The Girl Who Was Buried in Her Ball Gown
Chapter Eight: The Gift

Back home in New Zealand, after a few days in Australia, I was walking the familiar streets and on my way to visit Martin. However, I found myself hunting out my little sister Nikki. She would have been getting out of school about that time and I wanted to see her again.

Lots of intermediate kids were milling around the town, ducking into dairies for lollies or drinks and for the richer ones, hot chips. I knew Nikki would be one of the kids that would go straight home. Sure, she might hang around for a little while and talk with her school friends, but she wouldn’t stay long. I picked her out of the crowd soon enough; her hair was a dead giveaway, like mine.

As I walked down Rathbone Street, invisible to anyone who may have cast a glance toward me, I saw her heading up the hill toward the park.

The park was a bit steep in places and there were plenty of trees about, blowing in the warm afternoon breeze. I never thought of this park as a dangerous place, as there were plenty of open spaces and the patches of trees were usually in small blocks. However, one area backed up against the steepest bank, which dropped down from the street, twenty feet above; that was the only possible dangerous place. The bushes growing over there, were low, thick and ran about ten–feet–deep, before they began climbing up the stone bank, which projected up behind them... and she was there. Not Nikki, but the chameleon girl. Still dressed in my peacock green, ball gown and still looking like me! What the hell did she want? Why was she even there?

My mind raced through possible scenarios, but never did I imagine what was about to unfold before me. Suddenly she was near Nikki and Nikki looked up and saw her! Nikki’s eyes lit up as if she believed it was me, but it wasn’t. The deceiving girl, beckoned Nikki off the path she would usually have taken and then the evil chameleon looked right at me, with a wicked glint in her eye and a diabolical smile.

Before I realised it, Nikki was already close to the small hidden–away piece of bush, which stretched out and up to the higher street.

Alarm raced through me and I ran to her! I didn’t know what, or who else was there, but I knew it would not be good. “Nikki!” I yelled, but it went unheard, “Nikki stop! Don’t go there!” But of course, she kept on walking.

I saw him step out from behind a tree and with only a few short metres between him and Nikki, he was sure to get to her, before I would. I hadn’t seen him until he had stepped out. This creep had long shaggy hair that was greying, unkempt and stuffed up under a green beanie. He was tall, skinny and wrinkled like he had been in the sun way too long and his eyes were all over Nikki. It was like she was walking along totally naked to him, all twelve years old of her! My gut churned, my lips drew back like I was a savage animal and I gunned for him as fast as I could run. Whoosh! I ran straight through him, and as I did my whole body felt an intense feeling of disgust. It was an awful sensation, like I had just been dropped into a long-drop toilet and the slimy faeces riddled through my body, poisoning me. I could not do anything and I found myself sprawled, half–way through the thick bush on the other side of him. I couldn’t even touch him, the filth! What was I supposed to do to stop him now? S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I turned on the chameleon girl and I was wild! I screamed at her, “What the hell are you doing? Leave my sister alone!” Then she became my next target.

“And just what are you going to do about it Emma? You can’t do a thing!” She laughed her wicked laugh just as I smacked right into her, but she was quicker than me and stronger. She grabbed me by my arm and whipped it behind my back, then she gripped me around the waist and squeezed, like I was a rag-doll. She jerked me around, forcing me to watch what was about to happen to my little sister. The chameleon girl’s sharp nails dug into my face and I was trapped in her wicked arms; my eyes trained on Nikki.

“Oh Emma, I’m so glad you could join us for our little party. This will be fun eh? Let’s all watch, as precious Nikki get popped!

“If we’re lucky she might not even survive afterwards – after my friend over there chokes the life out of her scrawny little neck! You know how it is when you’re overcome by guilt, don’t you Emma? She can join us both. Oh, what a wonderful reunion!”

“No! Stop! No!” It was no use struggling, her grip was sure and I couldn’t move. The man was about to grab Nikki and drag her into those bushes.

“First, he’ll work her over, and then we will work him over, good and proper. Guilt is such a strong motivator, but you already know that!”

Her shrieking laughter, suddenly turned into a blood curdling scream as a white flash, dropped down from the high street; it was so quick, I couldn’t tell what it was. A flash of blinding light struck the chameleon girl, causing her arms to release me. “Nooo! Peniel, you can’t! She’s mine!”

I heard a baritone voice from the flash, “Pohane! Leave her alone, she’s covered! The blood covers her!”

