I Can Talk to Ghosts...

Fifth period seemed to drag on forever and it didnt help that Alan was looking at the clock every five minutes. The whole class seemed to be moving in slow motion, and on top of it all that ghost was still there. He'd started following him since the end of third period and hadnt left him alone once. He wanted to just ask the guy what he wanted, but they were in the middle of taking a test, and then he'd really look like a freak. The ghost just kept repeating the same things over and over again; "You're running out of time." and "You must hurry." and Alan was about to yell at it. Finally, after what seemed like hours of torture, the bell for lunch rang and he bolted out of the class room and toward the library. He went through the doors and to their regular spot where he found Kyra already there.

"You look a little rushed." She said looking up at him as he dropped his backpack.

"Math seemed to last for hours... and there's a ghost following me again." He said sitting next to her.

"Well they're not here right now are they?" She asked looking around as if she'd see the ghost.

He shook his head, "No, not right now."

"Alright." She said then leaned on his shoulder, "So why suddenly interested in this town?"

"What? I cant just suddenly be interested?" He shifted his shoulder and made a face at her, "No, its actually something one of the ghosts said to me this morning. While you were in first period I was sitting outside and just writing in a notebook when this ghost floated through the table. Said I had to do something about the "secrets that arent just stories" of the town or something like that."

She sat up and looked at him, "Seriously?"

He nodded, "But I dont know the story of this town so I dont know what he was talking about."

"That's why you asked if I knew it." She nodded slowly.

"Yep." He looked at her, "So, you gonna tell me?"

"Sure, why not." She shrugged.

"Great." He smiled.

She sat back against the book shelf, "Okay, where to start... okay. Well, I guess it was like some or so years ago, but this town was supposed to have been a little, not even on the map, kinda place that you had to accidentally walk into to know it existed. The people who lived here though, they were real superstitious. Black cats, spilling salt, red sunrises, whatever you can imagine. So, if you have superstitious freaks in one isolated place with little to no contact with the outside world, you kinda gotta be careful with what you do right? Well there was supposedly this woman, Irelda, who worked in medicines and healings or whatever, but some of the towns people saw her doing something with strange symbols and objects. See, she was wiccan and all that goodness so one thing leads to another and the people start accusing her of being responsible for all the bad things that happened in the town." She looked at him to make sure he was still following and was getting everything.

"Come on, keep going." He poked her smiling. This was somewhat interesting.

She giggled and slapped his hand, "Alright, alright. Well after being accused of being a sorceress/witch whichever, they went after her like most people did when someone was accused of sorcery, blah blah blah... anyhoo, they caught her after a while and then tied her to a stake to burn her like they did, history crap history stuff blah... but as they lit the wood and her on fire, she started screaming things in some unknown tongue. Most people guessed it was an incantation, that's what witches/sorceresses do or what, but its said she cursed everybody who was there to watch her burn. The blood lines of everybody near her were supposed to have been cursed for generations to come with bad luck and horrible accidents until her soul finally feels like its been avenged or stop or whatever, or until the 100th year passing of when she was burned when she's supposed to "rise out of the earth and destroy all those who are decedents of the blood lines she cursed" kinda thing.... That's pretty much it."

Alan sat back, "Jeez..."

"I know right?" Kyra said, "When my mom told me that story I was kinda just thinking its a little dumb, ya know?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean... but still." He suddenly started thinking about what the ghost said; he couldnt possibly mean the sorceress... right?

"So, what do you think that ghost was trying to tell you?" She asked as she poked his face, "Huh?"

"Well, I dont really know... but I could guess he thinks the story of the sorceress is true and thinks she's going to "rise and destroy" or whatever." He sighed.

"It is true." That now oh so familiar dead voice hit his ears.

Alan turned around and found the teenaged ghost half fazed through the bookshelf.

"Will you go away?!" He hissed at him.

"What?" Kyra looked at him questioningly.

He turned to her quickly, "Ah! No... sorry... I didnt mean you! A ghost... he's just, same one..."

"Ah, okay." She nodded and looked at where Alan had been turned.

"You know the story now..." The ghost said, "You have to go stop her..."

"She's not coming back from the dead!" Alan glared at the ghost.

"In three days... three days it will be the 100th year of the day she was burned..." The ghost floated out of the bookshelf, "She'll come back and wipe out the blood lines of those who condemned her...

"Will you shut up? I dont really want to listen to you any more... you've dont nothing but follow and bug me all day!" Alan hissed, "Can I get some peace?! Just for a little while?"

The ghost made a face at him, but then disappeared through the floor.

Alan sighed and slouched back against the bookshelf. He looked at Kyra and saw her sitting over there with a stupid looking grin on her face.

"What?" He asked.

She shook her head, "It's nothing... it was just kinda funny watching you get angry at the air."

He sighed, "I know..."

