Chapter 27: While the Cat's Away...

The Crumplebottoms never called to just chat. So when I got a call from a Moonlight Falls number, I knew it was only going to mean disaster. I could feel it in the pit of my gut, what goes up must come down.

“H-hello.” I said nervously.

And of course, I was right. It was terrible news. News that would put Agnes and I in a compromising and confusing position indeed. I was at least thankful for the Crumplebottom sisters to tell me the news before it was too late to do anything. I thanked them and hung up.

“Agnes?” I called out. “I need to speak with you.”

“I’m in the closet, dearest!” She shouted back.

I walked into the closet and shut the door behind me.

“Does this dress look age appropriate? I don’t really know about it.” Agnes asked.

“It looks fine babe, listen honey I have some bad news.” I announced.

“Erik? Erik, what is it dear?” She questioned.

“I just got a call from the Crumplebottom sisters, they found out that Helen died in her sleep last night.”

Agnes let out a loud cry, and buried her face in the palm of her hand.

“Shhh. There, there baby. It was her time, she’s in a better place now.”

“Well can’t we try to bring her back? We’ve been training for just this situation, it would work out perfectly.” Agnes pleaded.

“Oh honey, no.  Helen’s body is far too old to endure a resurrection. She was lucky enough to die peacefully in her sleep, that should be the way she goes.”

Agnes nodded her head, and I held her, allowing her to let herself cry.

When Agnes finally calmed down, we discussed the main issue with Helen’s death, Kirsten. We were going to be bringing this little girl back to life, and Helen was going to take it from there.

We have two options. One, we could stick to our word and go through with the resurrection. However, that means the little girl would be our responsibility, and things would be complicated if we were successful.

Or the second option, we could just let the little girl rest in peace. Helen isn’t around, so if we didn’t bring Kirsten back, we technically wouldn’t be betraying her, right?

But Helen blessed our family with irreplaceable gifts, in exchange for the little girl’s life. Helen truly believed the little girl deserved a second chance at life, because the way she went just wasn’t fair.

We knew we’d have to go through with it, and stick to our word.

That afternoon at dinner, The kids could tell their mother had been crying, things were quieter than normal.

“What’s wrong mom?” Persy asked.

“Your father and I are going to have to leave again, for another trip.” Agnes answered.

“Oh no, dad. I’m not being left responsible again!”  Gwendolyn protested.

I let out a dramatic sigh.

“Where ya goin’ Mommy?” Sy asked.

“Our dear friend Helen has passed away. We are going to attend her funeral.”

Agnes lied. Helen did die, but what we were doing for her was far more important that some insincere funeral.

The kids rushed to comfort their mother before she teared up. Sometimes I don’t know how I got so lucky with them, they are all so full of compassion, especially when it came to Agnes.

“Do you mind if we have a few friends over?” Gwendolyn asked, running her fingers through  Aggy’s hair.

Way to ruin a moment!

After dinner, Agnes and I began to book our trip. After careful consideration, planning, and of course advice via phone from the Crumplebottom sisters, we were off to Riverview.

After a very long journey on a bus, we arrived to a beautiful little bed and breakfast ran by two elderly women.

We walked into the lobby, and found the front desk. We were greeted by a kind old lady who introduced herself as Nellie Spenster.

“Okay, now I need one of your names.” she said, with a pen and paper in hand.

Before I could speak up Agnes already said “Agnes… Seabottom…”

“Agnes Seabottom!” Nellie said, writing it down. “Very unique!”

Agnes smiled casually.

“Lucille! Hurry, Lucille!” Nellie called.

“Doggone it Nellie, don’t get your knickers in a bunch, I’m coming! … Oh we have company, excuse me, folks!” She said.

Then Lucille  handed us a key.

Nellie then escorted Agnes and I to our room.

“Press 3 on the phone if you need anything, press 4 to make calls outside of the House. Enjoy your stay! Nellie said, shutting the door behind her.

When enough time went by for the Spensters to be hidden away in their own rooms, Agnes and I grabbed the suitcases from the rental car and lugged them upstairs into our room.

The mostly consisted of books and elixirs that we’ll be needing. After we took our jackets and sunglasses off, I sat Agnes down for a last minute cramming session.

Then we heard a knock on the door. It was Lucille.

“You have visitors to see you. They’re waiting for you in the lobby. Please make it quick so you’re not disturbing other guests, good grief!” said Lucille.

“Thank you, ma’am. Wait here Aggy.” I said, leaving the room.

When I entered the lobby, there was two sketchy looking men sitting on the sofa waiting for me. I hesitantly sat across from them.

