As I walked up the stairs to my bedroom I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Normally the first person to greet me when I get home from school is my three year old brother, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly the front door opened and my dad shoved a teenage boy with braids into the house while holding him by his hair. The boy fell forward with a cry of pain and I suddenly realized who the boy was.

 "Anquan," I cried running back down the stairs.

I threw myself at my father quietly pushing him back and into the kitchen, where I handed him an ice cold beer straight from the icebox.

"Talk to me and tell me what happened daddy," I whispered loud enough for him to hear me when I said it.

"That boy is now your personal slave. Do you understand me? Don't ever set him free either. Your little brother is dead by the hand of that boy's father. He will never be allowed to have his freedom. If he suddenly has a kid he is not allowed to see it. Do you understand me," my dad said looking me dead in the eye.

 "Yes daddy, I understand," I said giving Anquan a sad pitying look as I stood up.          

"I want you to go get your bags and bring them to my room," I ordered Anquan, who looked up at me and mouthed 'No' before looking back down at his lap.             

 I reached out to smack him but my father beat me to it. He grabbed him by the hair and yanked him up on his feet. Suddenly Anquan let out a high pitched scream and started to cry, just as I realized my dad had struck him with the belt and that Anquan was shirtless.

"Master please stop it. It hurts, please I'm begging you to stop," he cried as my father continued to belt him.            

"Now my daughter is going to repeat what she said. Tell her no again and you'll get it worse than you just got it," my dad said shoving him to the ground and making sure to let go of his hair at the last second.         

Anquan hit the ground with a thud and let out another cry of pain as he landed on his wrist and I heard an audible crack as his wrist broke. Fresh tears streamed down his face and I gently helped him up.

 "Let's get you to the hospital," I said and led him out to my car.  

            When I got there, I gently helped him out of the car and walked him into the emergency room. Quickly I filled out the paperwork, paid up front with cash and immediately got his hand wrapped in a cast. When I got home I noticed Anquan hadn't said a word since we had gotten back in the car to come home.   

"What's wrong Anquan, you've been oddly quiet since we left the hospital. I know your new position must be hard for you, but the good news is with my brother in the backseat asleep your workload is lessened. And that is because I say it is and the fact that I'm in charge of you. So when we get back to the house you are to make a soup. I had laid out the ingredients to make it myself but as you are now my slave you have to make it," I said pulling into my dad's driveway.

  My dad was sitting on the trunk of his car and I slowly walked around my car to the passenger side of my car and gently shook my little brother awake.

   "Mel," he said looking up at me with a smile on his face.  

   "Daddy's home baby," I said and picked him up leaving Anquan to close the car doors.

When I had called my dad from the hospital he had been ecstatic and demanding for me to come home with my brother. My father zeroed in on the little boy in my arms as I set my brother down so he could run over to our father. He immediately latched onto my leg and refused to let go no matter how much I tried to pry him off of me. I looked behind me and saw why Anquan was scowling down at my brother with an angry expression on his face that I knew was because he had become a slave to my family over my brother.

"Michael go to daddy because I have something to take care of. Okay baby," I whispered as his hold loosened on my leg.

            He nodded and ran over to our father, who picked him up to see if he was okay. After being satisfied that he was okay my dad went inside with my brother leaving me to deal with Anquan.

            "Inside," I ordered pointing to the outhouse next to the main plantation building which was the manor. He opened the door and jumped back with a yelp of surprise. I grabbed him by his hair and dragged him inside the small building.

"You see that rope on that wall Anquan," I snarled in his ear and then threw him to the ground.

I grabbed the horsewhip that was hanging on the wall and immediately slashed it across his back over thirty times causing his back to split open and bleed as he screamed with each hit I landed on him.       

 “Give my brother another dirty look. I dare you and I will string that rope into a noose and you will simply disappear on this plantation. Just like so many others before you. Do you understand me,” I snarled in his ear and he whimpered something that didn’t go unnoticed by me.       

"Yes master I understand," he whispered and I quickly cleaned his back and sent him to make dinner for my family.

