Everyone screamed as they beheld this horrific sight- Alastor’s specter hovered above their heads! Clarissa, Gabby, and Drusilla were too numbed from their shock to make a move, and while the others began to run for cover, all Clarissa could do was wonder what they could do! Drusilla’s sage was still burning, the salt that Gabby used against Elmira during her possession remained on the floor, and Clarissa’s crucifix was still very visible, but since none of that deterred him at the present, she could not fathom what other actions they could take to combat this relentless foe! Her mind went blank, and prior to the point where she could drum something up, Alastor bellowed, “Don’t think that this ends my crusade against you traitors! Vengeance shall be mine one way or another!”
His arm elongated and barreled towards Clarissa! As his outstretched grip neared her, Kenneth raced over to intervene! To his astonishment, someone beat him to the punch! Lucelle jumped in front of her, arched her back, and hissed at the ghostly marauder, and Alastor recoiled! Clarissa smirked and prodded him, “What’s the matter? Are you allergic to pussycats?”
“Delay your demise if you must! I’ll get to you eventually! I’ll get all of you! But today, I’ll start with this one!” He unexpectedly lunged his extremities to Elmira! Elmira made a bid to leap out of harm’s way, but Alastor still got her! She desperately tried to anchor herself to the floor with her fingernails, but he was still able to drag her out the door, shrieking resoundingly as she disappeared into the night!
“Clarissa, wait!” Kenneth clasped onto Clarissa’s wrist as she attempted to dart into a rescue effort. Clarissa couldn’t understand why he would delay any assistance to anyone who was in urgent need of it, but instinctively, she knew that a dedicated officer like him wouldn’t have done this unless he had a very good reason for doing it, so she gave him her utmost attention! He swiftly revealed, “A great blessing can drive out an evil presence! Only a strong spirit of good can overpower great evil!” Clarissa nodded in comprehension. She had no inkling on how she would implement a defense like that, but she reckoned that she would figure it out when the time came and ran out of the building!
She could espy Alastor’s eerie glow heading towards the northern woods. Several trees and rocks blocked her path, but Clarissa pushed past each and every one of them! She had a hunch where they were heading, and although she didn’t follow the motive for doing so, she knew it could not have stemmed from anything good! Sure enough, she found the two of them above his unmarked grave, and Clarissa was alarmed to see Alastor covering her mouth with some sort of oily substance! Elmira could do nothing more than grunt in fear- she lost her ability to move her jaw! As Elmira’s eyes filled with frightened tears, Alastor maniacally mocked her, “Any last words?” Elmira strove to express herself and couldn’t, and Alastor relished in his cruelty towards her!
Clarissa spoke up, “You know damn well she would plead for her life, which you would try to deny her! Try! She’s going to get out of this scrape because she deserves it!”
“What are you doing?” Alastor questioned Clarissa. “Do you actually believe you can negotiate a favorable outcome in this matter?”
“This isn’t a request! This is the truth!” Clarissa declared. Her logic puzzled over this move, but her instincts took the reins on this undertaking! Some inner truth indicated Kenneth’s insight was accurate, so she rolled with it without hesitation! “She doesn’t deserve this fate!”
Alastor scoffed at that. “Really? After all of the mistreatment she’s dealt to you, you’re still going to defend her character?”
Clarissa could discern that he aimed to sway her from this path, so she resolved to pursue it further! “Elmira only acted from what she thought was morally proper! She isn’t a bad person!”
“She absolutely correct!” Gabby joined in after she, Drusilla, and Kenneth arrived on Kenneth’s steed. “She may hold some misguided views, but she’s not wicked!”
“She enslaved you! She treated you as less than human!” Alastor argued. “How could you-?”
Gabby did not get deterred by his antics. “She may have done some less than optimal deeds, but she didn’t come close to the inhumane behavior that you’re displaying right now! She did not merit this punishment!”
Drusilla concurred with this sentiment, “I agree! She’s chosen actions I may not be partial to, but she’s family, and I want her to live a happy life!”
“She’s a loyalist!” Alastor hastily brought up to Kenneth. “Don’t tell me you support her cause!”
“I don’t approve of her rhetoric, but I’ll fight for her freedom to express herself in any manner that she pleases!” Kenneth affirmed. “Her liberty should not get taken from her like this! Especially when a reprobate like you tricked her into it!”
