A Real Ghost Ship!

[Jane Volturi]

Every now and then, I like to indulge and depart on my own personal vacations.  Since I really have not seen #Alec in a very long time, it is, admittedly, easier to plan for my vacations when I'm going alone.  I had heard about a place in the States called Long Beach, California.  How it was so pleasant and with beaches that stretched on forever.  I wanted to experience it for myself.  I thought it'd be nice to take nightly strolls along the beach, barefoot. 

 

Upon arriving in California, I had made reservations at a hotel that was once an operational ship.  It was and still is called The Queen Mary.  I was surprised they had created a fancy hotel out of a historic ship!  So, I had to stay there while I vacationed in Long Beach.  When stepping onto the boat, it was surreal.  I almost felt as if I was stepping into the movie titled, "Titanic."  The one with the actor that most human girls go crazy over.  That Leonardo guy.  I was greeted by a lady in a suit behind a wooden counter that looked as if it was made of fine lacquered cherry wood.  I checked in and she gave me my key to my room.  I reserved a deluxe suite.  I didn't need anything too ostentatious.  A woman who looked to be too young to have too much money would look a bit off to the humans if I did get anything fancier.  Though after taking a tour of the entire ship, I was a little disappointed that I hadn't.  The first night was peaceful and nothing too amazing happened.  I usually take my first day to get situated.  Plus, I wanted to take the whole day to tour the enormous ship!  It was as long as the Titanic itself, back in the day.  So, it was quite amazing!

 

The next day I stayed in my room and heard from tourists on the ship how there was a ghost tour of the ship.  Now, I've known all of my life that vampires and shape shifters existed, but I never have seen a ghost for myself.  Figuring I'd give it a try, I decided to take part in the tour that I believed would only be a tourist trap.  The humans surrounding me in the confined areas was enough to almost drive me to drain all of them, but the history that the tour guide was speaking of kept me interested enough to keep my mind off my thirst.  We finally came upon a room that everyone began getting excited about.  I could feel how nervous the humans seemed to be.  So fragile and gullible...these humans.  Or so I thought.  The tour guide allowed us to enter the pitch black dressing rooms.  Talk about close quarters with humans!  I felt like a sardine in there.  Not needing any light to see my way through the darkness, I scoped out the area and exited, happy to be away from the horde of humans remaining inside.  So many of them were in the dressing stalls simply standing there and conversing.  Or just standing there against walls with nobody with them.  I could have easily drank from any of them and nobody would have known. 

 

As I waited alone beside the empty pool, I stared down at the pool and wondered how the pool could possibly still be wet when it hadn't been used in years.  It was baffling, but I wasn't quick to think it had anything to do with "ghosts."  A couple came out of the dressing rooms behind me, speaking about the place and how thick the darkness was.  At the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking on the upper balcony level on the other side of the tour guide lady, but I didn't pay much attention to them.  Just another ship crew member who was working at the hotel. Suddenly, the man behind me who was just speaking to his girlfriend started shouting in excitement as he jumped up and down like an idiot, hiding behind his girlfriend.  I couldn't help but turn around and stare at him as if he were crazy. 

 

The man caught me by surprise as he randomly decided to speak to me.  Gutsy, this human was.  He asked me in quick words, fumbling a few times with his speech, asking if I had seen "it."  Still, I looked at him in confusion.  I asked him, "Saw what?"  The man replied, "The ghost!  The girl!  OH MY GOD!  I SAW HER!"  Still unknowing of what he spoke of, I asked him where he saw her.  He pointed right where I had seen someone on the upper balcony.  I replied to him cautiously, "I saw someone...yes.  Someone who works here.  Right?"  He denied what I saw and said it was the girl who had drowned in the very pool we were all standing alongside.  Sure, I didn't see the figure head on.  I only saw them at the corner of my eyes.  But I hadn't looked right at them and saw if it really was a girl or a crew member.  I thought I'd ask the tour lady since she was on the same balcony as the figure.

 

Once the tour group regrouped and met the tour lady, I asked her, "Excuse me, was there someone who walked by there..." and I pointed down the way to where I saw the figure "...someone who works here who went through the curtains there?"  The tour guide lady looked at me strangely, "No. I've been the only one up here while all of you were down there.  Why?"  The excited man piped up again behind me and started freaking out as he did before, telling her what he had seen and I apparently only "kind of saw."  But throughout the rest of the tour, the man kept pointing me out, saying I saw it too.  It was rather annoying.

 

When the tour came to an end, I thought about the incident that had occurred in the pool area.  The figure I had seen was of a pale color.  I knew that, even though I saw it at the corner of my eyes.  Then, something that crossed my mind finally made me realize that it was a ghost that was upstairs.  The "person" on the balcony was walking towards the curtains...but the curtains had never moved.  The figure had simply vanished. 

 

Now, to this day, I do believe that not only do vampires and shape shifters exist...but so do ghosts.

 

This is a true story.  Nothing made up.  If any of you have never gone to Long Beach, California and stayed on The Queen Mary and gone on the actual ghost tour (not the one with all of it's theatrics...I went to both), then you are missing out on an experience.  You too may see the same ghost I saw.  I intend on returning again and again just to see if I will ever see the ghost face-to-face this time.