Curse of Christmas: A Collection of Paranormal Holiday Stories

by Thea Atkinson

  Although it seemed she was handling the loss well, I could see the pain she suppressed, laying underneath. Could hear it in her voice when she spoke about her aunt and the complicated love they had for one another. I understood it, had felt it myself, and my heart ached with empathy for her.

  “Not saying that’s you,” she sputtered suddenly. “I didn’t mean to say you’re overbearing or annoying like that or anything.”

  I laughed. “It’s okay. I know what you mean.”

  She sighed in relief.

  “What you’re saying actually reminds me of my grandmother. She was much the same way—strict, pushy, but wanted the best for me. She raised me, you know. After my mother was put in the home.” My gaze dropped to my lap, and I fiddled with my gloved hands. “I miss her. A lot.”

  “But can’t you still see her? Channel her or something?”

  I frowned. “I always thought that once she passed, she’d find a way to come back and visit me, give me comfort or guidance like she did while alive, but she never has. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “That sucks,” she replied. She rubbed her lips together in thought. “How about channeling her? If she won’t come to you on her own, bring her out that way?”

  “It’s not that easy…”

  My mind drifted back to the day I had tried channeling for the first and last time. The terrible whooshing sound. The wind whipping through my grandmother’s dining room, knocking most of her china off the shelves and causing her antique lighting fixture to sway. Her frantic shouts as the candles’ flames erupted, almost singeing my hair, then extinguishing completely. The quaking ground beneath our feet that made everything on the table rattle…

  And then the most horrifying thing I’d ever seen, the old pocket watch we’d found in the house’s attic rising in the air, and pale fingers materializing around it, connected to an equally pale arm. A body began to fade into view, piece by piece, until a man’s wrinkled face peered down at me. All that was left of his eyes were black holes.

  I’d screamed.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, my grandmother had rushed around the table, ripped the watch out of the soul’s hand, and threw it into the roaring fireplace, where it crackled and popped from the heat. Then, she snatched me by the arm and pulled me in close, wrapping her body around me like a shield. I had squeezed my eyes shut, afraid to see what would happen next, but when the wind and sounds died down, she finally stepped away and the man on the table was gone.

  I had no idea what had happened, but it had been traumatizing enough for me never want to try it again. Even my grandmother seemed shaken from it, and nothing had ever scared her. We never talked about it or attempted it again.

  “No…” My voice trembled as I pushed the memory away, back to where it belonged, and tried to shake off the terror remembering it again always stirred. “I-I can’t do it.”

  Noticing my dismay, Arianna clamped her mouth shut, a sign that she wasn’t going to push on it further. And I was thankful. I didn’t think I could tell her what had happened that night if I tried.

  All I knew for sure was that I would never try to channel a spirit again.

  My gaze drifted back to the scenery passing by my window. The minutes passed, and silence settled in between us as we continued to drive.

  A faint buzzing and clicking sounded, and I peeked over to see a CD sliding into the disk slot on the dashboard and Arianna fiddling with the dials again. Suddenly, drums pounded at such a loud volume and with such speed, I felt the rapid beats in my chest. A man’s low rumbling scream came next. It didn’t even sound like words, just one long animal’s growl.

  I flinched. This was music? I couldn’t see the allure.

  Did that mean I was officially getting old?

  That was a hard reality to come to terms with.

  Studying my reaction, Arianna grinned shyly. “So?” she asked. “What do you think?”

  I tried with all my might to keep my dislike off my face. How was I going to say the music was terrible without admitting she’d been right?

  I paused. “It… It grows on you, I guess.”

  Then, both knowing I was full of it, we burst into a fit of laughter.

  Chapter 8

  Westwood Cemetery was right off the town’s exit and much smaller than the one where Sean had performed the demon cure in Fairport. But smaller was better since we had to search all the tombstones for the name Marc Anders.

