Under The Oak Tree

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CONTENTS

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1. LATE FOR DINNER

2. AVA

3. THE NEXT MORNING

4. THE EVIDENCE

5. PLAN B

6. TWO IN ONE

7. THE NECKLACE

8. THE FINAL EXPERIMENT

9. LAST CHANCE

10. REALITY

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.”

• Albert Einstein

1. LATE FOR DINNER

Will pedaled hard on his electric blue bike. He flipped his shaggy wet hair out of his face. As the rain poured in Seattle, Will raced home from the park where he usually went after school to read. Will didn’t have the life of an average teenage boy. His house never remained peaceful. His parents fought and yelled non stop. It was either his mom complaining about how his dad never helped around the house or his mom being too bossy or any other little thing they could think of to fight about. Dinner time the only exception, but even then they still scowled at each other. Will tried to stay out of the house as much as possible. His parents didn’t seem to really notice except for when it was time for dinner. He was good at being invisible. Will stayed exceptionally quiet at school too. He never liked being the center of attention.

Will and his small family lived in a cabin-like house at the end of a dead-end road which led through a forest full of leafy green trees, mainly oak. Will’s room was dark and plain. Nothing spectacular, but his favorite part was the large bookshelf he built himself that he filled with books from the thrift shop. His favorite book at the moment was Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Will read it so many times that the bindings started to fall apart. He could read for hours and never get bored. He loved to read because it could take him away from his real life. He would get lost in the fictional worlds of the characters in his books and not be one bit conscious of what was happening around him. It was like he was lost in a dream. A dream about whatever he chose to place in his hands. It could be an adventure or a horror or a romance. Anything was better than reality.

Will was only two blocks away. He could see the familiar turn to the dead-end road where his house was. He peddled harder, hoping he could avoid being yelled at. Once before, Will lost track of time and was late for dinner just like today. He was so mesmerized with the amazing lives of the fictional characters in his book that he forgot that he had his own life to go back to. His curfew was ten o'clock. When he arrived home an hour later, his parents were furious. The safety of their son was the only thing that they actually agreed on. Will wasn’t obsessed with technology like every other kid was, so his parents took away all of his books for a whole month. He only had the backs of cereal boxes left. Will definitely didn’t want to make that mistake again.

Will stopped his bike with his foot to catch his breath for a few seconds. The sweat dripping from his forehead washed away from the cool rain. Will turned onto his street, pedaling faster now. It was dark and cold outside. The only thing he could see through the rain were the lights shining through the windows of his home.

He could see his house more clearly now, he was almost there.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange figure appeared in front of him.

“Ahh.” Will quickly jerked the slippery handlebars to the side, swerving his bike, and crashed into a large tree on the side of the road. Everything went blank.

2. AVA

Will slowly starts to open his eyes.

“Hello? Hello? Are you ok? Oh my god, I am so sorry I didn’t mean to…”

“Ahhh.” Will jumped back. The figure was a girl, about 15 years old. She was pretty. Her dark brown hair blended in with the night, while her beautiful blue eyes gleamed in the moonlight. But, there was something off about her, Will thought. It was like she was almost translucent, but still solid at the same time. Will got up from the muddy grass. He looked down at his dirty clothes, exasperated, a line forming in between his eyebrows.

“Ugh.” He muttered. He looked up at the mysterious girl. “Who are you and what do you want?” Will demanded.

“My name is Ava.” She smiled and held out her hand for Will to shake, but Will just stared at it. Her beautiful smile disappeared. She let her hand drop. “And I need your help.”

Will picked up his bike. He looked down and focused ahead, ignoring the girl to see if she would go away. She didn’t. It was still pouring outside, but it didn’t seem to bother Ava.

“Why me?” He asked. Will walked his bike back onto the road. He turned towards his house where he was supposed to be a half-hour ago. He didn’t care. He didn’t want to get stuck in whatever mess was coming.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“Home, it’s late.” Will pointed towards his house.

“But I need your help. Please,” she exclaimed.

“Go home, it’s pouring outside.” Will started walking his bike towards his house.

“Hold on, just please let me explain.” Ava pleaded.

“No. I’m going home. It’s late and dark, I’m all muddy and?”

“I’m not alive.” She blurted.

Will froze. His jaw dropped and his eyes were wide. He knew he should have run home, but his feet wouldn’t move.

“W-What?”

“I’m not alive,” she said more softly now. “But I’m going to explain, don’t be afraid.”

Will just stared. His heart pounded against his chest. He was still frozen in shock.

“My name is Ava Davinson. I grew up here in Seattle. I was a junior at Ballard Highschool across town. A couple of months ago, I was on my phone, sipping on an iced coffee in the food court of Fifth Avenue Plaza when a strange lady came up to me. All of my friends had left so I was all alone. The lady asked me if I wanted to adopt a kitten for free and for some reason I couldn’t say no. Not because it was free but it was something about her eyes that lured me in and forced me to go with her. It was so weird. I could hardly remember, it’s all a blur now. I followed the lady to her house which was only a couple blocks away. She linked arms with me once we arrived at her house which was strange. The lady pulled me through the kitchen and the living room to a basement door with seven locks on it. Why would she need seven locks for a little kitten? I thought. I was immediately scared. I had no idea what was happening. At first, I thought she was keeping a lion down there, but I couldn't hear any loud roars or growls. The lady whispered something into my ear that I don’t remember. I don’t even think I was conscious of what she had said at the time either. It was like I wasn’t a part of my body anymore.”

Will nodded at all the right times, listening intently.

“The lady told me that my new kitten was in the basement. She grabbed a set of keys from her jeans pocket unlocked all of the locks. Then she turned the doorknob, opened the door, and pulled me down the dark stairs to the basement. She flicked on the lights and I was paralyzed. Everything inside me told me to run, but I couldn't. It was as if my feet were cemented to the floor and it was her eyes again. She stared me right in the eyes, and it was as if I was her puppet and she was my master. The basement looked like some kind of lab. There was a huge cage full of young children. The lock on the cage was different from the locks on the door. This one had a padlock shape and it was black and glossy like a screen. The lady dragged me to the cage and pressed her finger to the black padlock. The lock popped open. The lady pulled the cage door open and threw me inside. She shut the door, put the lock on, put on a white lab coat, and marched upstairs. The?”

“Is this story long? It’s kinda late and my mom’s gonna kill me.”

“No, just listen. The kids in the cage looked pale and skinny and sick. It was horrible. The lady came back downstairs with a bowl of porridge. She handed it to me through the cage. It smelled funny but at that point, I was starving. The other kids in the cage stared as if they were trying to tell me something but couldn't. I spooned the porridge into my mouth and when I was finished I handed the bowl back to the lady. My stomach felt weird after but I ignored it and thought it was nothing. I was terrified. I wanted to go home, I wanted this to be over, I wanted this to be all just a dream. But it wasn’t. The next day I woke up, still in the miserable cage, and found one of the kids, a little girl about seven years old, lying on the ground, her chest still. The other kids huddled around her, one listening for a heartbeat. From their expressions, I could tell that she was dead. It was so sad. Poor girl. The lady came downstairs with her white lab coat on and put on some rubber gloves. A venomous smile spread across her face. She muttered something like, “Time for another test.” and opened the cage. She carried the lifeless girl to the table bed, like the one in a doctor’s office. I was very confused. I don’t know how she could have died.”

