“Awesome,” he said.
“Ya time is up, Crowe. Look away children. Some’tin like dis ain’t for you to see,” she said.
The three children rushed to Mumbles’ side and cut him free from the gate. The other spirits in the graveyard began to melt into their own balls of light, shooting into the sky like fireworks. One by one, they vanished.
Crowe still laughed. “I’m free,” he chanted over and over.
Though he laughed, his spirit did not ascend. Momma approached him with determination and satisfaction. As she grinned, a crack opened in the earth under her feet and as she walked, that split grew. The blackest dark lay within, and like a magnet, Crowe was drawn to it.
“You not g’ on nowhere, devil,” she said.
The cracked earth leaked black and green light. The grass and flowers planted about the opening died and shriveled in an instant. It extended back beneath the CROWE mausoleum, crumbling the front half into a pile of dust and rubble and sending the gate where Mumbles was tied crashing to the ground.
“Alex!” Zack shouted, staring at the collapsed marble building.
“I’ll get him, you get Mumbles,” Robbie said.
Amy stuck next to Zack like glue.
Sticky black webs shot from the hole and ensnared the orb that was Dr. Harlan Crowe. His spirit’s energy dimmed as it approached the hole. A jointed, hairy pair of black legs pulled a segmented body from the earth. It resembled a spider of fifteen or twenty feet in length, but had only four legs. It climbed the black web that led to Crowe’s spirit and sank eighteen inch long fangs into his ball of light. Crowe screamed. The creature pulled him below.
“Welcome to pain like no other. Forever,” Momma said.
CHAPTER 24
The children cut Mumbles loose from the dislodged gate and lay him in front of the wrecked mausoleum as spirits from the rest of the graveyard moved on to their next existence. The spider thing’s hell-hole closed up, leaving a scar of dead earth.
“Dat place be a reminder,” Momma said. “Nothin’ will ever grow in dat place.”
Zack held Mumbles’ hand.
“We’re so sorry,” he said.
Amy cried. Robbie climbed into the open mausoleum and found Alex. The kid was covered in dust and small bits of marble, but he was otherwise unharmed. It was as if the roof and the pillars holding the gate in place had disintegrated into powder, instead of breaking into larger chunks. The whole event was magical. In seconds, he had the ropes of floss cut loose and Alex was free. Amy and Zack sat with Mumbles on the ground.
“Is he?” Amy said.
“I think so,” Zack answered.
“Yes,” Momma said. “My son’s dead.”
The group gathered around and looked down at the old man’s body. It looked small and weak, but there was a peaceful grin on his face.
“Oh, it don’t feel so bad,” Mumbles said.
A new ghost, a boy of about eight years old floated next to his mother.
“Mumbles?” Zack said.
“My name is Robert,” said the young ghost.
He smiled, revealing a mouth full of beautiful teeth.
“So’s mine,” Robbie said.
“Sorry that you’re...” Robbie started.
“What? Dead? Glad ta be. Been roun’ here a long time,” Robert said.
“So, do you get to...” Amy started.
Robert interrupted her, “ya know. I was born into da slavery...and I been jus’ dat for a hun’red and fifty years. I tink I look about dis worl’ a bit before I g’ on home.”
The kids smiled.
“I have ta go, Robert,” Momma said.
She looked at each one of the kids and returned a warm smile.
“Tank ya so much, children. Ya freed my boy.”
Her spirit floated skyward, glowing brightly.
“I love ya momma. See ya soon,” Robert said.
“Come on, Alex,” Amy said. “Let’s get you home.”
Alex sighed loudly, grinning an exhausted grin. Robbie touched him on the shoulder. Alex turned.
“Here, kid,” Robbie said and handed him the Xmen backpack. “Cool teddy bear.”
His smile was genuine and his words sincere.
From the rubble of the mausoleum, Brad staggered out and looked around. He was dazed, still holding the back of his head.
“You guys okay?” he said.
The four kids laughed at him.
“What? Everything’s okay? Did I see a ghost, or was that a dream? Hey, you guys left me passed out down there. How long was I down there?”
The younger kids walked along while Brad touched a tender spot on his head with a wince. He looked back at the rubble and shook his head.
“What a day, huh?” he said.
Brad caught up and Mumbles—make that Robert—bounded around them, keeping out of sight, but ecstatic that after one hundred and fifty years, he was free. His spirit gleamed. At the edge of the graveyard, he paused and put a tentative step across a line he had never before crossed, then he giggled with delight once he was on the other side and vanished into a new world of possibilities he’d never dared to dream.
Brad helped the younger kids over the fence, then climbed over himself. They entered an alley, happy to see the familiar sight of the downtown square ahead. Zack kicked a stone and it skipped along the asphalt and out into the street. When they stepped out of the shadows, he felt a great pressure lifted his shoulders. Alex was safe, and a great adventure had taken place. Something, he couldn’t pinpoint it, but something was missing.
