Forever Thirteen (my 2022 Halloween story) 🎃

Forever Thirteen

Wendy Lacing was a bubbly, compassionate, and sometimes overly excited thirteen-year-old girl that had an infectious zest for life. She had big brown eyes, a cover-girl smile, and long, jet-black hair that she wore down or up in a messy bun. She lived in Salem, Massachusetts with her parents. She loved every shade of purple and collecting anything Mickey Mouse. She also loved hanging out with her friends, dancing in competitions, and blaring music in her bedroom. She was into all kinds of music but she was especially obsessed with the boy band Harmonicz 5. The group consisted of Jack Timbers, Chris Valentine, Scott Edwards, Billy "B.D." Dickinson, and Peter Thackery.

Dozens of Harmonicz 5 posters were collaged together, taking over the walls and ceiling of her room. Also, all of her bedding and curtains had their faces on them. She bought every song that they ever made (even the songs they made before they were famous) and learned every word. She also knew everything about the guys.  

Jack, her favorite, was the sweet, kind. and extremely charming heartthrob. He had platinum blonde hair, baby blue eyes, an athletic-built body, and a tantalizing smile that would make any teenager, including Wendy, swoon. His singing voice was smooth as butter and he was the youngest of the group, being only sixteen. He also legitimately cared about his fans and valued what they had to say.  In Wendy's diary that her friends later found, she wrote that he was definitely husband material.

Chris Valentine, Wendy's second favorite, was the hyper, goofy, and loud jokester of the group. He was the oldest, being twenty-four. He had originally formed the group in St. Louis and arranged the vocal harmonies. He had light brown eyes, a mischievous and alluring grin, and a warped sense of humor. His hair was naturally brown but he dyed it in highlighter marker colors and at the time, it was neon green. He was always playing silly pranks on the guys of the group and cracking random jokes during interviews. He also loved surprising fans and intentionally showing up at places where Harmonicz 5 fans hung out. He appreciated their fans and just wanted to show the fans the same love that they had shown the group. He even attended a surprise birthday party for a fan. Wendy hoped that he would surprise her someday. 

Nineteen-year-old Scott was the shy, humble, and soft-spoken one. His eyes were gray, his hair was blonde, and he had such an adorable chuckle. Even though he was bashful, something awakened within him when he was in front of a camera or a cheering crowd. He became bolder and suddenly got great charisma. He thrived on giving the fans an excellent show and making them happy. Wendy loved watching him perform and come out of his shell.

Eighteen-year-old B.D. was the serious, creative, and poetic one. He had hazel eyes, black hair that had a buzzcut fade hairstyle, diamond studs in his ears, and a spellbinding singing voice. He could sing anything: from pop to classical opera. He wrote the songs for the group and sketched anything that he saw. He would then give the pictures that drew to fans who attended their meet-and-greets. Wendy always wanted one of those pictures from him. He was also the only black guy in the group but he never wanted to make it a big deal like how the media made it. To him and the other guys, they were brothers just with different complexions. 

Last but not least, there was twenty-one-year-old Peter. He was the hard-partying, rebellious, and kick-ass bad boy. He had fiery red hair, bright emerald eyes, a flirty and enticing grin, and tattoos down his muscular arms and down his washboard abs. He was often seen on stage with his shirt off or unbuttoned. TMZ and other gossip media loved him for his hardcore partying and serial dating. He was always causing drunken chaos in the clubs and he had a revolving door of famous girlfriends but he never got arrested and never needed to go to rehab. He had a soft side too; he never wanted to let down the other guys or the fans. He never partied or drank a drop of alcohol before a recording session or a live show. He gave his absolute best to the fans. Fans couldn't resist his rebel-without-a-cause vibe though. All of those girls with chronic bad boy syndrome were under his spell. Wendy never admitted it out loud but she wrote in her diary that she thought that he was so hot. 

They all could sing and dance incredibly. Wendy thought that they were truly talented and in her young mind, she would be a Harmonicz 5 fan for life but what she didn't know was that her life was a ticking time bomb. She only had the symptoms for a couple of weeks. She was constantly on the tired side but she just thought that it was from staying up late and watching Harmonicz 5 videos on her phone, instead of sleeping. Her legs would swell at times but she thought that it was just from overworking them in dance class. She would become short of breath and her chest would hurt sometimes but she would blame that on allergies. She didn't know why her heart would race, even when she was relaxing, but she never said anything to her parents. 

