"Are you saying I looked like a princess?" Teagan asked, smiling.
"Yes, I mean... well..." Embarrassed again, he put his hands over his face. "I think I should probably stop talking now."
Teagan laughed so hard that she fell back onto the couch. "Wow, that was quite a marathon you just ran," she said with a mirthful glint. "Were you worried about me then?" she asked, almost seductively. "Because, that would be all right if you were."
Ronin just stared at her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I was."
"I'm OK, thank you though."
"So, what happened? You seemed fine and then just hit the floor. Is that normal for..." he really didn't want to say ghost again, "Someone in your situation?"
She shrugged and looked down. "I honestly don't know. I mean, it's not like I know a lot of people in my situation. Although, I did speak to someone while I was out. Almost like My consciousness went somewhere else, which sounds crazy since you would think spirits would be nothing but consciousness."
"Who did you speak to? Where did you go?"
"It looked like the cemetery but a little different, like the spiritual side of it. I spoke with Megan, my friend who--"
"Who was killed the same night you were. Where is she? Did she come back too?"
Teagan shook her head. "Not in the same way that I did. She can't seem to appear like me. She said something very rare happened the night you guys brought me back. That we are bound somehow."
"Is that why I can see and touch you when no one else can?"
"Yeah, I think so. She also said something else," she looked in Ronin's dark eyes, "there is a chance that I may be able to come back to life, like real life and not this strange in between that I am currently in."
Ronin's eyes widened. "That's great! How do you do that?"
"Well, that's the thing, I need to find my killer and stop him from hurting anyone else."
The excitement drained from Ronin's face. He looked away. "But we've already tried that. There are no leads. Nothing that we can track."
"I know."
"What happens if we can't find him?"
"I don't know. I guess I just go back to wherever I was before you summoned my spirit. Dead."
Ronin grasped both of her hands in his. "I won't let that happen Teagan. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I want to help you, I feel like there's a reason I was in that cemetery that night and that I can see and touch you now."
That I already seem to be falling in love with you.
"So I will do whatever it takes to help you reclaim your old life."
She smiled and threw her arms around him. "Thanks, Ronin."
Hugging her back, he realized he never wanted to let her go.
***
The next day, we went into town to see what we could find out. We decided first to look into the seance that they did, then see if we could figure out anything about my killer. Honestly, I didn't even know where to begin there, but wiccan shops were my specialty, an area I was comfortable with.
As we walked in town, the warmth of the mid-day sun played with my senses. I was more corporeal now it seemed, but not all of my senses were there, plus there was the whole not breathing thing. I wasn't so invisible now, but it still seemed liked people barely noticed me, despite my strange attire of a bright red dress and no coat or scarf to speak of. It was almost like they knew someone was there but didn't really see me. Like I was hiding in plain sight.
The first shop we went to gave us nothing. The second almost as much.
"Dammit! How can we live in the witch capital of the world and not be able to get any info about this stuff?" Ronin said, throwing his arms up in frustration.
I shrugged. "Well, not all believe or practice the same things. Some witches specialize in crystals, some herbs, others tarot or oracle cards. Its all different."
"And what about you? What is it you specialize in?"
I grinned. "I didn't really have a single specialty. I liked it all, so I just studied different things. Can't say I looked too much into seances though."
"And why is that?"
"Well, I guess because I never really lost someone that I felt the need to contact after death."
"Not even your father?"
I shook my head. "No, not really. Honestly, I don't have too many fond memories of him. He wasn't a bad father necessarily, but I guess we just weren't too close. He was always away for work. My mom was the one that was always there for me."
"I see. I'm sorry."
"Don't be!" I said brightly. "I don't mind. I had a great mother and sister, so I was happy."
There was a pause before Ronin began to speak again and when he did, I got the feeling he was a little embarrassed by what he wanted to say. It reminded me of his embarrassment of the night before which I had found completely adorable. I couldn't help but wonder if he was always like this.
"So, um, did you have a boyfriend or someone like that you miss?"
Is he asking me because he wants the answer to be no?
"Not really." I shook my head.
"Come on, I very much doubt that."
"I mean, I dated some, but it was never really a priority for me. I guess I never found someone who was worth stopping and really devoting myself too. There was one guy, Henry. We dated on and off, but I could tell he wasn’t the one for me, although he definitely disagreed. He would follow me around and beg for just one more chance." I stopped and looked at him. "What about you? Any girls gonna come knocking on your door tonight?"
He laughed and put his hands in his pocket. "No, definitely not. I'm more of a loner really. After all, writers aren't really known for their social skills.
"I see..." I ducked my head a bit and kept walking, hiding the school girl-esque smile on my face. "So, there's a good place on the wharf we can try. She comes from a long line of Salem witches and might have what we are looking for, or maybe at least be able to point us in the right direction."
"Sounds good, lead the way," he said holding out one arm.
We walked in silence until we reached the shop. It looked pretty small from the outside, but inside it was much bigger.
