Medium (3)

ch.3 The Last Encounters (5:00 pm same day)

That afternoon was dragging itself towards the night. I had finished all my chores
and I was now resting in my room trying to put the pieces together. After asking
lots of questions I had a better picture in my head about Angelica, which was the
little girls name.

Mom said they were inseparable when they were small and that her death was
something that was hurtful for her. She also told me it was kind of rare that she
passed away from a disease since she hardly ever got sick. All she knew was
that Angie died painfully from a stomach ache.

When I asked my grandmother she refused to tell me at first. But then she
looked at me and said:

"Wailanee, what in the world made you ask about this? Is been so many years
I had almost forgotten about Angie. After all this years it still hurts so much!" she
said in a sob.
"Grandma, there's a reason I need to know everything. Please, tell me"

"Angelica was brilliant. That little girl was good at everything she put her mind
to. I would give her a baking recipe and she would memorize it. She had very good
hands. Always kind and polite. But Angelica was very curious about everything
she never ceased asking, 'why'.?" Grandma wiped her eyes with a hankie.

Then she blew her nose and continued " There are certain things in life we are better off not knowing about. It doesn't mean they don't exist , it means certain doors should remain closed. Always." She got closer to me and whispered "Angie had a special gift. She could see things no one else could. Most people don't know
how to use these gifts, but she did."

"Wailanee, I know now, you have such a gift. Please don't ask anymore" she
reached to touch my face but I flinched back.

"Grandmother, listen to me very carefully. I don't know what's going with me. All
I know is she seeks me for help. And I'm going to do it. If there's something else I
should know you should tell me. I love you very much and I know you wouldn't hurt
anyone." I grabbed her hand "What happened?"

Grandma closed her eyes as she spoke " They found her laying on the floor
in the bathroom, foam coming out of her mouth. She kept saying:" The witch has
them in the bowl, the colors, the dolls.." over and over until she was very still and
she whispered ' I saw', then she was dead. Her parents thought maybe she drank
poison. But I know she wouldn't do such a thing. Then peolple started saying maybe I gave her something awful to eat. Of course most people know me better than that."

She sat down suddenly looking very much her age. Her pale face was tear
stained. A shudder shook her body and she looked at me and said:

"The last person to see her was Dona Maria" as she said this she rose to her feet
and began kneading bread dough her eyes focused faraway.

That night my heart was heavy with anger. So many secrets. Dona Maria was
not what she seemed to be. I lay my head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

I heard a noise and I didn't realize I had fallen asleep. I tried to move but I couldn't. I felt a tingling sensation near my toes, the coldness creeping towards my chest. I clenched my jaw and braced myself for the sensation.

As my breath became a mist I looked to my side and there was Angelica. This time there fear in her eyes.She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She gasped again and whispered: "She knows" and disappeared.

From up on the ceiling lighting struck my body but I felt no pain. Only rage.
I felt myself rise from the bed but I couldn't tell how. I saw myself floating to the
window and opening it like a door. I passed the portal and thought of a silent prayer
so God would protect me. I knew this was going to take me to a very dark place.

Such fog is not normal in our tropical island. But now it swirled around me
stinking of sewers. I could see I was walking between our yard and that of Maria's.
I looked back and saw my window was temptingly open, but I refused to chicken out
and so I open the door to Dona Maria's porch and stepped inside.

The house was darker than usual. I could hear the rats scrambling about.
The dogs snarled at me,but did not move. I looked at them and said words unfamiliar
to me: " Stand back in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost" and the
dogs whined and bowed their heads.

I moved deeper into the house and saw the cupboard table. I opened it's doors
and looked inside. There was a bowl with seashells and colorful stones. There were
many dolls with pins stuck to them. They had little rolls of paper tied around their
backs. I took one and read the note: " Teresa" . I felt nauseous. I took every piece of
paper and read all my family's names on them. They were other people's names
there, too.

I took the dolls and wildly searched about me for something to put them in.
I dropped them on a piece of newpaper and balled them into a sack when I heard
someone behind me. I turned around to see Angelica standing behind me. She
Grabbed my hand and said : " Take my hair and burn it" .

"What?! What did you said!" I looked inside the cabinet and saw a lock of
hair pinned to Angelica's picture. I snatched it up and looked at her. She pointed to
the candles, so I held then lock to the flame and watched it explode into a fire ball.

Soon the cabinet was engulfed in flames and I stood there watching when I turned
to see Angelica smiling while she too, burned. She said to me: "Run".

My heart pumped loudly when I heard her scream down the hallway

"You stupid little nosey girl !! You couldn't mind your business. Your just like that
other one. That's why she got what she deserved. She thought she could blabber
about me to your Grandma,right?! Well now you're going to pay for it!!" she howled

I turned and ran faster than I ever thought I could. I ran for my life. For my
family, my friends and best of all for Angelica. I jumped through my window and
hit my knee on the corner post of my bed. I winced my eyes shut just as she
made it to my window. I franctically looked around for something to throw but I
couldn't grab anything. My knee throbbed so bad. Tears ran down my face as I
struck my self with a pin.

She stepped closer now her hands looking like claws her face contorted in to
a mask so horrible I felt the scream swell in my throat. I grabbed a doll and looked
down feeling a calmness settle in my chest. It said Dona Maria. I took the pin out
and looked up to see her face a mere foot away from mine. She looked down just
in time to see me stick the needle to her heart.

Her scream was the loudest thing I ever heard. She fell to her knees snarling at
me. She dragged her self across the floor and was going to reach for my foot when
a voice quietly said behind me :"Don't you dare touch my, Baby."

I turned to see my Grandmother and my Mom standing together. They grabbed
the doll between our hands and continue to squeeze. My aunt then approached
with a bottle of holy water and splashed it on the dolls and on the woman on the
floor now crying.

She looked up to look in my eyes and whispered :" I never meant..to hurt her.

You all have it. She had it just like you." and she was still.

____________________________________________________________

I woke up to a sunny morning. The night was gone taking the shadows with it.
I looked up to see Grandma stitching a patch on my favorite overalls. She looked
up and smiled.

" How do you feel?" she felt my forehead

"Better than I thought I would" I smiled "Aren't you supposed to feed the
animals?"

" I thought they could wait a little while. No sense on doing it by myself if my
best right hand isn't there." she stood up.

"Grandma, is this our women secret?" I asked putting on the overalls

"Yes, it is. And is something very special no one can take from you now." she
brushed my hair back "Come on. Let's have breakfast."

After breakfast I sat on the fence and watched the house across the yard,now
deserted. Dona Maria was found dead in her sleep. She held a little picture of a
girl in her hand. I''ve since grown accustommed to my gift and now that I'm 10, I
consider myself a full blown witch -psychic.

Just as I thought this, I felt a tingling, but this time in my fingers. The coldness
crept up my spine and I braced my self for a visitor. I turned myself to see a boy
of about 12 years old. He was standing by our mangoe tree. He smiled at me.


I stood up and outstreched my hand as I walked towards him. Who would've
guessed they were friendly ones.

"Hi, my name is Wailanee, what's your name?"

"I'm William"







The end