Fire That Burns but Never Dies

Reese woke up the following morning to her phone’s alarm and reached over to turn it off. Her hands came up empty, however, and she sat up on her bed confused for a moment before she reached over to the other side and found her phone beeping loudly. She turned her alarm off and stared at her phone for a few moments.

She could have sworn that she put her phone on the other nightstand the night before. She pushed the thought away with a small shake of her head and got out of bed.

Things go missing and turn up in different parts of the house.

Brian’s words from last night entered her mind and Reese firmly pushed them away. She was not going to get worked up over this bullshit again. She must have thought that was where she put her phone the night before but she didn’t. There, a rational thought with a logical explanation to the current situation.

Reese got out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes and headed to her bathroom for a shower. When she was dressed for the day she wasn’t surprised to find her phone where she’d left it only a half hour before. Apparently, her could things stay exactly where she left them.

She walked downstairs and saw Matt sitting at the kitchen counter eating some toast and drinking some orange juice. Reese’s eyes narrowed on him. “How did you get in?” Her tone wasn’t as sharp as she wished it to be but Matt still jumped at the sudden sound of her voice.

Matt finished chewing his food, his eyes were narrowed on his cousin’s face trying to determine just how pissed she was at him. After she left last night Brian, Jimmy and Zacky were confused as to why Reese would just flip out and take off like that. Matt, of course, knew why but didn’t tell the guys why. He could understand why Reese thought that he’d set her up for a not so funny prank on her end, but he hadn’t, he wouldn’t. “Your mom gave my mom a key for emergencies.”

When Matt saw that cousin was about to speak, he held his hands up, palms forward hoping that Reese would understand his ‘just hear me out’ gesture before he opened his mouth. “I know you thought I’d told the guys about your dreams, but, Reese, I swear I didn’t, okay?”

Reese crossed her arms over her chest and her brow rose skeptically. “Why should I believe you?”

“It’s the truth. I saw how freaked your nightmares made you, I wouldn’t try to hurt you like that.”

Reese just stared at her cousin and felt her anger melting away when his eyes remained sincere and she dropped her arms. “I believe you. For now,” she said slowly.

“Really?” Matt grinned. “That was easy.”

Reese shrugged. “So what was with that bullshit story last night?”

“The story wasn’t made up. Beau and Billy Johnson were real people and they lived and died here,” Matt shivered slightly as he felt a tingle work down his spine. “To be honest, I don’t believe that they haunt the house but still, the place creeps me out sometimes. I don’t see how you can stand to be alone here for hours.”

Reese didn’t say anything as she walked to the fridge and grabbed the orange juice carton. She poured herself a glass and turned to look at Matt. “So that means Brian wasn’t being a douche last night?”

Matt took a moment before he answered. “Not an intentional douche. Why?”

“I just thought he was... I don’t know, trying to pull one over on me. By like making me believe we were friends and then... I just thought he was being a jerk. I suppose I should call him later or something,” she said.

“Listen, Reese,” Matt sighed. “Brian’s usually a good guy and if you feel like he’s giving you shit, you just talk to me and I’ll straighten him out for you. That goes for anyone, okay?”

“You’re like my brothers,” Reese rolled her eyes. “But thanks, Matt. I really appreciate it.”

Matt grinned.

Kelly walked into the kitchen then and saw her daughter and her nephew. “Morning, kids,” she greeted them with a tired smile and kissed Reese’s temple.

“How was work?” Reese asked.

“Crazy as usual,” Kelly sighed. “I need to sleep for a week and then have a ten hour back massage. So what’s for breakfast?”

“Toast and juice,” Matt said.

“Yeah, we need to go to the grocery store and stock up. Matt is eating everything in the pantry and the fridge,” Reese tossed Matt a look.

Matt smiled sheepishly at the two women. “I’m a growing boy, what else can I do?” He chuckled.

Reese and Kelly shared a smile and shook their heads.



Reese and Kelly were unpacking the groceries and putting them away in their respective places when Reese remembered Brian’s story from last night and turned to look at her mom. “Hey, mom, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, honey, what is it?” Kelly asked as she put away some frozen green beans.

“Last night when I was hanging out with the guys, Brian told me a story about the house,” Reese started and noticed that her mom froze in mid-motion as she was putting the milk away. “He said that two boys died in a fire here. Is that true?”

“Dammit,” Kelly sighed and turned to face her daughter. “I didn’t want to tell you,” she admitted. “I thought if you knew then you wouldn’t want to move in.”

“Is that why we got the place so cheap? Because two kids died here?” Reese asked. “That’s just... I don’t even know what to say about this. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you. What was I supposed to say? You get your own bathroom and the neighborhood is nice, oh and by the way two kids died in the house. Okay now let’s unpack? Come on, kid, the house isn’t so bad and I think we’re pretty lucky to be here. It is a nice neighborhood and everything and you’re making friends here. Is it really all that bad?” Kelly asked.

Reese looked away from her mom and sighed. “I guess not.”

“Okay then, so we’re good?” Kelly asked with a hopeful smile.

