It was pouring rain on this Saturday morning in the small town of Chamberlain Maine. The entire town seemed deserted. Sue Snell descended the stairs of her house slowly. She hadn't slept well at all. She was tired and it showed on her face. Her eyes were black and sunken in. She shook her hair long hair out of her tear stained eyes. She wiped them away.
It was ten months since the black prom incident. Ten long months since Tommy and Carrie died. Ten long months since the whole town had changed forever and all it took was one simple prank; a prank she was not involved in.
Sue did feel partly responsible for it. She was the one that asked Tommy to ask Carrie to prom. That one night had changed the entire town. Hundreds of teenagers died that night thanks to Carrie White. And of course, that's when she found out she was pregnant. She named her child after Carrie to honor and remember her. Some people thought that was a crazy idea but Sue didn't care what other's thought. Not anymore.
She shook those thoughts out of her head.
"Don't think like that," said Sue to herself trying to reassure herself that the black prom wasn't her fault.
"Sue honey is that you?" asked a voice from the kitchen.
"Not now mom please. I have somewhere to be," said Sue in a sad choked sob.
"What about Carrie?" asked her mother.
"Can you watch her for a few hours?" asked Sue.
"I guess I'll take her to grandmother's house for a while," said Sue's mother.
"That's a great idea," said Sue.
Every week it was the same. She had somewhere to go and nothing, not even bad weather, was going to stop her.
She grabbed her coat and flung it onto her body. She zipped the waterproof coat tight around her slender body. She also grabbed her umbrella and backpack that hung on the coat rack near the front door. She kept it hanging there every day. Inside she kept a cloth and rag.
She closed the door to the warm house and stepped into the cold damp day.
Sue popped open the umbrella and started on her way.
Sue looked around on her way to her destination. There was hardly anyone was on the streets today except for the few people grocery shopping or dropping their clothes off at the Laundromat.
"I guess everyone is afraid now," she whispered to herself.
Sue continued on her way, passing the shops.
Sue was almost at her destination when she saw a group of boys stapling a poster onto a telephone pole across the street.
Curiosity got the best of her and she walked across the street and read the poster after the boys had run off.
The poster was a picture of Carrie White with a big red mark right through her face.
"What the fuck is this?" she asked herself. She ripped the poster down.
The big red letters that were written were "Carrie White burns in hell."
"She is doing that right now you know," said one of the boys from behind Sue.
Sue turned around, as mad as a rabid dog.
"Burning in hell? I highly doubt it. You have a lot of nerve to hang these up. You shouldn't make fun of the dead," said Sue to the young boy.
"Whatever," said the young kid before he ran off to catch up with his friends.
"Some people never learn," sighed Sue.
She crumpled up the paper and threw it in a trash bin. She saw other posters lining the streets. Sue didn't care for this. She went to every corner and telephone pole and torn them all down. She threw all of them away except for one of them. This one she would give to the police.
Before heading to the end of town, she stopped by the flower shop and purchased a single pink rose.
"You get a lot of these," said the shop owner.
"It's for a friend" replied Sue.
"It must be a great friend," said the owner.
"She was in the end," smiled Sue.
"She saved my life," said Sue before she exited the shop.
Sue arrived at the cemetery within five minutes. She looked around and visited every grave of her fallen friends from prom night except Chris. Chris to her was the one who could burn in hell.
It was all Chris's fault anyway. She was the one who took the video. Chris was the one who dumped the blood on Carrie which caused Carrie to snap.
If she had just left her alone and had not called her a freak and started to throw the tampons at Carrie, none of this would have happened.
"God why didn't I stop? Why did I have to start that tampon throwing? I should have comforted her in her time of need! Lord know she could have used it! She had none from her mother," said Sue.
She blamed herself for it all.
Sue sighed heavily before heading to the back of the cemetery where Carrie's grave was.
She saw it instantly. It was really hard to miss thanks to the big bold red letters covered the writing of the gravestone.
"CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL" it read.
Sue scoffed. She knelt down on the wet grass. This wasn't the first time this had happened.
She took her backpack off and opened it to get the all purpose cleaner. She sprayed some on the grave and began to wipe away the letters that lied.
Since she had visited Carrie's grave the first time, she had been taking care of the headstone out of respect. She had told the groundskeeper numerous times about the writing, but he did nothing to prevent the vandalism. All the other graves hadn't been vandalized so why should Carries?
It only took about twenty minutes for Sue to finish cleaning Carrie's grave. She stood up in triumph. She didn't know who had been vandalizing Carrie's grave but she was always there to clean it up.
Sue placed the pink rose on the grave, slapped her hands together in a prayer before leaving. She once again glanced again at the grave and smiled.
Before heading home, Sue took a short cut and walked by what remained of Carrie's house. She was there when the rain of stones descended upon the house; Hell she as in the house.
Carrie White may have taken all those lives that night, including her own mother's but she did save a life that night. She saved two as a matter of fact.
She saved her and Miss Dejardan.
They were both alive. She smiled inwardly. The wind picked up so suddenly that it grabbed the umbrella right out of Sue's grasp.
"Oh no!" cried Sue.
The umbrella landed in the rubble of Carrie's house.
"This can't be good," said Sue. Her hair was drenched immediately. She took off her backpack and left it on the sidewalk.
She started to climb over the rocks and wood of the fallen house.
"I feel like I'm walking over a grave," said Sue to herself.
She almost had a handle on the umbrella when something caught her eye under the wooden beams. It was pink material.
Sue instantly grabbed onto the material and yanked on it.
The material came out from under rocks and dirt.
Sue got the rest of the material and let it hand before her eyes. It was Carrie's prom dress. It had survived the destruction of the house.
