Ghosts: The Complete Series Read online

  Ghosts:

  The Complete Series

  by Amy Cross

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright Amy Cross, All Rights Reserved

  Published by Dark Season Books

  First published: June 2012

  This edition published: November 2013

  http://amycrossbooks.wordpress.com

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. If you enjoy it and wish to share it with others, please consider buying them their own copy. Feedback is always welcome. The author reserves all rights in respect of this work.

  ALSO BY AMY CROSS

  Horror

  Asylum

  American Coven

  The Night Girl

  Devil's Briar

  The Vampire's Grave

  Darper Danver series 1

  Fantasy / Horror

  Dark Season series 1, 2 & 3

  The Hollow Church (Abby Hart)

  Lupine Howl series 1, 2 & 3

  Grave Girl

  Ghosts

  The Library

  Thriller

  The Dead and the Dying: A Joanna Mason Novel

  Dystopia

  The Shades

  Mass Extinction Event series 1

  Romance / Thriller

  Other People's Bodies (The Heights book 1)

  Erotica

  Broken Blue

  Broken White

  Table of Contents

  Book 1: Ghosts

  Book 2: Sins of the Father

  Book 3: Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down

  Book 4: Tainted

  Book 5: The Flesh

  Book 6: Plague Fingers

  Book 7: All Hush

  Book 8: God is in the House

  Ghosts

  Book 1:

  Ghosts

  Prologue 1

  He enters the room, the ax gripped tight in his hand. He walks straight toward me, a look of total calculated evil on his face, his eyes wide and glaring. It's as if he has no mind at all, as if he's just an automated killing machine. No soul. No compassion. No love.

  "Stop!" I scream, jumping out of the way as he swings the ax at me; the blade slams into the wall, ripping out a chunk of plaster. "Get away!" I shout as I step back, but I trip on an open drawer and I flat on my back at the foot of the bed. Before I realize what's happening, he's standing over me. "No!" I shout. I can feel my heart beating furiously in my chest.

  He stares into my eyes.

  He raises the ax

  He swings it down.

  "Dad!" I shout. "No!"

  The ax crunches into my face, slicing straight through my left eye and passing into my brain. Everything goes quiet. My heart beats one more time, really hard, and then it stops. Then everything goes black, and then everything - even the blackness - goes away.

  Prologue 2

  I've barely been on Earth for five minutes before I'm forced to kill. Some drunken fool comes tripping along the alley where I've landed, singing his heart out and swaying against the wall. At first I decide to let him pass, but then he peers into the dark corner and we make eye contact. It's as if he can see me, but he's not quite sure what I am. I suppose that's to be expected. These eyes give me away, don't they? He stares at me, and I stare back, and I decide I'll have to destroy him.

  As I emerge from the shadows, the drunk human steps back with a look of horror on his face. It's hard not to feel a little insulted; after all, my new body was specifically designed so that I'd blend in with the humans, yet it seems to have incited nothing but fear in this particular specimen. Then again, perhaps this fool is easily frightened, or perhaps he's particularly sensitive to matters that are not obvious to other men.

  "I don't want any trouble," he says. If he had any sense at all, he'd run, but he just stays where he is.

  "There'll be no trouble," I say, stepping closer. I'm immediately struck by how dark and smooth my voice is. Impressive. Good work.

  "Please..." he says.

  I smile, then I put a hand on his shoulder, and then finally I put one hand around his neck and I squeeze. And I squeeze. And I squeeze. And slowly I feel the bones in his neck start to crunch, and his face starts to turn red because his blood vessels are being destroyed, and finally I squeeze even harder and I feel his bones completely shatter and his skin starts to burst and blood and meat flow out, and then with a loud popping sound his head separates from his body and falls to the floor.

  "See?" I say, letting his body drop but still holding his head. "No trouble at all."

  Prologue 3

  Time to go, then.

  I grab my bag and head to the door, where I linger with my finger on the light-switch. I take a deep, deep breath. Is this really a good idea? It's certainly a bit of a risk, but I made a deal, and I think this experiment could be beneficial for both of us.

  We have to know...

  There's a part of me that wants to say goodbye to everyone, and to tell Locian and Kal and the others what I'm doing. But that would be too easy. I'm sure they'll be confused when they find that I've gone, but hopefully they'll be able to understand my motives. I have to know what it's like down there. Surely that's reasonable? After all these years, I have to experience it for myself.

  I look down at the bag in my hands. Just a few essential items that I packed, but maybe that defeats the purpose. There are no essential items for this particular trip. Somewhat reluctantly, I set the bag down. I won't be needing it at all. No, this trip must be a total trip into the unknown.

  I flick the light-switch and head out of the room. Texas here I come.

  Beth

  From nothing, there comes blackness. And then from blackness, there comes a hint of light. And from the hint of light, there comes a bright blue sky as I open my eyes.

  What the fuck?

  Sitting up, I find that I'm in a piece of scrub-land by the main road. Not in bed. Not under my duvet. No at home. No, I'm on a patch of dirt, out in the morning sun, miles and miles from anywhere and anything.