I put the horsewhip back and looked down at the ground and noticed a red circle on the dirt that had been undisturbed for over a hundred years. I quickly got a shovel and started to dig right there on that spot and unearthed a trunk with a lock so rusted it crumbled to dust the moment I touched it. I threw back the lid and let out a shriek that had both Anquan and my father running to see if I was okay. There in the trunk lay a young white girl no older than her early thirties in a white colonial dress that was blood stained all down the front. I could tell that she had been there for a while because she was mummified in perfect condition. Except for the fact that she was dead we could have been twins. My dad stood there his mouth gaping and stared at the body in the trunk. Anquan hit the deck beside me and I stared down at him in shock before grabbing the horsewhip and cracking it against the ground causing him to jerk awake with a whimper.

“Dad are there any rumors surrounding Melissa Johnson’s disappearance all those years ago,” I asked and he nodded before looking at me.

“There are two rumors that surround her disappearance. One was that her husband had murdered her or had one of the slave boys do it and then he fled to the north after hiding the body. People in our family have searched for her body for generations and came up empty. The other rumor was that her spirit haunts this outhouse every night at midnight because this was the last place her slaves had seen her alive just before she disappeared on that very same day. So sweetheart since I know you’re an adventurer I will let you stake out this outhouse tonight and I want you to tell me what you see in the morning okay,” my dad whispered pulling me in for a hug.

I nodded and hugged him back and said, “I will let you know what I see. I love you daddy,” and with that my dad went back inside leaving me with the body and a sniveling slave at my feet.

“Anquan would you like to stay with me out here because I’m sure you wouldn’t want any harm to come to your new master now would you,” I asked and he shook his head.

“I will stay out here with you to ensure no harm comes to you master,” Anquan said and I closed the trunk and sat down on the ground to wait.

That night was going to be very interesting for me and my new slave.

It was nearing midnight by the light of Anquan’s watch and the ghost girl had yet to make an appearance. Just as the clock struck midnight a low moan came from the trunk and a white figure in a colonial dress rose up out of the trunk and I started to shake in fear.

“Who dares to disturb my home and my place of rest,” the ghost screamed and then she noticed me huddled in a corner pressed against Anquan who was fast asleep with his arms wrapped around my stomach.

I was situated as far away from the trunk as possible staring at the trunk with a terrified look on my face as if it had just turned into a monster that was about to eat me. I looked away with a scream as I remembered what I had found earlier that day waking Anquan up causing him to pull me closer when he saw the apparition that was in front of us.

“Who are you and what do you want,” Anquan asked his voice shaking as he spoke.

I turned my face and buried it in his chest as the tears began to stream down my face.

“Why is there so much injustice done to the women in my family. Every woman in over thirty generations has disappeared after bearing children to their husbands. Is this the fate that awaits me,” I sobbed into Anquan’s shirt as he rubbed my back.

“No, I won’t let that happen to you,” Anquan whispered and I started to shake in terror as I felt the ghost move closer to us.

I looked up at Anquan’s face and noticed that he was paler than normal so I reached for the blanket hanging on the wall and pulled it down with one swift pull.  I wrapped it around us and looked up at the ghost who actually looked like the body in the trunk which looked like me.

“I heard the boy passed out earlier when he saw my body in the trunk. Let me guess young lady you were the one who screamed and found it,” the girl said changing until it looked like she was alive except for the fact that her white dress was covered in blood.

“Yes I was the one who found you,” I said and I felt Anquan go limp against me as he passed out again. “Stupid weak slave,” I muttered smacking my hand against his bare chest barely getting a twitch out of him.

I got up and threw the blanket around my shoulders before walking over to another corner and sitting down. I looked up at the ghost and a sudden thought came to me so I asked it.

“If we bury you in the family cemetery will you leave the property and move on like all spirits should,” I asked and the ghost nodded.

“Of course I would but nobody had found my body until now. Once I am given a proper burial next to my husband, who returned before he died and had our children bury him in the cemetery on the property, I will move on and rest in peace,” she said and I nodded.

