THE GHOST AND THE GUARDIAN

THE CEMETERY WAS OLD, EERIE, AND A BIT FRIGHTENING AS I WALKED TENTATIVELY TOWARDS THE DILAPIDATED CRYPT.

THAT WAS WHERE I HAD TO GO TO RETRIEVE THE HIDDEN OBJECT. THE OLD TREES GROANED AND CREAKED AND THE HUGE OLD LIMBS WERE BENT OVER WITH AGE.

THE GRAVESTONES WERE GREY AND COVERED WITH ALGAE. MOSS ROSE OF EVERY COLOR HUGGED THE GROUND AS THE WIND WHIPPED THE ZINNAS BACK AND FORTH, THEIR TALL SLENDER TWIGS EASILY MANIPULATED BY THE UNRELENTING BREEZE. THE AMARANTH'S FUZZY RED BALLS WERE BLOWING IN MY FACE, ALMOST BLINDING ME.

I WAS SO BUSY TRYING TO REFOCUS MY SIGHT, I ALMOST MISSED THE DUSKY GRAY CAT SITTING ON TOP OF THE GREY CRUMBLING TOMBSTONE. SHE WAS STILL AS DEATH, JUST WATCHING ME. THE SHREWD YELLOW EYES FOLLOWING MY EVERY MOVEMENT. I SHIVERED UNCONTROLEDLY AND HAD ONE OF THOSE AUGURING FORBODING MOMENT. I SHOOK MY HEAD TRYING TO SHRUG IT OFF.

TURNING MY ATTENTION BACK TO THE SURROUNDINGS, I THOUGH THAT, OBVIOUSLY LITTLE ATTENTION WAS PAID TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THIS WINDSWEPT CEMETERY. LICHEN OF EVERY COLOR CRAWLED OVER EVERYTHING, AND AS THE SUN CAST ITS SHADOWS IN BETWEEN THE TREES AND THE WIND MOANED, I HURRIED TO FULFIL MY TASK HOPING NOT TO LOSE MY NERVES.

I LOOKED AROUND HOPING TO SEE AT LEAST ONE PERSON IN THE VICINITY, IF ONLY TO CALM MY NERVES A LITTLE BIT, NO ONE WAS IN SIGHT. SEVERAL TIMES THE SHADOWS HAD APPEARED TO MATERIALIZE INTO A FORM AND I THOUGHT I WOULD JUMP OUT OF MY SKIN.

IT WAS ALREADY TWILIGHT, AND EVERYWHERE THERE WEREMENACING SHADOWS. THEY WERE MOSTLY SPAWNED FROM THE TERROR OF BEING IN A CEMETERY THIS ANCIENT, BY MYSELF, AND MY IMAGINATION WAS VERY ACTIVE.

Why was I here?

Let's backtrack to more peaceful times. Before I found the book of family stories, passed down through generations forbidding anyone to read without permission. Those who dared to read it fell into deep despair after accumulating great wealth.

ALL I HEARD WAS GREAT WEALTH.

I confiscated the key from my old trusting aunt, promising to lock it away for her.

I have lived with her since my parents passed away in a tragic boating accident twenty years ago.

Aunt Mae's house was a comfortable, modest three bedroom bungalow with a huge assortment of flowers surrounding it. She loved gardening and still enjoyed doing it even though she was nearly eighty years old. She is a lot older than my mother would have been.

I am in my thirties now and visit her almost every day even though she has a live-in caretaker.

Aunt Mae is a kindly soul, and I have loved her since I was a young child. She is oddly eccentric so I imagined she must be exaggerating just a little about omens and bad luck.

After all, these things only happened in the movies. Right. If there was treasure to be had, who was not going to try to find it, I was.

"Remember my child", she said. "No one must ever use this key, it brings horrible misfortune to anyone foolish enough to think that the stories surrounding this book are untrue".

"If you ever meet midnight. Run for your life".

"Midnight"?, I asked.

"Midnight guards the 'Map of Secrets', she decides whether or not you are virtuous enough to deserve it. So far, for many years, and over many generations, no one has been found worthy".

"Who or what is midnight", I asked.

"You will know if you ARE ever foolish enough to meet her, remember, put that key away". With that, she went off to bed.

Of course, now my curiosity was even more piqued than before. So I made sure auntie was snuggly tucked in bed and proceeded to the locked room where all the family heirlooms, secrets and treasures were said to be hidden.

We are primarily of African descent, so talks of the occult, voodoo, fetish, juju, good luck charm or any of the dark arts was a topic of conversation. Here in the town of Marga, Florida however, this was just a passing fancy.

Aunt Mae had never entrusted me with the key before, she was always so meticulous about making sure that no one was tempted to access the accursed book, the key was always in her possession.

I felt a little guilty about the subterfuge, but I needed to know if the stories were true and one could actually get the riches that were foretold.

The house has seen its share of wear and tear and the floorboards creaked as I tried to quietly tiptoe down into the basement, The room was strongly fortified, and took me a while to work the key into the partially rusted keyhole.

