The Coma- Updated ***Trigger Warning*** (3 Book Series)

 I was in the house when he got home.  To be honest I was thankful that we didn't have kids.  His drinking has taken a toll on me and I knew by the way he pulled in that he has already had a few.  I looked at the door from the landing on the second floor as he swung it open. He had a bad day. I saw him walk into the kitchen and heard him crack open another beer.

"Babe where are you," He yelled.

I came down the stairs slowly and quietly said, "No reason to yell, I am right here."

"I'm right here," He mimicked. "Don't yell.  Don't tell me what to do bitch."

I sighed. When he was sober he was the kindest man alive. When he drank he was an abusive asshole. I hated this side of him.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I'm hungry. What's for dinner?" He said.

"I am making burgers and fries for dinner.  I just heard you pull up as I was ending my work day," I said.

"Not like you work anyway.  You don't do real work like me." He started, "Why don't you get a real job."

I walked past him and headed toward the kitchen. "I have a real job and it pays our bills here."

"What did you say Bitch?" He yelled as he stalked me to the kitchen.

"John stop I am not in the mood to fight I have had a long day. I just want to eat dinner and rest," I said as I pulled the cast iron pan to cook the burgers.

"Oh you want to rest," He belittled. "You had such a rough day. Oh boo hoo you sat on your fat ass and talked on the phone all day. You don't do anything special. Your nothing special."

"Listen John I am not going to do this with you. Every time you drink you say things you say you don't mean.  I am sorry you had a rough day but why don't we just relax and have a nice dinner," I said.

"You don't care what kind of day I had," He said. 

"Do you want to talk about your day?" I asked, "What can I do to help you?"

"Listen to me you cow I know you don't give a rat's ass about my day. You pretend to give a shit about me like my boss does, but to be honest, you do not give a shit," He said.

I didn't reply as he wanted me to,  when he has had too much to drink he gets very aggressive. I pulled out a sheet pan and went to grab french fries out of the freezer. I opened the door to the freezer and put my arm in and then the door was slammed into my arm. 

"What the hell," I said pulling my arm out of the freezer. I could see the bruises forming on my arm where the door had been slammed on me.

"Oh stop your bitching, your not hurt," He said, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"John I am making diner," I said. "You said you are hungry and I am starting dinner."

He grabbed me by the shirt and swung me into the fridge. "Listen to me you fucking bitch you do not do anything without my permission. Do you hear me?"

I closed my eyes, "Yes, I hear you. Do I have your permission to cook dinner?"

He swung me onto the counter and said, "No I am not allowing you to cook for me you would probably poison me."

"Seriously Tom we have been together for three years do you think I would try to poison you," I said stepping away. "You are losing your shit you need to calm down, Please I am begging you."

Tom grabbed my arm and pulled me into his grip, "What did I tell you? I will not tolerate the bullshit your giving me."

With that Tom threw me over the island in the kitchen and I landed against the dishwasher. He jumped over the island and kicked me in the side. I curled into a ball to protect my head. "Please Tom stop your hurting me.'

As he was kicking me all over he kept yelling, "Shut your filthy mouth you whore. You do not matter. I cannot believe I was stupid enough to believe you deserved to be with me. You are worthless."

With one final kick to the head, I saw nothing but blackness. I do not know how long I lay there in my kitchen and if I knew what would be the outcome after that fateful moment I would have wished for death instead. 

Chapter 2

I remember hearing the beeping of the machines. The noise was so loud I wish someone would shut them off. I heard movement next to me and then quietly I heard a whisper, "Come on Mads you crazy bitch get up so I can kick your ass."

I knew that voice it was my best friend Amy. Trying to open my eyes hurt and Amy noticed my effort. She called for the nurse, "Hey she is trying to wake up and doesn't have coffee so you need to cut back on her sleepy drugs."

It was so hard to open my eyes but I kept trying. Finally, I managed to get one eye open and Amy's face was inches from mine. She looked like she had been crying and she whispered, "There you are bestie I was afraid I was going to have to go hell to bring you back. Listen you are hooked up to a bunch of machines and you have a tube down your throat. You can't talk but between me and Ben we have not left the hospital so that foul order is probably me you smell."

"Miss if you could move back so we could check Madison," said the nurse who walked in with a Doctor.

The doctor leaned over and said, "Madison I am Dr Lorry, Listen I am gonna be honest with you you are in a bad spot but I am doing everything I can to help you. You are on a sedative so you are gonna feel loopy and out of sorts for a while. You have some amazing friends who have been by your side through all of this. You have a lot of physical trauma and are going to take a long time to heal. If you wake up more we will remove your breathing tube and once you are more awake we will go over your prognosis."

I blinked and the Doctor turned to Amy and said, "Once I am sure she can handle breathing we will remove the tube do not get her excited or upset or I will have to put her back to sleep."

She looked at the Doctor and said, "She has Ben and me and we will get her through Hell itself if we need to. You do what she needs to heal and we will get her the rest of the way Doc."

As she said it Ben walked into the room with a teddy bear! "They said no flowers till you are in a regular room so I got you this guy. His name is Sam and he will protect you from the monsters under the bed."

He leaned over and kissed my forehead, "Girl you scare us again like that I am gonna hide you from the world. Now let me hand this bag to Amy she reeks and the hospital staff said she can shower here if she had fresh clothes."

Amy smiled and said, "Ben you are in charge don't let her be and I will be back in 15 min."

The nurse showed Amy to the showers and Ben sat down and looked at me and he started tearing up. "Mads I was so scared we almost lost you. We will tell you everything when the doctor gives us permission to."

Dr Lorry took that time to walk in and said, "Ben if you want to stand at the foot of the bed I am gonna make this easier on Madison by putting her to sleep for a little bit and removing the breathing tube. As long as she remains stable we will wake her up in an hour."

Ben squeezed my hand and said, "Hurry back Mads."

Dr Lorry put something into my IV and I dozed right off. I felt like I was sleeping beauty when I woke up. You know if sleeping beauty wasn't in a bit of pain. When I woke up Amy and Ben were at my side. Opening my eyes Ben sighed and said, "About time you woke up."

Amy leaned over and said, "Listen you don't need to talk right now. You slept a little longer which the Doctor said was normal you have been through a lot."

The nurse walked in with a cup with a bendy straw and said, "Take it slow Madison, You can do tiny sips of this for now and I am going to get Dr Lorry for you."

She pushed Ben back and sat me up just a bit. Then she checked my stats and went out of the room. Amy picked up the water and held the straw to my lips and I took a sip. Damn, that was the best water I ever had. After I had a few sips I barely croaked out, "How long?"

"Twenty-three days," Doctor Lorry said. "You were unconscious for twenty-three days."

He sat at the edge of my bed and said, "Madison are you ready to hear some hard truths."

I whispered, "Yes."

"First let me tell you, you are extremely lucky your neighbor heard what was going on. He was walking past and ran into your home with his wife. She is a nurse and started treating you while her husband chased the man to the bathroom to keep him there and called 911. You have a skull fracture and a broken wrist as well as a fractured arm. Your knee was shattered and you also have a broken ankle as well as a fractured thigh bone. As well as 5 broken ribs and 4 fractured ribs. Madison are you okay after this?"

I was angry and said, "What else?"

He looked down and said, "Internal and external bruising. Also Madison were you aware that you are pregnant?"

"A baby?" I asked. "How could I have not known?"

"Yes you are going to be a Mom," He said smiling, "We had a high risk OB come in and check you out and the baby is okay. Your only about ten weeks along when you came in, but he or she is a tough one like you and your going to be okay. Especially with these two friends of yours."

I closed my eyes for a moment and said, "Wow."

Amy started laughing and said, "Girl we got you."

Dr lorry stood up and said, "I will leave these two to explain the rest."

When he left Amy said, "Do you want to know the rest of what happened?"

"Tom?" I asked.

"Is in jail where he should be," Ben said. "The police arrested him when they got there. Mads he had 5 times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. He told the cop you laid down to take a nap and your neighbor punch him in the face. They would like to see you when you can have visitors. Your phone was open and the wife Kallie called Amy's phone as she had the most calls."

"They are the sweetest people and Amy rushed to the hospital and Kallie road with you. Kallie even went over and cleaned the mess from the attack so you would not have to see it." Ben said. "I went in and packed all of Tom's shit and threw the boxes in the Garage."

"What are the police charging him with?" I asked.

"Attempted murder on you and now the baby. They are also charging him with lying to the police," Ben said.

"Hey I know you love him Mads," Amy started. "But his drinking was getting out of control and I am afraid of what would have happened if Kallie and Mark had not intervened."

Tears rolled off my face and Amy wiped my tears and said, "Now none of that you have to be strong Mads you have a baby on board and have to think about him or her."

There was a knock at the door and Dr Lorry came in with another woman and a ultrasound machine. "Well Madison how about we meet your bright spot." Amy and Ben you know the drill at the head or out. Amy and Ben moved behind me and the tech lowered the blanket and said, "Hello Madison you look so much better. Shall we meet your little one? Don't worry I warmed up the gel."

She placed the gel on my stomach and placed the doppler on me and she said, "There he or she is. I will warn you this baby is a active one. From the measurements I could get your about thirteen weeks along now. It was hard to get accurate measurements when you first got here." 

When the tech pushed down a little bit the baby stayed still and the tech was able to get a picture. She looked at me and said, "This baby is a survivor, just like you are. I see no problems and when your feeling a bit better we will do a full work up on the little one but as of now brain, heart and organs all look amazing and look he or she is waving at you."

I looked at the screen and saw the babies hand raise in a wave. I started crying and said, "This baby is everything."

The technician handed me a tissue and said, "They always are Madison. You both are gonna get through this and before you know it he or she will be here."

Amy and Ben were behind me and I said, "So what do you both think of your god child?"

Ben was the first to ask, "You sure you want me as her godfather?"

Amy said, "Ben hush you might bat for the same team but who better to teach this girl style. Her mama is a jean and tshirt girl. You know Madison has never cared about that."

Lifting my head I said, "Ben you and Amy would be my only choices and will always be my choices. Will you guys do me a favor? I want to crochet some baby blankets will you go to the store and get me a couple sets of soft yarn?"

Amy started laughing and handed me a huge bag of yarn from Hobby Lobby. As she handed it to me she said, "We did the math with Dr Lorry and this little one is due around September 15th. So there is Fall, Halloween, Christmas and New Years yarn colors. There is also a beautiful girls color and a rocking boys color in greens. You can crochet to your hear is content."

I started crying and Ben sat on my bed and took my hands, "Mads your not alone we got you and by the time the baby is born you will be sick of us."

"I could never get sick of you," I said. "Amy would you be awesome and hand me a crochet needle and the first of the Halloween yarn. OH my did either of you contact my work?"

Ben laughed and said, "Your phone is right here on silent I took the call when you missed two days and explained to Charlotte your supervisor what happened. She was shocked but said you heal and you come back with bells on. They are holding your job. As for your bills for the house, I called and explained everything and Amy and I have been paying for what is coming due. However so you know I am doing this for selfish reasons. I have been staying in the guest room. Mike and I broke up and I needed a place to crash. Besides once you come home I think you will need some help."

