“Detra Ann, get away from the window,” Ashland warned her sternly. He stood in front of me and waved his hand behind him, and I got off the couch and moved to the doorway. I couldn’t see anything, but apparently my husband did.
It didn’t seem to faze her. “See? I can see the darkness gathering now. It’s just waiting for me. I don’t know what’s in those shadows, but I know if it touches me, I’ll die. Tell me I’m wrong! Any of you! Tell me I’m wrong!”
“Detra Ann, get away from the window!”
Tearing her eyes away from the darkness, she looked at Ashland. As she did, the window behind her shattered with a loud boom, and pieces of glass flew across the living room. Ashland fell on top of me to protect me, and Henri snatched Detra Ann’s hand and pulled her to the ground. As we lay there trying to figure out who was hurt and what happened, the chandelier flickered.
“Everyone get up now!” Ashland yelled. “Upstairs, everyone!”
We did as we were told and climbed the stairs like four maniacs. I flipped on light switches as we ran so none of the shadows could touch Detra Ann. She wasn’t crying or saying anything at all, just running with fear in her eyes. I couldn’t blame her. If Death were chasing me and using shadows to reach me, I would be fearful too. When we made it to the end of the hallway, I grabbed her hands. “Don’t run away from us, Detra Ann. Stay close, okay?” She bobbled her blond head. Her makeup was running under her eyes, and her hands shook.
Standing on tiptoe, I tried to see the ground floor, but it was completely dark. I imagined that I too could almost hear an inaudible whisper.
“Oh God, it’s calling my name. Lenore was right! It is Death. He wants me! I cheated him, and now he wants me. He’s come to claim me!”
“Well, he’s going to have to fight us if he wants you because he isn’t going to take you, Detra Ann! We’re safe here. There is light up here, see?” I heard the light bulb pop above us, and the light faded.
“Oh my God!” she shouted and ran into the guest room.
“Stop, Detra Ann! Wait for me!” I ran to her, flipping on every light I could as I went. “Follow me. I have a flashlight somewhere in my bedroom.” Grabbing her hand I called, “Ashland! Where is the flashlight?” Coming to himself now, he ran to us and opened the closet. Hidden in the back was a huge Maglite that could light up the neighborhood when fully charged. He turned it on. The light was so bright it was nearly blinding. Henri was holding Detra Ann now, and she was weeping.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” she repeated over and over again.
“Shh…it’s okay. Shh, now. It’s okay. We are all here together.”
Then the guest room lights went out and the lamps popped. We were in total darkness except for the Maglite, which lit up the entire room with harsh white light. So far it wasn’t flickering, but who knew how long it would last? We heard a sound, a slapping, crashing sound. The tree limbs from the oaks that surrounded our house were slapping the windows—slapping them so hard they were all breaking! Between the crashing and the groaning, it was a horrible cacophony. Surely the neighbors would hear this! Somebody would come help us! But what if they didn’t?
“I love you, Henri. I’m sorry. I am sorry…” Detra Ann was crying quietly now. The whispers became louder and more threatening. Henri held her as if it might be his last chance. Tears ran down his cheeks.
“Ashland,” I said fearfully as he wrapped his arms around me.
Suddenly the smashing and crashing of the branches ceased, and the door to the bedroom flew open—a tall figure stood in the doorway. We gasped and waited. A tall figure stepped out of the darkness and into the brightness of the Maglite.
I couldn’t believe it—it was Lenore!
Chapter Fourteen—Detra Ann
“You believe me now, don’t you? I said you were a shade.” She spat the words out like she hated me. Like I wanted to be in this battle with Death itself.
“How did you get up here? Is there a way out?” I demanded, suddenly feeling hopeful.
“The only way out is the way you came in, and it’s pitch black outside.” She leaned against the doorframe staring at me.
Carrie Jo stood by me protectively. “How did you get up here? Did you see it?”
“I saw nothing but the wind blowing and the house dark. I can feel it, though. It’s still very close.”
“She’s right. We’re not out of the woods yet,” Ashland added.
