Kate came downstairs from taking her shower, when I announced who had been trying to reach me. “It was Vanya calling and texting.  I forgot it’s Alex’s birthday this weekend.  I’ve never forgotten, but with everything that’s happened the last couple of days it makes sense.”

            “Of course.  What are the plans?”

            “She’d like us to meet them at their place and from there we’ll go to an Escape Room and go back to their place for dinner and cake and games.”

            “I’ve never been to an Escape Room before.” Kate said.  “What’s it like?”

            “Lots of fun!  The room has a theme and we’re locked in and have to find the clues to escape.”

            “So pretty much what the title suggests.” She laughed.

            “Okay you got me there, but it’s a lot of fun.  Alex and I haven’t been to one since her twentieth birthday and so that would be fifteen years ago.”

            “As long as the theme isn’t anything to do with haunted houses or ghosts.” She said.

            “No, not exactly.”

            “What is the theme?”

            “Something about finding pirate treasure.  I forget the name of the room.”

            “That I can handle.” She smiled.

            “Before Saturday, we have a few days to get a present for Alex and think about our wedding plans.  Sound good?”  I leaned in and gave Kate a kiss.

            “Yes.” She said.  “I meant to mention this earlier, but I feel bad I didn’t get to say goodbye to Angela.”

            “I know.  Me too.  She left early this morning.”  Then I handed her the note she had left.

            “What does she mean by “a far away place” in her letter?”  Kate asked surprised.

            “I wondered about that too.  It sounds, well I’m sure you feel the same way about how it sounds.”

            “Like she’s not of this world.”

            “Yeah.  But, after everything we’ve been through would that really be surprising?” I asked.

            “No, but…”

            “All I know is if my grandfather trusted her than so do I and wherever she’s from it’s good.”

            Kate shook her head.  “Agreed.”

            And we left that there with no more thought. 

            “When do you need to return to work?”  I asked Kate.

            “Next Monday. Until then, I’m free.”

            We decided to stay in Lunenberg until Alex’s birthday on Saturday, and then from there we would live at Kate’s during the week.  But we both wanted to move to Lunenberg into Seamus’s house after we were married.  Until then we would come here for the weekends. 

            “In the meantime, how about we make some plans for our wedding.  How long do I have to wait to call you my wife?  I like the sound of that.  I want to marry you next weekend, but I will wait for us to have a proper wedding.  How long will that take?” I teased Kate.

            “As long as it takes to plan.  Usually a year, but maybe we could plan it for six months from now.”

            “I’d prefer six months, of course.”

            “I know.  Me too.” She kissed me softly and longingly on my lips.

            After a few days of looking through wedding magazines, and looking around town for a wedding planner we were on our way to planning for the big day, sometime this May. 

            In the meantime, we had bought a gift [….] for Alex and were heading to Kate’s house in Halifax to get dressed for tonight’s party.  Vanya had said to dress casually, and so we wore our jeans with a dress shirt for me, and an elegant velvet blue and purple top for Kate.  We arrived a few minutes early and knocked on their door.

            Vanya was first to open the door.  “It’s so good to see you guys.  Alex!” She called out and found herself face to face with her. “Oops!” We all laughed.

            “Happy Birthday!” We both said and each gave Alex a hug.

            “Thank you.  Come on in.  So I hear Vanya told you about the Escape Room.  We need to get there in half an hour.”  Alex said excitedly.  “I figured turning 35 I should do something fun that I haven’t done in a long time.”

            “Definitely!” Kate agreed.

ESCAPE ROOM

            The owner of the place, Dale, explained the rules.  “You have one hour to find the pirate’s treasure or the curse of the dead pirate locks you in!”  He tried to make it sound scary, but with the word “curse” he didn’t have to try hard for us, little did Dale know.

            We entered the room, and the timer started.  We were in what looked like a cave with different pathways, and remnants of chains and booty along the way as clues. 

            Alex shouted, “I found a map.”

She had found the map on the side of one of the paths of the cave.  There were gem stones on the map compass.  She pressed each one until one opened a doorway in the wall of the cave.   Alex and I walked in, while Vanya and Kate watched. 

Vanya asked, “Do you see anything in there?”

Alex came out holding a compass and pointed to a pirate’s diary down the way, all the while smiling.  Within an hour Alex found the treasure and we were out.  She was always good at solving puzzles.  We took some pictures and then left.  Vanya drove.  She drove to Alex’s favourite pub on the pier where she made a reservation for dinner.  [[I NEED TO ADD DETAILS TO THE DINNER SCENE, but can’t think right now]

AFTER DINNER BACK AT ALEX’S HOUSE

            Alex wanted to play a board game, and so we agreed.  We were all having a good night together.

Until, Alex brought out the OUIJA board.

            “Very funny, Alex.  That’s not a board game.”  I laughed nervously.

            “Come on.  It’s just my old one from when I was a kid.  It’s not like it’s from the house.”  Then she opened the lid and we all stared in shock.  In the middle of the box was the old wooden Occulus from the house.

            “Alex, you didn’t keep it.  Did you?”

            “No, I swear I didn’t take it.”

            “But how did it get here then?  Angela said everything had to stay in the house and burn with it or else…”

            Kate spoke up, “Or else what?”

            “Evermore might not be completely gone.” I looked at Alex upset, but not angry.  I knew her well enough to know she would never keep something without asking me.  Especially after she knew what it took to destroy the evil of the house.

            Before we could think what to do, a transparent image of Evermore grew from the Occulus before us with flaming red eyes.  We all stood up and backed away.  Then I heard a woman’s whisper in my ear, “burn it now!”  It was my great great grandmother’s voice.

            Then we all heard my great great grandmother’s voice shouting, “No more will you curse my family!”  Then she started a chant in words we couldn’t understand.  She appeared only as a slim whisp of smoke as she pushed Evermore down into the Occulus despite his struggling.

            “Alex, start your fireplace now!” I yelled.  Then I whispered to her, “The Occulus has to burn to ashes now!”