by M A Roth
Cathy came out of the store, looking happy with all her bags. Her eyes met mine and a look of disgust filled them. “Really, Abby, you need to eat,” she said and started to walk.
I trailed after her and the ghost after me.
“Please, I need my family to know that I loved them, and I’m sorry!” Her voice was filled with pain, but I just hoped she would give up soon and leave me alone.
We stopped at a small coffee shop. I took a seat as Cathy went to order food. The ghost still hovered.
“My name is Stacey Moore. I live at 145 St. Vincent’s park. I’m nineteen.” I turned my chair away as she rambled on, telling me about herself and her family; one younger sister, a mother, and her father died years ago. She was drunk while driving her boyfriend Jack’s car and they crashed. He fled the scene and left her to die. “Please, I need you to tell my mum that I’m sorry!”
I let out a ragged breath, she wasn’t giving up. “Fine!” I mumbled under my breath.
Shock was the first thing that covered her face before she smiled. “You really can see and hear me. Oh, wow! This is brilliant. I can’t believe this.”
I raised my hand to stop her before she started with loads of requests. Some ghosts thought we were their personal assistants, going from house to house to relay their messages and then, some of them didn’t want to cross over.
“I’ll do it. Now, go away!” I said as Cathy sat down giving me an odd look. She gave the space that Stacey filled a look too before focusing on me again.
I shook my head to let her know that we had a ghost. She didn’t see them. It wasn’t her gift. Cathy was secretive about hers, but I had often seen what she could do. When someone died, she could tell from the colour of the soul if they were going to heaven or hell. She could only use her ability in the first three days of the person’s death, after that she couldn’t see them. But if it was a fresh death, she also got images of why. It might not seem like much of a gift, but it had caused her great heartache in her younger years. Her grandfather had died, and she had known that he was going to hell and exactly why. She had flipped out and caused a huge scene, telling everyone what she had seen. It didn’t take long for her to be jabbed with a syringe and medicated. She never shared what she had discovered, but soon after, she left her family and found Father Peter. I had seen her with others when someone was going to heaven. Cathy’s face would transform as she would tell us what good they did. She looked happy at moments like that. It was rare to see Cathy vulnerable and real. Most of the time she was smart and bitchy.
“You are so weird, Abby.” She sat down, arranging our chips and burgers.
I started to eat, starving. “You’re normal, Cathy. A demon hunter is the rage, nowadays!” I said with my mouth full.
She threw a chip at me, hitting me on the forehead. “Shut up and eat.” She leaned across before looking around her. “Is it gone?” she asked.
I looked at Stacey, who was still there staring at us.
“Yes, she left once you arrived saying she got bad vibes off you,” I said innocently, stuffing another chip in my mouth.
She huffed and then shivered. “Are you sure?” She looked so relieved.
I tried not to laugh. “Yeah, she’s gone.”
“No, I’m not!” Stacey said, moving in front of Cathy. Half of her body was in the table, covering our food.
“Stacey, our food, do you mind?” I said as Stacey turned to me and then moved away.
I was met by Cathy’s outraged look. “You said it was gone!”
I shrugged. “I lied.”
“You’ll go to hell for that.”
“I wish that were true,” I said under my breath.
One of Cathy’s eyebrows arched high. I mentally kicked myself for not monitoring my mouth.
“It was a joke, Cathy.” I stuffed my face, and Cathy finally started eating her food too.
Stacey hovered around, moving in front of people, trying to see if anyone else could see her. A few shivered or looked around, but no one seemed to notice her, except for a small child in a buggy, his eyes watching her move from space to space.
Every child had the sight, and it left them around the age of five. As adults, we tell them that its imaginary friends, or that things like the monsters under their beds don’t exist. Yeah, right, if only they could see what was under their beds, but it’s drilled into their heads enough that they don’t exist and the spirits soon become non-existent. They are still there, we just can’t see them and children are useless; it’s not like a two-year-old can relay a message or do anything for them. Some ghosts find them entertaining, but that only lasts for a while.
