Wendolyn Adelle Jones And The Fire Ghost

Wendolyn Adelle Jones dreamt of a fire ghost when she was five years old.  Her family heard all about the ghost from her delicate little lips and shushed her and told her it was all just a dream.  Then when she was fifteen, the fire ghost came to her in a dream once more.  When she was finished telling her mother and father her dream, eyebrows were raised.  

"I think that you need some help dear.  It is not normal to dream of these creatures that destroy our wonderful home and family."  

"Your mother is right Wendy dear.  We don't want you to think on it any further."

It just so happened that Wendolyn's father had influence in the medical circles, since he was a physician himself.  So that very afternoon, Wendolyn was sent to a very well known specialist.  At the end of the session, she did feel better, but only because he proclaimed her to be charming, clever, and very healthy mentally except for her strange dream.   Obviously her parents expected her to continue to see him.  She had other ideas.

The cab driver opened the door and she stepped out and handed him a twenty pound note.  He was pleased by the tip, and gave her a nod of approval.  

It was then that she heard a scream and looked up into the window of her mother's room.  There was smoke coming out of all of the windows.  Wendy ran in as fast as her feet could take her, but it was not fast enough to stop a huge crash of stairs from collapsing.  Her parents were screaming.

At the top of the stairs stood a being all of fire.  He stopped, turned and looked at her.  His eyes were a strange color of orange, and his body made of blue fire.  He laughed and headed back into her father's study.  It was obvious that was where the fire had started.  He shouted down to her.

"You won't stop me from my revenge little girl!"

Wendy screamed in frustration as the fire spread further down the stairs, blocking her path to the upstairs entirely now. 

She ran back outside and screamed for help.  Several of her neighbors ran forward from their houses now.  She was encircled with panicked faces.  She convinced them to come inside, but several of the men gave up trying to put the fire out.  She tried to run up the stairs, but was blocked by a huge man and carried out with her arms pounding on his back.

Ten years later,  Adelle Jones had left the name Wendolyn behind her, along with the innocent teenager she had been.  In the short ten years since the fire, Adelle Jones had become the foremost expert in her country on ghost hunting.  It did not matter how small the job was, or how incredibly tedious.  Adelle would come.  She had no other life but that of a ghost hunter out for revenge.

Each year, she uncovered clues.  On the seventh job this year, she met a ghost that whispered of a leader of ghosts.  It did not impress her until the ghost started to fade and at the last minute muttered "the fire ghost".

Several other ghosts she had recorded that year had mentioned the fire ghost.  She was getting closer!

One day, a gangly young man tripped into her office, spilling coffee all over a map that she had painstakingly marked with ghost sightings of the type that she hoped would reveal the whereabouts of her mysterious fire ghost.

"Watch where you're going!"  

"Sorry.  Had to get to you quickly.  My name is Jack."

"What can I do for you?"  

She picked up her soggy map and sighed.

"I have a job for you if you would not mind leaving right now. "

"I would rather hear about it."

"No. You have got to see the footage I have.  No one will believe me."

"Why didn't you just bring the footage with you?"

"Because the fire is still happening.  I know where the fire ghost is."

"What?  How do you know about that?"

"Ghost Fan Club gossip."

"We'll talk later.  I'm ready."

She grabbed her equipment and they headed to her truck, which was already filled with everything they would need to record the ghost phenomenon.

They drove where Jack indicated and Adelle jerked to a stop in front of a still burning house.  

"We won't be able to get close enough.  This is a nightmare of people standing around gawking!"

"We won't have to get near.  My house is across the street."

Adelle followed Jack inside, where Jack played his footage on his camera.  

"Can you play it on your television or computer screen?"

"Yeah, just a minute."

He plugged everything up and then sat in front of his computer with her.

She leaned in and gasped.  It was the same creature.  It seemed to be looking right through the screen at her with those orange eyes!

"I know where it is."

"What?  What do you mean?"

"I saw where it went when it left the house."

"Where?"

"I get to be a part of the published story."

"Fine.  Just don't get in my way."

"So there is some reason why you are after it."

"It killed my parents."

"Oh. I'm terribly..."

"Stop.  Save it.  Let's go!"

Jack walked upstairs.  

"Why are you going upstairs?  We need to be going."

"I believe you were looking for me?"

That was when Jack turned into the fire ghost before her very eyes.

"I'll bet you never expected me to find you, did you Wendolyn?"

She dashed up the stairs, only to see him vanish before her.  He appeared a moment later when she started exploring the rooms.  She stopped before him.

"Why?  Just tell me why?"