“Ugh,” Amy said. “We stink.”
“Yeah, isn’t it awesome?” Robbie said.
Zack hadn’t noticed, a big step for him. He did notice, fifty feet away from them, and walking in their direction was Miranda—the love of his life—and her mother. The woman chuckled, and he realized it wasn’t her mother, but more likely an older sister.
“Zack. I’d hide if I was you,” Amy said.
He wanted to, but he felt so good, so jazzed, that he didn’t care how he looked or how he smelled. Nothing could ruin it.
“Hi,” he said and waved at her.
Miranda waved back. The look on her face was one of shock. Zack smiled. “You might want to keep your distance. We just came out of the sewer,” he said.
“Smooth, bro,” Amy said.
Miranda walked slower, her sister kept a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m Zack. You’re Miranda. We have the same math class.”
The girl nodded, still with a look of concern on her face.
“Is that your sister?”
Miranda looked up at her sibling and gave Zack a nod.
“This is my sister, Lisa. She’s in high school.”
Brad perked up at the name, noticing Lisa for the first time, an adorable young lady in a sweatshirt and jeans. Lisa tucked her long hair behind her ears and smiled.
“Why were you in the sewer?” Miranda asked.
“Long story,” Amy said.
“There were rats,” Robbie added.
Miranda kept her eyes on Zack, and may have been blushing a little. They were ten feet away now, a safe distance from the stink, but close enough to see the filth clearly. She made a yuck face.
“I’ll tell ya when we get back to school, that is if we aren’t in the hospital from some disease,” Zack said.
“I’d like that,” Miranda replied.
“I’ll take a shower first,” he promised.
“Good idea,” she said.
Brad upstaged Robbie.
“Uh, I can shower too,” he said.
Lisa giggled. “I hope so,” she said. Maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah,” Brad said. “Maybe.”
The girls continued their walk as Brad, Amy, Zack and Robbie backed up to the wall, letting them pass by, but trying not to get too close. Miranda and Lisa looked back at Zack and his brother a couple times as they walked on.
Now, Zack thought, it??
?s a perfect day.
CHAPTER 25
At 4:42pm, Brad, Zack and Amy reached their home. They’d dropped Alex and Robbie off, making sure they got home safely, just in case. Brad made them dump their clothes in the garage and he bagged them up and threw them away. They all showered, brushed their teeth and then sat in the living room.
The door burst open at 5:30. Mom walked in, frazzled, to find all three kids sleeping. Roscoe was curled up at Amy’s feet. He popped his head up at the glorious smell of a bucket of fried chicken from the grocery store and barked.
The kids sat up in a slow, pained fashion, awakened by the sound.
“Wow. Did you kids have a long, hard day?” Mom asked, sarcastically.
They yawned in response.
“Brad, when do you start that job again?”
He thought about it for a second before replying, “Thursday.”
“Oh,” she said. “It’s about time.”
She stormed into the kitchen and for a minute, the kids heard plates and silverware clank and scrape. A moment later, her head poked out of the opening. “Now, everyone in the kitchen for dinner,” she said.
The cardboard bucket of fried chicken was in the center of the table along with a bag of various side items. A stack of plates and forks sat beside them. Mrs. Winter went to the refrigerator and pulled out a six pack of sodas and set them on the table.
“Hurry up, kids!” she shouted.
The three dragged in and sat down, exhausted, but full of new wonder. Zack and Amy looked at each other with sly grins, and Brad rubbed the back of his head.
“Okay, dig in,” their mother said.
“Ew. Maaaa. You know I hate chi...” Amy began.
Zack frowned as well as he interrupted. “Yeah, and I’ve got my paper to finish.”
“Don’t start with me, you two. You have no idea what kind of day I had. Your father is working late and I just don’t wanna hear it.”
Amy burst into a wild fit of laughter and Zack joined her. Brad pushed his chair back and left the table, headed to his bedroom to go back to sleep. Zack thought about his paper, about the adventure he was going to write just as it happened. Everyone would think it was fiction mixed with fact and he thought Mrs. Lark might even give him an A, but he would know, and Amy would know, and even Robbie would know it was real. Brad, who was knocked out or passed out for most of the day, would just have to take their word for it.
Mrs. Winter pushed her chair back from the table and chased after Brad. “Brad? Where do you think you’re going? And what is so funny? Am I missing something?”
She complained all through dinner, and the kids didn’t mind.
END.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dan rides this rock through space with you. His wife navigates. His kids provide the adventure.
His Books:
DEMONS AND OTHER INCONVENIENCES
WHAT TANGLED WEBS
THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ETHAN JACOBS
LUNACY
HOW TO EAT A HUMAN BEING
GIVING UP THE GHOST
By now, there may be others.
Talk to him at any of the following places:
[email protected] www.demonauthor.com
@demonauthor on Twitter
www.facebook.com/demonauthor
https://gplus.to/dandillard
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