Revenge of Cornelius

by Tanya R. Taylor

  "What're you talking about? I always allowed Bobby to help me."

  "Yes, you did, but you hardly let him lift a finger." She sighed. "Let him work in peace, Michael. Show him that you don't think you always have to do it yourself in order for it to get done."

  Michael looked at her knowing she had won the fight. "All right! I'm going outside."

  Michael's movement across the front yard was sort of slow, and Bobby immediately shut off the mower and went over to him.

  "Morning, Mister Cullen. How are you this morning?" he asked in his usual upbeat voice.

  "Doing good, Son. Thanks for coming by again."

  "Don't mention it, sir."

  "Guess Mira spoke to you."

  "She said you weren't feeling so well and thought it would be best if I just went to work right away instead of disturbing you. Sorry about the noise," Bobby replied.

  "I'm A-ok, Son. Nothing serious." Michael thought to convince him. "By the way, the noise sounds good—means the yard is getting done. Will let you handle things today, but I'll be back out here next time right along with you as always, all right?"

  Bobby smiled and quickly nodded. "Yes, sir."

  Michael watched from the front porch until the sun came out briskly, then he retreated inside the house. Mira and Rosie helped Bobby in the yard until it was time for Rosie to get dressed for her outing.

  * * *

  Andrea reached for her purse from the couch and tossed the strap across her shoulder. Theo was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper.

  "Tell your Daddy bye," she said to Alex who had just trotted down the stairs.

  Theo lowered the paper. "Come give Daddy a kiss before you go." He smiled.

  The boy hurried over and smooched his father on the cheek.

  "Why aren't you coming with us, Daddy?" he asked.

  "Daddy's a bit tired today. I'll come next time okay?"

  Alex nodded affirmatively.

  "We'll be back before four," Andrea told Theo.

  "So I don't get a kiss from my wife?" He stood up. Andrea failed to answer, but went over and kissed him. He held her hand.

  "I love you, darling. It'll be all right. I promise."

  She slipped her hand away from his and headed to the door with Alex.

  The child gave his father one last look before they walked out.

  12:36pm

  The green Buick pulled up in front of the house. Bobby was shirtless and pouring sweat as he raked up the scattered grass leaves into a heap.

  "Good day," Andrea hailed as she headed for the front door.

  "Hi!" Bobby replied, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

  Alex was waiting in the car with the windows rolled down, looking on.

  As Andrea approached the door, Mira and Rosie came out to meet her. Sara was standing in the entranceway, waving cheerfully.

  The women exchanged pleasantries and Rosie turned back and gave her grandmother a great, big hug. She then hugged Mira.

  "I'll see you a bit later, sweetheart," Mira said.

  The child skipped toward the car and Alex beamed with excitement that his little friend was joining them.

  Sara and Mira stood on the porch as the three drove off into the distance.

  "Does she seem all right to you?" Sara wondered.

  "Who? Mrs. Benjamin?"

  "Uh huh."

  "Why do you ask?"

  "Looks a little stressed to me," Sara responded.

  "The way she looks today was how she looked the first time I saw her," Mira stated.

  "I don't suppose it's easy being the wife of a politician."

  "I suppose not," Mira agreed. "On another note: That little girl of mine never seems to get enough action."

  "And neither did her mother when she was her age." Sara turned to leave.

  "Bobby, dear, would you like a cold drink of water?" Sara cried out to him.

  "Yes, Ma'am. I could use a little." Mira's eyes met Bobby's. He winked at her and she abruptly followed her mother inside the house.

  Mira spent the majority of the afternoon catering to her father's every need. She sort of took over from her mother, wanting to do as much as she possibly could for him. However, the fact of the matter was that Michael did not appear to need much of anything and the constant 'checking up' was beginning to aggravate him. That's when Mira gave it a rest and decided to retreat to her room, if only for a while.

  3:13pm

  The phone rang and Mira picked up right away.

