The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set

by Tanya R. Taylor

  Bobby retrieved a glass from the cabinet, filled it with some punch for her and placed it on the coffee table. He then sat down and watched her eat.

  “You’re being creepy,” she said.

  His heart was full of excitement that he struggled to contain. She could tell and was giggling about it.

  “Why are you laughing?” he asked.

  “You are too much, Bobby. You act as if you’ve hit the lottery.”

  “I’ve done way better than that!” he responded in all seriousness.

  She was touched. “Remember, don’t speak a word of it until the time is right. I’ll let you know when I’m ready, okay?”

  “Sure thing. My lips are sealed… for now.”

  Mira gave him a reprimanding look.

  4

  _________________

  Rosie was in her bedroom packing her clothing and toiletries neatly into a small duffel strolley bag. Daniel, her beloved Cavapoo was sitting on the bedspread, quietly observant.

  “How’s the packing coming along?” Mira asked at the door with her arms folded.

  “Good, Mom!” Rosie was clearly cheerful. It was going to be her first-ever sleepover and with best friend, Tonya. She’d met Tonya when they started middle school together; in fact, Tonya was first to introduce herself to the shy Rosie during Orientation. She also was the only one of her peers Rosie felt comfortable sharing anything personal with — especially concerning her gift. Tonya was far from judgmental; more of a happy-go-lucky type and appeared to be one those people that never had an off day. Rosie always knew when she was sad though or when she was hiding something that really bothered her.

  “Did you get your warm pajamas – the yellow polka dot one, and your tooth brush?” Mira asked.

  “I’m going on fourteen, Mom. I know how to pack my bag.”

  Smiling, Mira entered the room and sat on the bed. “My goodness! How my little girl has grown.” She removed a strand of hair from Rosie’s face. “I can’t believe how time has just flown by. I remember when you were so little and I had to do everything for you.”

  Rosie looked at her mother suspiciously. “I’m just going for a two night sleepover, not for good. Besides, I still need you like I did when I was younger — just maybe not as much anymore, but I’ll always need you.”

  Mira’s heart was touched. It was one of the sweetest things Rosie had ever said to her. She reached over and hugged her.

  “Mom, you’re acting all weird now.”

  Mira giggled. “It’s just that this is the first time I’ll go to sleep without you here with me. I guess I’m being silly, but I know I’m gonna miss you even though you’ll only be gone for a couple of days.”

  “I know. And I’ll miss you too.”

  “That’s not true!” Sara entered the room with an accusatory look on her face. She was pointing at Rosie. “You know you’ll be jumping up and down and celebrating the moment you leave this house tonight!”

  Laughter erupted.

  “Oh, Pumpkin! I’ll miss you the most.” Sara rubbed her shoulder. “But don’t worry, old Nana will be all right. You just go on and have yourself a good time with Tonya and her family.”

  “Thanks, Nana.”

  Mira checked her watch. “It’s almost six-thirty. They should be here at any minute.”

  “I’m all set!’ Rosie said.

  “Perfect!” Sara smiled.

  They heard a car pull up onto the driveway, then a single, but rather loud honk.

  “They’re here!” Rosie grabbed her bag and tossed it across her shoulder.

  Sara headed to the front door.

  Judy Dames and her daughter Tonya were standing outside while Tim, the family’s patriarch, waited in the car. The vehicle’s headlights were glaring through the living room when Sara opened up.

  “Mrs. Dames! Tonya! How nice to see you both again,” she said.

  “Good evening, Mrs. Cullen. It’s good to see you too,” Judy replied.

  “Good evening, Rosie’s grammy!” Tonya blurted excitedly.

  The women chuckled.

  “Don’t you think you’re too old for that?” Judy questioned her daughter.

  “Oh, Mom! You’re just so old fashioned!”

  Rosie and Mira joined Sara at the door.

  “Hi, Tonya’s mom,” Rosie hailed.

  Judy returned the greeting, still laughing. “Kid’s huh?”

