The spirit you called for (name might change)

[IndigoButerfly]

Please pay no attention to the grammar

Chapter 1: The crack in the perfect portrait.


In the middle of the deep ocean a ship was struggling for the lives of the passengers. The waves were merciless as they continued to pound the sides of the ship, trying to take it down like so many others. The waves seemed to be playing the cat and mouse game with the ship, at times letting the mouse think it escaped, only to be hauled back in to the vicious claws of the ruthless cat. But like all felines, this one also will soon get tired of the pray and finish it off.
The people on the deck had it the worst. Forced to cling to whatever’s solid for their dear lives, they could only pray that the storm will calm down and they will be spared. It was strange to see a woman and a child on deck. Hadn’t they made it in time before the doors to the lower part of the ship were locked? It did not matter now. Nothing did. Only one word was on everyone’s minds. Survive.
The woman held on tight, but what demon did posses the boy to let go? What have he possibly seen in the waves that made him risk his young life and go closer to the edge? Only the mothers scream for the child was heard before the final wave of the storm hit the ship, taking the young boy down with it, claiming his body for its own.
As if a magic spell was cast, the sea calmed down little by little and the dark clouds slowly cleared the evening sky, leaving the woman stand there lifeless pale and damp, starring at the edge of the surviving ship, where just a few moments ago she saw her son standing…

[IndigoButerfly]

A month passed from the incident. The woman returned to her husband and young daughter. She never was the same though… She blamed herself for that day. She couldn’t eat and wouldn’t sleep until she passed out or drank sleeping pills that were pushed in to her mouth by force.
The little girl was only 7 years old, and the word “death” was not included in her small dictionary. Once a day she’d ask her parents when her brother will come back, but the answer she received would usually be silence, followed by her mother’s tears and her father sending her away. The little girl… Hannah loved her brother very much. He was 2 times her age but would always play with her, brush her hair, take the blame whenever she did something wrong, tell her stories before bed time but most importantly; he’d chase off the monsters that were hiding in her room. Hannah was like most children, afraid of the boogeyman in the closet or a troll under her bed. While her parents bought her a night light and told her there’s nothing there, her brother would always storm in with his baseball bat and swing it around madly with a loud, warrior-like yell. It would always make Hannah laugh and after that she’d always calmly sleep at night, knowing there’s nothing to fear… Now that her brother was gone, and it doesn’t look like he’ll return soon… who’ll chase them all away?

It was another morning in the Setkins house. The mother, as usual, was just sitting on the couch and starring blankly at the television that wasn’t even turned on. The father was now in the kitchen, making breakfast which consisted of bacon and eggs with coffee for him and cereal for Hannah. It wasn’t what neither him nor Hannah were used to, but it will have to do until the mother regains herself or the father learns how to cook while still managing his busy schedule… of which the later seemed more possible at this point.
Hannah slowly walked down the stairs, rubbing her eye with her fist, dragging her blue teddy with her. She was still in her pj’s and her long golden hair was still messy. The father didn’t took notice as he placed the bowl and a spoon in front of her, placed a kiss on her forehead and ran off to his car, not wanting to be late. He only ate half of his breakfast and let the other half stand there on the table and get cold. Hannah blinked slowly as she starred at her father’s breakfast silently. “Good morning…” She whispered more to herself than to anyone. Her soft shy voice didn’t even reach the end of the table, much less the living room where her mother was slowly swinging back and forth on the couch. The girl only ate some of the cereal before she got curious how bacon and eggs tasted.

[IndigoButerfly]

She extended her hand and with two of her fingers she took a piece of the egg and placed it in her mouth. With a scowl, Hannah spit it out and made a grimace before shaking her head. It didn’t taste as good as her smiley waffles mom used to make for her and Andy, her brother. With slow movements Hannah got off her chair and slowly headed to her mother. She walked up to the woman and starred at her, as if waiting for her mother to notice she was there “Mommy… “She said, taking a step closer then kneeling down. The girl placed her head on the woman’s lap and felt the calm rocking the elder was making “Mommy… comb my hair…” she whispered silently, starring down at the floor. Not really waiting for an answer she opened her mouth again “Tie it in a pony tail today mommy… with a big red ribbon… I want it to match my shoes….” She whispered but no reaction was heard from the elder. “Will you take me to school today, mommy? It’s been… days… I miss my friends….” Hannah sighed and slowly closed her eyes, feeling that the slow rocking was making her sleepy “Mommy… I miss you… please come back…” She said silently before slowly getting on her feet again, hugging the woman and kissing her cheek. Hannah took one last look at the figure that once would be fit enough to be called a mom and walked back upstairs. She wandered around the hallway before she looked at her brother’s room. The doors were slightly open, and that filled her small heart with hope, that Andy might finally be back, she just didn’t hear him sneak in. She pulled the door open; the loud creak broke the tense silence “brother?” She whispered as her small legs brought her inside. The smell of the room reminded her of the boy. The window hasn’t been open for a month and no one cleaned it for that long too… it was now lightly dusty inside, and by the smell you could tell that something might be rotting. Must be one of the sandwiches he’d usually place in his drawer when not finished. Mom would always find it and scold him for not being tidy and would always give him the lecture about how unhygienic it was.
With a sad smile Hannah continued to enter the room. He wasn’t there… that wasn’t completely true… he was everywhere… from the sock on the bed to the drawings hanged on the wall. All this, was Andy... it was what he was, and this all belonged to him as much as they were a part of him. Hanna’s smile turned in to a happy one as she ran to the bed and hugged it as tightly as she could “Andy…” she mumbled crawling on his bed. She found his T-shirt he was wearing just before the trip and after snuggling her face to it she calmly laid down and closed her eyes “I missed you…no…. you were always here… weren’t you…” she whispered and fell asleep.

