Bewitching Hour

"Bewitching Hour"

Ghostly shadows dance across the faded gray carpet and onto the whitewashed walls. Hidden secrets, lying undisturbed for many years. The sound of a ticking clock echoes in the silence, a silence that clings in the air like cobwebs in the dark corners of one’s soul. A soul where darkness lingers and hope no longer lives.  Yet somewhere, there is hope if one chooses to search and are ready to pay the cost.

             Kara sits cross-legged on the couch. Her slender figure joins the shadows that dance in the room—lost somewhere in her thoughts, as the sun slowly sinks into the west. The clock strikes six o’clock as something stirs in the air, a voice familiar and strangely different. It hisses in her ear, “Run.” It startles her as if something about it wakes up a part that she had long since forgotten.

             Words that her grandma had said once, “Child, there are two types of scars of a person’s soul. One’s hidden deep or those visible.”  “Scars,” the voice hissed somewhere inside Kara’s soul.  

             “No,” quickly Kara’s words spat out in defiance, her slender figure stiffens with fear. “I won’t,” she announces to the ghostly shadows dancing across the room. No longer does her shadow dance with them as Kara and her shadow vanishes into the kitchen. As the teapot on the stove whistles, Kara’s mind is pulled back to the land of the living.  Her mother's form takes shape from the shadows.

             “Honey, child,” Kara’s mother quietly said, “Child, where are you?”

                            “What?”

             “Child, where are you at?”

                            “I’m right here, mama,” Kara mumbles

             “No, child, you’ ns ain’t here,” her mother utters, “You’ ns are a hundred miles away.” Her mother's words fell on Kara’s ears, as her hazel eyes focus on her mother's small frame at the kitchen table.

             “Mama, I was just, um,” Kara hesitated, “Never mind.” as she pours a cup of tea, sitting down next to her mother.  Kara notices the soft outline of her mother’s face and the thin tight smile hiding behind a veil of concern.  A veil covering hidden secrets of the past, scars of guilt buried deep within her soul. “There just are things one does not speak of.” Kara’s mother mused to herself.

             “Mama,” Kara sighed, “ Um, I was just.”-

                            “Just what, child?”

             “Is it okay if my friend Jenneke spends the weekend?”

                            “Janneke?” her mama curiosity said

             “Yeah, if that’s okay.”

                            “Yes, child,” her mama  uttered, “But remember,”-

             “Yes, mama, no talking”-

                            “About the dead, especially on the eve of Holloween,”

Her mama’s short footsteps hasten on the dull tile floor, leaving behind an empty teacup sitting squarely on the table. Kara lets out a deep breath, “Run.” The voice hisses in her ears. Only she can not run, for there is a fear that keeps Kara tethered to her home. Fear of the past, one she had sworn never to speak of again.   Darkness covers the sky, and shadows sneak back into the corners of the room as the light illuminated from the lamps.    Kara will soon be alone as her mother races out of the house, “Child, you’ uns will be fine,” her mothers.  words came spilling out, “Kevin will be home soon, so don’t you fret none, ya hear.”

             “Yeah, mama,” Kara mumbles, as her words fall on deaf ears. Kara glances up at the clock, aware that her brother, Kevin, will be home soon. His presence may prevent Kara from accomplishing what she has been planning for a week.  Something that she had sworn never to do but is driven to finish.  “You promise,” the raspy voice hissed, “You’s promises.”

             “I know,” Kara shouted, only now she is not alone, as Kevin opens up the door.

                            “I know what, little sister?” Kevin said

             “Um, nothing,” Kara quickly said, as her slender figure retreats up the steps into her room, slamming the door shut. “Breath,” Kara groans. Slowly she takes a tiny intake breath of air sitting, cross-legged on her bed as she sent a text to Janneke.

             “Okay, come over.”

                            “Be there soon.”

Staring out of her window into the eery darkness with the moon's waxing, it’s only light. She waits for Janneke, the only person who truly understands her.   In Kara’s uniqueness, where people only saw someone different, Janneke looked beyond and saw a friend.  “We’re all different,” Janneke told Kara once years ago, as their friendship started to grow. One that Kara has cherished, yet, the question remains, “Can I depend on her?” Kara pondered as the leaves rustle, scraping against the window panes. Kara shutters as a chill slither down her spine.

             “Kara?” a lighthearted voice said as the door creaked open as the light spilled outside into the dark hallway.

