Chapter 8 Nora Blackwell: Rise of the Dead Walker

Elain handed me the tray, then shut the door and locked it behind her.

“What's up?” I asked.

“I'm just going to be honest, I need your help.” She stated her voice was shaking a bit.

“What's going on?” I asked her to start eating the burger she brought.

“Paula will bring your computer sometime, but I have mine here,” she said, sitting at my desk, opening the laptop, and starting to do something. I ate my burger listening to her type, wondering why she didn’t already have it up to show me.

“I got everything else, but while I was in town, I got these bracelets,” she stated, pulling out two black strings.

“Explained,” I replied, looking at the bracelet, or more like a thread.

“Sorry, I’m frustrated and hurt. I need someone I can trust, and you seem to handle yourself so-so in a death situation, but you're better than the others. Matthew seems to be out of it, so he’s out, but I need help.” Elain explained or tried to. I never heard her sound like this, but I only knew her for like a day or so.

“What’s going on? Explained the bracelets first.”

“Ok. These bracelets have magic threaded into them, and once we both put them on, we are not allowed to tell each other secrets. If we do, the bracelets will tighten until our hands fall off, and as that happens, you will bite your tongue and drown in your own blood,” she explained, and I started at her with a what the fuck face.

“Please,” she begged, looking at me with desperation.

“What do I get out of this?”

“I’ll help you with your revenge.”

“How did you know?”

“I just know you're mad at the people who put you in here,” she blurted out, staring at me.

“So we help each other?” I asked slowly after staring at her for the longest time.

“Yes. Once we put these bracelets on, we have no choice but to keep each other's secrets,” she stated. I stared at her for the longest time. I haven’t known her long, but I feel like she is someone I want on my side. It would be helpful to have someone who couldn’t betray me.

“Let’s do it,” I said, holding my right hand out.

“I agree,” I heard myself say in a flat voice, and instantly Elain brightened. She's crazy was all that came to mind.

She put the string around my wrist, then handed me the other one, and I tied it around her wrist. The moment I tied it, I felt something tug at my chest.

She took a deep breath, then showed me her laptop. On her screen was a live stream of a woman tied to a chair while a few others were chained to the wall. I couldn’t really make out who they were. She explained that her sister and family were tied up. They were all taken because of her grandpa's gambling debts, and they will all pay the price with their bodies and their lives. They were taken while she and her nephew were at the market selling the food her mom made. When they got back, the house was on fire, and she knew. She didn’t even go back and fled the city in fear that they would get them. Her nephew cried the entire time, wanting his mom, but she kept going. They lived out of trash cans for a while until the school reached out to her to make a deal. They would take care of him if she attended.

“How could I refuse?” she whispered, to which I agreed. We sat in silence as a man moved on screen, sticking needles into her sister's hand. Thankful Elain didn’t have the volume on. Elian turned her head, trying her best not to cry, but her body was stiff and barely breathing.

I wanted to help her. I took a deep breath and searched for the ghost around me, and begged them to go help Elain’s family. I didn’t know where they were, but please help them. They agreed and disappeared from the surrounding area, which almost made me panic. It felt like the air was taken out of my lungs.

“What’s that?” Elian asked me to bring my attention back to the screen, where a bunch of ghostly figures were visible. Everything was moving so fast that the camera fell over, and you saw people running around.

“We have the people. Do you want us to kill them?” one of my ghosts asked in my mind, and I felt my body freeze. Elain asked me what was going on, and I told her. I told her everything, and she begged me to kill them. If i didn’t, they would come after her family again and do worse to them. She also told me how they hurt others and would be a better place without all of them.

If i did this, I would be much better than Arthur, but he killed for food, and I will kill to help others. No matter how I framed it, I would be a murderer. A few days ago, I was planning a nice, normal future, and now I don't know what to expect from my future.

“End every last one who had anything to do with this operation and release anyone who is captured,” I replied to my ghost in my mind, staring at Elain’s hopeful pleading face.

“It will be done,” was the reply. I felt sick. A few hours of learning, I had a rare gift, and I’m already using it as a weapon. I closed my eyes and watched through the ghost’s eyes as they pulled out their hearts or slit their throats. The screams were horrible, but the sight was even worse. The ghost moved as if it were a solid entity. After the majority of them were dead, a few of my ghosts started releasing the hostages while telling them to thank their master, Nora Blackwell. I switched between the Ghost Vision, and I wish I hadn’t. A boy around Liam’s age was cut down.

I wanted more than anything to hug my brother and make sure he was ok. He had nothing to do with any of this. I started crying and Elain held me while also thanking me. She saw on the screen what happened.