“Me...gan?” My voice slurred. The ghostly remnants of pain creeped into my stomach. I put my hand there and pulled it back bloody. “What is happening to me?” A light shined out of the corner of my eye. I turned towards it and saw a massive gate filled with a swirling blue light. Without thinking, I went toward it. A sensation like cold water overtook me. My breath caught and a force clamped down on my chest. Just when I thought I was going to be crushed, darkness consumed me.
***
Ronin wasn’t sure what to do. Should he call the police?
And say what? “I was doing a seance in the cemetery when I started getting visions and then suddenly a dead girl appeared?”
Yeah, doubt that will work. Besides, he didn’t even know for sure that this was Teagan Croft. Sure, she looked a lot like the picture, but it wasn’t like he had ever actually met her.
Maybe she had come into the cemetery and tripped in that strange wind storm that suddenly popped up? Didn’t that sound a lot more likely than a girl coming back from the dead?
But there was one thing that he couldn’t explain away with logic.
Her whole body shimmered with an ethereal blue light, similar to the one that had shown him the strange visions.
He crept toward her, eyes wide, looking for any signs of movement. He crouched down next to her and touched her arm. The blue on the spot he touched vanished, becoming corporeal and soft, although cold. He gasped, pulling his hand away. The spot returned to the strange blue glow.
She stirred, a small sound escaping her lips. She got up and looked at him, her eyes hazy and confused, her once red dress fading in and out of existence with her legs.
“Where am I?” she asked in an echoey voice. “What happened?” Looking around, her eyes finally landed on Ronin.
“Teagan?” Ronin asked, glancing over to the fallen picture on the ground.
“How do you know my name?”
“I…” How could he explain how he knew? That he came here with his friends because of what happened to her? That they did some stupid ritual that may or may not have actually worked?
Clearing his throat, he tried again. “What do you remember?” He decided that might be the best approach, afterall, she might not even realize that she was dead.
Teagan lowered her head and thought for a moment. “It was Halloween… My friends and I came here to bless the harvest like every year.”
“And what happened?”
“Well, we finished up and the others left… it was just me and…” Her eyes widened. “Megan!” An image of her friend flashed in front of them like her memories replaying for them both to see. On the ground. Lifeless gaze. Blood. She jumped to her ghostly feet and ran to the gate of the cemetery where it happened. “Megan?” she called, panicked.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Ronin shouted, rising to follow. When he caught up, he found Teagan standing just outside the gate staring at an empty spot in the street.
“I don’t understand. She was right here, I remember I saw her. Where did she go?” The ghostly images were gone once more.
“What you are remembering, didn’t happen tonight,” Ronin felt his heart ache for her and the horrible truth she was about to learn. He didn’t understand anything about what was happening, or why he cared about a girl he had never met before, but he wished that he could hug her and tell her that everything would be all right.
She turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been,” he hesitated, unsure of how to phrase it, “gone for a while. A year, in fact.”
Her eyes widened for a brief moment before she smiled, disbelieving and mirthless. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I think I would know if it had been a year.”
“What happened after this?” Ronin gestured to the ground. “After you remember seeing Megan here? Try to think.”
Teagan turned back and looked down again. “Well, I was scared, so I ran.” She walked soundless across the gravel and went to the stone crypt. She placed her hand in front of it, but stopped short of actually touching it. “I ran here.” She looked to the left. “Then that way.”
This all matched up with what Ronin had seen. “Then what?” he asked, softly.
She walked toward where she had just laid a moment before. “Here.”
“What happened here?” He had to make her remember, but he didn’t want to shock her by just telling her, she needed to figure it out on her own.
“I fell…” She knelt down and ran her hand over the grass.
“Why did you fall?”
“I was…” Teagan gasped and let out a scream as the memories of that night came rushing back to her. “I was stabbed! Killed!” She looked to Ronin, sorrow and helplessness and fear all warring in her eyes.
He nodded, his heart breaking for her. “Yes. You and Megan both were killed here a year ago.”
“A whole year ago?” She reached up and touched her cheek pulling her hand away to stare at it like she thought she should be crying, but somehow wasn’t.
Of course not, she’s dead. I guess the dead can’t cry.
“Why am I here then?” She asked.
How was he supposed to explain what they had been doing? How to tell her that they may have been the cause for bringing her back from where she was supposed to be? For making her relive this pain again?
Ronin took a deep breath. “I think that may be partially my fault. But I didn’t know, I swear!”
“What do you mean?” She stood and walked a step closer to him.
“It was my friends’ idea. They didn’t tell me what they were planning to do, just that they had a cool idea about what to do this Halloween. They brought me here and told me about what happened to you and your friend. And…”
“And what?”
“They wanted to see if they could contact your spirits to find out who murdered you.”