  Sara and Mira hugged and kissed Rosie before sending her off with the other family of three. Sara didn’t close the door until the car had pulled out of the driveway.

  “Well, it’s just me and you for a couple of days, Sweet Pea,” Sara said.

  “Yes.” Mira sighed.

  “Aww… lighten up! Before you know it, Sunday evening will be here and she’ll be back.”

  Mira sat down on the couch. “I hope she’ll be okay over there.”

  “What on earth do you mean?” Sara sat next to her.

  “Nothing. I’m just being overly protective, I guess.”

  It was as though Sara was seeing right through her. “You’re worried about how she might handle herself if…”

  “Don’t say it, Mom.” Mira stood up. “I don’t wanna think about that. Focusing on it would only worry me and I don’t… I just don’t wanna go there.”

  Sara looked at her silently, understanding her need to avoid the matter.

  “I’m tired. I’m gonna go and get freshened up for bed. Could use an early night.”

  “Go ahead, honey. I’ll watch a few episodes of ‘Will and Bash’ before turning in myself.”

  5

  _________________

  The Dames grabbed dinner at a take-away before heading home. Around 7:55 p.m., they arrived at the white split-level house on Raynard Boulevard. As Rosie stepped out of the car, she, as always, was struck by the size and beauty of the edifice in front of her and thought that a young girl like her could probably get lost inside.

  Judy set dinner on the table after they all had washed up. The girls sat next to each other.

  “Rosie, are you enjoying your tenders?” she asked.

  “I am.” Rosie wiped her mouth with the napkin.

  “Judy here has planned a fun outing for you girls,” Tim said, while he carefully ate his fish. “She mentioned a movie or something tomorrow.”

  Tim was an insurance executive with the largest insurance agency in town. His company had branches all over the country and he often traveled for work. He earned enough for Judy to be a stay-at-home mom. She was only able to put in a few years at the local elementary school before abandoning her teaching career.

  Tonya was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Oh, yes!” Judy said, excitedly. “We’re going to watch Halloween with Michael Myers. I heard you like horror movies, Rosie. My Tonya here can’t get enough of them! I know it’s R-rated, but I can sneak you both in. I know the lady who works at the ticket counter.” She gave Tim a proud glance.

  Rosie turned to Tonya. “You told your mom I like horror movies?”

  “Uh huh. I figured you did since we’re so much alike.”

  “Oh my! You don’t?” Judy seemed disappointed.

  “I can manage them, although I kinda like the scarier ones.”

  “See!” Tonya exclaimed. “I told y’all she likes them.”

  The entire time at dinner, Rosie failed to mention the other people in the room with them. Although at first, she was surprised to see them, she quickly composed herself. The old lady with short, white hair was standing closely behind where Judy was sitting. Rosie sensed it was her mother or perhaps her grandmother. She looked innocent enough and even gave her a wink when she noticed Rosie could see her.

  The rugged-looking, middle-aged guy with brown, ruffled hair stood a good ways back near the entrance to the TV room. He had an austere expression on his face like he still had some unsettled business or something. Rosie had no idea if he was any relation to the family at all. After all, she wasn’t feeling a family tie a
s far as he was concerned. He stared at Tim the entire time, so she was confident that he knew him. Then there was the younger woman with the glassy eyes and dirty-blonde hair. She was just walking around aimlessly. She appeared to have no interest in anyone in the house—dead or alive, then to Rosie’s surprise, she looked at her. “Burn it!” she yelled. “It must be burned to the ground!” Rosie jerked back in her chair and all eyes were on her.

  “Is there something the matter, Rosie?” Judy asked.

  Rosie quickly diverted her attention away from the entity. “No, ma’am,” she quietly answered.

  “Are you sure?” Tim glanced behind as he’d noticed the direction in which she’d been looking, but he saw nothing that warranted concern.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Rosie replied.

  Tonya was looking at her and knew she wasn’t forthcoming.

  Rosie’s eyes soon veered again in the direction where she’d seen the strange woman, but she was gone. The man and old lady remained.

