What about that boy did I like: his stringy, raven hair or the fact that he appeared to be around my age—thirteen? Of all the times that man visited me, he never brought him.
I stepped before the music box again, tripping it, and moved my ghostly form toward my room, adjusting the flower crown on my head. I wanted to reveal myself, but at the same time, I didn’t.
Riley’s dad swung my door open, and he and Riley approached the music box. “Brenda, do you know the name of the man who murdered you?” asked Riley’s father.
While I did, I refused to get into it, so I stayed clear of the Spirit Box. That was a horrific death; I’d rather forget it. Right now, Riley was my priority. I needed to grab his attention and tell him that I wouldn’t hurt him.
“Are you shy, Brenda?” was Riley’s dad’s second query.
I tripped over my foot and toppled beside the Cat Ball.
“Oooh!” Riley’s dad excitedly stated when it blinked on and off. “She’s in here with us, Riley. Are you okay, Brenda? Did you fall?”
“That was a loud bang,” Riley shakily admitted.
“Yeah,” his dad replied, nodding. “Brenda, if you’re truly in here with us, could you trigger the Cat Ball again?”
I knocked it off to the side, and it sailed toward Riley, landing before his sneakers.
“Oh my gosh!” he screamed. “That’s it—I’m out.”
“No, no, no. Wait.” His dad neared him. “Listen to her, Ri. She likes you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like her.”
My heart sank. It was like the night the man dropped me into the well. He put a rock in my bag and pushed me off the edge while I was unconscious but still alive.
“But I like you,” I whispered to myself. Riley was as handsome as a buck and dumped me like that? How hard was it for a girl to get a friend?
I sniffed and floated into my room, triggering the music box.
“Great, Riley,” his dad said in the living room. “You upset her.”
“I don’t care,” he argued back. “She’s not real.”
Yes, I am. I sat on my mattress and stretched my legs, tugging my nightgown over my knees.
The boys soon entered my room again, their gear in hand, and Riley’s dad pointed his EMF Meter at me. “It’s spiking to red, Riley. Hey, Brenda”—he set the music box on the floor—“you like this music box, so if you’re not too upset, could you trip it again? Please?”
I stared at the coffin-shaped box and replayed the eerie, mesmerizing melody in my head. Oh, how I loved music, but I never became a star.
Riley and his father cleared the area around my bed and waited, Riley with his arms crossed.
“Say you’re sorry, Ri,” his dad ordered.
“Why should I?”
My heart sank again. Nevertheless, I carefully slid off the mattress and stood, approaching the box.
It went off, and Riley’s dad gasped. “Brenda, thank you so much. We understand if you’re upset now and will leave if you want us. We can try again later in the week.”
“Don’t leave me here with the demon,” I whimpered. He periodically left the well and came into the house, attacking me like a cat and a mouse. I was tired of it. I needed Riley to defeat him and get me out of this place. That called for another attempt at the Spirit Box, which sat beside the music box. “Help.”
Riley and his father’s mouths dropped. “Help again,” Riley’s dad observed. “Brenda, what’s wrong?”
“Demon.”
“Demon?” Riley whispered. Goosebumps appeared on his arms. “Dad, let’s go. Right now.”
“But—!” he protested.
“Now, Dad!” Oh, gee, that boy had a temper.
“But if she needs help, don’t you think we should help her?”
Riley shook his head. “No. Real or not, I’m not dealing with any so-called demon.” With those words, he marched past his dad and headed for the house’s front door.
“Wait!” I begged, holding my arm out.
Riley did not turn back.
I dropped back onto my bed and buried my face. Would anyone help me? I just wanted to be free.
“I’m sorry about him, Brenda,” Riley’s father said a few minutes later. “He doesn’t do the supernatural. I’ll see if I can knock some sense into him. Once I do, we’ll come back and help you. I promise.”
“Pinky swear?” I questioned, but Riley’s father didn’t hear me because I didn’t speak into the box.
He gestured at the music box. “I will leave this here since I know you like it. We’ll be back soon, so you can play with it until we return. I have an extra one at home.”
At least he showed more sympathy than Riley.
“Thank you again, Brenda, for communicating with us.” Riley’s father gathered his supplies except for the music box. “See you later.” He shut off his torch and left me alone in the house.
Clear tears ran down my cheeks. I wiped them away and picked up the music box. The melody left it, and I hugged it close. I trekked to the broken window in my room and peered outside at the driveway.
Riley’s father’s car lights flickered, and he performed a three-point turn, pulling out of the driveway. Soon after, they disappeared into the darkness.
I whimpered and moved away from the window when there was a cold chill. He was coming for me.
I tucked the music box under my mattress and ducked into my closet, closing the door. I hid in the deepest corner and kept quiet.
The front door opened, and heavy footsteps stepped into the house, followed by hissing. The Demon never said anything, but he didn’t need to. His dark, slender form and pointy teeth were enough. I could not remember the last time I slept properly.
The Demon stomped around my house like a giant, kicking over an occasional table or chair. He was looking for me. That was my life—an endless game of cat and mouse.
The Demon entered my bedroom, hissing softly, and snuck around it. He broke my window further, and I shut my eyes.
Think of the good times when you were alive, Brenda.
I filled my head with the smell of Mom’s homemade oatmeal cookies, the roar of my father’s airplane he kept on the farm, and my beloved horse’s baby face. His name was Chuck.
However, as usual, the bad memories overtook the good ones: my tights tightening around my neck, strangling me, getting stuffed into a body bag, and him dragging me to the well. Why were people so evil?
Think about the music box, Brenda, and the kind man who gave it to you. Don’t think about Riley. Don’t, don’t, don’t.
Why were people so evil?
Stop, Brenda, stop. The Demon feeds on bad memories.
It’s too hard. That was such a horrific death. How could I forget it? Please, Demon, spare me, but I knew he wouldn’t.
My closet door opened, revealing the Demon’s red eyes and fangs. He grabbed my neck, dug his claws into it, and tossed me onto my bed.
Help! Help! Help! Riley, please, I don’t want to live like this. No matter how hard I begged, no one would ever help me.
My neck burned, indicating the scratches were already appearing. The more the Demon scratched me, the more I would lose my chance at freedom. Of all the places for me to die, it had to be that hell house.
“What do you want from me?” I met the Demon’s glowing eyes. “Why can’t you just let me go?”
He hovered over me like the mythical Slenderman and hissed some more. Afterward, he flipped my bed, with me on it, and bent over. When he stood, he held my new gift in his claws.
“Wait, that’s mine!” I argued, reaching for it.
My enemy stomped on my hand, knocking me onto the floor, and covered the music box. He always did that. He always stole the gifts ghost hunters left when they visited me.
The Demon stormed out of my room, cackling, and exited the house.
Too scared to turn my bed over, I collapsed onto the floor. I never wanted to see that monster again, but I would, and I hoped that when I did, I would finally have a friend to help me seal him.
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