“Who murdered us? You mean they don’t know?”
“No. No one was ever caught.”
“So you performed a seance?” Her voice was dubious at best.
“Yeah, I guess?” He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that that’s what they had planned and even if I had, I would never have thought that this,” he gestured to her and the general area around them, “would have happened.”
Teagan turned, head down. “I can’t stay here anymore.” She began to run and before Ronin could chase after her, she had disappeared into thin air.
He was left stunned, unsure of what just happened and what to do next. What exactly do you do when you meet a ghost?
I suppose it’s for the best that she left. I’ve done enough damage.
Chapter Three
I fled the cemetery as fast as I could. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. Any of it.
Megan was dead? I was dead? And not just that, but murdered? Who would want to hurt us?
No, this can’t be real. It’s just a dream, it has to be! I just need to wake up now.
I stood still, clutching my head, eyes closed, willing myself to wake up from this horrible nightmare.
Nothing happened.
What should I do? What can I do?
Nothing.
So I walked.
I didn’t have a destination in mind. I didn’t even pay attention to where I was going. I just walked, mind numb and empty. There was no pain. I never got tired. No ache in my legs. I felt nothing.
I had no idea how long I had been walking for, but eventually I found myself standing in front of my house. Or, at least it was. Now there was a group of teenagers standing to the side. A girl was climbing a tree. It looked like she was attempting to sneak back into the house through the spare bedroom window while the others watched.
I guess it’s not a spare bedroom now. It’s hers.
I sighed and kept moving. I was really dead? There were so many things I never got to do. I had to laugh at myself for that. It was such a cliche thing to think. L
ike a bad movie.
That’s it, maybe this is all just a bad movie. Maybe at the end I wake up after all and it was all a nightmare to teach me about the spirit of Halloween or something.
An equally ridiculous notion. I loved and respected the holiday, unlike Scrooge and Christmas which would be what would warrant such a dream.
So I walked.
I thought of my mom, now all alone, without me. My younger sister Taryn had moved away to college two years ago, and my dad was long dead.
If I’m dead, why can’t I see him? Why don’t I remember the last year? Where was I? Was I with him? With Megan?
The world warped around me and suddenly I was in front of my mom’s house. It was quiet on the street, but there were candles by the fence around the yard with flowers. I bent down for a closer look and saw little notes and pictures of me.
“A friend gone too soon. You and Megan will be forever missed.”
I recognized Astor’s neat hand-writing. It was like a little memorial for me.
I bet Megan has one too at her house. A sharp pang hit my chest as I remembered that she was supposed to be married soon. Or, I suppose it had passed as it was set for the spring. I wonder how he is doing.
I looked up at the house again, wondering the same of my mom. I glided to the front door, not even needing to move my legs like before, almost like I was fading away.
Maybe my time here is only temporary? Maybe I only have tonight.
I reached out to the door and my hand went straight through it. If I could breath, I would have taken in a deep breath before pushing my way through. It was a strange rippling sensation, but ultimately didn’t hurt. Why would it? Life was for pain, death was for nothing.
I went to the living room where the lights were turned on. The rest of the house appeared to be dark and empty, void of anything that once had made it warm.
Only a couple of matching lamps by the windows were lit, casting the other half of the room in shadow. A strange sound alerted me to someone’s presence. I turned to the hearth and saw my mom. She was crying, pulling out a match and lighting a large candle. I walked closer. There was writing on it. I had seen candles like these before, they were done by funeral homes as little memorials. A bible passage was written on it along with my name, birth day and the day I died. A border decorated in pumpkins and fall leaves surrounded the text.
I smiled. She knew I loved those things. She never understood really, she loved the spring and summer, hated autumn and winter. In that we were complete opposites.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t have been there, sweetheart. I would do anything to go back and change it,” my mother choked out between sobs.
“No mother, there was nothing you could have done.”
I wanted to hug her, inhale her familiar, comforting scent. To tell her that I loved her one more time. I reached out and touched her cheek. She looked up and placed her hand where mine was, but she couldn’t see me.
My heart broke and I felt like I was dying all over again.
***
Why do I keep thinking about that girl? Was she even real? Or just a dream?
Ronin sighed. He’d not even gone to bed when he got home after his strange Halloween outing. He collapsed on the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling. Hours later and he was still there, hand curled into a fist resting on his forehead. He wanted to make sense of what happened, but each explanation he came up with was as crazy as the last.
He needed to call Trey and Matt and see what they thought. He could only assume that they had run off right as the wind started up, leaving him to the spectral hallucinations. But what would they say if he told them everything he saw? Or at least thought he saw.
They’d say I was nuts.
Which would be an interesting turn since it was usually his job to tell them.
He glanced at the clock. 9 am. Was it really that late in the morning already? What time had he gotten home last night?