Bernard rode into that locale with Cornelius and Oceanus behind him, and Cornelius immediately ran towards his bride! “Elmira!” She gazed at him pleadingly, and his heart visibly ached for her!
Clarissa ardently addressed Alastor, “She isn’t perfect, but she is loved by many who want her to return to them safely and soundly!”
“My daughter is still so young!” Oceanus marched up to the area and robustly remarked. “She has yet to experience motherhood, raising a family, all of the things a woman ought to experience in her lifetime! She has so much potential as a new wife! And a painter! She even painted you! How could you do this to her?”
“I never liked that portrait!” Alastor spat. “And she’s not the only one who will meet their doom! You’ll all pay for condemning me as well as the rest of the planet to anarchy and-!”
Clarissa interrupted him, “You got yourself hanged, not her!”
Alastor retaliated, “If more people like your boorish husband listened to me, none of this would have occurred! Instead, this snake watched as her fiancée killed me!”
“She also saw you kill people she cares about! Why should she pity your demise?” Clarissa retorted. “We pity her plight because she did nothing to garner such torture!” Clarissa could see his eyes flickering between the various townsfolk arriving on the scene, and he seemed bothered by the empathetic expressions staring at his victim, which struck Clarissa with inspiration! She grabbed both Kenneth and Gabby’s hand and stated, “May she be safe! May she be prosperous! May she be blessed!”
“May she be safe!” Kenneth asserted.
Gabby tacked onto that, “May she be prosperous!”
Drusilla took Gabby’s hand and recited, “May she be blessed!”
“Stop it!” Alastor growled.
“May she be safe!” Bernard took Drusilla’s hand and joined in.
Cornelius didn’t fully recognize why this activity seemed beneficial to them, but his gut compelled him to take Kenneth’s hand and shout, “May she be prosperous!”
Oceanus took Cornelius’ hand and firmly vociferated, “May she be blessed!”
“Silence, you simpletons!” Alastor hollered.
“May she be safe!” the apothecarist echoed.
Mister Basker yelled, “May she be prosperous!”
Pastor Absalom called out, “May she be blessed!”
Slowly, more and more citizens of Colfrith participated in this practice, and Alastor’s anguished cries for them to desist grew more and more frantic! The villagers increased their volume as his bluster appeared to diminish, and Clarissa could feel the air getting less and less heavy! The atmosphere became pleasantly warm, and Clarissa beamed with pride as her community came together for this cause! Alastor displayed intense hysteria after a long stretch of this, and Clarissa could sense Alastor’s presence waning to the brink of breaking! She inwardly prayed that no obstacle would impede their progress! Then, all of a sudden…
Alastor let out a piercing wail as he dropped Elmira to the ground and balled himself into a cradling stance! As his image gradually began to vanish, he bellowed, “This changes nothing! I’ll be back one day soon!”
Clarissa shot back, “Not if we can help it!” Alastor gave her one last glare, and within seconds, he was no longer apparent!
For a moment, no one budged an inch! Everyone remained quiet as they glanced around at their surroundings in order to verify that this was no deception, and when the distant sound of chirping birds reached their ears, Drusilla spoke up, “It appears he is truly gone!”
“We’d better investigate the vicinity just to make sure he isn’t luring us into a trap!” Kenneth recommended. Clarissa agreed, and she, Drusilla, Gabby, and Bernard slowly crept forward towards the fallen log where his unmarked grave rested. Clarissa’s pulse raced- she wanted to believe that this nightmare was over, but she didn’t want to give in to her optimism in case she was going to receive a terrible upset! When they reached their destination, Clarissa was almost too reluctant to peek at what existed on the other side not wanting to invoke another episode of supernatural wrath, but she forced herself to do it because they needed to know the truth, and…
“Aaahhh!” Elmira screamed and flailed her limbs wildly! The crowd gasped, and for an instant, Clarissa worried that she had become possessed once more! She was in a fetal position when they found her, and for a while, it seemed as though their dilemma had yet to diminish! When Elmira realized that she was no longer in peril, she breathed a sigh of relief! She felt around her mandible and joyfully discovered, “It’s gone!” She craned her neck up and gladly exclaimed, “He’s gone too! And I’m still alive! Thank heavens!” She sprung up and tightly wrapped her arms around Clarissa. “Thank you! Oh, thank you! You saved me! I can’t imagine why, I was horrible to you, but I’m so grateful!”