“I don’t understand why this is happening! Why won’t it leave me alone? How do I make it stop? Do you know, or are you going to continue to hate me? Why don’t you try to help me since you seem to know so much?” Anger and frustration rose up inside me. She could help me, I knew it, but for some reason she wouldn’t. “Why? What have I ever done to you? I don’t even know you, Lenore!”
She didn’t answer but glared at me with her almond-shaped eyes. Her mouth was a pair of hard lines.
“I know who can help us,” Carrie Jo said in a rush.
“Who?”
“Father Portier! He’ll know how we can defeat Death.”
“What makes you so sure, Carrie Jo?” Henri asked.
“Because he’s already dead.”
“What?”
“There’s no time to talk about this.” She waved the flashlight and walked out the door. “Let’s go before this thing comes back.” She grabbed my hand, and we scrambled down the stairs with lightning speed, the guys following behind us. CJ grabbed her purse off the entryway table, and we headed out the door. We climbed into her BMW, and I was surprised to see Lenore climb in the backseat beside me. CJ slid the key into the ignition and we rolled down the driveway onto the crowded street. Ashland passed me the flashlight, and I held it like my life depended on it. Maybe it did.
“Oh no, it’s a parade night,” Carrie Jo said as we drove down Dauphin and nearly ran into a barricade. “We’ll have to go around to Conte Street. Maybe that’s not blocked off.” She turned right and eased down the street slowly. There were people everywhere.
“Where exactly are we headed?” Ashland asked her in a worried voice. “Not to Seven Sisters, I hope.”
“No, I don’t think this has to do with the house. Not directly, anyway. We’re going to the cemetery. That’s where the gate is, and that is where I met the priest. This must be why. I didn’t put it together until tonight.”
“Hold on now. Nobody said anything about a cemetery. We’re trying to escape Death, not knock on his door,” Lenore said fearfully.
“As you said, he’s not looking for you, right? Then you have nothing to fear.” Henri snarled at her impatiently. “And nobody asked you to come.”
“Someone has to look out for you, Henri Devecheaux.” He snorted and looked out the window.
“What are you thinking? How are these things connected?” Ashland asked, his blue eyes full of questions.
“Detra Ann is a spiritual person. She said that she was able to escape it when it came for her in the bathroom by praying the Lord’s Prayer.”
“Okay…”
“There must be some prayer we can use to make it leave her alone for good. The priest told me to look for the secret.”
Ashland’s face was filled with doubt, but I piped in, “Listen, it might be a long shot, but I’m willing to go on a little faith here. Even if it means walking through a cemetery.”
“What if the gate won’t open? What if we can’t get to the priest? You said yourself you don’t know how you got there.”
“It will open. It has to.”
Ashland looked at me in the rearview mirror. “You sure you want to do this?”
I nodded, and Henri squeezed my hand. “I’ll be right with you the whole time,” he murmured.
Ashland nodded and said, “We’ll have to park and walk. This is about as close as you’re going to get.” Carrie Jo pulled the car to the side of the road, claiming the last parking spot on the street. The sidewalks were jammed with revelers streaming toward the parade route. “Le
t’s see. If we cut through that vacant lot, we should come out on Virginia Street, but the cemetery will still be a few blocks away. Keep the flashlight close and stay close to the group, Detra Ann.”
“Got it,” I replied. Ashland had nothing to worry about. I was never letting go of Henri’s hand. “Let’s go!” We emptied the car and walked down the sidewalk away from the gathering partiers. I suddenly wished I’d grabbed my jacket before we left. My sweatshirt provided little protection from the frigid night air. My heart hammered in my chest as I scanned the sidewalks for shadows. There were plenty.
“Go ahead and turn on your flashlight. Just point it down at the ground. We don’t want to attract attention,” Henri whispered to me. With cold, stiff fingers, I slid the button into the on position and breathed a sigh of relief as the shadows around me vanished. Lenore slipped her arm through mine—I didn’t pull away, but I clutched Henri’s hand tighter. In the distance a marching band blasted “On Broadway” to the appreciation of the happy parade watchers—the sound echoed through the narrow streets of downtown Mobile. I could hear the occasional blast of police sirens. In a strange way it comforted me knowing that the police were so close. As if they could actually help me.