Reluctantly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t have any deadlines today, which was for the best since he doubted he’d be able to concentrate anyway. Grabbing his laptop, he pulled up a search engine and typed “Halloween Murders.” The one he wanted was one of the top results.
Most of it was what he already knew from his friends and the weird visions. The two girls and their friends met at the cemetery. Teagan and Megan fell behind the group and were ambushed by an unknown assailant. Killer still at large. No leads.
“Damn,” he said slamming the laptop shut.
Not helpful.
He didn’t know what he expected to find, but he was disappointed nonetheless. An idea struck him so he opened it back up and pulled up Teagan Croft’s obituary.
“Beloved daughter and sister, taken before her time.”
A picture of her with family was included. All three of them smiling and happy, unaware of the horrible tragedy that would befall them.
So no husband then…
Shame welled up inside him at the small happiness that fact gave him.
What am I doing? None of this involves me!
He was about to slam it shut once more when an address caught his attention. It was for the wake following the funeral. It was held at her mother’s house.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he grabbed his leather coat and was out the door.
***
It didn’t take him too long to reach the address and he immediately knew he was at the right house when he saw the heaps of flowers and cards along the fence.
People must have come to put them here last night for the anniversary. She must have really been loved.
Taking a deep breath, he walked up the porch steps and knocked on the bright red door.
A girl answered, younger than him, that bore a resemblance to Teagan, although her hair was lighter and tinged with red. He recognized her as Teagan’s sister from the family photo on the obituary.
“Yes, can I help you?” she asked with a smile, although there was a sadness locked behind it.
“Um, yeah, I’m sorry to bother you, but I noticed all the flowers outside and…” Ronin began.
“Yeah, they are for my sister. She died last year.”
“Teagan, right?”
“Right. Did you know her?” She adjusted her stance, a little more open now, almost hopeful.
“Kind of. We spoke from time to time.”
Or once…
“I was sorry to hear about her passing,” Ronin continued.
“Thank you,” she lowered her head, “that means a lot.”
“You’re Taryn, right?”
“Yeah.” She reached out her hand and he took it.
“Ronin. Do you have a minute? I’m sorry to intrude, but I… just have some questions.”
Taryn hesitated before moving aside. “Sure, I suppose I can do that.”
“Thanks.” He entered and waited for her to close the door before following her down a darkened hall and into a bright kitchen.
“Can I offer you some cider?” she asked.
“Sure, thanks.” He sat down at the small round table and watched as she busied herself with cups and the hot beverage.
“Were you and your sister close?” Ronin asked as she handed him the cup and sat down across from him at the table.
She nodded. “Yeah, we were. Although we had kinda lost touch the last couple of years. You get busy, you know?” She shrugged and he could see the pain in her eyes. “I went to college out of state, so we really only saw each other for holidays when I was able to come home. You have no idea how much I regret that now.”
“I understand, but you can’t blame yourself for that. You didn’t know.”
“That's what everyone says, but…” she paused and looked around the room before continuing, “I feel like I did know, but just didn’t want to believe it.”
Ronin narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath. “Well, you know my sister was a practicing witch, or wiccan
or whatever, right?”
“I take it that you aren’t?” Ronin asked with a smile.
“No, I didn’t really get all that stuff. Never really liked the whole witch thing in general. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to get out of Salem and away from it all. But she loved it. She said she was born here for a reason, that this place was important, especially to her.”
Ronin leaned in closer. “In what way?”
Taryn shook her head, her soft curls bouncing off her shoulders. “I don’t know exactly, but this place meant more to ther than anything. When she graduated high school, even though she was a straight A honor student and could have gone to any college in the country, she refused to even apply. She said she had to stay here, that her destiny was here.” Her voice cracked as tears began to roll down her cheek. “And I guess she was right since she was killed here. But the whole thing gave me a bad feeling, even when she first said it”
“I’m very sorry. I’ll get out of your way. This time must be really hard for you.” Ronin stood, handing her a tissue from a nearby box sitting on the counter and headed back for the door. He was reluctant to leave without knowing more about what she meant. Why she thought she should have known her sister was going to die. Why Teagan felt so strongly about this place. But he wasn’t heartless enough to pester a young girl with questions when she was clearly still grieving.
He reached his hand for the door when a splash of red caught the corner of his eye. He turned and looked into what must have been the living room. Gasping he stared at the figure standing by the fireplace.
“Teagan?” he said softly, causing her to startle and look up.
“You again.” She narrowed her eyes, as if appraising him. “What are you doing here at my mother’s home?” Her features were tense, protective of the family she had left behind.
“I’m sorry. Just, after last night, I didn’t know what to think or what was going on, so--”
“So you decided to come snooping around?” she finished for him.
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 50