“Okay, who wants pie?” she asked. Just then, in a sudden fluid motion, all the chairs moved away from the kitchen table all by themselves. Mom jumped back and screamed, dropping a plate on the floor. I couldn’t move, I didn’t believe my eyes. Lyn didn’t see it thankfully but she knew what happened.
“It’s okay everyone. Don’t anybody freak out. Ephraim, do you mind getting the glass off the floor?” Dad calmly asked as he pushed the chairs back in place. Ephraim picked up the glass and dumped the dustpan into the trash. Mom slowly walked out of the kitchen forgetting all about pie and she sat with me on the couch. Her face was blank and terrified.
“Did you see that Brylee?”
“Yes Mom I did. It’s okay though, no big deal, right?” I didn’t know any other way to diffuse the situation except to pretend like it would all be okay.
After the kitchen was cleaned up and Mom’s nerves settled, Lyn and Ephraim announced they would be leaving.
“Oh no really? It’s still so early we could play a board game or something,” Mom suggested. I think it was more because she didn’t want to be alone rather than she wanted them to stay to play a game. I stood up and grabbed my, well Ephraim’s, coat and walked to the door.
“I’m gonna walk them home,” I announced.
Lyn thanked Mom for dinner and shook my dad’s hand. Ephraim did the same. Then we were out the door and into the cold night air. Lyn grabbed me and stared intently into my eyes.
“What the hell was that back there, Brylee?” I couldn’t lie to her, but if I told her the truth she would never come back over.
“Lyn, I don’t know what that was, maybe an earthquake,” I said as we walked to their house. I shivered in the cold and pulled the coat closer to me. I watched Ephraim as he put his arm around Lyn’s shoulders to calm her down.
“Don’t worry so much Lynley. It was kind of cool I think.” She jabbed him in his rib cage and he playfully tossed her hair over her face.
“We don’t usually have earthquakes by the way Brylee. So good try.” Lyn took off and ran to her house leaving Ephraim and I alone. I felt almost like running after her, but what would I say? More lies and evasions of the truth? No, I couldn’t do that to her. She knew what was going on and I was lying to her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ephraim said, as he picked up a golden leaf. “You know your dad has the right approach. Just ignoring it and moving on. It’s what you should start doing. Like you did with the ghost of Violet, just pretend they’re not there until…” I waited but nothing came. No ideas of what to do to get the ghosts out of our house. Nothing.
“See, there is nothing to do about them. I can’t ignore them forever. I wish I could find those Barclay sisters, then I could ask them to lift the curse,” I said.
“Maybe, but where would they be? They’ve lived all over the world and they are supposedly witches. Who even knows if they’re still alive anymore?” I was surprised at how much he knew about them. I was sure the whole town knew of them though.
He tossed the leaf and gave me a sorrowful look. I wished I could move in with him and Lyn. I wished a lot of things right now.
“Goodnight. See you Monday morning for school,” he said as he turned away from me. “Oh, and I hope you feel better about your friend,” he called over his shoulder. I watched him walk away; I didn’t like to see him leave me. I had never really felt such a strong connection with a boy I hardly knew. There was just something about him that made me feel like I had known him forever, and that I would be in his life forever. There was a certain spark that played in my heart when I was with him. Even as I ached for the loss of Ethan, I felt that perhaps he was never mine. But Ephraim, he is supposed to be with me. Finally, when he crossed over to his side of the bushes I turned to go back inside the house. And came face to face with Kayla.
“I told you not to mess with the Mayhew boys, they will break your heart,” she said with her regular Kayla attitude. “That one may seem nice and all, but I don’t trust ‘em.”
“Are you done?” I asked, throwing the same attitude right back. I didn’t need her lecturing me. She was missing for two years and didn’t have the decency to tell anyone in her family she was back. I no longer needed Kayla’s help; it really didn’t do any good. All it did was get me into trouble.
“Why are you so pissed at me? I am trying to help you Brylee.” She put her hands on her hips and gave me an evil stare.
“Oh really? Well then, why didn’t you tell me your face has been on a milk carton for two years? You see that kind of information would have helped me. And ditching me at the school and making me take the fall for the cigarette, that was so helpful too.” I rolled my tired, swollen eyes at her. It took her a few seconds to respond. Finally when she did her tone changed dramatically.
“I couldn’t let anyone know I was back. I shouldn’t even have showed up at the school. I am sorry you got into trouble. Sorry about not telling you the truth about me being missing.” She dropped the attitude and her apology was sincere. “I heard you say you wanted to find the Barclay sisters, that’s not going to help you. They are probably far away from here by now.”
“Dead?” I asked.
“Maybe, but I doubt it. It’s not like you can look them up on the internet and hope to find a current address for them.” She laughed. I didn’t think it was funny. My situation wasn’t very funny; actually it was sort of sad.
“I know about the séance, Kayla. I know you told everyone you were Violet Brown and you had to find the key to Pearl’s room. That’s the night you went missing, isn’t it? Why did you run away?”
