River Dee by Lyric (online e book reader .txt) 📖

Part One – Preparing

The clouds were dark and hazy on a starless, moonlit night. It had just been another ride home, another argument with my Mum. I had lain down in back of the car; the better to ignore Mum’s constant yelling. If I had only known that was the last time I would hear my mom speak. There was a crash. The car started to shake, and sort of remember seeing dad open the door. There was some distant squealing, water poured into the open door, and there was a flash of lightning. After that, everything went black and my whole world changed.

Kranie Morny, who had been driving behind us that night, was now my legal guardian. She had rushed me to the hospital, my dad’s body was not found, and my mother's was at the bottom of the lake. It was too late for my parents. I was out for an hour, but other than a few scratches, I was fine. The crash took my parents, but Kranie , my godmother, adopted me rather quickly. The crash had had as much impact on Kranie as it had on me; she had been close friends with my mother. Today, we were out shopping for our trips to the States to visit where the wreck had happened.


“That hat looks good on you, purple is definitely your color,” The store clerk cooed.
“Well, thanks, but I don’t know if I want to spend my money on this,” I replied.
“Nonsense, Caylor, my motto is if it fits, buy it in all colors! We’ll take twenty; I’m buying.” Kranie sounded more professional whenever we were out in public. I knew that she was just putting on an act. Kranie was usually a shy girl, if it were not for her late father she probably would have never met my family. Kranie’s dad had been an engineer who had helped my mom and Mrs. Jane build their many experiments, when he died Kranie started to help with the engineering. Kranie always went crazy before big trips, and this morning she had even bought me a new phone. Anora Jane had been the first person to call me on my new cellular device. Anora is the daughter of one of my late Mum’s friends. We were good friends, or as good as you can be between oceans. After the crash happened, we lost touch, because Anora lives in Utah and I live in London.


The crash happened on the way home from one of Mum’s scientific experiments in Utah, and talking to Anora just hurt too much, thus I had let our friendship slip away. Now Anora called me telling me that the trip will be good for me on two levels. Anora knows how I like to read mystery novels in my spare time. She said that she knew Kranie was planning this trip to help me cope with what had happened on the way home from the States one year ago. Anora also said that strange things had been happening lately, that a specter, or ghost, had been seen in her small town of Linkin Park. The ghost had been terrorizing the people of the town, and she said that I was the only person she could trust. When asked what she meant by terrorizing, Anora said that the meant that pigs with no heads had been found on the streets of Linkin Park regularly and Mr. Puddle only had two pigs left on his farm. Anora was not my only call of the day; after Anora my long time pal Brinley Walker called. Brinley was going with Kranie and me to the States, and this would be his first time. Brinley hated everything the first time, and he was calling me to tell me about every little horrible thing that the States had to offer.
After Brinley’s call, Kranie had rushed me to the store where she had bought me a whole new wardrobe and then some. Kranie probably would have taken Brinley shopping to, she know's he can be a stereotypical gay male, but his mom did not want to miss the chance for some mother-son bonding.


Part Two - Encounter
The way to Utah was long and tiresome; there is only so much that a girl can handle when she is stuck sitting between a snoring twenty-seven year old and a very talkative brown-haired boy named Brinley. Kranie’s snoring was fine; it made me wonder if she were dreaming of the acceptance she had in the States. Kranie had long, flaming red hair that she was proud to wear, but that also made people in London ridicule her a lot. The people in London did not accept ‘gingers’ and basically shunned her for being different. I did not mind the fact that Kranie was starting to drool on my shoulder, although I admit that it was really gross. I did mind, however, that Brinley kept rocking my seat back and forth. He was talking ninety miles a minute and I could only respond to half of his questions.