Reese smiled and kissed her mom on her cheek. “We’re good,” she said and grabbed a box of cereal and put in the pantry. “I’m gonna go to my room if you need me.”

“Okay, honey,” Kelly smiled. “We’re having chicken enchiladas for dinner.”

“Sweet,” Reese answered as she walked past her mom. “I was kinda in the mood for some spicy Mexican food.” She wandered upstairs and walked into her room, immediately starting up her computer to check her email.

Her inbox was full of junk mail for free samples of penis enlargement pills and online dating websites but not a single message from her friends.

Reese sighed as she shut her computer down and lay down on her bed with a huff. How much longer were her friends going to ignore her? How much longer could she go without talking to them?

She reached over for her phone and called the oldest of her three brothers, Tom Jr., affectionately called TJ.

“TJ,” Reese spoke when he answered. “How are things going at home?”

“Fucking finally, Reese. We thought you were never gonna get around to calling,” TJ said impatiently.

Reese rolled her eyes. It’s not like the phone doesn’t work both ways, was what she wanted to say but she kept her mouth shut. “Been a little busy here, settling in and all that jazz. How are Trevor and Trent?”

“You know them, they’re doing alright. We all miss you though and can’t wait to see you and mom at Thanksgiving.”

Reese sighed. “Me too.”

“What’s wrong, kid?” TJ asked.

“How is it that we’re thousands of miles away from each other and you still manage to know that something is bothering me?”

“I’m your big brother and as such I’ve got a talent for knowing when something is wrong with my baby sister.”

“It’s just,” Reese sighed. “Nothing,” she said. “I just miss being back home I guess.” She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from spilling her guts to her brother. She didn’t want TJ to worry about her from so far away. “So how are things with you and Rachel going?”

Rachel was TJ’s on again off again girlfriend. For the most part, things between TJ and Rachel were good. However, Rachel had a mean jealous streak in her that caused a lot of problems for TJ. Reese couldn’t quite understand why her older brother didn’t just dump the woman for good and finally get rid of her, but TJ was a big boy who could take care of his own love life so Reese stayed out of it.

“Not so good lately. She’s getting all pissy and jealous again. Seriously, Reese, I’m just getting fed up with her and the pattern that we always fall into. I think it’s about time that I end things with Rachel for good.”

Reese couldn’t help her smile. “I’m happy for you, TJ. Truth is we never liked her to begin with.”

TJ chuckled and then sighed. “Man, I miss you kid. It’s been pretty quiet around here without your offhanded comments about Lindsay and everything.”

Reese bit her lip before she answered in a teasing voice. “Man up, TJ, thanksgiving is just around the corner.”

“I know. So,” TJ said. “How are Matt, Aunt Karen and everybody?”

“They’re all good. Matt’s keeping an eye on me so no need for you to worry about that. His friends are pretty cool, I like them.”

“Has anyone caught your eye yet?”

Reese felt her face flush as she made a choking sound in her throat.

TJ laughed. “I knew it. Who is he?”

“No one. There’s no one, TJ. Come on, I just got here like five minutes ago. Who could I have possibly met in such a short amount of time?”

“There’s a guy,” TJ stated confidently. “When I get out there, I wanna meet him.”

Reese groaned. “I’ve got to go. Later, TJ. Tell the knuckleheads that I said hi and that I’ll call them sometime next week.” She hung up before TJ could protest or say goodbye back and tossed her phone onto the bed with a loud sigh.

When it beeped loudly, Reese figured that TJ sent her text so she was hesitant to check her messages. She reached over and unlocked her phone and saw that the text was from Ryan.

Miss you, Reese. </3

Reese smiled and her fingers started flying as she typed out her response.

Miss you guys, too. Wish I was home.

Her phone stayed silent but Reese felt the knot that had taken residence in her chest loosen a fraction. She now knew that one of her friends missed her and that was more than enough for right now.

“Hey, Reese, come down and help me with dinner,” Kelly called up.

“Coming!” Reese shouted back.

Reese couldn’t keep the smile off of her face as she skipped down the stairs. Her mother immediately noticed her daughter’s perky mood and thanked whatever was making Reese happy.

The two women chatted absently as they prepared the large meal for their family and Matt’s. Once the enchiladas were in the oven Kelly headed upstairs for a quick shower before their family stopped by for dinner.

Reese was watching tv in the living room, channel surfing mostly, looking for something semi-interesting to watch until everyone came over. She started to feel colder and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to retain whatever warmth she had.

The tv turned off on its own and a cold tingle worked its way down Reese’s spine.

“Stop being such a baby, Reese. There are no such things as ghosts. This is just some sort of power surge,” she said as she grabbed the remote and turned the tv back on only to have it turn off again almost immediately. She tried again and the tv went blank once more.

Reese felt something brush against her hand and she dropped the remote as if she’d just been shocked. She let out a loud scream and jumped up from the couch.

“Reese,” a disembodied voice sang softly into Reese’s ear, moving her hair slightly in the process as it spoke.

Reese started shaking violently. This wasn’t a dream, she was awake and this was very real.

“Reese,” the voice sang softly again. “You’re going to die here.”