Remy St. Clair sat on the hard wooden bench in the one room school house. He sat in the back like always. He had no shoes, didn't bathe quite enough, and was a little bit odd, so the teacher made him sit in the back.

Mr. Lyle Finney, the most recent teacher to come to Manchester, was a very proper and somewhat fancy type of man. He hailed from New York, made fun of the southern drawls he encountered here in Manchester, Virginia, and was quick to whack the knuckles of his students.

Remy didn't care for Finney.

"Stop staring off into space," Finney would growl. He would bring the wooden ruler down in one vicious swipe. It happened almost daily, today being no exception. But Remy knew better than to tell the teacher that he wasn't daydreaming. He was looking at the girl he loved, Alice Fairbanks.

Remy knew he loved Alice. Had known it since the first day he'd seen her. And he was certain she felt the same, though she had never said a single word to him. Somehow that didn't' matter.

Sometimes love couldn't be summed up in words. There were types of love that were so intense it went beyond words. It spanned time and crossed oceans. His Gram had told him that. Remy believed what his Gram said. She was the smartest woman he had ever known.

His own mother was a prostitute. She'd left him with his Gram soon after his birth. Been back to see him only three times that he could recall. He couldn't recall her ever telling him that she loved him. That's when his Gram had told him that love didn't have to be spoken.

"Words is empty, Remy," she said. "You can spout off that you love to anyone who'll listen. But true love spans all barriers. It can be said in a look or a silence. But it's there."

Today Finney was in a particularly foul mood. He jerked Remy up by the sleeve and snapped, "Go to the cloak room. Daydream in there, at least no one will have to smell you."

Several children laughed. Remy's face burned with humiliation, but he summoned the courage to look at Alice. She smiled sweetly at him then looked away.

Remy stumbled forward into the dark cloak room after Mr. Finney gave him a hearty push. He settled into a corner and with nothing to do he closed his eyes.

When he woke up sometime later he crawled towards the door and pressed his ear to it. The room outside was quiet. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the cloak room, but it seemed obvious to Remy that Mr. Finney and the others had forgotten him. He gently opened the door and peered out. The seats were empty as was the teacher's desk.

He was near the door when a sound stopped him. It was a rustling, then a faint moan. He turned to look for it's origin, but in the dim light of the school room he could see nothing. Then he heard it again. This time the moan was louder. It didn't sound like anything he'd ever heard before. It wasn't sad or melancholy, nor did it sound like pain. It sounded like it was full of secrets.

Remy tiptoed quietly toward the front of the classroom. A muffled laugh made him stop in his tracks. The laugh sounded like Finney. Remy saw Alice's shawl in a heap on the teacher's desk. Picking it up, Remy brought it to his face, enjoying the soft feel and the delicate smell of his Alice.

"Alice," Remy whispered. The words seemed to echo in the empty room.

"Oh, Alice," the echo repeated. Then seconds later he heard it again. "Oh, Alice."

"I love you, Lyle," Alice's soft, sweet voice floated up. Her words swirled around Remy like smoke, choking him, making his throat ache. His gut churned when he realized that his Alice was in love with Mr. Finney.

Their voices so mingled, so intimate, were coming from behind the desk. He made himself look down and closed his eyes to the sight he saw. They were writhing on the floor. Remy's heart pounded, breaking with each sound they made in their stolen moments.

"Animals," he said. "You're no better than two dirty animals there on the floor."

Finney jumped up, tugging his trousers while looking more than a little surprised. "What the devil?" he shouted. "What kind of a lunatic are you? Have you been there the whole time?"

"How could you?" Remy said. He was staring at Alice as she tearfully tried to button the bodice of her dress.

"Lyle, do something," she cried.

Mr. Finney lunged for Remy but missed. He was about to grab for him again when he smiled. The stricken look on Remy's young face told him all he needed to know. "You're in love with her," he laughed. His voice was gleeful. "Alice, the boy's in love with you."

Remy looked away, unable to face either of them.

"Is that right Mr. St. Clair. Are you in love with Alice?"

The teacher's cruel laugh was more than he could bear. Remy stared at the brass letter opener that was laying on top. "God forgive me," he thought as his fingers wrapped around the opener.


Gram lit the table lamp and sat at the kitchen table. Her grandson was late, very unusual for him. He normally came home long before this. His dinner had grown cold and she'd put it back on the stove.

She was mending some clothes when she heard a whisper at the back door. "Gram."

"Remy, hon, is that you?"

"I need your help, Gram."

There was something in his voice that made her drop her sewing and hurry to the door. He was holding something in his arms.

"Please don't be mad with me," he said, sounding like a child. When he took a few steps closer Gram saw the body in his arms. Quickly she ushered him into the house. "Who is that?"

"Alice."

"Remy, what happened?"

He broke down, tears rolling unchecked down his cheeks. "I didn't mean to hurt her, Gram. I just wanted her to stop yelling. She just kept yelling that I'd killed Mr. Finney."

"The teacher," Gram said. Her mind was reeling.

He nodded. "He was with her. Right there on the floor. He told her he loved her, but it was all lies."

"Take her in the other room," she told her grandson.

Once she lit the lamp beside the bed she could see the brutal wound on the young girl's throat. The entire bodice was soaked with blood. She glanced at Remy, he too was covered in blood. It was splattered on his face and his hands and forearms looked as if he'd rolled them in it. "Did you kill Mr. Finney?"

He nodded without looking her in the eye. "Yes ma'am, I think I did." He was staring at Alice. "Gram, can you help her?"

"How, Remy? She's dead."