"Oh Ben I am sorry," I said as Amy handed me the yarn. "You stay as long as you need. Which room did you take?"

"The one next to the office," Ben said. "I left the room next to yours alone as it will make a great nursery with the big windows and natural light. Also all you have in there is the day bed and dresser both in white, which would be great with a white crib."

Amy and I started to giggle. I started to yawn as my stomach growled and I said, "Man I am hungry."

The nurse in the room said, "Madison we have you on a liquid diet but let me page Dr Lorry and see what he thinks about your diet now?"

The nurse left and I said, "So Ben you think your going to design the nursery?"

He looked at me and said, "You know its my thing and I would love to help."

"I would love for you to design the room," I said. "I would love to keep the furniture white but I would love to see one wall be a forest scene with some birds in the trees and animals in the trees."

Ben looked at me and said, "That would be good for a boy or a girl. I will draw something up and show you. See my design school degree will go to good use."

Sighing I asked, "I know this is going to sound stupid but have you checked on him?"

Amy sighed and said, "I did. I went to the jail and saw him. He asked about you and I told him we did not know if you were going to make it yet. He broke down crying and told me he was going to give up drinking and hopes to see you when he gets out."

Ben said, "That is not something that you need to worry about anytime soon. So how is your wrist doing with the crochet?"

"It feels okay," I said. "If it starts to feel tender I will stop."

Amy said, "Good. So the doctor thinks you will be in here for about another two to three weeks. Now that your awake I will go by the house and see about some real clothes for you once they allow you to shower. Ben and I already got you a chair for your walk in shower. One of us will be with you so you can manage the stairs."

Ben said, "Are you okay Madison?"

"Yeah," I said. "I was thinking about Tom. I hope this gets him the help he needs."

Amy sighed and said, "I know Mads I hope so as well. I have talked to him because he does love you but he is going to be in there for a long while. With all the mistakes he made in the past he is not getting out of this. He knows he will not be able to come home. He blacked out when everything happened and said to tell you to tell the truth to what happened. He has started counseling on the inside and I know the police want to speak to you. He found out about the baby when the charges were altered. He wants to do the work program inside and will be sending me money for you and the baby. Since he is not coming out they did not put a restraining order on him but give it time."

Ben said, "He wants whats best for you and the baby which is messed up. He did tell me that he was never honest with you about the drinking and how it runs in his family. He hid that secret all these years."

Sighing I said, "Maybe one day I will be able to speak with him. However, Today is not the day."

Ben sighed and said, "I figured that. He said he will wait until you are ready and we are not telling you to contact him."

Amy said, "God no. He knows the score. He wants you and the baby to be okay. He is still on suicide watch in jail."

Madison- Main

Amy and Ben - Best friends

Kallie and Mark- people who saved Mad

Dr Lorry-

Tom-EX

Charlotte- Supervisor

Ghost/Weird Journal (Multi book series)

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Ever since childhood, my life has been one of weirdness and paranormal happenings. As I grew up and entered adulthood, everything was odd and weird, no matter what I did. I am used to seeing shadows out of the corner of my eyes or hearing things that are out of place or not right. My favorite thing is things being moved, opened, or lights on when I know everything has been shut off. 

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I joke about things that happen in the chat we have at work. I am always advised to keep a journal of what is happening. So here is the me keeping track of what is happening.

As of March 7, 2023

We keep hearing an old-school phone ring. I am taking about the phone sound for the old school box phones. Not only am I hearing this but my partner has also heard the phone ringing as well. One day I was hearing it from the hall way in our home and my partner ran outside and went around the whole trailer. He did not hear it outside although we were hearing it from the inside.  This has happened randomly a few times in the last few weeks.

I had a weirdly creepy experience also.  Earlier this week my partner had to go to sleep early for work. I was up watching videos on my phone and I heard one of our dogs coming down the hall. I turned to see which of our babies was coming through the house and I see a shadow on the opposite end of our trailer with white eyes. I actually closed my eyes and shook my head thinking watching TV on my phone messed with my eyes but it was there watching us.  I jumped off of my bed and headed to the living room and when i came around the bed and headed to the hallway it was gone.

The case of the rocking chair

We got this old rocking chair from a neighbor of mine. Its a little worn but it reclines and as we do not have room for couches or love seats we go with chairs. Not a bad thing right. Well wring because this chair has a tendency to rock on its own.  I mean it will literally start rocking away and none of the animals or any of the humans have touched it. The first time i saw it rock on its own i was in the same room folding laundry and all the dogs were in the other room and the only cat with me was Rambo. 

The rocking has become more prominent as it will also rock while we are in the room just cooking or sitting at the kitchen table.  I will update this when I have more information.

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Walking in the woods

Over the weekend we went to our favorite fishing spot to hang out and fish. Fishing is fun but after a while, I started to feel a little overheated and decided to go for a walk in the woods to relax and get out of the sun.  I started walking into the woods and as I was enjoying the peaceful walk in the woods with the sounds of nature and the occasional sounds of people celebrating a fish caught. I walked a bit of the way in taking pictures and videos of the surroundings around me and as I got to the curve in the bend that takes you further away from the fishing spots I heard a child laugh. I thought Maybe that a kayaker may have pulled off so their child could have a potty break. I called out hello and said I am just walking through the trail and received no response. Stopping to not stumble on someone who might be using the bathroom I listened for a person. I then faintly heard a child giggling and the crunch running through the woods. Something in me told me to go back. I had my camera out snapping pictures and recording video as I walked back but something primal inside of me told me to keep walking and not to look over my shoulder. Almost back to where I could jump off the path and onto the beach, my boyfriends voice echos out to me calling my name. He asked why I was gone so long. I told him and his dad what I heard. Explaining to them there were recent reports in the area of the black-eyed children. For the rest of the day I stayed put where we were fishing.

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Here is a newer update. We have started to have things being moved. Little things like my vape being left on my desk and then going into the kitchen and my vape is on the kitchen counter when I walked out there.  I also have an obsession with old cook books and I would leave a book in one location and the book would be moved to a different location.

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6/20/2023

The bouncing lights. Our security camera has started capturing lights that appear out of nowhere and bounce all over the yard. I joke they are the incredible bouncing lights. I am trying to get the lights uploaded to my youtube page. We will see what I can capture and upload when these things happen.

Other than that tho just a bit of knocking and the clock ringing at weird times.

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6/22/2023

So this happened today. When Red left go to work today he made sure the door was shut and locked. However, here is the strange thing. The camera glitched and did not show him leaving until he was almost off frame. I took a break around 1015 from work and went into the kitchen to see the front door open and one of our cats were missing. Rambo thankfully only goes outside and under the house immediately to take a break. At first I was upset I messaged red and said you left the door open. That was until i watched the video camera and saw that door handle glimmering as if it was being turned and the door pop open a few times before Rambo got out. Thankfully Rambo came in an hr later but good to know the ghosts are popping the door open now.

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7/13/2023

I suffer from Migraines. I ended up having to take a few hours off of work for this today. After about 20 min I dozed off. I woke up groggy with something telling me to get up. I sat up and looked down the hallway and there standing at the beginning of the hallway was a massive shadow figure. I opened and closed my eyes as it resembled my partners dad in high and width. I opened and closed my eyes and it started moving forward towards me. I said out loud, " I am not in the mood for this shit today I feel like crap leave me alone." It stopped and then as it went to take a step forward my cat Tolly jumped between us and hissed and the shadow man disappeared.

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9/1/2023

This week hurricane Idelia went up the florida coast. I am blessed to say where I live there was no damage, However my heart breaks for the people along the beach area. two days later and the water is still going down. As a native Floridian I know hurricanes and storms are a natural occurrence and is part of our normal. However, leading up to the hurricane and the remaining part of the week everything seems off and weird. Many people I know are having issues sleeping. Personally I cannot wait till 6pm this evening when I am off of work and am able to just zen and relax. 

9/20/2023

Everyone who knows me is aware I firmly believe in the paranormal. I have lived in many haunted houses and had a lot of ghostly experiences. As we fast approach All Hallows Eve, the veil is beginning to thin, and this happened.

This post is in real-time. I work from home doing customer service. I had a call come in for work, and I had turned my chair, so I was facing my large monitor as I was exhausted this morning and was helping a customer. You must understand we live in a smaller mobile home, so I hear everything even while working. I hear my partner get out of bed and go into his dresser that we share. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the drawer open and hear the squeak it makes when it opens. I see clothing moved in the drawer and the drawer shut. As I am still helping my customer, I did not turn around, and I am thankful I did not. I hear what I thought was my partner leaving the room as the door squeaks as it opens and closes. I hear my partner walk through the house and the front door open and close. After the call ended, I went to make the bed so the dogs could lay on it, and when I turned towards the bed, my partner was still sound asleep. 

Was it his doppelganger? Was it a ghost? I told him about what happened when he woke up thirty minutes later, and he said, 'The house was locked up' until he went outside a few minutes ago to take a phone call. I even checked our security camera, and there was nothing but the stray cats outside the entire time. Any thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below.

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10/10/2023

After what happened on 9/20 I thought things would be calmer but I guess I was wrong. Last night while I was cooking dinner my partner told me he was going to take a bath which hello's his back and leg problems. I told him no problem with that as I had to get dinner made. Well as I was making dinner I felt that someone was watching me. I had a glass on the counter and I could have sworn my partners reflection was caught in the glass. When I went to turn around and ask him if everything was okay he walked away. I finished what I was doing and walked to the bathroom and asked what he needed. He asked why and I said he was just in the hallway. He told me he had been in the tub the entire time. Creeped me out and I went back to cooking but made sure one of the dogs was in the kitchen with me.

10/23/2023

So I am a big horror movie buff. I had just finished watching Dr Sleep. Side note the movie was great, however if you get a chance READ THE BOOK. More detailed. Anyway I finished watching the movie and was gonna make a play list for youtube to fall asleep to. Then I had this nagging feeling that I needed to go to the kitchen/living room and just stay in there. At first i ignored it because work at 9am and I wanted to do things befor I started work. But the feeling got so strong I could not ignore it anymore. So I dragged myself into the kitchen and started cleaning as my partner and his dad were asleep. It took about fifteen minutes for that feeling to pass. I thought maybe I sensed something outside but after checking the windows and the security camers there was just the stray cats. I do not know what caused it but after I went back to my room I started the TV thread and feel right to sleep.

11/29/2023

Have you ever felt like there is something constantly battling against you? I live in a haunted home and community. Like everyone here has seen something or heard something that is just a bit off from the paranormal world. The last few weeks it seems like I am waging a battle to consistently keep my home clean and maintained. There will be times where I am the last to bed and the first to get up and will wake up to random messes. At first I thought it was our pets as we do have 4 cats and three dogs. But then most of the time my dogs and all but one of my cats is in our bedroom with us all night. I am not saying its paranormal yet but the one cat in the outer rooms sleeps when we sleep and I am considering running a feed to see whats causing the messes. Any thoughts.

