The Hauntings

Chapter 14

"Scar! Wow!" Elizabeth exclaims in awe after Francis zaps out. 

"We need lilies." Scar declares frazzled. 

"What why?" 

"Because they are white and delicate, which symbolizes pureness and light everything the supernatural isn't. I read somewhere they keep out the monsters. So we need lilies hurry up." Scarlett rambles, grabbing the keys to the door, leading into Elizabeth's expansive garden.

"It's the middle of autumn Scar, lilies don't grow, dude." Elizabeth follows behind, not bothering to slip on a jacket nor swap her slippers for boots.

"You have a greenhouse Liz, in this ginormous garden, which has flowers growing in them, once again demonstrating you don't use house well enough.." Scarlett  runs out the door, shouting behind her.

Elizabeth rolls her eyes, leave it up to Scarlett to know more about her home, than she does.

Both the women enter, the so called green house, which is almost like a garden centre in itself, the soft flowery scents tingle their noses and the overwhelming, sticky heat wraps around them.

Scarlett leads the way, around the humid building, spotting, white, pink and lilac lilies blossoming on a ledge and she grabs the sheers laying nearby, to cut the stems. Elizabeth following suit, to help her friend.

"You know Scar, what he said was really weird, right? He talks like he knows your mother really well." Elizabeth says, her sheers gnawing  at a stiff branch

"Yes. I know." Scarlett replies simply, pilling lilies in a nearby empty bucket.

"You know, how you wanted to find someone, who knew your mother, well who would have thought it would be some creepy, paranormal Collector guy? How do you think your mother knew him? Did she have the sight like you do?" Elizabeth persists, finally yanking the lily stem loose.

"Yeah tell me about it. But it really pissing me off, that he keeps talking about my mother, like that and he won't tell me why he knows her, either. Gran said mum was a hunter but she never lets me touch any weapons or teach me how to fight because she doesn't want me to turn into her." Scarlett quietly murmurs. 

"Maybe she hurt him. But his hate is not normal, like a grunge but spreading deeper. It's like it's rawer if that makes sense, that if she was alive today he would go in for the kill but obviously stretch it out to give her more pain, first." Elizabeth stops what she is doing and spins to face Scarlett, explaining her intuition. 

"Yeah, whatever she did to him, really bothered him. His tragedy is not dying." Scarlett shrugs.

"He must have been involved with her a lot, say have some sort of a relationship. You can't have hate like that, remember what they say, you can only have hate unless you have love first." Elizabeth, now totally abandoning her task, sliding her shears at the side, she ponders aloud about Francis's  mysterious past. 

"Hah! No my mother was a hunter. Why the hell would she have a relationship with something that she slaughters for a living? That can't be right." Scarlett shakes her head, adamantly, laughing dryly. 

"But don't you think it's strange that the Collector, that's come to collect my soul, has a connection to you as well?" Elizabeth pushes.  

Scarlett stalls at Elizabeth's epiphany. She is right, this is no coincidence. The lilies in her hand flop heavily to her side, as well the gardening sheers, thumping on the floor. Mind-numbing thoughts convulse in Scarlett's head.

The Trickster, is not normal, he is definitely up to something other than no good but something dangerous. They never play with two people at once, they are too dumb for that. Neither do Tricksters ever reveal themselves, to their victims because they could get into serious trouble.  This one though, has something on them to risk something like that. Perhaps he has nothing to loose. Maybe Elizabeth is right, her mother had done something to him before she passed away. Something so brutal and evil that all he can think of, is revenge.