Some people outside of the Harmonicz 5 fandom have tried to blame her over the years for what happened, saying that she should've told her parents what was going on with her. It's true, she should've been honest about her health but she expected going to a concert with her older cousins would be safe. She expected if she was in distress at a crowded concert, someone would genuinely try to help her. She didn't ask for her fate to be in the hands of a greedy and heartless band manager and his two henchmen. 

It was October and brisk autumn winds rattled the colorful leaves. It was the time of pumpkin spice, apple cider, and stories of lurking ghosts. Recording artists rarely released whole albums about the Halloween season because as far as holidays go, Christmas albums were more marketable but that would soon change. Harmonicz 5 did something that other boy bands have never done before. They released two albums at once on the same day: a Halloween album called The Freaks Sure Do Come Out At Night and a Christmas album called Beautiful Under My Tree. The Halloween album went to number one and the Christmas album went to number two on the charts.

Wendy of course bought both and played the songs at full volume daily, driving her parents crazy. On the Halloween album, there were a couple of covers of classic Halloween songs like "Monster Mash" but most of the album had original songs, including an up-tempo love song called: "If My Heart Stops." This was Wendy's new favorite song and she played it over and over.

"You're my precious angel from above. 

I'm your reckless spirit,  

fighting for our love. 

Baby, I promise, 

nothing or no one will ever come between us. 

I'll be loving you,

even if my heart stops. 

I don't care if people say I'm too young to talk about forever; 

You're the Bella to my Edward.

I have no doubt that we belong together. 

Oh baby, I promise, 

nothing or no one will ever come between us. 

I'll be loving you,

even if my heart stops." 

To celebrate the album releases, the guys of Harmonicz 5 were going to go on a Halloween tour to select cities, and Salem, Massachusetts was going to be the first stop on October eighth. When Jack announced this on his Instagram, Wendy squealed so loud that she nearly broke all of the windows in the house. She tossed her phone on her bed and excitedly ran downstairs. She was ready to beg her parents for them to let her go but they already knew somehow. Her dad was already on the phone, buying the tickets. Her mom was just smiling at her. Her parents thought their music was so annoying but this group made her glow with such joy. How could they deny her a chance of seeing them live? They thought: "Besides, she's only young once."

"Oh thank you, Mommy and Daddy!" She hopped up and down ecstatically, on the verge of happy tears. 

On the eighth, her dad drove her and two older cousins to the concert at  Blackhart Stadium. Wendy wasn't tired that evening. She felt euphoric. She was wearing her favorite purple Harmonicz 5 t-shirt, her favorite silver Mickey Mouse necklace, a pair of blue jeans that had a Harmonicz 5 patch stitched into the pocket on the right side, and a purple ribbon in her braided hair. She was holding a sign that she made with markers and Jack Timbers stickers. It said: I LOVE JACK FOREVER! 

Since neither of her parents wanted to go to a concert with screaming girls, they asked her two cousins, Ginger and Lexi, to go with her. Being twins, they were both seventeen. They both had black hair and eyes. They also wore dark-colored tees, checkered mini skirts, fishnet stockings, and combat boots. They disliked pop, especially boy bands. Punk rock was more their jam but they wanted to make their cousin happy that night. They also heard that Peter Thackery was sexy as hell. They even bought Harmonicz 5 shirts for the night. 

Wendy's dad had let her play Harmonicz 5 songs the whole ride there. It was like torture for him but seeing her smiling face was worth it. She was singing loudly and bouncing in her seat, almost shaking. 

"Calm down," said Lexi with a chuckle. 

"I can't," exclaimed Wendy happily, "I'm so excited that I could die!" 

When the girls got out of the car and made their way inside, Ginger randomly said: "Blackhart is a cool name for a stadium." 

"It's owned by and named after Lewis Blackhart," Wendy told her, "Harmonicz 5's manager." 

Every fan knew the story: Lewis Blackhart was the pudgy billionaire with slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair who saw the guys in a talent show in St. Louis and was blown away by their voices. Because of his money and power, the guys got a record deal within weeks. Lewis put the guys on the fast track to fame, which they were grateful for. 

What fans didn't know was that the man was sleazy, shady, ruthless, and downright money-hungry, being involved in questionable side ventures like hostile takeovers of small-town businesses, buying buildings and not taking care of them properly, and bleeding other singers dry if they weren't successful. Chris then got the gut feeling that they shouldn't fully trust him so the guys hired a high-profile entertainment attorney just in case Lewis tried to pull something, which scared him into continuing on managing them fairly. Lewis would pretend to be their father figure but the guys knew better. 