12/20/2023

We lost our dog Rodeo last Christmas to a aggressive cancer tumor in her mouth. Discovered it on Thanksgiving weekend and she passed away on Christmas Day. My partner and I have both felt her with us and seen glimpses of her in the corner of my eye. I also believe she is the one who sent out now almost year old kitten JJ to us. But last night I ate dinner very late and went into the kitchen to get it as everyone else had ate and was in bed already. I was dishing up the soup I made and putting the rest away when she was there and standing next to me. She bumped her big old head against my leg. I looked down thinking for a second it was one of our other dogs and said, "You know you do not like soup."

It took me a second and she barked I knelt down and said, "I miss you."

She bumped my head again and backed up. I closed my eyes to wipe away tears and when I opened them she was gone.

1/25/2024

Laying in bed I woke up feeling ill a few days ago. When I did I went to the bathroom and walked into the living room to look out the window. Now normally I would be looking at the road and our small little yard. This time though looking through the window I saw fields and a barn. Closing my eyes I thought I had to still be dreaming. When I opened them again I was in a cabin in the woods with a large fire place and a set of stairs leading upstairs. Feeling my head head hurt more I closed my eyes again and when I opened them I was back in my living room.

3/17/2024

Sitting in the bedroom I hear noises coming from the other room. The problem is there should be no noises all the dogs and cats were in the bedroom/office with me. My father in law and boyfriend are outside. However that does not matter because there are footsteps going from the hallway, kitchen and between the bedrooms. The noises do not bother me I have always lived in homes that were haunted. We see shadows and things move all the time. Maybe everything is related. You never know.

4/8/2024

 So this was a weird incident that happened to me Monday night. I saw on our security camera feed that my boyfriend and his father who lives with us went outside. I was in my room just finishing work. I heard them come in and out of the house and got one more alert and saw they were both outside again. After work I went into the kitchen to prep dinner. Well I heard the TV on in boyfriends Dad's room and him talking to it so I figured at some point he came inside. He has a tendency to talk to the TV like most older men do. I was in the kitchen for about forty minutes and kept hearing his Dad. I went outside to tell my boyfriend everything was prepped for dinner and to let me know when he wants to eat. Well sitting next to our fire pit was his Dad. I asked him if he was there the whole time and he said yes. I told them what happened and they both gave me a look. Shaking my head I just went inside and came back to work on things I had on the computer.

9/2/2024

Being watched

So we have had some things happen in our home since the end of july and are still going through things. My boyfriend and I decided to take his Dads old room when he moved out and turn my old bedroom into our office and storage room. The second night in the room I could not sleep. Now I know what some may think could it be because its a new room? No this room used to be my sons room and my old office. I laid in bed till three thirty feeling like I was being watched. My partner was in the bed next to me and i was finally able to shake the feeling of being watched.

I know some may ask well could someone be peaking through the windows. The answer to that is not unless they are over eight feet tall as we live in a raised module home. My room has three windows all covered with curtains and there are flower beds in front of the windows which had no feet imprints. Trust me I checked. As the community we live in is haunted I don't want to chuck it up to ghosts but I don't know what else it could be. My security camera did not catch anything.

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December 2024

The activity has started to pick up around here. I know its been more than me seeing it as well. The other day I was working my job and heard someone outside. I pulled up my security camera and saw a shadow go towards the back of my house. I went out the back door and headed to the back where the person would have had to come out and no one was there. 

I told my boyfriend about what I had seen and he said that he has been seeing the same. He told us one night I was sleeping and he looked above the laptop we use to watch TV at night and behind it is our window AC. We have a curtain that covers the window above the AC and my boyfriend said that the light from the window was blocked out from a shadow. You have to understand there is no way a human could be peeping in and causing a shadow as the window is eight feet above the ground. 

Leading up through Thanksgiving and heading towards the end of the year things seem to be picking up. I personally think that things will be picking up a lot more before the year is older.

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November 2024

I love to thrift store shop. Who doesn't like to save money and a great deal? Well we have a local thrift store that has multiple buildings but it has a building with furniture and tools. Right before thanksgiving we went to this thrift store and I I could not shake the feeling I was getting from each of the buildings.

The first building had books and small appliances I felt a feeling like someone was staring at me with a disapproving look. The next building was full of dishes and glasses. This area gave me the feeling of a crowded room when there were three people in there. I shook it off as I looked at the glassware. I laughed to myself and chuckled as I saw shadows reflecting in the glass. The next are was a Christmas area and I could not even go in more than a foot or two. Then there was a clothing and linen building, That room I felt something weird in there. Sinister and foreboding watching over the rooms. Once I bought the cloth I was buying I left the area quickly. 

The last building was one full of furniture and tools and that room was the worst of them all. The energy was intense and one trunk that was vintage sat in the center of the floor. I went to look it over to possibly buy it and as soon as I touched it I heard buy me you know you want to and felt a dark and intense. I closed it up and my neighbor who I was with said if your not buying it I will. I said go for it but do not blame me when something bad happens to you because there is something bad attached to it. The woman working the room huffed and took the trunk and rolled it to the wall. She was mad that I said something and I do not care.

Remember everyone always trust your gut when it comes to an item. If you feel something bad then do not buy it.

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December 10th 2024

Last night I went to the bathroom and  when I shut the lights off I ran to my bedroom. Why? I felt like something besides the cats were in the dark with me. Of course I forgot to put the main light on before I walked through. I made sure to put the light one every time after that. Weird experience.

The Portal (3 book series)

I was fifteen years old when my father decided we were going to leave the city and move to a sleepy town in Florida named Brooksville. He had purchased the building across the street from the local court house. The bottom floor was going to be my fathers art gallery and studio and the top floor was going to be our home.

My father headed to the town before us to get the apartment and his studio ready. My mother was excited to be leaving the city as she hated living here. I didn't want to leave, as the city is all I knew. My mother kept trying to be optimistic saying how wonderful it would be to me moving to a small town. She told me the building father had purchased was literally in the center of town. I took after my father and she knew I loved to take pictures and draw people and places. My mother took her tie going through the apartment and had slowly started stacking boxes and furniture in the dining room. By the time time my dad came home three weeks later my mom had packed up the whole house and we literally living out of suitcases and 2 boxes of supplies. Mom even had the whole kitchen packed up except what was left in the fridge and a few open boxes and bags of food.

That Monday started my last week of school in New York while my mom tied up all the loose ends with Doctors and accounts. Dad went around to all the studios and stores that sold his art and closed out all his accounts. He wanted to bring all his stock with him to his own gallery instead of paying someone else to sell it. When school ended Friday I walked outside to see my parents waiting in our van. My Dad was leaning against the van and handed me my camera bag.

"Well Maggie do you want to take a few pictures before we leave for Florida?" He asked.

I looked around and it dawned on me I didn't have any real friends as I was always thought of as the weird kid. I smiled and looked at my dad, "You know what Dad, let's get going."

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The trip down to Florida was very uneventful. I spent a majority of my time taking pictures of the scenery and locations. My parents tried to make this a fun trip not just a move to a new home. We stopped at so many roadside stands and attractions. I can't believe all of the different places we went to. Before I knew it we were pulling up in front of the brick building.

"Okay my girls so you know normally we will pull around the back of the building," Dad said, "But you had to see what is now in front of our front door. No more walking out into a smelly hallway and hearing the couple down the hall fighting."

I looked across the street and saw the front of the courthouse. It was a beautiful old building and it was like you could feel the history vibrate off of it. I was looking at all the windows on the side of the building and the bottom set of windows caught my eye. It looked like there was a person peeking out the window.

"Well, Maggie what do you think?" Dad asked as he turned to the front door of the gallery.

"This town definitely has a feel to it Dad," I said. "I am almost expecting to see a horse and buggy or people in vintage clothing leaving the front of the courthouse. Looking at how the buildings are so close I am thankful they left the original building."

"Well, Maggie we will walk over to the courthouse later after you are settled. The old and new buildings are connected." Dad continued, "The best thing is the grounds are open to the public. However, you need permission to view the older section as it is private chambers and offices now."

I walked over to the door and looked at dad, "Well now to the important stuff like what does my room look like and when do I start back to school?"

"Well. Maggie why don't you come in and see. The moving truck should be here in about an hour's time."

Dad moved aside and I walked into his gallery. I saw that he had set up his work area near the front windows of the store surrounded by a counter and that he arranged his register at a low point on the counter. I saw where he had shelves and tables and floor space set up so he could sell his work. Then I saw two things that were very new. He had a glass case set up which had the words written on it 'Maggies Prints' and next to it a red light hung which said no entrance when the red light is on.

"Before I came down here we had talked about how you wanted to see about selling your prints. That case can hold the pictures you would like to sell, all you will have to do is set the prices you want. Also, that was a larger closet that I thought you would like to use as a developing room instead of your own closet. Also I went to a photography supply store and stocked you up on a bunch of supplies"

I was shocked that dad thought of this and I ran up and hugged him, "Thank you so much dad I love it. I can't wait to get all my equipment in here and try it out."

After that we walked through the door that said private. This led into a small hallway the first door contained an office with a lot of shelves. Opposite of that door there was a door that dad said was his supply closet for his art supplies. I opened it up and saw dad had loaded it down with a bunch of different art supplies. I smiled as I saw dad had labels on everything and he must have spent a small fortune on getting set up. We went further down the hall and came to a beautiful kitchen that had a working fireplace with cooking tools. I lifted my camera and took a few shots as there was also an antique wood stove. On the opposite wall there were modern appliances. Opening one door and there was a butlers pantry and the second door led to a laundry room with a washer and dryer. I looked out the back door and saw that there was small greenhouse attached to the wooden porch on the back as well as a driveway.

Next to the door, there was a set of stairs. I went up the stairs with my parents behind me. The stairs led to a large living room that had a patio on one end with stairs that led downstairs and on te other was large windows that looked out the front of the building. On one side of the living room there was two doors. One was a bathroom and the second was my room. My room had beautiful windows that looked down on main street as well as restaurant row.  These windows also had a ledge. on the other side of the living room was the door the led to my parents suite. I walked into their room and there was a bathroom in their room as well as a large closet.

I looked at my parents and they seemed so happy. I was going to say something but there was a honk and dad said, "The moving truck is here. Maggie please do me a favor I am going to run down and lock the door to the shop. After that I am going to move the van to the back parking lot. Why your mom and me direct the movers to where everything goes. Will you please start unloading the van and once that is done start unpacking some of the boxes. There is a dumpster and a recycling dumpster for all the businesses in this strip. Would you try to keep the unpacking organized?"

I put my camera back in my camera bag and walked to set it in my closet. "Sure thing dad I will meet you in the back."

