“I just got married, and I dropped my copy of my marriage certificate in a puddle this morning. I need a new copy because I’m not done changing things to my new name,” I said.
“Sure thing, I can do that,” she said cheerfully. At least the task at hand had distracted her from her fears. She took my name and other information and typed it into a computer on the counter next to where she stood. “Okay, all done. It’s twenty-five dollars, and you can pay with a check, credit, or debit card.”
“I’ve got my debit card,” I said and pulled out my wallet.
She ran the card and handed it back to me. “Okay, all you do is go up to the top floor and pick it up in the central processing room. It’s to the right when you get off the elevator.”
“What?” I asked. “I have to go upstairs to get it?”
“Yeah, we’ve had a lot fewer requests over the years for physical copies of documents, and the county decided that we didn’t all need printers anymore. The whole building prints up there now. There are only two actual printers. There’s a lady named Tammy behind the desk, and she’ll give you your document when you get up there,” she said.
“Okay, thanks,” I said as I tried not to reveal how much I did not want to go up to the top floor.
I made my way from the county clerk’s office over to the elevators and forced myself to push the button. A creeping feeling of dread was already snaking its way up my spine when the doors opened.
“At least it’s empty,” I said to no one around me and stepped in.
As soon as the doors closed and I hit the button for the top floor, it felt like there was someone in the elevator behind me. Every time I looked back over my shoulder, there was no one there. No one that I could see, but I could feel something. Whatever it was, it was cold. So much so that it almost felt like there was icy breath on the back of my neck, but it was a full feeling. It was more like the whisper or idea of a feeling.
“That means it’s in your head,” I said to the empty elevator.
It was the first time in a long time that I’d been without Meri, and I nearly wept with relief when the elevator doors opened and I could exit the tiny, suffocating space.
I turned to my right and started down the hall to find the central processing office. When I got to the end of the hallway, I realized my mistake. I was a grown woman, and witch, who often mixed up my right and my left. I should have had an L and an R tattooed on my hands, but then everyone would know my shame.
So much for getting the document and getting out of there quickly. Despite walking nearly the entire length of one side of the building, I hadn’t run into anyone else. Either not many people worked on the top floor, they were all off that day, or they were quietly working in their offices in tandem.
It struck me as I walked past one particular window that… it was the one I always saw the ghost with the black eyes and black gaping maw of a mouth staring down from when I was in the square. I was standing there in her spot, and suddenly, I felt compelled to stop and look down. I wanted to see what she saw.
I watched the rain for a minute. It was a beautiful view of the square, and it must have been magnificent when the sun shone. You could watch all of the people coming and going from the shops and the Coventry Library on the opposite side of the plaza.
The loneliness of someone or something trapped there just watching and never able to join must have been overwhelming. I could feel it down into my bones.
And then I could feel icy fingers wrapped around my throat. Instinctively, my hands flew up, and I tried to pry them away. But, while they were cutting off my windpipe, the hands weren’t really there. I could not breathe, but I couldn’t fight it either.
I needed Meri, but he hadn’t come with me. Why had I discouraged him from coming with me? I knew this specter resided in the courthouse. I never thought I’d have to come up to the top floor, and I’d only ever seen her leave her spot once. That was for very specific purposes. Or, so I’d thought.
As I closed my eyes and prayed to the Goddess to save me, I also promised to stop acting like I knew everything. “If you let me live, I’ll be a more humble student,” I whispered through the hands clutched around my throat.
The ghost didn’t let go, but she lost her grip enough that I could turn and run. I pulled away from her, and I could swear I heard her banshee screeching behind me, but at the same time, it was all in my head.
When I passed a stairwell, I didn’t even bother with the elevator. There was no way I was going to push a button and wait for that thing to arrive.
I threw open the door to the stairs and ran down them as fast as I could without falling on my face. “Feet, don’t fail me now,” I said as I bolted down several flights of stairs.
There were a couple of people in the courthouse lobby when I burst through that door. They looked at me like I was crazy when I ran through the lobby and out into the rain. I didn’t care. I was out of there.
When I got back to the shop, dripping wet, pale, and without the marriage