I knew this basement very well. So there were plenty of hiding places if anyone came looking. I hoped I could find the book, get the information I needed, and escape undetected.

The key turned after much force and the thick door screeched open. I was sure my aunt could hear with the racket going on. I listened, but it seems I was in the clear. I stood there for a moment in total amazement. The room was filled with treasures, really old and valuable stuff. Obviously someone in this family was a collector of rare objects. There were manuscripts, scrolls, beautifully embellished jars, African sculptures and myriads of unidentified objects, crates, trunks and tons of what nots everywhere.

How was I going to find a book in this amazing and very expensive mess. My "uncle", aunt Mae's husband travelled a lot. I am guessing he was or is the collector, he is off travelling right now. Being a little younger than my aunt he was still active and running all over the world. I now understand why he was hardly around. In her younger days we travelled with him on some of his trips. Suddenly the pieces fit into place for me. We had visited some very exotic places.

Hours passed unnoticed while I pored through books and scrolls and trunks and boxes and indescribable mementos of yesteryear. After my exhaustive search, I finally found a beautifully inscribed book nestled within a tiny locked preserved wooden trunk. The key was dangling on a chain attached to the trunk so I had no problem retrieving the book.

I opened it and found many names written inside of past family and descendants. Someone had done a family tree, I found my parents names along with mine and my aunts and my two cousins. Her children, Calvin and Melda had grown up and moved away. They were older than I was and they rarely visited.

Oh, my name is Nillea, and as I continued reading this fascinating book of memories I came upon the hidden secret.

"MIDNIGHT APPEARS WHEN EVIL NEARS. SHOULD SHE SEE YE, THEE MUST FLEE. IF SHE NOT APPEAR, YE BE IN THE CLEAR". Midnight is immortal, protected by light and dark. Forever lurking in shadows of night and day.

"Well that cannot be good". I thought.

I continued reading, the book chronicled exploits of family members over the years and was kind of vague about what eventually happened to them. Only the information of a second book hidden in the crypt along with a map, that gave specific instructions about where to find the crypt. Of course it was in the countryside. Located in the old family burial grounds which has not been used for years.

The crypt housed the original ancestor who amassed a great fortune. The fortune however was not his alone, He had a partner whom he apparently and allegedly 'done away' with because of greed. So, like Scrooge, in his guilt ridden crazed mind he thought his dead partner Delvin, came back to haunt him. He was the author of the book and since he was a little nutty, it is left to one's imagination whether or not the story is true.

Duncan, the author, says he hid the second book and map in the crypt, hoping to secure it from the ghost, but he followed him there and the evil partner ghost will guard it so no one in this family can ever be happy even if they found it. He would not stop you from taking it, but he would ensure you met a terrible end. No one knows what the end was as people simply disappeared.

I returned the room to as close to normal as I could and exited with as much stealth as creaks and groans would allow. It was late, so I spent the night in my old room. I stayed from time to time when aunt needed me to. So it was not unusual to be seen in the morning.

After making her breakfast, I started on my secret adventure to the countryside. It was a warm sunny day in June. The landscape was painted in a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors. The sunlight sparkled between the leaves of the many variegated leaves on the trees. It was a lovely day and I had a long drive ahead of me. I turned some lively music on and settled in for the ride.

I was now wishing I had brought company along. But, did I really need to get anyone mixed up in this drama. Not yet, I felt a little foolish about the whole situation anyway.

So here I am at the cemetery, it's getting dark and the wind has picked up, dramatically changing a sunny day into a scary windblown evening.

I meandered between the tombstones, zigzagging here and there trying to locate the crypt. I finally located it between two huge lionheads menacingly baring their teeth in stillness. The crypt was old and crumbling, and as I entered I thought I saw someone. However, the figure got up and turned a corner before I got close. That was really scary.

"Hello", I called out. I got no answer. I heard a slight scratch behind me, I turned my head slowly, and there was that cat, standing just outside the entrance, stare so piercing I got chills. She, or he let out a horrifying shriek and moved two steps backwards, as if allowing me to pass by.

Was the cat trying to warn me about something. I was becoming really frightened.

That was it for me. I turned around and hastened out of the cemetery. I would stay in a hotel overnight and call my friend to meet me tomorrow and try to solve this puzzle together.

A good night's sleep should perk me right back up.

As I tried to sleep, I remembered seeing a second warning in the book. I got up, retrieved the book and started to thumb through. Yes. Here it is. It read:

'MIDNIGHT APPEARS ONCE TO THE UNDESERVED, BUT TWICE TO THE CHOSEN AND PURE OF HEART. THE TIME IS COME. ENTER AND IT WILL BE UNDONE. BUT BEWARE, FOR A FIGHT THERE SHALL BE". Once more she shall guide thee. Heed her warning. Times three, check her galaxy.

What could this all mean. Anyway, Like Scarlett, I would think about it tomorrow.

TO BE CONTINUED. BOOK 2 COMING SOON.

Will accept book and movie deal. Emoji, smiley face.

Pure Fiction.