Page 19 of Ghost Hunters 2

“Exactly.” Tilly nodded.

Dino shook his head and asked Tilly, “What beginning will there be for any of you? Claire, you, and...” His sadness showed on his face. “...My grandpa are all dead now. That is what is called... THE END.”

“I could never hope to move on with Matthew until I tell Claire I forgive her,” Tilly said. “I won’t have this hanging over our heads the rest of eternity.”

Dino just kept shaking his head as he muttered, “Move on?”

“Claire will be at peace then too,” Jillian said. “I know she regrets the events of the past that led to this. She said earlier that she wished she could go back and do things differently.”

“Come on, we need to get back to the house,” Bane said. “We stay together now.

They all went up the path and went back to the kitchen.

After they arrived, Tilly kept glancing around the kitchen nervously.

“What’s wrong?” Jillian asked.

Tilly shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel something but I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong.”

Dino again rolled his eyes. “Well, for one...You are dead. Then another reason might be that the inn we are in is set to burn down in a day and no one can come get us. You think that might be it?”

Bane smirked at him. “Damn, kid. I really like you. I wish you would...”

Dino looked over at him. “What?”

“If we could like to spend some time...” Bane halted as he stared behind Dino.

Suddenly, there was an unearthly scream of fury. Claire stood at the doorway behind Dino. She stared at the sight of Matthew and her sister Matilda. “No, you can’t be together!”

“But we are.” Matthew encircled Tilly with his arms. “Finally.”

“Matthew came back for me even after all these years.” Tilly nodded as she smiled.

“How did you find her?” Claire whispered. “I’ve been looking for her final resting place for a long time and I could never find it.”

“Why were you looking for me?” Tilly asked.

Claire wiped tears from her face. Wringing her hands she told them, “I realized my mistake when I saw the devastation on your face when you came in and found me with Matthew. I wanted to run to you and explain what I did but after I got dressed, I couldn’t find you.”

Tilly nodded. “When I left my room I ran into George. He could tell I was crying. Then when he asked me what happened, I’m afraid I blurted out the truth. He looked crushed, and then he looked angry. He grabbed my arm and hauled me outside. He demanded that I tell him exactly what I saw in detail and when I did he got very upset. He talked about being betrayed. I think he loved you Claire. And he felt like you sleeping with Matthew was a betrayal he couldn’t forgive. He grabbed me again and forced me into the basement. I didn’t know it, but he intended to lock me up in that room but before he closed the door he told me he was going to fix you... fix things so he would have all the time he needed to make you see that you loved him, not Matthew.” Tilly shivered. “He looked crazy. When he closed the door I heard him lock it, then I didn’t hear anything. I banged on the door and I screamed until my voice gave out but no one came.” She lowered her head. “No one ever came for so long. I don’t even know how long.”

“For more than forty years,” Matthew told her quietly.

Looking stunned, she moved into his arms. He held her while she cried.

“I never knew what happened to you,” Claire admitted. “As soon as I could, I looked for you. Matthew had left already and the only person I could find was George. He told me he hadn’t seen you. I had no reason not to believe him. Then about an hour later he rushed upstairs to find me. He told me the Inn was on fire and we would have to hurry if we wanted to get out.”

“Did he tell you what started the fire?” Dino asked.

“He said he believed that my dog Sammy knocked a lamp over. We always had oil lamps in the parlor for the antique effect and he said Sammy knocked one over while chasing a mouse. When we came down the stairs the fire was everywhere. We couldn’t get out. We rushed back upstairs and tried to get out the backstairs but they were blocked too.” Claire paused as she remembered the last few minutes of her mortal life. “I was so afraid as the smoke got closer. George stayed with me the whole time. When the smoke came in thick he asked me if I was afraid to die. I told him yes of course I was! He asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him to save me and then he began to chant something in another language. I didn’t understand it but he kept chanting. Then everything went black. I couldn’t see anything or feel anything. I knew for at least a little while that I was alone. Then I felt the cold. It was such a deep cold and I felt like ice covered me. It hurt to breathe. Then someone grabbed my arms and pulled me toward him. I was so grateful that he got me away from that. So I allowed him to take care of me.” Claire shook her head. “It wasn’t until much later that I began to ask questions.”

“Did he tell you what happened?” Tilly asked.

Claire looked at her sister and replied, “He told me that we both died in that fire. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t feel any different yet I knew I was. George told me everything would be okay but we couldn’t leave the Inn. That we would live forever as long as no one found your resting place. If you were found, we would both go to hell as punishment. He said he invoked some old magic he’d learned from his grandmother. I was so afraid I didn’t ask him what he did or how he did it.”

“Yes, because telling you he used old voodoo and created a curse to trap you in death wouldn’t make you love him, now would it?” Dino asked.

Bane nodded at this sharp conclusion. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”