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Zara

"The Townsfolk..."

The name rang an alarming ring to my ears, my mind started speculating all kinds of crazy ideas, Leila has stilled and Harry... Well, I could see the same reaction as mine sporting on his face.

"Is it a ghost town?" he questioned.

"A zombie land, maybe?" I inserted.

"Hmm I think it's a psychopath land," he continued.

"Oooh better yet, I say it's a land full of walking dead, vampires perhaps?" I concluded.

"Wait, the google says there is no town under the name of Townsfolk," he asserted.

"And google never lies," I finished and stared at the wicked witch, she was smiling mysteriously at us, making me want to smack that feeling away, maybe a direct punch on her nose would do just fine.

"Now my dear wicked witch, under our wing for the time sake," I mocked at her, taking rounds around her hall, she has cleared the destroyed furniture, they vanished out of sight in a simple flicker of her hands, my legs came to a halt near her and continued, "now why don't you tell us where the mansion is? The truth this time, I know the truth is hard to pronounce but lies don't last forever, so take your time and tell us the truth, you get twenty seconds."

Instead, we heard Leila explain, "Townsfolk was an ancient town, a combination of many villages, where the witches discovered their powers. That's the place they massacred themself, the suicide, their spirits roam the land, at day and night, waiting for evil spirits and evil witches, they kill their states of being, ghosts and witches, once the sister spirits of witches are done with them, they will be gone for good.

When Valerie cursed the bloodline, she indirectly cursed the land as well, the inmates of the town fell sick, plagues seized the land and in the end, the town was destroyed by an earthquake during the times of my great grandmother. Now the town was only ruins and clouds of dust, full of witch spirits guarding their blood spilled land by the vengeful spirits who suffered from the curse, and from the witches who betrayed the cult.

I'm one of the betrayers, for I lived while they sacrificed their lives for the welfare of the people, they hate us, it will not be easy to pass them."

"Then how did the witch get Aini in there?" I asked, agitated at the situation.

"They owe me a favor," the wicked witch butted in, I was tempted to say 'don't sneak your nose in,' but that would make her more devious and we don't want that. So my plan for the moment was to keep quiet, adjust to her presence, and scrutinize every move that witch makes.

"Will the passageway spell work?" Leila asked skeptically. I don't blame her.

"The only way to find that is to try it?" she explained us dismissively like answering a bunch of stupid kids.

"How come you are allowed to roam the land freely," Harry questioned, that was what I wanted to know as well, isn't the wicked witch an evil spirit? If I'm considered an evil spirit for avenging my death, wasn't the wicked witch an evil spirit who stole my best friend's soul, or was that only considered as a mistake?

"As I said, they owe me a favor."

"Then why should we perform a spell to enter, can't you just pull us more favors?" he insisted again.

"They owed me one! Favor and they have fulfilled it, now we are just strangers," she acknowledged pressing the word one while arranging her paperwork. She was obsessed with getting back her destroyed works, in the span of discussing the matter at hand, she ordered a brand new laptop online, not that I care, but she will be dead in a day or two, do you understand what mean?

"When should we perform the spell?" Leila ignored all our arguments and stuck with the important matter.

"At midnight," she directed at Leila and asked us, "you guys staying for dinner?"

"Jeez witch, what the f*** are you playing at?" I huffed at her, "why are you being nice huh?"

"I'm born nice," she smirked.

"Bitch, you!"

"Stop it please," Harry finished it for us, the witch was thoroughly enjoying our arguments, finding joy in our resentments. Harry glared at me, "I didn't start it," I instantly replied, he sighed and spoke to Leila.

"Should we stay here till midnight? there are eight more hours."

"Yes, we want some supplies to perform the ritual," she informed, taking in the house, and her thoughts were far away from the conversations, she remained quiet most of the time, either she don't want to involve in silly arguments or she was worried about the situation or was it something else?

"Candles?" Harry inquired, she nodded and continued, "and a clay pot, a bottle of water, a picture of Aini, and some flour."

"Zara I need a possession of yours, a piece of cloth or something, and Harry I need a possession of yours as well, now go get those before midnight," she added.

We agreed to get the things and get back as soon as we can, I was about to go with harry but leaving Leila with the witch for too long sounds like a terrible idea to us so we decided to split, Harry goes to the store and I'm transporting myself to my house to get a dress or something, it will only take a minute or two for me to get back, or that was how I'm convincing myself. Leila was sure that she would be fine in the meantime, but this was the witch's lair we are taking shelter at and I do not want to risk anything.

