Note: I've been busy the last few weeks and had to get back in the writing spirit. I hope this chapter came out well. Rewrote it a few times, but am mostly happy with it.
Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and Himeno Kazehito thank you for reviewing and reading this story. It means a lot to me. This chapter is for you two and for all my silent followers. Reviews will get me to work faster. Hint! Hint!
Melody woke up the next morning ensure how she got to bed. She sat up and tried to remember the events of last night. She didn't see how she could have ended up in bed. She bit her lip in deep thought as she started to get out of bed. What was that kind of book doing in her room? She was not the kind of girl to read fairy tales. Her life was such a nightmare that she never could believe in fairies, princesses, or anything like that.
Melody opened the book slowly to the middle and saw that there was passages highlighted. This book belonged to a child. She flipped to the first page and saw that the book had a word written in it, 'Song.' "Why that word?" Melody asked herself.
Xxx
Norman waited for Melody outside the school. He was worried about what is dream meant and what would happen to the girl he was slowly falling for. He sighed softly as he wondered what he should do. Should he tell her? Would she freak out and leave? Would she burn herself alive so he wouldn't have to? Would she try to kill him? The questions kept forming and hurting his head. He didn't know what to do.
"Hey, kid." A woman said as she sat down next to Norman. "You seemed stressed." Norman stared at the woman in wonder. She was the red head he had seen a few days before. She was smiling at him like a mother would smile to a child. It was a smile filled with love and wisdom.
"I'm sorry, but why are you talking to me? When I past you by, you seemed angry that I was looking at you." Norman recalled the weird way she looked at him.
"It isn't every day that I see someone with your abilities and power." She seemed beyond pleased.
"How could you tell that I could see ghosts just by looking at me?" Norman asked. "Do you have abilities too?"
"Ha, is that all you think you can see? Ghosts?" The woman chuckled. "You must think that my friend and I are human too." The woman shook her head amused by the idea. "Well, the man with me had been human once. I have never been human."
"Than what are? Because I know you're not a ghost." Norman asked.
"Think of me as kind of an angel." The woman stated. "Don't ask about God and heaven. I have no idea about that stuff. I'm not an angel, just kinda like an angel."
"What's kinda like an angel?" Norman questioned.
"I watch over others. Help keep evil things from harming the human world. I've wings and can't be seen by most humans. There are tricks, but you could see me without using them. Powerful gift, your sight." The woman stated with slight frown. "It's not everyday a human can see my kind... unless we want them too."
"So, I shocked you and your friend?" Norman whispered to himself.
"Just me." She stated with a small smile. "He is not like me. It's a different set of rules to see him. Different kind of magic that hides him. It's complex."
"Can Melody see you?" Norman asked.
"Not sure if she is like you." The woman replied. "But if I wanted her or anyone else to see me...I could swing it."
"Hmmm..." Norman thought about the creature that attacked Melody. "Melody was attacked by something that even my friend Neil could see. Was that thing like you? Or something like your friend? Did it want to be seen?"
"No, it didn't care if it was seen." The woman answered. "That thing that attacked your friend was a ghost, a dark spirit."
"Do you know-"
"No, I don't know anymore than you do on the matter. I know that your friend was cursed in a past life and that dark spirit is trying to complete the curse. It will follow her in the next life and the next unless it's stopped. Death will just restart the curse."
"I had this dream..." Norman started. "One of many...strange dreams...I was..." Norman didn't know how to talk about his dream.
"Stop." The woman announced with deep worry. "This isn't the place. I'll find you later to talk about the girl. I just wanted to tell you that you have help... but don't tell Melody about me...That spirit stays close to her too much. I don't want it to know about me."
"How can I keep it from her?" Norman asked as he looked a way from the pink haired woman.
"Keep what from who?" Melody asked as she eyed the teen in front of her.
"I was-" Norman turned to find that the woman was gone. "I was thinking about my mom. How am I going to keep all this from her?"
"Tell her I'm your hot scary girlfriend and you just want your space to deal with the new emotions you feel...or whatever... My mom is never around. I think she's looking at homes in another town while finding workers for our home." Melody sighed as she thought about her mother. "She's been acting weird lately. Normally, she's all about watching me every moment of the day."
"Maybe she trusts you." Norman stated as he stood up.
