The Matinbury Estate

Chapter Seven: 01120605140417

September 17th 2006 3:50am

An inch from my face, the apparition that was the ghost girl screamed. My headache throbbed and burned like a melodic drum. I wanted to beat my head onto the walls and floor. I wanted to draw blood from my head so I would die and never have to look at this girl again. The memory of what happened in that guest bedroom would be forever etched into my existence and my purpose in life. I would never overcome it. This ghost girl wasn't real. She was a hallucinatory symbol of my own self hatred for what went down that day. I deserved what was coming. I could never forgive myself. Isa tried to warn me. Even though she allowed Kassidy to conduct her sadistic experiment she tried to get me to prevent it. If I had not left that sweet girl alone, Kassidy may have backed away and her life would be saved.

Maybe it wasn't my fault. This thought seemed like a heaven out of reach. I wished that this thought could be true. I wished that I could separate myself from this bleeding hell ridden legacy that Isa had left me. The Matinbury Estate and its meaning to me had been stained and infected with the virus that Isa manufactured herself. I wanted to be relieved of this constant reminder of what my family had done.

A thought occurred to me. Maybe I didn't have to endure this legacy. I did nothing to deserve this. Ghost girl wasn't real. She was in my head. I owned her memory and could banish her if I desired. Maybe I deserve to be forgiven. Not by any demon but by myself. I would forgive myself. I was a victim here. Not as much as ghost girl but I still have been tortured and exposed to much worse than anyone my age should have been. Kassidy can go to hell. I would cure what she and Isa had done. I would get the antivirus to the police. I would live a happy life with Howard and the rest of the family we would build. Maybe that last clock was counting down the end of me either.

Ghost girl screamed in my face, spewing poison, shouting obscenities, and cursing my name. I was resolved. She couldn't hurt me. I owned her. Ghost girl suddenly went silent. Her yellow eyes remained fixated on my own. They twitched. Suddenly they burst from her skull in an explosion of black ooze and blood. Her hair fell to her shoulders and the rest of her body creaked and fell backward crashing into the hardwood floor. Her body began convulsing on the ground and then spinning creating a whirlwind of blood that drowned the room. I fell backwards from the force of the blood. I sputtered and began sobbing because of the relief. I had defeated this terror. I was finally free.

I cried for a long time. I cried for the ghost girl and for Isa. Isa was afraid and unadmirable but she was still my grandmother. And like a mother I loved her as much as she loved me. I could never lose that love. I would take her up on that offer that she made me so long ago. She said that we could learn from each other and go throughout life learning from each other's mistakes.

I stood up from the ground to find that all signs of the ghost girl had disappeared. No blood, no body. She was gone. I had the antidote in my hands. I could smell the smoke getting closer. It was time to leave this place at last. All enemies were gone. All demons vanquished. I walked out of the secret office within the secret office and looked towards the closet that Kassidy had locked me in. I was disgusted and felt no wish to see her dead body. She had died the way she killed the ghost girl.

I looked towards the hallway leading back to the basement. I shuddered. I was free but something felt off. Maybe one subconscious tie that had been left unattended to. I stopped in my tracks entirely when I heard a croaking sound. I was unsure of what I had just heard and wondered if it was in my head. My hands were shaking still. I was not well. It had to be in my head. Everything was dead silent now but I was sure that the sound had come from the direction of the closet. I ran. I couldn't take this anymore. I was scared and tripped over my own feet and slammed into the doorway of the closet. I thought that something would instantly drag me into the darkness to consume me. I smelled the fire and saw the bright light down the hallway opposite to the secret door to the basement. I didn't have time.