What Lies Beneath

Chapter Thirty-Three: Darla

There is more to this world than what you can see. Darla had become accustomed to this fact since the moment that she was born. Of course, it didn't help that she lived with her grandparents in New Mexico.

From the time that she was a toddler, she was taught to believe in ghosts. Her grandparents would tell her stories of the dead. She was raised to believe that after you die you go somewhere magical. You see, Darla's grandparents migrated from Mexico shorty after her parents died in a terrible accident. When they came to America, they brought with them their culture and their beliefs.

Every year in November they would celebrate the dead and do all the things that her grandparents would do in Mexico. Though some of the locals looked at them like they were loco. Many of them also shared the same religion and respect for the dead as they did.

When Darla was younger, she used to think of it as a huge party that seemed to go on forever, but as she got older, she began to understand. Yes, it was a party, but that's not all it was. As she grew older, she found that she was able to enjoy the celebrations more and more each year. Then she found her gift.

In her religion they believed that there was a day that you could speak to the dead. Not just one person, but all. It was around the time that she turned thirteen that she realized that she could speak to the dead whenever she wanted.

When she told her grandmother about her special gift, she found that her grandmother was devastated. Darla felt confused. Why would her grandmother not like the fact that she could commune with the dead outside of the allotted time? When she asked her grandmother this question, she began to weep. Guilt welled up inside of her as she watched her grandmother's tears roll down her splotchy cheeks.

She was about to tell her that it didn't matter when her grandmother bestowed a most awful story upon her unsuspecting ears. The real story of why she didn't have her birth parents anymore.

The woman explained in great detail of the riots that broke out when the people in their village had learned that Darla's mother could see and speak to the dead all the time. The people split into groups. Some thought that it was amazing, and they revered her for this gift, while others considered it blasphemy and wanted her executed.

It was when the uproar began that they had decided to leave the village. They had elected to leave under the cover of night, but somehow their plans had gotten out and when they tried to leave their home, there was a mob waiting for them with torches. To protect Darla, who was a baby at the time, her mother gave her to her grandmother and told her to keep her safe. After she felt that her child was safe, she willingly walked into the crowd where she was immediately engulfed.

The mob was made up of people who wanted to see her dead and that's exactly what they intended to do.

They pushed the woman to the center of the crowd and once she was there, they proceeded to throw rocks and stones at her. It was when she fell to the ground that Darla's father burst through the mob. He threw himself over her and pleaded with the angry people. He begged them to stop and told them that they would leave and never bother them again, but it was too late. The mob would not be swayed that easy. They had come there to kill the witch and no amount of pleading would stop them.

They shouted angry words over his pleas. They told him to leave and that if he did not go, that he would suffer the same fate as his wife. When he refused, they didn't hesitate. A man from the crowd emerged, his face hidden behind a mask. In his hand he held a bottle of gasoline which he poured over the young couple's heads. No one knew who threw the torch, but that didn't matter. When it hit the gas, Darla's parents were instantly engulfed in flames.

Her grandmother told Darla of the inhuman screams that came from her parent's throats as they died and the way that the crowd had cheered. When the story was finished, Darla felt sick to her stomach.

How could people do something so horrible? Not being able to hold it back anymore, Darla fell onto her grandmother's knees and began to sob. Her grandmother, also with tears in her eyes, soothed her granddaughter by patting her head.

After that day, Darla never spoke of her gift again. She pretended that she could not see the spirits that walked among the living. For three years she did this, then something strange happened.

When Darla arrived home a few weeks after her sixteenth birthday, she found a strange letter on her bed. After reading it, she found that her room was filled with the spirits that she had tried so hard to ignore. All of them watched her as she tried to pretend that she was alone, but they knew. They knew that she could see them, they always had. For when you have the gift of seeing, the spirits are drawn to you. You see, you are a part of their world as much as you are a part of the world of the living.

Tired of waiting for her to finally acknowledge them, they began to yell and scream at her. Eventually, not being able to take the noise any longer, Darla covered her ears and screamed at all of them to shut up. It was in that moment, when she spoke to them, that her true powers emerged.

The room fell silent, all the ghosts and apparitions stared blankly at the girl. Then one emerged from the crowd. The woman was small and frail in stature, but she looked a lot like Darla in the way of her long dark hair and almond brown eyes. In her heart, Darla felt that she knew this spirit.

It was only when the spirit spoke, that she knew for sure, the ghost standing in front of her was her mother. Her mother looked at her daughter with such love in her eyes, that it brought tears to Darla's. She told her daughter that she must go to the place in the letter. For there was something in that house that she must do. Before Darla could say anything, all the spirits faded from before her.

Still stunned by what had happened, the young girl sat on her bed staring at the place where her mother had stood. In her mind she knew what she must do, the decision had already been made for her. She could not ignore her mother's wishes.