by S R Edwards
Possessed!
First comes the invite then the obsession and finally possession. In a small village in Lincolnshire a dark spirit looms waiting to preoccupy its next victim. A young girl comes into sight, her father dead and her mother is insane. The spirit sees her as an easy catch. Charlotte invites the spirit into her life and body. She has no idea what she has got herself into. But there is still hope can her cousin and best friend Holly save her from this demon?
Chapter one. (Tom)
Northlands is a little village in Lincolnshire, six miles away from Boston, it is independent and a tight community but as we drive towards it my mom turns to me. "Are you excited Thomas?"
"Not really. Mom, why couldn't we have stayed in Sheffield?"
"Because your aunty and cousin need us right now, you know your uncle is MIA."
"He's dead and you know it mom, I don't know why you try to fool yourself."
"Thomas Eldgrim Toulson!" the road dips and I bash my head on the window. "Don't you dare talk like that when we get to your aunt's house." she pushes the tape into the stereo and turns it right up. She drives along a never ending road and comes to a small village. "Ok, we're here." She turns the music down and pulls into the drive of a big fancy house. "This is where they live?" I look up at the old Victorian building. I step out of the car and grab my bags off the back seat. "Now Thomas, when you get inside you probably won't remember Charlotte."
"Ok." We walk up to the door and knock on the door. A tall slim woman opens the door. "Lindsay, you made it!" she hugs my mom. "Oh my you must be Thomas you've grown a lot since I last saw you." She hugs me and ruffles my hair. I flatten it down and smile at her. She turns round and bacons us into the house. my mom gives me a 'behave yourself look' and smiles at my aunty. She grabs the banister and yells up the stairs. "Charlie your aunty and cousin are here. Come down stairs!" I hear footsteps across the landing and down the stairs. A small skinny girl with back hair stands half way down the stairs. "Charlie say hello then don't be rude."
"Hey." She turns to go back upstairs.
"Charlotte show Thomas to his room please."
"Sure come on dweeb." I follow her up the stairs and she leads me to my new room. It's massive, the walls are black with a white pattern and the double bed doesn't take up too much room. "It's the smallest room, enjoy!" she closes the door and stomps back into her room. "Dweeb?" I roll my eyes and start to unpack my bags. Charlotte is weird, she puts some really loud music on, I think its Black Veil Brides or something.
I run down stair and into the kitchen. "Can you tell her to turn it off its driving me crazy?" my aunty Lisa just laughs and smiles at me. No don't be silly if it's annoying you so much why don't you go out for a walk. The scenery around here is lovely." I take her advice and walk along the drain bank. The water is so still. I throw a stick into the water and a girl about my age trots past on a horse. "Hey, I haven't seen you round here before. Are you at the caravan park, it's a bit early for that isn't it?"
"Urm, no my aunt and cousin live here. My mom is looking after them for a while."
"Oh so you're Thomas, the new guy?"
"Yeah that's me. Tom." She jumps down from the horse. Her long dark red hair quivers in the slight breeze. She is about the same size as me, may be five foot odd and she has beautiful blue eyes. She smiles at me. "I'm Holly." She climbs back on to the horse. "Tell Charlie I said hi." She trots off and I head back towards the village.
I open the door and walk into the front hall. Charlie runs down the stairs and into me. "Hey."
"Shift!" she pushes me out of the way and runs out of the door. I watch her go and close the door. "Charlotte?"
"Nope, it's me, Aunt Lisa." I shout as I walk up the stairs.
"Alright, do you want anything to eat yet?"
"No I'm ok. I'm going to unpack my stuff." I go into my new room and open one of the boxes. My Thor's hammer amulet shines and next to it a leather bag with a long strap lies alone. I pick them up and place them on my table. I'm part Viking, my father was a shaman the last in his village and then my mom found out she was pregnant with me. I sometimes have dreams, they don't tell the future but they tell me if someone will get hurt or if something is wrong. My spirit guide Nors, she is a forest cat and she guides me through life. This amulet was given to me by her and the pouch has my soul stone in it. My mom opens the door. "Tom, I told you to leave them behind."
