Mercedes' Dirge

by Belle Zimet

  He stared at her for a full ten seconds before replying. “A ghost?”

  “Yes.” She said firmly. “I can tell you aren’t a believer.”

  “Uh, no I am not.” He continued to stare her down. “I assume you are saying that Mercedes is haunting the residence?”

  “Yes, she very much is.”

  “May I ask why you believe this?” He asked evenly.

  “Because It’s hard not to when I’m seeing apparitions and unexplained events keep happening,” she told him starkly. “She isn’t exactly subtle, Bryan.”

  “You are saying that you have actually seen her?” He asked incredulously.

  “Yes, twice.” His face didn’t change and she struggled to continue. “Look, I know you don’t know me very well, but certainly you can tell I’m not a lunatic, right?”

  “I know you aren’t a lunatic, but I cannot help it, I have a hard time with this subject matter. I don’t believe in the paranormal, I find it to be ridiculous.” He shook his head.

  “I was ambivalent about the subject until I got here. I’m not the only one who has been experiencing this stuff, so have Alexa and Troy. I didn’t believe it for sure until I saw a transparent dead girl in my room. It’s hard to put that aside.” She told him.

  “Let’s say objectively that there are ghosts and she is haunting you. Why would she?”

  “Well, she IS haunting me,” she told him with a direct look. “And I believe she wants me to solve her murder.”

  He snorted suddenly and then looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

  “I can see that.” She told him sternly.

  “What has she done to give you this impression?”

  “She’s wanted to point me in the direction of things, clues-” Ella abruptly gave pause. She suddenly felt like she shouldn’t be giving all this information to Bryan. She couldn’t really figure out why, but certainly Nick and Troy may have been leaking into her judgment process. Their suspicion seemed to chorus through her mind in harmony.

  “Like what?” He prodded.

  “Nothing, I didn’t really sign up to be interrogated when the object is to determine whether I’m nuts or not. You don’t believe me so let’s just not talk about this, alright?”

  He put his hands up and softened his expression. “Ok, I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t believe you, per se, but I just don’t believe in ghosts as a whole, and can’t just switch my belief system right this second. Please don’t be offended.” He looked down. “Plus you are talking about someone who was a close friend of mine.”

  She kissed him softly. “It’s ok. I’m just afraid that now I’ll be the girl who turned into a nutcase on the second date when you talk to your friends.”

  “Never,” he said muffled, as he kissed her back. “Besides, you seem like you would go nuts on the seventh date when you have me good and hooked.”

  “Yeah, somewhere around there,” she laughed. “Hey, why aren’t you hooked now?”

  “I’m pretty hooked.” He admitted.

  Ella started to lean forward for another kiss when her cell started beeping. She looked at it briefly and it was a text from Troy telling her to please come home ASAP.

  “Uh oh,” she said as she stood up to go retrieve her clothes. “Looks like there is some trouble at home and I have to leave.”

  He helped her dress and walked her to the door and gave her a long kiss that made them both want to go for a quickie. She laughed and waved him away and scurried to her car before she got sucked back in.

  There were a few plumbers’ trucks when she got to the mansion and Troy was outside talking animatedly to one of them. He saw her and waved. She parked haphazardly and jumped out and ran up to him.

  “What happened?”

  “Pipes broke. Your room downstairs is completely flooded.” He told her, matter of factly.

  She sat mute for a moment before speaking. “Really?” She looked at the plumber. “What caused it?”

  “We have no idea, ma’am. The pipes were in decent shape and we couldn’t find an origin. It was localized to that one room.” He told her.

  She looked at Troy with a knowing glance and he met it with a nod. She excused herself and walked inside to find Alexa almost ankle deep in water trying to salvage things out of the room.

  Ella took stock of her belongings and found most of them absent and then began helping Alexa wade through boxes and papers.

  “Once we heard the pipe burst we ran in here and got your laptop and any obvious valuables. Most of your clothes were unaffected, and I threw the rest in the wash.” Alexa told her, stopping to re-fasten her hair up.

