Page 20 of The Neighborhood Ghost

“How did she get here?” Hugo asked. “Why is she doing this?”

“Questions for another time,” Thaddeus replied as he moved to the front door and entered the home. “We cannot delay any longer. We have work to do. Follow me.”

Hugo stood there, focusing on the black carriage with the headless driver. He turned back to the shambling ghouls. They wandered aimlessly throughout the landscape. The three knocks drowned out their crying wails.

“Are you coming?” Thaddeus asked.

Hugo gave one more glance to the carriage before entering the house and shutting the door. He stood in the entryway. His mind was blank and yet flooded with images of his past life. He peered up the stairs, hoping and praying Alice would come tumbling down. Or he would wake up from a bad dream. Yes. This was all a bad dream. He would wake up holding Alice in their bed once again.

“You might want to come in here for this,” Thaddeus added.

Hugo lowered his head and shuffled into the living room. The blank TV above the fireplace. The flameless candles below. Their gnarled, waxy fingers reaching down to the hardwood below. This place was familiar, yet it was slightly off. It held the appearance of his home, but it was a prison. An eternal prison he couldn’t escape.

Thaddeus sat in Alice’s high-backed winged chair. The very chair Alice sat in when they spent their first Halloween evening together. His hands firmly grasped the end of the armrest. His feet kicked up onto the coffee table. His tricorn hat tilted up. A smirk on his face.

“Get out of the chair.” Hugo stood firm, his arm outstretched and finger pointed at Thaddeus. “That chair does not belong to you.”

“Oh, but this is the best seat in the house for what’s about to happen.”

Hugo puffed out his chest. He never lowered his finger as he narrowed his eyes. “What’s about to happen?”

“Your trial, Mr. Dodds. Your first trial. I am going to sit here and enjoy the show. It always provides me with insights into those suffering from grief. I learn so much about who the person really is. We all fail our first one. Well, except for me. We will see if you can do better than everyone else.” Thaddeus gave a wink.

“What if I pass this trial?” Hugo asked.

Thaddeus scowled at Hugo. “Then she will send both of us to oblivion.” He lifted a boot from the table and stomped twice on the floor.

The front door opened. “Hugo,” a familiar woman’s voice said.

Hugo stumbled backward. It wasn’t Alice’s voice. No. This was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time. Not the raspy voice in the hospital room. Not the weakened voice he consoled every night. No. The bubbly voice he fell in love with. No longer a memory. It was her voice. Elizabeth’s voice.

“Hugo!” Elizabeth’s voice echoed in a slight panic.

“What is this?” Hugo asked Thaddeus, taking steps back in the living room.

“This is the worst day of your life, Hugo Dodds,” Thaddeus responded. “And I am going to enjoy learning every bit about it.”

Elizabeth emerged into the living room. Her hazel eyes were bright and her auburn hair as full as he remembered. She stood before him like a ghostly image of a memory long thought gone.

Hugo’s arms trembled. A sensation of anxiety coursed through his body. He held his breath. He was staring at a ghost.

“Elizabeth, please . . .” His voice cracked as he couldn’t complete the sentence. “Please. Please tell me you’re not here too.”

“Hugo,” Elizabeth’s voice raised in panic. “I can’t get ahold of my parents.” She clutched a phone in her hand. She dialed the number again and held it up to her ear. She paced around in a circle.

This was all too familiar. A memory flooded back to Hugo.

“They’re not answering,” she said.

“What is this?” Hugo asked Thaddeus.

Thaddeus sat in the chair. A maddening grin appeared on his face. He didn’t respond.

Elizabeth focused on Hugo. Her eyes watered. Lips quivered. The phone shook in her hand. “Hugo, my parents aren’t answering the phone. I’ve been trying all night.”

Hugo’s shoulders dropped. This wasn’t happening now. It was the ghostly image of a memory from years ago. The first night Elizabeth’s world came crashing down.

“Hugo, what should we do?” Elizabeth asked. “I’m going to go over and check on them.”

---