Hello Everyone :D
Long time no see...
So here's the dealio... a lot of you guys begged and pleaded for an update, so here it is. I'm updating a whooping 3 CHAPTERS!!!
THAT'S RIGHT I SAID 3 CHAPTERS
Say what? Who's your favorite writer :D
Anyway... like I said, I want to finish this book before end October so that I can enter it into the Watty awards, so... I'll be uploading a lot.
Enjoy all,
Stay safe
Peace, love and Pokemon
Steph ;)
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(Recap)
Shit we were trapped. Finding nowhere to run, we latched on to each other as we watched the shadows near.
So this is it, death by ghost is how I go out for the second time. As they neared, I started to see their hollow faces and glowing eyes, with wide open mouths. Their tattered clothing that clung to their skeletal frames slowly moved as they neared as if a faint wind was blowing.
"Does this happen often to you?" I heard Shaun ask.
"Nope, this is a first."
Then we both screamed as the shadows closed in on us, moving from the sides as well as the ceiling and the only light of the elevator started to flicker as it finally went out.
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Chapter 23
We sunk down to the floor as they neared and I started to feel the damp touch of their outstretched hands. I could smell their putrid breath as it got closer, I shut my eyes tight, to block out the sight of their ghostly faces, so close to mine. This is it, this is the end and for some reason, all I can think about is Ethan not asking me to that stupid dance yet.
We were still screaming with our backs pressed flush against the elevator doors, when there was a ding and then the ground started to move. Both Shaun and I fall backwards losing our balance, we screamed as we fell, still clutching at one another. We hit the ground with a thump, and it seemed like we entered a bright room.
"Are we dead yet? Did they get us?" I asked too afraid to open my eyes.
"Are you two okay?" I opened my eyes at the sound of a friendly concerned elderly voice and looked up into the caring eyes of a grey haired elderly woman.
"Why if it isn't Violet Spenser and Emo boy." I heard a shrill voice say before I could reply or even move and my head snapped towards the sound. Oh please lord let it not be her, anyone but her. When my eyes connected with the owner of that high pitched whine I couldn't help the groan that slipped out of my mouth. Yip I died and gone to hell, so the fall back was the big fall down to hell, and Terry was here with me... the ultimate torture, yes the universe was just that cruel.
Someone cleared their throat and both Shaun and I jumped up and apart. Awkwardly standing and dusting ourselves off. By now I had realized that we weren’t dead, mainly from the freaked out looks we were getting from the people around us and from the fact that I had recognized the hospitals elevator. My foggy mind slowly registered that the woman was still waiting on our response,
" Oh... Er Yes we're fine. We were just…" Shaun trailed as he noticed the other occupants in the elevator along with Terry's triumphant look. Oh shit!
"Hey." I said giving a weak wave at the other occupants, along with an awkward smile. Then turning to Terry I said,
"I can explain." no doubt knowing that she would run straight to Ethan and tell him what would be her take on this situation. I know what it looked like and by the large smile forming on her evil face, she was going to enjoy letting the world know the wrong version of this whole story.
"Explain what Violet? Why would you need to explain anything to me?" She smiled sauntering by towards the hallway. Remembering the ghosts I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the elevator.
"What the?" She shreaked.
"No wait there's…" I trailed as I noticed the lights were brightly burning now. I hesitantly stuck my head out and looked around and everything was back to normal. No shadowy figures reaching out with clawed hands, no ghostly faces with yawning mouths, they were gone.
"What the hell? Where are they?" I whispered. Shaun poked his head out too and looked around and whispered, "They're gone."
"Let me go loser." I immediately let go of her hand and she walked back out of the elevator.
"You two are so weird, you belong together." Then she turned and walked down the hallway.
"Terry about what you saw-"
"See you tomorrow at school." She said cutting off my futile attempt at explaining what just happened and what she thinks she saw.
"Take care kids. You two should stay away from that stuff. Drugs aren't good for you dearies." The older woman said as she patted my and Shaun's cheek and got off as well.
"But we're not-" I didn't get to finish because the elevator's door closed and I sighed as I sagged against the wall. The other occupants which was just a middle aged couple, stayed on the furthest side of the elevator, looking at Shaun and I like we were going to rob them any second now. They mostly stared at Shaun, because he resembled that guy from the Crow. His mascara was streaked down his cheeks, and his eyes were blood shot from all his crying when he and Anna had their last reunion. No wonder that woman thought we were on drugs, I can only imagine what I look like.
