A Real Ghost Story
Chapter 10
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Michael and Maria had dinner at the Second Empire Restaurant & Tavern, located at 330 Hillsborough Street in downtown Raleigh inside the elegantly restored Dodd-Hinsdale House, which was built around 1879.
The delectable menu and polished service of Second Empire have won the AAA Four Diamond Award, the DiRoNa Award and the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence--for its world-class wine selection-- since 1998.
Billed as Uptown in Downtown Raleigh! The Ultimate Dining Experience in an Elegant yet Relaxed Atmosphere, Second Empire claims to combine history, atmosphere, and gourmet cuisine for an unforgettable dining experience. They would get no argument from Michael or Maria on that score. They both loved it.
With the sun just disappearing over the horizon, Michael headed north on I-85 towards Richmond, Virginia.
"That was incredible!" Maria said, lying back and relaxing with a satisfied look on her face. Who'd've guessed that you could find such a jewel right in the midst of a downtown civilization?"
Michael nodded. "It happens that way a lot. You'll have this really old historical home with all this modern stuff popping up all around it… kind of a relic of its day. If it's lucky… and if the people are lucky… someone has either taken good care of it or restores it and turns it into a historical building that everyone can visit for a trip back to what once was. Hundreds of thousands of people will still zip past it on the highways every day and never know it's there, but some will know."
"Well, I'm glad we found this one!"
Maria was quiet for a minute then asked tentatively… "Did you notice those guys that seemed to be watching us when we left the restaurant?"
"The suits in the parking lot? Yeah."
"You didn't think they looked suspicious?"
"I did. But they don't seem to be following us."
"How would we know if they were? We don't know which cars they were driving."
Michael grinned. "There were two black SUV's in the parking lot… both Lincolns. There was a Crown Continental Town Car Signature Ltd… forest green. There was a white Mitsubishi Gallant; a silver Lexus IS 350; two Honda Accord sedans… one blue, one beige; a red Ford Mustang… 1980's vintage, with old-style whitewalls; a white Hyundai Tiburon; two Corvettes… one new 2008, the other a vintage '67; and a red Hummer H3. I'm not even counting the old Yugo with the puce paint job and spinner wheel caps that was sitting on the side street nearby. If they were in that they'd have to stop and wind it up every mile or so and they'd never catch us. Would you like me to give you the license number of each of those cars?"
Maria chuckled. "That won't be necessary. I keep forgetting your powers of observation."
"It comes in handy when you're in charge of all the armies on a planet. I've been watching our rear view mirror. None of those cars has been following us."
As Michael spoke, they passed a black Lincoln SUV sitting at an on-ramp just off the highway. Michael watched it carefully as they went by.
"They couldn't have got ahead of us," Maria said with certainty. "They would've had to have passed us."
Michael shook his head. "Same color, same model, same year. It's probably not one of the ones we saw in the parking lot, but they would have others along the way… if it's them."
He looked in his rear view mirror. The black SUV had pulled out behind them but was staying about a mile back.
Michael nodded. "It's them. Portal!"
What is your wish?
"I need you to take us and the zip'pod to Richmond, Virginia. Put us on Highway I-85… No, I-95! Just outside of the city. Please."
Immediately, the portal appeared and the zip'pod disappeared. It reappeared on I-95 just as requested.
Michael smiled. "Thank you! There's no way they could have followed us unless they've got a portal. And they don't! So I would say right now they're about 150 miles south of here wondering where we went!"
Maria smiled and seemed to relax, and Michael looked at his watch. It was 9:47 PM.
"What do you say we find that hotel you wanted to stay at and check in? We can see everything in Richmond tomorrow."
Maria nodded. "Sounds good!"
Michael pulled into the Holiday Inn and parked then helped Maria out. When they were in their suite, Maria looked around approvingly…
"Not too shabby! Not bad at all! The brochure might not have even done it enough justice! Did you see the lobby? Or the restaurant? I think it's as nice as some of the other places we stayed at."
"A lot cheaper," Michael said. "They had a special rate going."