  We carried the shovels and flashlights Arianna had brought through the rows and rows of gravesites, fighting against the icy breeze and frigid temperatures. Here, a light powder of snow coated the ground, giving the cemetery a peaceful and morbid beauty.

  After about thirty minutes of scanning the names on each stone, my face hurt from the cold and I was beginning to lose feeling in my fingers.

  “Here!” Arianna shouted and waved her arm from a few rows away. “I think I found him.”

  I hurried over as fast as my half-frozen body would allow. The grave she was standing over was marked by a footstone, no bigger than a cereal box. She crouched low and ran a gloved hand over it to brush more of the snow away. The name Marc R. Anders stared back at us, along with a death year matching the online description we’d found.

  The reality of what we were about to do smacked into me and my stomach twisted. Was I really about to dig up a person’s dead body in the middle of the night? This was the exact opposite of a crazy-free, no-supernatural holiday. But, with a poltergeist after me and threatening to hurt my family, I guessed we were far past that now.

  I needed to focus on making it to Christmas alive, instead.

  Arianna rose again, turned my way, and said, “Are you sure you’re okay to do this?”

  She seemed way too comfortable with what we were about to do, but I nodded, trying to mimic her certainty, and pushed my shovel into the hard soil. She copied, using the heel of her sneaker to force the blade down further.

  As we worked, we made sure to keep any excavated dirt in a pile close by, so when it came to filling the hole again, it’d be a quick and easy process. Tirelessly, we dug. Since I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done physical labor to this extent, my muscles screamed in protest. My back ached and my arms cramped, but at least I wasn’t cold anymore. I was even beginning to sweat.

  We kept at it for what felt like forever. Until the next spike of my shovel hit something solid and then gave way with a crack. Arianna and I exchanged knowing looks.

  Finally. We’d reached him.

  “We only got about four feet down,” I said, surprised it hadn’t been buried the full six feet like it was supposed to be.

  She shrugged. “Could be one of two things. Either he was buried in haste, or someone else exhumed his body before us. Let’s hope it’s the former.”

  “Why?”

  “If he’s missing body parts it hurts our chance of fully banishing him from this plane.”

  Oh God… Body parts… Just thinking about that made nausea stir.

  I watched as Arianna used her shovel to scrape the thin layer of dirt off the top of the casket, and asked, “How do you know so much about this? About poltergeists and banning evil spirits?”

  She gestured for me to step to the side, ignoring my question for the moment. “As you saw from your first hit, the casket’s weak from age and decay. You don’t want to be standing on it or it may collapse.”

  I listened and stepped closer to the dirt wall. Then she sighed. “My mother worked a lot with dark magic, so I picked up a thing or two.”

  “Oh…” I hadn’t known that. But then, that was probably something you didn’t go around telling people. From the hard expression on her face, it was a good assumption she didn’t like talking about it, either. I tried to lighten the subject. “Well, it’s a good thing you did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a chance.”

  A smile flickered across her lips. Not saying anything more on the topic, she thrust the blade of the shovel into the side of the ca
sket. Gripping the handle tightly, she was about to push it down to release the seal but paused. Her gaze shot to the sky above us.

  “W-What?” Dread shot through me. I glanced up, seeing nothing but a starless sky. Was someone coming? I strained to listen for any damning sounds but heard nothing over the cars speeding down the nearby overpass.

  That’s when a chill danced along my spine. The all-too-familiar kind that told me a spirit was close.

  I tensed.

  Seeing a spirit in a graveyard shouldn’t be unusual, but since Arianna had reacted, too, and that could only mean one thing.

  She could see it, too.

  Dropping the shovel, she threw her hands out. A huge fireball, like a miniature sun, appeared in the center of her palms and flew out of our hole in the ground, disappearing into the night. She twisted, eyes locking on something else above us, and she flung another massive ball of fire that way. The heat of it was so intense, I stumbled back until I hit the dirt wall.

  Oh no. It had found me again.

