Chapter 1
I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. The date was August 15, 1984, the first day of seventh grade. Yay! I brushed my teeth and got dressed. I pulled my brown hair into a high ponytail. After eating breakfast, I got into my mom’s car. My little sister, Molly, was sitting in the backseat. She was ten years old and had big blue eyes and brown hair. She had on a yellow dress and sneakers.
"Are you girls excited for your first day of school?" Mom asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied.
"Yes," Molly responded.
"So, Molly," I said, "do you think you will like your new teacher?"
"Mom and I already met her at an open house," she said. "She seems nice,"
"I have not met all of my teachers yet," I said. "I honestly do not know what to expect,"
"You will once you get there," Molly said.
She was the first to be dropped off at her school. Mom then drove me to my school. Once she stopped, I saw a sign that read, "Welcome new students to Little Swamp Middle School!" It was a large, two-story brick building. I started to feel nervous.
"Have a good first day, sweetie!" Mom said.
"Thanks," I reply quietly as I grab my backpack. Other children got out of their parents' cars or the yellow bus. I watch yellow, red, and brown leaves blow in the wind and around the other kids' feet.
Ok, Courtney Willow Thompson, relax, I think. I walked through the double doors. The other kids were going to their lockers or talking to friends. None of them were looking at me, but I felt like they were.
After going to my locker, I went to my home economics class for the first block. I opened the door and said, “Good morning!” to Mr. Hollensbrook. He was stout and wore a blue plaid shirt.
“Good morning, Ms. Thompson,” he said. “Have a seat,”
I sighed anxiously before walking to my seat. On the whiteboard, written in red marker, was the word “cooking”. I can learn this stuff at home, I thought. Why did I sign up for this class? I hope that You-Know-Who is out sick today.
I looked around for any sign of him. Him. The one boy I loathed. There he was, sitting next to his brother, Robert. Right next to him was an empty seat. I rolled my eyes, but I sucked it up and sat down.
Ethan Jackson was his name. Toying with girls was his game. He was tall, with brown hair and eyes. Robert resembled him but wore a pair of red glasses. The two of them stared coldly at me. I did my best to ignore them and listen to Mr. Hollensbrook teach us how to iron and fold clothes.
We had broken up the summer before I turned thirteen. I thought everything was going great. Then, one day, he called my landline and said we were through. Ethan started dating Karen Polanski a month after our break-up. I did not blame him. Karen was the most pretty, popular girl in school with blue eyes and blonde hair. Every girl at Little Swamp Middle wanted to be her. The guys wanted her.
Which is why her death came as a shock to everyone.
Everything went downhill the moment the lunch bell rang. I grabbed a tray, put food on it, and sat with my friend, Marcie Collins. She was short and stocky, with black hair, green eyes, and gray glasses. That day, she wore a blue T-shirt, shorts, and shoes.
“Hey, girl,” she said. “What’s up?”
“Hi, Mar-Mar,” I replied. “Nothing much. You?”
“Dad is still considering buying a new car,” said Marcie. “He and Mom are saving their big American bucks,”
“Well, I hope they get it,”
“Thank you, Courtney,”
“You’re welcome, bestie,” I said, my hand forming into a fist. “Fist bump?”
“Fist bump,” Marcie said.
Our fists collided with each other.
“How is your family?” Marcie asked.
“Grandpa is as healthy as ever,” I replied. “Mom has not moved on from my dad. Little Molly is still happy-go-lucky,”
"That last part is happy to hear,” said Marcie.
“And then she was like, ‘Ah,’ and I was all like ‘How sad,’,” came a familiar voice behind me.
I turned around. Karen stood among the popular girls in the lunch line. They walked over to our table and sat down.
“Hey, Marcie, Courtney,” said Karen.
“Hello, Karen,” Marcie said in a monotone voice. “Karen’s friends,”
“We have a quick favor to ask of you,” said Karen.
