Chapter 73

By morning, he'd almost convinced himself that Evie had been a dream. He would have, except for two things. The first was that weird stuff often happened around the Holiday family. The second was that this wasn't the first time in his life Sam had seen a ghost. They were all over the place at his grandparents' family home in England, and 'round about town here in Charleston.
He had to admit, though, Evie was the first ghost who'd turned him on. All night long he'd had wild, sexual dreams about the blonde beauty. His body still quivered with frustration.
Today, he was damn well going to find out who she was. He'd taken the time off from work to move into his house, so he didn't have anywhere he needed to be, not until after Halloween. Painting would wait. Finding out about his ghost wouldn't.
Sam had a file on the history of his house from the local historical society, including some old newspaper articles. Flipping through them, he found her almost at once.
"Evangeline Bonnell, aged 24. Died October 31, 1916, in a tragic accident." He read aloud, testing the words out. They fit. Evangeline - Evie. 1916 looked right for the style of the clothing he'd seen on his ghost. The weirdest coincidence of course was the date. She'd died ninety-five years ago - exactly sixty years to the day before Sam had been born.
He set down the paper and laughed. Damn, he'd been turned-on by older women before, but never one who was one hundred and nineteen.
It took another hour of internet digging before he'd pieced together a rough outline of Evie's life. She'd been born here in Charleston to a wealthy family of French descent, the youngest of four children, and had become engaged in 1910 to a French businessman. Sam guessed that the start of the war in Europe had curtailed their marriage - maybe her fiancé had been killed, maybe he'd just gotten caught up in the fighting, but there was no notice of his death in any records Sam could find. Evie's death though - he finally found a more detailed accounting of that in a local guide to haunted houses. Evie had died in a fall down the grand staircase.
Sam wanted to smack himself upside the head. He knew that ghosts were real, that he could see and interact with them. Why hadn't it occurred to him to check those guidebooks before he'd bought a house? What an idiot! You'd think a guy who saw ghosts would at least check something like that.
Nope. Sam, the reluctant medium, had bought himself a genuine haunted house.
His siblings were going to laugh themselves silly.
According to Haunts About Charleston, his house had been periodically visited by the spirit of young Evangeline Bonnell. The first reported sighting was by a family friend who visited in the 1930s, and then there was nothing until the house passed out of the Bonnell family in the '60s. Since then, there had been a small handful of intermittent sightings, but always the week before Halloween, and always by men - specifically unmarried men. Apparently a couple of those had complained about the ghost accosting them in their sleep. According to them, she was a full manifestation, every bit as solid as a human being. A few others had mentioned her as more the insubstantial wisp Sam had seen last night.
Sam spent the rest of the day finishing up the paint in the parlor and firming up his plans for the evening. According to the stories, Evie usually showed up right at midnight. Tonight, he'd be waiting for her in that hallway. He cranked up his MP3 player, loaded up with Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Ella Fitzgerald and grinned as he worked. This is going to be fun.
At 11:45, he set himself up with a beer and a bowl of popcorn, and plunked a chair down right next to the oval window at the end of the second-floor hallway. Soft strains of cool jazz drifted out the open door of his bedroom, but not loudly enough that he'd miss any noises.
Just before the hands of his watch reached midnight, he felt the chill. On the stroke of the hour, his ghost appeared, shimmering into view. She was wispy and insubstantial at first, no more than a cloud of smoke in a vaguely human shape, but over the course of maybe thirty seconds, she took shape and form - sort of like a good hologram. He got the sense she was still not solid, but at a casual glance, she appeared to be. Her back was to him as she faced down the hall. Once she was fully formed, she turned to see him.
"Hello, Evie. Or should I say Evangeline?"
Her startled expression eased and she smiled. "Evie is fine. Hello, Sam." This time he could see her eyes, a mellow hazel, with shades of green and gold. Lovely.
He felt a slow grin spread across his face. "Have you been watching me, Evie?"
Sam hadn't known a ghost could blush, but even in the dim light - he'd just left the light on at the top of the stairs - he saw her porcelain complexion tint a rosy pink.
Damn, she was even lovelier than he remembered. His body hardened as he let his gaze roam her slim curves.
"I watch everyone who comes into the house," she said finally. "It's all I can do. I only have form for a few hours every year."
"Right before Halloween - the day you died." At least she knew she was a ghost. Some of them didn't, and that could get really tricky.
Evie gave him a sad smile. "You've been doing some research, haven't you?"
He nodded. "It's easy now, with computers."
"I've seen those but never had the chance to try one. Perhaps you can show me how - if we have time."
"Evie, last night you asked for my help. Somehow I don't think it was about how to surf the web. What can I do to help you?"
"How much do you know about ghosts, Sam Holiday? You're the first man in decades not to run screaming from me. Usually, I spend my manifestation time hiding from the inhabitants of the house. You're the first one who hasn't been frightened."
He shrugged. "I've seen a few. I know there are different kinds of hauntings. Some ghosts are really just...echoes, I guess, of some traumatic event. Those just repeat the same actions over and over, which rules you out since we're having a lucid conversation. Others are spirits who've chosen, for good or evil, to remain on this plane for some reason, whether it's protecting their descendants, guarding a sacred site or seeking revenge. Finally, there's the type who are here with unfinished business. My guess is you fall into that category since you asked me for help."
"I do. You know a lot for such a young man."
"Not so young. I'll be thirty-five on Halloween." He stepped out of his chair. "Can you sit? My mother will be horrified I didn't ask sooner."
"Thank you, but I only have another minute or so. Tomorrow will be longer."
"Tell me then, so I can start thinking about how to help you. What's your unfinished business?"
The ghost smiled, even as her image began to fade. "I died a virgin." Her voice dropped to a whisper then became just an echo in his mind. "I want a man, Sam. I want to know how it feels to make love. I want...you."