"Well, money doesn't always tell the whole story," Maria said, checking out the bathroom and tub. "Right now, this is just about perfect! It's definitely the nicest Holiday Inn I've been in! It's not the Taj Mahal, but I don't think they rent out the rooms there."
Michael smiled. "I don't think so."
When the sun's first rays peeked over the horizon, Michael and Maria were already up and getting dressed. Maria had a long list of places she wanted to see and places that she thought Michael would enjoy. For Michael, because of his position, she had picked some Civil War sites and an aviation museum; for her, the botanical gardens and a couple of museums; and for them both, the Fan District, the Federal Reserve Bank Money Museum, and Ghost Walk. They chose to start with a trip to the Fan District, W Main Street & N Boulevard.
After arriving in the area, they parked the zip'pod and walked, as Maria read Michael the description of the District and the reason for its odd name…
The Fan District is full of richly detailed turn-of-the-century town homes. Each is unique, and many have unusual architectural features including spellbinding stained glass, grimacing gargoyles, and intricately carved columns. Most are surrounded by fragrant flowers, carefully tended by the buildings' owners. The area is named for its fan-shaped layout, designed during Richmond's streetcar era. It was built around the 19th century trolley lines in the city, and the streets that comprise the district literally lay like a fan, splayed out in all directions. Many of the houses feature a historical plaque that displays the year in which they were built, ranging from the 1890s to the 1930s for most. Although many have undergone restoration, most have retained the original woodwork, which includes the ornate carvings and pillars. Just to walk through the neighborhood is an activity. People are friendly and residents are usually VCU students or established community members. Within The Fan, there are several great restaurants, such as 8 1/2 and Strawberry Street Cafe on Strawberry Street.
Maria smiled and looked at Michael. "I want to go there, Michael! Strawberry Street Café on Strawberry Street! That sounds so… picturesque!"
Michael nodded. "You lead the way!"
At 421 North Strawberry Street, they found the Strawberry Street Café and went in.
Right away, they saw a small sign that informed them that Strawberry Street Café had recently experienced national recognition. On Jeopardy, Alex Trebec had thrown out the clue: The Strawberry Street Café in this Virginia capital is famous for its bathtub salad bar. The answer: What is Richmond?
Maria looked at Michael then at the salad bar. "I guess when they said 'bathtub,' they meant it literally!"
Michael grinned. In the center of the restaurant sat the famous salad bar… in an oversized old-fashioned bathtub filled with fresh vegetables, fruits, and pre-prepared salads. Back to back with the tub, there was a more customary salad bar that allowed customers to make their own salads. The menu appeared to include everything from burgers to quiche to pasta to steak, not to mention desserts, and it noted that Strawberry Street Café is known for its wine program, with an extensive national and international selection. It also mentioned the fact that the Café had won the Gold Cluster Award from the Virginia Wine Industries Governors Cup for its outstanding representation of the state's wines every year since 1994, and that Strawberry Street Café had repeatedly been recognized in area magazines for its wine list and informative staff.
Maria put the menu down. "I know what I want!"
Michael nodded. "So do I."
After leaving the Fan District, Michael drove to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Avenue. Besides having more than 40 acres of spectacular gardens and the mid-Atlantic's only classically styled conservatory open to the public, they also had a special children's garden with a tree house, sand area, water jets, and an international village.
On Thursday evenings from July-September, from 6 to 8:30 PM in the New Rose Garden, the Garden presents Flowers After Five, with wine tasting and live jazz. Additionally, the Garden Shop and Garden Café are open till 7 PM, and the Teahouse takes seatings till 8 PM.
Finally, both Maria and Michael learned a fascinating fact: Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archeologists and found edible.
Maria smiled. "The bees got it right!"
Michael nodded. "It looks like it. I heard that honeybees are disappearing… something called 'colony collapse.' The colonies are just dying out by the thousands, and beekeepers are losing their livelihood. It would be a shame if all the honeybees became extinct in our generation."
Maria nodded.
Their next stop would be the Virginia Aviation Museum at 5701 Huntsman Road. Almost immediately, Michael spotted one of the museums most famous exhibits, the SR-71 Blackbird.
