stairs to the penthouse.

“I think he’s going through it again,” George tries to explain.

“What?”

“Just come on.” George pulls her down the back staircase just as she hears Otto coming down from the penthouse. “He’s yelling at Delia just like the night she died. If you’re right, he follows her to the laundry room.”

Alexis leads the way down the back staircase and through the basement hallway of storage stalls. She waves George back from the laundry room door as he wheezes up behind her.

Maxwell has just caught up to his grandfather and is standing, speechless, in the other doorway as Otto continues to yell, “You knew I was after him. How dare you help him! You betray our marriage and make a fool out of me in front of the whole department. What do you have to say for yourself, you whore?!”

“Please, I love you.” Alexis can see Delia drop to her knees before her enraged husband.

Otto’s eyes are black as his hands reach out, fingers flexing. Maxwell leaps from the door to pull him back before Otto’s hands start choking the air. “Stop! What are you doing?”

Alexis rushes in to help and in the struggle Otto swivels to face her. “You!”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Maxwell grunts as Otto punches him in the stomach and lunges towards Alexis.

“Always hiding and watching. I see you, Amelia!” Otto charges across the laundry room.

“Run!” George yells and pushes her past him into the hallway of storage stalls.

Alexis stumbles and when she gets up everything looks different. The names on the storage stall doors have changed. As she sprints up the stairs, the carpet is shaggier. The light fixture hanging above the mailboxes in the foyer has a different shade.

Feeling dizzy with the encompassing vision, Alexis stops to shake her head. Otto shoves George out of the way and runs after her, still ranting.

“You didn’t see anything. Remember that, Amelia. Otherwise you’ll never see anything again!”

“50 years ago,” Alexis pants, “this is over 50 years ago.”

She turns to the front door and sees a lime green car screech up to the curb. Her father, complete with shaggy hair and the thick mustache she laughed at in old pictures, kicks open the passenger side door.

Otto thumps the stairwell wall, “Not this time, girl!”

Alexis rips through the front doors and heads towards her father’s old car.

“No!” Maxwell slams into her, knocking her out of the way of an oncoming minivan.

The vision of her young father dissipates but not before she sees her mother jump into the passenger seat and kiss him as they drive away. Alexis is left, scuffed, on the pavement of the street. Slowly she feels Maxwell cradling her gently, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

“What happened?”

He kisses her forehead. “George stopped Otto, you ran into the street. Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see them anymore. I think they’re gone.”

“Who? What?”

Alexis starts to cry. “My abilities. I think they’re gone.”