"Wow, I didn't even know this place was here. I thought most of these shops were in the main square close to the museum."
"A lot are, obviously some are more touristy than others, but this place is where most of the locals go."
I walked straight back, past baskets of herbs and large displays with different crystals, all kinds of types and shapes. In the back was a table set up with tarot cards and another with countless jars of herbal remedies and potions, usually made to order if someone had something specific in mind they needed. Behind this one was a young girl, early twenties if I had to guess, dressed in a long sleeve, tight, black shirt, with green streaks in her hair.
"Hey Vivian, is Rebecca in?" I asked, without thinking. We weren’t too close, but she was always fun to talk to.
Vivian looked up, startled for a moment before putting on a plastic smile.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked sweetly.
"I... Um..." I didn't know what to say. She didn't recognize me somehow even though we had known each other for years. Even if she did though, what was I supposed to say? I died a year ago! I wasn't supposed to be here!
Great, now what, Teagan?
"Sorry, someone said we should come here and talk to you," Ronin stepped in. "We've been to a few places today and they gave us your name. My name is Ronin." He held out his hand and Vivan took it.
"Oh, I see! Well, what I can do for you, Ronin?" Her eyes left me and focused entirely on Ronin like I wasn't even there. I tried to suppress the rising sense of jealousy threatening to overwhelm me.
It's good that she's not focused on you. You aren't supposed to be here. Wait.... did she just touch his arm? That bitch!
I crossed my own arms as I watched her laugh at something Ronin had said, internally seething.
"Yeah, I'm sure Rebecca ca
n help you with your book! She is one of the best in the area. Just give me one moment to make sure she's free." Vivian walked out, leaving me alone to glare at Ronin.
"What the hell was that?" I finally said, unable to hold back my rage.
Ronin turned to me, startled. "What was what?"
"That! Whatever that was!"
"I don't know. You didn't seem to know what to say, so I just stepped in. I'm sorry." He held his hands up in surrender. "I don't know why she didn't recognize you, but I thought that maybe it was for the best, given the situation."
He was right of course, but I still wasn't happy.
After a minute or two she returned and ushered us into the back to meet Rebecca.
The back room was darker than the main store out front, with a single dimmed overhead light and several candles lit around the room. There was no circular table with a dark drap and crystal ball of course like the typical cliche, but the mystical ambience was still there. The shelves held rarer items, larger crystals, and some books that I knew weren't for sale but were actually part of her personal collection. Rebecca stood on the other side of the room behind a basic rectangular table. She stood as we entered.
"So, Vivian tells me that you are a writer," she said by way of greeting.
She was older and considered somewhat of a village leader in many of the wiccan groups around here. I know my small coven, named “Ravencroft” after an old story surrounding my ancestors, highly looked up to her and studied her work a great deal.
"That's right," Ronin answered.
"What can I help you with?"
"I was wanting some information on seances."
"What about them? That's a pretty broad topic." She folded her hands in front of her, patiently.
"Do they actually work? Can anyone perform them to success or do certain requirements have to be met before one can be done? That kind of thing."
She nodded and seemed to take a moment to think. "Well, as I’m sure you know, there are many different kinds of seances that can be performed. Some work, some don't, like anything else, it depends on the materials and your knowledge of the subject."
"Can a small group of amateurs do one? People with limited knowledge on the matter?"
"It's possible, but less likely. Do your research and someone can pick it up as a one time thing and manage to do it correctly, although generally that's more like a fluke than the rule. What is the set up in your story? I can tell you whether or not it would be possible."
"OK, it's a group of three. One of them says that he just looked it up online and printed off what to say. He brought photos of the people he wanted to talk to as well as a few candles," Ronin said, briefly recounting the night that they brought me back.
"Well, it's pretty rudimentary. But there are other factors. If this was done, for example, in the home of the man who looked up the instructions, it wouldn't work unless he had a connection with the person he wanted to talk to."
"Let's say none of them had a connection. There were two people who died on the same night and they went to the place they died."
"Like a hospital? That could be dangerous. A lot of death occurs in places like that," she said, brows furrowed.
"Not a hospital."
"All right, then it would be possible, but unlikely. If no one had a connection to either spirit or something of theirs that they could be tethered to, you would be lucky if they got any response at all."
"OK, then let's come at it from another angle. Say, a seance was performed for two people, and it worked, but only for one of them. The spirit that came back was able to talk to one of the guys that performed the seance and he could even touch her, like she was really there. What would cause that?"
Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "That's awfully specific. Did you read about something like this happening somewhere?"
"No, I just... It's a love story, and I wanted a way for them to be able to interact," Ronin said quickly.
My cheeks burned inexplicably. A love story? Seems like an odd thing to say... Maybe it was just the first thing he thought of.
