Diana's Writing Blog

Peggy Smith awoke to the sound of doors slamming. It was the third time that week. She knew that if she were to get up and investigate, she would find no one. It had been three months since she’d moved to the house and this had been going on almost every night. She was fed up. Throwing off her covers, she marched out into the hall to the phone. It was four in the morning, but she just couldn’t take it anymore.

“Mary? Sorry for the late hour, but I’ve been thinking about what you said, you know, about my problem.” She paused listening to Mary’s reply.

“Yes, I think he might be able to help. Mmm-hmm.” She scribbled a number on the phone pad.

“Thanks, I’ll call him first thing in the morning.” She hung up the phone and walked back to bed. The slamming had stopped when she’d gone to phone Mary, but started again as soon as she returned to bed. This time she smiled. The ghost hunter would take care of it soon enough.

The next morning, Peggy revealed her intentions to her daughter. Ana was thirteen and the ghost didn’t seem to bother her, but Peggy was surprised when she protested so adamantly.

“Well it’s too late anyway. I called him before you got up. He’s coming to stay with us indefinitely, he’ll be here at six.”

Ana stalked off to her bedroom in the attic. “Why does she have to meddle?” she asked outloud, flopping onto her bed. She got up and walked to the old antique mirror that she’d brought over from the storage area of the attic. It was full length with a brass frame. Gazing into it, she caressed its smooth surface. Slowly her reflection changed from her smiling face to another’s. This image was of an eighteen-year old girl with beautiful blonde hair. Ana, whose hair was a dull, mousy brown had always envied Carmen’s hair. Carmen had countered with the fact that at least Ana was alive. Ana picked up the notepad by the mirror. She scribbled a quick update on the situation. She held it up to the mirror so that Carmen could read it. Ana could see that Carmen was upset.

When they’d first met, Ana had been terrified by Carmen’s way of communicating. Ana had looked in a mirror and Carmen had wrote out a greeting backwards…And in blood. But Ana had gotten used to it, and the mayhem that Carmen’s spirit regularly caused. Mayhem that included noises, slamming and crashing objects, and flickering lights. Carmen had said that she didn’t know why she did those things, or why her spirit was trapped in their house. Eventually she and Carmen had gotten to be friends.

Now her friend was in danger and Ana was determined to do everything she could to save her.

Ana heard the doorbell ring and rushed down the ladder to the second floor. She peered cautiously over the railing of the stairs. The man was unpacking in the living room. “He had to look like that, didn’t he?” she muttered. She’d expected a man in his forties or fifties with thick glasses and a receding hairline. The man in her living room couldn’t have been more than twenty-five. He had blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. He was about 6’3″. His well-muscled body was evident even under the black leather jacket and black jeans. He wasn’t just good-looking; he could’ve been a movie star. He was exactly her type.

Her thoughts broke off as he glanced up and noticed her staring. When his eyes met hers it felt like he was looking through her, like he knew her every thought. She broke eye contact immediately and had a sudden notion that he’d somehow read her mind. Of course, that wasn’t possible.

Her mother bustled in from the kitchen, and, seeing Ana, waved her down. “Ana, this is Nicholas Powell, he’s going to help us with our problem.”

“Call me Nick,” he said, offering his hand. She took it, but forced herself to release it after a few seconds. Polite, but not overly friendly. Now that she was closer she noticed his clothes. He wore a leather jacket over a tight white shirt, worn black jeans, and a slender silver cross around his neck. She noticed that he seemed to be sizing her up, too.

Her mother broke the silence. “Do you need any help setting up?”

“No thanks. I can handle it. I just need to know where the occurrences generally happen the most.”

“Most of the noises seem to come from the attic,” Peggy said.

“Great. I’ll set up a few cameras and voice recorders. I’d like to sleep up there, if it’s okay.” He said. “To keep an eye on things.”

“Uh.” Ana could tell that her mom was seriously debating with herself. “You’d better ask Ana. It’s her room.”

Ana groaned inwardly. She was about to give a definite negative answer, but he was looking right at her. She found herself answering, “Okay.”

