by Wendy Webb
CHAPTER 39
They all gathered around me in a circle then, Nate, Mr. Baines, and Harriet with Diana facing me.
That’s when I noticed she was holding a large sprig of burning sage in one hand.
“You know that’s a ridiculous waste of time,” something inside me said. “Sage. It’s ghost-busting for dummies. That never works.”
She steeled her eyes. “Oh, yes, it does. And I’m here to call you by your true name, your first name, Temperance Dare, and to send you back to whatever realm of suffering and despair spawned you before you take another life.”
“Good luck with that,” I sneered at her.
“It’s not only us who are joining forces,” she said. “It is the granddaughter of Alice Kendrick, who initially called you out in her journal. It is the granddaughter of Archie Abbott, who worked with Doctor Davidson to rid the world of you.”
“They’re not very lively right now,” I said. “I don’t think they’ll be of much help.”
And then, I—she—unleashed it, the face of death. I could feel it overtaking my own face, erupting from my every pore. Nate, Harriet, and Mr. Baines stood firm, but Diana jumped back, just for a second.
“I know what you are,” she hissed at me. “I am not afraid of you, and you will not win this.”
“Oh, but you’re wrong,” I said, a smile creeping onto my face. “You force me out of this one, I’ll just jump into the next one. Maybe you. Maybe a man this time. That would be interesting.”
“You won’t be able to do that,” Diana said. “Because your host body isn’t going to die.”
I stared at Nate, wide-eyed. He nodded at me. “She’s got that right.”
“How are you so sure the host body needs to die for me to jump?” I hissed back at her.
“Because I’ve spent my life learning about things like you,” Diana said. “Knowledge is power, and I’ve got it, right now. Your sister, Penelope Dare, somewhere deep inside of that body, knew it, and set up this session to rid the world of you. It was her last act. She was a true heroine.”
Inside, I fought as hard as I could, and I could feel the internal struggle of good against evil, of my soul against the demon that had taken up residence within me. I prayed with every ounce of strength I had for help, for a legion of warriors who would help me break free of this thing.
Diana, seemingly sensing what I was doing, opened her arms wide and called out, “It is time. We need the help of all who are trapped here.”
It took a moment, but then I saw a shape appear, and then another, and then another, and then the room was filled with spirits, some well-defined, others shadowy. But I could clearly make out Miss Penny and Chamomile standing next to an older man—Chester Dare. Soon they were as clear and solid as Nate was. I saw another man, obviously Cassandra’s grandfather, standing next to her and stroking her hair.
The Dare family stepped forward, hand in hand.
“We have waited many long years for this day,” Chester said, extending his hand. And then I noticed another woman coming into view. She must be Temperance’s mother.
“I knew, deep inside, where my soul still clung on, cowering in a corner, that you would be the one to help us,” Penelope said to me. “And you,” she said, turning to Diana. “When you applied, I knew it was finally time to stop fighting her plan. I knew letting it come to fruition would be the end of her.”
“When I got one inkling of what was going on here, I knew it, too,” Diana said. “I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”
I could see her clasping hands with Nate and Harriet. She cleared her throat and began.
“We stand together here as one,” Diana shouted, “a force for good, to banish the evil that is Temperance Dare from this world. Every soul you have wronged is here, standing against you.”
I could feel it inside, bubbling and churning, pacing as if it was hitting back and forth against my insides.
Everyone in the room seemed to speak as one, a chorus. “We now call upon the legion of all that’s holy to join with us to banish this evil, forever.”
All at once, the room filled with a blinding light. I screamed—the pain seared through me like a hot knife, slicing away at me, inside. I writhed against it. “Help me, Nate!” I called out. “If you love me, make it stop!”
But he did nothing. I lunged from the chair and tried to fly at him, but the circle—whatever it was on the outside of it—stopped me as though I had hit a brick wall. I reeled back, a shriek of frustration and despair coming from my lips.
