Ghost of a Chance Book 1 in Above the Grave Trilogy

by Kara Kirkendoll

  Brendan whipped around then to face her. He shook the stone in one hand as he pointed at the window with the other. “This is not a joke, Drew! What if you had been in bed? You could have burned to death in your sleep! Do ye not understand what kind of danger you are in?”

  “No, Brendan! I don’t understand! I don’t understand a damn thing! It isn’t every day that a woman shares a home with and befriends a ghost! It isn’t every day that that same said woman is threatened by some pissed off witches! If breaking a damn crystal ball is that horrible to them than they shouldn’t have made it out of crystal… crystal breaks! I will go back in the morning and I will apologize. Would that make you feel better? Do you think that is going to fix everything?”

  “Drew, are you sure that witches did this?” Liza asked staring at the paper in Brendan’s hand.

  “Do you mind?” She asked and held out her hand for the paper.

  Brendan hesitated for a moment, when he looked at Drew she shrugged and walked towards the dining room to get the wine so he handed her the paper. Liza sat down then on the couch and looked it over.

  “Well, it is Wiccan alphabet” Liza said as Drew came back in with three glasses and a freshly opened bottle of wine “but it doesn’t make any since. If a witch wanted to cause you any harm she would have kept something personal of yours and would have already done the damage with a spell or a hex.”

  “I haven’t been missing anything. Maybe they ran out so fast when they were here that they forgot to grab something.” Drew said annoyed. The night wasn’t turning into the glittery fairy tale that she had hoped for.

  “They were in your house?” Liza asked.

  “Yes, it was just a couple of days ago. When I came home, right after leaving their shop and going to the doctor, there was spray paint on my wall in the same writing as the note.”

  “So, you think that they beat you here, had time to spray something on your wall and leave again before you saw them when you would have left the shop before they did?” Liza asked.

  Drew sat down next to her friend then. “I went to the doctor after I left the shop, they would have had time while I was there.”

  “Not everyone has access to thi s alphabet though. It is a sacred, secret language that they use. Who else could it be?” Brendan asked.

  Liza laughed. “Things have changed since your time, honey. You can find out just about anything that you want now days just by Googling it.”

  “By what?” He asked confused.

  “Never mind that.” Drew said impatiently, “Liza, is there something that you know that you aren’t telling us? I mean, you obviously know that Brendan isn’t just a gay companion.”

  “Brendan? If the Wiccan alphabet was such a secret in your time, how do you know it?” Liza asked.

  “Liza? How do you know what time he is from?” Drew was starting to get defensive and most definitely suspicious.

  “Ok, ladies. Let us calm down and take turns, one person at a time. Let us start with MissDrew. Why ‘tis it that you bought this house in the first place?”

  “That is easy. I bought this house because I found a flyer on my front door after I had been evicted from my apartment. I needed a place to stay and it just happened to fall into my very low price range. I’m not afraid of ghosts or witches and so I guess that made me the perfect candidate.” Drew said. “Plus, I fell in love with it the moment that I saw it. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “How is it that you received a flyer upon your door? Who left it there?” Brendan asked.

  “Well, I don’t know. The old, fat, cigar smoking great something grandson of yours that sold me the place I guess. Why?” Drew asked.

  “Were there other flyers on other doors around the town?” Brendan asked.

  “I’m not sure. I didn’t go up and down the streets looking at people’s doors. But I suppose mine was the only one I noticed anywhere. Are you by chance implying that someone put that sale ad on my door purposefully?”

  Brendan looked at Liza who was looking at the broken window. There was something about the woman. She was hiding something; he could feel it in his newly fashioned bones.

  “Alright, so I will go next then.” Brendan said. “I know the witch alphabet because Lezetta taught it to me. Did ye say grandson?”

  Drew sucked in air and sat up straight, “You knew that Lezetta was a witch?” She asked in surprise and in disgust.

  “Aye,” He said. “You see, she was a good witch, a healer. She made right by people and would never have caused harm to a soul.”

  Drew rolled her eyes. “Well, if she was such a good witch then whom the hell killed your sister and who tried to cut my damned face and hand off in the cemetery?”

  “I know not the answer, Miss Drew. I believe from the bottom of mine heart that it was not my Lezetta. I also know that I had no children. Where on earth did ye hear such nonsense?”

  His Lezetta, Drew thought. Well, wasn’t that just great. Here she was falling in love with the asshole and he was still claiming another woman as his own. Well, he was a ghost and she was a witch. Maybe they did belong together. Maybe she was just in the way after all. It’s a damn good thing that he hadn’t wanted to sleep with her; he was obviously still in love with the stupid witch.

  “Wiccan isn’t all about black magic and torture and murder, Drew. There is a lot of good that comes from Wiccan magic. Just like voodoo. It all depends on whose hands the power is in. It isn’t the power that a person holds that makes the person; it’s what is in the person’s heart to do with the power.” Liza said.

  “Well, isn’t that just the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my life? You should put that on a Hallmark card.” Drew said sarcastically as she stood up and headed towards the bedroom.

  “Where are you going?” Liza said when she and Brendan both stood up at the same time.

