The Cornelius Saga Series (All 15 Books): The Ultimate Adventure-packed Supernatural Thriller Collection

by Tanya R. Taylor

  “I suppose you’re right,” Sara returned. “But I guess you can’t control the way you feel about someone.”

  “Yes, you can,” Mira replied. “I did when it came to guys. You think I didn’t notice how good looking some of them were in high school? I just was more secure in myself and realized whenever I decided to date someone it would be because I believed they’d compliment my life and not because I’d allowed my feelings—hormones—or whatever you’d wanna call them to control me. I controlled my own thoughts and my mind from an early age. Rosie can too and I’m sure you could have if you tried hard enough.”

  Silence ensued for a few moments and Rosie felt terribly uncomfortable for her grandmother. “Can we change the subject, guys?” she asked, recognizing that her mother’s assertions were based on the fact that she was reliving memories that weren’t all very pleasant.

  Mira sighed. “Yes, I agree.” Seeing the look on Sara’s face, she soon felt guilty. “Before we do that though…I just wanna say that I’m sorry, Mom. I had no right to judge you. Guess I just got a bit caught up on…”

  “It’s okay, honey,” Sara interjected. “I think I need to say this…if only for Rosie’s sake.” She looked at her granddaughter. “Your Grandpa was an amazing man. He loved all of us very deeply and showed his love the way he knew how. I just want to get that out of the way first. However, your mom’s absolutely right about how important it is to be secure in who you are as a person and not to allow yourself to be controlled by emotions that can come and go. A woman—a girl—should love herself first and appreciate what it is she wants out of life before she becomes involved in any type of romantic relationship. She should enter that relationship has a whole being—self-assured and contented within her own skin and not seeking someone to fill a gap within her own soul. I was such a girl who felt I needed someone to fill that gap.

  “When I was young, I had pretty low self-esteem; I was nowhere near the type of child Mira was. I wanted love so badly because I didn’t have such a loving home environment, and I dreamed of finding my prince charming—a man who’d love and cherish me, and who’d make me feel good about myself. And when I met your grandpa, I needed him to fill the gap; to make me whole and he just couldn’t do that. My entire life revolved around him from the moment I met him until the day he died, and over the years, I’d lost a sense of who I was. At my age, I’m still working on that. So, with all that said, I’d have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with your mother. We shouldn’t be controlled by our emotions; we have to figure out how to focus our thoughts in a healthy direction and be confident and secure in who we are.”

  Mira smiled with tears in her eyes, so proud of the wisdom her mother had poured into her granddaughter. She reached over and hugged her.

  “That’s beautiful, Mom.”

  “You two are really lame. You know that?” Rosie muttered.

  Releasing their embrace, Mira and Sara looked at her adoringly.

  “You both went through all of that just to get a point across to me? Those speeches were like ten pages long!” She shook her head. “Instead of worrying about my future love life, which I’ve got covered, you probably need to worry about that woman over there sitting on the bench feeding off her baby.”

  Mira and Sara looked behind, following the direction of Rosie’s stare.

  “What is it?” Sara asked. “I don’t see any woman on a bench with a baby. And you said feeding off?”

  “The reason you can’t see them…” Mira started, “…is because they’re dead.”

  “My goodness!” Sara exclaimed.

  She had long grown accustomed to her daughter and grandchild’s uncanny abilities.

  “Why would she even do that to a baby?” Rosie asked.

  “Because she killed it and she’s evil,” Mira replied, matter-of-factly.

  Mira revealed to them that it was the ghost of Donna Jacobs—the woman from the recent car crash who’d killed her entire family.

  “That’s appalling!” Sara cried. “What would drive a person to do such a thing?

  “Jealousy, despair and self-centeredness—in her case, at least. Maybe for others, it’s despair or a mixture of other emotions as well. But I can only tell you what her driving force was.”

  “All of this over a man?” Rosie sought clarification.

  “Yep.” Mira nodded. “Which brings me back to what I was saying before…”

  “Must we go there, Mom?”

  Sara shook her head. “It’s all really sad. “The child didn’t even have a chance to grow up—to experience life.”

  “Yeah. Really sad,” Mira agreed. She went on to tell them that although the baby appeared, it wasn’t an actual baby Donna was holding, but a representation of her deeds and the darkness that was inside of her. “The baby isn’t stuck where she is,” she noted.

  “Thank God!” Sara sighed. “It would’ve been so unfair.”

  “What a representation that is!” Rosie remarked. “A mother acting like a cannibal toward her child.”

  “Gross, huh?” Mira was still looking in Donna Jacob’s direction when suddenly the woman raised her head and their eyes locked.

  “I’m coming for you!” Mira heard a soft whisper as if someone was speaking directly into her left ear, yet ahead, the woman’s lips never moved.

  “Did you hear that?” Rosie asked, much to Mira’s surprise.

  Mira looked at her. “You heard it too?”

  “Uh-huh.” Rosie nodded.

  “Heard what?” Sara probed.

  “The woman said she’s coming for—”

  “It really wasn’t clear,” Mira quickly interjected, giving Rosie a look that explained her reasoning for the intrusion.

