City of Ghosts

The slim face of The Lane’s End reminds Cassidy of the scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in which Harry discovers the hidden entrance to Sirius Black’s house. When they enter, they are greeted by Mrs. Weathershire, who runs the lodging house. The building has an antique feel with old photos lining the wall and strange sounds emanating from upstairs. As Cassidy takes in the scenery, she notices a girl close to her age sitting on the stairs watching her. She has brown skin and black hair and is smartly dressed in a skirt and blouse. As they stare at each other, Cassidy feels drawn to the girl as if she knows her. The family sits down to tea with Mrs. Weathershire, and she explains the noise is likely from her late husband who haunts the building. Cassidy thinks she will not investigate the ghosts that haunt The Lane’s End because it violates her rule of not crossing the Veil in the place where she must sleep.

Cassidy’s parents explain the reason for their visit, and Mrs. Weathershire reveals that her husband held a fascination with ghosts and kept detailed records of the locals’ accounts of sightings. Cassidy’s dad takes a stack of the journals to study as their host shows them to their apartment, what the Scots call a “flat.” Cassidy’s mom explains to her the Scottish have different names for elevators and hotels. From their window, Cassidy can see the castle looming high on the hill, and when Cassidy calls to Jacob to see it, he does not respond. She finds him staring into a mirror, transfixed by an image reflected in the glass: a thin boy in soaking wet clothes who looks dead. Cassidy tries to talk to him, but it is as if he is in a trance. In her thoughts, she asks if he is all right, and he nods, but Cassidy is left with an ominous feeling. Cassidy’s mom suggests a tour of the city to keep them awake and fend off jet lag, so she grabs her camera, but as they leave, she notices Jacob is gone. 

As they walk through the Royal Mile—the road that runs from Edinburgh Castle to the extinct volcano called Arthur’s Seat—performers shout advertisements for nightly ghost tours around the city. Her mom is thoroughly enjoying herself, but as they move about, Cassidy begins to feel the all-too-familiar tapping sensation, now stronger than ever. As she tries to distract herself by snapping photos of Edinburgh street life, Cassidy feels the Veil pulling at her. Mother and daughter stop at the legendary Elephant House, the favorite haunt of J. K. Rowling when she was creating the Harry Potter series. The moment temporarily lifts Cassidy’s spirits, and they continue their walking tour, despite the threat of rain. The next stop is Greyfriars Kirk, a famously haunted church graveyard. Cassidy’s elation over the café visit is immediately supplanted by dread, and the moment she enters the gate of the graveyard, the crushing weight of the Veil suffocates her. Sensing something different, she notes, “The Veil isn’t inherently scary, or bad. It’s just another kind of space. But the energy here is dark and menacing” (80). Cassidy overhears a tour guide telling the story of Bobby, the dog who haunts Greyfriars. Legend says Bobby came to the graveyard to hold a vigil over his owner’s grave and never left for 14 years. Cassidy’s mom goes to explore an alleged poltergeist while she hangs behind to study the headstones. However, one moment later, Cassidy feels pulled into the Veil, powerless to stop her fall.

After experiencing all the same sensations of her bike accident when she fell into the water, Cassidy emerges on the other side of the Veil into an empty graveyard. Unnerved by her powerlessness to stop the pull and by the fact that Jacob is not with her, Cassidy surveys the situation. She still has the familiar glow in her chest, but everything else feels different. Bobby the dog trots by, and she sees a mysterious man smoking a pipe. Hearing a scream, she turns and sees executioners dragging a man to the gallows. As she tries to pull herself out of the Veil, Cassidy notices a woman in a bright red cloak with dark, curly hair staring at her. She can hear someone on the other side of the Veil calling her name, but the woman’s stare entrances her. The woman begins to sing, and Cassidy feels an intense sensation in her body as the song draws her closer to the mysterious figure. Just before the woman touches her, Jacob yanks her back through the Veil. All the images from the other side vanish, and Cassidy tries to explain why she could not pull herself out this time. Jacob is still visibly rattled by what he saw in the mirror.