“Wow. That’s terrible. Now could you please hurry up.” Will looked down at his watch.

“Okay okay, sheesh.” Ava sighed before she continued. “The lady injected some kind of serum into a vain in her left arm. She waited a minute, then threw down the needle. She was frustrated and started yelling. I had no idea why she was so upset. In the next couple of days, the same thing happened to some of the other kids. I was getting anxious. I knew I was gonna be the next one very soon. But I didn’t know how. I couldn’t figure out how everyone was dying. Then, I remembered the porridge, the funny smell it had and the pain I felt in my stomach after gulping it all down. There must have been some kind of poison in it. I didn’t know why this strange lady- a scientist I'm guessing- kept killing all of these children and injecting them with some sort of serum that failed every time. But I knew I had to stop her- somehow. One day I woke up and everything was blank. I couldn’t see anything or hear anyone. I opened my eyes and I was still in the lab… except on the outside of the cage. The lady was in a really bad mood and she didn’t seem to notice me. I looked around and the remaining kids in the cage didn’t stare at me like they always had. I walked up to the cage to one of the children and went to hold her hand but my hand went right through! I knew then that yesterday must’ve been the day. Another failed experiment. I must be a ghost or something, I thought, but I couldn’t believe it. I called the name of the girl whose hand I tried to grab.” Ava looked down like she was trying to remember something. “uh...Isabelle. Isabelle was her name. Anyway, I tried to talk to her but it was as if she couldn’t hear or see me. Then I knew, yup, I’m definitely a ghost. I know, sounds corny right?” She snorted. “I was still puzzled because none of the other children that died...” She shivered at the idea. “..were ghosts like me. I must’ve been the only one. I thought I would have been free and happy as a ghost, but it’s actually pretty lonely and painful. I have this pain in my stomach, like the one I got from the porridge but a hundred times worse. It’s like a reminder that I have to do something before I can actually be free. I think… I think that this scientist lady is planning something big and dangerous with this serum and that I need to stop her… and free all of those poor children. She must be collecting more with her creepy eye superpower thing.” Ava’s face cringed at the memory. “You have to help me. You're the only one who can.” Ava begged. She waited for Will’s response. His eyes were wide and he just stared.

After a minute, Will started bursting into laughter. “Ahahahaha.” he pretended to wipe away a tear of laughter. “Oooo, so scary. You expect me to believe that?” He continued chuckling.

Ava looked down, embarrassed. “Ugh, I knew this would happen. Here, look at this if you don’t believe me.” she handed him a poster with the title:

Missing

It had a picture of a girl that looked exactly like Ava.

“If you’re a good person, meet me here tomorrow. I’ll be waiting.” Ava suddenly disappeared.

Will shoved the poster into his pocket, shook his head, and climbed back onto his bike. The rain settled a little until it was only sprinkling. He glanced back then rode his bike home. Once Will arrived, he set his bike on the side of his house, close to the porch. He took out his house key from his pocket, unlocked the door, stepped inside, and found his mother waiting for him at the entrance with her arms crossed.

“Where have you been?” she glowered.

“I-I was reading and lost track of time,” Will said quickly. He stared at the ground.

“What happened? Why are you all muddy?” Her eyes trailed up to his forehead. “Oh my!” She gasped. “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HEAD?”

Will touched his hand to the spot his mother was staring at. It was wet and warm. He looked down at his hand that was now covered in deep red. He must have cut his head open when he bumped into that tree. “It’s nothing. I’m going to bed.” He ran up the stairs before his mother could say anything else.

Will grabbed a cloth from the linen closet across from the bathroom and ran it under cool water. He pressed it against his forehead where the cut was and walked down the hallway to his room. Will pulled off his muddy clothes and changed into a pair of his favorite sweats and an old black t-shirt. He emptied the pockets of his muddy jeans onto his desk and the missing poster that Ava had given him fell out. Will glared at the poster for a long moment.

“Will. Will, can you throw down your laundry, I'm going to start the washing machine.”

Will’s head flicked away from the paper lying on his desk. “Kay one sec.” He called back. Will scooped up his dirty laundry, ran downstairs, and threw them into the hamper. He ran back up the stairs and sat at his desk to do his homework. He had Algebra, History, and English homework. Will opened his laptop, then glanced one more time at the missing poster. He thought for a moment, then, started researching missing person ads in Seattle. He scrolled through all of the ads until one caught his attention - Ava’s. Her pale skin stood out from all of the other missing person ads.

Ava Davinson, daughter of Mrs. Carla Davinson and Mr. Garrad Davisnson. Born in Seattle, Washington. Missing since September, 10th, 2018.

That’s all that was mentioned on her flyer. Will opened a new page and googled: Ava Davinson. He found all of her social media accounts. He clicked on her Instagram and found a bunch of photos of Ava, and her friends and family. Her most recent post was posted two months ago. It was a photo of Ava and her friends at Fifth Avenue Plaza. In the picture, Ava was holding an iced coffee. Will clenched his fist. Was Ava really telling the truth?

Will started chewing on his lip. The next thing he searched was, ‘History of ghosts’. He clicked on each website and scanned through the articles. On the 18th website, Will finally found what he was looking for. The title of this article read, “Myths into Reality.” In the article, it said that only some people that die become ghosts because they have unfinished business that they have to fulfill. They are chosen because they are wise, coordinated, hopeful, and perfect for getting the job done. Most unfinished businesses have to do with stopping something bad or destructive from happening. Only one human is chosen to be able to see one ghost to help them complete their mission. A human is chosen if they are willing to give up their old life and start a new adventure. Another fact was when a ghost is born, a strong pain, similar to the cause of their death, remains until they have completed everything that they have to complete. The pain grows stronger when time is running out and a great crime needs to be stopped soon.

The article had everything Ava had listed. The next part of the article talked about a story. It was the story of an adventure about the author of the article and a ghost he’d helped move on. The author was just like Will. He saw a ghost too. Will skimmed through the rest of the article, but it was all full of unimportant and unrelated content like other myths and the author’s life before he saw a ghost.

Will didn’t know what to do anymore. He thought about helping Ava, but he really just wanted everything to go back to normal. He paced around his tiny room for a few minutes. Will had two options: Help Ava defeat the scientist lady and free the stolen children, or ignore Ava, never go back and pretend as if nothing had ever happened. He already knew which one he preferred. Adventures weren’t really his thing. Will thought for a minute. He knew this would be itching at him if he didn’t help Ava. Will always did the right thing. But what if the right thing was putting yourself in the most danger? Would it be selflessness or suicide?

A loud bang broke Will’s attention. His mom must have thrown something and started blaming his dad for what had happened to Will.

Will tried to imagine what the tree looked like. It was an enormous oak tree, he listed the facts inside his head. With a lot of leaves - bright green leaves. Its trunk was very wide with shallow grooves. The trunk was an auburn greyish color with hints of mocha and hickory.

