Chapter 9: Exploring

Alan woke up slowly the next day, stretching and pulling the covers off. The trumpet player peered over at Melody, wondering if she had any long lasting ill effects from what she had suffered the previous night. Fortunately she looked the same as she always did, lying supine beside him, a few stray hairs in her closed eyes. He leaned over her, moving aside her hair so he could take in her natural beauty for a moment.

Melody always looked the cutest to him when she was asleep. She was very relaxed, her features all smoothed out so that she looked younger. Alan remembered her when she was younger, back when they had first started dating. It had been during her first tour with the band, then after she was attacked by lunatic, Alan was drawn more to her.

When she was recovering from her bullet wound, Alan came over to her apartment and stayed for a few weeks, making sure she was well cared for. The engineer didn't mind, but he began to suspect after a few days that she had some anxiety about being out in public. Melody would sit near the window to look outside but when he offered to walk around with her, she would turn pale and politely refuse. He let that ride for a few more days, then thought that she needed professional help when he woke up in the middle of the night and found her unable to sleep.

He remembered it so well. Melody had been sitting by the window in the bedroom, looking even more washed out in the low light from the streetlamps outside. He crossed over to her, sat down beside her, and let her lean into him as he rubbed her back, careful to avoid her injured shoulder. Alan quite enjoyed quiet time with Melody, they frequently cuddled up on the couch together whenever they had time.

Alan brought himself back to reality as Melody stirred, then sank back into sleep. He kissed her on the cheek then got up and began to do his morning routine.

Just as he was finishing up, he came out of the bathroom and saw that Melody was sitting up in bed, combing her hair and looking oddly pensive. He tossed the towel back onto the rack and crossed over to her as he picked up his light blue windbreaker. "What's up, Mel?"

"Huh? Oh, just thinking about the attack on me last night," she answered, accepting her cell phone he handed to her. "it's very odd. I've never had an attack like this before at all. I'm not prone to them, as they usually happen when some people are under stress."

"Well..." Alan trailed off as he remembered Melody's just-smile-and-nod policy whenever she got long winded on the paranormal. She gave him a sharp look and he reverted to the smile and nod. Melody gave him an appreciative glance as she got up out of the bed, crossed to the suitcase, then assembled her outfit for the day.

"Where are you and Buster actually going today?"

Melody paused a moment as she gathered up her towel to admire the ring on her finger. The sunlight through the window caught the brilliance of the stones as she turned the ring. Alan smiled at her obvious infatuation with the symbol of his love for her as he put his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm going to catch breakfast with the others and we'll be setting up in the ballroom around 1 PM."

"I'll be there. Buster and I will be at lunch at noontime." Alan nodded and left, leaving Melody to take a shower and get dressed in relative peace. Buster knocked on the door, then sat down on the bed, paused, then began to make the bed.

As he waited for his friend and mother figure, Buster was momentarily distracted from his wait by a faint mist appearing to drift into the room from under the door. Speechless, he saw the mist coalesce and appear into the outline and then full figure of a person he recognized as Captain Rostron.

"My god," he stared incredulously at the ghost. "sir?"

Rostron looked the same as he had during his sailing days with the Cunard line before the world wars intervened. He was in his civilian clothes, black pants with black shoes and a black suit jacket with white undershirt. Rostron wore a black derby on his head as he looked at the teenager sternly for a moment.

"Son," he spoke in a clear tenor voice that commanded authority. Buster remembered Rostron had joined the navy when he was younger and had attained the rank of commander before he retired. "you're in danger here and so is your friend."

"How is that, sir?"

"There are angry spirits here which will feed off of you or your friend. I can't protect you but I can give you advance warning. The spirits are attracted to the lady you are with for some reason."

"How can we protect ourselves?"

"Honestly, the best way to protect all of you is if you want to go spirit hunting you should say a prayer of protection. Wearing a cross necklace will demonstrate your sincerity to your religion or religions."