Sue gagged at the sight of it. Some of it still had pigs' blood on it while the rest of it was the soft pink material, most likely the blood had washed off these parts of the dress thanks to the rain that got into the room.
"Oh Carrie," said.
Sue looked around. No one was in sight. She grabbed her umbrella and the dress.
She pushed the dress inside her backpack and started for home immediately. She practically ran all the way there.
"Mom I'm home!" called Sue.
"Oh Sue! I'm glad you're home. The police called," said her mother.
"What did they want?" asked Sue.
"Well they said they caught the vandal," said her mother.
"They finally caught him?!" asked Sue who was overjoyed.
"Yes it was a kid writing on Carrie White's grave," said her mother.
"Thank God. Maybe justice now has been served," said Sue. She sighed with relief while tears welled in her eyes.
"Thanks for telling me mom. I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll be down in a while to help with the chores," said Sue.
"Sue I know you've been going to the cemetery every Saturday to clean that headstone," said her mother.
"I feel like the whole prom massacre was my fault. I feel like I need to do something to atone for my sins," said Sue. She started to cry and her mother went over and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Sue cried into her arms.
"It wasn't. It was Carrie White who did all that," said her mother.
"But I pushed her. We all did. You can only push someone so far until they break," said Sue.
"And we all know that now," said her mother.
"I should have known it then. If I did then none of this would have happened. If I did, then maybe Carrie and Tommy would still be alive" sobbed Sue.
"They are still alive in your heart," said her mother.
She kissed her daughter on her forehead.
"Mom, I really need to shower," said Sue.
"Okay dear," said her mother and she let her daughter go upstairs.
Instead of showering herself, Sue washed the dress instead. She made sure to get all the blood out and rinsed it thoroughly. It really needed it and now Sue could see what a magnificent job that Carrie did making the dress.
"Carrie I know you can hear me, I hope you don't mind me doing this," said Sue. She looked up at the ceiling and smiled.
Sue hung the dress up to dry in her room so no one could see it. She went downstairs to help her mom the rest of the day.
That night Sue went into her room and locked the door. She turned around and saw the dress hanging up. It looked as good as new and it didn't even smell anymore. She felt it and it was dry.
Sue took the dress off the hangar and hugged it tight.
Sue opened her door and peaked down the hall. No one was around.
Sue slipped out of her room, with Carrie's dress in her hands.
As soon as she got to the kitchen she saw her daughter Carrie in her crib. She picked her up and wrapped her up in the dress.
"Let's go for a walk," said Sue.
Sue got Carrie into her stroller and she left the house.
"I want you to meet someone," said Sue.
It was sunset outside while Sue walked with Carrie to the cemetery for the second time today.
Sue picked Carrie up in her arms and brought her to the gravesite.
"Carrie, meet Carrie," smiled Sue. The baby cooed softly while her gaze was fixed upon the headstone.
"I named her after you; you know," said Sue.
"I really can't tell you how sorry I am for everything that happened," said Sue. She started to well up with tears again. The tears landed on Carrie's forehead. She hugged her daughter close to her heart.
Carrie snuggled deep in the dress that Sue held onto.
"I found this earlier today at your house," said Sue. She pulled the dress out and showed it to the grave.
"I washed it for you," said Sue.
Sue placed the dress on the grave. As soon as she did that a wild wind started to blow.
"What's going on?" asked Sue. She held tight to Carrie.
Sue looked up as soon as the wind stopped. She looked at the grave and what she saw made her freeze.
There was a transpartent apparition of Carrie White right in front of her.
"Hello Sue," said Carrie smiling. Carrie was in a white angelic gown which flowed behind her. All the pain that was on her face when she was alive was gone and Carrie actually looked happy.
"Carrie?" asked Sue.
"Yes it's me," said Carrie.
"But you're-,"
"Dead," said Carrie finishing her sentence.
"How?" asked Sue in a confused daze.
"Sue I have been watching you since that night. I've always been with you and I've been watching you take care of my gravesite. I've come to tell you to stop blaming yourself. Your mother was right. What happened happened. It's all over now and I am at peace. You need to move on with your life. I know you'll never forget me as I will never forget you. You are a mother now yourself to a beautiful baby girl. Your life is hers now. I know you'll raise her right. And thank you for taking care of my grave site," said Carrie.
Carrie flowed forward and kissed Baby Carrie on the forehead. Her tiny body lit in a heavenly light.
"What are you doing?" asked Sue.
"You'll see in time," said Carrie as she floated back towards her grave.
"As for my dress, you can do what my mother wanted you to do. Burn it because it's just a bad memory," said Carrie.
"I don't want to burn it," said Sue.
"It can be used for good. My daughter will wear it one day to her prom," said Sue.
Little baby Carrie lifted the dress on her own without the use of her hands. Sue was stunned.
"Consider it a gift from me to you. Use it wisely," said Carrie. Sue understood.
Carrie had given her daughter her telekinetic powers. She didn't understand how it was possible but it had happened.
"Rest in peace Carrie," said Sue. She waved at Carrie.
Carrie waved at Sue and her baby before disappearing right before their eyes.
"Good Bye Sue," said Carrie. She smiled as the tears fell freely. Baby Carrie waved her hands and a bunch of pink rose petals fell from the tree above and landed on Carrie's grave.
Sue giggled lightly.
"You've got the hang of that pretty quickly little one," said Sue.
Baby Carrie and Sue made it home just before dark.
Both looked out and waved at the town going dark. Now things were going to be different, but different in a good way. Baby Carrie cooed and yawned in Sue's arms.
"Time for bed little one," said Sue.
Sue made sure to hide the dress from her parents until it was Carrie's senior prom night and she was going to make sure this child grew up with lots of love in her life to share with others.
Above the house, Carrie White smiled down at the little angel she knew that she was deep within.
THE END.