  “I’m getting my purse. I’m obviously not going to find anything out sitting on my ass around here with you two.”

  “Drew, please wait!” Liza said. “I haven’t gotten tell you what I know.”

  Drew stopped and turned around. “Please do, Liza. Please tell me what it is exactly that you know. Because I am sure that you have the answer to all of life and death’s mysteries.” Drew said angrily.

  “Drew,” Brendan said putting his hands on Drew’s shoulders, “Sweetheart, please calm down and let us listen to what your friend has to say.”

  “I am calm, and I will listen to what my friend has to say but don’t you dare call me Sweetheart.” Drew said pointing her finger into Brendan’s chest.

  She couldn’t help but see the hurt in Brendan’s eyes and feel the pain in her own chest.

  “You know what? I think I have had enough for one night. Enough!” She yelled as Liza started to speak again. “I’m going to bed. I will call the police about the window tomorrow.”

  She turned back towards the hallway then and slammed the door to her bedroom once she was on the other side. She didn’t care what Liza knew. She didn’t care about Brendan and his stupid dead girlfriend. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been. She had almost given herself to someone who didn’t even love her.

  As hard as Drew tried sleep wouldn’t come. She had so much on her mind and the fact that Brendan was pacing the floor above her, back and forth, back and forth didn’t help matters any. What the hell was he doing up there? She tried putting the pillow over her head but that didn’t help either. She started to get up out of bed when she heard a large thump from upstairs and then it was quiet, finally. She assumed that he had finally dropped onto his bed and went to sleep. After a few more minutes of cursing him under her breath she finally went to sleep.

  Of course there were dreams. Dreams of being in that great big house all alone. She had never felt emptier inside, and she felt as if she were going to go insane. She ran through the house crying his name, “Brendan? Brendan, please answer me!” He wouldn’t answer her though, he was gone.

  When
Drew awoke the next morning she had made up her mind that it was time for that talk with Liza and to apologize to Brendan for being so stupid. She knew that it was just jealousy that had made her turn on him like that.

  Her first stop was Liza’s room. When she came to the door though it was open and there was no sign of Liza. She went to the front room and looked out of the broken window and saw that Liza’s truck was gone.

  “Fine!” Drew said out loud. “You could have at least come to tell me that you were leaving.”

  Since she couldn’t talk with Liza she figured she may as well go ahead and face the music with Brendan. First she was going to go and make some coffee. If she was going to confront the man she was going to need a shot of caffeine and a clear mind.

  Drew kind of figured that Brendan would have heard her rustling around down stairs and would have joined her by now but he didn’t. Once she finished her coffee and ate a piece of toast she set off to find him.

  “Brendan?” She called up the stairs, “Brendan, can we talk please?”

  No answer.

  “Great.” She said out loud. “He gets a new body and he is going to use it to sleep all of the time.”

  She stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment hesitating. Should she go up there anyway? He had taken her up there the night before. She assumed that was her ok to go. Besides, he had told her that she was welcome to use the library so, why not.

  As she headed up the steps she remember the first time that she had attempted to climb them. The cold air had snapped at her and her whole world had changed after hearing his voice for the first time. She walked past the first room and it gave her the chills. Just knowing that someone had died in that very room was unsettling.

  When she came to his bedroom door she found it closed. Drew knocked on the door then cleared her throat when there was no answer. “Brendan?” There was still no answer. “Brendan, I’m coming in, we need to talk.”

  After waiting another moment to give him one last chance to tell her to get lost she opened the door slowly and stuck her head in. There was no one there. She opened the door further and stepped in to get a better look. The mirror was still turned around she noticed. There was no sign of Brendan.

  “He must be downstairs.” She said to herself but something inside told her that she wasn’t going to find him there either.

  Drew spent an entire hour searching the house for him. She searched the kitchen and the dining room, she searched the servant’s rooms and the ballroom, she searched every bedroom and bathroom and both sitting rooms, there were no signs of Brendan what so ever.

  After calling his name for what seemed to be a million times she remembered her dream from the night before and sat down on the couch and cried. She had been right, last night had been her only chance, and she regretted not taking it. Even if it would have made today ten times harder, she wished that she could have had that one night at least. So, he was gone. He was really gone.

  The day went by so slowly. She cried most of it and then had given that up for a soak in the bath. She went up to his room one last time, just to look around and to smell his scent that still lingered in the air, then went to bed and cried herself to sleep.

  Brendan wished so much that he could hold her. It was killing him to hurt her this way but he knew that with time it would be better for her. She would heal and be able to live her own life. After pacing the floor the night before he started to rub his face and saw right through his hands. When he dropped to his knees on the floor, the world went to black and he woke up again, just as he had done the night of his murder, in a tunnel with everything fading around him and feeling so cold. He was invisible and that was the way that he knew he would stay, for all of eternity.

  Well, it had finally come, the day of Liza’s stupid Labor Day party and Drew wanted to do nothing more than to forget about it and go straight to bed. She had pretty much been a zombie for the past week and she wanted to stay that way.