Clarissa smiled at her gratitude, but it took a bit to process all of this! One minute, she was battling to thwart the worst outcome from befalling on them, and in the next, everything was fine and the person who had been the least kind to her was embracing her and genuinely offering benevolent accolades to her! It was all surreal as though she had entered into some sort of dream! She didn’t know what to say back to her other than, “It was the right thing to do!”
Elmira faced her and dissented, “No, it was more than merely right! I treated you most unfavorably, and you still came to my aid! Most people in this situation would have let me succumb to my downfall, but you rescued me! I would like to apologize for all I’ve done to you, but somehow, I don’t think an ordinary apology will suffice! You’re a better human being than I am, and I am very much in debt to your service!”
“As am I!” Oceanus echoed.
“Me too!” Missus Morrison put in.
One by one, everyone took a knew before her in order to beseech her forgiveness! Clarissa got so overwhelmed that she didn’t know what to do with herself! She was profoundly appreciative of this gesture, but she became so affected by her emotions that she nearly fainted! Kenneth caught her, and she was able to brace herself against him! She stared deeply into his eyes and told him, “If it weren’t for you, I… I simply…” She couldn’t vocalize how profoundly she valued his dedication to her, and she settled on honestly blurting out to him, “You know I love you, don’t you?”
With a broad grin on his visage, Kenneth responded, “You know I love you too, don’t you?” They kissed each other passionately! Clarissa’s entire body lit up with ecstasy upon his touch! She had no clue that bliss like this could exist on Earth or that she would be fortunate enough to feel it!
After they broke apart, Bernard suggested, “Lieutenant, we’d better leave before General Washington sends the entire Continental army to get us!” He turned to Drusilla and assured her, “We’ll be back though!”
Bernard gave her a peck on her hand, and Cornelius appeared as though he wanted to object initially, but then he opted to convey to him, “You and your fellow soldiers will always be welcomed in Colfrith!”
Kenneth and Bernard both mounted their horses, and the entire congregation waved goodbye and gave them a hardy send off! Once they were out of sight, Clarissa squeezed Gabby and Drusilla and enthusiastically regarded them, “It was so opportune to have you two assisting me in this journey! You’ll always be like my sisters! Always!”
“It was our pleasure!” Drusilla reacted jovially.
“Indeed!” Gabby concurred. “No, how about we don’t spend the happy couple’s wedding night on a mass murderer’s final resting place?”
Cornelius decreed, “This site shall not be dedicated to him! He cannot claim this forest as his! I’m hereby ordering that a memorial be built to honor all of who perished due to this brutality!”
Elmira added, “But my painting of him should remain here! If he hated it, it should stay above him forever!” Everybody agreed, and as they pleasantly gabbed during their return to the inn, the deadened trees began to blossom once more!
“And that’s why every Halloween we keep this tradition up!” the tour guide concluded his narrative. “No one ever truly learned what became of Alastor, so on the anniversary of the Coles’ wedding, the city gets cleansed! And that’s why we govern ourselves by decency and goodwill! If Alastor can get past the wall that Cornelius had made for those who were tragically lost during that dark period…” The tour guide used his cellphone to show the commemorative edifice in the north woods. “… then he’ll be met with a resistance of a loving community!”
“But what happened to Clarissa? And Kenneth and the rest of them?” a young boy asked him.
The tour guide answered, “Cornelius and Elmira ruled over the borough with a devotion to lightness, and they supplied the patriots with more supplies to secure their fort! After hearing rumors about this region, Gabby’s mom was able to find her and reunite their family at last! Drusilla and Bernard got married, of course, as did Kenneth and Clarissa. Clarissa became a mother to his children as well as a couple new ones of their own, including my ancestor whom I’m named after! Kathan Harvey, at your service!” Kathan took a bow, and all of the children applauded.
As everyone dispersed to do various other Halloween festivities, the woman from Boston complimented him, “That was a beautiful story! See, this is why we moved her after my divorce! I wanted to belong somewhere with such accepting values!”
“Well, you’ve certainly got that here! Maybe later we can get some coffee and I can tell you more about it!” Kathan proposed and looked to her hopefully.
“I’d like that!” she beamed at him, a gesture that he mimicked. As they exchanged phone numbers, her little girl felt a cold wind blow past them! She couldn’t tell if her mind was playing tricks on her or not, but she swore she heard a malevolent cackle drift away from Elmira’s painting…
The End!