Halloween Ghost Story Contest -- 2007
High School Winners

First Place

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Our first place High School winner is Saugonian Amanda Chung, a sophomore at the Saugus High School.

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Angel of Death

by
Amanda Chung

“I was murdered,” she repeated with clear annoyance ringing in her voice. What couldn’t this old man understand? The “I was” or the “murdered” part?

“I know, dear, but there’s really nothing I can do about it now, seeing as you’re in my society now and all…” the white-bearded aging man replied slowly.

“This, like, isn’t a joke, old man!” she screamed as she stood up angrily. “If my father finds out that I’ve been, like, shot or something-”

“There’s nothing your rich millionaire daddy can do to bring you back,” the old man said stiffly. He scoffed to himself, young souls these days…

The girl looked at him in surprise for about a second then she sat down with a huff and crossed her arms across her chest.

“You really believed your father could bring you back to life?” the old soul said with some disbelief. “Money isn’t everything, you do realize that?” the old man said while leaning his body weight against his desk while his hands folded together in front of him.

She could only stare down to her right in furious rage. Of course she knew money couldn’t bring her back to life; did the old man think she was positively stupid or something? But still, she found it hard to believe that there was absolutely nothing her father’s money could do to help her.

“You are in my world now, child,” the old man said while staring directly into, well, her soul through her brown eyes. “And I suggest you start treating others, like myself,” he gestured his hand towards himself, with some level of respect, or else you’ll never reach Heaven.”

“I-don’t-want-to-go-to-stinkin’-Heaven!” the girl said through gritted teeth. “I want to go back to, like, my world! Hello? That’s why I’m here! All those other, like, floaty white sheets told me you knew the most!”

“The most about what exactly?” the old man raised his graying eyebrows as he said, with raised graying eyebrows. He knew she wouldn’t have an answer.

“Uh, well, you know! Dead people stuff!” the girl stuttered matter-of-factly.

“Mmhmm,” the old man replied indifferently. “Well, dear, there’s nothing really that I can do for you… Unless- Well, that rarely happens,” he muttered to himself.

“What? What?! Tell me old man!”

He looked at her, annoyance clear in his stare. Is this how all the new young souls are going to talk to him from now on? He shuddered at the thought mentally. “I already told you, my name is not ‘old man’, my name is-”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she interrupted ever so rudely. “Just tell me what you said and I’ll leave.”

“As much as I like that idea, I cannot let you go just yet. If you are to live amongst the dead like the rest of us, then you’ll have to learn a few things first,” he said professionally.

“And I told you, I’m not gonna live here like this!” the girl hissed. “This is just a horrible, horrible nightmare and I’m gonna wake up, like, any minute now.”

‘So many times have I heard that excuse,’ the old man thought sadly. ‘Some people just can’t accept their destinies; when you die, you die. There’s no way you can go back. Well, there are better doctors nowadays. We’re losing more and more inhabitants. But, there are more dangerous drugs. As bad as it sounds, it can’t escape the horrible truth-’

“Uh, like, hello? I’m talking to you!” her screeching voice intruded his thoughts and he was brought back to his current situation. “You were saying? About there being a way to ‘bring me back’? Whatever that means?”

“Now you listen here!” The old man finally stood up behind his desk and she could see that he was very tall; taller than her father could ever reach. “You will learn to talk to others with the respect and dignity they deserve, or else I will never send you to Heaven, but the option of going into the fiery pits of heck will always be your first and only choice!” His booming voice shook the room a little and the girl backed up silently with large, shocked eyes. The old man straightened his back and smiled proudly to himself. His height and his loud projector(projected) voice always got them. The reminder of going to the old fiery pits always scared the new ghostlings, too; heck, even the older ghosts were afraid of going down there. Since the girl didn’t respond, out of fear or shock, he couldn’t tell, he continued the conversation, “I will tell you of the way to bring you back to life if and only if you learn to treat others better.”

The girl nodded her head viciously; only then did she realize that her eight body guards weren’t there to protect her. “Yes, sir, Mr. uh, how d’you say your name again?” she asked sheepishly.

“Amadeus,” he replied knowledgeably. His name was very sagacious, and he felt proud that he was honored with it. The girl, however, didn’t seem to care all that much.

“Riiiiight,” she said.

“As I was saying,” he continued, “There is one way that you can be brought back to the visibility of the living-”

“Wait, what? Like, what is that supposed to mean?” she asked with her attitude back in check.

Amadeus sighed exasperatedly. “You mean absolutely no one told you anything about our society?”

“Would I be askin’ questions if they did?” the girl asked, annoyed once again.

“I guess not. But why haven’t you gotten a proper introduction?” Amadeus looked truly confused.

“Again, would I be askin’ if they did?” Apparently the girl had learned nothing from her previous experience.

“Have you no respect?” Amadeus asked angrily. “Would you like to know everything you want to know or would you rather be sent downstairs?”

She opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it.

“Right. I’ll tell you first of our society. When someone dies, like you yourself had,” he gestured with his hand once again, but towards the girl, who had a disappointed yet angry look on her face at the moment, “Don’t try to deny it. You are dead. There may be nothing you can do about it. But, that’s for later. Be patient, dear, I’ll get there.” She was squirming in her seat and couldn’t sit still any longer.

“Why do you have to tell me everything before telling me how to get back?” she said impatiently.

“It will make more sense to you and you will be able to comprehend it better,” he answered simply. She obviously didn’t seem to get it, so she stopped moving and sat quietly.

‘I’m so gonna get him for this,’ she thought angrily.

“So, then, I can continue?” he asked slowly. She nodded, never taking her mascara-lined eyes off of him.

‘She’s mad,’ he thought. ‘It looks like she’s going to kill me…’ he laughed mentally. ‘That’s a good one. Like that could ever happen.’

“When a person leaves the ‘life world’, that’s what we call the place you live, they arrive in our world. Everything looks the same here as it does in your world, which I am sure you’ve noticed by now,” he said while he watched her eyes scan the surrounding area.

‘This is… Town hall? No, somewhere else in town; town halls aren’t usually abandoned, unless I missed another history class lesson…’

“Yes, this is the town hall of your town,” Amadeus answered. “But no one ever uses this part of the building, making it a very good place to have my office. Now, as I was saying, our worlds are alike because they are the same world. The ‘living’, what you used to be, cannot see the ‘dead’, or my people and me. But we can see the living.”

“That’s not fair!” she said suddenly. “What if someone lost someone they really love? They’ll, like, never see them but the dead people can see their ‘living’ families?”

“Would it not bother you if you saw a dead man walking the streets after he was sentenced to a life in prison?” Amadeus asked seriously. The girl fell silent, and he continued his story. “We can only see the living because, as ‘ghosts’, we can watch over our living relatives and friends and spiritually guide them in the right direction. Or, at least, try to. Sometimes, even our presence cannot help those who have gone too far…”

The girl looked at him curiously as he sunk into his memories of his own son, who was unfortunate enough to end up living across the street from the Devil himself. He shook his head enough to bring him back to his office and made her jump a little. “Never mind. Anyways, usually, when someone dies, they are first sent here, the fine line between Heaven and the Devil. We simply call it ‘Sanctuary’ and this is where all souls end up after death and where tainted souls can repent for their crimes and hopefully be sent upstairs. We are like the security at what you call airports. Only good souls can ever hope to reach the clouds in the sky, as so, only evil souls can ever hope to reach the fire that awaits them. We, and by ‘we’, I mean myself and the souls that have been appointed the task as, how you say, ‘security guards’, weed out, if you will, the good and evil souls. We are the ones who introduce the dead to their new life, get them adjusted to their current situations, and then we send them wherever they must go within a day or so. Do you understand so far?” He looked at the girl questionably.

