"He's coming!"
Suzanne glanced up from her tablet to see an excited looking Yvonne Long squealing like a little girl.
"Good, then you'd better give me the lottery numbers," Suzanne stuck her tongue out at the ghost.
"Alright, listen carefully. I'll only say this once. 32-8-56-17-9-94."
Suzanne smiled. "Got it," she said as she quickly typed the numbers into her tablet. By was she going to go on a shopping spree after all this was over.
"So, how did he take it?" she asked, curious how a Quantum Physics professor would react to all this.
"He's still sceptical, I don't think he believes in spirits yet. But he knows I passed away just recently. My poor boy cried in his bathroom last night," the ghost sighed, looking sad. "I couldn't even comfort him. I'm a horrible mother."
An image of a naked Tom began to form in Suzanne's mind. She quickly brushed it off.
Suzanne smiled awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say to the ghost. But a part of her understood how Tom Banks felt. Her mother had abandoned her when she was just 9.
Sometimes she wondered what life would have been like if her mother had not feared her powers so much. Unlike the rest of the family, her mother was the only one who could not communicate with spirits. She had tried to raise little Suzanne to be 'normal' but when her abilities manifested, her mother could not accept it and finally took off. She never saw her since.
Suzanne cleared her throat, "It took him 2 days, that's not too bad."
Yvonne Long tried to flick the leaves of Suzanne's potted plant that was placed right next to the window. Her fingers went through them. Yvonne cocked her shimmery head.
"Miss Summers, I have a question for you."
Suzanne closed her tablet, crossed her arms at the table and leaned back against her leather black armchair.
"Fire away."
"How is it that I can sit and walk on objects, but my hand goes right through people and plants?"
Suzanne smiled. This was a question many ghosts had asked her.
"Well, objects are non-living things. While humans, animals, and plants have a lifeforce. And the greater power that made all these decided that spirits, such as you should only be able to touch non-living objects. If you try hard enough, you can grab hold of my pen. Here, give it a try."
Suzanne offered her ballpoint pen to Yvonne. And just as Yvonne was about to try and take it, the doorbell rang. She squealed. "That's him! That's my son! He's here!"
To her surprise, Suzanne found herself smoothening her hair. She had just had it washed this morning and was wearing her curls loose. They hung slightly below her shoulders, framing her thick-rimmed glasses and oval face. She pushed her glasses back, wishing again that she had gone for her eye surgery years back. These glasses kept dropping! She didn't want to look like a total klutz in front of a hot professor.
Hot professor? No no no, Suzanne. This is purely business. She reminded herself as she headed towards the door.
Suzanne opened the door and in front of her stood a dishevelled looking Tom Banks. He had bags under his eyes and stubbles of hair were seen growing underneath his chin.
He still looks hot. Suzanne wanted to smack herself in her head.
"Come in," she said, gesturing for Tom to follow her into her office.
Her office was located right in the living room of her double bedroom penthouse. The place was not very large for a penthouse, but it was airy, with tons of glass walls to let natural light in. And her living room was mod, with a simple white desk, a black swivel chair and a plush white armchair that was placed on a round black jute rug. Ample sunlight shone in from the glass windows, giving the living room a soft warm glow. A single 5' potted plant was placed next to the window in front of her desk.
"Would you like some tea? Earl Grey perhaps?" she offered and proceeded to make one for herself.
Tom plunked himself down on her armchair, looking like a man who desperately needed therapy.
"She died just recently," he said simply. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "Why did you have to let me know?"
Suzanne decided to make two cups instead. Yvonne sat herself down next to Tom and tried to stroke his hair. Tom went to scratch his head.
"Yvonne wanted to tell you who you really are," Suzanne explained. She sat in her swivel chair and pulled herself right next to Tom, offering him a cup of tea. She nudged at him and he opened his bloodshot eyes. The man's eyes were puffy from crying.
"I wish I hadn't known. I told myself that she was a wonderful mother who died giving me life. And now you're telling me she was alive. Why didn't she look for me?" he sat up, eyebrows furrowed.
"He's a sensitive one, this son of mine," Yvonne smiled awkwardly, embarrassed that a grown woman was seeing her son at his most vulnerable stage.
Suzanne leaned over, placed the cup of tea in his hands, and gently soothed his shoulder. They were surprisingly broad and firm. She cocked her head and looked at him in his eye, "Tom, do you want to see your mom? She's here with us. She has all the answers you seek."
For a moment, his eyes flashed of annoyance. He took a sip of her tea and mumbled, "There are no ghosts."
"Then why did you come here?" Suzanne grinned. She couldn't wait to see his reaction when she proved all his years of studying physics to be wrong.
He threw his hands up in the air, "I don't know. To see you I guess."
To see me? Okaaaay, let's not overreact here. He's obviously here to see you about his mother. Like D-U-H.