And the pain went on, inside. The room began to shake, books fell from their shelves, lamps toppled, and still the pain went on, as though it was eating away at my very soul.
Diana was shouting: “Now with the power of love from the past and the present surrounding Eleanor Harper, and all the souls you have wronged in the past in attendance and speaking as one, we, buoyed by our shared conviction, command you to leave this woman, leave this place, and leave this earth. In the name of God and all that’s holy, I banish you and command that you leave.”
Plaster began to fall from the ceiling. Windows cracked. Long fissures snaked their way through the walls, as though they were aging and crumbling right in front of my eyes. I heard great cracks and booms from inside the house.
I was growling and hissing, but then I saw Henry, and then Richard, burst into the room.
“What in the name of Jesus—” Richard started but then fell silent at the sight of me, there in the chair, and at the sight of everyone in the room.
“What have you done to her, man?” he bellowed at Nate, lunging for him. Nate simply put up a hand and stopped Richard in his tracks.
“I thought the sedative I gave both of you would have kept you asleep so you didn’t have to see this.”
“See what? That you’ve got some sick and twisted group ritual going on?” Richard said, gesturing toward the crowd. “Who are these people?”
“Stop him, my love,” I hissed, from somewhere inside of me. “He’s hurting me.”
But Richard just stared at me. And then turned back to Nate.
Diana broke in, addressing both Richard and Henry. “I’m glad both of you are here,” she said. “Norrie is going to need your help to get through this.”
“Through what?” Henry squeaked out. “What in God’s name is going on here?”
Diana looked at him square in the eye. “Whatever has been haunting Cliffside is now inside of Eleanor,” she said. “We have assembled to get it out.”
“Who has assembled?” Richard broke in, his eyes scanning the room.
Nate said, “All of those who have been hurt by this evil in the past. We can count you as one of our number now.” His eyes shifted to Henry’s. “And you, too. We need you to join with us now.”
Richard’s eyes grew wide as he saw Miss Penny and Chamomile.
“Yes,” Chamomile said. “It’s us. We have never formally met you, Richard. But please stand with us now.”
Henry grabbed Richard’s hand. He extended the other to Miss Penny. Richard did the same. Everyone, one by one, clasped hands. My head whirled around, and I noticed I was surrounded by a ring of people—or spirits—all holding hands. Intertwined into one.
Diana cleared her throat and repeated her refrain. “Now with the power of love from the past and the present surrounding Eleanor Harper, and all the souls you have wronged in the past in attendance and speaking as one, we, buoyed by our shared conviction, command you to leave this woman, leave this place, and leave this earth. In the name of God and all that’s holy, I cast you out and command that you leave.”
The tempest was raging inside of me, like a caged animal.
Diana looked around the room. “Everyone, say it with me.” And the entire room of souls, living and departed, spoke as one. “We command you to leave this woman, leave this place, and leave this earth. In the name of God and all that’s holy, we cast you out!”
I let out one last grea
t roar of pain, and then it was over. I opened my eyes and looked around the room.
“Norrie?” Richard said to me. “Are you all right?”
“I think so,” I said. “I think it’s gone. I can’t feel it anymore.”
It was then I noticed the curtain on the other side of the room was on fire.
“Where’s a fire extinguisher?” Richard shouted at Nate.
But Nate just shook his head. “We need to get the living out of here right away,” he said. “We can’t waste time trying to save this place. Let it burn.”
Richard moved toward me, but Nate grabbed his arm, casting an eye toward Henry. “You get these two out of here,” he said, gesturing to Brynn and Cassandra, who were still out cold on the bed.
“On our own?” Henry said. “I don’t know if I can—”
But Archie Abbott stopped his words. “Don’t worry, mate. This one’s mine. It’s personal.” And he picked up Cassandra, as easily as if she were a feather, and walked through the door.
Richard was on me in a second, taking my hands and pulling me up from my chair. My legs were like limp noodles. I wanted only to put my arms around him, but Nate intervened.