“Yeah, yeah, keep goin’,” she answered quickly. “I haven’t got all day… Sir!” she added hastily when the emotion in his eyes changed. ‘What does any of this have to do with me?’ When he turned around, facing the window, she sighed silently to herself. ‘Someone needs to, like, seriously loosen up.’

It was raining hard, which was pleasant to look at if you were inside, but unpleasant to walk in. “Now, here comes the part that you should listen to,” he said mockingly as he turned his head slightly to catch her reaction, which satisfied him to no end. ‘Reading minds is like winning the gold medal; never ceases to amaze people.’

“In some rare cases,” he emphasized the word “rare” so he wouldn’t get the “poor” girl’s hopes up, “we get people who weren’t supposed to die, some accidental deaths, if you will.”

“How do you have accidental deaths when, like, death happens randomly?”

Amadeus smiled to himself again. “Did I forget to tell you? Just because our worlds look the same doesn’t mean that they are exactly the same. Death of everyone is inevitable in your world. People in this world, instead of avoiding the acceptance of death, look forward to death, like you would a birthday. When a person they love dies, then they can see and interact with them again. It sounds bad, in your point of view, I know, but to the souls living here and in Heaven now, they cannot wait for death. Only the souls that have departed to Heaven can ever see their dearly beloved again. In your terms, it would be like waiting for a loved one to return from a very long trip.” Her shocked eyes and no response told him that he should change the subject. “But this has nothing to do with you,” he said quickly. “Now, here comes the part that interests me the most. Shall we keep going?” She shook her head and he continued. “Now, as I told you, accidental deaths are accidental and rarely happen-”

“Geez, you make it sound like it could never, like, happen or something,” the girl interrupted again.

Amadeus stared at her with dull astonishment. “That was the point… Anyways, accidental, rarely happen… Where was I? Oh, yes! When a person or other living thing dies-”

“Wait, you’re sayin’ there are aminals here, too?!” the girl asked incredulously.

“Animals. And yes, pets and wildlife also roam here, just as animals walk around in your world.”

“Man, I get it now,” she said after hearing “animals” way too many times than she’d ever need, in her opinion.

“And so I continue, again. When a person dies-” he held his hand up to stop the girl’s next words, “Yes animals, too, when they die, they usually pass through the Gates of Souls, or, for your sake, the big white fence-door things. Every living thing that passes through those gates is acknowledged, or at least one or two ‘security guards’ know that they have come through. Naturally, there’s a line to wait-”

“Wait, so the am-animals are bad, too?”

“They go by instinct, we can’t control that. You think we haven’t thought of that? They live amongst the humans just as they live amongst them when they are alive. May I please finish?” His answer came in the form of a lazy nod. “When you came here, no one knew you were here until you were already inside the Sanctuary. No one saw you come through. You just seemed to… Appear, out of nowhere.”

“Yeah, I coulda told you that,” she said sarcastically. I didn’t see no white gates.”

“Then what did you see? When you first came here?” Amadeus asked immediately.

“Whoa, man, back off, will ya?” The wrinkled old man stopped leaning over his desk and returned to his straight-up standing position behind his desk. “Let’s see, the last thing I remember was (being) behind the high school, all that graffiti’s hard to miss, ya know?” she asked, half-laughing. Her face became serious when she saw that she was the only one laughing.

“So you died behind your high school… That’s… A little disturbing, if I do say so myself…” Amadeus said quietly, half to himself.

“What d’ya mean I died behind the school? That is, like, the last place ever I would want to die!” the girl angrily protested.

“Of the very few accidental deaths that have been recorded,” Amadeus started, “The persons involved always appeared in the Sanctuary the last place they had ever been in the ‘life world’, for example, the last man who accidentally died was killed by a stray bullet during the Revolutionary War and he ‘woke up’ in the Sanctuary exactly where he had been killed. Very traumatic for the poor fellow, he saw the whole fight for Lexington and Concord and witnessed his friends and enemies die in the process… Anyways, he eventually found his way to the Gate and asked directions. When he found out he was dead, he was shattered. Poor man, I believe his name was Johnny, he had a family and three kids…”

“I don’t really feel like listening to stupid sobs stories,” the girl said rudely, only caring about herself and her condition. Amadeus looked at her with disgust and scolded her.

“Have you no pity? This poor man, taken before his time? He had, according to our records, another twenty to thirty years to live!”

“And how long I got?” the girl asked, smirking slightly.

“With your current attitude, nothing,” he answered indifferently.

“What?!” She stood up furiously and put both of her hands on the desk. “I re-fuse to stay in this… This… Ghost town any longer!”

“You would think that even you would be smart enough to be polite to perhaps the only person that can help you and your predicament!”

She looked at him straight in the eyes then sat down and began to cry. Amadeus could only watch as her make-up began to run between her loosely closed fingers.

“I can’t be dead! There are too many things I haven’t done yet!” she managed to say in between sobs. “I have a boyfriend! He loves me! He’s rich! We were, like, gonna go to prom together! And live in a mansion! And-”

“Life is not fair.”

She looked at him with widened eyes. “Wh-what?”

“Life. Is. Not. Fair. You have to deal with that fact. No one has ever told you of this?”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t get it.”

“Because you have been provided anything and everything that you had ever wanted,” Amadeus started, “You have no real way of knowing what it is like for something to be ‘not fair’. You think everything that affects you is fair, when in reality you have never actually felt the true fairness that all humans should feel at least once in their lifetime. Do you understand?”

She could only stare in wonder. What was this guy talking about? Of course life’s always fair! … Right?

“No, everything’s fair! That’s how it’s been for me and it will always stay that way!”

‘The poor girl, she doesn’t realize this concept yet? This makes things a little harder.’

“Fairness doesn’t matter right now,” the old man said after his thoughts. “All that matters is what you do next. Do you want my help or do you want to remain here?”

“What, you think I’d, like, want to stay here?” His stern eyes told her to rephrase her statement. “I mean, Yes, I would like your help… Please,” she added to get on his good side.

“Fine. But you must let me finish.”

“You’re still tellin’ the story?”

“I am still explaining the conditions of your situation. Now I shall finish. An accidental death is always witnessed by an outsider, someone who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. All you have to do is find the person who watched your murder.”

“Wouldn’t that be, like, the person who murdered me?”

“No, no! Of course your murderer witnessed your death,” Amadeus said, trying not to laugh at his mistake. “But there are some usually unlucky people that witness deaths that seem too horrible to confess to others. They keep it hidden for many reasons-”

“How do you know if there’s only been, like, a few cases?”

“A few to me and this world is a lot more than you and your world believes.”

“So, like, how many accidents have there been?”

“Hmm… If I had to guess, about… A thousand or so? A little less I think.”

“A THOUSAND?! You said a few!” she screamed.

“Well, a thousand seems like a few when you are the first person who ever died.”

“What?! But- How- Huh?”

“That is none of your concern. What is of your concern is who watched your death…”

“That sounds, like, so wrong,” the girl said while showing her disgust on her face.

