3: To What? Dig Her Up?

ASHTON

The storm howls through the evening and gets stronger the later it gets. Scraping branches against the window, pelting rain ticks against the glass. I’m surprised that Winston isn’t stepping in. The last time Sadie got worked up she flooded the town in a freak hurricane like storm. We’re in the midwest...there are no hurricanes here.

The hushed lull would soothe me to sleep, but the familiar sound of a clicking lock wakes me right up. My vision decides to take several seconds to adjust to the pitch black room. Several seconds for me to rely on only my ears. I can’t quite see the door opening, but the room fills with an audible creak. Images of ghosts flash through my mind. Addison’s nightmare quickly becomes reality.

My name is said in a hushed whisper, “Ashton?” The floorboards give a creak as the unnamed intruder steps forward. “Ashton? Are you sleeping?”

As my fear dies down when the voice becomes familiar. “Addison?”

A chilly breeze passes by me and seconds later my curtains whip open and my head whips away from where I thought Addison had been standing to the window. Even with the storm raging outside, as the clouds churn, moonlight fights to shine down.

“What the hell?” My head whips back to the door from the empty spot in front of the window. “Addison?”

She stands just inside the doorway, wide eyed before she quickly shuts the door.

“How did you? What. The. Actual Hell?”

“It’s Seraphina. She won’t leave me alone.” Addison paces the room, anxious, nervous. “She’s not letting me sleep and then she unlocked my door. I told her I need your help.”

“My help? But, I ca-”

“Yes, you can.”

My head violently shakes before the word exits my mouth. I probably could help, but that’s not what I do anymore. I only hurt people. “No.”

“It’s the most logical. We’ll both be able to see. Two heads instead of my frazzled one. You’re the more rational one anyways.”

“Rational?”

Her shoulders shrug as she mutters, “Maybe not the best word I’m thinking of, but among other things, yes, rational when it comes to this.” She sits cross legged in the middle of the floor. When I don’t join her she pats the ground in front of her.

This is the last thing I want to do.  Shit. This is the last thing I want to see. Possession is messy. A painful chill courses through my body, shaking my limbs in the process. My fingertips quickly go numb. Can ghosts cause frostbite?

On shaky legs, I slide from the bed to the floor. “Have you ever done this before?”

“Not willingly.” She pauses, ringing her hands together. “It has to be better than unwillingly right?”

“Sure.” It isn’t.

We stare at each other for a while before she calls Seraphina’s name into the room. It only takes a few seconds before the room gets deathly cold. Our breath mingles together in small puffs of white.

“Seraphina.” Addison says into the room. “Show me. Show Ash.”

The air that was thin and dry suddenly becomes dense and thick. The coldness that engulfed the room disappears. It disappears as Seraphina enters Addison’s body. She takes an extremely long, deep breath as her head drops backwards, back arching.

When she straightens her spine, her head flops forward, her chin rests on her chest. She stretches her neck from side to side and I flinch as a loud crack fills the silent room. Addison is definitely going to feel that when she gets her body back.

Addison’s...uh Seraphina’s hands lay palm up on her knees. “Take my hands.” She says in a voice that’s not Addison’s but not her own either. She raises her chin, eyes meeting mine when I don’t instantly comply with her command.

Addison’s eyes are rolled to the back of her head and Seraphina stares back at me with dead white eyes. “Take my hands Ashton.”

It’s like a stranger telling a kid to take some tainted candy or a crazed psycho asking for you to trust them when they have a knife behind their back. Apparently, I never learned my lesson on not trusting ghosts, because I take her hands.

Everything in me screams not to but Addison offered herself as bait. It's only fair that I do the same. I don’t breathe, think or even swallow the spit that has been lingering in my paralyzed mouth. I just set my hands on hers and she wastes no time to grip them tight, pinning me in her grasp.

My room is quickly replaced with Seraphina’s room. It looks identical to mine, but little differences here and there tell me otherwise. Then there’s the fact that Seraphina stands in front of me even though I saw her hanging this morning and can still feel her squeezing my hands, digging Addison’s nails into my skin.

She stares in the mirror on the vanity, brushing her dark hair. I can see the exact second terror brightens her eyes, stiffens her body. She whips about the room searching, but no one is here...or at least I thought no one was here.

I stare about the room right along with Seraphina trying to get as many clues as possible, trying to see every last detail to help understand what really happened to her, what she’s trying to tell us.

I scan the room once, twice without seeing anything, but Seraphina does. She stares into a pitch black corner. At first I think there’s nothing there, but then I can make out the faint outline of a body.

Then a hackle sounds and I know exactly who’s with us. Phoebe.

She steps out of the shadows with a ugly snarl on her face. Like a predator she approaches Seraphina. She doesn’t say anything, she just looks at her. Looks at her with cold black eyes. A wave of misty black fog clings her, following her as she steps forward.

A faint thud draws my eyes to the floor. A rope held tightly in Phoebe’s hand uncoils at her side. It all happens so fast. Phoebe tackles Seraphina, seeing as she’s bigger than the girl, it doesn't take long for the rope to be wrapped around Seraphina’s neck in the midst of the struggle.

Seraphina is quickly pinned beneath Phoebe on her belly, the weight of Phoebe on her back must be painful enough, but the evil girl tugs aggressively on the rope bending her forcefully backwards. The gasps of tiny breaths hitch my own breathing. I’ve seen people die before, but poor Seraphina didn’t deserve this.