  A disturbingly large bug starts crawling over my foot. I shake it off and crush it under my shoe.

  I recognize this place immediately: I'm on the limits of the Doakes family farm, about four miles out of the center of town. It's dusty and dead; nothing's been able to grow out here for years, and the only sign of life is the occasional lizard, and even that's rare. There's no tumble-weed, but there should be: this is dead land, a place where nothing ever happens and where no person in their right mind would ever go. Looking up, I see that I'm right next to the city limits sign:

  Welcome to the town of Texas

  in the state of Texas

  Population: 9,437

  I get to my feet. Looking down, I notice another bug, walking away from the dead body of the first bug. The two bugs look absolutely identical. I guess that's bugs for you. I sigh, feeling achy and sore all over, like I've just gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. I don't feel right in my head, either. Concussion, maybe? I rub the back of my neck and look around. How the hell did I get out here? Seriously, did I go to a party last night or something? I try to remember, but it's all a bit of a blur. I vaguely recall... being at home, watching TV with my sister, and our dad was out working late. And then I think he came home and... No, it's gone. Maybe we had an argument and I stormed out. That's probably what happened. And then I probably ended up at some god-awful party, drinking cheap beer. And...

  I look up at the clear blue sky, and at the bright flare of the sun.

  Did I get assaulted or something? That might explain the soreness, and maybe a spiked drink caused my head to feel so fuzzy. Okay, time to calm down. There's no sign that anyone touched me. Anyway, what are the odds of that happening? I'm so unpopular around here, I'm pretty sure no-one would want to force themselves on me anyway. I probably just drank too much. Still, I don't have a headache. So...

  I hear a noise nearby, and a red open-top car appears over the horizon, heading toward town. The radio's on loud, and I instantly realize that it's Don Redman, the father of one of my friends. I go to the side of the road and wave him down, but he just zooms past without even looking at me.

  "Nice," I say, watching as the car bounces along the road and away.

  I turn and start walking toward town. I reckon I'm about four miles out, so this is gonna take me a while, and in the morning sun I'm gonna get burn up unless I can find some shade. I look up at the bright blue sky, half expecting to see vultures circling. Thankfully there are none so far, but it wouldn't surprise me if they start following me, getting ready to pick my bones if I happen to collapse. Damn it, when I get home I'm gonna find out who dropped me off out here and I'm gonna make sure they pay. If this is a prank, it's the worst, most annoying one I've ever experienced. Damn it, someone is going to suffer for this. Big time!

  After an hour or so, I start to see the haze of my home-town ahead. Closer, just a hundred meters or so ahead of me, I spot Don Redman's red car pulled over to the side of the road. There's steam coming from under the bonnet, and Don looks to be out of the car, talking on his mobile phone.

  "Like I said, Earl," Don's saying as I get close enough to hear him, "I don't have a damn clue about cars." He listens for a moment. "Sure, I suppose it could be the carburetor. Can the carburetor make a kind of clanking noise and then produce a load of steam?" He listens. "Yeah, it sounds like something's really broken in there. So can you get out to take a look at it, or not?" He listens some more. "Two hours? Are you fucking serious? Earl... Okay, fin
e, two hours. I'll walk into town, you can give me a call when you're on your way and I'll come back and meet you here, okay? Okay. And I want a discount for the crappy service." He puts the phone down.

  "Bummer," I say, stopping next to him. "Hope you weren't going anywhere important."

  Without even acknowledging my presence, Earl turns and grabs his briefcase from the back seat, and then he starts walking toward town. "Fucking Earl," he says out loud. "Fucking cock-sucking asshole."

  "Charming!" I say, loud enough for him to hear, but he just ignores me and keeps on walking. Seriously, I know Don Redman's no saint, but I didn't realize he was so rude. I've never heard him talk like that before. There's a part of me that wants to go and keep talking to him, to see what other crazy shit he comes out with. Then again, if he can't give me a lift, I guess there's no point talking to him at all. Ever. Walking the final mile into town with him would just be awkward anyway, but still, he could have at least acknowledged my existence.

  I start walking, deliberately going slower than Earl so that there's no danger I'll catch up.

  When we get to town, Earl heads straight for Joyce's Cafe and I head off toward home. The large clock in the town square says it's just after 9am, and people are strolling around as if this is just another day to be filled with pointless wanderings. Which, I guess, is probably true. Texas has never been the liveliest town. Every day is like Sunday, except Sunday which is like two Sundays rolled into one. Seriously, this place is dead. Hell, I find it hard to believe there'll even be a town here in a hundred years' time, and the fact that it's lasted this long is down to pure obstinacy on the part of the locals. Like many teenagers around here, I'm just waiting until I can save up some money to get out of this dump. Then again, I'm not sure where that money's going to come from, and when I look at the faces of the old folk sitting in the cafes each morning, part of me wonders if they're still waiting to save up some money and get out of here too. The thought sends a shiver down my spine.

  "Hey!" I shout as a man comes out of a shop and barges straight at me. I barely have time to get out of his way, but he just walks on as if nothing happened. That's not exactly unusual behavior for people around here, but it's still fucking rude. What is it, National Asshole Day? Oh yeah, I forgot: that's every day.