Suzanne sat back and held out her hand, "Can you give me the vial?"
Tom sighed in exasperation and pulled out the vial from his pocket. He handed the vial over to Suzanne. She gently took it, stood up, and walked over to her bookshelf which was placed right behind her desk. From there, Suzanne pulled out her red toolbox and opened it. Out came a small piece of rectangular yellow paper. On the paper were strange symbols in red. It looked suspiciously like a talisman. Tom had only seen them in movies.
With a bite, Suzanne pricked her thumb and dripped a single drop of blood onto the paper before throwing it up in the air. She immediately followed the action by clasping her hands together forming a series of 3 different signs and the piece of paper exploded into fine golden dust.
Tom could only sit there dumbfounded with his mouth agape.
As the dust started to settle onto the ground, Suzanne swirled her hands, creating a miniature typhoon within the office, lifting the golden dust and manipulating the dust to settle on all the glass windows and doors surrounding them. The golden dust then weaved itself into an endless barrier of glowing golden thread, seemingly to protect both Suzanne and Tom from anyone who would try to enter the room.
"Whoa... you have aerokinesis?!" Tom stood up, not sure whether to marvel at the glowing thread or to freak out.
Suzanne laughed, "I wish. But no, this is to stop intruders from interrupting what you're about to see."
"Intruders?"
And before Tom could implore more, Suzanne popped the vial, marched over to where a confused Tom was standing and pried open his mouth. Down went the glowing liquid.
Tom choked and gasped for air, crumpling onto the ground and gasping, body in spasms before finally laying still.
Yvonne bent over looking at her son with a worried look, "What did you do to him?"
Suzanne bent down herself and stroked Tom's hair. It was soft as it was wavy.
"He's going to wake up soon and the first thing he'll see is his mother."
Both women, human, and spirit sat down next to Tom silently as they waited for the unconscious man to awake. One physically stroking his hair and the other, silently looking on wishing that she too could do the same.
It didn't take long before Tom stirred. Suzanne back off and Yvonne shuffled closer. Tom's eyes fluttered and they slowly opened.
And the moment he did, he let put a sepulchral howl. The rest of his body froze.
Yvonne stayed where she was, not inching forward at all, worried that her son would faint for another time. But of course, Tom didn’t. He gathered himself within seconds, enough for him to look at Suzanne and whisper, “Is that my mother?”He had memorized her face from the identification card that he retrieved earlier from the hospital. Surely this was some kind of trickery?“It’s me, I’m Yvonne Long. I’m your mother Tom,” Yvonne said softly, speaking directly to her son for the first time in 3 decades. Relief washed over Yvonne’s face. She could finally meet her son face to face. She started weeping, wiping her translucent tears with her shimmery hospital gown.Tom looked at Suzanne, unsure of what to do. Here was a woman, no, a ghost who looked like his mother, crying in front of him. He never could stand seeing a woman cry, let alone the ghost of his
D-Day-3 The black mist emerged, having made its way its up the apartment stairway, emerging at the very top floor. It slithered towards Suzanne Summer's front door and tried t
Tom dug in. There was a ragged doll that had lost an eye, a chocolate wrapper, a pink bow tie, a photo of the little girl and her mother, and a little plastic piggy bank. The girl crouched next to Tom and pointed at the piggy bank.Tom pulled it out. The purple piggy bank was semi-transparent and Suzanne could see that there were some dollar notes and coins in them.You want to give this to your mommy?” she asked.The little ghost girl nodded in excitement. Suzanne's heart broke. She recalled begging for her own mother to stay, in exchange for all the money in her piggy bank.Oh, God. She came back here just to give her mother her savings.The little girl had travelled all the way to Suzanne's apartment just so she could give her mother her savings.The ghost pointed to the photo too. In it, the little girl was sti
Tom stood at the door of Suzanne’s apartment, seemingly not wanting to leave. He held onto the door, faked a cough and asked her one more time, “You sure you’ll be okay with little missy here?”Suzanne laughed. Surely he wasn’t that attached to the little ghost girl?“We’ll be fine. Her time has come. I’ll need to send her on her way.”Tom scratched the back of his head, “Well, alright then.”He bent down and looked at the little girl. He couldn’t see her face still, her features were all a blur, probably due to the drowning, but he smiled at her nonetheless. “You take care okay? You’re in good hands.”The little ghost nodded her head silently. He looked back up at Suzanne who stood right next to them.“Yvonne’s waiting for you, Tom,” Suzanne reminded h
It was nightfall, the moon shone brightly in a cloudless night and Tom stood in front of the Banks’ residence. Unbeknownst to Yvonne and Suzanne, he had been here before. But only as a guest. He had been invited to the Mayor’s ball the last Christmas as a guest and speaker. He had even chatted with William Banks that night and had found the man to be as charming as the media had made him out to be.“You look like someone I used to know,” William had laughed as they stood by the firewall, sipping Chardonnay while a violinist strode past them playing Last Christmas.Did I remind you of Yvonne? He thought to himself. Life would certainly have been vastly different had he grown up a member of the Banks family, and not just someone who bore the same surname.But what’s past is past. I’m here to say goodbye to him.Tom stepped up to th
