Forever

by Rachel Maldonado

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The following morning Alex contacted Peyton University in the nearby city, but was told that no one would be able to come out to the house for at least two weeks because the department head had gone on vacation.

  “But we have a child,” insisted Alex. “We can't have this type of violent activity in the house with my daughter in the home.”

  “We can make this case a priority, Mrs. Hunter, but like I said, we can't get anybody to go out there until Ginger George and her colleagues Samuel and Mark Wolfe come back from their time off.”

  “Who is she exactly?” pressed Alex. “Is she going to be able to help us? There isn't anyone else that can come out?”

  “No, ma'am. I'm sorry. Ginger George is a medium and demonologist. She's the department head here, but when she's off or out of town the department has to shut down. We can't have classes if she's not here to teach, you understand? So her two apprentices are also out. Samuel and Mark may come back a day or two early, but they wouldn't be of much help on their own. They need to have Ginger George to lead the investigation.”

  Alex sighed. “I just don't understand what I'm supposed to do for two weeks. We've been having things being thrown about. Whatever is here has to be pretty powerful in order to do that, right?”

  “Is there anywhere that you might send your daughter, so that she doesn't have to stay there? A friend's house or a relative?”

  Alex was becoming frustrated. “I don't have many relatives. I wouldn't know where to send her. I'll have to see what I can do. Thank you.”

  Alex gave her address and contact information so that Ginger George might be able to pay her and Meghan a visit as soon as she was back in town. She hung up the phone to discuss things with Meghan.

  “The woman I spoke with said...” Alex's sentence was cut short as Meghan interrupted to finish her thought.

  “I heard. Two weeks.” Meghan was sitting on the sofa thumbing through a magazine.

  Alex walked over to her and sat on the love seat. “Yeah, exactly. So listen, I was thinking...”

  Meghan licked her finger and turned the page. “That you want Aleghany to stay at Willie's.”

  “What are you a mind reader or something?” inquired Alex laughing.

  Meghan grinned. She stopped perusing her magazine and looked into Alex's eyes. “I'd like to think that I know you pretty well.”

  Alex smiled warmly. “I don't think I could finish your sentences if I tried.”

  “I guess I'm just talented then.” Meghan smiled and started to turn the page again.

  “What am I going to say now?” pressed Alex as she stood from where she sat.

  Meghan set her magazine down on the sofa and laughed. “Let's get Aleghany some clothes, so we can take her to Willie's.”

  “Is that what you thought I was going to say?” inquired Alex with her eyebrows raised.

  Meghan shook her head and stood up. “No. I'm telling you. Let's get some clothes ready, so we can drop her off.”

  Alex giggled. “Okay, but for the record, that's exactly what I was going to say.”

  “Uh huh. Sure you were.” Meghan grinned, then went to Aleghany's room to pack some of her belongings.

  “I really was going to say that,” insisted Alex as she followed her. She stood by the dresser while Aleghany sat on the bed watching TV.

  “What's going on, mom?” she asked.

  “You're going on a slumber party,” replied Alex.

  “I am? Who with?” Aleghany was more confused than happy. Although she had outgrown her tomboy phase, she hadn't made too many friends. She had mostly stayed to herself and often at play time chose to stay indoors and play with blocks, write, read, or color pictures with pencil colors while other children were running around playing tag or goofing around on the monkey bars.

  “You're going to have a stay over at your Aunt Mena's,” replied Meghan.

  “With Aunt Mena!?” asked Aleghany. Her expression changed from worried to elated. “Oh boy! I hope we can go camping by the lake and fishing. And I want to fly a kite and play snow sled on the stairs and...”

  Alex interrupted Aleghany mid-sentence. “Snow sled on the stairs?”

  “Yeah, we take some old cardboard boxes and sit in them and then we slide down the stairs.”

  “O no. No playing snow sled. That sounds like you can fall and break your neck,” said Meghan as she walked back to the dresser to get some pajamas that she'd forgotten to pack.

  Aleghany groaned. “Awww. Me and my big mouth.” She looked to Alex pleadingly for approval. Maybe her decision could somehow override Meghan's.

  However, Alex was in agreement with Meghan this time. “You heard your mother. No tumbling down the stairs and breaking body parts.”

  Aleghany giggled. Alex always had a way of saying things that made her laugh.

  As Meghan made her way to the closet to find Aleghany some shoes and slippers, a small battery operated dog toy walked out of the closet and began to bark. Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! It then proceeded to do a back flip, then began barking once more.

  “Aleghany, honey. What did I tell you about putting your toys in the toy box?” asked Meghan.

  Aleghany sat frozen in fear.

  “Baby, Mommy's talking to you,” said Alex.

  Aleghany said nothing. She stared at the toy as it barked and flipped over again.

  Alex snapped her fingers. “Aleghany! What's wrong?”

  “Mom, I took the batteries out of that toy because they weren't working anymore.” Aleghany still sat on the bed motionless. She simply stared at the dog in wonderment.

  Alex walked over to the dog, picked it up with its legs still moving as it was walking and flipped it over. She pulled open the battery panel and sure enough; it was empty.

