The Cornelius Saga Series Box Set 2

by Tanya R. Taylor

  “It’s not your fault,” Bryant said. “You tried, but we just couldn’t listen.”

  They were not the only ones there. Many more souls inhabited the house just as Mira had seen before.

  “Do what you have to do!” Lucille yelled at the top of her lungs; glaring at her. “Release us from this hell!”

  “What’re you doing?” Bobby whispered loudly to Mira from the doorway, after making his way around to the front again.

  “Nothing.” She headed out to meet him. “Let’s do this.”

  She took the empty jug from him and handed him the matches. “Be careful,” she said, before hurrying off to the car.

  Entering the house only slightly, Bobby splashed the gasoline around and was sure to empty the container. He put the can on the porch, then went back to the doorway, struck a long match and tossed it inside. He knew it wouldn’t take long for flames to engulf the mostly wooden structure.

  As the fire ignited and followed the trail of the spilled gasoline, Bobby picked up the jerry can from the porch and ran out to the car. Mira was standing on the passenger side, watching.

  “Get in!” he said.

  They both jumped in the vehicle and Bobby started the ignition. They could see that already flames were rising inside the house. Mira observed the black shadows sliding in and out of the walls, off the trees on the property and they all soon headed inside the house. She could hear the shrilling screams and cries of agony. Through the front windows, she could see the lost souls gradually moving away and in her mind’s eye, she also saw the portal inside the house, slowly closing as the intensity of the fire destroyed the cursed habitat board by board and brick by brick.

  Bobby sped out of the yard and they held each other’s hand firmly while they made their way as quickly as possible out of town. Mira felt a sense of relief that her last sight of the house was it being melted down by the flames.

  “You did well.” She squeezed Bobby’s hand. “Thanks for helping me out.”

  “Anything for you, lovely.” He kissed her hand. Then he thought of something. “You mean… thanks for helping them out, don’t you?”

  “Right.” She smiled. “At least, those who had become victims of the house are now released from its grip. They’ve gone on now.”

  He gave her a long glance. “You’re really amazing, you know?”

  “I am?”

  “You surely are.”

  They managed to drive out of Newport without incident.

  That same night…

  Latina Cosgrove had just placed a book she was reading on the nightstand and stretched out in her king-sized, solid oak bed.

  Yawning, she turned to her side and just as she was on the verge of drifting off to sleep, she felt a jabbing sensation beneath the mattress, as if someone had punched their fist straight through it from the bottom.

  She turned over onto her back again, wondering if she’d drifted off to sleep in that split second and what she thought she felt was only a dream. A harder jab soon traveled up through the mattress and hit her directly in the back.

  “Ow!” she shrieked.

  Then there were multiple punches — heavier ones, and the bed began to shake violently. She suffered the brunt of each violent blow and could not, as much as she tried, get up from the horizontal position.

  “What’s going on here?” she yelled. “Stop it! Stop!”

  The bed continued to shake, then tilted from side to side. However, lying on her back, she still couldn’t move. Fear wiggled its way up her throat and she felt she could hardly breathe. Now in a full-blown panic, she had no idea what to do to escape. Then, she saw them – the shadow figures — sliding across the four walls and in and out of her bed; she even felt them slide in and out of her body. Soon, the bed began to rise and rise, and looking up at the tall ceiling, she shuddered to think that it might take her all the way up there. Her fear was realized when she was a little more than thirty feet off the floor and just a few feet away from the ceiling. She seemed to hover there for at least a full minute or two before the king-sized bed flipped over and she was looking directly down at the marble floor below; still pinned to the bed by a cruel, invisible force, with her arms stretched out on each side.

  It was at that moment she recalled Matilda’s words: “The forces you rely on will turn on you”. And before she had a chance to say a final prayer that for a moment, she hoped would save her, she, as if one with the bed, came crashing down at rapid speed and slammed face-down into the marble tiles. Her body was crushed beneath the giant bed and indented into the floor.

