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short walk from the historic downtown.
    “ No,” Henry assured Clarissa. “Maddy stays up
later than most. She’s a bit of a night owl. And besides, I called
earlier telling her that I thought you’d be coming home today. She
will be up and waiting for us to arrive, I’m sure.”
    Clarissa took in his words about coming home,
rolling them around in her brain for a few minutes. The thought of
being welcomed home struck an emotional chord inside her. She
couldn’t remember ever having another home and this place just felt
right to her deathly senses.
    A mid-October breeze ruffled Clarissa’s hair,
blowing it in her face, tickling her nose. She brushed it away,
scratching her nose out of habit. The night was eerily quite as
most of the locals had already secured themselves in the safety of
their homes. She noticed this but didn’t think it odd that the
streets were for the most part empty of people, living or dead.
Clarissa never imagined there was any other reason for the change
in atmosphere.
    But the truth of the night was far from pleasant.
Clarissa didn't wasn’t yet aware that when the sun sank away from
the city those who controlled the day turned ownership over to the
creatures of the night. Anyone foolish enough to disregard the
changeover had the misfortune of being swiftly and expertly
swallowed up, consumed by the dark. And when light came, never
heard from again.
    A group of tourists on a walking ghost tour stood at
an intersection, all their gazes looking up at one of the old Bed
and Breakfasts. The tour guide was re-telling one of many ghost
stories about the city, specifically one involving poltergeist
activities in one of the rooms. The young man continued,
captivating his audience with a story of his own encounter with the
paranormal world. Everyone loved a good ghostly tale, as evidenced
by the numerous livings who shelled out the cash to hear them.
    Henry paused across the street from the congregation
of livings. It was one of the last tours of the night. Clarissa
halted mid-stride when she too noticed the group. They stood
watching the tourists and their guide, enjoying a free show as the
tour guide held up an EFM device, waving it around, searching for a
paranormal presence.
    “ You see folks,” he talked loudly to the
group, “I’m picking up a bit of activity. It looks like we’re not
alone out here.”
    A woman grabbed her boyfriend’s hand, an excited
smile on her face. The man in turn stared off into space, a
bored-out-of-his-mind expression on his face. He was one of the
non-believers.
    “ When I move the EFM this way, you can notice
the change on the dial. Whatever it is,” he pointed the machine in
the opposite direction of the two ghosts. An EFM or electromagnetic
field meter was one of the basic equipment used by ghost hunters.
However, the thing didn’t always work properly in the field, other
frequencies tended to interfere with the paranormal currents. “It’s
in that direction.”
    “ Have you ever actually seen a ghost in
person, not just one of their tricks like turning on the facet, but
a real ghost sighting?”Someone in the crowd asked the question, but
Clarissa couldn’t see who it had been. It had definitely been
female and something about that voice was almost
familiar.
    The tour guide shook his head in assent. “I have.
‘Bout two years ago I saw a man going through my CD collection. At
first I thought I was being robbed, he looked so real. Black hair,
looked like he was straight out of some eighties cover band.” He
scratched his head, smiling to himself as he remembered the strange
encounter he would never forget. “I asked him what the hell he was
doing in my house. He looked at me, a stupid grin on his face like
he knew a secret I didn’t. He said I had a great collection and
wanted to know if I died could he have it. Then he vanished, one
minute looking as real as you and me and then nothing. It was the
greatest experience of my life.”
    The bored man