"Maybe she wants me to kill myself." Melody shrugged her shoulders as she said that. "It would help solve all her problems."
"That's just sick." Norman chuckled as he gently pushed Melody. She smiled softly.
"If I die, I'll be sure to visit you." Melody laughed. "Let's have a code word so that I don't walk in on something I shouldn't."
"What?" Norman was taken back by what she was saying. "I don't think that you should-"
"I'm joking." Melody whispered softly. "I wouldn't come back... I think that thing would hurt me more if I was...if I stayed..."
"I'm sorry." Norman said softly. "I don't want you to ever be scared."
"I feel safe around you." Melody closed her eyes as she thought about "But I also feel more scared after I leave you." Melody stated in a stronger voice. She snapped her head up and shook it side to side. "It's like I feel this force and it's all black and dark...wanting me gone more and more."
"..." Norman was at a loss for words. What could he say to that? What if she could sense that something in him wanted to kill her?
"On your walk here," Melody went on. "Did you notice something strange?"
"No, I don't think so." Norman answered. He hadn't noticed anything odd. His walk to school had been peaceful. He had been given a lot of time to think. Which was good, because he had been worried that he would have been stopped by a number of ghosts on his way to school. Maybe, the ghosts understood that he needed his space for once. He was thankful for it. It was nice.
"Hm, maybe it's just me." Melody thought aloud to herself. Norman wondered what he had missed. "Let's get to class before we're late." The teen smiled brightly. "I wanna see our classmates be uncomfortable."
"Wait!" Norman yelled out as Melody dashed away. "I had something to tell you." He weakly whispered to himself with a heavy sigh.
"I wonder what she meant by 'strange'" The woman stated aloud as she appeared next to Norman.
"Where did you go?" Norman questioned in awe. "And come from?"
"I've been here." She stated. "Just using a trick to hide from you and possibly her." The pink haired woman said as she walked around him.
"Look, you. I-" Norman started but was cut off.
"I've a name." The woman snapped. "You should use it."
"You never gave me a name." Norman pointed out.
"Tessa." The woman chuckled softly. "My name is Tessa. Little details slip my mind sometimes."
"I wouldn't call your name 'a little detail'" Norman countered.
"I don't always give my name when I'm helping others." Tessa remarked as she looked about. "It's not always important. But Melody...the things she said... That's important. Need to talk to a witch I know. I'll find you later."
"Wait." Norman shouted softly. "Don't leave me in the dark. I...ugh!" Tessa had used her powers to disappear from his sight. He rubbed the back of his neck and fought the urge to scream. He had class to go to and couldn't risk getting into trouble.
Xxx
"Norman!" Neil yelled during lunch. "Are you going to eat that?"
"No, you can have it." Norman said as he pushed his tray towards his friend. Melody slammed her bag onto the table and pulled out her old book. She looked at Neil and took the bottle of unopened soda that his next to him. Norman wondered why she was sitting next to Neil and not him.
"Hey, that's mine." Neil whined.
"Unless you've attacked by an evil spirit while trying to take a bath, you don't have the right to whine." Melody snapped. "I could be attacked at any moment. So, I'm taking this soda to feel better."
"Can I at least get my money back?" Neil sighed as he watched Melody open the soda.
"Can you let me have this as, again, I could be attacked by an evil spirit at any moment?" Melody shot back.
"I'll give you the money." Norman cut in. "It's no big deal." Norman felt tired. He just wanted to go to sleep. Neil and Melody started their fight again. Melody wasn't willing to let Norman pay for her drink. She thought that she shouldn't have to pay for the soda.
"John?" A female voice called to Norman. "John? I'm trying to talk with you." Norman turned his head to see a woman standing behind him. She was dressed in strange clothes. Norman stared at her as she waited for him to say something. He felt awkward about the way she was looking at him.
"I'm sorry." Norman whispered with a heavy sigh. "I haven't been sleeping well. Things haven't been feeling right."
"Of course." The woman smiled. "You are feeling odd about the wedding coming up. It is understandable." The woman laughed. "Have some tea. It will help you feel better."
"My dreams..." Norman tried to think about his nightmares. "They are driving me mad."
