"Jonathan how many times have I told you not to go out without telling me, you had me worried sick," Jonathan's mother said as Jonathan came in the back door of the house. Although it wouldn't really be called a house, if you saw it you would probably call it a mansion rather than a house. Jonathan and his parents were very rich and they owned a huge corporation that had places all over the world.
"Sorry, I was just out visiting with Maria our neighbour," Jonathan told his mother as he took off his jacket and removed his boots.
"Maybe you should invite her to come over sometime," Jonathan's mother said as she walked towards the living room.
"I don't know about that, I think that she may think differently about me after I show her the house," Jonathan replied hanging his head.
"Good way or bad way?" Jonathan's mother asked as she sat down and started on her needle work.
"Bad way," Jonathan replied before heading upstairs to his room.
Even though Jonathan was only five years old, he was much smarter than a lot of the other kids his age and maybe smarter than people who were a little older than he was. Maria was also five years old and she was just about as smart as Jonathan, but her parents didn't have a lot of money so she couldn't do a lot of things that she wanted to do. But Maria didn't mind as long as she had her parents and a couple of good friends she could be happy.
Maria had known there was something different about Jonathan because of the way he dressed and the way he talked. She knew that he was probably rich but that didn't change her feelings about him, he was still her best friend. She had invited him to come to her birthday party which was in a couple of days, and he had said he would. She was really happy and could barely contain herself when she got home.
Jonathan was nervous about going to Maria's birthday party because he had never been invited to a party by someone his own age before, let alone by a girl that was his age. So when the party day came Jonathan had cut through the woods like he normally does and makes it to Maria's house right on time. Maria greeted him at the door and gave him a hug before letting him come inside.
It wasn't the first time Jonathan had been in Maria's house but today the house looked so different. It looked so much livelier then it normally did. There were a couple other kids there and Maria's parents but that was it. Jonathan thought that since he was used to his parents parties he was expecting more people. He enjoyed having only a few people at a party it was much less confusing that way. There was cake, some games and then presents. After that people started to leave until there was just Jonathan and Maria left.
Jonathan caught a glimpse of the clock and said that he had to go home. Maria's parents offered to drive but Jonathan declined and said that he knew a faster way home. Jonathan waved goodbye as he disappeared in to the forest and headed for home. But Jonathan never made it home...
...12 years later...
"Hey Johnny are you going to try-out for football again next year?" Mark asked as Johnny and the rest of the football team came down the hall.
"You know it Mark, you going on the Rugby team?" Johnny asked.
"Definitely," Mark said high-fiving Johnny.
"Hey Johnny don't look now but I think the new student is checking you out," Samuel told Johnny. Johnny looked to where Samuel was looking and sure enough a girl that he'd never seen before was watching him. But she looked vaguely familiar and he tried to place it, when he locked eyes with her.
Johnny could feel like something was trying to click in to place in his mind but then she looked away and he lost the connection. He felt cold after, like someone had just dumped ice down his back. One of the guys patted his shoulder and he came back in to focus.
"Hey are you okay?" James asked. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
"Yeah but who is she?" Johnny asked staring after the girl.
"I think her name is Maria or something like that," Mark replied watching him carefully. Johnny nodded then went off to his last class, which he just found out as soon as he walked in, that he had with the new student Maria.
Johnny took the only seat available which was the one right beside her. She didn't even seem to notice his presence. He was confused because pretty much all the women at the school noticed him, even the teachers. He was about to say something, when she looked him in the eyes. Then he felt it again, the strange connection that his brain was trying to make with her eyes.
"Do I know you?" Johnny asked stupidly. He knew he probably should've just stayed quiet but the urge to ask was just too strong for him to stop. She just looked him over then went back to looking at his eyes. It seemed that she was trying to figure that out too.
"Maybe," Maria started but didn't finish because the bell rang for class to start. At the end of school Maria pulled Johnny aside before his friends found him so she could explain.
Maria knew who he was, had known who he was since the time in the hallway but she didn't know how to explain it to him. She didn't know how to explain that he's the boy who went missing 12 years ago after her birthday party. Or that he was supposed to inherit his family fortune and the entire corporation that his parents had put their lives into. So Maria started with something completely off topic.
"Have you ever had any weird dreams that seem so real you have to check to make sure they didn't happen?" Maria asked Johnny. At first he looked confused then wary.
"Yeah, I had this one dream where I was walking through a forest and, well, you don't need to hear it," Johnny replied shrugging it off.
"But I may be able to help you remember something if you tell me it," Maria told Johnny. "Have you ever had the feeling like your trying to remember something but it just won't click together?"
