The Spirit Who Loved Me: Spirit Whispers Book One (23 page)

Yes she is,
Abel whispered into my ear.
I’m going to do all that is in my power to save you. This may be uncomfortable, but it’s the only way.

I should do it, Abel. You’re too close to her to be objective if need arises.

Do it then.

My body jolted as Spiral Spider joined with me, sharing my body. The feeling was nothing like being with Abel, nothing of that pure bliss. At first, there was a sensation of being crowded out. There was a sensation of watching, of being a passenger, but I felt a peacefulness in the middle of chaos, a trust that my friend, and I didn’t doubt in that moment Spiral was indeed my friend, would lead me to safety.

“Malcom,” the voice that came forth from my body was not my own, but Spiral’s.

Malcom stared at me wide eyed. “Krystal?”

“Krystal is in here, but she is unable to cope. I am her Spiritual Teacher. Come.”

We didn’t make it far. At every turn, there was fire. Fire, fire, everywhere, walls of it. Spiral cursed in a now forgotten language. “Saraphina,” he called. “Your ward could use your aide.”

In between one blink and the next, my guardian angel appeared before us.
Took you long enough. She stared at me lovingly. Spiral,
she admonished, you should have asked her to call me sooner.
Hanniel,
she beckoned, bringing forth Malcom’s guardian.

They all began to join together, linking their hands to form a circle around Malcom and me. Saraphina joined hands with Abigail on one side, Abel on her other. Cyndy appeared, grabbing onto Abel’s other hand, Hanniel joining together with her. A lovely young lady, looking like she’d just stepped out of a gypsy story book linked around, joining on to Abigail.

That’s Mara, one of Malcom’s Spirit Guides,
Spiral’s voice echoed within my skull.

Dear God,
Saraphina’s voice sang,
we form this circle of your Love and Light to guide your souls Malcom and Krystal to safety. Protect us, Protector.

The air in the circle around us hummed, the energy vibrations elevating so high our bodies began to shake uncontrollably from the force. A violet light so rich, so vibrant it was akin to blue, descended upon us enveloping us within it. Spiral lifted my head towards Heaven so I could see the image of a giant ethereal being hovering above us, the source of the magnificent purple light. The Being, whose name I did not know, was dressed head to toe in robes of cobalt blue and bore a shining sword and a shield of burnished gold.

You are beloved by God indeed, Krystal Haggart, for God has sent you the Protectors of all Protectors. Archangel Michael. Human bodies aren’t made to withstand the vibrations of the Archangels for long, which is why your body tremble so.

Malcom and I were swept forward within our circle of protection. The fire parted for us as if it were the Red Sea, and we were Moses leading the Hebrews to freedom. The Angels and our Spirit friends were able to move through any obstacles seamlessly, but our physical bodies could not, and had to be zig zagged around the trees. Our pace was slow but steady, and before long, we were breaking away from the tree line and onto the chaos of Devil’s Tramping Ground Rd.

The magnificent Archangel Michael appeared before me with a gentle smile. He was so tall I only came to his waist. The Archangel placed his palms on the crown of my head and disappeared.

You have been blessed,
Spiral told me.

A hundred feet or so down the street from where we stood, dozens of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances were parked. Volunteer fire fighters were trying in vain to put out the fire, even I could tell their numbers weren’t enough to stall the supernatural flames. Paramedics worked frantically on numerous party goers, doctoring their burns. Police officers milled about, interviewing the few students that had made it out unscathed. And in the midst of it all, I saw Sherriff Donny, who’d obviously been off duty when the call came, in his trademark flannel. Abel spirited forward, tapping him on the shoulder. Sherriff Donny turned around, but no one was there.

“Over here! Over here,” Malcom shouted, waving his hands over his head to get the Sherriff’s attention. Malcom and my body, still under the influence of Spiral, started walking toward Sherriff Donny just as he himself sprinted in our direction.

“What in the hell happened out here?” The Sherriff hollered as he approached us.

Spiral sat my body down on the side of the road to rest. “The portal at the Tramping Ground was opened this evening. It seems a student by the name of Missy Anne Hancock, now deceased, was under the influence of a lower level entity.”

Sheriff Donny stared at me for a moment, pressing his lips together. I had to give him credit, for other than that, he didn’t blink an eye or look at me funny. “And who exactly are you?”

“I am Krystal’s Spiritual Teacher, Spiral Spider.”

