Seventh (The Hafling Chronicles Book 1)

by Abigail McGovern

  Chapter Twelve

  Twang, thump. My arrow hits the edge of the target and sticks there, quivering. “Your arrows are too loud.” Mer whines from her position on a stone bench. “He could hear us, and you know what could happen if he catches us.”

  I notch another arrow, and aim at the target. “I thought you loved adventures?” I glance at her out of the corner of my eye and see her grinning.

  “I do. And this is the best kind cuz now it’s forbidden!”

  I laugh and loose my arrow. It flies past the target and hits an angel statue in the eye. I wince and Breanna glares at me. “Focus Liv. I know Lukas taught you better than that!”

  “Yeah Lukas taught me, and here we are hiding our lessons from him!”

  “Lukas is-” Bree starts.

  “Don’t call him that. That is not Lukas. I’m referring to him as Him from now on. At least until we figure out what’s wrong.”

  “Fine.” Bree throws her hands up. “Call him what you want, but hit the target.”

  I scowl at her, but notch another arrow and aim, carefully this time. It flies straight and true and hits the target dead center. I raise my eyebrows at Bree. “That good enough for you?”

  “Do it two more times then it will be.” I retrieve the arrows then I shoot twice more. Both arrows hit the target in the center, and I smile. I’m surprisingly good with a bow.

  “So” Mer says. “What should we practice-”

  I hear footsteps crunching through the grass, and retrieve the arrows and the target. Shoving all the arrows into the quiver, I Phase and dash into a mausoleum. The ghost of a young man wearing a tattered confederate uniform looks up in surprise.

  “Sorry Mr.” I glance at the nameplate on the tombstone. Jamie Jakobs. “Mr. Jakobs. I just need to hide in here, if that’s okay with you?”

  “A union soldier?” He asks, and I wonder if he realizes the war ended. Probably not, since he became a ghost.

  “No but,” I hate to say this, being on the side of the union but I’ve no choice at the moment. “someone just as bad.”

  “Of course.” He says, and I mutter “thank you”, as I step back through the wall.

  Mer is waiting with our book bags her eyes wide and nervous. Bree is nowhere to be seen. “I hear footsteps on the path.” Mer whispers. I nod, and grab her arm, conjure up the feeling, and pull her through the wall.

  We wait with baited breath as His footsteps echo around the cemetery. I’m wondering if he came down because he heard us, or if he was simply checking when I hear him say “That one there. That will serve our purpose, will it not?”

  I hear a garbled reply then the sound of his footsteps fade. I count, reaching two minutes before I dare release the breath I had been holding. “Breanna?” I say waiting for her to appear.

  “Yeah I saw.”

  I turn around and see her perched on Jamie’s tomb. He scowls at her, and tosses his ghostly blond hair from his eyes. “I most certainly did not say you could enter. Negro.” He spits. “Go back to your master.”

  Her eyes widen. “I agree with the union. Slaves deserved freedom......and guess what whitey? Slaves no longer exist in America.”

  “How dare you speak to your superior that way? I’ll make sure your masters hear of it.”

  Breanna lifts her chin. “I told you there are no slaves anymore. My Masters treated me like one of them, it was a time for unification. They never treated me like you southern bas-”

  “Bree!” I cut her off, sharing a wide eyed look with Mer. Bree never told us about her past, and we never pushed her, but it’s obvious slavery is a sore subject for her. “Tell us what you saw?”

  She glares at Jamie, but turns back to me. “Luk- sorry Him and some weird guy, tall and pale, black smoke trailing behind him, were discussing, a place to do something. I didn’t hear that part though, but they’re planning to use the big mausoleum in the center to do it. Whatever it is.”

  I frown. “He sounds like a Halfling of some sort.”

  “What do you think they’re planning?” Asks Mer.

  Bree looks worried. “Don’t get hung up on it, I have a feeling we’re about to find out.”

  I glance at Jamie. “Jamie. If you see anything strange. See anything at all, happening in or near this cemetery. I want to hear about it. Got it?”

  “Yes Seventh.” He says with a respectful nod. So I see he’s done some thinking and realized who I am.

