The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set

by Tanya R. Taylor

  “Now?” Sara asked.

  “I assume so. Is Rosie asleep already?”

  “She just drifted off.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to disturb her, but it’s best she moves into a better room. The manager promised to inspect it herself.”

  “No worries. I’ll take care of everything. Just be safe out there.”

  “I will. Uh, Mom...”

  Sara was just about to hang up. “What is it?” she asked.

  “I really hate having to surrender that glass to the manager, in case push comes to shove. But she seems pretty decent. I guess it’ll be okay once she agrees it smells like alcohol and she states that in her report.”

  “You want me to extract a sample that you can use to get tested if you need to?”

  “What all did you bring from home, Mom?”

  “Everything and anything we could possibly use. Have you forgotten how I always traveled over the years?”

  “I guess I have. That’s great; thanks. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

  Alone at night, Mira recalled Doris’ directions and managed to find the pharmacy without a hitch. On the same street were a few bars and a couple of flashy night spots.

  She pulled up into a vacant spot near the front of the pharmacy. As she grabbed the door handle, she noticed something near the entrance, yet not within the glare of light which settled directly above.

  Tossing her purse across her shoulder, Mira got out of the van, clicked the remote for the automatic lock feature and headed for the front door of the establishment. She knew they were looking her way, but getting back to Rosie was her primary focus. This was the wrong night and definitely the wrong venue. Coming to Matthew Town in Sogog was supposed to be a stress reliever – nothing more. Nothing less.

  She walked right past them and into the store. Several people were strolling through the aisles and a crabby-looking character in his sixties was standing at the cash register.

  “Hi. I’m wondering if you have Caztenil,” Mira said to a lady in the booth whom she figured was the pharmacist. She was tall, thin and wore huge eye-glasses.

  “Caztenil, you said?”

  Mira nodded.

  “Just let me check for you.”

  In the meantime, Mira browsed a nearby aisle, periodically looking in the direction of the front entrance. She wondered why those people were outside and what might have happened.

  “Ma’am...” the woman re-appeared with the medicine.

  Mira promptly paid for it, then slipped it into her purse.

  Walking toward the exit, she took a deep breath in, then headed outside again. She glanced to her left and realized they were gone; then to her right. They were nowhere in sight. Relieved, Mira continued on toward the van until she saw them standing only inches away from the driver’s side door.

  Startled by their intrusion, she said, “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I’m just visiting here. My daughter is sick, so I have to get back to her. Whatever it is, I’m sure someone else around here can help you, but I can’t.” She could bet none of the three would utter a single response, since many of them often failed to. They mostly related their stories via actions instead of verbalization. She wondered why some did that and others didn’t.

  “I was innocent,” the young woman said rather slowly and monotonically.

  “Help us!” The boy and the older woman cried over and repeatedly, their voices climbing higher each time.

  Having an eerie and terrifying sensation was an understatement for Mira. She knew she had the power to leave and reject the ghastly entities from her space, so she decidedly walked straight through them, unlocked the van and quickly climbed in. The three turned simultaneously and stared through the window at her as she calmly attempted to insert the key into the ignition. Suddenly, her cell went off and she reached into her purse for it. It was Wade.

  “I heard what happened. Did you get the medicine?” he asked.

  Trying again to ignore the lifeless strangers who hadn’t moved from that spot since she climbed into the vehicle, she answered, “Yes, I have it. Is she still sleeping?”

  “She’s snoring. I’m sure she’ll be fine when she wakes up. Where are you?”

  “On my way back. I didn’t have to go far out.”

  Wade started to say something, but Mira’s attention was distracted when the boy turned around slowly and she immediately saw the gaping hole in his upper back. She raised her hand to her mouth, horrified by what he had apparently shown her.

  “Mira… are you still there?” Wade’s voice finally re-entered her consciousness.

  “Wade, I gotta go. I’m on my way back now, okay?”

  “Sure. Okay.”

  She hung up; her eyes glued to the three still there. The boy was now facing her again.

  “They will pay,” the younger woman’s voice succinctly penetrated the car glass, though Mira could tell that from the outside she had not raised her voice.

  “Help us,” whispered the boy again. “Help us.”

  And they disappeared.

  Mira rested her head back against the seat, relieved that they had finally gone away, but disturbed by the looks of them. Straggly-looking, and grossly pale, the only color that stood out on them was the dried blood encircling their awful gashes. The ugly head wounds both women suffered were unnerving, but not unusual for her to see. It was, however, rare that she would see such wounds on children, even older ones like the boy who was with them.

  After taking a couple of minutes to collect herself, Mira reversed out of the parking lot and headed back to the hotel.

  * * *

  Wade, Mira, Norma and little Tommy went down to the dining room to grab a bite to eat. Sara stayed with Rosie in their new room, monitoring her occasionally as she slept. Mira placed an order for her mother and took it upstairs to her before rejoining the others in the dining room.

  She felt guilty, considering Rosie’s condition, but Sara had urged her to go, saying that it wouldn’t do any good for both of them to just sit there and watch Rosie sleep.

