“It looks like I get the jeep,” the short man said.
“Yes, you do,” the tall man said, and then closed the trunk, “we better get out of here. Who knows who could have seen us? Make sure to follow me”
I had no idea what we were going to do, but I knew we had to follow these men. There has got to be something we can do. I’m not going to let Emma and Alexander die. Not like this.
“Emma, I’m not going to leave you. I’m going to do everything in my power to save you and Alexander. Just try to hold on,” I said to her.
After that, the men who almost killed my best friend and boyfriend were pulling out of the parking lot. I turned to my friends. They are just a shocked as I was. I walked over to where the Lincoln sat.
“I’m going to save my friend and boyfriend. If anybody wants to help me, feel free. If not, wish me luck, then” I said.
Patrick walked over to the driver side and got in. I’m glad he is ready to help me. I feel like with Patrick at my side, I can do anything. I looked into the rearview mirror and saw Edgar and Camille getting into the Bel Air. Griffin, who I had almost forgotten about, was with them. He got into the back seat. Then William and Whitney got into the Mustang. It looks they were all ready to help. I’m glad because I could not do this on my own. I know the odds of saving Emma and Alexander are stacked against me, but I have to try. They were always there for me, now it’s my turn to be there for them.
As we pulled out into traffic, Patrick grabbed my hand and held it. This tiny gesture meant a lot. It reminded me of our trip to Michigan. It seemed so far way now. It felt like it happened years ago, rather than just days. I’m in complete disbelief about what I had just witnessed. I kept replaying it over and over in my head, trying to make sense of it. How could this have happened? Things were going so well. We got Alexander to find Emma. He almost got the trunk open. Why? That’s all I can ask myself.
“Savannah, we’ll do all we can to save them,” Patrick said.
“I know,” I said, “Thank you for all that you’ve done. It means a lot to me”
It wasn’t long before we were able to catch up to the cars. I looked again in the rearview mirror to make sure my friends were still behind us. They were. I knew that I had joined the right group of spirits. They were my family now. If something happened to one of us, the others stepped in to help. They know that what I want to do is not going to be easy. I knew that we are attempting the impossible. How could a group of ghosts save two lives? Who knows? Stranger things have been known to happen.
Ch. 51
After driving for what seemed like an hour, we finally arrived at a house. Of course the house is in a bad area. That was almost a given. When the men pulled into the driveway, it looked strange to see these two nice vehicles sitting in such a, questionable, area. We parked on the street. The two men went into the house and left Emma and Alexander in the car. I couldn’t believe it. They didn’t even have the decency to take them out? Well, look at the people we are dealing with. There is no decency in them whatsoever. I got out of the car to go check on them. Patrick quickly grabbed my hand before I could get out.
“Patrick, what are you doing? I have to make sure Emma and Alexander are, still alive,” I said. I was going to say ‘okay’, but they are certainly not okay.
“Don’t go by yourself,” he said.
“I’ll be fine. The worst thing that could happen to me already has happened,” I said,” but if going with me makes you feel better, then let’s go together”
Patrick had no reason to worry. It’s not like anyone could hurt me? I let him come with me, how could I say no. So off we went. As I looked around, I could see that all the houses were in need of some serious TLC. Most of them may be smaller, but with some care they could be cute little houses. Anyway, I got nervous when we reached my car. I couldn’t get myself to call out to Emma so I made Patrick do it.
“Emma, how are you and Alexander doing in there?” Patrick asked.
‘How are you doing’? Really, Patrick? How do you think they are doing? They have been beat up pretty bad. I can’t believe he would ask that. Maybe I’m overreacting a little, but that is the worst question for him to ask. I’m just going to keep my mouth shut and apologize to Emma later.
“We’re okay, I guess. I’m still in a lot of pain and Alexander is beginning to come to a little,” Emma said.
“Just hang in there until we can figure something out,” I said.
Patrick motioned for the rest of the group to come over to where we were standing by the Camaro.
“Edgar, you, William and I are going to go into the house and retrieve the car keys. We’re going to try to get that trunk open. Then we’re going to get Alexander’s keys so they can get away,” Patrick said.
Okay, I was not made aware of Patrick’s plans to retrieve the keys. It’s nice that he talked to me about it. I have no problem with the plan itself, just the fact that I was not included. Patrick doesn’t expect me to wait out here does he? Oh, no I’m not. I’m going in that house to help find those keys.
“I wasn’t aware of the plans,” I said.
“I just came up with it,” Patrick said.
“I’m going with you,” I said. He was about to speak, but I held my hand up “No buts, I’m going with you,”
Patrick didn’t say a word. He led us up the walkway to the front door. He paused before going through.
“Let’s stay together. If there are any other sprits in the house, I’ll do the talking” he said.
“Who died and made you leader,” William asked.
“I did,” Patrick said, with a smile. I love Patrick’s sense of humor
After that we went through the door. The house is dark, big surprise there. As we stood in the foyer, we looked around. From the living room at the front of the house, we could hear a television going. A cat sat in the doorway to the living room. It hissed when it saw us. William hissed back at the cat. It then hissed back at William. This back forth hissing contest went on until Edgar got sick of it and put an end to it. If I had to choose a winner, I would have gone with William. He is by far the superior hisser
“Okay, we have to find the keys. Once we find them, we’ll figure out how to open the car. We should be able to open the trunk from the house. Right, Savannah?” Patrick asked.
