Ghosted on the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  Ghosted on the Gulf Coast

  Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy volume 1

  By M.L. Bullock

  Text copyright © 2017 Monica L. Bullock

  All rights reserved

  Table of Contents

  The Ghosts of Kali Oka Road

  The Ghosts of the Crescent Theater

  A Haunting on Bloodgood Row

  The Ghosts of Kali Oka Road

  Book One

  Gulf Coast Paranormal Series

  By M.L. Bullock

  Text copyright © 2017 Monica L. Bullock

  All rights reserved

  Dedication

  For Nicole, who isn’t afraid of the dark.

  Prologue—Ranger Shaw

  Mobile, Alabama 1983

  Drinking beer on a Friday night was not Melissa’s idea of a good time—as she let me know in no uncertain terms. Rather than prolong her temper tantrum, I appeased her by cutting our party attendance short and taking a drive. I tried to look on the bright side—maybe she wanted to ditch the after-game party because she wanted to show her favorite football player how much she appreciated the victory. And like any guy with a steady girlfriend would, I took that to mean, “Hey, let’s go somewhere quiet and get naked.”

  She didn’t fuss when I turned the car down Highway 45 and then onto Kali Oka Road. And there were no complaints at all as I eased across the creaking wooden bridge. She stared out the window and twisted her ponytail with her red-painted fingernails. I took that to mean she was thinking about us. About what would happen in just a few minutes.

  And she didn’t say a word when I parked the car in the lane and turned off the engine. Melissa had climbed into the back seat at my invitation, and now we were so close to getting it on, my heart was banging in my bruised chest. The only downside was that my buzz was quickly vanishing and she wanted to play innocent with me. Didn’t she understand we were wasting sweet time?

  If she didn’t want to do anything, why flirt with me the entire drive up here? Watching her roll on multiple layers of shiny lip gloss, seeing her cross her legs occasionally to show off that sensational tan, and feeling her hand in mine just about drove me crazy. Melissa Hendricks knew she turned me on, and she knew exactly what she was doing. Who was she kidding? Now, just when things were getting hot and heavy, she wanted to put the brakes on the whole thing. Talk about being a tease. Maybe Beau was right, maybe I should call Natalie back and see what was up. Might be better than my weekly torture sessions with Melissa. We’d only done it three times, and we’d been going together for over a year now. I couldn’t remember the exact timing, but she did. To the day.

  “Get off me, Ranger! All you think about is S-E-X!”

  “Why are you spelling it? It’s sex, Liss. And we’ve had it before.” Even in the shade of the dense woods around us, I could see her pretty face crumple in the moonlight. I sighed unhappily. “All I can do is think about you, Melissa. Think about our time together. You’re the only girl for me. Stop giving me a hard time. I want to make love to you and hold those beautiful…” She smacked my shoulder so hard it stunned me. I sat up, feeling befuddled. Yeah, that’s how I felt. Funny how I never thought I’d use that word in a sentence. “What? Don’t you want to?”

  “No! I mean, sometimes I do, but not all the time. Why can’t we just talk for a while? You know, like we used to.” Melissa’s ponytail was crooked; she’d lost her red ribbon somewhere in my back seat. Just looking at her made me want her, but my desire was decreasing steadily along with my beer buzz. Pretty soon I wouldn’t have the courage I needed to make my move.

  “Okay, baby. We can slow down. What should we talk about?” I rubbed her cheek lovingly and stared into her blue eyes like I really cared. As if I wanted to chat.

  Happy that she was in control again, as if she hadn’t been already, Melissa shrugged her petite shoulders and smiled awkwardly. “I don’t know. Anything.”

  “Well…Let’s talk about you and me. That’s my favorite subject, Liss.” I leaned in for another kiss, a second chance at crossing the finish line. She didn’t resist me. I kissed her softly, reminding myself to go slow.

  Keep control. Pace yourself. Geesh, I sounded like Coach Murray. I didn’t want to think about that old man right now. Gross.

