Excerpt - A Haunted Land (investigating an 18th cent ghost story)

Anne’s father was away once again and she had one of the servants sent out to deliver a hand-written note to me.  I waited for her by our tree next to the stone wall, remembering when we first met.  I was just a boy then, of about ten, when her family arrived to the village.  I remember her timidly hiding in the carriage, reluctant to set one foot outside.  Then just like now, the whiteness surrounded us, announcing that this was the land of the dead.  But more than an announcement, it was in fact, a desperate warning.  

Anne was just a little girl and the mist or so I thought, frightened her. But it was not the mist what caused such a reaction, but rather the whispers it brought with it. She sat there terrified, motionless as a beautiful pale porcelain doll. She was unaware of the stories on her arrival, but something innate in her already feared this land.  

Anne knew somehow then what I came to understand only when it was too late. I foolishly dismissed her fears due to her young age.  After all, this land could make quite an impression to newcomers. Its isolated location and strange weather often gave it a spectral appearance, to say the least.  I went into the carriage and gave young Anne a small welcome gift I had made myself.  But somehow, it was in vain for she refused to move. I took her hand in mine and with a gentle squeeze as I winked, I let her know she was safe.  Her fear was so great that I expected her to cry and scream any minute. But I saw in her eyes she could not. Instead, her soul cried in silence and threatened to bring her to tears.

Anne was so young and yet so old for her age; words failed her often and she felt so deeply. But in those moments words proved to be unnecessary among us; we had always been able to  communicate feeling.  And she was so different to anyone I’d ever known... Anne seemed to live in another world at times and had a language of her own; a language which in time I learned.  Anne shared many intimate thoughts with me as well as a long-lasting friendship through the years. And we became quite close.  Though we had no secrets between us, I mostly listened.  For someone who lived almost in silence, she had so much to tell.  And I did not want to bother her with matters she could not understand, or whose knowledge could endanger her in any way. I had always thought of Anne with deep affection and was committed to her care.  Perhaps it was our destiny after all.  The occurrence of events fixed as fate and perchance planned with a sinister motive. All I was able to distinguish with certainty is that we only had each other.  I had constantly managed to reassure my love in her darkest moments. But now, as she took my hand, I was the one who suffocated with fear.  And yet...I could not stay away.