And he said to me something new.
"If you want to love him, then you need to let him live. Let them live. Stop Daddy. Maybe you can be happy if you stop Daddy. We have never tried to stop him before."
Delilah and Trevor suddenly slipped into my room. They had never been in my room before, and I knew, I suddenly understood.
The house was still burning.
Delilah and Trevor were going to say goodbye soon.
I cried even harder, if that was possible.
I didn't want to say goodbye. Delilah and Trevor held hands and smiled. "Remember we jumped rope? Remember us. Stop Daddy. Find love." They said it in unison. I nodded. They took Oliver's hand and I realized they meant to take him too.
"Hagridden," I whispered. I tried to use it; the word, the magic, whatever it was that held their souls. I tried to pin them with it. And they had the saddest faces I have ever seen. My three siblings, and together, they said, "No more."
They faded and I screamed as my soul was torn from my body.
I screamed.
It hurt so badly.
The house was burning. My family was leaving.
They asked me to stop Daddy and let everyone go.
I sobbed. Should I? Shouldn't we all burn here? Do I deserve anything better than this?
Rachel knocked again, her pretty knuckles cracking on my wooden door. "Lillian, are you okay in there?"
I rolled myself out from under the bed and left my pillow on the floor. I took my dolls, I didn't want to tell you, but it felt awful to keep it a secret.
I put them in their little case, Oliver, Delilah, and Trevor. I kissed them each and then I unlocked and opened my door. My torn, scarred face was puffy and swollen from punches and sobbing. But I had decided to choose love.
I walked to Ricky. "I'll help, but you have to hold my hand."
Tears ran down my face as I held out my hand.
We could see our breath, frozen and cold. I could feel Rachel miming him to take it. Maybe she will be our maid of honor. He clenched his fist twice, and he hesitated. But then he took my hand.
I stepped to the basement door, suitcase in hand. "Mama."
And I felt her, racing down the stairs, and her scream was incredible. "Mama," I said again, bleating it like little Cletus bleated.
The doors started unlocking.
"Don't get between them," I instructed and stepped away from the door, pulling Ricky with me. The door flew open, and my parents met for the first time in years.
He was ice. And the whole room was instantly covered. It hurt, the air hurt. The sharp, painful, piercing cold. It drilled up our noses and into our skin. "Don't get too close!" I shouted as Jenny stepped forward away from the wall.
But she pressed herself flat to the wall again, and we all felt Mama. She was much bigger than Daddy, and I had never let her come down here before. She had been stuck in the library.
The library was burning.
I could already tell. She had loosened. Freedom was hers, if she wanted it.
But she wanted my room. She wanted the wonderful one where I had scrawled her favorite word to and fro. Scratched it, bled it, begged it, cursed it. Hagridden.
Her delightful scream ran shivers up my skin. Mikaela shouted to me, "What is it?"
Her lungs were pierced with colder air and she let out a frightened sob.
"Mama!" I replied. I couldn't hold back anymore. I grabbed Ricky, dragging him to the middle. "We are in love, Mama."
And I kissed his cheek.
Ricky recoiled, but I didn't mind. I would teach him to love me later.
I could see Rachel staring, terrified at what was happening. But I was glowing with beautiful, glorious delight.
And Mama rattled the chains and let out a scream. Our ears burst from the pain of it all! Can you believe it?
I wrapped myself around my love and kissed his nose. "Isn't he beautiful?"
And my mama screamed again, and it was so clear and bright everyone but me and Ricky said "hagridden." Just like the twins.
In unison. I take back everything I said about talking in unison. It's powerful, it is strength itself. It's not weakness! It's beautiful.
Rachel, Jenny, Zane, Beth, Mikaela, Tiffany, and Mike. Even Cletus bleated!
And Daddy finally responded to Mama. I could feel them, looking each-other over like they had never done before. The whole room felt breathless.
"Give me the ring now!" I shouted to Ricky, delighted and shivering with excitement.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
His eyes were so wide when he slipped it out of his pocket. I held out my hand.
This was my wedding.
And I couldn't be happier.
We walked, arm in arm, past everyone into the sacred place. They filed in behind us. In unison!
I saw Oliver, skipping ahead of us, his skin flapping, his soul free, and he vanished. He led us to our marriage.
And in unison again, everyone said "hagridden."
I wasn't a beautiful bride, but I'd have to do. I was the only one who could stop it.
My daddy sucked all the heat from the room, and everyone was shivering. But Mama lit the words I had scrawled into the shackles, into the floor, the walls, the ceiling. And they were blazing hot like lava.
"Kiss me," I whispered to the man I loved. The man who saved me. I could write romance. Next time, I will. I won't write about the guesthouse. It will have burned to the ground by then anyways.
I'm a bride.
We will have children.
Ricky trembled next to me, and his hands were wrapped lovingly around my throat as I kissed him. I was breathless.
Mama lifted Ricky into the air and shook him. And the bear came down the stairs. The bear came down.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," I said to him. To the bear, his twisted, broken, angry soul staring at the lostness inside of me.
The fire had consumed him. Of this I was certain.
And he was free.
He charged me, his claws peeling back my skin a second time.
"Please kill me," I whispered to the big angry brown bear. The one that blamed me for that hole. The one that hated me for living. The one that wanted to eat me.
But he too, faded, after leaving long bloody claw marks across my face. Mama dropped Ricky, and he collapsed next to me.
I turned to him, wild eyed and angry. "Kiss me again; it has to work!"
He was fear itself now. His eyes were wild and his kiss was frantic. He fumbled with the ring in his pocket and slid it on my finger.
And suddenly
The room
Was cleared.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
I stood there sobbing. My mama had taken it with her. She had taken the word. The room was pale and clean, the concrete smooth and unscratched, unscathed.
