All this time I had thought that Mia wanted revenge. All this time I had misunderstood. Mia had not moved on because she wanted justice.
I was the only person who had witnessed her murder. I was also the only person who could see Mia’s ghost. Mia had wanted my help. She had no one else to go to.
I could now understand how she felt that terrible night. I was also scared and alone. I was not ready to die.
“Don’t!” I screamed.
The man grabbed both of my shoulders and turned me to face him. His hands were shaking and his eyes were wide, which meant he was also scared. “Don’t you understand? I don’t want to do this. I have to do this!”
His back was turned to the open grave, and I heard approaching footsteps. Both of us were caught off guard and looked around frantically.
“Who is there?” George asked.
No one answered him. There were no other cars, and no other people in sight. I was not imagining the footsteps, because George heard them, too. He looked as scared as I felt.
“Show yourself!” George commanded.
Then Mia appeared right behind me – fast, grinning. George got such a fright. He let go of me and took a step backwards – into the open grave.
I had wondered why I had not seen Mia on Halloween. Dimitri had told me that his stepfather had fallen down the stairs. Mia must have spent Halloween haunting her ex-lover.
George hit his head against the ground and lost consciousness. I turned around, but Mia was gone. I then fumbled with my remaining bonds. They easily came loose. I tossed the tie aside and went to the car. I hopped in by the driver’s seat and reached for the keys.
They were not in the ignition.
I searched frantically in the car for them until I realised there was only one other place they could be – with George. I cursed.
I could not find his phone in the car either. It had to be on him as well. I had two options. Option one: I could run. If he woke, he would easily catch up with me in his car. Option two: search his body. This meant I had to climb into that grave...
I took a shaky breath. I limped back to the grave and looked into it. George was lying on top of Mia. His eyes were closed.
I was not very tall and hoped that I would be able to climb out of the grave. But first I had to climb in...
I am brave.
I slowly slid into it and bent down. George was unconscious but breathing. I searched his pockets. He grunted, and it made me jump. I found his phone and car keys in the same pocket. Then I tried to get out of the grave. It was difficult. Twice I jumped and tried to grab a hold of something. Twice I slid back into the grave. On my third attempt, I gained a foothold. I managed to crawl out.
I did not hesitate to use the phone. It had one bar of signal. I dialled 911.
“911. What is your emergency?” the operator asked.
“Help!” I cried and gave them my location. “I’m sixteen years old. George Coleman is trying to kill me! He has already killed a woman – Mia Brooks – and buried her.”
Before the operator could answer a hand reached out from the grave and grabbed my sore ankle. I cried out and dropped the phone. Instead of screaming and panicking like last time, I turned and kicked George’s hand. He cried out and let me go.
I ran to the car, leaving the phone where it had fallen, and once I climbed in, I realised I had dropped the keys. I got out again and ran around the car to fetch the keys. I grabbed them at the same time George got out of the hole, clearly disorientated. He rushed me, in a zigzag way, and I ducked and rolled under the car. He bent down and tried to grab me.
“Get out from under there!” he cried.
I screamed again but did not do as he asked. He then crawled under the car – after me. I crawled out and climbed into the driver’s seat. I locked the doors immediately and stuck the key into the ignition. My hands were shaking violently as I twisted the key. The engine roared to life.
Then George grabbed a rock and smashed the window. Glass shattered everywhere, and I screamed. He grabbed my hair, and I put my foot down on the gas. The car jumped forward. George ripped some of my hair out even as he fell over. I sped forward but had lost control. I drove the car into the house. The airbag inflated.
George got to his feet and approached the car. I was dizzy. I swung the door open and tried to run. My ankle was killing me, but the adrenalin kept me going.
I am a fearless heroine.
“Come back!” George called, as if I would listen to him.
My glasses were broken and finally fell off my face. I could not see well, and narrowly missed stepping into the grave. I reached the pile of sand and flowers George had dug up. That was where he caught me. He slammed into me, and I fell to the ground. I tried to crawl away, but he had a hold on my legs.
I twisted and looked into his killer eyes. He pulled me closer and struck me on the jaw. It was a hard blow that rattled my mind. He hit me again. I stopped squirming and clutched my face. I would not accept death.
I then saw the spade. I could not hit hard enough to hurt him, but that spade could. I reached for it, unexpectedly, and swung it into his face. George cried out as blood spurted from his nose. I hit him again before I got to my feet.
Then I heard the sirens. I saw the blue lights in the distance.
“It’s over,” I told him. “You lose.”
I walked away from him, and I did not get far before I collapsed. I’d never felt more exhausted but more alive. I’d hurt George so badly he couldn’t get to his feet... couldn’t get to me.
I had saved myself.
I looked back at the grave. Mia stood there, and although I couldn’t see well without my glasses, I knew she smiled thankfully at me. Justice would be served, and George would be locked up. I had helped her, and she did not belong here anymore. I passed out knowing I would never see her again.
I was not scared anymore.
