Charlotte
The cab driver eyed the house with concern as he pulled to a stop in front of it, then glanced back over his shoulder at me. “You sure this is the place?” he asked.
“This is it. Thank you!” I tossed him a wad of cash and climbed out. I’d decided it would be faster, not to mention safer, to take a taxi to the Hell House, instead of trying to navigate our car through New York City. I groaned when Agnus appeared on the porch, staring down her nose at me, but I quickly shook off the impending dread; today would be a good day. Today I was going to help Click find eternal peace, and then George and I could move on and start a new chapter in our lives. Lifting my chin, mirroring Agnus, I climbed the porch steps, marched right by her, and entered the house.
She grunted, clearly annoyed I hadn’t acknowledged her presence. “You promised you’d help me,” she whined to my back.
“Leave me alone, Agnus. I mean it,” I warned. She grunted in protest and shadowed me to Click’s room as she always did. Click didn’t acknowledge my presence, just kept pacing the floor, tapping her fingers against her invisible piano keys as she kept time with the click of her tongue.
“Hi, beautiful girl,” I greeted her, even though I knew she wouldn’t respond. “Piano,” I said, holding my hands out and moving my fingers as if I was playing one. This time she looked at me for a moment, but didn’t stop pacing. It was a start.
“Für Elise,” I said, enunciating carefully.
She stopped and looked me right in my eyes. I’d been so desperate to get through to her that when I finally did, I was so shocked I froze. There was a depth is her dark gaze I hadn’t seen before. She was present. For the first time since I’d found her, her stare wasn’t blank.
“Furrr Elissse,” she repeated, more clearly this time.
I grinned, elated. She was interacting with me. We were having a conversation. My heart perked up, excited at the possibilities.
“There you are, sweet girl.” I spoke quietly, then pointed to myself, “I’m Charlotte.”
She blinked a few times, then repeated more insistently, “Furrr Elissse.”
I nodded and smiled as I fumbled for my cell phone, nearly dropping it in my haste not to lose her again. I quickly opened YouTube and searched for a recording, cursing myself for not having it ready before I got there. Thankfully, there was no shortage of options, and I spoke quietly while I scrolled to find a version with clear view of the piano, hoping to keep the connection. “Für Elise,” I said again. “You have excellent taste. Beethoven was an amazing composer.” I knelt and sat back on my heels, getting on her level so she could see the screen.
She looked away and started pacing again.
Damn, I’m losing her.
Finally finding one with just someone’s hands on the piano keys, I quickly hit play and the exquisite melody rang out from my phone’s speakers. Click rushed to me and tried, unsuccessfully, several times to grab the phone, clearly not understanding that her present state didn’t allow for it.
I hit pause, and she started to shriek in protest. “Just listen, sweet girl. No touch.” I hit play again, and when the music returned she stopped crying. As the song went on, her mouth lifted into a smile, and her eyes gleamed with pure joy. A lump caught in my throat as I wished I could experience it as she did, just for a moment. It was just a pretty song to me, but to Click it was something else entirely. Her gaze drifted as she smiled, and she even giggled, as if she was looking at something only she could see. I’d done it. I’d reached her. Her entire aura had changed, her soul lifted. This was it, I just knew it. Click had to be seeing the other side. Now she could cross over.
I waited, thinking she’d vanish any second, but she didn’t. The song ended, and she screamed, “Für Elise,” over and over again, the words the clearest they’d ever been. I played it for her again, and again, watching her light up with joy each time, but she still didn’t cross over.
“Do you know what heaven is?” I asked her, pausing the music and setting my phone down.
She screamed for the music, grabbing for my phone again, and I knew in my heart this wasn’t going to work. How could she cross over if she didn’t know where to go; if she didn’t know there was a place to go? How could I explain it to her? The flicker of hope I’d had when I entered the house slowly fizzled out as I played the song ten more times.
Play song.
Click is happy.
Song ends.
Click screams.
Repeat.
I’d been elated when I entered the Hell House. I was certain I’d had the answer, but now I knew there was no answer. This didn’t make any sense. Why couldn’t I help her? I stood, tears ravaging my eyes as the anger pumped through me, and all of my doubts about God and Heaven came crashing in on me.
What the hell was this? Why would God let this happen? Would He really just let this child that had been tortured and murdered spend eternity in a dark room? Where was He? Where were his angels of mercy? I stood up and bolted from the bedroom, the despair too much to bear. Click raged. She screamed and cried as a new horror flooded me.
What have I done?
At least before she’d been calm in her dark world; now, I’d given her a taste of something she loved so much, only to take it away from her.
God...why? Tears streamed down my face as a sharp pain lanced through my head, nearly bringing me to my knees. I grabbed at my head, willing the pain to stop. “Why would you let this happen?” I screamed to God—to no one. “Why won’t you do something! Help me help her!” I shouted as I started down the hallway to the stairs. “Please help,” I sobbed.
“Stop your bellyaching,” Agnus snapped from behind me.
I whipped around and glared at her, the pulsing in my head intensifying with the sudden movement.
Agnus’s soul seemed to be flashing, flickering, almost like a strobe light. I wasn’t sure if it was something she was doing or if it was the pulsing in my head. “You said you’d help me. I did what you said, now keep your word,” she demanded.
My blood pressure rose. “I said I would try, but only after I helped those girls.”
“I have helped you!”
“How?” I shouted. “You have done nothing but bitch and moan about what you want. I helped those girls, not you. The only thing you did was lure those poor girls away from their families, all so you could willingly present them to your husband to be his playthings to abuse and murder!” My fists were clenched at my sides, my voice hoarse from yelling as the months of failure and helplessness exploded out of me. Then I said something I’ve never said to anyone before, alive or dead, “I hope when you do finally cross over that you rot in hell. Though, that may actually be better than you deserve.”
My words hit a nerve with her, and she reeled back as if I’d slapped her. I didn’t wait to hear her rebuttal, zipping past her and bolting for the stairs. Click was still screaming, and my heart was shredding as guilt consumed me.
“Stop!” Agnus shouted, morphing in front of me. My steps faltered as the pain in my head increased and felt like an icepick, jabbing at my brain. I keeled over and held my head, one arm on the banister to keep myself from falling. Unsympathetic to my pain, Agnus took advantage of my halted escape, putting her mouth near my ear and whispering hatefully, “If I had found you when you were a little girl, you would have come with me, too. He would have been so pleased with me bringing home such a pretty little thing.”
I raised my head to scream at her, but the pain in my head splintered, branching out, blurring my vision. The burn seemed unending, radiating through me until it suddenly stopped. The pain disappeared just before my legs collapsed, my arms helpless to catch me as I began to fall.
Then…there was nothing.