Sammi and Sam's Supernatural Adventures

Haunted

Have you ever watched a scary movie and thought to yourself 'yeah, like that could ever happen in real life'? Most of the time, those stories are just made up by the writers to scare the crap out of you. Being in a family that deals with supernatural and unusual circumstances, however, you see things like that constantly. And most of those things are actually ten times worse than they are portrayed in the movies. On Halloween that year, my big brother and I literally lived a horror movie when we had a run in with a couple of ghosts. The day started out like any other, with the boys going out looking for a hunt and Dad sticking behind this time to help Marissa with my babies. Declan and I were staying in, watching movies, playing video games, and just enjoying some quality time together. After lunch, we thought it might be fun to look through some of the old photos Nana had kept of the family. "Oh my God, look at the outfits," Declan laughed. "What were Mom and Dad thinking?" "Back in those days, no one cared what they looked like," I said. "These days, you can't even wear jewelry without someone having an opinion about it." "And the hair?" Declan asked. "How do you explain that one?" "I can't," I admitted. "Oh man, look at Dad's hair." We shared a laugh before Declan asked, "Have you talked to Scar lately?" "I talked to her shortly after Catelyn was born," I told him. She mentioned something about possibly coming to visit for Thanksgiving." "Seriously?" Declan was excited. "That would be so great!" "It really would," I agreed. "I mean, when was the last time we got to see her and Drew anyway?" "I honestly can't remember," Declan said. "Is that all she said?" "Other than the fact that she misses us, you mean?" I smiled. "She mentioned she had some exciting news to share with us." "Maybe she decided to move closer to the rest of the family," Declan said. "Maybe," I said. "But I'm thinking she is finally starting a family." "So you're saying you think she's pregnant?" Declan asked. "Ok, maybe not thinking as much as I already know," I laughed. "She told me two months ago, but I was supposed to keep it a secret." "Well you did very well keeping it that way until today," Declan smiled. "When is she due??" "She told me she was about 3 months along at the time," I said. "That was two months ago, which would make her about 5 months now, so I'd say sometime in February." "This is so exciting!" Declan exclaimed. "We can't tell anyone else, can we?" "No," I made him promise. "That's why she's coming for Thanksgiving. To surprise everyone." Declan shook his head in agreement and that's when we heard a strange noise coming from his bedroom. "Did you hear that?" I asked. "I did," he said. "What do you think it was??" "I don't know, but I'm about to find out," I said. I grabbed my gun out of the side table and slowly made my way toward the bedroom. Gun drawn, I pushed the door open and peeked around the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Shrugging my shoulders, I turned around to walk back to join my brother and that's when I saw them. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. "What's wrong, sis?" Declan asked. "Ghosts," I said. "What?" he asked, looking around to see what I was talking about. "Two of them," I explained. "Wearing uniforms. Military." Declan looked again and this time he saw them too. "Shawn? Brett?" he was in disbelief. "Friends of yours, I assume?" I said. "They were in my unit," he explained. "We were in hiding during a fire fight and a grenade found its way into the hole. I helped them out of the hole, but there was another grenade in our safe area that we didn't know about. I had left to help the rest of our unit. I didn't know they were dead until I finished checking for survivors." "It wasn't your fault," I assured him. "I shouldn't have left them," Declan said. "But you had a duty to your entire squad, did you not?" I asked. "Of course I did," he said. He turned to the ghosts and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried to save everyone, I really did." The ghosts didn't say anything, didn't try to harm either of us, just stayed where they were and stared at Declan. "Do you have anything that belongs to either one of them?" I asked. "Unfortunately, if you do, we'll have to burn it. That's the only way you're going to get rid of them." "I have their dog tags," he told me. "Do I really have to get rid of them, though? It's the only memorabilia I have of them." "You have photos, don't you?" I asked. "And plenty of stories, I'm sure." Declan looked at his ghosts, who nodded and smiled, letting him know it was ok to let go. Declan went to his room for a few moments and returned with the dog tags in hand. I grabbed a metal garbage can and motioned for him to throw the tags in. He took one more look at his boys, tossed the dog tags in the can, and watched as I poured some lighter fluid in before striking a match and tossing it in with the tags. I saw a tear roll down my brothers face as his friends disappeared from view. I couldn't imagine how he was feeling at that moment, having to watch his friends "die" again. To take his mind off what he'd just witnessed, I asked if he wanted to go out for a walk. "I think some fresh air would really do me good right now," he agreed with a little smile. To this day, Declan cannot speak about this incident without getting just a little choked up, but at least he knows his friends are at peace and that they didn't blame him for what happened. If that were me, I know I would sleep better at night....