Johnny nodded, and Maria gestured for him to continue telling about his dream.
"Alright but I don't see how this will help me," Johnny said and continued on with his story. "As I was walking through the forest I kept hearing this weird sound coming from behind me, but whenever I turned around no one was there. Then I started running and I tripped over something and hit my head off a rock or something that was really hard. Then I wake up and my head is pounding along with my heart and I'm in a bed."
Maria had turned white and Johnny didn't know why, it was just some weird dream. Maria reached up and touched the scar on his head that only Johnny's parents and he knew existed. Johnny was about to swat her hand away when she moved her hand down to just below his collar bone. He had a birthmark there it almost looked like a scar but his parents had told him otherwise.
"I remember this," Maria said smiling. "You were being a real show off that day, Jonathan. You slipped down the side of the river while you were trying to do a front flip into the water."
He stiffened because he had a dream about that too but he hadn't thought it'd been real. Maria saw the change and took a step back.
"Sorry guess I got a bit carried away," Maria rambled. "It's just been so long since I've seen you, and I felt so guilty when you didn't get home that night. Your parents, your real parents they blamed me for everything. They thought you were dead and for a while so did I, but something just didn't add up and...I'm rambling aren't I?"
"You know who I am?" Johnny asked confused and overwhelmed. Maria nodded not trusting herself to speak. Johnny leaned back so that he was leaning on the wall, shutting his eyes to try to focus. But this one picture of this little girl kept popping into his head. He opened his eyes and saw the little girl standing in front of him but she had matured and grown in more ways than one.
She looked wary, afraid and hopeful but to anyone else it would've probably looked like a neutral expression. But I knew her better and could see the differences that showed her true emotion. Johnny smiled and stopped leaning against the wall.
"You were my neighbour, Maria," Johnny clarified. Maria nodded and caught sight of something and froze. Johnny was about to look but Maria pulled him into the shadows.
"What's going on?" Johnny asked.
"Those are your 'parents' right?" Maria asked in a whispery voice and nodded to the two people in the hallway, Johnny nodded confused. "Those are the people who kidnapped you 12 years ago." Johnny's face changed from anger to stun and then back to anger again.
"What happened to my parents?" Johnny asked through clenched teeth. Maria shied away from Johnny, avoiding his gaze. She did not like people when they were mad, they had a bad tendency to hit things. Maria knew from experience because of her step-father's drinking habits. Johnny noticed that Maria was shying away from him, but he didn't understand why.
"Hey are you okay?" Johnny asked reaching out to Maria but she shied away from his hand. Johnny jumped to the conclusion that Maria had been 'touched' by someone else. Which made him angry but he'd only just met her today, how could he have such strong emotions towards Maria?
"Come I will take you to your house," Maria said regaining her confidence. She walked away not looking back to see if Johnny was following because she knew he would. She had left just enough out to make him curious enough to follow her. She told him that the house wasn't too far away, so they could walk to the house from the school. Maria led the way sticking to the edge of the forest in case Johnny's adoptive parents came driving by, they could jump into the forest and hide.
But they never came; in fact no cars came down that road the entire time Maria and Johnny were walking. Maria told Johnny what had happened to his parents after he disappeared. None of it was pleasant to tell him but it needed to be done. 2 years after Johnny went missing the police found some evidence that made them think he was dead. When the police had told his mother what they think happened, his mother became very ill and eventually died out of grief.
Not before blaming Maria and her family for the death of her only son and heir to the company. Eventually the news of the two deaths reached his father who was coming home that night on a train. His father fell into a great depression but didn't die. As far as Maria knew he was still alive but he never returned to the house where his wife had died. After about half an hour of walking they reached the house and it looked like no one had been there in years, not even people to up keep it.
Maria and Johnny reached the gate to the property and opened it with a bit of effort because the hinges were rusted. Johnny walked on to the property and looked around. He recognized this place and felt a certain homey feeling when he walked across the lawn. He turned around trying to find Maria. He found her still at the gate not bothering to come forward.
"Come on I've always wanted to show you around my house since I was little and besides I'm starting to remember things," Johnny said to Maria as he came toward her. He held out his hand to her and, even though she knew it was a mistake, she took his hand and he pulled her on to the property. Maria thought that she would feel his mother's curse as soon as she stepped on to the property, but Maria didn't so she relaxed a bit and went with Johnny to the house.
Johnny gave Maria the grand tour of his house showing her every room and doing a bit of explaining about each in turn. Johnny started to remember more and more about how his life used to be. When he reached the end of the tour he was starting to wonder if he would ever see his father again. Maria saw that he was getting a bit side tracked.
