by R. J. Adams
Sophia was never able to conjure the devil; she just believed she did because she is clearly mentally disturbed. She projected that to Joe so that he would hide things for her, so she could get close to him and when he rejected her, that was her excuse, this was her plan. I was right!
But if Sophia never conjured anything, then who is the black figure? I never conjured anything, I wouldn’t even know how!
I run back into the room as the black ghostly figure is torturing Mark. I pick up Jack who looks at me, his eyes scream ‘what the fuck is happening,’ but I just smile, stroke his face and try to leave the room.
The door will not open as the force of the wind and spiritual energy is just too much. Whoever this thing is, it wants me to see what it is going to do.
Jack and I hide in the corner. This black figure, this spirit stands once again in-front of us and seems like it is trying to protect us.
Mark is lifted into the air, but nothing is touching him as he begins to choke, something is cutting off his air. His hands urgently try and grip whatever is around his neck but there is nothing to grip hold of or stop.
His eyes turn red and looking at him, he appears to soil himself. As he seems to run out of oxygen, he drops to the floor, his eyes frozen open, dead!
“What the fuck is happening,” Jack turns and asks, terrified of what he can see.
“I cannot explain it to you right now,” I look around, “but I think we are being saved, trust me okay.”
There is a loud banging coming from above and then the sounds of several heavy footsteps. I scramble to the door and suddenly it’s open.
“Is anyone here? Police, is anyone here?” Someone shouts.
“Yes please we’re down her e,” I yell back, “please, down here,” I look to Jack who looks pale, “please hold on, they’re here, someone is here.”
An officer in heavy S.W.A.T gear approaches the room, gun pointing as Jack and I huddle in the corner. He signals to someone else and others follow in behind him.
Detective ‘no feelings’ comes in and looks. “I need a medic in here immediately,” he calls through his radio.
“Miss Watts, are you alright? What happened here?” he asks checking me over.
How do I explain this without sounding crazy insane? I cannot tell him a ghost has been following me and then came along and murdered Mark and knocked out Sophia can I.
“It was her all along,” I mumble, “she killed my mother, she killed her mother,” I grab his tie and pull on him, “detective, there is a man on death row; he is going to die for a murder he did not commit, her step-father, please....”
“Joe Rhodes?” he blurts out, “but how? All the evidence was there rape and murder.”
“No, no,” I shake my head, “she raped him after she tied him up, that’s how his DNA got inside her, look it’s hard to explain but please just trust me please, he is innocent, you need to call them, you need to call them now.”
“There’s another one in here,” an officer calls out looking at Sophia in the other room unconscious on the floor.
As his back is turned, she gets up, not realising what is around her and comes charging at me. Knife in hand, the detective sees her intention and shoots her. It hits her in the chest and with a bang she falls to the floor.
I cannot believe it, she’s dead, it’s all over. I sob with relief as Jack holds me in his arms.
A medic takes both Jack and I away. Sat outside in the ambulance I feel a sense of peace that this horrible ordeal is over. Well, for me anyway.
Jack opens his eyes, he’s all sleepy and slightly ‘monged’ out with all the drugs he on, I smile at him, “hey, thank you for coming here.”
“I realised something was wrong,” he mumbles, “your message, I was afraid so I went to the station and some guy said some girl who looked like you had been in there, when they showed me what they had shown you, I just knew you were in trouble, I felt it, I felt you.”
I lean down and kiss him softly. “I’m so sorry,” I sob, “I don’t know why I trusted him.”
“Because I hurt you and you needed someone to fall on, you were vulnerable, I don’t blame you,” he says kissing me back. We watch as two bodies are loaded into the coroners van.
“Ma’am,” the detective interrupts, “there is no answer at the prison D-Block and having checked the police system for scheduled prisoner deaths, he is due at nine.”
I look at him, “how is that possible? His execution date hasn’t been scheduled yet, wait? What nine tonight or nine tomorrow morning?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
I look at my watch; it’s now 7:30a.m. How am I meant to stop this if the fucking prison guards will not answer to one of their own officers when they call them?
“You have to stop this,” I beg him, “he cannot die, you’ve seen it yourself.”
“I cannot stop an inmate due to die on a technicality when there is no evidence.”
I want to smack the life out of him, but then an officer runs out just in the nick of time. Thank god! He hands the detective everything, including Sophia’s diary, it gives sordid details of the murders, pictures of me and my family, pictures she took, even down the fact she had been pretending to take her medication which she hid in her underwear and then disposed of when she went to the loo.