Ashland paused on the sidewalk. “We’re getting closer. How are you doing?”
“So far, so good,” I stammered. The cold made my teeth chatter. Lenore’s fingers were about to freeze me to death. Of all of us, she was the least prepared for the cold weather. She wore thin tights and an oversize, long-sleeved t-shirt. Henri was the only one who’d had the good sense to dress warmly, but then again none of us expected to be visiting a graveyard at night. I waved the flashlight on the grass in front of me and carefully stepped only in the light. For some reason, I thought about TD. I hadn’t thought about him as much lately, but the love I had for him had not diminished at all. Some girls had high school sweethearts, and others had college sweethearts. I had neither of those. TD had been it for me, or at least I thought so until he disappeared. In the months following his death, I had a difficult time sorting through my feelings. TD had left me for a ghost. I had been pushed unwillingly into a battle and fought for my life, and all for what? I felt abandoned. Life was completely unfair. I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from an English literature class. “Life makes fools of us all.”
So why was I thinking of TD now?
“This way, here’s the street,” a Mardi Gras vendor shouted at us. An inflatable fleur-de-lis hat perched upon his head, and his cart was full of parade swag. Before he could begin his spiel, Ashland raised his hand politely and said, “Sorry. Not today.” We left the man staring after us as we shuffled down the street. The parade was a few streets over, so there was nobody else on Virginia Street.
I looked over my shoulder and said to no one in particular, “I wonder why he’s over here.” To my surprise, the man and his cart had disappeared.
“Don’t pay any attention to that. He’s just having fun with you. Keep that light on and keep walking.” Lenore’s furious whisper made my heart pound. I knew exactly who she was talking about. I did as she instructed and kept my eyes on the ground, always stepping only in the light.
“There it is!” The Magnolia Cemetery sign swung gently in the breeze. The gate stood open—it was a foreboding sign, as if someone had expected us to visit.
Carrie Jo paused before we walked inside the graveyard. “There are no lights in here, so you’ll have to lead the way. Just walk straight toward the back; that’s the gate were looking for. Are you going to be okay?”
I swallowed hard. “Oh God, I hope so.” Our little group shuffled together down the narrow walkway. I had been here once before in middle school, but that was a long time ago. I certainly wasn’t an expert on navigating this massive maze of graves. Immediately to the right I noticed a row of mausoleums. Even though there was very little moonlight, they seemed to have an eerie glow about them.
Lenore shook her head. “I ain’t going in there. Too many ghosts. I’ll meet y’all on the other side.” Before we could argue with her, she was already halfway down the sidewalk.
I chewed my lip as I watched her disappear down the street. I wanted a shot of whiskey, but it was too late for liquid courage. “Carrie Jo, I’ve been thinking. What if the gate doesn’t work? What if only you can go through it? What if it takes us somewhere else?”
“We connected the last time, remember? I think we can do it again. What choice do we have?” She looked so hopeful, but I felt anything but confident. The last time we went “ghost busting,” I ended up the prisoner of a murderous spirit who was convinced that I was his dead wife. The wife he hung from a chandelier until she died. Now CJ wanted to go see another ghost. But she was right…what choice did I have?
“Alright. Then let’s do this. Wait.” I reached for Henri and kissed him on the lips. “Just to remind myself that I’m alive.” I smiled up into his worried brown eyes. “It’s okay, right?”
He said, “I plan on keeping you alive. I want a second date.” Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but love him for saying that. I waved the light around nervously, took a deep breath and entered the cemetery. Some of the newest tombstones were located near the entrance. I remembered seeing these on that middle school trip when we came to take rubbings of the tombstones. I didn’t like cemeteries even as a child. I’d found the first suitable grave there was, made my rubbing and waited impatiently for everyone to finish theirs. A few feet into the graveyard, a shell pathway began. It glowed in the dim light. I waved the flashlight around again and gasped. Something ran from the light—it looked like a cat. At least I hoped it was a cat. My eyes couldn’t stop flitting about searching for anything that moved.