  “Oh?” Sara replied. “Amazing how you two can see and hear those entities.

  When Mira looked back again, the woman was gone.

  After leaving the park, Mira took her mother to the power company to check on a bill while she and Rosie remained in the car.

  “So, what you do think that Jacobs woman meant, Mom?” Rosie asked from the back seat.

  “I’m not sure,” Mira replied. “Maybe she’s upset because I went to the police to clear her husband’s name. I’ve been seeing him at home.”

  “What? He appeared to you?”

  Mira nodded. “He wanted me to know that he wasn’t the guilty one and for me to get the truth out. And that’s what I tried to do.”

  “And now she’s after you. Isn’t she?”

  Mira was hesitant to answer.

  “Mom?”

  “Maybe—but I’m not concerned about that. I’m alive. She’s dead.”

  The way Mira put it felt somewhat comforting to Rosie. Yet, she couldn’t help recalling certain instances where the deceased clearly demonstrated that they had the power to turn a person’s life upside down.

  “You’ve got to be careful, Mom. Don’t let your guard down.”

  Mira turned around and faced her. “I know, honey. I will. I don’t want you to worry about me, okay? I’m used to all of this.”

  “You’re used to the threats too?” Rosie asked.

  Mira wondered sometimes if Rosie would become a lawyer when she grew up. She was always probing and very specific about her questions. “I can handle it, trust me,” she replied.

  A few moments went by and she said, “So, will you do my hair and makeup for the ball?”

  “Are you kidding?” Rosie exclaimed. “Isn’t that automatic?”

  Mira grinned.

  “Fourteen more days, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “When are we going to pick out the dress?”

  Mira thought for a second. “How about today?”

  “Really?” Rosie asked, excitedly.

  “No better time than now. How about we ask Mom when she gets back?”

  “Awesome!” Rosie sat back in her seat. The threat aimed at her mother had soon taken a back seat as well, although temporarily.

  8

&nbs
p; _________________

  The long-awaited day had finally arrived.

  Rosie had spent the night at Mira’s and Bobby’s place so she could help them to get ready for the reunion ball set for that evening.

  As Mira passed by the closet, her eyes caught a glimpse of the gown she and Rosie had selected two weeks earlier, and she smiled. It was an elegant red and black dress with a constricting, yet comfortable bodice, low décolletage and a long bouffant skirt. She already felt like Cinderella preparing to attend a fine ball with her strikingly handsome prince. Her excitement baffled her, since when first informed about the ball, she wasn’t all that interested. However, for some odd reason, she was eager to get there.

  Rosie was in the dining room clearing the last few items off the table where she intended to do Mira’s hair and makeup.

  “Where’s Bobby?” Mira asked her as she made her way over to the table in her flannel robe.

  “He went outside to spruce up the car with some sort of solution or something?” Rosie answered.

  Mira sat in the chair next to where her daughter stood. “How many times is he going to check on that car? I doubt it can get any cleaner or shinier.”

  Rosie giggled. “You know Bobby—he’s big on clean wheels and honestly, I can’t blame him for obsessing over it today. You’re going to a ball, Mom! I think you should’ve let him rent that limo like he wanted.”

  “Now, Rosie, Bobby’s big on saving money, so the suggestion coming from him sounded absurd. There’s nothing wrong with my car. It’s just like brand new and we only wanna get there, don’t we?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “I know I’m right, honey. I thought I was eager to get to this ball, but I think Bobby has it even worse than I do!”

  They both laughed.

  Just then, the telephone rang.

  “I’ll get it!” Rosie ran over to pick it up.

  “Oh! hi, Nana,” she said, moments later. “Yes, she’s right here.”

  She took the phone to Mira. “It’s Nana—for you.”

  At that same time, they heard Mira’s cell ringing inside the master bedroom.

  “Will you grab that for me?” she asked Rosie.

  “Sure thing!” Rosie hurried off to get it.

  “Hi, Mom. What’s up?” Mira asked.

  “Honey, a Detective Matheson just called and asked for your cell number. I remembered you mentioning you’d spoken to him a few weeks back, so I figured you wouldn’t mind me passing your cell number on to him.”

  “Not at all,” Mira assured her. “I think that’s him calling now, so I’ll speak with you later.”

  “Okay, will do.”

  Rosie was back in the dining room with Mira’s cell phone.

  “It’s a detective,” she said, handing it to her.

  “Thanks, honey.”

  Mira answered the call.

  She said very little and after a few moments, thanked the caller, then hung up.

  “What was that about?” Rosie stood behind her mother and removed the large pin from her hair.

  Just then, Bobby walked in. “What’s going on?” he asked as he noticed the look of concern on Mira’s face.

  “Detective Matheson just called,” Mira started.

  “You mean the detective you told me about…?”

  She quickly nodded. “The fingerprints on the gun matched those of Donna Jacobs which proves without a shadow of a doubt that she was the one that shot her husband, which caused him to lose control of the car. Then she shot herself, knowing there was a chance their baby would perish in the crash.”

  Rosie and Bobby both stood in disbelief and dismay.

  “He said they will be holding a press conference in an hour or so to inform the public.”