“You will be buried tomorrow and finally have the rest that you deserve Melissa,” I whispered and she nodded gratefully.

“I will go now please don’t hurt him. He’s just in shock my darling daughter,” the ghost said and left as she moved on in the hopes that I would keep my promise.

I watched as they place the coffin containing Melissa Johnson’s body in the ground next to the well-worn grave of Anthony Boldin and I looked up at the outhouse to see an image looking out at the small ceremony in the family cemetery on the property. As I waved the image smiled at me and slowly disappeared and I knew she wouldn’t be coming back to haunt us anymore. I turned back to the coffin and I smiled as I realized my mother would be the last girl in my family to disappear now that the curse was broken. Anquan stood behind me with an umbrella held over my head as it started to rain. I pulled my jacket tighter and zipped it up to my chin as Anquan lowered the umbrella to my height as my father turned and glared at him.

“He’s fine daddy,” I whispered as my father opened his mouth to speak and belittle the good job Anquan was doing because he managed to cover both me and my brother and neither of us were getting wet.

Anquan hung his head and stared at the ground knowing he would be punished for receiving my help just then no matter what I did to try and protect him. Once the coffin was covered with the pile of earth, I picked up my brother and walked towards the house with Anquan hurrying along behind me to keep us both from getting wet. I looked behind me with a smirk on my face and ran towards the house with Anquan struggling to keep up. I put my brother down and took his hand and together we ran in the house soaking wet. Anquan placed the umbrella in the holder and stood by the door with his head bowed and he only moved when my father came in the house and ordered him to close the door.

“Why are both of my children dripping with water,” my father demanded rounding on Anquan once he noticed we were both soaking wet.

Anquan immediately tensed waiting for the blow that he knew was to come and whispered, “I was trying to keep them from getting wet, master. But when I first caught up to get the umbrella over them your daughter sped up and started to run towards the house while I struggled to keep up.”

 My father reached out and grabbed Anquan by his hair and yanked him backwards as he snarled, “Don’t you ever blame any of your incompetence on my daughter or my son. Do you understand me boy?”

Anquan nodded and winced as that movement caused his hair to be pulled. I turned and picked up my brother and went upstairs to change out of the wet clothes my brother and I were in. As I went into my room with my brother in my arms I found a pair of jeans and a sweater already laid out with a note propped up on the pile in elegant handwriting. I picked up the note and read:

I saw your plan before you could put it in action.

I let him know so he could know to lay out clothes.

All you have to do is call him to draw your bath.

Sincerely,

Melissa Johnson the first

Original owner of this plantation.

I smiled and called Anquan over the intercom that we had installed for me to check on my brother without having to go in his room and he immediately came in my room to see me in my robe and I politely asked him to draw my bath water. He went into the bathroom and turned on the water and plugged the drain. He turned to me and pointed to the bubble bath I had on the sink and I nodded my answer before he took it and poured it into the running water. Once the bath was full he turned off the water and checked the temperature before gesturing at me to get in the tub. I looked at him blankly and he closed and covered his eyes and I dropped my robe, stepped around him and climbed into the warm bath water as he turned around with his eyes still closed.

“I’m all the way in the water so you can uncover your eyes,” I said and pointed to my brother who still needed to be undressed.

Anquan nodded and walked over to my brother and pulled his shirt and wife beater off and then he gently laid him down and took off his pants and underwear before looking at me.

“He always takes a bath with me,” I said and Anquan nodded before gently picking up my brother and placing him in the tub with me.

Just as Anquan stepped away my dad came in the room to check on me but did not expect to see my slave in the bathroom with me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing,” my dad shouted and Anquan fell to the floor in a dead faint.

I yanked Anquan up off of the floor and dragged him into my bedroom where I mercilessly dumped him on the floor. I went back in my bathroom and picked Michael up and climbed back in the bathtub and proceeded to scrub my brother down until he said to stop. After words I washed and conditioned his hair and got out of the tub and we dried off. I went into my bedroom to find Anquan standing by the bed looking at the floor and crying unashamedly.