Grave Danger by K.E. Rodgers Page B

could be trusted within
their city. There were secrets in this city that someone didn’t
want let known, she could feel it. But right now at the forefront
of her mind was figuring out a way to find a death bokor and bring
one into the city.
     
    Chapter 6-
     
    Clarissa left Richard at the corner between Rhodes
Avenue and Fletcher Street. He was going to stop off at Henry’s
home to get a couple of LP’s he had loaned out back from him.
Clarissa nodded her goodbye as he walked away from her. He was such
a peculiar soul, she thought. But she suspected that Richard would
be a person to trust, someone who wouldn’t turn their back on a
friend even if what they were doing could endanger them all.
Clarissa shook herself mentally at that last thought. She wasn’t
doing anything to endanger the community. If anything she was going
to help them.
    Testing out her knew spectral abilities Clarissa
imagined the layout of the old city, figuring out where St. George
Street was in conjunction to where she was standing now. Closing
her eyes, she imagined herself standing on the pedestrian
thoroughfare. If she was lucky Clarissa wouldn’t accidentally
manifest herself on top of a living person or a ghost.
    With a silent prayer Clarissa felt herself move
through the atmosphere. It was an exhilarating feeling, a strange
pulling and tugging as she rode through on the waves of lateral
time. It was an experience she hadn’t thought to encounter in this
world. Opening her eyes finally as she felt her body settle, she
found herself on a busy street. This street always seemed to be the
most populated, brimmed to capacity with tourists and locals. And
no one seemed a bit concerned that there were monsters eating their
friends and family members.
    Traveling alone now she continued down St. George
Street. She had come through here yesterday with Henry and he had
kindly pointed out several local shops he thought she might like to
enjoy looking through.
    Clarissa nodded a hello as a group of ghosts made
their way down the street toward her. Most ghosts she noticed
traveled in groups, but occasionally there would be a lone soul.
However these ghosts were tourists as evidenced by their outfits.
They were all sporting matching t-shirts with the words Florida
stitched onto them and a multi-colored palm tree underneath.
    One of them stopped her with a hand signal, assuming
she was a local ghost. Clarissa paused as they drew closer to her.
She smiled as the lead male ghost stepped out from his friends to
speak to her.
    “ You wouldn’t by any chance know how to get to
the Fountain of Youth, would you? We’re from out of town as you can
guess.” He pulled on his Florida souvenir t-shirt. “You have a
great city. We heard through a couple of friends of ours that you
have the best haunts in the state.”
    “ Where are you traveling from?” Clarissa
couldn’t help but find the idea of ghost tourists comical. But it
could be possible and it did seem logical. Why would a ghost want
to spend their entire afterlife in one town? They obviously had the
time and ability to travel around the globe. So why not make the
most of their existence?
    “ Ohio,” he said. “Valerie came here once when
she was a kid, but back then it was mostly sand and small farming
towns. Now you have theme parks and hotels, not mention tourists
like us. At first when we made plans for a visit I thought Florida
was just a place for retired people.”
    Clarissa grinned at his obvious false generalization
of the state. “No,” she corrected. “Florida is a very exciting
place, not just to visit but to live. I hope you enjoy your stay in
the city and here,” Clarissa imagined the layout of the city in map
form, creating it as a visual in her hand. “Here’s a map to the
city with points of interest on it. This is where we are standing
right now,” showing them on the map St. George Street. “Running her
finger along the map she pointed out the mythical Fountain of
Youth.