by Reid, Terri
“Where are you, Eloise?” he asked hoarsely.
She sighed. “On the beach with you,” she whispered.
He kissed her again.
“What do you want?”
“I want you,” she pleaded.
“I love my job,” he whispered, before lowering his lips to hers.
He nibbled on her lips, sending pulses of heat through Eloise’s insides. Then he slowly traced her lips with his tongue. Eloise moaned and Paul deepened the kiss. He pulled her even closer and tilting his head, took the kiss even deeper.
Eloise felt the heat spiral up from her abdomen and she trembled in his arms.
“Paul,” she whispered.
Paul placed open-mouthed kisses on her jaw, her neck and her collarbone. Eloise closed her eyes and arched her back, allowing more access. He followed his trail of kisses back up to her mouth and kissed her with an intensity that caused Eloise knees to weaken, grateful for the support of his strong arms.
“Eloise, darling,” he whispered softly into her ear. Eloise shivered at the sensation.
“Eloise, open your eyes,” he murmured, nibbling on her earlobe.
Like a sleepwalker, Eloise lifted too heavy eyelids and opened passion-filled eyes to Paul. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“When this is over, we have some things we have to settle between us,” he said, then teased her mouth with a soft kiss. “Now, darling, look over my shoulder and tell me what you see.”
Eloise looked over Paul’s shoulder and stiffened. Behind them, in the grove of willow trees, was a battalion of Civil War soldiers, blood dripping from their mortal wounds.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sally climbed the stairs slowly, taking care that she didn’t fall through one of the rotted treads. She wore a headband flashlight and took the time to examine each step with it. She climbed to the top, avoiding the step that cracked under Paul’s weight, and followed the hall down to the end of the west wing. She pulled open the attic door and climbed up the narrow staircase.
The top door was still open from the last time she and Eloise had entered it, but she still approached it cautiously, remembering the last time she had nearly walked through it. She found a splintered piece of wood on the step below the door and stuck it through the doorway first and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.
Stepping into the attic, she looked around and gasped. It was as if a tornado had swept through the room. Tables were overturned and broken, plywood torn from the windows, skulls were scattered across the floor and the steamer trunk was broken into several pieces.
Sally ran over to the table that had held the little girl. It was on its side and the little skeleton had been scattered carelessly across the floor. Sally bent over and tenderly picked up the pieces, placing them in a pouch she made from the front of her shirt. Then she picked up the delicate skull and, with tears filling her eyes, placed it carefully on top of the other tiny bones.
She stood, sniffed, and took a deep breath. Then she spoke aloud.
“My friend, Eloise, has a wonderful gift,” she said, “She can help you find your way home. She can help you leave this terrible place; she can reconnect you with your families. But you need to go outside. You need to go toward the gazebo. She’ll help you, I promise.”
Sally felt a breeze stir past her and watched as a soft mist formed in the attic and slowly moved down the stairs. At the end of the mist, the little girl solidified and smiled at Sally, then turned back into mist and followed the rest down the stairs.
Sally followed them down the stairs and out of the house. She walked to the back of the house and found a protected, grassy spot under a large magnolia tree. She knelt down and carefully placed the little skeleton under the tree. Then she took the pick ax out of her pack and dug out a shallow grave.
“You’ll be safe for now,” she whispered. She stood up and looked down on the tiny grave. “Bon voyage, little one.”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she turned and found herself face to face with Delphine.
“Crap!”
Sally tried to dodge and run, but Delphine grabbed hold of her.
“So, you are her friend?” Delphine asked, “I wonder if she will be willing to sacrifice your life?”
Chapter Thirty
Paul moved so that he was behind Eloise, his arms still wrapped around her. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Darling, tell them that you can help them.”
Eloise took a deep breath and spoke, her voice coming out a little shaky, “Most of you have been trapped here for a long time. You still feel the sadness of your lives and especially your death. I want to help you move forward. I want to help you reconnect with your loved ones. I want to help you find peace.”
The crowd of spirits surged forward toward the gazebo. Eloise could see people representing many generations coming from all directions.
“I need you to turn around and look up for a light, a passageway. That’s your doorway to peace. That’s your doorway to the next world.”
She watched them scour the skies and then, she saw as one by one they located the door in the sky. A murmur passed through the crowd as spirit to spirit they spread the word, thousands of pairs of eyes were turned upward to the same spot.
Eloise, her eyes filled with tears, smiled tremulously. “And now, you need to walk toward that door. You need to enter it to find peace.”
The spirits started to move, the first entering the door, the rest forming a large ring in the sky, slowly circling, waiting their turn. Eloise could feel the start of the vortex and as more spirits left the earth, the pull became stronger and stronger. Eloise turned and wrapped her arms around Paul. Paul tightened his grip around her waist as the vortex continued to grow.
The gazebo started to sway and small pieces of woodwork came loose and were whipped up into the sky. Sergeant Turner was knocked against the SUV. Using all of his strength, he was able to open the back door and climb into the truck.
Eloise, her hair whipping around her face, looked up to Paul with love shining in her eyes.
“Hold on,” she yelled.