  “Thank you.” I say, then I turn back to my friends. “That’s all we can do for now, so how about we go watch a movie?” I pull Mer out of the mausoleum, and Bree follows.

  “What’s a movie?”

  “Moving pictures that act out a sort of play.” Mer says, and I can feel her trying to lighten the mood.

  “What moving picture play should we watch?”

  “Not Shakespeare.” I say.

  “How about Harry Potter?” Mer suggests.

  “Harry Potter?”

  “Don’t worry.” I say. “You’ll love it.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “That streamer’s crooked.”

  I glare down at Breanna from the step ladder I’m balanced on. “Since I don’t see you helping you’re not allowed to complain.”

  “You know I-”

  “She’s right. That streamer is crooked. So not lined up with the black one.” Mer comes into the dining room balancing a tray of cocktail weenies made to look like fingers, and sets them down on the long serving table against the back wall.

  I roll my eyes and untape one side of the purple streamer. I line it up with the black one and tape in back across the doorway, then I look back down at my friends. “Hand me that orange one.” Bree levitates the orange streamer up to me and I tape it with the others.

  “There.” I say, jumping off the ladder. “Done with the last room!”

  “Nuh uh.” Says Mer as she reappears with a tray of peeled grapes. “You’ve got to tape streamers from the chandelier to the corners of the the room.”

  “All four corners!” I say in mock horror.

  Breanna rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed. “If you want me to do something why don’t you let me go yell at- I mean check up on Jamie, see if he’s noticed anything odd.”

  “Sure.” I waved a hand at her. “Knock yourself out.” She vanishes.

  “There!” I call triumphantly, finishing stretching the last streamer across. “I did the chandelier!”

  “Great!” Mer yells back. “Come help me carry the blood!”

  “Uh…” I join her in the kitchen. “You mean the punch?”

  “Yeah.” She says as she grabs one side of the huge bowl. I grab the other. “But blood sounds more Halloween-y.”

  “The smoke machine is here!!!!!!” Max shouts, racing into the dining room just as we are setting the bowl of ‘blood’ down into the middle of the table.

  “I didn’t hear the doorbell ring.”

  “Well he just pulled up, but he should ring the doorbell in-” Ding dong. “He’s here!” Max runs to the front door.

  “Hi!” I hear him shout. “I’ll take that!”

  “Uh…” I hear a man’s voice say. “I need an Olivia Norfolk to sign for it.”

  I hurry into the entrance hall just as Max is running out of it. I grab him by the shoulders and pull him with me to the door. “That’s me.”

  The delivery man looks surprised but nods. “Ok, just sign here.” He points to a line on a pink slip of paper, and hands me a pen.

  I take it, and start to scribbleOliv when I see a ghostly hand out of the corner of my eye. I risk a look, and wince. Jamie is standing half in half out of the delivery man, and his left hand is sticking out of the poor man’s stomach. The delivery man has an odd expression on his face, like he’s constipated or something. Breanna leans against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, she’s not laughing, but she has a look of annoyed amusement on her face. I look over and realize Max is staring with his mouth open, and probably not helping the situa
tion.

  “Would you hurry up and sign that?” The delivery man grumps. “I think I must be getting sick or something.”

  I realize I’m also staring and quickly drop my gaze back to the clipboard. I finish writingOlivia Norfolk, and hand the clipboard back to him. “Um, sorry about that, here you go.”

  As soon as the man leaves I hand the box to Max, step outside and pull the door shut behind me. “Seriously Olivia?” Breanna is standing halfway through the door, glaring at me with the eye that’s on this side of the door.

  “You’re a ghost!” I snap. “It’s not like it hurts you! Now come out of there!”

  “Why? Your brother totally already saw me.”

  “Yeah, but he probably thinks you’re a Halloween trick. I don’t want him knowing the truth before he’s ready.”

  “His powers have probably already developed you know.”

  “Ok, I didn’t come out here to talk about Max.” I turn on Jamie. “Why would go through that man like that? Don’t you know anything about being a ghost? He could feel you, you know.”

  Jamie shrugs. “I was just walking to your door and he was in the way.”

  “I- I...” I shake my head, at a loss for words. “Nevermind. Did you figure something out?”