  15

  _________________

  Sara was up cooking breakfast when Mira arrived home with Bobby a little after 6:00 a.m.

  Daniel greeted them at the door, wagging his tail eagerly and licking Bobby’s shoes.

  “Mom, what are you doing up so early?” Mira asked, as Bobby patted Daniel’s head.

  “What on earth do you mean, honey? I always get up early. Okay, not recently, but last night was the first time I’ve had a full night’s sleep in months.”

  Mira loved the sound of that. “No nightmares?”

  “No nightmares. I slept like a baby.” She smiled.

  Mira and Bobby glanced at each other with a glint of satisfaction in their eyes.

  “You two are here pretty early.” Sara was under the impression that Mira had spent the night with Bobby, although it’s not something she’d known her daughter to do before. When Bobby came by to pick her up the previous night, Mira had said she’d be spending some quality time with him and will be back in the morning. She figured it was all her mother needed to know.

  “Yes, we are.” Mira kissed her on the cheek.

  “What’s that for?” Sara asked, holding the pot spoon.

  “Just because I love you.”

  Smiling, Mira headed down the hallway.

  “Whatever you did to her, Bobby, keep doing!” Sara winked at him.

  He couldn’t restrain his laughter. “Mrs. Cullen, you’re too much!”

  As Mira proceeded to the bathroom, Rosie stepped out of her bedroom.

  “Hi, honey. Just woke up?” Mira put her arm around her.

  “Was up for a little while. I hate having to get ready for school this early.” Her pout never changed, since she was a toddler. Mira thought it was still the cutest thing.

  “Aww, don’t worry. Soon you’ll be much older like me and have to get up just as early or even earlier to go to work and earn a living.” She giggled. “Moral of the story… get used to it!”

  Mira went into the bathroom, but before she managed to close the door, Rosie said: “So, it’s all over now, right?”

  Mira knew what she was talking about. “Yes, honey. It’s over now.”

  Gratified, Rosie closed the door and headed into the kitchen.

  Mira leaned over the basin and washed her face. She felt like she was removing all the darkness that had surrounded her in recent months. As she dabbed her face dry with a towel and looked into the mirror, behind her stood a familiar face. Mira kept looking forward through the glass and into the brown eyes of the woman branded a witch when she was alive.

  “Matilda…”

  Matilda gently placed her hand on Mira’s hair and began smoothing it back with her fingers.

  “You’ve closed the gateway,” she uttered softly. “And ended the suffering of so many.”

  Mira forced a smile although instead, she felt like crying.

  “You remind me so much of myself,” Matilda went on. “My beloved Stephen held me in such high esteem despite my faults and endless indecision. When I finally agreed that we should wed, further procrastination on my part, sealed our fate forever. Time is of the essence.”

  Just then, Mira remembered the death angel that had lingered around Bobby two years ago when he’d come to visit her in hospital. She also remembered how afraid she was. “I understand,” she quietly said.

  She turned around and as silently as Matilda appeare
d, she was gone.

  Mira headed back out front where the others were eating breakfast and cracking jokes.

  “Latina! Latina! We all fall down!” Esther, the parakeet, blurted.

  At first, the strange exclamation caught them all by surprise, but Mira and Rosie knew it was a message of finality spoken through the bird.

  “Crash and burn! Crash and burn!” the parakeet went again.

  “What on earth?” Sara was staring at the bird as if the animal was possessed.

  “It’s all right, Mom,” Mira said, joining Bobby at the counter. “Parakeets say all sorts of weird things.”

  Moments later, she reached for Bobby’s hand and said, “Mom, Rosie, we have an announcement to make.”

  Sara and Rosie looked on eagerly. Bobby was hopeful.

  “Bobby and I are getting married,” Mira said.

  Sara and Rosie both gasped, then hurried over to hug them. Bobby had already gotten a head start with Mira, holding and kissing her passionately.

  As soon as she was able to get up for air, she said, “We don’t have the rings yet, but soon.”

