Miraculous: Tales of the Unknown (17 page)

Chapter 2

“
Just one little sign, a
ghost, preferably. Something to reward me for believing in
Halloween,” she remarked to her husband one evening. But lately her
husband didn’t say much. She didn’t know if he was becoming deaf,
or depressed, or just didn’t give a hoot about what she had to say.
He had taken to feeding the dog, which surprised and delighted her.
Maybe he was taking a liking to Gisella, a little Llaso Apso/
Golden Retriever mix. She wasn’t much on looks but had a wonderful
Golden Retriever personality. Her husband Frank never was
interested in the pup, so it was a shock when he started to feed
her.

Her sister Mabel was
acting strange lately, too. When Agnes phoned her, Mabel would hang
up on her.

“
Did I do something to
offend you?” Agnes hollered into the phone before the line went
dead. So she paid Mabel a visit, with equally weird results. She
pounded on the door until her sister answered. Then Mabel stared
out into the yard. Agnes squeezed past her to get in the door. Her
sister didn’t say much, either. She cried a lot and didn’t even
offer her a cup of tea.

“
Something odd is going
on,” she told Gisella when they sat in the park. “Why are they all
acting so strange? Is it me? Did I do something to them?” She
thought up all sorts of reasons.

Another of her favorite
October pleasures was watching scary movies on TV. Sometimes Frank
ignored her, falling asleep in his chair during the best part, but
one evening he took the remote and channel-surfed without asking
her if she minded, and not even during the commercial.

“
Frank Malenfont, you
ignorant jerk! I’ve put up with the silent treatment and your rude
behaviors, but don’t you DARE change the channel when I’m in the
middle of a good movie! You ungrateful, egotistical…OOOHHHH!! You
make me so angry I could just…spit nails!!” Frank never blinked an
eye. He stared at the TV as the programs flipped past.

“
I’ve had it with you!”
she yelled as she stormed out the door. He did sit up and notice
when she slammed the door. She peeked in the window and watched him
look around. He got up to check the door, but it was too late.
Agnes was leaving.

She stood in the driveway
pondering her next course of action. Agnes realized she had painted
herself into the proverbial corner. Here she was--no coat, no car
keys, not even the dog. So she decided to take herself for a walk
in the park.

Chapter 3

The evening had become
blustery. Dark clouds scudded past the full moon. Agnes was
surprised that she wasn’t colder, but she did have her sweater with
the pumpkin on it. She sauntered to the bench she usually sat on
with her dog, her anger already fizzled out. She was left feeling
puzzled. Why was her husband acting like this? Maybe his back was
hurting again. Maybe he should see his doctor tomorrow. She sighed
and buried her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her
knees.

She didn’t know what made
her look up. She hadn’t heard anything, but felt she wasn’t alone.
A man sat on the bench with her! She stifled a shriek and started
to jump up when the man said, “I won’t hurt you, Agnes. I’m here to
help you.”

“
How do you know my
name?”

“
Oh, my dear, I know many
things about you. I know you’re having trouble at home.”

“
Huh! Anyone could figure
that out. Why would I be sitting alone in the park?”

“
Good point, my dear. But
you didn’t bring Gisella, now, did you?”

“
How could you know that?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you stalking me?” She looked him over,
so she could give a good description to the police. He was about
medium size--five ten at the most. Longish white hair tied in a
ponytail, unusual for an older man. And the clothes! At what church
basement rummage sale did he find them? Pants like that went out of
style with powdered wigs. Wait a minute--was that a powdered wig on
his head?

Suddenly Agnes laughed out
loud! How could she be so stupid? The man was in a Halloween
costume! He probably was on his way to a party. The man gave her an
odd look.

“
My dear madam, what is
wrong?”

“
Nothing. Absolutely
nothing. I was taken by surprise with your costume. And I hope you
win first prize.”

“
I haven’t the least idea
of what you’re talking about. But no matter. I’m here to be
assistance to you. ”

“
How can you help me? You
don’t know me.”

“
I know quite a bit about
you. I know you have a husband, Frank, who doesn’t seem as
attentive anymore. I know you bring Gisella, the dog, here to the
park.”

“
You could’ve overheard
me.”

“
In addition, I know you
have a sister Mabel who hasn’t been herself, and you’re wondering
why. That’s why I’m here.”

“
What’s your name,
sir?”

“
Everyone calls me
McGee.”

“
Okay, Mr. McGee, what is
it that you plan to do for me?”

“
I plan to help you
discover some things about yourself. And it’s just McGee. You don’t
have to call me Mister. Just McGee.”

“
Okay, McGee. That’s
better than calling you the Guy in Funny Clothes. So tell me,
McGee, what do you plan to do for me?”

“
As I said, I came to help
you understand a few things about yourself. Take a deep
breath.”

Agnes did as she was told,
with pleasure. She loved the pungent scent of fall, the leafy
autumnal perfume. Strangely, the air wasn’t as fragrant as it had
been in past years.

“
Tell me what you smell,
Madam.”

“
Well, not too much. I
probably have a sinus infection again.” She tapped on her forehead
and below her eyes but failed to produce the achy sinus pressure
she knew so well. “It must not be bad yet. I’ll call the doctor in
the morning.”

“
I’m afraid it won’t do
you much good.”

“
You’re right,” she said.
“He probably won’t prescribe an antibiotic unless I have symptoms.
I’ll have to wait.”

“
Waiting won’t make any
difference, either. How is your appetite lately?”

She mulled over this one.
“Not too good. Frank has been cooking lately--I don’t know why. But
food doesn’t taste right. I’m probably too upset with him to
eat.”