Will flopped onto his bed. He lifted his wrist to his eyes to check the time on his watch. It was already 12:00. The next day was a school day. Will got up and shuffled to the bathroom. He squirted some toothpaste onto his toothbrush and lazily brushed his teeth in front of the mirror. All he could see was Ava. he couldn’t get her out of his head. Will flinched at the constant flashes of the astonishing figure popping in front of him on his bike earlier that day. It was haunting him. Would he help Ava, or never speak to her again? He was still puzzled about what to do.

Will rinsed his mouth, then shuffled back to his room and climbed into bed. I’ll just sleep on it and decide tomorrow, he thought. But Will couldn’t sleep. He rolled and fidgeted in his bed. He tried thinking of nothing, focusing on his breathing, but nothing helped. Finally, he decided to go downstairs to get a glass of warm milk. Will opened the fridge, then something caught his attention. He could hear something moving around in the bushes outside of the kitchen window. Will could see a fuzzy short silhouette. He jumped.

“Pssst. Psssssssst.” On the other side of the kitchen window was Ava.

“What? What are you doing here?” Will whispered bitterly, startled.

“Don’t forget.” She whispered back, furrowing her eyebrows and raising her index finger as she dramatically backed away.

Will rolled his eyes and chuckled. Ava was slowly starting to grow on him. Maybe he would help her. But Will still loved the reassurance of safety.

He gulped down his milk and then went back upstairs to bed. It was a restless night. Will wavered between his two options, still unsure of what to do.

Was it so wrong that he just wanted a normal life?

Will turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling as he pondered. He thought about Ava and the adventure ahead of him if he agreed to help her. He thought about the last things she had said at the large oak tree before she disappeared earlier that day. ‘If you’re a good person, meet me here tomorrow. I’ll be waiting.’ she had said. He also thought about not going. “I’m a good person,” Will mumbled anxiously.

Will finally decided. No more thinking. He knew what he had to do.

3. THE NEXT MORNING

“Will. Wiiiiil.” a soft voice giggled.

Will stirred. Cool hands shook him awake. His eyes fluttered open. There was someone at his bedside. Will’s eyes widened with realization.

“Ahhh.” He jumped. “WHAT-” Will lowered his voice into a whisper, “-what are you doing here? First, you're at my kitchen window and now you're in my room?”

Ava’s smile disappeared. “Your mom and dad already left for work and when I didn’t see your bright blue bike follow, I decided to come and wake you up.” She explained. “You’re welcome!” She gloated as she folded her arms.

Will glared up at her, annoyed. “I thought you were going to meet me at that stupid tree after school.” He scoffed. “And who said I even agreed to help you anyway?”

“It is after school.” Ava chortled. She was oddly cheerful for a ghost who was on a mission to avenge an evil scientist and dealing with an excessive amount of pain. “You are the only one who can see me. So… too bad I guess you're stuck with me then.” she shrugged.

Will’s face went blank. He gave Ava a puzzled glare as he leaned over to his nightstand to check the time on the alarm clock. The time read 2:45 pm. “Aww, I overslept,” he whined. He flopped back onto his bed and stuffed his face into his pillow.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Get up and get dressed so we can go meet at that big oak tree you decided to ram your head into last night.”

“Decided to?” Will lifted the pillow from his face. “You’re the one who just suddenly popped up in front of me while I was rushing to get home. It was dark out, I didn’t see you. What was I supposed to do?”

“Oh ya, sorry about that. I had to know if you could see me or not. Guess it’s my fault then.” she shrugged. she glided over to Will’s closet. “Kay, so I picked the perfect outfit for you-”

“What? Ava… how long were you in my room?”

“Just a couple of hours.” She said simply while scouring through Will’s closet to find the shirt she had picked out earlier.

“You watched me sleep?” Will sat up, irritated.

“Ya, you’re quite peaceful when you sleep. You don’t glower as much.” Ava mocked. She started looking through Will’s drawers now. “You know, you’re going to turn into a wrinkly old man when you’re older if you scrunch your eyebrows and forehead like all the time,” Ava smirked. She turned her head and gestured at his furious expression. She had a pair of gray jeans and a plain navy blue t-shirt in her arms.

She turned around fully and realized that maybe she had pushed it a little too far. “Uhh… meet you at the tree in ten. Please don’t be late. Bye.” she threw his clothes at him and then quickly disappeared.

Will sighed and got out of bed. He looked at the clothes Ava threw at him and decided, why not. Will walked across the hall to the bathroom, splashed cold water onto his face, and then quickly brushed his teeth. He raced back to his room and changed into the clothes Ava had picked out for him. Will slipped his socks on, then his black and white Nikes, and stomped downstairs. He opened the front door, grabbed his house key, hurried outside, and locked the door behind him. Will shoved the key into his pocket and then shuffled over to his bike. He walked it over to the wide dirt road, climbed on, kicked off of his foot, and then started pedaling. He pedaled his bike down the dirt road, taking his time until he reached the end of the street where the big old oak tree stood. It was hard to miss. It was possibly the biggest tree there. Will stopped his bike with his foot, kicked open the kickstand, and climbed off to stand beside it. Ava was waiting there for him with her arms crossed. She faked a yawn and pretended to look bored.

“Finally. Took you long enough.”

Will rolled his eyes.

“Ok. See this tree.” she pointed towards the enormous, sturdy tree. “Remember it ‘cause this is where we will be meeting every single day.” she paced around and said in a boss-like voice. “‘Kay?”

“Okay,” Will answered.

Ava smiled but didn’t say anything else. She just stared at Will and Will just stared back.

“So… what do we do now? Do you have a plan?” Will asked, breaking the silence.

“Uhhh… no actually. I was hoping you thought of something.”

“Nope.”

“Oh,” Ava said, disappointed. “I never thought we would get this far, to be honest.” she looked down, trying to think. “I guess I’ll just think of something tomorrow.” Ava’s eyes lit up and the corners of her lips pulled back into a smirk. “But for now, how about we go and have some fu-" Ava suddenly dropped to her knees. her eyes widened as she clutched her stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut. A loud sharp ear-piercing scream ripped out of her throat- one only Will could hear of course. She leaned over and clutched her stomach, squeezing her eyes shut with pain.

Will looked at Ava, horrified. "Ava?”

"Uh… uh… " She uttered from the back of her throat. She couldn’t talk. She could hardly breathe.

“Ava? Ava, what’s going on? What’s happening?” Will leaped to her side and started panicking.

"Owww it's getting worse… " she whimpered. "The pain." She panted. The pain in Ava’s stomach grew worse. It was unbearable. She felt as if there were a million sharp knives stabbing at the insides of her, ripping her apart.

She struggled to push herself up with her left hand, but Will held her shoulders down, laying her on the fresh soil.

Will looked up, remembering what he had researched the night before. “We are running out of time.” He said under his breath.

“What?” Ava asked through another breath. Her head tilted to the side.

