by Ashley Drake
Fifteen minutes later, which was fast for Jaycee, she was walking back to my car. She had her regular bag that she uses when she comes to spend the night, but this time she also had an old book bag over her shoulder.
"What's in the bag?" I asked her when she opened the door.
"My clothes, duh." She was avoiding the question.
"No genius, the other bag." I pushed.
"Just some things I think we might need for tonight." That was all she would say about it. If I thought I would have gotten it out of her, I would have questioned her more. But I could tell she wasn't ready to share just yet, so I let it go for now. Jaycee changed the topic to Mike, huge shocker.
I interrupted her rambling. “It’s just you and me now, so tell me the truth. Are you not the least bit afraid of what could happen tonight? Because I gotta tell you, I’m petrified.”
She seemed to really think about it before she gave an answer. “A little nervous, yes, but I’m not scared. In a way, I’m kind of excited about it. It’s called adventure.”
“It’s called delusional.” I corrected.
"Daniel's here." Jaycee announced as she picked up the old book bag and headed for the front door. My parents still weren't home from work yet. I had hoped they would be, to give me a boost of encouragement before we left. I wrote them a quick note before following Jaycee out the door.
Daniel's handsome smile greeted me at the car, lifting my spirits. "Hello beautiful." He pulled me into a kiss.
"Hello to you too, Chief." Jaycee smarted off from the back seat. "Oh you were talking to Hannah." She smiled.
After studying my face to make sure I was ready to face tonight, Daniel turned around and smiled at Jaycee. "What's in the bag?" He asked.
"Apparently it's top secret, because she won't say." I answered for her.
"I will show you when we get there. I feel silly for bringing it, but at the same time it feels right that I did." She sighed. "Don't you think we should fill Hannah in on what you found out about Samantha?" She asked Daniel.
He waited until he pulled out onto the highway before speaking. "Really the only thing helpful I found out was her name, Samantha Rose Pearson." He looked over at me to see my response.
Hearing her name, her full name, said out loud gave me goose bumps. I wanted to repeat it, but didn't. We weren't ready to call on Samantha just yet and if I said her name, she might appear. I was afraid that she wouldn't be alone if she did. I knew the shadow demon wouldn't be far behind her. So, for now, I took comfort in just hearing Daniel say Samantha's name. "Thank you." Was all I could say.
"You found out more than that." Jaycee spoke up from the back seat.
"I think it would be better to let Hannah see for herself once we get there. Remember, Samantha won't move on until she knows what happened to her. Hannah is going to have to find that out, and I don't want to give her information that might not be accurate."
The rest of the ride was in silence. I spent the time trying to accept that if everything goes right, tonight will be the last time I will see Samantha. It was bittersweet. I also took the time to send up a prayer to God to watch over us and to have a special welcome for Samantha when she gets up there. She has waited so long.
"We're here." Daniel said as he pulled onto a dirt side road that lead to the cemetery. It was just as spooky up close as it was from the road. There weren’t any houses or street lights anywhere near by, which fed into my thoughts of all the scary movies I have seen in my life. At least I wasn't wearing high heels. The girl wearing high heels in the movies were always the one that trips and falls, then gets killed.
"Next time we do this, can it be at a spa, or on a beach?" Jaycee grumbled as she got out of the car.
"I will do my best." I played along. Daniel opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a flashlight while Jaycee got her book bag from the back seat. I pulled out my phone and text my dad that we're here.
"Even with a full moon, I thought we might need this." Daniel said. It was good thinking, because with the daylight savings time change, it has already started getting dark. He closed the trunk and reached for my hand. "Are you ready to do this?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Was my cliché response.