I rolled my eyes. Karen had a habit of making other people suffer for her amusement. She had been doing it since the fifth grade. Her pranks usually involved videotaping and compromising. If you went along with the prank, Karen and her friends would gladly welcome you into their possé. If you did not, she would go out of her way to make your life a living hell. I did not want to ask them what it was, but curiosity got the better of me.
“What is it?” I asked. Marcie lightly punched my shoulder.
“This is not a prank, I swear,” said Karen.
She paused for dramatic effect.
“I want one of you to summon the ghost of Emma Copperfield,” she said, “and the other to record it,”
“What?” said Marcie.
“You heard me,” Karen said. “One of you has to sit in a tub of lukewarm water and chant her name three times. The other has to record it so we can know for sure if they did it,”
“Who is this Emma Copperfield?” I asked.
“Do you girls want to tell them or should I?” Karen asked her friends.
“All you,” one of them said, smiling.
Karen turned back to us.
“You know those horror stories that are supposed to keep you up at night?” she began. “I mean, like the ones from The Tell-Tale Lilac Bush? Those stories are not scary enough. That is because they are not real. The tale of Emma Copperfield is an exception.
Emma Lorenza Spencer was born on October 30, 1875, in Italy. Her father was an English soldier stationed in Rome, while her mother was an Italian noblewoman. Rumor has it she was a descendent of Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, who butchered several maidens to keep her youth during the fifteenth century. It is believed that Emma was a fan of hers. The only evidence we have of this is she had a life-sized portrait of Elizabeth in her room.
"When Emma was sixteen, her mother died in a boating accident. She reportedly sat on a bench nearby and watched the whole event. It is said that she never quite got over the trauma. To make matters worse, her father retired and fell in love with another woman. They married, and the family relocated to her native country, Australia. It was there the woman gave birth to her half-sister, Anna.
She wrote in her journals of how much she hated Perth. The only light in her life was Peter Copperfield, an English immigrant. They married after five months of dating. Unfortunately, one month into their marriage, Peter, Mr. Spencer, and her stepmother died of tuberculosis. This meant that a pregnant Emma had cared for Anna. In March of 1895, she gave birth to a daughter named Lucia Maria Copperfield.
Emma was excited to become a new mother. She was also happy that Amelia now had a new playmate. Unfortunately, Lucia was not a healthy child. She experienced symptoms of what doctors now call cystic fibrosis, a lung disease where the body produces too much mucous. It is also always terminal. No one knew what it was back then, of course.
One day, it happened. No one expected it. This caused Emma to lose all of her faith. Amelia was the only one left. She reminded her of Lucia every time she saw her. All Anna could do was pray for her sister. Then came what Emma called the Wonderful Day.
She entered the living room and found three men sitting by the lit fireplace. She asked why they were there. When none of them answered, Emma walked up to them. To her surprise, all three men shapeshifted into terrifying creatures. The first man had the head of a cat and the body of a tarantula. The second has three heads and the tail of a scorpion. The third man did not change much. He had a beautiful face and wore a golden crown.
“They introduced themselves as Bael, Moloch, and Paimon. They claimed they knew how Emma could bring Lucia back. All Emma needed was the right vessel. What they wanted was the blood and souls of seventeen virgins. 'It will make us stronger,' the demons explained. 'We will bring your daughter back when we are at our strongest. The last body will be her new one,'
Emma, who was a skilled baker, went to work. She would kill the girl with an axe, then bake their remains into her tea and cakes. Anna was her first victim. For the other ones, Emma had to get through lonely hearts columns. Yes, they existed back then. However, people started to complain about the taste of the food and the smell that came from her chimney. So Emma decided to make furniture out of their skin and dump the bodies in the Australian Outback.
"Emma's last victim was intended to be a girl named Anne Pluckley. Anne was a tall girl with red hair and green eyes. She had immigrated to Australia from Ireland with her family, like many of her victims. Immigrants are easy, she thought. They do not know me or anything about this God-forsaken country.
Anne quickly responded to the newspaper column. In it, Emma said she needed a live-in caretaker for her disabled father, Hank, at fifteen pounds an hour. The Pluckleys were in dire need of money. Amelia liked the countryside, which is where Mrs. Copperfield lived. Since Australia was an English colony and Ireland was under British rule, Anne thought the countryside would not be that different.