"We will do that. Mel has one in here somewhere." Buster picked up her small jewelry bag and routed around in it until a small golden crucifix pendant necklace fell out. He straightened up to see Rostron looking at him with approval. "When we were at the LaLaurie house in the French quarter of New Orleans, a spirit attacked Melody and she was hurt."

The commander nodded sagely. "I know. Your friend has sought comfort from the paranormal ever since her aunt died."

"Comfort?" Buster questioned, narrowing his eyebrows as he tried to piece together what Rostron had said. The ghost gave him a small smile.

"When her aunt died, Melody began reading on encounters of the paranormal. She took comfort in the stories of how loved ones came back from beyond the grave. It hasn't happened to her, but she believes now that there is life after death and her aunt and father did not suffer." the late commander explained.

"Makes sense." Buster reasoned. "I mean after all, it is the most comforting to believe and know really that her aunt's suffering ended and she's now in a better place."

"Indeed. Your friend has an aura about her that draws the spirits to her, negative and positive. Protect her, young man." Rostron began to fade out gradually as Buster tried his best to salute. He heard the water turn off from the bathroom, Melody hummed to herself as she toweled off and a few minutes later she appeared in the bedroom, rubbing the ends of her hair dry.

"Hey, kid," she was dressed in jean shorts, flip flops, and a red tank top. "what's up?"

"Mel, you won't believe this," he told her the appearance of Rostron's ghost. Melody's eyes widened and her jaw hung open for a moment.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "He didn't say hi to me!"

"No matter." Buster led her out of the room and down to the first class dining room. "I'm sure he'll stop by before we leave."

"Yeah, sure," Melody put her hands on the brass doorknobs and gave them a twist. The hinges needed to be oiled and they squeaked loudly as they entered the room. Alan and the rest of the band were already sitting down and ready to order as Melody sat next to her fiance, Buster was between Duck and Willie. "so, how's everyone doing?"

She had opened up the door. The bandmembers told her in turn about their experiences and she related the sleep paralysis or SP attack.

"You've never had them before?" Murph put in his order.

"No and that's the odd thing." she mused. "Never had them at all. Maybe it's a sign something is going to happen." Alan bit back his retort and exchanged glances with Elwood and Mack. Neither one of them had any particular feelings towards the paranormal one way or the other, as Mack had a few childhood frights but nothing more than that. Whenever Elwood had been spooked, Jake had been there to calm him when they were growing up.

"Well anyhow," Tom continued as they were being served. "who's lookin' forward to helping out with the setup later on?"

"Buster and me are doing some exploring after we're done here," Melody announced, taking a drink. "I got my cell phone on and we will be down deeper into the ship."

"All right." Lou and Willie chimed in as the waiters started arriving.

After breakfast, Buster assembled the EMF meter and temperature camera as Melody brought a notebook to note any potential sightings or feelings. The rest of the band began to loiter about as the promoters of the event started to design the fliers for the event. The promoters had already designed fliers, but they thought a little extra would not be a bad thing in a different eye-catching design. Alan had volunteered Melody to help design, as she had an interest in graphic art, but she had declined, saying the impromptu ghost hunt was more enticing.

"God, I hope she doesn't get herself or the kid in trouble," Alan worried as he stood outside on what had been the bridge of the ship back in its glory days. "they're asking for it."

"You're actually worried about them?" Willie came up next to his bandmate, surprising him, followed by Matt. "Never knew you to believe in the paranormal, Alan."

"Yeah, Mel and the kid will be all right." Matt's southern drawl sounded clearly in the midmorning. "After everything she's already been through? A ghost wouldn't spook her, even if they're real."

"I don't know," Alan watched a seagull fly by, sqawking madly as it was chased by another one. "Mel and the paranormal don't exactly mix. Remember what happened last time?"

