Chapter 5: I found you scared and alone

Mood music: You found me -The Fray or Anchor - Mindy Gledhill

"Here you go Jason, happy birthday." Jason unwrapped the present as soon he had it in his hands.

"What is it?" He said as he continued to rip the wrapping paper off.

"Open it and you'll see!" I smiled as I watched his smile got wider.

"It's the book! The one from the store! " He couldn't believe it, the book he wanted so much was in his hands. He had been saving his money up for it but now he didn't have to. Jason jumped up and tackled me to the ground. He wouldn't let go for about 5 minutes.

"Carol, you're amazing. Thank you." Jason said as he helped me back up.

CRASH

I woke up to the sound of a bottle crashing downstairs. I shivered a bit as I remembered those noises from years ago. I got up slowly and went to see what was going on. It was obviously Constance, the thing was it was a little to early for her to be drinking. I walked down stairs and found her leaving the house. The back door slammed and there was glass shattered all over the floor. I went to go pick it up, what could have possibly made Constance that angry? As I finished I hear a knock on the door, I was only in my pjs but I decided to open it anyways.

"Hello Carolyn." It was Billie, Constance's psychic or whatever the hell she was.

"Hi, Constance isn't here right now b-" She cut me off.

"I'm not here to see Constance, I'm here to talk to you." She had a worried look on her face.

"Well I'm still in my pjs but-" Once again she cut me off.

"It doesn't matter, I need to talk to you even if it's only for a couple of minutes."

"What's going on? Does it have to do with Jason?"

"No, it has to do with that house. It doesn't tolerate you, tell me do you get a strange feeling whenever you enter it?" I thought of my recent visit to the murder house and all that happened. To a degree I did feel strange, I always did.

"Yeah I do but what does it have to do with the house?"

"The house can't stand you, it's like you're in it's way. The way I see it is the house has this pulling darkness and to the house you're like this light that breaks through the pulling. I don't know how and to be honest with you that shouldn't be happening."

"Well, I'm still allowed to go in right?"

"Yes you can and to be honest you should go today, I walked past it and sensed something inside the house, as if it were yearning for you, just one more thing. Ignore anything Constance has told you. If you want to find Jason listen to me." With that Bille left. I felt something inside me jump telling me to hurry up and leave. I scurried along to shower and do all the womanly things we woman do, I left with the intention to see Violet. I was glad I befriended her but something also told me that I shouldn't get to attached. I knocked on the door and saw a man, probably Violet's dad.

"Hello, how can I help you?" He said

"Hi, I'm here to see Violet. I'm your new neighbor, I met Violet and Vivienne yesterday."

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself, I'm Ben Harmon come on in." He let me in and we both shook hands.

"Violet's upstairs in her room, you can tell by the music." He walked away and went to answer his phone. I walked up the stairs.

I would never be able to shake this strange feeling that Bille had reminded me of. Even before I died, Jason knew it too. As I walked up I heard something above me, like a ball rolling. I looked up to see the entrance to the attic, it couldn't be, no it can't be Beau. I continued walking when I heard the ball roll again. Curiosity got the best of me, I made sure no one was around and I opened it and there was the ladder before me. I walked up, it sure was dusty. I looked around, quietly, to my surprise a red ball rolled against my feet. I rolled it back in the direction that it came from and sure enough there was Beau. He was smiling.

"Carol?" He asked.

"Yeah Beau it's me, Carol." I bent down and sat with him. I was a little teary, Beau was so innocent, like Jason, why was he trapped in this hell hole? These things angered me. He wasn't supposed to be here, no child belonged here. Not even Tate.

"Play with Beau?" He gently rolled the ball over to me. I thought of Violet, but then again she doesn't know I'm here, a few rolls wouldn't hurt.

"Yes but only for a little while okay?" I smiled as I rolled the ball back. We rolled the ball over and over for about ten minutes, as much as I loved being here with Beau I had to go see Violet.

"Beau, I have to go okay?" I said as I picked the ball up and handed it to him. I gave him a hug and he hugged me back. I hadn't seen Beau in so long, saying goodbye hurt me. I could tell it hurt him as well. As I walked down the ladder Beau spoke up:

"Carol?"

I looked up and responded:

"Yes Beau?"

"Jason likes to play with me too, he plays everyday." With that Beau vanished. Jason plays with Beau? I started to wonder, what did he mean? Was he giving me a hint? What about Constance? She said I'd be able to be with Tate and Jason, they knew something I didn' again Billie told me to ignore what Constance had said. As I closed the entrance to the attic and began to walk to find Violet's room, I felt a punch in the stomach. Something was wrong in the house and it was coming from the basement. I was a ghost after all, so I managed to vanish from everyone and go all the way back down to the main floor. I felt a great discomfort, something inside me began to boil. It was similar to the anger that I had when I found out Jack had killed Jason. It wasn't pain anymore. I walked down the steps with every move I got angrier. I was quiet but all I heard was confrontation. It was Constance, she was getting mad at Tate.

"Tell me you did not crawl on top of that man's wife!" She said as she held Tate's face in her hands. She got no response from Tate. She turned away and he began to speak:

"Mom.. mom you can't tell Violet, okay please don't-" He was cut off by Constance hitting him! I couldn't just stand here and watch this. It only reminded me of my father and how he would beat Jason. It made me furious.

"Constance!" I screamed as I walked towards where they were. It broke my heart to see Tate cry, after 16 years I still hate it when he cries.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I got closer to her face as she put her hand over he mouth.

