The Ancient Deal

The Ancient Deal
Eleanor's POV (Ghost)

I'm floating above Detective Rivera as she makes the most dangerous choice in human history, and I have to stop her.
"Detective Rivera!" I call out, making my ghost form visible to her. "Don't make a deal with the Native American spirits!"
She spins around, shocked. "Eleanor? I thought you moved on with the other ghosts."
"I tried to. But when I reached the spirit realm, I learned the truth about what really happened in Tidewaters over a century ago."
"What truth?"
"The original settlers didn't make a deal with something evil buried under the town. They made a deal with the tribal spirits who were trying to protect their sacred burial ground."
Detective Rivera stares at me. "What do you mean?"
"My great-great-grandfather and the other founders were desperate. They'd lost everything back east and needed this land to survive. But the local tribe said it was sacred ground that couldn't be disturbed."
I float closer to her, remembering the terrible story I learned in the spirit world.
"The tribal chief offered them a different deal. They could build their town here, but only if they agreed to protect the burial ground and honor the spirits of the dead children buried beneath it."
"Dead children?"
"The tribe had been fighting shadow walkers for generations. Every child they lost to the creatures was buried in this sacred ground to keep their souls safe from possession."
Detective Rivera looks confused. "But if the settlers agreed to protect the burial ground, what went wrong?"
"My great-great-grandfather lied. He pretended to agree to the deal, but as soon as the tribe left, he started digging up the graves to make room for more buildings."
"He disturbed the dead children?"
"Worse. He sold their remains to collectors back east who wanted 'Indian artifacts.' He made money off the bones of murdered children."
I feel sick telling this story, even as a ghost.
"That's when everything started going wrong. The shadow walkers that had been hunting those tribal children for decades suddenly had a way to reach them. Every bone that was sold, every grave that was disturbed, gave the creatures more power."
"So the shadow walkers weren't originally from Tidewaters?"
"They followed the stolen bones. And when they arrived, they found a town full of people who had already broken their promise to protect innocent children."
Detective Rivera sits down hard in Dr. Carver's chair. "The shadow walkers didn't corrupt your family, Eleanor. Your family invited them in."
"Exactly. For over a century, the Blackwood family has been trying to make up for my ancestor's betrayal by feeding the shadow walkers other children instead of the tribal ones they originally wanted."
"But that just made things worse."
"Much worse. Every child we sacrificed gave the creatures more power. Every ritual we performed taught them new ways to manipulate human guilt and shame."
Detective Rivera looks up at me. "Eleanor, if you know all this, then you know why I have to make a deal with the tribal spirits. It's the only way to fix what your family started."
"No, Detective. That's what I came back to tell you. The tribal spirits aren't in the spirit realm anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"The shadow walkers that escaped from Tidewaters? They didn't just go to the afterlife to possess dead children. They went there to destroy the tribal spirits who have been protecting those children's souls for over a century."
My ghostly form starts flickering as the effort of staying visible takes my energy.
"Detective, the tribal spirits are all dead. Murdered by shadow walkers just hours ago. There's no one left to make a deal with."
"Then how do we stop the shadow walkers from turning the afterlife into hell?"
"There's only one way. Someone has to take the place of the tribal spirits. Someone has to become the new guardian of dead children's souls."
"What does that mean?"
"It means someone has to die willingly, then use their death to create a new kind of protective barrier around the spirit realm."
Detective Rivera stands up. "You're talking about human sacrifice."
"I'm talking about human heroism. Someone choosing to give up their life and their afterlife to save every child who has ever died."
"Who would do something like that?"
I float right in front of her. "Me."
"Eleanor, no. You've already been dead for days. You can't die again."
"I can't die again as a human. But I can choose to let my ghost form be destroyed permanently. My soul would become energy that could be used to rebuild the protective barrier around dead children."
"But that means you'd be gone forever. No afterlife, no peace, no existence at all."
"It's the only way to fix what my family started. The only way to make up for a century of child murder."
Detective Rivera shakes her head. "There has to be another way."
"There isn't. And Detective, I'm not the only ghost willing to make this sacrifice."
As I speak, other ghost forms start appearing around us. Sarah Kellerman, Marcus Thorne, Dr. Carver, and dozens of other ghosts.
"We've all decided," Sarah says. "Every ghost who was connected to the Tidewaters conspiracy is willing to give up their existence to save the children in the spirit realm."
"But what about the shadow walkers still on Earth?" Detective Rivera asks. "What about Lisa Chen and the other dead teenagers being manipulated?"
Marcus answers. "That's where you come in, Detective. We can protect the spirit realm, but we need someone alive to protect the living world."
"How am I supposed to fight shadow walkers by myself?"
"You won't be by yourself," Dr. Carver's ghost says. "When we sacrifice our existence to create the new protective barrier, some of our power will transfer to you."
"What kind of power?"
"The power to see through any supernatural deception. The power to free possessed people. The power to banish shadow walkers back to whatever hell they came from."
Detective Rivera looks around at all of us. "And all I have to do is watch you all disappear forever?"
"All you have to do is carry on our fight," I tell her. "Save Lisa Chen. Save the other dead teenagers. Stop the shadow walkers from possessing any more children."
"Eleanor, I barely survived the battle in Tidewaters. How am I supposed to fight a war against supernatural creatures across the entire country?"
"Because you won't be fighting them as Detective Sam Rivera anymore."
"What do you mean?"
I smile, even though it hurts to think about what comes next.
"When we transfer our power to you, you'll become something new. Something that's never existed before."
"What?"
"A living person with the power to travel between the world of the living and the world of the dead. You'll be able to protect children in both realms."
"That sounds impossible."
"So did everything else that's happened in the past week."
Detective Rivera takes a big breath. "If I agree to this, what guarantee do I have that the power won't corrupt me? What if I become as bad as the shadow walkers?"
"Because," Marcus says, "the power only works if you use it to save children. The moment you try to use it for anything else, it disappears."
"And if something goes wrong during the transfer?"
"Then we all get destroyed and the shadow walkers win," Sarah says.
Detective Rivera looks each of us in the eye. "You're all willing to gamble your souls on the chance that this might work?"
"We're willing to gamble our souls on you, Detective Rivera," I tell her. "On the woman who freed us from the ancient creature. On the woman who chose love over violence when fighting the monster made of dead children."
"On the woman who's never given up on saving a child, even when everyone told her it was hopeless," adds Carmen Mendoza's ghost, appearing beside us.
Detective Rivera closes her eyes. "How do we do this?"
"You don't do anything," I explain. "We do it all. You just have to trust us."
"And if I say no?"
"Then the shadow walkers eventually win, and every child who ever lives or dies becomes their slave."
She opens her eyes and nods. "Do it."
All of us ghosts join hands in a circle around Detective Rivera. As we connect, our individual lights start combining into something brighter and more powerful than anything I've ever seen.
"Detective Rivera," I say as my ghost form begins to dissolve, "remember us. Remember that we chose to love children more than we chose to exist."
"I'll remember."
"And Detective? The power we're giving you comes with a price."
"What price?"
"You can never have children of your own. The spiritual energy required to protect all the world's children means you can never create new life."
"Will I be alone forever?"
"No. You'll have the gratitude of every child you save. And sometimes, that's enough."
The light around Detective Rivera grows brighter and brighter as we all give up our existence to make something new.
The last thing I see before I disappear forever is Detective Rivera's body sparkling with power that could save every child on Earth.
Or destroy them all, if she ever makes a single mistake.
But I believe in her.
I have to.
Because she's all that's left between the shadow walkers and every child who has ever lived.