My body jolts and my neck feels as though it has been snapped out of place. It feels as though the world is turned around over and over again. All I can hear are the screams of my mother and shards of glass sprinkling around the ground. Everything goes black. 

I drowsily wake up in a hospital, surrounded by my dad and other people that I don’t recognize.

    “Oh my girl! Thank God!” I see my dad coming to tears as he sees me waking up.

    “What’s happening?” As I see the expression of sadness of my father’s face, I can only picture that the worst had happened, and I was right.

    “Your mother… she passed away in a car accident.” I feel my throat close up. I want to cry but every emotion clogs my brain to the point where I’m frozen. That was years ago and I still can’t recall if I had frozen because of the news of my mother's passing, or if it was because of the dead I could see roaming the hospital. 

    Ever since my mother passed away I could see ghosts. Well, I could only see them when they wanted to be seen. On the average day, I see maybe 20 ghosts roaming the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. Most ghosts are friendly elders who died in old age that just want to wave hello. Some ghosts, however, you would never know were dead. If you weren’t paying attention to the wounds that caused their death and the slight tranlucentless of the skin, you would never know. There is one ghost that I never fail to recognize as dead, on the other hand. This particular ghost is always in my sight, so I know he wants to be seen. He is tall, adorned in all black, and he is missing one of his eyes. I have never made contact with this particular ghost, but I know he is always there. 

The school bus abruptly stops and I grab my bag. As I carefully step off of the bus, I can see someone out of the corner of my eye. They are far away, but I can tell that they’re watching me. Rather than following my classmates into the school, I stop in my tracks and turn to look at the figure. Normally it takes a minute to tell whether someone is dead or not, but this ghost was obviously dead. This ghost had long brown hair that was tied up into a perfect bun with curls hanging by her ears. She wore a long, pale salmon dress that had multiple layers of glamourous ruffles and silk. Her dress was slightly tattered and covered in dirt. I warily walk towards the mysterious woman and watch as she continues to stare directly into my eyes.

    “Hello?” I whisper to her as I start to approach her.

    “Greetings dear.” Her voice was warm and soothing like honey being poured into a cup of tea. Although her skin was a cold blue tone, she only exuded a warm aura. 

    “I’ve never seen you before. Based on your attire, I’m assuming you’ve been dead for a long time.”

    “Yes, I have been dead for many centuries. I have always been here, watching you. It just wasn’t the right time for you to see me until now.”

    “The right time for what?”

    “The truth.” Those two words rang through my ears. What could this ghost possibly know about me, and what could she have to tell me. “My name is Bonnie Adair. Many centuries ago, when this bustling city was just a small town, I lived up there in the castle.” I glanced up to see where Bonnie was pointing to see ruins of what used to be the Edinburgh Castle. 

    “You- you’re the princess! The long lost princess who disappeared!”

    “Yes, and I'm afraid the same could happen to you.” Chills scattered through my veins as those words escaped Bonnie’s lips.

    “I’m sorry. What do you mean by that?” 

    “Not here. We must go now.” As Bonnie walked, the bottom of her dress floated along the ground. Her back was covered by a corset that was far too tight for her body, and a giant crack in Bonnie’s skull was placed just above her neck. We walked for what seemed to be hours to a graveyard by the ruins of Edinburgh castle. Many of the worn gravestones were cracked and covered in various plant life. One particularly old gravestone placed in the middle of the cemetery, was regularly cleaned, although still worn. Atop of the stone, an angel sat holding a scroll that read “The Adair Family.”

    “This is your grave. It is said that your family was so upset from your disappearance that they immediately dug your grave and carved your name into the stone.”

    “That is the truth. I watched it happen right where you are standing. I witnessed another event that occured just the night before as well.”

    “What was it?”

    “My own death.” My body froze. “Mackenzie, I want to show you my death.” Ghosts had offered to show me their old lives before. Old couples offer to take me to their wedding nights or children would take me to their homes to play. I had never before been asked to see the time of their death.

    “I-I don’t know. Are you sure?”

    “Yes. I’m sur-” Bonnie suddenly disappeared out of thin air. The last glimpse I saw of her face was a look of pure terror.

    “Bonnie? Bonnie!?” I spun around panting, trying to find any hint that Bonnie was still present with me. My heartbeat quickened and my knees gave out from under me, sending me toppling over to the ground. I found the energy to prop myself up using a nearby gravestone, and I began to trod home. I made it back to my home, frogs croaking all around me at the moon. 

    “Where were you?!”

    “I just went for a walk. I’m sorry.” My father tried to look as though he was upset with me, but the act broke not even a second later and he extended his arms out for a hug.

    “I was so worried about you. Please tell me where you are going next time. I can’t lose you too.”