“How far is it, CJ?”
“All the way in the back.” The four of us hurried down the pathway together, Henri and I in front, Carrie Jo and Ash right behind us.
Ashland cleared his throat. “Guys, I don’t know whether to tell you this or not, but…”
I spun around, waving my flashlight furiously.
“You’re going to blind us, Detra Ann,” he complained.
“Sorry. What is it?”
“Lenore was right—this place is teeming with ghosts. And they don’t look too happy to see us here.”
Carrie Jo asked, “Anyone we know?”
He paused and looked into the darkness. “Not that I can tell, but the shadows are moving now. Just like before…when whatever it was appeared at the house.”
“Death. It’s Death, Ashland. Just say it.”
“We don’t have time for this, and we can’t stop…go now! Run!” He didn’t have to tell me twice. I took off running toward the distant gate. Carrie Jo was beside me. I paused for a second when a looming figure appeared on the right of the path. It was a massive angel statue with his arms stretched to the heavens. “Oh Lord!” I whispered and kept running. The light from my Maglite bounced as I ran, and I could hear the whispers collecting around me. Ashland was right. The shadows were gathering, and now there were many ghosts to contend with. In my mind I could see them reaching for me, demanding that I return to their realm to take my proper place among those who had surrendered life.
No! It’s not my time!
My chest burned—it had been a long time since I had gone for a run. I was so out of shape, but adrenaline-fueled fear kicked in and propelled me forward ahead of my friends. I turned the corner of the path, and a gruesome-looking cherub sat perched on top of a moldy gravestone. Long ago, some grieving family member had thought the fat-faced figure would be a fitting tribute to their lost loved one. I couldn’t disagree more. Ahead of me, I could see a looming shadow that covered the walkway. I waved the Maglite at it, but it didn’t disappear. I came to a screeching halt, and my friends piled behind me. All of us were panting for breath.
“Oh my God!”
“Go around it!” Carrie Jo screamed at me.
Clumsily, I tripped up a small round hill, and the flashlight flew from
my hand. Carrie Jo grabbed it and reached for my hand, pulling me to my feet. I heard a swishing sound and felt a disturbance in the air around me. Someone or something was there—I just couldn’t see them.
“You can’t stop! Believe me,” Ashland yelled at me. My friends nearly picked me up off the ground and carried me to the back gate. I was almost in tears and not thinking at all.
“Come on, baby. Almost there,” Henri said, looking over his shoulder as he cleared a small row of graves running behind me. It was the first time he’d ever called me baby. I liked it. I suddenly realized that I did love Henri. It was different from my love for TD, but it was love nonetheless.
CJ waved the flashlight at the back gate—only fifty feet away. “Almost there!” she shouted over the growing whispers. Suddenly a flash of light appeared in front of the gate. Then the light disappeared, leaving the figure behind. “Lenore?” she asked.
It wasn’t Lenore. I knew that figure just like I knew my own. That was Terrence Dale. I snatched the light from Carrie Jo and shined it at the gate again. He didn’t disappear. He stood staring at us, his face not unfriendly or reproachful. It was him! I heard Henri gasp beside me. “Is that…”
“TD…” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. He wasn’t dead at all but completely alive. There was even a halo of light around him. Had we gotten it wrong somehow—was he alive but stuck in the past? Maybe he needed our help to break free from wherever he was stuck. I couldn’t think straight, and I was freezing. I could see my breath now in the light. He looked directly at me and gave me a heartbreaking smile. Then he vanished.
“No!” I yelled and ran toward the gate. “Terrence!”
Chapter Fifteen—Carrie Jo
Before I could stop her, Detra Ann flew through the gate and disappeared, taking the flashlight with her. The three of us stood in the dark cemetery and stared at the gaping entrance. “She’s gone,” Henri said. “I was supposed to protect her, and now she’s gone.” He banged on the gate and walked in circles, his hands on his head. He let out an anguished cry. “Do something! Where is she?”
The Stars We Walked Upon (Seven Sisters Series Book 5) Page 13