"Hush now." The woman pushed a cup of tea in front of Norman. "Drink your tea and let me help. Just listen to me and everything will be better." The woman placed a hand over chest. She watched Norman drink his tea. She smiled with joy at the sight.
"I have a trip coming up." Norman said as he finished his cup of tea. "I need to go for work."
"I'll make you some of my famous tea for the trip." The woman smiled.
"I think I can go without your tea for a few weeks." Norman joked.
"It helps with your bad dreams." The woman stated. "I just want you to sleep well. Promise to drink my tea while on your trip every night before bed." She seemed almost to the point of tears.
"I promise." Norman tried to smile out.
"Promise what?" Melody asked. Norman snapped his head up. He had fallen asleep.
"What?" Norman didn't understand. Had that all been a dream?
"You said you promise." Neil said in a worried tone.
"I did..." Norman didn't know what happened. "I guess I was dreaming."
"About what?" Melody asked.
"About some guy...named John and his... girlfriend." The ghost seeing boy felt confused.
"The Willow Witch." Melody huffed out. "The story goes that a man named John left his bride to be for a trip and came make spelled by the witch. You were dreaming about why I was cursed." Melody felt a sob forming.
"Melody... there are a lot of John's." Neil pointed out. "It could be just that all this talk is making him dream about it. Nothing more."
"Neil's right." Norman agreed.
"I guess." Melody said as she stood up. "But I need a second. Hm...please...just...ugh...I'll be back." Melody took her bag and swiftly walked away.
Xxx
Melody brushed tears from her face. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She shouldn't have acted that way. It wasn't like her. She closed her eyes and felt as though a thousand voices were whispering to her. They were all trying to say something at once. She screamed out as the voices grew louder. The mirror cracked as the voices stopped and Melody stared at the cracks. She slowly lowered her hand to look at her right wrist. Blood was dripping down it and staining the tile floor.
"Slice." A voice whispered in the dark. Melody's other wrist was sliced opened. "Slice" Melody felt like something was cutting into her check. "Slice." It felt like something was about to cut into her throat, but stopped. "You look so pretty stained in red." The voice whispered softly. "I want to dress you up in red once more."
"I'd rather dress myself in red than let you do it." Melody whispered back with disgust. "I'd hate to see you happy." Melody felt something slap her face and she turned from the hard blow. The ghost seeing female didn't know who the spirit had been, but she could sense the darkness in that spirit. Melody stood up straight to find the mirror crack free and no cuts on her wrist. Had everything been in her head?
"Hey," A girl said as she walked into the bathroom. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." Melody said as she tried to smile. "Uh..." She couldn't recall the girl's name.
"Salma." The girl finished.
"Sorry." Melody gulped as she tried to regain herself. "I'm bad with names And people skills." Melody laughed dryly. "They don't teach you that in the nut house."
"Wow." Salma grimaced. "Just went straight to that."
"Yea, I'm sorry." Melody sighed out with a small smile. "I've no idea what I'm doing. I mean...I know how to use a bathroom and what I was doing here. I just don't know how to talk to you. Not that I find you weird or anything. It's just..." Melody bit her bottom lip.
"It's alright." Salma said putting a hand up to stop the other girl from talking. "You have no people skills."
"I find that people don't take kindly to me and I guess it made it harder to want to learn those skills." Melody confessed.
"But you're okay?" Salma asked.
"Why do you keep asking me that?" Melody questioned as she rubbed her nose. "Is it cuz I was crying? Because that's normal for me. Being near people is hard and I feel stressed trying to be normal."
"I ask because of the blood on the floor." Salma pointed to the tiles under the mirror.
"There's blood." Melody stared at the floor. "I never noticed that there before. Where did that come from? Oh!" Melody understood what Salma was implying. "You think it's my blood. Oh! No! I didn't. I would nev...Well, I have. In the past.. Kinda, but I would never do that now. That's so not mine. I swear. I've no cuts on my body. I can show you!" Melody rushed out as she started to undo her shirt.
"NO!" Salma yelled out. "No need to do that."
"Oh, that's not something I should do." Melody realized as she stared at Salma. "Sorry."
"It's understandable."
"Really?" Melody asked with slight joy.
"No," The girl with glasses said. "Not at all."
"I didn't think so." The ghost seeing girl frowned. "I think I should just go. Enjoy your lunch."
