Game Over

This is the the last installment of a Halloween collaboration series for our group Saloon For Writers.

Please read the first part by Angela Derscha here (& check out her profile!).

Please read the second part by Paula Shablo here (& check out her profile!).

Please read the third part by Angela Nolan here (& Check out her profile!).

***

The man picked me up and flipped me over his shoulder. We reach what looks like a shed in the backyard. The man threw me to the floor and I looked up to see Everett Upton standing beside Tabitha. The uncle seemed pale and sickly. All around me were various sharp tools hanging on pegs in the wall.

“Just let me go, and I promise I will never hurt anyone!”

“And why should I believe you?”

“Tabitha, what should we do with this girl,” Everett wheezed.

“If you want me to apologize to the spirits, I will do it!”

Tabitha and her uncle look at me, deciding if I am worthy enough to remain alive.

“We can turn her into a vessel for one of our ancestor spirits. Go out into the world and spread the message far and wide.”

“No, no,” I cried.

“We can’t let you leave alive,” Tabitha stated plainly. “Now, hold still while we get ready for the ceremony.”

Everett grabbed rope from one of the hooks, he grabbed my wrists, but I recoiled. Tabitha turned and shoved me down onto one of my wrists. Everett made a double column around one wrist and into a hook drilled into the floor followed by the other hand.

Tabitha and Everett rose from their kneeling positions, they held hands and looked toward the ceiling.

“Ancestors, hear us now. Emerge from the spirit world. Take possession of this young woman.. Tabitha and Everett chanted..

I whimpered and tried anything I could to stop this ceremony but nothing could stop them. The wind around us grew thick and strong, blowing almost in a cyclone-like motion.

The atmosphere turned dark with a greenish light, human-shaped spirits danced in the air like puppets on strings.

A spirit soon swooped close to me and stared down at me with a sad expression on her face. She looked to be a young woman in her early 20’s, her hair was tied up in a bun and her dress looked very old like it was made for the 1800’s. She had a beautiful face that would be very pleasant to look at if in the flesh.

I felt a cold hand touch my body and move through me, I struggled against the woman’s power and the restraints. Soon, I feel my whole body go numb and my sight goes dark. When I open my eyes, I am floating in a black void.

“Jessie!”

I turn back to the sound to find the same young woman I saw earlier standing before me.

“How did you know who I am..or was,” Suddenly remembering my current state.

“I have been watching you since Tabitha brought you here.”

“So what do you want?”

“I need your permission to possess your body. Just so I can stop Tabitha and Everett from what they are planning to do.”

“How do I know that you are really willing to go against them?”

“I would not ask you for your permission if I didn’t.”

“Fair point but I don’t even know your name.”

“I am Lizzie, I was the daughter of Everett’s great grandfather.”

“Ok, so what if I refuse?”

“You have no other alternative.”

“True, but still you are going to be the one possessing me,” I said and after much thought I had nothing to lose really..except for my soul, “Okay, let’s do it then.”

A bright light surrounded me as Lizzie took possession of my entire body. When I opened my eyes again, it felt like I was still within my body but I was the passenger instead of the driver. My body rose to stand up in front of Everett and Tabitha.

“Yes! We have done it! We have finally possessed a stranger’s body! Ancestor, please help us go forth and spread the power of the Upton family!” Tabitha shouted with excitedness.

Lizzie cocked an eyebrow at the duo, not even expressing the same enthusiasm as them.

“Tabitha, were you expecting all of your ancestors to be as wicked as you,” Lizzie retorted.

“What? Who are you?”

“I am Lizzie, and unlike you, I do not possess a vengeful part of my soul, but I am forced to wander the spirit world because I carry the same blood as you! How disgraceful!”

“We need to take her soul out! We made a mistake,” Everett shouted at Tabitha.

“I will get right on that-” Before Tabitha could even grab a weapon, Lizzie grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.

Everett moved toward the body that was mine, but Lizzie pushed him back with a force that made him fly awkwardly into a work table.

“The only way I can stop you is to send you to the spirit world. This girl’s body is not your vessel!” Lizzie threw Tabitha into the ground and tied her with the same knots that held my body. She grabbed Everett, but he moved out of the way. A fight broke out between Everett and Lizzie, with her winning in the end and tying him down next to Tabitha.

“ Now, you must face eternal punishment for what you have done.”

Another whirlpool of energy swirled around us, the air filled with screams of agony and suffering from every angle. Lizzie lifted my hands and chanted the following message:

“Ancestors, these two have used our souls to do evil deeds to others. Send them into the Wandering World where they cannot harm anyone.”

Tabitha must have fought as hard as she could against her restraints because she managed to get free from them; with a knife, she had up her sleeve, she stabbed Everett in the chest, retrieved the blade, and made a lunge for; Lizzie Lizzie too quick and grabbed her wrist.

“How could you do this to me? After all of this, giving you my home to use for all of this!” Everett said while holding the hole in his chest. “You also offered me eternal life with the ancestors!”

“That was a trick!” Tabitha shouted over her shoulder.

“Tabitha! You have ultimately condemned yourself! Enjoy your eternity!” Lizzie shouted above the screaming wind. Lizzie twisted Tabitha’s hand toward herself and stabbed her in the stomach. Tabitha screamed before her soul left her body in a white mist.

A powerful blinding light exploded and Lizzie instinctively covered our eyes. I open my eyes again and I slowly get up, realizing that I am dizzy. I push the door open and see a group of people shining their flashlights in my direction.

“Jessie! You’re alive,” I heard my mother's voice in the distance. The figure of my mother ran towards me and hugged me tightly.

I walk towards the house and see paramedics carrying the bodies of my friends away on stretchers.

“It did happen! My friends are all dead,” I ask, still trying to regain myself after that possession.

A police officer approached me with a pen and notebook in his hands. “I am Officer King, Homicide Investigation. We found them all like this. I am very sorry for your loss. Would you mind giving me a statement about what happened tonight?”

“It was way too crazy to be real. We were playing around with the Ouija board!”

“Okay, so you, Melissa, Tony, and Amy were just doing ghostly things, and that was when the murders happened?”

“Yes, then Tabitha and Everett Upton kidnapped me and dragged me into that shed,” I said, pointing behind me, “They wanted to use my body as a vessel for their ancestors!”

“I see,” The officer said, writing down everything I had said so far.

“Then one of their ancestors possessed my body so they could get revenge on Tabitha and Everett.”

“Okay, so a ghost took over you, and then what..?”

“The ghost killed both of them and then left!”

“I see,” The officer paused, “Price! Check that shed for any other bodies.”

“Yes sir,” A bright-eyed young man said as he strolled toward the shed.

“Okay, so clearly, you have been through something very traumatic. We will have a psychologist check on you to see if you are mentally well.”

“Officer! I am not making it up!”

“There are no bodies in here!” The young officer named Price shouted from a distance.

“Okay, young lady. You are going to need to come with us.”

I felt the officer drag me toward the police car in the driveway, stunned by everything that had happened. I could not believe what I was hearing! Tabitha and Everett are not in the shed, and everyone now thinks I am crazy. I see my mother crying, probably wondering what will happen to her girl. I see the officer look at me through the rear-view mirror and sigh as if he is sorry for me. The car starts and drives me away as if I was just some common criminal but they don’t know the truth…..

…and they never will.