“Oh! I apologize,” the very ancient man said. “I sometimes forget you are from the life world.”

‘How could he…? Ugh, this is gonna take for-ev-er…’ she thought as the old man looked up to the ceiling to remember what he was talking about.

“People who have seen murders are usually very disturbed afterwards. Seeing a murder isn’t that great.” The girl rolled her eyes as Amadeus continued. “But, this person is the key to bringing you back to your life. This person is the only one who can see and help you. This person can find your murderer and bring you back to life,” he finished with an air of suspense invisibly surrounding him. The girl’s mouth was opened incredulously. One person knows how she (I) died? One person has the ability to answer or ignore her (my) cries for help?

She was stunned for a few more seconds then she asked, “Well, how do I know who this person is?”

“Fairly simple,” Amadeus replied. “We souls can read minds. Since you are a soul, for now, you can read the minds of the living and quickly search their memories, like skimming over book titles in a library.”

“Is that how you knew what I was thinkin’ about?”

He smiled. “You catch on quickly. But we must work fast. It is already getting dark out and the best way to read minds without interruption is to read them while the living sleeps.”

The girl looked out the window and saw nothing but the pouring rain. “How can you-?”

“Tell? We have, what you might call, internal clocks,” Amadeus answered. “Ready to start our memory search, Lucretia?”

Lucretia smiled. “As long as you stay outta mine.”

They began their search with the closest house to the town hall. The black umbrella Amadeus was holding could barely withstand the pummeling rain. Lucretia huddled as close as possible to Amadeus, not wanting her new jacket to get ruined. Amadeus saw her trying to protect her jacket and spoke up.

“Your jacket is not going to get ruined. That’s only the vision of your jacket. It was the last thing you died in, so that’s what you are automatically wearing.”

“So instead it’s all messed up in the life world with blood and gross stuff on it?!”

He didn’t answer right away. “Well,” he started, “It’s… Er…”

“Whatevs,” she cut in. “It’s not like I’ll be wearing it anytime soon, unless we hurry up!”

She started to walk faster and stood in front of the first house, Amadeus arriving seconds later.

“What took you so long?” she asked sarcastically while turning her head to the left look at him.

“I am old. I don’t have as much energy as you young souls do!” he answered angrily.

She smiled and looked at the house again. “So… How do we do this?”

“Very simple. We walk inside.” He walked past her and went through the door. She stared in surprise.

“Whoa! Like, how did you do that?!”

He poked his head through the door and replied, “Need I remind you that we are souls? Or would you prefer ghosts?”

“Cool!” She ran to the door and walked right through. “Now all we gotta do is find that person.”

“I suggest the bedrooms,” Amadeus stated while pointing up the stairs.

They searched the residents, but didn’t find anything related to Lucretia’s death, unless there’s a way to connect birthdays and coffee mug ornaments to murder. They continued to the next house… And the next… Until they reached the end of the street and went down the left side of the fork in the road… And the right side of the fork in the road… They searched the town until the sun was barely visible atop the disappearing trees. The searching itself was very quick, the problem was the town itself was a big place and Lucretia stopped every couple of houses to rest her “feet”, which, by the fifth street, she realized she didn’t have.

“Where are my feet?!”

“As a soul, you do not need feet. You just simply… Float.”

“Does that mean I can, like, fly and stuff?” she asked excitedly, forgetting her missing limbs.

“You do not have your wings yet, child, you receive them after you ascend into Heaven.”

“Aw man!”

Lucretia watched the sun come out of the trees and then looked at the old man.

“Did we search everyone?”

“Hmm,” He looked around at the nearby houses and stopped at one house. “We haven’t gone to this one yet…”

“Oh no,” Lucretia looked too and saw a burgundy house with white shudders. “Oh no, oh no, oh no…”

“What is it, Lucretia?”

“I know who lives here…”

“Then who is it? And why are you nervous all of a sudden?”

“Because I don’t like who lives here, that’s why! She’s a creep and she’s a loner and-”

“And the possibility of her being the only one who can save you makes you nervous?”

She looked at him with absolute seriousness. “I don’t want her to save me. She doesn’t deserve to save me.”

“And what is that supposed to mean exactly?”

‘What doesn’t this old man get?’ she thought angrily while rolling her eyes. She stated her revised statement. “If she saves me, then I’ll have to be all thankful and stuff.”

“Wouldn’t you be thankful no matter who saved you? Or am I completely off?”

“She doesn’t deserve the privilege of saving me!” she finally yelled.

“Because you don’t like her for reasons based on difference?” Amadeus asked calmly. She looked down in angry shame; she knew he was right but she hated to admit she was wrong in disliking a person just because they were different.

“Just because someone’s-”

“Different than I am doesn’t give me any right to hate them.”

He looked at her with a smile. She had learned to read minds quickly. “Exactly. So shall we check to see if this girl is the one who’s going to save you before you fly off the handle?”

“No one says that anymore, but yeah, ok,” she said reluctantly. They walked through the door and started to search for the nearest bedroom.

“This house is way creepy,” Lucretia commented as they walked up a narrow staircase.

“Wait, do not move,” Amadeus said quickly and held his arm out to stop her. She was surprised that his arm felt so solid. She looked towards where he was facing and they both saw a door open at the end of the hall. A white-blonde girl of fifteen came out and rubbed her green eyes sleepily.

‘Is this the girl she doesn’t like? I don’t see what the matter is…’

“Is that her, Lucretia?” he whispered, not sure if the girl could hear them or not.

“Why are you whispering?” she said loudly. “And yes that’s her! She’s so-”

“Lucretia?” The girl was looking straight at them with confusion written all over her face. There was no sign of fear in her eyes, which confused Amadeus slightly. “Who’s that with you?”

Lucretia was expecting her to ask what they were doing at 6 in the morning, or even what they were doing in her house. But that was after she cursed to herself for having such bad luck. ‘Darn it! If she can see me… Wait, don’t get ahead of yourself…’

“Uh… Well…” She looked up at Amadeus for help. He sighed and spoke for her.

“My name is Amadeus and we’ve come to ask you something…”

“You want to know about Lucretia’s death?” she asked solemnly. She looked at Lucretia and spoke again. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

Lucretia could only stare at her in shock. ‘I knew she was weird, but I had no idea she was this weird…’

“And how is it that you can see the both of us?” the old ghost asked curiously. Lucretia looked again at him with stupefied confusion.

“… I don’t know… But you’re not the only ones I can see… There are… Others…”

Amadeus opened his eyes wider than he thought possible for his age. Others? How is this possible? The very fabric of the Sanctuary and the rest of the afterlife was falling apart right before his eyes… All because of this girl standing in front of him.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Lucretia cut in. “I thought you said… Somethin’ about…Witnessing murders… And stuff?”

The old sprit sighed. “So you weren’t listening to me.”

“No I was, I just… Uh… Forgot,” she admitted flatly.

“Well, now that we found your witness, I can explain further of your condition,” Amadeus said.

“What?! She can’t be the only one who saw me die!”

“It’s true, I saw you die,” the girl admitted monotonously. Both ghosts looked at the girl with expressions of shock.

“But,” Amadeus said while holding his chin, “That does not explain how you are able to see me as well. You did not witness my death; no one did… And how long have you been able to see ghosts, dear?”

“… I think… At least… A couple of years…”

“Years?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you have seen the Sanctuary Gate?”

