The Visitors

A Haunted Soul  Episode 6

Wandering around the grounds of an old abandoned castle is no way to spend eternity. That's exactly what the ghost of the castle lord was thinking. How long had it been? The ghost imagined that he must have been dead now for close to two hundred very long years, but he was not at all sure about that. He had no idea why he had been stranded out here; he just wanted to find a way out.

He was prepared for another night of his long search for a possible gateway to a Heaven he wasn't sure existed anymore when he heard a commotion in the distance behind him. The ghost turned to the direction of the entrance road to see a sight he hadn't seen since before his death. A small wagon pulled by two horses was coming out of the forest along the castle road. Visitors!

The ghost excitedly waved and called out to them, "Hello!" But then he remembered that nobody could see or hear him; he was a ghost now. Even as the realization of that hit him, he decided it didn't matter at all right now. There were not only people here; they were awake in the middle of the night. He could see and hear them. He now had a reprieve from his long suffered loneliness!

There was no time to waste. The ghost began running towards the distantly approaching wagon so he could get a better look at these wonderful people. As he got closer he could make out two men in the front and a man and a woman in the back of the wagon. For some reason the wagon began slowing down well before the turn in the road though. They were stopping too soon. Would they turn around and leave right after their arrival?

He had to get a closer look before they left! The lonely ghost needed to see some actual living breathing people! He felt as if this was maybe his last chance at maintaining his slipping sanity. As he got closer he realized that the wagon wasn't turning to leave. It was stopping! This was becoming a very curious situation. And the ghost was completely ecstatic.

As the ghost got closer, the four people were getting down from the wagon. The ghost never wanted this night to end. He finally had company! He heard them speaking to each other. "...sure is a lot farther to get here than those townspeople said it would be, Arnaud," said one man. The one named Arnaud turned to the other as he was taking some supplies down from the cart, "Well, the town used to be closer, and to the north of here. Old habits don't die easily, even if they are a few hundred years old."

The ghost thought about that one. His town! It had actually moved to a new place! And he now had confirmation that he had been here more than two hundred years! He found it all so very hard to comprehend, but he had to believe this because the thought of it was all he had now. The ghost wondered what else these four people might have to say.

Arnaud turned to the third man, who had been keeping to himself this whole time, and said, "Corbin, have you sensed him out here at all yet?" The ghost had no idea what they meant by that.

"No, they told me that he haunts out here on the castle grounds, so I know we're in the right place. If the old ghost is out here anywhere I'm sure I'll find something by the end of the night," said Corbin.

"What about inside the castle," said man number two.

Corbin looked at him and said, "The townspeople specifically said that he has never been seen in there. If you want to go in and look, then go ahead. But I'm staying out here where the ghost is sure to be."

The ghost had now heard another revelation! They knew he was here! He now thought that maybe he wasn't so alone after all. He hurried over to Corbin and reached out in an attempt to touch him, but as he guessed, his hands passed right through him. He waved his hands in Corbin's face, and then shouted to him over and over again, "Corbin! Corbin! I am right here!" But Corbin gave no reaction to him at all. His hopes were dashed, but he at least he still had this moment with these people.

The ghost watched as they slowly finished unpacking the wagon and setting up their little camp. The woman made a fire and began cooking something over it. The ghost didn't care what it was. The four people talked throughout the night of similar things, and a few other things. They thought Corbin would somehow sense his presence, but he never did. It was like this for the rest of the night.

It seemed to the ghost as if only a very little time had passed when he realized the night was growing short. He wished he could stay here with these people forever like this, but he knew that even this would grow tiring eventually because they couldn't see or hear him. Soon after this thought the ghost lifted up his arm and noticed something he had never bothered with before.

As he was looking at his hand, he saw it begin to fade away. He was disappearing along with the night once again. His hand disappeared, then his arm, and up and up it went until the ghost faded away altogether. Daylight was coming, and it was time for the ghost to be gone until next time.