“Well, I’ll set up a cot in the storage part of the attic,” Peggy said. “Honey, can you help Nick with his bags?”

Ana knew that this was not in any way a request, so she followed him to the pile of bags.

Nick handed the girl a case he hoped wasn’t too heavy and, grabbing the other two, followed her up the stairs.

Ever since he’d first seen her, he’d gotten the feeling that she didn’t want him there. Maybe she just wasn’t a “believer.” He’d encountered that enough, but normally the kids were at least eager to see how his equipment worked. He’d made a mental note to get to the bottom of the situation.

In the attic, he set up his cot next to his “base of operations,” which consisted of his beloved laptop that was set to receive video should the motion activated cameras find anything. He kept it next to his bed so that he could keep it safe from harm. Next to it on the floor, he set up a digital voice recorder that was set to begin recording if something made a noise. Even if he couldn’t hear the ghosts, the recorder would pick them up.

When he was sure everything was set up, Nick got into bed. His version of pajamas was taking off his coat and boots. He might have to run around the house in the middle of the night and didn’t want to do it in his underwear or have to waste time dressing.

Ana waited until the other part of the attic was quiet and then contacted Carmen.

“Have you seen him?” she wrote.

Carmen nodded and wrote back asking, “?eman sih s’tahW” Carmen couldn’t write backwards.

“Nick,” she wrote back. “I was thinking that if you didn’t do your usual night activities then maybe he’d leave.”

“.t’naC” Ana knew that Carmen couldn’t control it but, maybe, if she concentrated…

“Try really hard okay?” she wrote.

“.lliw I” Carmen’s face faded out and Ana went to bed.

Nick walked through the attic. It was deserted and shadowy. He noticed that all the junk that had littered the floor was gone, as was the addition where Ana slept. He heard a soft whisper behind him. Turning, he found a mirror standing before him. The glass was dark, showing no reflections at all. Something pale and vague moved in the mirror suddenly. Nick stepped closer, peering into the black glass. The pale vague shape became steadily clearer. A girl’s face appeared. She was blonde and beautiful. She smiled and beckoned him closer, but her eyes were cold and Nick could sense something about her was wrong. When Nick resisted her summons, the girl’s face changed, contorting with rage. Nick watched her face pale and rot, gashes opening on her face and hair falling away in clumps. Nick jumped back as the girl raised a fist and shattered the glass.

Nick sat up in the cot suddenly, the last of the dream fading away. He fell out of the cot as a picture whizzed by his head. Realizing that the glass shattering had been real, Nick flipped the cot on its side and used it as a shield from the flurry of objects whipping about the room. He realized belatedly that his laptop was on the other side of his makeshift shelter. Chancing a look over the cot, Nick caught sight of Ana standing in the doorway before having to duck to avoid the next volley of junk. “Ana, stay back!” he yelled.

He peeked out the side of his shield and saw his laptop sitting innocently on the floor where he’d left it. He crawled out on his belly, one arm protecting his head while the other reached for his computer. His fingers brushed it, then caught hold. He noticed too late the vase that aimed itself for his head. Nick made a futile effort to duck while still keeping hold of the laptop.

Suddenly, Ana appeared from nowhere, deflecting the vase away with a serving tray.

“Get down!” Nick exclaimed. He tried to crawl back toward the cot, but it was suddenly hurled across the room.

Ana watched, stunned.

“Look out!” Nick exclaimed, spotting a candlestick aimed at Ana. He moved too late; the candlestick hit Ana squarely in the back of the head. She crumpled to the ground. Immediately all the floating objects dropped and everything was silent.

Peggy, who’d been kept out by the same force, burst in. Rushing to her daughter, she shook her gently. Ana’s eyes fluttered and she moaned, but Nick wouldn’t have described her as actually conscious. Setting down his laptop, he gently lifted the girl up. She was small and fairly light; Nick had no trouble carrying her down the stairs to the first floor.