    “I’m sorry dad.” I crept up the stairs to my bedroom and laid on the bed. I threw the covers over me and got ready for bed, but the last thing I could do that night was sleep.

My eyelids gradually opened. I reached over to shut off the alarm blaring in my ears. As I reached my hand out, another hand reached out for mine.

    “Mackenzie. We must hurry. Grab your bag and come with me immediately.”

    “Bonnie! Where did you go last night?”

    “What?!” My dad shouted from the kitchen. 

    “Nothing Dad!”

    “Ok! I made waffles and chocolate milk today!”

    “One minute! Bonnie let me say goodbye to my dad. I don’t want to be suspicious.”

    “Hurry please. It’s for your safety.” I ran down the stairs, tripping over my own feet. I scarfed down one of the waffles and ran over to hug my dad.

    “Goodbye dad. I’ll miss you.” I sprinted out the door and waited for Bonnie to appear next to me. “I need an explanation. Now.”

    “Not yet. He’s here.”

    “Who?”

    “I think you know who.” I turn over my shoulder to see the ghost with the one eye peering at me from around the corner of an old antique store. I have always felt somewhat scared and intimidated by this ghost, but he always kept his distance. I never had a reason to fear him, right? Bonnie and I approach the graveyard once again, this time in broad daylight. “Take a seat child. This may take quite some time.” I sat down on a cold, mossy patch of grass next to the engraving of Bonnie’s name on the tombstone.  Bonnie also made an effort to sit down, but her spirit remained hovering just above the ground. “My dear, it is time for you to see the truth. Look me in the eyes and grab my hand.” I wasn’t prepared to witness someone’s death, but something in me knew that I had to do this. “Feumaidh sinn ùine a thionndadh air ais gus na tachartasan uamhasach a thachair dhomh fhaicinn*.” Bonnie reached out and grabbed my hand as she 

recited these words. We stared at each other without a single blink, and after the words 

were recited, Bonnie used her other hand to cover my eyes. After her hand was removed, I opened my eyes to see that were in the exact location as before. This time however, when I looked down, Bonnie’s name was no longer on her tombstone.

“Where are we?”

    “Edinburgh Scotland in the same cemetery we were just present in. It is 342 years prior, and today is the day I had turned 17 years of age.”

    “What’s going to happen?”

    “Just watch dear. You’ll see soon enough.” The pitch black sky left an eerie feeling in the breeze. The wind felt as if it blew right through me, and the cold marble of the tombstones left me shivering. The only light that could be seen was the torches adorned on the outskirts of a 

*We need to turn back time to see the terrible events that happened to me.

completely standing Edinburgh castle. In the distance, two shadows were cast upon the grass. The shadows seemed to be approaching quicker and quicker, and 

it could be seen that one was a woman and the other was a tall man. I slowly stood up in an 

attempt to hide behind a nearby grave.

    “They can’t see or hear us dear. Nothing can change the past.” As the two figures got closer and closer, it could be seen that the tall man was holding the woman by the neck, covering her mouth to prevent her from making any sound. The man stopped in his tracks directly in front of the Adair family’s tombstone.

    “Bonnie Adair. Darling angel. The time has come! You are finally a woman of age, and I am to be your suitor. You have no choice but to be my wife, but I would love to hear the words come from those precious lips of yours. Will you be my bride Bonnie Adair?”

    “Over my dead body!” Bonnie had spit onto the mans face, causing him to take a step back and give Bonnie a millisecond to run. Her shoes dug into the moist dirt as she sprinted for her life. Bonnie was fast, weaving between tombstones and bushes, but the man was faster. He caught up to Bonnie, grabbed her dress and caused her to fall into the dirt. “NO! PLEASE! NO!” Her shrieks filled the cemetery. He ripped her dress in an attempt to pull her up from the ground and drug her back to the tombstone. She flailed around, digging her nails deep into the ground until her fingers started to bleed. As her hands drug through the grass, she grabbed onto a stick, whipped her arm around, and stabbed it directly into the man’s right eye. The man screamed in agony.

    “You! You Bonnie Adair are not suited to be a wife. You are the devil in the form of a woman. If you do not have the capability to please me, you will never please anyone!” The man grabbed Bonnie by her long hair and wrapped around his fist. He dug his hand into her side and in an instant, he lifted her above his head. He pushed down on her face and hair in one quick motion and her head smacked directly onto the head of the angel on the tombstone. All that could be heard was a loud CRACK echoing throughout the graveyard. Bonnie's body fell onto the ground, her open wound spilling blood out onto the ground for the dirt to absorb. Blood covered the face of the angel. Right next to Bonnie appeared a translucent light which eventually transformed into the ghost of Bonnie. The man picked up Bonnie’s limp body taking it to a place that couldn’t be seen from where I was standing.

    “I never knew where he took my body. I have always hoped that I was in the woods surrounded by woodland creatures and plants.”