D-Day - 1Suzanne had just stepped out of her shower when she heard her doorbell rang. She hastily grabbed her robe and put it on before heading towards the door. On the security screen was the face of Tom Banks. She glanced at the clock on her wall. It was past midnight.Didn’t we agree to meet in the morning? She thought to herself. She turned on the microphone.“Hey, Tom!” she croaked. Great. I sound like a frog.“Sorry to intrude. But um, can I come in?” he looked like a sad puppy. A hot sexy looking sad puppy.Heck, you can do more than come in…she thought before biting her lips.“Sure. Hang on. I’ll open the door.”She hastily tied her hair in a ponytail and tightened her robe. Her worn out robe had seen better days. She wished she had on
The dawn of a new day did not make way for the glory of the morning sun. Instead, what greeted Suzanne was a heavy downpour. One she had never witnessed before. The sky flashed with lightning and roared with thunder. If she hadn’t glanced at the clock on the wall, she would have thought that it was still midnight. But the shorthand of the clock had already reached 9.She groaned and sat up, only to see a sleeping Tom on the floor. He was curled up in a catlike position, the blanket had been kicked off sometime during the night. Suzanne smiled and bent down from the comfort of her bed to cover him with the blanket gently.They had kissed and touched each other the night before but did not progress further. Instead, Tom had held her in his arms as they talked. She wished Tom hadn’t been such a gentleman.She rose from the bed and tiptoed over to her office and almost let out a scream when she saw Yv
Yvonne waved to both Tom and Suzanne before she disappeared into the rainbow with the bearded man in white. And when the last of the light from the rainbow disappeared, Tom closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.Suzanne placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asked.He nodded, “That was beautiful.”He turned to Suzanne and pulled her into a warm embrace. He rested his chin on top of her curly dark hair as she nuzzled her face in his chest. “Will it be the same for everyone in the end?”Suzanne nodded, “Usually, yes.”Tom twirled a lock of her hair with his finger, “Usually?”Suzanne looked up, tiptoed, and kissed his cheek. “Some don’t get to go over the rainbow bridge. Some get sucked into the abyss.” She shuddered, suddenly feeling a sense of Deja Vu. Lightni
In a flash of blinding light, the bloodied circle from which Suzanne had pulled the dark figure into, exploded, sending a gigantic shock wave throughout the hill on which the mansion stood. It lifted everyone up in the air and for a moment, Tom felt as if he could fly. But he did not land gracefully. He landed on something hard and felt an agonizing pain shoot up his body. For all he knew, he could have broken his hip. Then everything faded to black.He had no idea how long he stayed unconscious but when he opened his eyes next, a smoky wind was blowing in his direction. The mansion was on fire. It had gone up in flames.With great difficulty, he sat up, only to fall back on his back. He looked down and to his horror, he saw that his stomach was bleeding. He had in fact been lying in his own pool of blood.“Stay still,” a female voice said. He looked up, it was the blonde woman. Her skin had miraculously healed. She pricked her finger and allowed her blood to dr
The dark figure was cunning. Yes, even in its weakened state, it knew that Suzanne and her friends were no match for it. It had been plunged with the ancient dagger; but alas, the dagger was not as powerful as the one Vlad had yielded.It rose from the ground once more, looming over them as the remaining strands of mist swirled voraciously around it, much to Suzanne’s horror.Through its veil of darkness, it could see Suzanne’s eyes widen in disbelief, as confusion glided across her face.From behind the being, the golden-haired woman crept up, ready to strike. Her reflexes were tremendous and her moves instantaneous but without the dagger, she was no match for it.It raised its hands and with an invisible force, it dragged the woman across the marbled floor towards it before she could even counter herself. She was savagely pulled into the enemy’s grasp and it crushed her by the shoulder before flinging her across the foyer and crashing
The voices were calling out to Suzanne. She couldn’t be sure if they originated from the abyss or from the hooded figure hovering at the door. But there was nothing soothing about the voices. Every sound that they made sickened her, making her feel as if maggots were crawling over the top of her skull and into her ears. She shook her head furiously but the sensation refused to go away.Focus damnit….“Suzanne….” the voice called out again. It was the same voice that had called out to her from the garden. And the airport. And in her nightmares.The voices were awful. She couldn’t comprehend what they were saying save for the calling of her name but she was pretty sure they were some kind of distorted incantation. All of a sudden, she had an avalanche of dark and alien thoughts. She did not like them, not one bit.She looked over to Tom who stood slightly hunched over, ready to pounce on the figure if need be.