  After dinner, Judy prepared the bed for the girls and tucked them both in before switching off the lights. “Get your rest, girls. We have a busy day tomorrow,” she said, before closing the door behind her.

  Tonya nudged Rosie, who was wrapped in the covers. “You saw something, didn’t ya?”

  “Saw what?” Rosie asked.

  “You know what I mean!”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Rosie, it’s me, remember? The one you tell your deepest, darkest secrets to — including creepy tales from the other side.”

  Rosie turned her way. “Who’s the old lady with the white hair? She smiles a lot and seems nice.”

  Tonya’s eyes widened. “You’ve seen my grammy?”

  “I don’t know. Probably.”

  “Did she say anything to you?” She sat up a little.

  “No, she didn’t.” Rosie told her the exact location where the woman stood and how she followed her mother, Judy, into the room when she came to ready them for bed.

  “She follows her?”

  “Apparently.”

  Tonya rested her head on the fluffy pillow again. “Wow. That’s weird.”

  “Anyway, I’m going to sleep.” Rosie turned over again.

  Tonya nudged her a second time. “You can’t sleep now!”

  “Why not?” Rosie looked at her. She was clearly visible from the light in the hallway.

  “I’m scared.”

  “Scared? Aren’t you the same one who said you love horror movies? You’re afraid of ghosts?”

  “Horror movies are fake. This is real life! I didn’t know a ghost was in our house — relative or not!”

  “Not just one— three.”

  Tonya almost fell out of bed. She sat straight up. “What?”

  “Yeah. A man and a strange looking, wild-eyed woman,” Rosie confirmed.

  “Who are they?”

  “Beats me. I’m sleepy. Can’t talk anymore.”

  “Well, how am I supposed to get to sleep now?”

  Rosie suddenly felt she’d made a mistake by telling Tonya those things. The last thing she wanted was to be accused of frightening her friend in her own house. That way, it was bound to be her first and final sleepover there and probably a complete halt to her visits in general. “Just kidding!” She giggled.

  Tonya frowned.

  “I lied about the whole thing just to see the expression on your face.”

  Tonya returned to her pillow. Rosie’s admission sounded like music to her ears. “Wait a minute! If you lied, how come you described my grammy?”

  “A good guess. How many old people do you know have white hair; smiles a lot and are friendly?” Rosie replied.

  “I s’pose you have a point. It fits a segment of the population.”

  “Go to sleep now, scardy cat!” Rosie turned over again.

  Now facing her was the young woman she’d seen downstairs. She was standing next to the closet and gazing at her. Rosie shut her eyes tightly and tried to focus on something pleasant. She knew from the motherly school of Mira that she could not prevent ghostly intruders from invading her space, but she had the power to not allow their presence to control or negatively affect her.

  “Burn it to the ground!” the woman repeated in a loud, eerie whisper.

  * * *

  Sara’s groaning in the other room jolted Mira from her sleep. It was 2:10 a.m., according to the alarm clock on her nightstand. As was now the norm, Mira expected the late night disturbance to go on for a little while longer, then all will be quiet again. Her inclination was to get up and check on her, but Sara did tell her lately to ignore the noise. Lethargy tended to agree with Sara’s suggestion. Rolling over again, Mira soon heard a shrilling scream which terrified her.

  Arriving at Sara’s room, she switched on the light only to find her mother writhing in bed and sweating profusely. Her eyes were tightly shut and she seemed to be living her apparent nightmare.

  “Mom! Wake up!” Mira shook her. But Sara was still firmly locked in a state of sleep.

  “Wake up, Mom!” Mira repeated, this time shaking her harder.

  Finally, Sara snapped out of it and opened her eyes. The look in them took Mira by surprise. Within the enlarged pupils, which were a few shades darker than they normally were, Mira saw the image of someone suspended in mid-air – as if he or she were dangling from something. She couldn’t make out anything more as the figure was all black and no features were distinguishable. Her heart sank as she feared what this could possibly mean for Sara. As she continued to gaze into her mother’s eyes, the image she beheld spontaneously burst into flames.

