Forever Ash: The Witch Child of Helmach Creek (Frost & Flame Trilogy Book 1)

by Rick Kueber

  Katie was not the kind of girl who could make fun of the less fortunate, bully someone, or swat a puppy for peeing on the floor. She was tough not timid, and not insensitive. She had a great balance which helped her fit perfectly with the team. None the less, she found herself growing less comfortable with each flash of lightning.

  Her face was flush and she felt uncomfortably warm, so she threw off the blanket and contemplated opening the window for a brief moment when she felt something. There was something in the air, a power she couldn't explain. The room was charged with energy and she could feel every hair on her body standing on end taking notice of it. It was just then when she did not have time to count, not even one. She wanted to jump when the lightning seemed to strike right next to where she lay, but she could not move.

  Her eyes were drawn directly to it when the lightning invaded, and she had her first conscious glimpse of the burning girl. In only a fraction of a second... flash, boom, girl. The little blonde girl had appeared, no, somehow she was formed out of the tiny electric threads of lightning that reached into Katie's room. The girl stood next to Katie with a faint bluish-white glow of electricity and then reached her hands out, waving them over Katie's stomach and head. She could feel the electric charge moving her hairs as the girl moved, and she began to feel queasy, almost nauseous. Then everything went white and she slipped out of consciousness and into a dream state.

  The whiteness began to dim and dark figures began to take shape around Katie. She realized she was sitting in an old style wooden rocking chair. Dark figures and shapes began to become more discernible as end tables, wooden chairs, darkly stained doors against nearly white walls, and an old world stone fireplace. A nervousness overtook her, and Katie looked in bewilderment at her surroundings. “Where am I? How did I get here?” she thought.

  “I brought you here. This is my home.” a small voice replied. Katie turned her head to the left, the direction the voice came from, to see a child size shadow figure blocking out the light of the window. She felt frozen, unable to move, but her hands gripped the sides of the seat so tightly she thought she would not be able to let go. The small shadow of a person moved to one side and began to come closer to Katie. As the figure moved away from the window and no longer had the bright light from outside behind it, it became very clear what, or who, Katie was looking at. It was obvious to Katie that the figure that now stood only a few feet from her was none other than the bluish girl, only now she appeared very ordinary.

  “What am I doing here?” Katie thought out loud. She began to study the little girl and her surroundings taking mental notes of every detail.

  “I was lonely, so I brought you home to play with me, well sort of…this is what my home looks like, but I’m not sure where we are, or where my home is.” said the girl in a very childlike manner. “Would you like to know a secret?” The child asked putting her pointer finger to her lips as if to say 'Shhhhhh', her shoulders drawn up tight and a smile on her innocent face. In a split second the child disappeared from in front of her and was suddenly beside Katie, her swift and abrupt movements and the glazed look in her eyes caused Katie to feel unnerved. The now somewhat creepy little child leaned in towards Katie with her hands cupped on either side of her mouth and then whispered loudly in her ear, “I can do magic!” Katie jumped. She could actually feel the girl's hands brush her hair as she spoke her secret. She swore that she could literally feel her breath in her ear. Then as if in rewind, she suddenly appeared directly in front of Katie again.

  Playing along with what she hoped must be a dream, Katie said, “Wow! That is magic! How do you do that?” Her body now beginning to relax and feeling a bit less threatened, she winked at the girl.

  “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Daddy that I told. He gets awful mad sometimes.” She said looking over her shoulders as if she were afraid her father would be behind her, listening to her and Katie's conversation.

  “I promise.” she said with a smile and made an 'x' sign over her heart. She tip-toed right up to Katie and whispered “For my birthday my daddy got me a magical potion and a magic necklace...” she said nodding her head and with her hands clasped together swung her arms side to side, almost appearing to be shy. “...but I drank all of the potion.” she frowned.