"What's wrong, Jonathan?" Maria asked coming to stand beside him.
"I was just wondering about something that's all," Johnny answered evading the question. Maria gestured for him to continue and so he explained what he was wondering about.
When he finished Maria asked, "Why don't you call him then?"
Johnny hadn't really thought about that, but if he did call what would he say? Johnny doubted he could just come out and say that he was his son. No that would seem too rash. He would have to think of another way to contact him.
"Umm...Maria, do you mind staying with me while I sort this out?" Johnny asked as they came back to the living room.
"Sure, anything for an old friend," Maria replied smiling a little. Actually Maria wanted nothing more then to get out of there, but she couldn't turn him down when he was like this.
"Well then allow me to show you to your room," Johnny said holding out his arm in an old fashioned gesture. Maria grabbed his arm and he showed her to where she could sleep while they were here. To Maria's relief he showed her to the guest bedroom instead of his mother's bedroom.
There were some canned foods in the kitchen that were still edible. So Maria cooked up some for dinner but she would have to go shopping later for better foods. They ate their food in a respective silence then set about cleaning up the house. In the midst of cleaning there was a knock at the door. Johnny and Maria looked at each other, Maria had told him no one comes up here anymore and she had thought that she was right. But apparently Johnny's father still sent people to check on the house from time to time.
Maria gestured to Johnny to go get the door. Johnny put down the duster and went to go answer the door. When Johnny opened the door there was an older man on the other side, who seemed very startled to have someone actually answer the door. The man stared at Johnny trying to figure out why he was so familiar. Johnny looked at the man with the same scrutiny trying to pinpoint where he saw his face before.
"Hello Gregory," Maria said coming up from behind Johnny, scaring both Johnny and Gregory.
"Maria, what are you doing here?" Gregory asked looking very confused.
"Helping Jonathan with his memories," Maria replied smiling.
"You mean to say that this is the Jonathan," Gregory asked stunned, "the same Jonathan that disappeared 12 years ago?"
"The one and only," Maria replied ducking back into the house with a smile on her face.
"Oh my, what a glorious day this is!" Gregory exclaimed. "The son has returned and after so many years too. Boy you must tell were you have been for so many years. But first I must tell your father that you are alive. Oh he will be so happy, so very happy!"
With that Gregory left and he didn't even let Johnny get a word in. Slightly confused Johnny closed the door and went back to cleaning with Maria. Only later that night when he was in bed did he understand fully what had just happened to him. His father was coming to see him; he was finally going to see his father after 12 years of living with kidnappers. He was so happy he was surprised that he slept at all that night.
For the next couple days Johnny and Maria cleaned up the house and restocked the kitchen. Waiting for the arrival of his father or some kind of sign that would tell Johnny there was still hope. On the fourth day the phone rang and Johnny went to pick it up. On the line was Gregory calling to tell Johnny that his father would be there in about four days to see him. Johnny thanked Gregory and hung up. He went to the kitchen to tell Maria the good news but she wasn't there. She was usually up and cooking in the kitchen before he was.
Johnny went up to the room where Maria was staying to see if she was there or not. He knocked on the door but he didn't hear anything on the other side. He opened the door and looked inside. Maria was still in bed, fast asleep. Johnny walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder, but she didn't wake. Johnny immediately knew that something wasn't right. He touched her forehead and it felt warm to the touch, unnaturally warm.
Johnny went to the bathroom and soaked a facecloth in cold water. He brought it back out and sat down beside Maria, carefully dabbing her face with the cloth. Maria woke up a little after Johnny started dabbing her face. At first her eyes just opened in slits, and slowly they opened enough for Maria to see who was dabbing her face.
"Hey are you alright?" Johnny asked noticing that she had started moving around.
"I don't know, what happened?" Maria asked.
"You were late getting out of bed, and when I found you, you had a fever and you were still asleep," Johnny explained. Maria closed her eyes and thought about what this meant. Yeah, she hadn't felt well the last couple days but she hadn't really thought much of it. The first thing that came to mind was the threat that Johnny's mother made to Maria and her family. But it was just a threat nothing more right?
"Hey what are you thinking about?" Johnny asked gently touching Maria's face.
"It's nothing just something your mother said," Maria replied evading the question. Johnny just looked at her then went back to dabbing her face. He didn't feel the need to push her anymore, if she wanted to tell him she would. Maria was thinking about how she was supposed to explain what Johnny's mother had said to her. If she did tell him the curse would catch up quicker. Maria couldn't think of an excuse so she thought that it would be better if she just told him the truth.