She smiled a mischievous smile. I think she was surprised I had found out about her. I didn’t care if she was older than me, she was obviously lacking some maturity if she would let everyone think she was missing. I turned and walked toward the house. I was done talking to her. I had made my mind up that Kayla Hart was not trying to be of any help to me, not if she wasn’t even honest to her family that she wasn’t missing.
“Wait, Brylee please don’t go. Please don’t leave me out her all alone.” I turned around looking at her as she hung her head. “I will tell you what happened that night. I can’t tell you right now though.”
“Well what did you come here for then?” I threw my hands in the air.
“To see if you were okay I guess. I promise I will tell you about that night soon enough. Just don’t try to open the door Brylee. And do as Ephraim says, don’t talk to them. You don’t want them to communicate with you, it could be dangerous.”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “When you’re ready to be honest with me then you can come back here. But not until then.” I walked away and left her standing in the cold.
Chapter Sixteen
Later that night, as I sat on my window seat, I drew Ethan’s face for the last time. I decided this was my way of officially saying goodbye and saving my memory of him. Once I was done I tore the picture out and gently set it in my bedside drawer. The other pictures of him I gently placed in an envelope and addressed to his parents. I figured they would like to have them. Sort of like photo’s but with more sentiment. Something they could have in ways that I saw him. The way he surfed with such ease and expertise. His smile spread wide across his face while he played football. The strands of hair that carefully hung in his bright eyes as he talked to his friends and caught glimpses of me. Our first date and the way the whale had made his face shine like he had seen something magical that day. Then finally, the picture of him I drew while we drove out here, just a simple sketch of his beautiful confidence. The way everyone remembered Ethan; happy, carefree, full of life, friendly, and genuine.
I curled up in bed after putting my sketchpad away for the night. I could feel the tremble in my fingers from the last drawing I did. They were tired, as was my mind and body. My parents had gone to bed early, right after I came back inside from walking my friends home. Not one of them mentioned the kitchen incident.
I realized, as I lay there
in my bed, that they must be going through the same things I am with this house. While their experiences may be different, they have to be seeing and hearing things. The thing that differs from them and me is they are ignoring it and I am not. I am letting it effect my daily life, my friends, and my school work. I could either let it go on affecting me or I could do something about it. The thing that perplexed me as my eyes shut was: What do I do about it?
The ringing of my phone woke me up and I sat up looking for the damned thing. This would be the second early morning my phone woke me up. I finally found it on the floor next to my shoes. I hit ‘talk’ and heard a small voice on the other line. I could barely hear what they were saying.
“Hello, who is this?” I pulled it away from my ear to check the caller ID as it read Home. The call was from my house phone. I placed it back to my ear and listened harder to the small voice. Straining to hear anything. All I could make out was the word ‘house.’
“I can’t hear you? Mom, did you call me by accident?” I asked, waiting for a reply. It was the only thing I could think that happened, why else would my house phone dial my cell phone? Then the voice grew louder and a scream wailed into my ear so piercingly loud my head throbbed. I pulled the phone from my ear to block the sound but it didn’t really help. Was my mom in trouble? I pulled the sheets off of me and spoke into the phone, “Mom, are you hurt?”
“Get out of our house!” the voice said clearly. I stopped and my hands started to shake. I almost dropped my phone.
“Did you hear me Brylee Branson? You’re not welcome here, you or your family. This is our house and we want you out!” The menacing voice sounded shrill and evil.
“Who is thi... this?” My voice trembled and my throat was suddenly so dry I found it hard to swallow.
“Oh you know who this is. Don’t you? You and your family think we will go away, think again, we won’t ever go away. But you will.”
I hit end on the phone and threw it across the room. I took off toward my parent’s room. My floor of the house still dark in the early morning hours. I climbed the stairs to their room and slipped on the top step. Catching myself mid-fall I took a breath and made it to their door. I turned the knob finding them sleeping soundly like nothing could harm them.
“Mommy,” I shook her gently as she snored lightly. “Mommy wake up.”
She opened her tired eyes and looked at me, surprised to see me looking over her.
“What is it? Is everything okay?” I shook my head ‘no’ and she pulled me into bed with her. I curled up in her arms as she cuddled with me like I was a baby again. It was here that I felt safe. No matter what issues I had with my parents they kept me safe when I was scared. I was definitely scared now.
I fell asleep in my mom’s arms and tried to block the phone call, like it never even happened.
I woke up to the sound of my mom’s hairdryer. I looked for my dad and he was up as well. I stretched and for a moment had not remembered the phone call until my body fully woke up. Then the memory hit me like a car; it was suddenly there. I couldn’t escape the voice in my head telling me to get out. I rolled from the bed and slowly walked to my room. I had to find my phone to see if this was real. I felt a little safer in the daylight hours. My room was cold and uninviting but I entered anyway, finding the phone in two pieces on the opposite side of the room. I placed it back together and waited for it to boot-up. It alerted me I had four missed calls from ‘Home.’ They had called me four more times after the first call and they left voicemails. I sat on my bed with my phone in my hand contemplating listening to them. I decided against it for now, maybe tomorrow at school I could show Ephraim and we could listen to them together.