Knowing what I was looking for, I took the lead. I remembered the dream vividly. Beside of Samantha's grave was a huge tree. What set it apart from the rest was that this tree had been struck by lightning years ago and one side was still scorched from top to bottom. We started the search, slow and steady. When I was a little girl my dad told me that out of respect, to never walk on someone's grave and I have always remembered that. So I took my time walking, being careful of every step I made. My ears started ringing, this time it was a faint buzz. I tried to ignore it and the several shadows that I have already seen. From the feelings I was picking up, I'm pretty sure they are just ghosts and not the shadow demon. I felt the heat from the stone of my necklace and knew that it was the reason the living impaired hasn't approached me. The farther we walked into the cemetery, the older the graves were and harder to read. Some that I could read were dated back as far as 1803. "There it is!" I saw the tree a few yards ahead of us, and I picked up my pace. "We're coming Samantha." I whispered. I didn't need Daniel's flashlight anymore. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and the full moon looked as if it had lit a perfect pathway to her grave. I felt the energy, before making out the name on the tombstone, and knew I was at the right spot. I knelt down at the head of her grave and ran my fingers along the engravement:
Samantha Rose Pearson
Loving Daughter
Feb. 7, 1886 - May 21, 1902
"I had the date right, it was the event I had wrong. It was your death, not your birth that was given to me on my phone." I spoke out loud and began to cry. I could have sworn that the ground rumbled with every tear that fell from my eyes. I was sitting back on my knees, when I felt a pull to my right and looked over to the grave beside me. The pieces of the puzzle started falling into place.
Samuel "Sammy" Ross Pearson
Devoted Husband, Father and Grandfather
May 21, 1902 - Aug 12, 1975
Placing my hands on both headstones, feeling the outpour of emotions rising up from each one, was the last thing I remembered before I collapsed.
Chapter 21
Floating weightlessly in the darkness was somehow comforting. It was a warm, cocoon, feeling of safety. If I didn't allow myself to think, if I didn't allow myself to question who or where I was, I could have stayed here forever. The calm, nothingness was winning me over when I heard a voice.
"Come back to me! Don't you die on me!" Mom? "Samantha wake up, please wake up!" No, not my mom. It was Samantha's mom. "Samantha, I love you, please wake up!"
"Hannah, please wake up! I love you Hannah!" That time it was Daniel talking to me. I can't give into this darkness, I have to open my eyes, I have to fight. I could feel myself making progress with every word Daniel spoke.
"It's done, I closed the circle. Hannah you open your eyes right now and help us or I will be the next one to die. Do you hear me?" It was Jaycee, and she's in trouble. I forced myself out of the trance that I had been in, and opened my eyes. I immediately started coughing water out of my lungs. I knew from my vision where the water came from, it was the how it was coming out of me that was unnerving.
"Hannah, you're back!" Daniel grabbed me in a hug. It hurt to be touched, I felt bruises all over my body, like I had been badly beaten.
"I've never been so glad to see you Han, but we don't have time for hugs right now. You need to call on Samantha. We felt her show up earlier, but she disappeared when the shadow demon came."
I sat up and took stock of my surroundings. There were candles lit everywhere and we were inside some type of circle. This must have been what was in Jaycee's book bag. "What is that?" I pointed at the white thin line that made its way around us and the two graves.
"Don't touch it!" Jaycee said. "It's salt. It will protect us from
the shadow demon until he finds a way to break through."
"Did you find the answer?" Daniel asked while running his hand down my hair, trying to comfort us both.
"Yes." I started to stand with Daniel's help. My throat hurt from all the coughing, but I had to make sure I was loud enough for Samantha to hear. "Samantha! Samantha, it's me. I need you to show yourself." I looked around for her. "This is Daniel and Jaycee, they won't hurt you, they are here to help."
Samantha finally appeared just outside the circle. "Hannah, he's here to take me with him!" Samantha cried.