"Sure." Melody had been spooked by a ghost and had taken a fall down a flight of stairs. She had suffered a sprained rotator cuff in her left shoulder and it had taken several weeks to heal. There had been talk of surgery when they were home and their primary care doctor had taken a look, but Melody had declined, saying she was happy to wait extra time to heal.

It hadn't bothered him that much back then, but now he was starting to worry more. Alan didn't know why exactly, but he reasoned to himself that it probably had something to do with the fact that they were now engaged. Or maybe it was a combination of the past and now that she was indeed betrothed to him.

"You doubt she can handle herself and Buster?" Willie questioned. Alan winced inwardly as the drummer folded his arms and leaned on the taffrail, his eyes scanning the forecastle deck.

"No, I think she can handle it, but based on past experience, something will happen."

"But don't ghosts come out at night?" the drummer looked sideways at him. "Nothing could happen to them during the day."

"Guess you're right." Alan relented as he turned to look at Matt. "She can handle herself."

"There you go. It's natural to be worried about your fiancee." the guitar player assured him.

"Why in the hell would that be?"

"Nothing simpler, man," they walked off the bridge. "now she's bound to you by the engagement and your marriage is quite a formal thing, no matter how you celebrate it. You're making it legal now and therefore you worry more for her and she will worry more about you."

A few decks below Buster opened up the door into what used to be the engine room.

"I think a ship misjudged their position in the fog and rammed into this one," he remarked as he jumped the last few rungs in the ladder and landed in the dusty wide open space. Melody followed him, glad to have brought a flashlight on their adventure. She turned it on and aimed the beam into the deep darkness, seeing the deep red of the rusty looking hull plates.

"Late tonight how about we cover cabin B340?" Melody's eyes shone with excitement and Buster smirked. She might have been well advanced in age like Alan, but she had the excitement of a 10-year-old.

"That was where a reputed murder took place, right?" he flicked on the EMF meter. "Nothing so far. How far are we going down here anyway?"

"This is where the engines were before they got rid of them," Melody inspected the area. "Nothing more than a few feet. I don't want to get turned around and get lost down here."

"According to the website I checked, I think we need to go up a level and head for door 13."

"Why did you drag me down here then?" Melody play-whined and went up the ladder again.

Once they were in the correct place, Melody began to take temperature readings and Buster did an immediate sweep with the EMF meter to detect any fluctuations.

"The story here?"

"The site says that a young man was playing a game with some others, trying to see how many times he could go back and forth before the door caught him. Bad luck that the door had to be number 13." the teenager quipped as Melody chuckled.

"Indeed, kid." she trained the camera on the door and waited a few moments. "The thermal imaging camera isn't picking up on anything yet."

"No EMF fluctuations at all. There's only lights on down here, the doors don't work at all for safety reasons." Buster reported. "Let's sit a bit."

"OK." Melody and Buster sat down on the gangway. "So let's train the thermal camera on this door and see what happens."

"All right." Buster looked at Melody and a smile crept across his face at the thought of her and Alan finally tying the knot. She was watching the camera and didn't see his grin, but Buster was quite excited for the end of the gig when the ceremony would take place.

"Mel?"

"Hmm?"

"What's it going to be like?"

"What's what going to be like?"

"Your wedding to Alan," he explained. "will you wear a white dress?"

"That's cliche, don't you think?" she teased affectionately. "No, I want the ceremony to take place on the bridge at sunset. I'll wear a skirt and a shirt, Alan will wear something casual like his tan chino pants I made him take along."

"Bet he's grateful now."

"He will pretend to be if nothing else. If he knows what's good for him."

"The lady's always right!" Buster laughed. "Alan should know that by now."

"He says I keep him on the level. I wear many hats, Buster."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm the accountant as in I manage the money and pay the bills, I on occasion chauffeur him around, I cook, I clean, I even nurse him when he's sick."

"Does he do the same to you?"

"Don't you remember when I had scarlet fever? That was a pretty scary one if I remember right."