“Mmhmm,” she answered quickly with an added nod. “It comes and goes. Sometimes I can see it, other times, it’s like a mirage.”

“Hmm,” Amadeus thought to himself for a moment, then asked, “And what did you say your name was?”

“Well, since you told me yours first,” she said politely, “My name is Tsarina.”

‘Why does that name sound familiar?’ Amadeus asked himself. He couldn’t bring himself to remember, so he spoke instead. “May we search your memories? Just to make sure you saw Lucretia’s murder,” he added as to not freak her out.

“Yes, I understand,” Tsarina answered cooperatively. “Anything to help.”

Lucretia had been looking at her the whole time Amadeus was talking to her. She was surprised Tsarina was so calm and understanding. ‘But what really amazes me,’ she thought suddenly, ‘Is that she’s willing to help me… Even though she has almost no idea what’s going on and I treated her so badly before…’

“Would you like to do the honors, Lucretia?”

The old man’s voice brought her back. “Huh? Oh, right, yeah, ok.”

‘Clear your mind, focus on your target…’ She stared straight into Tsarina’s eyes and began her search.

She wasn’t expecting what she saw. There were happy memories, like her first pet and her first visit to the beach, but there were also memories of abuse and fear. Lucretia felt herself shiver as she dove deeper into Tsarina’s mind. There was a memory that stood out from all the rest, and Lucretia wasn’t able to ignore it; it was too vivid and conspicuous. Tsarina looked about eight or nine years old and she was huddled in a corner. Tears were streaming down her face but Lucretia couldn’t figure out why.

‘I can’t watch this,’ she thought, ‘Even if it’s Tsarina, it’s not right. It’s… Unfair.’ But it was like the memory had a mind of its own, or so to speak. It was like the memory was forcing Lucretia to watch, keeping her from going elsewhere in Tsarina’s mind.

‘What the…? Why can’t I see anything else?’ Young Tsarina was still crying and Lucretia felt a sharp pain on her right cheek.

‘Ow! What the heck?!’ Tsarina was crying even harder than before and Lucretia put the pieces together.

‘I must be feeling her pain, from that memory. What is going on?’ Lucretia saw another person, but she knew it wasn’t Tsarina’s parents or anyone else she knew. The person slapped Tsarina again and another wave of pain rushed over Lucretia. She cringed slightly and was relieved to see another person grabbing the stranger and pulling him away. The memory started to fade and Lucretia was able to move freely through Tsarina’s mind again. She paused for a second, taking in what she had just seen, and continued. The last memory she saw was the one she was looking for. She watched intently, even thought it creeped her out a little that she was about to see herself get killed. Tsarina was behind the high school, exactly where Lucretia found herself when she arrived in the Sanctuary. It was dark out and she wondered why Tsarina would be there so late after school ended.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” she heard Tsarina say in the memory. There was no answer. Tsarina kept on walking, closer and closer to the back of the school. Lucretia could hear shuffling but she couldn’t see what was making the noise. Tsarina carefully looked around the corner of the building when she reached the back. Tsarina was smart enough to keep herself well hidden from whatever was making the noise. Still, she couldn’t keep herself from gasping quietly. Lucretia saw what Tsarina saw and watched as she was struggling to escape from someone else’s grip.

“Let go of me! What are you doing?” She was trying to pry her wrists out of the other person’s hands. She couldn’t hear what the other person might have said. Instead, she saw the shimmering of a knife but it disappeared quickly as it was shoved into Lucretia’s stomach. Lucretia screamed mentally as she saw herself getting stabbed. Tsarina looked away for a moment and turned back around when she realized that she could actually help the police if she kept on watching. The Lucretia in the memory gasped breathlessly as the murderer pulled the bloody knife out of her and let go of her wrist. She fell to the ground almost lifelessly and the murderer stopped, apparently in shock of what he or she had just done. Then, he or she dropped the murder weapon and ran in the opposite direction of where Tsarina was, careful not to make any loud sounds. Tsarina watched fearfully; even though the person dropped the knife, she was still unsure if he or she was still armed and dangerous. She did see the person getting into a car and driving away, but it was too dark to make out the license plate number. When the car disappeared into the blackness of the night, Tsarina ran over to Lucretia’s body and knelt beside it. Lucretia could see that there was more than one stab wound in her body and it made her sick. Tsarina lifted the memory Lucretia’s wrist to check for a pulse and slowly put it down; a sign telling Lucretia that there was no life left. Then, Tsarina did something that Lucretia didn’t expect. She started to cry, quietly at first, then it became louder until a policeman on patrol found her and the dead Lucretia minutes later on the asphalt behind the school. The memory became blurry, probably because Tsarina was getting very emotional and her mind was trying to organize the mixed scene she just witnessed. Lucretia left Tsarina’s mind, her own mind racing with seemingly unanswerable questions. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at Tsarina sorrowfully.

“So?” Amadeus asked Lucretia eagerly.

“I know what happened now,” she said slowly. “But… I still don’t know who killed me...”

“Oh,” Amadeus said. “Well, with any luck, we’ll soon find out who did. Thank you very much, Tsarina,” he added while he looked at the witness. She didn’t respond right away.

“Huh? Oh! Sorry, you’re welcome, Amadeus.”

“If you do not mind, Tsarina, we may need your help in the future. Are you willing to aid us in bringing Lucretia back to life?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good!” Amadeus exclaimed.

“But what are we supposed to do now?” Lucretia asked impatiently.

Amadeus thought for awhile, or at least until the door at the other end of the hallway creaked open. The spirits turned around to look and saw a boy of thirteen come out of the door.

“Tsari, what are you doin’?” he asked tiredly. “Shouldn’t you be dressed already?”

‘He can’t see us… I guess that’s good,’ Lucretia thought. ‘I never knew Tsarina had a younger brother.’

“I know, Soren, I’m going,” she answered quickly. “Why don’t you go get some breakfast?”

“Ok, Tsari,” and with that, he walked towards the kitchen. Lucretia turned quickly to look at Tsarina when Soren was out of sight.

“I had no idea you had a little brother!”

Tsarina nodded. “Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff people don’t know about me…”

‘Or at least, there’re a lot of things that I don’t share with other people…’

“So old man, what do we do now?” Lucretia asked as she faced Amadeus.

“Well, you must ask yourself; did anything in that memory look familiar to you?”

Lucretia let out an exasperated sigh. “Now I gotta think? Why can’t we just find that car they were driving?”

“There was a car?” Amadeus asked. “There’s something we can use. Do you remember what the car looked like?”

“Uh…”

“It was black,” Tsarina answered. “I couldn’t get the license plate number, though. It was too dark. But there was something in the back window that seemed kind of different…”

“Tsari! Stop talking to yourself and get ready for school!” Soren’s voice was heard from the kitchen.

“Sorry!” Tsarina quickly apologized. She faced the two spirits once again. “I think it would be better if I showed you what it was instead of just telling you. Do you think you could follow me around today?”

“I must return to my duties,” Amadeus said slowly. “But Lucretia, you should be fine by yourself.”

“You’re gonna leave me?!” she cried and turned to look at him with a scared face.

“You will be fine. It’s not like someone other than Tsarina can see you.”

“But, what am I, like, gonna do?”

“All you can do for now is follow Tsarina around. Hopefully, you’ll figure out whose car that was in the memory and who killed you.”

“You aren’t gonna help me?”

