A Haunted Moment

Chapter Six

The hallways got longer and Ben held me close as we looked to each of the sides of us and saw the dueling brothers counting. After seven they shot and Ben groaned as the bullets struck him, I hissed in pain and we started down one hallway and on the balcony above the dining room, watching the ghosts. A butler looked up at us, "Mistress Gracey. Don't let him catch you in here. You are the key, Carmella." Ben grabbed my arm and we both continued walking on to find my Baba. 

I looked at another painting and gasped, "Baba!" Baba leaned out of the painting and looked around, "Eleanor?" I hurried over and looked up at him, "Baba! Baba, please, you have to help us!" Baba looked at me in shock, "You look just like her, Melly. Melly, Ben. This is all my fault." Ben hurried out, "This dark spirit, who is he?" Baba shook his head, "No one knows his mortal name, but he's not one of us. His power in this realm is beyond control, with many of us forced to do his bidding. Please, you must not let him take the last soul. Melly, Mateo is here. You can not let the dark spirit convince you to take your life. Do not make my mistake. Or we'll all be trapped here forever." A loud thud sounded out and Baba looked frightened, "Wait. He's coming now. Melly, my dear great-granddaughter. Please save us. Leave now!" 

Baba disappeared and Ben held me close to him as the clock chimed and all the ghosts started running away in fear. Ben grabbed a candle and I felt bad for the ghost as we walked towards the window where the spirit was. The ghost in the candle blew out the flame and the dark spirit called out to us, "Ah, Ben...Carmella. Were you looking for me?" Ben set the candle down and started walking backward, pushing me behind him. We both fell to the floor, only to appear in the library and the suit of armor gestured for us to hide under the table. 

We both ducked down and watched as the dark spirit walked into the room, "No reason to be afraid. Now, I know this place is absolutely dripping with the most sorrowful souls, all searching for what eluded them in life. Searching for purpose, too cowardly to do anything about it. But you, Carmella, you have promise. While Ben knows that life has no meaning and that we all end up in dirt. You, my dear, are the last soul I need to rejoin the mortal realm. You and only you are the key." 

Ben crawled out from under the table and I followed him, only to scream as the lantern turned around speaking, "Boo." Ben pushed me behind him as we both started crawling back and the dark spirit continued from the head in the lantern, "If you're willing to help me, Carmella, I can give you what you want." Ben stood up and pulled me up with him, "No!" We both ran through the halls and Ben's grip never loosened on my arm. 

The dark spirit chased after us, "There's no use in running! Suffering is for the weak and I know the way out." I screamed as we both fell through the floor, but stumbled as we landed right on our feet unnaturally. The spirit continued chasing, "We have a deal to make!" A bell started ringing and then gold light grabbed both Ben and me, dragging us into our bodies. "You can get what you want, Carmella...if you're willing," The dark spirit said I was brought back into my body and I started breathing heavily as Ben jumped up and stood right beside me, trying to calm me down.

Ben looked at everyone as I tried to calm down, "We saw him." 

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We sat in the library and Ben started to explain, "This was not a regular ghost. Gracey was terrified. I mean, they all were. All of them wanted Carmella out of the spirit realm and said that they didn't want him to catch her there. That she was the key." Kent didn't sound sure, "Come on, a ghost who haunts other ghosts? That's not fair. Aren't there any rules?" Bruce handed me a cup of hot chocolate, "Did he look human?" 

I shook my head, "Sort of. He walked with a cane and a limp, and he carried his head inside of a hatbox." Kent looked at me with disbelief, "What part of that is 'sort of'?" Bruce looked between Ben and me, "Is there anything else that we can go on to identify this 'Hatbox Ghost'?" Ben thought about it, "The face in the box, it, um...he had this grin. This grin that's just burned into our memories."

Travis looked interested, "What was it like in there? What's your Baba like, Carmel?" I smiled, "For a ghost realm, there was just so much...life. It wasn't even really hard to reverse seance. My Baba, he was so kind. It's like I somehow knew who he was." Kent nodded, "No, I feel like I felt it for a couple of minutes like I was tripping." Ben nodded, "I know, Harriet, I know that you can do that thing, but I think we were just feeling' so raw." 

Harriet sounded upset, "No, no, it's fine. I'm limited." I shook my head, "No, you're not." Harriet shook her head, "It is what it is. My family never believed I had the gift either." Gabbie looked at her, "Do you have any living family?" Harriet nodded, "Three sisters. Bullied me every day of my life." A whisper sounded through the house, "Carmella." I gasped and whispered, "Mateo." I stood up and walked towards the sound, Ben stood up and didn't look happy, "Carmella. You don't know if it's him." 

I waved him off, "It's fine, Ben." Ben shook his head, "I wouldn't trust it. I know you tried to get me to understand when the Hatbox Ghost was impersonating Alyssa, but this is different. You are the last soul for him to get to the mortal realm, you can't just run off to voices!" The whisper sounded again, "Carmella." Kent stood up, "Carmella. You're not alone." Gabbie grabbed my arm, "We are not letting you go." Travis walked over to me, "What was Mateo like?" 

I smiled through my tears, "He was the best. A blessing in disguise is what I would always say. My parents and Grandpa Edward loved him. He was always looking out for people. He was a lawyer and not one of the crooked ones, a lawyer who believed that everyone was innocent so he would dig around to find the truth," I started to cry, "When it was brought up that Gracey Manor was mine by blood, I dug around to find any paperwork I could to prove that I was the heir, I stressed myself out to the point of anger, trying to find the paperwork and when he offered to help. I snapped. I told him that I didn't need his stupid fancy lawyer talk to help find paperwork for a house that belonged to the Gracey family. I told him that if truly wanted to help, then he needed to find the paperwork not just for me, but for our son. He left to come here, to help as much as he could as I continued to work myself to death over a dumb title. After about three hours, I grew concerned. I didn't know if he was still looking or if he left me because I blew up on him. After calling the police about him missing and where he went, I got the phone call that no wife ever wanted to get. He was murdered in the Gracey Manor, the same home that I was heir to. I made him feel like he wasn't part of the Gracey family, even after taking my last name. He died alone in the most horrific way possible and I feel that he died thinking I didn't love him."

Gabbie cupped my cheeks, "Mateo knew that you loved him. I promise you that. He knew how important this was to you." I choked on my tears, "But it shouldn't have been. He was the thing most important to me, I made it about a status in life, but not the life I was living." Travis hugged me as Gabbie did and I cried into her shoulder. Bruce spoke up, "How were arguments with that man? I bet you he could argue with a fencepost and win." 

Gabbie looked horrified, "Bruce!" I laughed through my tears and wiped them away, "He'd argue with you about the sky being blue and you come out thinking it was green." Everyone laughed and Kent smiled, "Look, I don't know if any of us are going to make it out of this alive. It certainly seems like Carmella's a goner, but I'll tell ya, I wouldn't want to be going through this with anyone else."

Bruce pointed between Ben and me, "Wait, you two said the image of his face was burned into your brain." Ben nodded, "Yeah." Bruce smiled, "I have an idea."  Travis shrieked and ran away from the table we were near and I looked over to see a pen writing on a piece of paper. Harriet walked over and picked it up reading it while tearing up, "Dear Melly. Don't ever tell yourself that I don't love you. I loved you then. I love you now. And I'll love you even after I am at peace. Please move on from me, do not hold on, and be happy. Do not succumb to his tricks. Love, Mateo." 

Gabbie sniffled, "That's so sweet."