  "We just got back, Mom!" Rosie said happily. She went on and on about the fun they had at McKerry's and how Mrs. Benjamin was getting ready to mix the cupcake batter now.

  "That's wonderful, honey. Glad you had such an awesome time. Are you behaving yourself nicely?" Mira asked.

  "Yes, Mom. Alex's mom says that I'm a nice, little girl with good manners."

  "Yes, you are." Mira smiled.

  "How's Pops?"

  "He's fine. Watching TV, as usual."

  "Well, tell him I'll be back soon and we'll watch TV together for the rest of the night since I had to go out, okay?" Rosie instructed.

  "Okay, honey. I'll tell him."

  After speaking with her mother, Rosie joined Andrea and Alex in the kitchen. Andrea had the mixing bowl, eggs, flour, sugar and several other ingredients lined off on the kitchen counter. Theo was in the adjacent family room near the back patio watching a ball game on television.

  The children thoroughly enjoyed their time helping out in the kitchen and their absolute, favorite part was licking the large spoons and bowl—dirtying their fingers and faces with what remained of the creamy batter. On Andrea's prompting, they soon headed off to the bathroom to wash up while Andrea placed two, long trays of their handiwork into the oven.

  "I'll be upstairs getting the toys ready!" Alex exclaimed before racing upstairs. Rosie was still washing her face and hands in the bathroom.

  4:25pm

  "Mama, where's Rosie?" Alex had dashed downstairs into the living room where his mother was resting.

  Andrea leaned forward. "I thought she was with you."

  "No, Mama. She was in the bathroom washing up and I was waiting for her in my room, but she never came up."

  "Did you check the bathroom?"

  "She's not there. I looked everywhere and I don't see her," the boy replied.

  Andrea immediately got up and went through the house in search of the child, checking every room. Rosie was nowhere to be found. She called out to her repeatedly, but there was no response.

  "Where's your Daddy?" she asked Alex, who was trailing behind her.

  "I don't know," he answered.

  "Theo!" she cried. "Rosie!"

  No answer from anyone.

  "That's strange. Where could they have gone?" Andrea muttered.

  The two went outside to check around the house. Alex instantly spotted a dark shadow figure making its way around the side of the building.

  "Mama…"

  "What, honey?"

  The boy froze and stared at the area in question.

  "Someone's back there." He pointed.

  Deciding to ensure Alex's safety, Andrea took him back inside, turned off the oven, then returned outside to further investigate. Jogging around to the side of the house, she didn't see anyone, but called out to Theo and Rosie again numerous times. Again—there was no answer.

  The yard had a sickening silence around it—one that she had felt inside the house many times, especially at night. There was a light mist in the air as well, which was hugely unusual for that time of day. Then approximately, seventy-five feet near the edge of the property that led into an area of land densely populated by fruit-bearing trees and overgrown brush, she saw Theo advancing.

  His white shirt was muddied with dirt and his short, black pants were darted with tiny prickles. He was sweating profusely.

  "Where have you been?" Andrea asked curiously. "And where's Rosie?"
/>   The closer he got to her, Andrea could see that the pupils of his eyes had an abnormally darker hue and the expression on his face was blank and unreadable.

  "I saw her walk through the family room and out onto the deck," he started. "I thought she was just going to sit outside, but after a while I noticed she never came back in. That's when I went to look for her."

  Andrea was listening intently and watching the mannerism that didn't appear to belong to her husband.

  "I didn't say anything to you because I thought I'd find her playing in the yard. After I didn't see her, I went further off into the property to look for her, but I have no idea where she went." He shrugged.

  "My God! This can't be happening!" Andrea exclaimed, worrying less about Theo's odd behavior and more about the child's sudden disappearance. "We have to find her! How can I possibly look her mother in the face and tell her I don't know where her child is when she was left in our care?"

  "We'll find her." He weakly embraced her.

  They gave the grounds a thorough search, even wandered some distance out into the forest area with no luck. Andrea slumped down on the front porch with tears in her eyes. "I have to call Mira," she said nervously. "I have to let her know Rosie's missing and we have to call the police."

