Nolan blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, he’d traveled back in time to when the house was still inhabited.
Laughter rang through his ears. Light bathed the room and the peeling wallpaper was reattached to the walls, revealing its original Tuscan yellow. Two little boys sat on the couch playing with a toy train.
A teenage girl walked into the room carrying a basket full of laundry. She had brown, waist-length hair that accentuated her heart-shaped face. “Play nice,” she told the two boys.
The vision disappeared as suddenly as it had entered his mind, and Nolan leaned against the couch for support.
On the other side of the room, Leo breathed heavily.
Nolan looked up at him. “Did you see that too?”
“The girl, the boys, the train set?” He nodded. “Yep.”
“Let’s get going.” Peter took the flashlight from Nolan, and led the way deeper into the house. Floorboards creaked and the wind rushed around the house.
They climbed the stairs to the first floor.
The hairs on the back of Nolan’s neck stood on edge, and a nasty feeling grew in the pit of his stomach.
The house itself held its breath, silent, as if waiting....
Upstairs, the boys found two rooms and a bathroom. The bathroom smelled like rotten fish, so they stayed away from there. When they went into the second bedroom, another vision rolled over Nolan.
Twin beds and a larger, white-framed bed stood in the room. Green wallpaper covered the walls, and toys were scattered all over the floor. “Do I have to babysit them?” Tracy asked. There was no response, but she sighed. “All right, then.” She looked down at the two little boys playing with a construction set on the floor. “We’ll have fun tonight, for sure.”
The image faded, and Nolan’s heart ached. Even though he’d never known Tracy in this life, he still cared for her. He couldn’t explain it. It didn’t make sense.
Leo looked at him, tears burning in his eyes.
Guess we both see these visions, and we both feel like we know her.
Peter picked up a picture. “They kind of look like you two. Younger, of course.” He handed Nolan the picture.
He cleaned the dirty glass frame with his sleeve, and soon enough, two boys appeared, embracing each other. They were maybe six years old, tops, like in the visions.
“Oh God.” Peter dropped the flashlight. He scrambled down to grab it. “I just saw something move outside the room. A shadow.”
“Give it to me.” Nolan grabbed the flashlight and walked into the hallway, his friends cowering behind him.
The hallway seemed darker than it had been just minutes ago. A solid, dark shape stood at the end of the corridor.
Nolan shone his flashlight on it, but the shape didn’t move.
“Tracy?” He asked. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re sorry for what happened.” Still no movement. He looked to his friends, and Sam motioned for him to continue. “We never wanted it to happen. But we’re not your brothers, Tracy. Your brothers passed away.”
“No!” The scream echoed through the house and bounced off the walls.
In seconds, the dark shadow moved from the corner to right in front of Nolan. Tracy’s terrible, scarred, dead face appeared inches away from his own.
Fear engulfed him like a tsunami. He screeched and stumbled back, bumping into Sam.
Sam fell backward and tumbled down the stairs.
Tracy flew through the room, screeching at them like a banshee, her shape too large to be human, her face grimacing like a skull.
“Run!” Nolan shouted. He raced down the stairs, grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him up.
The other two boys ran straight behind him as they got to the door.
Then the front door slammed shut in their faces.
“Help!” Leo shouted, as the spirit lifted him up by his collar.
“Brother,” Tracy said without any love. She tossed him aside, and he slammed into the wall.
Then her eyes fixed on Nolan. “Brother.” This time, there was purpose in her voice, longing, hatred. She reached for him, her arms stretching impossibly long.
“Stay away from him.” Sam waved his arms, trying to distract the ghost.
The spirit turned to him, her eyes narrowing.
Sam took off in a sprint, and she chased after him.
“Come on.” Peter grabbed a chair with a broken leg and hurled it at a window.
The glass shattered into hundreds of pieces. He held his hands together and helped Nolan out through the window.
Nolan tumbled down to the ground on the other side. Fresh air entered his lungs as he got up and reached for Peter, but his friend motioned for him to go on.
Tracy appeared right behind him, her shape already becoming more solid. She looked now like the first time he’d seen her—less like a shadow, more like a ghoul. Her soaked dress left pools of water on the floor.
Nolan made a run for it. I don’t want to leave Peter behind but... she wants me. She wants to kill me!
The fog closed in on him and surrounded him. He stumbled forward, hoping the ground wouldn’t disappear underneath him and he wouldn’t end up in the lake. His chest ached from effort. He stopped and leaned on his knees to take a few deep breaths. Then he turned around and looked at the house.
Darkness and fog covered the cabin. But then... the lights in the bedroom right under the roof turned on.
That’s impossible. No way that house still has electricity.
A black shape appeared behind the window.
Nolan’s heart stopped beating, and his mouth dropped open in a silent scream. His nightmare.... It had become reality.
Chapter 11
Tracy’s ghost, a whirlwind of black shadow, burst through the window and soared straight at him. Before Nolan had time to do more than scream, she hit him square in the chest and sent him flying backward into the water.
The black mass pulled him under. He fought and struggled against the thick goop wrapping around him. Water threatened to enter his lungs as darkness surrounded him from all sides.