  “No, why would I have?”

  Breanna sighs in exasperation. “She means did you see something in the cemetery, idiot?”

  “Ooooh. Yes. The boy with the black hair, the one you asked me to watch came back with a lot of…….somethings, and he showed them the big mausoleum, and they talked about some sort of thing that is going to happen soon. Then they left.”

  “Um, ok I guess that’s sort of helpful. We know something big is going to happen soon.”

  “We knew that much last night.” Breanna grumbles. “Did you hear when exactly this ‘big thing’ is going to happen?” Jamie shakes his head, and Breanna rolls her eyes. “Honestly, can’t you do anything!?”

  “Bree don’t yell at Jamie, it’s not his fault they didn’t say when this thing was going to happen.” I turn back to Jamie. “Thanks Jamie. You can go back to the cemetery now.”

  He gives a little bow. “Goodbye Seventh.” He vanishes and I turn around and head back inside.

  “Liv!” Max comes careening back down the hall. “That trick was soooooooo awesome! Are you going to do that at the party? Are you? Are you? Are you?”

  “Chill bro.” I say looping my arm around his shoulders, and meeting eyes with Mer as she comes down the hall with a box of plastic spiders. “I might do something like that at the party, but you’re going to be trick-or-treating with Dad and Gram remember?”

  “Not for the whole party!”

  “Well then, go find your brother and help set up for the party you’re going be at!”

  “Looking good kiddo.” Dad says as he comes down the hallway.

  “Thanks.” I say as I adjust a fake spider hanging from the library ceiling. “Let’s just hope people get here before it gets messed up.”

  The whole house is decked out in Halloween stuff. The entrance room is littered with fake bones, and tombstones, skeletons lean against the walls every few feet. The family room has a fake coffin sitting on the coffee table, and the place is completely dark, filled with huge fake cobwebs. A fake vampire hangs from the ceiling, connected to a trip wire and will fall every time someone springs the wire. The kitchen has a witches cauldron, with the fog machine inside it to make it look like something was bubbling out. The fog fills the entire lower level of the house making it impossible to see the floor. Colorful disco lights hang from the ceiling and rest on the floor giving the fog color. The dining room’s nothing special, with just streamers and the food and drinks, and the library is filled with fake spiders and bats that drop from the ceiling, and more tombstones. The backyard is by far the coolest. We have another fog machine set up out there, and fake fires and fake cess pools and puddles of blood. Made to look like Hell.

  Mom joins me in the library with more plastic bones. “It’s almost seven, your guests will be arriving soon. Why don’t you let me finish up here while you go get your costume on?”

  “All right.”

  “Mer!” I call as I head toward the stairs. “Come get your costume on!” She joins me in my room as I gather all my costume stuff. I go into my bathroom to change, and she stays in my room.

  My costume is a fairy, but not a poofy skirt, magic wand, pink sparkles fairy. I have a long, slim, dark blue dress that falls to my ankles. The hems at the bottom on the sleeves of the dress are jagged, and the whole dress is covered in silver sparkles. My wings are long, ending above my head, and are shaped like long thin raindrops. They are a shimmery silver.

  Mer knocks on the door and I unlock it. “Make up time!”

  Mer is- true to her nature- a voodoo queen. She wears a short, long sleeved purple dress with a tutu-style skirt that hits mid-thigh, ripped black leggings, and a pair of tattered black chuck taylors. She has lots of beaded and woven bracelets and anklets. Her long, frizzy reddish brown hair is down, falling almost to her waist, and braided with lots of beads and feathers. She wears a sort of headband of beads.

  “Here Liv, tie this around your forehead.” She hands me a length of dark blue ribbon covered in silver glitter.

  “Wait.” I say, setting the ribbon down on the sink. “I need to add the-”

  “Silver glitter hairspray!” She squeals, her green eyes lighting up. “I almost forgot!” She grabs the can out of my medicine cabinet, and I grab a hand towel.

  I set the towel around my shoulders as she shakes the can, then she sprays the silver glitter all over my whole outfit, not just my hair. “Eek!” I squeal, jumping away from her. “That’s cold! Plus it's hair spray, not body spray!”

