"CHAPTER SIX"
After he got his driver's license Malin tried to talk Grandmom Faya into buying him a used car. But she refused. My grandmother tried to teach him about responsibility by letting him drive her car to, and from school every day. When he wrecked it showing off for his friends that was the end of that.
My grandmother went out of her way to spoil my siblings and I, and so did Miss Miriam. I believe they were trying to make up for all of the misery, and terror Mama put us through. Since Nicholas left home they didn't want any of the rest of us to do that.
With Mama gone life became very different for us. We were happy. My grandmother made sure we knew how much we were loved. She and Miss Miriam showered all of us with nothing but love, and kindness. At the same time they were strict with us. There were rules to follow in our home. And if those rules were broken we paid for it. However, the 'punishments' were nothing anywhere near what we endured with Mama.
After she left we never heard from Mama again. I often wondered where she could be, or if she was still alive. It had been nine years since she left. Emma and Malin could have cared less about her. In fact, they refused to even mention her name. When Nicholas wrote letters to us he never asked about Mama.
Sometimes I would hear my grandmother and Miss Miriam talking about her. It was always at the same time they were talking about Marie, and my father, Andrew. Lately a new name surfaced in their hushed conversations. It was a man by the name of Roy. Apparently this man was contiguous with Marie in some way. Another woman's name was also mentioned. One I had heard before. "I could find out so much more if they wouldn't start whispering," I thought. I knew I had been wrong. There were actually two people not one as I thought who had a lot of secrets. Miss Miriam kept secrets pretty good, too. I couldn't have known how right I was.
Before I knew it I was home, and opening the front door. As I went inside the house I could hear Grandmom Faya, and Miss Miriam laughing about something in the kitchen. They heard me when I came into the house, and turned to see who it was.
"Hi, honey!" my grandmother said with a smile. "Hi, sweetheart!" said Miss Miriam. "How are you? How was school today?" "Okay," I answered. "Would you like a sandwich or something, honey?" Grandmom Faya asked me. "No thank you, Grandmom," I replied. The two women resumed the conversation they were having when I came in. I put my school books onto the coffee table, and began to feel tired so I headed upstairs to take a nap.
It was a lovely, warm, summer day when the letter came in the mail. There was no school that day because of a Teacher's conference. The school usually had those at the end of the school year. I got the mail when it came that day.
Bernie Brown was our Mailman ever since I could remember. You could see he was getting on in age. But he still waited in the General Store every morning until the mail truck arrived. He took on the job of hand-delivering everybody's mail many years before. It was a nice gesture because people didn't have to pck up their mail themselves. They just let Bernie do it. My grandmother told us he needed something to do to occupy his days after his elderly mother passed on. He was an only child, and had never been married or had any children. He lived with his mother all of his life. In all truth he and his mother acted like an old, married couple instead of mother and son. I don't think Bernie ever had a girlfriend in his life. His mother's death was very hard on him.
Whenever he brought people's mail he would sit down for a spell, and chat with them. He loved to talk to Grandmom Faya and Miss Miriam. Or any one of us who happened to be home when he arrived with the mail. He would start talking about how much he missed his mother. He loved to talk about her. "He must live a very empty life now," I thought sadly. Bernie was a good man.
Mr. Greenley and his wife arranged with the Post Office in Tolstoy for Bernie to be paid a small salary like a regular Postman. The Post Office gave him one of their little, mail trucks to drive around in while he made his deliveries. Bernie never missed a day. Except Sunday when there was no mail delivery in Maron. If he did miss a day, Billy Greenley, Mr. Greenley's grandson who lived with them would make the deliveries.
After Bernie arrived that day he, and I talked for a few minutes before he went on his way. As I looked down at the mail I saw a letter addressed to "The Davidson Family". It was postmarked "Paris, France". Right away I knew it was from Nicholas. But the handwriting on the front of the envelope wasn't his. Before I opened the letter, and read it I knew my brother was coming home. Often I was able to 'know' things before they occurred, and so was my sister.
I became aware of this ability over the previous three years. Both Emma and I seemed to 'know' many things were going to happen long before they did. Either she or I would have a dream about something. What happened in our dreams would happen in real life a few days later. Sometimes things would just pop into our heads. As if someone we couldn't see was telling us about something or someone. Whatever we 'heard' would happen shortly afterward.
This inexplicable ability worked for us in other ways, too. We knew when somebody was coming to our home to visit long before they got there. Or if someone was coming with any kind of news. We 'knew' what the news was going to be. We would be right every time, too. It scared us a little because we didn't know what was happening to us. Neither one of us told the other one we were going through the same thing until some time passed.
Grandmom Faya and Miss Miriam told us not to worry about it or be afraid of it. They told us a lot of people could see and hear things that others couldn't. It was called ESP, and it was a gift. Well, if you asked my sister or I we certainly didn't consider it to be a gift. At first we didn't understand the power we had. We couldn't understand why anybody would consider what we had to be a gift.
As I said at first I didn't know Emma was experiencing the same 'gift' that I was. I found out when I finally broke down, and told her what was happening to me. I was totally surprised when she exclaimed excitedly, "The same things are happening to me, too, Ty!"
Emma let out a ponderous sigh of relief after I told her. "You don't know what a relief it is," she told me, "to know I'm not going crazy, or something." "Well," I told her, "if you are I am, too. So don't feel badly."
It was after that when we decided to tell my grandmother, and Miss Miriam what was happening to us. The two women assured us there was nothing abnormal about us. So we didn't feel so spooked about it anymore.