  I mentally switched gears, thinking instead about my father’s magazines and my sister’s endless stack of Cosmos. The truth was I liked reading about sex better than gawking at pictures of naked girls. I had access to a naked girl, at least some of the time. I just needed to know for sure what to do with her. Seemed like whenever I remembered what I read in Cosmo, it paid off, but right now my blood was boiling with desire for Melissa. It was hard to remember anything else.

  God, this girl had the perfect body. Now if she’d just let me see it again.

  My mind raced with images of the first time we made love. That had been exciting and not entirely expected. I couldn’t help myself tonight. I wanted to relive the thrill, and I was amped big time from our win. The Mobile Mavericks won their first game of the year, and I had scored the winning touchdown. Didn’t I deserve some appreciation from my favorite cheerleader? REO Speedwagon blared “Keep the Fire Burning” from the front seat, and it was quickly getting cold in the car. I should have left the heat on, but no way was I climbing back up there now. I might never get Melissa back here again.

  After what seemed like an eternity of slow kisses and no hands below the waist, I thought I was in the clear. But as soon as I headed south, Melissa swatted my hand away and pushed my shoulder so hard I flopped back on the leather seat to catch my breath.

  “Get off me, you pig. I knew you were full of it.”

  “Hey! I didn’t force you to come. And it’s not like we’re the only ones doing it out here.”

  She sat up and gazed out the foggy back window, rubbing it with her sleeve. I guess she was trying to get a better view. A shadow passed over the car, but she didn’t seem to take any notice. Instead, she frowned at me and said, “You’re such a liar. There’s nobody out here! Why did we even leave the party?”

  “I didn’t mean they were parking on this particular road. And for the record, I didn’t want to leave the party, Melissa! You did! Are you losing your marbles or something?” I hollered back as she climbed out of the back seat of my Chevy Nova. I trailed behind her.

  “Well, I must have lost them! I’m dating you, aren’t I?” Melissa’s face contorted into a cry. It didn’t soften my heart—I had a sister who cried about everything. Tears were the wrong weapon to deploy on me. Now if she’d shown me her bra, that would have shut me up damn quick. I ran my hands through my hair, unsure how to resolve my current dilemma. At this point, I wasn’t sure I was getting lucky. I felt so frustrated I just blurted my thoughts out.

  “This is your fault, Melissa.” An owl made a weird sort of screeching sound behind me. It must have been in the trees near us. It made me shiver.

  “How is that? How could you being a sex maniac possibly be my fault?”

  “Sex maniac? We hardly ever do it! Did you think that after doing it once I’d never want to do it again? Come on, Melissa! You’re killing me here.”

  She flipped me off like she meant it. “Good! I hope you die, Ranger Shaw!” Her words sent a chill down my spine. It surprised me because she had never acted like this before. Something was seriously wrong—even if she didn’t want to go all the way tonight, she didn’t have to say crap like that.

  “You don’t mean that. Just get back in the car, Melissa. I’ll take you home.”

  Now she looked unsure. “Why? So y
ou can go pick up Natalie? Or get a phone call from her?”

  I couldn’t hide my surprise. How the heck did she know about Natalie and her late-night phone calls to my house? Someone had been talking. I suspected it was Beau or his shabby girlfriend Hope. Hope had the hots for me last year, but I wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole. Not then. Not now. Some girls just didn’t do it for me. She was one of them. That didn’t stop her from talking about me. God, that chick was getting on my nerves!

  “I don’t want her. I’m not here with Natalie. It’s you I want, Liss. I gave you my ring, didn’t I? What else do you want?” Her tears were coming faster now. Melissa tore at the necklace that hung around her neck. She fumbled with the lobster claw latch but got it open eventually.

  “What are you doing?” I said, aggravated now.

  She slid off the ring and threw it at me. “Take your stupid ring back, Ranger! I don’t want the damn thing!”

  I was pissed that she’d toss my ring like it was nothing, especially out here where it could easily get lost, but I couldn’t help but laugh at her. Maybe it was the beer or that Melissa wasn’t good at swearing. To hear her use profanity was just plain weird and hilarious. I picked the ring up off the ground and shook my head. I stepped toward her and offered it to her, thinking my act of kindness would end our argument.