I stepped out through the door and stood on the porch. I think opening the trunk from the house should work fine. I don’t see how it couldn’t. I used to unlock my car from my second story window, so opening it from this house should be no problem. I then stepped back through the door and joined the others in the foyer.
“Yeah, we should be able to get it open,” I said.
We were originally going to split up and everyone search a different room, but decided that staying together might be a better idea. The first place we decided to check is the kitchen. It seemed an obvious choice. A lot of people have a hook to hang their keys, or a special spot on the counter. As we entered the kitchen, we were bombarded with vomit inducing odor. Thank god I couldn’t throw up because I probably would have. It smelled of a combination of rotting food and cat urine. I searched the counter, Patrick looked through drawers and Edgar and William looked through piles of newspapers and magazines that littered the table. As we were so focused on searching for the keys, we failed to notice the spirit of a teenaged girl who just waltzed into the room.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Nothing” I said aloud, which is a total lie and we all knew it. I need to just clarify something. Ghosts can get startled. Yes, we have been known to scare each other by accident from time to time. It doesn’t happen often but it happens. When I turned around to face her I saw that she was young. She looks like she is in her mid to late teens. She had long black hair and dark eyes, which were covered partially by side swept bangs. She had on an open plaid shirt with a Taking Back Sunday band shirt underneath. Someone had good taste in music. She was wearing dark skinny jeans and pink converse. O
n her wrist was a charm bracelet. She is dressed like a modern teen all right. Judging by her clothes, she had to have died some time in the early 2000’s.
“You’re obviously doing something,” she said, ”I’m not stupid”
“We never said you were stupid,” Patrick told her.
She turned her back to us and walked over to the window. She leaned against the sink and stared out. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts. She turned around when I started to speak.
“If we’ve upset you in any way, we’re sorry,” I said, “it’s just that the men out there kidnapped my friend and her boyfriend. They locked them in the trunk of my friend’s car and we need to get the keys to get them out, which is why we are going through the kitchen looking for them”
As I told her what happened, the look on her face changed from anger that we were here bothering her to horror. She knew something we didn’t. I did not like that. I’m now even more worried about Emma and Alexander than before.
“I really don’t like the look on your face,” I said.
“Is it because of those men out there that you are dead?” Patrick asked.
Patrick got straight to the point. The look on the girls face said it all. She had died at the mercy of these men. If we didn’t do anything soon, Emma and Alexander will meet the same fate.
“Yeah,” she said, as she put her hand on her arm and stared at the floor, “they killed me”
As the night wears on, things are just getting worse and worse. I don’t know what to do? I don’t know what to think? Maybe this girl can help us.
“When did you die, if you don’t mind us asking?” Edgar said.
“ I died the summer of 2004” she said.
She didn’t elaborate on anything. If she wants to tell us more, she can. If not, we won’t ask her. Some spirits are ready and willing to give up the details surrounding their death, others not so much. The number one thing you need to remember is that if a spirit does not want to share what happened, you never, ever pry for answers. Sometimes, they will tell you when they are ready, others will never say. She jumped up onto the counter and sat there, staring at us.
“How long have you been here?” Patrick asked.
“Since the summer of 2004. This is where I died and this is where I’m stuck,” she said.
I really wish she would tell us more than just when she died. I know she died at the mercy of the two men in the living room. I need to know the story surrounding her death. I want to know what they did to her. But I can’t straight up ask her. I just really need to know how dangerous they are so I know what we are up against.
“Do you feel up to sharing the circumstances surrounding your death? It might help us save my friends,” I said. Everyone turned to look at me. I know it isn’t the right thing to do, but the information might help us.
“Wow, I’ve never been asked that before. I don’t see many other spirits around here. On the occasion that I do, I’ve never been asked that. Usually, they’re just passing through,” she said.
So, this young spirit didn’t live in a group. Edgar said not all spirits live in groups, that some live alone. I felt bad for her. Being a ghost is a lonely existence, but this must be worse. At least living in groups, you have others to talk to and look out for you. I almost feel inclined to ask her to join our group, but I’m not the leader, so I have no say.
“I really would rather not,” she said, “but I am willing to help you save you’re friends. By the way my name was -- is Zooey”
“That would be great, Zooey. You know what these guys are capable of. That will definitely be to our advantage,” I said. The fact that Zooey has offered to help us means a lot.
“If we’re going to save Emma and Alexander, we better get to work. They were hurt pretty badly,” Edgar said.
“First we need to get the keys,” Patrick said.
“Follow me,” Zooey said.