We heard Grandmom Faya say to Miss Miriam when she thought we were out of hearing range, "I was wondering when it would finally come to the surface." "Me, too," replied Miss Miriam. My grandmother never told us her mother, and grandmother had psychic abilities. Yet, the 'gift' was not inherent to her, and her sisters.
Standing there with the letter in my hand I just stared at it. My mind began to wander again. I thought about the night Emma and I were watching a movie on television. As we watched the movie suddenly my sister screamed fearfully.
"What's wrong?!" I cried scared out of my wits. "Why did you scream like that, Emma?!" A terrified look was on her face as she whispered hoarsely,"It's......it's Miss Miriam!" "What about her?!" I asked frightfully.
Emma's eyes were wide open with consternation. She looked at me, and said slowly, "Miss Miriam is going to be sick again, Ty. This time if we don't get her to the hospital fast she's going to die." "What?!" I cried aghast. "Yes," replied my sister more calmly. "I just saw it all right before my eyes, Ty. You believe me. Don't you?"
"Sure I do," I told her becoming more frightened by the minute. We had never been wrong about those things. I believed Miss Miriam was in danger. "We'd better get over to her house right away," I said jumping up from my chair.
Since we were little children we always called Miss Miriam's seizures 'being sick' instead of having seizures. It suddenly dawned on us she hadn't been over to our house that day which was unusual. Grandmom Faya was outside working in her garden, and hadn't heard Emma scream. So finding her we told her where we were going, and why.
Standing up my grandmother announced she would go with us. When we got to Miss Miriam's house we rang her doorbell, and waited impatiently. When she answered the door she looked like the picture of health. Emma and I began to feel very foolish. But my grandmother told us in a soft voice, "Don't be so quick to write things off, girls."
"Hi, Miriam!" said Grandmom Faya cheerfully. "We were a little concerned about you over here. So we decided to pay you a visit." "Well," said Miss Miriam with a smile, "come on in. But as you can see I'm doing just fine. I was getting ready to fix myself a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Then sit down to watch the rest of a movie on television. Since you're all here you might as well join me."
She knew Emma and I were fools for chocolate ice cream. So she always kept some in her freezer in case we came over to visit her. The thing was we hardly ever had to visit her anymore because she was always at our house.
My sister and I looked at one another. Then we looked at our grandmother who nodded her head. We followed Miss Miriam into her house. "Remember what I just told you, girls," Grandmom Faya said quietly. "We'll stay for a little while to make sure she's okay. Alright?" We nodded.
Miss Miriam happened to be watching the same movie Emma and I were watching at home. "At least we can see the rest of the movie," Emma said to me. My grandmother and Miss Miriam went into the kitchen. While Emma and I sat down in the living room to watch the rest of the movie.
"Are you sure you saw what you say you did, Emma?" I whispered to my sister. "Yes," she replied. "I saw it all as clearly as I see that movie on the television set, Ty. It was as plain as it could be. I saw her have one of her seizures, and she was alone. There was blood on her head but I don't know how it got there. As she was laying on the floor I saw a clock over her head, and the time was 11:15. There was an ambulance, and Paramedics there. But they said it was too late. She had been laying there too long before someone found her. I saw it all, Ty. I swear!" Emma was visibly shaken by her vision. It was the first time she had seen anything in such vivid detail.
"I've seen crazy, bizarre things before, Ty," she told me. "But never anything like that." I knew Emma was telling the truth. Also, I knew since Miss Miriam hadn't been over to our home that day, we certainly would have checked on her tomorrow. "It would've been too late," I thought, "if all that Emma saw came true." It made perfect sense. We noticed Grandmom Faya watching us from the kitchen smiling. She winked at us.
The four of us got our ice cream, and sat down in the living room to watch the movie that was playing. When it was over we sat around, and talked. My grandmother and Miss Miriam started talking about all of the old boyfriends they used to sneak around with when they were young girls.
"We would have to wait until late at night when everybody was asleep," my grandmother said. "We had to be careful no one in town saw us, too, because of Lucilla." "Yeah," added Miss Miriam. "She was a mean one alright. We would have to go miles away from that house just to have some fun." She chuckled softly. Unwittingly, I asked her, "You knew Ole Lucy, too, Miss Miriam?"
For a minute she looked surprised. Then she said, "O-oh,oh yes I did, Tyla, honey. I sure did." Suddenly she was very nervous, and so was my grandmother. It was like she had been caught off guard by my question, and said something she shouldn't have. Both women became reticent after that. Emma and I thought it was very odd how both of them stopped talking about 'the good old days' so suddenly. It was then I became more suspicious of their true relationship to one another.
The conversation started up again but on a different subject. They were laughing up a storm until lthe name, Roy, was mentioned. My sister and I noticed again how quiet the two of them suddenly got. That was a very strange night. After a long silence Grandmom Faya said, "Well, girls, we better be getting home now." Emma had calmed down considerably by that time so we got up to leave.
"Oh, wait a minute, Faya," said Miss Miriam. "Let me get that old locket for you I told you about. If I don't get it now I'll forget it again. Wait right here for a minute while I go upstairs to get it for you."
My grandmother, Emma, and I sat back down on the sofa to wait. Idly, I thought about Miss Miriam. She was a pretty woman for her age. Her graying, black hair was almost as long as Grandmom Faya's, and had one, thick, white streak down the middle of her head. It looked odd but it made her more attractive than she already was. Amazingly, she had the same skin color as my grandmother, and light-brown eyes like Mama had. Their features were very similar to one another's. "Surely those three women could pass for sisters," I thought about my grandmother, Miss Miriam, and Mama.
