Krysta's Curse

by West, Tara

  That he actually took off work to come here. Like my dad really cared what I did.

  Now we were arguing in his rust-bucket car because he refused to go into AJ’s house.

  “Don’t you want to see Sunny’s killer go to jail?” I spat while folding my arms across my chest. I was in no mood to argue. I was tired and a spring in my dad’s crappy car seat was poking my butt.

  “I don’t give a damn about her,” he growled while clenching the steering wheel. Then his voice dropped to barely a whisper. “I only care about you.”

  “Yeah, right,” I laughed while rolling my eyes.

  He was acting way out of character and I didn’t like it. Where was the drunk who only wanted me out of his hair? This new dad was weirding me out.

  “Krysta.” He grimaced, squeezing the steering wheel so tight that veins popped out of his neck. “Don’t start with me on that.” Letting go of the steering wheel, he pointed a finger at me. “And another thing, if I ever hear about you biking to the lake in the middle of the night again, you’ll be grounded for life.”

  “How would you do that?” I shrugged. “You’re never around to ground me.”

  “That’s enough. Buckle up!” He pounded the steering wheel with both fists.

  I jumped at his sudden show of force, but I wasn’t deterred. Dad had never hit me, but maybe that was because he was too busy ignoring me. “So I get to come home now?”

  “Yes.” He spoke through a clenched jaw while starting the ignition.

  “I still have to get my stuff from AJ’s bedroom.”

  “Well, hurry up,” he snapped.

  Reluctantly, I fumbled for the handle on the door. I didn’t want to go into AJ’s house and have him drive off. Some part of me didn’t trust my dad to wait around and I still had questions for him.

  “We’re not done.” I let go of the handle while forcing my gaze level with his. A slight tremor was rattling my insides. I wasn’t afraid of him. I just wasn’t used to talking—really talking with him.

  But this issue had been weighing on my mind all the way home from the lake and was too important to dismiss.

  His brow furrowed, as he rubbed the stubble on his chin. “What?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about my mom?” I spoke through a voice fraught with emotion. Even the mention of Adela and I turned into a big pile of self- pitying goo.

  Dad slouched in his seat, moaning into his palms. “Garza told you?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, unable to say more.

  Sitting upright, he pulled his hands from his face. The lines around Dad’s eyes appeared deeper as he turned to me with a stern glare. “Now’s not the time for this.”

  I threw up my hands, determined not to let him brush me off. “When is a good time, Dad? When am I not a major inconvenience to your life?”

  “You’re not an inconvenience to me, Krysta. I just never planned for our lives to go this way.” He lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “You have no idea how hard it is for a single father to raise a teenage girl.”

  By the way he emphasized the word ‘single’, I knew what he was implying. He hadn’t expected Mom to die and leave him with all the work. One thing he failed to realize was that he wasn’t doing all the work. His neglect had forced me to be a self- sufficient teenager. “You’re not raising me, Dad. I’ve been raising myself.”

  “I’m sorry.” He sighed while running a hand through his messy, coarse hair. “I haven’t been the best father.”

  I rolled my eyes while laughing under my breath. “Major understatement.”

  “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” Dad smiled, though his eyes appeared glossy.

  He didn’t smell like alcohol tonight. Either he was trying to play the not-drunk-father and had disguised his breath or he was actually ready to cry.

  My heart ached a little, but my brain refused to show him any pity. Why should I when he was never around when I needed him?

  “I don’t do drugs. I don’t sneak out with guys. I get good grades—none of it thanks to you,” I growled, angry with him for his neglect in the past and pissed at him for waiting until now to show me any fatherly feelings.

  “I know.” He nodded, his voice sounding choked, before he turned from me and stared out the side window.

  So this was my big confrontation with my dad? Him agreeing that he’s been a major butthead?

  I kind of felt deflated, and for a moment, I had forgotten why we were arguing in the first place.

  Adela.

  “Why didn’t you tell me I had a different mom?” I spoke through clenched teeth. “One who spoke to the dead.”