"Bring her back," he said softly.

Gram closed her eyes. She tried not to think about what had happened before. "Remy, hon, I can't bring her back."

"You brought him back. I love her, Gram, please."

The last time she had worked her magic had been over ten years ago. Her husband had dropped dead right here in the kitchen. She had said the words over the flickering candles that she'd placed around his corpse. She sat for hours afterward waiting for something to happen.

Remy had been seven at the time. She had stood in the corner watching as his grandmother chanted her spell. His eyes big as saucers when the body on the floor suddenly moved.

"Rise up," she had commanded. And for several days her husband lived. He neither spoke nor moved about unless guided by Gram. All she had managed to do was bring his shell to life.

"Please," he begged as she shook her arm.

"She won't be the Alice that you love, Remy."

"I'll do it without out you then," he said stubbornly.

"First you need to take care of something. Where is Mr. Finney?"

"At school."

"Remy, they'll find him come morning. Then they'll come looking for her. You need to go back to the school. Make sure no one sees you. Set fire to the school. It has to burn to the ground, Remy, nothing can be left. They can find nothing but ashes."

"Yes ma'am." He looked at Alice then at Gram. "I'll never ask you for another thing,Gram."


He made his way back to the house. He'd done as Gram had instructed. Set the school house on fire making sure that Finney body would be engulfed by the fires. He waited nearby while the fire intensified, satisfied only when the flames were licking the ceiling. He slipped back into the woods leaving the inferno behind him.


Gram had fulfilled her promise. She'd lit candles and said the spell twice. Gone through the whole ritual but still the girl lay motionless. She carried a bowl of water over to the table and stripped the bloodied dress off of her. The least she could do was lay the young girl to rest in a clean dress.

As she cleaned the girl she looked at the wound. It was too horrific for this to have been an accident. No matter what Remy said, he had killed the girl with rage.

In the distance the bells were ringing. The fire must have been bad. The bells rang over and over. Remy slipped back into the house. "They won't find him," he said breathless from running. His eyes went to the naked girl on the bed.

"Remy!" His Gram's eyes were accusing. She was ashamed of him, he knew.

"Did you try?"

She nodded as she drew the coverlet over Alice. "Twice. I'm sorry, Remy. Tomorrow we'll bury her in the woods."


Remy went to his room. He cleaned himself up and brought the bundle of dirty clothes out to Gram. She motioned towards the hearth and he tossed them in. He watched as the flames consumed the bloodied heap. For the second time that night fire had hidden the day's horrors.

"I stitched up her wound, Remy. How did it happen?"

"She wouldn't.. I just wanted her to stop yelling," he said miserably.

"You've gotten yourself into a world of trouble."

"But nobody knows."

Gram shook her head. "Things like this don't stay secret. You need to go on to bed, Remy. You got school in the morning."

"But there won't be no school."

"Listen to me Remy, you have to pretend that nothings different. Don't forget."


When the pink and orange fingers of dawn brushed the sky Gram and Remy buried Alice. She said a few words over the girl hoping to ease the girl's soul's transition from this world to the next.

Remy left for school and Gram looked around the house. Tell tale smears of blood were everywhere. She mopped the floor, dragged the tub into the backyard and soaked the blood stained coverlet. She was working the material over the wash board when something made her pause. Her flesh crawled. Evil was near. The air smelled foul and rank. Slowly Gram turned, knowing what was behind her.

Alice stood. Dirt and twigs were in her hair. The dress Gram had laid her to rest in was soiled.

"Go back to your grave," Gram said. "You have no place here."

Dirt fell from the girl's mouth as she opened it. A hiss escaped. Alice took a small step towards the old woman. Again she hissed.

"Demon!"

Alice smiled. She raised her hand, her finger pointing at Gram. "Gawachis," she mumbled. The word had barely been uttered when she crumpled to the ground.

It took Gram several minutes to gather her courage and drag Alice's body back to its grave.


When Remy returned from school he found Gram napping. It was just as well, he couldn't stand the way she looked at him now.

Hours later he shook her awake. "Gram, she's out there. I can hear her."

"Don't go out there, Remy. It's not Alice. I brought back a demon." The air smelled rotten. She searched the blackness out the window but could see nothing. Remy leaned close to the back door. "She's calling me, Gram. Listen."

"No, Remy, it's not Alice."

"Gawachis," the corpse hissed from the darkness.

"What's she saying?" Remy asked. "She keeps saying it."

A girl's laughter peeled from outside the house. "Remy, I love you, come with me, Remy."

His hand went to the door handle. Gram reached for him. "NO! It's not Alice, I tell you. I summoned a demon."

"Gawachis," it hissed. "Gawachis."

"What's that mean. It has to mean something." Remy cupped his eyes to the glass panes of the back door and peered out. Alice's vague shape was just steps away from the house. She looked so beautiful. He needed to get to her. He shoved Gram aside and threw open the door. "Alice."

"No, Remy, it's a warning. She's saying God watches, God knows what I've done."

Remy turned to listen to his Gram's words. Alice grabbed him, dragging him to her. Remy screamed as he looked at the hideous creature. It wasn't his Alice. Her lips were drawn, blackened and dirt crusted around the her teeth. The demon looked at Gram, then dragged the boy off to the woods. The only sound was the demon's laugh.


Neighbors came around several days later with the news that Gram knew would be coming. Remy's body had been found, mutilated by the river. There was no mention of Alice's body. She hoped Alice had just disappeared, but there were days when she felt she was being watched. And some nights, in the distance, she could hear it hiss. "Gawachis."