Ghosts, Ghouls, and High School Fools

Ghosts, Ghouls, and High School Fools [12]

The curtains of my hospital room window flutter gently as a soft breeze escapes. I had made my nurse open it. I want fresh air. I hate hospitals.

I was rushed to surgery when my parents got me here. I had passed out, but woke up once the doctors started to prod around my midsection.

I was lucky. None of my organs were damaged, just a few small scrapes that didn't even need stitches. The gaping hole in my stomach needed them, though. I now have about five inches worth of stitches across my belly button. I don't think my belly button will look normal ever again.

I sigh and close my eyes, enjoying the slight breeze on my face. Then, I get a chill.

I go to jolt up, recognizing that chill to be the supernatural kind, but a hand stops me. It pushes my shoulder back down, and I quit resisting.

"You need to rest," Lazarus looks down at me.

"How'd you get here?" I whisper, "Aren't you attached to the house?" Ghosts are usually attached to the one thing keeping them on Earth, unless of course they choose to be stuck in purgatory. Then they can wander.

"Not anymore," he sits on the edge of the bed. I barely feel his weight. "I'm attached to you now."

"Me?" I furrow my brow, attempting to prop my pillows up so I can look at him. He helps me, pulling them and settling my shoulders.

"You saved me."

There's that statement again.

"I really don't understand how I saved you."

"You cleansed me." He looks at my confused face, "The fire."

"The fire?"

"Yes. Don't you know what that fire is?"

"Err," I bite my lip, "Does it have something to do with priestesses?"

"It has everything to do with priestesses," he cracks a smile, "That fire, it's not a normal kind of fire."

"I figured, I mean, it's green."

"It's only green for you. Every priestess' fire is different."

"But what's it do? The only things I've managed to do with it is scare people and keep people from grabbing me by the neck."

"That's it?" he says in an urging voice.

I furrow my brows again. Well...there was one time it wasn't used in defense...

"Once, I was sucked into the past by a witch. I somehow used it against a possessed man," I didn't feel like going into an explanation about Joanthon, his mother, Vikter, etc.

"You helped seal him away, yes?"

"Yeah," I answer, surprised, "How'd you know?"

"This town's cursed past isn't a secret to the spirits residing in it," he looks me straight in the eyes, "We know about Vikter and we know of your role in this story."

"Story? This isn't a story," I frowned, my voice rising in volume, "This is my life!"

"Whether you want it or not, you are the deciding factor in this. It's up to you," he rests a reassuring hand on my face.

"But I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. Stop Vikter, yeah, I get that, but the how-to-do-it part has me stumped," I grab at my hair.

He gently unravels my fingers from my hair, "The fire is the key. With flames from Hell doth shining bright, ye priestess striketh black hearts with fright. Thy fire doth banish the dark in the light. Thy fire holds the power of true love's might."

Before I can even spiel about the lameness of his stupid cryptic poem, Lazarus vanishes.

I hate puzzles.

Obviously, my green fire is what it's talking about. Flames from Hell...? Does that mean I can call upon the fire of Hell?! That has a I-shall-rule-the-world ring to it. Moving on.

Ye priestess striketh black hearts with fright.

Okay, priestess. That's easy; that's me. Black hearts. I'm thinking that means demon. Demons often have black hearts. Striketh fear. I think I've already done that. Vikter looked pretty peeved by my pillars of fire, thus he felt the need to stab me.

Thy fire doth banish the dark in the light.

So, the fire somehow banishes darkness. But what does it mean by banish? Banish as in the literal definition of 'to expel from or relegate to a country or place by authoritative decree' or some other symbolic meaning? Seeing as I'm a teenager and don't have that much authority, I'm thinking the latter.

Banish could mean to remove, to get rid of, to...to destroy even? So, with my fire, I'm getting rid of darkness. But is it literally darkness or symbolic darkness?

I really hate symbolism sometimes.

Darkness could mean ignorance, night, negativity, evil-

Ah. Evil. And light...well, that often means good, so I'm removing the evil in something good.

That makes sense to me.

Thy fire holds the power of true love's might.

Ew. I don't like this sentence. It sounds like it's going to mean something mushy, I mean, the phrase 'true love' is in it.

I really hope it isn't saying what I think it's saying, which is that love (true love, at that) fuels my green fire. Does that mean that if I find my true love, I get stronger?

Vikter's stronger than me at this moment, so I guess I need to find my true love. But, this isn't Disney! How am I supposed to know if I even have a true love?