For now I curled up in my bed and thought about what I was to do with this warning. It wasn’t like I could pack up my stuff and move out. I could tell my parents but what good would that do? They were choosing to ignore the warnings and they might think this was going a bit too far. I might get out of this house by them sending me away to a mental hospital, especially if I told them about Pearl and the phone call. Sadly, the chances of us leaving and moving out were slim.
It was then that I felt the light mist crawl across my bare arms. I shivered and shut my eyes willing myself to keep them shut. The little voice behind me made me open them and slowly roll over. She stood right beside my bed with her bouncy see-through curls.
“Are you okay Brylee?”
“Not really Pearl. Not at all if I’m being honest.” I started to cry.
“Oh no don’t be sad, I told them to leave you alone. It wasn’t my doing, I like you here. You have a nice family and I like you, but they don’t want you here. Nothing I can say will change their minds.”
“Who called me, was it your mother?” I knew I was pressing her for answers, but I had to know. She hung her head and didn’t answer me. “Pearl, please you have to try to help me. If you know anything that will help my family you have to tell me.” She lifted her head and tears ran down her faded face.
“It wasn’t my mother; my mother wants peace as well. There are many spirits here in this house. The curse affected so many of my family members. It is as if we live here without the intrusions of your human spirits, at most times.”
I was confused and I didn’t understand what she meant fully. “You have to explain that to me Pearl.”
“We don’t always see you and your family around us. We sort of go onto a spirit realm, I don’t know how to explain it to you. When we are in this spirit realm, you are not in the house with us. The house is just as it was when we were among the living; none of your items are in the house any longer. We live here along with you, but we don’t know you’re here,” she paused and twirled a finger in one of her bouncy curls. “Then, it is as if a light switch is turned on and you are among us. All of our belongings are replaced by your household furniture and you are in the house. That is when the others get angry.”
“We sort of fade away like you do,” I said as I made the connection.
“Yes you do fade away. Then you come back, even though you never really went anywhere. I am sure to you I fade away as well, even though I don’t really go anywhere. I just go back to my realm.”
When she diminished into a mist she was really going back to her own ‘life’. They just co-existed with us in this house. They were living in their spirit realm and we were alive. It made sense to me that they would go off in their own world. That would explain the slamming doors, rocking chairs, and falling pots. They were living in this house amongst us we just didn’t see them and they didn’t see us.
“Are you thinking about something?” she asked inquisitively.
“Um… yeah sort of. When you move our furniture, is that you being upset with us, or is it you living in your world?” A smile played on her pink lips.
“You’re speaking of the chairs from the other night, yes we were sitting down for dinner.” I laughed loudly. To hear it from Pearl’s point of view it wasn’t scary. Her and her family were just having dinner and they weren’t trying to hurt us.
She laughed along with me, her curls bouncing higher with each giggle. “It is quite funny, isn’t it?” She laughed.
“Yeah, I suppose. But not the phone call, that wasn’t funny.” The laughing stopped and she became serious again. “Why do they want us out? Is it because you all want to live here alone?”
She nodded and replied, “That and you brought a Mayhew in the house. We do not get along with the Mayhew family. You mustn’t let them back in the house, it makes the others angry.”
“They are my friends and they are welcome here. What do you care anyway? As long as you stay in your realm they won’t bother you.” She crossed her arms across her chest and “harrumphed” at me, reminding me that she was just a child.
“You must not know what the Mayhew’s have done to my family. They have caused us much grief, Mother especially.”
I knew the information about their feud, but I listened to her talk. “I do
n’t know exactly how long ago, because time for us is much different than for you, but your friend’s father caused some grief. He tried to open my door; this made the others very upset. Your friends should not come here. I cannot be held responsible for what the others do.”
“Ephraim’s dad was only cleaning up glass that day and fixing a broken window. He wasn’t trying to cause problems and you should know that. He saw a light on in your room.” My hands started to shake now. I was defending Mr. Mayhew because I felt someone should. “He thought the same kids who broke the window were in your room. That is the only reason he tried to open it. He meant you and your family no harm. You don’t remember talking to him that day?”
She started to twirl her fingers in her hair once again and I could see her thinking. “Yes, I do remember, I warned him to never come back here. And he never came back. The others were still upset even though he promised to never return, he also said he would warn his family.”
“Who are ‘the others’?” I asked her.
“The others are my relatives who have been claimed by the curse. Most of them are very angry and they want revenge. They are the ones who called you this morning. You see, they are especially angry about the Mayhew’s being invited in the house. They thought you were trying to hurt them; it’s hard to trust anyone once you have fallen to the curse. Most of them are in the other realm all the time, and then there are a few who can transport back and forth.”
I heard a loud bang outside my window. So loud I jumped and Pearl even seemed to as well. I didn’t think a sound could scare a ghost.
“I have to go,” she was starting to fade away. “Brylee, you must do me a favor, please?”
The Brown House Page 13