The detective looks at me, it suddenly dawns on him that and innocent man is about to die. “I need to get to the prison,” he states looking at the book.
What an idiot, who kills someone and then keeps all the evidence, even takes pictures; she wasn’t that bright was she.
“I’m coming with you,” I tell him, he looks like he doesn’t agree but I don’t care, “you can look at me like that all you want but I am coming.”
He turns to the officer, “get on to the judge and the prison, let them know evidence has come to light showing Joe Rhodes is innocent and they need to put a stop to the scheduled execution,” he starts running to the car, “tell them I’m heading there now.”
I go as fast as I can behind him, my leg in a bandage, my body bruised and beaten but it doesn’t stop me. Joe is about to die.
The detective speeds as fast as he can through the streets, sirens on blaring as loud as they possibly can. “How did you find all this out?”
“Not only is it in her diary but the photos in that room and the knife, the knife she used to kill them with she still has. Everything during that court case was circumstantial, and because you found him trying to break the door down, covered in blood, his DNA everywhere, why wouldn’t you convict him, even I thought he did it.”
“What changed your mind?”
Besides the fucking ghost who kept pushing me in that direction, “Umm, well one she admitted it, two told me how she had planned it for years and three because of everything you have just seen.”
I feel a cold chill and something breathing on the back of my neck. I turn around to see the black figure sat in the back of the car.
I look forward out of the window, am I going to be too late to save an innocent man?
Chapter 19
Speeding through the city, the black figure does not leave as we reach morning rush hour. Traffic nightmare! The detective beeps his horn, sirens blaring as he tries to push his way through the traffic.
The cars part but not fast enough. Nervously I keep checking the time as I then see the coroners van speeding passed us at the lights, why would they be going that fast?
“Can’t you go any quicker? We are running out of time,” I snap.
“Look, my men are calling them, we do not know if they have or haven’t got through and in-case you didn’t notice, we have hit morning rush hour and I’m not driving a truck to drive over them,” he snaps back at me.
I’m seeing a new side to this ‘uncaring’ detective; he seems to want to save him just as much as I do. Maybe I judged him too quickly.
He races through the traffic and the city as quick as he can. Pulling up outside the prison, he jumps
out and I race behind him, he flashes his badge and they immediately open the gates.
Just as we reach the room surrounded by witnesses, through the glass they prepare Joe for lethal injection with just ten minutes to spare. I bang on the window causing major distraction as the detective flashes his badge.
Immediately a guard and an officer step out, “is something wrong?” The officer asks, clearly the lead officer here.
Out of breath the detective tells him, “you have the wrong person, this man is innocent, and didn’t anyone call to stop this?”
The guard holds up his hand signalling to stop what they are doing, “who did you call, no-one of authority has stated this execution is to be....”
“Sir,” an officer interrupts walking in holding papers in his hand, “these have been faxed over from the Supreme Court, a,” he looks, “a Judge Matt Hunter, he has ordered a stop to the execution and signed off for immediate release.”
The officer in charge takes the papers from his hand and reads over them and looks at me. His eyes widen with shock, “is this real?” he gasps, flicking through pages, “where is she now?”
“She is dead,” the detective replies, “on her way in the coroners van, there is a hell of a lot more, trust me.”
The guard and officer both go back into the ‘room of death’ and call it off. Untying Joe he looks at me, a smile beams from ear to ear. He comes out and embraces me in a hug.
He begins to sob, “thank you, thank you so much. I thought you were dead, that it was too late.”
I hug him back realising his life was ruined just as much as mine was, “it’s ok, she’s gone now, she got what she deserved.”
The lead officer comes over to a clearly worn down, thin and exhausted man who has been on death row, awaiting a death for something he did not do. “Joe,” he shakes his hand, “I’m sorry, if we had known sooner.”
“It’s okay,” Joe shrugs, “these things happen, besides, Sophia played it really well and I didn’t exactly say anything, but it’s over now.”
He takes me hand and we both walk out of there together, finally he is a free man.
“Why did they suddenly decide to execute you now anyway, there are people in there who have been waiting over twenty years, you have been in there only a year?” I ask him as his weak and frail body leans on me for support.
“I don’t know, that baffled me too but whatever it is, it’s over now and I’m free,” he smiles.
As we walk towards the gate, a dark cloud hovers over us and the air goes chilly. Everything around me begins to slow down.
I look towards the exit gate and there before me is once again the back figure. Why is it here? I did what it wanted me to do, I freed him. Why can’t it just leave me alone!
‘Danger’ I hear whispered through the air but I see nothing except guards and police officers. How could there be danger?
