House of Shadows

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  “Hi back,” he smiled.

  That somehow became our greeting. I was undone when Miles returned from the hospital, and said that. I thought he was Second-Miles, and all my resolve to hold myself together and keep the memories of Miles at bay, were shattered by those two simple words.

  “Hi Jenny, it’s nice to see you,” Miles said, as he sat beside me.

  “It’s good to see you too, Miles,” said Jenny. “And congratulations!”

  “Thank you,” he smiled.

  “Jenny’s going to be my roommate,” I told him.

  “That’s great,” he replied.

  “I’m really looking forward to it,” Jenny said.

  “Me too! It’s going to be a lot of fun. Just wait until you see the apartment in person, Jenny, you’ll love it. It has covered parking, it’s security controlled, it’s completely furnished, and the owner of the building is awesome,” I said, smiling at Miles and reaching for his hand.

  “I’m sure he is, you’re not biased at all,” Jenny laughed, and we laughed with her. “Seriously though, I am so excited about this. I was thinking this morning, that I should have started looking for a place already. I was hoping this close to school starting, that I’d still be able to find something safe, quiet, and affordable.”

  “It’s all of those things,” Miles said. “Anika, did you bring the extra key?”

  “Oh! I did!” I grabbed my purse which hung on the back of my chair, and rummaged. “Here you go, Jenny. Oh, and—here’s a card with the address on it.”

  “Thank you,” Jenny said seriously. “I can’t thank you enough, this is—too good to be true.”

  “So are a lot of the best things in this world,” I said, squeezing Miles’ hand.

  “Well… thank you,” said Jenny, giving me a hug. “And thank you, Miles.”

  “You’re welcome,” we both said, and laughed.

  Jenny looked behind me and waved, so I turned around. I saw Nate and a very pretty curly-haired blond holding hands and walking down the board sidewalk toward us. There was a beautiful golden retriever beside her, bigger than Trixie. He was wearing a red vest. As they came closer, I read the words emblazoned on the patches sewn there. “Diabetic Alert Dog” was printed on one of them. I had no idea what that meant, but Miles probably did. I’d ask him later.

  They smiled and waved, and I did too.

  “Nate and Lizzie counseled with me at Camp Emmaus this summer,” said Jenny. “They met at camp seven years ago, and fell in love. Two years ago, before he could ask her to marry him—well, it’s a long story, but they finally got their happy ending. Or happy beginning, as Lizzie puts it. They were married just a few days ago.”

  Oh my goodness! I was not expecting that!

  Jenny stood to give Lizzie a hug, as she and Nate approached our table to say hello. Miles and I stood also.

  “Congratulations!” I said to Nate. “Jenny just told us your good news!”

  “Thank you,” Nate smiled. He looked so happy, and I was glad. He was a really nice guy, and deserved a happy beginning.

  “You guys haven’t met yet,” I said, “so let me introduce you. Miles, this is Nate Harrison. He owns Lawncare Extraordinaire. Nate, this is my fiancé, Miles Bannerman.”

  “It’s good to meet you,” Miles smiled, as they shook hands.

  “Good to meet you too, and congratulations on your engagement,” said Nate, smiling back, as he put his arm around Lizzie. “I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Lizzie Harrison.”

  “Congratulations!” I said. “I’m Anika, and it’s wonderful to meet you, Lizzie!”

  “I’m so glad to meet you too,” she smiled.

  Nate turned to Miles.

  “I was really glad to hear you recovered, and woke from the coma.”

  “Thanks,” Miles smiled. “So was I!”

  We all laughed.

  Nate turned to Lizzie, and explained.

  “He was in a coma for almost a year.”

  “Miles was pushed from an overlook, and it’s a miracle he survived,” I said. Nate knew that, but Lizzie apparently didn’t.

  Lizzie looked at Miles with concern.

  “That’s terrible! I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Miles said. “I’m very thankful to be alive.”

  “Do you know who’s responsible?” Lizzie asked.

