by Wendy Wang
“Brianna?” Charlie called. “I know you're here.”
They found themselves in what was once a kitchen. There were no appliances left, only rust stains on the floor where the refrigerator must've sat and scorch marks on the wall where the stove must have been. The grimy cabinets might have been white or cream at one time but now they were just a dingy gray. Rat droppings dotted the top of the faded butcher block counters, and the stench of something dead permeated the air. Charlie fought the urge to vomit, bringing her arm across her face, so she could bury her nose in the crook of her arm. Jen covered her nose and mouth with her hand and a soft moan escaped her lips.
Tom did not seem to be affected by the smell. His eyes narrowed, scanning every corner of the room. His expression was alert. Cautious but not fearful.
“I can't —” Charlie finally said. She turned around and headed back toward the butler's pantry. The swinging door began to move back and forth rapidly as if two children were batting it in the game. It didn't open far enough or slow enough for them to move through it. Charlie tried to grab it but it slammed her fingers in between the door and the jamb, and she cried out jerking her hand back.
“Are you all right?” Tom cradled her hand. “Can you move your fingers?”
Charlie tried to wiggle her fingers and pain exploded from her pinky and middle finger. She cried again.
“Looks like they may be broken,” he said softly. “We need to stabilize them.”
“I can't breathe in here,” Charlie said.
Tom wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her and Jen through the kitchen. The cabinets in the kitchen opened and closed slamming over and over as they passed across the dingy linoleum floor. Tom got them out of the kitchen into a hallway adjoining a small room with windows overlooking the backyard.
“Do you have a flashlight?” Tom asked.
Jen immediately began to dig through the bag slung across her body. She pulled out a silver flashlight about the size of an ink pen, with an adjustable beam. She turned it on and shined the bright light on Charlie's hand.
“I need to stabilize her fingers with something. You wouldn't happen to have a pen or something hard and long and thin in that bag of yours, would you?”
“Oh yeah, of course. Hold on.” She handed him the light and continued to dig.
“Any chance you have any tape?”
Jen pulled out two small rolls of washi tape and handed them to Charlie, who took them in her good hand, weaving her thumb through the wide holes of the rolls.
“Wait a minute. It looks like I have a couple popsicle sticks.”
“Ruby's?” Charlie said.
“Yes, but they were for projects not for popsicles.” She handed them to Tom. “They’re clean, I promise.”
“Perfect,” he said. “I'll trade you.” He swapped the popsicle sticks in Jen's hand for the light. Gently he stretched out Charlie's middle finger.
She gritted her teeth and sucked in her breath, counting through the pain. He pressed one of the popsicle sticks on the underside of her finger and wrapped tape around the finger and popsicle stick just tight enough to cause fresh pain to shoot through her hand.
“Sorry,” he said.
Charlie gave him a weak smile. “It's okay.”
He went to work in earnest on the second finger.
“You're pretty handy to have around. Where did you learn this?” Charlie asked.
“Well, as a mortician, I had to study anatomy, but I'm also certified in first aid with the Red Cross.” He smiled.
“And here I thought you were just another pretty face,” Jen quipped.
He ripped the last piece of tape and wrapped it around the top of her pinky, covering her fingernail. “That should do it.”
Charlie pulled her hand to her chest, cradling it. “Thank you.”
A scream pierced the air making all three of them jump.
“Daphne,” Jen muttered and headed out toward the hallway. Another scream followed closely, sounding like Lisa. Jen hurried down the hallway.
“Jen,” Charlie said. “Wait.” Charlie and Tom made it through the door just in time to see Jen turn a corner. Another scream echoed through the house, making every hair on Charlie's body stand up.
“Jen, wait!” She and Tom broke into a run trying to catch up with Jen. When they turned the corner where she had gone, there was no sign of her. They had wandered into what looked like a den. There was another fireplace. And hanging over it was what looked like an ancient deer head. “Where did she go?” Tom asked.