  “That's too bad, but you can show me your necklace if you want” “Oh yes!” the child exclaimed “It's so beautiful! But you can't have it!” She reached up to her collar with both hands to grab the silver chain, but it wasn't there, and instantly the atmosphere and the feeling in the room changed. Everything dimmed incredibly dark so that Katie could barely see the child searching the room and the floor for her prized possession until she stopped just before she reached the fireplace. Her arms rose slightly from her sides and her feet actually lifted off of the floor where she stood. Her body spun around in an instant and Katie saw the orangey glow in her eyes. Her head flung itself back and her arms shot up towards the sky as she screamed, “NOOOOOOOOO!” Her body and all that surrounded her burst into a blazing inferno with an earth shaking 'BOOM”.

  Katie leaped out of the rocking chair, and found herself in a cold sweat, sitting up in bed and shaking all over. Her first thought was that this was the most amazingly realistic dream she had ever had. The second was that no one was going to believe how vivid it was, and thirdly she thought, 'I have to write down every detail I can remember, or else I will forget every bit of it by morning'. She opened up the nightstand drawer and retrieved her pad and pen. As the page filled up, the storm outside raged on, pouring rain and crashing thunder and lightning.

  She became more confused as she wrote. When did the dream start? Did I have a dream within a dream? Was the bluish girl real, and did she make me have the dream? Or was it all real, somehow?

  This was to be one of those cases that with every answer came more questions, until we couldn't even remember all of the questions. We wondered if we would ever truly understand this haunting. I often wondered if we would even think we understood. You see, that's the problem with all things paranormal, you never really know for sure about anything. It isn't an exact science yet, and even when you seem to have the answers, you never really know. In a way it reflects real life in that so often when we think we know, or have the answer to something in our life, we find out things aren't what they seem. Paranormal research has been more like religion or spirituality than science because often times you have to have the faith to believe the things you cannot prove. I often say, 'Keep your eyes and mind wide open' because if you are not completely aware of your surroundings, and do not have an open mind about what you experience, you could miss, or misinterpret everything.

  Despite the near constant flashing and window rattling thunder, Jennifer slept peacefully in her bed until her phone rang. The rock-n-roll ring tone startled her from her blissful slumber. She rolled over and fumbled for her glasses to read the caller I.D. on the screen. It was a rare occasion that she would get a call at this hour of the morning, which caused her to immediately think the worst. The name Kate appeared on the screen and Jenn quickly answered with, “Hello, Is everything alright?”

  “Oh, s-o-r-r-y.” Katie said whispering a drawn out 'sorry'. Her voice continued in an effervescent, but quiet tone. “Oh-My-God! You won't believe this crazy dream I just had. There was lightning and fire and a creepy old house, but it wasn't old and I was in this new, old rocking chair...”

  Katie rambled on but Jennifer only heard the first few words. She was completely distracted when the lightning flashed again. A thin young girl was standing in the corner of her dimly lit room, and had it not been for the flash, Jenn might not have even noticed her, but notice her she did. Even in the dim street light glow that filtered through the blinds and curtains, she could easily make out the girl's face, long blonde hair and white night gown. She could see her bare feet and the smile on her face. The girl lifted her finger to her lips and made a 'shhhh' sound.

  “I gotta go. Tell me tomorrow.” and
without thinking, she hung up the phone and rolled over towards the girl, propping herself up on one elbow. Jennifer's mouth hung open for a moment before she decided to try to speak.

  “How did you get in here?” She asked, unsure who this girl might be. She didn't recognize her as one of the neighborhood children, and she was positive all of the doors and windows of the house were closed and locked.

  “The lightning, it's like magic...” she said crinkling up her nose a bit and smiling. “I rode here on the lightning and I've been here before, you just weren't able see me.”

  Jennifer got up slowly and sat on the edge of her bed. She shot a quick glance over to Alan who was facing away from them still sound asleep, and then returned her stare to this child who had 'ridden the lightning' into her room. In a friendly whisper, she smiled and said, “Hi. My name is Jennifer, but you can call me Jenn.”