The gates open slowly and I look around at everything moving in slow motion. Suddenly Sophia is there and a crashed coroners van against the gate.
Police and guards scream and shout but she keeps coming, before they can stop her she holds up a gun and shoots.
Joe pushes me out of the way and I hit the floor. I look up at the gate and several guards and police shoot Sophia. She falls to the floor covered in bullet wounds and blood.
I look over to Joe who is choking on his own blood on the floor. Everything seems to revert to normal and guards rush to both Sophia and Joe. Joe has been shot directly in the chest.
“Joe, hold on okay,” I beg him; blood fills his mouth as he chokes.
“Rayne, it’s okay, I got to die a free man. You did that for me,” the blood bubbles in his mouth.
“No, you have to live oaky, you cannot leave me, I have no-one. Joe I need you, please stay with me,” I beg as guards frantically try to save him.
His body becomes limp and he looks at me, “let me go Rayne.”
Tears fall down my face as Joe lay dying in my arms, “I can’t, I promised to save you.”
“And you did,” and with those last words, Joe dies in my arms. They try to bring him back but he’s gone. Jack gets out of a police car and comes into the main yard of the prison to see me clutching at Joe’s lifeless body.
“I promised I would save him and I couldn’t,” I sob as Jack sits beside me all bandaged up.
The black figure draws closer to Joe. I look around and realise this time, no-one can see what I see. I shake my head; this thing cannot take him away from me.
The black figure turns into a white light and there before me is my aunty, smiling and looking at me. Oh my god! It was my aunty all along.
Then the woman, her words come to my head, ‘only the truth will set them free.’ The truth is known who killed my family, so I guess now my aunty is free. And so is Joe.
I see her and Joe together, reunited in death. My heart melts as they both give me a warm smile before disappearing. I smile with my last tear dripping down my face.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asks.
“Nothing, I just know he is where he wants to be,” I kiss his forehead, make my peace and let the coroners take his body away.
“You two need to get to a hospital. He has a bullet wound and you have several wounds,” the detective orders.
“Thank you detective, you know, for believing me.”
He looks at me, “I’m sorry, he shouldn’t have had to die like that after what he had been through. We uncovered more evidence at the house and two other bodies.”
I see them pick Sophia’s body up and limping over I stop them. “I want to make sure myself she is dead this time.” Unzipping the body bag, I look at Sophia who has several bullet wounds to the chest and one to the head, the bitch is definitely dead and there is no way she is coming back.
Jack and I are placed in the ambulance where we sit side by side holding hands. “What are you going to do now,” he asks.
“Well, as a minor I can’t really do anything can I. I don’t think I could go back to my house yet though, still raw you know.” I look at Jack who has love in his eyes, “what’s that look for?”
“Why don’t you come live with me?”
I almost choke on my own spit, “I’m sorry, live with you?”
“Yeah why not, my parents won’t say no you know that. My mom loves you, my Dad loves you and well, I love you,” his grip tightens slightly, “I never want to leave you again, you’re my girl Rayne.”
We arrive at the hospital and are finally seen to. Wounds patched over, stitches placed in and bandages tied on, just as Jack’s parents come rushing into the hospital.
Jack hugs his father who sobs that no matter what, he’s his boy and always will be. His mother almost kisses him to death and then fusses over me.
“My god you two, when Jack rung me I have never been so scared in all my life and then the police rung and said he was shot and you, but oh my god.”
“Mom,” Jack cuts her off, “you’re rambling and don’t worry, we’re both fine. But can you give us some privacy please for a moment?”
They kiss and hug us repeatedly before leaving the room. I look at Jack who hobbles over to my bed and sits next to me.
“What’s wrong?” I look at him, he seems nervous.
“Nothing is wrong. Leaving you was the biggest mistake I have ever made and after everything that has happened I never want to lose you again,” he sobs, “it would kill me.”
I hold his hand, “shush, you will never lose me, I will always be right here.”
“Right here as....my wife.”
My jaw drops to the floor, “what, you’re wife? But Jack, we’re still in high school.”
“I don’t care, I love you and I know I will never want anyone or anything with anyone else, but you.”
I look into his eyes, I love this man with all my soul, I beam from ear to ear, “forever and ever?”
“And ever and ever and ever,” he giggles back.
I don’t know what the future hol
ds for me, if we will remain in Washington or move, or if I will ever see another ghost again, I can rest knowing my mother is free with my father and my family can lay to rest. But one thing is for sure, I’ll never feel or be alone again and everything was put right. I’m happy knowing that.
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