  Theo was sitting next to her. "Call her mother first and let her give the go-ahead to call the police," he suggested.

  Andrea got up and went inside the house.

  Mira's hair was still damp from the shower when Andrea's call came through. Devastated by the news, she flew to her parents' room, stood in the doorway and said: "Rosie's missing! Andrea said they can't find her anywhere. I'm going down there!"

  "Wait for me!" Sara cried.

  "I'm going too," Michael started to get up.

  Mira stopped suddenly. "No, Dad. You stay here. We'll find her. She just probably wandered off playing somewhere. I'll call you as soon as we find her."

  Mira and Sara hurried up the street and Michael walked slowly toward the kitchen door.

  "Over my dead body!" he mumbled under his breath.

  "What happened?" Sara asked on arriving at the house. Andrea was clearly distraught. She explained everything that happened from the time they got back home from their outing to what Theo had claimed he witnessed while watching television in the family room.

  "Did anyone call the police?" Sara pressed.

  "I was going to. I thought maybe I'd wait for Mira to get here first," Andrea responded.

  At that moment, Mira saw a dark shadow a little ways off into the distance. "Rosie?" she took off into the huge yard. "Rosie, honey!"

  Sara and Andrea followed her, but she had them in a fairly wide gap as she attempted to catch up to the figure that moved into the densely-wooded area. Suddenly, another shadowy figure darted in front of her, then another. She stopped in her tracks and looked around at all of them that were assembling in front of her. There were scores of them. The feeling she had at that instant, took her back to the very first day she ever walked onto that property. Fear intermixed with anxiety gripped her as their distinct features gradually came into view.

  "Where is my daughter?" she asked. "Where is she?!"

  Each of them had an innocence about them that slightly allayed her fear. "The renovations…" Mira said softly.

  "What?" Andrea asked behind her.

  "The renovations triggered something; brought them back here."

  Mira's rambling sounded like gibberish to Andrea and Sara who had no idea what she was talking about.

  Then as if on cue, she turned around suddenly and looked toward the old well that still stood near the front of the yard. Sara and Andrea turned too. Rosie, with a frightened look on her face, was standing on top of the old, brick structure as Theo Benjamin stood closely behind her with a crazed glare in his eyes.

  "Theo!" Andrea cried. "What on earth are you doing? Get her down from there!"

  "Mister Koney…" Alex, who had advanced from the front porch, uttered in a low, but audible voice. He was not referring to his father, but to the ghostly figure that was crouched on top of his father's back.

  "Cornelius!" Mira cried in horror as she noticed the exact, same thing. She cautiously advanced toward the well.

  "Stay back!" Theo demanded in a loud, raspy voice, clearly not his own. "I had this well built in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-two. Its depth is forty feet into the heart of the ground. When she hits the floor, head first, her neck will crack in half and she will die instantly!"

  "Please…" Mira held out her hand. "It's me you want—not her. I was the one who helped Karlen all those years ago. Just let my daughter go!"

  As Mira was making her passionate plea to the angry spirit that invaded the soul of Theo Benjamin, Michael drove up into the yard. Shock hit him in the face when he saw Rosie standing at the tip of the empty well. Weak and exhausted, he moved toward the scene as quickly as he possibly could, inhaling deeply and vigorously, for each stride across the lawn commanded it. He knew he had to save her even if it cost him his final breath.

  "What're you doing? Get her down from there!" He yelled at Theo; his voice hoarse.

  Sara rushed over to Michael and held his arm.

  "Pops!" Rosie said meekly with tears streaming down her face.

  "You'll be okay, pumpkin. Everything's okay. Just be very still," Michael told her.

  "Why are you doing this?" He was a mere six feet away from Theo. "That's my grand-daughter. Please, let me bring her down."

  Andrea tried to convince her husband to release the child, but the closer she got to him, the more he inched Rosie closer to the deep, wide hole.