Suddenly we heard a loud thud followed by an even louder crash upstairs. We raced up the stairs to see what happened. Miss Miriam was laying on the floor of her bedroom near a big, bureau dresser faced down. There was blood coming from one side of her head. She was unconscious but convulsing. On the corner of the bureau dresser was some blood. It was obvious she had fallen, and hit her head.
Grandmom Faya quickly grabbed the first thing she got her hands on which was Miss Miriam's hair brush. She placed the handle between her teeth so she wouldn't swallow her tongue, and choke to death. It seemed like she knew exactly what to do for Miss Miriam as if she had seen her that way before.
At first I didn't hear my grandmother yelling at Emma and I to call an ambulance. I don't think my sister ever did hear her. We were both standing there stunned. "Move it!!" I heard Grandmom Faya yell. I ran to telephone for an ambulance. Emma remained frozen to the floor.
When I returned I told her the ambulance was on its' way. I looked at my sister, and followed her disbelieving gaze to see what she was staring at. There was a clock atop the bureau dresser just above Miss Miriam's head. It was stopped at 11:15 exactly as Emma saw it in her vision.
The ambulance arrived quickly, and the Paramedics took over Miss Miriam's care. All of us rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital.
"She's a lucky lady," said one of the Paramedics. "If no one had been there with her there's no telling how long she would've been laying there. She might have died." My sister and I will never forget the way my grandmother smiled at us after he told us that. Emma started to sob, and Grandmom Faya put her arms around her. "You saved her life, Emma," I heard her whisper into my sister's ear. "You sure did, Emma," I added. "Everything is going to be alright now, girls," said my grandmother comfortingly.
Miss Miriam stayed in the hospital for a week. She hit her head hard on that bureau dresser. They ran a lot of tests on her to be sure she was okay before they let her go home. They told Grandmom Faya she shouldn't be living alone anymore in light of what happened. The next time she might not be so lucky.
Coming back to reality from my memory of that eerie night I looked at the envelope in my hand again. I knew it was great news as I eagerly tore it open. I read the letter, and was inundated with ;joy. Excitedly I ran outside to the backyard where my grandmother was tending to her flower garden.
"Grandmom, guess what?!" I cried with exigency. "My goodness, girl," she said stopping her work to look up at me. "What is it that's got you so worked up?" "Look!" I said holding up the letter for her to see. "Nicholas and his wife are coming home to stay with us! He's coming home, Grandmom! He's out of the Service now! Isn't that great?!" I was so excited as I spoke to her with uninhibited felicity.
As she read the letter I noticed she wasn't sharing my joy, and ebullience. "What's the matter, Grandmom?" I asked her concerned. "Aren't you glad Nicholas is coming home?"
She smiled at me, and folded the letter. Then put it back inside the envelope. "Yes, I am, honey," she said. "I truly am after all of these years. I just don't know how he will feel about staying in my old, family house." I listened to her intently. "I know none of you are crazy about the idea of moving in there. By the time he and his new wife arrive we may already be living there. I'm not sure yet. Even Miriam doesn't want to go. But she had no choice anymore as sick as she is." I understood what she meant. We didn't want to move in that house.
"I don't think he will mind so much, Grandmom," I told her surprising myself. "You're probably right, honey," she agreed. "Anyway at my age it doesn't make sense to live here when I have much more room, and space over there." She paused again then sighed. "I've had contractors over there fixing up the place, and it will be ready soon," she told me.
"But, Grandmom," I said confused, "I didn't think you would want to live in that house anymore. After all of the bad things you told me happened there." "It wasn't a nice place to live back then, honey," she replied. "But the same love we have in this house we will be taking into that one with us. That love is like a bright, shining light in the midst of all of the darkness that may still linger there. It will overcome any negativity. Don't you think?" I didn't answer her. "Besides," she continued with a secretive, little grin, "you and Malin can be closer to your secret place."
I was shocked! "How did you know about our secret place, Grandmom?" I asked her. "We never told anybody about it." "I know a lot of things, Tyla, sweetie," she said still smiling. "Did you know your brother talks in his sleep?" "Malin?!" I said surprised. She just kept smiling at me. Then a more serious look came across her face when she asked me, "You're not afraid of the house. Are you, honey?"
I was deathly afraid of that house even though I didn't know why. Maybe it was because of all of her stories about it. Whatever the reason was I didn't want to live there that was for sure. "No, Grandmom," I lied. "I'm not afraid."
"As for Miriam," she said accepting my outright lie, "she cannot live alone anymore. It's either that house or a nursing home for her. I told her that, and she knows I'm serious. Which one would you choose if you were her?" "I guess it's okay if you say so, Grandmom," I replied meekly. Tacitly, I couldn't have agreed more with the way Miss Miriam felt.
Grandmom Faya put her arm around my shoulders. "If it will make you feel any better, honey," she said, "I've already had a Minister from each one of the churches go inside the house, and bless it for us. They will do it again, too, before we move in."
"Why did you do that, Grandmom?" I asked surprised she would have something so solemn done if our love could out-shine any darkness there. "Oh," she replied, "because of all of the trouble, and the insidious evil that went on in there long ago. I don't think we'll have anything to worry about." No one could have known it at the time. But Grandmom Faya had her own personal reasons for moving our family into that house. They were reasons that had a lot to do with me.
Together she and I went inside the house. I went upstairs to my bedroom, and closed the door. I sat down on my window seat, and stared out of the window. I was a little worried despite what Grandmom Faya told me.
I smiled to myself as I continued thinking about what she said. "Just imagine all of us being the light in that darkness," I thought. "I sure hope you know what you are doing, Grandmom. I don't have good feelings about this move at all. There's something not right about that house. I don't think any of us will do any good there.......no good at all!" I continued to stare out of the window thinking about the move we would be making.
