The Curse of the Old Woods

by Elizabeth Andre

“Of course not. Please.”

  “All right,” Maya said.

  “Seriously, who are you talking to?” asked Penny as she focused her camera on Maya.

  Maya shushed her.

  “This won’t hurt you,” Katie said.

  Maya felt something—Katie’s hand perhaps—grip around her torso. She gasped. The grip got tighter.

  “Breathe easy, Maya. I won’t hurt you.”

  The grip loosened. Maya opened her eyes. Standing in front her was Katie, looking more substantial than she’d ever seen. She had legs. She was no longer transparent. Katie smiled broadly. Mrs. Forcier’s jaw dropped. She ran toward her sister, stopping short of touching her.

  “You’re not going to keep talking inside my head, are you? Everyone’s going to be able to hear you, right?”

  “Oh, we can hear her and see her,” said Julie.

  Mrs. Forcier said, “It is you! Oh, Katie. You’re here!” Her hand reached out as if to touch her, but she held back.

  The others were in varying degrees of shock. Jason stopped circling the well and stared at Katie. Julie gawked, looking back and forth between Maya and Katie as though she were following the ball at a tennis match. Even Steve, who was the most jaded person Maya knew, looked stunned. Penny lowered her video camera.

  “Penny,” Maya whispered. She gestured at the video camera. “Keep filming!”

  Penny raised her camera, and Katie turned to Mrs. Forcier. “I remember you from when you came with Maya here before.”

  Katie sounded, not like a ghost, but how Maya imagined she had sounded like in life.

  “I wish you’d remember me from a long time ago, when we were girls and Mother was still alive. I’m your sister, Evie.” Mrs. Forcier opened her purse and pulled out the hair clip decorated with orange butterflies. “Mother gave this to you for Christmas. Remember?”

  Katie regarded the hair clip with curiosity. She reached out to touch it, but her finger went through it. She moaned in frustration.

  “But you remember it?” Mrs. Forcier said.

  Katie nodded. “It was your favorite. You always wanted to wear it.”

  “You never let me!” Mrs. Forcier smiled and said softly, “You remember it. You remember me.”

  Maya was fascinated. She could still feel a gentle pressure around her torso, the anchor Katie was using to keep herself here, but Maya also had a strange feeling that there was something else, that it wasn’t just Katie using her. As much as Maya was enjoying the reunion between Katie and her sister, she wanted Katie to leave her as soon as possible.

  “Mother is dead?” Katie asked.

  “She is. She…”

  Katie interrupted her. “When?”

  “Three years ago. She never stopped hoping we would find you.”

  “How long have I been gone?”

  “More than 60 years.”

  Katie fell silent and remained so for several moments.

  Maya tried not to breathe too loudly. Everyone else seemed to be holding their breath as they watched a ghostly woman, who had never grown up, talk to her little sister who had bypassed her by so many years.

  “I wish I could be with her, but I can’t leave this place,” Katie said so softly that Maya could barely hear.

  “Katie, what do you mean you can’t leave?” Mrs. Forcier asked. “You came to me in a few weeks ago. That’s part of the reason why I’m here.”

  “The day I never left, I came here alone. I went to the well to make a wish.” She looked in the direction of the well that Jason had been circling. “I stumbled. I fell in. I woke up at the bottom. I don’t know how long it was before I woke up. That’s where I died. I got stuck. I got out for just a moment. I made it home, only briefly, but I was dragged right back. There’s construction planned. It’s going to destroy everything. He won’t let it happen.”

  Maya looked over to the well. Its walls were crumbling. Even in the heat of summer, its stones were cold. She knew there were horrible ways to die, but she couldn’t help thinking how awful Katie’s last moments of life probably were and what her death in these woods had been like. Mrs. Forcier was weeping. She reached for Katie’s hand and was clearly hit with a fresh sense of grief when she could grasp nothing but air. Her face fell. She let out a wail that Maya didn’t know was possible for the older woman, and Katie seemed suddenly alert.

  “Katie? What’s wrong?” Maya asked. She suspected Katie’s renewed distress had nothing to do with finally meeting her sister.