  “Yeah, but it looks awesome this way!”

  I finish tying the ribbon around my forehead, then grab the black hair glitter. Mer snatches the towel away from me and puts it around her shoulders. I return the favor by spraying her whole body with glitter. “Ok!” She stops me and puts away the glitter.

  “Now. You sit here.” She grabs my shoulders and guides me over to the edge of the bathtub. “I’m gonna do your makeup!”

  “Uhhh…......Mer, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea-”

  “Shh. Close your eyes.”

  I sigh but do as she says. I feel her doing eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick, then I feel her messing with my hair. “Mer-”

  “Ok! Open your eyes, and come over here!” I get up and follow her to the mirror, then gasp.

  “Oh my gosh Mer this is amazing!”

  She gave me black eyeshadow that looks amazing with my green, brown and gray eyes. My lashes look impossibly long and thick with mascara. The bright red lipstick she used make my lips look full. And rather than the ribbon flattening my curls, she adjusted it so that my hair falls over top of it. I look incredible.

  I give her a huge hug. “You are a wizard with this stuff!”

  She grins. “By ‘this stuff’ do you mean makeup?”

  “Yeah that.”

  I hear the doorbell ring and I dash downstairs to answer. I fling the door open and start to reach for the candy bowl I set near the door for trick-or-treaters when I realize who it is. It’s a petite ten year old girl with slightly-past-the-shoulders wavy red hair, dressed in a skintight black body suit. She is holding a purse with a fake gun holstered at her hip, she is standing in the entrance grinning at me.

  “Wow Liv. You look..….wow. Amazing.”

  “Thanks Zoe, so do you. Boys!” I call up the stairs. “Black Widow’s here!” The boys and their friends are being the Avengers for Halloween.

  Max comes charging down the stairs, and grins at her. “Woah Max!” Zoe says. “Awesome Iron Man costume!”

  “Hey!” Nate calls, bounding down the stairs in his Captain America getup.

  “Hey Nate!” Zoe says. I smile at the huge grins they are giving each other. I know that Nate has a little crush on Zoe and I think she
crushes right back.

  “Hi y’all! Do I look good as a guy?” I shudder at the not word ‘y’all’ and move aside to let Maia in.

  Maia Ellis, our neighbor and the first friend the boys made is leaning against the doorframe dressed like Thor, down to the blond hair in a ponytail behind her. “Come on in Maia.”

  “Liv!” Mer yells from upstairs. “That’s Tyler’s car! And Fiona’s!”

  “Why are you in my room?” Nate yells at her, since his room is in the very front of the house and is the only kids room with a view of the front yard. Mer laughs.

  “Uh….” I turn to the boys and their friends. “My friends are coming and you’re just waiting for a few more people so-”

  “We’ll go in the basement and wait for Zach and Mike to get here.” Zoe tells me with a smile. Zach who will be posing as Hawkeye, and Mike who will be Hulk are two of their other friends from school.

  “Thanks guys.”

  From above me Mer shouts. “Let’s get this party started!”

  “Witch!” Someone shouted, and all twenty-four people raced for the witches cauldron in the center of the kitchen.

  Tyler, the witch at the moment shouts “I got you Alli!” and Alli runs off to hide. I don’t even know how we started playing witch in the first place. Adam and Fiona’s freshman brother Alex just announced that we are playing witch and ran off to hide, but we’ve been playing since nine o’clock and it’s 11:45.

  A few minutes later I hear a girl scream. Most people run towards the cauldron, but me, Mer, and Breanna’s ghostly form push our way to the source of the scream. Alli is standing there frozen in shock, and behind her, his hand on her shoulder is Lukas, grinning like a maniac.

  “Luke.” I say, knowing this must have something to do with his great big plan. “What are you doing?”

  “Well Liv, I heard about the party, and realized, even though I live in your backyard, I wasn’t invited. I honestly thought we were better friends than that. I decided to pop in to make sure you were….preoccupied.” That last part doesn’t make sense with his alibi, and I can tell from the confusion on Alli’s face that she knows it.

  “Lukas, let her go.” Bree levitates a ceramic rock behind his head, and glances at me.