“I see. Why isn’t she speaking for herself?”

“Frankly, she is traumatized. I’m sure you recall her red haired friend. She didn’t make it.”

Sherriff Donny stared at me in thought. “Is there anything we can do to speed up the process of putting this fire out, Spiral Spider?”

“Unfortunately there’s not much you can do with a supernatural fire of this nature. You’ll have to let it burn itself out. Keep it from spreading if you can.”

“How am I going to explain that to the firefighters?”

“Tell them as you were interviewing some of the children, you discovered there was experimentation of a chemical nature taking place. The chemicals were too close to the fire and ignited. The children standing too closely were unfortunate bystanders and caught on fire. You were unable to discern in the interviews what chemicals were used.”

The Sherriff ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess that’ll have to do. Do have anything to add Mr. White?”

Malcom, who’d been staring listlessly at the white painted line of the road, looked the Sherriff in the eye. “No, sir.”

“Alright then. Let’s get you two looked at. Follow me.”

While paramedics looked Malcom and my body over to ensure we weren’t too injured to go home, Sherriff Donny spoke to the Firefighter Chief about his findings. Other than some singed hair, a few bruises and some random burns from the falling embers, Malcom and I both, other than being extremely filthy, checked out fine.

“Okay, Miss Haggart and Mr. White,” said one of the male paramedics. “The Sherriff said you were both to wait in his car when we were through. He’ll take you both home. Do you know which car to get in?”

“Yes, sir. It’s the one with Chatham County Sherriff emblazoned on the side,” I answered warily, speaking for myself for the first time since we had to leave Tammy behind. Later, I would find the time to be surprised that I had been able to find my voice while sharing my body with Spiral.

The man blinked a couple times in mild surprise, but didn’t say anything. I hadn’t uttered a word during the whole examination, and Spiral had obviously thought it was a bad idea to speak. I guess most folks don’t take a grown man’s voice speaking through a teenage girl so well, not like the Sheriff.

The scene was surreal as we searched for the right car among all of the police and rescue vehicles, their lights flashing or swirling, projecting a ghastly ambiance. The sky was lit from the fire almost as if midday, and I could still hear the roar and the screams of the firefighters over it all as they fought uselessly to get it under control.

“There it is, over that way,” Malcom pointed, and I let him lead the way.

I never thought I’d see the day when I was grateful to sit down in a Sherriff’s car, but I was. I pulled Malcom in for a hug which he returned with a watery smile.

“Okay, Spiral, time for you to hit the road.”

Gladly.

My back arched forward as Spiral began the separation from my body. A tickling began low in my stomach, moving upwards as he was expelled through my head. I was relieved to have my body back to myself. After the events earlier, it didn’t even seem to faze Malcom in the slightest.

After a few minutes, Malcom, his voice heavy with tears, asked, “Kris, what are we going to tell Tammy’s parents? What are we going to tell our parents?”

“I don’t know, Malcom,” I shook my head. “I really don’t know.” I paused for a moment trying to breathe through the sudden pain in my chest. I tried to choke back the sobs, but it was useless. She really couldn’t be gone, could she? How I could I live in a world without Tammy? It would be like living without the sun. Impossible.

Oh, Krystal, I am so, so sorry, my beloved.
I felt Abel all around me as my body shook uncontrollably as my frantic cries took over my senses. I looked at Malcom, his eyes bloodshot, face soaked with his own tears and snot. Sliding across the backseat, I pulled Malcom into my chest, and we held each other rocking back and forth, Abel embracing the two of us.

Slow motion images of Tammy’s face passed through my memory. How she looked when I met her on her first day in second grade after she moved from Atlanta with her curly Q pig tails, sprinkles of freckles across her cheeks, and how we were instant friends. I remembered her lavish birthday parties, fancy dresses, her blowing out candles, and how she’d secretly tell me her wishes, but made me promise not to tell. Our numerous sleepovers through the years, mostly at her house, seeing how late we could stay up, watching bad late night TV. but loving every minute. How we used to pretend we were long lost sisters, now reunited, when we were small. Her futile attempts for so many years to dress me in the coolest fashions, and how she loved me anyway. I remembered how she always seemed to be smiling; so happy, so free, confident and secure, and how big and bright her smiles always were. I could see her hair billowing in the wind after she first learned to drive, all the windows down, singing out of key to Miranda Lambert. Wasn’t that only yesterday? My heart contracted in pain when I recalled how I had avoided her and Malcom the past few days because I was too much of a coward to tell them the truth. Now that time was lost.