"Oh dont worry about it." She smiled and hugged him, "I love you no matter how crazy you look."

He stuck his tongue out at her, "Thanks."

She just grinned, "So, what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" He looked at her quizzically.

"About this "have to go up and stop her" or whatever you said the ghost told you to do." Kyra raised an eyebrow, "You really dont think its true?"

"I dont know..." Alan looked at his shoes, "I mean, it all sounds a little to much like a movie, but what can I say about it... I can talk to ghosts..."

"Well, okay why dont we just go up there, see if there really is anything we have to do, and if not then just come back like nothing happened. But if there is, we'll do it and get it over with and never speak of it again. What do you think?" She looked at him.

"Okay, are you saying that because you dont want anything to happen if something might happen... or just saying that because you want to go up there yourself?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She smiled widely.

"Yeah, I thought so." He shook his head but smiled, "Alright, alright. But, I dont know what to do up there anyways."

As if on cue, the ghost came back, "You have to set back the clock..."

"Clock?" Alan looked at him questioningly.

"Huh?" Kyra raised an eyebrow.

"No, ghost... sorry."

"Ah, okay."

"There is a clock... by her grave." The ghost said, "You must set it back another hundred years..."

"That's it? Just turn back a clock?" Wow, okay this "important quest" idea was sounding easier and easier.

He nodded, "But... you have to do it on the 100th year day, just as the sun sets... or the spell wont work anymore..."

Oh well... so much for easier...

"Seriously?" Alan sighed, "Great, exact timing..."

"What now?" Kyra asked.

"Apparently, there's some kind of clock up by the sorceress' grave that I have to set back to another 100 years at sun sets on the 100th day..." He replied.

"Wow. Okay then." She shrugged, "Shouldnt be that hard right?"

Alan looked from her to the ghost, "I hope not."
...

"What do you mean I have to baby sit?!" Alan stared at his parents in disbelief.

Here they were, ON THE DAY OF the 100th day and his parents were just now telling him he was going to be babysitting their little cousin while the adults all went out for a party or something... Seriously?!

"I'm sorry for the short notice, but you've been gone almost all the time lately that we didnt have time to tell you until now." His mom said, "It'll only be for the night."

"But mom! I'm busy tonight!" He said following them as his parents moved throughout the house as they were getting ready.

"Oh calm down son." His dad said as he put his watch around his wrist, "You can post pone whatever plans you had for one night. It's not like it's going to kill you."

'Ha! That's what you think...' Alan sighed, "But dad!"

"No buts mister." His dad said, "You're not getting out of this."

Alan threw the heels of his hands in his eyes and growled in frustration. Just then, the door bell rang. He stalked over to the door and opened it. Instantly three little kids ran passed him and into the house screaming and being loud. He sighed and looked up at his aunt.

"Well hi there Alan!" She shoved passed him and walked into the house.

"Hi..." He said flatly.

His parents came into the living room all ready to go. They were all instantly in deep conversation, so Alan left to find his cousins before they broke something and he got blamed for it. He wondered up stairs and heard loud laughing and voices from his room. He clenched his teeth as he pushed his door open.

"How many times have I said, STAY OUT OF MY ROOM?!" He growled at them.

The three looked up at him.

"You shouldnt be mean to us!" Zack said.

"Mom says you cant be!" Will added.

Danny just nodded his head in agreement.

"Well I wont have to be if you listen to me!" He hissed through his teeth.

They suddenly ran out of his room and down the hall to the wreck room of the house.

Alan hit his forehead with his fist a couple of times and then pulled his phone out. It rang for a few minutes.

"Hello?"

"Kyra?"

"Alan! What's up?"

"I need help..."

"What?"

"The Minions are over..."

"What? But tonight's..."

"I know, I know... But my parents bombed me with them!"

"All three?"

"Yes..."

"Wow... okay, I'll be over in a little."

"Alright."

"What are we going to do about the clock?"

"I dont know... we'll think of something."

"Okay, see you in a little."

"See you."

The line went dead so he put his phone back in his pocket. This was going to be a very, very long night...
...

So, his parents had decided to leave unannounced, well actually it was probably announced that they were leaving but he'd been so busy dealing with the three that he hadnt heard them. Okay, two actually. Danny wasnt so bad. He barely said anything or did anything destructive. It was the other two that would run around screaming and throwing things and already three times Alan had to make a diving run for picture frames and a vase... He was already dead tired and it wasnt even three yet... He fell back into the couch for the first time in an hour went somebody knocked on the door.

"It's open!" He said from the living room.

The door swung open and Kyra came walking in with a backpack over her shoulder, "Well hey there."

"Oh thank god!" He got up and hugged her, "Now help me! I cant take these three anymore!"

She laughed, "Where are they?"

"I dont know anymore... up stairs last time I saw them." He replied.

