Ghost Writer

Chapter Eight: Putting the Pieces Together

Anna felt someone shaking her shoulder and calling her name. She hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep. Opening her eyes, she found herself momentarily blinded by the sunlight. Lifting her hand to shield her eyes, Anna saw the silhouette of a woman in front of her.

"Kate?"

"No," the stranger answered. "I'm Amy."

Blinking back the spots in her eyes, Anna started to get a good look at Amy. She was surprised to find this was the ghost that she had seen walking around the lake. She was dressed casually with her blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. "Am I dead?"

Amy laughed. "No, not yet."

Anna stood up and found the brace was gone from her knee. They were also no longer on her sister's porch but rather sitting on another porch…a screened in porch. Anna suddenly realized they were standing on the porch at Mort's lake house. "What are we doing here, Amy?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that."

"You do realize you're dead, right?"

Amy nodded her head. "I just don't understand how."

Anna felt herself slip into a familiar line of questioning. "Is this the last place that you remember?"

"Yes, I came here to have my husband sign divorce papers."

"Apparently it didn't go very well," Anna wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. She knew that Mort's ex-wife had gone missing but she never took the time to find out the woman's name. It unnerved her to no end this ghost had remembered it was Mort's cabin where she had possibly died. "Do you remember your husband's name?"

"Yes, but for some reason, I don't think he was the one that killed me. But…on the other hand…" Amy trailed off and started for the front door. Anna followed her as Amy stepped into the cabin. Anna had seen the inside of Mort's cabin just once, when he had pulled her out of the lake. She remembered it being warm, cozy and inviting. Nothing prepared her for the mess that greeted her through the open front door. Books and papers littered the floor. Anna took a step inside and a loud crunch caused her to jump back in surprise. She had stepped on an empty Mountain Dew can.

"What happened here?" Anna asked.

"I can't remember."

Anna noticed the word "Shooter" had been written in whip cream on the front windows of the cabin. Stepping through the mess on the floor, she found the same word deeply etched into the coffee table by the couch. There was also an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the table which Amy touched.

"That explains a lot."

"What?"

"He's been drinking again."

Anna continued to walk around the downstairs of the cabin, noticing the entire first floor had the appearance of being totally and completely ransacked. Even dishes in the kitchen had been shattered and left all over the floor. Surely Mort was not living here when the cabin was in this condition. Anna heard the creak of someone walking up the steps and stepped out of the kitchen just in time to see Amy reach the second floor.

Warning bells suddenly went off in her subconscious and Anna ran up the stairs. By the time she had reached Amy, a door swung shut and revealed a man in the corner with a black felt hat pulled low over his face. Anna grabbed Amy's shoulder and pulled her back down the steps.

"Run, Amy."

Anna followed close on Amy's heels but slowed down to see if their attacker was following. Unfortunately, he was. His head was raised up and Anna could see his face. It was Mort after all. A flash of silver in his hand caught her eye and she saw he was wielding scissors. The shock of the realization caused Anna to stumble. Tripping over the last three steps, Anna hit the wooden floorboards of the cabin with a harsh thud.

"Anna!"

Anna awoke with a start and found herself staring up at her sister's concerned face. She felt sick to her stomach and could feel the cold sweat soaking into her clothes. Maybe it was just the pain medication that the doctors had given her. Maybe it had just been a dream brought on by all the speculations that she had heard. But when Anna lifted her head, she saw Amy standing behind Kate's shoulder.

"I remember what happened now," Amy said.

"Are you alright?" Kate was asking.

Anna nodded her head. "Yeah, fine. Just a bad dream."

"You want some water?"

"Yeah, that would be good. Thanks."

Anna waited for Kate to leave and turned to ask Amy what did happened when Amy took a couple steps away and started down the porch stairs. Anna looked back to the screen door and saw Mort stepping outside. Anna felt the sick feeling come back to her. She couldn't run here. All she had were crutches to defend herself.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Mort didn't kill me," Anna heard Amy's voice whisper in her ear. Anna gave Mort a shaky smile. Anna saw Amy's arm appear in her peripheral vision and point out to the Black Jeep. The ghost that had appeared in her room that one night was leaning against the vehicle. That frighteningly familiar black felt hat on his head. "He killed me."

"John Shooter?" Anna didn't realize she had even spoken the name aloud till she looked up at Mort and saw all color had drained from his face.