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Sins of the Past
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Chapter Two
We drove into town and dropped into the first deli we came across. Soon I was sitting at a table, wolfing down a large meatball sub.
Mom looked up from her ham and cheese, frowning. "Anna dear, at the very least please try to chew before swallowing."
I couldn't help that I was hungry, but I grunted an affirmative and did as was asked.
The cashier, whose name was Rapunzel, giggled from behind the counter. "I'm surprised that she can even get it down. People usually never order the meatball sub."
I can understand why. This thing isn't very good.
"Which leads me to suspect that you guys are likely new in town. In that case, welcome!"
My mom grinned, "Thanks! We just moved into an old lone house sitting near the top of the hill."
Rapunzel gasped, "Woah, did I hear you right? The old house on the hill? Did you know that place is supposedly haunted?"
I suddenly found myself extremely interested in this conversation.
Swallowing a mouthful of meatball, I asked in my most casually intrigued tone possible. "Haunted? I love a good ghost story. Please elaborate?"
"Legend has it that a girl about our age and her family used to live up there sometime in the 1900s. They were quite wealthy, I think. They used to own one of the big businesses that kept this town's economy afloat."
She paused to purse her lips.
"I don't remember much else to be honest. The story gets fuzzy from there. I know for certain that something bad happened to the girl, though versions vary on what. Some say that she got disowned after refusing to takeover the family business, others say she was mentally unstable and had to be locked away, and then there are the whackjobs who insist that she was an all-powerful ice spewing witch that had to be put down. All versions agree, however, that one: the girl disappeared, and two: the family moved away shortly afterwards."
"Okay, but what about the haunting?"
"Keep your pants on. I'm about to get to that part." She paused to ring up a customer, one who flashed her a conspiratorial grin before leaving. Presumably he's already heard the story a few dozen times?
"Okay, anyway. Apparently the local daredevils and idiots say that if you go into a darkened bathroom at night, say her name three times while spinning in a circle.. blah blah blah.. it's the old Bloody Mary shtick. You'd think these guys would at least try to come up with a more original story or something, but almost everyone who's went to her old house and performed it swear that the girl's ghost actually appeared in the mirror behind them and scared the living crap out of them. They also claim that they never actually physically saw her, even though her image appeared in the mirror."
My eyes widened as my mouth fell agape. A ghost in the mirror. The exact thing I swear I saw not two hours prior. Holy crap.
"What?" Rapunzel teased. She must've seen my expression. "Did you see her yourself? Did she haaaunt you? Did she raise an army of spooooky scaryyyy skeletons and dance the thriller?"
Mom laughed at that, but I was a bit unnerved, to say the least.
I tried to play it cool. "Oh please, I didn't even know she existed until now." Truth. "Much less how to quote-on-quote, summon her." Also truth. "How could I have possibly seen her?" Lie.
All things considered however, I really did want to learn more about this ghost. Though, I probably should make at least a cursory effort to hide my interest, lest my mom start running around telling all our relatives that I've been possessed. I'd never live that down.
I paused, tapping my chin as if deep in thought. "Just curious, what was her name?"
Rapunzel laughed, "You're not actually going try all that baloney, are you? I pieced this story together from little snippets I hear every now and then from the town crackpots. Not exactly a reputable source."
I grinned at her in return. "Who knows? I'm missing a few screws myself."
"I can attest to that!" Chimed my mother.
"Alright, but if something happens I expect to hear about it!"
"Yeah yeah yeah, you'll be the first —here I notice my mom shooting me a pointed, yet amused grin— um, one of the first people I'll tell." I amended.
Rapunzel laughed, again. Boy she likes laughing. "Very well then, her name was Elsa."
Elsa.
Elsa. Elsa. Elsa.
I like the way that name rolls off my tongue.
We had just returned home from town, and mom promptly resumed her battle with the gunk on the kitchen counter. I took a look in there myself, and I can say with certainty that that room will not be clean for a very long time. I helped to the best of my ability, and we made some decent progress, but man. I am not kidding when I say it's a mess in there.
We decided to eat instant noodles in the living room for dinner instead. Delicious.
Mom returned to the kitchen afterwards. She doesn't give up easily. It runs in the family.
I on the other hand, headed straight towards the upstairs bathroom. I couldn't believe what I was about to do, but I also couldn't wait a second longer to try it out.
I quietly shut the door upon arrival and turned on the lights. Steeling myself, I stared deep into the mirror and began to chant.
"Elsa... Elsa... Elsa."
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Ridiculous. Why am I even wasting my—Holy hell what happened to the lights?
I turn my head towards the door, straining my eyes in the darkness to discover that the lightswitch is untouched and still in the "on" position. Goosebumps prickle my flesh as the room temperature begins to plummet.
What have I just gotten myself into?
I turn back toward the mirror in time to find the ghost —Elsa— materialize behind me to the left. I gasp involuntarily, and whip around to face her.
Nothing, as I should've expected.
I glance back at the mirror. The image of Elsa is still there, but incredibly fuzzy. That, and the embodying wisps of mist that surround her combine to make it incredibly difficult to identify any sort of detail about her.
I try to make out what little I can, but there isn't much to see.
She floats a few metres off the ground, high enough for me to immediately notice that she does not appear to have legs. They are either obscured by her flowing dress and ambient glow, or —shudder— she does not happen to own a pair at all. Stray strands of white hair blow softly behind her, even without the presence of wind, and two long pale arms droop by her sides.
What makes my blood run cold, however, is that her face is now a literal blank mask. When I saw her previously, I was able to recognize that she had at least some semblance of facial features. Now I see only two, menacingly narrow, black glowing slits where her eyes should be.
I have a sudden urge to leave this room.
I slowly back away to the door, keeping my eyes on the image in the mirror at all times, and extend my hand behind me to quietly rotate the doorknob...
...and discover that it won't budge.
Elsa's eyes flash a deep crimson red, and I panic as the image in the mirror lunges for my throat with arms outstretched. I squeeze my eyes shut and crumple into a pathetic heap at the foot of the door, as my mind succumbs to fear.
I try to savour my last gulps of air before the phantom hands and miasma can choke them out of me, tears trickling down my cheeks.
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Huh?
Sporadic bursts of orange behind my eyelids alert me of the fact that the lights are flickering back on, and that I am not dead. I slowly rise to my feet, knees wobbling all the while, and find that the door opens easily. I dry my eyes as I try to stem my hiccups, and note that while the room temperature has stabilized, goosebumps continue to poke at my flesh.
I don't look back into the mirror as I stumble out of the room, fleeing downstairs.
I drew inspiration for Elsa's ghostly form from the in-game depiction of a banshee in Warcraft 3, except that Elsa doesn't look nearly as nutball crazy (and ugly) as they do. You can Google image search "Warcraft 3 Banshee" to see what I mean.
If you and I get the same results, then you'll also see a deviantart depiction of a banshee by "binkari." That image conveniently shows pretty much exactly what I had in mind during writing (except that Elsa's hair of course has more of a whitish hue than that of purple).