When Stacey saw us leaving, she waved to the little boy who waved back, much to his mother’s confusion, and followed us.
“So do you want me to come with you when you visit my mum?” she asked.
I got into the car as Cathy put all her bags in the boot. Stacey made herself appear in the back.
“Yeah, sure.”
Cathy gave me a look as she got in, but didn’t say anything. Once we arrived at my apartment, I rooted my keys out of my pocket.
“I’ll meet you guys later,” I said.
“Don’t forget to change,” Cathy said as I climbed out of her car and into my own with Stacey following me.
Chapter Fourteen
Abigail
It took us nearly an hour to locate Stacey’s house. Her memory wasn’t great, and we’d visited four estates before we found hers.
“This is it!” she said, and her enthusiasm died as I made my way to the door. She fidgeted with her hands, nervous now. Her fingers brushed through her golden hair and that’s when her wounds became visible; I watched as Stacey put the pieces of her death together, like all spirits who bring to memory their deaths, her wounds began to resurface. She was remembering what happened, and I tried not to look away as the transformation began. Half of her skull was bashed in and blood started to taint her hair and clothes.I looked away as my stomach heaved. I couldn’t watch anymore.
“Do I look okay?” she asked.
I swallowed and gave her a smile. “You look great.” No point in telling her that she looked like something from a horror movie.
The door opened, and before I could say hello, Stacey started mumbling, “Mum.” But the woman looked at me… waiting, not hearing her daughter.
“Mrs. Moore, do you have a moment, please?” She looked at me, unsure. I really shouldhave changed. “I’m a friend of Stacey’s,” I said.
The woman opened the door and her eyes filled with sorrow, “Come in, dear.”
I crossed the threshold and Stacey followed, her movements becoming stiff.
Something felt off, really wrong. Maybe it was Stacey being home. I sat down on a worn brown settee, my body not settling.
Mrs. Moore sat across from me, her hands knotted together “How did you say you knew my daughter?” she asked while looking around nervously as if she could feel the shift in the atmosphere.
I looked at Stacey, but she was unsettled. Her body was phasing in and out and alarm was on her face.
“What was your name?” Mrs. Moore’s voice came through my cloud of thought.
I looked at her weary face now. “Abigail,” I answered as I looked back at Stacey, who was almost invisible now.
Something was really wrong here. Bad vibes hit me in waves, and my stomach knotted.
“Is there anyone else here?” I asked.
Mrs. Moore stood, looking alarmed. “I think it’s best if you leave.”
I stood too, with no intentions of leaving. I looked around the small sitting room. Photos of the family adorned the wall, three blonde girls, Mrs. Moore, who looked healthy and happy, and a tall man with a deep set of blue eyes and the blond hair that he had given to his two beautiful daughters. Stacey was smiling in the photo, wearing a snow white summer dress, the same one she had appeared to me in.
“When was this photo taken?” I asked.
“Five y
ears ago. Now, I think it’s best if you leave!” she said, looking afraid for the first time. Stacey’s outline started to appear.
“What age was Stacey when she died?”
Mrs. Moore looked about ready to bolt from the room, but I grabbed her arm. “She was fifteen. It was an accident,” she said as her eyes filled with tears.
“You lied to me!” I said to Stacey as she hovered at the door.
“Just like you lied to your friend.” Something sinister crossed her face.
“Oh no, I’m sorry. Please, don’t let her hurt me!” Mrs. Moore was on her knees, with her hands in a praying gesture.
The woman’s eyes were pleading, terrified as her eyes went to the area that Stacey now vacated. The light bulb overhead started to glow brightly and smashed into a million pieces, raining down on us. I covered my head as small bits pierced my skin. I hated when they did that.
“Where are you?” Stacey roared and the photos on the wall started to shake, leaping from the wall before crashing to the ground. Her outline glowered an ugly red as her anger grew. She would take down the whole house.