Fear clutched at his throat, and with that fear came the panic to which he’d grown so accustomed. He slapped and thrashed all around him, kicking against the hands pulling him under.
Voices broke through the darkness. “Nolan! Where are you?” Sam shouted. “God, I can’t see anything in this mist!”
“Nolan!” Peter and Leo cried out.
If only I could let them know where I’m at!
He kicked against the hand scratching his leg, and gathered his strength. He stretched his hand up, and his fingers rose above the water. He pushed and pulled, trying to escape the spirit.
“There!” Leo screamed.
A splash followed, and the evil claws pulled Nolan under again.
Tracy’s face appeared in front of him. “Brother,” she whispered through bloody and cracked lips. She reached out for him and stroked his cheek, almost lovingly.
He choked, nearly suffocating as he fought to keep the water from his lungs.
Then he could hold his breath no longer, and water poured into his lungs. His heart stopped beating, and at the moment he died, he stopped being scared. All this time, he’d been afraid of drowning. Now that he had, it wasn’t all that bad. It hurt, sure, but he could think of worse things—like spending all of eternity being a vengeful ghost, like Tracy. He closed his eyes and left his failing, hurting body behind.
Tracy offered him a hand. She didn’t look so horrible anymore. Her face slowly returned to how it looked when she’d been alive. A pink color blessed her skin, and her lips healed. Her hair was no longer knitted, but smooth and beautiful.
“Brother.” The hatred had disappeared from her voice.
He smiled at her and took her hand. He felt light, free, almost as if he’d been reborn.
Then someone pulled him away from her, yanked him back to the pain, to his burning lungs, to his throbbing eardrums.
Water gushed out
of his mouth in a choking fountain, and the face of his brother—no, of his friend, Leo—appeared above his.
Relief spread over Leo’s face. He cracked a smile and tears strained his cheeks. “Oh, Nolan!” He grabbed his shoulders and hugged him. “You’re alive! You’re alive!”
“Ow. You’re crushing my ribs.”
Leo let go of him. “Sorry. Just happy to have you back.”
“Guys....” Sam’s voice was low. “I don’t think the trouble is over yet.”
Tracy’s ghost hovered over the water. She’d gone back to her ghoulish form, with the terrible skull-like face. She held out an arm, and motioned for Nolan to come closer.
“She won’t stop until I go with her.” Nolan struggled to get up.
“Let’s just run.” Peter stared at the ghost.
“No, I owe it to her to set things right.” Nolan stepped forward. “Tracy, I know you’re hurting, and that it’s my fault. I’m sorry about what happened. I really am.”
The ghost’s arms slid to her sides. Her eyes met his, and she held her head to the left, as if waiting for him to continue.
“I drowned back there. I know what it feels like. Ever since I was a little kid, drowning has been my worst fear. You don’t have to kill me to have me know how it feels. I already do.” Nolan licked his lips. “Can you forgive me?”
Tracy screamed a wordless cry and launched at him. Claws scratched his skin and shoulders, and a tornado of darkness lifted him up.
“No!” Leo shouted. He vaulted to the front and threw his arm to the right. “No, Tracy! I won’t let you hurt our brother.”
The ghost stopped, and a look of surprise flashed across her face. She dropped Nolan and turned to Leo.
“Because it was me. I was the one who wanted to go swimming, who nagged you about it. He only came along because I asked him to. He only nagged you about it because I couldn’t shut up about going for a swim. It’s my fault. So if someone needs to die to get you off our backs, so you can move on, then it’ll be me.”
“Don’t do it.” Nolan put a hand on Leo’s shoulder to stop him.
“It’s okay.” Leo smiled at him. “I’m dying anyway. I’m ill. I’ve been ill since the day I was born. Doctors gave me ten years, tops. I’m living on borrowed time anyway.”
“Don’t do it, Leo!” Nolan dug his fingers into his friend’s skin. “There’s too much to live for. We’ll find another way.”
“You be happy, Nolan.” He patted him on his hand. “I think I’ll be happy too, on the other side. I’m usually in pain anyway. There’s no more pain there, right?”
“Actually... there isn’t.” At least I didn’t feel any pain when I died. I hope he doesn’t either.
“Goodbye, brother.” Leo waved at him, and then jumped into the lake.
Nolan reached out to stop him, but it was too late.
Leo disappeared below the surface of the thick, black lake.
Chapter 12
Tears ran down Nolan’s face. He stood there for God knows how long, until Sam and Peter urged him to back away, and to return to their cabin.
The fog cleared and they had no trouble finding their way back. Nolan walked as if dreaming. Nothing about it felt real anymore, as if the world of fifty years ago, the world in which he had a twin brother and older sister, was more real than the world in which Leo had drowned.
By the time they made it back to the cabin, bright light covered the camping grounds. Morning had arrived.
“How do we tell them?” Sam asked no one in particular. “About Leo?.”
“We tell them he fell into the lake. Let’s do it right away.” Even Peter could only manage to speak in a dry monotone.
They went to The Shack, where the lights were already on. Camp leaders rushed back and forth inside, setting up breakfast.
Nellie walked up and down with the other camp leaders, smiling, chatting, as if nothing terrible had happened.