"It was part of an experiment Wendolyn.  You see, ghosts have different levels of materialization, and we all study very hard to reach the ultimate goal, to be able to reach through to a human mind.  That mind was yours.  You created the fire, and also, what form I would come in.  So the only person to blame Wendolyn, is yourself for the creature you see before you!"

"Oh stop.  I am not guilty of anything.  Spare me your explanation."

She lunged at him.  He vanished again.

"So, you are a coward."

He appeared before her and touched her skin, scorching her wrist.  She screamed in pain.

"This is too easy."

"Why are you doing these things?"  

"Because I found out your father experimented on my family.  Oh Wendolyn.  You should see your face right now.  Your father was not a saint.  His experiments on his patients in jails were not the ones that were published.  My mother was one of his experiments.  She developed a horrible side effect.  Pain, scorching pain.  I was born a child affected with a disease that made it impossible for me to ever touch any human being.  So when I died I decided that I would visit your family and they would pay the price.  It is satisfying to see all of the people involved with your father's experiments suffer."

With that he vanished one last time.

It was the last time that Adelle heard her real name spoken for the next twenty years. In that time, she never forgot the fire ghost.  She searched for him, had heard of others that had seen him, but no one would believe her story.  She had no way to prove of his existence, or that he was out to avenge his mother's demise. 

When Adelle was 60 years old, she was swimming in her pool.  The fire ghost came to her then, and started a fire in her home.  She watched it, and then remembered what the fire ghost had said about her creating it. She went to the same therapist that she had seen when she was only fifteen years old.  

"Dr. Llemond, do you remember our session together all those years ago?"

"Yes, I have even recorded it."

"May I listen?"

"If you'd like."

So they sat down to listen.  One part of the conversation startled Adelle.  She heard the doctor say "If there is such a fire ghost, then why doesn't he do something to your father now?"

She motioned to him to stop the recording.

"Why did you specify my father?"

"Why not?  Your father's experiments were controversial then, and now.  He had a lot of enemies."

"Tell me doctor.  Was your wife ever in jail?"

"How do you know that?"

Wendolyn stood up.  

"Your son Jack.  He's the one that did all of this?" 

"My son died when you were only a child."

"Yes, I was a child of five doctor, when you created the fire ghost for your revenge!"

THE END

Waking Up Mariah

Waking Up Mariah

by

DL Kaiser

Mariah rolled over and hit the snooze button.  Her hands went through the clock.  The noise continued.  Mariah sat straight up and turned her head to look in the mirror.  She was barely there, a mist of her former self.  Then she remembered.  It was her deathday, the anniversary of her death.  It was time to get busy.

Jerry whistled as he worked outside the Hamilton’s house.  They always had such nice roses that grew on this side.  Maybe he would clip a few for his wife that were a little past their bloom.  No sense wasting their beauty.  He heard the alarm going off inside the house.  That’s funny.  I thought they were out of town.  Since Mariah died, they hadn’t been back.

He walked around to the front and fumbled with his keys.  He heard the alarm buzzing back in the bedrooms somewhere on the top floor.  His steps faltered as he realized which room it was.  The alarm grew more insistent, faster in tempo and louder.  Did this alarm go off every day since they left?  It seems like I would have heard it during the last year. 

He swung the door open, strode across the room and slid the alarm to the off position.  Turning, he noticed something odd in the mirror.  There was a misty looking being sitting in the rumpled bed.  He screamed and ran from the room. 

“Wait!”

I could have sworn I heard someone ask me to wait.  No way. They don’t pay me enough to talk to ghosts. 

Then he realized who the ghost might be.  Mariah Hamilton.  He sighed, and turned around. 

When he walked into the room the second time, the bed had been made.  The items on her dresser were arranged differently.  There was no doubt now that someone had been here.  He just wasn’t sure how to contact Mariah.  What did she want with me?

Mariah saw Jerry standing in front of the mirror.  She concentrated very hard and halfway materialized.  For some reason, she only got the top half done.  It was funny.  She couldn’t help but laugh!  Jerry, however, was not amused.  His facial expression was that of terror.  She focused a little harder, and finally was satisfied with the result.  He could see her clearly.  She wondered if he could hear her.

“Jerry?”

“Mariah?  Why are you here?  Aren’t you supposed to be in heaven, or wherever?”

“Yeah, well, I’m not supposed to talk about that.  I need to do something while I am here.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I was hoping you would get Kris to come over here to my room.”

