Supernatural: The Collection

Haunted Reality


Things would move in the house. From one place to another, shifting. Then they’d be back to normal, a ploy to drive you insane. After awhile it wouldn’t bother you anymore, you’d shrug and leave it be. Voices were the next trick, some wails and moans. To the untrained ear, maybe that’s just your parents making love in the next room. But when you are home alone, where’s the excuse? You can turn down the volume on the stereo or television or whatever. But it’s still there, right behind you, in the shadows…

It was raining outside, an unusual treat for anyone in the south. The sky darkened, thunder rang out over head and lightning lit the shadows for a brief second. Perfect weather to toy with the Unseen. An Ouija board, tarot cards and an imagination could lead to many different outcomes for an originally boring night. Light a candle or two, burn some incense and play around with tools of the curious or the doomed.

That’s what she did. No one had ever warned her about doing something like that in a haunted house. But, she knew it was haunted, in her heart and within her soul, something tugged and tried to dissuade her, especially on this night. There was something eerily wrong with the atmosphere. Angela ignored her woman’s intuition and proceeded as she planned.

Alone in her room, she sat, loosely clothed; hair unbound flowing down her back in titian waves. The lightning flickered through her window and lit up her pale skin. Her eyes glittered in the candlelight as she inhaled a breath of Egyptian musk, closing her eyes. With both hands poised daintily on the placard, she waited, asking her question with her mind instead of aloud. Slowly, she’d keep repeating it and open her eyes, hoping to find the marker moving across the board. Nothing happen and she got flustered.

Removing her hands from the placard, she turned to her stack of tarot cards. She shuffled them over and over, still thinking of that one question. Then, she prepared to spread them out in the only spread she knew by heart for the most part. Biting her bottom lip, she drew and set out the three cards: Past, Present and Future. Grabbing the usual enclosed booklet of explanations, she blinked and read them to herself. As usual, these weren’t the answers she was expecting.

Her short temper took over and she kicked the Ouija board off her bed as well as the tarot cards. Blowing out the candles and snuffing the incense sticks, she climbed into bed and stared out her window. Thunder rolled and she closed her eyes. A silent prayer to invoke those few gifts she had, mainly precognition and the others, she turned over, staring into the darkest shadow in her room, the one right next to her. Shivering and clutching the comforter tighter, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep…


…Arms. She felt arms around her, someone close, a security strange and alien. Angela scooted back against that body and sighed, blinking. Rain drizzled down the screen on her window and she yawned. Rolling over and locking eyes with something unusual, a pair that glowed softly. Sitting up in an instant, she rubbed her eyes and stared. Moonlight was visible through the thinning clouds and she saw him…

…A man with watered down, sad eyes. He was dangerously near and she scooted to the edge of her bed. Something rose in her throat, a scream. Opening her mouth, nothing came out. He moved and crawled along the bed, getting closer until his forehead rested on hers. Angela lifted her hands to push him away and he caught them. His skin felt warm and his thumbs stroked her flesh. Shocked, she blinked and yanked her hands from his, touching each feature of his face. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as he leaned his head down, kissing her lips.

His eyes found her own again and she felt her heart wrench, speaking in soft tones, “Who are you? Why are you here? You’re eyes are so red, what’s wrong?”

He seemed to clear his throat and he tried to speak. But, he frowned and took one of her hands again, running it along his neck. Angela gasped and pulled her hand back stained with blood. Her eyes widened as she sat there and looked him over, unsure of what to do now. Rationalizing what was happening in her mind, driving her to think.

He touched his neck and seemed to get some blood on his finger, then wrote on her wall…I AM TRAVIS GRAYSTONE. She watched him write and nodded, smiling and pointing to herself, saying her name, “Angela Davis”. He smiled and nodded. Then, he started to write something else and she blinked. He was still bleeding!

Scrambling away from him, she grabbed a towel out of her dirty clothes basket and pressed it against his neck, unsure if the blood flow would stop. Her eyes leapt to the spot where he had written before and it was all faded away. Glancing at her hand, she held it in the pale light and marveled at how clean it was again. The towel came away clean as well.

Suddenly, she knew he was dead and she bit her bottom lip. In another way, her question had been answered, her house was haunted and here was this man. Tilting her head, she touched his shoulder and pulled him away from the wall. He blinked, curious as to what was going on. She found her journal and a pen, giving them to him. He wrote rather quickly now in a practiced and legible hand, Angela read it out loud:

“I am sorry to have been a problem to you, Angela. I had no idea anyone here could hear, let alone see me. But, your mother has taught you well to see past the sight of your reality into the otherworld. So far, you are the only one I’ve known with the ability to see me let alone feel me. I’ve tried for countless years on this plot of land and in this house. I died here due to my courtship of the mayor’s daughter so long ago. Her brothers never liked me, so they slit my throat and killed me on the edge of town. My spirit has haunted here since that day. I may only look around twenty or so, but I’m over a hundred years old. I heard your question for life after death and I suppose it drew me to you, to show you it was true. And here I am…What now?”


After reading that, she looked over at him to see if it was true. Tears rimmed her eyes and he nodded, turning away. The pad of paper rested in her lap, while she listened to him. It was the sound from before, the weeping noise. She had asked her question and now it was answered, but what to do? He had it right, now that they both knew each other existed, what was going to happen. Watching him cry, she moved closer and wrapped her arms around him and patted his back as he cried. His fingers moved through her hair as she sucked on her bottom lip, thinking.