“I have to return to my station. I have a responsibility to the Sanctuary to fulfill. Once you find out who killed you, come back and find me at the town hall.”

“So you really won’t help me?”

“No, I cannot,” he said apologetically. “It is not like I will be of any use to you and your search anyways. Besides, you have nothing to be afraid of,” Amadeus turned to leave as he said his departing words, “It’s not like you can be killed again.”

The girls watched the old man laugh then disappear through the wall. The two looked at each other in confusion then Tsarina spoke quietly.

“I should be getting ready for school now…”

“Oh,” was all Lucretia could say in response. As Tsarina turned to walk away, Lucretia spoke up.

“Tsarina?”

“Hmm?” she turned around and looked at the ghost.

“There was something in your mind… That I think I wasn’t, like, supposed to look at…”

Tsarina closed her eyes and opened them slowly. “I know.”

“I’m sorry I looked at it,” she blurted out. She didn’t know how else to apologize. “I couldn’t get away from it. It was like, like-”

“You were trying to get away, but you were held back?” Tsarina asked. Lucretia looked at her in surprise. Tsarina quietly laughed to herself. “I know exactly how that feels,” she said with an unaffected tone.

“Because that’s how I felt when that actually happened.”

She turned and left the hallway and a shocked Lucretia, who was left standing alone.

“You ready?” Lucretia asked as Tsarina came out of her house.

“Mmm,” was her reply and she tried to close the door behind her, but Soren was in the way.

“Where do you think you’re going without me?” he asked sarcastically. “If Mom says we should walk together, don’t you think you would need to walk with me?”

“Sorry! I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Tsarina said quickly. She glanced at a tree with a sorry look and focused again on her brother.

“Making friends with trees again?” Tsarina smiled guiltily and they started to walk down their driveway.

‘No, you little pipsqueak,’ Lucretia thought to herself. ‘She was lookin’ at me.’ Then she remembered the fact that he couldn’t see her and returned to following the living siblings. She watched them with interest. They would fool around with each other, like best friends would do.

‘Don’t brothers and sisters always fight?’ she thought to herself. It confused her but she smiled to herself anyways. ‘I wish I had siblings…’

They reached the middle school a lot quicker than Lucretia expected. Tsarina waved her hand enthusiastically as Soren walked away and continued on her way to the high school. Finally, Lucretia could say something that wouldn’t make Tsarina seem weirder than she already was.

“So… How long have I been gone?” She asked the first question that came to mind.

“It’s been at least two days, I think,” Tsarina said nonchalantly.

“Don’t you think you would, like, remember a date when someone was murdered it front of you?” Lucretia said as she passed through a tree.

“Oh, sorry,” Tsarina said quietly. “I don’t want anyone to hear me speaking to myself. It’s definitely been a day. Today’s Halloween, and you were murdered on the 30th.”

“Great, now I get to miss the haunted house tonight,”

“Well, you could always be a part of instead…” Tsarina smiled as she suggested this.

“Yeah, that’ll work out well,” Lucretia said after laughing to herself. ‘She’s got a sense of humor, I’ll give her credit for that.’

“Well, here we are, heck on earth.”

They were at the entrance to the high school. Tsarina took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Lucretia looked at her living counterpart in confusion.

‘High school isn’t that bad. Why’s she makin’ a big deal outta it?’ She soon found out as they walked through the doors. Tsarina kept her head down as she walked and Lucretia floated down the hallway. Lucretia watched as other kids pointed and whispered to their friends as they passed by. She was about to say something to scare them off, but then she remembered her current state of being. She stared at them angrily until Tsarina reached her locker. As she tinkered with the old lock, Lucretia sparked their conversation.

“Why do let people make fun of you like that?”

Tsarina stopped twisting the knob in surprise and sighed. “Don’t mind me if I don’t look at you.”

“I won’t, I get it, now answer my question.”

“I realized early on that what they say doesn’t matter and doesn’t have any significance for who I am. So I ignore them. I’ll let them have their fun, even though I don’t think making yourself feel better than someone else by putting them down is going to help their self-esteem, or anyone else’s for that matter.”

Lucretia stared in amazement. ‘I never thought of it that way.’

“You don’t have to follow me around all day, you know,” Tsarina said, interrupting Lucretia’s thought. “You can, uh, look around for stuff. I think the crime scene investigators are still inspecting the scene, but they won’t be a problem for you.”

“Yo, Tsarina! Talkin’ with your imaginary friends again?” a guy’s bulky voice rang through the hallway followed by a group of hysterical laughter. Tsarina paid no attention to them, but Lucretia stuck out her invisible tongue. When she turned to look at Tsarina, she noticed she was already heading for her first class. She floated after her, but stopped.

‘Maybe I should look at where I was killed,’ she thought. ‘I don’t know what good it will do, but I guess it’s better than nothing.’ She watched a couple of guys try to shove Tsarina into another locker and watched her dodge skillfully. ‘I think I’ll stick around for the day, see if anyone noticed I’m gone.’ She floated as fast as she could, and passed through another student, who then complained of the school’s bad insulation system. Tsarina looked back as she entered her classroom and noticed the lagging spirit. She waited until she caught up and sat down in her seat.

“So, you have history first?” Lucretia asked quietly.

Tsarina nodded slightly and got her notebook and textbook out of her backpack.

“Hmm, history is so boring. I would fall asleep if I had it first period.”

“I like history,” Tsarina said flatly. Lucretia kept her mouth shut until another group of kids were overheard talking about her.

“Did you hear what happened to Lu?”

“It’s all in the news, how could you not know?”

“Total shame, and I was gonna ask her out this week.”

“I bet her father called in the army and the marines to find out who did it.”

Lucretia floated over to them once she heard her nickname. When the last kid spoke, she turned around quickly and sped towards Tsarina, who was rereading the chapter.

“They don’t know who killed me yet?!”

Tsarina flinched and rubbed her right ear. “You don’t have to scream, and no, they haven’t found out who did it. Why do you think you’re still dead?”

“I thought if the police or whoever found the guy, then I’d be all set! Isn’t that their job or something?”

“Yeah,” Tsarina said slowly, “They might have a lead, they might not.”

“What about that car?” Lucretia asked expectantly. “Doesn’t that have, like, a clue or something?”

“Yes, but… Well, I guess I should tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

Tsarina sighed yet again and prepared herself. “Who do you know that owns a black car?”

“Well, a lot of people do, like that new kid from Arkansas, the nurse I think, uh… I saw this other kid with a black car too, so there are a lot of people with them.”

“I meant people you’re close to. You know, any friends?”

“Are you telling me that you think one of my best friends killed me?!”

“Don’t get mad at me,” she whispered more to herself, “But I recognized that car last night. It looked like the one your friend has.”

“You mean… Merle?”

Tsarina nodded slowly, either so she wouldn’t get noticed or so Lucretia wouldn’t get so mad.

“How dare you say my best friend killed me!” the ghost screamed loudly.

Tsarina looked at Lucretia from the corner of her eye as the spirit screamed then looked to her left. “Why don’t you ask her yourself? She’s probably at home, seeing as how she’s not here.” Lucretia followed her gaze and noticed Merle’s seat was indeed empty.

‘Merle couldn’t have killed me, right? She’s my best friend ever! What could possibly make her even think of such a thing?’ Then he walked into the classroom. Lucretia gasped as she saw her “boyfriend” walk in and Tsarina looked up in concern. Levi walked slowly straight to his seat and sat down quickly. Lucretia wished he could see her so he knew she was there, but she wondered if that would have meant that he would have had to see her get killed.