“What? You do realize he was traumatized by your death.  Everyone blames him for it.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to him about.  It turns out he wasn’t to blame at all.  I didn’t tighten the lug nuts on the tire so that is what made him swerve.  It wasn’t his fault.  I can’t stand him being in so much pain.  Just watching him day after day.  My parents even blame him.  It’s got to stop.” 

“How can I get him here?”

“You could tell him that my parents have forgiven him and that there is a special present for him in my room.”

“That’s a lie!  I can’t do that! Wait, how can you lie, being, you-know, dead and all and from somewhere heavenly.”

“Jerry, I do have something for him.  The only thing we’re not being completely honest about is the fact that my parents have not forgiven him.  They hold on to their anger as if it is a sinking ship.”

“And what if they find out that Kris has been here?”

“How? They have been gone for a year!  Why would they come back?”

“Okay, fine.  I’ll tell him.  I see him shooting hoops in his driveway every day.”

Later that day….

Kris shot the last hoop before he stumbled and fell onto his shin. 

“Ow!”

“Hey Kris, you okay?”

“Yeah, Hi Jerry, I’m fine.”

“I wanted to talk with you.”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“It’s Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton.  They sent me over with the message.  I visit with them over the phone sometimes.  They wanted me to let you know that Mariah left something for you, and that they don’t blame you anymore.”

Kris sat back down in shock.  His eyes watered up and he shook his head.

“You for real?”

“For real.”

“So, um, when can I go over and talk with them.”

“Well, they are still out of town, but they gave me the keys.  So anytime you want is fine with me.”

“Tomorrow morning?”

“Sure.”

Saturday morning, at 8 am Jerry picked up Kris and headed over to the Hamilton’s place.  Unlocking the door, Jerry kidded Kris about all the times he caught him climbing the tree outside Mariah’s room.

“I can’t laugh about that anymore Jerry.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Kris just nodded, like he’d heard it hundreds of times before.

When Kris got to Mariah’s bedroom, Jerry turned around and muttered goodbye.

“What? You aren’t staying?”

“Gotta run.  More work to do.”

So Kris just stood there in front of Mariah’s bedroom and his stomach sank.  Why did I agree to this?  Something is up.  He turned the handle and walked in.  He could smell perfume, as if she were here now.  He blinked back tears and sat down on the small sofa next to the wall.  It was then that he noticed the rumpled up bed, as if someone had just climbed out of it.  It was freaking him out.  Just then he heard something.

“Ahemmm, ahum”  Mariah cleared her throat.

Kris jumped up and ran to the door.

“Krissem don’t!”

Krissem?  Mariah was the only one that called me that!  How can that be?

Kris turned, saw her standing there plain as day.

“I am hallucinating.”

“No, you ain’t!”

“Aren’t”

“You are correcting a hallucination.”

“So are you out for revenge?”

“Yes, I am.”

“What?  Go ahead and kill me then.  I deserve it.”

“Actually, I was joking, and no, you don’t deserve it.”

“Everyone says so, and you died because I swerved into a tree.”

“Yeah, well everyone is wrong.  Do you remember me jumping up from the other side of the car before we left.”

“Not really.”

“Well, what I was doing was changing the tire.  I didn’t tighten up the lug nuts very well.  In fact, I think I forgot one.”

“You are just saying that.”

“Why? You think I came back just to make you feel better.  Still conceited aren’t you!”  She laughed and held her hand out to do a fist bump, but changed her mind.

Suddenly the door opened and Mariah’s mother was standing there, pale and gasping for breath.

Mariah turned, floated up out of the room, but not before her mother yelled out.

“Stop! Mariah! Please baby!”  It was then that she saw Kris backing away from her.

“You! What are YOU doing here?”

“You told Jerry that you didn’t blame me for the accident any longer.”

“We most certainly did not!  I’m going to call the police!”

“Fine then.  Go ahead, but I will be gone by the time they get here.  And by the way, I know that Mariah changed the tire on her car before we left and that she may have missed putting on one of the lug nuts.  That’s why she came back, to let me know that.”

“She did?”  Mariah’s mother seemed to suddenly melt into the couch, unable to stand up any longer.

Kris couldn’t leave her like that. 

“Do you want me to call Mike?”

“No, he is still in Cincinnati.  I came on my own.  Just leave.”

“Um, okay.”

Kris looked lighthearted for the first time in a year.

The alarm rang again.  Snooze time.  Mariah swung her arm over her head to hit the snooze button. This time she connected and bruised her hand.  What? Am I alive again?

“Wake up Mariah!  Time for school.  And don’t forget, you were going to change that tire this morning.”

