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Charles Serio ©2011 all rights reserved.
New Writings
'We must return to the house. Everyone who was there must return,' Charmaine
insisted. 'I must break the hold the spirit has on your brother.'
'Yeah, I'll break his hold!' Tommy said. And he pulled at Sean's hair so hard that no one could have faked not feeling it. But Sean did not feel it. He just stared into the distance like he was far away.
Diane looked at me with fear in her eyes. She didn't want to go back to that house. And I didn't much either.
'We must go back right away,' Charmaine commanded.
But we could not go back right away. I looked at my watch and saw we would have to make our way back to the Padfoot entry sign to meet Mike or we'd miss him.
I pointed this out to Tommy.
'Ralphy, you go there and tell Mike what's going on,' he said. 'Tell him Sean's acting kooky and he needs to come here and snap him out of it.'
So Diane and I walked back to the entry sign together. It was dark out now and Diane led the way with a flashlight. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a golden opportunity for a romantic flashlight-lit summer stroll with my girl, but these were not normal circumstances.
'This is all my fault!' she cried. 'That poor Sean! His spirit captured! Oh! How awful!'
I tried in vain to comfort her.
'Sean is acting just like Dad before he died. He didn't recognize anyone around him either,' she said with tears in her eyes.
'I shouldn't have asked you to come. You came to help and all I've done is help make your friend lose his soul!'
She went on like this all the way back to the sign.
We arrived maybe fifteen minutes after Mike's midnight time limit.
There was no sign of Mike. At that hour, there was no traffic at all. I couldn't even hear a car in the distance. It was completely silent and it had grown very dark. Diane and I stayed at that sign for nearly half an hour, but Mike either left, because we were late, or he was late himself or he forgot about us or he ditched us.
'He ditched us,' I said to Diane.
We hurried back to the tent. When we got there, Max and Bradley were there too. Tommy was starting to look really worried. Sean was still ramrod stiff and had started to drool. It looked like something out of a horror movie.
'Yeah, I saw this movie at a drive-in once with my brother,' Max said. 'It was about how these people lose their souls and become the living dead. They called them 'Zombies'. Zsa Zsa Gabor was in it too.'
(Zombies. That was the very first time I had ever heard that word.)
'Whose brother are you calling a Zombie?' Tommy challenged Max.
You don't mess with Harby boys when one of their own is in trouble. I knew that, even if Max didn't. But luckily for Max, he had the good sense to back down.
'I'm just saying,' he said squirming.
'Well, don't,' Tommy glared.
Finally, when I found the chance, I told Tommy about Mike and that our ride was gone.
He was getting very fed up with everything now. When he gets like that, no one is his friend. Not even Yours Truly.
'I have to call home! I have to tell Mom everything,' Tommy despaired. 'We're stuck here. How could he just leave us here? He said midnight, didn't he? And then he's a no-show!'
I wanted to tell Tommy not to mention me to his mom, but I thought better of it.
'She thinks you're staying at my place tonight anyway,' I said. 'Call her in the morning. Maybe Mike will show up after all.'
Charmaine kept insisting that we needed to go back to the house and 'free' Sean's spirit.
'If we do not summon that spirit in the mirror back to us, Sean will be like this forever,' she said.
'Shut up! Shut your cuckoo trap!' Tommy snarled back.
Everyone looked shocked. Diane looked like she was going to start crying again.
'Look, Tommy, it can't hurt, can it?' I ventured. 'Let's just do it and see if it helps.'
And he looked at me like he could kill me along with everyone else there.
Grumpily, he eventually said, 'All right then. Let's go free the Zombie.'
We went back to the Manor House. Tommy and I carried Sean all the way there. I must admit that his skin felt very cold and clammy. It was sort of like carrying a very large dead fish. Max and Bradley helped us get him up the stairs to the conference room where Charmaine had performed her séance earlier.
'Everyone must sit in the exact same positions as before,' she told us. 'Everything must be just as it was the last time.'
We all sat down. It looked so weird to see Sean, ramrod stiff, propped up against the back of a chair. There's no way we could have folded him into a seated position. It was like he had no joints.
Ingrid turned off the lights just as she had done the first time. Charmaine relit her candle and then said the same exact words that she had used before with the 'Guardians' and the 'Watchtower'.
