Ghosts of Skullhaven

By Cornell DeVille

Lost spirits are haunting Skullhaven. And Lilly can see them!

Skullhaven Cemetery is across the highway from Sacred Heart Orphanage, where Lilly has lived for the past seven years since her mother mysteriously disappeared. Lost spirits haunt Skullhaven, and when Lilly starts seeing them, she realizes that the gold cross she wears is enchanted.

Danger is lurking just around the corner.

When a ruthless Egyptian antiquities dealer recognizes Lilly's cross as the priceless Golden Ankh of Queen Nefertiti, he decides he must have it for his collection. After kidnapping Lilly and giving her his ultimatum—either part with the Golden Ankh or spend eternity in Skullhaven Cemetery—Lilly must summon her inner strength. If she gives up the ankh, the lost spirits of Skullhaven will never find their way home.

A great choice for any age!

Written with the upper middle-grade reader in mind, Ghosts of Skullhaven is a fun adventure with a hint of history, a bit of mystery, and a lot of complexity that will keep readers of all ages turning the pages and wondering—what's going to happen next!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cornell DeVille
• Release date: Mar 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507090428

Cornell DeVille

Author and editor of children's books including adventure, mystery, fantasy and steampunk. Dedicated to encouraging imagination in children and adults.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Seven Years Ago

It was a day Lilly would never forget.

Beneath a powder blue sky, a frisky autumn breeze was rustling through the maple tree in the front yard and making the leaves flash their red and gold fall colors.

Lilly could smell the sweet scent of lilac perfume when her mother kissed her goodbye for the last time. Lilly didn’t know it was the smell of lilacs, nor did she realize it was her mother’s last kiss, because Lilly was only four years old. But she would remember both of these things—forever.

Be a good little girl now, Lilly, and don’t give Nana any trouble, her mother had told her. I’ll be right back.

Lilly sat on Nana’s lap and watched from the wooden porch as her mother got into the car and headed it down the driveway. While her mother drove away, the tailpipe puffed out a tiny stream of grey smoke that dissipated quickly in the cool autumn air.

After the car had turned the corner and disappeared from sight, Lilly recalled her mother’s last words.

I’ll be right back, she had said. Right back.

But Lilly’s mother didn’t come right back.

She didn’t come back the next day.

Or the next.

And though Lilly kept asking Nana where her mother was, Nana had no answer, because no one knew what had become of her.

And Lilly wondered what she had done wrong.



A few months later, the warm and golden days of autumn faded to the cold dark nights of winter. A heavy snow was falling, and a chill wind whistled outside Lilly’s window while she slept in her warm and cozy bed.

It was on this night—this cold and snowy evening— that Nana died peacefully in her sleep.

And Lilly’s life changed again.

Without Nana, and without her mother, Lilly was left all alone in the world. And since there was no one remaining to watch after her, Lilly was sent to the Sacred Heart Orphanage in Skullhaven.

Not to visit.

To live there—with Sister Rosemary and Sister Carmen and a lot of other children she didn’t know.

For Lilly, it was a very scary and unfamiliar place.

The other children played and laughed, but Lilly mostly sat by herself, wondering. And crying.

When she had first arrived, Lilly spent her time looking out the big living room window. She would part the delicate lace curtains and watch the cars as they passed by on the highway, wishing one of them would turn into the gravel drive and her mother would be inside it. But she never was.

Lilly never stopped hoping. And wishing. But, after a year had passed, she stopped sitting by the window so often. After two years, she only glanced out it when she walked past. On the rare occasions when she heard the sound of car tires crunching on the gravel drive, her heart still raced. Could it be? But it was never the person she was waiting for. And wishing for.

As time passed, the other children were adopted. One by one, they moved away to start their new lives with their new families. Eventually, there were no children left at the Sacred Heart Orphanage.

Except Lilly.

