My sister? A killer?
That sounded so ridiculous that I actually laughed. I couldn’t stop and carried on laughing, clutching my stomach.
Sarah stared at me in shock. “You think this is funny? Wow, the other ghosts must have been really wrong about you.”
I finally stopped laughing. “I think you’re delusional. My sister wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“I just told you what I know. I’m not leaving until you help me.”
I shook my head. “Forget about it. I won’t help you. Not when you accuse innocent people of —”
Sarah shot towards me. I thought she was about to jump into my body, and I raised my hands. Smoke flared around my fingers and threw her away from me. She then vanished in a flash of light. I stared at my hands in shock. Where had that smoke come from? I didn’t have any active witch powers. It made no sense.
Yes, I could cast spells and I’d always been good with potions, but this? This was something I’d never been able to do.
I glanced around, but Sarah was gone. I just hoped it stayed that way.
***
I didn’t sleep well for the rest of the night. I half expected Sarah to appear and demand my help again. My mind raced with questions about Sarah’s death, my weird new ability, and why my sister might be involved.
Stacey was young and wild. Yeah, she got into trouble a few times. But killing someone? No way. Even she wouldn’t go that far off the rails. Or at least I hoped she wouldn’t.
By five that morning I’d given up trying to sleep. I needed coffee and some strong potions today.
Whilst I brewed the coffee and a potion to help wake me up, I scrolled through my phone. Looking for any local news stories. But none of the local headlines mentioned a murder or any bodies being found.
Had it all been some kind of bizarre dream?
It had felt so unreal, but the notes on my phone were very much real. So, I couldn’t have imagined that part. I still couldn’t fathom why a ghost would come to me, or how I got an active power.
I decided to call my best friend and coven sister, Mara. She had active powers and worked with me in the shop. Maybe she’d be able to help me make sense of all this craziness.
I texted her and asked her to come into work early before we opened. I didn’t think I could tell her all this over the phone, or she wouldn’t believe me.
Mara texted back and told me she’d be there.
After I showered and dressed, I headed down the street. I usually walked to work because it was only ten minutes away.
My stomach did flip-flops as I made my way there. What if I heard or saw more ghosts?
I’d heard from other witches that ghosts were everywhere. Both lost souls who stayed earthbound and spirits of people who came back to visit loved ones. I’d never paid much attention to the stories. Ghosts weren’t something that interested me. I helped the living, not the dead. After all, I’d never been able to see them until now.
As I walked, I kept my head down so I wouldn’t spot any potential ghosts. Until I reached a pedestrian crossing, then I had to look up and wait for the lights to change to green. To my relief, I saw nothing but cars and normal pedestrians on their way to work. No sign of Sarah or any other ghosts. Nothing. Just a normal day.
I took a deep breath and headed down Castle Street towards the shop, which stood close to Colchester Castle. As I approached the shop a strange feeling came over me.
Shivering, I walked around the back of the shop to the alley where the dustbins were kept. I had no idea what compelled me to go there instead of going through the front door. But I couldn’t ignore the feeling.
When I got there, I went straight over to the massive dustbins. I didn’t usually go near them until the end of the day when I had stale stock to throw out.
When I reached the bins someone’s foot stuck out from behind one.
“I told you; I need your help.” Sarah appeared beside me again. “That’s my body.”
I gasped and put my hand over my mouth to stifle my cry of alarm. “Goddess, did you lead me here? Did you force me to come find you?” That would explain that weird compulsion I had to come here. Something I never usually did before opening the shop.
“If I could do that, don’t you think I would have done it a lot sooner?”
“This… This is all unbelievable.” I pulled my phone out and dialled 999 to get the police before anyone else spotted the body. After I made the call, I headed back into the shop.
“Does this mean you’ll help me then?” Sarah reappeared by a stack of crystals.
“I have helped. The police are on their way, and they’ll figure out what happened to you.” I moved around the front counter. I had some alcohol around here somewhere. I looked around underneath the till but found nothing. Opening a couple of cabinets, I didn’t find any booze there either. Typical.
Sarah scoffed. “The police won’t be able to figure out what happened to me. They’re human and my death was anything but natural.”
“What do you want from me?” I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.
“You need to find out what happened to me.”
“Why me? That’s the police’s job, not mine.”
“Only you can find out what happened. The police don’t deal with supernatural stuff. You’re a witch.”
“That doesn’t mean I solve crimes. This is my day job.” I motioned to the herbs and potions that I had for sale. “I’m not qualified to solve your death.”
“You’d better, or do you want me to haunt you forever?”
After some more nagging, I reluctantly headed outside to check the body. The police still hadn’t shown up yet. Typical Colchester police. They didn’t turn up even to a potential murder. I couldn’t believe I had to do this.
Sarah insisted I check over her body. And she refused to leave unless I did so.
Somehow, I doubted she’d leave even after I did that. But I had to do whatever I could to make her go away.
“I’m not allowed to touch your body. Geez, they’ll think that I’m the prime suspect.” I cringed.
“You don’t have to touch me. Just look for clues.”
Sarah’s body lay out in the open. Lucky me. Now what? From the looks of it she had a nasty gash to the back of her head. Judging by the blood, that was probably what killed her.
“There. Someone hit you. There’s no mystery.”
“Look at me. There are weird symbols on my body.” Sarah scowled. “How did they get there? Are they witch marks?”
I peered closer. I knew I should be freaking out over being this close to a dead body, but a strange sense of calmness washed over me.
She was right. There were strange symbols on her. Definitely supernatural, but I couldn’t tell what they were.
I snapped a few photos then heard the wail of sirens.
Great, would the police being here be enough to convince Sarah to leave? I could only hope and pray.