Nothing was hagridden anymore.
Daddy had taken her with him. They had done it. The house had burned.
They were free.
Without looking at any of them, I picked up my suitcase with my three sibling dolls. And I walked slowly to the little door. I opened it and walked out to the collapsed exit. I could feel the sunshine burning down on me from the collapsed entrance.
I stood very still for a long time. And then, I climbed out. I watched the house burn to the ground, from the woods.
Everyone left.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
I still have Rachel's ring. I don't intend to give it back.
On the news, Ricky said that I was a monster. That I was a serial killer.
But Jenny looked sad in her interviews and said I was just a lonely person.
I didn't think I'd ever get to leave the guesthouse.
I heard that Mike and Mikaela got married. It was in the papers. I didn't go, but I thought about it. The reception was beautiful. I watched with binoculars, with Oliver and Delilah and Trevor on my lap. We watched for hours. I can tell you many things.
Beth and Zane are kissing now. An
d they are beautiful when they dance.
Tiffany is fat with baby. I guess she lied to everyone, and she didn't abort that baby. I think she planned to, but after John and Beezer were dead, she changed her mind. She was quiet and danced alone, or with the others. But I don't think she has a new man.
Jenny was beautiful, and the maid of honor. She wore a cowgirl hat and laughed so hard, even I heard her from my spot so far away. I cried when I saw Cletus.
I wish I hadn't killed Carson. I didn't know how much she loved those goats. I was just trying to get her attention.
Rachel wasn't there.
Ricky looked sad. Probably because we never had a proper honeymoon. I'm sad too. I wanted it to be different.
You might be wondering if I still see my ghosts, and I don't. I have the dolls, and I hope that maybe they will tell Oliver, Delilah, and Trevor that I am fine. I'm happy with my new husband. And I plan to have babies with him soon.
I'm due exactly when Tiffany is due. I bet we'll go into labor together.
Rachel told me that we are having our baby in spring, and that it's a girl. I'm pretty excited. That's why I've been keeping such close tabs on everyone. I don't want to miss it.
Rachel didn't want to go to the wedding. She promised me she didn't want to. She says she likes living with me now. She's my best friend and I love her. I can't wait for my baby girl.
Ricky and I don't live together; we aren't estranged or anything. It's just been too complicated to move in together right now. He's got a lease, and I have Rachel living with me. It's just details. He loves me just the same as ever!
I saw Tiffany put her hand on her belly, so I think we're feeling kicks already. Or feeling like we will throw up a lot! I don't know! Being pregnant is so hard! It's so confusing. But I'm lucky I'm not stuck in the guesthouse anymore. I'm a lucky girl, with a beautiful life.
If you want to hear Lillian's followup story, I'm giving it away free to anyone who joins my mailing list- http://www.mixijapplebottom.com/Lillian/
Believe me, you don't want to miss what happens with Tiffany, and Rachel, and Ricky.
A Note from Mixi...
Thank you for reading Gridlocked Guesthouse. I'd really appreciate a review if you aren't too busy!
If you enjoyed this novel and haven't yet read Landlocked Lighthouse, you might want to give it a try- Here is a little excerpt:
I called her a few times, but she didn't come running. She slinked up, her teeth bared at me as I held out my hand. A large chunk of fur was missing from the side of her neck, and fresh blood dripped from it. Crap.
I gently petted her, and she never stopped growling. There was a stick in the wound. I don't know if she ran into a tree and then bled all over, or if she started out injured and then got a stick in the wound. Either way, it was not good. I carefully pulled on the stick and she let out a snarling yelp. It didn't gush with blood, so hopefully, it hadn't hit anything that couldn't heal. I pressed my left knee against her head and my right one into her shoulder and I pulled with all my strength. Quick was better than slow when you had an angry animal in pain. She snarled, struggled and nearly bit me and the blood was quickly pouring. I pressed both my hands into the wound, slowing the flow, and she cried out. I counted to ten slowly, her body writhing under mine and I tried not to cry.
By the time I got to ten, she had stopped. No more growling, no more yelping. No wiggling or struggling. For a moment I thought she was dead. I lifted one hand, and the blood poured again, so I pressed hard and counted to thirty. Finally, at thirty seconds, the flow wasn't as dangerous. She wouldn't bleed out if she could hold still long enough for it to mend. That would be a challenge. I slowly took my right knee off her shoulder, still pinning her head with the other knee. You gotta let 'em up slow or they'll bite. That's what great-grandmother always said. Didn't matter what kind of animal, you let 'em up slow.
The wound was definitely a puncture from the stick, and it looked like she had been chewing on it, or caught the stick on something while she ran. It was a mess. I should clip off all the fur from around it and wrap it with something. Hell, I couldn't find our food box, it seemed unlikely I'd find the box of medical stuff.
I let up her head. She gazed at me with her big, doofy eyes and licked my hand. Back to her old self, it seemed. We slowly walked back to the house together. Thankfully, we made it back without her wound bursting and pouring open. I gave her a little bowl of water and she drank, then immediately fell asleep.
I never did examine the stick she had in her neck or I would have noticed it was carved to a sharp, barbed point.
I am currently living in a five story house infested with bats. They're removing my roof this week and then my whole home will be swarmed with the little flying monsters. They will spend at least a week trying to break in. I am writing books under duress, in my basement, with my chainsaw, surrounded by terrible rabies monsters.
Tell your friends.
Mixi J Applebottom
Feel free to contact Mixi directly at: [email protected]
or visit her blog at: mixijapplebottom.com
Join my email list: mixijapplebottom.com/mailing-list
Gridlocked Guesthouse (Locked House Hauntings Book 1) Page 13