Wendy and her cousins walked to their seats in the back row. As they were climbing the steps, she saw the jubilant faces of teenage girls and boys, parents who didn't want to be there but were smiling at their children's happiness, homemade signs like hers, and posters from teen magazines. People were already screaming even though no one was on stage yet. The atmosphere was electric. Her heart was pounding and she was slightly out of breath but she ignored it. When they were finally at their seats, she let out a cheer. 

Backstage, the guys were getting ready and warming up their vocals. Lewis was whispering orders to Jeffrey and Jasper, his assistants and younger brothers. They were husky men with dark brown hair and black eyes that always wore grimy baseball caps backward and ill-fitting shirts and jeans. Even though they were in their thirties, they still acted like blockheaded frat-boy rejects. They annoyed him but they were easy to manipulate.

"Don't let security make a scene about a girl fainting," he told them, "if she has a pulse, she's fine. Tell them if they don't leave the girl there, they'll be fired. I don't want another lawsuit or for the show to be stopped for any reason!" 

"Gotcha Bro," said Jeffrey. 

"We'll make sure that they listen," added Jasper. They then obediently walked away to intimidate the security guards and go to the bathroom. 

The opening act just left the stage by then and the lights came back on. Then, after what seemed like forever, the lights went down again and the stage was illuminated with dozens of glowing jack-o'-lanterns. The crowd knew who was coming and they erupted into earsplitting, enthusiastic screams and acclimation. Wendy was now screaming uncontrollably too and her cousins were wincing. 

The crowd then heard Peter's loud, wicked-sounding laughter, which was the intro to Harmonicz 5's song: "Come Join Our Creepshow." In harnesses, the guys slowly descended from the ceiling and onto the stage. They had their headset microphones on. They were wearing orange Gothic trench coats over black Victorian shirts with frills on the sleeves, black dress pants, black Gothic boots, black top hats, and leather gloves. They also had cobwebs on the top of their hats and shoulders. 

"Salem," yelled Peter in a sing-song voice, hyping up the crowd, "scream if you're ready to get creepy with us tonight!" 

Along with the shrill screams of the crowd, Wendy screeched: "Yeah!" 

Jack shouted: "Let's do this!" They then unbuckled their harnesses and started to perform "Come Join Our Creepshow." 

She got caught up in this captivating moment. In her teenage imagination, time seemed to stop, watching them effortlessly sing and dance. She was in the same space as the boys that she had been idolizing for a year.  Holding up her sign for Jack above her head, she screamed and sang at the top of her lungs with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. On the jumbotron, she saw Jack smile as he was dancing. She thought that he was about to look her way, which was impossible for her to know. She became hysterical though, her heart beating at turbo speed. Then, time sped up. It felt like a dream. Suddenly, this pure joy turned into panic and agony, for there was an excruciating pain in her chest. She couldn't yell out for help. She couldn't even take a breath. She thought that she was passing out but in reality, her heart had stopped and she was dead before she even hit the floor. 

One second, Ginger and Lexi were watching Wendy freak out and holding back their laughter. The next, she was collapsing on top of her sign. 

"Wendy!" 

They frantically ran to her and lifted her onto the seats. Lexi laid Wendy's head in her lap. They just thought that she was unconscious but why were her eyes open so wide? 

Ginger desperately tried to find a pulse on her but couldn't feel one. In the shine of her cellphone flashlight, she also saw that Wendy's chest wasn't moving. 

"I can't find a pulse," Ginger said tearfully, "and I don't think she's breathing!" 

"What?! Do CPR!"

Jeffrey and Jasper saw the girl collapse and the two other girls coming to her aide. They didn't want them to draw any attention so they walked over to the girls. 

"We're security," lied Jeffrey, yelling over the music and screaming, "do you young ladies need some assistance? Did your friend faint?" 

"This is our cousin Wendy," said Lexi shakily. 

"She's...," cried Ginger, trying to do CPR, "I can't feel a pulse and she isn't breathing. I think that we should call 911, I have my cellphone!" 

"Let's just see before we do that." Jeffrey calmly checked for a pulse on Wendy. 

He of course didn't find one and fearfully glanced over at Jasper. 

He lied again, saying: "She has a pulse and she's breathing."

"But I just checked," exclaimed Ginger, "and look at her, she isn't moving!" 

"Maybe the CPR helped," he told her.  