"I see. Well, there are a few books, more rarer titles, that have mentioned something similar to what you are talking about." Rebecca seemed hesitant. Her gaze took on one of slight suspicion and nervousness. Her eyes glanced around the room, not looking directly at Ronin.
"What do these books say?" Ronin pressed when it seemed she wasn't going to continue.
"In rare circumstances, things like that can happen, but it's rarely good." Finally, her eyes settled back on Ronin, a frown cutting deep across her face. In the time that I had known her, I had never seen her react like this.
What has her so spooked? I wondered.
"What do you mean? Not good how?"
"When someone's spirit is called from a seance, it's supposed to be temporary, a time to say your final goodbyes, to get answers to unanswered questions. That kind of thing. It's meant to bring closure to both the living and the dead. But what you're talking about is something different entirely. It's called partial reanimation. It would mean that something during the seance went very, very wrong." She walked back behind the table and sat down heavily in her chair.
"Wrong how?" Ronin walked closer, while I took a step back.
What did all this mean? What am I?
She scratched her head, clearly agitated. "Let's just say that I don't recommend you use it for your story. If something like that were to happen between two lovers, the chances are it would only end in tears."
"But why? What would happen?" Ronin's hands motioned by his sides, showing his frustration with her half answers. At that point, I wasn't sure if I wanted the full answers or not. What could she mean?
"If the person brought back in this manner died of violent means, and it seems this is often the case, then, the one who caused their death may be able to get control of them. Hurt them again. Some say there might be a way for them to come back completely, but as far as I know, there has never been a case of this, not even hundreds of years ago when people tried this kind of thing. Some say that even if they do come back, they are doomed to their same fate, like a never ending curse of pain and death. And of course, others say they will come back wrong. Probably lending credence to the vampire and zombie myths."
Ronin lowered his arms and glanced back at me.
It was only then that I realized I was shaking, my hands over my mouth to keep from crying out. Was that really going to happen to me? I didn't want to relive my death over and over. I didn't know who killed me, but I didn't want to give them that power and control.
Why is this happening?
***
The walk back from the shop was quiet. Neither of them knew what to say. Ronin was taken aback by how spooked the owner seemed on the subject. How unwilling she was to talk about it. She had pushed them out pretty fast after that, leaving him with almost as many questions as he had answers.
He looked over to Teagan. Her head was down, her dark hair falling over her face.
I wish I could do something. Reassure her somehow. Surely that stuff can't be true, right? But then, hadn't they gone to her because she was the expert?
Rubbing his eyes, he tried to push the thoughts away. There was no use worrying about it now. Right? What could they do, afterall? The deed was done. Looking around, he saw children laughing with cotton candy, others bobbing for apples, and lines around quickly set up rides and game stands.
"Hey, looks like a small carnival. Wanna go join in?" he asked.
Teagan looked at him, then to where he was pointing. "Seriously? You want to go to a carnival now? After that?"
"Why not? I mean, I think we could use a lift, personally."
She smiled. "Yes, I suppose you're right.”
The carnival was the perfect thing to get their minds off of everything. Ronin watched carefully as she smiled on the rides and laughed watching the kids play the rigged games for cheap prizes. And no matter how much the wind blew, she never seemed to get col
d even though she was only in a dress with no sleeves. She never stopped smiling, and he couldn't seem to look away. He wanted it to last forever.
Night fell too soon and the rides began to close.
"You were right, that was fun," she said, holding onto his arm.
"I'm glad you were able to enjoy yourself."
Her head turned to a group of girls talking a few feet away. "Oh hey, it's Astor and Kori!"
Before Ronin could say anything, she took off toward them. "Wait!"
"I miss them. It's hard with so many of the coven gone now," Astor said.
"I know what you mean. Now that Vanessa is gone too, I just don't know if I want to stay here anymore, ya know?" Kori replied.
"Vanessa left? Where did she go, Astor?" Teagan asked, her brows furrowed.
The red head turned to look at Teagan, her face immediately showing confusion. "I'm sorry, do I know you? Were you friends with Vanessa?"
Teagan took a step back, hands raised.
She forgot, Ronin thought.
She put her hands on top of her head and leaned down some, eyes closed. Her fingers tightened before she snapped straight, glaring at the girl.
"Of course I'm her friend! You're my friend too! Don't you remember? Why do none of you remember?" She grabbed a trash can from nearby, and with a strength that didn't seem to match her size, she picked it up and flung it, nearly hitting the girl in the face. Astor stumbled back, falling on the ground, hard. "It's me! Teagan! I'm Teagan! Teagan, Teagan, Teagan!"
Ronin grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away as she continued to kick and scream at the poor girl on the ground and Kori, coming to help. When they got away from the crowd, Ronin let her go.
"What are you doing?" he asked, voice raised.
"Why did you pull me away? They need to remember me!" she yelled.
"Teagan, I'm sure they do, but, you're gone for them. They don't know what happened." Ronin wanted to reassure her, but the wild look in her eyes made her seem insane, not open to reason.
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 52