“No, Julie. I have to go help Megan. She is my wife now. I love her, Julie. Please, move out of the way!”
I always loved you, Alex. Always. From that first day to that last day, but I have to tell you the truth. You have to know, and you have to let me go.
“I don’t understand, Julie! Move, please!”
I was hurt that you wanted us to go away. It hurt me, Alexander. I thought you were through with us. You would graduate and leave us behind, but Zachary loved you so much; you were a father to him. There was no one else for him or me.
“I always loved you, Julie. I wish you had never left. I regret what happened to you. I regret it with all my heart, but we can’t change the past. But please, my wife. Megan. She needs me. I failed you, but I can save her. Let me go, Julie. Let me go to Megan.”
You did not fail me, Alex. I failed you. I knew what I was doing. I told Zachary, and he agreed.
“Told him what?”
“Alex!” Megan screamed as Sylvia began praying. I could see the battle, but Julie would not release me. I could not move an inch. Her pain-filled purple eyes studied mine.
“You say you love me, so why are you doing this? Why?”
You have to know what I did, Alex.
And then I fell to my knees. Somehow, I knew before she told me. I’d always known. Those glimpses of madness in Julie’s eyes. The bouts of mania, the highs and the lows. I knew she wasn’t well, but I didn’t want to believe any of it.
He said it was okay. I turned on the gas but never lit the stove. We lay down and went to sleep. I freed you of your burdens, Alex. I set you free.
“No, Julie! No! Tell me you didn’t! I can’t believe you would do that!” I sobbed. Megan screamed again, and I tried to crawl toward her. I couldn’t move at all. Somewhere in all this madness, I heard Dan Petit laughing.
Oh, yes, Alexander. You do crack me up! What a fool, a bigger fool than me almost. I’m a man of my word, though. Two for two. I’ll take this one and the baby. Joanna can’t escape me. The baby will be mine, and then a part of Joanna will be with me forever. She’ll never get away again.
“Julie! What have you done? Megan, I love you!”
Alex, no. Please, don’t forget about me. Tell me you love me. Tell me I’m a keeper. Please. Tell me you forgive me!
Sylvia began praying louder now; I could hear her calling on the captive spirits to come help her. “You have to forgive her, Alex. Forgive her so she can be free! That’s how he trapped her—and the boy! You had to know, and you have to forgive!”
“Alex! Please!” Megan screamed as she came to a stop.
And then I saw my stepson, Zachary. He was holding his balloon and frowning. He was confused in death, just as he was in life. “It’s okay, son. It’s all going to be okay.” I had to do this for him. If for no one else but him!
Julie waited for my answer. More than anything, I wanted to tell her everything I felt about her, but it wasn’t to be. Not today. Today I had to set her free. She had loved Zachary and me as well as she could…but in a moment, a weak moment, she had snapped and done the unthinkable.
“I forgive you, Julie. I forgive you from the bottom of my heart. I loved you then, and I love you now.” And as the last words left my lips, I heard Dan Petit scream as if he were dying. Perhaps he finally was dying. Julie vanished into a hundred tiny amber lights that flitted about and raced toward Zachary. The two of them became two hundred tiny amber lights that flew out the open door over the balcony.
No! One for one! Or two for two! You can’t break the deal, old man!
Then the Victrola began to play the Charleston. This clearly wasn’t the result of Dan’s machinations, and he was now the one who looked frightened. A tall, willowy woman appeared at the end of the hall.
Joanna Storm! What now?
Danny, you want me? Dance with me, Danny. Dance with me now and forever.
Dan growled in anger as he ran to the elevator, he was a shadow now, a shadow man in the loosest, most evil sense of the word. He snarled at Megan and me but mostly at Joanna. As she passed by him, she smiled at Megan and whispered something to her. I couldn’t make it out, but I didn’t ask any questions. A blur of red hair flew past me and raced toward Sylvia, who was lying on the ground. Without being told, I knew that what I was seeing was the psychic medium’s spirit guide, Freya. At least they were reunited. I hoped it wasn’t too late.
Come on, Danny Boy. Don’t be shy now. Let’s you and me take a ride. Joanna walked toward the elevator, and suddenly the broken wall was gone. The carpets beneath our feet were beautiful and red and gold. Everything was lovely, as it had been when Joanna was alive. The black cast-iron elevator door was open, but Dan didn’t want to go now. He flickered in and out, his mouth open in horror. He had been defeated by my forgiveness of Julie. Poor Julie. She’d been a lost soul, and I had never known. But Dan knew. He knew that about her, and the knowledge empowered him. But what about Megan and her sin? I had no idea what threats he had against her. And luckily for me, I would never know because Joanna waved her hand and Dan became as placid as a doll. She tossed him inside the elevator and stared at us, or at Megan. I felt as if something unheard passed between them, but I couldn’t be sure. And then Joanna stepped into the elevator, the pale and broken Dan Petit at her feet. She closed the door, and I expected the elevator to make the familiar clack, clack, clack sound. It did not.
