Holiday Magick (41 page)

Maggie's ‘celebration' of All Souls' Day isn't what you might expect; then again, you never know what you might find until you start looking.

I have spent the last year of my life waiting for this moment. I have only one chance to save my brother's soul before sunrise on this All Souls' Day. My name is Margaret and I am the only member of my family who has not died in this field. If I live through this night, I vow never to return, or I risk joining them in their fate…

She knew the moment her brother would appear was fast approaching, so she walked to the center of the field, where the grass grew tallest. He would appear only a few feet in front of the spot where she now stood, not knowing he was no longer alive. The moment came sooner than she expected, and she had to close her eyes, afraid she would react too passionately to seeing him again. For one selfish second she didn't want to look. She wanted to keep him here, and return year after year to visit him and replay the last night he had spent here on Earth, even if it meant one day sharing his fate.

“Maggie?”

Hearing his voice was harder than she had imagined, cutting her like a knife piercing her heart. She wanted to cry out and run to him, but if she gave away that any time had passed, she would fail to save him. He had to adjust, to come to terms with his fate.

“Yes, Charlie?”

She would not let it show on her face, but she couldn't turn away. He was her brother, her confidant, and when their father died he had done everything in his power to keep her safe and make her happy. She knew she had to do the same now; in this one night, she would have to repay what he had spent a lifetime doing for her.

“What time is it?” He seemed like he was about to look for the watch she had worn last year, so she tucked her hand behind her back and answered from memory, cursing mentally that she had forgotten to wear it.

“It's four minutes after ten. We have just over an hour until they show up.”

“Why do we do this?” he asked, exactly the same way he had the year before.

“Because we love them.” It was a different answer than the one she had given him before, the first subtle clue she willingly gave. She didn't want to repeat the “gluttons for punishment” wisecrack she had made the year before. Things were different this time. She was here because there was a chance. She did not want to torture herself the way they both had each November 2nd, visiting the site of their father's death only to watch him die again.

Charlie stayed quiet for a moment watching her face, and then smiled. “So true. So what should we do this year?”

“Do you remember the story you told me the first year we were here? The one about All Souls' Day?”

“You mean the one about Mom?”

“Yes.”

“It seems like it is the fate of our family to end up as souls here. But you said you never wanted to hear it again.”

“I want to hear it now,” she said softly, but his words echoed in her mind.

…the fate of our family to end up as souls here…

His look of curiosity changed into something she couldn't recognize. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stared into her eyes, but then his face softened and he shook his head.

“You remember the beginning, don't you? The legend about when souls first appear?”

“Yes, but I want to hear you explain it again, the way you did that day. It's hard seeing…Dad this way…and Brandon, too. I want to remember what it felt like that year, when I first learned to understand.” She tried to look confident and strong. It must have worked because he lay down in the grass, watching the night sky. Margaret joined him, but chose to look at him instead of the stars. This was her last chance to see him like this again, and the night sky would be there for the rest of her life.

“All Souls' Day is a day dedicated to those who have passed. Each November 2nd, families gather; they pray for their departed, give money, or attend Mass. They believe that the souls of those close to them have not received sanctification, that prayers and sacrifices may help lead them to the light. But they are wrong.

“Dad's family had a different belief. They celebrated All Souls' Day by visiting the places where their recently departed had died. They believed, if they saw the faces of the dead, that would mean those who had died were not ready to accept the truth of their passing and would come back every November 2nd until they could move on. If they did appear, Dad's family would help them move on to the place after this one, the next life or heaven, who knows…They would make each member of the family memorize the rules about not touching the skin of the dead and letting them be led to the truth instead of forcing it on them. If the soul does not know that they have died, this is especially important so that they won't become traumatized and unable to accept their fate and move on. Souls that are not ready to face being dead, who could not find rest after their passing, like those murdered, or who suffered a form of trauma, will appear to their families, but may not be able to see the living.

“Each time Dad went with his family, no one was there. He never saw the souls of those who had passed. His family would celebrate and say that they had accepted their ‘fate' or their ‘gift' but over time he decided it was simply a tradition, based on a story passed down from generation to generation.

“He was wrong.

“Then one day, Dad met the woman he fell in love with and together they were happy and had two children—us. One day, his beautiful wife planned to take the astronomy class she was teaching out into a field to study the stars she loved. Dad stayed at home to take care of us while she went out to set up the equipment for her class. She carried a heavy telescope with her. Walking toward the center of the field, she fell into a deep ditch, dying instantly as her neck—Maggie, are you sure you want to hear this? I know it was hard for you.”