“Mammy!” The scream of a terrified young girl came from upstairs. I met Stacey’s eyes as she disappeared through the ceiling and the girl’s screams became blood curdling. I raced up the stairs as ornaments and pictures were flung in every direction.
I dodged as much as I could, but still got hit all the same. When I opened the door where the screams were coming from, Stacey had turned into something ugly. Her outline now black as blood dripped from her. The young girl’s room was smashed to pieces. The only piece of furniture still in place was the bed where the little girl sat, her knees drawn up to her chest as she tried to protect herself. The bed levitated off the floor. I could hear her mother’s soft whispers of prayer as she stayed downstairs. Maybe fear kept her rooted, or she believed that God would intervene. Good luck with that, I thought.
“Stacey Moore, your time ends now in this world” I removed my cross and the bottle of holy water from the inside of my coat, and as I started to splash her with it, the bed hit the floor with a thud and all movement ceased as Stacey turned to me.
Her face became young again. Innocence radiated from her now large green eyes. “He hurt me so bad, who will make him pay? Who will remind them of what they let him get away with? What about me? Does no one care about me?” Her face started to darken again. I needed to keep this spirit calm. A soft glow beside the little girl started to get brighter. Her guardian angel becoming more protective. Stacey laughed. “Where was my angel when he bashed my head in?”
She raced towards me with an angry scream and everything turned dark.
***
I opened my eyes but couldn’t see my own hand in front of me. I stood on shaky legs. A whisper brushed the back of my neck. I turned holding out my hands, trying to feel what was behind me, but my hands brushed through air. Laughter came from my right and I moved in that direction, but once again, I could only see darkness. Then a small light moved towards me and Stacey’s face jumped out, causing a scream to leap from my throat. I took a step back, trying to regain my composure. I hated when they did that. Half of her face was smashed in, the skull sunken from where a large object had bashed it and blood soaked her face and dress.
“I know what you are and I want them to pay!” she said.
Blood had seeped into one of her eyes, making it glow with an angry red hue. The other eye sloped at an odd angle where the skull was no longer supporting it.
“I’m a demon hunter. I don’t hurt people,” I said as she moved closer. I looked around, but still couldn’t see anything. “Where am I?” I asked as this had never happened before.
“You’re inside my head. I needed you to myself for a moment before he came.” She smiled, cracking the blood that had coated her lips. “I know you can hurt them for me,” she said. I wasn’t playing her games, no one was coming she was trying to scare me.
“Release me now, or I will send you to the pits of hell!” I held her stare, even against how gruesome she looked.
“Have you ever been to hell, Abigail?” she asked sweetly.
“Stacey, this is your last warning, Release me, now!” I said.
Tightness filled my chest, making it hard to breathe. My knees buckled as my vision blurred, and I only had a split second to brace myself as she raced for me, her hands held high, and then she was gone. I looked up and around me, but once again, I was in darkness. The air filled my lungs and the taste of sulfur was overpowering. I stood too quickly as dizziness rushed me; something was here with me, something worse than Stacey. Maybe it was the person who she was talking about. Goose bumps broke out along my arms and the hair rose on the back of my neck. “He’s here!” I turned to the voice and Stacey stared down at me, anger now etched on her face. “My time has run out, Hunter!” she growled, before she raked her now long nails down my face.
I screamed in agony, my own hands trying to protect myself, but no more pain came. I turned, and she was gone. My face stung and my hands trembled as I reached up and touched it gently. Warmth coated my fingertips and I could feel the blood dripping from my face. She had dug deep.