Cassidy, Jacob, and her mom walk back to The Lane’s End in the pouring rain. After a hot shower, Cassidy tries to explain the woman in red to Jacob, but she struggles, thinking, “…the pieces in my mind don’t add up to what I saw. What I felt” (87). The woman is more real and brighter than any ghost she has ever seen. As she is talking to Jacob, the peculiar girl she saw when they arrived is there on the steps. She asks whom Cassidy is talking to, and Cassidy just says herself. Feeling drawn to the girl, Cassidy wants to talk more but says she must change her wet pants. The girl laughs, explaining that in the UK pants refers to undergarments, and trousers refers to what you wear over them. Cassidy explains about her parents’ television show and their work with haunted places. While talking, she notices the girl, Lara Jayne Chowdhury, is wearing a necklace with a mirror. When Lara asks if she believes in ghosts, Cassidy does not know how to respond. Assuming her silence means yes, Lara walks away. Both Jacob and Cassidy agree there is something strange about the girl. 

Cassidy has her first taste of fish and chips, a meal that is at first repellent to her, but one that she ends up finding delectable. Her dad ignores his food as he pores over Mr. Weathershire’s journals. Jacob is intently trying to move one of the chips by telekinesis, and when it finally tips over—either by his power or just due to gravity—he raises his hands in victory. Cassidy’s father says the journals are mostly full of myths and legends that people accept as fact. Her mom responds, “Stories have power […] so long as you believe them” (95).

He reads them the famous story of Burke and Hare, two grave robbers who sold bodies to medical labs. When they ran out of dead bodies, they began murdering people. After killing 16 people, the murderers were captured, and Burke was hanged, his body later dissected in a lab. His bones are kept in the university medical school, and his ghost haunts the building. As her father continues reading other accounts, he mentions the Raven in Red, and Cassie freezes, asking him to tell her more. The journal does not tell a complete story but relates multiple accounts of missing children and refers to the “mourning mother” myth of women who steal children from others after losing their own. Cassidy thinks back to the woman she saw on the other side of the Veil; she was not frightened by the red-cloaked lady but, instead, peculiarly drawn to her. Jacob disappears at bedtime, and Cassidy is not sure where he goes when she sleeps. She just told him not to creepily watch her as she slumbers. As she drifts off to sleep, she hears the call of seagulls and what she thinks is a woman’s voice in the wind.

The first day of filming arrives, and the crew waits on the family while they make plans for the day. A crew member compliments Cassidy’s vintage camera while she snaps a photo of Grim, who is featured on the covers of her parents’ books. Her parents are dressed and camera-ready, and Cassidy is amazed at how much they enjoy being in the spotlight. The crew plans to shoot at the South Bridge Vaults, Mary King’s Close, and the White Hart Inn, all of which are famously haunted. Cassidy’s dad gives her a cell phone to use in an emergency, just as their guide, Findley Stewart, arrives and reminds Cassidy of a Scottish Hagrid. The entire group sets out through Old Town as Findley rattles off every ghost story he knows about the area. Her father tries to take notes as her mother hangs on Findley’s every word. Findley and Mr. Weathershire were friends and worked together to collect the local ghost lore. Thinking he can fill in the details, Cassidy asks him about the Raven in Red. He explains there are many versions of the story, but the most common one involves a mother with a young boy who got lost outside in the cold and froze to death. The mother donned a red coat and set out to look for him, singing and calling to him. The boy was never found, but the mother continued to roam the streets. Driven mad by her grief, she began to steal other people’s children, drawing them to her with her voice. The parents found their lost children frozen to death at her doorstep. Jacob wants to know why she is called the Raven, so Cassidy asks for him. Findley explains it refers to her hair color. Legend also says if she catches a child, she turns into a raven and flies away with the child clasped in her talons. The woman was hanged for her crimes and buried in Greyfriars, and parents pray to her like a saint, begging her to stay away from their children. Her ghost usually appears only in winter. Cassidy wonders why she saw her in the summer. Her father asks Findley if he believes in ghosts, and he responds, “I believe in history” (107), explaining that the city has a dark history, and every person has a ghost story.