“Yes, I am sure. I think I need to. I want to hear it one last time, and then you never have to tell it to me again,” she said, realizing he was asking because tears trailed down her cheeks. “Sorry—it's just hard because I always knew she was gone, but I didn't understand why or how until you told me. I guess it is still hard for me to process.” She wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling him the most heart-wrenching part either.

Charlie continued, keeping an eye on his sister's face. “He was desperate. He didn't know what to do, and decided to hope that maybe the stories his family had told him were true. He waited for her in the field on All Souls' Day, leaving us asleep in the house with the neighbor to watch us. He waited for hours until the right time, hoping he could help her, hoping she could find peace. Then suddenly, there she was, standing in the middle of the field. He ran to her but was too afraid to try to touch her, remembering what his family had told him. She kept trying to touch him, but he would find ways around her attempts, so instead they talked. She told him she had wanted to use this field because it had the best view of her favorite constellation and because it was close enough that she could get home before we would wake up in the morning.

“They talked for hours until he started to see the first hints of sunrise; then, he told her, ‘No matter what, remember that we love you. No matter where you go, you are always with us and we are always with you.' She argued and told him that she would never leave, why would she, she loved us, but then as the sky changed in front of her she understood. Looking to our father, she realized she did have to leave. There in front of him she vanished, but what he hadn't known was that a young boy was in the field that night too. As Dad was about to walk away, swearing to come back a year later and ensure she was safe, the boy's father, Brandon, came up to him and threatened him. He told Dad that he would never be allowed on his property again, that it was bad enough he had to deal with one dead body, that he wasn't about to deal with another. He told Dad that he could never come back, and so Dad decided not to. Year after year he waited and wished he could go, but he was afraid of upsetting the man and his son or leaving us alone with the neighbor on a night that meant so much to him…”

Charlie's voice cracked and she waited for him to continue, but he seemed to be too lost in thought, so she continued for him. “Until one year he decided he had to know if she still stood there, waiting in that field for him, and he left us alone. Only when he got to the field, it wasn't his wife waiting for him. It was Brandon, whose son had seen Mom and Dad. His son, Andy, had been taken from him because he never forgot that night and always swore that he had seen a woman, a ghost who had vanished into thin air. Andy continued to insist that he had seen her, even when his teachers and the authorities warned him that it could not be true and that, if he continued to insist, he would be put away. Brandon was very upset over losing his son and came out to the field to see if Dad was there that night. No one could have foretold the tragedy that occurred and that they would both lose their lives.”

She stopped, not sure if she was going too far.

“I guess we will see the rest soon, won't we? It should be any minute now,” Charlie told her, looking into her eyes, only his face seemed different, and his emotions closer to the surface then they had been when he had been alive. “I guess we will see…,” he repeated again quietly. He stood and offered his hand to help her up. She almost reached for it, but remembered he wouldn't be able to touch her, so she dropped her arm and stood on her own. His facial expression changed again and she closed her eyes for a moment, wishing she could have had him help her up one last time, let him be her stable protector one more time.

“What is going on?” Charlie asked, and Maggie didn't know what to say. She heard the tone in his voice, the way it had that edge that only happened when he suspected her of lying. “You hate that story. Why did you want to hear it again? You aren't going to do something stupid, are you?”

“No,” she answered. “You know I'm not like that. I just needed to hear it again.” She didn't add that she had asked to hear the story last year and was simply following the map of events she had already laid out. She didn't tell him that the story was why he had been emotional and done something so stupid that he ended up dead at her feet.

“Dad should be here any minute. Do you think he will see us this year?” He had asked her the same question he asked each year before their father's appearance. Even the first time, their father hadn't been able to see them when they begged him to move on before he was trapped. He had been too emotional over the death of his wife and the appearance of Brandon, the property owner, to see anything but the past. Some years Brandon would see them. Charlie didn't know that his death had changed everything. That both Brandon and their father had seen him last year the moment he had died.

“I don't know,” she answered honestly, wishing she knew for sure that she could change what was about to happen. If last year was any indication, then yes, their father would see them, and he would see his son shot through the chest. He would know his son had died following in his footsteps. Maggie wasn't sure that was something her father would have been able to forget. Her mother's soul had had a peaceful passing, not knowing any time had passed until the sun touched her. It was the legend to a tee, but this could be different.

There was no way to know if spirits could remember seeing a loved one die, but Maggie couldn't forget it or stop the chills creeping across her spine as she realized that not all the players were present this time. Charlie was here, but his killer hadn't died. Unlike her father and Brandon, his death couldn't be fully replayed. She had been thinking about it for the last year, wishing she could know what would happen, and now the moment was here. They were about to find out.

“Dad?” She heard Charlie ask, and turned to see Charlie and their father looking at one another. Directly at one another.