A loud boom like an implosion sounded. Then the wall was back to normal, as if my sledgehammer had never broken it. All was as it should be.
Julie and Zach were gone. Sylvia was standing upright although looking a little wobbly. She was talking away, clearly to her spirit guide, Freya. After hugging and kissing Megan for half a minute, I told her it was time to go.
Time to leave Morgan’s Rock forever. The ghost of Joanna Storm had saved us, and we were free. We’d uncovered a horrible secret for her, and she had done so for me too.
I didn’t care if I never saw this place again. The three of us limped out of the house and never looked back.
Epilogue—Megan
“This is really happening? It’s happening, isn’t it? I have to wait for Alex. Oh God! This hurts so bad!”
The young nurse with the lovely tanned skin smiled at me and patted my hand. “I know it hurts, Mrs. Wagner, but the epidural is going to help. And I’m afraid there is no waiting. As far as the baby’s arrival goes, babies don’t make appointments. They come when they decide to. Is there someone else I could call for you?” Her exotic accent sounded so soothing. She was from somewhere in the Caribbean, that much I knew. Alex and I had visited there shortly after our wedding. I always vowed that we’d go back.
“No,” I gasped as I clutched at the sheets. There was so much activity in the room now. Trays of equipment were being moved around, a huge bright light shone above me, and a second nurse was tapping on a computer. It was a surreal moment.
“Oh boy,” the second nurse said. The younger woman eyed her as if to say, You’re not helping.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, now terrified that something besides a baby was erupting from my body.
“Nothing is wrong, Mrs. Wagner. You’re just about to have a baby. It’s never easy, but we’re working on making you as comfortable as possible. Have you decided on a name yet?”
The pain eased off, and I fell back on the pillow and took a deep breath. The machine beside me quieted, and someone wisely suggested that the sound be turned off. I could feel my body ratcheting up for another round of pain in the middle of my back. No way was I going to make it to the epidural. No way at all. This was happening, and I was alone.
In just a few seconds, the hospital room was full of people—nurses, doctors, I couldn’t keep up—but I wanted nothing more than some privacy. Why did this feel so wrong? Alex…where are you?
“Mrs. Wagner, we have to go now. We’re taking you to the OR. Dr. Greer says you have to have a cesarean. The baby’s heart is failing. She’s in distress. Shh…ple
ase don’t panic. It’s going to be alright. We do these surgeries several times a week.”
“But the baby is in danger?” I asked as they worked like a racing pit crew transferring my bed and whisking me out of the room and down the hall to the operating room. A hat was put on my head, the anesthesiologist came in, and two minutes later, I was out. I cried as they put the mask on my face and told me to count backward from twenty. I think I counted to seventeen, and then I slept a black, dreamless sleep.
When I woke up, a doctor was shining a light in my eye and Alex was standing next to him. Was he praying? I was glad to see him praying for me.
“The baby? Please, bring me the baby. Is she okay?”
“She’s as beautiful as her mother, Megan. They are bringing her in now.”
I felt drunk and weak, but I held Alex’s hand and waited to see the love of my life. The tiny bundle that liked to kick my bladder mercilessly. The baby that I loved with every particle of my being but had never seen before.
“Here she is, Megan. Our daughter.” Alex’s smile said it all. Like me, he was tired. The birth had been sooner than planned, but we couldn’t have been more pleased. I wasn’t going to name her Joanna. I had another name for her, a name Joanna had chosen. And I thought it was a fine idea. I hadn’t told Alex yet, but I would.
I imagined that this was not how Dan had hoped things would end. After talking with Alex, it was clear that Dan wanted to break him down by telling him all our secrets. Julie confessed hers. But I’d never told mine. Then again, I wasn’t really sure. Was the baby’s father Paden or Alex? Did it really matter anymore? Paden was dead, and I did not love him. I loved Alex. Brave, fearless Alex.
“Have you decided what to name her? I said I would leave it up to you. And we certainly don’t want my mother getting involved in the naming.” He gave me a soft smile. “Is it still Joanna?”
“No, I have another name in mind. Julie. What do you think about that?”
Alex appeared stunned at my suggestion but then smiled and kissed the baby’s face. “Okay, Julie it is. But Julie Joanna Megan Wagner.”