“I don't know,” Charlie said, glancing around. Her eyes settling on an old stuffed buck’s head hanging over the fireplace. The fur had loosened and fluffed with age and from bugs burrowing into the wood form. The glassy eyes stared at them, unblinking. “I don't like it in here. We need to get out,” Charlie said.
“Agreed,” Tom said.
When they turned to leave, the door slammed shut and the lock clicked. Charlie wrapped her hand around the brass door handle giving it a good twist but it wouldn't budge.
“Dammit Brianna! Stop it! Come out and talk to me!” Charlie screamed at the ceiling. “I can help you. Let me help you.”
An old picture frame holding a pastoral painting fell from the wall. The corner of the frame hit the ground breaking it into two pieces. One piece of the sharp wooden frame punctured the canvas.
Charlie and Tom both jumped and faced the now broken painting heaped on the floor against the wall.
“Brianna, tell me where your body is. I will help you cross over. I promise Emma will pay for what she's done to you. Please,” Charlie said.
“No!” The voice screamed down the chimney. “I will make sure Emma pays.”
“I can't let you do that.” Charlie pulled the God’s Eye from the back pocket of her jeans and held it out in front of her. The incantation that Jen had taught her was short so that she would easily remember it, but standing in front of the fireplace Charlie's mind drew a blank. Dammit. What were the words?
She closed her eyes and tried to recall. Something about the elements, but she couldn't remember the order. Why hadn’t she practiced it more?
“Brianna,” Tom’s tone calmed Charlie immediately. She shifted her gaze from the fireplace to his steady presence. “If you act on your anger, and you hurt Emma, you only hurt yourself more and you will pay a far worse price than Emma ever will.”
“Can you hear her?” Charlie whispered.
Tom nodded, not taking his eyes off the fireplace. “Brianna? I know you believe in hell.”
“Of course, I do.” Brianna hissed, her voice echoing down the chimney spreading through the room. “I’m already there.”
“You think this is hell now?” Something beneath his soft deadly tone made Charlie want to recoil. She’d had no idea he believed in such things. There was still so much she didn’t know about him. “You have not even begun to experience real hell.”
Ash, old wood, and long dead coals exploded out of the fireplace. The thick black and gray cloud threatened to choke Charlie. She coughed and gagged. She turned away, squeezing her eyes shut. She searched for the door handle giving the door a good shake once she found it again.
It took several moments but the dust finally began to settle and when it did Brianna stood in front of the fireplace—her form almost as black as the chimney soot that covered them. Charlie had seen her like this before, in the memory of Haley's neighbor Mr. Baker.
Brianna’s chest heaved, as if she was breathing heavy and her eyes burned red. She had her gaze locked on Tom, who had not moved from his spot in middle of the room.
Charlie quickly moved from the door, stepping in front of Tom, holding up the God’s Eye cross out for protection. The twigs and threads quivered beneath her fingers like they might fall apart in her hand.
Brianna laughed and sauntered over to Charlie as if she had no cares in the world. She held up her hand in front of the spirit trap.
“Did you really think this
stupid craft project could hold me?” She swiped her hand to the right, and the cross flew out of Charlie's hand and bounced off the wall, landing not too far from Charlie’s feet. “You have to believe in the magic for it to work, Charlie.”
The old buck's head on the wall began to shake and shiver, and for a moment Charlie thought she saw it bow its head as if it were about to charge at her. She blinked hard trying to clear her head. Something in that smoke had really gotten to her.
“Did Emma tell you what really happened?” Brianna hissed.
“She told me that they left you here alone overnight. She told me that they found you dead the next morning and were afraid so they covered it up.”
The deer head shook more violently. Its antlers pointed straight at Charlie. If the long dead creature still had a body she felt for sure it would have come for her already.
“Lies!” Brianna screeched.
“Then tell me the truth!” Charlie screamed.