Ana’s eyes opened. She didn’t know where she was. She was warm but didn’t feel like she was in her bed. Her eyes focused on Nick and she realized that he was carrying her. Immediately embarrassed she struggled to get down.

Nick set her on her feet but a wave of dizziness hit her and her knees gave out. “Whoa,” Nick said, catching her and supporting her with an arm around her waist. “You took a pretty bad hit to the head,” he explained, guiding her to the couch to sit.

Sitting down next to her he said, “Turn around.” When she hesitated, he laughed. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” She blushed and turned around. Nick gently pushed her hair aside to see how badly she’d been hurt. “Well you’re not bleeding.” She turned back around and he told her to follow his finger with her eyes. When she’d done that he said, “And it doesn’t look like you have a concussion either. Just relax for a while. Okay?” Ana nodded.

Peggy came back from the kitchen with an ice pack for Ana. “I’m going to assess damages,” Nick announced.

Peggy looked at her daughter. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Ana nodded. “I’ll be okay.”

Peggy patted Ana lovingly and went up after Nick.

Ana groaned as she got to her feet. She walked to the bathroom and closed the door. Wincing, she gingerly touched the bump on the back of her head. She leaned over to wash her face in the sink. When she straightened again it was Carmen’s face in the mirror.

“?truh er’uoY” Carmen asked.

Ana glared at her and marched out of the bathroom.

“Is anything broken?” Peggy asked, stepping into the attic cautiously.

“Nothing of mine,” Nick said, gesturing to his laptop which he was typing on. “My stuff’s designed to take a beating. Your stuff wasn’t so lucky.” He indicated the mess of broken objects that littered the floor.

Peggy turned to go saying she’d clean it in the morning.

“Wait,” Nick said, finding the case file he’d been searching for. “There’s something I want to show you.” He scrolled through the file. “It’s a case very similar to yours. After a few days we figured out that it wasn’t a ghost at all. It was a teen with psychokinetic powers.”

“Psycho- what?” Peggy asked, confused.

“Psychokinesis is the power to move objects with one’s mind. In this case, it was an unconscious reflex to channel his anger. He didn’t know he was doing it, but when he got mad things moved.” Nick explained.

“And you think that Ana is the ghost?” Peggy asked.

Nick nodded.

“It’s not possible! Ana’s not angry.” Peggy exclaimed.

Nick shrugged. “It’s just a theory.” He made a mental note to talk to Ana privately.

The rest of the night was uneventful, Ana woke on the couch to sun streaming through the windows. Her head felt a bit better.

She heard rattling in the kitchen and, assuming that it was her mother, she went to see about breakfast and some Tylenol. Instead, she found Nick.

“Morning,” he said. “How’s your head?”

“Fine,” she answered, trying not to sound too mean or too nice.

“I was talking to your mom last night and I asked her if she knew where I could find some information about the house’s history, previous owners, stuff like that. She thought that you might know—”

Ana’s head shot up. How could he have found out?

“—where the town keeps that stuff,” Nick finished.

Ana let her breath out in relief. “Oh, sure. They keep all that stuff at the county library.” She’d said it before she even knew it. What was she thinking? She was supposed to be protecting Carmen, no matter how mad she was at her. Of course, maybe the best way to protect Carmen would be to stay close to Nick and make sure he didn’t find anything.

“Great! After breakfast we’ll drive over,” he said.

After breakfast Ana followed Nick outside, but she didn’t see any car. What she saw was a motorcycle.

“We’re riding that?” she exclaimed.

“Yup,” Nick said, handing her a helmet.

Ana whimpered. “Um…” She’d never ridden a motorcycle before and hadn’t intended to start anytime soon. She’d always been a little bit afraid of them.

Nick looked back. “Come on.”

Ana got on, telling herself that it was for Carmen and Carmen had always been there for her.

She wasn’t sure what to do once she was on. There didn’t seem to be any handles for the person in back to hold on to. Nick seemed to sense her bewilderment. “You should hold around my waist.” Nick said. He waited while she slipped her arms around his waist before he sped off at what Ana decided had to be at least a hundred miles over the speed limit.

