Specter~Chapter 5
Sam stared at Finn's transparent form for a couple moments, then snorted.
"You joke with me! Good one, Finn," Sam said, clapping Finn on the shoulder.
"No! No joke! I was floating around Battenfield, wreaking my usual havoc, when I floated by the Abrams estate to haunt Will and Emma and there she was!"
Sam considered this. There was no way. He watched her die, watched her be buried. He had never seen her in spirit form on Earth so he assumed she stayed in heaven. There was just no way.
"Sam, this girl looks just like Lucinda…she sounds just like Lucinda," Finn said, all joking aside. "You should go see for yourself."
Sam looked back at the bikini-clad sunbathers.
"Fine, only to put an end to something so ludicrous," he said finally.
xxxxx
The basement of the estate was a welcome, albeit spacious, surprise. She expected a dark, dank, low ceilinged area full of rotting boxes full of mostly junk but was happy to see that it was well lit and even somewhat organized. It seemed very little to no moisture had disturbed what was stored there and it even smiled nice, much like a library. They stood next to a couple wheeled carts and on the carts were white cotton gloves and face masks in case things got dusty.
"So," Emma said, clapping her hands a little. "I've really been wanting to dig into this project but the estate wanted me to have an assistant first, which is you. Hopefully we can make a dent in all this this summer. Lucky for us, when they installed the elevator they brought it down here as well." She pointed back over her shoulder. They had entered the basement from a door in the side foyer that Quinn had not even noticed upon arrival to the house. "We can load up boxes and take them to the second floor office to do our research."
One of the rooms attached to the Abrams suite was his huge office, which Quinn had checked out before lunch. It was situated over the back salon and also had a wall of windows and balcony overlooking the backyard and gardens. There were two huge desks there and it had obviously been upgraded to the present time with laptops on each desk.
A perfect place to work, Quinn thought.
In the basement, Emma walked to a far corner while pushing a cart. Quinn followed her with the other cart. "During renovations, they started here, to ensure there was no water damage and of course update the electricity and plumbing and all the connections needed for the internet. You might still see a rogue spider but I've been assured there are no other rodents lurking down here." Emma laughed; Quinn cringed at the word rodents.
"Now, apparently when residents began dying if no family was available to take possession of their belongings, Mr. Abrams had them stored here, clearly marked with the person's name and year. He was a very forward-thinking man," Emma told her. "During renovations, though, the boxes got shifted around and moved out of order, I believe so I thought we could start with the boxes easiest to get to and then get to the ones that are farther back. We can load them on these carts to take to the elevator."
"Sounds like a great idea," Quinn agreed.
"Upstairs, in the office, maybe you could set up a database so that we could enter what we find...I'm guessing alphabetical to start off with, then later we could look into making a list using dates...that kind of thing," Emma suggested.
"Sure," Quinn said, a little excited to craft a database from scratch. "Should we go ahead and take some boxes upstairs then? I think, if at all possible, we bring up everything for one resident that we find, so nothing gets split up...maybe I can work on a couple people and you can do a couple people? I am so ready to start this project!"
"Great idea! I think some of these older boxes might just be all somebody had left when they died so we might be able to bring up 10 people at a time!"
They giggled at the thought of bringing people up. They loaded up some very old boxes of things, labeled with names in wobbly hand-writing.
"I think Mr. Abrams actually began this and someone else took over after he died. My worry is we might find someone else's possessions mixed in with the wrong box," Emma said. "I guess that's the mystery for us to solve!"
"I call Daphne!" Quinn said, laughing.
Emma laughed too. "All we need is Scooby Doo!"
xxxxx
Sam and Finn appeared on the lawn of the Abrams Estate, not seen by anyone but themselves.
"Will sure takes care of the property nicely, doesn't he?" Sam asked Finn. They had materialized on the front lawn, looking up at the mansion.
"He seems to do a fine job," Finn said, pulling him up the yard to the house. "C'mon...let's find her."
They floated up to the front porch, then through the heavy oak front doors into the grand foyer.
"He even chooses flowers like Artie used to," Sam said, glancing around. "Almost like he knew Artie."
"Yep…c'mon, let's see if they are in here," Finn said, floating off toward the kitchen.
In the kitchen, they found Will cleaning up the lunch plates. He stood at the sink, hand-washing the chinaware, when he heard a noise behind him. He turned and the crystal salt shaker was moving across the table.
"Hello there," Will said cheerfully and turned back to the sink.
"Ugh, he's no fun anymore," Finn said to Sam. "Let's look around, she's here somewhere…"
Finn floated into the basement-way since the door was standing open. Sam followed him. In the basement, they looked over just in time to see the elevator door closing.
"Upstairs…"
On the first floor, they waited at the elevator and it kept creeping upward.
"Next floor…"
On the second floor, the two spirits waited impatiently. The elevator door opened and Emma pushed her cart off first in the direction of the office, walking past the two spirits. The next cart appeared and then the blonde girl pushing it.
Sam stared at the girl. He heard her laugh and speak to Emma. Finn was bugging him, asking if he thought she looked like his Lucinda. Sam just stared at her.
It was her…he was gazing at Lucinda Fabbrae once again.
xxxxx
He knew it was her…the sound of her laughter, the color of her hair, her build, her green-hazel eyes, even with the funny mark in the right iris that was uniquely her…this girl was Lucinda. He felt it. Granted, her clothing was obviously modern, as was the style of her hair, but her essence was Lucinda. The way she moved, the way she carried herself…this living breathing girl was his one true love.
"How could this be possible?" he asked Finn, watching from the office doorway as Emma and Quinn pushed their carts into the office.
"I dunno! That's why I found you and brought you here! You just had to see her…I couldn't hardly believe it either," Finn said to him.
"Oh…is there a camera in here?" Quinn asked Emma suddenly. "We should take pictures of these items to attach to the database."
"I am so glad you thought of that…umm…" Emma looked around the room but came up empty-handed. "I'm not seeing one…"
"No problem…I brought my digital camera…it's just down the hall," Quinn said.
She exited through the office doorway, a sudden feeling of nausea and chill passing through her body as she passed directly through Sam. She stopped just on the other side of the door, mere inches away from his spirit.
"Did the air conditioning just kick on?" she asked Emma, a funny look on her face.
Emma looked up at her. "No, I don't think so. It's so quiet you never hear it."
Quinn looked confused. "Hmm…okay…I'll be right back."
Finn looked at Sam. "She felt you! She felt you!"
Sam, if not already a ghost, could not be any paler. He had felt her pass through him too.
Sam stood there, literally in a state of shock, watching the blonde girl finally turn and head off to the Abrams suite. In all his years as being a spirit, he had always been transparent, to other spirits and humans alike. He could pass through inanimate objects and structures and humans often passed through him without ever knowing he was there. He had felt the same way she did...nauseous and a bit chilled...there had been a connection. Still, even though this human girl resembled Lucinda in every way possible, he was still unconvinced that it was actually her. He disappeared from the house before Finn could even ask where he was going.
Quinn walked to the suite still in somewhat of a daze. She had felt something back there, a feeling she had never experienced before. It was a bit scary but then again not...more of the familiar feeling she had been picking up on since being in Battenfield, maybe more intense. She went to her luggage and pulled out her camera and returned to the office. When passing through the doorway again, she felt nothing.
A/N: I wanted to let you all know that the inspiration for this story came from Readingtoomuch's internship. :) Also, Finn and Sam are the two who died in the shipwreck, not Artie. Artie was not on the boat; he became a rich ship builder and built that gigantic home. Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! :))))