  “You'll be at Aunt Mena's for two weeks,” she said as she tossed the dog back in the closet. She didn't tell Meghan or Aleghany that the dog was barking, walking, and flipping over without a power source even though she realized that Aleghany already knew.

  After packing a few of her clothes, shoes, and toiletries they were on the road to Willie's. They arrived without notice and Willie was standing in front of the television set in the middle of the living room with an ironing board, a basket of clothes beside her, some freshly ironed shirts on hangers laid across the back of an arm chair, and a sandwich wrapped in wax paper that she had just started to toast with the iron. She placed the iron down beside the sandwich when she heard a knock at the front door.

  “What's cookin' good looking?” she asked as she opened the screen door to allow them to enter.

  “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” said Alex as she sniffed the air and realized it smelled like a combination of burning paper and cheese.

  “I always knew you thought I was good looking,” teased Willie. “What brings you girls here?”

  “I know we should've called, but we were in sort of a rush to get here. We figured you wouldn't mind and wouldn't be busy. You're not busy, are you?” inquired Meghan.

  “I was making a sammich,” replied Willie. “Would you like one?” She walked toward her ironing board, picked up her iron, and proceeded to iron her sandwich that was wrapped in wax paper.

  Alex made a face and shook her head. “I'll pass, thanks.”

  “I want a sammich,” said Aleghany.

  “It's a sandwich,” said Meghan, correcting her.

  “But Aunt Mena calls it a sammich.”

  Meghan snapped at her. “Not everything your Aunt Mena says or does is right.”

  “Ouch,” said Willie. “Is everything okay?”

  Meghan shook her head. “No, it isn't. Why don't you step outside with us for a few minutes.” She didn't want Aleghany to hear that their house may be haunted. Surely if she knew, she would be frightened.

  Meghan partially blamed Willie for having bought the darn game, but she also blamed Alex for having played it alone and for not having thrown it away in the first place when
she took it away from Aleghany. The women went out onto the porch to discuss the issue hoping Aleghany was distracted by the shows on television.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  After hearing about the activity in the home, Willie was fascinated.

  “Maybe we should buy some ghost hunting gadgets like EMF detectors, cameras with thermal imaging, and some night vision goggles.”

  Alex sighed. “Ordinarily I would, Will. You know I live for that kind of stuff, but this time it's in our house, and we just want to find a way to get rid of the spirits that have come through to the side of the living.”

  Meghan interjected. “Yes, we've both agreed that Aleghany's safety is what's important here.”

  Willie nodded. She'd always been adventurous, but this time she knew for certain that Meghan was right. She wasn't about to go anger a ghost while she lived so close and while Meghan and Alex were both still living in the home.

  “Take care of Aleghany for us if anything should happen to us,” said Meghan. She was clearly worried and frightened.

  “I will. You know I will,” said Willie.

  Alex and Meghan walked back toward the truck.

  “See you later,” said Alex as she called out to Willie. She was still standing on the porch watching them. She waved goodbye, then watched them drive away.

  “So there's a ghost in the house?” asked Aleghany as she stood in the doorway just behind the screened porch door.

  “Hey there, Peanut. You weren't supposed to be listening at the door.”

  “I thought there was something strange going on, but I wasn't scared.”

  Willie walked back into the house and sat down on the couch. “Come over and sit by me. Tell me why you thought there was something strange.”

  Aleghany sat down on the couch beside Willie, pulled out a brush from her bag, and handed it to Willie so she could brush her hair. Willie took the brush and began to brush Aleghany's silky dark hair from top to bottom in long strokes.

  “Well, last night in Mom's room I kept hearing crashing sounds. I thought Moms were fighting, but when I would go into the bedroom they weren't.”

  “Wait, who's bedroom?”

  “Mom's.”

  “Alex Mom or Meghan Mom?” Willie found herself confused.

  Aleghany laughed. “Alex.”

  “So they were sleeping in the same room?” questioned Willie.

  “I don't know,” said Aleghany, shrugging her shoulders. “Anyway, when I went back to my room to go to bed. I felt like someone was sitting on the edge of my bed watching me.”

  Willie felt as if her heart stopped for a moment and she paused her hair brushing. “Did you see anyone?”

  “At first I was too scared to look. I had the blanket over my face.”

  “What made you look?” asked Willie as she began brushing her hair again.

  “I heard a voice say that everything was going to be okay.”

  “The ghost on the bed talked to you!?” asked Willie. She hadn't realized that she had raised her voice. She had been trying to remain calm and collected so as not to frighten Aleghany.

  “Uh huh,” said Aleghany, nodding her head. “I moved the blanket just enough to see and I wasn't scared anymore.”

  “Why not? Who was it?”

  “It was Sheryl. She was sitting on the edge of the bed watching over me.”

  “She didn't look scary or like a ghost?” asked Willie curiously.

  “Nu uh,” said Aleghany, shaking her head. “She looked as real as you and me.”

