Scary Halloween Story: Grave Sight

"It's getting dark already," Sam nodded. Ella took her big brother's hand and started off at a hurried if not yet frantic pace up Crown Street, up towards Old Crown hill. She hated this path after dark, hated it more than words could say without officially becoming screams. "Why are you dragging me?" Sam asked, always casual, he never rushed and somehow always managed to be right on time. "It's getting dark, Sam, I don't wanna see 'em! Please!" She looked at him and knew what that look was. Nobody knew Ella better, nobody but Sam believed her wild stories.

They headed up Crown, and Sams' mind wandered back to the first time he saw Ella see.

They had been at Gran Blaires' for close to three days, their first time at the old homestead where their father's family had lived for almost two centuries now. They had been sitting under the weeping cherry that Grimp had planted for Gran on their first anniversary. As usual Sam had his nose in a book, probably something with dwarfs and battles, maybe a dragon. Ella, who was only a very early three, was entertaining herself as she occasionally did by counting the little white flowers on the lawn with a series of misguided musical notes. A different "la" for each flower until her voice started to crack because she'd forgotten to inhale, then she'd breathe for a moment and start a her song from the beginning, touching each flower in turn with a chubby pink finger.

The two had been there on the lawn for a good piece of the afternoon, Sam with his book and Ella with nothing at all but her open mind and constantly buzzing imagination. When she started yelling Sam paid no mind at all being in the first rushes of a particularly anticipated battle between the orc kings army, the dark elf and his companions.

Sam also paid no mind to the older looking man in overalls who was standing just outside the barn door watching the two with a passing interest. Ella saw him right away though and outgoing was a term used to describe Ella on
more than one occasion. "HI!" Her hand flew about in no certain order but vaguely resembled a wave nonetheless.
The old fellow just stepped through the barn door and out of sight. Sam did not see him.

"Why din he wave back?" Sam finally looked up. "Who?" "The man!" Ella said with a little bit of impatience in her voice. "Do you thik he don like lil grills?" "It' girls, Ella, G-I-R-L-S," he enunciated each part for her but rolled his eyes in an effort to look like he wasn't being helpful. "And, I don't see anyone. You know Gran had to let all the workers go, nobody left but us." "I saw him Sam, he's in the barn!" Sam and Ella had investigated the barn that day and found nothing, but Sam couldn't help but feel like maybe Ella was telling the truth.

It wasn't long before he knew she was. Ella was always seeing people, people that nobody else could see. Grimp knew, before he died, he had called it Grave Sight or Clear Eyes. Grimp said that most people had life in front of their vision but Ella had clear eyes, she could see what others coudn't. 'That's why she hates Old Crown Hill' Sam thought to himself. During the day those that wandered the cemetery could pass as visitors and Ella could handle that, but those that wander after dark? Ella knew nobody visits the graves of loved ones after dark. Once, when she had to walk by at night, she almost thought she heard her name. She made it a habit after that to be home before the sun went down.

"What are you gonna do about the Halloween parade El? It goes right past Old Crown Hill?" "I know but the parade is fun and all those people will be there to distract me. Besides, I helped make that float, it took weeks! I can't not be there." Ella had two more days to think about that parade and hope that nothing went wrong. Two days left before Halloween, the night when the veil between their world and ours is the thinnest, the night of the parade past Old Crown Hill.

Ella was new at this school, only two months since Grimp died and they had moved here to help Gran out. She knew that after working as a team to complete this giant paper mache` planet earth, if she wasn't there to support them for the parade she would be toast at this school. She had to be there, the spirits at the Old Crown HIll couldn't take that from her. She would go in her beautiful mother earth costume and Sam would attach some pop cans and plastic to his sea creature costume and be sea sludge for the "Don't Pollute" float.

Parade day started early. Sam brought Ella toast and Juice. Around 5 a.m., they left for parade headquarters. Ella looked amazing in her costume and all the girls gathered around her when they arrived. Everyone loaded up onto the float deck and they headed off down Lambert Avenue. As they rounded the corner on Spring Street the first onlookers started to appear. The sound of the marching band was loud and you could feel the drumming through the floor of the float. As they traveled on the crowds became thicker and the yells and laughter became more audible even over the band.

Ella was starting to loosen up and she hadn't even noticed that the float had turned onto Crown Street and was heading up the hill. She didn't notice until she started to hear them. It started low, like a whisper almost. Then it grew louder. She couldn't make it out at first and she thought she might have made a mistake.Then she heard something she couldn't mistake. "Ellaaaa" it was long and slow, but it was definitely her name. " We want them, Ella, we want your EYES!" The last part of the request came as a scream in Ella's ears that triggered her own deafening cry and she hardly knew where hers began and the other had ended.

The float came to a halt and Sam grabbed his sister to find out why she was screaming, but as he grasped her arms her feet lifted off the ground and her body stretched out behind her as if a great gust off wind was to carry her off. The screams were so loud it felt as though her eyes would burst. Sam held onto his sister as the wind threatened to steal her away into the cemetery. Nobody understood the source of the agony the little girl appeared to be in. As quickly as the screaming and the wind began it died and Ella fell to the ground. Sam drooped beside her and held her while she sobbed. "You Okay, El?" Ella rolled over to face her brother and his scream was no comfort to the little girl. The little girl had just moments ago, lost her eyes.