The two headed up the stairs when there was a loud crash from the wreck room. They threw the door open and were greeted by the mess of stack of DVDs knocked all over the floor.

"You're kidding me!" Alan was about to slam his head into the wall.

"It was all Will! He pushed them over!" Zack said pointing to his brother.

"Nu-uh! You pushed them over! I was just playing with t hem!" Will protested.

"No I didnt!"

"Yes you did!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yeah-hu!"

"Shut up!" Kyra shouted over them.

The two got quiet and the three looked up at her.

"You didnt tell it was this bad..." She said giving a thank-you-for-no-warning look to Alan.

"Sorry..." He just shrugged, "I thought you woulda guessed already."

She sighed and then looked at the little kids. Sure, she'd been here before, but it didnt mean she had to like the little minions cause of it... besides, they had bigger things to worry about tonight.

"Now the three of you need to clean up these DVDs or im going to throw you out the windows!" She said glaring at them.

"You can to do that!" Zack said with a smug smile, "You're not the boss of us!"

"You wanna try me?" She growled back, "I dont gotta be the boss of you to throw you out a window!"

The kids looked at each other in silence for a second and then quietly started picking up the DVDs. Alan looked at her.

"What?"

She waved him off, "Dont ask... I've had enough baby cousins and minions to deal with... you pick up a skill after a thousand times over. You yell at them a couple of times then give them stuff and they end up loving you."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Pretty much."
...

"It's four. The sun's going to start setting soon." Alan looked down from the clock on the wall to where he, Kyra, and the three kids were siting.

So, her idea of yelling at them then being nice had actually worked and now they listened and were sitting there quietly watching TV.

"What are we going to do?" She asked.

"Well, you could stay down here and watch the three while I go up there and set the clock back quickly." He said.

When he looked up at at her though he was met with a really cold look.

"What?"

"No way are you leaving me down here with these minions while you go up there and have some supernatural adventure." She said poling him in the forehead.

"But..."

"No buts, I'm coming. We'll just leave them in the car or something..."

"In my car? I dont want those evil little minions in the back of my Shelby by themselves..."

"Dont worry about it. Your car will be fine... we'll just bring stuff for them to do."

"Fine... but no food." He sighed.

"Alright, no food." She nodded, "Oh, has he showed up at all?"

"Yeah, he shows up here and there. He just disappeared actually." Alan nodded toward the kitchen.

"Wonder why he's so stuck on this." Kyra wondered out loud.

"Maybe it has something to do with him?" He suggested.

"Maybe." She shrugged, "When are we going to leave?"

"We'll go at 4:20... that's just before the sun starts to set." Alan said.

The ghost showed up suddenly through the wall, "You must know... there is evil up there..."

"What?" Alan looked at him.

"What?" The other four looked at Alan.

"Oh, uh... nothing... just forgot something in the kitchen." He got up and went to the kitchen where the ghost followed, "What are you talking about?"

"Up there... with the sorceress." He said.

Alan watched him faze through the counter over and over again almost like he was pacing, pace-floating...pace-fazing... whatever it was ghosts did.

He suddenly fazed through the counter again and got close to Alan's face, "You must set the clock and leave right away. Do not touch anything, especially the tree..."

"Why?" This was just getting better and better the closer it got.

"She cursed the place they were to bury her long ago when they burned her, she said that any who disturb it would let go her spells and curse the town and the people, and raise her even if the clock was turned back..." He said slowly, "So you must not touch anything..."

"How do you know all this stuff anyway?" Alan asked.

He'd been meaning to ask.

The ghost looked at him, "I was like you. I could see dead things and talk to them. I was in charge of her grave before."

"So... what happened... if you dont mind?" Alan looked at him.

The ghost seemed to suddenly get a light around him like he was suddenly really happy somebody was interested in his story, "I was going to come here and wait for the 100th day... but on the way here I was shot in the head... I dont know who did it, I dont know what happened. When you first die, you dont know what happened right away so I came here anyway, but like I am now. I didnt realize I was dead until I got to the grave..."

"That was why you showed up around me then." He looked at the ghost, "Because you knew I could see you."

He nodded, "Yes, I did not what to put this on you, but you're the only one who can talk to the dead.

"I thought souls left Earth when they die." Alan questioned.

"Only if you are buried... and as long as you dont have anything you need to do. Then you pass on." He told him, "I have this to do before I can go, and I am not buried anyway."

Alan nodded slowly, "Oh, well... after I do this, you can go if you're buried?"

He nodded.

"Alright." There was a new sense of, well motivation, to the "supernatural quest" as Kyra put it, "I'll make sure I fix this. What's your name?"

He looked at him like the question confused him, "My name? No one ever asked my name before."

"Well, I am." Alan offered the ghost a smile.

He smiled back a little, "Duncan."