A Romantic Ghost Story, Page 6

  Gathering her energy and courage, she stood up and then plucked her guitar from the corner.

  The moonlight shone onto her pretty eyes.

  This is it, she decided. I’m not going to be passive and just sit here. I’m going to leave tonight.

  She strummed the strings of her guitar.

  I have to play my guitar, she thought. That’s the only reason I’m still fighting to survive. Otherwise, I’d rather give up and let the Ocean King dissolve my spirit, or even worse, marry him and bear him little seaweed-like children.

  Before she could exit the room though, a flurry of activity zoomed through the door.

  The Ocean King came in and slapped her across the face. “You stupid whore! I told you not to play that ugly instrument.”

  The force of his attack caused Nancy to fall onto the ground. She was reminded of when she was knocked to the ground in her uncle’s teahouse. That same sense of humiliation permeated throughout her.

  She stared into the furious face of her finance.

  She couldn’t stay there anymore, no matter what he would do to her. She could no longer take that kind of abuse. She had made up her mind. She had to leave that night.

  ***

  Nancy got as far as the highway when she realized that something was not right. No one had followed her. Security was usually very tight at the haunted cottage. So, she stopped, floating right by the freeway and listened.

  Nothing but the usual sounds of night. In the distance, a car’s engine ran. Crickets sang. Owls hooted. The wind whistled. But nothing else.

  Suddenly, a voice came from below her. “You’re back.”

  Nancy looked down and saw Ryan’s concerned face. He had not left since she had flown away.

  He held up the note that she had left him.

  She floated down to the ground.

  He grinned. “And you brought your guitar.”

  She glanced at Lucy, and then at Ryan. “I’m not back. I’m trying to escape.”

  “From who?”

  Nancy sighed. She was trying to protect him by telling him nothing, but he seemed genuinely concerned. In fact, he was the only boy who had ever shown a sincere interest in her safety.

  On the Island Freeway, under the glare of the moon, she explained everything to him: her humble origins in Macedonia, how she was lied to and sex-trafficked to North America, how she had died crossing the stormy Pacific Ocean, how the door to Heaven had been open to her for just a fraction of a second, how she had been enslaved by the Ocean King, how she had been forced to find food for him, and how she was forced to marry him on the evening of November 1, which was the next day.

  She basically told him her entire sad life story.

  He listened, spellbound. He knew she was a ghost. Nothing else should surprise him anymore.

  “So you’re behind all those drownings?” he asked.

  She nodded. “But it’s not like I wanted to.”

  He pursed his lips, deep in thought. “That’s quite a story.”

  She played with the strings on her guitar. “So now you see why I have to leave? And why I wrote you that note? You can’t be around me. I’m not safe to be around.”

  He placed one hand on her shoulder. “You let me decide that.”

  She stared into his dark, passionate eyes. No one had ever been that kind to her before, without wanting something in return. He seemed genuine. He was like a kindred spirit.

  In the near distance, the waves of the ocean began churning again.

  Nancy glanced behind her. “I have to go. The Ocean King must have discovered I’m gone.”

  “I can’t let you go by yourself,” said Ryan.

  Nancy took a closer look at him. His wind-tousled hair covered up parts of his eyes, but she knew that he was serious.

  But still, she shook her head. She was in enough trouble already. She wasn’t about to drag a stranger into this with her.

  “No. It’s not safe.”

  But Ryan wouldn’t back down. “You have too much musical talent to go back to that guy and be his wife for all eternity. Could you even practice your music in front of him?”

  She bit her lips. “No. He doesn’t let me play my guitar.”

  “That’s too bad. Being married to him would be as if you had never even left Macedonia. It’d be like getting married to the other guy…what’s his name…Steven?”

  “Yeah,” she said. So he had been listening.

  And he was right, of course.

  She looked at him with tears in her eyes. No one had ever been that kind to her before and in another life, in another time, in another place, she and Ryan could have been something.

  “You’re a good guy, Ryan,” she whispered. “But this is the wrong time.”

  The waves started to churn louder, angrier.

  She had to go. She floated two feet above the ground and took off in the direction of the golf course on the other side of the highway.

  “Wait!” shouted Ryan.

  But she had already taken to the skies.

  Ryan watched as Nancy disappeared once again. After hearing her sad life story, he was even more motivated to help her. He was drawn to her sad situation.

  Poor girl, he thought. She never got the chance to live her life her way. In a way, he could relate. His ex-girlfriend was going to become a medical doctor. But because of the foolish action of a drunk driver, she never could. He still blamed himself for her death.

  If he could help another girl live her life and fulfill her dreams, he would be happy.

  He watched as she disappeared across the horizon.

  He stared at Serena, his guitar.

  The girl has too much talent not to share with the world. He started dashing toward the golf course where Nancy was.

  ***

  Nancy flew as far as she could. As she zoomed through the air, she imagined that she was free – free to do whatever she wanted.

  The fantasy grew faded when she realized she was exhausted and couldn’t move another inch. She landed in a clearing, just beside the vast golf course.

  She glanced around her. Gigantic trees towered over her, blocking out the moon.