  “I can’t stay,” Katie said.

  Maya felt the grip around her torso begin to loosen. “Wait. Why can’t you stay?”

  “Where is she going? Katie, please stay,” Mrs. Forcier said.

  “There’s still some pretty strong readings here,” Steve said as he walked slowly around Maya, Mrs. Forcier, and Katie with his EDI meter. “She’s fading, but something else is here.”

  “Let me leave! Let us leave!” Katie yelled.

  Maya wasn’t sure who the us was that Katie referred to, but she had a feeling that she wasn’t referring to the ghost hunters. The grip on Maya’s torso let go. Katie continued to fade, but the readings on the EDI meters got louder. Maya noticed some movement in the corner of her eye. She looked towards the woods.

  “Is that Mike? Mike!” yelled Maya.

  “How long has he been here?” Julie asked.

  He turned away into the woods, and Julie ran after him.

  Katie kept fading and transformed back into the shimmering thing she had been earlier and on their previous encounters.

  “What are you afraid of, Katie?” Maya asked.

  “I wanted to see Evie one last time. I was selfish. I’m sorry. Leave now. Take Evie with you. Don’t come back. This is a terrible place,” Katie said in Maya’s head. “Leave while you still can.”

  “We can’t just leave you here,” Maya said. Now that they had found Katie and learned what had happened to her Maya knew there was no way they were going to abandon her, and there were probably others. They needed to be rescued, too.

  For the first time, Maya heard Katie laugh, but it wasn’t a jolly, free-of-angst laugh. The laugh was tinged with resignation and regret.

  “Yes. You can. It’s what’s best. I know that now. Go.”

  Maya felt a sudden emptiness and staggered to the ground. Her hands landed on soft, moist dirt. She started breathing rapidly, as if she had just sprinted a mile, as if she was trying to fill a hole that couldn’t be filled.

  “She’s gone,” she said between gasps.

  Penny, who was still shooting, asked, “Did she take possession of you? What happened?”

  “I’ll explain later.” Maya said, still trying to catch her breath. She let Steve help her to her feet. She brushed the dirt off her hands. She stared at them as if they weren’t really hers.

  Mrs. Forcier grabbed Maya’s arm. “Katie spoke to you? How? What did she say? What happened?”

  “She used me as an anchor, so she could speak to you. When she couldn’t hold on anymore, she let go. She said we have to leave and not come back.” Maya looked around at the others. “Where’s Julie?”

  Penny said, “She went after Mike. You said you saw him here or over there in the woods.”

  “I’m so hungry and tired, but we need to find her. Right now.”

  Steve put his hand on Maya’s shoulder. “Wait. Did anyone see which direction she went in?”

  One after another, they shook their heads.

  “She can take care of herself, so let’s not panic,” Jason said, although panic was in his voice.

  “So could Katie,” said Mrs. Forcier.

  Maya thought about Mike. If he was as old as he said he was, there was no way he could have been involved in Katie’s disappearance and death. He wouldn’t have been alive then, but her doubt nagged at her. The paranormal opened up a world of possibilities.

  “We have to find Julie,” said Maya. “Mike knows more about Katie’s disappearance than he’s letting on, possib
ly even more than is humanly possible.”

  They decided to split up. Maya, Jason, and Mrs. Forcier would head in one direction. Steve and Penny would head in another. The temperature had dropped, and the dark night hung heavy. Most people had wisely already left the woods and would return in the light of day. They agreed to meet back in the clearing by the well in an hour. As they set off in different directions, Mrs. Forcier trailed closely behind Maya.

  “What about Katie? We are coming back for her, aren’t we?” Mrs. Forcier asked. “I want to find her body and give her a proper burial. I don’t want to leave her stuck in these woods.”

  Maya stopped for a moment. “We’ll be back for her. I promise.”

  Now that they had found Katie and what had happened to her, they had to figure out a way to free her from whatever was holding her here. Maya knew Julie would have a thing or two to say about that. It was time to find her and Mike Hogan.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Running after Mike

  When Julie felt the first tug on her ankle, she wondered if perhaps she had been too hasty in running after Mike alone. She wasn’t sure why she had done it. Maya was busy with Katie, so it just seemed like the thing to do, especially since Mike was fleeing for no apparent reason. He had to be able to tell them more about this place and why Katie couldn’t leave the woods.