"Then again," I thought, "maybe our love for each other will be able to destroy the darkness of the past."
Over the years I recalled my grandmother's perspicacious words many times. As well as the keen, immutable disagreement I had in my heart concerning her decision, but always kept to myself.
"CHAPTER SEVEN"
On the day we received Nicholas's letter I decided I would visit Karen that evening. Emma wouldn't be home until late that night, and Malin would be out with his friends. I needed to talk to somebody about the upcoming move my family, and I would be making. Somebody other than my grandmother and Miss Miriam. First I wanted to take a nap so I laid on my bed.
I laid there still thinking about our moving into that incongruous domicile. I dozed off to sleep, and had a very strange dream. In my dream I saw Andrew, Jr. We were at the secret place where Maline, and I used to go when we were children. It was baffling to us how after Mama was gone we didn't want to go there anymore.
Andrew, Jr. started talking to me in the dream. I was terrified of dead people, and anything remotely connected to them. But I was not afraid of my brother's spirit. A relaxing peace washed over me in the dream. I thought about how strange it was to see my oldest brother as the youn boy he was when he passed away. He would have been twenty three years old if he had lived.
"That's silly," I thought. "Dead people don't age. Why shouldn't he look the same way he did when he died?" I was so preoccupied with my thoughts I hadn't heard anything his spirit was saying. I pushed those thoughts aside, and listened to him.
"Ty," his spirit said to me, "there is nothing you can do to stop Grandmom Faya from moving into that house. She thinks it's safe to go back there now but it isn't. The woman named, Marie, is still in the house, Ty. She is so insidious her spirit cannot leave that house." He stopped talking then continued. "Her spirit comes to the house where you are now," he said. "But she has no power there, and can't stay long." My ears were glued to his spirit's every word.
"She is following you, Ty," my brother's spirit told me. I was shocked! "What?!" I cried. "Listen!" he admonished me harshly. "You're the one she is angry about for some reason. Her anger, and rage have made her spirit more sinister, and more dangerous over the years. She is more vile now than she ever was in her lifetime." "Why is she following me?" I asked his spirit utterly stupefied. "Why me?!" But he kept on talking as if he hadn't heard my question.
"Marie is determined to do a lot of harm to somebody, Ty," he continued. "But whoever it is, it's someone she feared when she was alive, and still fears in death. I don't know who it is. She has help with her wickedness in that house. There are others there. Others who are just as villainous as she is. I hear them talking." He hesitated.
"There is the spirit of a man whose name is life was Roy," continued Andrew, Jr., "and another woman. But she won't tell me her name. She died a long time ago like the others did. It was at the hand of Marie she told me. She said she is there to protect her children." Suddenly he stopped talking. His spirit looked sad, and forlorn.
"Why does this Marie follow me around, Andrew, Jr.?" I asked again calmly. "What does she want with me? I don't even know her. Tell me please if you know." Andrew, Jr.'s spirit turned, and looked toward the house that sat back in the woods near the lake. I followed his gaze. The house wasn't eerie-looking any longer. It was an edifice of true pulchritude.
Yet, I would never forget how badly it scared Malin and I on the day we went inside it. We were small children at the time. So we never realized it was the pure wickedness inside it that frightened us. It was filled with evil, anger, rage, and hatred that had been festering there for years.
"I've got to leave you now, Ty," said Andrew, Jr. suddenly. "They are coming so you better go, too." "Wait!" I cried. "You've got to tell me more, Andrew, Jr." "All I can tell you, Ty," he said, "is a lot of terrible things that went on in this family had to do with Marie, and that house. There is something else you ought to know, too." "What is that?" I asked his spirit anxiously.
"It has something to do with you turning twenty one years old," he replied. "I'm only fifteen now, Andrew, Jr.," I said. "That's a long way off." "Yes," he answered. "But you'll be fifteen soon, Ty. It's not as far away as you think it is. Grandmom Faya knows a lot more than what she has told you or anyone else. She knows exactly what she is doing. I believe for some reason you have to be living in that house when you turn twenty one." It all sounded so inextricable.
"I'm telling you this, Tyla," he continued, "because of what I hear the other spirit saying. The ones who are with Marie. They never say much are me, or the lady whose spirit is good. They know we are not like they are. Our father isn't like them either, and he is there sometimes. But not all of the time."
Andrew, Jr.'s spirit hesitated again. Then he said, "Did you know whenever you and Malin came down here to your secret place our father was here with you? He, and the woman whose spirit is good." He smiled at me then suddenly he was gone.
I awakened from my strange dream, and bolted upright in my bed. I was surprised, and stunned by what my dear brother's spirit told me in the dream. I was scared, too. "Why would someone as evil as Marie was in her lifetime be following me around?" I wondered getting more, and more afraid at the thought.
I recalled the day when Malin and I were at our secret place. He told me someone would always help us if we came there when we were in trouble. "Poor Malin," I thought. "He didn't know it was our father's presence he was feeling that day. It was him who was speaking those strange words he repeated to me. But who is s this woman who was there with him? Who are her children she is protecting, and from what?" My mind was going over everything my brother's spirit said to me in my dream.
I got off the bed, and went downstairs to see if dinner was ready. It was six o'clock. Grandmom Faya was a stickler for having everybody present, and on time for dinner at six thirty every evening. But as hard as she tried it never happened. It was usually my grandmother, Malin, and myself, or just Emma, Grandmom Faya, and myself. Sometimes Miss Miriam was there, too. However, it had been a long time since everybody in the household was there at dinner time. Someone was always missing. In spite of what my grandmother did to have us all together at the dinner table.