“Oh, please. Don’t be ridiculous. Just Julie or maybe Julie Sylvia. I like that.”
“I like it too.”
The hospital staff left us alone, and the three of us loved on one another. The baby was small but pretty, quiet but content. She was too young to start looking for hints about her parentage. I pledged then and there that I would never do that. Julie Sylvia was our daughter, Alex’s and mine. She would be a Wagner until she married, or even after that if she wanted. And she would never see Morgan’s Rock or spend a day inside it. That was Joanna’s request, and I intended to honor it.
“Buy me a house, Alex. Somewhere away from Rockville. Let’s go to the mountains. Find us a nice cabin. We can spend the rest of our lives getting lost in the woods.”
“I love that, Megan.” He kissed me and then kissed the baby. She smiled at him, even though her eyes were closed. People say babies this young don’t smile, but they don’t know how special Julie Sylvia was and how much she meant to us. She was perfect.
*****
We never went back to Morgan’s Rock. Not even to pick up our keys. We left everything. Clothes, computers, furniture. It didn’t sell right away, but when it did, the new owners offered to pack everything up and send it to us. We refused it. We were never going back, not even in our minds.
Sylvia and Loretta came up to see the baby, but that was the last we saw of them. I talked to them on the phone once in a while, but we never spoke about the incident or the house or the Storm family again.
Alex and I have a happy life, and we did buy that cabin. Our life is blissfully absent of ghosts or anything one could call paranormal. And for that, I am blessed.
I write children’s books now. Books about a silly goat named Freya that bumps into things and likes to steal cupcakes from the kids who come visit her home, the Montreal Petting Zoo. Okay, so maybe there is a little touch of the paranormal in our lives, but just that. I sometimes feel that Freya comes to check in on us, but I send her back.
And Alex and I? We feel that we’ve been given a second chance at life. A second chance at us. No more secrets. No more negativity. Whatever life hands us, we’ll get through it together.
From the limelight to the mountain sunshine.
Hey, that sounds like it has the makings of a good book….
Connect with M.L. Bullock on Facebook. To receive updates on her latest releases, visit her website at M.L. Bullock and subscribe to her mailing list. You can also contact her at [email protected].
About the Author
Author of the best-selling Seven Sisters series and the Desert Queen series, M.L. Bullock has been storytelling since she was a child. A student of archaeology, she loves weaving stories that feature her favorite historical characters—including Nefertiti. She currently lives on the Gulf Coast with her family but travels frequently to explore the southern states she loves so much.
Read more from M.L. Bullock
The Nike Chronicles
Blue Water
Blue Wake
Blue Tide
The Seven Sisters Series
Seven Sisters
Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters
Shadows Stir at Seven Sisters
The Stars that Fell
The Stars We Walked Upon
The Sun Rises Over Seven Sisters
Christmas at Seven Sisters (bonus short stories)
Ghost on a Swing (series prequel)
The Idlewood Series
The Ghosts of Idlewood
Dreams of Idlewood
The Whispering Saint
The Haunted Child
Return to Seven Sisters
(A Seven Sisters Sequel Series)
The Roses of Mobile
All the Summer Roses
Blooms Torn Asunder
A Garden of Thorns
Wreath of Roses
The Gulf Coast Paranormal Series
The Ghosts of Kali Oka Road
The Ghosts of the Crescent Theater
A Haunting on Bloodgood Row
The Legend of the Ghost Queen
A Haunting at Dixie House
The Ghost Lights of Forrest Field
The Ghost of Gabrielle Bonet
The Ghost of Harrington Farm
The Creature on Crenshaw Road
A Ghostly Ride in Gulfport
The Maelstrom of the Leaf Academy
The Ghosts of Phoenix No. 7
Gulf Coast Paranormal Extras
The October People
Shabby Hearts Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series
A Touch of Shabby
Shabbier by the Minute
Shabby by Night
Shabby All the Way
The Sugar Hill Series
Wife of the Left Hand
Fire on the Ramparts
Blood by Candlelight
The Starlight Ball
His Lovely Garden
Ghosts of Summerleigh Series
The Belles of Desire, Mississippi
The Ghost of Jeopardy Belle
The Lady in White
Loxley Belle
The Vampires of Rock and Roll Series
Elegant Black
Lost Camelot Series
Guinevere Forever
Guinevere Unconquered
The Undead Queen of Camelot
The Desert Queen Series
The Tale of Nefret
The Falcon Rises
The Kingdom of Nefertiti
The Song of the Bee-Eater
Standalone books
Ghosts on a Plane
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The Haunting at Morgan's Rock Page 32