Fire That Burns but Never Dies

Reese let out a tiny, strangled squeal as her heart beat frantically against her ribs and she ran from the living room straight into her mother’s bedroom. She could hear the shower being turned off as she hugged a pillow close to her body.

She shut her eyes tightly and buried her face into the pillow.

That didn’t just happen. That didn’t just happen. That didn’t just happen. She repeated in her head, hoping that every time she thought it she would believe it more.

Reese couldn’t block out the memory of the cold touch on her hand, or the way the voice said her name into her ear and the promise it whispered.

You’re going to die here.

“Reese, Christ, honey, you scared me,” Kelly said as she gripped the white terrycloth robe tightly in her hands,

Reese looked up at her mother and Kelly frowned. “Are you okay, Reese? You look as though you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Reese couldn’t answer her mother. Was she okay? Yes, psychically, there was nothing wrong with her. Emotionally, however, Reese felt like a giant wreck. She was hearing a voice and feeling things that she couldn’t see. So, was she okay? Reese didn’t know.

Would Reese’s mother believe her if she told her about what had happened? Or would Kelly just think that it’s Reese complaining about the house because she’d initially been lied to about the place? Should she tell her mother what she heard and felt? Yeah, great idea, Reese and if your mom doesn’t get pissed at you for bitching about house you just earned yourself a one way ticket to the nut hut where you get to spend the rest of your days in a padded cell, gluing cotton balls to paper for fun. The sarcastic thought made Reese tense slightly; she wasn’t crazy. She heard a voice and felt something touch her hand. That didn’t make her crazy.

All of this went through Reese’s mind in less than five seconds and helped her form her next words carefully. “Saw a spider,” she cleared her throat. “It was fucking huge and crawled on my arm. I screamed,” she smiled sheepishly.

Kelly chuckled. “I thought I heard something earlier. Well, go on and scoot, I’ve got to get dressed.”

“Right,” Reese let out a soft, embarrassed laugh. “I’ll be downstairs arming myself with insect spray and a rolled up newspaper.”

“Spiders are arachnids, not insects,” Kelly said.

“Same difference; they’re creepy and crawly and overall gross,” Reese said as she closed her mom’s bedroom door behind her as she left and slowly made her way back downstairs. She didn’t want to leave the safe haven that was her mom’s company, but what else could she have done? If Reese hadn’t left then Kelly would know that something was bothering her and would keep asking until Reese caved and told her about what was bothering her.

Reese didn’t want her mom to look at her as if she was crazy, like the weight of her parents’ divorce, the move across the country, being separated from her friends and family and the discovery of the death of the boys of their new house was finally weighing down on her shoulders and possibly her sanity. She didn’t need that shit especially after her ghostly encounter.

Reese shivered as she walked back through the living room, she felt eyes stalking her movements and she instinctively knew that even though she couldn’t see anyone with her eyes that she wasn’t alone. The thought made her skin tingle with goose bumps. Whatever this thing was, was able to touch her and if she could feel it touch her then that means it could hurt her if it wanted to.

She kept her face stoic as she quickly walked into the kitchen. Just pretend that nothing’s wrong, she told herself. Her mother would be down soon and she wouldn’t be alone anymore. Reese couldn’t keep her hands from shaking however and balled them into fists to mask her nerves.

When the oven timer went off, Reese jumped and let out a shaky breath. She laughed at herself when she realized that she was jumping up and panicking over nothing. After shoving her hands into oven mitts, she turned the oven off and pulled out the aluminum foil covered dish and set it on the counter. The smell of the melted cheese and chicken wafted into her nose as she uncovered the dish; steam rose into the air, twisting this way and that before vanishing into the air.

Reese’s stomach rumbled as she continued to stare down at the Mexican food. She hadn’t realized it till then, but she was starving. Matt’s family wasn’t coming over for another half hour and Reese sighed, she didn’t if she could wait that long as her stomach made its needs known again. She covered the food back up before she could do anything stupid, like stuff her face, and stepped away from the enchiladas.

“Smells great, huh?” Kelly asked with a bright smile as she walked into the kitchen.

“Definitely, mom.” Reese’s stomach grumbled again and she chuckled. “My stomach thinks so too.”



A half hour later, Matt and his family showed up for dinner and despite the four extra people at the dinner table, Reese still couldn’t focus all of her attention on her family. Her mind kept drifting off to the events that happened earlier this evening. She couldn’t get the voice out of her mind, the way it said her name, the cold touch on her hand that still lingered.

Reese was grateful for the extra company though, she figured whatever the thing was that was in her house would stay away from her if other people were around. She just hoped she was right and didn’t know what would happen if she was to be proven wrong. She wouldn’t even think about that.

Reese was tuning in and out of the easy conversation around the table, answering when spoken to but not doing much to contribute to the topics of discussion. Matt spoke about his school day smiling when his younger brother interrupted him midsentence to tell them that his teacher was letting them have a Halloween party and that he knew what he wanted to dress up as; a zombie with his guts sticking out and dripping blood everywhere. Kelly’s sister was concerned about his costume choice and tried to get him to go as a ninja instead.

After dinner, Matt’s family left and Reese and Kelly started putting away the leftovers.