  “Yes, we do.” Bobby reached into his pocket, slipped out a little box and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful gold engagement ring Mira had ever laid eyes on. The large one carat diamond center stone was encircled by a dozen smaller ones which sparkled brightly.

  Bobby took it out and slid it on her finger. His heart was full as he watched the tears slide down her cheeks. She leaned over and kissed him.

  “I’m so happy for you two!” Sara exclaimed, hugging them again.

  “So am I!” Rosie cried. “You’re going to make the most beautiful bride, Mom.”

  Mira reached over and hugged her. “Thank you so much, honey.”

  “Your brother is going to be so excited when he hears about this, Mira! So, have you chosen a date for the wedding yet?” Sara asked them.

  Bobby looked at Mira. It was all up to her.

  “We haven’t decided yet,” she said. “Hopefully soon.”

  Bobby gently squeezed her hand. He was blushing with joy and pride.

  After the excitement simmered down a bit, Sara turned to Mira with a nervous expression on her face. “Honey, I need to see you privately for a few minutes.”

  “Sure, Mom.” Mira got up and followed her mother into the bedroom and they sat on the bed together.

  “There’s something I think you should know.” Sara rubbed her hands together. “I’ve been feeling guilty about it for quite a while now…”

  “What is it?” Mira rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  Sara wasn’t sure how to begin. “Remember some months ago when Rosie told us she had a visitor — the woman who had died in Newport…?”

  “Yes. Matilda.”

  “That’s when the sleepless nights for me started,” she revealed.

  “What does Matilda have to do with this?” Mira asked, curiously.

  “She and I are related, Mira. Her mother was my grand-aunt.”

  Mira was shocked. “What? So that means...”

  Sara nodded. “We’re all family – the same flesh and blood. I knew the entire story of Matilda’s life before Rosie ever mentioned anything about it. It was my mother’s side of the family that never accepted her for who she was. Although, to the best of my knowledge, they didn’t do anything to harm her, they were partly the reason she wasn’t accepted here in Mizpah. I felt terribly guilty when I learned she appeared to Rosie and had taken her on that journey of her suffering.” Tears filled Sara’s eyes. “I wonder how any of my relatives could have been so unaccepting when my own daughter and granddaughter share a gift, that if you two had been born back in those days, could have gotten you hanged like Matilda was or burned at the stake. It’s just so unfair what Matilda had to go through. And that’s why I didn’t want you digging up any information about what happened. I felt it was like opening a can of worms.”

  Mira reached for her mother and held her near. “None of it was your fault, Mom.” She dried her mother’s tears.

  “I started having these dreams as if I was there when she was killed — night after night — the same dream. I was being tortured. I couldn’t open up to you about it because I was so ashamed.”

  “You’d taken on the guilt that wasn’t yours to carry; that’s why,” Mira told her. “But it’s all over now. Matilda is completely at peace.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Do you really need to ask that, Mom? Believe me, she’s at peace and what’s more, she never once mentioned you. She holds no malice against you, Mom. Your suffering was only because you blamed yourself.” Mira then thought of something. “Remember how Mable Ferguson, Cornelius’ granddaughter, had blamed herself all of those years for what Cornelius had done?”

  Sara nodded.

  “You must let it go, like she had to. None of us are responsible for what our ancestors did,” Mira said.

  Mira held her mother until she’d composed herself enough to face the others again. Matilda had stood across the room the entire time, watching quietly as Sara emptied her heart. She soon walked toward the bed and rested a single red rose on Sara’s comforter. She smiled at Mira for possibly the very last time, then was gone.

  “She left something for you,” Mira said, turning in the direction of the gift.

  Sara followed her eyes and spotted the rose. She picked it up.

  “Now do you believe she holds nothing against you?” Mira asked tenderly.

  “Yes.” Sara smiled brightly. Her heart was light again and full of joy.

  It was a very good day in the Cullen family.

