The Eternal Tenant-part 7

At that point, I did the only thing that seemed reasonable to do, I started laughing hysterically!

Henry and Eveline were a bit shocked but also seemed to be understanding my situation. After a sweet 30 seconds of non-stop laughing, I finally stopped and said to Eveline with a hint of laughter in my voice: "you're Joking right?", Eveline sighed calmly and said: "I understand that after all that has happened to you, this might come as a surprise, but I'm pretty sure this is what I think it is, I just need you both to put your trust in me and listen to what I'm about to tell you. Maybe it's better to start with a story, that way it might be a bit easier to digest."

I covered my face with my both hands feeling exhausted about all this; to be honest, I was wishing that I was dead! This was far worse than death, a nightmare to be exact. I looked up at Henry, then Eveline, and then said: "Do tell!"

And she started: "When I was a child, my grandmother used to tell me a story, about a woman who was very special, she lived hundreds of years ago; Her name was Isabelle, but everyone called her Belle. She was kind, generous, and also a bearer of psychic abilities. But other than psychic abilities, she had something else, something rare, she could...have an out-of-body experience. Not only she could conjure the spirits but also she could've become one, temporarily."

She paused for a moment and continued "Before I knew Henry, I didn't know about this house and its history, I came by to help him, not having a clue, but when I arrived at the house I could feel something was off, then Henry told me about the history of the house, I could see why I felt that way. The woman who lived in this house was in fact Belle's sister; She lived alone in another town and was estranged from her own family as she was accused of performing witchcraft and using her abilities in the wrong way. Her name was Morgana, and she also was a psychic but she didn't have the same out-of-body abilities as Belle, though she was powerful and to be feared. Despite all this, she was harmless and lived by herself. Their parents have forbidden Belle from seeing her sister in fear of her being influenced by Morgana's actions, but Belle was stubborn. she missed her sister. she couldn't travel to her sister's house without her parents noticing, so what did she do? every night after all the family had gone to bed, Belle would project out of her mortal body and visit her sister as a spirit. Morgana could see and talk to spirits so they could talk for hours and spend time together. such an unnatural yet surreal experience for these two."

She paused to take a breather for a moment and then carried on "Even though Morgana was living alone and would harm no one, people were vary of her. They feared what they couldn't understand, children would throw rocks at her whenever they would see her around, their parents spat on her, humiliate her, but Morgana had seen worse from her own parents; Nothing could set her off easy. You might know this part of the story yourself, that a little boy accidentally drowned in the river near Morgana's house and people blamed the most hated person in town, her. They marched toward her house at night with their psyches and axes, some of them carrying torches. They...locked the door of her house from outside and...burnt her house. Desperate and conscious of her inevitable fate, she summoned all her strength and cast a curse upon the townspeople. She promised that the souls of the people of this town will never be free and wander on the earth for so long they wouldn't even remember they were spirits anymore."

Then she paused for a second, she seemed a bit sad all of a sudden, then continued: "I believed in this tale for long, but I could never find out where Morgana's house originally was...until Henry brought me here and gave me all he found out about it."

"So you're saying that...this is a curse? How is that has to do with me being...alive?" I said with my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "And if she cursed the TOWN, why am I the only one that seems to be dead here?"

Eveline stuttered "The...curse...it...I...believe it's just a mix-up of the story and they meant the house...It...it...is true...the curse...and you are a...alive, but...before I could explain everything, there's more to the story I should tell." She seemed so content a few moments ago but suddenly I felt she might have been hiding something! before I could delve deeper into my suspicion, she continued.

"That night, after Belle's parents went to sleep, she drifted out of her body to go see Morgana, like every other night, but when she arrived, she saw nothing but ashes...She ran toward what was left of her sister's house, but nothing was there. She sat down and sobbed in disbelief until a hand touched her shoulder. It was Morgana, in her spirit form. They embraced each other and cried together. Then Morgana told her sister about what happened, she said that she had died and before she was perished she cursed the town, but she forgot that she was part of the town and she also...got trapped! Belle was devastated about her sister's death, but she had to help her pass to the world of the dead as the spirits don't belong to the realm of the living. She used her powers and communicated with her ancestors, they said that the veil between the world of living and the dead is sealed and no spirit can go over from the living side, but there might be one way that could briefly open the seal...Belle quickly asked what it was and the ancestors replied, “the curse that Morgana has casted on the town is so powerful as it was her dying wish in an unfair and unjust death, the veil can never be unsealed but it can be opened only momentarily when someone passes away, but this needs a specific ritual and one has to have unordinary abilities to accomplish that. Belle was ready for anything, but she couldn't use all her power while she was in her spirit form. So she quickly moved back to her lying body, wrote a letter for her parents, got on a horse and rode towards her sister's house."

"Hours went by till she finally reached to her destination. She gathered what was told by the ancestors, a handful of her sister's ashes, part of her own hair, and some candles and matches she took from her parents' house. She lit the candles and said word by word all the ancestors taught her, then poured the ashes and hair on the fire of the candle, a blinding white light took over the place! In the midst of the light Morgana saw Belle elevated from the ground! She called her name in despair with a worried voice loudly, but Belle couldn't hear her. Suddenly an archway appeared, inside of it a black fog twirling, Morgana ran toward the fog, she hit the fog hardly and fell down, it was the sealed veil, she abruptly looked at Belle, Belle's figure was moving toward the seal, Morgana screamed NOOO! But she couldn't stop the ritual, the ancestors knew, that in order for this ritual to be done, Belle needed to sacrifice herself, Belle knew too, they told her secretly before she moves back into her body. Despite knowing it could cost her life, she was willing to do anything for her sister, as her sister didn't deserve such a fate in death after everything she endured in life."

Eveline continued: "Morgana was too late to undo what had happened. Belle turned into a ball of light and gradually merged into the veil. Suddenly the veil turned into a white fog! Morgana was still on the ground. The Veil was gradually turning grey; the ancestors rushed Morgana to cross over; otherwise, the veil would close, leaving her in the living world until someone else dies in the house. She was broken inside, losing her life and her sister in one night, but she couldn't waste Belle's sacrifice, so she got up, and ran toward the veil and disappeared into the fog. The archway then disappeared and the veil was gone; That night, Belle became part of the veil between the world of the living and the dead, a mediator in life and in death. Since then, the house was rebuilt and people lived and died in it, and as we know, whenever someone dies, their soul remains trapped until another takes their place, allowing them to move on. It's a cycle of sacrifice, much like Belle and Morgana."

I believed that the story had ended, so I told Eveline: "So the house is cursed, and every soul gets trapped until some other soul takes their place, but you said that I am alive! nothing that you say makes sense! I died! I was killed by the very same man who is standing there so innocently!" I said angrily pointing at Henry, while I stood up to make my point more clearer, then I snapped further: "You say I'm alive right?? Then how the hell Molly's soul could pass? do you see her? NO! Then dare to tell me again that I am still alive!"

They both were deadly quiet, scared even, of my ghostly tantrum. Eveline didn't say anything for a few moments, letting me cool down, then said: "I know you feel lost and confused, but let me just explain to you how I know you're still alive!". I was still angry but I nodded to tell her to go on. she continued: "When people pass away, they have an aura to us mediums, for others like Henry, it's not possible to see, but we do see it from the moment we conjure a spirit. For someone who is dead the aura looks like a white mist, encapsulating them like a cloud, but with you...I don't see anything! When I asked to touch your arm, it was to make sure that you are an out of body entity, which you were but without the aura..."

She hesitated a bit. "Without the aura what?" I said as if I was waiting for the ending of a triller movie.

"But without the aura, that makes you an astral projector! Just like Belle!"