Paul smiled down at her. “Sweetheart, I’m never going to let you go.”
They turned and looked out towards the house. Hundreds of modern day spirits were rushing forward to join the other spirits. Eloise watched as the diameter of the vortex grew to nearly 50 feet. The wind started to increase in intensity with the growth of the vortex. Shutters and shingles from the house blew off and were caught up by the wind. Plywood that had covered the windows was peeling off the house too. As the vortex grew even more powerful, Eloise watched as a section from the east wing wall of the house ripped off. A moment later, she saw the spirits of the girls who had been murdered peer out from behind the exposed studs.
“Paul,” she said, he moved closer to hear her over the wind. “Some of the spirits of the murdered girls are watching from the east wing.”
“Are they ready to go?” he asked.
The girls walked away from the opening back into the room.
“Not yet,” Eloise sighed.
Then she saw them come closer to the opening again, but this time, in their midst was the spirit of Sergeant Anderson. He was struggling against them, trying to get away from the opening. However, their combined struggles and the pull of the vortex were too much for him and his spirit was soon sailing through the sky toward the vortex. The girls floated next to him making their way up to take their place in line.
“They’re back and they have Anderson this time,” Eloise said. “They’re taking him toward the vortex.”
“Wait, he gets to go to heaven?” Paul asked. “Isn’t there another place for people like him?”
“Yes, Paul, there is,” Eloise said as she watched the sky.
She saw a dark black cloud form below the vortex. It grew in a matter of seconds from a puff of smoke to a billowing presence that was over 10 feet wide. When Anderson saw the black cloud he frantically tri
ed to stop his upward movement. His face was contorted in fear as he tried to struggle away from the black cloud. Suddenly two streams of grey burst from the cloud, taking the shape of arms as they neared Anderson. He screamed in agony as they twisted around his body and bore him back into the darkness.
“He’s gone,” Eloise said.
The black cloud dissipated and the spirits of the young women continued to their place in line.
Eloise laid her head against Paul’s chest; he tucked her in closer and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s so sad,” Eloise said, “For a while I considered him my friend.”
“He will be judged fairly, Eloise,” Paul said, “By someone who knows what was in his heart and his mind.”
Eloise looked up and smiled softly, “You’re a wise man, Major Tall, Dark and Military.”
The semblance of laughter froze on their lips as another realization hit.
“Where’s Sally?” they asked in unison.
Wrapping her arm around Paul’s waist, Eloise helped Paul off the gazebo and they made their way through the powerful wind to the SUV. Turner, using all of his strength, pushed the door open from the inside.
“Sally,” Eloise screamed against the wind. “We have to find Sally.”
They climbed into the back of the SUV, and then Eloise climbed over the seat into the driver’s seat and started the car.
“Where do you think we should start,” Paul asked.
Eloise was about to answer when a large gust of wind ripped away part of the roof, exposing the attic. She could see that someone was up there.
“The attic,” she cried, putting the car into gear and speeding toward the house. Eloise shifted the car into four-wheel drive as the wind buffeted it and she maneuvered around downed tree limbs and other obstacles tossed by the wind.
“I think the vortex is getting bigger,” Eloise said, watching a large tree being sucked from the ground. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”
“We’ve got to get Sally out of there quickly,” Paul said, “Before the vortex reaches the house.”
She pulled up in front of the house and Turner pushed open the back door.
They climbed out of the SUV, Turner helping Paul. Eloise turned to them.
“Turner, help Paul – I’ll see you up there,” she said, her eyes pleading with Paul to understand.”
“Go,” Paul said.
Eloise pushed the door open and ran up the stairs. Wind pummeled the house shaking it to its foundation. Eloise dashed up the stairs, avoiding the chunks of plaster than rained down from the ceiling. She ran through the west wing, hearing the moan of timber as the house swayed in the wind.
Pulling open the attic door she was momentarily pushed back by a strong gust of wind. She grabbed hold of the railing and pulled herself up, against the wind. The wind whipped through the attic and Eloise grabbed hold of the eaves in order to pull herself through the top doorway.
“Sally,” Eloise yelled into the wind. She turned and saw Sally, strapped to a table and laying motionless. Delphine stood next to her, her arms latched on to the table as the wind blew through the room, a satisfied smile on her lips.
“So, you’ve come at last,” she purred, turning to Eloise, “I was waiting for you.”
Eloise moved to the table and took Sally’s lifeless hand in her own. Sally’s face was white and Eloise couldn’t feel a pulse. She looked over Sally’s body, but could see no sign of any other damage done to her. Eloise turned back to Delphine
“What have you done to her?”
Delphine shrugged, “See for yourself.”
Eloise turned and saw Sally’s spirit holding tight to a beam on the other side of the attic, while the winds of the vortex blew around them.
“Sal,” Eloise called.
Sally turned towards her.
“El, you can see me. Does that mean I’m dead?”
Eloise shook her head. “I don’t know. It could be that she just snatched you. How do you feel?”
“Weird, really weird,” Sally said, a tear slipped down her cheek, “El, I’m not ready to die.”