  Sara slowly sat up and as she did, the images faded away.

  “What’s … happened?” Sara asked.

  Mira was speechless.

  “Mira, what’s going on?” Worry filled Sara’s voice as she’d noticed her stare.

  Mira tried to conceal her fear. She thought, Certainly this is another sign. “You had another nightmare,” she finally said.

  “I’m sorry I woke you again, honey.” She touched Mira’s face tenderly.

  “It’s all right, Mom. Are you okay now?”

  “I’m fine.” Sara nodded.

  “Are you ready to talk about it?”

  “Must we always do this, Mira? Even in the middle of the night?”

  “I’m going back to bed.” Mira got up and headed for the door.

  “Honey...”

  She stopped in the doorway without bothering to turn around.

  “I’m really sorry I woke you. I promise you I’m all right.”

  Mira continued on to her bedroom. Sara’s recent behavior was nothing she could see herself getting accustomed to. She’s never been so secretive, especially after Michael died. Now Mira wondered who that person was in the other room.

  6

  _________________

  “Where are you going?” Sara was standing in the kitchen washing the dishes they had used for breakfast.

  Mira had just entered the living room and was positioning a gold knob in her ear. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a silky rose-colored blouse.

  “I’m going to meet Bryant Sylvester. I think I mentioned he called yesterday about some trouble he was having in his home.”

  “Oh, yeah. I remember.”

  Sara felt guilty about the other night and it showed. “Honey, are you mad at me?” she asked.

  “Mad? For what?”

  “You are. I can tell. I just wanna...”

  Mira snatched her purse from the couch. “Not now, Mom. I gotta go.” She headed for the door.

  “Okay, be careful out there, then. You never know what you’ll meet when you walk into someone’s house.”

  “I will, thanks.”

  Mira hadn’t told her what Bryant mentioned had happened to the paranormal investigator he’d asked to visit his home. She felt her mother had enough on her mind already.

  Driving towards the cemetery where her fat
her was buried, which was the same road where she’d almost lost her life in a freak accident nearly two years earlier, Mira’s thoughts weighed heavily on what she saw in Sara’s eyes earlier that morning. Could her mother be in danger? And is this really one of the signs Matilda had spoken to Rosie about? Minutes later, as if awaking from a dream, she heard the screeching of tires and a vehicle’s horn blaring. To her horror, she realized she was driving head-on toward a large, freight truck. She quickly swerved to the side, skidding in the process until she came to a complete stop further up the road, nearly onto the sidewalk.

  She pushed the gear into park and sat still, looking straight ahead with her heart pounding inside her chest. Then, Bryant’s words drifted into her mind – what he said about being careful.

  Just then, her cell phone rang and she quickly picked up. It was Rosie.

  “Hi, honey.”

  Mira sounded out of breath.

  “Went for a run or something, Mom?” Rosie asked.

  “No. I’m in my car.”

  “I know we spoke already this morning, but are you all right?”

  Mira glanced through the rear-view mirror at the oncoming traffic.

  “I am. Why do you ask?”

  “I just felt something was off; that’s all.”

  “Trust me, honey. I’m perfectly fine. Go and have fun with Tonya and the others. I’m on my way to a client’s house for a meeting, so we’ll talk later, okay?”

  “Um, so...they’re clients now, Mom?” Rosie inquired.

  “I don’t know how else to describe them. I’m not being paid, but I think client will do. Don’t you?”

  “Maybe you need to start charging for your time. I’m sure people won’t mind since they know you’re the real deal.” She chuckled.

  “Very funny. Guess I should start my own ghost-busting business, huh?” Mira proposed.

  “Well, you’re doing it anyway.”

  “Okay, that’s enough. I’ll talk to you later, honey. Thanks for checking on me.” She hung up the phone.

  Her motherly instincts knew the reason for Rosie’s call. The child had sensed the danger Mira had found herself in just moments earlier.