  Catching her breath, she sat on a log in the middle of the clearing. Ryan was creeping into her thoughts. She couldn’t help it.

  As the vapid blackness of the night surrounded her, just for a second, she wanted Ryan to be with her. She wondered how warm his arms would feel wrapped around her.

  She thought about how good it felt jamming with him, scratching her itch to create music, after her fiancé had forbidden her to do so.

  When the chilly wind whipped her skin, she decided to try to make a fire from the kindling in front of her.

  She gathered some tinder but it was too damp.

  The frigid wind grew violent, making her shiver.

  Suddenly, a voice came from behind her. “I thought ghosts didn’t get cold.”

  Nancy turned around.

  Ryan’s messy hair covered his face.

  She turned back around. “We do. How’d you find me?”

  “I saw you were heading toward the golf course.

  Nancy continued to play with the tinder.

  “Here,” Ryan murmured. “Let me.”

  He took out a match and lit it up. The tiny orange light flickered and Ryan quickly threw it onto the kindle in the makeshift fireplace in front of them. Pretty soon, they had a full fire raging.

  Nancy turned to him. “What are you doing here?”

  The light of the fire danced in Ryan’s brown eyes.

  He held out his hands. “I’ve heard you play. If you somehow don’t escape from this Ocean King, then the world will have lost some beautiful music.”

  Nancy felt her defenses crumble. She was driving him away for his own good, but maybe he knew what he was doing.

  She nodded, brushing her dark hair out of her face. “That’s very sweet of you.” She found herself relenting. She felt she could reveal more in
timate details about herself in front of the disarming Ryan.

  Her expression grew wistful. “When I was alive, my dream was to get to Hollywood and launch my musical career from there, but I’m starting to think that will never happen.”

  She sighed. “I want to feel the Californian sun on my face. I want to sing in front of millions of people. I want to make something of my life. I promised my mother.”

  A far-off look twinkled in her dark, intense eyes. “I come from a small village in Macedonia. I promised my mother that I would go pursue my dreams.”

  He put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “It must have been hard. Losing your mother and then being sex-trafficked here.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, but that’s life.”

  “Don’t you want revenge?”

  “Nah. I don’t blame anyone, just myself. I don’t want revenge on that agent, just a chance at life. Nothing good can come from revenge.”

  A comfortable silence passed between them. The night air was chilly but calm.

  Nancy gazed at Ryan. Sure, he was handsome, but so were a lot of other young men. There was something special about him. She was impressed by his persistence in helping her. She had never met someone as selfless as he was.

  “Can I ask you something?” she asked.

  He put his hands in his pocket. “Sure.”

  “Why do you care so much about what happens to me? No offense, but you barely know me. With what’s happened in my life, I know the world is hard. No one’s going to give me a free lunch, without expecting something in return.”

  He sat down on a log and motioned for her to follow.

  Nancy sat down and looked into his eyes.

  He leaned down, placing his arms on his thighs. “There was a girl I knew that I cared about a lot. She died when a drunk driver hit her. I was supposed to pick her up, but I was late. I’ve always blamed myself.”

  He paused, looking down.

  Nancy nodded sympathetically. “It’s OK. Go on.”

  He looked up, his brown eyes lost in another world. In the moonlight, he looked like a wounded puppy. “She had real potential as a doctor, but she never got to do it. I can’t let someone else give up her chance at life.”

  He raised his guitar. “I’ve been trying to make a living at music since I was in my early teens, but people’s reactions seem to be pretty negative. Maybe I’m not meant to be a professional musician, you know? There are some people who are meant to be music producers. Maybe I’m supposed to help talented people like you succeed.”

  Nancy was very flattered to be called talented. Whatever doubts she had had about Ryan evaporated. She realized that he really cared about helping her.

  The roaring fire in front of them highlighted Ryan’s chiseled face. Nancy felt a longing deep within her, something that she had never felt before. She was attracted to Ryan, but how on Earth could they be together? She was a ghost and he was a human. There was no happy ending there. It was impractical. It was impossible.

  She fiddled with Lucy. “Sometimes, trapped in that haunted cottage with the Ocean King, I feel like I’d never get out of there and achieve my dreams.”

  He moved closer to her. “Don’t you say that. Anything is possible. Anything at all.”

  He pointed at the crackling fire keeping them warm. The embers danced in the air, creating a mesmerizing scene.

  “I got an idea. I want you to stand up, right in front of that fire,” Ryan said.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just trust me.”

  Nancy got up.

  Ryan got up and stood behind her.

  He whispered into her eyes, “Close your eyes. I want you to feel the heat of the fire on your face.”

  Nancy closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the fire on her skin.

  His breath tickled her neck. “I want you to imagine that you’re in Hollywood, California. That heat is the blazing Californian sun.”

  Nancy imagined that she was in California. A smile spread across her delicate face.

  He lowered his voice. “I want you to imagine that you’ve finally made it to the place where you’ll make your dreams come true. Keep feeling the heat on your face. It’s the Californian sun. You’re there. You’ve made it.”

  She continued to feel the heat of the fire on her face.

  I’m here in California, she thought. I’ve made it.