"But this is me, mom why can't you except that?" I run my fingers over the carved metal. "I want to know why he left us."
"I'll tell you when it's time." She takes the amulet off me and puts it on the table. "Come on your tea is ready." We go downstairs and Charlotte glairs at me. I smile at her and sit down. We eat and I run back upstairs to finish unpacking.
I fall asleep with my amulet in my hand. In my dream Nors comes to me. "Spirit of the lightning, you are a worrier. Fight the demon and face your destiny." Then Holly appears her face is scared and worried. I try to reach for her but she falls. I sit up and mom runs into the room. "Tom are you ok?"
"Yeah mom, I'm ok. It was just a bad dream." My hand stings and I look down at it.
"Oh, Tom I told you not to sleep with that thing." She takes the amulet and puts it away from the bed. I must have been squeezing it for protection. She takes me down stairs and cleans my hand, she wraps a bandage round it. Aunt Lisa come down stairs too. "What's going on down here?"
"Tom cut himself, he's fine Lisa." Mom sends me back to bed. When I get to the top of the stairs I can hear chanting in Charlotte's bed room. I go to the door and raise my hand to knock. Then the chanting stops and I go back to bed.
Chapter 2. (Holly.)
The air is so fresh and clear out here. I hate the cities they ruin everything. The horses are grazing when I reach the field. I whistle to them and Buttercup gallops over to me. "Hey girl, you wanna go out for a while?" I stroke her nose and she whinnies. I jump the gate and go into the stables. Gramps and Timmy follow me. "Where are you going so early?"
"It's one in the afternoon and it's a nice day. I was going to take Buttercup out for a while. If that's ok with you Gramps?"
"As long as you stick to the side of the drain it's fine with me." Timmy jumps up and down. "Gramps I want to go out with Bobby."
"Not yet skipper, you're not big enough." He hoists Timmy on to his shoulders and they go back to the house. I saddle up Buttercup and set off down the drain. Buttercup is so steady. She's a good mare and she's mine.
I start back up the other side of the drain heading into the village when I bump into the new kid. We talk for a bit and then I ride off. I've seen him before somewhere. I think he is the boy in my dream. I'm a psychic and my dreams tell the future. The other week I had a dream that a man had been kidnapped and shot. The next day my friend Charlotte's dad went MIA. Then last night I had a dream that I was drowning. It was like something was trying to drag me down. Then a boy grabs my arms and tries to pull me up. I woke up in a sweat. A car zips past me and knocks me out of my day dream. Buttercup jumps and throws me off. "Buttercup, whoa girl, hey it's alright." I gram the reins and pull on them gently. "Good girl." I climb back on to her. I can feel blood dribbling down my leg but I don't care. I take Buttercup back to the field and limp home. Gramps is waiting for me. "You fell off."
"I'm fine, it was a stupid idiot in a car." I start up the stairs.
"Holly Jayne Ibbotson get back down here!" I turn and walk back down. "Sit." He points to the breakfast table. I sit down and he rolls my blood soaked jeans up. "Oh, Hol."
"What?"
"You have to be more careful."
"I know."
"It's not too deep." He grabs the first aid kit and patches me up. "Is Buttercup ok?"
"Yeah she's fine." I go up to my room and think about Tom.
; I fall asleep at about half twelve. My dream comes back but this time I'm falling when a hand grabs my arm and pulls me back up to solid ground. I sit up and can't get back to sleep. I sit up and paint for a bit and morning come's quickly. I go downstairs and get some breakfast. Brandon knocks on the door. "Hey."
"Hi, I heard about your accident."
"It was nothing. I'm fine." He smiles at me. "you wanna drink or something I'm not ready yet."
"Yeah sure." He comes in and sits in the kitchen. I get my stuff ready and we set off to school. We walk down the path and Charlie runs up to us. "Morning guys."
"Hey, Charlie what are you up to?"
"Nothing."
"Charlotte wait up, I don't know where I'm going." Tom runs over to us. "Hi, Holly?" I nod at him. "Will you just leave me alone dweeb?" Charlie waves him away.