  “Yes,” Miles replied. “A distant cousin. He wanted to take control of my family estate, and was willing to kill for it.”

  “Miles was badly injured, but the only lasting effect is that he lost almost all of his memories. Fortunately, he remembered who pushed him, and the cousin is now awaiting trial.”

  “He remembered you, too,” said Nate. “I know how devastated you were, thinking he wouldn’t. My brother Luke, was planting at the estate the day Miles returned, and saw your reunion, and that he hadn’t forgotten you after all. I was so glad to hear that.”

  “Thank you,” I said faintly, avoiding eye contact with what must be a very confused Jenny.

  “I could never forget Anika,” Miles said, with a soft look in his eyes as he rested his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. Then he turned back to Nate and Lizzie. “Would you care to join us?”

  Oh my word, I need to teach him a thing or two about re-directing!

  “Maybe for a minute,” said Nate, and they both sat down.

  I looked at Jenny as Nate and Lizzie focused on scooting in chairs, and made an ‘I’ve got no idea what they’re talking about’ look, and shrugged my shoulders slightly.

  Lizzie made a hand motion, and her service dog somehow managed to curl himself under her chair.

  “He’s beautiful,” I said. Now that’s redirecting! “Miles has a golden retriever, too.”

  “She’s some dog,” said Nate. “Really stealthy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her practically appear out of thin air.”

  Everyone started to laugh, so Miles and I joined in. I don’t think I looked too much like a deer caught in the headlights, and Miles covered well.

  “I don’t call her Trix for nothing,” he said.

  We chatted a little bit more, and then Nate and Lizzie had to go. I was so happy for Nate. He was a great guy, and he deserved a great girl. I wanted to know more, it looked like their relationship moved as fast as everyone thought mine and Miles’ had. But I was sure relieved when he left, without bringing up anything else for us to have to cover for! I’d ask Jenny for details, later.

  “Thank you, by the way,” said Lizzie, as she turned to go. “For being service dog educated, and for ignoring Samson.”

  “Of course,” Miles said. “We wouldn’t want to do anything that would hinder him in doing his job.”

  “Well, thank you. I always appreciate those that understand.”

  Chapter 5

  All of my things—not that I had that much, really—were packed and loaded in the Highlander. Tomorrow, Miles and I would drive to Glen Haven and move into our apartments.

  Chip lived in an apartment before—although not a very nice one—but this would be very new for Trixie. Miles planned to take the dogs running every day, so they’d get exercise. Hopefully that would satisfy her.

  I lay in bed, tossing and turning. I looked at my dog, and envied him his ability to fall sound asleep at the drop of a hat.

  I sat up and blew a strand of hair out of my face. Running my hands through my hair, I got up and looked around the room in the faint moonlight, making sure I didn’t forget anything when I packed earlier.

  Nope, everything was either stowed in the vehicle, or in the small suitcase on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed.

  I felt hot. Uncomfortably hot. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t sleep. I opened one of the windows and looked out at the rose garden. In the dim light of the waning moon, it looked otherworldly.

  I breathed in the scent of roses and pine. Somewhere nearby, it was raining. The light breeze brought the scent of damp earth with it.


  I sat on the window seat, letting the evening air cool and relax me. As long as it didn’t relax me so much that I fell out the window, then maybe in a few minutes I’d be able to go to bed, and sleep after all.

  I opened my eyes, confused. I was so cold I was shaking, and my head felt strange. I must have been asleep a long time. I rubbed my arms, then reached out to close the window.

  I froze, paralyzed by what I saw below me.

  A shadow moved along the wall of the estate. I stopped breathing, and slowly pulled my arm back through the window, my eyes locked on that moving shadow.

  A dark cloud moved in front of the sliver of a moon, and the earth was plunged into darkness.

  I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering as much from fear as from the cold, straining to see through the pitch-black night.

  The cloud slowly released the dim light of the moon. The shadow was gone.