As I made my way downstairs I decided not to tell anybody about my dream. "Well," I thought, "maybe Emma." As I approached the kitchen I could hear my grandmother talking, and moving around as she got dinner ready. There was another woman sitting at the kitchen table she was talking to.
"Hi, honey!" she said when she saw me. "Did you have a nice nap?" "Yes, Grandmom," I replied while looking at the other woman who was sitting there. She noticed me looking oddly at the strange woman. The woman nodded her head at me in greeting but said nothing.
"Tyla," said Grandmom Faya, "I want you to meet Mrs. Josette Marshall. She is going to be helping us around the house where we are moving to. It's much too big for Miriam and I alone to try to keep up. You girls have school work as well as work. Don't you think that's nice?"
Before I had a chance to answer her she continued, "Josie, this is my granddaughter, Tyla." Josie extended her hand to me. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Tyla," she said shaking my hand. "I've heard a lot about you, your sister, and your brothers. Your grandmother is very proud of all of you."
I smiled as did my grandmother. "I'm very glad to meet you, too, Miss Josie," I replied. "No, sweetheart," said Josie. "Please call me Josie. Okay? I don't need you to put a handle on my name. Although I know that's how your grandmother raised you all."
"Alright, Josie," I said. She flashed a big, friendly smile at me. The two women resumed the conversation they were having before I came into the room. While they talked I studied Josie.
Josette Marshall was short, stout, and had short, white hair, dark skin, and dark eyes. She was Native American, very gentle and soft-spoken. Also, she smiled a lot. I liked her immediately.
As I listened to them talking I learned that Josie lived in Maron. She recently lost her husband of twenty seven years to a long illness. They never had any children because of his illness which was some kind of genetic disorder. She wanted to have children. But she, and her husband loved each other so much they were content to have each other. They never even considered adoption she told my grandmother.
Josie as Grandmom Faya told me was going to be a part-time housekeeper for our family at the house we were moving into. I was a little taken aback by that. My grandmother hardly ever bothered with the people in town......that is until lately.
We started bringing friends home from school or Emma from work. This provided the push for my grandmother to start attending town meetings, or other events in town to improve the quality of life there. She became one of the most important, and influential community leaders in Maron.
Contrary to how Grandmom Faya felt Emma, and I could have helped her, and Miss Miriam with the housework. Why we needed a Housekeeper I didn't know. But I was totally unaware of how big that house really was inside. I found out for myself she did the right thing. We could have used another one like Josie.
At the dinner table that evening there was only my grandmother, Josie, Miss Miriam, and I. Josie helped with the clean up afterward then went home. I went into the living room to watch some television before going over to Karen's house.
I remember it was a warm, lovely evening. Karen was sitting outside on her front stoop when I got to her house. "Hey, kiddo!" she said with a smile when she saw me coming. "I was hoping you would come over tonight. Do you feel like taking a walk into town with me? I thought I would check out some of the Halloween costumes. How about it?"
"Yeah, why not?" I told her. "We better go before the stores close." We started on our way into town. "Are you planning on going out 'trick-or-treating'?" I asked her jokingly. "As a matter of fact," said Karen, "I am. Don't you think it would be fun to dress up as something or somebody? And walk around town all night like the other kids our age do?" "I guess so," I said nonchalantly. Halloween was only five days away. I hadn't thought much about it even though it was my birthday.
Emma, Nicholas, Malin, and I had never gone out 'trick-or-treating' until after Mama left. Grandmom Faya bought all of us costumes that following Halloween, and took us out for about an hour. We had a lot of fun, too. We got lots of goodies. When we came home that evening she made a cake for my birthday. We had a party with ice cream, and balloons. She had all kinds of party favors for us. It was really nice, and something I never had before. After that my grandmother did the same thing for us every year on Halloween until we got too old to go 'trick -or-treating'. Yet, we still celebrated my birthday.
Karen and I were browsing in a store, and she saw a Ouija board. "Hey, look at this," she said as she picked up the board. "This looks like it could be fun." "I don't think so, Karen," I told her. "Why not?" she asked. "My grandmother told me about those things a long time ago," I replied. "What about them?" she asked. "They're just wicked tools used to summon devils out of hell," I said. "Wow!" replied Karen a little spooked. "I guess they're not so much fun after all. Who would buy one of these things?" I just shrugged my shoulders because I had no answer for her. But if the store was selling it, it was obvious they thought somebody would buy it.
As Karen and I were walking home from window shopping that evening an eerie feeling of dread came over me. I didn't know what it was, and I had never felt anything like it before. It felt like some impending doom was upon me. No matter what I did I couldn't shake it. It made me feel sick to my stomach, because it began to weigh on me heavily. It felt like some great sorrow was coming my way. I had experienced strange feelings connected with 'the gift' my sister, and I had. But it was nothing like what I was feeling then.
The bad feeling first came over me while Karen and I were looking around inside the stores. Yet, I fought it off. Now the intensity of it was greater, and heavier. I wanted to leave Karen right then, and there and run home. But I knew she would think I was losing my mind or something if I did.
She noticed I didn't look good. "Are you alright, Ty?" she asked me concerned. I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say, or how to explicate what was happening to me. "Is something wrong, Ty?" she asked me again. "I don't know," I said finally. "All of a sudden I just feel down, and depressed."
She put her arm around my shoulder after that, and said, "Maybe we better hurry up, and get you home, Ty." I felt a little faint. She tried to steady me by putting her arm around my waist as we walked. I noticed her hand touched one of my breasts, and lingered there longer than it should have. I pushed what I was thinking out of my head when she let go of me. We reached a park bench, and sat down.