“I was doing some research last night and I… I don't know, there was… I looked at a few… I wasn’t sure, it was completely… -” Will tried to find the words.

“Yes?”

“I was researching ghosts and I found an article about this guy that saw a real ghost. It said that only some people that die become ghosts because they have unfinished business that they have to fulfill and they are chosen because they are smart and perfect for the job. It also said that most unfinished businesses have to do with stopping something bad from happening and one human is picked to help them complete their mission. It said that a human is chosen if they are willing to give up their old life and start a new adventure. And finally… it said that ghosts have a strong pain, similar to the one that made them die. This pain gets stronger when time is running out and something needs to be stopped soon.

Ava gasped, stunned. She clutched her stomach again, another bloodcurdling scream ripped out of her, louder this time. Ava squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth.

“We need to find a place where you can rest.” Will scooped Ava into his arms. Carrying a ghost was no different from carrying a human to him. It was as if Ava wasn’t even a ghost at all.

“There’s an old campsite that nobody goes to anymore on the west side of the forest.” Ava managed to whisper.

Will nodded and headed into the forest where Ava pointed. Ava rested her head against Will’s chest.

Will ran through the trees until he could see a small clearing ahead of them. The campsite had a small fire pit in the center and large wooden logs for seating all around it. The campsite was far from the dirt road so there was no chance of anyone finding them there. Will gently laid Ava on the soft green grass in front of one of the logs. He sat on the log at Ava’s head and watched her as she slowly drifted to sleep. I guess ghosts are a lot like humans, Will thought.

He flipped over and laid on his back on the log. Will closed his eyes and fell fast asleep as well. He was exhausted after all. He had barely slept the night before.

Will woke up to find Ava curled up against a log with her arms wrapped around her knees. He sat up on the log and checked the time on his watch. It was six o’clock. He got up and walked over to sit on the grass next to Ava. She leaned her head on Will’s shoulder. They didn’t say a word.

“Are… are you ok now? Does it still hurt?” Will finally said in a soft sympathetic voice.

“Ya, I’m ok. The pain never goes away, but it has settled for now.” She replied.

They sat for a few more minutes, then Ava got up and faced Will with a huge smile across her face. “I’ve always wanted to do this… ever since I became a ghost…” her face blew up with an excitement that she could not contain.

“Do what?” Will asked curiously, getting up from the grass.

Ava’s smile widened. “Follow me!” she grabbed Will’s hand and pulled him through the forest until they were back on the dirt road again where Will had left his bike.

“Get on your bike and follow me.”

Will mounted his bike and kicked up the kickstand. Ava started ahead of him. Will started pedaling behind her. Ava was fast. She ran a few feet ahead of Will’s bike, leading him to different paths out of the forest, and into the city. Ava led Will through different streets until they reached a road that led to a hiking trail.

Will pedaled onto the uphill path, following behind Ava. They took little breaks in between so that Will could catch his breath. But Ava was too impatient so she only let him rest for no more than a minute each time.

At the end of the trail was a high rocky cliff. Under the cliff, salty ocean water crashed and swooshed against big sharp ash gray rocks. No one was up there and they were far from the city by now.

Will was very confused about what Ava could have wanted to show him. It was too cold and way too dangerous for cliff diving and there weren’t any trees, plants, bushes or anything. Just a cliff with dead yellow grass.

Ava stood at the very edge of the cliff.

“Ava, what are you doing… ?”

Ava closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She took a step back for a running start, and then gracefully leaped off the edge of the cliff.

“No…” Will bolted to the edge of the cliff. He leaned over and found Ava there, floating gracefully. He stared, wide-eyed with awe.

“It worked.” She took in a big breath.

“Woah.” he stared up at her as she floated back onto the edge of the cliff.

“Running was fun, but this… this is amazing.” Ava examined herself as she levitated above the soil. “Here, take my hand.” she held out her right hand for Will to take. He nervously reached up, on the tips of his toes, and grasped her small delicate hand. Ava levitated higher until they were a few feet high.

“Woah.” was all Will could utter. He was dazed with amazement.

Ava floated higher, and soon they were about 10 feet off of the ground.

All of a sudden, Will heard a terrifying scream. Ava let go of Will’s hand to grasp her stomach. Will fell to the grass with a loud thud. Ava stopped levitating and fell beside him, still screeching with agony. Will went unconscious, while Ava laid on the grass beside him, helpless, her arms wrapped around her stomach, wincing whenever she’d get a twinge of searing, burning pain.

Will’s eyes fluttered open. Ava was at his side. She looked like she was crying. Could ghosts cry? Will thought to himself. He tried to get up but felt extremely dizzy. Everything was fuzzy.

“I’m so sorry.” Ava buried her face into her hands.

Will could see a little more clearly now. “Hey, hey, it’s ok. It’s not your fault.”

“We need to hurry. Get back on track. No more wasting time. Whatever that monster is planning, we have to stop her, fast.”

Will nodded. He was still dizzy and all of his injuries started hitting him. His whole body was achy. He tried to lift himself up, but he couldn’t stand.

“Oh. Right. First, let’s get you home so you can rest. But then we stop this vicious evil scientist lady, free those poor children and put her in jail!” she cheered as if speaking to a SWAT team getting ready for battle.

Ava reached her hand out to Will. “Here, I’ll fly you home.” She giggled at her new talent.

Will checked the time on his watch. It was already nine o clock. Will was hesitant, but he couldn’t possibly ride his bike, let alone even walk home.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful this time.”

Will reluctantly grabbed Ava’s hand. She carefully floated them in the air. Will winced. She carried him in the air back down the trail, back to the city.

“What if someone sees you- er me, just floating in the air?”

“Don’t worry, I know a shortcut through trees where no one will see you. But you’re going to have to walk just a short distance. I’ll help you.” She set Will down gently on his feet, then quickly landed beside him to support his weight by holding his arm. She helped Will stumble onto a sidewalk, cross a street, then make a turn, continuing onto another sidewalk. Will tripped and fell every once and a while, but Ava would catch him just in time.

They finally reached the end of the block where an alleyway led to an old junkyard. It was dark and late. No one was around. There was only the faint sound of crickets chirping. Ava grabbed Will’s hand again and then leaped up into the air. They flew through the alleyway but then Ava paused at the end, staring at the old junkyard ahead.

“The scientist lady’s house is not far from here, just five minutes that way behind those buildings and trees.” She pointed North. They couldn’t see it from where they were, but Ava felt it was close.

Something caught Ava’s eye. “Hmmm.” Ava flew closer into the junkyard, examining a small old brown shed.

“What?” Will looked up at her. Ava set Will back down on his feet and walked up to the small shed.

“I could have sworn this lock wasn’t on here two days ago.” She turned the lock around, inspecting it. “And it looks new. Not old or rusty.”

Will weakly lifted his shaky hand to check the time on his watch. “C’mon Ava.”

“Oh right, sorry.” She grabbed Will’s hand again and flew him through the junkyard and into the woods. On the other side of the trees was the long dirt road to Will’s cozy little house. Ava flew him closer to the ground now. A few feet away from the doorsteps, she set him down on the ground. She held his shoulders to face her.