  The girl smiled back and with a bashful demeanor said, “Hi Jenn. My name is Ashley Sue, but you can call me 'Ash' if you want to. That's what daddy calls me.”

  While the girl spoke, Jennifer's investigative skills automatically kicked in high gear and her left hand searched the top of the nightstand for her digital recorder. She always kept it there much the way Katie kept a note pad and pen near her bed. Being paranormal investigators, my team and I have become proficient at being very unobtrusive about doing things, and also quite adept at using our equipment in the pitch black darkness of any unfamiliar room, so it was an easy task for Jennifer to find her recorder and begin recording without ever taking her eyes off of Ashley.

  “Okay Ash, can you tell me more about how you know me, and how you got here on the lightning? I'd love to know” She had a way of speaking to child entities that seemed to bring them out, not scare them away.

  “It took me a bit, but right away I knew I could be part of the lightning when I wanted to... we're the same, or made of the same stuff... we all are. I didn't know what would happen or where I would go, but I always knew I could do it. I just had to be brave.” The girl paused for a moment, then, looking around the room she said, “Can you see it too?”

  “I don't know. Can I see what?” Jenn peered around the room wondering what it was that she couldn't see, and almost frightened of what Ashley might tell her.

  “The little lightning… it’s everywhere. It’s around that black box sitting there.” She pointed to the television on the dresser across the room. “And it’s all around that tiny little black box there.” Her hand and pointer finger shifted to the bed where Jennifer's phone laid. “That's how I got away from home....a little box like that, that a girl was talking to. I saw the little lightning shooting out of it and across the sky. There is even tiny lightning around you. It is amazing to ride the lightning. Absolutely brilliant! I didn't like being alone. I was feeling thin, like I was being forgotten and disappearing from existence...but now I'm not sure how to get back home.”

  Jennifer couldn't see the tiny lightning Ash was referring to, and her head was beginning to ache, but she was relieved it wasn't some horrible demonic presence that she couldn't see. She had often thought her migraines were sometimes a sign that a strong electromagnetic field was present, or possibly some supernatural energy source.

  “I need to take an aspirin, okay?” She said, leaning over to see if she had the fortune of leaving the pill bottle on her nightstand. The golden cross on her necklace swung forward catching the light and within a mere second lightning flashed in the distance and the girl was gone.

  “Geeze!” She said out loud, and chuckled. “I can't believe that crap just happened and I was the only one who saw it. Wow, just my luck.” She sat in disbelief at the edge of the bed for a minute wondering how Alan had slept through everything, and thinking 'Katie had a dream'...really? I ought to call and wake her ass up and tell her 'I didn't have a dream, but you gotta hear this!' That is when it dawned on her, she had turned on her digital recorder. She grabbed up the recorder, pressed the stop button and held it tight in her hand. A fear overcame her that if she didn't listen to the recording now, it might not be there in the morning. She stood up, grabbed her ear buds and made her way to the living room couch. She was hyper-excited to hear this conversation from a third person point of view.

  She started out with the volume at a low setting and though she could clearly make out herself speaking to Ash, there was an overabundance of static, especially when Ash should have been talking. She stopped the recorder and went to the computer desk to get a pencil and paper. Jenn started the recording over and began numbering her questions and statements, and following each time she spoke, she would press pause and try to remember Ashley's response and write it down. There was mostly static in response to Jennifer's voice on the recording, but there were also a few 'class A' e.v.p.'s. They were similar to Jenn's memories of the conversation, but off a bit. Jennifer remembered Ashley saying “I have been here before, you just couldn't see me.” but the recording had a clear e.v.p. that sounded nothing like Ash saying “They can't see us.” In fact the recorded voice sounded male. During another static filled response Jennifer could hear the girl's voice saying something about the 'little black box', and a few seconds later the phrase 'take me home', but these were not as clear as the first electronic voice phenomenon of the recording. Either way, Jennifer knew this was an amazing experience, and couldn't wait for Katie and me to show up to pick her up to head over to Dr. Covand's.

