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With a deep breath, I let my eyes fall closed. I used the tricks that Astrid had taught me to fall into a deeper meditation.
First, I concentrated on the sounds around me. There was a soft patter of snow against the window, a crackling of the fire that the staff had lit earlier in the day, the sound of the vent blowing air into the room.
Then I concentrated on my other senses. Warmth against my skin from the heat, the scent of books hanging in the air, filling it with musty paper and ink.
Then I pushed past that, mentally picturing some of my mental walls dropping. The air around me shifted, the heat giving way to cold, and I felt a set of eyes on me.
I clenched my teeth together, refusing to scream when I opened my eyes.
As my eyes cracked open I saw a man standing in front of me. His head was cocked to the side as he studied me.
He was wearing an old-style suit minus the jacket and the vest was buttoned around his rounded stomach. He had a beard so white it was hard to make out against his pale features.
He didn’t speak, so I decided to break the silence.
“Who are you?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as possible. I didn’t speak loudly, but he heard me nonetheless. His head tipped back to the proper position, and his eyes widened.
“You can see me?” His voice had a wispy quality to it despite being strong. The reverberation of it sent a shiver down my spine and goosebumps over my skin.
“I can,” I confirmed. “Who are you?”
“My apologies, miss. My name is Remington, Remington Bellmore.” The way he said his name with pride, puffing out his chest a little, meant that he thought I should know who he was.
I racked my brain for all of the history that Ben had imparted on us in the last few days, but I was coming up blank.
“What year was it when you died?”
“I died?” He gasped dramatically. My jaw dropped as I realized he might not know he was dead.
Before I could utter a hasty apology he started to cackle. It quickly dissolved into a full belly laugh that had his form flickering in and out of view.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he said, chuckling softly to himself now. “It’s hard to remember the details of my former life.”
“Is there anything you do remember?”
He didn’t answer right away. His smile had fallen and he looked melancholy now. My heart ached at how lonely he likely was.
“I remember my wife’s name was Maisy. We had a son. The rest is…” he trailed off.
“We’ll help you remember,” I promised. He needed a subject change, I was losing him. “You’re going to see some new faces around here. My team and I are investigating the castle. We’re ghost hunters. Elizabeth, the current Bellmore heir, is having some trouble staying here. She’s scared.”
“Most of us are harmless,” he said. His eyes darted to the side nervously and his form wavered again.
There was a beat of silence before he put a smile back on his face. He wasn’t fooling me. That smile was strained and he was nervous.
“You saidmostof you were harmless,” I hedged. “So, what’s not harmless?”
“I don’t know,” he said before flickering out of view again. I waited a few moments to see if he’d come back, but it seemed I’d scared Remington away.
Shit.
I sat in silence and processed what just happened. Then it hit me.
Holy shit, I just talked to a spirit.
One that was probably hanging around me this entire time.
That thought was a little more unsettling, but I ignored it and focused on the fact that I’d managed to do it at all.