  “Get the body!” Arianna shouted as she continued to shoot fire into the air. “I’ll hold it off.”

  What? She wanted me to—

  I looked at the casket. “I can’t.”

  “You have to!”

  As another fireball ignited the darkness, I spotted the tendrils of the spirit hovering in the darkness. And close. Its silky blackness blended in perfectly with the shadows. How Arianna was able to see it at all was a miracle.

  I peered back at the disintegrating box where a decomposing human body lay, and my insides roiled. I really didn’t want to do this.

  Another wave of heat pushed past my face and red light flared as Arianna hurled another fireball spell at the spirit. A little too close for comfort again.

  With the shovel in hand, I hopped over the casket and plunged the blade into the seal, like Arianna had done. A small twist and it popped open. Dropping to my knees, I placed both hands on it.

  Oh, God… I can’t believe I’m about to do this.

  “Hurry!” Arianna gasped as light and heat continued to flash above us.

  I held my breath and shoved with all my strength. The lid slid off.

  I had expected the worst. Something you see in the movies with gore and pieces of flesh. Bugs. Zombies. But to my surprise—and relief—I was staring down at what looked like bits of clothing and a pile of dirt. Upon closer inspection, I could see pieces of bone, too, including what was left of a skull and teeth. Everything looked incredibly fragile like it might collapse if disturbed in any way.

  For a second I wondered if this entire trip had been for nothing. Could a necromancer even use this? There was almost nothing left to him.

  “We need to make a run for it,” Arianna’s hurried whisper had my pulse galloping. “When I say go—”

  Panicked, I grabbed the corners of the blanket holding Marc Anders’s remains, and pulled them up to the middle into a makes-shift sack. I held it tight, sure that whatever bones that had been left were now probably just dust like the rest of him.

  She grabbed my coat and half-shoved me out of the hole. “Go!”

  Heart pounding, I scrambled out the rest of the way and dashed for the Beetle. Seeing it in the distance, I hoped my old track training from high school would somehow kick in and help me out.

  With that thought, my feet gained speed, flying across the ground at such a speed, it was as if they weren’t even touching it at all. An invisible force pushed me toward the car, closing the distance rapidly, and I cried out as the winter air bit into my cheeks and nose. Before I knew it, I was opening the door and flinging myself and the bag of remains into the passenger seat.

  It wasn’t until the door slammed shut that the speeding sensation stopped, leaving my head whirling and struggling to catch up. That’s when I saw Arianna sprinting toward the driver’s side, her legs a blur as she ran. In the blink of an eye, she was next to me, throwing the car into drive. The tires squealed as they tried to grip the frozen ground but soon caught hold, pushing us into our seats.

  Arianna peeled out of the cemetery, heading right for the highway, merging without even bothering to look. That got us a very angry beep from the guy she’d cut off, but neither of us cared. We wanted to put as much distance between us and that spirit as possible.

  When she checked the rearview mirror for the hundredth time, she blew out a breath and glanced at me. “You okay?” she said as she tried to catch her breath.

  I was still panting, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Yeah. You?”

  She nodded. “Did you get him?”

  I pointed to the wrapped up bundle in my lap.

  “Good.”

  I swallowed, trying to calm my frazzled nerves. “What happened back there?”

  “He found you again,” she replied simply. “Although it’s a bit scary how fast he can track you. I’m guessing it’s because you’re a Medium.”

  Yeah, being one did make me easier for spirits to spot. Like moths to a flame.

  “But that only confirms that the spells and protective wards on the shop are working. He only seems to be able to get to you once you leave.”

  Also true.

  “And what was that unnatural speed before?” I asked. “As we ran to the car. It reminded me of the Roadrunner.”

  “A speed spell,” she replied and stepped on the gas a little harder. “A level two. Can make people or objects faster or slower. Depending on what you need. But it’s temporary. And can only be used on one thing at a time.”

  “Quick thinking,” I said, “but I’m not sure if what I have in here is actually going to help us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s pretty much dust now.”