“Okay. Act as natural as possible, you don’t want your parents knowing that you fell ten feet high from nothing.”

Will nodded sleepily. He was still dizzy and fading in between consciousnesses every few minutes.

He took the house key out of his pocket and wiggled it into the keyhole. Will unlocked the door and stepped inside. His mom was cleaning the dishes in the kitchen, and his dad was in the living room, watching a soccer game on the couch.

“Oh good, at least you don’t have to confront your parents.” Ava whispered even though only Will could hear her. “Tell them you’re going to bed.”

“Hey, I’m home,” Will shouted, trying to keep his voice steady so that it didn’t sound weak.

“Hey.” They yelled back, not moving an inch from what they were doing.

“Uh… I’m going to bed.” He waited for their reply.

“Okay.” They said at the same time, still not even looking away from the TV or dishes.

Ava helped Will up the stairs. “Was that really the best you could do?”

He gave her a dirty look. She helped Will onto his bed and pulled off his shoes. Ava turned off his lights and strode over to the window of his bedroom.

“Meet you at the tree tomorrow?” She lifted the window open.

“Ok.”

“‘Kay, good night.” She stepped one foot out of the window.

“Wait.” Will lifted his neck towards the window.

Ava pulled her leg back in and turned around.

“Thank you. For taking care of me and flying me back home.” Will looked down awkwardly and gave Ava a warm weak smile.

She smiled back. “No problem.” And then, she was gone.

Will flopped his head back on his pillow. He sighed. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep. He was so weak and dizzy from his fall, that his pain clouded every other worry that wandered through his head. He fell fast asleep.

4. THE EVIDENCE

It was a Saturday. Will woke up at 7 am to the bright sun. The light warmed his skin as it shinned through the window. He brushed his teeth and threw on some black jeans and a dark blue hoodie. It was getting chillier out as it was already the beginning of October.

Will hurried outside and found his bike leaning against the side of his house. Ava must have gone back for it and dropped it off here last night, Will smiled at the thought.

He got on his bike and pedaled down the road to the big old oak tree. Ava was waiting by the tree with a new excitement in her eyes. A wide smile spread across her face. She was all fired up and practically jumping up and down.

Will stopped his bike next to the tree.

“Will! Will! Will! Do you remember that shed we passed by yesterday at the junkyard? The one I was looking at with the strange lock? Well, I managed to break open the lock and you won’t believe what was inside. C’mon, I’ll just show you.” She grabbed Will’s hand and flew him through the trees, through the shortcut they took yesterday. Ava flew at an accelerating speed. She went much faster than before. Ava finally reached the junkyard and set Will down on the ground.

Ava walked up to the shed and cracked the dusty door open all the way.

Will's face was blank. He had no idea what he was looking at. “Garbage bags?”

“No dummy, the stuff inside.”

“Trash?”

Ava closed her eyes and sighed. She shook her head as she walked over to one of the trash bags. Ava reached her arm inside and pulled out a yellow journal.

“There are hundreds of journals like this one in these bags, with recordings of the scientist lady’s failed experiments. It has the name and age of each child tested and the date they each passed away. It also has the kind of poison she used to slowly rot them away and how long it took for the poison to work.” She held up the lemon yellow journal.

Will gasped. His shocked expression slowly changed into a sly smile. He was starting to understand what Ava was getting at. “We can take these journals to the police and get the scientist arrested.”

Ava’s smile mirrored Will’s. She nodded. “Let’s go, we want to hurry before--Ah.” she winced. Ava dropped onto the ground and held her stomach. She let out a deafening shriek.

Will was used to this by now. He kneeled down next to her and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. She started sobbing in torment, unable to endure the firey pain anymore. They waited until it was finally over, until the screaming that no one but Will could hear silenced.

Ava and Will got up from the ground and brushed the dirt off their pants.

“Let me fly you back to the tree so you can get your bike.” Ava handed the journal to Will, then took his hand and floated them back through the forest and to the dead-end dirt road where the big old oak tree lay at the end of it. Once Will’s feet were back on the ground, he grabbed the handlebars of his bike and climbed on. Will pedaled his bike and Ava flew alongside him.

Ava guided Will through the streets, pointing toward the right direction of the local police station.

When they arrived at the station, Ava and Will dawdled outside the doors, to go over their plan.

“Okay. So, we are going to go in there and you are going to tell one of the Police Officers that you want to report a kidnapper case. Then, you’re going to show them the journal and the recorded experiments and tell them that the lady that wrote this journal had been killing hundreds of children to test an unusual serum. Then tell them that all of her experiments failed and that she has hundreds of more journals hidden away in trash bags, locked up in an old shed in the junkyard on First Avenue and South King Street. Understand?” Ava instructed.

“Yep, got it.”

They swung the clear glass doors open and marched up to the front desk.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Yes, can I help you?” The Officer asked. His name tag read, ‘Officer Downley’.

“Hi, yes, I would like to report a kidnapping case,” Will stated. “We- er I mean I have evidence.” he held the journal in the air then dropped it on the white counter of the front desk.

When Will tried to remember the reason why he decided to help Ava, he couldn’t remember saying that he ever agreed. Ava showed up in his room and practically forced him to help her, but Will still could have said no. So, why didn’t he? He didn’t care about those children being kidnapped. He didn’t know them so he didn’t find it important for him to be the one to rescue them. He could leave it up to someone else, someone older to solve the mystery and save the day. But he couldn’t. When Will looked at Ava’s face that morning, the morning after the night they first met, the morning when Ava came and woke him up, he couldn’t bear to say no. Her bright happy eyes and gleaming smile opened a new door into Will’s life. He knew there was no getting rid of her, and he really didn’t mind the thought of that.

It was finally happening, thought Will. That cold-blooded monster was going to get arrested and pay for what she did to all of those innocent children. Ava will finally be free and her soul will be at peace.

The Officer picked up the journal, a line forming in between his eyebrows. He briskly flipped through the pages, not stopping at any of them to see what was written. “What’s this?” He had a raspy, gravelly voice.

There was something eerie about this Officer that Will couldn’t shake. It was like somebody had written a script and the Police Officer automatically played it, without being conscious of it. Like someone was controlling him. His voice, his expression, and his eyes were a plain muddy brown and he had scruffy brown hair and a chevron mustache. Everything about him seemed normal but irregular at the same time.

“This journal has recordings of failed experiments from a female scientist that has been kidnapping innocent children, poisoning them and then testing out a strange serum after each one of them dies. If you open the journal, you’ll see all of the names of the children who have died so far, when they died, what poison she fed them, how long it took for the poison to kick in, etcetera. It basically has every single detail about this psycho scientist’s failed experiments.” Will explained what Ava had told him too.

Ava watched Will silently, anxiously chewing on her fingernails.

“Do you know where this ‘scientist’ lives?” The Officer asked.

“Yes, I can show you exactly where she lives.” Will looked over at Ava and she nodded.

“Ok, let’s go then.” The Officer handed the journal back to Will, then grabbed a set of keys from a hook on the wall.