"What is this?" I wondered. "Why is this terrible feeling on me? It came out of nowhere." Karen and I were silent as we sat on the bench. Suddenly I felt her arm around my waist again. What I thought was my imagination before was happening again. Her hand was full on my breast gently massaging it. I went into shock! Then she turned my face to hers', and kissed me full on the lips.
"What the hell are you doing, Karen?!" I cried in anger, surprise, and disbelief. I pushed her away from me so hard she fell to the ground. She got up, and brushed herself off. "Oh, come on, Ty," she said calmly. "You can't be that naive. Why do you think I don't date guys?"
"I don't know," I told her a little miffed. "And I don't care! I thought you just weren't ready to date yet that's all!"
"Well, girlfriend," she told me, "that's not it. It sure as hell isn't because I can't get a guy either. I like you, Tyla, and you know it."
"Now just a minute, Karen," I said with my mind whirling at the sudden twist in our relationship I wasn't expecting. "I don't know any suck thing. All I know is we are friends, and that's all." I knew she could see I was angry. "I don't appreciate you doing that to me, Karen," I told her. "Please for the sake of our friendship don't do that again. No matter what or who you like please respect my feelings. Okay?"
She stood there in silence for a moment. "Okay, Ty," she said. "You're right. I had no right to do that to you. I promise it will never happen again." "I would like that," I told her sighing with relief. I didn't want to have to fight off my friend's unwanted advances. Karen sighed, too, then said to me, "All of those times up in my bedroom, or if we were in your bedroom trying to see who had the biggest tits. Remember? Me pretending to be the man, and you the woman sometimes in our games? What did you think all of that was about, Tyla?" "To me," I replied, "it was just that. A game we played." Karen chuckled softly. "Ty," she said, "I could see it if we were little girls but we're not. I thought you knew how I felt that's all." Her response was somewhat cryptic to me at first.
I began to recall those games we used to play. It became obvious to me that to her it had never been just a game. "Maybe that's why I have this bad feeling," I began to think. "It's a warning this shocking revelation about her was coming to light." The deep, dreaded feeling remained with me even after the discovery about Karen.
Karen's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Can you imagine what the good people around here would say," she began, "if they knew about me, Ty?" "Yeah," I replied. "I can. But don't worry. We are friends, Karen. Your secret is safe with me for as long as you want it to be. You better keep it to yourself though. At least until you're out of high school, and moved away from this place."
"That's a good idea," she said chuckling again. We got up from the bench, and started walking toward her house. We were almost at Karen's house when she asked me, "Are you still feeling badly?" I noted how genuinely concerned she sounded. "I just can't understand this," I told her. "It came over me so fast. It seems to be getting worse, too. It's so dolorous, Karen. I feel like breaking down into tears."
"Well," she said, "it seems like after we started talking about Halloween, and it being your birthday is when it started. Maybe that has something to do with it." "I don't know," I replied a little dispirited. "I just want to go home, and talk to my grandmother for some reason."
"Yeah," Karen agreed with me. "She could probably help you. They say your great great grandmother knew a lot about eerie feelings, and stuff like this." "What?" I asked puzzled. "What do you mean by that, Karen?" "Oh well, Ty," she said. "I'm sorry to bring this up now. But I have heard people say things about your family." She shrugged her shoulders.
"What kinds of things?" I asked her curiously. I had never heard anything. Except the things Grandmom Faya told me when I was a little girl. Karen hesitated. "Tell me, Karen!" I insisted. "I wouldn't say anything if I wasn't your friend," she said. "Out with it!" I snapped at her.
"Well," she began, "first of all they say the lady named, Charon, wasn't really your mother, Ty. It was another one of those sisters who was your mother. People in town say your real mother dabbled in witchcraft, and was very powerful, too. They say she caused the deaths of a few people."
"What people?" I wanted to know earnestly. "How do you know all of this stuff, Karen? I guess my father wasn't my real father either, huh?" I was being sarcastic by then.
"Please, Tyla," supplicated Karen. "Don't be angry with me. I'm just telling you what has been said around here about your family that's all. But yes Andrew Davidson was your real father I heard. Only the woman named, Charon, was your aunt not your mother. She was one of the four sisters who lived in that big house down by the lake. People around here say your real mother, and her sisters were all powerful witches like their grandmother, and their mother were. Which would make them your great grandmother, and your great great grandmother. They say two of those sisters were very nice people. You know....kind-hearted and all? As powerful as those two were people say they were very altruistic, and never harmed anybody."
"I can't believe this," I said to Karen shaking my head in disbelief. "Yes, Ty," continued Karen. "Rumors have it your grandmother was a very good witch. But she was overpowered by the others, and almost destroyed." "My grandmom is just fine," I said defensively. "No, Ty," said Karen. "The people in town say Miss Faya is not really your grandmother, but another one of those sisters is." "What?!" I cried stunned. Everything was beginning to get very confusing.
"People around here say your real grandmother was messed up for life," continued Karen. "And at the hands of her own sister through witchcraft." "How so?" I asked getting more interested in what she was telling me. She continued to tell me shocking things about my family I had never known.
"It was over some man she wanted they say," said Karen. "But he didn't want her. This other sister was angry about that, and caused a bad accident to happen to your real grandmother, Ty. The accident involved two guys who were friends with her. They suddenly turned on the one who is your real grandmother for no reason that anyone knew at the time. I don't know what really occurred. All I ever heard was it was an accident of some kind."