"Your mom told you to show where the school is."
"I know what my mom said."
"What is up with you two?" Brandon laughs. "You're like an old married couple."
"Leave me alone will you." She storms off and I look at Tom.
"She's not normally like this, she hasn't been the same since her dad died." I link arms with him and Brandon. "We all know he is dead but, she thinks like her mom. Well come on then we better go to school." I walk the boys to school and Tom gets his new time table.
I sit at my easel and plop my painting on it. "Holly, are you still working on that?" Miss Crump asks. "Yup, I really like this one."
"I know but you need to think about something else."
"I know." I take my canvas down and get a clean one out of the cupboard. Tom bursts into the room. "Sorry I'm late I didn't know where I was going." Miss Crump smiles at him. "You must be Thomas."
"Tom."
"Ok. Urm Holly can you get him settled in."
"Yeah sure." Tom smiles at me. His face seems to lift when he realises it's me. I grab another easel and canvas. I set it up next to me and grab some paints from the draw next to me. "Here."
"Thanks." While we are all painting, Miss Crump blabbers on about shading and how different materials can be used in different ways. Tom concentrates on what she is saying and his hand seems to move freely across the canvas. "Tom." He looks at me.
"Yeah."
"Do you ever blink?"
"What?"
"I was joking. What are you painting?" I lean over and look at his canvas. The background is pure black and in the middle of the blackness there is a pair of cat's eyes. "That's good. Is that me?" I point to a figure at the edge of the canvas. His face turns shocked.
Chapter 3. (Tom)
I burst through the class room door. "Sorry I'm late I didn't know where I was going."
"You must be Thomas."
"Tom."
"Ok. Urm Holly can you get him settled in?"
"Yeah sure."When I look over to the other end of the classroom. Holly walks over to me. I'm glad she's in my class. She looks so pretty, her hair is scraped back into a messy bun and her apron is covered in paint. She takes be to the back and grabs me an easel, a canvas and some paints. "Here."
"Thanks." Is all I can manage. I don't know why she makes me feel like this. The teacher Miss Crump starts to talk about shading and how you can use materials for different things. I'm not really listening but I look at her. My hand seems to have a mind of its own. Holly leans over and looks at my canvas. Crap, I've been painting my dream. "Tom." Her voice snaps me out of my daze.
"Yeah."
"Do you ever blink?" I don't quite register what she said and before I can think I blurt out. "What?"
"I was joking, what are you painting." I look at it hoping she won't recognise the figure at the side of the canvas. I freeze. "That's good, is that me?" she points at the small figure. My face must show how shocked I am, she recognised it. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. She smiles at me, it's like she knows what it is. "I have dreams too." She pats my shoulder and leans back to her canvas. I look at her and smile. "Have you got any brown?"
"Yeah, here." I pass her the paint and she takes it. Her fingers touch mine and she smiles. "What's your next lesson?"
"Science."
"Me too, teacher?"
"Mr Stephenson."
"Monotone."
"What?"
"That's my teacher too, he only has one tone unless you make him angry." She laughs and the bell goes.
Holly shows me to our next class room. This school is so confusing. We walk in and Mr Stephenson tells me where to sit. I sit down and glance at Holly. She smiles and looks to the front. Mr Stephenson drones on about how the atmosphere works. I look out of the window. Mr Stephenson stands at the front of the class. "Mr Toulson would you like to tell the rest of the class what is so interesting?" I can feel myself blushing. My cheeks burn.The lad next to my laughs. "Keep it down Mr smith, Miss Wheeldon do you mind!" I can see what Holly meant.
"Urm, sorry sir I was day dreaming it won't happen again."
"It better not."
A boy called Josh leans over. "Are you ok man?"
"I'm fine." We sit and listen to Mr Stephenson. I try not to fall asleep. The lesson goes really slowly and we all file out into the corridor. Holly grabs my arm. She drags me down the stairs and into the dinner hall.
We grab some chairs and set them out in a circle. Brandon runs over to us. "Hey."