That notebook fell off her lap and landed on the floor. He pulled away and bent down to get it for her. Her left eyebrow arched as she watched him in the light, finally able to see his dated attire. He handed her the notebook closed and she put it back on her nightstand.

Leaning closer, she stroked his cheek and smiled sadly, “I’m sorry Travis, I have no answers for you. I only wish I could help you. All I have is my precognition and…”

He nodded and kissed the palm of her hand. Blushing, she shrugged and smiled. A shiver raced along her body as she studied him. Travis took her face in her hands, cupping her cheeks and stroking them with his thumbs. He smiled and butted his forehead to hers. Angela blinked and found her eyes locked to his. Lifting her arms around his neck, she hesitantly kissed his lips, afraid that they’d be cold and she’d wake up, all alone again. He kissed back slowly and smiled at her.

Her hands slid along his throat and she closed her eyes tightly, willing him to heal there and be able to speak again. A tingling sensation spread from her heart down her arms and through her hands. It felt burning for a moment, and then she pulled her hands away.

Shocked, she opened her eyes and looked at her hands, flexing them and resting them in her lap, while he blinked, “Angela? What did you just do?”

Travis, covered his mouth right after he said that and she smiled, shrugging innocently. He threw his arms around her and pulled her close, laughing softly and crying at the same time, nuzzling against her neck and hair.

Angela smiled wider and hugged him, whispering against his ear, “I healed you, Travis. I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I had to try. I couldn’t bear to see you mouthing words or struggling to write something down. Plus your blood…” Her voice cracked and she stopped talking, just holding onto him tightly.

Travis didn’t know what to say. He certainly wasn’t used to this, he was used to being ignored and forgotten. But this little girl…err, young woman had done something so magical and unselfish for him. Sure, he’d seen her throw that fit and so on, but regardless, it made him wonder if he had a heart anymore, for he feared it was going to be stolen by her. Over the years he had seen a lot of changes, read a lot of books via the people in the few surrounding houses and learned. She was different alright and that was wonderful.

He pulled away long enough to look into her eyes again, rubbing his nose against hers, “Little Witchling…Not so little, actually. You are eighteen are you not?” She nodded and felt her left eyebrow arch, wondering what he was thinking. Angela smiled when he kissed her lips again, but the firmness shocked her. Hesitantly, she kissed him back slowly while he pulled her flush against him and then fell back against the bed.

Travis chuckled and broke the kiss, nuzzling her cheek and whispering, “I love you, Angela…You are my angel, my savior, my witchling…”

She didn’t know what to do or say, this was uncharted territory for her and blushing, she smiled and closed her eyes, “You aren’t going to leave are you? I mean, now that I’ve healed and helped you, don’t you have to leave this plane of existence?”

He honestly didn’t know, but he could hear the pain in her voice, no matter how hard, she tried to disguise it. Taking a deep breath, he lifted her chin to look into his eyes, watching hers stray to the scar on his neck, and then stare into his, “I don’t really know, but I won’t go by choice. They’d have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me away from you Angela. I will stay here with you until you send me away. I’ll protect you and keep you safe…” He noticed her tears and he craned his head up, kissing them away and smiling.

Angela didn’t know what to say to that. It was all surreal and she was worried she was dreaming, afraid it would end. He might have been dead, but being the hopeless romantic that she was, it didn’t matter all that much. He still felt warm and his eyes were kind, plus he loved her, what else was there? Maybe being in love with a ghost couldn’t be all that bad…What was she thinking?! Regardless, she shook her head and smiled a t him, rolling off to the side and laying on her pillow. He moved next to her and draped his arm around her body, brushing her hair away from her neck and resting his head there, breathing softly as she fell asleep…


After he knew she was asleep, he moved off the bed and stood up over her. His countenance changed dramatically and he sneered. Grazing her cheek with the back of his hand, he turned her over. Travis smirked and climbed back onto the bed, sitting on her chest and grabbing her throat in his hands. He watched her eyes flutter and her hands grope at his face.

They went right through and he laughed bitterly, leaning down to her ear as she slowly turned blue, “You can’t escape me again Annabelle. You’re going to die and be by my side forever. You ignored me for too long all those years ago, even sent your brother’s after me to keep me from you. You aren’t going to outlive me anymore. I wasn’t lying when I first told you I loved you and it still stands today. I’m just…protecting my investment….I’m tired of being all alone…”

Angela groped for someway to fight him off, using the only thing that came into her clouded mind. With all of her essence and power she called out for the Light to banish him from her presence. In the following heartbeat, she was dead and he had had his revenge. Her spirit disassembled itself from her body and she looked at him sadly, shaking her head.

He reached out to grab her chin and force her to be still, but a blinding light entered the room and she spoke, “You played me false and were wicked. You will be dealt with accordingly and though I may be dead and have to haunt my home, I can do it peacefully with the satisfaction that you are indeed gone to the pits of Hell forever. Goodbye Travis….”

Scowling, he felt himself burning alive, ghostly presence tearing away into shreds. She sat down on her bed and looked at her body, one hand outstretched to touch the marks around her neck. The instant she did so, they disappeared and she felt all tingly…

Angela woke with a start, finding herself in the morning, the candles in her room having burned out in the night and a tarot card was stuck to her cheek.

Cringing, she removed it and read it out loud, “Justice, hmm…”

So it was all a dream then? All of it? She shivered and cleaned up her mess, stretching and looking out the window, “Looks like a beautiful day.”