"Look at me, Samantha Rose Pearson." Samantha, hearing me say her full name, froze. "I found out what happened to you." I said as I felt the shadow demon get closer. I had to tell her who she was and what happened to her, and quickly. "Samantha you were walking home from school one day when your neighbor, Mr. Moore, asked you to help him in his barn. He used the excuse that his mare was sick and he wanted you to keep her calm while he examined her. Once he got you into the barn," my body started to shake and bile burned its way up my stomach, from recalling the vision, but I pressed on, "he raped you Samantha. He threatened you to keep quiet or he would do the same to your little sister, and then kill your entire family." Samantha shook her head from side to side. She was remembering. "You didn't tell anyone, until you found out that you were pregnant and were too far along to hide the secret by yourself." Unconsciously, Samantha laid her hands on her stomach. The same way I'm sure she did, countless times before, during her pregnancy. "You found a midwife and swore her to secrecy. She helped you with your clothing, so you could hide your expanding belly. And it worked, no one suspected a thing, until the day you went into labor in front of your mother. Your water broke while you were in the kitchen helping her fix supper. Trying to keep her and the rest of your family safe, you refused to name the father. In spite of that, your mother took you to the midwife and word got back to Mr. Moore that you were having a baby. A sixteen year old, unwed mother was big news back then. He knew it was his child and that it was only a matter of time before the law would be on his doorstep. So he came to find you and the baby, to shut you up permanently."
My story was interrupted. Feeling his ties on Samantha loosen, the demon emerged out of the darkness and his shadow surrounded Samantha. He was trying to pull her away from me. I lunged for her.
"No! You have to stay inside the circle!" Jaycee yelled.
"I won't let him take her!" Once I stepped out of the circle, the shadow demon turned his darkness to me. Just for an instant, a split second, I saw a face form inside the black mass. He had red glaring eyes and fangs, that were dripping with what I think was blood, jutting out from behind his gruesome smile.
Just before it made contact, I heard Jaycee from behind me start to chant. "In this darkest hour, I call upon my ancestor's power. Wrap your light around my friend, so this story can see its end." A brilliant blinding light surrounded me, causing the shadow demon to retract and cringe back into the dark.
A cold fear had worked its way throughout my body. I just wanted to be safe at home with my mom and dad, but I had to focus on Samantha and finish the story. "Mr. Moore showed up at the midwife's house while your mother had went to get your father. You handed her your baby and told her to hide, while you ran out the back door so he would follow you. He chased you through a pasture. You lost your footing running down the hill toward the pond and that's where he caught you. He dragged you into the water and held you under until you drowned. He killed you Samantha. You gave your life to save your son's."
"My baby boy?" Samantha spoke with such sorrow.
"Look," I pointed at the grave beside hers, "this is your son. After they found your body they sent out a search party for Mr. Moore. He was killed before he ever made it to a jail cell. Your mother kept and raised your son. She even named him after you, Samuel Ross Pearson. They called him Sammy. He lived a long, good life. He married, had children, and grandchildren. They were with him when he peacefully passed on. Sammy made sure that his family knew about his real mother's sacrifice, and tremendous love she had for her son after only knowing him for a few short hours. Your memory and your love lived on in your child. Your story did not end with shame Samantha, it ended with heroic honor."
Samantha moved passed her grave, to stand in front of her son's. "Sammy." She said. "He lived. He knew I didn't abandon him." As if her words were magic, a stream of pure white light beamed down on Samantha, making her solid in form. She gazed up into the light, and the most beautiful smile lit up her young pale face. I was able to see into her mind, and saw the faces of her parents, her sister, and most of all her son, calling her home with welcoming arms. Samantha was ready to let go.
A high pitch scream of anger came from behind the tree. The shadow demon knew he had lost, and he was pissed. "Samantha you have to go to them now!" I cried out.
"Hannah, I can't leave you with that thing." Samantha was torn.
"Yes you can. Like a wise person told me just recently, I got this. Now go!"
Samantha smiled. "Thank you, for everything." She said one last thing before she disappeared. "Hannah, your story will be one of unimaginable power and greatness." Then she vanished.
However, unfortunately the shadow demon was not. Daniel had managed to pull me back into the circle, leaving the shadow demon to pace along the circle's perimeter. He looked like a rabid dog, pulled to the end of its chain, trying to break free. “Samantha’s gone.” I said.
“I know, when that bright light appeared, I somehow was able to see her.” Daniel said.
Jaycee spoke up. “Me too! I saw her the same time Daniel did.”
“It must be because she turned into a solid form. Hey, at least that proves I’m not crazy.” The bone chilling growls from the shadow demon had me realizing that we had more urgent things to discuss. "We might be safe inside this line of salt but we can't stay here forever. We need a plan." I said panicking.