  All these years I grew up thinking I was a freak. If I had known I had a mom who was just like me, I would have felt so much better.

  Dad jerked, turning to me with glare. “Why was Garza telling you this?”

  Dad knew I had the gift, too. I felt it in his panicked voice. I could read it in the way he looked at me—through me.

  “Why do you think, Dad?” I raged. He knew about her psychic ability. He knew I spoke to the dead, too, but all this time he ignored it—ignored me!

  “Garza is not pulling you into a murder case!” He slammed his fists against the steering wheel again, this time rattling the dashboard. “I knew this would happen!”

  My stomach jerked at his reaction. Rage was not a trait I’d been used to seeing in my dad. In fact, I’d never seen Dad show much of any emotion before.

  Until now, he’d always been my drunk, complacent dad. A minimum-wage rent-a-cop whose sole purpose was to drink beer and pick up trailer trash. Dad wasn’t supposed to have feelings.

  In a sudden shift of mood, Dad’s hands fell to his sides. His chest caved inward while he dropped his gaze to his lap. “I hear you talking to them,” he whispered.

  “You do?” It was more of a statement than a question. I guess maybe I couldn’t believe he was acknowledging my curse.

  “Yeah.” He sighed, while slouching in his seat. “Especially at night. That’s when they used to visit your mom.”

  My throat went dry and then choked with emotion. She was like me in so many ways. I knew I’d have a better understanding of myself if she was here with me now.

  Why isn’t she here with me now?

  My mother was dead, but she didn’t have to be dead to me.

  Unless she was in a dark place like Sunny.

  Neither of us spoke for several moments. Too many thoughts were running through my brain and I didn’t know what to say next. I did realize that talking about my mom was too much for me right now. Too much raw, unchecked emotion. I needed to adjust to the fact that Adela was my mom. That she died, and for some reason, she wasn’t visiting me.

  When I looked over at Dad, my jaw dropped.

  Silent tears streamed down his face as he stared blankly into his palms. What was he feeling? Did he miss her, too? I suddenly understood better why he drank. It didn’t make it right, but it explained a lot.

  Maybe that’s why he ignored me. What if I reminded him too much of her? Or maybe he was just too depressed to take care of me.

  Either way, it didn’t matter now. A killer could go free if I didn’t help Officer Garza.

  Clearing my throat, I summoned the courage to speak. “All I want to do is put a killer behind bars. If I could just ask Sunny where he put the gloves.”

  Dad’s eyes lit up again, a raging fire burning beneath two wide orbs. “He could go after you if he finds out you’re involved!” he yelled.

  “He’s in jail, Dad.” I forced a shrill laugh, trying to make it seem as if he was making a big deal out of nothing. “Let me help with this one case. Let me help Sunny.”

  He shook his head. “Just one murder case. That’s how your mom got started. Soon Garza will be knocking on our door every week.”

  “This is different,” I pleaded. “I knew Sunny when she was alive. I have to help her.”

  Leaning his head against the driver’s window, Dad heaved a sigh.
Closing his eyes, he spoke with a voice thick with pain. “God, you’re so much like your mother.”

  Folding my arms across my chest, I was resolved to win this battle. “If you drive me back to the lake tonight, we can get this over with.”

  His eyes flew open and he turned to me with a strange expression—half scowl, half smile. “Are you serious?”

  “Fine.” I shrugged, turning my gaze to a chipped fingernail, pretending I didn’t need his help. “I’ll just wait ‘till you’re at work and go by myself.”

  “No!” Dad swallowed, his chest heaved with a deep breath and then he squeezed his kneecaps with shaky hands. “If I take you tonight, you’ve got to promise me this will be the last time.”

  He was going to take me! My dad was actually involved in my life.

  My chest warmed, a huge smile spreading across my face. “I promise.”

  “And no more talking to Garza,” he commanded in a stern voice. “You can tell me where the gloves are and I’ll contact him.”