It was a man, well more than a man. He was huge. He was about twelve feet tall and donned in a piu piu – traditional grass skirt – and not another stitch of fabric covered any other part of him. He was bare chested and solid like a bodybuilder. He had a full face moko, displaying his ancestral iwi, with swirling koru’s and dark green lines of the traditional Maori tattoo’s. He had long ebony hair tied up in a tall manbun. The dual tails, falling out of the top, were pinned into place by a whalebone comb and those lose strands that fell over his manbun, swished wildly around his strong chiselled jaw and flared nose. He was a Maori warrior, holding a long taiaha, carved and honed, in traditional Maori designs. He handled the taiaha magnificently, spinning it wildly and jabbing it towards the demon girl as he challenged her. He thumped the flattened butt end of it onto the ground and it sent a shock through the earth, towards the lust-filled man. And it was like someone had pressed the pause button on the creep, as he simply froze in his tracks.

The chameleon girl, (Pohane, so that was her name) stood powerless, shaking with rage. She dropped her jaw and screeched like a pig that had been skewered with this massive warrior’s taiaha. “She’s mine! You can’t do this!”

“Silence liar, you cannot touch her!” Wow! He made his brown eyes pop out wide and then poked out his tongue, as if saying, ‘What are you going to do about it?’

My darling sister turned from the bushes and then walked on, oblivious to what was happening around her. I felt a weight lift off me as relief flooded my heart.

Soon enough, Nikki disappeared up the steps to the high street, Pohane sunk into the ground and the would-be rapist, was un–paused and he walked off in a daze, confused. It was just me and the huge man left standing in the park. He thumped his taiaha to the ground again and I was shaking like a leaf, at the presence and power of this man. Who was he? In fact, he seemed to be more from the divine side of the tracks, what was he?

“Emma, I am Peniel, you needn’t be afraid.” His moko marked face was kind and I knew he would not hurt me. “I bring a gift to you, from Elohim. Please, open your hands.” In his huge hands, he held a bright shiny stone. The stone was un-honed and rough to look at, like a chunk of white-hot coal and about the size of a small apple. As he placed the stone into one of my open hands, it expanded and another, smaller chunk formed. This one, he placed into my mouth. “This will hurt, but only for a few seconds. Swallow it.” It certainly did! It hurt as if I was back in the fire, when I rescued Emma and Zac. I ground my teeth and swallowed down the chunk of coal. I wanted to scream but I managed to contain myself, as the searing heat passed down my throat and into my whole being.

I was dumbfounded and shaking, chattering through gritted teeth. My mind was erupting and soon, the heat began to subside. Finally, I could speak, “What is it?”

“It’s a gift that Elohim wants you to have. It is the gift of physical touch. In your present form, as you know, you cannot hold anything, or move things in this realm, unless granted temporary ability.”

I cast my mind back and asked, “Is it a bit like when I could open that door for the dog, Zac?”

“It is, but now it’s permanent. It cannot be taken from you. That is why you must be very careful not to abuse the gift.” He was solemn, “If you do, the repercussions will be dire and have eternal consequences. You must always treat this, with respect.” I was beginning to realise just what abilities I could have and what I would be able to do. Things that I hadn’t been able to do before.

I thought about the whore-man, who was going to rape my sister. I could have been an invisible force, undetectable. I could have ripped out his eyes and done all sorts of brutal things to him. Who knows what I could do, but I knew that what Peniel had just told me, rang true.

After a few moments, the pain had completely ceased and I had questions, “Why am...” but as quick as this man, or whatever he was had come, he was gone again. I stood there, feeling melancholy and confused, but also relieved.

I ran up the steps and followed after my sister, catching up to her along the main street. She was crossing the road as I drew near to her. I reached out to take her hand and to my surprise she gripped my hand, as if she was a little child again, knowing that she must hold an adult’s hand while crossing the road. Could she see me? Did she know I was there? I felt her warmth in my own hand. It was so nice to be able to re–connect with my sister and her world. We walked home and I stayed with my family and celebrated the love for them, that night.

When Nikki went to bed, I lay there with her and… oh, it felt so nice, so normal again. She slept, while I lay there reflecting about what had happened that day.

Dad seemed to have gone backwards, really badly since my death, it worried me.

In the morning as everyone stirred and got breakfast ready, Dad came in from the mail box with the newspaper in his hand. I saw the front cover and my hands began trembling, as I lifted them up to my gaping mouth.

Teen found dead in Lawrence Park.

On Friday 23rd it was alleged that at 4pm, screams were heard by a by-passer who was walking through Lawrence Park. He reported this to the police. However, it was not acted upon until around 6pm, when the body of a female, approximately thirteen years old, was discovered in dense bush adjacent to Lawrence Park. The girl is alleged to have been a victim of foul play and may have been sexually violated. The cause of death is to be confirmed by a coroner’s report later today.

My heart dropped when I realised, that scream would have happened, about thirty minutes after my dear sister had just passed through the same park. What would have happened if I had not been there? Mind you, I didn’t actually do much when I was there. I was so angry and gutted! I remembered something that Peniel had said, “You can’t touch her... she is covered.” What was that about? What had actually happened? Was I supposed to be a vigilante, or something? I did not know, I wanted to scream.

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