  Wicked Little Saints

  Cornelius Saga Series - Book 11

  1

  _________________

  Three years, two months and five days ago…

  It had been raining for most of the afternoon when Johnny Baxter and his mother, Angie, entered the school hall. Dozens of adults and children had already assembled in the six thousand square foot room, and a panel of educators, as well as guests, were quietly seated on stage awaiting the large clock on the eastern wall to strike at six o’clock. At 5:50 p.m., Johnny and Angie carefully made their way through the third row of seats from the front, passing several people who had graciously turned to the side and allowed them to get to the only two empty seats still available in that row.

  Angie, whose round, puffy face revealed many years of hardship, weighed in at two hundred and fifty pounds. She wore a tan tee shirt with a blue blazer over it, and a pair of red slacks she’d had for five years which, after countless washes had turned more to a slightly pinkish hue. Short strands of her dirty-blonde hair protruded beneath the edges of the blue tam on her head.

  Johnny, a bit on the heavy side like his mother, was wearing purple shorts that fell an inch or two past his knees, and a plain, white cotton tee shirt. Johnny was not dressed for the cool weather and barely ever was. Angie always said his built-in 'cushion' managed to keep him perfectly warm when everyone else needed layers of clothing to protect themselves from chilly weather.

  After taking their seats, Angie retrieved a clear, plastic bottle from her handbag and swallowed down a few gulps of room temperature water. Johnny quickly shook his head in refusal when she offered him a drink.

  Tall, lanky “too polite for her own good”, Rosetta Gotlieb—who always looked her very best, made her way over to the microphone. The heels she wore had snuck another four inches to her height and her hair, as always, was kept in a neat, low afro. Rosetta had been the Principal at Apex Christian School for five years; her contract for that position had just been renewed ten days earlier. Seated on the platform were Alan Wales, Vice-principal; Trinika Sampson, Head of the English Department and Sister Ruth King, Head of Religious Studies. Ruth was not a real sister in the Catholic sense, but a die-hard Baptist who was affectionately called by that name. Seated next to her was Reverend Kurt McCoy and his teenage sons, Adam and Malachi.

  Tapping the
microphone, Rosetta cleared her throat and looked out at the crowd in attendance. A few more people were trickling in as the meeting was about to commence.

  “Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to be here this evening for our Parents/Teachers conference,” she started. “Well, it’s not like our usual Parents/Teachers conferences in that we’re not here to discuss the children’s academic progress, per se. Instead, we thought it fitting to share with you our plan to send each fifth grader on a field trip beginning within the next two weeks to the ranch of Reverend McCoy and the McCoy family who have been such an inspiration to our town and the country at large. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the McCoys and the awesome things they’re doing for young people far and near, and the incredible gifts our Lord has placed upon them.”

  Kurt McCoy was smiling half-heartedly and nodding as she spoke. His sons were stoically sitting with their hands in their laps.

  “The reason you were told that attendance to this meeting was mandatory is because we want to ensure that each parent is aware of what the school is willing to offer the children that attend Apex. To explain what this trip entails and the reason we feel it will benefit the spiritual and emotional growth of each and every one of our students is our Vice-principal, Alan Wales.”

  As Rosetta walked back to her seat, Alan proceeded toward the microphone. Sporting a goatee, he was of average height and build.

  He cleared his throat. “Good evening, parents and students. Please allow me to enlighten you on what we propose here at the school. Each child, with his parent’s consent of course, will travel by bus to the McCoy ranch where there is an amazing facility specifically designed for the purpose of teaching via audio and visual technology, the dynamics essential for living your very best Christian life in a secular world. The primary focus will be: How to increase your spiritual awareness. As a God-centered school, the spiritual growth of each and every child is just as important as his or her educational development – even more so, I’d say. In addition, there will be educational workshops that every child must participate in, once in attendance. Participation Awards will be granted as additional passes for the semester, which may bring up the child’s overall grade point average. So, in essence, this twenty-four hour field trip will consist of both spiritual and educational enhancement which are sure to place each child on the pathway to achieving the pinnacle of success in their life’s journey.”