“Oh, I wish I could do something to let him know…” She looked at Tsarina excitedly. “Wait! You can tell him that you see me and that I’ll be back soon!”

“And make him think less of me than he and the rest of our classmates do?” Tsarina asked. She looked at her with an unreadable stare then said, “Yeah, alright.” She got up and walked over to Levi, Lucretia not far behind. She tapped him lightly on his left shoulder. “Hey, Levi?”

“Huh?” he turned around to look at who interrupted his thoughts. “Oh, hey Tsarina.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry about Lucretia,” she began but he stopped her.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said sadly. “All everybody’s been doing today is apologizing to me and saying how bad they feel about not being able to stop what’s already happened.” He sighed deeply and forced a smile on his face. “But it’s not like I don’t appreciate your sympathy. Really, thanks.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, but there’s something else I have to tell you.”

“Huh? And what’s that?”

“I can see Lucretia’s spirit, and she’s telling me that if you don’t find her killer, then she’s gonna haunt me until I tell every single person in our school that you sleep with a teddy bear every night.”

Levi, at first, was surprised that someone as soft-spoken as Tsarina would have said that whole sentence by herself, then he was mad that she would fake the ability to see Lucretia’s dead ghost, and finally, he started believing her since he only told Lucretia the teddy bear story and knew she would never tell another soul about it. His expression was priceless and Lucretia whispered in Tsarina’s ear, “If I had a camera right now, I would be able to blackmail him into doing anything for me.”

He shook his head like a wet dog and looked at Tsarina with newfound confidence. “So who told you that lie, one of the football players or what?”

“I told you he wouldn’t believe me,” Tsarina whispered under her breath. “Lucretia told me herself.”

“Before she died?”

“No, just now.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded indifferently.

“I don’t believe you, you know.”

“Really now, who else would tell me when she’s the only one you told about it?” Tsarina was staring him down as she asked. “Do you really think any of the football players, or anyone else would want anything to do with someone like me?”

He looked at her in shock then realized he was defeated. “You’re right. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she smiled, “I’m used to it. Besides, believing a weird girl can see a deceased person isn’t that easy to believe.”

“Yeah, I know,” Levi said embarrassedly. “So, if you really can see her, can you ask her something?”

Tsarina looked at his desk where Lucretia currently was sitting. “Still don’t believe, huh?” He shrugged sheepishly so she continued. “Yeah, well, she says it depends on what the question is. If it’s something you guys don’t want me to know about, then don’t ask it.”

“Like what, the birthday present I got her last year?”

“No, she says the pink pajama set with bunnies on it and matching slippers don’t count because I’m a girl and I would understand,” she said while staring slightly above his desk.

“What’s so interesting about my desk?” he asked after he shook out of his shocked state. He waved his hand over the top of his desk.

“Oh? Sorry, she’s sitting right there so I was looking at her while she explained things.”

He withdrew his hand quickly, afraid he might have broke Lucretia’s spirit somehow by waving his hand through her body.

“It’s ok, you can’t hurt her,” Tsarina said hurriedly. “You really can’t do anything to her.”

“But she can hear me, right?”

“Yeah, you want to say something?”

He nodded and faced his desktop. “Lucretia, I promise I’ll do anything to help find your murderer. It’s the least I can do for leaving you alone last night.”

“Oh, Levi…” Lucretia whispered. “It wasn’t your fault. I just wish I could remember why I went behind the school…”

“Did she hear me?” he asked half-heartedly.

“Yeah, she heard you,” Tsarina answered. “She wished that she could remember why she went behind the school, though.”

“You mean, she doesn’t remember?” he asked incredulously.

Tsarina nodded in the direction of his desk and looked at him. “She doesn’t remember who killed her or what happened last night. Why, do you know?”

He smiled the biggest smile he had all morning. “Of course I do! She told me she was going to meet up with one of her friends. She said that they had something of hers and they wanted to return it. If I knew who it was, then the murder would be solved, but she has a lot of friends, so it could have been anyone.”

Tsarina looked at Lucretia expectantly. “Do you remember now?” she asked aloud.

“Uh, yeah, I just told you,” Levi answered, confused.

“No, not you,” Tsarina said. “Lucretia.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“So? Who was it?” Tsarina asked again.

Lucretia held her head in her hands. “I remember the phone call, telling me to meet them behind the school, but… I don’t remember the voice or the number.”

“Levi, do you have her phone with you?” Tsarina asked quickly.

“No,” he said disappointedly. “The investigators must have it.”

“Oh, right, that makes sense,” Tsarina said.

“Didn’t they interrogate you guys or something?” Lucretia asked.

“Interrogate,” Tsarina corrected.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Not you, Levi. And no, not yet, Lucretia. They were going to ask us during school for some reason. I think they’re going to call us down to the guidance office or something.”

“Then what are we supposed to do now?” Lucretia asked.

“Everything you can, at least, until the end of the day.” An old voice made its way to Lucretia and Tsarina’s ears. They both turned to see Amadeus behind them.

“Where have you been old man?!” Lucretia cried.

“Hey, Tsarina, what are you looking at?” Levi’s voice came from behind them.

“Oh, nothing you should be worried about,” she said. “Just a really old spirit.”

“So, what, you can see all kinds of ghosts now?”

“Not now, before I could see them too.” He backed off, not wanting to hear anything else that might mess up his understanding of the world.

“I remembered I forgot to tell you,” Amadeus began, “That you have limited time. If you don’t find your murderer before the time of your death, then you will be stuck in our world forever.”

“WHAT?!” Lucretia yelled angrily. “How could you forget to tell me that?!”

“I am sorry, I really am!” he exclaimed shamefully. “I have a lot of responsibilities I must take care of!”

“Understand, too, that he has a Gate to maintain,” Tsarina added. “There’s a lot he has to do, since he was the first man to die.”

“And how did you find that out?” Amadeus asked. “I only remember telling that to Lucretia.”

“When you hear random spirits talking, you can learn a lot about who’s who,” Tsarina explained. “I have seen you before; all I had to do was put two and two together when you told me your name.”

‘This girl… Something must be different about her…’ Amadeus thought to himself.

“Anyways, you shouldn’t waste your time here,” Tsarina said as she started to notice the circle of students forming around her.

“What else can I do?” Lucretia asked helplessly. Tsarina looked to the ground then looked at Levi.

“Levi, I have a plan,” she whispered. “Follow my lead, alright?”

He nodded and waited for her to move. All of a sudden, she started to tear up and tears started falling from her eyes. Their substitute teacher, who had been half asleep, finally woke up at the sound of laughing students and noticed the girl.

“What happened? Are you ok?”

Instead of answering, she ran out the door at full speed. Levi, thinking this was his signal, ran after her. “Don’t worry, I’ll get her!” he screamed as he left the room. Lucretia watched as the plan unfolded then looked at Amadeus.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “Go after them!”

Lucretia floated as fast as she could after them.

“So where are we going exactly?” Levi asked as they snuck out of the building.

“I need to show Lucretia something,” Tsarina said. “Something that might help her remember what happened last night.”

“Oh, ok. And we’re in the parking lot because…?”

“Where’s your car?”

“What?!”

“We have to pay Merle a visit.”

“Why Merle?”