They headed out the double transparent doors and walked across the parking lot to a blue and white cruiser. The Officer unlocked the car with his keys before he opened the driver’s seat door and climbed inside. Will opened the passenger’s seat but lingered outside, waiting for Ava to sneak through into the back.

“What you waitin’ for, kid?”

“Nothing.” Will watched Ava climb into the back seat, then climbed into the passenger’s seat himself and buckled his seat belt.

It was a short drive. Only ten minutes long. Ava told Will where to turn, then Will repeated it to the Officer. Will pointed at a house that looked like any other house. Plain charcoal grey, offwhite, and bricks with many shades of brown from cinnamon to caramel to pecan. It had a tall white door with a matching garage.

“Mrs. Johnson?” The Officer asked. Will started to wonder if Ava had the right house. The Officer seemed to know a lot about it and ‘Mrs. Johnson’ who apparently lived inside.

He parked the cruiser on the side of the house’s bright green lawn. Once everyone got out, he locked the car with the button of the keys. They walked across the concrete driveway and up the steps to the porch. The Officer knocked three times on the door, then stepped back to where Will was standing on the edge of the porch.

There were footsteps coming from behind the door. Will crossed his arms. He started to panic. Ava was biting her nails again and was staring off into space.

Finally, the door creaked open.

“Hello, Mrs. Johnson.” the Officer greeted. In the doorway stood a tall woman that looked like she was in her 30’s.

“Hello, Officer Downley. May I help you?” she tucked her long strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.

“This kid here says that you are a scientist and that you’ve been kidnapping children to test strange experiments on them. Is this true?”

Mrs. Johnson’s emerald green eyes widened. She glanced over at Will. “What? Of course not. You must be confused. I am a tutor. Children come to my house to learn and get their grades up.”

She gave Officer Downley a creepy glare. Suddenly, his face went blank and he had that same look like before, his eyes glazed over. “I’m terribly sorry Mrs. Johnson.”

The Officer quickly turned to face Will. “Mrs. Johnson is a tutor, not a kidnapper, you were wrong and that journal is not enough to prove you right. Is that clear?”

Mrs. Johnson’s eyes flickered down. Will followed her gaze to the journal in his hand. She frowned. She hadn’t noticed the journal until now. Will couldn’t help but smirk.

Will looked back up at Officer Downley. “Yes, Officer.”

Mrs. Johnson closed her door. Will, Officer Downley, and Ava who was still there with a terrified look on her face headed back down the steps of the porch and climbed back in the car. Will still had a smug look on his face.

The officer drove Will back to the station. When they got out of the car, Officer Downley headed back into the station and Will got back on his bike. Ava flew beside him and they didn’t say a word until they were back on his street beside the large oak tree. Will got off of his bike and leaned it against the tree. He was still smiling.

Ava’s face looked defeated. Completely opposite to Will’s. “What? Why are you smiling? There’s no way to stop her now. She’s a liar. She has tricked everybody.”

“No, actually, I have a new plan.” Will’s smile widened. “It’s not going to be easy, but I have a feeling that Mrs. Johnson knows exactly what we're up to.”

Ava’s frown faded into a smile.

5. PLAN B

Will and Ava walked through the woods to the old campsite they found the previous day. They talked about the plan for a while, then took turns asking each other questions about their lives. Before they knew it, it was dark outside and time for Will to go home.

The next day, Will woke up extra early to meet Ava at their special spot. Ava took Will’s hand and they flew through the trees to stay hidden all the way to Mrs. Johnson’s house. They snuck into the backyard and crouched down low where a window to the basement was near the bottom of the back of the house.

“Look there’s the lab.” Ava pointed towards the window. Ava and Will heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“C’mon quick,” Will whispered. They slid through the backyard gate, still crouching so no one would see them. Will and Ava stepped onto the front porch.

“Okay, ready?” Will took a deep breath.

Will rang the doorbell. It took a while before they heard Mrs. Johnson unlock the door.

“Hello, may I help you?” she asked.

“Hi, Mrs. Johnson. Remember me? From yesterday?”

“Yes, I do. You were the kid who brought the police because you thought I was a kidnapper.” She snorted as if it actually wasn’t true.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Anyways, yesterday you mentioned that you were a tutor. I was actually looking for someone to get my grades up, do you think that you could help me?” Will smirked. The next-door neighbor was sitting on his porch and drinking coffee, secretly eavesdropping on them. Will and Mrs. Johnson both knew he could hear them. They looked over at him, but he quickly jerked his head in the other direction.

“Uhh....” She pondered.

“Ok great! When do we start? Can we start right now?” Will took a step forward into her house.

“Hold up kid. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think it’s time for you to leave.” She shoved him back onto the porch.

“Why? I have a big test on Thursday and I need help studying.”

Mrs. Johnson stood still. She glared into Will’s eyes just like she had to the officer. Will crossed his arms with a worried look on his face. After one awkward minute, Mrs. Johnson quickly looked away and sneered.

Will and Ava both secretly looked at each other in confusion. “Ha! what is she doing?”Ava snorted.

Will took another step forward. “So, where should we start?” He stepped around Mrs. Johnson, who was frozen, and he went into her house. “How about I go wait in the basement, while you go get all your books and teacher-y stuff.” Will pointed towards the basement with seven strange locks on it.

“No!” she yelled.

Will smiled. “Why?”

“Because. First of all, you need a parent or a guardian. Second of all, you need an appointment, and I charge $30 an hour, so I don’t think you could afford me. I would appreciate it if you would kindly leave right now.” Mrs. Johnson pushed Will through the door and out of her house.

As she shoved him through the door, something caught Will’s attention. There was a strange glow coming from under Mrs. Johnson’s shirt around her neck. He saw a chain so he figured it might be a necklace or pendant. He stopped on the edge of the porch. Mrs. Johnson caught him staring at the glowing shape around her neck. Her eyes glowed the same emerald color as she covered it with her hand and shut the door.

Ava didn’t see the glowing object under Mrs. Johnson’s shirt. She was busy roaming around the backyard, looking through the tiny basement window to see if she could find anything in the lab that could help them. Will knew that the strange necklace had to be a clue.

6. TWO IN ONE

The next morning, Ava and Will snuck back into Mrs. Johnson’s backyard. They crouched down beside the window and peeked through. They could see a table with a little boy, about 10 years old. His eyes were closed and his skin was the color of flour. Mrs. Johnson’s already got to him, they thought.

“Oh, how’s your stomach pain by the way?” Will asked.

“It still hurts but I feel like I’m able to control it. Now that we’re on track.” Ava answered. Will nodded.

Mrs. Johnson came into the room wearing blue latex gloves, a white coat, and holding a syringe with a blue liquid inside. She plunged the needle into the boy’s heart, then waited. Her eyebrows furrowed and she let out an echoing screech. She ripped the needle out of the boy's chest and chucked it against the wall. “Ugh, why didn’t it work?” She started sobbing. Mrs. Johnson walked over to a set drawers and opened the top one. She took out a photograph of a smiling man in climbing gear and sunglasses. “Why did you have to fall off of that stupid cliff,” she muttered. “I’ll find a way. As many children and as many tests as it takes, you’ll be back. Soon. I have a feeling.” She sniffed and wiped her tears away, then put the photo back in the drawer and shut it close. Mrs. Johnson got up and threw her lab coat on the hanger. She took off her gloves and put them in the trash can then sat at a desk with a notebook and a pen in her hands.