  Nancy felt Ryan’s hands on her hips.

  Ryan murmured, “Now you’re in the stifling California air. It’s a beautiful summer night, with the full moon and millions of stars in the sky. You’re on stage, in front of thousands of admiring fans, playing a sold out concert. Feel the heat. Hear the music.”

  She felt the heat already, but in her mind, she heard the music. She heard what song she would play. She heard the notes of Beyond the White Clouds clearly, resonating in her mind.

  “Feel the electricity in the crowd,” he continued. “They all came to hear the great Nancy sing her heart out. Feel the humidity. See the fans. Smell the excitement. Feel the wood of your guitar. Taste your success.”

  And Nancy did all that. Just like that, Nancy was transported to a blistering summer night, under the Californian sky. She was on stage, playing to an enthusiastic crowd of fans.

  Her heart pounded wildly. She had never felt something this intense before.

  After a while, she opened her eyes and craned her neck.

  She stared straight into Ryan’s dark brown eyes.

  He whispered, “Did you see all that?”

  She nodded. She was wracked with intense desire for him. He had made her feel so good. In her busy life, she had missed out on a first love. Now, it was like the Universe was giving her another chance. And if it was giving her a second chance, maybe it would give her a second chance at a life too.

  “Never let go of that, Nancy,” Ryan murmured. “Your music is too beautiful not to let the whole world hear it.”

  She still felt his hands on her hips.

  Just then, she realized that she had risen three feet off the ground. She and Ryan were now floating in front of the fire, with Ryan’s arms now wrapped around her waist.

  She turned around, staring at Ryan’s full lips.

  Ryan adjusted his grip to hold her better.

  The fire shone lightly Ryan’s skin, giving him an angelic tinge. She felt his breath on his neck, heavier this time.

  Now, they were face to face.

  Twice before, they had missed their kiss.

  She wasn’t about to let him go this time.

  Without another thought, Nancy leaned in and kissed Ryan’s lips.

  He closed his eyes and Nancy followed suit.

  She was going to enjoy this kiss. All her life, she had worked for someone else, never having time for herself. It was now time to make time for herself.

  Ryan’s arms tightened around her waist as Nancy lost herself in the kiss.

  For just a second, she forgot that she was a wandering spirit engaged to a cruel demon, with no real chance of achieving her dream of becoming a successful musical artist. She forgot about her oppressive life. For just a second, she was just a carefree teenage girl, enjoying her first real kiss with a boy who genuinely cared about her.

  Ryan’s put his hands on her face.

  Too soon, the kiss ended and Nancy pulled back.

  Her heart thudded against her chest as she gazed at the handsome gentleman. Her cheeks were rosy and her body was warm. It felt good to kiss Ryan finally.

  Gently, they floated down to the ground.

  Ryan grinned shyly at her and handed her Lucy. “Play a little something for me, Nancy.”

  Nancy grabbed her guitar, still recovering from the passionate intensity of the kiss. “Are you going to play with me?”

  He shook his head. “Nah. Just you. Pretend this is your private concert for me. I want to hear more of your music.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Come on,” he insisted. �€
œOK then. Pretend I’m legions of your fans.” He pointed to large flat stone. “That’s your stage.”

  Nancy took a deep breath, butterflies in her stomach.

  She prepared herself to go on stage for her first major concert. Up until then she had only sung for the few customers in her uncle’s teahouse.

  Ryan started thumping his guitar against a log. “We want Nancy! We want Nancy!”

  He smiled at her.

  Nancy couldn’t help herself. She smiled back at him. It had been a long time since she had been truly happy.

  She strummed a couple of notes on her guitar. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m very happy that you’re able to join me tonight.”

  “Wait!” exclaimed Ryan. “You can talk without a microphone.” He glanced around. “This is a huge stadium.”

  He picked up a thick twig and tossed it to her.

  Nancy caught it and spoke into it. “Thanks for coming, ladies and gentlemen. This first song is called Beyond the White Clouds” Although she knew that this was just a silly little fantasy, she was charmed by it. It was nice to be able to act out her fantasy.

  She started to strum Lucy, playing the introductory notes of her signature ballad. Then she began to sing, her voice echoing in the forest.

  What do you do when you’re sad?

  What do you do when you’re blue?

  Fly with me to the clouds

  And I’ll be sad with you.

  She played the entire song, pouring her heart out. When she was done, she had never felt so satisfied. She was on such a high.

  Ryan began applauding wildly. “Whoo! Encore! Encore!”

  Nancy nodded, chuckling. “Thanks.”

  She knew it was just a silly fantasy, but to be able to act it out gave her a kind of catharsis that she never knew was possible. And it was all thanks to Ryan. He really seemed to understand her.

  As she watched him jump up and down, she realized she was beginning to develop feelings for him. He made her feel so special. Too bad she was getting married in the next day.

  She stepped down from the slightly elevated stone and tossed aside the twig she had used as a microphone.

  Nancy gazed at Ryan’s joyful face. In the fire, he looked especially handsome.

  He sat down on the log. “Why is the song so sad though? Do you have any happy songs?”