The man in overalls spoke first. We’ll call him guy 1.

“We were sent here by Beatrice Crumplebottom.” Said guy 1.

“We also have a delivery for you. Can we discuss this further in private?” Asked guy 2.

The men explained to Agnes and I that they have been paid by the Crumplebottom sisters to help with any assistance we may need. They said they’ll be the ones digging the grave for us, so that we can focus on the spell. They also assured us not worry about our safety or comfort, that they’ve seen at all, and are trained in these situations.

How often do these situations actually happen?

They also let us know they brought the cauldron we’d need.

So we mixed the main ingredients there at the hotel, then carefully loaded the cauldron into the back of their pickup truck.

Then the four of us were off to dig up a little girls body, and against all rules of science and medicine, bring her back to life. We had to be quick, we had to be quiet, and most of all, we had to be composed.

This can’t be real.

When we finally arrived to the Remington house, we quietly wandered to the yard where the graves were.

“Well which one is hers?” I questioned.

“Kirsten Remington. Bingo. She’s right here boys.” Agnes whispered.

We then signaled to the men to go back to the car and get the cauldron.

The men quietly, but swiftly carried the heavy cauldron to where we were and set it next to Kirsten’s headstone.

They quickly began digging as Agnes and I started mixing the the final ingredients.

Yep. We were officially out of our mind.

The hole became deeper and deeper, which each scoop of the shovel, we were that much closer to the point of no return…

This reminded me of the day I watched the gravediggers steal my body. I wondered to myself if they were the same guys. Then I quickly snapped back to reality to assist Agnes. Although I’ve done this before, Agnes took the lead for sure, she seemed to be a natural…

Now looking back, maybe we should have brought the body back to the hotel room and continued from there, but that was too risky.

I saw a light turn on from the top floor…

My heart started beating out of my chest…

“We have to hurry, someone is up.” I said worriedly.

Agnes began saying the spell out loud.

The men eventually retrieved the casket from the ground and dragged it out to the open space,I said a small prayer amongst myself, as I felt panic shoot through my body. Why couldn’t I have been as composed as Agnes?

We rapidly lit candles to surround the  casket, joined hands and began the spell…

As we chanted, we had our eyes shut and completely became in tune with our selves, we had to stay as calm as possible no matter how weird things get.

As the end of the spell came near, the gasps of the men behind us snapped me back to reality, causing the urge to peek at what was happening, which is something I shouldn’t have done…

My heart completely skipped a beat,  I jumped and squeezed Agnes’ hand so hard I’m surprised it wasn’t broken. The casket was levitating! Yes, levitating. Just completely floating there, almost as high as our eye level!

I suddenly felt my throat completely shut and I couldn’t even speak I was so petrified. Agnes continued the spell without me, and as she said the last word The casket came crashing to the ground.

If there was any chance at Kirsten returning to life, I highly doubt she could survive that kind of impact. I started panicking even harder.

What if we killed her...again?

And just when I didn’t think I could completely shit my pants any more…

“You freaks better leave that coffin alone! The cops are the way!” Yelled a man from the window, and the woman was obviously scared out of her mind. Hell I would be too! No. I was too!

The men didn’t hesitate to kick rocks. We had absolutely no idea what to do about Kirsten, but we had no time to think. We were panicking and we know one thing for sure, we didn’t want to spend our lives in jail because of this. We needed to be home with our kids. If we didn’t run right then and there, the men would have left us.

So, I grabbed Aggy’s wrist and we made a run for it. Leaving everything behind. The Casket, the girl, the candles, the cauldron, everything.

Agnes and I went back to the room and changed into our  pajamas. We were both so scared, I hoped to god we wouldn’t get caught.

Agnes was pacing back in forth right in front of me, not being able to shut up.

“What if we get caught? Oh god we shouldn’t have done this!”

“Agnes!”

“What if they saw our face? What if Kirsten is alive? What if she’s dead?”

“Agnes…”

“What if the cops show up here? What if we left behind evidence? What if our kids never see us again?”

“Agnes damn it, calm down!”

“Everything is going to be fine. The Crumplebottom sisters will have things taken care of. They are very powerful. just relax, okay?” I said, pulling her in for a hug and rocking her side to side to soothe her.

She breathed in and out again very slowly.

“Okay, you’re right. We need to get out of here though, I know that for sure!” She said.

After packing our stuff into the car, we headed for the door…

“Going somewhere?”

I felt my blood become ice.

It was just Nellie with a plate of pancakes.

“Nellie, we have to get home to our kids, I’d love to stay though, but we can’t!” I explained.

“Oh nonsense! I’d hate to let these go to waste, please come eat!”