CHAPTER EIGHTEEN- THE TRAIN TRACK NIGHTMARE

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     Jonathan looks at Maisie watching her eyes get more and more white, not showing her beautiful green eyes, "Elizabeth what have you done to Maisie!" She looks at Maisie's helpless body and smiles, "I suppose as she goes further down the track her memories are going to fade and she will start forgetting this house, all the ghosts, and even you Jonathan..."
Everyone looks at Elizabeth. The old lady finally puts her shoe back on, and starts picking at her nails. She was worried that the friend she made over the past couple of months will forget her. Yes, they had a bad start at first but as time went on with Edith and Maisie they became very close and she didn't want to lose that.
     Cornelius and Richard start thinking of ways to save Maisie, and Jonathan is stuck in place. He can't lose her, what will she do without her? He can't say goodbye without her forgetting him. Cornelius grabs Jonathan's shoulders and turns him so he's looking at him, "Jonathan we have to go in after her."
"You know full well I cannot touch her!" Are they seriously making fun of Jonathan at this moment? Right now it isn't time to play games. Jonathan looks at Richard pleading, "Richard you're her past life you half to help her!" Richard looks down and sighs, "Something is telling me you half to be the one to do it, Jonathan..."
     "There is no time for this Richard you know I-!" Jonathan screams before Cornelius' lightbulb clicks in his brain, "Jonathan take off the ring!" The brunette boy looks at him confused, "Will it work?" Cornelius nods and Richard places a hand on Jonathan's shoulder, "Go get our girl." Jonathan looks down at his ring. Without hesitation he pulls the ring off letting it drop onto the floor. He runs to Maisie and grabs her shoulder.
He can touch her...

***

The train tracks...
Maisie was in the middle of the forest.
The leaves wailed in the wind as she looked around. She didn't know where she was, but Maisie knew for a fact, she was standing on top of an old railway.
She looks around to find a train coming toward her at a fast pace. Her eyes go wide as she jumps on her feet and starts to run, the ground shaking under her and she sprints, not looking back. She runs until her legs have worn out and she trips onto her face, turns around to the train coming straight toward her, closes her eyes, waits for impact, and...BAM.

Nothing happened.

She opens her eyes and sits up, looking straight ahead to see a male figure frantically looking around, he's wearing an old vintage tux set and has brown hair that is long to below his ears. Maisie and the male make eye contact and the figure starts running toward the girl who sat on the floor. He grabs his hand out to help her up, but before she could look to see what the man looks like...Jonathan?
"Trust me, Maisie." Jonathan pleads to watch as Maisie looks at him up and down like it is his first time meeting.
Brown hair.
Brown Painter brush mustache.
Vintage tux.
She nods and grabs his hand and he pulls her up smiling at her and everything goes dark.

***

Back at the apartment...
She wakes up in Jonathan's arms, feeling his soft touch wrapping around her, holding her for dear life. She looks up at him and gets a good look, "Jonathan.." She smiles and wraps him around in a tight hug. A touch of never-ending love and care. The feeling is electric. It's like the power of not wanting to let go. They stayed like that for a few long seconds, taking in one another's touch.
After so long Jonathan can finally touch someone else. And he was glad at this moment it could be the woman he loved with everything in his soul. They could hear a slight sob in the background, Maisie glances to find Edith crying, "Oh I'm getting all emotional, Robert give me your hanky!" Edith's husband looks at her and smiles and grabs his white cloth from his pocket and hands it over to his wife. "Oh, I do love a happy ending!" Robert says, looking at Cornelius. "It's not the end just yet." Cornelius looks over at Elizabeth, "We still got her to get rid of."
      Maisie finally lets go of Jonathan, "Wait, why can I touch you?" Jonathan smiles and nods, "The ring. It's gone." Elizabeth puts a hand on her heart in disbelief, "Jonathan how could you! I want a divorce!" Cornelius rolls his eyes at her comment, "What are you still doing here Elizabeth, I think it's about time you leave."
Maisie and Jonatahn turn to look at the group. Jonathan slowly brings his hands to hers and holds on to them, rubbing his thumb on her palm, not wanting to break from her touch. Maisie looks at his hand holding hers and smiles, and turns to look at Elizabeth who is chuckling, "Oh I'm not going anywhere." Everyone looks at her disgusted and annoyed.
Robert looks at Edith and claps his hands, "EDITH ATTACK!" and before anyone could say anything Edith's right shoes came off and into her hand ready to pounce at Elizabeth without another word. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Elizabeth says making the old lady think twice about her actions. "See you have the ability to move objects Edith...I have an ability of my own. And it is much more powerful than a slipper."
"What do you want Elizabeth, why in the bloody hell are you still here?" Jonathan says fed up with his ex-wife. Maisie can feel Jonathan's rage fueling him so she squeezes his hand for comfort, which calms him down. Elizabeth looks out the window, "It was never my intention to be here in the first place. When I made that curse on your ring I must have made a mistake. You see, unlike you boys, I lived a long and happy life. But when I passed away I didn't expect to end up in the attic of this ratchet place. Not my idea of heaven." 
Richard looks around and coughs, mumbling, "Heaven is not where you'll be going." Elizabeth gives him the stink eye and pretends she didn't hear, "When making that curse my soul seemed to attach itself to this necklace." Elizabeth touches the brown necklace placed on her delicately, not wishing for it to break. Edith chuckles to her comment and thinks for a moment but can't help but realize that she kinda seems like Voldemort from Harry Potter. "Anyway, I have had enough." Elizabeth says and again grabs Maisie by the collar, "I'm just going to get rid of her myself." And they both disappear out of thin air. Everyone stays in place for a moment. Not realizing what to do next.
"I think it's time we take down Elizabeth once and for all don't ya think?" Cornelius says, looking at everyone. Richard raises his hands in the air and screams, "BOSS BATTLE!" Everyone looks at each other and nods in agreement. Cornelius looks at Jonathan and puts a hand out for him to take, "Let's go get your girl, shall we?" Jonathan nods, taking his hand and he, Cornelius, Edith, and Richard disappear.