Buster shuddered. "I remember it. You were so ill you didn't recognize me at all. Alan was really worried for you. I think he might have thought you would die."

"I wasn't conscious enough to think about that. All I had were odd and twisted dreams float through my head while I was so out of it."

"Like what?"

"I don't remember them now, Bus. It was a long time ago."

"Oh. What's that?" the EMF meter went off as the thermal camera showed a peculiar anomaly. "It's jumped from 2 to 10!"

"Holy frig! Look at that." a mysterious blob appeared at the door that the camera picked up as a 68 degrees. "Wonder if this is the guy which got crushed?"

"Who else would it be?" Buster retorted as he stood up and aimed the camera in closer. The amorphous blob seemed to stay still but grew in heat two degrees. "Doesn't seem to be doing anything."

"Well, I'm not guessing around," Melody proclaimed as she sat up. "let's get an accurate reading of this. What we really should have around is a medium, but I don't put a lot of stock in them anyway. Very few are genuine if at that."

Buster was surprised at her for a moment, thinking mediums were genuine, but he was a teenager and still had a lot to learn. Melody had bad experiences with mediums when she first got into the paranormal field when she was still a teenager herself. The very first investigation she was on, the medium had gone on the preliminary walking tour with the leader of the investigation and the leader had led the medium on with incorrect information. On the investigation itself, the medium started reporting what the leader had said as fact, thereby proving that the medium wasn't real at all.

"I see." was all he said. Melody noted down the time, location, temperature and EMF fluctuations in the area. Buster held the camera and studied the specter invisible to their eyes, stepped forward, and then waved his hand in the mass, not surprised when his hand went right through it.

"Try not to agitate it, Buster."

"Remember what Rostron told me," he turned his blue eyes upon her almost pleadingly. "don't do anything that would agitate it."

"I'm just documenting it, Buster. Does Rostron think that I have an aura about me that just sets them off?"

"I think so. Why else would that ghost in New Orleans attack you so nastily?"

"Because it was a nasty ghost to start with?"she said, somewhat irritated. People on paranormal investigations with her before had always speculated on that. Indeed she had been harmed several times, but she never questioned why, dismissing it as something that just happens.

Buster let it go at that and focused in on the camera as he saw the mass as it started moving towards Melody. She wasn't looking into the camera at the time so she did not see it coming. The teenager watched for a moment as the anomaly moved right across the screen and edged towards over to Melody slowly, as if it was checking her out, liking what it saw.

"Mel.."

"Not now, Buster. Elwood texted me." she pulled out her phone and faced away from him as she prepared to use the Swype feature on her phone.

"Umm..."

"Not now." her voice became a little firmer in warning. "Swear to God my fingers can't be tiny enough to text or Swype even!"

The anomaly reached the space right behind her and the temperature went up to 90 degrees alarmingly fast. "MEL!"

She finally turned to face him, irritated and concerned. "What?" thrusting her phone in her pocket, she narrowed her eyes at the teen, who was now as white as a sheet.

"Duck!" even more confused, she did not see the anomaly launch itself at her violently as Buster jumped back a few paces. To her, it was a feeling of unbearable heat right in her center that appeared and disappeared in a flash. The engineer immediately felt drained, her knees buckled, and she backed up against the rail as the anomaly disappeared.

"It's gone," Buster reported as he turned the camera off. "Mel? You OK?"

"Wow," she breathed raspily. "I'll be OK, once I get up on deck and sit down."

"I think it's time to leave anyway. Can you stand?"

"Yup." she accomplished standing up, then she lost a little bit of color. Through her stern resolve, she made it up to the boat deck and collapsed in a deck chair. "I'm OK. If anyone asks, I fell asleep in the chair here, OK?"

"Yeah." he agreed quickly. "I'm gonna go and see how the others are doing. Don't get sunburned!"

"Sun's not high enough yet, kid." her eyes were already closing.