And just like before, nothing happened at first.
Diane's hand was sweating as she held mine.
'Yeah, I'll break his hold!' Tommy said. And he pulled at Sean's hair so hard that no one could have faked not feeling it. But Sean did not feel it. He just stared into the distance like he was far away.
Diane looked at me with fear in her eyes. She didn't want to go back to that house. And I didn't much either.
'We must go back right away,' Charmaine commanded.
But we could not go back right away. I looked at my watch and saw we would have to make our way back to the Padfoot entry sign to meet Mike or we'd miss him.
I pointed this out to Tommy.
'Ralphy, you go there and tell Mike what's going on,' he said. 'Tell him Sean's acting kooky and he needs to come here and snap him out of it.'
So Diane and I walked back to the entry sign together. It was dark out now and Diane led the way with a flashlight. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a golden opportunity for a romantic flashlight-lit summer stroll with my girl, but these were not normal circumstances.
'This is all my fault!' she cried. 'That poor Sean! His spirit captured! Oh! How awful!'
I tried in vain to comfort her.
'Sean is acting just like Dad before he died. He didn't recognize anyone around him either,' she said with tears in her eyes.
'I shouldn't have asked you to come. You came to help and all I've done is help make your friend lose his soul!'
She went on like this all the way back to the sign.
We arrived maybe fifteen minutes after Mike's midnight time limit.
There was no sign of Mike. At that hour, there was no traffic at all. I couldn't even hear a car in the distance. It was completely silent and it had grown very dark. Diane and I stayed at that sign for nearly half an hour, but Mike either left, because we were late, or he was late himself or he forgot about us or he ditched us.
'He ditched us,' I said to Diane.
We hurried back to the tent. When we got there, Max and Bradley were there too. Tommy was starting to look really worried. Sean was still ramrod stiff and had started to drool. It looked like something out of a horror movie.
'Yeah, I saw this movie at a drive-in once with my brother,' Max said. 'It was about how these people lose their souls and become the living dead. They called them 'Zombies'. Zsa Zsa Gabor was in it too.'
(Zombies. That was the very first time I had ever heard that word.)
'Whose brother are you calling a Zombie?' Tommy challenged Max.
You don't mess with Harby boys when one of their own is in trouble. I knew that, even if Max didn't. But luckily for Max, he had the good sense to back down.
'I'm just saying,' he said squirming.
'Well, don't,' Tommy glared.
Finally, when I found the chance, I told Tommy about Mike and that our ride was gone.
He was getting very fed up with everything now. When he gets like that, no one is his friend. Not even Yours Truly.
'I have to call home! I have to tell Mom everything,' Tommy despaired. 'We're stuck here. How could he just leave us here? He said midnight, didn't he? And then he's a no-show!'
I wanted to tell Tommy not to mention me to his mom, but I thought better of it.
'She thinks you're staying at my place tonight anyway,' I said. 'Call her in the morning. Maybe Mike will show up after all.'
Charmaine kept insisting that we needed to go back to the house and 'free' Sean's spirit.
'If we do not summon that spirit in the mirror back to us, Sean will be like this forever,' she said.
'Shut up! Shut your cuckoo trap!' Tommy snarled back.
Everyone looked shocked. Diane looked like she was going to start crying again.
'Look, Tommy, it can't hurt, can it?' I ventured. 'Let's just do it and see if it helps.'
And he looked at me like he could kill me along with everyone else there.
Grumpily, he eventually said, 'All right then. Let's go free the Zombie.'
We went back to the Manor House. Tommy and I carried Sean all the way there. I must admit that his skin felt very cold and clammy. It was sort of like carrying a very large dead fish. Max and Bradley helped us get him up the stairs to the conference room where Charmaine had performed her séance earlier.
'Everyone must sit in the exact same positions as before,' she told us. 'Everything must be just as it was the last time.'
We all sat down. It looked so weird to see Sean, ramrod stiff, propped up against the back of a chair. There's no way we could have folded him into a seated position. It was like he had no joints.
Ingrid turned off the lights just as she had done the first time. Charmaine relit her candle and then said the same exact words that she had used before with the 'Guardians' and the 'Watchtower'.
And just like before, nothing happened at first.
Diane's hand was sweating as she held mine.
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