Chapter 27
Charlotte
I woke up in a hospital bed. My head hurt, and my ankle was wrapped in bandages. I looked to my left – there were no other patients in the room. Next to my bed were flowers in a beautiful vase.
“Charlotte!” someone said. “You are awake!”
I turned to my right and saw Dimitri. He was sitting in a chair next to my bed, by the window, like a guardian angel. He was alone in the room with me. I was overwhelmed with joy when I saw him. I wanted him. Needed him. I immediately reached for him.
But my hand passed through him.
My chest tightened, and I met Dimitri’s gaze. I felt the blooming flowers in my stomach die all at once. Their thorns poked my inside in agony. Dimitri looked sad and guilty, as if he did not know what to say. What was there to say? What could I say?
My lip started to tremble, and my eyes filled with tears. Immense pain started to dig a hole in the part my heart that belonged to Dimitri. I could not speak. I could not think.
I started crying hysterically. My sister ran into the room and hugged me tightly. She must have mistaken my tears for aftershock of George kidnapping me.
“It’s all right! Everything is all right now,” Juan said.
But it was not all right.
I looked at Dimitri right before he vanished into thin air – as if he was never there to begin with. As if he wasn’t real.
And it would never be all right again.
I did not know how or when it had happened, but Dimitri was dead.
Chapter 28
Charlotte
I spent hours talking to the policemen. They wanted to know everything about George and my kidnapping. I told them every detail from the beginning, from when I got lost and saw Mia Brooks strangled.
The police had arrested George, and he would be in court soon. They told me I was lucky to have survived, but I knew it had nothing to do with luck. I had survived because I had remained calm, allowed myself to think, and had not given up. The police had also retrieved Mia’s body, and her friends and family would give her a proper b
urial.
It was over.
When the police left, it was my family’s turn to question me. I told them about the things that had happened but I did not tell them about Mia’s ghost. My mom had come to the conclusion that I was not crazy. She thought I had been stressed out over the past two months, and seeing things had been my mind’s way of coping.
I was tired by the end of the day and ready to go home. My parents drove Juan and me home from the hospital. I was glad that they did not keep me there overnight. My heard hurt, and my vision was blurry without my glasses.
When we reached our house, I was surprised to find Grandma May there. She had cooked dinner for us. Andrea must have made peace with her. I gave her the longest hug, but nothing was said between us. I did not want to talk to any of them. How could I explain what I was going through? They would never understand.
I went to my room immediately and skipped out on dinner. Amore was jumping up and down on the bed. She had known all along that Dimitri was a ghost. That was why she had always been barking and growling at him...
For once I did not greet her immediately. I went to my desk and took a deep breath. Then I opened the notebook. On the first page was his name and number – which he had written down when he was alive. On page two, where he had drawn the pink orchid, was nothing. I paged through the rest of the book. I knew the orchid, red rose, sunflower, milkweed, American water lotus, rough blazing star, blue flag iris, daisy, and Christmas rose had not disappeared. They had simply never been there.
Sometimes ghosts see what they want to see, other times we do.
The book was full of blank pages. I closed it and bit back tears. I had nothing of him. Not even a drawing. My heart felt as empty as the notebook.
I tried to sleep that night, but I could not. It was still dark when I got up, put in my contact lenses, and left my room.
“Where are you going?” Juan asked.
“I have somewhere I need to be,” I said.
“You should not be driving with that foot,” my sister said and closed her laptop. “I’ll take you.”
Juan had been awake because she had been watching movies. She was in her sleepwear and did not bother to change. We went to her car and got in, and we did not speak other than me giving driving directions.
“Pull over,” I finally said.
“Is this the cemetery where Grandpa was buried?” Juan wondered.
“Yeah,” I said. “Wait in the car. I have to do this alone.”
I climbed out of the car and embraced the coldness. I had goose bumps on my arms, and I was grateful that I was alive and able to feel them. I struggled to walk with my sore ankle, but I forced myself to enter the graveyard. I passed my grandfather’s grave and headed to the grave where I had seen Dimitri standing. He told me he was visiting his father...
I knelt by the grave and looked at the name on the tombstone: DIMITRI COLLINS. Dimitri had been standing in front of his own grave that day.
I thought he had been surprised to see me because he had not shown up for our date. Actually, he had been surprised that I could see him since he was dead.
I started crying again. The sobs shook my body, and I let myself sink to my knees in a pile of pain and longing.
Charlotte
“Charlotte...” A familiar voice said from behind me.
I looked at the gravestone and slowly got to my feet. I could not bring myself to face him. I looked at the date on his tombstone.
“You never ditched our date,” I realised. “You...” I couldn’t find the words because saying it made it seem more real.
“Say it…”
“You died.” I choked on the words.
There was a short pause in which I tried to bite back my tears. I felt as if two hands were wrapped around my throat and squeezing.
“I should have told you, but I did not want to scare or hurt you...”
I closed my eyes. I remember him telling me he had lied to protect others’ feelings. I remember thinking he was considerate and supporting his choices. I had to know how it happened.