Mom met the movers at the back door as dad pulled up and parked in our families parking spot. He handed me the keys and I popped the trunk to start unloading what was in the van. They had barely made a dent in the moving van by the time I finished emptying the van and got all the garbage out of the car. As dad walked past I tossed him the keys. I walked into the kitchen and saw all the totes and boxes and decided that I would start unpacking there. The first box I came across was pantry items. I walked the box into the butler's pantry and got to work.  By the time I unpacked a large amount of the kitchen the moving van was finally unloaded. My mom and dad walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Wow Maggie you got so much done in here," Dad said. "Where are the boxes I will take them out."

"No need dad I broke the boxes down as I went and took them out as I went. Also, Mom that butlers pantry is so nice. I hope I put everything the way you would want.  I also put the cast iron on the hooks next to the fireplace and on the wood stove as a display." 

My Mom looked at the fireplace, "Oh Maggie I love how you set it up. I don't know about you both but I am tired and hungry. Why don't we clean up and go grab some food?  That way we can come home and just sleep."

I went into my room and saw mom had my bed set up and she made the bed.  I went into the bathroom to wash my face and get ready.  I heard my parent's shower kick on so I started to unpack my room while I was waiting.  I had unpacked a bunch of my hanging clothes boxes as well as a lot of boxes for my shelves.  I had broken down the boxes as I went and I heard my mom call for me.  I grabbed my cell phone and the stack of boxes and headed to the living room.  My dad grabbed the stack of boxes from me and we headed down the stairs and out the back door. Dad dropped the boxes in the recycling and we headed to the nearest Mexican restaurant to get some dinner.

We sat down in the restaurant and placed our order. I looked at my parents and realized I never saw them looking so relaxed and happy. This move will be a good thing for all of us I thought.  I must have been lost in my own thoughts as my Dad waved his hand in front of me. 

"Earth to Maggie you with us," He joked.

I shook myself a bit and said, "Wow sorry Dad I must have been lost in my own thoughts."

Dad laughed, "It's okay kiddo it has been a long couple of days and we are all tired as well. I was saying you will start back to school in eight days. That way mom and I can get everything settled for you and you can explore a bit of the town before you join your class. Also, do you have any pictures or prints that you would like to put in your sale box?"

"Well, honestly dad I am not sure. I didn't take a lot of film-based pictures on our way down. I used my regular camera but I was thinking I do need to get those pictures gone through. I have eight memory cards from the time you announced we were leaving till now." I said.

"Maggie that's not like you. Normally you keep up on your working social media videos and your sell sites for the pictures." Mom said, "Not that you need the income. But you always said you enjoyed posting videos and selling prints on Adobe, Amazon, and Dreamtime? WHat about your slide shows on YouTube?"

"I know I guess I let everything get away from me. Now that we are settling in I might take a few hours the next couple of days to catch everything back up." I followed up with, "Mom I see there is a Suntrust across from the house. Can we go there on Monday so I can set up a bank account?  I can't cash out on any of the social media or photo sites until I have a new account."

"We sure can. Also, we will need to run and get you a Florida identification card so there are no issues," Mom said.

"Awesome Mom," I said. "Where do you want to unpack tomorrow?"

Mom started thinking about it and said, "Not sure let's play that by ear. We got so much done today I know Dad and I want to sleep in."

I laughed, "You don't have to tell me twice."

As mom and dad joined in laughing the waitress brought our food to us. As we ate I started looking around the restaurant. This place was so busy being a Saturday night. I looked over and a few tables away there was a cute guy around my age with curly red hair looking at me once in a while. Maybe moving to Florida wouldn't be so bad after all.

After we ate our food we decided to walk around downtown to stretch our legs. My dad ran into the apartment to grab my camera so I could take pictures of the area around us. We ended up walking all the way to the May-Stringer House. This was a beautiful historic home that is reportedly haunted. On the way back we walked up the other side of the courthouse until it was time to head back to the store and the apartment. 

Once we got into the apartment we headed upstairs and headed to our separate rooms for the evening.  I shut my door and went to sit on the window seat. I saw the red hair guy walk past with his family. The move was starting to look more promising as long as people do not think I am a freak for always being behind the lens of my camera.

I moved away from the window and headed to my bathroom. After unpacking everything and going to dinner it is definitely time to take a shower and get settled in. It felt so good to relax and once my shower was done I decided to throw on the television and before I knew it I had fallen asleep.

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When I woke up the next morning the sun was shining bright. I turned over and looked over at my alarm clock and saw that it was almost 10am. Stretching a bit I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom and put on some clothes. I went out of the room and heard my parents downstairs. When I got to the bottom of the stairs my mom handed me a cup of tea. "Good morning sleepy head, How did you sleep?"

"Good Morning! I slept so well," I said grabbing a pack of oatmeal out of the cabinet. "So what are we doing today before real life starts again on Monday?"

Dad laughed, "Well we have been up for a while. I have been setting up the store today and have been setting up my windows. If you get a bit later I wanted to post some pictures on the store's new website as well as the county's chamber of commerce site. Would you mind taking pictures of the storefront for me?"

"Sure dad I will take pictures outside and in. By the way, did you also get ink for my printer for digital pictures?" I asked, "If not, not a big deal I can order some after I get my bank account tomorrow."

"Actually when I went to the supply store they were having a sale so I stocked up on ink as well as all sizes of printer paper. I also got you the paper for the regular pictures you take with film. The sales person was in heaven with the small fortune I bought." He said getting up to head to the store, "What are your plans for today?"

I sat down with my oatmeal and tea. Looking at them I said, "I plan on working on my memory cards to see what I took. Then I will probably make a few videos, and print as I go. I will be down shortly to set up the printer after I get my first batch ready to go. I hope you are both okay with me not unpacking anymore today."

Mom leaned over and brushed my hair away from my forehead, "That's fine sweetie I think we all need an unpacking break anyway.  A good friend of mine Jane lives in Brooksville now as well so I think I will call her later and make plans to meet up with her or have her over for coffee."

I finished my tea and oatmeal and washed my bowl and mug, "Okay well I am gonna grab a Pepsi from the fridge and start up at my desk." 

I grabbed a bottle of water, 2 cans of Pepsi, and a bag of Doritos and headed up to my room. I looked at all my cards and thank god I numbered them. I grabbed the first memory card and loaded it into the card reader. I was lost in my own world going through each of the groups of pictures. After I loaded a bunch of unused pictures to my portable hard drive that was marked unused pictures, I uploaded a few Youtube travel videos and decided which pictures needed to print and in which size. I ran downstairs to my print closet and set up the printer with all the paper sizes I would need. I sent off the first round of individual prints to make sure they looked okay. 

I bounded down the stairs again and went right to my printing closet again. I stacked all the pictures from the smallest to the biggest and headed back to the stairs mom gently said, "Maggie sweetheart are you okay."

Stopping in my tracks I turned slowly and mom was sitting at the table with a woman I never met before. "Mom I am so sorry I was in project mode. I just went through over 1000 pictures, uploaded 8 travel videos, posted 100 pictures to the sell sites and then moved all the pictures I did not use from the pictures I went through. By the way, remind me I need to work on ordering another portable hard drive. The original one you and dad bought me for pictures I did not use will be full by the time I go through all these memory cards.  Thankfully my video and pictures I am selling is only half full. I may just buy two or three more."

Mom started laughing, "Maggie breathe."

I stopped talking and took a deep breathe. I turned to my moms friend and stuck my hand out, "I am so sorry I am Maggie. When I get to working on my photos I can't stop normally."

"Maggie, I am Jane." She said taking my hand. "You are fine it's nice to see someone your age having such a passion. May I see what you have printed?"

"Sure," I said handing her the pile of prints.

She started looking through the prints and was smiling. Looking up she said, "I wish my boys had such dedication like you do. These pictures are amazing Maggie you have an amazing eye. Your mom said you sell your pictures and prints as well."

"Thank you! I do sell my pictures and prints. I also have a YouTube channel which i do picture collages set to music. I have a huge following," I said taking the pictures back. "But I do need to go over these pictures to see which prints are good to go or not being made into prints."

Mom laughed, "Fine Maggie go hide."

I turned to Jane and said, "It was nice meeting you."

"I am sure I will see you again soon Maggie," She said.

Smiling I headed up the stairs. I was so buried in my project I passed them a few times as I worked through the day. One time while walking through the kitchen I heard Jane tell my mom, "I wished my boys were that motivated with something other than girls and sports ." 

After a while longer my stomach started growling and I headed back downstairs. I found mom and Jane finishing up unpacking the kitchen. Mom looked up and said, "I made you a sub it's in the fridge." 

Laughing I said, "Aww mom you know the way to my heart. I still have half of the first video card left. My eyes are burning." 

Mom came over and felt my head, "Maggie you look really pale are you feeling okay?" 

"I am sure I am fine. We just got settled here and I just spent 4 hours working," I said. "Oh Jane I am glad your still here. I will be right back." 

I walked to my printer and grabbed the pictures that I found on my last card. Smiling I put them in a envelope and walked back in the kitchen. "After I met you I realized you look familiar. After dinner last night we were walking around and I took a bunch of random pictures. I didn't realize that was you until I looked at them. I have more but since I don't keep pictures unless I get a release signed I will email you all the pictures. Also I will send you my professional release as it has my watermark."

Jane opened the envelope and started smiling, "oh Maggie these are wonderful thank you. The boys never let me take family pictures so I appreciate these."

Smiling I said, "Well if you ever want to get them all together I will do some family pictures for you."

Jane looked up, "You would do that for us? I would pay you of course."

Laughing I said, "No need I need more practice doing pictures of people. So you would be doing me a favor."

Jane was happy and set up an appointment with me for the upcoming weekend, "I will make sure they are ready and we will meet you where ever you want."

"Listen," I said. "A lot of people do not like set up pictures. What does your sons and husband like to do?"

She laughed and said, "Oh they like to fish."

"How about we all go fishing then, " I said "Then they will be relaxed and I will get them while they fish?"

"Okay that is a plan," She said. "I will pick you up and send them ahead with my husband."

My mom smiled and said, "Your gonna go to the river right?"

Jane laughed and said, "You know it."

Mom went into the closet and handed me my paddle board. "Finally she will have a place to use this."

Smiling I said, "Oh Jane I will get some good pictures for you. I just unpacked my waterproof camera equipment."

Mom and Jane started laughing and I went upstairs to continue my work. When I got upstairs and decided to be proactive and made a bag up that held my beach towel, sunblock and water proof equipment. I sat down and continued to work on my old pieces when I heard a knock at my door. Looking up Jane was standing there with a smile on her face.

"You know I wish my boys were as proactive as you are about work. How does Sunday sound for a picture date I talked to my husband and he said that would be a great day to go fishing and do pictures. None of the boys have plans." She continued, "Your mom said if your good with it she and your dad are just gonna be home anyway?"

"Jane that sounds great!" I said nodding over to my bag and board. "What time should I be ready?"

"I will send the guys ahead and come get you around 9am if your okay with it?"

"That sounds great. By then I should have most of this done," Pointing to all of my memory cards. "I kick myself as I never let myself get this far behind."

