Why Not Murder

67. Discoveries

67. Discoveries

Maya left the others in the library and went outside to explore more of Crawford Mills. Sori was high on a tree cackling with other ravens there. She looked at Maya briefly and continued her interactions with the ravens. Sori was larger than any of them and obviously was confident that her ability to fly had returned. Maya began to wander the streets alone. The damp fog penetrated her clothing and it hung heavier on her body. Maya looked up at the central tower. It stuck out above the fog in the clear air there. No one appeared at the windows. The fog was much thicker at ground level. Nothing was moving except for the ghostly gray semi-transparent figures with nooses around their necks. It seemed to be the town uniform. They were walking through walls and through each other. As an experiment, Maya stood in the way of an advancing ghost and it walked right through her. She wondered if this town were the convergence of two separate space-time worlds and then she smiled at her vivid imagination.

Maya reached the meeting hall and heard voices coming from inside. She entered keeping herself hidden. Just like last time, she stayed behind a dusty curtain and peered out into a large room without windows and with an oval table in the center. There were ghosts sitting around the table. A ghost at one of the narrow ends of the table said, "We are gathered here to plan our next moves and call for guidance." At the end of each sentence the others chorused affirmatively, 'Yeah'. The same person continued speaking, " We have the attention needed. People have died. All are doomed in any case. We are not understood and must take further action. This is not about blackmail, nor terrorism. We have no demands. Demands are made by copycats. Copycats want to join us but our identity is unknown and can never be known to them unless by chance they have taken the initiatory step through the door of death and time brought them here. We are not about revenge, nor about availing ourselves of the wealth of others. We trust in the spirit of equity to make sense of it all. Let us close the circle." Each person held hands with those beside them and they all bowed their heads as though in serious prayer. An uncomfortable eerie feeling came over Maya. This was exactly what happened last time she was here.

It was quiet for about fifteen minutes and Maya stayed absolutely still. Then the same ghost spoke, " We must wait until retaliation of copycats and the downtrodden has abated. When a semblance of calm returns, we will continue our actions. The mayhem is against everyone. Executions are targeted. The pyramid shall fall and no more will ever be constructed. Those at the top have the farthest to fall. All shall be at ground level. The population shall shrink until the garden of plenty is able to restore itself." The 'yeahs' became louder. "All agreed?" the leader asked and the unanimous 'yeah' was deafening. This too was exactly like last time. Maya was so uncomfortable that she took the opportunity to get out unseen. She watched the people at the meeting exit the building. They all had sheets of paper in their hands. Maya looked at one of the sheets that had fallen onto the road and it contained the same message about preparing for death. It was all so very weird. Her imagination was coming up with various explanations but none convinced her.

Maya came to the house at the end of the road which she had entered before. This time she didn't go in because last time she had been chased away and shot at by ghosts and didn't want that happening again. While she was looking at the house, a shadow ghost's head with a noose around the neck leaned out the window. Another ghost climbed out of a window and onto the roof of the garage. The two ghosts ran down the road in the direction Maya had run before. This time she hid at the side of the road and watched them rush by holding guns and shooting. The only thing that seemed different about this was that Maya was not fleeing before them, but the ghosts were behaving the same.

Maya put her hand into her pocket and felt the letter she had taken from the room where the noose had been hanging when she had gone inside the house. It gave her reassurance about reality. She followed the ghosts alongside the river up to the water fall and there they evaporated. The time before when the ghosts seemed to be chasing her, her life had been saved by a bear or she wouldn't be standing here now.