“
Now let’s think about
this: Nobody can see you. Food has lost its appeal. You can’t smell
this wonderfully scented air. Can you guess why?”

She sat beside him,
staring at the moon. “No, can’t say I do. Suppose you tell
me.”

“
Should I be
blunt?”

“
Please do,” she sighed.
“I’m getting tired of this guessing game.”

“
This is your Halloween
surprise. I’m a ghost. I died in 1785, right after your
Revolutionary War. And as for you--you’re a ghost, too!”

Agnes leaped off of the
bench. “I am not! What do you mean by that?”

“
It’s true. Dead as a door
nail. Dead as the Dead Sea. Do you remember the day you were
climbing down out of the attic with your Halloween decorations? You
slipped and fell, didn’t you?”

“
I remember…hitting my
head. But I didn’t think I was hurt.”

“
You weren’t hurt, silly
goose. You died. You had bleeding into your head and never woke up.
You never felt any pain.”

She sat back down beside
McGee. “Dead. Now what do I do?”

“
I’m here to take you into
the light, as you’ve heard others speak of. But there’s no reason
we couldn’t have a little fun first.”

“
What do you
mean?”

He smiled and took her
arm, pulling her from the bench. “We can visit your husband. Put
him in the Halloween spirit.”

“
You mean haunt him?” she
asked, surprised.

“
I prefer to say, we send
him greetings from the other side.”

She grinned as they walked
away. “I was hoping for a little Halloween surprise--and this is
really Something!”

Howl at the
Moon

By: Krystal George and
Amber Streed

© 2013 by Krystal George
and Amber Streed

It was a cold and eerie
night. The kind of night you should stay inside and curl up under a
blanket with a good book, except that I couldn't. As student body
president, it was sort of expected that I attend the Homecoming
dance even though I didn't have a date...but the burden of what I
was becoming was a constant horror that was weighing heavily on my
heart. I saw it more and more every day; every time I looked at my
sad face in the steam fogged mirror.

What would people say?
What would they think? What was I thinking? I couldn't tell anyone
or they'd think I was crazy. This was something out of a horror
movie... out of a novel or a play... not real life... As my dad
called me from downstairs I straightened my hair and took one last
look in the mirror. Tonight was the night that everything would
change and no matter what, I had to face it alone.

My dress was simple;
innocent. It was a pale blue slip dress, almost the same color as
my eyes. At the time I had thought it complimented me. Now it
didn't at all. There was no innocence left inside of me; almost
nothing at all left of the girl I was a few days ago. I looked
outside my window at the beautiful willow tree in my front yard;
knowing that once tonight was over nothing would look the same. The
moon would rule me. People wouldn't be anything to me but a means
to an end. I would crave innocence and fear; I would feed on blood
and life.

The moon had never meant
anything to me before… now it was everything.

I took one last look at my
room; my walls adorned with posters of the bands I love, my bed
draped with my favorite old comforter. I loved everything in here
and it was time to let it go. I snuck into Kaylee's room to kiss
her one last time and to give her one last smell so I would
remember her innocence forever.

"I hope you never have to
feel this pain Kaylee. I will love you forever baby girl." I gave
her one last look and took a breath to prepare to head
downstairs.

When my dad called again,
impatience coloring his voice, I closed my eyes briefly before
walking out of her room. Each step down the stairs seemed to be
cementing my doom... my fate. I wanted to cry for what I was being
forced to leave behind, but there were no tears. I had already
cried them. I would not be coming back here tonight. With Kaylee
asleep in her bed, there was too much at stake to allow myself the
luxury of a home.

"You look really pretty
honey," my mom said from her perch on the couch. She had the same
chestnut hair as mine and the same baby blue eyes. I used to think
I would end up like her one day. Now I knew that I wouldn't; that I
couldn't.

"Leave her alone Claire,
we need to get going," my dad said looking down at his watch.
"We're already late!" I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Sure
he was annoying, but tonight would be the last night I'd see him.
He'd never again get to be annoyed with me and that was hard to
accept.

"Ok dad, fine let's go." I
huffed. I kissed my mom on the head and walked out the door in
front of my dad. I took one last look at her loving face and turned
around before she could see the sadness in my eyes. She always had
a way of knowing I was sad before I cried. The car ride was
overwhelmingly sad; like he was driving me to my grave. In a sense
he was, he just didn't know it yet.

"Everything okay
sweetheart?" He asked.

"Um, yeah dad.
Everything's fine," I replied.

He pulled into the parking
lot and turned off the ignition before turning in his seat to face
me. "Boys aren't everything you know." I stared at him blankly,
having no idea what he was talking about. He smiled. "It's okay
that you don't have a date Lucy."

I sighed and laughed
softly, "I know." Like most problems, mine had started with a
boy... but not having a date was the least of my
worries.

This is the way I wanted
to remember him; soft, loving and protective. If only he could have
protected me that night...the night I was bitten. It had been only
two weeks but I still felt it as if it happened yesterday. His
beautiful lips on mine in the cold pale light of the moon; the
stillness of the air lingered in our throats. And then it
happened...

For a moment I let my mind
remember it. Blood red fierce eyes, elongated teeth tearing into
the flesh of my neck, his whimpered apologies...

"Have fun, and if you need
a ride home... call me."

My dad's words pulled me
from the confines of my own mind.

"Thanks Dad. I love you."
I said quietly. I grabbed my purse and got out of the car. As I
walked to the ballroom of my high school gymnasium, I took one last
look at my aging father. I waived one last wave and he smiled one
last smile and drove away. My heart will always be imprinted with
the memory of him leaving. I walked into the packed room full of
flashing lights and loud music, searching for my friends so I could
attempt to have one last night of normalcy.