“You were quiet tonight,” Kelly commented.

Reese nodded. “Yeah.”

“What? Did that spider get your tongue earlier?” Kelly laughed softly.

Reese smiled but it more a jerk of her mouth than an actual expression of mirth. “Maybe.”

“Well, here, I want you to take this over to the Haner’s. I made way too much food tonight and even with Matt and his dad having seconds and giving them food to take home, there’s no way that you and I can eat the rest before it spoils.” Kelly handed Reese a heavy plate and Reese nodded her acquiescence to the task.

“Be right back,” she said as left the kitchen. It was only when Reese was outside walking down the porch steps that she realized that she hadn’t called Brian yet to apologize for last night. Reese figured now was as good time as any to apologize and took a deep breath before she rang the door bell. She could hear the chime from outside and waited patiently for someone to open the door.

When Brian opened the door, Reese thought she’d been prepared for whatever he would say to her. What she didn’t expect was for him to revert back to the guy she met her first morning.

“What do you want?” Brian asked coldly, his arms crossed over his chest, his face carefully expressionless as he stared at Reese with hardened eyes.

Reese took a moment before answering, she couldn’t help the awkward smile that lifted her lips. “My mom sent me over to give you this. It’s a chicken enchilada plate with some rice. We had a lot left over, so yeah.”

Brian took the plate but still kept his eyes on Reese. “Is that all?”

Reese felt slightly annoyed at Brian continued to be an asshole to her. “I’m sorry, okay?” She bit out rudely. “I thought Matt told you something that was meant to be private and thought you and Matt were planning on playing some stupid prank on me, alright? I didn’t know. I asked my mom about it and she confirmed that Billy and Beau died in my house.”

“Wait. What?” Brian’s face showed his confusion.

“I wasn’t trying to be a bitch last night,” Reese said. “I just can’t help it sometimes,” she bit her bottom lip lightly when Brian didn’t laugh at her poor attempt at a joke. “You can disagree with me, Brian.”

Brian smirked. “I could, but I agree with said statement.”

Reese laughed and rolled her eyes and just like that all was forgiven between them. “So, uh, what you said last night about people hearing things or their stuff turning up in different parts of the house, is that true?” She asked and wrapped her arms around her torso trying to keep her hands from shaking noticeably.

“As far as I know,” Brian nodded. “Why? Did something like that happen?”

Reese looked up at him and didn’t know what to say. “Uh, no?”

“Really, Reese, you can tell me. Did something happen?”

Reese bit her bottom lip again. She wanted to give into the sincere concern she saw swimming in Brian’s brown eyes to give a small part of the burden that weighed heavily on her mind to him to carry, but she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t think she wasn’t crazy, that she’d lost her mind and needed to be committed to the closest mental institution as soon as possible to be tested, analyzed and medicated.

Reese took in a breath and sighed. “Would you think I was crazy if I said something did happen?”

Brian’s eyes lit up with excitement and he grabbed Reese’s hand and dragged her over to the porch swing and sat them both down. “So something did happen, then?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Reese said.

“You didn’t answer mine,” Brian shot back.

“What if something did happen? Why do you want to know?”

“Are you kidding?” Brian asked as he set the plate of enchiladas down on a table. “That would be so fucking awesome. It’s like Ghost Hunters or something but fucking real.”

“Calm down there, Sparky,” Reese laughed. “I didn’t realize that you were so nerdy.”

Brian scoffed. “I’m not fucking nerdy, but you’ve got to admit that it’s fucking cool to live in a legit haunted house.”

Reese looked away and didn’t answer him. She didn’t think it was cool at all; she thought it was downright terrifying.

“I felt something touch my hand,” Reese admitted in a quiet voice. “I told my mom that a spider freaked me out and that’s why I screamed.”

Brian shot Reese a confused look. “Why?”

“She’ll think I’m starting shit just to start it and make living there difficult. Plus, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t believe me if I did tell her. Hell, I’m not even sure if I believe myself and I was there when it happened,” she shook her head.

“Holy shit, this is amazing,” Brian said. “I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before.”

“Great, I get to be all special,” Reese said sarcastically.

Brian patted her shoulder gently and left his hand there. Reese felt the warmth of his hand seeping through her shirt, heating her skin and she turned to look at him. “I’m not crazy right? I mean, you believe me when I say that that happened, right?”

Brian wrapped his arm around Reese’s shoulder and brought her close to his body. He could feel the faint trembles coming from her body and hugged her tightly to his side. “I believe you, Reese. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise,” he sighed against her temple.

Reese felt slightly better at Brian’s words and smiled. “Thanks,” she whispered. “I’m just glad that you don’t think I need to be locked up somewhere.”

Brian chuckled. “I never said that.”

Reese laughed and pushed herself away from Brian. “I’d better get home. Enjoy the enchiladas. Night, Brian.”

“Good night, Reese. Call me if you hear something that goes bump in the night, I’ll be straight over to protect you.”

“I think I may take you up on that,” Reese said as she walked down the porch steps. “Later,” she waved and then walked over to her house. She waved one last time at Brian before they both entered their homes.

Reese sighed, at least she and Brian were still friends.