"Carol, go back upstairs, you don't need to know anything." She said.

"It's Carolyn and it doesn't matter if I don't need to know why you're hurting him!" My temper was flaring.

"Carolyn, if you knew about the terrible things he has done," She hits him once more. "You would be doing the same."

"Tate may have done something terrible, that doesn't make him a terrible person." I looked at his teary eyes, those beautiful eyes. "He's your son, just because you're angry over what he's done gives you no right what so ever to hit him. Jason endured that same fate and look what happened to him. He's dead! Jason never forgave Jack. It's no wonder why Tate isn't close to you, I wouldn't be either. Don't you ever hit him again." I closed my eyes and breathed out, she walked off and left. I opened my eyes and turned to see Tate shaking on the ground. He had seen me, I went against my better judgement and bent down to his level. This wasn't the best way to see my best friend after 16 years but he needed someone right now.

"Carol?" He shook as he spoke.

"Don't cry Tate, I don't wanna see any pretty faces cry." I slowly put my hand on his face and wiped away the tears. He held my hand and closed his eyes as I did. He looked so vulnerable, so fragile. It was terrifying. I had always seen Tate as someone to hold on to.

"What are you doing here? Why do you look so young? You're alive aren't you?" I couldn't describe the look he gave to me when he said this. It was just too much. I didn't know how to tell my best friend, who wanted more than anything for me to be happy when I was alive, that I was dead. This implies him knowing that I would never be somebody, I would never get married or have kids or do what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to be happy and now here I am stuck, trapped in the in-between.

"Tate, calm down I'll answer that later, you-."

"Calm down, how can I calm down if you're dead!" He yelled as more tears fell from his face. He stood up now getting pushing me closer to the wall behind me.

"Tate, stop it. You were just hit by your mom and I know you're upset but-" It wouldn't work but I had to try.

"No! You're dead, how can you be dead! I told you not to do anything stupid!" He pushed me until I was up against the wall now. I felt that same darkness from Violet's room, but now it was in front of me.

"Tate I know you did but-" His interruptions were infuriating me.

"Stop it! Don't make up excuses! I asked you to do one thing and look what happened to you! Who the hell did this to you? Or did you let someone do this to you? Why the fuck didn't you listen to me!" His words were cutting in deep, he was just in a fragile state and all of a sudden he stood up with power like it came from no where. "How stupid could you have been to stay in that God damn house knowing Jack could've-"

"Jack didn't do this" It was like an explosion, yelling at Tate seemed unnatural but it had to be done. "You did this! You left me all alone Tate Langdon! I don't know what you did but you promised me you wouldn't do that! Jason was enough pain but look at you did. You're the cause of my death, this happened because of you! You left me all alone, drowning in pain. How could you? I needed you." At this point, tears were all over my face. Tate had a shocked and hurt look on his face. That look didn't last long because he began to shout again.

"What do you mean I left you? You left me, the minute you found out Jason was dead you had already left me! How the hell was do you think I felt, it wasn't just about you, I needed someone and the only person I had was mourning over her dead son!"

"Jason wasn't my son and you know that!"

"Well you sure acted like it, you never had anytime for anything except Jason!" Tate's words burned but I was not about to let him continue.

"If you've forgotten your time was dedicated to Jason too, why are you getting so angry over my responsibility? My mom was never there and Jack was always beating on him. Who the hell was he supposed to turn to?"

"That's just the damn point Carolyn Lockwood, you only had time for him, you never did anything but be a mom! You didn't even see what was in front of you!"

"And what was that? Because all I ever saw was reality! Did you ever notice that we all needed each other, I only acted like a mom because I was forced to and whatever I missed is gone now and you know what the sad part is? I saw it but never believed anything would come from it." I couldn't yell anymore, 16 years of not being able to see Tate and we end up fighting. Over something that didn't even matter, he had Violet.

"Carol." I felt him crouch down in front of me. I looked up at him but I couldn't hold back the tears still falling. How could he have been mad at me? He was the one who left me alone after he promised he' d be there for me.

"I'm so sorry Carol, I didn't-" He didn't finish because he took my hand that was wrapped around my leg and helped me stand up. He just looked at me and hugged me, all of a sudden. I didn't understand this, a minute ago he was yelling at me and now he's hugging me like he used to. What had happened to him?

"What's the matter with you? You never had a problem with me taking care of Jason before." I sniffled and continued; "You're different."

"I know I'm sorry but it's hard to see you like this, dead I mean." He held onto me tighter. "You were just so full of life and now you're here in a desolate waste land."

"Do you honestly think that I would've had anything waiting for me after high school?" I pulled away from him and looked in his eyes.

"Of course you did-" I stopped him there.

"No I didn't Tate, I would've graduated and left without getting into college or anything. I would have to get a job right off the bat. What about Jason, if he were still alive? Who knows how that would've gone?" I breathed a bit and continued; "I'm not saying it was better for me to die, but I had literally had nothing going for me." He looked to the floor, analyzing what I had said.

"I guess you're right, but that doesn't mean you should be stuck here... I missed you, you know that?" He smiled lightly. "How did you get here any how?"

"I'll tell you when we have more time but right now I need you to do me a favor." I said smiling lightly back. Before he could answer we heard a voice coming from the top of the stairs.

"Tate?"

Thanks for reading guys. Sorry for not posting in a while, I've had crazy writers block and a lot of other stuff came along. Hopefully I get more ideas. Reviews would be lovely. Once again thank you for reading loves 3