"I don't understand, Karen," I told her. "Neither do I," she replied. "These two friends of your grandmother's jumped on her out of the clear blue for nothing. They were all out at some club, or a party, or something they say. They beat her up pretty badly, and raped her. There was some finagling on the part of that wicked sister involved there I believe." My mouth fell open involuntarily in horror. "The beating she suffered caused her to have seizures for the rest of her life. She was pregnant at the time it happened, and almost lost her baby."
"My God!" I cried. "That's terrible!" Karen nodded her head. "They say she did have the baby. He was your father, Andrew, Ty." Karen paused, and looked at me. But I was staring at the ground beneath my feet. Trying to make some sense out of what I was hearing about my family from her. Karen started talking again.
"This terrible sister is supposed to have murdered your great grandfather, too," said Karen, "with the help of your great great grandmother. He was your grandmother's father." "You're telling me she murdered her own father?!" I asked even more aggrieved.
"That's what they say," answered Karen. "They ran him away. Later on he was found dead in the wooded area behind their house." "Oh, my God!" I cried. "Please finish telling me the rest of what you've heard Karen." She took a deep breath, and let it out.
"From all I've heard, Ty," continued Karen, "there was a lot of jealousy, and hatred among those sisters, and their grandmother. I think they said her name was Lucy. This evil sister was just like your great great grandmother.....just pure evil. Lucy taught her all of this transcendental stuff. But she was going to kill her own sister because of a man! Do you believe it?!" I couldn't believe it, or wrap my mind around all Karen was telling me. It was so unbelievable! Grandmom Faya never told me anything about what Karen was saying.
"This man they say," continued Karen, "loved your real grandmother, and the baby she had was his because he raped her. But he loved her. The evil sister started to hate them both because he didn't want her. His name was Roy Oberon. I hear he was young, and handsome. Also, he was into dark magic like the evil sister, and her grandmother were."
By that time my eyes were wide open in stunned shock, and disbelief. I couldn't believe the things Karen was telling me. All of the conversations I overheard between my grandmother, and Miss Miriam began to make sense to me. I could fill in some of the blank spaces. All of the things Grandmom Faya already told me about when I was a little girl were true. I sat down on another bench nearby as Karen followed me, and sat down next to me.
"There's more, Ty," she said, "if you want to hear it." I felt numb, but I nodded my head to her. Of course I wanted to hear everything she heard about my family. I wanted to know everything she knew. Therefore, she began to tell me the rest of the things she heard about the Davidson family.
"Your great grandmother," began Karen, "the four sisters' mother, met and married the love of her life." Then her voice turned low. "They had four daughters, and no sons. There was some kind of financial trouble that forced them to move into your great great grandmother's house. That's when everything began to fall apart for them, and their daughters." Karen looked at me empathetically.
"Your great great grandmother set out from day one to destroy her own daughter's marriage, Ty," she told me. "Her own daughter!" She was in disbelief herself by that time. "Your great great grandmother from what I've heard succeeded, too." "What do you mean she succeeded?" I asked Karen turning to look at her. "They found her husband dead," said Karen.
Karen sighed heavily. "Well," she said, "like I already told you two of those sisters Lucy couldn't control or destroy. It seems they had the same powers she had. I don't think she bothered with those two much. They prevented a lot of bad things from turning out much worse than they did in that house. They were powerful witches, Ty, all of them."
"What happened to those two men you told me about earlier, Karen?" I wanted to know. "They were both found murdered, Ty," she told me with a shudder. "Not long after the attack happened on your real grandmother. Somebody slashed their throats!" "This is getting worse by the minute," I said to Karen sadly. "I don't know all of the names the townsfolk have called, Ty," she admitted. "But I do remember the wicked sister's name was Marie." My heart felt like it had stopped beating for a second. "Marie?" I said in a low voice Karen couldn't hear. "Grandmom Faya's virulent sister."
Karen heard a great deal about my family she never mentioned to me before, and I wondered why. But I didn't dwell on it. I gathered she was probably trying not to hurt me. I continued to listen as she told me startling things. Especially about all of them being witches.
"Your great great grandmother was named, Lucilla," said Karen. "But they called her Lucy like I told you." My spirit was sinking lower, and lower as I recalled all that Grandmom Faya told me about her terrible grandmother, and Marie. "She tried to force this guy Roy to marry Marie even though she loved him, too," Karen said. "But he was in love with the one who is your real grandmother, Ty. However, she wouldn't have him."
I couldn't recall where I heard the name 'Lucilla' before. Then I remembered the night Emma had the vision about Miss Miriam getting sick. It was Grandmom Faya who called that name, and she called her Ole Lucy. She mentioned her older sister, Marie, in all of her many gossip sessions with Miss Miriam. I began to wonder about Miss Miriam again as I had been doing for quite some time. But no one knew.....not even Emma.
"Anyway," continued Karen, unaware my mind began to digress away from her, and what she was saying, "this guy named, Roy, decided it was time for him to pack up, and leave that horrible house. He supposedly threw himself out of a third story window of the house, and killed himself. But nobody in town believed it. Too many strange things went on inside that house." Karen looked at me as if to reticently ask if I wanted her to go on. I looked at her, and nodded my head. I had to hear the whole sordid story.
"Well," she began again, "the battles between those sisters, and their grandmother grew worse, and worse when your father, Andrew, was born, Ty. As he got older the worse things got inside that house. The rumor is Marie seduced him, her own nephew, when he was a grown man, married, and had a family of his own. She ended up getting pregnant by him, too. She was wicked, and vengeful."
By that time I was so overwhelmed by the tale of horror I was hearing my mind refused to believe it. Although I knew Karen wouldn't lie about something like that. "I just can't believe those horrible things happened in my own family," I said with great consternation. Even as I said those words deep down inside me I knew all Karen told me was true. I came from a family of witches. And was more than likely one myself. My sister, and my brothers were, too.