“No,” he said to Richard. “You need to get Brynn out of here. I’ll take care of Eleanor.”
Richard scowled at him, but when Nate scooped me up into his arms, Richard did as he asked.
As the house crumbled and shattered and burned all around us, Nate ran, with me in his arms, down the hallway, down the grand staircase, into the foyer, and finally, thankfully, out the door.
We stopped on the lawn—rapt by the sight before us. As Cliffside burned, a bright light was beaming down over the calm, glassy lake. Stars shone in the sky, but this light was brighter, more beautiful, illuminating the dark water with a shaft of shimmering light. Nate set me down near the others—Harriet and her husband, the Dares, and all the fellows.
I watched as, one after another, the souls captured here at Cliffside, doomed to wander this property until Death itself had left, moved toward that light. It was proof that Temperance was truly gone. One by one, they disappeared into the brightness.
“Unbelievable,” Diana murmured. “It’s so beautiful.”
And it was. Richard’s eyes were brimming with tears; Henry was staring, open-mouthed. We all knew we needed to get Brynn and Cassandra to the hospital, but we couldn’t tear ourselves away, not just yet.
Chester Dare was standing near Nate and Diana, and put a hand on each of their backs. “It seems that she’s gone, for good this time,” he said. “The words thank you are insufficient, yet they’re all that I have.”
Nate smiled. “We’ve been fighting this fight for years, my friend,” he said. “Now our work is done. It took a few strong women to help us pull it off.”
“It was my pleasure,” Diana said, beaming.
And then Chamomile was standing before me. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close. “There is a whole lifetime of things I want to say to you, Eleanor,” she said, her voice soft in my ear. “Had circumstances been different, we would have had that lifetime together. Temperance took that from both of us.” She pulled back to look into my face. “I am so very proud of the woman you have become. And I’ll be watching out for you.”
I couldn’t speak. So it was true, then. I was Chamomile Dare’s daughter.
Chester turned to his wife and daughters, who, like all of us, were rapt by the light above the lake. “Well, girls,” he said. “This chapter has finally, thankfully come to a close. Who knows what the next one will bring?”
“I think we’re about to find out, Father,” Penelope said to him, a wide grin on her face. “Goodbye, Eleanor. And thank you.”
And the four of them held hands and disappeared.
I turned to Harriet and Mr. Baines, wondering what would become of them now that Cliffside was in flames, but their expressions stopped the question I was about to ask. They were beaming at each other.
“Is it time we get going, too, Mr. Baines?” Harriet said to her husband.
“Long since time, Mrs. Baines. Long since time.”
She turned to me. “I’ll be watching, too,” she said. “You went through hell to set us all free. All of us, make no mistake, are grateful to you. I wish you all the best in whatever life has in store for you, darling girl. Live it well. Make the most of every day.”
Mr. Baines extended his arm to her and she took it, and I watched in wonder as they floated off toward the light together.
I noticed Archie Abbott, still holding Cassandra. He shook his head in answer to the question I didn’t pose. “I’m not going anywhere until she’s taken care of,” he said. “I’ll get her to the hospital myself, now that I can leave the property. After that, we’ll see.”
I felt an ache in my heart as I turned to Nate. “Are you going, too?”
He encircled me in a hug. “Despite all of this madness, I’m so grateful I got the chance to meet you,” he said, his eyes brimming with tears. “I wish so badly it had been under different circumstances, that all of this hadn’t happened to you. I wish we could have sat together on my front porch, laughing and having cocktails for years to come while you ran Cliffside. More than that, I wish we had lived in the same time. But it wasn’t to be. I know that.”
“All that you’ve done for me, I can’t ever—”
He touched my lips and shook his head. “I’d do it all again, and more, to get you away from that monster. I love you, Eleanor, and I always will.”
I looked up at him through tear-soaked eyes, my heart breaking. “This can’t be the end. I can’t not see you again. You mean too much to me.”