  Willie wondered why Aleghany hadn't told her parents this information. But she was glad that, as usual, Aleghany had been able to open up to her. It meant she loved her, trusted her, and could talk to her sometimes in ways that she felt she couldn't with her parents.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Willie phoned Meghan and Alex immediately. She needed to tell them not to worry. She had to relay Aleghany's story, so that they would know the spirit was harmless. The ghost in the house was Sheryl, or so she thought.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Meghan could hear the phone ringing and ringing as they drove up to the house.

  “Who on Earth could that be?” she asked as jumped out of the truck and ran inside the house to answer the phone.

  Alex rushed in right behind her hoping it was news from the university.

  “Hello?” answered Meghan out of breath.

  “Who is it?” pressed Alex.

  “It's Willie.”

  “Is everything okay with Aleghany?” asked Alex. She hated not being the one on the phone and having to hear everything second hand.

  After a few brief pauses and a few, “uh huh's,” Meghan hung up the phone.

  “Well?” asked Alex impatiently. “What'd she say?”

  “She doesn't think we have much to worry about. She said she thinks it's Sheryl.”

  “I thought so, too. But why does she think that?”

  Meghan cleared her throat, then took a deep breath. “She said that Aleghany saw Sheryl last night after we heard the crashes and found the broken vase and jewelry box. She saw her sitting on her bed, and she told her that everything was going to be okay.”

  Alex's eyes filled with tears and her voice quavered as she tried to hold back from sobbing. “So she's here? Sheryl's still here? Why hasn't she shown herself to me?”

  Meghan didn't know what to say. After a few moments of contemplation, she simply said, “I don't know.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Meghan and Alex began to feel like the short two week time period was starting to seem more like months. The activity in the home was intensifying.

  After only three days, Meghan and Alex began to hear more crashing sounds, but when they'd wake up and get out of bed to inspect for damages to the house and property, there was nothing amiss.

  “We first heard the crashing on Sunday and took Aleghany to Willie's, but now it's Wednesday and I feel like I haven't had a wink of sleep in three days!” Alex and Meghan had begun to share a room since Aleghany was at Willie's. It wasn't so much because they wanted to have sex because their romantic interludes had lulled when the paranormal activity in the home started. It was more because Meghan was afraid to be alone in her room and she was doubly afraid that something bad would happen to Alex if she was alone, too.

  “I know how you feel. First it was the flashing lights off and on, then it was the faucet in the sink and bathtub turning on and off on its own, now I'm starting to hear footsteps stomping around the house at all hours of the night!”

  “I hear them, too. That's what woke me. I don't know if I'm going to make it two weeks in this house with all the racket,” complained Alex. The bags under her eyes were already starting to appear because of her lack of sleep. “I'm going to have to request some time off from work. I can't be sleepy on the job.”

  “I think I should, too. The activity is not as bad during the day, so maybe we can take two weeks off and sleep during the day time. At night we'll either go out for walks or stay in and watch TV and hope for the best.”

  “I kept thinking if we just ignored it that it would go away, but that doesn't seem to be working. It's only getting worse.”

  Meghan sighed. “Ginger George can't be here soon enough. She's the only one that can clue us in to what's going on.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Meghan and Alex were able to take the time off from work to be at home, but the activity in the home was constant. The doors would slam, the dishes would rattle, and some of Aleghany's toys would somehow make their way downstairs. Meghan would find all kinds of dolls, stuffed animals, and battery operated cars and trains whirring and zipping by while she was trying to read a magazine or watch TV.

  Alex, too, was experiencing the same types of phenomena. In addition to those things, Alex was seeing shadows in the shapes of people, hearing whispering, and often times hearing knocking at the front door when there wasn't anyone there.

  Another three days pas
t by and it was Saturday afternoon. Meghan and Alex were trying to catch up on some sleep when they heard a loud crash come from Aleghany's room. Startled, they both sat up. They both knew that Aleghany was at Willie's and were sure that it was another one of the ghosts attempts to frighten them, but Alex grabbed a baseball bat out of her closet just in case it was a burglar.

  Alex crept down the hallway with Meghan tip-toeing right behind her. They could still hear noise coming out of the bedroom. It sounded like someone was throwing things around in a haste.

  Alex rushed in with her baseball bat ready to swing at whoever was in there!

  To her surprise, it was Aleghany that was sitting on the floor with a laundry basket half filled with books. She shrieked as she saw Alex run in with a baseball bat. “Ahhhh!” shouted the little girl.

  Upon seeing that it was her daughter, Alex instantly put the bat down to her side. “Oh my God, Aleghany! I thought you were a burglar! I could've killed you! What are you doing here?”

  Meghan, hearing her daughter screaming, ran into the room from the hallway.

  “Aunt Mena's cable went out last night and there's nothing to do. I thought I'd come home to get some books, so she can read to me.”

  Frightened by Alex's rude interruption and near brain bashing, Aleghany began to cry. Meghan knelt down on the floor beside her and held her as she sobbed. When she was able to pull herself together, she went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face.

  Aleghany shrieked a piercing, blood-curling cry!