"You need to fix your shirt." Salma stated as Melody walked around her.
"Right." Melody chuckled to herself. "That would be good."
xxx
"Hello Melody." Hope smiled as Melody walked into their home. Hope was working on some flowers. It seemed that someone had taken a liking to the woman on her trip.
"Mom. Can I be home schooled?" Melody sighed out. "I hate being around people." She was worried about having a break down while away from home. It was one thing for her mother to see her crazy. It was another thing to have a whole school see her freak out.
"Don't be silly." Hope smiled. "You need to be around people to know what's normal." Norman. Melody didn't know what that meant. Hope didn't seem like a good example of what was normal.
"Has Dr. Clark called?" Melody asked as she threw her bag on the floor. "When will he fix the stairs?"
"I have no idea when we should fix the stairs." Hope answered. "They seem fine for now. I think I'll save it for later. I really want to fix the hallway and the backrooms first. That way we have somewhere to stay while the stairs are being worked on."
"And the upstairs rooms too." Melody added. "There needs work to be work on some of the rooms. The floors need to be replaced in your room and the bathroom needs a new tube if we are going to sale this place anytime soon."
"I was thinking... we may stay here." Hope said as she finished playing with her flowers.
"Oh," Melody glanced at her mother. "I guess here is as good as any."
"It's just that your father wanted to move here when you were little." Hope smirked at the memory. "He was looking at this nice home. I would sale this one. But only after the one your father wanted goes on sale and I get it."
"What house did he want?" Melody asked.
"It's a place in the woods. A mansion of sorts. I've only seen it once and that had been when you were a baby." Hope paused. "I spoke to Dr. Clark about it before I left and she said that it would be nice to give you something to have you close to Ben."
"Dr. Clark called and you didn't tell me." Melody was shocked. "I could have used the chance to talk about what is going on in my life."
"I called her." Hope sighed out. She felt as though her child didn't want to get better. "I just was checking that it was an okay idea. She sounded as though she was stressed. I asked her about it and she said the most odd thing. She said that she was trying to understand her world once more."
"Maybe she was talking about the death of her sister." Melody stated as she took a seat on the stairs.
"The walls need a paint job. I think cool colors." Hope said as she looked at the paint. "What do you mean her sister is gone? Are you making this up? Did you see something?"
"You sister past a way before you took me home." Melody sighed out. "Dr. Clark just got the news only a couple months before I left."
"How did she die?" Hope asked with bright eyes.
"Murdered by her boyfriend. I think it just happened when he was high."
"Oh, that death is much better then being old and what not." Hope smiled. Melody rolled her eyes. Normal? Yea, like she had a chance at being normal.
"I've been talking to a boy." Melody went on. "I think he likes me."
"That's good." Hope smiled. "But more importantly, I think I found someone to marry me."
"He's fine with me being crazy?" Melody asked as she eyed her mother.
"Yes," Hope spoke in a dark tone. "You have made my life very hard with your problems. Now that you are getting better, we can focus on what I need." Melody felt she was dealing with a child.
"I've got homework." She breathed out. "I vote pasta for dinner."
"I second that vote." Her mother stated as she left the hallway.
Xxx
Melody walked into her room to fill it oddly darker than normal. She wondered if the sun was finally blocked for once. It had seemed sunny when she had entered the house, but weather could change rather fast. She tried to flip the light switch, but the lights wouldn't turn on. She groaned as she walked down the hallway to turn on the lights. The upstairs hall lights were working which meant her room's light should work too. Melody turned off the lights and went to the closest. She was going to change the light in her room. If that didn't work, she would need to check the wiring. She really hoped it wasn't a wiring issue. That would be a pain.
She placed a chair in the center of her room and stood on it. She nearly fell over. She wondered for a moment if she should have removed her heels first. That would have been smart, but she was already on the chair. There was no sense on taking them off now. Melody placed a hand on the ceiling as she started to change the light. The chair rocked back and further a little as the shadow moved under the chair. A slow darkness started to crawl up the chair legs. Melody let out a scream of horror and dropped the object in her hand. It scattered on the floor.
End Note: So I brought Hope back into the mix. I felt she needed to come back in sooner or later and it was finally time to bring her home. Let me know what you think.