He ran a hand through my hair. “I’d love to stay and do everything in my power to muscle that other guy out of your life,” he said. “But that wouldn’t be fair to you, Norrie. We both know it. And there’s someplace else I’m supposed to be.” He flashed that impish grin of his, one last time. “But you never know. If you hear something go bump in the night, it just might be me.”
Just then, I saw an enormous black-and-white dog bounding across the lawn toward us. Nate bent down to ruffle his thick fur. “Ranger,” he murmured, his eyes glistening. “I haven’t seen you in years, boy.”
He looked back at me. “I think my escort has arrived,” he said, smiling brighter than I had ever seen him smile. “I’ll be seeing you, Norrie Harper.” With the dog leading the way, I watched Nate vanish into the light, waving to me. I watched until the light, too, vanished, leaving only the night sky, full of stars.
CHAPTER 40
A scream jolted me awake. Richard was there, holding me in an instant, and I realized I had been the one screaming. “Another bad dream?” he asked.
I coughed and looked around. We were in a room I recognized, sharing a queen-sized bed. The walls were plaster, painted a soft yellow. Several windows were letting the morning sun shine through.
I yawned and stretched and slowly came back to myself. Oh, yes. We were in Richard’s house in Cornwall, England. We had come here together after that last ghastly, yet beautiful, night at Cliffside. I couldn’t remember all of it, not then. It was like my brain was shutting out what was too painful for me to endure, allowing me to only remember the good stuff, the happy times. But bits and pieces had been haunting my dreams for months.
We had settled into life together now, but early on, it wasn’t an easy road for us. I questioned everything. I missed Nate terribly, and I wasn’t sure if I, Norrie, really loved Richard, or if Temperance had been the one loving him all along. I knew it was silly, and I knew it could never be, but I began to suspect I was in love with a ghost. I entertained thoughts of leaving, of setting up a life of my own and simply waiting to join Nate when the time came. But something Harriet had said to me lingered in my mind—live life to the fullest. I knew I couldn’t simply wait to die like so many had at Cliffside. I had to embrace the here and now.
And so, over the first weeks and months we were in Cornwall
, Richard’s love for me pulled me along. He was so patient, so kind. We really got to know each other there, in his house on the edge of the sea. Each day something new about him tugged at my heartstrings. Each day, he made me laugh. It didn’t take long for me to truly know the feelings I had for him were real. I still don’t know which of them I would’ve chosen, had I a choice to make. But I knew I loved Richard Banks now. And he loved me back.
Later that morning, we were in the kitchen drinking coffee when there was a knock at the door.
Richard opened it to find Diana standing there. “What are you doing here?” he asked her. “I thought I told you to stay away.”
“I don’t care what you told me,” she said, pushing past him. “I’m here for Norrie.”
“Diana?” I said, standing up from my chair.
She nodded. “That’s right, Eleanor,” she said to me. “I’m here to see how you are.”
Against Richard’s loud protests and better judgment, I spent the rest of the day with Diana, learning. As we walked along Cornwall’s windswept coastline, we talked of our time at Cliffside, and slowly, the memories began to return.
She told me what happened to the others, after we all fled the property that horrible night, making our way through the woods to the road that led to town.
Both Brynn and Cassandra spent weeks in the hospital and longer than that in therapy after they were released, but both recovered. Neither remembered what happened to them—what Temperance did to them. Only time would tell how complete their recoveries would be. Henry went back to his home down south and continued his painting. And Diana herself had given up her position as a professor of poetry and begun teaching a course in demonology, wanting to pass on her knowledge.
It seemed like everyone was getting along just fine. Except for me. But I suppose that was to be expected. They had all gone through a trauma, but I was at the epicenter of it all.
A few days have passed since Diana’s visit. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully move past what happened to me during those few weeks at Cliffside. You just don’t forget an evil that strong, residing inside you. But I’ll do all I can with what I have, and I’m determined to follow Harriet’s advice. Life is for the living, and I’ll grab every ounce of joy I can.