  If Liza hadn’t already called her three times that day making sure that she was still coming she would have just not shown up. She couldn’t let her friend down though. Plus, getting out of the lonely old house was probably the best thing for her right now.

  Drew clad in a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top, her favorite gear, stopped at the door to take one last look around. This had been the first time she had left the house since before Brendan had disappeared. She missed him so much. Every day she waited for the piano to play or for him to pop up while she was taking a bath, but he never did and it showed in her mood. She felt as if her heart had been ripped right out of her chest. How could someone that she barely knew have affected her life so much?

  “I’m going to town. Do you need anything?” She said and her throat tightened up automatically as there was no reply. She ducked her head down in a slow pout and closed the door behind her.

  Brendan stood with his hand on the door, “What on earth would I ever need from town ye silly girl?” He said out loud shivering at the sound of his own voice. It sounded so hopeless and empty.

  Drew slowed down as she passed the cemetery. She wondered if Brendan’s spirit now wandered there or if he had moved on to bigger and better things. She knew that evading whoever’s space that had been in there before was probably a bad idea, but maybe they had moved on as well. She decided that she was miserable enough to take that chance. She needed to speak to Brendan, even if he couldn’t answer her.

  As she stepped through the gates of the cemetery she immediately felt the temperature drop. She swore that she heard whispering which sent shivers down her spine but kept her shoulders high anyway and walked briskly forward to Brendan’s grave. The limbs that had fallen from the tree that hung above cracked beneath her as she knelt down before his tomb, making her almost jump back up again.

  “Relax, Drew, you are here all alone. There is no one else.” She said closing her eyes and laying her head on Brendan’s tomb.

  “Brendan, if you ca n hear me, I am so sorry for the way that I acted that last night that we were together. I was jealous and angry and that is no excuse I know, but it’s the truth.” She sat back and sighed. She needed to find the right words, but there were so many of them running in her mind that she didn’t know where to begin.

  “I miss you. My house…our house,” she corrected, “isn’t a home without you. I need you there. I’m so lonely, Brendan. I’ve been alone most of my life but I never knew lonely until I lost you. I know that sounds kind of corny, right? Actually, I think it might be a country song, but I hope that you understand what I mean. I understand if you are in a better place and don’t want to come back, but if you aren’t and you want to come back, please hurry"

  Drew wiped the tears that fell from her eyes. She felt the warm breeze that had passed her way before and imagined that it was Mary Ann. Maybe this time it was Brendan. Maybe he heard her and was forgiving her and would come back. Something told her that wasn’t true though.

  She stood up to leave when something tripped her. Drew looked back to see a root jutting out of the ground beneath Brendan’s grave. She didn’t remember seeing that before. For a moment she thought that she saw Brendan. When she started to run to him someone pushed her back. That’s when she saw her, the one with the bright green eyes and snotty look upon her face. Only this time she didn’t look like a snob, she looked so young, innocent and scared.

  “Run, Miss Drew!” The girl said. “’Tis only trickery!”

  As much as she wanted to push the girl away and run to Brendan, Drew turned around and ran out of the cemetery. She didn’t know why but she believed the girl. If it had been Brendan in there he wouldn’t have let her leave. Or would he have?

  The drive across the Ponchatrain to Liza’s house was long and painful. She had so much on her mind. The thought of suicide had never crossed her mind in her life, no matter how bad life got, but the thought of being with Brendan for all of eternity was very tempting. The dark water far below was calling her name.
She shook her head absently as if to clear the thought from her mind forever.

  “Drew!” Liza screamed as she came out of her ranch style home surrounded by a white picketfence. Liza’s home was truly the symbol of the picture perfect family. The swing sets in the back yard and the toys that were scattered throughout as well just emphasized the fact even more, and for the second time in her life and in the past couple of weeks, Drew saw the bitter green color of jealousy.

  “Hey, Liza.” Drew said, trying to sound cheerful but knew she was lacking.

  Liza ran to her and gave her a big hug. “Come on, Sweetie, everyone is around back.”

  The night ended up being pretty fun, agains t Drew’s will. Drew had a little bit too much to drink but at least it had helped her to relax, missing Brendan so badly that it hurt and facing other things that she couldn’t explain had taken a toll on her. Liza had invited a few of her fellow teachers and her husband had invited a few of his friends as well. The yard was full of chatter and laughter from the children who were all in their own little world. What she wouldn’t give to be like them, to only worry about which flavor of ice cream you wanted or which game to play next.

  When the children started to play a game of spin the statue, Drew couldn’t help but to go back and watch them. One of the boys spun and froze with his arms up in a zombie like pose. When the girl tapped his nose he walked like a zombie but he refused to be a zombie when she guessed what he wasinstead he said that he was a ghost. This made Drew’s eyes tear up. She remembered being young and being afraid of ghosts. Her childhood ghosts were much different than they were now.

  As the crowd started to dwindle Drew tried to sneak away as well but she wasn’t quite swift enough to sneak past Liza. “Where do you think that you are going?” Liza asked.

  “I’m going home silly.” Drew said as she walked towards the driveway. “It’s getting very late, and I was thinking about taking some paintings to the Quarter tomorrow.”