                            “Janneke, “ Kara warmly greeted her, “Come on in,”

             Suspesously Janneke looks at Kara, “So what’s going on?”

                            “What do you mean,” Kara off-handly answered

             “Why am I here?”

                            “You know, a girls weekend.”

             “But, we’re, no longer teenagers.”

                            “If you want to go home,” Kara continued, “Then go.”

                          “No, I won’t, not until you tell me why I am here,” Janneke demanded

             “Send her’s away.” The voice hissed

                            “No,” Kara spat out in haste

                                          “What do you mean by “No?”

              “Never mind,” as she brushes away one golden strand of hair away from her face, as fear reflected in her hazel eyes. Janneke’s face softens with a deep concern for her friend. As she looked into Kara’s eyes, there was something that seems out of place. A feeling that Janneke can no longer ignore.  

             “Are you okay,” 

                            “No,” Kara silently sighs, with her eyes downcast.

It was the same sadness that Janneke had seen years earlier when her father unexpectedly died. “Is it her mother?” Janneke wonders, “Or is it something else?  Janneke spun the desk chair around so she can face Kara. 

             Clearing her throat, “Is this about your dad?”

                            “I promise my mama never to talk about the dead”

             “So, aren’t  you gone to talk to me?”

 Sheer silence fell on Janneke’s ears as an uneasiness crept over her soul like worms crawling up and down her spine. The rustle of the leaves upon the windows startled Janneke, whose back was toward the window. Janneke spun the chair around, peering in the blackest of the sky. That was when she heard something, a voice, distant yet clear, “Run,” it hissed at her. At first, she wasn’t sure if it was a voice that she had heard, or was it her mind playing a trick on her.

              “Kara, do you hear something?

                            “Um.., no,” Kara stammbered, “Why?’

             “Oh, never mind,” Janneke uttered, wheeling the chair away from the window. 

Kara studies her friend's face weighing her words, trying to find the right ones. “ After all,” Kara sighed, “I don’t want her to think that I’m strange or weird.”  “Tell her,” the voice hisses, “Gone on, child,”  Janneke hears Kara take a tiny quiet intake breath of air as she begins to explain the reason why her friend is here.  Kara spoke in a hushed tone. As she began telling her dream or was it a vision?  Kara wasn’t too sure at first as to where to begin. About seeing her father's headstone. Then, a faint shape of a woman, veiled in black, whose pasty face shone through as she sobbed.  I spoke to her,” Why are you crying?”  But the woman’s shapeless mouth only uttered silence.    “Then, as I turned my face away from this woman. I saw my mama standing there with a disdain look on her face. Her glare was cutting into my soul as easily as a knife cuts into flesh. ”  As a deep sigh escapes from her lips, Kara continued, “Then without warning, the woman and my mama faded into the darkness. As I woke up in my room.”

             “And?” Janneke demanded

                            “And what?” Kara glared

             “That’s it?” Janneke mumble, “There’s nothing more?”

                            “No,” Kara went on to  explained, “I need to go to that cemetery where my dad’s buried,”

             “The..”-

                            “Graveyard”

             “You can’t expect me to go with you.”

Throwing her hands up, “Fine, I’ll go by myself.”

Faintly the clock chimes midnight. “The bewitching hour,” Kara’s mama would say. As she grabs her backpack from underneath her bed, adding a few extra things, a heavy sweatshirt, and a pair of gloves. Satisfied, Kara glances over to Janneke, waiting to see what she will decide to do, either come with or stay here.  The ticking of the clock, a reminder that time was slipping away, and soon the sun will once more hasten the darkness away. Along with Kara’s promise, she had made to the nameless voice when it had first spoken to her. Janneke uneasily shifts her position on the office chair.  

             “I’ll go with you,” Janneke’s words quickly spilled out without realizing what she had said.

             “I knew that you would,” Kara added, “Thank-you.”

                            “So, where do we begin?”

Eagerly, she laid out the plans of how they are going to accomplish this daring adventure. “We need to use your car,” Kara stated, without waiting for Janneke’s response. Systematically, she explains every detail, from beginning to end. “There’s no room for errors,” Kara off handly mention.  By the time it was all said and done, Janneke relented and drove them down through the cloak of darkness to the edge of the town.  Then at the graveyard entrance, a sign swings in the wind attached to rusty poles stretching into the night.  A sigh of relief as Kara glanced over toward Janneke, whose knuckles have turned white resting on the steering wheel.

