Spirited Wishes
(Includes characters from Ghost
Guardians)
By S. Peters-Davis
Kyle tapped on
the walk-out sliding glass door, and I waved him in. He wore a black cape and
had slicked his blond hair back. His big smile showed the vampire teeth capping
his eye-teeth.
“Ahhh, Count
Kyle, let’s eat, I’m starving.” My stomach growled as if on cue. “Pizza, beer,
and Gramps’ Halloween cupcakes.” I swept my hand toward the goods.
“What is that?”
Kyle pointed at the strange, ancient-looking glass jar candle on the coffee
table as he removed those crazy teeth.
“Doesn’t it look
spooky and old? I found it in Luke’s room. He brought some things with him when
he moved in.” Luke, my best friend through school and college, was now more
like my brother. I flipped the gas on for the fireplace, and Kyle dropped onto
the couch.
“Man, it’s
pretty crappy outside. Hardly any kids came for candy. The rain just won’t
quit.” And to prove it, lightning shocked the sky, and reverberating thunder
shook the windows.
“It’s a dark and
spooky night.” My voice trembled in an eerie laugh.
Kyle uncapped
the candle and lit it.
A woosh of wind
gusted through the room, the electricity went out, and the candle flame flared
tall. A chill swept across the room, even though the fireplace cranked out
heat.
“Who calls upon
me?” A plume of gray smoke rearranged, forming into a haggard elder woman with
a bent nose, bushy brows, and unsettling sharp teeth exposed by her thin-lipped
grimace.
Kyle and I
glanced at each other, our wide-eyed gaze matching.
“Is someone
here, Bri?” Kyle reached for my hand, not gifted with the ability to see
spirits like me.
“Yes, and I
believe that candle brought this upset woman here.” I stared at the woman, her
face wrinkling as if angered.
She scoffed, “As
if you didn’t know I’d arrive to grant you a wish, but understand with that
wish comes sacrifice. I take something in return.” She scanned the room and
drifted down the hall.
Kyle squeezed my
hand. “You appear concerned. Is she still here?”
“She just
wandered out of the room.”
“Should I call
for back up?” Kyle let go of my hand to grab his cell phone from his pocket.
“I’m sure the
gang is busiest on Halloween night wrangling ghosts, don’t you?” We worked for
S.P.I., Spectral Paranormal Investigations, and I mostly guided ghosts into the
light while Kyle kept me grounded.
“Is this woman
good or evil?” Kyle pocketed his cell and rose from the couch. “Do we need
supplies?”
I shook my head,
not understanding what this freak show might have in store for us. “Whatever
you do, don’t speak a sentence with the word ‘wish’ in it. Got it?”
“Like, I wish—”
Before Kyle
finished, I slapped his mouth to stop him. “Not one word,” I whispered. The
scary spectral suddenly stood beside Kyle.
“Fine specimen.”
She eyed him. “He’ll do in a pinch.” Her body shook from the eruption of a
guttural chuckle.
“We don’t
require your services, whoever you are. Please go back now.”
“Are you making
a wish for me to leave?” Her eyes widened as her tongue slid out and licked
over snarling lips. Her hands reached for Kyle.
“Don’t touch
him,” I screamed.
Kyle jerked
back, stumbling over the coffee table and nearly sprawling into the fireplace.
He jumped up fast, shaking his hand. “Damn, burnt my fingers.”
The woman shot
out a horrifying cackled, creating a wave of goosebumps down my spine. “I’m
taking him.” A wind gusted me aside, and Kyle froze in place, only his wide
eyes scanning the area in front of him.
“I said, don’t
touch him!” I pushed my way through the gale of air, chanting protection
mantras for Kyle and me.
The woman melded
into another image—a human-sized grub worm, pustules coating its wrinkled skin,
and it moved in front of Kyle. The worm opened along its center, showing
grizzly insides lined with pointy teeth. It shuffled closer to Kyle.
Kyle’s eyes
moved wildly.
I grabbed the
sage and lavender smudge pack I’d forgotten to use before Kyle arrived, lit it,
and waved the smoke as I ran toward the entity. “Archangel Michael, I call upon
you to take this entity of darkness where mother earth and father sky can best
direct its beneficiary properties,” I repeated three times.
As my words
ended, a hole opened beneath the vermin, and boney hands reached out and
grabbed the lower section of the grub, hauling it down into the fires.
I stood between
the entity and Kyle.
His arms slid
around me, drawing me back as if he had an inkling of what happened in front of
me.
“You’re back,
unfrozen.” I entwined my fingers with his.
He kissed the
side of my face from behind my shoulder and whispered, “What just happened?”
The grub
disappeared, screaming in a high-pitched shrill, and in a stinky puff of smoke
that sounded like a nasty belch, the flooring settled back in place as if
nothing had occurred.
“All I can say
is the spectral turned into something else, supernatural. I don’t know about
dark entities, other than ghosts. This thing wanted to eat you, Kyle.” I turned
toward him inside his arms. Our lips met as tears rolled beside my nose,
leaving a salty taste as I pulled away. “I didn’t know if I could stop it.” My
stomach dropped. The thought of losing Kyle ran rampant through my head.
“You called in
Archangel Michael. Impressive.” He smiled, showing his even teeth. “You know
more than you think when it comes to stuff that goes bump in the night.” He
kissed me again, taking his time, and I let him. Then he asked, “So, can I say
the word—”
“—wish? Yes. Let
me do it for you. I wish we were in bed, right now.”
Kyle lifted me
into his arms, carrying me toward the bedroom.
“Wait!” I
dropped to my feet and ran back to the coffee table, capping the candle. “No
more mishaps, not while I have my way with you.” I grinned.
Kyle grabbed my
hand and rushed me toward the bedroom. “I believe that’s my wish, not yours.”
Excerpt
#2 (word count 326)
“I think I just
saw Max’s mom outside, an older woman in a white pantsuit. Is that his mom?”
Kyle’s eyes
widened, and then his brows folded inward as he shook his head. “His mom died
about five years ago. There’s no adult here right now.”
Prickles chased
up my arms and down my spine. Once in a while, a spirit appeared so full of
life, like right now, it seemed a living person. Kyle continued to study me as
if I’d lost my mind.
He stepped
closer, and I thought he was going to put his arm around me. Instead, he lifted
a picture frame off from a table. “This is Max’s mom.”
“Oh, she’s
stunning.” And the woman I saw, wearing the same clothing. I quickly moved
closer to the row of windows. “What a beautiful room. My mother would love this
room for an office.” The moon had risen and cast a path of light across the
water. “What a view.” The crystal against my sternum vibrated. Gloria shimmered
into view, sobbing.
“He’s gone.
Martin. He’s gone.” Her sad eyes searched mine. “Where could he have gone?
We’ve never been apart.”
I looked at
Kyle. He stood on the other side of me and would surely hear me. When I turned
back to Gloria, she had vanished. What were the possibilities that Martin would
step into the light without Gloria? He never left her side. Besides, they were
both about getting justice before leaving the earth plane. He was all about
protecting her. It didn’t make sense after all of these years of being stuck
here that he would simply disappear.
“Bri.” Kyle
grabbed my hand.
I glanced at
him, sensing he’d been trying to get my attention before now. “Yes. Sorry.” The
words came out a little breathy. The urgency of Martin missing overwhelmed me
with questions. “I gotta go.” I pulled my hand from Kyle’s grasp and rushed from
the room.
Hello Roxanne - thank you for hosting Ghost Guardians...Happy Halloween!! To everyone:) Susan
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