They reached the library none-too-soon. Nick sent her to look at the microfilm of old newspapers while he looked up previous residents of the house.

Nick returned with a long list of names. “Look up obituaries for these people,” he said, ripping the list in half and handing her a piece.

Ana glanced at the paper but went back to looking for Carmen’s name. Finally! She found Carmen’s name in the obituaries: on October twelfth 1957, Carmen Phyllis fell out of the attic window of her house while talking with her sister, Melissa. The police ruled it an accident.

Ana was so caught up with reading the article that she didn’t notice Nick standing behind her.

“Looks like you have a lead,” Nick said, startling her.

“Uhhh, no I don’t think so. I’ll keep looking,” she said.

“No. I think we should check this out.” He copied down the information. “Now we can look up her relatives on the Internet.”

Ana followed him to the computer lab, mentally kicking herself. Nick sat at an empty computer and began typing. He called up a few sites and tried Carmen’s name.

“We’re in luck!” Nick exclaimed, getting a stern look from the librarian. He lowered his voice and continued, “Her sister, Melissa, is alive. And she lives in town. Let’s go look her up.” He was out the door before Ana could protest.

Nick drove to the address that he’d printed off the computer. He walked up to the door with Ana behind him, still trying to talk him out of ringing the doorbell. Ignoring her, he rang the bell. A middle-aged woman answered the door. “Are you Melissa Phyllis?” Nick asked.

“Yes, but my name’s Smith now.”

“I’d like to ask you a few questions…About Carmen,” he said, bracing himself in case she slammed the door in his face.

“Are you reporters?” she asked suspiciously.

“No. I’m a researcher and this is Ana. She lives in your old house.”

“What kind of researcher are you and what does this have to do with Carmen?” Melissa demanded.

“Could we talk about this inside?” he asked.

Melissa hesitated, but finally nodded and held the door open for them.

When they were seated in the living room, Nick explained about the strange events that had been happening in the house.

“And you think that Carmen is the ghost?” Melissa asked.

“The only way I can be sure is if you tell me exactly what happened in the attic that day,” Nick said.

Melissa looked from Nick to Ana and sighed. “I’ve never told anyone this,” she said. “It’s exactly forty-seven years since it happened. It was no secret that Carmen wished she was an only child. She was ten when I was born and resented all the attention that I got from our parents. Her anger and resentment toward me only grew over the next eight years. She invited me up to her room one day. She said she had a surprise for me. When I got there she presented me with her favorite necklace. Our parents had given it to her that Christmas. It was a golden heart that said, “You’ll always have a special place in our hearts. Love, Mom and Dad”. She had the mirror set up so that when I went to look in it I was directly in front of the window ‘For the light’ she’d explained. When I wasn’t looking she came at me, but I saw her reflection in the mirror at the last second and ducked. She fell, she tried to grab me on the way down, but grabbed the necklace instead. The chain snapped…And she fell.

“I lied about what happened because I wanted her to be remembered as a good person.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

“LIAR!!” Ana exclaimed, “Carmen would never have done anything like that!”

“Ana!” Nick said surprised at her outburst.

She only glared.

“I’m sorry. She uhhh, hasn’t been feeling well,” Nick explained to Melissa. He pulled Ana out the door.

When they were outside, Nick demanded, “Ana, do you know Carmen?”

“How could I? She died before I was even born,” Ana exclaimed.

“Her spirit is in that house.” Nick pointed out.

“How can you be sure it’s her? Why would she stay?” Ana countered.

“She could be held there by guilt or anger,” he said. He was convinced it was Carmen’s spirit in the house. “And if it’s anger, then we may be in real trouble,” he said to her. “Anyone in that house could be in danger, you, me, your mother.”

“You don’t know anything!” Ana exclaimed. She stalked off.

When they got home, Ana hurried up the stairs and locked herself in her room. Walking up to the mirror, she waited for Carmen to appear.

As the smiling face appeared, Ana held up her message: “I went to see Melissa today. She said you tried to kill her. What a lie!”

