Some people say that she has a gift, but Misty thought differently.
“I’m cursed,” she would say. Misty saw things that nobody else could see. She was able to predict fires and see ghosts. Misty repressed her gift-curse after she could not stop a tragedy from happening.
She had lived in an apartment complex, when she was twelve years old; six buildings surrounded a courtyard. Her bedroom window was a perfect place to see people in the courtyard and see the other buildings. Across the street was a little park where the children would play.
Misty spent a lot of time out there, keeping an eye on some of the little children. Misty was especially fond of Elizabeth, she was two years old and adorable. Her brother Andrew was four years old. Their parents always sent them outside alone. Therefore, Misty took it upon herself to watch out for them, especially her precious Elizabeth. Misty found out the hard way that she could not always protect her.
The night when Misty’s gift ended and her curse began was a normal night like any other. Misty lay on the couch and watched television. She was comfortable and enjoyed a movie. Suddenly Misty felt warm and she was getting warmer. Soon she was hot; the heat became unbearable. Sweat fell off her body; her clothes became wet. Misty sat up, flames jumped up all around her. She wanted to scream out, but Misty could not. She thought that she would burn to death.
Flames of red and orange danced all around her. All she could do was sit and watch, as the flames grew taller. Suddenly as quickly the heat started, it ended. Then the cold came.
Misty wrapped her arms around herself; she shivered. There was darkness, where just a few seconds ago was an inferno. Everywhere she looked was a black void.
Misty could not see. As she began to panic even more, it was over. The blackness faded, she saw the light from the lamp.
Everything in the apartment was there untouched. The movie still played and Misty warmed up, back to her normal temperature. She laid back down, in shock. “What the hell was that?” Misty put the strange incident out of her mind and finished watching her movie. After the movie, she went to bed.
During the night, Misty heard something in her dreams. Horror ran through her body. She sat up in bed and screamed, “fire!” She jumped out of bed and ran to her window. Misty looked out, she saw someone running around the courtyard. He was screaming but Misty could not hear what he said. She looked to her left and began to shake. “Fire!” Misty repeated over and over becoming louder until she screamed it. Her mother came into the bedroom to calm Misty, even though she was visibly upset herself.
Misty continued to stare out the window, as she watched the firefighters put out the blaze. As the fire slowly disappeared, dread filled her up. Misty knew what apartment the flames were taking over. Guilt began to ease into her consciousness.
A firefighter came around checking out the other buildings. Misty asked the dreaded question, his answer stabbed her in the heart. The blade twisted deep into her soul, with each word.
He told her, “A four year old boy was playing with some matches and started a fire. The four year old survived but we couldn’t save his two year old sister, she died in the fire.”
Misty screamed; her sweet Elizabeth was gone. Misty believed she could have prevented it. She saw and gone through everything Elizabeth went through.
That morning, depressed and angry with herself, Misty went for a walk in the courtyard. She looked up at the gutted out black apartment. Appearing before her eyes was a little girl looking out from the wreckage. Elizabeth stared down at her with sad eyes. Misty knew her spirit would never rest. It was all Misty’s fault. The ghost disappeared. Misty’s curse had begun. It was over; she had decided to block the curse from ever happening again. Misty had succeeded. Through the years, she never felt what she did that night. Misty never saw flames or felt the cold and darkness again.
The other part of the curse, Misty could not block. Most of the time she would ignore it; the ghosts scared Misty. She would sometimes tell them to leave her alone; if other people were around, Misty would get many strange looks. Some people believed her to be insane, because no one else could see them.
Once word spread around, people would want her to talk to their dead friends and relatives. She would tell them that the spirits came to her; she did not go searching for them.
The most haunted place in St. Johns was Suntree Apartments. Rumors about the place been told many times, strange things were always happening. The land that the complex sat on had many restless spirits.
One time Misty and some friends visited someone at the apartments. They were all sitting in the living room talking, when Misty saw something. She saw a white two-story house with a wide porch with four pillars in the front. On the porch, standing in front of the wooden steps was an old man. He was about six feet and muscular. His gray hair was short and his dark skin wrinkled. He looked to be about sixty years old.
He wore a white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He had on worn out blue jeans and on his feet was a pair of weathered brown work boots. He spoke to her, “help me, please, help me.”
Misty tried her best to ignore him but he kept pleading with her. She gave up and said to him, “I can’t help you, leave me alone!” He faded away. Misty again saw the living room and everyone stared at her. Only one person at the apartment knew of Misty’s curse and that was her best friend, Kim.
There were other places on and off through the years, that she saw ghosts. Misty would ignore them until they went away. She did not want anything to do with her sixth sense. It was a curse.