“Oh My God.”

THE END

Guided Meditation by D L Kaiser

Guided Meditation

by

D L Kaiser

Frank sat down to listen to the music Sherri gave him earlier that day.  She told him this meditation was meant only for him.   It was strange, the way she looked at him.  It was almost as if she were afraid of him.  Odd. He hardly knew her.

His eyes were closed and the music began.

Frank, you are here because we deem it necessary to send you on an errand.

Frank’s eyes popped open and he hit pause.  He laughed.

“Okay. Good joke!  Let’s see what she came up with!”

He pressed the forward button.

Although you think this is some kind of prank, it is not.  Your task is in another dimension.  In this dimension, you are a brave soldier.  You are also fearsome, and that is why Sherri was slightly nervous in your presence.  Imagine you are now in a desert city.  Your firearms are beneath your robe.  The marketplace is crowded.  Your contact is a woman.  Her name is Kalisha.  There she is now.  Go to her.

Frank felt himself fill this realm and his body was made whole in the desert.  He walked up to the woman.

“You will follow me.”

“Very well.”

Around a corner, in a darkened room, the woman lifted her veil to reveal scars. 

“The men who did this shall pay someday.  But now I need you to save my son.”

“How do I do that?”

“Rescue him.  Here are your instructions.”

She thrust the papers into his hand and then dashed out of the room.  He left shortly thereafter, and headed back to the marketplace.

For some strange reason, he knew where to go next.  There was a hospital not far, and he headed into the double doors.

Inside he passed the desk and headed down a hallway.  Turning left he found the room with the guards standing in front of it.  He would wait until the changing of the guards.  Sometimes they would visit, or step away.  He would find their weakness and prey upon it.

It did not take long.  After three hours of hiding out in closets and empty rooms, he disguised himself as a doctor and found an old ID that was thrown into a garbage can.  It was just beat up enough that the picture was obscured by cracks.  He strode passed the guards and quickly went inside.  They briefly glanced at him and let him pass.

What he found inside shocked him.  A little boy was so pale as to be almost invisible.  But he awakened while he looked over him.

“I am afraid!” 

“Don’t be.  I am here to help you.”

“No one can help me, where I am going.  The ghostlands await me.”

“What is the ghostlands?”

“You do not know?  It is the place where little boys go without their mothers.  The men outside told me.”

“No! Your mother has hired me to rescue you!”

“What? They told me she was dead.”

“No. Relax, and I will carry you.”

He picked up the little boy and ducked into the side room.  In the side room, he had stuffed several pillowcases and then placed them in the bed where the boy was to fool anyone that glanced inside.

He carried him down through the basement and into the rear street.  There, the boy’s mother was waiting with her relatives.

“You have saved him!”

“It was not so hard.  Go now.  They may notice soon!  You have a plan to get out of the city?”

“Yes!”

It was then that Frank awakened from his guided meditation. 

“Wow. Cool.” 

Frank thought nothing further about it until a week later.  He looked down at the newspaper clipping and spilled his coffee everywhere.

The article had a large photo of the boy he saw in his mediation.   The boy was kidnapped at a religious ceremony and held secretly in a hospital.  The mother said her little boy claims the ghost of an American soldier rescued him and placed him in the alley behind the hospital.  

THE END

The Phone by D L Kaiser

The Phone

by D L Kaiser

The last thing Gregory touched before he was murdered was a phone.  It was a prissy little thing, bought for his wife.  He had it in the library, which was too small for his tastes.  He rarely spent any time there, just to pick out a book and leave.  It was strange that it was the last place he would look at before he left this realm.

Caroline bounced into the room with her ponytail swaying and her mouth crunching down on an apple.   The doorbell rang. 

“Mom! Doorbell!”

“You can get it.”

“Fine.” Sigh. Stomp Stomp Stomp.

“Mom. Package for you!”

“Fine.” Sigh.

Adrienne Moore walked her petite frame downstairs to the foyer table and opened the package with scissors. Inside was an antique looking phone, black and gold.  But it was clearly not an antique.  Just a cheap knock-off. 

“Mom, it is so cute!”

“Yes, it is.  It would go great in our living room wouldn’t it?”

“Sure. Let’s set it up right now!”

“Okay.”

So they connected the wires to the wall and phone and tested it out. 

“Works great!”

They went back to their normal routines when the phone in the living room rang out. 

“I’ll get it!” Caroline answered.  No voice, just silence.  She hung up.

“Who was it dear?”

“No one. Some creep who wouldn’t talk.”

The phone rang again ten minutes later.
 