  My hands shaking, I shut and latched the window, and woke up Chip. Forget training him to sleep on a dog bed again, I was freaked out and didn’t want to be alone! I told him “up,” and with a groan, he hopped onto the bed and lay down. I burrowed under the covers beside him, and lay there shivering.

  Was I losing my mind? I didn’t think so… I didn’t think it was a hallucination, either. I’d been sleeping well, most of the time. So what was I seeing? Why did no one else see it? Miles didn’t say anything about it, and neither did anyone else.

  I was beyond glad that out of everyone in the world, I was the one able to see and hear Miles. There was nothing dark or scary about him, he was quite the opposite. But this… there was a darkness about it. My mind raced, inventing horrible possibilities.

  I was completely psyching myself out, and I knew it. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pressing my aching back against my already sound asleep dog.

  Maybe what I saw was an animal wandering the grounds. That’s what it had to be. It had to.

  I spent the rest of the night counting down the minutes until morning.

  “You feeling okay?” Miles asked, a concerned look in his eyes as he met me in the hall outside my room, as he did every morning.

  “I hope I’m not getting sick,” I said. It was the first excuse I could think of, to explain the dark circles under my eyes. I was shivering, too. I still felt cold from falling asleep by the open window, and lack of sleep.

  Miles felt my forehead. “You don’t feel hot, maybe a little warm… it’s easy to see you don’t feel well, though. We don’t have to go today, we can wait. There’s no hurry. Classes don’t start for a couple more weeks, after all.”

  “No,” I said quickly, hoping my panic didn’t show. “Please—let’s go today, like we planned.”

  Miles put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes, as though reading me.

  “You’d tell me if something was wrong… right?”

  I leaned against his chest to break his intense gaze, as much as for the comfort.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m so excited about moving in and getting settled. I didn’t sleep much, that’s all. I think that’s why I don’t feel well. I’ll be fine. Let’s go. Please.”

  Miles put his arms around me and hugged me for a minute, before responding.

  “Okay. If that’s what you want, we’ll do that.”

  “Thanks,” I said in relief.

  “Let’s go have breakfast then,” Miles said.

  “Okay,” I nodded.

  I managed to eat. Chef Antonio is a true culinary master, which helped. Miles watching me with concern, was also an incentive.

  I didn’t want to tell him what I saw. We had so much drama over the course of our relationship, and… I just wanted him, and us, to enjoy a normal life. I didn’t want him to worry, and what could he do, besides that?

  We said goodbye to Grandma Polly, and I sighed in relief as we loaded the dogs in our vehicle, and Miles pulled out of the driveway.

  “You’re really okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” I said, holding his hand. “I am. You don’t need to worry about me.”

  “I love you, it kind of comes with the territory,” he replied seriously. “I want to take care of you.”

  “You do a good job of that,” I said, smiling at him. “I just need some sleep, and I’ll be good as new.”

  “Okay, then.”

  Miles focused on driving, and I fell asleep holding his hand.

  “We’re here,” Miles said, his voice filtering into my dream. “Feel like going in?”

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to look more awake than I felt.

  “Come on, let’s take the dogs up, and let them see where we’ll be living this year.”

  We walked through the lobby and greeted Steve at the front counter, then took the elevator to our floor. We stopped by my apartment first.

  Miles put his hands on my shoulders.

  “Go lie down. For just thirty minutes,” he said, when I began to protest. “Just do that. I’ll carry in your things, okay?”

  “Okay,” I finally said. I crashed on the couch, and fell asleep instantly.

  I had horrible disjointed nightmares, with a single theme. A dark shadow haunting, threatening, me and Miles. It merged with the murder of Miles and his brother in the clearing in 1870, and the grief of my great-great-great grandmother Sarah, because she couldn’t save them. It all swirled together in a dark, confusing, terrifying mix.

  I woke up shivering.

  “Hey,” Miles said softly. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not good,” I said.

  “You’ve got a fever,” he commented, pressing the back of his hand to my forehead.

  I almost cried with relief. The shadow from last night was a fever induced hallucination, it had to be. It was.