“Planes fly; I know that! But, does this one have to fly so high though? Can we not stay close to the ground and enjoy the scenery? “Brinley asked while he rocked back and forth.
“I don’t think that we can roll on water. Besides, the scenery is much better up in the sky,” I assured Brinley. When we exited the plane, it was all I could do not to kiss the ground. Besides Brinley and Kranie, there had been a little kid who kept kicking my seat. Anora and her parents were waiting for us when we landed. Anora’s short brown hair was tucked under a hat that she had to keep her hand on so the wind would not blow it off her head. As soon as our eyes met, she rushed over to meet me.
“I didn’t tell my parents about my telling you about the ghost. They don’t believe in the ghost; I didn’t either until a day before I called you. I saw it Caylor, with my own eyes; I swear it’s real!”


Anora had gone insane after the crash. She had kept saying that she had seen Kranie switch some of our car equipment with that of some that she found in the dump. Anora says that when Kranie bumped into the back of our car, the impact made the false parts fall apart and made us slide into that lake. The only way I survived was because Kranie had wanted me to be the child she never had. Those remarks landed Anora in therapy for a year and a reputation for being a liar. The car had gone too far into the lake to be sure if Anora’s stories were true, but no one trusted her, not even me.
“What would a ghost be doing in little old Linkin Park?” I questioned her while I searched for my luggage.
“I haven’t quite figured that one out. Whatever the reason, whoever sees it always says that he or she hears it muttering, “can’t leave Linkin, have to stay, she must come, can’t leave.” You can quote me on that because even Mrs. Teal said that she saw the ghost
muttering away those very words, and everybody knows that teachers hate contractions! That means that it must be true!” Anora exclaimed. Sometimes whenever she spoke, I had a hard time believing that she was sixteen.


“That’s actually sort of interesting. The ghost just strolls around town chanting this stuff? “I asked.
“Yes. Oh, I guess I’ve been a terrible hostess. You’re supposed to be staying at my humble abode, and I haven’t even let you into the car. I guess we’ll get a bite to eat at my house and meet up with the adults then. I had hoped that you would have come without Kranie. I’m guessing that the scrawny eavesdropping brunette is Brinley?” Anora inquired. I looked around and saw Brinley hiding behind an old lady and pretending to give her assistance. When he saw that he had been caught, he came from behind the lady and threw his hands in the air, criminal style. I could tell that Brinley and Anora would become good friends because they both loved to talk way more than needed. Anora led Brinley and me to her car, and we drove to her house.


Anora’s home had a cozy feel to it, and it was easy to get comfortable once inside it. The hallway was full of family portraits and smelled like cinnamon and freshly cut flowers. The Jane house reminded me of how my life once was. After Anora showed Brinley and me to the guest rooms, we sat down with Gloria Jane, Tom Jane, and Kranie for some breakfast. After we ate, Anora, Brinley, and I went outside to talk about the ghost. We could not reach an agreement on why there might be a ghost in Linkin Park. Before I could say my strongest point, a cold fog came.
“W-w-what’s that?” Brinley stuttered, even the slightest noise scared Brinley; talking about ghosts had already made his heart quicken.
“It’s fog, stupid. It looks like it’s coming from my parent’s lab, which is weird. The lake is in that direction, too, but not for miles,” Anora replied.
Before anything else could be said, two vague figures emerged from the fog. One had a mass of lightly colored brown locks. She had on a long blood-splattered dress and glowing eyes. Tears streamed down her pale face. The other one had straight gray hair that covered his face. He wore no shirt, but you could almost not tell because he had a scar covering his chest. His eyes were clear and dark. The two figures seemed unaware of each other’s presence.
“Can’t leave Linkin, have to stay, she must come, can’t leave,” the male chanted just as Anora had said. After he had chanted for the fifth time, the female opened her mouth and water poured from it. When the water stopped, she whispered that the young ones should pay heed to what he said, and then she was gone. The male looked down at his shoe that now had a puddle of water surrounding it, and he turned around and ran away. The three of us watched the scene play out in frozen fear and preceded to run into the house screaming.


Part Three- Solution
Inside the house that had once felt warm and safe, whenever Anora crashed into the doors, it felt like every picture in the hallway was laughing. My lungs felt as if something worse than Jason Voorhees, Mike Myers, and Jigsaw combined was chasing me, and they could not wait for me to get ripped to shreds and served to cannibals. I probably would have fainted if Brinley