She walked over and saw both my computers linked together and all my pictures. I explained my process and she looked up my travel videos on Youtube and started to follow me. I notated her picking me up on my calendar. After she left I decided to take a break and stood up and looked out the window. Looking over the town square I realized that there was a lot of history and could not wait to really look into the history of the town. I was looking forward to the shoot and using my paddle board while visiting Jane. Silently I thanked my parents for moving us to Florida and hoped that maybe I would be more accepted than I was in New York.

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During the week we finished unpacking the house. Mom and I did take a break to set up my new bank accounts and register me for school. On Sunday I woke up and got up all my things together and at 9am Jane arrived and we loaded up my paddle board in her jeep and we headed to the river. While we drove through town and the country side I took a lot of pictures. She took a path through the state forest. As we drove through she stopped and said, "Look at that Maggie."

Ahead of us grazing along the side of the road there was a herd or deer. I stood up in the jeep and started taking pictures of the deer. We stayed still and soon enough the herd started walking past us. I stood still and started doing close ups on the deer. As they passed us I had a doe nudge my leg I looked down with my camera and took a few pictures of her face. She was soon joined by her baby and I got a few amazing shots. As they finished passing us I climbed down and took a few shots of them walking away. After I climbed back in and we headed to meet Janes family.

When we got to the road that meets the river she said, "You will hear them before you see them."

I stood up and she took the trail and started taking pictures. As we got to the end I saw the river open up in front of me and took a quick series of pictures. I grabbed my gear and my paddle board and headed with Jane towards the noise. When we got to where they were fishing Jane introduced me to her husband Mike and she said, "That's them good luck girlie."

I placed my board up against the tree as I got the cover on my camera. Went a few feet up the river with my paddle and got on. I took the Paddle and stabbed the ground to keep myself in place and took a bunch of pictures before everyone realized what I was doing. I floated past them so more and repeated the whole process. I made sure I got a good picture of each of her boys and then took the paddle board to shore. I sat next to Jane and pulled out my tablet in its water proof case to show her the pictures. She looked at the pictures and said, "Maggie your amazing. You did all that while standing on your paddle board?"

"My dad loves to do art shows so when we go I do large crowd shots," I said. "My mom should have many of gray hair from all the scaffolding and trees I have climbed to get great pictures. Wanna mess with her watch my video with the pictures from Mardi Gras 2019. I was literally standing on a drag queens shoulders getting pictures of the parade."

Jane laughed so loud as she searched for the video and she laughed even harder when she heard Mal say, "No little bit your light as a feather I do not want to drop you."

While she watched the video I said, "Mal is this amazing drag queen who hired dad to do some art for his review. He also bought some of my pictures from the parade. I am sure we will be seeing him soon enough. I need to ask mom and dad if we are going this year. I was thinking of learning to walk on painters stilts do I can get better shots."

"Maggie where do you find the time," She asked. 

"I get bored easy," I said. "Plus my camera is always with me."

Janes oldest Chris sat down and asked, "So your a freshman right? Don't worry I will not let anyone harass you. But if your a nerd thats on you."

"So being a smart, talented, beautiful and bad ass photographer is a bad thing around here?" I asked. "Teens are allowed to work right? Well my job is my own successful business."

He put his hands up and said, "Damn girlie no shame. Seriously though me and Charles will have your back and next year Shawn joins the party as well. Do you seriously make good money doing what you do?"

"Yeah I do," I said. "I just got my gold play button from YouTube and all my social media has thousands of subscribers. Not including the sites I sell pictures on and my dads gallery. Which thank you Chris you just reminded me I have to get framed pictures together for art in the park."

Jane looked up and said, "Oh are you going to have your own booth?"

"Yes I am and I am going to do photos for anyone who wants to pay for a eight by ten print," I said. "I have multiple backgrounds and I am doing the one picture on the cheap."

She looked at her boys and said, "See you guys show some initiative. This girl could support herself if she wants to."

The boys laughed and Chris asked her, "Mom what would you do without us?"

She got a serious look on her face and said, "Sleep."

The youngest Sam laughed and said, "That's harsh Mom."

She laughed and said to me, "I am lucky these guys let me sleep past seven in the morning they are so loud."

I laughed and said, "My mom wishes I would sleep to as I am up at 630 in the morning every day. I try to work for at least an hour before I get ready for school."

Charles asked, "When do you have fun?"

"That's why I get up early in the morning," I said. "My job revolves around me. So if I don't work I am pretty set up now I get residual money from my sales and videos. But I like to sell my pictures and get myself out there to make a name for myself. Once I get my license and car I am off and traveling the state in my free time to do even more photography and shows."

Charles looked up and said, "Well then if you ever want a travel buddy I will go with you. When do you turn sixteen?"

"My birthday is August 11th," I said. "I just got my permit and they said I have to have it for at least six months before I can I get my license. So I am working on finding a car now. But with all my stuff for photography I am thinking a SUV or truck."

Jane looked up and asked, "Can you afford it?"

"I sure can," I said. "Since I started my photography channels two years ago I have been paying my own taxes. So I learned to save more than half of what I earn. Not bragging but I can get any car I want but it will probably be second hand as its my first vehicle."

Mike looked up and said, "That is a very smart decision. If you need someone to look it over call us and I will look at it I am a mechanic and can tell you what problems it will have or may have."

"Thank you," I said. "I appreciate it and will call you. Dad can at least change a tire but he is not good with cars."

Mike laughed and said, "I know he brought the van to my shop to get the oil change and to be looked at. But hey I couldn't do the art he does either. Everyone has their talents."

We sat relaxing along the river the rest of the afternoon. When Jane dropped me off she sat in the kitchen talking with Mom. I over heard her compliment Mom with what a smart and talented girl she had. She talked about how Mike offered to look over any car I might decide to buy as I wanted to get something used. Knowing I wasn't the geek made me feel so much better when I got started on Janes pictures. 

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Before I knew it it was time for me to go back to school. When she dropped me off at the high school Chris and Charles were waiting for me. Chris said, "Don't worry maam our mama gave us strict orders to watch out for her."

Pulling out my schedule I said, "Okay where do I go?"

Chris took my schedule and laughed, "Maggie your in half my classes. I think your in some of Charles as well. The only one we would not be in is photography which is your last class of the day."

Charles took my schedule and said, "Well we are all in Algebra together for the first class. We would say let's go to your locker but they decided to take them away this year."

"Should I ask why?" I said, "No never mind when they took ours away in New York it was because someone was doing drug deals."

The guys laughed as Chris said, "No not drug deals but someone was setting off firecrackers so we all got our locks taken away."

Looking at both of them I said, "I'm sure neither of you had anything to do with it."

They looked the other way and I laughed. Chris said, "Well we have thirty minutes before school starts and they have free breakfast so lets go to the cafeteria."

We walked through the cafeteria and we went through the line. When we sat down a blond girl walked over and Chris said, "Heads up Red your ex is heading over here."

Charles groaned and said, "Maggie be ready she is probably going to say something to you."

I laughed and said, "Don't worry I dealt with girls like her in New York."

When Charles ex made it to the table we were sitting at she said, "Charles can we talk?"

Looking up he said, "Gabby there is nothing to talk about. Go back to the guy you cheated on me with."

Eating my breakfast Chris looked over my schedule and pulled out a pen. He said, "I am in your first two classes. Then Charles in in your third and fourth. We all have the same lunch so we can eat and then all three of us are in the fifth period together. Charles is in your sixth class and his last class is right next door to yours. We have you covered and by the end of the week you will be sick of us."

Gabby looked down her nose at me and said, "Who are you?"

Charles said, "This is Maggie an old family friend who just moved here. Her Dad owns the art gallery across from the court house."

"An art gallery in this hick town?" She said. "You will be out of business before you know it. These hicks do not appreciate art."

Looking up I said, "Really do not tell that to all the customer's that have come in. Both his and my sales have been great since we opened. Actually we have not even had the grand opening yet. But then again what would this small town or people from the surrounding area's know about art. Speaking of which Charles you said you would be my travel buddy and after I buy my car I found a bunch of art shows I would be signing up for if your interested still."

He laughed and said, "Like I said I will go with you all over the state."

"Good if things go as planned I found one show along a fishing river," I said. "So you can bring your pole to fish."

Chris laughed and said, "See this girl is smart and knows what we like. By the way last night when you sent Mom the preview of the pictures you took she decided that now we have to paint the house to go with all the pictures she is going to get from you. So thank you for getting us more chores."

With a smirk I said, "Your welcome."

She looked at me and asked, "Your an artist? Isn't that a bit cliche?"

Taking out a business card I said, "No I am a photographer and own my own business. If you want to play big person games at least come to the table with something more than insults. I don't play childish games when I have been running a very successful business for two years."

Charles said, "Well let's get you to your first class and I will see you in third period."

As we walked away Chris said, "Man Charles I do not understand what you saw in her."

As we walked I said, "An easy lay."

Both of them looked at me and I said, "Come on guys I am not stupid. I may not have lost my V card yet but I am not a prude."

Chris said, "Well you opened that can of worms may I ask why not."

Laughing I said, "I have standards and when I do the guy will be treating me as if I am a goddess. I am not easy and the guy has to work for it."

Charles said, "Ladies and gentleman Maggie O'Shay has stepped into the arena."

We got to the class and Charles headed to his first class as Chris introduced me to the Science teacher. When the class started the teacher said, "Before we start class everyone we have a new student. This is Maggie O'Shay and she just moved here from New York. Maggie I need to ask are you related to the Maggie O'Shay the photographer."

"Mr. Pearson," I said handing him my card. "I am the photographer. But here at school and around town I am just Maggie."

One of the guys in back said, "Pictures or it doesn't count."

Mr. Pearson said, "Well Maggie do I have your permission to show your work."

Dragging me to the desk next to him Chris said, "Go for it sir. I know Maggie doesn't care."

Mr. Pearson used the overhead projector for the laptop and brought up my YouTube page and showed everyone a few of my newer videos. Then he showed them my Instagram as well as my Blog. When he finished showing everything he asked, "Did I forget anything?"

"TikTok," I said. "But that page only has a few video's as I just started that page up a few weeks ago. So YouTube, Blog, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok."

One of the guys in back called out, "Can we have the link to your social media."

"Go on the blog and the redirects are on there," I said. "The blog is Crazy As A Picture.

Some girl in the back said, "So your a celebrity?"

Laughing I said, "In the art world when it comes to photography yes. In town and to my friends I am just Maggie. I do not believe celebrities should be celebrated or have everything they say followed."

Chris said, "Maggie is just Maggie and that is how we will treat her everybody."

Another girl asked, "Who why not be a influencer?"

"Why?" I asked. "Half of those inflamer's are paid to say what they say even if they do not believe it. I think for myself and do not need a celebrity to tell me what I do and don't like."

The rest of the day I had the same questions asked and Chris or Charles had my back. When school ended Charles asked, "Maggie how are you getting home?"

"I am walking its only a half mile," I said. 

Charles said, "Cool can I walk with you Chris has to go to work?"

"Sure can," I said. "If you want you can join me at the library I was gonna start that project we were assigned today in English."