“Did you hear that?” Ava asked Will.

“Yeah. Ha! It looks like she’s trying to bring back the dead. That’s not even possible. Is it?”

Ava looked horrified, but she wasn’t paying any attention to Will. “Uhh Will…” she pointed through the window. “We have to go. Now.” Mrs. Johnson started marching towards the clear window. Ava and Will sprinted through the backyard gate.

By the time they reached the sidewalk at the edge of Mrs. Johnson’s lawn, Mrs. Johnson was standing outside her door, on her porch with her arms crossed. They froze,

“What exactly do you two think you were doing.”

“Uh I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m all alone.”

“Oh right, my bad.” She said in an unbelievable tone.

“And I was… going for a walk.” Will said, and Ava elbowed him in the side. “... to the grocery store… to buy groceries.” Ava sighed, disappointed.

“Nice talking to ya, have a good day, bye.” Will blurted and then dashed down the white sidewalk to the end of the street, Ava following behind in the air. Mrs. Johnson tried calling back at him but he ignored her and just kept running. Ava and Will slowed into a walking pace until they reached a city bus bench.

7. THE NECKLACE

“Ava, I need to tell you something.” Will said once they sat down on the bench.

“What is it?”

“When Mrs. Johnson pushed me out of her house earlier, there was a weird green glowing thing around her neck. Like a necklace. It was weird because for a second her eyes glowed too.” Will thought about the necklace.

“Oh. I’ve never noticed it before. Hmm…” she looked down and tapped her chin with her index finger. After a moment, Ava gasped and jerked her head up so fast, it made Will jump.

“What?”

“I got it!”

“There’s no other explanation.”

“What Ava, what is it?”

“Ok, so do you know how Mrs. Johnson has that creepy superpower that can manipulate people into doing whatever she says, well except for you?”

“Yeah.” Will gasped. “You don’t think…?”

“That that necklace gives her the power to trick everyone and believe her disgusting lies? Yeah. it’s the only possibility.”

“So the only way to stop her is to get that necklace. Then the police won’t be under her spell. We could videotape some evidence and then maybe they’ll finally believe us.” Will and Ava both smiled.

“Exactly. But we have to be careful. We don’t want Mrs. Johnson to catch on to us. I have a feeling that she knows I’m here too.”

“What? How? I thought I was the only one who could see you?”

“You are. But notice how earlier she said ‘What do you two think you’re doing.’ She knows something.”

“Tomorrow we get the evidence, bring the police to Mrs. Johnson’s house, break the necklace, then finally bye, bye Mrs. Johnson and she’ll be on her way to jail.”

“Uh kid, who ya talkin’ to?” a random man waiting for the bus asked Will who was talking a little too loud.

“Uhh… hehe… myself.” he laughed awkwardly. Will blushed. “C’mon Ava,” he whispered then started running towards the path to the shortcut home. Ava giggled as she followed behind him.

Once they arrived back at the tree, Will rode his bike home and Ava disappeared into the forest, no one saying a word.

8. THE FINAL EXPERIMENT

The next morning Will and Ava met back at the tree and Will rode his bike back to Mrs. Johnson’s house, with Ava flying beside him. Will locked his bike onto a bike rack a couple of blocks away from the house. Then Ava and Will walked silently towards the house and crept into the backyard. They peeked through the window and found that a terrified little girl filled the emptiness of the oversized cage. After a few minutes, Mrs. Johnson came down the basement stairs with her white lab coat on as she stretched on a pair of latex gloves. She went over to her white desk where there was a small vial with a red fluid and an empty syringe. She unscrewed the cap of the vial and stuck the needle of the syringe inside to extract the liquid. Mrs. Johnson set the syringe carefully on a metal tray on a rolling cart and then grabbed another empty syringe from the drawer of her desk. She took out a vile with a different fluid that was a yellow-orange color this time. Like she did before, Mrs. Johnson filled the empty syringe with the yellow-orange liquid and set it on the tray next to the other syringe with a red liquid.

Will and Ava watched closely through the window. The little girl was still alive and she didn’t look sick from poison so she must be new. But with all of the other children, Mrs. Johnson poisoned them and waited until they died before performing her experiment. What was she planning this time, they both wondered.

“Take out your phone.” Ava nudged Will. Will took out his phone from his pocket, went into the camera, held up his phone in front of the window, and pressed record.

Mrs. Johnson walked over to the cage and pressed her thumb to the high technology smart lock. The lock popped open and she opened the gate to the cage to grab the petrified child sitting on the dusty floor in the corner of the cage. Mrs. Johnson yanked her by the arm and lifted her onto the table bed next to the rolling cart with the silver tray. She held the trembling girl’s chest with one hand and picked up the syringe with the other.

“Here, Ava, hold the phone and keep recording.” Will handed his phone to Ava.

“Wait. What? Will, what are you doing?” Ava asked, confused.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, like the sound of breaking glass.

“We can’t just sit around and let another child die like this, we have to do something now!” Will demanded.

“Ok, but you could have given me heads up before you chucked that rock through the glass window,” Ava answered.

“Excuse me? I don’t remember inviting little children to smash rocks through my basement window.” Mrs. Johnson threw down the needle that was in her hand back on the tray and walked up to the broken window.

“Stop.” Will held out his hand and climbed through the window. “It’s over Mrs. Johnson if that’s even your real name. This needs to stop.” He crossed his arms. “And… I’m not a little child, I turn sixteen next month.” He pouted.

Mrs. Johnson cackled. “Ha! And what are you going to do to stop me? Hmmm?”

“The police are actually on their way right now,” Will smirked.

“The police won’t believe you. They never will.”

“Oh, we’ll see,” Will said. “But just one question. Every time you see me you talk as if there are two of me. Why?”

“Because I know she’s there,” she whispered. “Avaaa” She hissed. “It was a side effect of the experiment at the time. The person responsible for the victim’s death will be able to hear and see them if they turn into a ghost.” she shrugged. “But I didn’t think you would be the one to actually become one. Ha. And just so you know, it’s not over for you two, whatever you have planned. There’s still much more to come. Life is not always as simple as it seems.”

Will’s smile turned into a worried frown. His brows furrowed as he looked over at Ava who he thought no one but him could see.

Ava stopped the video recording.

The doorbell rang. “The police.” Ava gasped.

“I think you should get that.” Will smiled and pointed towards the stairs as he climbed back out of the window.

Mrs. Johnson made a mocking face and stuck her tongue out like a child, then headed up the stairs.

“Hello, Officer Downley. What brings you here, to my house, once again?” Mrs. Johnson said through her teeth.

“Uhh, I’m not sure actually. A kid called and said to meet him here.” He answered.

