I wrote this short story for a spooky anthology last month and while it didn't make it in, it's perfect for Halloween week! I hope you guys like it!
Approximately 3,700 words long
The Ghost of Temply
Barren branches swayed, but there was no wind; brown leaves crunched along the sidewalk, but there was nothing there; a rock skittered onto the road, but there was no force behind it.
All of these things happened behind nine-year-old Marley, but she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn’t notice their abnormality.
“Ava’s so mean!” she whined, stomping her feet as she walked home from school. “She stole my lunch money again. I hate her!”
Ava was the math teacher’s daughter and so everybody’s favorite. Everyone loved Ava. It didn’t help that she made sure to bully Marley when no one else was around, locking her in a locker or ridiculing her for not knowing something, and who’d believe some kid’s word over Ava’s?
“Ugh, it’s not fair!” She kicked a rock, not paying attention to when it was kicked again after she’d already passed it, the tumbling rock matching her emotions. She felt like crying, then screaming, then hitting something––preferably Ava.
Marley hoisted her backpack further up, the heavy school books weighing it down.
A cool breeze fluttered through her blond hair, lifting the ends up and exposing her neck to the cold. She shivered and looked around at her downcast surroundings. Dreary, grey clouds blocked the sun, lifeless trees lined the empty street, and a fog settled over the ground.
Fall had set in hard for the small town of Temply. Marley hated October and the creepy vibes it brought. Ava made fun of her because of it, but Marley scared easy and would cry every Halloween.
Ava’s words from earlier today popped into Marley’s head. “I heard that every year during Halloween week, a ghost appears in Temply, haunting the place it was killed! A middle schooler told me, so it must be true. You better watch out, Marley, because I heard it likes to prey on the scaredy cats!” Her mean laughter rang in Marley’s mind.
Halloween’s in one week. Gut clenching, her breaths came out in gasps, the puffs visible in the cold weather. Her hands started shaking. No, I don’t want it to come! I––
A scream ripped out of Marley’s mouth as she tripped over the uneven sidewalk and fell. Fire burned her hands and elbows where she’d scraped them, warm, thick blood dripping down her arms.
She lay flat on the ground, her arms upturned to keep the stinging wounds from touching the ground. A sob caught in her throat, tears streaming down her face. “Ow, it hurts!”
An unnatural chill passed over her, raising goosebumps all along her body. Marley tensed and slowly raised her head, sure someone stood before her, but the sidewalk was empty.
“H-hello?”
Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, the rapid pace pushing even more blood out of the gashes on her arms, the red blood staining the concrete below her.
As she stared at the space in front of her, the air seemed to fizz, forming a human-shaped form that was clear as water yet noticeably solid.
Marley’s breath caught in her throat, her eyes and mouth wide in a silent scream. She scrambled to her feet, the pain in her arms fading as one word resounded in her head.
Run.
Marley took off, her tennis shoes smacking the sidewalk in the opposite direction of her home. Please don’t follow me, please don’t follow me. She risked a glance behind her and didn’t see anything, but she kept running, all other thoughts gone from her mind as if the air whipping past her had snatched them away.
Finally, Marley stumbled to a stop at a bench in the park she’d subconsciously run to. The park was small, rundown, and Marley’s favorite one, because no other kids were ever there, much preferring the newer and big one. Fog swirled around the playground equipment, pulling over the swings and rounding the poles, claiming this spot as its own.
She collapsed into a heap on the cold metal bench, dragging in lungfuls of air. Now that she’d stopped running, she realized that she’d left her backpack where it’d fallen when she tripped.
Tears streamed down her wind-chapped face, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. Marley wrapped her sweater clad arms around her knees and huddled against the back of the bench.
What was that? Could it be the ghost Ava was talking about? If that was the case, and Ava was right, then that meant it had been there to hurt Marley. The realization struck her like a slap in the face. I almost died.
Twenty minutes passed, but Marley couldn’t make herself get up and go back in the direction of the ghost to go home. Her mom was going to be so worried. Mom. She’ll notice I’m late and come looking for me! Marley just had to wait here and her mom would save her.
But her mom didn’t have a chance to find her.
A chill set in, just like before, like ice stabbed her deep in the heart, freezing all of her senses. Marley jolted upright, swinging her head around for any sign of where the ghost was. Her hands trembled when she saw the distorted air forming in front of her, fizzing around the edges until it once again took the shape of a human.