Michael called Maria over… "Hey! Look at this! Do you know what this is?"
"A jet plane?"
"Not just any jet plane!"
"A stealth bomber?"
"No. This is a legend, Maria! This plane set all kinds of records! It was built to do high-altitude reconnaissance at 85,000 feet. That's over 15 miles up! And its speed was never equaled… well, unless you count the space shuttle on reentry. But the Blackbird actually flew at Mach 3+, more than 3 times the speed of sound."
"The zip'pod and the New Granolith go faster."
"Well, sure, but Earth doesn't have anti-matter propulsion yet… and they don't have Varec."
Maria nodded. "That's true."
"No Blackbird was ever lost to enemy action, and no other air-breathing, manned plane has ever matched its records for speed and altitude. The Blackbird flew from New York to London in 1hour, 54min, 56.4sec. It was the Blackbird that took pictures of those nuclear silos that were being built in Cuba in the '60's, which led to the Cuban blockade and made the Russians remove their nuclear missiles from Cuba. All the Blackbirds have been retired now. Gas prices are too high, I think! No, actually, President Clinton used his line item veto to kill the funding for it in October 1997, sending them all to the shredder or into mothballs and museums. You can buy recycled pieces of titanium from the Blackbirds now as souvenirs."
Michael leaned over to read the plaque. "Listen to these stats!
Mission: High Speed, High Altitude Reconnaissance
Crew: 2 (Pilot and Reconnaissance System Officer)
Construction: Titanium monocoque with some super-high-temperature plastics
Length: 107 feet, 5 inches
Wingspan: 55 feet, 7 inches
Height: 16 feet, 6 inches
Landing Weight: 68,000 pounds
Maximum Gross Take-off Weight: 140,000 pounds
Maximum Speed: 3.2+ Mach
Maximum Altitude: over 85,000 feet
Maximum Unrefueled Range: 3,200 nautical miles
Armament: None
Powerplant: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58 High-bypass-turbojets producing up to 34,000 pounds of thrust
Production: 29 A Models, two B Models (two-seat pilot trainers), one C Model (two-seat trainer built from two different airframes)
Interesting fact: At blackbird speeds and temperatures, oxygen becomes explosive and can spontaneously ignite in the tanks and fuel lines. In order to prevent this, all 6 fuel tanks are purged with pure nitrogen before being filled. The blackbird also carries 260 liters of liquid nitrogen in 3 dewars. This nitrogen expands into its gasous form as it is pumped into the fuel tanks to top them off as fuel is consumed. Without the nitrogen, the empty fuel tanks would cavitate from the increased pressure when returning to lower altitudes to refuel."
"Amazing plane!" Michael said again approvingly. "There was a 12-foot-long supersonic combustion ramjet called the X-43A that reached about Mach 9.7--over 5000 mph--but it only flew under its own power for about 10 seconds, after separating from a booster rocket at 110,000 feet, then glided to a splash landing… and it was unmanned. The Blackbird is still the king! Let's see what else they've got!"
Michael found a number of historic vintage aircraft, including a reproduction of the Wright Brothers' kite, gliders, and famous 1903 Flyer. He also found aviation history exhibits and early flight memorabilia, flight films and lectures, a World War II diorama that includes the Tuskegee Airmen and Women's Air Force Service Pilots, and an exhibit devoted to Richmond native explorer Richard E. Byrd, as well as the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame.
Maria grinned. She had had a pretty good idea that Michael would enjoy this museum, and it pleased her immensely to see that she had not been wrong. She knew him pretty well.
The next thing on Maria's list was Saint John's Church, at 2401 East Broad Street.
It was here that the Virginia Convention of 1775 met to discuss the question of taking arms against the British. Delegates to the Convention included Thomas Jefferson and George Washington; and Patrick Henry delivered the words "Give me liberty or give me death!" Words so powerful that a man watching through a window declared, upon hearing Henry, that he wished to be buried on that very spot. On the spot he lies, in a sepulcher placed beneath the same window. St. John's is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Virginia.
From there, they went to the Wilton House, at 215 South Wilton Road.