Chapter 2

The Gathering Storm

It had been seven years now since Lilly arrived at Sacred Heart. And although she spent her days trying to remember a happier time, her memories were fading—slipping a little further out of reach as each lonely day melted into night.

Nights were much worse.

On this chilly October evening, Lilly was in bed in her small upstairs bedroom. It was after midnight. But she was not sleeping. She stared at her bedroom window, listening.

Outside, the night sounds were coming.

The heavy metal chains of the old swings squeaked as the invisible night wind pushed the empty wooden seats.

There were other sounds, too.

Some of them were coming from inside the house.

From the hallway.

From behind the closet door.

The orphanage at Sacred Heart was an old house—not a charmingly old house, or a quaint old house—but simply a worn out old house. Tired. It was a weary old house that made its own noises.

Especially after dark.

Lilly pulled the bedspread up and tucked it under her chin. She curled up into a ball, making sure there were no body parts dangling over the edge where the night creatures were waiting. They always slithered out from under the bed after the lamp was turned off and the shadows crept from the corners of Lilly’s imagination. Almost anything might be lurking under there. Hiding. Patiently waiting for a finger or a toe to carelessly slip over the edge. If that should ever happen, a quick, sharp bite would leave nothing behind but a bloody stump.

Lightning!

Lilly blinked her eyes when it exploded. The flash revealed the gnarled limbs of the old oak tree just outside her window. On a stormy autumn evening, such as this one, the branches became a grotesque animated silhouette of bony arms and twisted fingers—like skeletons dancing a macabre night waltz.

The heavy limbs moaned in the wind. The sound crawled through the window and into Lilly’s ears. It was a sound like old men mumbling—murmuring so that she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

Sometimes a strong gust would blow a different sound through the glass. Like old women gossiping—whispering their sacred secrets. After each lightning flash, the crack and rumble of the thunder hushed the voices, but it was only temporary. They returned when the thunder subsided.

The tattered bedspread moved a tiny bit when Lilly’s fingers felt toward her neck to find the cross. Please, please, don’t let anything hurt me, she whispered. Her heart was beating so fast and so hard that she felt it might explode from her chest at any moment.

There was much to be afraid of on such a night as this.

She remembered what she had seen outside her window the night before. When that misty image floated into Lilly’s head, she wondered if the lady was there now.

She wondered if the lady’s white dress would be glowing in the moonlight, like it had been last night when Lilly saw her standing beneath the oak tree, staring up at her bedroom window.

It was scary not knowing who the lady was, or why she had been standing there. She might be there right now. Lilly considered, only for a moment, going to the window to check. But she decided against it. It was better not to know.

If Lilly had gotten out of bed and gone to the window, her fears would have been relieved somewhat. She would not have seen the lady on this particular night, because what remained of her was on the other side of the highway—in Skullhaven Cemetery.

Chapter 3

A Hole in the Head

Skullhaven Cemetery is across the highway from the Sacred Heart Orphanage. It lies in a shadowed valley where a misty cloud of fog rises from the ground shortly after the sun sinks below the horizon. When the inky veil of darkness descends, there are no streetlights to warm the soul on a chilly autumn evening.

Once you step through the creaking, rusting wrought iron entrance gate, the night wraps around you like a damp shroud, and the smell of death hangs in the air. Skullhaven Cemetery is an old and lonely place where wandering spirits haunt the grounds until they move on—if they can.

Except for the chill wind whistling past the tombstones and the thunder rumbling through the dark sky above, the cemetery was quiet on this particular night. There was no other sound except for a single voice whispering in the darkness. That voice belonged to Rico Mortis.

Where are they? Rico said. He glanced up the gravel path while his finger explored the jagged hole in his forehead.

Rico was comfortably perched on an old tombstone, so weathered that the name engraved on it many years ago was no longer discernable as anything but a few shallow scratches. He had been there for some time now, waiting patiently for his two new friends, Greg and Ashley. They were late.