  “Thanks.” Ella said gratefully as she gathered a large box of what seemed to largely contain junk and toted it out of the room. “Wow, this is crazy.”

  “I guess Mercedes wants you back in her room.” Alexa remarked.

  Ella was again taken aback with Alexa’s bluntness on the subject. Troy really treated her with baby gloves unnecessarily. “I guess so.” She said without making eye contact. She still wasn’t entirely comfortable discussing it with Alexa and realized, that again, Troy’s influence was leaking into her judgment process.

  “I’m glad you’re here to keep her company.” Alexa told her with a smile.

  Ella wished she could return the sentiment, but had always had a hard time lying. “I think she’s keeping ME company.” She laughed.

  “I’m sorry if it’s scary,” Alexa told her suddenly. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

  “No, I’m not. I would still much rather be here than in Oregon.” She admitted.

  “Good. It’s really, really good that you’re going to be here.”

  “Why’s that?” She asked absentmindedly as she wiped some hair out of her eyes.

  “Because you’re going to be an aunt.” Alexa said with a squeal.

  Ella dropped the box of junk and immediately hugged her friend tightly. “Congratulations!”

  Alexa laughed and hugged her back. “Thanks, I’m so excited. I was beginning to worry when I didn’t get pregnant when we first started trying.”

  “Oh my god, I’m just so happy for you.” Ella congratulated, eyes beaming. ‘How far along are you?”

  “I think about three weeks.” She said as she backed into her personal space again. “So this poor kid got dosed with a bit of alcohol.”

  “Eek, I guess so.” Ella said, remembering her first night here.

  “It’s ok. I called the doctor about it and he said that it happens all the time and the baby is probably just fine. I go in four weeks for my first appointment.” She said excitedly.

  “Troy has to be so thrilled.” Ella exclaimed with a little hop, ruing it when she splashed in a puddle.

  “I haven’t told him. I was hoping we could stew up a cute way to do it together.” Alexa told her with a mischievous smirk.

  “Oh, I am sure we can come up with something.” She told her conspiratorially.

  “What are you cute little hens cackling about?” Troy asked halfheartedly as he entered the room suddenly.

  They both pulled on a game face and looked casual. “Just whistling while we work, creep,” she told him.

  “Mmmhmm. I don’t know, you guys look awfully guilty.” He noted with a smile.

  “We were just discussing how it’s possible that you could be this ugly.” She told him as she gathered up the last of her belongings that she could see.

  Alexa laughed and threw her arms around Troy’s neck and gave him a sweet kiss. “Don’t listen to her.”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t.” He said dipping her dramatically and planting a deeper kiss on her.

  Ella groaned. “I can see where I’m not wanted.”

  “No way, sister.” Troy said releasing Alexa. “Earn your keep and help us.”

  She shrugged and continued sifting through the junk that had been stored in the room long before she had moved in.

  They all worked in
the room for three hours until it was devoid of any objects. Troy had placed the mattress out in the backyard to hopefully dry and they had moved the furniture into the living room, with Ella slyly offering to move everything to save her sister in law from lifting heavy objects in her delicate condition.

  She and Alexa had worked up a plan to deliver the news to Troy and Ella was looking forward to implementing it in the morning. Ella didn’t get back into Mercedes’ room until past 1am. She had been running on pure determination, and didn’t realize how exhausted she actually was until her head hit the pillow. She couldn’t believe it all had occurred in one day. She had seen and kissed Nick, made up and had passionate sex with Bryan, learned she was going to be an aunt and cleaned up a room that had probably been flooded by a ghost.

  She was glad that she was so weary, otherwise she may have given more thought to being back in Mercedes’ room, and then would have had to brooch why Mercedes wanted her in the room again so badly. Before she could sabotage her own fatigue, she slipped into a deep, undisturbed sleep, devoid of ghosts and worry.