Misty snakes slithered from the remaining figure’s cloak even as it screamed bloody murder. And the swarm of snakes began to crawl toward Vlad.He could have fled then, he could have abandoned Suzanne and her friends for the sake of his own life. But he was brave, even as the recognition of impending doom stared at him in the face.One of the misty snakes slithered up to Vlad and drove its fangs deep into his ankle. Immediately his skin seethed with pain as the venom began to travel to his heart. He tried to fight it off, but the dagger had gone up in flames and he had no tricks left to pull on this particular demon of the dark.Then another snake came forward, and still another, until soon Vlad could no longer stand. He crumpled to the ground, his body failing as a numb wave of a million daggers pierced his body and his head. With every breath he took, he heaved and coughed up blood.He never stood a chance. The vampire from the ancient of times began to die
As Thomas took his first step out from the safe haven of the golden threads, his short young life suddenly flashed before his eyes.He saw himself as a child, chasing after the autumn leaves on the streets. The other children had not wanted to play with him. Then he saw himself at his graduation with freckles and braces complete with cracked glasses, standing alone and smiling awkwardly at the camera while the rest of his classmates stood in the arms of their parents. He had been lonely then. The image was soon replaced by his first-day job as a library assistant at the Birmingham Library. He had felt at home there and was accepted by all the book-loving children who would share with him their candies and sandwiches.A smile appeared on his lips just then, and his vigour renewed as he stepped further out to face the rage of the black mist. With each step he took, a surge of determination began to flow through him, growing stronger and stronger, until it became an unsto
D-DAY-2 = DOOMSDAYVlad opened his eyes, his black iris now replaced by blood red ones. He was in killer mode and his senses were especially heightened now.“It’s here.”All around him, the clairvoyants spread out, forming a circle, each with a wand in their hands. The only people missing were Suzanne and Tom.“Where are Suzanne and Tom?” Thomas asked nervously. He was trying hard not to tremble but was failing miserably. And even though it was cold, he was perspiring heavily. He gripped his wand so tightly his knuckles turned white, wishing he had an ounce of the twins’ bravery.“They are coming down now,” the vampire said simply, both his eyes and ears alert. In all his years of existence, he had never met his match, and he intended for it to stay that way.***Moments before…Tom could finally look at Suzanne. In place of her black eyes were now her old
All around the world, the black mist retreated, slithering back into the shadows, putting an end to the overwhelming thunderstorms and blizzards that terrified everyone. The skies were clear once more, much to the joy of the people and soon, many came out of hiding, snapping pictures of the cloudless skies and taking selfies, posting them on social media to proclaim the good news.Everyone around the world was celebrating, except for the people of Seoul, Korea. For up in their skies, the black mist appeared, looming over the city, sending every last person who dared to venture out earlier scampering for shelter.A young man and his sister peeked out from their apartment window and snapped a photo of the mist as it headed for the Gangnam. In a matter of minutes, the photo went viral, sending a tremor of terror down the spines of all who saw it, for, within the mist, a shadowy face could be seen.It was the face of the devil himself.***The banging
Vlad the vampire had come.Suzanne immediately tensed up, “What are you doing here?” There was no welcome in her voice.Hans and Marcelino immediately whipped out their wands, surprising Tom. He was still not used to the idea that the metallic sticks could act as a weapon for clairvoyants.The snow crunched softly under Vlad’s feet as he strode across the lawn, his face in mocked sadness, “You hurt my feelings, Suzanne. I merely came to offer you my service, but I can see that I am not welcomed at your wedding.”Suzanne frowned, “What do you mean?” Her heart was thumping.A forever pause. Vlad had always loved a good audience.“I’m here to join you for the fight.”Tom blinked, “Excuse me?”From the side, Thomas whispered to the twins, “Is THAT the vampire Suzanne told us about?”One of the twins gushed, “He’s sooooo handsome!&
D-Day-3There would be no grand wedding. But it was fine with Suzanne and Tom. They had in fact opposed to having one. It did not seem right for them to celebrate when countless lives were lost by the minute.But the twins and Thomas were adamant about having a celebration.“Everything’s so bleak now, we can at least look forward to a joyous occasion with your wedding!” Thomas had pleaded, blinking at them like a little doe through his glasses.So Suzanne and Tom relented. The twins and Thomas spent one whole day yesterday just to create the perfect wedding arch out of dried flowers and twigs. They roped in everyone for a scavenger hunt around Hans’ mansion, looking for everything and anything that could be put to good use and to Suzanne’s delight, they all ended up having a snowball fight like little children.Thomas was right, the wedding did bring forth smiles on their faces.The twins fashioned a simple bouq