  Jenn thought, what could be more important than helping another human being in paranormal desperation? Perhaps the answer would be helping a lost soul find its way home, the lost soul of a child.

  The sun came up, the storm had passed and the hours flew by. It was 10:30 am before she was completely ready. Katie and I arrived at Jennifer's doorstep chattering away about our probable trip to West Virginia, purposely not saying anything about our overnight experiences until we were all together.

  Jenn answered the door with equipment case in one hand and a carry bag over her shoulder. She stepped over the threshold to the porch pulling the door closed behind her and with a devious look on her face said only, “Good mornin' kids!” pushing past Katie and I. She stood at the back of my car and waited for the trunk to magically pop itself open.

  Katie and I looked at each other dumbfounded, then turned to make our way to the car. “No 'come on in, have a cup of coffee' or anything, huh?” I said humorously, while I opened the trunk of the car revealing a spot that was saved just the right size for Jennifer's case.” You must be anxious to get this investigation started!”

  She placed the case into the open spot and proceeded to close the trunk. Her eyes shot back and forth between the two of us. “Actually,” she grinned a big toothy grin, “I think I already have.” Then without another word, and without opening the door, she climbed into the backseat of the convertible and pulled a bottle of Dr. Pepper out of her bag. After opening it and taking a long drink, asked “Are you two coming, or what? The good doctor is waiting!”

  The doc's home was just a few short miles from Jennifer's. During the quick drive the conversation was broken and ran from my initial comment of, “I had a visitor last night.” to Jenn saying “Me to!” and Katie's response of “I either had a visitor or a crazy dream, or maybe both.” Over the next several minutes we all gave brief descriptions of our encounters while Jennifer wrote down the details of each from the back seat, until we arrived at the Dr. Emily's home.

  “Wow, nice place!” Katie commented looking over the elaborate exterior of the home. After exiting the car, and opening the trunk, we all gathered our respective equipment cases and headed to the front door where Dr. Emily awaited us. She cordially invited us in after informal introductions, handshakes and smiles.

  The team and I followed her into the sitting room where I had first experienced the fury of the burning girl. A chill ran up my spine as I entered the room with a sudden rush of dreadful memories. We each placed our cases randomly on the floor and opening each one up chose a piece or two from ea
ch. Jenn had a way of packing everything you could imagine in her case, and Katie, well every time her case opens all I see is pink, from her flashlight, to a roll of pink duct tape. I nearly laughed when I noticed that each of us had chosen a digital recorder as one of our pieces. I also picked out our Mel-Meter e.m.f. detector, which registered a wide variety of electromagnetic frequencies as well as temperatures. Katie had picked her K-II meter which showed e.m.f. ranges through a series of lights, and Jenn had pulled out a hand held infra-red video camera.

  The four of us sat down around the antique wooden coffee table and placed our electronic gadgets on the table. Emily's eyes were drawn to the K-II meter and I remembered how extreme our experience was the last time a K-II was sitting on that same table. Though Jennifer and Katie didn't know all of the details, they were told about the shattering glass table top, but none of us, including the doc, mentioned it.

  Emily broke the silence with, “I guess I will start by letting you all know that I truly appreciate your help, but I have not been disturbed by this presence since you left here last week, so I hope I have not brought you all here on your Saturday for nothing, but if you have been told by Rick about the power and the danger involved with my situation, then I hope you will understand why I still am asking for your help.”

  “There have been other experiences since I left. We all have had experiences of one kind or another, and actually we have all had multiple experiences since last weekend. I assure you that we are fully on board with this investigation in hopes that we can put this all to rest.” I spoke for the group trying to reaffirm our commitment to helping those in need while Jenn and Katie began turning on meters and digital recorders. Jenn excused herself for a moment asking for my keys. She returned a few moments later with a pocket tripod from a case that had been left in the car. She looked around the room as she attached the video camera to the tripod, and finding a suitable spot on a shelf across from us, she began her video log of the meeting.