***

The woods...
They appeared in the middle of the woods looking at trees for miles. The leaves are gone, most on the ground in piles making it easier for them to try and spot the girls. "Anyone seen Maisie?" Jonathan asks frantically looking around until his blonde hair friends point out, "I think I see them!" Jonathan looks to his left to find Maisie trying to get out of Elizabeth's grasp but won't budge forcing them both to run in the opposite direction. The boys start running toward them at a fast speed and Maisie spots them. "Boys help!" she screams trying to get away from Jonathan's ex-wife as fast as she could. They keep running toward her until Richard drops face-first into the pile of leaves. Which made the others stop and turn to make sure their best friend was ok.
"All good! We have to keep running or we will never get Maisie back!" Richard screams, jumping back onto his feet and running, pretending nothing happened. As the boys run Jonathan can't help but think a million words per second, "We need a plan." Richard is still running but grabs a grenade from his coat pocket, "Here's a plan!" He takes the pin out and is about to throw it until Cornelius grabs him, taking the grenade and throwing it in the opposite direction from the girls, making it blow up in mid-air. "What the bloody hell Richard!"
"We need a plan guys, we can't keep waiting!" Jonathan comments on the blonde and brunette. Cornelius looks at Jonathan and starts to make hand signals which made Jonathan and Richard look at each other in confusion, "Any ideas what he is talking about dicky boy?" Richard shrugs his shoulders. "Ok we will split up, Elizabeth can't keep running forever," Jonathan commented, running away without another word.
Jonathan jumps through logs and bushes while frantically looking around. He needs Maisie, he can't lose her. She makes him feel human again, she has shown him what feeling alive is like. She has shown him what love is like. And my god did he love her. It seems like since they both confessed their feelings to each other something tries to get in the way of their happiness.
After a while of running he spots the girls. Maisie is wearing a pink and red sweatshirt with blue jeans. Elizabeth is in her green dress that is a tiny bit above the knee and she is dragging Maisie with all her might yelling at Maisie to stop struggling. Jonathan makes eye contact with Maisie and he starts running faster toward her. Masie pulls out an open hand hoping for Jonathan to grab her hand and take her to safety.
He misses.
Elizabeth keeps running until she comes to a complete stop, spotting Edith who has a slipper in her hand. Edith smiles, "This is for what you did to Jonathan...I'm going to enjoy this." And without another second Edith wacks Elizabeth with her slipper and makes Elizabeth let go of Maisie and drop to the ground. Jonathan runs to Maisie's side and grabs her, "Hello darling."
Elizabeth quickly gets up and turns to retreat the other way until she is cornered by Cornileus and Richard. As they get closer and closer to Elizabeth, Cornelius snatches the necklace off Elizabeth's neck while Jonathan and Maisie run to safety. The two run behind a tree not far from the commotion going on and Jonathan pins her to the tree looking at her frantically for any signs of cuts or bruises. For a moment it's just silence, them looking into eachothers eyes not knowing what to do next. Jonathan kisses Maisie's forehead and smiles at her, "I'll be back." He runs to the boys who grabbed logs and placed the necklace on a tree trunk. They circle where the necklace is placed. Jonathan looks at his two friends, "Ready?"
"Ready," said the blonde
"Ready." Said, Richard
They raised the logs and all at once they smashed the necklace breaking it into a million pieces. A dark light came out from the jewels blinding everyone surrounded by the broken necklace in front of them.
The curse is gone.
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inspired by: stephaniebooty on tiktok :)

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