When the girls weren't paying attention, he mouthed to Jasper: "She's dead. Go...get...Lewis...now!" 

Jasper ran out of the door and headed towards backstage. 

Lexi screamed: "Where is he going?" 

"He's getting help." 

"Please hurry!" 

"We will, we will." 

Wendy had no idea that she just died. She didn't notice that she was closer to the jumbotron than before. She thought that she only had a brief and strange moment of chest pain and assumed that she almost passed out but she somehow managed to steady herself without her cousins even seeing. She continued to scream, sing, and dance. It wasn't until she turned around to look at her cousins that she realized that she was levitating a few feet above her body. 

"Did I pass out after all," she thought maniacally, "and I'm having some weird out-of-body experience? How can I get back into my body? Wait, something is wrong!" 

She floated down closer to her body. Ginger was sobbing hysterically while Lexi was hugging Wendy's body, begging her to just wake up. Jeffrey, who Wendy recognized right away as one of Lewis Blackhart's brothers, was standing in front of them; blocking the other concert attendees from seeing her or her cousins. He was also trying to comfort her cousins but they were inconsolable. Her body was too still, her open eyes were too empty, and her lips had a frightening bluish hue. Then, the truth hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. 

"I'm dead!" 

Not only was she in shock and very terrified, she was also devastated. She never got to say goodbye to her family or friends. She wouldn't get to refill all of the dreams that she had for her future. The only small comfort that she had was that she died while watching her favorite boy band. She watched them adoringly and gratefully for a second as they perform her favorite song but this whole situation was still too surreal and gut-wrenching. Weeping, she let out a dispirited yell but the thunderous concert muted her wail. 

"So since I'm going to be thirteen forever," she sobbed, "where is this bright white light that people talk about when they talk about death?  Am I going to Heaven or Hell, or am I just in purgatory?"  

She tried talking to Ginger and Lexi, saying: "I love you both. This isn't your fault! Tell my mom and dad that I..." 

She then remembered: most people couldn't see or hear ghosts. She had read enough ghost stories to know. 

Over the booming music, she could hear Jeffrey telling her cousins that everything was okay and that she was just unconscious. Even though she knew that he couldn't hear her, she shouted: "That's not true! Why are you lying to them?!"

Meanwhile, Jasper darted backstage and found Lewis. 

"We have a big problem, Bro," he nervously told him. 

"Did a security guard help a fainting girl?" 

"I think that this is worse than fainting, Bro. A girl is dead!" 

"What, are you positive?" 

"Jeffrey checked for a pulse," he replied quickly, "and couldn't feel one." 

Lewis wasn't panicking or worrying about an innocent, young girl's life. He was exasperated that he had to clean another mess. He didn't want the concert to be stopped. People would've demanded for refunds.    

He asked with a sigh: "Did someone come with this girl to the concert?" 

"Her two cousins." 

"Teenagers?" 

"Yeah." 

"Good, take me to them." Then, he grabbed a black laptop bag and a red coat while he made two calls on his cellphone: a private ambulance service and a gravedigger that he knew at the Old Burial Hill Cemetery. He also ordered the stadium employees to break all of the security cameras.

The moment that Lewis saw the two Goth girls, he knew that they weren't Harmonicz 5 fans and wouldn't know who he was. The now-dead girl was the fan. He thought that his vile plan was going to work. When he and Jasper walked up to her cousins, Wendy thought that they finally called the authorities. Because Lewis always seemed like a nice manager to the guys, she expected him to be compassionate and to tell her cousins the truth. He came to her body and checked for a pulse himself. 

"She's out cold," he said kindly, shouting over the sound of the concert, "but she'll be fine. We've called 911!" 

Wendy exclaimed angrily, standing behind him: "Why are you lying too?! It's obvious that I'm dead!!" 

He asked: "Will you girls follow us?" 

Ginger and Lexi hesitated for a second but nodded their heads yes. When Jeffrey put on gloves and was about to pick up Wendy's body, Lexi fearfully exclaimed: "Wait, where are you taking us?" 

"Don't worry, we're here to keep you safe," lied Lewis, "We are head of security. I'm Albert and these two men are James and Ed. We're taking you to a room where the paramedics can get to your cousin faster." 

Getting in his face, Wendy screamed: "WHY ARE YOU LYING ABOUT WHO YOU ARE?!" 

"Okay," said Lexi, her voice now hoarse, "just help her!" 

Jeffrey then carefully scooped Wendy's body in his huge arms, holding her in a craddling position. As they walked out of the loud concert, Lewis covered up her body with a red coat. 