  Bobby sat down at the table. “What a shame! All of this over an alleged affair or affairs?”

  “It’s really crazy,” Rosie commented.

  “At least now, Kurt Jacobs is vindicated of the crime,” Mira said. “Whether or not he was guilty of infidelity is another story and it’s none of my business. I’ve done what I was supposed to do.”

  “I agree, Mom.” Rosie gently massaged her shoulder.

  “I do too.” Bobby got up and kissed Mira on the cheek.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  He checked his wristwatch. It’s a little past four and we need to get outta here by seven, so I’d better take that shower now.”

  “Yeah, you’d better,” Mira concurred.

  * * * *

  Sara was at Mira’s and Bobby’s house to pick up Rosie just before the couple left for the ball.

  With his black hair slicked back with the gel Rosie had generously applied, Bobby looked dapper in his black, silk coat suit, red dress shirt and matching red shiny shoes. He glanced at Mira periodically as he drove along.

  “You’d better keep your eyes on the road before we get into an accident!” She warned him with a slight smile.

  He glanced her way again and said nothing at first.

  “I don’t think you’re listening…” she stressed. “We don’t want to end up like the Jacobs.”

  “If we do, it certainly won’t be intentional,” he said. “Besides, how can a guy keep his eyes off of someone so stunningly gorgeous? Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

  “Only about five or six times already.”

  “That few?”

  Mira laughed.

  “You’re not doing bad yourself,” she added.

  “Thanks to Rosie,” Bobby replied. “The girl insisted that I followed her instructions to the T.”

  “She can be a bit bossy sometimes.”

  “Just like her Momma.”

  As he happened to glance through the rearview mirror, something strange in the back seat caught his eye. Suddenly, he lost control of the steering wheel and the car swerved abruptly to the right.

  “What’s the matter!” Mira screamed. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

  Gaining control of the car again, he answered, “I saw someone…I saw someone behind me in the back seat!”

  Bobby was clearly spooked. “Is he still there?” He failed to look again, afraid that he might end up crashing the car.

  Mira looked back, then turned around again. “It’s him—Kurt Jacobs,” she said, unaffected.

  She was pleased to see a calmer expression on the man’s face and there was a dim light which surrounded him which wasn’t there all along. She knew what that meant. “He’s sorry for startling you, honey,” she added.

  “What’s he doing in our car?” Bobby yelled.

  She glanced back again and noticed a slight smile.

  “He won’t be with us much longer. Just wanted me to know he’s left the house. He’s really not a bad guy, you know.”

  “I don’t care about his character! He almost caused me to run us off the road! Too freaking similar to the way he went.”

  “You’re wrong about that.”

  “How so?” He was baffled.

  “He went via a gunshot wound to the head—the temple to be exact.”

  “Oh, sorry that I got my details mixed up.”

  “Just relax, honey. You look too good tonight to be all worked up like this,” Mira remarked, nonchalantly.

  The Wingstar Hotel was the venue for the reunion ball. It was a five-star resort which catered primarily to wealthy tourists and corporate citizens. Mira had attended a physician’s conference there four years earlier and had nothing but good things to say about her experience.

  Bobby was able to locate a parking space fairly close to the main entrance of the hotel. And after he opened the car door for Mira, she noticed that Kurt Jacobs was now standing in the parking lot ahead of them, approximately twenty feet away.

  “Do you see him?” she asked Bobby, while stepping out of the vehicle.

  “I do,” he answered, quietly.

  Kurt raised his right hand to bid goodbye and Mira waved back. It seemed like a few minut
es had passed before she and Bobby watched him vanish into thin air. Mira knew it would be the last they’d see of him.

  “I’ve never seen a ghost before,” Bobby remarked. “Why now?”

  Mira shrugged. “Maybe it has to do with the fact that you’re now intimately connected in both body and spirit to someone who sees them all the time.”

  He smiled as he looked into her beautiful brown eyes. “Not sure I can handle that part of the package. Don’t want my heart giving way one of these days because I’d seen a ghost. Didn’t you see what happened back there when I spotted him?”

  Mira took his hand, then leaned forward and kissed him. “You’ll be all right. I doubt you’ll be seeing them all the time—maybe one or two, here or there.”

  “That’s comforting,” he replied, sarcastically.

  She chuckled. “Let’s go inside.”

  The Angel Wings Ballroom was where they were directed to go and Bobby proudly held Mira’s hand as they walked down the wide, brightly-lit corridor with fancy wall lights spaced out evenly on both sides of the wall. The decorative sign in a semi-circular frame stood high above the mahogany double doors of the ballroom and when the couple walked in, all eyes closely followed. Mira’s dress was dazzling and her hair pinned up elegantly with a few white pearls embedded throughout. Her diamond drop earrings sparkled and so did the portion of her face just above her cheekbones where Rosie had applied a special highlighter.

  The ballroom was a whopping seven thousand square feet with an eighteen-foot ceiling beautifully accentuated with large box-shaped crystal chandeliers. The space boasted a creamy color palette and magnificent floor to ceiling windows on the western wall. Mira and Bobby felt like they’d stepped into a castle.