Witch of the Wild Woods Ch. 00 Prologue

Luna gave Jordan a reassuring pat on the shoulder and leaned in; "Watch this..."

Lane began scribbling something onto the surface of the mirror, runes, glyphs, some kind of language Jordan had never seen before. As he wrote the inscription, he used one hand to write and the other hand to steady himself as the room continued to quake. Flipping to another page in his notebook, Lane recited something Jordan couldn't quite hear.

When he'd finished, Lane turned to Jordan, "Patrick, your granddaughter is here and wants to help you find what was lost. Can you help us, show us what was lost?"

As the surface of the mirror continued to frost over, gradually something began to take shape. It was as if an invisible finger were writing inside the glass. Jordan was horrified and morbidly curious. She couldn't look away as the shape of a watch was drawn into the frost covered mirror.

Lane turned from the mirror to Jordan, "Did your grandfather leave a watch or bracelet maybe?" Jordan reflexively glanced down at her left hand, Lane noticed Jordan was covering the small golden watch on her wrist with her right hand. He smiled. The missing piece had been found.

As if nothing paranormal at all were happening, Lane beamed as he paced and explained; "For whatever reason, silver mirrors are notoriously tricky for spirits. If a vengeful spirit were haunting you, using one in a pinch could trap 'em. On the other hand, if a lost soul were simply finishing things up here on earth and accidently caught their reflection, well..." Lane gestured to the mirror that continued to vibrate and beat itself against the wall.

"Seems like your grandfather was trying to find his old watch; a gift given to him by your grandma on an anniversary I reckon? He'd spent a lot of energy trying to get your attention, but clear communication ain't a ghost's strong suit," Lane turned back to the mirror and withdrew a tiny orange BIC lighter from his pocket. He flicked on the flame and held it close to the mirror.

"This next part could get a little intense. Would you mind taking off the watch?" Lane asked politely, "We're gonna help your grandpa pass over."

Before Jordan could protest, Lane touched the flame to the mirror's surface. The writing on the glass suddenly burst into neon orange, bright, blinding light flooding out into the room. Then, in a flash, everything was covered in pure daylight.

"Hello, Pumpkin. Sorry to rattle you," Spoke a raspy, gentle voice from the bedroom.

Everything was so bright, Jordan had to shield her eyes, "Grandpa?"

"Please tell your Gran that I miss her. I'll be waiting for her, counting the days," The voice was so close, practically in front of Jordan's face. She breathed in his scent of cigar smoke and butterscotch. Now she could barely see through the tears pouring down her face. The outline of the face she'd grown up with was just starting to come into focus, and the tears fell even harder.

Without any further prompting, Jordan held out the watch, "I miss you so much, Pop-pop," she choked out, heaving out into a sob.

An impossibly warm hand brushed against hers, "I miss you too. Be good. I'm always here for you. Always."

As quickly as the daylight had burst into Jordan's bedroom, the dark and chill of the early morning returned. The generation's old gold watch had vanished. Buried under an emotional avalanche, Jordan collapsed beneath the crippling emotional weight. His voice. His hand. She'd been so numb when her grandfather passed almost a year ago, to see him now...

Luna knelt beside Jordan, "You're going to be okay now, Jordan. The first time's always the hardest."

"Did you..." Jordan started, but was still terrified to admit what had happened, actually happened. It couldn't have? Could it?

Lane gingerly stepped over the clutter of Jordan's room to kneel beside him; "It was real. I know, my first time... it was a little traumatic."

Jordan tried to shake off the tears with a laugh as she shook her head. It was all so much and these two weirdos were just here with her like it was an everyday occurance.

Lane gave Jordan some space, a moment to breathe. Turning to his sister, he asked, "Hey, how did you know about the..." Lane gestured to the room where the ghost of Jordan's Grandpa had just ascended.

"I listen," Luna whispered back with a smile. Lane gestured for elaboration. Luna complied; "So, you know that cute blonde that lives on the other side of the 503 by Prairie General Store? No? Of course you don't. Anyway, she told me like two weeks ago about mysterious sounds, knocking, etcetera. All scary, like there was some kind of haunting. So, we've been going on Midnight walks... For 'research'."

Lane raised a half smile, "To research the ghost or the girl?"

Luna shrugged, "I can multitask."

With a wink, Luna stood up and stretched, "Well, our work is done here."

Jordan sniffed, "Wait, what? That's it? You're just going to leave?!"

Luna looked back into the room, "Yup. That's it. Ghost is gone. We won't even charge you for this one. First exorcism is on us. Although..." Giving Lane a sly look, she added, "I suppose it's only courteous if someone helps you clean all this up. Lane, you mind giving Jordan a hand? I got a busy day tomorrow or else I'd stay-"

"Wait a minute," Lane protested, but Luna gave him a swift sisterly punch in the arm, "Help. Her. Clean. Up. Get me?" He didn't, but Lane nevertheless stood up and began to tidy up the disaster pile in the bedroom. Luna shook her head and chuckled at Jordan, "That there is the most compassionate, dumbest-smart person you'll ever meet. You two have a goodnight."

Wiping her eyes, Jordan looked up at Luna, but she'd already skipped halfway down the stairs. Soon, the energetic girl was gone. Lane however, was still organizing the mess her room had become. This strange boy was actually making her bed, without any complaint after having encountered a ghost-- Her grandfather, from beyond the grave.

"Lane," Jordan whispered, "You don't have to do that."

"Oh," Lane said, turning on his heels. "I'm sorry, I know people have a certain way of doing things; sheets, making the bed, and I'm just-- Shouldn't have invited myself in your room and touched your--" He glanced down at her chest again, winced, and shot his eyes back up at the ceiling, "I'll just, see myself out. Thank you for-- You have a goodnight, miss."

Lane made it to the doorframe, eyes still locked on the ceiling. Then the left wall. Then the front door down the stairs. He'd failed to notice Jordan hadn't moved. They both stood there in the doorframe.

"Do you wanna stay?" She asked.

"I-- I don't wanna intrude, but I'm happy to help clean up," Lane stammered.

Hesitantly, Jordan reached out, touching Lane's hand. Not holding, simply touching her fingertips to the boy's; "Would you stay," Lane finally managed to glance in her direction. Eyes on hers, "Please?"

Lane nodded.