             “Drive,” Kara whispered.

 The gavel path crunched under the car's tires as they slowly crept through the headstones, like white picket fences in a thin mist.   Janneke’s blue eyes intently stared out from her windshield, holding her breath in anticipation.  Fear like spiders begins to crawl up Janneke’s spine. She gave  Kara a quick side-glance to see if she was feeling the same as her.  Yet, there was none, just the outline of Kara’s slender figure. Her eyes glared out the window.  She doesn’t know why, but an intense sensation swept over Janneke, a memory, she whispered a prayer. It wasn’t as if she believed in God, but she knew that it couldn’t hurt.

             “Stop,” Kara hush tone said, grabbing the backpack slipping out from the car. Her flashlight’s beam slices through the darkness as she’s lead by something with icy cold hands. Pulling her forward toward a gravesite, there a carved granite stone rises from the ground. As her beam of light shines on the names etched in stone, a remembrance of a memorial. Words that, with time, begin to ebb away, forgotten, becoming distant memories.

             “Here,” Kara’s words escaping into the darkness

Janneke’s trudges up from behind, staring in disbelief, the names carved on the stone. She tried to speak, but she could not. Kara's eyes welled up with tears, falling to her knees out of respect and fear. The icy fingers dug into her shoulders as a raspy voice whispered, “See, see, I’s told you, child.” 

             “I know now,” Kara’s soft  voice uttered, “Now I know.” It was a declaration of truth, hidden from her for all these years. Tracing her father's name, Phillip Johnson brought her a sense of peace. A peace that she had longed for yet Kara could never find, now, finally, the truth has prevailed. “But at what cost?” Kara ponders. As she traces the second name, Sarah Johnson, “Who is this woman?” Kara said, glancing up at Janneke, who finds herself speechless.

             “See, see,’ the voice hisses, “I’s told you, child, didn’t I?’

                            “Yes, you told me,”

                                          “Who are you talking to?” Janneke said

             “Um.., no one,” Kara quickly added, “Just talking to myself,” she chuckled.

                            “Scars, dear child, scars hidden, must be brought to light.” as the coldness of the voice touch Kara’s shoulders like a snake coiling around Kara’s weary soul.

                                          “We must leave now,” Kara announces, brushing the dirt off her knees. 

             “Okay, um, which way to the car?”

                                          “Follow me,”  Kara muttered, as her flashlight’s beam consecrated on the path in front of them. Just enough light through the cloak of darkness to see the gravel road leading them to the car.    As Janneke follow Kara, their footsteps mimic each other, sounding more like one person instead of two. There were no words spoken as they walked because a heaviness weighed on their hearts and minds.  Janneke felt Kara’s presence, though there were moments when she couldn’t see her.  

             “Kara?” Janneke mumbles

                            “Yeah?” Kara answered

             “Um.., nothing,” Janneke quickly said, breathing a sigh of relief.

 In the distance, red lights shone through the darkness as their steps quicken to reach the car. “Just a few feet more, then we’ll be safe,” Janneke whispered, giving a side-glance toward Kara. And then what they saw next was the disappearing of the car's light into the mornings light. Janneke screams, “No,” as she fell to her knees in complete horror of seeing their only way home vanishing before their eyes.

              “What now?” Janneke demanded

                            “We’ll keep on walking,” Kara matter-of-factly answered.

             In the distance, Janneke heard tiny footsteps. Janneke yawned, opening up her eyes. As the light filters into the room, standing there was someone's silhouette. At first, Janneke thought it was a ghost until the person spoke, “Morning dear,”

             “Mom?” Janneke stuttered

                            “Who else would it be?

             “Where’s Kara?” Janneke uttered

                            “Who, dear?” her mother curiosity said

          “We were, I meant  to say that,” Janneke’s voice trails off, “Never mind.”

                            “Are you okay, dear one?

             “Yeah, I guess,” Janneke answered

                            “How about I make you a cup of tea?” Her mother said as she strolled across the carpet.

             “Mom,” Janneke slowly said, “Where’s my car?

                            “It’s right where Kevin parked it early this morning. Why?

             “Kevin?”

             “Yes, Kevin, you know your brother.” her mother quickly answered.

                            “Oh, yeah,” Janneke mused as her mother closes the door behind her, leaving Janneke alone in the room. With only a faint memory as if it was nothing more than a dream.

 “See, see, I’s told you, dear one,” the voice whispered, “Never talk about the dead.