7.19

It felt strange that we were finally here. The same graveyard Mum went to all these years ago, desperately wanting answers but not finding any. Thanks to her final letter to us we knew where we were going. A scholar ghost called Danube – now we just had to hope that he was still here and hadn’t gone to sleep indefinitely.

Ciel and I had been wondering what the ghosts here were like. The only one on Sunset Valley Cemetery we really knew was Dolly. Mauve and Perry had still been asleep when we had left, and none of the others had ever really approached us or seemed interested in talking to us. What if the ghosts here weren’t the same as the ones Mum had met? What if the ones here didn’t want to help? If the ones Mum had met had gone to sleep?

We shared a glance, and nodded. There were a few ghosts around, but I had no idea what the scholar looked like. Hoping for the best, we walked up to the one nearest to me.

“Excuse me?” The lady ghost turned around not hiding her surprise, studying me carefully.

“Yes, deary?”

“I was wondering if you could help me. My brother and I are looking for someone. A scholar called Danube?”

“Oh my, but he gets so many visitors lately! The rest of us are a little jealous, if you don’t mind my saying.” The old lady – at least I thought she was old, she was bend over like she had trouble floating up straight, and her voice seemed shaky – smiled and chuckled a little, and to my surprise took my hands into hers. “It’s not often that people can see us, deary. Danube is over there, by the benches. Stay as long as you like, we so rarely get visitors.”

I nodded, seeing who she meant. “You said he gets a lot of visitors? You mean family?”

“No, no, deary, no one like that. A girl was here only last week – or was it longer than that? I’ve been asleep for a while, and it’s ever so hard for me to tell the time these days – she was such a sweet darling! You look a little like her, deary. Isn’t that funny?” I froze, wondering if I had heard her correctly. Did she mean…? Next to me, Ciel edged a little closer.

“Who was she?”

The old lady ghost looked lost in thought for a second, before slowly shaking her head. “That’s strange, deary, I can’t remember her name! My memory isn’t what it used to be. But maybe Danube will know. He’s a scholar, deary, he’s a very clever lad!” I nodded my thanks, feeling like I had just seen a ghost. No pun intended. Had she known my Mum? And Mum had talked to her?

Shaking a little, I turned to my brother who looked as taken aback as I felt, if overall more collected. “He’s over there.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“PV.”

I sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to let this go. “Fudge, Ciel, she knew Mum! She said another girl was here, looking for Danube, and I look just like her. She remembers Mum like it was yesterday. Literally!” Ciel nodded, understanding why I looked shaken.

“Let’s go see this scholar. Maybe he can tell us more.”

We made our way over to the benches where a brown ghost surrounded by a sort of black mist was seemingly lost in thought.

“Excuse me?” He eyed us carefully, like he was suspicious of us for reasons only he knew.

“How is it that you can see us?” I frowned. He was a scholar all right, asking questions right away when we were here to ask him.

“We don’t know. We were hoping you might have an idea.”

Slowly, he got up, looking backwards and forwards between us both before offering a sad smile. “She had children, then. Is she alive?”

It was our turn to offer the sad smile. There was no mistaking it now. This was definitely him, and he remembered Mum.

“No. She died shortly after we were born.” Ciel answered, moving a little closer to me.

Danube’s face fell. “She didn’t find a way. I’m sorry.” I thought it was the most sincere ‘sorry’ I had ever heard. “What are your names?”

“I’m Ciel. My sister is Autumn Rain.” He nodded again, taking us both in like we were long lost friends.

“I’m very sorry for your loss. I wish I could help you, but there’s nothing I can offer you. My knowledge is the same as it was when your mother came to me.”

“We were hoping you might know why we can see and talk to ghosts. It’s rare, from what we understand.”

“Your mother could see us because she was cursed by one. Are you…?”

In unison, Ciel and I shook our heads. “No, we’re not. Mum made sure that we’d be free of the curse when we were born.”

“Of course, of course. That’s why she- The ghost offered her a deal, and she accepted. Her life instead of yours.” Again, we both nodded, surprised that he knew this much after all although I wasn’t sure if it was knowledge or informed guessing.

“We were born as ghosts. Might this have anything to do with it?” Danube offered my brother a surprised smile.

“A clever man. It might do, although this has never been researched. I can only offer you assumptions at best. If you were born as one of us, then that might very well explain why you can see us now. Your mother lifted the curse, but something remained. Small traces of what the ghost had intended for you.” My blood ran cold at his words. Traces? So we weren’t truly free after all? Could she sense us? Did she know where we were?

Had Mum’s sacrifice ultimately been for nothing?

“What do you mean by traces?” Ciel interrupted my train of thoughts. “Is it possible that she can sense us? Could she call us to her?”

“I doubt it. If she had any hold over you she would have made herself known. She’s a vengeful spirit, Ciel and Autumn Rain. She is driven only by hate.” I wasn’t convinced, but then I knew nothing about how curses worked, never mind spiteful ghost curses.

I wasn’t sure why I said next what I said, but I felt like he should know. I wanted him to know. “We’ll find her. Ciel is a scientist, he is working on finding a better way of eliminating ghosts. I hunt and banish ghosts myself, and I intend on making her regret doing this to Mum.”

A smile I couldn’t interpret showed on his face. “Then I wish you the best of luck.”

“We’ll find a way to set you free, too. We know you can’t leave because the curse binds you to this world.”

Obviously surprised, Danube shook his head. “That is very kind of you to offer, but I am afraid I can’t be helped in this way. I am cursed, as you already know. Attempting to free me in this way would only cause me pain. If you somehow managed to destroy her, erase her presence from this world altogether, then the curse would be lifted, but you do not have the means of accomplishing such a thing. Still, I am grateful that you offered. Cari has wonderful children, she would be proud I think.”

With a lump in my throat, I tried to think of something to say. “Thank you, Danube. We appreciate your honesty and help.”

“I wish I could do more.” Ciel and I nodded our goodbyes and made our way back to the entrance of the cemetery.

On the way, the female ghost from earlier floated over to us and signaled us to stop. “Going back home already?”

“Yeah, we got all the answers we had come for.”

“It opened up some new ones, though” Ciel smiled, obviously itching to get home so he could start taking notes.

“If you don’t mind, you are welcome to visit us again. We get ever so lonely, and it is lovely having someone new to speak to.”

“Our friend said the same. She’s a ghost, too.”

The most heartwarming smile spread on her face. “You’re good people, being friends with the likes of us. We would be glad to welcome you back again.”

We both promised to be back. I wanted to get to know some of them and I was sure that whatever questions Ciel had stumbled upon, he would want to speak to Danube about it.

Falling asleep was difficult that night. Whatever that trace was that Danube had mentioned, I hoped it wouldn’t cause us trouble somewhere down the line. For now, it was good to know why we were able to see and talk to them. Even though we hadn’t learned anything new besides that, I felt like we were somehow closer to destroying that ghost, as Danube had put it. I couldn’t wait to visit Dolly the next time we went to see Aunty Honey. I knew she’d be as excited as I was at the prospect of meeting new ghosts.

I just wished I could take her with me and introduce them.