"Remember this morning, when you and Daniel got into my head and pushed my pain away?" Jaycee asked.
"Yes. But how will that help?" I questioned.
"Give me your hands." She motioned to Daniel and me. "By making our own circle we will have a constant flow of your energy. When I squeeze your hands, you two are going to repeat after me. Hannah, you put what we say into that thing's mind. And Daniel, you push it throughout its body. Ready?"
"Ready." Daniel and I said in unison.
Jaycee raised her face up to the sky. "Fire, protect us from this evil." The flames from the candles' shot up a foot into the air. Shocked, it was all I could do not to yelp like a little girl. "Water, cleanse us from this evil. Air, move this evil away from us. Earth, keep this hallowed ground safe from absorbing this evil. Thank you all." Jaycee looked magnificent and powerful, older even. The wind was pushing her hair away from her face, but in slow motion. Each curled strand was floating in midair! Had she not been my best friend, I would totally be afraid of her right now. She squeezed our hands, letting us know it was our turn to repeat after her. I conjured an image of myself getting into the shadow demons disgusting head. "Hear this plea to make our case, send this evil through time and space, and remove this demon from this place. As we will, so shall it be." Daniel and I repeated it with Jaycee.
I pushed the thought into the demons head with all my might. I could see the tornado of black, pure evil that was swirling around in his mind getting smaller. I could feel that the shadow demon was losing some of his strength. This angered him more, and he started to look for a weakness in our circle. He kept trying to cross over the salt, but every time he was blocked by an invisible force field like wall.
"Again." Jaycee ordered.
We did this three times. Each time he got weaker and weaker. The strength and power behind our words had us needing to hold on tight to each other’s hand. The pressure was so intense, it was forcing us back. I closed my eyes tight and pictured a ball of our words appearing into his head. I felt that Daniel was inside there with
me as I watched the demon explode from within. A calm sensation flowed through us. I know we all three received it because I felt it come through me from Jaycee, and enter into Daniel. I couldn't sense the shadow demon after we finished the chant for the third time. The candles that had once been a blaze, was nothing more than small clouds of smoke now. It was over. I could feel that the shadow demon wasn't destroyed, just defeated. But for now, that was good enough for me. The next time, if and when we have to face him, we will be ready.
"It's over, he's gone for now. We won!" I said, jumping into Daniel's arms. "Did you mean what you said when I was knocked out?" I said lightly into his ear.
He pulled me back so he could see into my eyes. "You heard that?" We both blushed.
"Yes I did." I said shyly.
"I meant every last word of it. I love you Hannah Marie Price. I love everything about you. From your smile, to your powers that make you different, to your amazingly big heart, to your loyalty, to your beauty, even your crazy friends."
"Hey!" I heard Jaycee say from behind me.
But Daniel went on. "I love you and I feel, no I know, that love will grow with every new, little, thing I discover about you."
I don't think my heart could get any fuller. This has been a roller coaster of a day when it comes to emotions, but this part right here, made it all worth it. "I love you too Daniel...what's your middle name?"
He smiled and put a strand of hair behind my ear. A gesture I have grown to anticipate. "Bryant." He said.
"I love you too Daniel Bryant Carver. I love you for accepting me for who I am, and for all that you are. I love your caring nature and your strength. I just simply love you for being you." In that moment I was the leading lady who was strong and confident, with a take charge action. I pulled him into the best sweaty palm, butterflies in the stomach, toe curling kiss, possible.
Jaycee rudely interrupted. "Barf. I helped too ya know."
And 'end scene' on my moment. I held on tight to Daniel for just a tad longer before turning to Jaycee. "I love you too." I hugged her. The evening’s events started flooding back to me. I slowly stepped away, leaving my hands on her shoulders, and looked her straight in the eyes. "What the crap was that? How did you do that? How did you even know to do that?" She blinked several times like she was just realizing what she had done. It was almost comical. "You called on the elements, and they listened!" I gave her a little shake.