    “Bonnie. What does this have to do with me?”

    “Mackenzie. Tomorrow is your 17th birthday. And you are the heir to the Adair throne.”

“I’m what?!” I felt like I was in a dream. I felt as though the words that just rang through my ears were just whispers of my imagination. “No no n- I’m just Mackenzie! I’m not royal or anything.”

    “Well, unfortunately, you are.”

    “Unfortunately?”

    “I have something I must tell you. Unless the man who murdered me is stopped, your fate is to be the same as mine. Clyde Stewart was, and is his name. He died only days after our encounter from an infection in his eye, but his spirit is still very much alive. He knows about you Mackenzie, and his only goal is to kill every Adair heir on her 17th birthday.”

    “It’s him. The man that follows me around!.”

    “Yes. And now he knows everything about you.”

I awoke in my bed, unable to remember how I got there. From below me, I could hear rustling in the kitchen. My heart sank. 

    Is it him? Am I soon to become one of the spirits I see roaming the street every day? I thought to myself. I crept down the stairs, keeping one eye open at all times.

    “Happy Birthday Mackenzie!” My dad stepped out from the kitchen holding a giant stack of chocolate chip pancakes with 17 candles on top.

    “Thanks Dad.” Normally an event like this would make my day, but the only thing that came to my mind was the reminder of my fate that was soon to come. I ate my pancakes, and got one last birthday hug, or even one last hug forever, from my dad. “I love you so much.” I grabbed my backpack from the ground with no intention of going to school today and headed out into town. The streets were bustling with people and ghosts, but everything felt empty and dark. The sun inched through the sky as I walked all around town, always keeping my pocket knife ready in my pocket. While looking for Clyde, I also hoped that I’d find Bonnie. She seemed to be my only form of safety anymore. 

    How do you even stop a ghost? I thought to myself. He’s already dead. This pocket knife is practically a bag of air to him. Suddenly, as the sun began to set. Bonnie appeared in a quick flash.

    “I don’t have much time. I only have one thing that I can tell you. Lay the dead where visions were lost.” 

    Visions? “Bonnie wait!” In almost an instant, her spirit disappeared and all that remained with me was the dark night sky. My feet dragged on the rough dirt, tearing the soles of my shoes. I trodden up the dirt path to the cemetery, looking for any sign of him. 

    “Mackenzie. We finally meet.”

    “It’s you. You killed Bonnie! How could you?”

    “I wouldn’t say killed. I’d personally word it as giving her what she deserved.”

    “You’re disgusting.” I never felt more of an urge to kill someone, but this man deserved worse than the fate he had already experienced. My hand reached in my pocket for the sharp blade.

    “That won’t do you any good dearie. Unfortunately I’m already dead. Don’t worry though, you soon will be joined with me.” Clyde’s pale hand reached for my face and wrapped around my throat. My breath was pulled from my lungs as he lifted me into the air. I grabbed onto his arm, half expecting to be unable to touch him. Clyde was different. Rage had filled with spirit to the point that you could touch his anger and himself. As our bodies floated further into the sky, my breath became short and choppy. Suddenly we started plummeting toward the ground. The wind soared past my body, whipping my hair into my face. I clawed into Clde’s skin and grabbed onto whatever I could to avoid falling onto the damp ground below. My body abruptly jolted and I found my face stopped right in front of the angel resting on top of the tombstone. “Fate is such a funny thing isn’t it. No matter what you do to prevent it, the inevitable will always prevail.” I looked into Clyde’s face, accepting that the words from his mouth were right, when I saw his eye.

    Visions. His Vision! It had finally occurred to me what Bonnie meant. I had to bury him where he lost his vision. Bonnie’s grave! I reached my arm around Clyde’s face, grabbing his head where his blind spot laid. I used all of my fear and anger to pull him into the ground. I pushed him face into the ground, and slowly smoke arose from the ground. Clyde’s spirit began to sink into the very spot where Bonnie was meant to lay. His anger smoked and flew into the sky. His hand reached out one last time towards the sky, and I grabbed his wrist and pushed him into the ground to stay forever. 

I turned to the right to see a warm golden glow walking towards me. Bonnie’s spirit was glowing like the brightest star in the galaxy, and all that could be seen was a smile cast across her face.

    “Thank you Mackenzie. I’m finally free to be with my family. Now go to yours.” The warm glow started to disappear as Bonnie rose up into the air, becoming one with the sky. I picked myself up as best I could, covered in dirt from head to toe. My feet slipped in the must as I tried to make it home in the dark. I saw the warm light of my cottage through the front windows. I swung open the door to find my dad reading in his rocking chair.

    “Dad!” I ran over to him, hugging him so tight that I could feel his breath being taken away.

    “Mackenzie? What’s wrong?”

    “Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong.”