  Chapter 15

  Ella woke early to help Alexa execute their plan to enlighten Troy as to his impending fatherhood. She was busily setting the dining room table and yawning from exhaustion when Troy walked in and looked at her strangely.

  “What are you doing up and helping?” He asked.

  “I couldn’t sleep and decided to be useful.” She told him with a shrug as she finished.

  “Are you making breakfast?” He asked. “Should I take some precautionary pepto as a virgin aperitif?”

  “You’re an ungrateful wretch.” She told him casually. “And no, I’m not cooking. Alexa is trying out some new prospective bed and breakfast recipes.”

  He raised his eyebrows in approval. “This is shaping up to be a good day. I should go help her.” He said as he headed for the kitchen.

  “No.” She hollered quickly at him. He turned around and looked at her expectantly. “She wants to practice service as it will occur with guests.”

  “So she wants to serve us?” He clarified as he sat happily.

  “Yes, so I will just go tell her that we’re both here and ready.” She told him without waiting for an answer. She peeked her head into the kitchen and gave Alexa the word that he was awake and safely seated in the dining room waiting. Alexa smiled and nodded and Ella took her seat next to Troy and made small talk until Alexa swung open the door.

  “I fresh squeezed some pink grapefruit and blueberry juice,” she announced. “Tell me which you like better.”

  “I think juice is pretty straight forward.” He remarked as she set down a glass of pink and a glass of blue juice in front of him. He drank a bit of each and made a sour face at the grapefruit juice. “I’m going for the blueberry juice.”

  “Really?” Ella said. “I’m all for the pink juice.” He looked at her strangely but didn’t say anything.

  Alexa next came out with two hard boiled eggs for each of them. They were both still in shell and had been dyed pink and blue. She placed them in front of him and he looked at them like they had been harvested from Martian chickens. “Are you practicing for Easter brunch?”

  She smiled broadly. “No, I just thought it would be a nice touch for a boring egg. Pretty, huh?”

  “Uh, yeah,” he agreed half heartedly, with a now perpetual look of confusion written across his face.

  It took all of Ella’s will to keep her composure and not start laughing. He didn’t seem anywhere near catching on. It was rare that she witnessed him perplexed, and was relishing the amusing looks of befuddlement on his face.

  Alexa left again for the next course and he dutifully began peeling his pink egg and he looked at Ella and shook his head, and thumbed towards the door. “I don’t know how to break it to her that these items are weird as fuck.”

  Before she could reply Alexa came in again with a plate of cupcakes. She set them down and the contrast of the light pink frosting and the light blue frosting seemed incredibly obvious but he just stared at them.

  “Cupcakes,” she explained.

  “Cupcakes for breakfast?” He shrugged and took a bite of each and smiled. “They are fantastic.”

  She kissed his head and smiled and left again. Troy looked at her expectantly. “Am I in the Twilight Zone or does this seem like a theme? I wonder if she realizes she’s making all pink and blue foods.” He said.

  Ella coughed and put her head down and couldn’t help her shoulders from shaking with barely contained laughter. She was so glad when Alexa entered the room again and took the focus off of Ella, because Troy was staring at her as though she were certifiable.

  “And here is the main course.” She announced proudly as she served him a plate of eggs and potatoes. She didn’t even try to explain why the scrambled eggs were dyed blue and the potatoes were tinted pink.

  He looked nonplussed and stared down at the plate of food intently. Alexa sat down in front of him and they both watched as Troy raised his head and understanding visibly dawned on his face. The confusion was swiftly replaced by a broad smile.

  He looked up hopefully at Alexa. “Really?”

  “Yup!” She yelled as he jumped up and took her into a big bear hug. Ella found herself beginning to get emotional when she heard Alexa’s happy sobs and saw Troy wipe ecstatic tears off his face. Once he and Alexa were done congratulating one another he came and hugged Ella.

  “Congratulations.” She told him sincerely, squeezing his shoulders.

  “It’s amazing.” He laughed happily. “I completely thought you guys were nuts.”

  “I thought it was going to be dinner entrees before you caught on.” Ella giggled.