"Johnny when you went missing your mother cursed my family and she cursed me to never again set foot on this property," Maria said, she could already tell that she was getting worse. "First my father died of an unknown illness, then my little brother died in birth and my mother became and alcoholic. When my mother remarried she married to an abusive man who liked me too much. Now I'm dying of something that I don't know what it is..."
Johnny didn't know what to say, he was stunned. First of all he couldn't believe that his mother would say anything mean to anyone let alone Maria. Second of all, this story sounded completely ridiculous but then again his gut said that she was telling the truth. He stayed silent a little too long and Maria's condition started to worsen. She started to cough and gasp for air. Johnny held Maria close as she went through her coughing fit. He didn't know what to do so he just rubbed her back. Everything was so confusing.
When Maria finally calmed down enough to talk Johnny asked, "Is there any way to stop this?"
"I don't think so," Maria whispered as she panted. "But there is one thing you could try. You could try going to talk to your mother at her grave it might calm her down a little."
"But what am I supposed say?" Johnny asked still holding Maria close to him. He wanted to hold her for as long as he could, he wanted to stay by her side no matter what.
"Just explain things to her," Maria replied. She sounded so weak even to her own ears. She hated feeling weak but that's what comes with being sick like this.
"Even if I wanted to explain things I don't know where her grave is," Johnny protested. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving her behind.
"Yes you do," Maria commented. "Please it may be the only way to save me, please go."
Johnny held her tighter for a moment then let her go so that she was facing him. He's face was very serious when he said; "Don't you dare die on me."
Maria gave her best effort at a smile, and then regretted it. It was so painful to move but she wouldn't dare show Johnny how much pain she was really in. Johnny ran down the stairs and out of the house to search for his mother's grave. He had no idea where it could be, he hadn't been there in years. But he did have a suspicion.
Johnny remembered a story that his parents used to tell him when he still lived at this old house. It was about an old graveyard that was out in the woods. His mother called it the family gathering as a joke. But it was really where every member of his family had been buried over many generations. He had only ever been there once and was desperately trying to remember where it was so that he could save Maria from his mother's ghost.
Johnny had always really liked Maria, so he didn't understand why his mother would want to have harm befall her and her family. He was actually start to not like his mother but at the same time he also understood where she was coming from. You would want to put the blame somewhere, and since she didn't know who the actual culprits were she had put it on the last people to see Johnny alive.
Johnny ran through the forest as fast as he could, going with blind memory to the grave site. But there seemed to be something that he was forgetting. It stumped him as to what it could be. That's when he came to the edge. He barely had enough time to stop before the edge of the cliff was five inches from his feet. He looked out over the cliff and saw the graveyard, but that wasn't all that he had seen. At the very bottom of the cliff was a woman who looked a lot like Maria. But Maria was back in the house, wasn't she?
Terrified, Johnny quickly climbed down the steep cliff to see who the girl was and if she was still alive. As soon as he touched the girl he knew that she was dead. But he flipped her over anyway to see if it was Maria. To his absolute astonishment it was Maria and it looked like she had been dead for four days. Her neck was all displaced and she had a huge gaping hole on her forehead, but the blood was completely dry. It looked like she might've fallen from the cliff. Then who was the person that was in the house with Johnny for the past couple days if Maria had been dead?
"I'm sorry, I tried to tell you about the curse earlier but it wouldn't have mattered either way," a female voice said from behind Johnny. He whirled around and stared at the very same Maria that was on the ground beside him, just without the wounds. He just stared at her, mouth agape. Maria wasn't standing on the ground. She was floating about a good foot off of the ground. He had been with Maria's ghost since after the first day at the house.
"NO! NO! NO!" Johnny screamed in agony as he glanced between her body and her ghost. "You can't be dead! I wanted to be with you! Why did this have to happen to you?"
"What are you talking about?" Maria asked confused, and then point just behind Johnny. "You're dead too."
Johnny looked behind himself and noticed that he actually hadn't been able to stop himself from fall off of that cliff. Now he looked just like Maria's body, except his body was still breathing. But it was just staring at nothing.
"Let's get out of here," Maria said as smiled down at Johnny. Johnny hesitantly took her hand and a little area of light opened up in the forest. They walked towards the light together, hand in hand, and disappeared. Johnny thought that it was rather strange because, just before he disappeared into the light, he could've sworn that he had heard his mother calling him from the opposite direction. Calling him towards the darkness.