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A heaviness hangs in the air as I venture into the musty barn. Dust particles dance on the few light beams that illuminate my way forward.
“Raven.” The man’s voice is one I can never forget.
“Uncle Marx?” I’m not sure that I trust him but if he can give me a way forward, a way to save my group before we crash and burn, I’ll take it. “Can you help us find her? I just want to let Pandora find peace.”
His shape flickers a little at her name. He starts to mouth something but stops. Now that I have contact, I surround myself in salt, creating a circle for protection.
“Do you know where she is? Is she here? Did you do this to her?” I ask, tears welling up in my eyes.
He stares at me for a few minutes and I wait, hoping that maybe he needs to process everything I’m asking.
“No, it wasn’t me,” he finally says but he doesn’t look at me.
Can I trust him? Especially if he can’t even look me in the eye. Uncle Marx knows something, how can I get him talking?
“I know you loved her, please, help me find her,” I plead this time, as one tear rolls down my face. “She deserves peace.”
“He won’t let me,” my uncle says in a low tone. Then, I realize he isn’t avoiding my eyes, he’s watching his own back. He’s glancing around as if on the lookout for someone.
“Is he here with us?” I ask. My spine straightens at the thought. Now we’re both on high alert.
Uncle Marx mouths the word yes as he shakes his head, whoever this spirit is, it spooks him. Dread fills me. My uncle was a wicked person, this guy had to be worse.
“Why are you still here?” I ask my uncle.
“Pandora,” he says as he frowns. I’d never encountered a ghost as disoriented as my uncle. He seems to keep forgetting what we’re talking about and trailing off mid-sentence.
“Where is she?” I ask again.
He points and does a circle, but doesn’t say anything. So, he is saying that she’s in the barn? We searched, but maybe we missed something.
“She’s in the barn?” I question but stay in my circle.
He nears me, but once he gets close to the circle, it’s as if he hits an invisible barrier. I can breathe a little easier knowing that the warding is working.
He begins to speak when black smoke starts to fill the barn. It’s thick and moving in large tendrils. There is no doubt it’s otherworldly.
“It’s him,” Uncle Marx states before he disappears.
That coward.
Even in death he only thinks of himself.
Despite the fear growing by the second within me, I stay where I am. If the wards worked on my uncle I’m hopeful that they will keep him out, too.
My eyes track the smoke as it inches toward me, slow and menacing. The second it hits the barrier, it wraps around the circle as if searching for a way in. I keep my breathing controlled as my heart rate increases.
“You are not welcome here. This is my land now, you are to leave,” I tell the cloud with confidence.
A face forms in front of me and he unleashes a scream. It’s not a face I know but it is one I won’t ever forget.
“Raven!” I hear Eli calling my name once the sound stops, and I realize I’m screaming along with him.
“Don’t come in!” I yell at them in desperation, “I’m in the circle and safe.”
He’s my stubborn ass that is overprotective to a fault. I say a silent prayer that he listens to me.
“You are not welcome here, leave this land and my family alone.”