“Because,” her breathing started to become heavier, “I saw it driving away after the murderer ran off.”

“I’m surprised you remember a car, after all you saw last night.”

She didn’t say anything in response. Instead, Levi changed the subject. “Don’t you remember? The principal makes drivers drop off their keys in the main office.”

She stopped. “Oh. Well, we’ll just have to walk then!” She started to run again and Levi followed quickly. Lucretia didn’t make a sound. She knew Tsarina needed to think about what she and Levi had just done. Skipping school this early would get students suspended for at least five days. But she couldn’t get over the fact that Tsarina still believed Merle killed her. It was too farfetched for her to believe.

“Do you know where she lives?” Tsarina’s voice rang in her ears.

“Uh, no,” Levi said.

“She doesn’t live too far,” Lucretia answered correctly. “She lives down this street.”

“Lucky for you,” Tsarina spoke to Levi, “Lucretia knows where she’s going.”

They reached her house out of breath and in ten minutes. The black car Tsarina saw was in the driveway so she walked up to it and motioned for her companions to follow.

“Do you see it?” Tsarina asked, mostly to Lucretia.

“Yeah, she’s always had that thing in the back window,” Levi replied.

“Yes, but that is also the thing I saw in the getaway car,” Tsarina said. “The dead giveaway…”

Lucretia was staring in miserable shock. In the back window was a doll, but it had the wings of an angel and a matching white dress. Tears fell from the ghostly eyes as her own memory of her death flooded her mind. She remembered the last few moments of her life, lying on the ground in immense pain, watching the angel disappear from her view, wondering why that angel hadn’t been watching over her, the same angel that Merle told her would watch over everyone.

“I remembered her mom used to use this car,” Tsarina continued, “And ever since Merle’s father died in that car accident, Merle’s mom left that angel in the back window, hoping it would be her guardian angel. I guess it sort of is now. For Lucretia, anyways,” she finished. She looked at Lucretia, hoping she helped in some way, to find her bawling her eyes out.

“I’m sorry, Lucretia,” Tsarina said. “I just thought-”

“What are you doin’ in front of my house?”

A tall dark haired girl was standing in the front doorway, dressed in orange pajamas donned with orange slippers, pointing directly at Tsarina.

“Merle!” Levi said loudly.

“Oh?” Merle noticed Levi and her mood instantly changed. “Levi! How are you? Why aren’t you at school?”

“Why aren’t you at school?” he counteracted. “You knew the police was gonna ask us about Lu’s murder today!”

“I just couldn’t face anyone at school,” she said dramatically. “I needed to clear my mind. Her death was so unexpected; it just overwhelmed me so much.”

He looked at her in disbelief then Tsarina spoke her mind, “You only skipped school so no one would find out that you killed Lucretia. Admit it.”

“What?!” Merle yelled angrily. “I knew you were weird, Tsarina, but I didn’t know you were that messed up!”

“What, you think no one saw what happened last night?” Tsarina snapped. “I saw everything! I saw you kill her!”

Merle looked absolutely shocked as Tsarina said this and didn’t move for a few seconds. Levi looked just as shocked, but he spoke next. “Tsarina! You didn’t tell me you saw Merle kill her!”

“Because she just made it up!” Merle interrupted. “She’s just mad that we made fun of her all the time!”

Tsarina looked away, not because she was caught lying, but because she was looking at Lucretia for a reaction. Lucretia didn’t notice this, for she was too deep in her best friend’s mind to notice anything. She flipped through Merle’s memories like pages in a book, until she saw one that caught her eye.

She was put into Merle’s shoes; she could see everything Merle saw and did in that memory. It was pitch black out, but Lucretia could make out the graffiti on the school building’s wall.

‘This has to be it… Now I’ll see if Tsarina really was telling the truth or not.’

A dark figure emerged from the left side of the building. It came closer and closer until Lucretia could make out her own face.

“There you are, Merle! This has gotta be, like, the weirdest place ever to meet, by the way.”

‘Do I really sound like that?’

“Yeah, I know,” Merle said quietly.

“So, you got my scarf or what?”

“Yeah, here,” A light pink scarf with red stripes was in Merle’s hand. Lucretia snatched it quickly and rubbed it against her face.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed with delight. “You know this was the first present ever that Levi gave me! I can’t thank you enough!” She wrapped the fuzzy present around her neck and hugged Merle tightly, who didn’t return the embrace.

“Hey, Mer, what’s the-?” Merle grabbed both of Lucretia’s wrists quickly and struggled to hold her still.

“This is for taking what was rightfully mine, backstabber,” a cold voice chilled through the night.

“Let go of me! What are you doing?” Lucretia remembered hearing this in Tsarina’s memory.

‘Oh please, please say this isn’t true…’

“This is for taking Levi away from me!” Merle now had both of Lucretia’s hands in her left and a knife was pulled out of Merle’s sleeve, which seemed to have hidden a secret knife holder under it.

‘Noooo!!!’

The knife was pushed through Lucretia’s soft and unsuspecting body, making the scar that ghost Lucretia remembered from Tsarina’s memory. What Tsarina didn’t see was Merle twisting the blade angrily and repeatedly stabbing Lucretia until her arm felt numb. She let the almost dead weight slip out of her grasp as she realized what she had done. The ghost Lucretia heard thoughts that weren’t her own and soon realized that she could hear Merle’s thoughts.

‘I can’t believe I did that… It was so… Easy… Now Levi will finally be mine…’ Merle was breathing heavily, but she ran to her car anyways. Lucretia saw Merle look at the angel in the back window for a second.

‘Now, Father, I am avenging you and your business. Levi only went out with Lu because her father because partners with his father, and because of this, your company went bankrupt…’

Shocked and disgusted by the twisted thoughts of her now former best friend, Lucretia left her mind without hesitation. She opened her eyes to see Tsarina looking straight at her.

“How was her mind?” she asked seriously.

“… She did it,” Lucretia said with a blank expression. She looked up at Merle, who seemed to be looking back at her.

“Lu… Lucre… Lucretia?” she stuttered while shaking. “Bu-but-bu-b-but I-I-I killed you!”

“See?” Tsarina said with a victorious smirk. “Admitting it wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Merle’s expression changed from horror to anger after she realized Tsarina pulled a fast one on her. “You tricked me!”

“Not really,” Tsarina said indifferently. “You can see Lucretia, can’t you?”

“It’s one of your weird tricks!”

“No. You count as a witness to her death. That’s all.” A police siren could be heard not too far away. “And now you’ll be sent to jail, where you belong.”

“No! I am not going!” She ran to her car and jumped in the front seat. The engine turned despite the cold weather and Levi pushed Tsarina out of the car’s path. The black getaway car sped off, only to be followed by a sound of screeching rubber and a metallic crash. Tsarina and Levi stood there, paused because of what they thought happened. Lucretia watched where the car drove off and saw a dark figure walking towards her.

“Tsarina… You see that…?” she asked slowly.

“Yes…” she answered quietly. “I guess even her angel couldn’t save her.”

Merle’s spirit was black, tainted with the murder she had committed. Her footsteps were slow and unsteady as she came closer and closer to her victim.

“Lu… I’m sorry, I really am,” she whispered. “If I could bring you back, I would.”

“You can,” Lucretia said to her killer. “I just don’t know how.”

“And this is where you return to your world,” a fragile voice flowed through the spirits’ surroundings. “Well done, Lucretia.”