But something horrible did happen. Nolan squared his shoulders and walked toward her. “Nellie.”
She turned to them right away, and her eyes grew wide. “Heavens, what’s going on with you three? You look all dirty. Nolan, did you fall into the water?”
He gazed down at his wet clothes and shrugged. “Something happened to Leo. He drowned.”
Nellie frowned, and her lips became a grim line. “Nolan, this isn’t funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
“What Leo are you talking about?”
“Leo. The boy in our cabin.” Nolan grimaced. Even saying his name hurt him. “He drowned in the lake.”
Nellie shook her head. Her expression became unreadable. “Nolan, I don’t know what you think happened, but there’s no Leo here. There was a boy named Leo, who was supposed to come to camp, but he’d been ill for a while and... he passed away last week. But he didn’t drown. He died in a hospital bed, surrounded by his family.” Tears shone in her eyes. “Why are you making up such stories? How did you know his name?”
Nolan could hardly catch his breath. He stumbled backward, right into Peter.
“Oh God,” Peter said. “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”
“So he was dead all along?” Sam asked.
“It makes sense now. Nobody ever said his name, except us. Nobody mentioned him, ever.” Nolan paused and sighed. “That’s why he sacrificed himself. He was already dead.”
“Boys, what are you talking about?” Nellie asked, her confusion replaced by fear.
Before Nolan could reply, his heart made a tiny tumble in his chest.
Behind Nellie, Leo and Tracy appeared, hand in hand. Tracy didn’t look like the ghoul who’d threatened him at all. A golden light surrounded both of them. Tracy waved at him. Leo waved too, and mouthed, ‘I’m sorry.’
Then the vision was gone.
Tears pooled in Nolan’s eyes. He barely knew them, but he would miss both of them.
“Never be afraid again,” Leo’s voice whispered in his ear.
A cold chill spread across Nolan’s spine. “I won’t. Brother.”
Leo’s face hovered in front of his, a large smile plastered across his face. And just like that, he vanished.
---THE END---
Acknowledgements
When I was a kid, I loved reading scary stories. My favorite horror authors were R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. They inspired me to come up with my own frightening tales to tell my friends. Without those stories, I would’ve never become an author, so thank you for inspiring me.
Many thanks to my editor, Lane Diamond, for being patient and meticulous while reading my manuscripts.
An enormous amount of thanks goes to Noelle Giffin, the extremely talented artist who made the fabulous covers for this series.
Of course, I can’t leave out my family and friends, especially those who’ve been there to listen to me when I’m nagging about writing, or rambling about my newest plot. You’re the best.
But most of all, I’d like to thank the readers. You’re the reason I write—to tell the stories I want to tell to people who want to hear them. I hope you enjoyed this book!
About the Author
Majanka Verstraete begged her Mom to teach her how to read while she was still in kindergarten. By the time she finished fifth grade, she had read through the entire children’s section of her hometown library.
She wrote her first story when she was seven years old, and hasn’t stopped writing since. With an imagination that never sleeps, and hundreds of possible book characters screaming for her attention, writing is more than a passion for her.
She writes about all things supernatural for children of all ages. She’s tried to write contemporary novels before, but something paranormal always manages to crawl in.
Majanka is currently studying for her Master of Laws degree, and hopes one day to be able to combine her passions for law and writing. When she’s not writing, reading or studying, she likes watching “The Vampire Diaries” and “Game of Thrones,” spending time with her fr
iends, or playing “World of Warcraft.”
Find Majanka online at:
Website: http://majankaverstraete.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Majanka-Verstraete/398570476832115
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iheartreads
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/eternalised
What’s Next?
Watch for the continuing spooky, fun, exciting adventures in Weirdville, with more coming in late 2015 or early 2016.
More from Majanka Verstraete
Be sure to check out all the books in the Weirdville series of spooky (in a fun way) lower grade adventures, perfect for kids 7-10 years old, at the Evolved Publishing website.
Book 1: The Doll Maker
Book 2: House of Horrors
Book 3: Fright Train
Book 4: Drowning in Fear
Book 5: The Clumsy Magician
Book 6: Grave Error
And be sure to check out Majanka Verstraete’s Valentina’s Spooky Adventures, a series of color-illustrated children’s picture books, at the Evolved Publishing website.
Book 1: Valentina and the Haunted Mansion
Book 1: Valentina and the Whackadoodle Witch
Book 1: Valentina and the Masked Mummy
~~~~~
Praise for Valentina and the Haunted Mansion:
“This is such a cute book with beautiful illustrations. I read this book to my 8 year old [sic] niece, well actually my niece read me the book. She loved it and couldn’t wait to turn the page so she could find out what happens next. I have to say she was disappointed because it ended too soon. My niece and I both didn’t want it to end.” – weluvdopey, Reviewer at Amazon
“Valentina and the Haunted Mansion is an adorable children’s book. The story is engaging, and the illustrations are lovely. My eight year old [sic] daughter also read this book, and she really liked it.” – Karen Arrowood
Weirdville: Drowning in Fear (Lower Grade Spooky Fun Adventure) Page 5