  “Here,” Miles said, holding out a digital thermometer. I held it under my tongue until it beeped. “No wonder you feel bad. You’ve got a temperature of a hundred and three. Do you want some ibuprofen?”

  “Yeah,” I said. My head ached. Ibuprofen sounded wonderful. He handed me three, and a can of Sprite.

  “Thanks,” I said gratefully. I swallowed the pills and lay back down wearily.

  “When you’re hungry, let me know,” Miles said.

  “Okay,” I said, and closed my eyes. I hadn’t felt this bad since I had the flu as a kid.

  The next time I woke up, I felt better. Probably the ibuprofen at work. I managed to get up and make my way to the bathroom, without falling. I found my suitcase in the bedroom where Miles put it, and changed into my yoga pants and t-shirt. I really must be sick, that wore me completely out. I made my way back to the living room, and sank into the couch. Miles was asleep in a recliner. I leaned over and touched the back of his hand, and he stirred.

  “What can I get you?” he asked.

  “Nothing, I just don’t think you can be very comfortable sleeping there.”

  “I’m perfectly comfortable. A lot more than I would be if I was next door, wondering if you need me.”

  Miles handed me another Sprite.

  “You need to drink.”

  “Yes, mom,” I said, and he smiled.

  “I’m glad to see you’re not too sick to be sarcastic. Are you too sick to eat?”

  “I’m not hungry, really…”

  “That isn’t a no, so hold on, I’ll be right back.”

  I heard the microwave running, and in a minute, Miles was back with a bowl of soup.

  “That does smell good,” I admitted, as he set a tray in front of me. “Thank you.”

  “Any time,” he said softly.

  “How did you manage all this?” I asked.

  “I called the pharmacy and placed an order. They deliver. Then I called your Mom. She came by and brought you the soup, and checked on you. She wanted to stay, or take you home with her, but with your sister still in recovery and your little brother in the house, I convinced her to let me take care of you here.”

  “Good, I’m glad. I can rest much better here.”
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br />   “Good,” Miles said, kissing my forehead. “You just focus on getting well.”

  Maybe it was the fever, or the fact that it was three in the morning, or the relief of knowing I didn’t really see that shadow last night… but I started to talk, and told Miles about it. He listened in silence, until I was finished.

  “Is that the only time you’ve seen something like this?”

  I told Miles about the dark figure that disappeared into the forest, and the shadow figure inside the estate.

  “But I was so sleep deprived. I’m sure they were hallucinations,” I reasoned.

  “How are you sure?”

  “I’ve only seen it three times, and only when I was sleep deprived or sick. I didn’t see anything strange all summer.”

  Miles thought about that, as he felt of my forehead and encouraged me to keep drinking.

  “You were hallucinating earlier this evening,” he said.

  “I was?”

  “When your Mom was here.”

  “What did I say?”

  “You talked about me being semi-transparent, and having superpowers,” he said.

  “Oh, no! I didn’t!” I exclaimed.

  “Oh, yeah. You did,” Miles said, smiling.

  “What in the world did Mom think of that?” I wondered.

  “She said you always hallucinate when you have a fever, and say the craziest things. She didn’t take anything you said seriously.”

  “That’s good,” I said with relief.

  “You talked about a shadow trying to separate us, too,” Miles said softly. There was concern in his hazel eyes.

  I remembered the nightmares that woke me up earlier. They were horrible.

  “Anika… if you ever again see anything unusual, or scary, or dangerous—tell me. Please. I don’t care if you think it’s not real… tell me. We’ll figure it out together.”

  “Okay,” I said, shaking my head at Miles’ offer of more Sprite, and laying back on my pillow.

  “Even if it’s imaginary, you don’t need to deal with it yourself. And if it isn’t… then it’s even more important that you tell me.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, and closed my eyes.

  The next morning, Miles arranged for a doctor to come by the apartment. I’m not sure anyone other than a Bannerman could manage that, or afford it. I was thankful I didn’t have to get up and go to an office or clinic.