  She chuckled. “That’s okay. As long as we have his dust, the necromancer should be able to use it. I would assume he’s a pretty strong one.”

  Well, that was a relief.

  “Just hold on to it because if we lose even an ounce, it could hurt our chances of getting rid of Marc for good.”

  “Okay.” I gripped the corners of the blanket a little tighter and tried not to think that it was what was left of an actual person on my lap. To distract myself, I peered through the windshield at the brightening sky as we headed south-east back toward Fairport.

  In the gleam of our headlights, a shadow darkened the road ahead of us, like the silhouette of a bird or some other flying creature. Since there weren’t many cars on the highway at this early hour, it couldn’t be from another vehicle. But whatever it was, it was keeping its distance somehow, even with Arianna’s lead foot.

  Had to be a trick of the eye.

  Leaning forward in the seat, I squinted. “Do you see that, there?” I pointed to the strange patch of darkness where the lights couldn’t penetrate. “What is that?”

  Arianna peered at it, too, her brow furrowing. “Not sure…”

  Just then, the darkness flew at us. I screamed and ducked as it knocked into the windshield so hard the glass shattered, showering us with shards. Arianna swerved, the tires squealing as she hit the brakes at the same time. I squeezed my eyes closed as the car spun out of control, and in those few fearful moments, all I could think about was Zach and Laurence and how I didn’t want to die and leave them behind.

  When the car jerked to a stop, I lifted my head, gasping for air. Arianna’s forehead was pressed against the steering wheel, her dark hair tossed around her face. She wasn’t moving.

  Thinking the worst, I reached out and tapped her arm. “Arianna?”

  She groaned and relief flooded me. As she turned to me, I noticed the gash across her forehead and the blood traveling toward her brow. My heart seized with fear.

  Her shaky hand found the cut and the blood. Examining her now red and glossy fingertips, she cursed.

  Right then I realized I couldn’t do this anymore. I wasn’t cut out for this stuff. All the chaos and danger. I wasn’t like Jade; I wasn’t a fighter. I was a peacekeeper. A baker. All these kn
uckles came in contact with was dough.

  I couldn’t keep doing this.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her, my voice trembling.

  “Yeah… I think so. Just a scratch. We’re just lucky we didn’t hit anything,” she said. “That thing isn’t going to let us take its body without a fight. We gotta get out of here.”

  I agreed.

  Something slammed into Arianna’s side of the car. I screamed again as the car rocked off two wheels and came back down with a loud boom and whine.

  “Christ, it’s trying to flip us!” she shouted.

  I glanced around wildly, trying to find something that could help us.

  I wished Jade was here. She always seemed to come to my rescue when I needed her.

  That reminded me… My rosary. I could use it to contact Elijah, her guardian angel. He could help us.

  With unsteady hands, I pulled my grandmother’s rosary over my head and bunched the beads in my palm. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on the words I needed to say to call on him, but the anxiety of the situation was blocking me. What had he told me to do again? I needed to pray, right? Say his name and—

  Another crash into the side of the car. My entire body smacked against the door, causing the rosary to fly out of my hand and out the broken windshield. The moment the wheels touched down again, the necklace slid across the car’s hood and dropped onto the ground, out of sight.

  Oh no…

  There went our last hope of being rescued.

  Chapter 9

  Arianna wrenched the key in the ignition back and forth while pressing down on the gas. The car sputtered, unable to fully turn over, and the headlights flickered on and off.

  “Start, dammit!” Arianna banged the steering wheel. “Start!”

  Wind whipped into the car through the opened windshield. The next time the car’s lights flashed on, floating black wisps of the spirit appeared in front of us, and Arianna and I screamed.

  Suddenly, those tendrils shot out, wrapped around my arms, and yanked me out through the broken windshield. Jagged pieces of glass scratched my chest and stomach as I was dragged out, and I kicked, trying with everything I had to make it let go.