Free Trapped by Nicole Smith Page A

and sat in his chair in the corner , as he continued to watch them.
    The stairs creaked as Hayden and Carlos ran up. Once they reached the top they focused on findin g the other ghost . Hayden felt the air change as h e walked back into the room he ran through earlier and pulled back the curtain by the front window. She sat on the roof of the front porch . The o pen, window seemed odd since she would have been able to go through it. He smiled realizing that she probably hasn’t grasped the fact that she is a ghost yet.
    “Hi. My name is Hayden. Can I talk to you about a girl tha t was here earlier, a girl named Natalie? ”
    “You can see me?” she asked.
    “Yes mam. C an we talk?” Hayden persevered.
    “The police ignored me. They wouldn’t listen to me when I t ried to tell them what happened,” s he babbled on. Carlos was getting impatient. Hayden held his hand up to him.
    “I will tell them what happened after you tell me w h ere Natalie went, ” Hayden persisted.
    “ She didn’t stay long. She seemed frightened by something . She washed the cupboard handles after getting a drink then she washed her glass. She left before I could find her a coat. All she asked for was a coat, she just asked for a coat. I was so surprised to see a strang er in my house. I moved a little too sl o w I suppose . Then my husband went and gave her such a fright. She went white as a ghost an d she ran away into those woods, ” she said as she pointed to the woods they just came from.
    “Do you hav e any idea what time it was when she came here ?” Hayden asked as calmly a s he could. He wondered what scared Natalie so much. It couldn’t have been the fact that they were ghost s. Or the fact that he is a murderer. It may have brought back the memory of her father and he knew that would just have infuriated her, not frightened her . Possibly it brought back memories of her mother ’ s dea th. Or possibly Mr. Johnston kno w s what demon is chasing her and he told her so .
    “At ten thirty she entered my house , bec ause I had just sat down for my mid-morning tea, ” t he lady continued.
    “It’s bee n eight hour s . Let’s go while we still have some daylight left, ” Carlos ordered, feeling frustrated by their lack of information.
    “I sa w something go after her Hayden,” s he whispered as she continued to stare in to the woo ds.
    “Who went after her?” he asked, frightened now.
    “What went after her is the question you should be asking. It wasn ’t human. It wasn’t dead either it was something dark er . It appeared to be a dark cloud that followed her in to the woods,” s he shuddered then closed her eyes.
    “Thank you , ” Hayden said as they raced out of the room. Downstairs, Beth stood surrounded by th e boys but the farmer wasn’t there.
    “ Where did he go?” Carlos asked.
    “He went outside, ” one of them replied. Hayden ran out the front door and stopped on the first step of the porch. The farmer stood in the fron t ya rd holding a shovel. He must have dug this hole before he di ed. He placed his gun in it and then began to try and fill it with dirt .
    “Why is he doing that ?” Hayden asked Carlos as they walked by him .
    “I don’t know, ” Carlos replied as they stopped and looked bac k at the farmer. He stopped shoveling and leaned on his shovel, looking up at the sun as it began to make its decent.
    “It’s the eyes. They are watching us. I wish they would just come and take me. I c an’t stand the waiting . Don’t worry about your little friend , Natalie. S he is safe from the eyes. She is hidden from their sight still , but her demon is looking for her and when it find s her she will be completely lost to you . Ev en one of your ghost friends that chased her here is afraid of her demon , ” t he farmer warned as he continued burying his gun .
    “Which ghost friend i s that?” Carlos asked.
    “A woman was purs u ing her before she made it here, but once she saw Natalie’s demon