They cross South Bridge, which is buried under the city and contains a series of vaults. The film crew captures Cassidy’s parents explaining the history of the buried bridge and decides to venture into the vaults the following day. They walk up the Royal Mile to Mary King’s Close, and Cassidy’s father explains a close is a grouping of lanes and alleys that were swallowed up by the growing city. Strangely, they enter the buried streets through a gift shop. Cassidy’s mom gives her the option of staying above ground, but she decides to go down, ignoring Jacob’s protests.

It is dark and cold in the subterranean passageways, and Cassidy’s senses are assaulted with the sights and smells of the underground city as they descend the stairs. As the crew sets up the shots, Findley gives Cassidy’s mom an EMF meter, a device to measure electromagnetic fields and potentially spot paranormal activity. Jacob jumps in front of the device, and it registers a slight tone. For the first clip, her mother and father explain the history of the close, which dates to the plague years when families piled bodies of the sick and the dead in the area, sometimes burying people alive. Jacob shudders, and Cassidy moves closer to him for comfort, even as she feels the Veil calling to her, feeling the same malevolent energy here as in Greyfriars Kirk. Her mom continues with the story, and Cassidy is transfixed by how gifted her parents are at their job.

Turning to see a pale face, Cassidy jumps, but Findley laughs and says the props are put there by the locals for effect. Between shots, Cassidy’s parents go one direction while she goes another, feeling the strong pull of the Veil. They turn to follow her into a low stone room as the EMF meter goes off. Jacob is frightened, and Cassidy asks him, through her thoughts, not to leave her. Her parents begin to film, and she escapes to the hallway just as the Veil grabs her. When she emerges on the other side, there are ghosts everywhere, all in different states of illness. Cassidy reaches for the Veil, but it feels instead like a solid wall she cannot budge. The ghosts stop and stare as they begin moving toward her. Jacob unsuccessfully tries to pull them back to the other side as the ghosts inch closer, and Cassidy is overwhelmed by their ghoulish emotions. Backed into a corner, Cassidy grabs her camera and snaps a photo, the flash temporarily distracting the specters long enough for her to run.

The ghosts chase Cassidy and Jacob through the underground corridors. Just in time, she spots the stairs leading up and can feel the Veil softening to cloth, allowing her to yank them both back to the other side. Cassidy emerges feeling like she has been underwater, but they are now lost. She remembers the ease of navigating the Royal Mile but still feels disoriented after the terrifying experience, thinking, “I’ve been to plenty of haunted places, but I’ve never been to a place where the Veil was stronger than I am” (124). Jacob asks if she is okay, though he knows she is not. Cassidy wonders what is wrong with her that allows her to have these strange and terrible encounters. Comforting each other with friendly banter, the two turn to see Lara walking by holding her mirror pendant. They follow as Lara disappears around a corner, and Cassidy, noticing it is thinner above ground than below, realizes Lara passed through the Veil.

Without thinking, Cassidy pulls the Veil curtain and crosses over, telling Jacob to stay behind. He reminds her of rule number nine and follows her through. At first, she sees nothing but a mist, but then she hears Lara’s voice saying, “Watch and listen […]” (128). When they see her, she is facing the ghost of a middle-aged man, holding out her mirror pendant. Lara chants, “See and know […] This is what you are” (128) as the ghost turns transparent, and Cassidy can see through him to a coiled rope inside his chest. It is just like hers but without the light. Lara pulls the rope loose, turning it and the ghost to ash. When Jacob gasps, Lara turns to see them and says they are acting as if they have never seen a ghost hunter before.