Magnolia Wheeler was the nicest person in the small town of Cole, Maryland. She was also the only preschool teacher in the town and donated to local charities. Almost everyone knew who she was and not one person had anything rude to say about the sweet girl. She was happily engaged to the greatest bachelor in town, Dean Peterson. She was a beautiful woman with dark brown hair the color of mud. Maggie Wheeler was a happy young woman, 22 in age, with great morals.
Maggie opened her bright green eyes and shot up from her position on the floor as air started flow back into her lungs. She breathed in deeply and looked around the small room. For a split second she forgot where she was. Then, she remembered that her and her fiancé had taken a road trip to the capital. They had stopped at a cheap motel for some rest and Dean left to get them some food.
Maggie stood up and groaned as she felt a pain on her head. She walked to the bathroom slowly and turned on the faucet. She looked up at herself and shrieked. Her hands went to her mouth as she jumped around and stared at the dead body. The shower curtain was wrapped around the woman's entire body which was slumped over the side of the tub. There was a small cut on her forehead that looked only a few minutes old and her tear stained cheeks were red as a rose. To Maggie it was like a mirror image. Her body was adorned with same dress she fell asleep in, but now torn with the pale pink fabric wrinkled as if she had struggled. Maggie screamed and backed up into the faucet as she looked at the scene in front of her.
"Horrific, isn't it?" a voice asked beside her. She jumped up and looked at the woman. "There is no easy way to tell you this," she said hesitantly.
When Maggie looked over at the woman, she noticed the way she was dressed. The woman wore a raggedy Beetles tee shirt and torn bell bottoms. She looked like she was still living in the 70's. Her dark hair was a frizzy mess and her light eyes were full of sorrow. Her neck had thick bruise going all the way around.
But, when she looked back down at the body she noticed that it was her. She was the dead woman.
The woman sighed. "I'm not proud of what I did, but you have to understand how long I've been here-"
Maggie cut her off. "What happened to me?" she said loudly, anger present in her voice.
"I killed you. I pushed you into the tub. I wrapped the curtain around your head and you hit your head. I'm sorry," the woman replied. She was ashamed of what she had done. "You don't understand. I have been stuck here for 40 years. I can't leave until your body is found. You won't be able to leave until you do what I did. I'm really sorry, Maggie. I really am. It was supposed to be Dean. I'm sorry."
Maggie just stared at the woman. "Dean? Why Dean? Why would you want him?"
"He's sinned," the woman said quietly.
"Everyone sins. I have too. Why him?" Maggie said, her voice getting louder.
"I saw messages on his phone," she paused. "He' been unfaithful."
Maggie teared up and looked up at the window. Dean was walking across the sidewalk. He opened the door and Maggie ran to his side, screaming profanities in his face. She was a mess and her heart was tangled in a sheet of despair.
"Maggie, he can't hear you," the woman said loud enough so she could hear her.
Maggie stepped back as Dean set the two bags that were in his hands down on the end table. Maggie was trembling with anger as she walked back to the woman's side.
"He'll find your body soon enough and I'll be gone," the woman said.
"What should I call you?" Maggie asked.
"My name is Clarissa," the woman said as he stared at Dean.
Maggie thought back to when Dean asked her to marry him. They were at the nicest restaurant in their town. He got down on one knee and asked her with his dazzling white smile. She cried. It was a beautiful memory, now ruined by the news she had just been told. But, one minor detail she had missed. There was a woman in the background behind Dean. Everything clicked when she remembered the woman. She looked sad, as if she were heartbroken.
Dean looked around the room for Maggie. He walked slowly to the bathroom. "Maggie? Are you in there?" he said opening the door to the bathroom. Maggie couldn't see him, but she could already hear his crying. She stepped to the bathroom. She saw Dean holding her body, crying. She hadn't noticed at the time that Clarrissa was watching from behind her. Soon, she had paassed on. Maggie was angry. She didn't know how he could be so upset.
A couple hours later, an ambulance and a police car arrived and her body was taken away. Maggie sat beside Dean on the pavement outside of the motel. She held his hand and yet he had no idea. Her love overpowered the anger she felt. She would always love Dean Peterson no matter what. Maggie walked back to the room, thinking. Even if Dean had died instead of her, he didn't deserve to die. She was glad it was her and not Dean. If it had been Dean, she would never know what he had done.
After sitting in the room, staring at the wall, she realized something. She wasn't living up to what Clarrissa had told her. She wasn't going to help people commit suicide so she could move on to heaven, or wherever it was she was supposed to be going. She was going to scare people away from the room. She would be the ghost everyone was scared of, that no one wanted to encounter.
Maybe this was supposed to happen, she thought. Maybe she was supposed to end the cycle and be the change in this messed up system. She knew would have spend a lot of time in this motel room and a lot of time alone. She didn't care, she was saving lives.