“Hello, again Mrs. Johnson and Officer Downley of course,” Will appeared behind the officer. “I hope you don’t mind, I brought my friend… uh-”

“Alexia.” a small girl said beside Will. It was the same girl from the lab a minute ago. Ava and Will rescued her when Mrs. Johnson went to get the door.

Mrs. Johnson didn’t look surprised. “What do you want? C’mon, Will, let’s just get this over with.”

“I actually have some evidence to show you and Officer Downley. It's a video. A video that shows more than just a “friendly tutor”. Will pulled out his phone.

“I’m sorry, I still don’t know what you two- ah -I mean what you are talking about.” She interrupted. “I am not a kidnapper, and I do not poison children.”

“Hold on, wait a second. The last time we were here, Officer never mentioned anything about poisoning the children, even though it was in the journal I brought as evidence. Anyway, just watch the video. Will pulled up the video and held it so that Mrs. Johnson and Officer Downley could both see clearly, then pressed play. Will looked over at Mrs. Johnson and saw her strange amulet and her eyes glowing bright green again. Officer Downley didn’t even seem to notice. He also didn’t look like he was paying much attention to the video, even though his eyes locked onto the screen. Ava and Will looked at each other.

“She’s manipulating him,” Ava whispered in realization.

After the video finished, Will put the phone back in his pocket. “Well, Officer? What do you think?”

Mrs. Johnson’s eyes suddenly stopped glowing.

“Nope. still not enough evidence.” the Officer said and turned around.

Mrs. Johnson started to shut her door.

“Wait.” Will stopped the door with his hand.

“What?” Mrs. Johnson yelled in a blunt voice. The pendant and her eyes started growing again. Officer Downley turned back around.

Will jumped forward, without thinking, and ripped the necklace off of Mrs. Johnson in one swift movement. Mrs. Johnson’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She touched her neck where the pendant used to be. “What did you do?” she growled.

Will smirked. He threw the necklace onto the concrete porch and stomped on it with his foot, shattering the green pendant into pieces. Mrs. Johnson’s eyes stopped glowing and turned into its original dull green.

Officer Downley blinked twice and shook his head. He looked around and then stopped his gaze on Will. “Wow. It was like I didn’t have any control of my body, but I was still there and I still remember everything.”

“Yup. That necklace lets Mrs. Johnson manipulate anyone she wants. She can make anyone do anything- except me for some reason.” Will explained.

“Thanks for helping me out kid. You did good. Now I’ll be taking Mrs. Johnson here to jail.” he grabbed Mrs. Johnson’s arm and started pulling her out of her house to the cruiser. She tried to jerk her arm away but failed. Will smiled.

“Just remember kid, life’s not as simple as you think. You can’t have everything you want, even if it’s what you want most.” she looked back with a serious, sincere look.

Will looked back at her. He cocked his head to the side, thinking about what had just said.

The officer pushed Mrs. Johnson into the back of the police car and she grunted, trying to squirm out of his grasp.

Will and Ava silently watched the cruiser drive away. “C’mon Will, let’s go. I’ll fly home.” Ava said.

“‘Kay, one sec.” Will ran off into the empty house.

9. LAST CHANCE

When he came back, Will and Ava walked a couple of blocks until they reached the forest. They flew through the trees, to the big oak tree where they first met.

They sat on the grass beside the tree and talked for a while until Will noticed that Ava started to disintegrate. “Ava.” he pointed to her hands that were slowly starting to disappear.

“It’s finally happening. I get to be free. Wow, that went by fast. I’m going to miss you.” Ava ran into Will’s arms in a bear hug.

“I’m going to miss you too.” he hugged her back. A tear slowly rolled down his cheek and fell onto Ava’s shoulder.

“Are you crying?” Ava giggled. She sniffled. Tears of her own started streaming from her eyes. “Goodbye Will.” she choked. “I love you.”

“Wait! Maybe there’s still a way where you could stay, here, forever.” Will reached his hand into his pocket.”

“Will. what are you talking about?”

Will pulled out a syringe with a green liquid. “Hold still.”

“Will no, what if it’s a trap?”

I’ll take my chances, Ava. Please, I don’t want you to go.” The tears streamed down his face. He held out the needle, then pressed it into Ava’s heart.

Ava flinched.

Will pressed the syringe and let the liquid ooze through Ava’s heart, then pulled out the needle.

A minute passed and nothing happened. Will’s last flicker of hope disappeared. He let his head hang low and sobbed. His eyes were red from crying. He hugged Ava back, with a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry Ava.” He wept. The last bits of Ava disappeared and soon, Will’s arms only wrapped around thin air.

Will sat against the big oak tree, sobbing into his hands.

Five minutes passed.

Suddenly, Will heard a shrill, loud blast. Everything went black before he could realize what had happened. Mrs. Johnson’s latest serum was a trick. She knew she was going to lose eventually. But she couldn’t stand everyone but her having what they wanted. She had added some chemicals to the serum, that would turn into an explosive once activated. If she couldn’t bring back her loved one, then no one would.

Will flew across the graveyard from the impact. He was left unconscious, with gashes everywhere on his skin. The blood gushed out of his wounds like mini volcanoes.

Will had no idea what was going on. He was trapped inside of his body with a never-ending pain like fire. He couldn’t move or open his eyes.

At least I will be with Ava, was all he could think.

The blackness ended and Will’s eyes flicked open. He smiled brightly. Now I can go find Ava, he thought. But when he stood up and looked around, he found himself in the middle of a graveyard, standing in front of Ava Davinson’s grave. Will’s brows furrowed. He noticed that the fiery pain had disappeared. He looked down at himself, examining his arms and legs for any gashes or wounds, but his skin was perfectly fine. No scars. All of his injuries had disappeared. “No, no, no, no, nooo.” Will tried one more thing. He leaped into the air but didn’t land. He found himself, amazingly, floating a foot above the ground. “Nooo! Where’s Ava? I’m supposed to be with her, I’m supposed to be free.” He started sobbing. He let himself drop to the ground and he buried his hands into his face.

10. REALITY

Will gasped for air. He panted heavily as he sat up straight and looked around his room. “Oh. It was just a dream.” he sighed. He lay back down, still panting. He took deep breaths, in and out, then jumped out of his bed and sleepily shuffled to the bathroom. It felt so real, Ava felt so real. Was it really just all a dream, Will thought.

He picked up his toothbrush, wet it under the tap, and squirted some toothpaste on it. He brushed his teeth like every day then went back to his room to get dressed. Will threw on a green t-shirt with some black sweatpants. Will’s parents had already left to work. He went downstairs, quickly ate a bowl of cheerios, then grabbed his bag and headed out the door. Will walked his electric blue bike from the side of his house to the dirt road and climbed on. He pedaled, on his way to school, but before he turned the corner of the first street, he stopped by a tree. A meticulously large oak tree with lots of green leaves dangling from the dark brown branches. Will kicked open his kickstand for a second, got off of his bike, and walked over towards the big tree. Will gasped. He brushed the tree trunk with his fingers, where something was carved into its thick bark. Carved in an elegant cursive font, was the name, Ava.

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