She scratches at the rope desperately trying to wedge her fingers between the braid and her neck, but all she accomplishes is leaving deep bloody scratches. The same scratches and tears that scarred her neck when her body fell from the beams.

Her kicking legs come to an abrupt stop when a loud crack fills the room. Neck snapped, Seraphina lay motionless on the floor. Phoebe gets to her feet and dusts herself off without a care in the world. A cold icy glare to her eyes before she walks away. But as she retreats the black smoke like mist stays keeping the form of Phoebe's body.

The edges of the room start to blur as the shadow figure drags Seraphina out of the room, no doubt placing her where she was found.

The stabbing pain in my head fully clears the vision away. I almost topple over as Addison’s hands release their death grip on me. Both of us look at each other with wide eyes. I don't know how I know Seraphina is gone and Addison is back. Maybe it’s the slack jaw and wide blue eyes. She’s just as shocked and confused as me.

Or maybe it’s the icy air that chills the room. Our breath becomes visible wisps of white again.

“Phoebe.” We both mutter at the same time. Although Addison’s comment is more of an accusation and mine more of a question.

I can’t wrap my head around it. I knew that Phoebe is hateful towards all the girls here and after a week being dropped off at the manor I realized that she was disturbed enough to be murderous, but to actually do it? “The shadow figure? Is it a ghost? Is it...a part of Phoebe or possessing her?” I say into the room.

“I’ve never seen a ghost like that before. Is it a demon?” Addison quickly questions.

“No. Not that I’ve come across.”

Addison’s head perks up to the side, “Seraphina says that it uses her. Something about number 6.”

“Number 6...but Number 6 has been dead for…,” I count the years off in my head. “Three years.” What was Number 6’s affliction? Did I ever find out?

“I can’t hear-Seraphina?” Addison’s head whips around the room trying to find her.

“What’s happening?”

“She’s gone.” Addison admits.

“What do you mean she’s gone. We’re kinda in the middle of something here.” But even as I say it, I know it to be true. The room temperature is back to normal, my shiver quickly diminishes.

“I don’t know, maybe she’s weak from the possession.”

“Usually they get stronger with possession.” I snap back.

“Oh shut up. I caught one word before she vanished. Vessel, which only makes this conversation even more disturbing.”

Ya got that right.

“What does it mean?” Addison asks.

You don’t want to know, is what I want to tell her, but for whatever reason I decide against it. “Vessels are used, the worst case scenario is Phoebe’s the vessel and she’s being used by Number 6.”

“And how are we supposed to stop it from happening again? Number 6 is already dead.”

The best way I was taught on how to solve things. “Kill her or kill her again, I guess.” I don’t know. I usually was pressured and forced to do things. I never really paid attention to details. Until one day my mother and I crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed. The effect of that day has proven to be irreversible.

The rustle of curtains and extremely bitter cold air alert both of us. Three soft taps knock against my window. When neither of us move, three more taps knock on the window but this time it’s louder.

“Okay. Okay.” I mutter as both of us jump to our feet.

We peer out into the stormy night searching for something Seraphina wants us to see. Something important, but I don’t see anything.

“There.” Addison says, jabbing her finger against the glass. “Does that look like a moving shadow by the path?”

My eyes go to the mouth of the path that leads down to the makeshift graveyard. I squint against the blackness trying to see something. It’s only with another flash of lightning that I see a blur of movement making its way down the path.

The soft creak of my door opening strightens both of our spines. Is it Winston? Is it Phoebe? But as a frigid gust of air blows my hair we come to the conclusion that it’s Seraphina.

“Apparently she wants me to go for a walk.” I joke.

“A walk? It’s raining like cats and dogs out there.” Just as she says the words a loud rumble of thunder shakes the house.

The storm is gaining strength and there’s a moderate chance that I might get struck by lightning...higher chance of encountering something worse. “Does it have to be tonight?” I say into the room.

Right before my eyes, my pillow floats into the air before soaring into my face. “Real mature Seraphina. Is this you trying to tell me that you’ll smother me in my sleep if I don’t go.” I dare a glance at Addison. She shakes her head either saying this isn’t a death threat or she doesn’t know.

The least she can do is get Sadie to go to sleep. I groan in an annoyed compliance. “Lead the way.” I say into the room. Addison quickly turns to the door ready to lead the way, but I stop her. “You go back to your room.” I demand of her.

“What? And let you go out there alone. You need me to relay what Seraphina has to say.”

“Seraphina doesn’t have much to say besides go walk in the middle of a storm in the middle of the night to Number 6’s grave.” I snap back.

“To what? Dig her up?”

“I’m hoping I don’t have to, but yes dig her up, Addison. She shouldn’t be too deep seeing as Virgil has always been lazy.”

She takes a step back out of the direct path to the door. “Don’t get killed.” She says to me as she follows me out into the empty hallway.

“At least we can still hangout if I do.” I tease, but my smile doesn’t reach my eyes and Addison doesn’t smile at all.

My heart pumps a little faster, a little harder as I descend the stairs. The soft click of Addi’s door is lost to the thump, thump, thump of my heart pounding against my ribcage. The rhythm echoes in my eardrums and I instantly get nervous, afraid that I’m not the only one hearing my fear.

It’s been months...years since I’ve put myself in a not-so-pleasant situation. And I’m doing this willingingly. I’ve never walked into anything willingly since my father died and left me with my crazed mother.