Brianna opened her mouth, emitting such a high-pitched scream that what little glass was left in the windows completely shattered. Charlie’s hands flew to cover her ears and dizziness swirled through her head. She felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist, pull her close. Tom tucked her in between his arms and they spun around until they were facing the wall opposite the fireplace. The shrill scream stopped and something sharp poked her in the back. Charlie winced, pulling her body away from Tom’s chest. The weight of him grabbing onto her shoulders, almost brought her to her knees. Quickly, she lunged forward, glancing back over her shoulder. Tom stumbled, around trying to keep his balance before his legs gave out and he sunk down to his knees. Brianna’s dark form loomed behind Tom, staring at him.
It took a moment for Charlie to understand what she was seeing. Dark bloody flowers bloomed on his gray and white cotton shirt where the tips of antler protruded through his chest and abdomen.
“Oh god, Tom,” Charlie muttered moving toward him as quickly as she could. She grabbed his arms, trying to keep him from falling backwards, from landing on the deer head and driving the antlers deeper through his body. Blood trickled from his lips and his hips gave way. He teetered backward.
“No,” Charlie said, giving his arms a yank. “Please Tom, you have to try. I can't hold you up.” His amber eyes looked glassy and unfocused. All the color had drained from his face. He loosened one of his hands and touched her cheek with it.
“Behind you.” Tiny droplets of blood splattered across his chin and lips as he spoke. His gaze flitted over her shoulder and his eyes fixed and wide.
Charlie glanced in the direction of his gaze. Brianna hovered behind her. In one swift motion the spirit raised her hand across her body and backhanded Charlie, knocking her across the room. Tom crumpled to the floor onto his side.
Charlie lay there for a moment facing Tom. The light in his amber-colored eyes was fading fast. They’d had no time to really get to know each other beyond their few meetings and now, watching him blink slowly, she never would.
“Please don’t leave, Tom,” she whispered. One side of his lips curved up a little.
“I’ll be okay,” he said. “Take her.” His eyes flitted to the God’s Eye lying on the floor near her head. Charlie gave him a nod and wrapped her hand around the exposed twigs. She groaned as she pushed herself to her feet. She was going to hurt tomorrow.
Charlie stepped around Tom's body and held up the twig cross.
“Goddess of the moon and sun, I call upon your aid. Put the spirit where she belongs, with others like her, let her fade.
Earth, wind, fire and air, return this spirit whence she came and soothe her anger and her fear. So, mote it be.”
Brianna screeched in horror and pain. Her once beautiful face, metamorphosing into a shrieking leer as she charged at Charlie.
Charlie held her ground, repeating her verse again. Brianna's shriek faded the closer she came and her apparition seemed to be caught in the web of the trap. Charlie’s arm shook as the trap’s magic pulled Brianna inward by pale ephemeral tendrils. Brianna tried to change course but couldn't, as if she were caught in a tractor beam. Unable to stop herself or her fate. The spirit faded and the shriek became nothing but an echo.
The door flew open and her cousins and Jason rushed into the room. The twig cross thrummed in her hands.
“She's gone,” Charlie said. “The trap worked.”
Jen rushed forward and took the cross.
Charlie knelt next to Tom’s still body. His skin was still warm, but there was no pulse in his neck. Sorrow swirled through her chest, black and overwhelming, threatening to pull her in. “Tom?”
Jen's hand, warm and small, touched her shoulder. “Charlie, honey.”
“Tom!” Charlie shook his shoulders. No response.
“Come on, sweetie, Jason’s here. We need to go talk to him, tell him what happened.”
Tears and grief shook her body with such violence she couldn’t move. Jen knelt next to her and wrapped her arm around Charlie’s shoulders. Beneath her hand, Tom’s arm began to twitch. Charlie hiccupped and sniffed back her tears.
“Oh god, Tom?” A spark lit the darkness in her heart. “Tom?” His arm flailed without purpose. “Daphne! Call 911!” She shouted at her cousin, pointing to the phone in her hand. Daphne stared at her dumbly, her wide blue eyes blinking fast.
