The Goodacre Chronicles #1: The Piper Quest

2. What Jenny Saw

When Jenny finally flung the door open [well, the strong winds that were blowing flung it inside and she just barely missed being smashed by the hard wood], she saw the most ghastly apparition she could ever have imagined - or, perhaps, it was only the frightful behaviour of Nature; it was raining after all and her eyes may have been deceived.

Nevertheless, she stood rooted to the spot, with the wind whipping her hair around her head and her clothes ruffling against her body.

"Jenny," muttered Julie, her small face hidden in Jenny's clothes, "who is it?"

That was all Jenny needed to gather enough courage to speak out: "Who-who is it?" she stammered, trying to sound brave. "What - do you - want - from us?"

Utter silence followed as the girl and the wraith began a staring match.

That is, if the wraith even had any eyes to speak of...

Jenny plucked up enough courage to say, "You're not Miss Carter!" Well, at least that was what she wanted to say, but it came out in whimpers, and did not make much sense.

Still though, there was no response. Staring at the wraith became a little too tiring and she wanted to look anywhere else but at it - not that there was anything else to look at, save for an occasional lightning. However, she could not summon the will to do so-something was holding her back.

Little Julie, still clutching her sister's skirts and her own fluttering in the wind, heard everything, although she absolutely refused to see. She thought that her sister was very brave to face something unknown like that all by herself.

Shrill laughter erupting from somewhere sent a wave of fear down Jenny's spine, which multiplied itself and began spreading to the rest of her body. But, she refused to be scared and wilfully stopped her fear from showing itself.

"Wherever you are, show yourself!" she yelled. Another lightening lit up the Heavens, trailed by a roar of thunder. Jenny stood her ground, gritting her teeth when her whole body wanted to run inside to the safety of her home and hide under the comfort of her soft, cushiony bed.

Instead, she was determined to solve the mystery that very instant.

Another cackle resounded in the thunderous air. As if on cue, the wind suddenly changed its course for a moment and would have swept Jenny's skirts off, had Julie not been hanging on to them, trembling. Jenny could feel her sister's fear.

Lightning was followed by thunder and this time, Jenny was able to make out the wraith once more.

She squinted at it and realised that the wraith was now transitioning between transparency and solidity. "W-well, what-what do you want?" she stammered, trying to restore her cool, which was rather a feat at the moment.

As she appraised it, she realised that the apparition resembled an old lady, the kind one may find in fairy tales as mad old witches, who dabble in wicked sorcery.

Only, this one did not seem quite as harmless as a fairy tale witch.

As Jenny stared at the wraith, its face began to take on the form of a human being-eyes, ears, nose, and mouth began to take shape. The hands at its side and the legs underneath its body began to solidify, and so did its torso. It was like watching a movie: unreal.

The now-solid wraith had a wicked grin on its face.

Even as Jenny stared at the horrendous wraith, a scream echoed quite close to her. She looked down to see that Julie had at long last taken in the situation. Jenny turned her gaze back at the apparition and saw it raising its amorphous arms.

From below her, Jenny could hear her sister scream: "What's happening, Jenny?! What is that... thing?! Jenny! Can you hear me?! Jenny!" Little Julie was tugging at her skirts, not able to take her eyes off the horrid wraith.

The older girl placed a warm arm around her little sister in a half-hug, pulling her as close to herself as possible, trying to control her own fear. Eventually, Julie's trembling lessened, but not quite.

From somewhere in the corner of her eye, she could see a familiar form materialising, but she chose to ignore it at the moment.

At last, Jenny saw a movement escape from the wraith. To her right, she spotted one of the amorphous arms moving. It gradually extended towards the two girls.

Jenny realised what was happening and wanted to run back inside the house. However, she found herself rooted to the spot, as if her feet were stuck into the tar underneath her. She simply could not move. The formless armed moved slowly and surely towards her, stretching it when it reached its limit - Julie trembling by her side, on the verge of collapsing - and Jenny could do nothing about it.

Only one option came flashing into her mind: she opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream.

At once, Jenny felt an unfamiliar arm clasp around her waist; looking down, she realised that Julie had passed out completely. She felt herself being lifted into the air, Julie alongside her.

'Oh no,' she thought, panic finally breaking through her thick chest, 'is this how we die?! Are we going to...?' But, she never got to finish her thought, as darkness surrounded her vision...

***

Author's Note:

As you might have guessed, it's the wraith in the header!

But, I have a question: do wraiths really look like that?? I'm asking, because my imagination after what I have read doesn't tally with this one... *thinks deeply*