But unlike last time, Marley was exhausted. Her legs ached from running so long and her arms pulsed with pain. I don’t think I can escape this time. I’m too weak, just like Ava always said.
As the ghost solidified again, Marley was able to get a good look at it. It was neither male nor female, just an invisible form with distorted but distinct edges showing its shape. It had a smooth head with no hair or facial features. In fact, as Marley scrutinized it, she realized it had zero features at all. It had taken on a basic human shape, its head, body, arms, and legs invisible except for the twist of air surrounding it. The strap of her backpack hung from its hand, the distortion the only thing telling her it wasn’t just floating in the air.
Weren’t ghosts supposed to be the spirits of people or something? So why did this one have no features or details at all?
The ghost tilted its head, as if studying her too. After several long minutes of them both staring at each other, it dropped her backpack and stretched out an arm toward her.
Marley flinched, pressing into the back of the bench. She squeezed her eyes shut and silently begged it to go away. I’m not weak. You don’t want to kill me. You want to leave and go play somewhere else like a nice little ghost.
But her pleading didn’t work.
Its hand closed around her arm and Marley shrieked, terror filling every inch of her body. She sobbed, bracing for however ghosts killed people, but it didn’t do anything. It just held onto her arm, its hand cold and weird feeling, kind of like a blob of slime you could buy at the store.
Marley peeled her eyes open and peaked at the ghost to see it now kneeled before her, its head bent over her arm.
What’s it doing? Is it drinking my blood? No, vampires did that, not ghosts. Besides, Marley figured she’d feel it if it was drinking her blood.
Her arm was still visible beneath the ghost’s hand, but it was distorted and swirly looking. As Marley watched, the blood on her arm––dried and fresh alike––started receding, and for a second she thought it really was drinking her blood, but then the gash started closing up like it was being sewed together until it was completely gone.
Marley gasped and ripped her arm out of its hold. She flipped it over, ran her trembling hand down her arm to her elbow where she’d scraped it, then did the same to the other one, unable to believe what she was seeing.
They were both healed. Not a single scratch or stray drop of blood marred her now smooth arms.
She raised her head, disbelief and awe spreading through her like the fog did in the park. “H-how did you do that?”
The ghost lifted its shoulders in a shrug, its arms stretched out at its sides.
Marley squinted at it. “You can’t talk, can you?”
Her fear slowly fading away as each minute passed and it didn’t try to kill her, Marley rose to her feet, standing timidly a foot away from the ghost.
The air rippled where the ghost shook its head, the playground behind it distorting around the edges.
I guess it makes sense for a ghost not to talk.
“Why are you here?”
But of course, the ghost didn’t answer. It shrugged again, not like it didn’t know, but like it simply had no other way to answer her.
Think of yes or no questions, like you’re playing a game at a party!
“Um, are you here to hurt me?” Marley’s breath seemed to stop as she leaned forward, anticipating its answer.
The ghost shook its head vehemently.
Marley let out her held breath, her shoulders relaxing. She didn’t know why, but she trusted this strange ghost in front of her. She didn’t think it wanted to hurt her––it did the opposite in healing her.
“Are you...alive?”
It once again shook its head.
“Dead?”
Head shake.
So this ghost was neither dead nor alive. Well, duh, Marley! That’s the definition of ghosts.
“Are...are you here for me?”
This time the ghost bobbed a nod.
Marley gulped, her palms slick. What exactly did that mean? If only there was a way to get more detailed answers. Wait! Maybe there was…
“Can you write in your ghost form?” Marley gestured at its see-through body.
The ghost paused before nodding slowly, as if confused by her question.
She dropped to the ground where her backpack laid, dampness seeping through her jeans where her knees pressed into the soggy grass. Marley riffled through her backpack and pulled out a notebook and pencil, the eraser end dented from where she chewed it whenever she was nervous.
Marley hopped up and extended them. “Here! You can write your answers down, that way we can talk! I saw this done in the movie Mom and I watched last night. The girl was deaf and didn’t have another way to communicate––but that’s besides the point! Now you can tell me why you’re here and what you want with me.”
The ghost took the offered items, its head swiveling between her and the notebook, before bending over and scribbling on the first empty page it found.
It was weird seeing the pencil move with nothing but swirling air around it, the light bending in weird angles where its arm and hand was.
It finished whatever it was writing and thrusted the notebook at her. One paragraph took space on the crinkled paper.