Seeing this, Ginger gasped: "What are you doing?!" 

"So people won't take pictures and embarrass her." 

Loudly banging on the walls of the hallways, Wendy yelled: "Stop lying, stop lying, stop lying!!!" They heard the bangs but they thought that it was just the pyrotechnics from the concert. They continued to walk to a tiny, gray room in the back of the stadium and Wendy followed close behind. She had a nagging feeling that something was up. The lying really bothered her. Jeffrey laid her body on a cot and Ginger pulled off the coat. 

Once they were all in the room, Lewis said: "Will you young ladies excuse me? I need to go to the restroom but these gentlemen will stay with you while you wait for the paramedics. I'll be right back." 

"Thank you," said Lexi. 

Wendy was too focused on her cousins to notice the malicious grin on his face as he shut the door. 

After he closed the door, he grabbed two bottles of water from the concession stand and went to the men's room. When he saw that no one else was in there with him, he then opened the two drinks of water and pulled out a bubble package of Rohypnol from his laptop bag. He quickly crushed some tablets on the sink and sprinkled the drug into the waters, re-capping the bottles. 

When he came back into the room, Wendy saw his evil smile this time. 

"I got you girls some water," he grinned, "We don't want you two to get dehydrated and pass out too."     

From the look on his face and the way that he was lying left and right, Wendy thought that there was something in the water. When he tried to give the bottled waters to Ginger and Lexi, she smacked both of the waters out of his hands. 

"I have such butter fingers," he chuckled, picking them up, "sorry." 

Wendy tried to knock the waters out of his hands again but her cousins grabbed them so fast. They were extremely thirsty because they've been crying so much. Wendy then tried to whack the waters out of their hands but before she could, they hastily uncapped the bottles and gulped down the water. It had an odd after-taste but they ignored it. 

"Please don't drink that!" 

She grabbed her cellphone that was in her back pocket and tried to dial 911 but the call of course wasn't going through because she was a ghost. 

"Crap!"  

She watched her cousins closely for five minutes but nothing happened. She thought that maybe she was being paranoid until twenty minutes later. Lexi was going to call their parents on her cellphone but she became dizzy.

"I feel weird," she said 

"Me too," replied Ginger. 

They felt like the room was spinning slowly like a sluggish but tortuous merry-go-round. Their vision became blurry and it seemed like they were looking underwater. The men were talking to them but their voices sounded like they were far away and on slow-mo.

Ginger and Lexi tried to stand up but staggered. 

"Oh my God," cried Wendy, "Lewis did drug you!" 

Lexi held onto Ginger as they both collapsed onto the floor. Their eyes were open but Wendy could see that they were still breathing and their souls were still in their bodies. She wondered if they could see her in their drugged state because their gazes lingered her way. 

"This isn't your fault," she told them tearfully, "I don't why I died but I'll figure it out and I don't blame you. I'm so sorry that I couldn't keep you two safe. I love you both." 

"That was fast," laughed Jeffrey. 

"Rohypnol always does the trick," Lewis replied happily, putting the bubble package in his laptop bag. 

Fury exploding out of her, Wendy charged at him and punched his throat with all of her might. He began to violently cough, wheeze, and gag for a few minutes.

"Go ahead and choke," she smiled. 

Jasper asked in alarm: "Are you alright, Bro?!" 

"I'm fine," he gasped, "Just carry the two girls out of the back door. The ambulances are probably here. Then, we'll take care of the dead girl. Remember to tell the paramedics that you found these girls high in the bathroom." 

"YOU BASTARD," screamed Wendy. 

Jeffrey and Jasper then carried Ginger and Lexi out to the ambulances. Wendy followed them to make sure that her cousins were going to get some help. The paramedics were legitimately concerned about her cousins when they saw them so she decided not to follow the ambulances. They were safe and she needed to know what the men were going to do with her body anyway.

Moments after the ambulances left, Lewis pulled up in his Mercedes-Benz jeep. Jeffrey thoughtlessly tossed Wendy's dead body in the back of the jeep like it was trash. 

"Hey," she exclaimed, standing behind him "jerk! Go to Hell!" 

They took a fifteen-minute drive to Old Burial Hill Cemetery. On the drive there, she kept switching from anger to sadness, crying helplessly. She wished that she could hug her family and never let go. She wished that she was back in her room, blasting Harmonicz 5 music, or back at the concert, having the time of her life. She just longed for all of this to be a nightmare. 

Lewis drove through the opened gate of the cemetery and the labyrinth of graves. He parked at a dead, deformed tree. The tree had a massive oval hole in its trunk and the trunk looked like it had a face with a petrified scream. Next to the tree, there was a freshly dug hole in the ground, and in that hole, there was an empty, wooden coffin. 

"I so hate this," she said. 

"Everything is set," said the gravedigger to Lewis, "and the groundskeeper won't say anything. He already got your payment." 

"Good." 

"Traitor," she yelled. 

The gravedigger then just walked away silently, for he knew what they doing was wrong.

Jasper dropped her body next to the hole for a minute. You could call what occurred next a temporary miracle or October spirits desperately trying to bring Wendy back to her normal life but something extraordinary happened. When Jeffrey walked by to get something out of the jeep, he accidentally stomped on her chest. This jolt made her heart start again and she returned to her body with a loud gasp but she remained unconscious.

Both Jeffrey and Jasper screamed like scared, little children. 

Jeffrey timidly asked: "So should we take her to the hospital?" 

Lewis checked her pulse and simply said: "No." 

Jasper exclaimed: "We're really burying her alive?" 

"Yes, her pulse is very weak. She wouldn't even make it to the hospital if we did. I bet that she only lives a few minutes." 

This wasn't true of course. Her pulse was strong enough. She would've survived if they only took her to a hospital but Lewis was so bone-chillingly uncaring that he just wanted to get rid of her, dead or alive. They pushed Wendy into the coffin on her back, while he took the SIM card out of his phone and smashed it with a rock. He then threw his phone into the coffin with her. 

"Don't you need that, Bro?" 

"No, I have another one. Same number." 

Just before they closed the lid, a rabid, gaunt-looking rat with its mouth foaming hopped into the coffin. Jeffrey and Jasper screamed again, jumped back, and quickly shut it.

"Will you two stop screaming?!" 

"A rat jumped in there," said Jeffrey, "it looks sick!" 

"Well, that girl will be its last meal," snickered Lewis, "Now, fill the hole! I need to get back to the concert." 

Wendy woke up an hour later to a burning, agonizing pain in her shins, which made her cry out and twitch repeatedly. She knew that she was in a coffin and her eyes darted all over, searching for an escape. She tried to reach for her cellphone to get help but couldn't grab it. When she looked down at the extreme shin pain, she screamed in utter horror. The crazed rat that was foaming at the mouth was on her legs, scratching and gnawing at her shins, biting into the jean cloth and her flesh. She tried to kick it away but this only irritated the rat and it bit harder. Bleeding profusely, her shins' flesh was being eaten and bones were half visible. She screamed for help over and over and frantically clawed at the coffin lid, trying to open it, until there was blood underneath her fingernails. 

The diseased rat then ran up to her face and bit deeply into her right cheek, tearing her flesh away with its teeth like it was biting into melted cheese. She tried to hit the rat away from her face but it was attacking her feverishly and kept on biting. All that she could do was shriek in pain and terror. All that she could now see was blood while the right of her face was being completely mutilated. She was hyperventilating, inhaling dirt and her own blood and mucus until her heart finally stopped for good.   

She slowly floated out of the coffin and now stood next to her unmarked grave. Looking down with fright, she saw that her jeans below the knees were in shreds and her lower legs were skeletal. Her fingernails were broken and bloody. She then put her hand to face and she felt the right side of her face was also skeletal from her temple to her chin. 

She sobbed, sitting on the ground: "I'm hideous!" She was crying blood tears, which freaked her out. All of a sudden, her right eye fell out of her head and she caught it in her hand. Holding it, it felt like a small ball that was covered in Jell-O. This grossed her out as well but without thinking, she leaned backward and tossed it back into her head. 

"Ew, did I just do that?"

Then, the ghost of the rat raised from the grave too, and landed next to her. 

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" She was about to beat the rat when she saw that it was shaking and cowering submissively by her foot. She then remembered how the rat was foaming at the mouth while it was attacking her. She suddenly felt sorry for the creature and told herself that her looks didn't matter anymore since she was a ghost now.

"You poor thing," she said softly, "you had rabies, didn't you? You didn't mean to hurt me. Rabies made you crazy. You're not an evil monster like Lewis Blackhart." 

She was now petting the rat affectionately and it snuggled against her. "I forgive you," she continued, feeling better, "cause we both drew the short end of the stick. You should be my sidekick." 

To her shock, the rat nodded in agreement. 

"Wait, can you understand  me?" 

The rat nodded again. 

"Death is so bizarre," she chuckled, "Well, do you want a name?" 

The rat squeaked excitedly. 

"How about Chewer? It'll be our own twisted private joke." She giggled and Chewer squeaked in a laughing way. 

Just then, Harmonicz 5's tour bus was stopped at a red light across the street. Wendy knew that it was their bus because of the large, blue H5 banner painted on the side. 

"Come on," she told Chewer, "I'll show you one of the greatest boy bands ever!" 

Wendy and Chewer walked through the closed cemetery gate, glided across the street, and walked into the closed tour bus door. She quietly watched the guys for a second. Even though they couldn't see her, she became star-struck. 

"This is Jack, Chris, B.D., Scott, and Peter," she gushed to Chewer, "Harmonicz 5. They're so talented and cute! Aren't they just to die for?"

The rat squeaked in confusion.

"Oh, no pun intended."  

All five guys were laughing and talking animatedly, still feeling the excitement from their show. 

"The crowd was freaking amazing tonight," exclaimed Peter. 

"Yeah," replied Chris, "it blows my mind that fans know every word of our    Halloween album already! We released it on the first. It's like we're leaders of a cult and our songs are scripture or something. It's sort of creepy but cool!"  

Everyone rolled their eyes but chuckled at his silly cult comment.

"I'm just hyped that everyone loves If My Heart Stops," said Jack excitedly, "the first song that I ever co-wrote!" 

"I told you that they would, Man," said B.D. 

"But you're good at anything," Scott told Jack with a smile, "let's just face it."      

Wendy smiled warmly, listening to them talk. Just being near them almost made her forget the horrific things that happened that night. They were her security blanket, even in death. She knew right then that she was going to haunt them just to watch and be around them. Lewis left the guys in the dark about what happened in Salem. When her disappearance was being reported on the news, he quickly turned off the television. Their PR team posted on their social media because they were busy with the tour and Lewis also banned police from asking the guys about her disappearance. Wendy wanted her family to know what happened to her and she loathed Lewis but she just wanted to stay with the guys and didn't really want to face it.  

They went to New Hampshire, Maine, New York, St. Louis, and back to Salem for a Halloween surprise concert. During the tour, Wendy explored the cities and watched the guys perform nightly. She and Chewer would dance right above the stage or on stage with the guys. She thought that this could be her heaven. She couldn't avoid seeing Lewis though so she got her revenge through ghostly high jinks. 

When Jeffrey made a kale smoothie for Lewis, Wendy put the spiciest hot sauce that she could find into it. His mouth felt like an inferno and he screamed bloody murder until someone got him a glass of milk. Every time he made Jasper get him bottled water, she made sure that he grabbed the bottle that she poured Magnesium citrate in. He was pooping for most of the tour. Her revenge didn't stop at night either. When Lewis was asleep, Chewer bit up and down his arms, and with her bloody, sharp, cracked fingernails, Wendy scratched the word Killer into his chest. Because he used sleeping pills, he never woke during this. He woke up in complete agony and fear, in his own blood. He hid his wounds from everyone. He thought that someone was after him but didn't know who, which made him increasingly paranoid. 

On Halloween night, two unruly teenagers named Andy and Johnny. The two red-headed brats had sneaked into Old Burial Hill Cemetery. Kids from Salem loved to hang out there on Halloween because the graveyard scenes from the movie Hocus Pocus were filmed there but these two teens were up to no good. They brought shovels. Even though it was disrespectful and illegal to dig up a grave, someone dared them to steal a dead body and they stupidly accepted. They walked towards the deformed tree and saw Wendy's grave. There was no tombstone but they somehow knew that it was a grave. 

They began to dig gleefully and it took an hour. When they reached the bottom, they were tired and sweaty. Andy just wanted to get the body and get out. He swiftly opened the wooden coffin without a thought. Seeing the grotesque state of her body and human crawl marks on the lid, Andy puked and Johnny screeched and fainted. Andy then had to run and get help for his friend. 

The guys of Harmonicz 5 just left the stadium. Wendy and Chewer were watching them drink non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider, wishing each other a happy Halloween when she heard police sirens. She looked out of the window and saw that they were driving by Old Burial Hill Cemetery. Police surrounded their grave. Since she knew what hotel the guys were staying at, she said: "Come on Chewer, let's see what's going on at our grave." 

They flew out of the tour bus and across the street to the cemetery, landing next to the grave. She saw that the coffin was open but she couldn't bring herself to look at her own body, for she knew how gruesome it probably looked. There was yellow crime tape around the area. Police officers and investigators were taking pictures of her body and the coffin. 

"I've seen her missing posters everywhere," said an officer to another, "Who would do this to such an innocent girl?" 

"A sicko. I just hope that this won't destroy her parents completely." 

Hearing the officer mention her parents made her tear up. She hadn't visited them because it was painful to see them and not able to talk to them. She doubted her mom would keep an ouija board in the house. She would give anything for them to hold her again though.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw that her body was now in a blue bag on a stretcher and being put in a black ambulance. 

Wiping the blood tears away from her eyes, she said: "They're taking it to the coroner for an autopsy. We have to follow. I have to know why I died the first time!"

Chewer nodded. 

The autopsy room was freezing cold and extremely sanitary smelling with white fluorescent light. The room wasn't exactly welcoming but the medical examiner, Dr. Allen, was very kind and warm. She called herself a death advocate; she was the voice for the people who couldn't talk anymore. She talked to Wendy's body as if it was still alive, saying what she was doing during the autopsy.  It was eccentric but Wendy appreciated it so much. 

Wendy didn't understand all of the medical terms but she got the whole story. She had two cardiac arrests due to a weak heart. It was rare for a young and healthy teenager to have this but it's possible. The first cardiac arrest was triggered by the excitement of the concert. 

"I can live with that." 

Chewer looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

"Pun intended." 

There was no medical reason why she came back to life. A foot on a chest reviving a person after an hour of being dead was medically impossible but there was evidence that this is what happened. The second cardiac arrest was of course in the coffin. There was dirt in her lungs. She was buried alive so it was obviously murder.

When she heard what she wanted to hear, they walked out. They were about to leave when she saw her mom and dad walking towards the room. They were crying and praying quietly. Without thinking, she ran and embraced them tightly, sobbing. They didn't know why they couldn't move suddenly but they let it happen for a moment. To them, it felt like the warmest weighted blanket was wrapped around them. It was a comfort during a terrible situation. 

"Mom...Dad, I miss you so much! I know that you can't hear or see me but I'm here! You were the best parents that any girl could have. Please don't blame yourselves. I've had a happy life with you both. I love you both so much!"

Things fell into place after that night. The next day, Lewis was arrested for trying to murder a stadium employee and his arrest was on the news. As Ginger and Lexi were watching the newscast, memories of that night abruptly flashed in their minds, and exclaimed: "That's the guy who drugged us!" 

While all of their memories about that night eventually came back, investigators immediately connected him to their drugging and Wendy's death. Being fearful of whoever was after him (who was really the ghost of Wendy), he pleaded guilty to everything. Then, Jeffrey, Jasper, the gravedigger, and the groundskeeper were also arrested. The guys of Harmonicz 5 were so heartbroken when they finally heard what happened. They asked Wendy's parents if they could pay for the funeral and sing at the service in memory of Wendy. This made her love them even more. Her parents of course said yes, for they knew that these guys meant so much to her. 

The next month, it was strange to watch her own funeral with Chewer curled up on her lap. It was difficult to observe family and friends mourn for her, wanting to comfort them but she couldn't. The casket was closed for obvious reasons but it was beautifully golden. Family and friends shared all kinds of memories about her. Even though she was uncomfortable, she laughed and cried at all of those awesome memories. It felt good to be so loved. Then, the guys stood up to sing.

"Wendy sounded like such a special girl," said Jack with a lump in his throat, "loving and adventurous. We heard that this was her favorite song so we're going to sing it in a special way. We didn't rehearse it. We wanted it to be raw and from the heart. Wendy, we love you, girl." 

"Yes," added Chris, "you might be our number one fan but we'll always be yours, Wendy." 

They started singing a melancholy, slow, but gorgeous a cappella version of "If My Heart Stops." She was moved to tears. Despite all of the fear, evil, and loss that happened, she got this precious moment at the end. They never met face to face but they knew that she existed and that was enough for her. 

Wendy became an urban legend, a modern ghost story of the Harmonicz 5 fandom after the truth about her death came out in the media. Fans made her spirit the mascot of the boy band. Some believed that she crossed over after the funeral but most believed that her ghost continued to watch over the guys, being forever their fan: 

Forever thirteen.                 

©Lena Holdman, all rights reserved 2022 

Happy Halloween 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 

              Smooches and think Tink!