I started giggling, then full out laughing. Shaun looked down towards me, with a curious frown slowly turning into a smile,
"What?" He asked as I tried to catch my breath.
"Your mascara… is r-running." Then I burst out laughing even more, Shaun joined in, while we tried to wipe it off. We were laughing hysterically by the time the elevator dinged once again and reached the couples floor.
The doors weren't even fully open when the middle-aged couple ran out, you'd swear the place was on fire and about to crash any second now by the speed at which they left the little cramped compartment.
Then it was just Shaun and I in the cramped elevator. We were leaning on each other holding our stomachs as we laughed. Apart of my brain registered that we were in some kind of shock, and laughing like this was another way of coping with the fact that we sort of had a near death experience or the fact that we saw something unexplainable. I knew that this was far from funny, but I couldn't help it.
"You okay?" Shaun asked me as we settled down and the elevator came to a stop on the ground floor.
We walked out of the elevator and out of the hospital door so fast it was no wonder our shadows weren't left behind.
"Yea I'm fine. I'm never going to a hospital again." I said as I shakily got into my beat up bug and glanced at the seemingly innocent building.
"Me neither." Shaun shivered slightly as he climbed in the passenger's side.
We were quiet for a while when Shaun broke the comfortable silence,
"So… what the hell just happened back there?" Shaun asked turning to me as if I knew all the answers.
"How must I know? One minute I'm sitting there just minding my own business, waiting for you, then the next thing I know, it's the nightmare on Elm Street."
"That was really scary… do you think they'll be coming back?" Shaun asked as he glanced back as if they were following us or something.
"I - I don't know… I don't want to think about it."
"Where they after you? I mean I'm pretty sure ghosts don't just pop out like that whenever they feel like it, and then scare the living shit out of you."
"I hope not. I was hoping that they were passing through and you know… just happened upon us."
"US? You're the one that can see them."
"BUT YOU SAW THEM TOO." I screamed exasperatedly at him.
"Yea but that was some freak accident… like a once in a life time type of event. You, you see them for a living. Day in, day out. They are so totally after you."
"Wow… way to make a girl feel safe Shaun." I mumbled as I slid a ticked off look at him and he just shrugged and said, "I call it how I see it."
I left it at that, I could see us going round and round trying to figure out what just happened, when we both didn't know why they came at us like that but one thing was pretty clear. They were after me, and I will be damned if I let them get me.
I dropped Shaun at school seen as school was still on. When I didn't make any move to get out he leaned in and asked,
"Are you coming?" I glanced at the school building, feeling the need to be somewhere else, someplace else and the need to feel safe. Maybe being around people will make me feel safe even though I don't necessarily want to be here. The last thing I needed was to be alone right now. Maybe I should try and find Ethan and explain all this before Terry alerts the whole school to seeing Shaun and I together at the hospital.
“Yeah, let me just get my bag." I said as I reached behind me and grabbed my bag from the back seat.
Shaun waited as I got out and locked my car. We walked together towards the school, and I was trying to figure out where Ethan might be. Even though class was on, it wasn't a guarantee that he would be in it. He was always busy with something, never around and I was starting to suspect that he was cheating on me. Let’s look at the facts, one, he's never around, two he's always busy and three he hasn't asked me to the dance yet. Then again we are dating and he might just assume that I'll go with him. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, I mean it's not like I-
"Vi?" Shaun said, breaking me out of my internal muttering.
"Mmm..."
"Thank you for taking me to see Anna."
"You're welcome." I smiled at him as we reached my locker so I could put my books away.
"Hey you wanna hang out until class ends?" Class was still in session and we both thought that it was better if we waited it out and got to the next class, instead of pitching up halfway through a lesson with no good reason for being late.
"Sure." I said, closing my locker.
"Great, I'll meet you outside behind the cafeteria. I'm just going to get something from my locker."
"Cool." I walked slowly towards the back, still a little lost in what to do with the whole situation. Should I tell Ethan about my ghost problems or maybe I should handle it myself.
I walked towards the first bench I could see and sat down without looking around, dumping my bag onto the table as I did so.