  “Come on, Liss. For the last time, take the ring back and get in the car.”

  Again I heard the strange screeching sound in the woods near us. No, it was closer now. Was that really an owl? Or something else? I knew Melissa heard the sound too, but she didn’t mention it. She was too focused on being pissed at me. And I hadn’t even cheated.

  “Why? So you can paw at me some more? I don’t want to go anywhere with you, Ranger! You are a two-timing bastard!”

  “No, I’m not! Melissa! You’re being ridiculous!”

  “Fine! I’m ridiculous! I hate you!”

  I shoved the ring back on my hand, determined to never take it off again. Her response was to spin around in a huff and walk away. What was she going to do? Walk home? That was a laugh—it was five miles from here.

  “Then stay out here in the woods. I hope you get lost.”

  She mumbled something between sobs but didn’t come back. I watched her stumble down the path, her hands two tight fists. Boy, she was pissed at me.

  “Melissa! Get in the car!” She still didn’t look back but stomped away down the forested lane in the direction of the dimly lit road that led to the bridge.

  Well, hell. Maybe I’d let her walk. She deserved to after what she’d put me through tonight. Geesh.

  I stalked back to the car, my hands shoved in the pockets of my varsity jacket. It smelled like her hairspray and perfume. It was definitely getting cold out here. No way would Melissa walk too far. Her Members Only jacket wouldn’t be enough to keep her warm, and she was a bit of a princess. Then I remembered she’d taken the jacket off in the car. Or I’d helped her out of it. I opened the heavy car door and cranked the vehicle to warm it up. Yeah, there was her jacket on the back seat. I rubbed my hands together and turned on the heat. I suddenly wished I had a cigarette. I wasn’t much of a smoker, but I did it when I was stressed out. I sat in the car and waited for her to come back. Every few seconds I glanced in my rearview mirror, but she never turned around, not once. I watched her figure get further and further away.

  Now what? I moved the dial on the radio and Sting began moaning, “Every step you take, I’ll be watching you,” and I felt like a heel. “Oh, can’t you see…you belong to me.”

  What had I been thinking? I would never hook up with Natalie. I was crazy about Melissa. I loved her. Damn! I did love her! Even if she never slept with me again, I loved her. I banged my palms on the steering wheel. Man! Beau’s right—I’m so whipped.

  With a sigh of defeat, I put the car in reverse and eased backward until I reached Kali Oka Road. I turned down Sting’s moody voice and rolled down the window to beg my girlfriend to get back in the car. But to my surprise, there was no sign of Melissa.

  I stared in the side mirror and didn’t see her there either. No way could she have walked so fast that she was already on the highway. And there wasn’t anything to the east.

  Except for that house. The one with the broken chimney and the crumbling walls. People said it had once been a plantation, but I found that hard to believe. I did believe the other rumors that terrible, unspeakable things had happened there.

  A few kids at school, including my buddy Beau, liked to psych each other out—they constantly dared one another to spend the night there. There was even a saying, “When you’re walking on Kali Oka Road, don’t look behind you or the Shadow Man will grab you.” As far as I knew, nobody had seen a Shadow Man or anything else on Kali Oka Road, on Crybaby Bridge or at the old Oak Grove Plantation.

  But I knew for a fact that Melissa would not seek shelter in that old place. She was scared of anything remotely spooky, so much so that we had to walk out of the movie Alien. It wasn’t all that scary, unless you were in space, which we weren’t. I tried explaining that to her, but it hadn’t mattered.

  I parked the car and stepped out into the cold. “Melissa!” I called again and again into the chilly darkness, but I never heard a response. Not even a crunch of her tennis shoes. Nothing but that weird owl, the one I’d heard earlier, but it sounded even closer and larger than I first believed. Much larger. I decided that wasn’t an owl at all but something I wanted to avoid. It flew over me, and its wings were so wide, the silhouette so dark it seemed like something dangerous. The word “demonic” came to mind.

  And it was definitely stalking me.