Situated on a bluff overlooking the James River, Wilton is an impressive example of Colonial American architecture and is a superb essay in Georgian design. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette were all entertained at this stunning Georgian plantation home. Built by William Randolph III, in 1753, it was the centerpiece of a 2,000-acre tobacco plantation and home to the Randolph family for more than a century. In 1933 or 1934, due to the industrialization of the surrounding area, Wilton was purchased and carefully moved to its current site in Richmond's historic Windsor Farms neighborhood by the Virginia Society of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America. Opened to the public in 1952, Wilton today plays host to an exquisite collection of 18th- and 19th- centuries furnishings, textiles, glass, ceramics, and silver, with period furniture and original wood paneling, that reflect the “planter” lifestyle of the mid-18th century.
After seeing the Wilton House, they realized that it was getting close to time for the Ghost Walk tour, which departs from The Edgar Allan Poe Museum, 1914 East Main Street, at 9:00 PM every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from May through the first week in November. Maria had made the reservations, which were required, early that morning, and they arrived just in time to start the walk.
The tour began in the Shockoe Bottom/Shockoe Slip district, reputedly Richmond's most haunted areas, and was supposed to proceed by the Capitol Building and Governor's Mansion, which also have their share of ghostly tales to tell, and past several other sites of reported supernatural activity. It would be a 90-minute walk covering 1 1/2 miles.
As they walked up the street--and it WAS up! Coming back, however, would presumably be down--the tour guide began recounting tales of supernatural occurrences that had been reported in the area, pointing out the haunted houses and buildings as they walked. No matter if the streets went up or down, though, Maria and Michael were both looking forward to a little fun this night… of the spooky kind.
At night, Richmond has a totally different feel than in the daylight, and the stories relating to supernatural activity give a whole different perspective to the history of the area.
Some of those in the group had taken the tour before, and several swore that they had photographed orbs of light floating in the windows of the Poe House. Others claimed to have seen apparitions at some of the sites.
As they walked on, Michael began to be more and more bothered by the fact that one man in the group, who happened to be standing near Maria, was chain smoking, which was apparently allowed. But that's only if Michael isn't there. A twitch of a finger and the cigarette flew out of the man's mouth and landed ten feet away on the road. This did not go unnoticed by those around him, who backed him up when he proclaimed in a shrill, excited voice that a ghost had yanked his cigarette right out of his mouth. Almost immediately, he lit another one, but a moment later, it, too, flew out of his mouth.
"Did you guys see that?! I told you there's a ghost! And it's right here among us!"
Most of the group grinned, and some pretended to actually be frightened, in keeping with the theme of the tour; but the truth is, every single one of them suspected that he had spit the cigarettes out, like spitting out a seed, possibly as part of a pre-arranged tour gimmick.
Not getting the credibility he thought he should get, he lit another cigarette. This one flew out of his mouth, hovered in the air over his head for several seconds, then rubbed itself out on the pavement between his feet. If he had any thought of lighting up again, that ended it. As for the rest of the group, about a third of them still thought it was a stunt arranged by the tour leader, another third weren't sure what to think, and the other third were just thankful that he didn't light up again.
The second thing that had begun to bother Michael, though the tour guide had warned them that it would happen and to just ignore it, was that during parts of the walk, they were heckled by bystanders on the street, some of them drunks who had come out of nearby bars. Having had about enough of this, Michael quietly caused several of the most obnoxious hecklers to start spinning and twirling like human tops. First one began to spin, like an ice skater spinning on the ice. Soon, a second one began to spin, then a third. After about 90 seconds, they all stopped spinning very suddenly and collapsed to the ground, moaning and too dizzy to utter a coherent word. This did have a dampening effect on other would-be hecklers, who began to wonder if there really were ghosts about.
By this time, the cigarette man was totally freaked out, and the tour guide appeared to be a bit unsure if she might ought to join him; but surprisingly, at least some of the group still believed that it was all a prearranged stunt. And Michael was glad that they did. It was the perfect cover for doing what he really wanted to do and not having to hold his true feelings in, as he usually did.