[IndigoButerfly]

Chapter 2: Dripping water.


It was already very late when the sound of a car stopping was heard. It was the father. He returned from his job and looked quite exhausted. The man slowly went to the front door and only trying the forth time he got the key in to the keyhole. After turning it twice he heard a clicking noise, meaning he had unlocked the door and now could walk in. He closed the door behind him once he was inside and looked around. A figure in the dark seemed to be sitting. He walked a bit closer and saw his wife still sitting on the couch, watching the TV that wasn’t on. She laughed a bit, as if she just saw something funny happen. The man sighed as pity appeared in his eyes and he walked to her.
“You should go to bed, dear…” He whispered laying the woman down on the couch. He got a sheet with red cherries out and placed it on the woman’s body. The mother just kept on starring blankly at nothing and that scared the man a bit. He softly extended his hand to her eyes and closed them “sweet dreams” he whispered and headed upstairs. He didn’t want dinner, nor had the energy to shower. He just wanted to go to bed and sleep, since he only had 7 hours until he needed to go again, and that included all the house chores he had to do in the morning.
When the man passed down the hall, he saw light coming from beneath his daughter’s door. He heard a soft melody too. He silently opened the door and found his daughter drawing while sitting on her bed, and listening to the music box Andy gave her 2 years ago for Christmas.
“Why are you up so late?!” He said angrily, knowing it was way past her bed time.
“I can’t fall asleep daddy” she answered with a smile “daddy look I drew-““I don’t care!” he said angrily and made the girl stop in her sentence. He glared a bit at her but seeing the fear in the poor girls eyes he just sighed and calmed down “listen… daddy’s tired… you’ll show me your drawing tomorrow ok? Now… just go to sleep” he said “daddy, wait! Will you take me to sch-“but before she could finish the sentence the door was shut and her dad out of sight. She curled up on her bed and starred at her drawing a little “…. I want to go to school…” she mumbled and closed the music box. With her small hand she reached out to the light and turned it off, quickly ducking under the covers after. Poor Hannah was afraid of the dark…. And her daddy yet again forgot to leave the door a bit open and leave the hall light on… it was dark… so dark….

[IndigoButerfly]

In the fathers bedroom the man was awaken by an annoying sound. It seemed like a leaky pipe was somewhere and you could hear water dripping. The man frowned as the sound got louder and louder until it seemed like it was just behind the door. He quickly sat up and turned on the light in his room. He opened his door and saw a small wet stain on the hall carpet. He looked up to see if it leaked from the ceiling but the ceiling was dry. He looked down the hall and even though it was dark, the light coming from his room was enough for him to see more wet stains. He frowned slightly and was about to follow them, but then he noticed; the sound stopped. With a relieved sigh he closed the door and got back to bed. The father turned off the light and closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep any moment now. Suddenly another sound was heard. This time it was the melody from the music box. “Hannah? Is that you? I thought I told you to go to sleep” he growled but no answer was heard. The melody seemed quiet but it got louder slowly. He turned on his side and covered his head with a pillow, wanting to block it out. It did not help as the melody seemed so close now. He groaned and turned to the other side. His face hit something and that made him let out a silent yell. He opened his eyes but in the dark he made out only the figure. He placed his hand on the object and recognized it as the music box. He closed it, making the melody stop, and looked up. He saw a small figure of a child standing by the window. You couldn’t make out the face, but you could easily see the figure had short hair “Hannah?” he blinked, rubbing his eyes and the figure ran to the other side of the room where the door was. It seemed to disappear, even though the door was not open. The figure was too tall to be Hannah, and Hannah had long hair. The man starred at the door frozen, fear freezing his body. Was it Andy? It couldn’t be… he was dead…

[IndigoButerfly]

The next morning Hannah was eating cereal again, humming the melody of the song “Mary had a little lamb” She slowly swung her bare legs and watched her father coming down the stairs “Morning daddy, I finished the drawing!” She said happily and was about to show it to him, but the man just seemed to pass her by and went straight to the coffee “…daddy?” she blinked and watched him slowly making coffee for himself with trembling hands. He looked sick tired and pale. He didn’t comb his hair and was only half dressed for work “daddy, will you take me to school?” she asked “N-not now sweetie….” The man mumbled, grabbing his head. Hannah frowned “Then when?!” she yelled, making her father turn to her “It’s always about you and mommy and what you need and want! I want to go to school! I want to see my friends!” she sniffled as her pure blue eyes watered and her cheeks got a tad red “I-I want mommy back!” she yelled and ran upstairs. The man starred at the staircase for a second “Hannah, wait I-“then he turned his attention to the drawing on the table. He took a step closer and examined it. It was a very simple drawing, as Hannah was no prodigy at arts, but it was clear enough to figure out that the small blue figure with water drops dripping from him was Andy. He was reaching out to something. It was a huge lump with cherries drawn on it. He starred at it for a second then he suddenly remembered his wife “Dear?” he yelled and ran to the living room, only to find that his wife was gone along with the sheet. “Dear? Where are you?!” He yelled loudly and ran upstairs. The man remembered those wet stains on the carpet. It seemed they were still there. They were almost dried up but still visible. He followed them and they led to Andy’s room. He opened the door and gasped. By the bed was his wife. She was completely wet from head to toe. She had the sheet around her and was all trembling. Her eyes were widely open, her skin as pale as of a dead corpse and yet she still was alive. She was swinging back and forth, chanting this one sentence “He’s coming back… he’s coming back... he’s coming back...”



To be continued...