I used to be a bully in school when I was a teenager and did awful things. The last thing I did was a Halloween prank gone wrong, which ended with both of us dying in a car crash. Now, I must atone for what I did. For twenty years I must come back here in Temply at the time of my death and help kids face their bullies until I have redeemed myself for what I did. This is my twentieth and final year, and I’m here to help you with your bully.
Marley read through the scribbles a second and third time, tears blurring her vision. “Oh, no! That’s horrible.” She covered her mouth, processing what she just read. “So you’re saying that because of what you did, you have to return every year for twenty years and help kids with their bullies? And that I’m your last one?”
The ghost nodded solemnly.
“Oh.” So Ava was right. The ghost of Temply really did exist and go after the weak kids––not to prey on them, but to help them. To redeem itself.
Fear spiked through Marley at the thought of what this ghost had done when it lived, at the horrors it must have inflicted on people to deserve this fate, but it didn’t last long. The pre-ghost might have been a bad person, but it was good now and trying to right its wrongs.
Marley planted her hands on her hips. “But how can you help me with Ava? Everyone adores her and has no idea how she treats me.”
She could barely make out how it rubbed its chin with its hand, the action reminding Marley of her dad when he was thinking. Only he had a beard.
After a minute, the ghost took the notebook and wrote out its idea, Marley adding in her thoughts and tweaking it until they had the perfect plan to stop Ava’s bullying.
–––––––
Marley walked into school the next week. The moment she stepped through the doors, her senses were overwhelmed with black, purple, and orange decorations that practically screamed Halloween. Excited whispers filled the halls. No one could sit still during their classes, all of them looking forward to the night.
Marley barely managed to pay attention to what her teachers said and couldn’t wait for night to come either, but not to go trick-or-treating.
School finally ended, and Marley joined the crowd of chattering kids in the halls, making her way to the front. She’d agreed to meet the ghost at seven at a certain house. Marley had spotted it trailing her throughout the week, keeping watch, and spoke to it several times since making their plan.
Giddiness welled inside of her, and not even the thought of going out on Halloween night could dim it.
She and the ghost had come up with a plan to stop Ava’s bullying.
Marley spent the next several hours in her room attempting and failing to do homework until it was time. She snuck out the back door, avoiding her parents talking in the kitchen.
She crept down the sidewalk, the fog now gone but replaced with inky blackness. Marley passed a yard and yelped, jumping backward when a witch screamed at her, her heart pounding erratically. “It’s fake, Marley. Just decoration.”
Yet her words didn’t help any as she delved deeper into the neighborhood, skeletons, witches, zombies, and all other kinds of things ready to jump out at her. Hordes of kids walked around the street, the costumes ranging from cute fairy dresses to horrifying zombie makeup that looked a little too real for Marley’s comfort.
She pressed through the thickening crowd of kids on the street, looking for the house the ghost had directed her to. It said the house had dark, purple lights strung across the flower bed, several cobwebs situated in the grass and hanging on the walls, and a giant, air-up spider climbing off the roof over the front door. Her stomach churned and legs shook at the thought of willingly going to a house like that, but it was necessary.
Marley clenched her hands. You’re doing this to stop Ava, so you and others won’t have to deal with her anymore.
She rounded a corner and there it was, in all of its hideous glory. Marley gasped. The black spider was enormous, bigger than the car parked in the driveway, its spindly legs reaching for the kids ringing the doorbell below. She knew in her head that it was just a air-up, but that didn’t stop the initial spike of fear from running through her.
“Deep breaths, Marley. Focus on finding the ghost.”
Each step up the driveway was like ripping her legs out of thick, gooey slime. But she made it up the slight hill and veered left, to the side of the house where the ghost should be waiting for her. Sure enough, the air rippled and fizzed before her in the now familiar shape of her ghost.
“Is she here yet?”
The ghost shook its head and pointed at where its eyes should be then outward, telling her to be on the lookout.
Marley nodded and turned around, facing the street and bustle of kids. She kept her eyes away from the costumes and instead looked at the faces, searching for the green eyes and brown hair of Ava. After a few minutes she saw her, wearing a Little Red Riding Hood costume of a light blue dress and red cape, the hood pulled up and a basket hanging over her arm.
A sudden chill touched Marley’s shoulders, and she jerked her head up. The ghost’s hands were on her shoulders and it nudged her, nodding its head in the direction of the house.
“Okay, I’m going. You remember what you’re supposed to do?”
The ghost nodded and jumped inhumanly high onto the roof, disappearing into the night.