"On Saturday, October 12, 1912, Anne Pluckley left her home at 8:32 AM to go to work. She told her family and boyfriend, Edward Thompson, about this job offer, and they were all for it. That was the last time anyone heard from her for a while. Her mother, Harriet, became concerned when Anne did not reply to her letters. They did not have a car, so Harriet asked a neighbor, Mr. Wickham, to drive her and her husband, George, out to Emma's house.
They knocked on the door. When nobody answered, they called the police and reported Anne missing. She was found a few weeks later. She had escaped by climbing through the basement window. Unfortunately, Emma caught up to her in the Outback and attacked her with an axe, amputating both her arms. Anne managed to crawl away and met a kind crocodile hunter. The police were able to save her from bleeding out. There was an investigation, which cultivated in the police searching Emma's house. Some of them got post-traumatic stress disorder from what they saw. Eyes were placed on all the doorposts, bones were found near her potbelly stove, and five pairs of legs were placed near her large cooking pot.
"Hank never existed. His real name was Thomas Frank, and he was a con man as well as her accomplice. He was charged as an accessory to murder and sentenced to life in prison. Emma was sentenced to die on the gallows, with her death date being listed as August 16 the following year. She waited patiently for her turn on the Hangman. On the day of her execution, a strike of lightning set Mrs. Copperfield on fire. Many suggested calling the fire department, but the executioner stopped them, saying it did not guarantee Emma a quick death. The rain finally put it out. If you are a Christian, you might believe that God took Emma. If you are an atheist, you could call it poetic justice.
Anyway, I read somewhere that you could summon Emma's ghost by chanting, 'Emma Copperfield, Emma Copperfield, Emma Copperfield, come to me,' three times in a bathtub full of warm water. The lights have to be off. Four lit candles must be placed on all corners of the tub. Your eyes must also be closed. The only difference is that you have to videotape yourself. In this way, we will know that you did it. One can stand behind the camera while the other has to get in the tub. We chose you because you girls seem easy. You will know you have successfully summoned Emma if you feel someone grabbing your left foot. There is another rule, which is the most important. Do not tell Emma your intentions. She is a mind reader,"
There was a moment of silence.
"Girl, ain't no way we're doing that," said Marcie, shaking her head.
"You don't have a choice, Marcie," said Karen. "It's either this or we make you and your little friend's lives miserable,"
"You are unbelievable, Karen," Marcie replied. "Courtney and I won't do it no matter how much you and your friends threaten us. Right, Courtney?"
I thought hard about this. Was I going to summon a ghost in the name of popularity?
"No," I stammered. "Karen, we will not do it,"
"Are you serious?" she said, laughing. "You girls want to give up your only chance to be popular?"
"You picked the wrong girls," I said. "We're Baptist. To summon a ghost would be to summon a demon, so we are not doing that,"
"I think the legend is a fake," said Karen. "But whatever. Your wishes will not come true,"
"Wishes?"
"Yeah, I forgot to mention Emma will grant you whatever it is you girls desire,"
"Like what?"
"The three things everyone desires: money, fame, and love,"
"The answer is still a hard no for me," said Marcie. "I do not care much for fame or money. Also, I'm not boy-crazy,"
"Suit yourselves," said Karen as she and her friends got up to walk away. "Come on, guys. Let's go talk to the other less popular kids,"
I quickly realized Karen was wrong. Not everyone on this earth desires money, fame, or love. Some people desire to have children, get a job promotion, or trendy clothes. I knew what I wanted.
"Wait!" I said.
Karen turned to look at me.
"What?" she replied.
A voice inside of my head told me not to do it. I could have easily said, "Never mind," but that would have wasted Karen's time, even if it lasted a few seconds. There was also the possibility that Emma's powers were limited. It does not hurt to try anything, I thought.
"I don't know if your story is true, Karen," I said. "I say that with all due respect. There is the possibility it's true. The case might be bad, but I accept your challenge,"