"Get back as fast as you can, Avyanna is powerful at manipulating minds," Harry ordered while starting his car, "I will at the store nearby, I could use a piece of cloth from the emergency stock, so I will be back in twenty max," with that he drove off.

I imagined my house with closed eyes, a two-story house, painted in mild gray, remembrance of my house brought a smile to my face, I felt nostalgic. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted on the doorstep of the house, the red door was my little sister's idea, she was a crazy fan of the Game of Throne series, every time Daenery dreamt of her home with a red door, my sister fantasized about it as well. When we finally renovated the whole house two years ago, it was time for my little sister to install her red door.

Our house was eerily quiet, I wondered if there was no one in the house, it was never this silent. I went inside the house, being a ghost has its advantages, for one, you never have to wait for someone to open their door and invite you in, you just walk through the door like light travels through glass.

Some things never change, the house was as it was before I died, every piece of furniture and every object has not been moved, not even an inch. It was clean as always, my mom has OCD, which she was absolutely proud of, so as we. My papa called my mother the cleanest superwoman, for she could wipe a surface clean as glass in less than a minute.

My mom was an interior designer, she quit her job a year ago, claiming that her OCD was messing with her client's choices and sometimes it brings her unwanted physical pressure such as overbearing headaches or even worse, anxiety attacks, that gave her a lot of time to spend with the family, we enjoyed our lives.

I have loved working, but since the day my mom quit her work, I and my father decided to return home once the work was done, often I was mad at Aini for being late as it delays my quality time with the family for I loved my family more the job.

You need money for life but your life isn't all about money.

My father on the other hand was a lawyer, he handled his clients well and mostly home, enjoying time with his wife. My sister is a high schooler, on her final year, she rarely goes out with her friends, only when she was sure that the parents are out of town for business and I'm busy as hell. otherwise, she loves spending time with us as well. We used to be one perfect family that the neighbors and friends envy. Yes we faced problems, my mom's an OCD victim, my sister, Grace was a victim of panic attacks, my dad was under the hit list of many billionaires, I was fortunately healthy and safe, scarcely to live a very short life.

The sizzling noises from the kitchen caught my attention, I walked towards the kitchen and noticed my momma and dad cooking together or rather tossing things in the pan aimlessly, they were never quite as this in the past when they cook, it was unsettling to see them working like this.

I walked towards them, hoping they won't notice my presence. I dared not touch them, my powers have been growing, and touching them either would creep them out or bring back memories that they tend to forget but my hands brushed the wooden countertop, teak pantry, and the dining chairs involuntarily, the memories were sweet.

Children's never wish for their parents to forget about them, when they grow up they often wish to move out, live on their own but they will never want their parents to forget about them, but today, I wish for my parents to forget about me, my whole existence. I could see the destruction my death caused upon them, I wish time heal their pain or at least give them the strength to move past it, past me.

I wish them to be the happy family they were in the past, that will be have been my death wish if I was given the chance to make one.

I felt the wetness soak my cheek and realized that I could cry as well being a ghost, looking at my parents stirred an urge to meet my sister too, I ran upstairs towards Grace's room, her room was opposite mine, it was empty. Grace's room looked like it was hit by a tornado, how did mom not interfere in this so far? I heard muffled sobs echoing from my room and I knew where my sister is, when I was alive, Grace has a habit to sneak into my room every night after my parents slept.

We watched Chilling Adventures of Sabrina every Monday and Thursday, Game of Thrones on Tuesday and Thursday, per episode each day. On Sunday evenings, we binged Vampire Diaries. Every Friday and Saturday night we watch new movies at home as a family, Aini gladly joins in with snacks. Guess someone hasn't forgotten about our tradition, when I peeked inside, I noticed her at my work desk, her head resting on top of the family photo, my heart broke for her. I couldn't imagine the number of times she had a panic attack, I prayed she forget about me as well. I wish for her to move on, succeed in her career, find true love and live a very long happy life.

I couldn't take in the sight anymore so I swiftly grabbed a t-shirt from the hanger and decided to go away from my home as soon as I can, forever. But I couldn't, I went towards my sister, I just need to check on her one last time, she has fallen asleep, dark circles decorated her emerald eyes, I bend to her and placed a light kiss on her cheeks, I heard her mumble sleepily, "ew, sisy," with that I transported myself back to the witch's place with a broken heart.

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