Hey everyone(:
I've had a strange obsession with the paranormal for a while now. It started after I read 'When the Ghost Screams' by Leslie Rule, it's an amazing book! In it, I read a section on the Civil War and naturally I thought of our favourite soldier, Jasper Whitlock(;
And so, I decided to put together a sort of 'test chapter' for this new idea. I hope you all like it because I'd really like to continue it on this site. I allow any reviewers, even if you're not logged in. If I don't get at least two reviews on this chapter, I won't update anymore. And if I don't have at least two solid every chapter reviewers, I won't continue.
I do hope for at least some form of feedback, whether it's a simple 'update' or 3 paragraphs, I accept it!
Summary:
Mary Alice Brandon, a strong psychic and fashion-major is asked by her best friend and fellow psychic, Angela Cheney to help solve four cases of unsettled ghosts. That's right, four different spirits of deceased people who had died unjustfully or are seeking out something on the Earth plane. As a psychic, Alice has to live in a half and half world of reality and the veil of the undead. Her journey is filled with anger, hate, dispair, sadness, pain, horror, heartbreak, and death. But throughout such troubles, can Alice truely find the life she achingly yearns for, the life her friends have? That can only be determined by Fate and a little push from the citizens from beyond the grave...
Anyways, here it is, Chapter one of Paranormal Fate.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own The Twilight Saga, Stephenie Meyer does. All copyrighted stuff is property of its respective owner.
Chapter One: Rough Start.
"I've put together a team of ghost hunters."
"Is that so? Ghost hunters?" The name sounded like a sick joke. But coming from my friend's mouth, it was no joke.
"Yes, I had a premonition last night. You, Mike, Jessica, Ben and I will travel around, solving the cases of four spirits."
I grinned, excited by the idea. "Only four cases? What about the millions?" I could almost see the smirk on my best friend and fellow psychic, Angela Cheney's face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm enthusiastic," I muttered.
"Oh, don't I know it! The infamous Mary Alice Brandon, a palm reader and tiny spitfire!"
I laughed and took a seat on my deep indigo sofa, the cushions allowing my body to sink in. "Exactly. Where are we meeting?"
"Café Italiano at six, see ya there." Click. I smirked and ended my side of the call.
Ghost Hunters.
Finally, my gift may be used for more than meaningless tarot cards and palm readings. And maybe, just maybe – no, I'm not doing that. She'll call for help if she wants it.
Besides, I haven't seen Angela or Ben for months and Mike and Jessica for even more months.
Angela Cheney and her husband Ben were strong believers of the paranormal after they discovered Angela's psychic powers and experienced a number of unexplainable happenings. Mike Newton and his wife Jessica were recent believers after they were visited by a deceased friend. They specialize in electronic voice phenomena or EVP for short; they catch ghost voices on a recorder.
Both couples were happily married while I was a single gal studying to get a degree in fashion. I wasn't jealous of their partnerships, I mean; I'm twenty-three and still have tonnes of time to find a man. I grew up in Mississippi but the southern state made me too depressed with memories and so I moved to Washington state and closer to my friends. But I left behind a haunting tragedy, one we all wish to forget.
Forgetting would a gift. As a psychic, I have to brutally relive it almost every night. I relive the darkness, the blood, and the screams; all freakishly real and vibrant.
I shook the invading memories away and headed to my bedroom to freshen up for our meeting in an hour.
~Paranormal:Fate~
"Alice!" the very loud brunette greeted, smiling.
I grinned and hugged Jessica tightly. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
"I know!" She happily guided me to my seat at our private booth.
"Ali!" dark haired Angela exclaimed, complete with stylish glasses framing light brown eyes.
Mike gave me a soft smile as I made it over to the back table. Angela and Jessica sat across from their husbands, while Ben was bent over a thin silver laptop, his light brown hair falling into his dark brown eyes.
"What do we have?" I asked as I sat atop my red cushioned stool.
Ben finally met my gaze, unfazed by my sudden appearance. "Ang found our world map unfolded, lying on her desk. Symbols were drawn on 4 different locations. The first is Rochester, New York. The drawing next to it was of a rose with the numbers 1934 written on a leaf. I have a couple possible spirits that could be the cause of paranormal activity, which is assuming 1934 is a year. We've booked a flight ready for tomorrow." He spoke as if discovering a map with strange pictures drawn on it was a normal occurrence for them, considering what they've gone through it probably wasn't the strangest.
