Playing teacher's assistant had its advantages and disadvantages such as playing nursemaid for all the other kids. Ellie stayed busy working with everyone's report while Luke stayed quietly in their corner reading and taking notes. Once the hour was up Ellie had everyone write their names down and the book they were going to take on a piece of paper before they left the schoolhouse. Ellie then slipped the paper underneath the locked office door of the professor.
"Jesus Christ! Boys are so lazy!" Ellie remarked.
"Except for you" Ellie nodded as Luke looked up at her as he finished packing his books.
"It's ok, I knew what you meant" Luke shook his head.
"I'm sorry I wasn't more help" Ellie shrugged.
"It's ok, I have the same books you have. Did you find out anything more about this-haunting?" Luke asked almost nervously.
"Well I think the Professor knows something, and I know a couple other people whom I may be able to squeeze some information out of" Ellie said narrowing her thumb and index finger illustrating her point.
"We should have never went there Ellie, I think we unleashed something that we may not be able to put away" Luke said as he and Ellie left locking up the schoolhouse.
"Well don't worry, I'll help you deal with whatever this is we're dealing with, but you have to tell me everything" Ellie emphasized patting him on the back once getting a wince out of Luke.
"What's wrong? Did you get hurt?" Ellie asked suddenly getting concerned.
"No, I'm alright…" Luke said stopping to recover for the moment.
Ellie quickly pulled Luke's shirt up revealing a couple of long red marks.
"What are you doing!?" Luke demanded pulling away trying to pull his shirt back down.
"Whoa! What the hell is this!?" Ellie demanded.
"Don't worry about it! It's my problem!" Luke said pulling his shirt back down.
"Who did this to you? Dusty!?" Ellie asked with a bit of anger.
"No, no!" Luke shook his head shifting his sack of books.
"Then who?" Ellie asked refusing to let it go.
"I can't talk about…listen I got to go. Just figure out what's going on so these nightmares will stop" Luke replied suddenly confusing Ellie.
"Wait! I have notes written on what I found and my thoughts about Halloween which I'll give to you" Ellie said not sure what to think.
"Ok, but I need to hurry home, my sister needs me. I'll compile the information into a draft, I'll leave the other work to you" Luke nodded as they walked to Ellie's house.
"So what's your dad like?" Luke suddenly asked.
"Um…he's pretty easy going for the most part when he's not having to kill clickers or defend against hunters that is" Ellie laughed. "Why you ask?" she suddenly regarded Luke curiously.
"Ah it's nothing… I just wished my dad was cool like your dad" Luke sighed.
"Ok, well let me get my notes for you then" Ellie went in her house and quickly returned with a few sheets of notebook paper covered with ink strokes. She handed them nicely folded to Luke as he unfolded and took a quick glance at them.
"Some interesting ideas from that witch's almanac huh?" Luke commented folding the notes back.
"Why you say that?" Ellie asked a bit curiously.
"Spells and astrological information" Luke remarked.
"Yes there are, I'm not sure how much I buy into it all though" Ellie shrugged.
"If what we experienced was…I mean if it is real, then why not?" Luke mirrored Ellie.
"Well I guess I was kind of thinking the same thing the other night" Ellie admitted.
"I need to go back home and check on my sister, but the Professor had to leave early because my neighbor was having complications with her pregnancy" Luke replied.
"I didn't realize the Professor did so many things" Ellie seemed impressed.
"He does" Luke nodded. "He tells me" Luke smiled.
"Is that so...? Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then, I have to clean the house and check on my pumpkins" Ellie nodded.
"I have my list of chores I have to do as well, see you tomorrow" Luke said as he dashed away.
Ellie couldn't help but wonder what caused Luke to get those red marks on his back. His vague comments left a lot to interpretation so Ellie didn't want to jump to conclusions. The Jackson community wasn't a huge community but it was big enough that some events escaped the local town gossip. Even if it didn't get away from the topic of discussion, Ellie didn't pay much attention to what people said. Now that she and Joel were settled in Jackson, Joel really frowned on gossip as it went against some of his personal core values.