And it was my fault. My fault that I had lost my best friend. I may as well killed Tammy myself. After all, didn’t I bring her to this God forsaken place?

My fault. My fault. MY. FAULT….

Why didn’t I listen to Cyndy Mae when she told me to watch after my friends? I should have went on my own. Made them stay behind. But I thought she was talking about Malcom, especially after Candace made me promise to bring her brother home. And he had insisted on going. After that, I never would have guessed Tammy…

The knocking on the car window made both Malcom and I jump. It was Sherriff Donny, his face was full of compassion.

“I’m going take ya’ll home now.” He looked pointedly at me. “We’ll have to talk later after this calms down. I know you’re helping take care of things now Miss Abigail’s passed on.”

Well that explained why he was nonplussed when Spiral’s voice came outta my body, but other than that mild acknowledgement, I didn’t really give a damn right now.

As we pulled away, I took a backwards glance towards the Devil’s Tramping Grounds, the blazing fire licking ever higher as if to touch Heaven itself. I promised myself that I’d never step foot there again.

Three more days passed before the fire finally burnt itself out.

Chapter 28

I stared at
the wall in my bedroom. My mom and I had just gotten back from Tammy’s funeral. Because of the burns on her face and body, her parents had decided on a closed casket. As it was, the funeral had been pushed back for a week while an autopsy was done and also had to be scheduled among the other unfortunate casualties.

I made my mom bring me straight home after the services, skipping the potluck mercy meal. I couldn’t face her parents again. They didn’t blame me. They weren’t mad at me. They believed in the story circulating in the papers and on the news-- kids experimenting with chemical mixes in an attempt to change the colors of the fire, all in good fun, threw in a bad mix, ending in a horrendous freak accident. But an accident all the same. But it wasn’t an accident.

I wanted her parents to be mad at me. I wanted them to blame me. To yell at me.

I wanted them to hate me.

Seven of my peers were lost at the Tramping Grounds on Halloween night, the three bodies of the dark trio were still missing. I had learned in the aftermath that the two girls alongside Missy Anne were named Summer Belle Hall and Grace Matthews. Seeing their pictures on the local news and across the front pages of the newspapers only made me feel worse. Like I’d failed them too, somehow.

I’d told Sherriff Donny about how they’d disappeared into nothing when Missy Anne stabbed them, and while he believed me, he could hardly tell that to his fellow authorities or their grieving families. I also shared Missy Anne’s dramatic walk into the fire, and he said with the fire being so insanely hot, her bones had probably burned clean away to nothing.

It was a small relief to be able to confide in Sherriff Donny about what really happened at the Tramping Grounds. I understood why my grandmother would have needed him to bridge the tales of what might happen and what could actually be shared with the community at large.

My fault. My fault. My. Fault.

It was all I could think about. How it was all my fault. How if anyone had to die, it should have been me.

It’s not your fault. None of it is your fault. Perhaps we should not have expected so much of you so soon. For that, I am sorry from the very depths of my soul.

Abel told me something similar every day. No, it’s not your fault, blah, blah, blah. I knew he wanted me to feel better but lying to me wasn’t going to make me feel better. I’d had a responsibility to look out for my friends and my community. I failed.

And I didn’t know what I could do to make it better—except maybe leave. I tried to shield those thoughts, from Abel, from Spiral, from all of them in Spirit. I didn’t know if I succeeded, I could hardly ask them without giving my thoughts away, but they didn’t ask me either.

In the periphery of my vision, I noticed the small dark shadow peeking out from within the corner of my room, hiding among the mess of my dirty clothes from this past week. I would have to do laundry soon or be without clean clothes to wear. But who cares about clean clothes when your best friend is gone forever?

The shadow was getting bolder with each passing day. I chose to ignore it. Abel didn’t seem to know about it either. The shadow didn’t bother me. I didn’t bother it.

I curled my legs underneath me, and lay my head on my pillow. All I wanted to do was disappear into blissful sleep. Tammy was there, in my dreams, smiling and as vibrant as ever.

My lids were blinking heavily, open, close, open. The little shadow had slinked next to my bed, watching me. “Go away,” I whispered, making a shooing motion with my hand. It scuttled back to its corner, and I relaxed once more.