Unnatural Occurrence (An Anna Morgan Novella (Part 1)) by Peggy Martinez Read Free Book Online Page A

hard.
    “I don’t know how to explain it. I was in the office upstairs and leaned up against the paneling and the door swung open. I didn’t think about it, I just followed the passage.”
    “I don’t buy it,” she said after a moment. “You just happened to lean up against the paneling in just the right spot?”
    “She said she found it on accident. It makes sense. How else would she know?” A girl nearby put in, her voice sounding more than a little panicked.
    “I don’t buy it either. She knows something ,” someone else added. More arguing. The darkness pulsed on the ground, a living thing, at least a foot thick. I cringed and pulled my legs to my chest, trying to move as far away from the mass as I could. It was impossible.
    “What is she looking at?” someone asked. I swung my head back to the group and away from the crude, stone bench. “She’s looking right where it happened ,” the voice whispered from the far right of the room. A chill swept up my spine. The girl who seemed to be in charge stepped forward and I realized she was holding something tightly to her chest. A book, maybe?
    “What do you know?” she hissed, her voice a little different than before, not with a thread of desperation and regret, but with power and resignation. A form materialized near the girl and began moving back and forth in agitation, her eyes and mouth stretched dreadfully wide, her anguish pouring out into the room, pouring out into the space where she must have died. I knew that, knew it like I was there when it happened. I’d never been so positive of anything in my life. I sighed and dropped my head. When I raised it again, I locked my gaze on the girl with the power in her hands.
    “I know Julie Reese is dead. I know she died in this room.” My voice came out steadier than I thought possible, considering I might have just said the one thing to enrage the people who were responsible for a girl’s death. But for some reason I didn’t feel scared. I felt emboldened. Knowing what you say is truth and knowing you are right has a funny way of doing that. In truth there is power.
    “How is that possible?” she gasped. A girl nearby started crying and another started babbling. Only three were standing over me and not panicking. They were the ones I was going to have trouble with.
    “Someone had to have talked,” one of the girls said in disgust. I shook my head.
    “No one talked.” The leader came at me, grabbing me by the shirt and dragging me to my feet. She shoved me against the wall and I just barely kept myself from cracking my head again. She was impossibly strong.
    “Then, how?” she growled.
    “Julie…her ghost came to me.” Some laughed, and one or two were still crying. But not the leader. No, she was silent.
    “It was an accident.” A sniffle.
    “Shut up, Karry!” Someone slapped the girl.
    “What was an accident?” I asked calmly.
    “I doesn’t matter now! What’s done is done and there’s no taking it back! We can only keep it a secret and move on.” The leader was loud, charismatic, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Her hand clasped around the book she was holding even tighter and the darkness swirled around her robes lovingly.
    “You can’t take it back, but you can make it right ,” I shouted. “You can’t let Julie’s life mean so little. She’s not at peace. Her family has a right to know she’s dead. She deserves better.” The girls turned in my direction. I knew most of them realized that what I said was the truth, but they were scared. They were unsure and they didn’t want to get into any trouble.
    “She’s right, Amy,” someone agreed. “What happened was an accident, but what we did was wrong. I can’t live with this for the rest of my life.”
    “I don’t care what any of you feel or believe . We are not going to go through this again, or so help me, I will make each of you pay.” Amy’s voice whipped across the room, ripping a gasp from the