XXXXXX
The next day when the weekend finally arrived Ellie was determined to try to gather more information about the area's history. Joel was gone when Ellie woke up that Saturday which was unusual because he usually slept in a little later on Saturday before he began his day. Ellie put on her horse grooming clothes and joined Maria at the stables. Maria was already busy with a horse while a few others seemed to be busy pampering another horse. Ellie didn't want to begin the day with a bunch of questions so she too picked a horse and began grooming.`
"The horses seem pretty calm" Ellie commented as she began brushing one horse's mane.
"Well they weren't this morning" Maria informed her bluntly.
"What do you mean?" Ellie asked a bit confused.
"It seems someone must have been in the stables last night scaring them" Maria said inspecting another horse.
"Who would do that?" Ellie asked even more confused knowing that no one in the community ever mistreated any of the horses for any reason.
"You know Ellie, they say animals are very sensitive to thoughts and feelings. Horses especially are spiritual creatures" Maria stated calmly.
"You've told me that before, but what exactly happened?" Ellie asked specifically.
"Go have a look in the last stall" Maria replied continuing her work.
Ellie walked to the last stall to see the horse in the last stall lying down with one of its legs bandaged up while others were feeding it and trying to calm it down.
"What happened?" Ellie was a bit surprised.
"It seems either accident or not, an axe fell and took a bite out of this horses poor leg" another woman working in the stalls answered.
"But why would anyone want to hurt a horse?" Ellie asked rhetorically as she walked back to work with Maria.
"Malicious people, maybe evil spirits..." Maria trailed off as she began scrubbing the horse she was grooming down.
"Evil spirits?" Ellie said as she continued brushing.
"Why not? Didn't you say that boy saw something that was 'a bit out of the ordinary' while you were where you were specifically told not to be?" Maria asked already knowing the answer.
"Look, we made a mistake and we're sorry ok?" Ellie said defensively.
"What's going to happen next?" Maria asked rhetorically again.
"So what about those gypsies that were here? What did they do in there?" Ellie finally came out with it.
"They were conjuring stuff up in a place where it should not have been. I told them not to be doing that stuff around here that people would not appreciate it" Maria explained.
"What were they trying to conjure?" Ellie asked finally seeing that Maria was starting to talk at last.
"I went over to where they were staying, and the grandmother always told me they made amulets and did white magic to help protect the town" Maria paused to dip her scrubber in the soapy water.
Ellie nodded and continued working and listened.
"I told the old woman that I believed in the high almighty and constant preparedness. She respected me so we just agreed to disagree when it came to that. Their families were huge, many cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends were among their caravan of travelers, but they also had a good practical side when it came to relying on those to protect the weak" Maria paused to dip her scrubber in the non soapy water.
"So what was the real reason they ended up leaving?" Ellie finally asked wanting to know that question from the start.
"There were two men who went on a witch hunt against them trying to find fault with everything they did, until they lost two young men. Losing loved ones can affect those left behind significantly, and they yearn for answers and peace of mind. That was when they began doing things that had negative effects on the community" Maria said without going into too much detail.
"Like what were they doing?" Ellie prompted her.
"Seances" Marie answered darkly.
"What exactly are those? The word sounds familiar but I don't think I remember" Ellie asked fervently.
"It's against God, those who believe they can contact the spirits of the dead. Most of the time I've heard someone who had dabbed in it all says your talking to demons" Maria explained strangely keeping her calm.
"So there is a chance some do actually speak to the person who has died?" Ellie asked a bit surprised.
"How should I know!? I'm not a witch, I'm a woman of faith. I do not dabble in such things!" Maria quickly snapped back defensively as she finished grooming the horse.
"So you're saying you think they were talking to a demon when they did whatever it was they did?" Ellie pressed.
"Anything done with darkness can never be good. If you want to know more ask your uncle, this discussion is finished" Maria said walking out leaving Ellie to finish grooming her horse alone.
XXXXXXXXX
After what seemed to be a long tedious job, Ellie slowly made her way home afterwards trying to make sense of what she just learned from Maria. Things went a lot better than she had thought. Ellie seemed to be more intrigued by all of this even more as things just begun to get stranger as each day progressed. Maria seemed to have some knowledge about witchcraft for a woman who claimed to be a Christian. Ellie decided she would go home and read her Witch's Almanac some more and maybe try a spell just for her own curiosity.