She held it up to the mirror and Carmen laughed when she read it. Ana joined in until she read Carmen’s answer “!did I” Her laugh turned to a scream as the mirror smashed. Ana was thrown against the wall and crumpled. “And now I’ll take my revenge.” Carmen said, stepping out of the mirror and into reality. “You shouldn’t be alive. I should. I’ve earned it! I’ve listened to you cry about nothing while I was trapped in that stupid mirror.”

Nick had come running when he’d heard Ana scream. Trying the door, he found it locked. He heard a voice but was sure that it wasn’t Ana’s. She screamed again, and he kicked the door down.

Ana was cowering in the corner with a figure looming over her trying to strangle her. It was Carmen. She looked like she had when he’d seen her in his dream the night before. The left part of her face was smashed and bleeding and her head had a horrific gash where it’d struck the pavement. He noticed, revoltingly, that he could see her brain.

Carmen’s head turned to look at him, but only her head! Her body hadn’t moved and she was still strangling Ana. “Let her go, Carmen,” Nick commanded with more authority than he felt.

Slowly Carmen’s body followed her head. She let Ana collapse to the floor. She rushed at him in a rage screaming, “DIE!”

Nick dodged her, missing the brunt of her attack, and they both stumbled into the main part of the attic. Nick whirled and ran at her. She grabbed him, lifting him up by his neck and slamming him against the wall. “You shouldn’t have meddled, Nick,” she said thrusting her face so close to his that the smell of rotting flesh was overwhelming. “Now you’ve gone and ruined my perfect night,” she said.

Nick’s hand snaked up and grabbed the cross from around his neck. He thrust it into Carmen’s face. She stumbled back, recoiling at the combined power of a cross and silver, both symbols of good.

Suddenly, his own laptop flew and knocked the cross from his hand.

Ana shakily rose to her feet. Swaying she walked over to the shards of the broken mirror. Something was buried in the glass. The necklace Melissa had described! Her foggy brain slowly formed a plan.

She fastened the necklace around her neck and strode through the doorway. Nick was doubled over on the floor. Carmen loomed over him, glaring.

“Carmen!” Ana yelled. “Is this what you want?” She slowly walked to the window.

An evil smile drifted over Carmen’s face as she nodded. “You’re not so useless, after all. You’ve made everything perfect again. You’re even wearing the necklace.”

She walked slowly toward Ana, savoring each step. Preparing to shove Ana through the window, she whispered, “This is how it should have been the first time.”

Suddenly, Ana dodged and Nick, who had crept up behind Carmen, pushed his hands into her spongy, rotting flesh. “Noooo!” she screamed as she fell through the window. She grabbed at Ana but missed completely. Her body disintegrated just before it hit the ground.

“Just like before,” Nick said.

“Not exactly,” Ana said fingering the necklace. “She doesn’t have the necklace or the mirror…And she won’t be back…” She looked urgently at Nick, “Will she?”

Nick groaned. “I hope not.”

As they turned away from the window, Peggy came bursting in. Carmen had been blocking the door to the attic but it had opened as soon as she’d disappeared. Peggy insisted on driving them both to the Emergency Room.

Melissa stared at the tiny golden thing in her hand. “After all these years, how?”

“I guess I changed history.” Ana smiled. “For the better.”

She walked back to the car and her mother drove them to their house, which finally seemed like a home.

Nick was helping load his equipment into his assistant’s car. He put the final box in just as Ana’s car pulled back into the driveway. He waved asking, “How did it go?”

“I apologized and gave her the necklace,” Ana said. “Where are you headed?”

“Kansas, I’m investigating a haunted cabin,” he explained.

“Wow, Kansas is pretty far away,” she said, frowning.

“Hey, I’ll always be your friend,” he said, hugging her. He was going to miss her. “And you can always reach me on my website, www.Ghostcycle.com.”

Ana smiled “Figures,” she said.

“My two most favorite things in the world,” Nick said, proudly.

“I’ll check in and see how Kansas turns out,” Ana said as he turned to go.

His assistant’s car drove off and Ana waved as he followed on his motorcycle.

The End