"You shouldn't be here, you should go home." I turned towards the voice that had come from right beside me and jumped ten feet into the air, banging my knee hard against the table.
"What the hell? Where did you come from?" I asked the girl that had appeared out of nowhere.
"You shouldn't be here... You should go home."
"Do I know you?"
"You don't remember me?"
"You do look familiar, but I can't seem to be able to place you." I said trying hard to remember the familiar face. I know I had seen her from somewhere, but where.
"My name's Missy." She said extending her hand in greeting and without thinking I took it.
Just as I took her hand I realized two things, firstly her damp cold touch meant that she was a ghost and secondly I remembered from where I had seen her.
"It's you, the girl from Ethan's house... Th-the one looking for her pet. But-but...you're a ghost. Why are you here, what were you doing in Ethan's house?" I asked trying to pull my hand back, but she had a tight grip on it.
She pulled me closer so that we were face to face and said, "You should go home, you shouldn't be here." With that she let me go and I immediately took a few steps backwards, away from her.
"Why should I go home, what do you..." I trailed as I realized that my mother and aunt where at home. What if they're attacked by ghosts because of me? They could be in danger right now.
"Violet" I turned and saw Shaun jogging towards me.
"Shaun I have to go.
"Go where?"
"Home."
"Why? Is something wrong? You want me to come with you?" He asked with a concerned look on his face.
"No. I er... after today… I'm heading home. I don't think I want to be around people right now." He nodded and said,
"I understand. I was thinking of heading home too, maybe going for a haircut." He said thoughtfully pulling a black lock of hair that was hanging over his eyes and I smiled at him. I didn’t want him to go with in case it’s a repeat of the hospital. I really didn't want Shaun to be in danger again because of me, especially after what he's been through today.
"Thanks again for what you did Violet. For helping me say good-bye to Anna. I will never forget it. I feel so much… better now that I got a chance to say good-bye, but I know that there will always be a part of me that will miss her. I don't know if I'm saying this right… I'm not making sense."
"You're making sense to me and you're welcome Shaun." I said wanting to get this over and done with so I could go home. Then I remembered something Anna said,
"Oh I almost forgot. Anna said that she left Tedster for you. It's in her room, in her toy chest. She also said that you needed him more than she did."
"But that's… that's impossible. We buried her with that stuffed bear."
"I'm just telling you what she told me." I said half distracted. I needed to leave now, but I didn’t want to raise any suspicions. I glanced at where Missy was and she had of course disappeared.
"So... I need to like get going... So see you around." I said as I half ran, half walked to my car.
"Okay." He said as he walked in the direction I assumed his car was. You could see his mind was someplace else, no doubt trying to figure out how a stuffed toy that was buried six feet under had gotten back into his dead sisters room. I shivered and it wasn't because of the weather… no matter how you look at it or how sweet Anna was, that is just plain creepy.
"Don't be alone Vi." Shaun suddenly called out and I frowned a little.
"I won't. I promise." He nodded his head as if that was good enough for him and turned back around and continued his trek.
I quickly got in and after a few turns of my key and some swearing, the ol' gal started up. I needed to get to my mom, I don't know where this urgency came from, but it was so intense. Maybe Missy had scared me more than I thought, but whatever it was, it was pushing me to get home. I drove through red lights and stop streets, narrowly missing a few cars. I was surprised that I wasn't pulled over by cops or anything like that.
I finally pulled up outside my house, barely putting the car into park as I ran up the three steps to my front door. The minute I opened the door, I felt something was wrong… seriously wrong. I slowly crept up the stairs, not even bothering to close the front door as I went. The house was eerily quiet as I climbed the dark staircase towards my mother's room.
I'm not sure why, but I got this feeling that I shouldn't call out for anyone. Kind of when you're listening out for a drop of a pin or those unwanted footsteps in a supposedly empty house.
As I neared my mother’s bedroom door, my heart beats were thunderous and my breathing grew three times heavier. I touched the handle and it was cold as ice, like it was put into a freezer for a few days but I ignored the burning cold and gripped it tight as I turned the door handle. The paleness of my skin stood out against the mahogany coated wood as I pressed my free hand against the door to push it open.
I could hear faint voices, one was the gasping sounds of my moms and the other was too low to make out the owner, but I could tell it was a male from the baritone sound of his voice.
Taking a deep breathe I pushed open the door.