  “Melissa! Baby, come on!” I kept my hands up to protect my head and glanced around nervously. I heard a crunch in the tree line behind me, a few footsteps, and then it went quiet once again. As if it had never happened. Why would she hide from me?

  With growing trepidation, I whispered, “Melissa?”

  Something wasn’t right here. Not at all. I heard a shifting in the dry leaves, like a wind blew through them, and then a thud, like a heavy branch fell to the ground. At least that’s what I told myself. Why did I feel like I’d just stepped into a scene from The Evil Dead? But that didn’t quite sound like a zombie’s footsteps sliding along the ground.

  “Dude, get it together,” I scolded myself.

  “All right, Melissa! You better come out now! No more jacking around. If you don’t come here by the time I count to ten…” I heard a thud on the opposite side of my car. Was that demon owl dropping something on my car? Maybe a dead squirrel or a rat? It sounded heavy, whatever it was. As the menacing shadow flew away, I walked around the car; my breath was easily visible now, and it made a cloud around me. My nose was running from the cold, and all my earlier fantasies of having sex with my girlfriend had completely evaporated.

  It had been replaced by a stronger urge, an urge to keep Melissa—and myself—alive.

  A whisper encircled me. Did someone just say my name?

  Ranger!

  Yes, and that wasn’t Melissa calling me. I was in danger. There was no doubt now.

  And what I saw on the other side of the car proved it. That was no field rat or dead squirrel the owl had thrown at me. It was a hand. A white hand that was missing the rest of its body.

  “Son of a bitch!” was all I could manage to say.

  Then the shadow crossed overhead again, and this time I could see the black figure clearly. It had pitch black wings, and it tilted its head toward me as it buzzed over the car. The creature’s eyes were set wide apart and red, but not the kind of red you see on cheap car lights or in the movies. It was the kind of red that reminded you of burning embers. They were burning crimson now, soulless and promising me nothing but pain as the bird opened its mouth and screeched again. Once I could tear my gaze away from the eyes, I focused on its massive talons. It delivered another thud, and a big, round rock landed on the hood of my Nova. Only this wasn’t a rock. It was a
head. A blond head with a crooked ponytail. I couldn’t see the face, but I knew the hair. It bounced off my car and landed in the dirt.

  Melissa!

  I gagged with disgust and sobbed. Fright overtook me, and I ran for my car. As I reached for the door handle, the owl flew past and landed heavily on my shoulders. I could feel the creature’s sharp talons digging into the thick leather of my varsity jacket. I was crying now. I didn’t want to die or get hurt. I didn’t want to leave Melissa behind, but I had no choice. If this thing would allow me to leave, I was gone.

  “No!” I screamed as it tugged at me and nearly picked me up off the ground. And then I heard the second sound, the scream of a woman. She screamed, and the owl released me and flew toward the trees. I could see the screaming woman now; she was in the clearing, just beyond the old fence in the only vacant space in the trees. Her pale skin was as gray as death itself. She had black hair the color of a dirty, dark shroud, and it suddenly lifted away from her face as she shrieked at me. The woman’s mouth was wider than it should be, and the inside of it was like a black cavern. She said some words, but I could not make out what they were. Her torn antebellum-style gown had no color and appeared dirty, as if she’d pulled herself out of her grave. A rusty broken chain dangled from her neck, and she bellowed another scream. It was a sound that promised I would die tonight.

  I immediately began saying the Lord’s Prayer as I managed to get into my car. I kept praying and crying until I pulled the keys out of the pocket of my jeans.

  “Please, God! Please!” I pleaded aloud as I put the car in drive and took off as quickly as I could away from the owl and the screaming woman. By the time I stopped crying, I was turning off Kali Oka Road and onto the highway. I went straight to the police station and told them everything that happened. I didn’t care that they would think I was crazy. I didn’t care at all.

  “Find my girlfriend—find Melissa!” I cried until my parents came to get me. They took me straight to the hospital, where I was put on a seventy-two-hour psych hold until the police department could get the evidence they needed against me. My parents didn’t know what to think, and I felt extremely disappointed that they didn’t believe me. Obviously they didn’t, or I would have been home with them.