A Romantic Ghost Story

Chapter 9

When the sun was finally slipping behind the clouds, Ryan was waiting patiently in front of the cottage, clutching a shovel he had borrowed from the hotel.

Five minutes later, the sun had set completely, and the dark of the evening was setting in.

The light from the Sunrise Beach Hotel allowed Ryan to see what was inside the haunted, dilapidated cottage. Still nothing. He was under the impression that the cottage came alive at night, especially that very night, when Nancy was supposed to be getting married to the Ocean King.

He stood in front of the door.

Alright, he thought. I'm going in.

He knocked on the door sharply. Nothing.

He grabbed the knob and turned it. The door creaked open.

He took a deep breath and walked in boldly.

When the dust settled, Ryan could see...absolutely nothing. The entire tiny cottage was vacant.

With the moonlight shining on him, he walked to the middle of the room and raised his shovel. He would start looking for her body by cracking the wooden floor open.

His shovel hit the wood with a loud bang and he immediately got to work. Ten minutes later, dripping with sweat, he managed to crack open the floorboard.

With anticipation, he waited for the dust to clear.

Would he find Nancy's body buried underneath? Kim the hotel receptionist had told him that Nancy's body had been taken from the church. Where else could the Ocean King have hidden it?

He looked down. He saw nothing. He had cracked open a section of the wooden floor that accounted for almost half the length of the cottage, but he had found nothing.

Desperation sunk into him. Nancy was getting married that very night. He had to find her body to give her a proper burial, or else she, along with her music, would be lost to the world forever.

Just then, he heard a noise on the beach outside. It sounded like music, but a very somber kind. It sounded like the funeral march.

Ryan's ears perked up. Something was up.

He got up and ran outside.

Something was definitely up.

There was an event on the beach. At first, it was so bright that Ryan had to squint to see what was happening.

Eerie green lights were floating around a raised platform, a stage. The stage was decorated with wilted, rotting roses. Seated in front of the stage was row after row of various dignitaries, all murmuring to one another.

Ryan ignored the din of conversation and focused on the figures on the stage. A tall man in a formal black suit stood in front of a figure in flashy religious garments, complete with a collar that had a skull symbol on it.

Suddenly, the funeral march began playing louder and all the guests stood up, focusing their attention on a beautiful girl in a silky black dress.

Shrouded in the evening mist, she was beautiful.

Ryan realized what he was looking at.

It was a ghost wedding.

It was Nancy's ghost wedding.

Ryan realized he didn't have long. The guy with the collar was probably the priest. Nancy's marriage would be legal in the spirit world soon.