He was about to hop off the tombstone to search for them when a bright flicker of lightning illuminated the graveyard. In the quick flash, he spotted them walking down the gravel path that meandered lazily from the entrance to the secluded area Rico had chosen for their meeting.

It’s about time you two got here, Rico yelled in their direction as they approached. What took you so long?

Sorry, Rico, Ashley replied, and turned her head into the chilly October wind to let it blow her long, dark hair from her face. I didn’t think you’d still have your meeting on a night like this. But Greg said we ought to come, though, just in case. Can we make this quick? I’d rather not be out here when the rain starts. I hate water.

Yes, let’s get on with it, Greg said. What did you want to talk about?

I’ll make it quick, Rico replied. There’s something that’s been bugging me ever since I got here.

Greg nodded. It’s been a couple of months since you arrived, hasn’t it?

Yeah. About that long, I guess.

So what’s bugging you?

I’m just a little confused. I mean, I know we’re dead, Rico continued as he shooed a curious bug away from the hole in his head. And I know we don’t eat or anything, like we used to before we got dead. But something doesn’t seem quite right here.

If you’re newly dead, nothing seems quite right at first, Ashley said.

Rico spread his arms wide. Well, just take a look around. There are hundreds of tombstones in this place. Right?

Greg and Ashley both nodded in response. Right, Greg said. So what’s your question?

So, doesn’t it seem just a little weird that with this many dead people in here, you two are the only ones I’ve seen so far? Where are the rest of them?

They’ve left, Greg explained.

Left?

Yes, Greg replied.

Left to go where?

They’ve moved on to the next phase, Ashley answered. We’re the only ones remaining here.

"So when do we leave?" Rico asked.

That’s a little complicated, Rico, Greg said. Let me try to explain how it works. First of all, how did you die?

Rico pointed to the hole in his head.

"I know why you died. I need to know how it happened." Greg said.

What difference does that make?

Bear with me, Greg said. It will all make sense in a minute.

Rico thought for a moment before he answered. Well, let’s see. I remember that scumbag Tony Luviano and I were in a warehouse on the west side. Tony was accusing me of something I hadn’t done.

What did he accuse you of? Ashley asked.

He said I stole some money from the boss. I told him he was out of his mind. Then I hear this loud bang, and all at once I’m floating in the air, you know? Weird. I look down and see my body sprawled out on the floor of the warehouse. There’s a pool of blood around my head. And I see Tony standing there with a lit cigarette in one hand and a smoking Smith & Wesson in the other one.

What happened next? Greg asked.

I don’t really know. It’s all kind of fuzzy from there on. But the next thing I remember is that I’m here in this God-forsaken cemetery, and I’m standing in front of a tombstone with my name on it. That’s something you don’t forget.

What did they do with your body? Greg asked.

Rico shrugged. I don’t know. Why does any of that matter now?

That’s the critical factor, Rico, Greg said. Here’s what I think happened after Tony shot you. They probably put some cement boots on you and dropped you in Skullhaven Lake. Or, they could have used some heavy chains, or whatever they could find in the warehouse, you know, to weigh you down and keep your body from floating to the surface. That might explain why they haven’t found your body yet.

What makes you think they didn’t find my body?

If they had found your body, you wouldn’t be here, Greg replied.

There are rules in life, Rico, Ashley interrupted. Some people ignore them and do whatever they wish. But there are also rules in the Afterlife. And no one can ignore those—no matter who they are. Greg explained it all to me when I first arrived, because I asked him the same questions.

What kind of rules are you talking about?

Rules about moving on, Ashley replied. If a priest or a minister doesn’t bless your mortal remains, you can’t move on to the next phase. Ashley tucked her white dress against the back of her legs and sat down on the grass. "If they don’t bury your body and send it off properly, your spirit has to stay wherever your tombstone is located. It has to stay there forever, or until they find your remains and do the ceremonial blessing over it. Then