  Just getting Dad to agree to take me to the lake was a huge accomplishment and I wasn’t about to blow it by demanding I talk to Garza. “Okay.”

  Groaning, he rolled his head back, slumping against the seat in a sign of defeat. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”

  I couldn’t either, but I was grateful, very grateful for his involvement in my life. For once, he actually showed he cared.

  “Thanks, Dad.” Leaning over, I kissed his cheek. He kind of looked like he needed it. Besides, I wanted him to understand how important his involvement was to me.

  I was almost afraid to get my stuff from AJ’s house now. I feared he’d change his mind and bolt, but I pushed aside my worries and ran into AJ’s house, packing within a matter of minutes.

  To my relief, he was still in the car when I ran out the door. Looking through the windshield, I almost forgot that the man in the driver’s seat was my dad.

  He wore a grim expression, but I read tenderness in his soft gaze.

  Did he really care about me?

  ****

  “Sunny?” Though dawn was breaking, the lake felt colder, more desolate. Even with my dad standing only a few feet behind me, I’d never had such a feeling of emptiness. Like a giant tornado had sucked my soul from my chest. I recognized this feeling whenever I was near Sunny’s spirit, but with each visit, it was getting worse. Was her world growing darker? Was I feeling her emptiness?

  “Sunny?” I cried again. I knew by the darkness inside my heart, she was nearby. So why wasn’t she answering?

  “Who’s he?” The voice echoed inside my head, around me, then it resonated behind me.

  She was standing next to my dad, looking at him with a sideways glare.

  I didn’t like it.

  A powerful urge swept through me.

  Get Dad away from here.

  I held out both palms. “He’s my dad.”

  She continued to leer at him through pale features.

  Dad looked at me wide-eyed, standing perfectly still.

  He must have felt her presence, too.

  “He won’t hurt you.” I spoke each word with care. Instinct told me she needed to know he came in peace.

  Her gaze dropped from him before she turned cold eyes on me. “Why are you here?”

  “I don’t want to bother you.” I swallowed, preparing for the next question. I didn’t want to stay here any longer than I had to, so I decided to get to the point. “I just want to know where Raymond’s gloves are.”

  “His gloves?” She spoke with no feeling, but her eyes narrowed to slits.

  The mention of his gloves angered her.

  “Yeah,” I stuttered. “He, he was wearing them when he…”

  Tilting her chin, she glared at me with defiance in her translucent eyes. “When he hurt me?”

  “Yeah.” The mouse inside me squeaked.

  “In our special place.” Her heated stare was still on me, growing more ominous by the second.

  “What special place?” I asked through a shaky voice, not realizing until this moment how much my entire frame was shaking.

  Why did this particular ghost rattle my nerves so much when none before her had this effect on me? Would it always be this way with souls who were murdered?

  “Why do you want to know about our cave?”

  Her hiss sliced through me, sending more chills up my spine.

  “Cave?” So that was their special place. The tension in my neck and back coiled even more. I really wanted to ditch this place, but the information I needed was almost in my grasp. “If we find the cave, we can use the gloves to put him in jail.”

  “He didn’t mean to hurt me!” Her shrill, hollow scream, shattered the cool air.

  And my nerves.

  My legs felt like they would buckle, but I had to finish this thing. Squeezing the tension from my body into two tight fists, I squared my shoulders, hardly believing I was actually defying her. “Yes, he did, Sunny. What he did was wrong.”

  “No!” She screamed.

  Branches from the nearby trees shook.

  My dad swore, his eyes looking ready to pop out of his head.

  I forced myself to be still, hardening my face and narrowing my eyes. Neither of them could see I was scared. I wouldn’t let Sunny use her ghoulish force to bully me and Dad didn’t need an excuse to make me leave.

  “Sunny, you are dead.” I spoke with strength and determination in my voice. “And it’s not a good dead. You’re in a dark place because you were murdered.”

  “No.” Sunny jerked back, then shook her head. “I can’t be talking to you if I’m dead.” Her response floated on a whisper.