“Why do we need 911?” Jason stepped into the room. One look at the scene, and his cautious expression morphed into understanding. He took the cell phone hanging from his belt and made a call.
Tom's body began to convulse, his arms and legs flailing uncontrollably. Jen pulled Charlie backward, getting her out of the way. Her heart hammered in her throat as she watched, unable to understand, or stop what was happening to him. Maybe she had not captured the ghost at all. Maybe Brianna had figured out that she could jump into the body of the newly dead. Charlie had seen that happen before.
She held her breath when he stopped moving. Waited for him to rise. She started toward his body but Jen yanked her back, clutching her hard by the waist. “No Charlie, no.”
The two women stared, unable to look away as the body transformed. The beautiful face she had come to the admire so much retreated into a black cloak and his dark wavy hair dissolved into a hood. Only his amber eyes remained. The reaper rose and his gaze fell on Charlie. I can explain, his silky voice floated through her consciousness.
Charlie stood up and faced him.
“Charlie, don’t,” Jen and Lisa pleaded behind.
The spark of hope she felt a moment ago, transformed into a wildfire, spreading hot and fast through her body. A dull roar filled her ears.
“You? This whole time? It's been you.”
“I –” he began.
Her arm reared back almost as of its own accord, and struck out, connecting with something solid. The sound of her cousins and even Jason gasping as she slapped the reaper registered deep in her brain. This was dangerous. What if he turned on her? Killed her? There was nothing to stop him.
His bony pale hand floated to the side of his hood, where her hand had marked him.
“How dare you?” she said hotly, not backing down. “I trusted you. Cared for you!”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. The fire in his brown eyes faded to nothing and only a black void stared back at her. He turned and in a blur of shadows fled through the window. A piece of glass hanging on by a thread of glazing compound fell to the ground and shattered.
Jen was by her side first, then Lisa and Daphne together. A torrent of tears, both angry and sorrowful, brought her to her knees. The only thing that kept her from completely falling apart was the feel of her three cousins’ arms enveloping her, lifting her up with their light and love.
Charlie stood next to Jason's Dodge Charger, facing him.
“What's gonna happen to Emma?” she asked.
“Well, thanks to Lisa’s location thingy — ”
“Spell,” Charlie corrected absently. Jason paused. His lips twisted into
a scowl and the line between his brows grew deep. Maybe it was too soon.
“Yeah, well,” he said flatly. “Now that we have a body, I expect things’ll go very differently from the first couple of times we talked to her. I just hope forensics will turn up something proving she was involved.”
“She told me she and Haley didn’t kill her.”
“Maybe.” His eyes looked warily at the old house behind them. ““We'll see what the evidence says.”
“For what it’s worth,” Charlie added, “I don’t think the noose we found around her neck was as an accident.”
“Nope, things like that rarely are.”
Charlie glanced at Jen who had carefully put the trap holding Brianna’s spirit into a specially blessed black velvet bag.
“What are y’all gonna do with her spirit?”
“I’m hoping that once her parents bury her body and everything comes out, that we can take her to a sacred place and help her move on for good.”
“And that’ll work?”
Charlie called up a half-smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it will.”
Chapter 26
Charlie pulled into Scott's driveway and put her Honda into park. She took the large casserole Jen had made and carried it with the two potholders from her kitchen. She pressed the doorbell with her elbow and a moment later Scott answered the door, smiling.
“Charlie!” Scott said sounding entirely too chipper.
“Who are you and what have you done with my ex-husband?” Charlie joked.
“I told you, I’m a changed man.” He smiled and shook his head. He stepped to one side. “Come on in.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed resting?” Charlie walked into the foyer.
“I am resting. What’ve you got there?” He gestured to the dish in her hand. “It smells great.”
“It’s a veggie lasagna. Jen made it, I didn’t, so it’s definitely tasty. We figured meatless would be healthier.”
“Wow, thank you.” He lifted the corner of the aluminum foil covering it and sniffed again. “Can’t wait to dig in. Please tell Jen thank you for me.”