“I will get it this time Caroline.”

She picked up the phone, said hello and listened.  The voice was almost a whisper.

“Be careful.  There is a murderer on the loose.”

Adrienne slammed the phone down.  The doorbell rang out, startling her.

There at the front door were the police. 

“Ma’am.  We have some unfortunate news for you.”

“Come in.”

The police told Adrienne and Caroline about their great uncle, Gregory Moore, who died the night before.

“How did he die?”  Caroline inquired.

“Caroline!”

“It’s okay ma’am.  Actually, we were coming to that.  We need to ask you some questions. “

The police proceeded to ask them about their uncle and his relations, and if they got along.

“So far as I know officer.  Are you saying there is foul play?”

“We can’t reveal that at this time.  Thank you for answering our questions.”

They left, leaving Caroline and Adrienne feeling uncomfortable.

“Mom, why would anyone kill Uncle Gregory?”

The doorbell rang again.  Adrienne opened the door after asking who it was.

“I am Maxwell Armstead, the executor of your Uncle Gregory’s will.  Allow me to express my condolences ma’am.”  He handed her a card with his name and address on it.

“Thank you.  Won’t you sit down?”

“I suppose you would like to know what this is about.  So I will cut to the chase.  Your Uncle Gregory had no children, as you know, and you will inherit his estate.  It isn’t much, but there is some property and some of his antiques.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

“I will leave you to your mourning, and let you know when we can proceed.”

The attorney arose, and then turned back to face her.

“Oh, I wanted to ask.  Did you by chance receive anything recently from him?”

“No.   I haven’t heard from my Uncle in several months now.”

“Thank you, and good day.”

He left without saying another word.

“Mom, why did you lie to him?”

“What?”

“The phone was from him.”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t think it was important.”

“Uh huh.  Why don’t I believe you mom.”

“Okay, for some reason, I just don’t trust that lawyer.  Why would he have come to us in person?  That is not normal.  Usually lawyers call you and arrange a meeting time in their office.”

“So do you think there is something odd going on?”

“Yes.  I think so.”

Just then the telephone rang in the living room. 

“Mom! None of the other phones are ringing in the house!”

The both stared at the phone until Adrienne gathered her bravery and picked up the receiver.

“There is a killer on the loose! You must get to someplace safe!”

“Uncle Gregory?”  Adrienne recognized his voice and began to shake.

“Go now!”

The doorbell rang again.  Caroline tiptoed up to the peephole and turned around and signaled to her mother.

“Caroline.  Go upstairs to the safe room.”

“What?”

“You heard me. NOW.”

Caroline ran upstairs.  Adrienne followed her.  The doorbell rang again.  Soon after there was breaking glass, and the intruder crashed in through the door.

“Mom! It is that lawyer guy!” 

They both watched the monitors on the small screens that revealed each room.  The safe room was made of cement and had a metal door that was hidden behind a large painting.  The only way inside was by a small key, which each woman wore around their necks, and a combination lock that only they knew how to open.

They watched as their intruder broke vases and smashed valuables in their home, clearly looking for something. 

“Hello, 911?  This is Adrienne Moore at 456 State Drive.  We have an intruder.  I think he may be armed!”

Minutes passed.  The man was yelling for them.

“I know you have it!  Turn it over to me, and I will leave you alone!”

Suddenly he stopped before the telephone.  He grimaced and grabbed it.  There was a huge crash. The police broke in and caught him.    

Adrienne and Caroline gingerly stepped out of the safe room.

“Ma’am.  Do you know about these?”

The officer held the phone up and it was busted.  There were diamonds all over the floor.

“The base of this phone was loaded with diamonds.”

“No, I got that in the mail today, and I plugged it in and used it like a regular phone.”

Caroline ran to the garbage and got out the box and postage wrapper and gave it to the police as proof.

“We will have to confiscate this until this matter is cleared up.”

They both nodded in stunned silence.

Two days later, they found out about the diamonds being stolen from Gregory’s home.  Gregory had them insured and stored in his safe.  Maxwell Armstead, alias Ricky Tuttle, made friends with Gregory and observed the combination one night and placed them in the phone while Gregory was in the kitchen.  The only thing the police could not figure out is how the phone was mailed to Adrienne and Caroline, and also how it could work because there were no electronic wires inside.  

But they knew.  The ghost of their uncle had other plans.

 THE END

Also by D L Kaiser, A Daily Dose of Ghosts. Click here if interested in purchasing a copy on Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Dose-Of-Ghosts-Volume-ebook/dp/B00J37HT50