  But her most pressing concern now was not to stumble and fall. Frustration built as she realized it was becoming harder to run. She felt more tugging on her ankles. She looked down and freaked out at what she saw. Vines that, to her eyes, resembled human arms, had taken hold of her ankles and were climbing up her calves.

  “Shit! Goddamnit! This really sucks!”

  She reached down and tried to push the vines down. They began creeping over her knees. She strained to keep moving forward to no avail. Exhaustion crept over her. Just as the vines crept up her thighs, she stumbled forward. She sprawled on the ground and fought the vines that looked like human arms. She tried to push the thought out of her mind that they might actually be human arms. Their embrace wasn’t tight, but it was snug. Is this how the clench of a boa constrictor feels? she wondered, How soon until this becomes unbearable? Will it hurt?

  Her body was pinned to the ground. She glanced up and saw the shadow outline of a man, most likely Mike, not far from her.

  “Help me!” she yelled.

  The man backed away before turning around and walking away. Julie screamed until her voice cracked. Her breath started coming in gasps. It felt like someone very heavy was sitting on her, driving her into the ground. She tried screaming again, but this time the sound she made came out as an anemic peep.

  This can’t be how it ends for me, she thought. The weight on her back got heavier. The dark night got darker. She struggled to breathe. Maybe I should have answered Gabi’s texts and gotten laid one last time. Or maybe I should have just grabbed Maya and kissed her, like I’ve been wanting to.

  She remembered her grandmother telling her long ago to always wear nice, clean underwear because you could be in a car accident or something awful like that, at least you won’t be shamed by dirty undergarments. She chuckled to herself. No sound would come out of her mouth. I’m wearing clean underpants, at least.

  “We found her,” Maya said into her walkie-talkie.

  Mrs. Forcier, who had been leaning down close to Julie said to Maya, “Did she just say that she’s wearing clean underwear?”

  Oh, I said that out loud, Julie thought.

  Jason shrugged. “She might have. She looks pretty out of it.”

  Maya told Steve through the walkie-talkie where she and that Mrs. Forcier had found Julie.

  “Jules. Look at me,” Jason said, gently shaking her shoulder.

  The vines let go, and she started breathing easier. She could talk again. She sat up suddenly and started pulling off the vines.

  “Get these things off of me!” she yelled and pulled at the vines. She noticed the incredulous looks Maya, Jason, and Mrs. Forcier exchanged. “What?”

  “Um. What things, Jules?” Jason asked, looking her up and down.

  Julie looked around wildly. They couldn’t see what had been holding her, but she could. They had to help her. “These vines! They looked like arms! They were creeping up from my ankles! I think they came up from the ground somewhere!”

  Mrs. Forcier placed her hand on Julie’s forehead. “She doesn’t have a fever.”

  “I’m not sick! But, but, they’re gone.” Julie’s panic started to lessen. The weight on her body disappeared.

  “There’s nothing there, Julie,” Maya said.

  “But they were right there! I don’t know where they came from! It seemed like they were coming up from out of the ground! They wrapped around my legs! They... They started climbing on my torso. I could hardly breathe.” Julie looked around and groped for her flashlight. “Where are they?”

  Jason held out his hands to her. “Come on. Gotta get going. Gotta get you out of here.”

  She allowed her brother to pull her up to her feet. Maya and Mrs. Forcier brushed leaves and twigs off of her. Steve and Penny arrived out of breath and looking relieved.

  “You okay?” Penny asked.

  “What happened to you, Julie?” Steve peered at his EDI meter. “Something weird happened here.”

  Julie nodded. “No shit, Sherlock.” She noticed Maya was still regarding her with concern. “I’m okay. Really. I think.”

  “Jason’s right. We need to get going.” Maya turned to Steve. “She said that some vines came up from the ground and wrapped around her.”