When she returned, Joel had not returned home yet. Things were still in place and dirt had not been tracked in on the floor. Ellie went to her room, closed her door, and retrieved her witch's almanac. She took off her shoes, hopped on her bed, and flipped near the beginning of the book remembering a 'Beginner's' section.
"Many people make the mistake that by going through the motions of a spell that they can achieve the desired effect. Witchcraft is more than simply reciting a spell and using components. There must be powerful thought and energy behind it. Some of the most basic fundamentals of witchcraft is knowing ones-self, and being able to concentrate through meditation" Ellie began reading to herself in a low voice.
"How well do you have to know yourself?" Ellie asked shrugging her shoulder repositioning herself on the bed, then continued reading.
"Ever have a moment where you thought you have been somewhere before or someone looks familiar but you can't put your finger on it? Through the misty world of our minds in dreams which link us to the spiritual world, we can access things about ourselves and the world around that will make us all familiar with who we really are" Ellie paused to take in the thought.
"Your dreams will tell you much about the world around you and what lies in the depths of your subconscious mind. Some keep what is known as a dream diary which is kept by your bed so as soon as you wake, you write your dreams down before they sink back into the subconscious mind" Ellie stopped and retrieved her a small dirty old diary book Joel had given to her out of one of her boxes she kept her belongings in. She placed the diary next to her bed.
"Meditation is a must for every aspiring witch. If you cannot concentrate on what you're doing, how can you successfully achieve your task? If you're too preoccupied with other events in your life, it makes it much more difficult to focus on any task you perform. To meditate, you must sit comfortably, clear your mind of all worries and thoughts, and simply think of nothing. Let your mind relax and once you have cleared your mind of the daily ruckus, picture a safe place. You can picture a peaceful tall grassy open field where you can run while letting your spirit feel free. If making a mental picture is too difficult at first, start with a lit candle and stare into its flame as it dances clearing your mind" Ellie stopped closing the book.
She took the oil lamp they kept on the tables in times when the power would be down and sat it on the floor in the middle of her room after lighting it. She sat on a on blanket folded on the floor and began staring intently into the fire. She tried to clear her mind of everything going on around her, but it was not an easy task. For ten minutes she battled the thoughts until the only thing on her mind was the flickering flame within the oil lamp. The flame danced back and forth with its yellowish orange light. In an instant she was snapped out of her beginning trance as the front door opened. Ellie quickly put the lamp out and put her witch's almanac away.
"Ellie!" Joel called from the living room.
"Coming!" Ellie called out as she slipped her shoes back on. She nonchalantly carried the oil lamp back on the main table in their kitchen area.
"What were you doing with the oil lamp in your room?" Joel asked her a little suspicious.
"I was reading a book and wanted something close to a candle light to give the effect so I could enjoy the book more" Ellie quickly explained being half true.
"Be careful with fires, and let's not waste lamp oil cause we don't know when we're going to need it" Joel replied without giving it a second thought.
"Sorry" Ellie played it off.
"Well I'm late getting home and I'm sure Tommy and Maria are waiting on us, so we need to get moving shortly" Joel said going to the bathroom.
"Already?" Ellie thought as she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost seven O'clock!
Ellie was surprised at how quickly time had seemed to fly since she left the stables at just half past three. Nothing really extraordinary happened while she tried to meditate. She laughed thinking how silly it seemed that she would even go as far to try something like that, but another side of her found it very fascinating.
"I'll be ready in five minutes" Joel shouted from the bathroom.
"Ok dad!" Ellie shouted back.
Ellie ran to her room and flipped to the last couple pages of her old diary book and decided to also keep her thoughts in a more conventional way. She listed all the strange happenings beginning with her experience in the west side of the dam, then the mysterious death of a worker, Luke's bruises on his back, and strange accident of the horse's injury to its leg involving an axe. Things were getting stranger by the day, but she realized she would need to keep track of everything that happened if she was going to get to the bottom of this mystery.
"Ellie!" Joel called out as she heard him enter the living room.
"Coming!" Ellie answered quickly closing her diary hiding it back in her box.