Maggie O'Shay Mom Dad Jane-moms friend (mike) (chris,charles, shawn. ben, sam)

YouTube, Blog, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok -- Crazy As A Picture

Gabby- CHarles Ex

I am in your first two classes. Then Charles in in your third and fourth. We all have the same lunch so we can eat and then all three of us are in the fifth period together. Charles is in your sixth class and his last class is right next door to yours. 

The Ghost Zone (2 Book series)

 I stood at the podium in front of the local courthouse.  I looked at the data on the paper in front of me.  This was so impossible, but it was happening. I took a deep breath and began.

"Good afternoon everyone, today we are addressing some serious issues in our small town. You will see these members of the government behind me. As much as the possibility seems so far fetched the rumors are true the dead are rising and paranormal creatures are appearing all over town. These sightings are happening more from sunset to sunrise. So we are asking if you are out after dark please take extra care."

People were looking at me as if I had two heads.  I felt like i had two heads. The town sheriff Shawn took my elbow and lead me to a chair and went back to the microphone.

"Thank you Maddy for the information provided," He started. "Ladies and Gentleman, please be aware we are not trying to pull a prank no matter how far fetched this sounds.  We will be limiting the amount of officers on the streets for their safety as well as yours. As of now we are putting into affect a 9pm curfew.  We ask for the safety of employees and residents that business either provide security or shut down early. We will hold another conference in 3 days time once we have further information."

With that the shawn helped me to my feet and walked me into the town hall.  I headed to my office.  This was insane. Now don't get me wrong I am a firm believer in the paranormal. But the fact that there are ghost, cryptids and monsters showing up in our small town really was a holy crap moment.  As I walked closer to my office the air became colder around me. I stopped in my tracks and Shawn ran up to me.  We could see we breathe in the air and then heard a high pitched screech. We whipped around and saw a floating white lady at the end of the hall.

Shawn pushed me behind him as I said, "Oh, Shit."

The lady looked at us and screeched again and loudly said, "Ladies watch their language."

I pushed Shawn behind me and said to the white lady, "Your right. I should have watched my language. You just scared me when you appeared while yelling. What is your name?"

The white lady started to gain color and said, "My name is Rebecca. I worked here in the 1940's and I died in this office during a jail riot downstairs."

I started moving forward with Sam matching my steps right behind me. "That is my office now. I am so sorry you died in the jail riots I read about it when I became the town hall spokes person and manager.  Can I ask do you know why the dead and paranormal creatures are more apparent now?"

Rebecca looked at me with shock, "Oh my they let a woman run the place. Well, Its about time. Wait did you say paranormal creatures?"

Shawn cleared his throat and said, "Miss Rebecca we have had ghost popping up all over town and some are not as kind as you. We have had Zombies, werewolves and I believe there is also a swamp ape family near a local fishing hole by the state forest."

Rebecca looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "What is the date?"

I smiled, "Its February 19, 2023. Why?"

"Oh boy," She said frowning, "I guess the legend is true."

"What legend?" Shawn asked.

"The old Indian legend that cursed this town with the dead and strange. Its been 200 years." She started, then turned to me. "Wait as this is your office did you ever open the old time capsule? Its located in your office."

"Time capsule?" Shawn and I said in unison.

"Well my dear we put a print of the legend in the capsule. You need to get the capsule and read that legend. The history behind it goes back to right before Fort Brooke was created." She said turning to Shawn, "Can you please open the door? I still can't do that."

Shawn opened the door and Rebecca and I walked in. Rebecca stood next to a little cubby between the bookshelves built into the office wall.  She moved aside and said, "See that little hole in the corner of the bottom shelf.  Push a pin into it and it will release the time capsule latch."

I opened my desk and took out a pointer that has always been in there. I walked over and pushed in the pointer. The bottom shelf popped up and I lifted the shelf.  Inside the shelf was a box.  I pulled the box out and placed it on my desk.  Rebecca walked over to my desk and placed her hand over the box.  "Just press on the lock and it will pop open"

I pushed in on the lock and the latch popped open. There in the center of the box was an envelope and Rebecca said, "That envelope is it. Be careful its old but should still be fine to read."

I opened it up and read, "It's a letter from the original Mayor. It reads, To any of our future Mayors in this fine town I implore you to take heed.  Two days ago the local Indian nation cast a curse on our fair city due to the despicable actions of the local commander. The commander ran a raid that slaughtered 25 woman, 16 men and 32 children. The shaman of the tribe came to our very town hall steps and cursed our town that they will take triple the blood price in 200 years' time. The shaman has invoked that monsters and demons will rise and destroy our town. If this curse is real and I am firm to believe it is then we must evacuate the town. Attached to the letter is a wood carving that has the indian symbols for man woman and child. Almost as if it wants us to watch the souls join the dead."

I moved the paper aside and there was an indian bark drawing there under the town name had a symbol for Man, Woman and Child. There were no marks yet on the drawing but I felt the time was to come. I looked at Rebecca and Shawn, "75 woman, 48 men and 96 children are destined to perish. Shawn call the council we need to get a voluntary evacuation order mandated."

The wood in my hand became warm, then started to glow. Then symbols on the carving disappeared. I look at Rebecca and Shawn and said it's not even sunset yet. There was a knock on my office door and Shawn answered it. It was Max a local deputy.

"Shawn a shadow-type creature was seen over by the old train depot and it's a weird situation." Max said, "There was a school tour happening in the train depot and a wraith rushed at the building and then this big guy suddenly appeared and body slammed the shadow guy. It disappeared and the guy stood on the walkway whistling as the kids were being rushed to the bus."

I smirked for a second and Max asked, "Maddy what's so funny?"

"That's whistler. Before the paranormal started happening the para investigation group would always get audio of him whistling at the train depot. I am glad he was there to protect the kids." I said, "That thing that was going after the kids do we know what happened to it."

I think Max thought I was crazy, "No see that's the thing when the Whistler body slammed that thing it disappeared."

I looked at Shawn, "I think we need to get everyone to stay in their homes, effective immediately."

Max looked at Shawn, "Should I head to the Radio station and have them issue a warning and have the guys start doing rounds doing announcements?" 

Shawn looked at me and I nodded, "Yeah Max get those announcements out. I think we need some help with this."

Max headed out the door as I picked up the phone. I dialed a phone number and waited as the phone started to ring.

"Hello," A woman's voice answered.

"Hey Mama it's Maddy, I need you to do me a favor," I said.

"No need Maddy my sweet girl. I looked in the graveyard when I saw your news conference. She is waiting for you to come to see her. I am pretty sure she may have some answers," She said.

"I will be there in just a bit Mama,"  I said.

"Shawn I have an idea but I need to head home to see my Great Grandma. She was a witch which may be able to get some answers for us," I said.

"What do you want me to do?" Shawn asked.

"I need you to get the people to ward their homes if they are going after children already they are stepping things up." I said, "We need to watch the counter to see if any of the numbers changes."

I headed out to my truck and headed to my family's property. I kept an eye out on the roads because I have a feeling that things might get a lot worse before they get better. I was concerned about going to my family's house as it was a backwoods historic home. We had a beautiful manor house along with a barn, greenhouse, fields, chicken coops, and a family graveyard. I pulled onto my road and I saw a man standing in the middle of the road. The man looked up at me and I saw a noose around his neck. He looked at me and moved to the side of the road and pointed for me to go. I continued on to my house and pulled into the long driveway.

As I pulled up to the end of my drive and my mom came out of the house. When I got up to her she pulled me into her arms and said, "Maddy my love I am so worried. What is going on sweetheart?"

I sighed as I went up the stairs with her, "Mama it's an Indian curse. Calling for the death of over 200 people including men, women, and children."

Looking out the back door I saw movement in the Graveyard, "Who else is out there besides Meme?"

My mom sighed, "I saw Meme sitting on the bench by the gate, I think a few ancestors are around but I can't really tell. Be careful will you?"

I looked at my mom and said, "Always Mom. But also make sure the house is secure and you have some good iron next to you."

"Maddy here take this," She said handing me an iron dagger.

I took the dagger and put it in the sheath and attached it to my belt and headed out to see my Meme. As I got closer to her I realized she looked just the same as she did before she passed. Walking up to her she put her hand up and said, "Stay where you are my beloved. They don't get the concept of death yet but I don't trust this lot not to try something. Some of these people are swayed by the darkness that is trying to harm the town."

"Meme you lived in town since birth what do you know?" I asked, "Do you know a way to stop this?"

"Maddy I am not sure I heard about this curse from an old Indian medicine man. He said unless his ancestors begged mercy they would not stop. But even then the curse may be too strong. I would suggest going to see Mr Louies at his cabin but be careful my love you know what goes bump in the night and always be prepared. Go to the attic my dear and grab my sword its solid iron. You will be able to handle that."

"I love you Meme." I said walking away, "I hope when this is all over I get to see you again."

I heard her voice like a whisper in the breeze, "I never left you child."

When i walked up to the porch I saw my mother and Shawn on te front porch. He looked upset and I knew the curse had taken its first victim. I stopped in front of him and said, "We need to get everyone equiped with Iron daggers and knife. Iron will push back the monsters according to grams. Mom keep the iron shutters on every window and door. I need to get Grandmas sword from the attic."

Mom looked at Shawn and said, "You both talk I will go get it."

I looked at Shawn and said, "How many?"

Shawn shook his head, "A father and his 3 children were fishing on the river. Witnesses said that they heard a woman crying and then they heard the father scream out for each child as they disappeared. Then they said they heard the father scream and no one on shore wanted to get near the water they all scrambled to leave."

I sighed, "Did you issue the evacuation order?"

Shawn said, "The Mayor refuses to evacuate the city."

My mom came out and handed me my sword and a knife and handed Shawn a sword as well. "Lets go I am gonna beat the Mayor's rear end."

I hugged my mom and she showed me her iron dagger, "Go get them sweetheart."

Shawn took my keys and explained that the a deputy had dropped him off. We headed to the Mayors house and when we pulled up we saw a lawn full of police officers. Shawn pulled up and we got out and walked up to the stairs.

"Whats going on here," He said.

A deputy looked up and said, "After we sent a officer with your note the Mayor laughed and actually called in guards. Mike and Jasper arrived from the Sheriffs office intime to hear the Mayor begging for someone to get away and he was sorry for what happened. They saw the mayor run through the yard in a pair of pants with his wife chasing after him. The mayor tried to jump the fence but she caught him so he landed and broke his neck."

I looked at the officer, "What about the kids? Where are Katie and Holly?"

Jasper scoffed from behind them, "Would you believe when he said no one should leave he sent his kids to stay with his mom in St Augustine. I got the protection detail as Max and I followed my wife and kids to the city limit. Listen man so you know when they passed Brooksville regional there was a shimmer around the car. If that means that is the outer part of the zone we are in trouble. Also the hospital is part of this as well."  

"That is good news we need to get road blocks set up. No one in or out off those roads. We need to find out where the city lines are," I said as my phone rang.