“You’re not going to die, Sally,” Eloise said. “Remember our promise; we have to wait until we’re old.”
“Thanks for reminding me, El,” Sally said, sniffling to hold back the tears, “Now all you have to do is convince Delphine.”
Delphine laughed. “So, now you have a choice. Do you sacrifice your friend’s life or do you protect me?”
Eloise shook her head. “What do you mean protect you?”
“Use your power to keep me from the other side,” she said, “Use your power to keep me here on earth.”
Suddenly Maria appeared in the attic, the wind buffeting her as she wrapped her arms around another beam. “No, Eloise, you cannot allow her to stay. She will just increase in power.”
“Maria, can you help?” Eloise asked, “I need to save Sally.”
Maria shook her head. “I cannot put back what she has taken out. And the longer Sally is out of her body, the more likely she will never return.”
Eloise turned on Delphine. “Put her back, put her back now.”
Delphine taunted her, “And what will you do to me if I refuse? You can’t hurt me, you can only help me.”
Eloise recalled the struggle she had just seen between Anderson and the women he had murdered. Then she heard Turner and Paul coming up the stairs. She had an idea.
“I don’t have any power the way I am right now,” she said.
Turner and Paul entered the attic, both holding on to the eaves as the wind rushed around them. Eloise made her way to Paul, grasping eaves to pull her along as she went.
“I need you to have faith,” she yelled into the wind. “I need you to let me go and I promise I will come back to you.”
Paul shook his head, “What are you talking about?”
Eloise turned to Maria. “I need you to take my spirit out of my body.”
Paul wrapped one arm around Eloise’s waist and pulled her to him. “The vortex will pull you up, you can’t do it.”
She shook her head. “She has Sally. I have to go.”
Paul closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them with a sigh, “I will always love you.”
Eloise smiled through her tears, “I believe you.”
Paul clasped his arm loosely around Eloise and she closed her eyes. She could feel herself being lifted from her body. She opened her eyes and saw Paul lowering himself to the floor, wrapping his good leg around a beam and cradling her body in his arms. She turned and saw Delphine, Maria, Sally and Turner below her, the wind still playing havoc with them all.
“Where is she?” Paul yelled to Maria.
“She is here in the room with us,” Maria answered.
Eloise grabbed hold of an eave and pushed herself down behind Delphine and grabbed on to her waist. She was grateful and relieved that Delphine felt solid to her touch. She twisted her and threw her on the floor. Delphine screamed and flung out her arms, grabbing onto a table leg.
“How dare you?” Delphine cried, pulling herself up and slowly moving toward Eloise by grabbing onto the attic wall.
“You mess with my friends, you mess with me,” Eloise said.
Eloise reached up and grabbed on to a cross beam. She jumped up and double-kicked Delphine in the stomach.
“Way to go, El,” Sally yelled.
Delphine flew back and crashed against attic wall, grabbing hold of the wall to keep from being sucked up. “You bitch,” she screamed.
Eloise shook here head. “Tsk, tsk, such unladylike speech.”
Delphine grabbed hold of a rope to steady herself. Then she waved her hand and Sally was propelled across the room. While Eloise reached out to grab for Sally, Delphine swung herself toward Eloise and knocked her sideways, forcing her out of the side of the attic. Eloise tried to reach for something; anything that she might have been able to reach had already been pulled into the vortex. She floated outside
and felt herself being drawn up.
She looked down and saw that the attic was already about fifteen feet below her and she was moving further away by the minute. She looked up and saw the line of spirits waiting for their turn to enter into the light was about thirty feet above. The pull of the light was strong. Eloise could feel the peace and warmth emanating from it, even at this distance. But she knew that it wasn’t her time to go.
Eloise closed her eyes and thought about Paul. She pictured him as he saved her from Anderson, she pictured him back in Turkey, and finally she pictured him standing in the attic with her body in his arms.
“I believe you,” she whispered aloud, “and I will always love you too.”
Eloise felt another pull on her spirit, stronger than the pull of the vortex. Slowly she started to descend. She opened her eyes and watched as the attic came closer and closer. Finally, dropping onto the attic roof, she grabbed hold of an exposed eave and swung into Delphine, once again knocking her to the floor.
Delphine stood up and came after Eloise, grabbing hold of the attic eaves one by one as she moved. Her hair whipped in the wind and her eyes glowed with anger. Rather than wait, Eloise moved forward to meet her mid-attic. Delphine, surprised that she wasn’t retreating, faltered at the next handhold.
Eloise moved quickly, taking advantage of her loose hand. She grabbed hold of Delphine’s arm shifted her weight and threw Delphine over her shoulder and onto the floor. Delphine reached around for something to grasp, and could only find a knothole in the floor. She dug her fingers in, screaming in frustration. The wind increased and her body was lifted off the floor, only her slight handhold keeping her from the pull of the vortex.
Eloise held on to the eaves, fighting the force of the wind.
“Give it to her again,” Sally cried.
“Yeah, give her one for me,” another voice cried out.
“For me too,” said another.
Eloise looked up and to her amazement saw that the roof and attic were filled with the spirits of the people that had been murdered by Delphine.