  Norma reached across the table and touched Mira’s hand. “I know how you must feel, Mira, but I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks,” Mira managed a half-smile, along with a sigh. “This is supposed to be a fun, relaxing trip, but it just started out wrong.”

  “This is just an unexpected snag,” Wade said. “Once Rosie gets over this, it’ll be like it never happened and she and Tommy here will be busy doing what they do best. Right, Sport?” He ruffled Tommy’s thick, brown hair.

  “What do we do best, Dad?” he asked.

  “Play! That’s what you do best. Don’t you agree?”

  “I guess.” Tommy twirled the spaghetti on his fork. He didn’t seem too happy.

  “I know you’re worried about Rosie too and wish she were here with us.” Wade noticed the boy’s expression. “But like we said, she’ll be fine in no time. You’ll see.”

  “Were you and Wade really that tight?” Norma posed, hoping for a light-hearted discussion.

  “Were we?” Wade took the wheel. “Mira followed me everywhere I went. She was like a little tomboy, playing all the boy games outside with me. We shot marbles, even made go-carts out of rusty wheelbarrows and pushed each other in them through puddles of water after it rained. You remember that, Sis?”

  “Yeah, I remember that, Wade,” Mira replied. “Everything except the me following you everywhere you went part. You know it wasn’t like that. You want Norma to believe you had that much influence on me as a child. Perhaps, you’re trying to fill some deep, psychological need you might have ignored throughout the years, thus the reason for the blatant lie.”

  Norma almost chocked on her prime rib. She laughed until she cried. Tommy giggled too, though he didn’t quite understand the jest. Wade sat smiling, feeling a little dissed and rather awkward as the brunt of his sister’s joke, which probably in her mind wasn’t even a joke, but a statement she held as truth.


  “Okay...” Wade’s hands flew in the air. “Whatever that meant.”

  “I’m sure you know what it meant, big brother.” Mira sliced a piece of her filet mignon.

  Norma could barely contain herself.

  “While you were off to the pharmacy, I heard from Doctor Whitmore. He was just calling to see if we had arrived in town and invited us to pay him a visit at the clinic.”

  “Oh?” Mira arched a brow.

  “I mentioned what had happened to Rosie and he offered to run some tests on her just to rule out any infection. Since he offered, I told him that I’ll speak with you to find out your thoughts on it. He can also get the samples tested that Mom extracted from the glass, just in case you need it later on. What do you think?”

  “It was nice of him to offer. I have no objections, although it’s apparent from the symptoms that it’s not any severe alcohol poisoning Rosie’s suffering from. Tell me, do you remember that time when I was around seven or eight when Mom and Dad took us to this huge store that usually gave out sodas, juices and punch in foam cups for kids every weekend, and white and red wine in clear, plastic cups for the adults?”

  “I remember that.” Wade nodded. “That was the day you went and got one of those adult cups, thinking juice was in it and gulped down the white wine!” He laughed.

  “No kidding!” Norma was shocked.

  “I didn’t drink the whole thing,” Mira explained. “It tasted horrible, so I only had a little bit.”

  Wade, now laughing loudly, was attracting the attention of the other guests. Norma nudged him to keep it down.

  “Mom and Dad didn’t know you drank it until you started talking out of your head in the car, acting all crazy.” He laughed so much, tears were now streaming down his face. “I told them you were just too greedy. We already had our sodas. You just wanted more!”

  Norma started laughing again and so did Mira and Tommy.

  “So, basically, Rosie did the same thing her mother did,” Norma said to Mira. “Not applying any greed to it as your humble brother suggested was the case with you.”

  Mira nodded. “Thankfully, I was able to sleep it off, but sometimes as you know, when kids consume alcohol by mistake, it can be fatal depending upon a variety of factors. I was confident with what I gathered that Rosie needed to sleep it off, just as I did. Otherwise, I would’ve taken her to a hospital. Mind you, I’m not saying this to get out of taking Doctor Whitmore up on his offer. I’m more than willing to take her there.”

  “Good,” Wade said. “We can go in the morning.”

  Mira agreed.

  A little after one in the morning, Rosie woke up. She had awakened earlier around eleven and managed to get down a little food before drifting off to sleep again. Mira and Sara were relieved that she was doing fine and didn’t appear to need the medication Mira had picked up from the pharmacy.

  Rosie quietly slipped out of bed and made her way toward the bathroom. A simple night-light attached to the center of the wall between both double beds had been left on. Having slept in bed with her grandmother, she glanced over at her mother who was fast asleep under the covers.

  After washing her hands, she switched off the bathroom light and sauntered back towards her bed which was closest to the western end of the room.

  In her state of drowsiness, she suddenly spotted something in the far corner of the room which made her blood run cold. Three figures stood near the bed where her grandmother was sleeping.

  Rosie emitted a bloodcurdling, Mom! that jolted both ladies out of their sleep.

  Mira sprung up, her eyes veering in the direction of Rosie’s stare. She saw them too – the same people who had confronted her at the pharmacy. The women and the teenage boy.

  Sara dashed over to Rosie and held her. “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked. “What do you see?”

  Rosie buried her face in Sara’s flannel nightgown. “Please make them go away! Please make them go!”