  Her lip turned down in a pout while her translucent limbs shook. She’d instantly transformed from frightening to frightened.

  I swallowed hard, then slowly began to breathe deeper. I didn’t want to look too confident, but I inwardly smiled. My show of strength was working.

  “Sunny, I can talk to spirits.”

  “If I wait here, he’ll come for me. He’ll take me to our cave.” She looked beyond me, her gaze lost somewhere on the water.

  “No!” I barked, summoning all the strength I could muster. This was my last shot to make her accept death. “He’s not coming. He’s in jail for killing you.”

  Her hands flew to her mouth, muffling a scream that not only shook the trees but rattled the stagnant air. “You’re lying!”

  Her spirit vanished into the trees, sucked into some unseen hole until she was no larger than a pin of light.

  Then nothing.

  I gasped, too stunned to speak for an interminable second. “Sunny, please come back! I don’t know what to do.” I called into the darkness, knowing my efforts were wasted.

  I’d never seen a ghost disappear like that. She had left me disoriented and confused. Where did she go? What was that hole she’d slipped into?

  “There’s nothing you can do.”

  Dad’s voice brought me back to reality. As I looked up at his somber expression, I noted all the sharp, severe angles of his face before his image blurred. The flood of tears that filled my eyes made it difficult to see clearly.

  Pulling me into his arms, he kissed my forehead and spoke against my ear. “She needs to come to terms with this on her own.”

  A new wave of tears gushed down my face and I sobbed out loud into his shirt.

  How could this have happened? I was only trying to help. Where did she go? Was this an even darker place than before? Was this why Adela never spoke to me? Was my mom in that hole, too?

  But that wasn’t the only reason I was crying. My dad was finally here for me.

  Hugging me.

  I sank deeper into his embrace, not caring if I messed up my makeup. Besides, I’d already ruined it earlier tonight.

  Slowly, Dad pulled away from me.

  Inwardly, I sighed, missing his affection, but I wouldn’t tell him I needed another hug.

  I suspected he’d had enough of
my drama for one night.

  “Your mom had cases like this.” He spoke while pulling a wadded up napkin from his pocket and handing it to me. “What did Sunny tell you?”

  I looked at the napkin and an involuntary groan escaped my lips. He expected me to use this on my face. I wanted to laugh, but didn’t. Despite everything that happened tonight, Dad was still Dad.

  “She’s waiting here for him to take her to a cave.” I said while using a corner of the napkin to dab my eye. “I don’t get it. Where is there a cave on the lake?”

  “Look there across the water.” He pointed beyond my shoulder. “They probably took a boat.”

  Turning, I followed the direction of his extended finger. The blinding orange glow of dawn’s first light made it difficult to see anything. I could vaguely see a faint outline of something, maybe an island. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Krysta, let it go.” Dad turned me back to face him. The lines around his eyes were set deeper, making him look like he’d aged ten years in the past hour. “I’ll tell Garza about the cave.”

  Looking at the man I called my father, I saw more than just a washed-up cop, a failed parent. Somewhere beneath his dark eye-circles, I saw the remnants of a strong man. My chest welled up with hope. Maybe he could be that man again.

  I knew my mom’s death had a lot to do with who he’d become.

  But maybe…

  A crazy thought crossed my mind. What if I brought her back in spirit? He might not be able to see her, but I would speak to him through her. Together, Adela and I could bring back my old dad and I could have the mom I’d always wanted.

  Kind of.

  First, though, I’d need to find Adela.

  A lump formed in my chest at the thought of her lost to me. At the thought of her in a dark place.

  “Dad?” “Yeah.”

  “How come Mom never visits me?” He seemed to know about the ghosts who visited her. Maybe she’d told him how to find missing spirits.

  “I don’t know.” He spoke quickly before turning away, his back rigid.

  He does know.

  He stomped off to the forest trail which led to our car. I had to walk quickly to keep up with his pace.

  Fresh tears threatened at the backs of my eyes. I had to use all of my strength to keep from crying again. “Is she in a dark place, too?”