Dead and Buried Part II

Better late than never, I suppose. My apologies for the late night post, but to be fair, it is still Thursday in California. I'll try to do better next week. Enjoy!

 Dead and Buried

Part II

                Brody pulled to a stop in front of an enormous stone structure and killed the headlights. “We’re here,” he said, turning in his seat to look at Paley. “Welcome to Jackson Hill.”

                “Most haunted place in New Orleans,” Hannah echoed, a ghost of an accent slipping through her perfectly enunciated words.  

“Right,” Paley said, and didn’t wait for an invitation. She pushed open her door and stepped into the starlit night. A cold breeze whispered against the back of her neck, rattling the skeletal branches of nearby oaks and sending a ripple of goose bumps across her skin. She pulled her jacket closer and stared up at the Cathedral turned prep school. On the ride over Hannah had told her the whole story behind Jackson Hill, or at least her version of it. Paley didn’t know how much she believed.

“So let me get this straight,” Paley said as the others filed out of the car. “Nun falls in love with priest. Priest impregnates nun. Nun jumps from the campanile out of shame. Church covers up death to protect priest.”

“Pretty much,” Hannah said with a nod.

“And now the spirit of this suicidal nun haunts the place?”

“So the story goes.”

Paley stared up at the grand edifice and sixteen truculent gargoyles stared back, their stone eyes cold and unblinking. The white terra cotta cathedral towered over the Garden District, its twin bell minarets rising over two-hundred feet into the air. It would have been the oldest church in the state, had it not been turned into a high school for over privileged teenagers in the late seventies.

“Which tower did she jump from?” Paley asked unconvinced. “There’re two.”

“Neither of those. The campanile is a separate structure from the church. It’s closer to what used to be the convent. It’s all classrooms now, though,” Brody explained, as he dug around in the trunk of his BMW. He came up holding two flashlights, a broad smile stretched across his face. “So, who’s ready to go ghost hunting?”

“Gimme a break,” Paley said, trying to ignore the tremor of unease skittering down her spine.

                “Just because you don’t believe in ghosts doesn’t mean they’re not real,” Hannah singsonged, dancing past her to stand beside Brody. She looped her hand in his and cast a smile over her shoulder at Paley who, despite her better judgment, followed them toward the empty school. Brighton brought up the rear, shining a weak ray of illumination along the bricked pathway. The place looked eerie with the watery blue floodlights casting milky rays of light across the silent, manicured grounds. Eerie, but not haunted, Paley told herself as she fell in step with Hannah.

The path stopped just in front of a rusted chain link fence that separated the tower from the rest of the campus. A faded NO TRESPASSING sign hung crooked on the fence and a padlock held the gate tight.

                “Great. How are we supposed to get in there?” Brighton groaned, shining his flashlight on the padlock.

                “You mean you’ve never been in there?” Paley asked. Dread sunk in her stomach like a stone. What the heck was she getting herself into?

                Brody lifted one shoulder. “Never had a reason to,” he said, an easy smile splitting his handsome features.  

                “Can’t we just climb over?” Brighton suggested, his voice thin, tight.

  He’s scared, Paley thought and smiled. At least she wasn’t the only one who thought this was a bad idea.

                Hannah scoffed. “In these shoes? You’ve got to be kidding.”

                “Of course he is, sweetheart,” Brody said, squeezing Hannah’s hand. “We’ll find another way in.”

                “Wow. Y’all really planned this out,” Paley said, pulling a bobby pin from her hair. She slid it into the lock and began working it. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Breaking and entering. Less than a minute and the lock clicked open. At least she hadn’t lost her touch.

                “Whoa. Where’d you learn how to do that?” Brighton asked, unable to hide the awe in his voice.

                “Charm school,” Paley said sarcastically. She pushed open the gate, fighting back a triumphant smile. No one looked eager to go in first, so she swallowed back the lump in her throat and took the lead. One by one, the others followed.

                “Hey, wait a sec.” Brighton stopped short and patted his pockets gingerly. “I must have left my cell in the car. I’ll be right back,” Brighton said and trotted off into the darkness.

               Brody groaned, checked his watch. “We’ll give him three minutes. If he’s not back by then, I say we go in without him.”

“Isn’t that how all the horror movies start?”

“This isn’t a horror movie, Han,” Brody said laughing, and plastered a sloppy kiss on her lips.

Paley ignored them, her eyes drawn to a movement in the tower. She squinted, not certain she’d even seen it, then a shadow slid past one of the broken stained glass windows. It’s probably full of bats, she told herself, but the fear spilling through her veins didn’t ebb. “Did y’all see that?” she whispered, but they were too caught up in their makeout session to notice.

                Paley scanned the unkempt grounds. Naked trees cast long shadows across the empty campus and bushes and weeds rustled in the wind. She took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on the unwarranted fear snaking through her gut. Because it was unwarranted, she told herself. Jackson Hill wasn’t haunted, and whatever she thought she saw in the window was gone. She let out an uneasy laugh. “It was just a shadow,” she whispered.

              “What’s that, Paley?” Hannah asked, apparently through locking lips with Brody.

“Nothing,” Paley mumbled, keeping her eyes on the fickle shadows beyond. “Shouldn’t Brighton be back by now?”

Brody consulted his watch again. “Yeah. I’ll go find him.”

“No!” Hannah shrieked, clinging to him. “You can’t leave us here alone.”

He laughed. “Okay, okay. Chill.”

Something moved in the bushes behind them and for a second they all froze. Footsteps rang out in the darkness, but the noise wasn’t coming from the path. It was too close. Paley jerked around, a scream trapped in her lungs as air rushed out of them. A pair of eyes glared at her from the darkness. “What the he-” The word died in her throat as someone rushed from the darkness, identity obscured by a ski mask. Paley turned to run, but it was too late. In a second he was on her.

P.K. Dawning