"Hello this is Maddy how can I help you?" I said following up with, "If this is not a emergency can I call you back?"

"Maddy its Kelly we need help," She screamed. "Jack is back from the dead and he is trying to break down the doors to the nursing home." 

"Hold on Kelly we are on the way," I screamed running for my truck. "Jack is trying to get in the nursing home."

Jasper ran for his cruiser, "Jack was killed 4 years ago when we caught him offing the residents."

Shawn jumped in and we flew to the nursing home lights blaring. When we arrived we saw the door was open and heard yelling and crying. I screamed for Kelly and i heard, "She is hiding."

I drew my sword as I turned and saw Jack walking down the stairs. "Hello Maddy its been such a long time did you know killing is just as fun when your dead as when your alive. Do you think a sword could stop us? They want their revenge and I did hurry up some of the souls to them. If you leave now I will tell everyone to leave you alone."

"Oh Jack," I said. "What did you do?"

He gave a smile as he got closer to me and I saw his blade in his hand. "I just helped the ill patients along."

I looked at him and said, "That is not your choice. You are done here Jack."

He started to darken and stepped closer to me. Thats when Shawn came up and swung the sword through what would have been Jacks neck. After a quick stunned look Jack disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Jasper came down looking green. He said, "All the intensive patients are gone. He killed 4 men and 6 woman. He cut their throats."

I looked at Shawn and said, "Lets get over to the radio station and announce an evacuation of the area and then I need to find Mr Louies to see if there is anything he can do to help us."

We left the nursing home and headed over to the radio station building. When we pulled up there was a guy sitting in the doorway. Shawn looked at me and gave me a look like dead or alive. I drew my sword and said, "Hey pal you need to move out of the way."

He looked up with empty eye sockets and said chuckling, "I am not letting anyone in or out of this place. There are dead things running around." 

I looked over to the window and saw feet in the doorway. Looking back at Shawn I said, "He killed them."

The guy turned to Shawn and said, "Do you remember me officer you arrested me here 3 years ago for drug use on these very steps. But you were a foot officer then. Well, these asshats deserved what they got. Can you believe there could be a few hiding in there? I am waiting for them to come out. But first you both need to be added to the tally."

He rushed at Shawn and Shawn sidestepped him and swung his sword. He took the ghost down and when his new corpse disappeared we rushed into the building. The receptionist Milly lay in a crumpled heap behind the desk. Her body curled around her just-blooming belly. She was 4 months pregnant. As Shawn was calling in for assistance we turned into the employee break room and found Martin the morning anchor on the ground and we heard crying in the closet behind him. We opened the door to find felicity and gabby his daughters clutching each other crying. I pulled the girls out and said, "Lets get you out of here." 

At that time Reverand Thomas ran into the building and saw the girls, "Gracious Felicity and Gabby come with me to the church. Maddy people are hiding at the church while this CHaos is happening. I will take the girls and be the one to call their mom about the girls being safe and Martins passing. Do you need help here?"

"Reverand no we have units en route, Thank You." I said.

"Wait!, Gabby said, "Today was take a kid to work day, Mikie Susie and Thomas are here somewhere."

I knelt down and stroked Gabby's hair and said, "You go with the Reverand I will take care of it here."

She jumped up and hugged me and took the reverend's hand. I watched them leave and continued to search the building. I heard noises from the end of the hall and saw a foot sticking out from a box. I lifted the box and there was a scream. Miles the night DJ was curled inside the box. I reached down to help him up and said, "Miles it's ok."

"That ghost killed them," He said trembling.

"Miles we are gonna get you over to the church," I said. "Miles stood up and then got a scared look on his face as he looked down the hall."

I looked down the hall and saw his wife Annie walking towards us, "Hello Miles it looks like you moved on from me really fast. Now Chrissy did you know Miles is a very naughty boy he killed me. He was mad that I wanted to have a baby and was actually pregnant. He told me that I was going to be a fat Shrek ogre and would lose my attractiveness as I was knocked up."

"He killed me and my baby," she said. "He bashed me over the head multiple times with a shovel. Then he kicked my stomach until I lost the baby. He buried me in the garden."

I went to draw my sword as the door next to me opened and I was pulled into the room. The door slammed shut and there stood Hank and Betty, plus a handful of children. I went to say something as we heard Miles scream and then a thud to the floor. Hank looked at me and said, "He wanted to leave the kids to die when we ran for rooms with locks. I heard what she said."

Looking at everyone I said, "How many more people are left? We found Milly and Martin and Martins girls are alive. Then there was miles and all of you. Who else was in the building?"

"Sam and Rebecca from the afternoon show," Hank said.

"Do they have kids here?" I asked.

"No their kids went missing on the way to a family vacation. Sam was tired and they stopped for coffee when they came out the van was gone." He said as screams filled the building.

I opened the door and had everyone follow me, As we got to the stairs Hank said, "They would be down on the lower level." 

Reverand and Shawn came up the stairs at that moment and Reverand took the people to the safety of the church. Shawn and I headed down the stairs as we heard Rebecca scream again. We turned the corner and saw a little girl and two little boys trying to get into the sound booth. "Mommy daddy let us in don't you love us anymore?"

Rebecca looked up at us and screamed, "Help they are trying to kill us."

I leaned over to shawn and said, "I thought they had 5 children?"

He looked at me and said, "They did." 

We heard the kids laugh as the youngest daughter said, "We found you."

Behind Rebecca and Sam two children appeared and they ripped the hearts out of the parents. Then the oldest reached down to the mom's stomach and said, "Don't worry little sister you have all of us now."

The kids appeared on front of us and said, "Daddy was broke and he gave us medicine and then ran the van into the river. Mommy said it was the only way they would survive."

The kids disappeared after that. 

Shawn looked like he was going to punch the wall. "Those kids had been missing for 8 months. The parents said the kids had been sleeping in the van when they were on there way for a family camping trip they went into the gas station. When they came out the van was gone. The security camera was broken so we had no footage. They killed their kids."

"I am sorry Shawn," I said. "I wished this was a cold case we didn't have the answer for like this."

"Maddy," Shawn said. "I have a bad feeling that a lot of cold cases will be solved before this is over."

We continued to clear the building when we heard screaming in the streets. We ran outside to see a van had run into the steps of the courthouse. Running over we got to the van and saw there was no one sitting in the van. Then we heard a yell from where the historic gallows. When we cane around the corner we saw the driver, "Farmer Mcintyre being dragged up the steps by three spirit."

"Its over Mcintyre you need to go to hell for your sins," The first ghost said.

"Please don't do this," He begged. "I was young and stupid I didn't know what I was doing."

"You lynched us and hung us from the trees infront of the hospital. My Mama came out of work and saw my body hanging there, "The second one yelled. "She never recovered."

I heard Shawn say, "The triple hanging on old hospital road 1953."

Walking over to the gallows I said, "Guys thats enough. If you kill him now it will not bring you back and I want to see him go to trial. His ass has been a thorn in my side for years. Would you be so kind to allow me to handle this?"

"Maddy thank god--" He started.

"Shove it Mcintyre," I yelled. "Come on guys I will make sure he gets his due but killing him will not help your family move on and it makes you no better than him."

The third ghost looked at me and said, "Do you promise you will get him to trial?"

"Yes," I said.

He looked at the others and said, "Guys we are not murder's. Let her handle it."

Shawn walked up and said, "I promise you boys we will handle this and he will go to jail. If not you can come back and haunt his ass."

The second ghost smiled and said, "Deal."

Shawn cuffed Mcintyre and handed him off to the officer waiting. He turned back to the ghosts and said, "Have you always been around?"

The third ghost said, "Yes we have but only now are we strong enough to be able to handle everything. Listen you should all see my brother Louis he may be able to help you."

"Wait Mr Louis is your brother? My Grams said to go see him." I said. "Where can we find him?"

The ghost smiled and said, "Knowing my brother he is probably at the underground river by the crossroads. The entrance is next to the old bar in the drainage field."

Smiling I said, "Thank You. Please be at peace."

All the men smiled and faded out. Shawn took my arm and said, "Are you sure you want to go underground in the middle of a super natural apocalypse?"

"I know its not ideal but maybe we will be able to get some answers," I said.

We went to my to my truck and to the bar where the entrance was located. When we pulled up we say two old timers sitting on the porch and Shawn said, "Guys you sure its safe sitting here with everything that is happening?"

The one guy looked up and said, "Man we were inside having beers and a big black mass attacked us. The bar cleared and we looked down at our bodies. Don't worry about us though we always joked we were gonna haunt the place. Now we are."

I looked inside and said, "Should we call anyone?"

The other guy looked up and said, "Nah throw us in a paupers grave with a six pack if you can neither of us had family. We rented a place together on N main st."

Shawn notated the information and said, "You all gonna go murders on us."

They laughed and the one guy said, "Hell naw, we are gonna play a game of pool and look at places we couldnt while we were alive."

They faded to nothing and shawn called it in. We headed towards the entrance to the underground river and headed in. When we started down the tunnel and the small of fresh water hit us. We followed the tunnel and came upon a river a while later. Then I heard, "well well I guess your grams sent you to find me Chrissy. You sure did grow up to be a pretty thing."

Looking across the river I said, "Mr Louie I didn't think you were the same Louie I was told to find."

Chuckling he said, "oh sweetie you know I would always be around but after your grams passed I lost my best friend. Is she back in this mess?"

Laughing I said, "I checked on her as soon as we realized people with unfinished business came back. Would you mind helping her get over her business."

Mr Louie sat on a chair and said, "I will Maddy, Why don't you both come join me near the fire."

Shawn and I crossed the foot bridge and sat near the fire with Mr Louie. Looking at him I asked, "What can we do about this shit show?"

Sighing he said, "I will be honest Maddy I am not sure if there is anything we can do. The town brought this on themselves for what we did."

We heard a rumbling in the distance and Mr Louie drew a circle in the sand and told us to get in. As the rumbling got louder we saw the water in the river taking on shapes. Shawn and I each drew our weapons and as the sounds started to dissipate a Indian Shaman walked from the water. He looked at Shawn and I and he said, "Peace my friends."

We lowered our weapons and he said, "I am glad you came I have been listening and I am here to help."

I walked out of the circle and said, "Please can you help us. I know that this situation has helped us solve a few murders. But this has to be stopped."

"I agree," He said. "When my ancestor did this curse, He did not think about who would be affected. I have walked these lands for close to 200 years and the lands and people have changed many times."

Shawn asked, "What can we do?"

Sighing he said, "We may have to take this to the source."

Looking up I said, "You don't mean--"

With a sad face he said, "We have to go to the site of the massacre and speak with my ancestor."

"When and where do we go?" Shawn asked.

Mr. Louie said, "Dear girl you don't remember? Your Grandma and I took you there many times."

I looked at him as he walked up to me and touched my forehead and said, "Remember Maddy, You loved this place when we would take you as a child."

Closing my eyes I thought for a moment and said, "The river? No wait the off shoot of the river. You and Grandma put a swing up for me."