Ch. 52
Zooey led the way to the living room, followed by Patrick and I, then Edgar and William. As we entered the living room, we were hit with the strong smell of pot. I thought I smelled it when we first entered the house, if you can call it that. Seeing as how these two men were stoned out of their minds, the task of retrieving the keys shouldn’t be as hard as we thought. The room was messy. There is junk everywhere. I thought the kitchen was bad, this is way worse. We all started looking for the keys. Since both men were as high as a kite, we didn’t have to be too careful as we knocked stuff over. They were too high to even notice a pile of books moving by themselves, or boxes being knocked over. I didn’t think we would ever find the keys.
“Is this whole house a black hole or something? There is so much junk everywhere. We’ll never find the keys,” I said.
“Yeah,” Zooey said, “there’s shit everywhere. You should see the backyard; there are car parts and junk everywhere. I don’t know what they plan on doing with all of it”
We continued to rifle through the mess. Sure, we found keys, plenty of car keys. We found keys to all different makes and models. Of course we didn’t find the two sets we needed most. Nope, we just found ones that were of no use to us.
“Is there another way of getting the trunk open,” William asked, “because trying to find Emma’s keys in this mess is like trying to find a needle in a haystack”
“No, we need those keys. The trunk won’t open without it,” I said.
“You’re friends are locked in a car trunk?” Zooey asked.
“Yeah,” Patrick said, “they’re in the red car”
Zooey walked to the window. She looked out and saw the car. Someone must have waved to her because she waved back. She walked over to the corner where I was standing. Patrick is on the floor with a pile of keys in front of him. He was going through the pile a second time to make sure none of them were mine. Edgar and William continued to bring Patrick keys. I wonder where all the cars that went to the keys were?
“You know what?” Zooey said aloud. ”From past experience, I’ve found that when you lose something, it’s you usually in the most obvious place. You never check because it seems too obvious”
“You’re right,” I told her. Patrick nodded in agreement.
I walked over to the coffee table the tall one had his feet on. Maybe I’ll get lucky. I doubt it though; with the way my track record has been lately. As I rummaged through more junk on the table, I found one half of what I needed. Sitting off to the side of the table were Emma’s keys. Jackpot! I was hoping Alexander’s would be close by, but nope. Hey, I’m happy for finding what I did. Zooey is right. You never do check the most obvious places. If you do, it’s probably the last place you check.
“Guys, I found my keys. They have been sitting in front of us the whole time,” I said. I tried to pick them up. It was not easy. I had way too many key chains on my set of keys. I managed to grab a hold of the Hello Kitty lanyard, before the set of keys fell to the floor.
The sound of the falling keys got the attention of the tall man. I thought he was too high to notice anything. I was wrong.
“Jerry, what the hell was that?” the tall man said.
“I don’t know, Paul. It sounds like something fell off the coffee table,” the Jerry said.
“Well, go see what fell. It could be important,” Paul said.
“But you’re closer,” Jerry said.
The tall man gave his friend a look and the short man got on his hands and knees. He kept bumping into things. When he finally found the source of the noise, he went to grab for it. As he was about to pick it up, Patrick appeared out of nowhere and started to pull the keys by the lanyard.
“Patrick, what are you doing? This is no time for fun and games. Stop right now,” I said, angrily.
“What, a guy can’t have a little fun?” he asked.
By now, Edgar had joined him. They took turns pulling the keys around the room, causing Jerry, the short one, to run into stuff and knock things down. Edgar partaking in this does not surprise me. Him and
Camille were tormenting the living when I first met them. Still, this is not the time and place to do so.
“You guys, come on,” I said.
Paul, the tall man didn’t notice his friend crawling around the room until after at least twenty minutes. He stood up.
“Jerry, what the fuck are you doing? The keys sounded like they fell somewhere in front of the coffee table. Why are you crawling around the room?” Paul asked his friend.
“They keep moving around the room. It’s like someone is pulling them. I can’t catch them,” Jerry said.
“It’s just the pot that’s making you think they’re moving,” Paul said,” where are they, I’ll get them”
Jerry pointed to where they were, in front of a bookcase filled with VHS tapes. Paul got on his hands and knees. Patrick and Edgar were ready and waiting. As soon as Paul got near, they pulled the keys away. They led him around the room a couple of times before he gave up.
“Okay, this is ridiculous. It’s like those damn keys know we want them, so they’re trying to get away,” Paul said.
Patrick was getting bored, so he kicked the keys to me. I kicked them back. He then kicked them to Zooey, who kicked they keys to Edgar. Edgar then kicked they keys to William. We just passed them back and forth to one another.
“They’re moving on their own,” Jerry said.
“Like I told you before, it’s the pot that is making it look like it. How can car keys move on their own?” Paul asked.
If they have ghosts to move them, they can.
“I don’t know,” Jerry said.
Paul walked over to the where the keys were. Nobody kicked until Paul was about to reach for the keys. Then off they went, flying across the carpet. He was not happy. He threw out quite a few colorful words. We just laughed. I haven’t laughed much since you know what. As we kicked the keys around, we slowly inched our way to the door. Edgar opened it. The door wasn’t actually closed so a firm push got it opened. Once we were close enough, Patrick gave a powerful kick that sent the keys flying into the darkened front yard. I wouldn’t say they got a lot of air, but they did make it off the porch and onto the front lawn.
The Middle Realm Page 26