"Hol, bad news. Charlie went crazy in maths."
"What do you mean?" I look at him, I hardly know her but she is my cousin.
"She started shaking and chanting something."
"She was chanting yesterday." I look at Holly. Her eyes are glazed over and her face is blank. "Holly?" She falls forward and I catch her. "Holly, are you ok?" Brandon runs of to find Mrs Dixon, the duty first aider. I sit Holly on one of the chairs. I look at her face. She is pure white and her freckles are really showing. "Holly can you hear me?" I pat her arm and she opens her eyes. "Hey there, you ok?" she nods and I grab my water bottle. "Here." She smiles at me. She sips the water and Brandon returns with Mrs Dixon. "Hol I was worried." He hugs her. It's obvious they're a couple.
I walk back from school on my own. Brandon walked Holly home and Charlie is still in hospital. She freaked out at lunch in the medical room and put her fist through the glass window. I sit up in my room and think about what Holly had said in art. "You have dreams to. But why?" I look up at my ceiling and sigh. Mom walks in.
"Tom are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"Good. Charlotte has to stay overnight. They think she has a brain tumour."
"Oh."
"Something is bothering you." She sits on the bed and pats my knee. "You'll fit in somewhere. I know you miss your friends in Sheffield."
"It's not that mom."
"Then what is it?"
"A girl fainted today and she was Charlotte's friend and I don't know I can sense that she's different."
"How? Tom if you're talking about that Viking nonsense stop right now!" I look at her. "You know it's all in your head."
"No it's not." I storm out of my room and go outside. I run to Holly's house.
I bang on her door. "Holly its Tom. Can we talk?" A window opens upstairs and a little boy pokes his head out of the window. "Holly there's a boy at the door and it's not Brandon. He's cuter that's what you would say."
"Hey." Holly's hair dangles out of the window. "Come in the door's open. Come up stairs I'll meet you at the top. I need to tell you something."
"Ok." I open the front door and walk up the stairs. Holly smiles at me.
"Tom, promise you won't freak out or think I'm crazy."
"Ok. I promise." She shows me to her room.
"If Brandon finds out I let you in here he'd freak."
"So what do you want to tell me?"
"Ok, so I am different. I'm not normal. I don't know how to explain it. Ok, I can tell the future and heal people."
"What?" I was right she is different. Her face drops.
; "You think I'm crazy don't you. Brandon thinks I'm crazy. The only reason I go out with him is because he persuaded everyone to stop bullying me."
"Holly, I don't think you're crazy. I'm a bit like that too. My Dad's great grandfather was a shaman. So I'm part shaman."
"Really?" She looks at me shocked. "So you can tell the future to?"
"Not exactly I have visions. But the future isn't set in stone it can change." We sit and talk about each other's powers and Charlie.
Chapter four. (Holly.)
Tom leaves my house. We talked about what happened with Charlie at lunch. It was weird. I actually fainted, I never faint. I mean it happened once before when my mom died. But I have never fainted since, every now and again I get light headed but I don't faint. I lie on my bed and think about everything I had said to Tom. I told him my biggest secret and I've known him two days. I stare at the ceiling and someone bangs on the door. I look at the clock at the side of my bed. Half five. Who the hell is banging on my door at half five in the morning? I stand up and go to the window. Brandon is stood at the door. Oh god he must have heard about Tom. I open the window. "Brandon, it's half five, what are you doing here?"
"We need to talk!"
"Can't you wait 'till later its early?"
"No I can't." I sigh and close the window. I grab my painting shirt from the back of the door and go downstairs. I open the door and Brandon barges in. "Why did you invite him here?"
"Who?"
"You know who." I look at him. I'm so glad Gamps had said yes to camp out on the back with Timmy. "Look, Tom was telling me what was happening with Charlie."
"If I find out that it's anything else, I'll kill him. You're mine Holly."
"I belong to no-one. Now get out of my house!" I point to the door and he smirks. "Now!" I open the door and point outside. "Brandon I'm warning you."
"You're warning me? I was the one who stopped the bullying at school. I helped you and this is the thanks I get?"