For the next forty minutes, nothing odd happened, and the tour guide had already resumed telling her tales of the supernatural, telling herself that some over-hyped individual or individuals in the group had most likely got together and arranged the 'incidents' to see if they could rattle her. What could be more fun, after all, for a prankster, than scaring the guide who's supposed to be scaring them! The more she thought about it the more she became convinced that was it.
But what happened next no one expected, least of all Michael. As they were passing a large shuttered building, two somethings--it was hard to see what, because they were covered almost from head to toe with some kind of ghostly-looking armor--seemed to rise up right out of the ground. Michael turned to face them, and as he did, he was hit with a dart in the arm. Maria screamed, and suddenly the whole tour dissolved, with everyone running for their lives in different directions. The tour guide stood there, totally abandoned by her group, wanting to help but not understanding what was happening, as the 'apparitions' disappeared into the ground, taking Michael and Maria with them.
Michael awoke feeling woozy and looked around. Then he remembered…
"MARIA!"
"I'm here, Michael."
"Where?"
"I don't know. It's dark in here."
Suddenly, as she was speaking, a light came on… a very bright light. Behind the light, Michael could just make out two men. He had trouble seeing their faces because of the light in his eyes, but he could make out enough to see that it was the two 'suits' from the parking lot… the ones in the black SUV.
"You're very hard to follow… alien!"
"Next time I'll put a big banner on my car to make it easier for you."
"Smart ass, huh! That's all right. We know how to deal with that. But first, about that car…"
"What about it? It's a special issue custom Lamborghini Murcielago."
"In your dreams! You know, at first, we couldn't figure out what was going on. The light on the GPS tracking map would be blinking in one place; then, just like that, it would start blinking a hundred, two hundred miles away."
"You bugged my car?!"
"We deep-sixed three very expensive GPS tracking units before we figured out that it wasn't a technical glitch."
"Well, that seems like kind of an impossibility to me… being in two places at once. It must've been a glitch."
"No… it wasn't a glitch. That car of yours can jump from one place to another in the blink of an eye. Oh! By the way! We already have it. We just need you to show us how it works."
"Then, I suppose, you're going to let us go?"
The agent started laughing. "I like an alien who has a sense of humor!"
After appearing to think about it for a moment, he put his face close to Michael's, staring him in the eyes. "No… that was actually a lie. I don't like aliens at all."
"I'd have never guessed. But we're not aliens, so it looks like you've made a big mistake. We're just tourists. We were on the Ghost Walk."
"We know. It took us a while to figure out how we were going to catch you. That dart had twice the amount of tranquilizer normally used to drop an elephant. Actually, I'm surprised you're still alive, but Jackson here said we would need it. I guess he was right."
Suddenly terrified, Michael looked at Maria. "Maria, are you all right?"
"I'm okay. They just grabbed me and ran. They didn't shoot me with the darts."
The agent smirked. "Actually, Jackson did shoot. We didn't know he missed till we got her in here and already had her tied up."
Michael glared at the agent. "You're lucky you missed! Really lucky!"
"Yeah, well, it's not like you could do anything about it if I hadn't missed."
"Don't bet on it!"
"Michael, listen," Maria said softly, in Antarian, so they wouldn't understand. "You know we could call the portal."
"I know," Michael replied. "But they might shoot one of us before we could get through… and I don't want to risk your life on that chance. Besides, we need to get the zip'pod back."
"Hush up over there, you two, whatever you're speaking!" the first agent barked. "We're taking you out of here as soon as Luis gets here with the SUV. You'll both be put in a very secure place a long ways from here… separately, so there won't be any plotting between you in some alien gobbledygook language."
The agent barely noticed it at first, but slowly he began to become aware of a presence in the room with them. It was almost like a gut feeling that they weren't alone…
"Who's there?! Whoever you are, say something! If you don't I'm gonna shoot you!"
When he said this, there was a loud, hideous groan like a transformer on a telephone pole makes right before it explodes, then the lights in the old building brightened to a blinding white. Both agents shielded their eyes and turned their heads away from the light. When the light had subsided and they looked back again, Michael and Maria were gone.
End of Chapter 10
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