Smiling Mr Louie said, "Shall we take your car or mine?"

We headed over the bridge and said, "Does that old thing still run?"

"Maddy!" He said. "Do not insult my sweet baby I have kept her running for years."

"Well lets take my truck." I said. "If something attacks up I would be devastated that your car got ruined."

We headed out of the underground and I stopped and pushed the guys back. As we looked out towards the road I thanked heavens we were blocked by a giant bush. There across the road was a group of civil war soldiers. Shawn said, "What do we do?"

"I got this," I said. Walking out from the bush I headed to the field and said, "Boys your a couple hundred years to late."

The first soldier turned towards me and said, "We are looking for our troop."

Looking at the man I said, "Sir the year is 2023 and the civil war has been over for over 150 years. You were brought back by a Indian curse that is killing men, woman and children."

A second soldier looked up and said, "Why should we care?"

Another soldier said, "You fool when we went to war we promised to protect the innocent. Children are innocent."

Stepping even more forward I said, "I will admit since this curse had started quite a few death and murders have been solved. But children do not deserve to be killed. We are trying to stop this will you allow us to leave so we can try to stop this."

The leader of the group of soldiers stepped back and said, "God speed good woman."

I waved Mr Louie and Shawn out. They ran over to my truck and got in. When we were pulling out one of the soldiers flagged me down and asked, "Miss may I ask you a question. When I was sent away to war my beloved Rebecca worked as a secretary at the old court house. Have you been there? Could she possibly be waiting."

I heard Shawn go, "Well shit."

I gave him a smile and said, "Go into the old court house building and follow the signs that say, Office of public relations and find my office listed under Maddy. She is waiting in there."

He said, "Thank you, I promise we are good men we will not harm anyone and will protect those who need protection."

"Thank you," I said. "Please stay hidden as much as you can. Not just so the townspeople do not get scared but for yourselves. I worry that the bad guys might come after you all."

They started a ghostly run to the court house fading from view. We headed to the river where the massacre took place. As we drove out I said, "Mr Louie I never suspected the massacre happened there all the times I went fishing with you and Grandma."

He said, "That is because the Massacre did not happen on the land."

"Wait I thought that was were we went before," I said.

"You did," He said. "But do you remember that we would never let you swim?"

"Yeah because of the alligators," I said.

"Sweetie," He said. "All the times you went there did you ever see a Gator?"

"No," I said.

"That was because the massacre happened where the water is now," He said. "When the massacre happened there was only a small stream that cut into two in that area. It did not become a river until the state built the damn."

As we got closer we started to see shadows moving in the woods that were around the road and Shawn said, "Heads up Maddy you may have to drive defensively."

"I see the shadows," I said.

"Well that is good but I am talking about the skunk ape that has been following us for the last mile," He said as a tree was thrown in front of the car.

I hit the brakes to avoid the tree and swerved around it. When I came to a stop I was facing and elusive skunk ape. It stood in the middle of the road and watched us. Unbuckling my seat belt I went to get out. Shawn grabbed my hand and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Watch my back I don't think he wants to hurt us," I said. "I think he is warning us."

I got out placing my sword on my back and walked towards it. When I was a few feet away it put its hands up and in a low voice it said, "Your in danger."

Giving a half smile I said, "You can talk."

"Yes I can," He said. "I learned it from the people who fish around here. But you need to turn back there has been may deaths out here."

"I know," I said. "We are here trying to stop the killings. The man in the car knows where it all started and I am trying to stop it all now."

He sighed and said, "I will watch from a distance. There are good and bad in the area. I will try to run off the bad. Where are you going?"

I explained the spot on the river and he said, "I know that spot well. Good catfish caught there. I will follow you and try to clear your path. There are ladies in white, black eyes children and murdered spirits there. I will leave the tree to keep people from being out here."

I got back into the jeep and we continued to the entrance to the fishing spot. Parking the jeep so we could get out easily we started the path to the massacre site. As we walked the path we heard the giggles of children and I said, "You are normally out here we do not want trouble with you leave us."

We heard a growl in he distance and saw the grass move away from us. As we continued along the path we saw souls who took their life in the trees and I sighed continuing on. Mr. Louie said, "We are close enough now everything is hanging back and waiting to see what happens."

We came off the path and when we did instead of a small beach we came to more dry land and a Indian village. A small child appeared and said, "Go back our chief is angry."

Kneeling down I said, "We know young one but we need to speak with him."

The Shaman appeared at the river and joined us. He said, "I have been in the shadows to long maybe I can help."

A young woman walked up to us and said, "Uncle it has been a long time since you have shown yourself. The chief is angry and the tribe wants peace. Please help us help the innocent."

The Shaman said, "Dear niece we want the same. Please lead us to the chief."

The village separated and she led us to the tent in the middle of the village. We heard chanting and the Shaman said, "Let's go in."

Entering the tent the chief was chanting near the fire. He looked up and said to the Shaman, "You still side with the white people?"

The Shaman said, "Brother most people are not white people anymore. Even or own Indian blood is mixed with the people. After the massacre do you know it was the people of this town who sheltered and cared for the survivors running out the murder's who did this?"

"You lie," He said.

The Shaman looked at me and asked, "You know your linage correct?"

"Yes," I said. "Up till now I did not know the tribe. But I am aware of the line."

The chief looked at me and said, "Line?"

A warrior came into the tent and said, "I saw her come in and she looks like my Maya. Since the massacre I wondered why my beloved never appeared. Do you know what happened to her?"

"When the Massacre happened," I said, "Maya was with a few other woman and children picking berries along where the river."

The chief called, "Lies there is no river."

"Chief in the 200 years since the massacre this land is now underwater," I said. "I have always known it as the river. It would have been the waters edge? Shaman you have seen the changes a half mile up the now river?"

The Shaman said, "The woman's fishing spot brother. Where the water had the small fish."

"That day a pastor and his family were there as well fishing and picking berries," I said. "Since Maya had learned white people speak she was teaching the pastors wife about the different plants in the area. The pastor was fishing with his sons who were very young and our own children who were with the woman from our tribe. Peacefully and no hate or crime. The pastor and his wife also had a daughter who has walked the woods looking for sap on the trees to make candles. She ran back saying there was a garrison moving in the woods towards the Indian village. The pastor loaded all the children and woman into the carriage including Maya and the woman from the village who were with her. He had his wife take the carriage back to their farm promising your tribe members to bring them back if it was safe."

The Shaman asked, "What did the Pastor do?"

"When the Pastor was in the army he was a scout," I said. "He moved swiftly among the trees towards the village. He found a family fleeing. He gave directions to his farm and they nodded and ran. He did this multiple times. he came across injured and hid them under brush and when the village came into view he witnessed your fall Chief. When it was over he ran back to his horse and gathered his stable hands and the came back looking for the survivors. All the injured he had covered survived and he had them moved to the farm. Him and his men entered the village and saw the massacre the searched and found some survivors. The towns doctor and many good people from the town came out here and buried the dead. The pastor's quick thinking saved seventy two people. Including twenty five children who were still in the village hidden by your people. A lot of babies."

"The Pastor was enraged and walked into the war office that day with many good men from the parish after they finished putting your dead in graves. He demanded answers," I said. "The Commander said they had no Garrisons in the area."

"He believed the lies," The chief spat out.

"No he did not," I said. "He brought the Commander to the village and the Commander who was a good man started an immediate investigation. On the water ways towards the sea there was a high ranking military man who had always helped the tribes people there as well. A lone Indian boy had accidently killed a cow another local high ranked corrupt military member. The boy and their chief went to the owner and the boy offered to work off the cost of the cow for his mistake. The Military man declined and arranged a peace talks bringing resolutions to the situations like these. He brought the good military man and a few lower ranking ones to the meeting. It was a trap. They killed that chief, the boy and a few others injuring the good Commander. The Garrison was fleeing when they came to your village. The good Commander was killed along with some of his children in the attack. The man who caused all of this was hung chief."

"I do not believe you," He said.

The Shaman said, "I was at the hanging brother. They hung twenty men for their actions. She speaks the truth. Maddy can you let my brother know what happened to the people who survived."

"The Pastor and people of the town rallied their resources and the Pastor gave ten acres of his own land to the survivors," I said. "They built a village for the survivors along the now river. Your children survived that day sir along with your wife. She had been with Maya and was with child just as Maya was. Your wife gave birth to a Son eight months after your death. Turning to my Grandfather I said, Maya gave birth to a daughter four months after the Massacre. In all forty members of your tribe were saved and cared for after the massacre. The same families your trying to kill were the same families that cared for and gave your tribe members a future."

He sat quiet and I asked, "Would you like to know your son's fate?"

He looked at me and said, "What did he do?"

"Your son was a smart boy," I said. "When the town offered white schooling to any child of the tribe your wife agreed and sent him. He went first to school and excelled. The towns people knew he was talented and they offered to further his education. He became a lawyer and later represented the town in government affairs. He also married Maya's daughter when he came back to town as she was a teacher. Your son fought for Indian rights in our state to honor your memory sir. Would you like to see a picture of him."

Opening my bag I took out the small album i carried with me, "I will never forget my families past. Because of your son I took a seat in the government building as a spokes person and journalist. This here is a picture of your son graduating college and law school. The college allowed him to wear his native tunic as a way to honor his tribe. This is a picture of your wife and children on their wedding day. The pastor Married them that day and the Shaman did an Indian ceremony as well. This is a picture of all their children. That little girl is my great great grandmother. She married a local rancher and here is a picture of all of their children. That little boy here is my great grandfather and here is a picture of him and his wife on their wedding day. The following picture is them with the family. That older boy is my Grandfather. Then this picture is my Grandmother with my mother. My Grandfather was killed during the war. He was a pilot and was shot down in the war of Vietnam."

The chief asked, "What is a piolet?"

Pointing up I said, "He flew machines in the sky amongst the clouds. His call sign was thunder bird. During the war he worked with a medicine transport taking the injured to safety. Because of his skills he saved hundreds of soldiers. The next picture is my Mother. She just retired as a professor and came back to the family home here. She taught history but she specialized in Native American studies. This is me when I graduated from college with my Mom and Grandmother. You see your trying to destroy the people and town we love. You need to stop this madness Capoca."

He walked up to me and put his forehead to mine and said, "I do not know how."

The Shaman said, "Brother we have to figure this out. Think about the ones that survived and your own family that is in danger now."

The Cheif stood tall and said, "We will find a way. Young one it is not safe for you in these woods. We will work on a solution as soon as we find one we will find you."

The Shaman said, "She can be found on the lands of old. Or at the main town building."

"Or killing the monsters," I said. "We are going to try to save more people."

The Shaman said, "Try to get as many out of the town as you can. I know these people they will stay but try to get them out."

67 women, 39 men, and 90 children

Maddy- town hall public relations

Shawn- Sheriff

Max Mike and Jasper- Officer

Kelly- Nursing home director

Mr Louies- Shaman

Rebecca- Ghost

Whistler- Ghost

Meme- Ghost