Marley gulped, took a deep breath, and jogged back onto the driveway, mixing in with the other kids. A glance back told her that Ava was starting up the driveway, alone, thank goodness. She wasn’t sure how well their plan would work if people were actually paying attention to them. Marley stayed at the back of the group, letting them knock on the door and shout “trick-or-treat!”
While the house owner was busy with them, Marley turned around and crossed her arms just as Ava reached her.
Ava lifted her head and narrowed her eyes when she saw Marley. “Oh, it’s you.” She laughed, the cruel sound echoing around them. “I didn’t know babies were allowed out on Halloween night.”
Anger boiled close to the surface, but Marley kept it down, knowing that soon enough Ava wouldn’t be mean to her like that again. Marley lifted her chin and forced herself to meet Ava’s eyes. “I wouldn’t say such things to me if I were you.”
“Excuse me?” Ava blinked incredulously, her lips curling. When those mean lips curled, you knew you were in for it.
Despite how hard she tried to hide it, Marley’s voice noticeably shook when she spoke next. “You never know what might happen. It is Halloween night, after all.”
“How dare you speak to me like that? I’m the teacher’s daughter. You better show me respect, you little dummy!”
Don’t show your fear. Don’t show your fear.
Marley clasped her trembling hands behind her back, making the stance look unbothered––or at least she hoped so. “How dare you speak to me like that?” Marley’s eyes twitched over her shoulder, but she brought them back before Ava noticed.
Ava laughed and shook her head, her hood falling slightly, revealing perfectly curled brown hair. “I can’t believe it. Little Marley’s finally growing courage.” The nine-year-old bully’s voice dripped with mockery. “I know that won’t last long.”
Marley edged her feet along the pavement until the huge spider was centered behind her. Planting her feet, Marley straightened her back and crossed her arms. “You sure about that?”
She knew the moment Ava saw the spider rising.
Ava’s eyes widened and the blood drained from her face. She stumbled back a step, dropping the basket, her gaze riveted above Marley.
Marley stared down at Ava, doing her best to look as powerful as any other nine year old could, not bothering to turn around.
She knew exactly what was happening behind her.
The real looking spider slowly rose above the roof, its many-eyed face trained on Ava, who shrank back, tripping over the basket and falling to the ground.
She cried out and scrambled backward on her hands and feet, her terrified gaze never leaving the spider now several feet in the air, its legs moving.
Marley strode forward, her confidence growing with every step. I’m stronger than she believes. I can face her and any other bullies. All I have to do is be brave. She glared down at Ava. “Never mess with me or anyone else again, or you’ll be sorry.”
With that, the spider lurched forward, as if to attack Ava.
Ava screamed, scrambled to her feet, and took off, leaving her basket where it laid on its side, forgotten.
The scream attracted the attention of the others at the front door, but by then the spider was falling limply onto the ground, as if it’d simply broken from its strings and scared the girl.
Marley spun to stare up at the roof, where she could just make out the distorted edges of the ghost, a smile blooming across her face. I did it. I stood up to Ava, and now she’ll never bully me again.
Marley took off to the side of the house and threw herself at the ghost, who’d just jumped down, wrapping her arms around its cool, jello-like body. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! That felt incredible!” Marley laughed, happiness bubbling up inside, and pulled away. “Did you see her face? She was so scared! I don’t think she’ll ever bother me again.”
The ghost tilted its head and nodded in what she assumed was its way of agreeing with her.
“Wait…does this mean you have to go now?” Her excitement vanished at the thought. The ghost had become a friend in the week she’d known it. No longer was she scared of it; in fact, she didn’t think she’d be as scared of Halloween anymore.
It nodded solemnly. After looking at her for a while, it extended a hand to her.
Tears welling, Marley reached out and shook it, her small hand engulfed in its bigger, clear yet solid one. “Goodbye. Thank you again for helping me. I––I hope you can now finally rest in peace.”
The ghost chucked her under the chin––she could just imagine it smiling, telling her she’d be alright without it––and lifted its face to the cloudy night sky. One second it stood before her, and the next it disappeared, the air before her empty and normal.
The ghost of Temply was finally at rest, its twenty year task fulfilled and its bad deed atoned.
“I’ll never forget you,” Marley whispered into the chilly night, knowing that no matter what came next, she’d be able to overcome it, because she’d had a friend who’d shown her how to be brave in the face of fear.
Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it!
–– Katie Marie