  He looked down at the now completely obvious blue and pink spread on the table. “It seemed slightly plausible until the pink potatoes.” He explained.

  Once the merriment had worn into daily routine she excused herself to get ready for the day. Once she arrived back in Mercedes’ room she groaned as she beheld the pile of her clothes that had been unceremoniously dumped on the ground. The backwards step stabbed at her morale and she dejectedly took a shower to prepare for a day of cleaning.

  She heard thumping over the sound of the running water and assumed it was the plumbers working, but it became obvious that it was not when she turned the faucet off and heard the racket overhead in the attic. She quickly dressed and walked up to the attic, without hesitation. Avoidance didn’t seem to work with Mercedes, and there was something up there that she wanted Ella to find, she was sure of it.

  She still had fear lurking in her gut, but ignored it and persevered up the stairs and swung open the door. As usual, the sound stopped when she stepped inside and everything was still. She stood in the middle of the room and took a good, long look around at the piles of boxes. Some weathered and covered with dust and some clearly newer boxes of belongings. She noticed where a section of older boxes had been disturbed and a box cover was still askew. She approached it and with a nervous glance behind her, kneeled on the floor in front of it. It was piles of pictures. Some in frames, but most stuck haphazardly together with no apparent organization. There were pictures of the Tavares children as babies all the way up until probably right around the time when Mercedes died.

  She smiled when she saw a Christmas family portrait where Alexa could have been no older than five. It was a classic portrait where the girls were even adorned in hideous, matching, red velvet dresses. She resisted the urge to tarry through the pics and saw where it seemed the pile had been disturbed. It wasn’t hard to notice where a photo had been placed face down under a clumsy pile of other pictures. She took a breath and turned it over. As she had feared, it was a picture of Mercedes in her coffin.

  Ella breathed in as she beheld the disturbing photograph. Her eyes and lips were gently closed as if to mimic peaceful sleep, yet it would fool no one. Her complexion was marred with a waxy sheen and her skin more sunken than it had been in life. Her makeup was tasteful, but n
ever was how she would have worn it, and her long beautiful hair was arranged on the silk pillow like a macabre sleeping beauty. Her slender hands were clasped on her stomach atop the modest, flowered dress that Ella knew she would be wearing.

  Ella swallowed hard and replaced the photo. “Is this what you wanted me to find?” She asked aloud. The silence was her only answer and she decided to continue looking through the box. She picked up another family portrait that was housed in an ornate picture frame. She held it up and smiled at it until she caught a glimpse of something in the reflection behind her. The figure of Mercedes stood with her head down silently behind her by the picture frames that were hanging on the wall.

  Ella whirled around with a gasp and found nothing there. Her hands were trembling as she walked briskly to the spot. She saw that Troy had cleaned up the glass from the frame that had fallen on her last jaunt in the attic and had carefully replaced it on the wall sans glass.

  “Should I have taken more note of the photo that dropped?” She asked aloud. “Is there something in it that you wanted me to see?”

  As if in response, all of the frames on the wall spontaneously fell from their nails onto the floor in a resounding crash. Glass shattered everywhere and the frames lay in ruin at her feet. Ella jumped back out of reflex and sat there trying to make sense of the event. Apparently the picture itself hadn’t been the clue Mercedes wanted her to find as Mercedes had now sent pictures of her entire collection of friends and family crashing to the floor.

  Ella’s frustration forced her face in her hands to take a deep breath, but if she was hoping to inhale clarity, she was out of luck. Her exasperation was building and she wanted desperately to yell out to Mercedes that she was the worst spirit guide imaginable and needed something concrete to go on. She was aware that she had no idea what Mercedes’ limitations were in her realm of existence, but it did little to calm her.

  “I don’t know how to help you!” She found herself yelling. There was no answer as she started fishing through the pictures in hopes that she would find something behind one of them. There was nothing but broken glass and bent pictures and she dutifully grabbed the broom that Troy had left up there and swept up all the glass she could find.