  “Mira...” Sara looked her way.

  Mira’s focus was still on the strangers who were quietly standing there. Their presence, to her, spoke volumes: They will not be ignored.

  “What do you want from me?” she cried out to them. “What is it? You can’t just come here scaring my daughter like this.”

  Without a response from the tortured souls, the single night-light went completely out and the room was suddenly pitch dark.

  Mira felt the nightstand for her cell and upon locating it, switched on the built-in flashlight. Scanning it across the room, she realized the brazen visitors had left. She hurried over to the plain, thick curtains which covered the sliding door and pulled them back. Outside was also pitch dark.

  “Doesn’t this place have a generator?” Sara asked with disgust. “What else is new around here?”

  Just then, there was knocking at the door. Mira opened up to let Wade, Norma and Tommy in. Tommy found his way over to Rosie and their grandmother.

  “What the hell’s going on around here? A power outage across town?” Wade remarked.

  “It appears so,” Mira said, wondering if it was all just coincidence or something to do with the ghosts that stood where their mother was standing right then.

  “It’s a hotel, for crying out loud!” Wade barked. “They should have an efficient generator that kicks right in. I’m calling front desk.” He sat down and positioned his cell’s light over the land line as he punched in the digits.

  After a rather lengthy conversation with the front desk clerk, considering they were all in the dark, Wade angrily hung up the phone.

  “What’d they say?” Norma asked him.

  “She claims they’ve been having quite a few blackouts in town as of late, but they do have a generator which normally kicks in. To her surprise, tonight it didn’t and someone’s apparently on their way to check it out. In the meantime, she said they’ll be bringing up some flashlights. Can you believe this crap?”

  “Flashlights?” Sara asked. “Why not candles too?”

  “They won’t do that, Mom,” Mira interjected. “They don’t want anyone burning down the hotel by mistake.”

  They all sat down after Wade pulled open the sliding door for some fresh air to seep in. The screen was kept in place.

  Minutes later, someone arrived at the room and handed Wade two flashlights. Annoyed, Wade barely thanked the guy before shutting the door behind him.

  “I’m gonna sit outside,” he said, opening the screen door near the balcony. “Anyone wanna join me?”

  “In a minute, darling,” Norma said.

  “Wade went and stretched out on the chair. Another one was about two feet away.

  “Mom!” Rosie exclaimed as she stared in her uncle’s direction.

  Mira saw what prompted the child’s concern. The younger woman from before was sitting in the chair next to Wade. Mira immediately went outside.

  “What’s wrong?” Sara asked. She knew her daughter and Rosie were the only ones who could see what obviously disturbed them. She held Rosie even more closely. “Tell me in my ear, Pumpkin.”

  Rosie, in turn, knelt up and uttered the frightening words.

  “My God!” Sara struggled to retain her composure.

  Rosie watched as Mira sat down in the same chair occupied by the lady with the bullet wound to her head. As she descended, the ghastly intruder vanished right under her.

  “Is she still there?” Sara whispered.

  Rosie shook her head quickly. “She’s gone.”

  Sara placed her hand across her heart.

  “Wanna share?” Norma asked.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Sara replied. “Rosie just thought she saw something, but it’s so dark, any movement can fool you.”

  “Perhaps, you’re right,” Norma said.

  “I’m beginning to think that coming here was a mistake,” Wade said solemnly to his sister.

  “You mean to Matthew Town?” Mira asked.

  “No, this hotel. They said it was the better one, bu
t if this is ‘better’, how much worse can the other one be?”

  “It doesn’t sound like we really had much of a choice. But it’s the first day, so let’s not throw our hands up in frustration just yet. All of this is discouraging, but we have another four days to take advantage of what we came here for.”

  Wade glanced her way. “You were always the philosopher in the family, weren’t you?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mira was looking straight ahead.

  Suddenly, Wade slapped the side of his face. He felt the mushy texture in the palm of his hand. Picking up his flashlight from the floor, he shone it on his right hand and saw the blood and remains of the fly he had smashed against his face. “Ugh!” He grimaced knocking the creature out his hand. Mira was looking his way, but shooing off some of her own. Then they heard a faint buzzing sound that gradually increased in volume and before they knew it, they were surrounded by swarms of little, black flies just like the one Wade had killed. Using both hands to keep them away from their faces, Mira and Wade sprung up and headed for the screen door. Mira rushed inside first and Wade quickly followed. A few flies made it in with them, but Mira, Wade and Norma saw to it that they were quickly crushed.

  Looking through the screen, they were all witnessing the infestation of flies just outside their room. The swarm soon appeared to be pressing themselves against the actual screen and Wade went over and pulled the glass sliding door shut. The Cullens watched in awe as the little, flying army covered not only the area of their balcony, but the entire distance as far as they could see.

  “Why are there so many of them, Mom?” Rosie asked.

  “I don’t know, honey.”

  “It’s odd to say the least,” Wade added.

  For several minutes they watched the flies buzz around. The children were terrified, though comforted that they were safe inside with their parents. Then without notice, the creatures started to disperse, and as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone.