Curse of Crossing
Chapter 7
Ben
4 years later
I hear the voice coming from
the other side, but I know I’m dreaming or hallucinating from lack of oxygen.
It’s cold, dark, and feels like the air is being sucked out of my body. I lay
down on the cold floor knowing I will be with my parents soon. For some reason
I’m not that sad about dying if it means being with them again. I close my eyes
and resign myself to the fate of death. It gets harder and harder to breath and
now I’m gasping for air. I draw my last breath.
That’s when I feel a warm
hand on my face. I’m able to open my eyes a little to see my beautiful Lizzy
staring into my eyes. She is lying beside of me and we are face to face. I will
miss her. She rubs my face with her hand and leans in to kiss me. Her lips are
soft and warm against mine. I feel her sweet kiss and the warmth it sends
through out my body. That’s impossible if she’s just my imagination. Lizzy
moves her body into mine, moves her hand from my face, and wraps her arm around
me. The cold is gone. All I feel now is my sweet, warm, and gorgeous Lizzy. We
deepen our kiss. She feels heavenly. I pull back to get another look and when I
open my eyes I see her smiling at me. Then I notice there is a pillow under her
head. What is going on?
She puts her hand back on my
face and whispers, “You were having another nightmare about being in the hidden
room. You’re fine my love and safe here with me.” She pulls my face back to
hers to kiss me again.
I sigh in relief, “Thank you
for rescuing me that day. Have I told you lately that I love you?”
She giggles, “Not in the
last few hours, no.”
“Well then that’s a few too
many hours. I love you my beautiful, sweet, and loving Lizzy.” I go back to
kissing her like I have never kissed her before.
Truth is I never thought I
would kiss her again on that fateful day four years ago. When I heard her voice
and saw that fireplace door open, I bolted. I crawled out as fast as I could,
ran down the steps, and out of the front door. After I got on the porch I took
the biggest breath of fresh air I have ever taken, then my stomach revolted. I
barely managed to make it to the banister before I leaned over and threw up.
The entire day came flooding back through my head; finding my parent’s bodies
was too much. After I was finished vomiting, tears flooded my eyes. My legs
gave out and I landed on my butt. I pulled my knees into my chest and finally
cried for the first time since my parents disappeared a year ago. I felt Lizzy
behind me before she even touched me. She put her hand on my shoulder and
handed me a tissue. She never spoke a word. She just sat behind me, allowed my
body to lay back on hers, and let me cry. Later the police showed up and my
parents were removed from the room. Lizzy closed the room back up. All I wanted
to do was get out of town, but Lizzy insisted I walk around the property with
her before I went back to Ohio.
She took me to the back corner of the property. All I saw were trees until she
pointed. Then I saw the gravestones. We walked over and that’s when I noticed
all of the gravestones of four generations of Crossing men. All of them died an
untimely death and all of their wives were buried next to them. Except for one
which was the first Benjamin Eugene Crossing and he’s buried next to an
Elizabeth Wright. I looked at Lizzy in confusion. That’s when she told me of
the curse her great, great, great grandmother had supposedly put on the
Crossing men.
The next day I had my
parent’s remains buried with all of the other Crossings. Now there are five
generations of Crossings buried in the small cemetery behind the Crossing
house. I went back to Ohio
shortly after their funeral. It was not my intention to return back to
Crossings, but I kept feeling the pull. It wasn’t my family that brought me
back, it was Lizzy. My heart ached the six months I was in Ohio. She sent me a couple of texts, but I
never responded. For those six months I was miserable and had locked myself in
my house. Then, I received a text after having just awoken from the horrible
nightmare of being trapped in that room at the Crossing house. It was Lizzy
asking me what I wanted to do about the house because there was a couple that
wanted to buy it. Then there was one last text that got me out of my bed,
packed, and back to Crossing. My heart
will forever be yours!
I didn’t text back, I just
drove. When I got back to Crossing I was going to go straight to her mom’s
office, but I something led me to my family home. When I got to the end of that
long drive, she was on the front porch waiting for me. I’m not even sure I
turned the car off. I jumped out, ran up on the front porch, and pulled Lizzy
into my arms. She’s been in my arms ever since.
“What are you thinking
about?” Lizzy says as she caresses my face.
“You, always you Elizabeth
Josephine Crossing.”