“Amadeus, I think you earned the right to call me Lu,” the girl said playfully. “And so did Tsarina,” she added as she looked at her witness. Tsarina blushed slightly and Levi was clueless as to why.

“What? More spirits?” he said obliviously as he looked around quickly.

“So, Lu,” Amadeus began, “There is one more thing I must tell you…”

“Something else you forgot, old man?” she asked jokingly.

“More like something I saved for last,” he answered after chuckling. “When you return to the life world, you will start out where you were killed. You will restart your life where you had died. Do you understand?”

“So… I’ll be where Merle tried to kill me? Behind the school?”

“Yes.”

“But, won’t she just, li-, sorry, won’t she kill me all over again?”

“Once you go down a path, you can never go back,” he answered simply. “What happened then won’t happen again. I promise,” he added as she looked at him skeptically.

“But, how do I go back?”

“I was also wondering the same,” Tsarina cut in. “I was wondering how Lucre- I mean, Lu, would return after her body’s been taken by the investigators. It would be very weird if she just woke up in their morgue and said ‘Hi’ or something.”

Amadeus was forced to laugh. “Oh, no. We are more subtle than that.”

Tsarina smiled guiltily. “Ok, just making sure.”

“Well, Lu, are you ready to go back?” the old spirit asked.

“Heck yes!” she enthusiastically cheered.

Amadeus nodded. “Merle, we’ll need you for this part.”

The dark spirit nodded solemnly. “Ok, Lucretia, all you have to do is pass through Merle’s spirit.”

“And what will that do exactly?” Tsarina asked.

“When a victim passes through the suspect, they will relive their taken lives. It seems extraordinary, but mind you, this is a different world with different standards. I am not capable of explaining everything that happens in our world as comprehensively as you may like.”

“Oh,” Tsarina said somewhat sadly. Then a thought occurred to her. “Wouldn’t that mean none of this ever happened?”

“To those among the living yes, but Lucretia and I will remember everything,” Amadeus answered.

“Don’t worry,” Lucretia said to Tsarina. “I won’t forget what you did for me.”

Tsarina smiled and nodded. “As long as you don’t forget that I have a reason for being so weird.”

“Hey, can you stop talkin’ to yourself?” Levi said randomly. “I think I hear more police cars.”

Tsarina and the spirits looked to the end of the street and saw a couple of white cars drive by.

“There’s no time to lose,” Amadeus said. “Lucretia, although your visit was short, it was a privilege to meet and help you.” He bowed deeply and she returned the gesture.

“Thank you for all your help and guidance,” she said with respect. “And thanks to you too, Tsarina,” she said as she looked at her. “I really owe you one now.”

“You already did enough,” Tsarina stated. “Now come back to life so life can return to normal.”

“Right!” Lucretia walked up to Merle’s spirit. “Merle, you did something that was cruel and unforgivable. It is your own fault that Levi didn’t go out with you. You have no one else to blame but yourself.”

“And that is why I need to start repenting as soon as you leave,” she said stoically. Lucretia looked at the old man for the last time. “Goodbye for now, Amadeus.”

“Farewell, Lucretia,” he said professionally. “And may we not meet again until your life has been completed fully. In the best way possible, of course.”

“I think I can wait,” Lucretia said as she smiled. She turned to Merle and took her last floating steps as a ghost. She felt a cool breeze, like fresh air flowing into empty lungs as a deep breath is taken…

“There you are, Merle! This has gotta be, like, the weirdest place ever to meet, by the way.” Lucretia felt her soul drifting back into her body as her words were spoken.

“Yeah, I know,” Merle said quietly.

“So, you got my scarf or what?”

“Yeah, here,” A light pink scarf with red stripes was in Merle’s hand. Lucretia snatched it quickly and rubbed it against her face.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed with delight. “You know this was the first present ever that Levi gave me! I can’t thank you enough!” She wrapped the fuzzy present around her neck and hugged Merle tightly, who didn’t return the embrace.

“Hey, Mer, what’s the… Matter?” she asked hesitantly.

“I’m going, Lucretia,” her friend answered.

“You’re moving?! You can’t move!” Lucretia didn’t expect the past to be as altered as it seemed.

“No, I’m not moving,” Merle said. “I’m just… Going. See ya later,” she finished as she walked in the direction of her car. Lucretia watched as she got into her car and drove off. The last thing she saw was the white angel sitting in the back window.

The next day, Lucretia went to school, like nothing happened. She passed by Tsarina’s locker slowly then turned back around.

“Hey Tsarina!”

She looked up at the sound of her voice. “Oh… Hey… Lucretia…”

“Listen,” Lucretia started, “Would you like to sit with me and Levi at lunch today?”

“Oh? Um… Yeah, I mean, if you really want me to…”

“Yes! Yes! Awesome! I’ll see you then!” Lucretia then walked to her locker and grabbed her books for her classes. As she entered her first period class, she noticed Merle wasn’t there. She thought about what she had said the night before, but couldn’t figure out why she said it.

That night was the Halloween Haunted House Night, which took place in the gym. Lucretia persuaded Tsarina at lunch to go with her and Levi, and they made it through the haunted house-maze second. They each won a small bag of candy and everyone went home happy. Lucretia got a phone call that night from Merle’s mom; Merle was found in her room, dead. According to the police and investigators, the cause of death was uncertain. Lucretia rushed over to comfort Merle’s mother, who told Lucretia that Merle left her a note. The last thing she said to Lucretia was, “At least she’ll see her guardian father now…”

In the note, Merle wrote,

“Dear Lucretia,

You are my best friend, never forget that. I want to be free. I don’t want to feel this way anymore, that’s why I told you I was leaving. Maybe we’ll see each other again, maybe not. I am leaving from this life into the next. I know everything will be better. When we meet again, I’ll be a completely different Merle. I’ll see ya around.

Merle, with love”

Lucretia returned home, not knowing how to react to what had happened. She instantly called Tsarina, who had given her number at lunch and told her what had happened. She also asked if she remembered anything about Lucretia’s past death. She said no, so Lucretia dropped the subject. They said goodnight and Lucretia fell asleep unknowing of what was to come.

The next morning, Merle’s mother called. She said the police caught an older male with Merle’s license and some of her savings on the highway the previous night. She said they found a gun in his car, the same gun that the bullet found in Merle’s chest matched to. Lucretia didn’t know what to say. Merle’s mother also said that her funeral was to be held the next week. Lucretia promised she would be there and after they hung up, Lucretia called Tsarina and told her about the arrangements. Tsarina agreed to go and Lucretia thanked her relentlessly. Levi called her house later that day and Lucretia told him about the next week. He promised he wouldn’t miss it for anything.

The day of the funeral came. As Lucretia, Tsarina, and Levi went to pay their respects, they felt a slight breeze that seemed to come from nowhere.

“It’s her,” Lucretia commented. “She’s telling us she’s ok…”

As for Amadeus, he returned to his spirit duties. As he dug through old records of other accidental deaths, he stumbled upon a girl by the name of Beriah Tsarina. She wasn’t the victim, but she was written down as a witness to the victim’s death.

‘That is why she sounded familiar,’ he thought, finally feeling complete after Lucretia’s ordeal. ‘This was the first accidental death ever recorded in the history of the Sanctuary. Now I remember. Beriah… Strange, both she and Tsarina have green eyes…’

End

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