  “But when we got here, it just looked like she had tripped and fallen,” said Mrs. Forcier.

  “There were vines! I saw them! I felt them!” Julie said.

  “This just adds a new wrinkle to all this,” Steve said. He almost sounded gleeful. “This ghost hunt gets more interesting all the time. We’ve found Katie. Now we have to find what’s keeping her here, and it seems like this entity is a nasty old queen.”

  Julie shuddered as she remembered the feel of the vines creeping up her legs.

  “Did you see where Mike went?” asked Maya.

  “When the vines started doing their thing that you didn’t see, he stopped running. He came back and just watched. I asked him for help. Then he just walked away.”

  “Asshole,” Maya said.

  “Fucker,” Jason said.

  “Do you think he knows something about what happened to Katie?” Mrs. Forcier asked.

  “He must,” said Julie.

  ****

  Julie woke up early the next morning feeling groggy. It wasn’t until she looked down and saw Gabi curled up next to her that she remembered texting Gabi after dropping Jason off to see if she was around and if she could stop by her apartment. She had intended to just stop by for a quickie, but then they started drinking. Since she was no longer safe to drive, she stayed. She fell asleep. Now, she was awake.

  So much for resisting the temptation of Gabi, she thought. But I’ve been so good for so long. I deserved this after last night.

  Julie ran her fingers through her own hair. She flicked out a small twig that landed on the bed. She flashed on the memory of last night’s encounter with the vines and felt the memory of the pressure they exerted on her body. She tossed the twig in the direction of the small trash can next to the desk in front of one of Gabi’s bedroom windows. Although the blinds were closed, she could see a wisp of early morning sunlight streaming in. She carefully peeled Gabi’s well-toned arm off of her, resisted the urge to kiss it, and got out of bed. Gabi mumbled something about money and then returned to gentle snoring. Julie tiptoed into the bathroom.

  When she looked in the mirror she swore she could see the faintest hints of bruises where the vines held her the tightest. She wondered if they, like the vines, would only be seen and felt by her. To be honest, if she looked at her body from a different angle, she couldn’t see them. There was nothing different about her body except
a small hickey on the right side of the base of her neck. She hoped that would be as invisible to others as the vines were last night.

  The urge to beat herself up about hooking up with Gabi was strong, but Julie her did best to ignore it. She was only human, after all, and she had human needs. After the events of last night she’d felt like she needed some comforting. The sex had been pretty good, as it usually was. They seemed to work better as friends with benefits than they had as girlfriends. She remembered Maya’s look of concern last night, but Julie had pushed her away. She hadn’t wanted to appear helpless in front of Maya.

  She still felt a little anxiety about what had happened with the creepy vines, but she also felt thrilled to be part of this investigation. It was everything she’d ever wanted when she had gotten into tracking paranormal events and entities. Solving bumps in the night that turned out to be squirrels in the attic or dealing with ghosts who weren’t doing any harm had their charms, but Katie...well, this case was her most complicated yet and so much more was at stake.

  “Julie?” said Gabi through the door.

  “Yeah? I’m just finishing up.”

  “Can I come in? I gotta pee.”

  Julie dried her hands on a towel. “Sure.”

  Gabi opened the door, scampered past Julie and sat down on the toilet.

  Julie left, shutting the door behind her.

  “Are you staying for breakfast?” Gabi yelled through the door.

  Julie hadn’t thought that far ahead, but her desire to leave Gabi this morning was now as strong as her desire was last night to stay. Julie needed to get out. She hadn’t slept well and needed to get some sleep. The bed was familiar and warm, but no longer meant for her.

  She heard the toilet flush and then water running. A couple of moments later, Gabi stepped out of the bathroom and in front of Julie who was pulling her pants on. Gabi was naked and moved close to Julie, making it difficult for Julie to pull her pants all the way up. She grabbed Julie’s hands.

  “I’ve got some blueberry coffee cake, and I can make you a latte, just the way you like it. After breakfast, we can have some more fun.” There was this thing Gabi did with her lips, a cute little pout, that used to drive Julie crazy. It still had a little pull, but Julie’s need to get out, at least in this moment, was stronger.