Ten voices came to me at once. I couldn’t find the source or understand the language, but two words were repeated constantly until the noise became louder and louder, “Everto parvulus”. The temperature had dropped, and I shivered with the cold. My hair was starting to freeze, and the ends held small icicles. The voices stopped and silence filled its void, just before light poured into the darkness. It was too bright, and I shielded my face. A roar of anger filled my ears, a roar that I recognized as Zee’s. It sent all my nerves on edge. Air raced towards me along with the light. It was only a blur that passed me, but I knew it was Zee, and then light spread into the room and I could see the demon, its face was contracting into other faces. Each face brought a fresh terror, and then it paused on one and my legs gave out.
“Dad,” I whispered, and then nothing.
***
I woke to someone shaking me gently and my eyes fluttered open and met Zee’s deep blue ones.
“Abigail,” he said so softly, and then pulled me into his arms, embracing me tightly.
“Zee, I can’t breathe,” I said, and he let me go. The stinging in my face made me cringe, but I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was back in Stacey’s sister’s room. “What happened? Where is Stacey? Is everyone okay? How did you get here? I saw my dad!” On the last words, I could feel my lip tremble, but I reined in my emotions and looked around once again for Stacey and her sister, but the room was empty.
“She’s gone to where she belongs and her sister is fine, but her mother…” His words trailed off.
“Oh no, don’t tell me Stacey hurt her?” I said, rising on shaky legs and making my way out of the room.
Zee followed on my heels. “She had a heart attack.” I raced down the stairs and paused at the sitting room door. Stacey’s sister sat on the ground, holding her mother’s body, sobbing. I turned away, giving her some privacy. Zee took my hand in his. I looked up and my stomach tightened with the intensity on his face. He pulled me further down the hall. I squirmed under his brief examination. A look of regret soon filled his features before he spoke. “I called it in,” he said, and I looked at him in shock.
“Why? It wasn’t anything we did. I’m not even meant to be here!” I squinted with my good eye while keeping the other shut as it stung from the blood that had dripped slowly into it.
Zee didn’t answer, but placed his hands on my face and I could feel the gouges that Stacey had left on my face close up slowly, my skin knitting itself back together.
“Go wash your face, they should be here soon and try to rinse out your eye,” he said.
I nodded and moved into the kitchen.
The cold water felt good on my skin, but my body still trembled. My dad was in that demon. He was trapped. I could feel tears burning my eyes. I felt like my worst fears were confirmed - my
dad was in hell, and I would find him and my mum, even if it was the last thing I ever did.
Zee’s hand pressed gently on my back. I didn’t jump at his sudden appearance. I was used to it by now. I let the warmth of his hands soak into me. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the closeness of his body.
“How did you know I was in danger?” I asked, but my voice was no more than a whisper. He didn’t answer, but I could feel his hand on my back tensing, just then, the front door opened. And the house was a frenzy of activity. Zee pulled away from me and I turned as two men made their way into the sitting room, not caring for the poor girl. “Have some respect, please!” I barked, making my way towards the two men.
They paused.
“Abigail, you’re in over your head already without shouting orders.” I turned to Mark as the two men continued into the sitting room.
“What in God’s name happened here and what happened to your eye?” Mark asked, and by the looks of it, I wasn’t going to walk out of this one.
I watched as Stacey’s mum and sister were taken out of the house where an ambulance lit up the small street. Some neighbors had come out of their homes to see what all the commotion was about.
“Abigail.” Mark clicked his fingers in front of me and Zee took a step towards him with his jaw clenched.
“Daniel, unless you were here for this whole ordeal, I suggest you either wait outside, or keep quiet!” Mark had a look of no nonsense on his face.
I gave Zee’s hand a squeeze, telling him to back down.
“Stacey approached me at the mall and asked for my help. She wanted me to tell her mother she was sorry, but when I got here, I knew something was wrong.” I took a deep breath, trying to make sense of what had happened. “From what Stacey was saying, her father had murdered her and then she moved upstairs to where her sister was. I ran up the stairs and then I blacked out,” I said, unsure of how to explain that I was in Stacey’s head, or about the demons that were there with me. My dad’s face flashed in my mind, and my chest tightened once again, threatening to cut off my air supply.