  "Don't worry about that," says a man, stopping next to me. I've never seen him around here before, which is kind of weird; trust me, everyone knows everyone in this backwater town. He smiles. "You'll get over it," he says, walking off. "It just takes a while, that's all."

  Up ahead, I spot a familiar car at the stop lights. It's my friend Samantha, with her little brother in the back seat. Samantha's twenty-one, like me, but her father gave her a car for her birthday recently so she's suddenly soared up the social ladder and our friendship has become strained now that she's getting attention from the cool crowd. Figuring I could use a lift back to my house, I run across the road and try to get to her car before the light changes, but I'm just a little too late and she speeds off. I wave in vain, hoping she'll spot me in her rear-view mirror, but there's no chance of that.

  So I walk.

  I walk through the streets, thinking about how this is totally not my day. It's not even midday and I've already had several crappy things happen. Eventually I turn the corner and head toward my house, but as I get closer, I realize that there's something large and white parked in the driveway. I haven't got my glasses so it takes me a moment to notice the markings on the side: CORONER. I pick up the pace a little, starting to worry, but it's probably okay: it's probably just parked there for convenience while the driver eats a donut or something. But then, as I get closer, I hear the engine start and the van pulls out and heads off along the road. I turn to watch it go, and then I look back at my house, and that's when I see it: there's police tape across the front door, and across the windows, and there's blood in the driveway.

  Another chill runs down my spine. What the hell happened last night?

  Kal

  I land with a thump in the middle of the desert, creating a pretty decent-sized crater about twenty feet across. It doesn't hurt at all, of course, but it's still a hell of an impact and it knocks several of my teeth out. As the dust settles, I get to my feet and look around, and I spit out the broken teeth while new ones immediately grow in their place. Looking to the horizon, I see that there's a small town off in the distance, which I guess must be Texas. Other than that, there's nothing to see for miles except, in the far distance, what appear to be mountains. Although it's a discouragingly bleak landscape, at least I know I'm in the right place. Considering where I started, being just a couple of miles off-target isn't too bad. I can walk from here.

  After a few minutes, I find a long strip of black tarmac. I happen to look down and see a small bug crawling toward my foot, so I lift and allow the bug to walk under me and then I watch as it continues on its way. Following the road, I continue my walk to town and then eventually I hear a roaring sound behind me. Turning, I spot a car coming my way. It's a long white vehicle, a Cadillac I think, and it slows as it gets close to me and then finally it comes to a stop. The engine stays running. There's a pause, and then a woman leans out, staring at me with a cautious smile on her face. She has dark hair and she appears to be middle-aged, late 30s or early 40s, and she's certainly very attractive, if you like that kind of thing. She lifts up her sunglasses to get a better look at me.

  "Hello," she says, with mischief in her voice.

  "Hi," I say. I'm not sure what to say next, so I just stand there waiting for her to come up with something. Although I've prepared for this kind of encounter, I'm still not quite sure how it works. How do humans do this thing where one of them says something, and then the other says something based on what the first one said, and then they continue like this for a while? What's the word for that again? A conversation?

  "Are you okay out here?" the woman asks.

  "Yes," I say. There. That was easy. Direct questions are easy. But I have no questions to ask her, so I'm not sure what to say next. Fortunately, she seems almost as confused as I am.

  "That's good," she says eventually. "But, uh... my friend, I have to ask you one big question. One big... very big... very prominent and direct and... impossible to ignore... kind of question." She grins.

  "What's that?" I ask.

  "Why aren't you wearing any clothes, honey?" She smiles and her eyes briefly dart down to the rest of my body before she fixes her stare back on my face. "I hope you don't find my questions to be... unusually... striking. I just wouldn't want you to get sunburned anywhere sensitive."

  "I guess I arrived without any clothes," I say. On reflection, I can see how this could be a problem. This is annoying. Locian and I planned and planned and planned for this trip to Earth, making sure we'd got everything worked out in advance, but somehow we forgot to make sure I'd be wearing clothes. Typical, really; it's always the little things that get forgotten when you're making big plans. I wonder if we forgot anything else? Deciding not to worry about it for now, I look at the town on the horizon. Perhaps I shouldn't walk there in my current state. "Do you know where I can get some clothes before I reach the town?" I ask.

  "Like..." She pauses. "Like a magic clothes tree?"

  "Yes!" I say. "That would be perfect."

  "Well..." She really can't stop smiling. It's very odd, and I don't understand at all. "There's no magic clothes trees around here, honey, but I can help you find something to wear, I'm sure." She stares at me for a moment. "My ex-husband left some clothes behind that I think might fit you. Most of them mysteriously got cut to shreds with a pair of scissors, but there might be a few suits left that I didn't get around to fixing. Although you and he were..." She pauses. "Well, you were different shapes entirely in all kind of ways. You're small in the places he was big and... well, big in the places he was small." She seems lost in thought for a moment, but then she snaps back to life. "Don't worry, I can fix you up with something, if you'd like to hop into my car."