  An evil grin escaped Theo's throat as his head spun full circle on the axis of his neck. Mira was grateful for Rosie's sake that the girl's back was facing the horrid sight. If not, fear alone might have murdered her that day.

  Mira advanced some more, though cautiously—knowing instinctively that there was no way Cornelius Ferguson would release his grip of Theo who, in a split second, could easily toss the child to her death.

  "You don't have to be afraid of him anymore," went a feminine, ethereal voice behind Mira. Glancing back, she saw the shadow figures staring up above them, but for some reason, was not allowed to see what they saw. Nevertheless, she knew who had visited them.

  Mira continued toward the well, when suddenly, rushing past her as lightning bolts were the dark shadows that had once stood far behind her. They flew full-force into their former slave-master, bringing him down with a large thump that seemed to shake the earth. Theo, now dazed, stumbled off slightly which caused Rosie to lose balance, and just as she was about to topple into the deep, dark abyss above which she stood, Michael, who had mustered up every bit of energy inside yanked her from the well in the nick of time. They both fell to the ground—Rosie landing on top of her grandfather.

  Mira hugged Rosie tightly as Sara helped Michael up. Andrea ran over to Theo who was still clearly in a daze, having no idea what had just occurred.

  Cornelius, trapped beneath the ghosts of his former slaves, emitted blood-curdling screams into the air. Mira and Rosie could hear his painful squeals as those, who once were tortured, ravenously returned the favor. The screams eventually faded into the distance as the otherworldly visitors collectively vanished into thin air.

  "Are you all right, sweetheart?" Mira was checking Rosie over.

  "Yes, Mommy. Who was that woman in the sky?" Rosie asked.

  Mira smiled with a heart full of gratitude—yet again. "Her name's Karlen. She's our guardian angel," she said.

  "She's pretty,"

  "Yes, she is."

  "Why did Mister Koney try to hurt me?" Rosie asked.

  "You saw him?" Mira was surprised.

  "Yes. Remember I told you from the first time we came here? He seemed so nice at the time."

  Mira then realized that Rosie had been seeing the ghost of Cornelius Ferguson from their very first visit there together. She shuddered at t
he fact that unknowingly, she had been placing her daughter in the presence of infinite evil each time she brought her to this house.

  "Yes, honey. I remember," Mira said.

  Rosie escaped the grasp of her mother, ran back over to her grandfather and hugged him tightly. "You saved me, Pops. You saved me! I love you soooo much!"

  "I love you, too, pumpkin." Michael smiled, though exhaustion fought against the very gesture.

  The Benjamins stood together. Theo and Andrea felt terrible about what had happened and Andrea was horrified that her husband could be capable of hurting a child. Mira went over and explained to them what really happened after first explaining the same to her parents, who this time, didn’t see any of the ghosts nor understood Theo's actions. Theo was aghast that he could have been used in such a devious way, but Mira tried to explain to him that it wasn't his fault.

  "But it is," he answered sadly. "If I wasn't so selfish, but cared more about my family than I did my career and social status, this never would have happened because we would've been out of here a long time ago."

  Andrea's heart softened when she heard him say those words.

  "I allowed my wife and son to be tortured in this house. What kind of husband and father does that? Could you please tell your daughter that I'm truly, very sorry for what I put her through?"

  Mira saw the sincerity in his eyes that were now back to normal. "I will."

  Rosie was telling her grandparents where Theo had hidden her before taking her to the well. She revealed how he had tied her to a tree some distance into the wooded area and taped her mouth so that she couldn't scream. More than anything, Michael wanted to walk over there to the fine senator and disfigure his face, but he knew what Mira had told them explained the man's irrational and extreme behavior.

  "It was the renovations and the fact that you're a colored family that awakened his ghost," Mira told the Benjamins. "He was brutal in life and no different in death. When you moved in here, the ghosts of some of the former slaves felt the need to protect you—especially your son. Even so, they were still afraid."