“How?”
“Do you remember I told you I was in a car accident?” he said. “Someone drove into me and…”
My tears rolled to the ground, and I finally drew a shaky breath. I should have known all along, but I had been too blind to see it. I had seen what I had wanted to.
I remembered when he had secretly visited late one night. My mother had walked into the room and he had hidden under the bed abnormally fast. He had disappeared and reappeared.
When I went to his house his mother opened the door. “Dimitri isn’t here anymore!” She had told me that he was dead.
I remembered how he had hidden under my blankets when Juan walked into my bedroom. I had thought Juan was keeping my secret, but we had never spoken about it, because Juan could not see him. He had not really been there.
I thought about how I had wanted him to text and call me. He had said his phone was broken – but as a ghost he could not text.
Dimitri had said he had tried to catch his brother when he fell and broke his leg. Now I knew that Ethan had fallen straight through his arms, like falling through mist.
That day Quinton had walked to my car at school, he could not see Dimitri sitting in the passenger seat. He must have thought I was loony when I pointed to Dimitri.
As had the old lady in the hospital. That was why she had been glaring at me; she had seen me talking to myself, when I was talking to a ghost. When Ethan was in the hospital, Dimitri asked me to call the nurse, because he could not.
I inhaled. I recalled Grandma May’s words: “I can tell you don’t drink tea.”
She was special and could immediately tell that Dimitri was a ghost. She also said to me, “It’s not like you’ve never seen a ghost before.” I had thought she was referring to other ghosts, but she had been referring to Dimitri.
On Halloween I had thought Dimitri was wearing makeup. That was the first time I saw how he really looked. Those were the wounds that he had received in the car accident. The head wound he died from...
“I should have told you sooner, I know,” Dimitri said.
“I should have known,” I said.
I finally turned around to face him. He was beautiful, and I was thankful that I did not see his wounds.
“Dimitri, I am so sorry.” I wanted to hug him. I wanted to hold him like he had held me on Halloween – the only night the veil was thin enough for him to do so. Of course he never touched me before that – he couldn’t. He also never ate – whether it was pizza or candy apples – the dead didn’t need to.
I remembered how he had kissed me and said he should not have. I remembered how he was distant after Halloween – because he could no longer physically kiss me. Everything made sense now.
“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I am so thankful you found me. I was lost without you.”
Maybe that was what I was supposed to do with my life. Help and guide the lost souls...
“Why did you stay?” I asked.
Then Ethan appeared behind him. I should have known. Dimitri kept saying, “I can’t leave him.” His brother had been anchoring him to the earth.
“I will see Dimitri soon. I’ll tell him you said ‘hi’.” Ethan had told me this. I now knew he meant he was going to die and join his brother in the afterlife.
“We came to say bye,” Ethan told me.
“I appreciate that,” I said, and turned my gaze back to Dimitri. “I wish you could stay.”
“I don’t belong here,” he said sadly.
“You are leaving me with a hole,” I cried.
“You should plant a flower in that hole and let it grow,” Dimitri responded.
Life went on. I could cry about losing him, or I could be happy because I had him in my life. I could use the things he taught me – courage and friendship – to grow in life.
“I love you,” I said. There was no doubt about it. I loved him more then I loved sleeping lat
e in the mornings. I loved him more then I loved reading my romance novels. And I would love him until I died and even after that.
“You are the best friend I’ve ever had.” I did not hide my tears. I did not hide from him.
“And you are mine,” he said. “I love you, too. Goodbye, Charlotte the brave.”
I watched as Ethan took his big brother’s hand. The two brothers walked among the tombstones as the sun rose. They faded away together.
Chapter 29
Charlotte
The sun’s rays illuminated the sky in beautiful orange and red hues, as if announcing a new beginning. I wiped at my wet nose and tried to blink away my tears as I dragged my feet towards the car. Once inside, I looked at Juan who was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were wide and her bottom lip trembled.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I said.
She turned her eyes to me. “I didn’t see a ghost. I felt it.”
I raised an eyebrow, and for a moment I wondered if she was poking fun at me. Then Juan pulled up her sleeve to show me a small handprint – the size of Ethen’s hands. I had been so kind to Ethan, and he had liked me so much. Maybe touching my sister, showing her the supernatural existed, was his way of thanking me.
“When we were kids, I thought you just had an overactive imagination. Then we got older, and I thought you talked about ghosts because you wanted attention. And, recently, I thought you were mentally unstable.” She choked on a sob. “Charlotte, I am so sorry for not believing you.”
“I don’t know what to say,” I responded.
Juan pulled her sleeve down again. “From the red mark, it looks like he slapped me – but actually his touch was warm and soft. And now, I believe you, about everything. I regret all the times I had told you that you were making things up or that ghosts weren’t real. Right now, I swear I will start to listen to you. You need a friend who understands you, whom you could talk freely to, and who believes you. From here on, I will be that friend.”
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