He took my hand, and I felt the urge to lean into him and extend the wonderful zizzy feeling over my body. But something in the distance caught my attention.

Far across the field I saw something that looked like a man, greenish in hue, dressed in a shirt covered in dried blood, with a white shroud draped over his head. He pointed a long, bony finger at me and his mouth opened like an abyss, like hell.

I gasped and closed my eyes.

“Milagro!” Oswald put his hands on my shoulders. “Babe, what is it! What’s the matter?”

“I thought I saw …” My heart was racing.

“There’s nothing here. It’s just me. No one can get past the guards at the gate, and I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me.”

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but the dark field.

“See, Mil, nobody’s there.”

I already knew there was no body. It was the vengeful spirit of my boyfriend, Wilcox Spiggott.

fourteen

You’re No Body Until Somebody
Bloods You

Despite my stories about supernatural creatures, I wasn’t a superstitious chica. I understood that the ghost was actually a manifestation of my own guilt.

“It was a rat,” I said.

“What is it about you and rats?” Oswald said. “It’s the country. There are lots of animals here. Which reminds me, you should watch out for skunks at night. One was near the house yesterday.”

“Maybe I should go inside.”

As we walked back to the house, I kept glancing to the field, but my hallucination was over for now.

Oswald kissed my cheek and said, “Sleep well.” When I was alone in the bedroom, I locked the windows and the door. Better safe than scary.

Gabriel came to my room soon after I got up the next morning and told me, “I’ve got to make a run to the City, but I’ll be back tomorrow.” He took my gloved hand in his. “Do you like your therapy?”

I twined my fingers with his. “Do you see any improvement in me … in who I am?”

“Honey, I always thought you were fabulous.”

“Thank you, Gabriel. It would be wonderful if Oswald thought I was fabulous, too. I’m so lucky to spend this time with him, to have another chance at our relationship.”

Gabriel kissed my hand. “Yes, well, take care of yourself.”

My disappointment at seeing him leave was alleviated when I went to the parlor and Lily told me she was going to try to put me in a relaxed, focused state.

“You’re going to try to mesmerize me, aren’t you? Mesmer coming from Franz Mesmer, who had a whole school of spiritualism based on animal magnetism. These days we use “magnetism” to describe sexual attractiveness, but Mesmer thought our bodies contained magnetic fluid. Wacky.”

“How do you know about Mesmer?” Lily asked while I arranged myself on the purple velvet sofa.