I nodded and rested my arms on the grey table in front of me. "Who are the possible ghosts?"
"Rosa Marie Terry who died in a fire in 1934, she was sixty-two. Rosalie Lillian Hale who was found dead one night after coming back from her friend's house in 1934, she was nineteen. The last was Rosemary Clemet who died of a heart attack in 1934, she was eighty-six." Ben's thin framed glasses intently read off his laptop screen.
"It would most likely be the nineteen year old for her death was never solved," Angela added.
We all nodded in agreement.
"Where was this Rosalie found dead?" Jessica asked.
"In the middle of the street, she bled to death and was a suspected victim of rape," answered Ben.
I frowned slightly at the brutal thought of dying at the hands of the man who took your innocence. A man you possibly believed loved you or just a random stranger out for satisfaction and blood. I felt it to be my duty to help those who died too early or at the unjust hands of someone else. Every time I heard of an unsettled ghost, guilt would wash up and threaten to take over.
I shivered uncontrollably and trained my gaze on the table in front of me. I felt a slender arm wrap around my shoulders in comfort.
"It wasn't your fault."
"You always know what's on my mind, don't you Ang?" I glanced at my friend and saw her flash a small smile. "How did you know I would agree to help?"
"Because I know you, Alice. You loved trying to get Marcus to crossover after he was searching for his deceased wife on the earth plane when she crossed over six centuries ago. Helping others is in your nature, I just knew you would agree."
I smiled softly and turned my attention back to the others as we continued discussing the journey ahead.
~Paranormal:Fate~
"Flight three four six to Rochester, New York is boarding in lane two in five minutes." The mechanical female voice called over the sound system in Seattle's airport.
I exhaled and stood up, luggage in hand. Jessica and Mike zipped up their case of technical devices, most I recognized. Angela and Ben grabbed their own bags as they took hands and followed after me. We passed through security with no problem and were now comfortably seated on a plane.
Ang and Ben were in the two seats behind me while Mike and Jessica were across the aisle from Angela's row. I had the two seat row to myself for the moment. Just as I was about to take out my sketch pad, movement to my right caught my eye.
I glanced over at my seat neighbour and almost screamed. The sheer shock and panic struck me and I had to force the shriek from leaving my mouth.
Beside me sat a girl with long wavy brown hair. Her clothes were torn and bloody, she was clearly hurt though she showed no sign of being in pain. I recognized her thin green jacket and her muddy brown boots.
"B-Bella?" I stuttered with my new found voice.
Her dark chocolate brown eyes met my clear grey ones. I saw the anger and sadness and accusation in her gaze and then she vanished into thin air. The seat next to me was again empty, with not a single mark of mud or drop of blood. I was right all along, I was to blame. Bella blamed me for what happened to her.
"Ali? Is everything okay? You look like you just saw a ghost. Oh gosh, you did, didn't you?" Angela's frantic voice sounded from behind me.
"Who?" Ben asked curiously.
"Bella, she was here for a moment then disappeared without a word." I looked down at my jean clad lap.
"Oh goodness," Angela murmured, her Catholic ways showing through her refusal to break the commandments, 'Thou shall not use the Lord's name in vain' or something like that.
"Why would she appear randomly to you?" Ben curiously asked. I heard shuffling from their seat behind me.
"Where are the four cases located?" his wife asked as more rustling sounded.
"Rochester New York, Columbus Ohio, Galveston Texas and…" Ben's voice quieted and trailed off.
I turned around to face them and asked, "Where is the last one?"
"Biloxi, Mississippi…"
I froze. My home town, the town I left, the memories and events I left. I was expected to go there and solve a case? I cannot go back to that place!
"What's the symbol?" I whispered. My voice was so soft it barely carried across the noise of the flying plane and its passengers.
"A swan with the year 2006 on its wing…"
Isabella Swan, it had to be. I was being called to help mybestfriend crossover. The best friend who hated me and blamed me for her death needed my help. She hated me, but she needed my help. How was I supposed to help a ghost, the unjust death of a kind and innocent eighteen year old teenager? She took it as if I was her killer and it was not her enraged boyfriend who I helped her meet and 'fall in love' with.
This is my fault, it really, really is.
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