"Well, they did," she insisted. "You know I would never lie to you, Ty. I'm your friend." "You're right, Karen," I replied. "Is there anything else I don't know?"
"I'll have to think on it," she said. "But you know that great great grandmother of yours was the root of all of the terror, and evil that went on inside that house, Ty. She plotted to take the baby Marie had by the nephew....your father, Andrew. It was a little, baby girl they say. She gave the baby to the nephew, and his wife to raise. After all he was the child's father. When Marie protested there was a real battle between her, and the grandmother. Marie lost! Not long after that they found Marie on the floor of her bedroom one morning. She had been poisoned by somebody. The people in town always said it was one of the other sisters who killed her." "Oh, God," was all I could manage to say.
Karen kept on talking. "The nephew's wife was named, Teresa, Ty," she informed me. "She came from Tolstoy. They had four children.....her and Andrew. No one ever did know where that fifth child came from later on. They did find out the little girl was the baby Marie had. The youngest sister Lucy tried to force the baby girl onto to raise as hers' refused to do it at first. She didn't want any trouble with Marie. Naturally, Marie wanted revenge for her grandmother taking her child away from her. She couldn't hurt Ole Lucy so she set out to destroy the nephew, and his family." Karen paused again. While I struggled to keep following the unvarnished tale of terror she was relaying to me.
"Again," she continued, "one of the kinder sisters intervened. By that time she was alone. The other nice one was put into an asylum by Lucy. She was the same one this guy Roy was in love with, and is your real grandmother.....your father, Andrew's, mother. This one good sister saved all of those children. But your father ended up blowing his brains out with a sawed-off shotgun they say. It happened after his wife, Teresa, was found dead in that house one morning. And guess what else?" I looked at her as if I couldn't wait to hear what she was about to say. "She died from being poisoned, too," added Karen.
"All of this is so grievously terrifying, and incredible!" I gasped still stunned as well as nauseous. Karen nodded her head then said, "There's a little more, Ty. Marie thought she would get her little girl back after Teresa and Andrew died. But she didn't because Lucy made sure of that. That's when she forced the youngest sister to take all of those children, and raisse them as her own."
Karen and I were silent for several moments. My mind was still racing. Trying to tie everything she told me into the things Grandmom Faya told me long years before. I shook my head still trying not to believe all I heard. "It's all so horrifying, Karen," I said forlornly.
"I know, Ty," replied Karen. "Maybe you should talk to your grandmother about all of these rumors. She would certainly know about them, and if they're really true or not." "Yeah," I mumbled. "Maybe I'll do that." But I already knew Karen was telling me the truth. My grandmother told me a lot of the things she said. "Oh, there's something else, too," said Karen quickly. "Do you think I need to hear anymore, Karen?" I asked her trying not to sound sarcastic with my friend.
"I know," she said solemnly as she put her hand on my shoulder. "There is something about that house being 'cleansed' forever by someone on their twenty first birthday, Ty. It's a different witch whose name has never been mentioned."
My mouth fell open again in shock as my stomach fell to my knees. It felt like my bottom lip had reached my knees, too. I recalled the dream I had about Andrew, Jr. that afternoon. Karen immediately noticed my reaction. "What's wrong, Ty?" she asked. I couldn't answer her. I remembered what Andrew, Jr. told me about my twenty first birthday. Also, about my having to be living in that house at the time. "Oh, it's nothing," I lied to her.
"Nobody knows about this one yet, Ty," said Karen almost in a whisper. "But Marie was very fearful of one of the two nice sisters. I mean truly fearful they say. She was no match for that one whichever one it was."
I couldn't say anything to Karen except, "I'm going home now, Karen, so I'll talk to you later." In a daze I started for my home while Karen walked in the other direction toward her own house. "See you, Ty," she said. The heavy, sorrowful feeling began to alleviate.
When I got home I went straight upstairs to my bedroom. I never heard Grandmom Faya calling to me, or noticed Emma standing in the kitchen doorway waving to me. I never even answered Malin when he spoke to me as he passed right by me on the stairs. I didn't want to be bothered with anybody. I knew Grandmom Faya would follow me upstairs to see what was wrong with me. I locked my bedroom door behind me.
Sure enough I heard her outside my bedroom door a few minutes later. She called to me but I pretended not to hear her. Intuitively, I knew she started to knock on my door. But changed her mind after I didn't answer her calling to me.
"Don't be said, Tyla, honey," I heard my grandmother continue talking softly through the closed, bedroom door. "There is more to this story than they know. It will all be taken care of. I promise you that." I heard her go back downstairs.
I laid on my bed, and thought, "One thing is for sure. There must be something to the rumors she has supernatural powers. How else would she have guessed what was wrong with me? If she, and Miss Miriam are witches it definitely means the rest of us are, too."
I heard our doorbell ring. "It's probably Miss Miriam," I thought as I heard Grandmom Faya going to answer the door. "What's wrong with Ty?" I heard Malin ask her.
"She's fine," my grandmother lied. She thought it was Miss Miriam who was at the door, too. I heard her say that to Emma and Malin. "We'll be moving soon," she said to them. "I don't understand why she can't stick it out in that house of hers' until then." But it wasn't Miss Miriam at the door.
NOTE: PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ "IN THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS". YOU WILL
THOROUGHLY ENJOY THIS GREAT SUPERNATURAL/THRILLER/DRAMA. ALSO,
THERE IS MUCH MORE PAIN, TRAGEDY, AND SORROW TO COME FOR THIS
FAMILY BEFORE THEY ARE FINALLY FREE TO LIVE IN PEACE!!
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