DarkMan: Ghosts and Haunted Houses (The Spirit Guide Book 3)

by Caroline Clark

“Okay,” he managed. “I think we should go back to our place and get some more equipment and the laptop. We will set up and spend the night. We will find out what is going on and we will get to the bottom of this for you.

  Chapter 9

  "I don't want to stay here... alone," Margie’s voice was high with stress.

  "I understand. You can come with us; we won't be too long." Gail put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the car.

  Soon they were back at Seafield House, and Gail took her to the kitchen while Jesse loaded more equipment and sleeping bags for the night.

  The sound of their voices was soothing as he tried to decide what to take. It seemed strange that this once terrible house was now a sanctuary for those who were haunted. It gave him hope, and so he grabbed most of his equipment and the overnight packs they kept at the ready.

  Just as he was ready to go, he picked up the carrier bag from Occult Mysteries. One thing he had learned was waiting for spirits could be very boring. They rarely appeared when you wanted them to and it would probably be a long night. He would take turns staying awake with Gail and he could read and research while he was waiting.

  "All ready?" he asked and the two women nodded.

  "What happens now?" Margie asked, as they drove back to her bungalow.

  "We set up some equipment, and we wait," Jesse said.

  "Do I need to be there?"

  Jesse glanced across at Gail and they shared a look. Margie was understandably frightened, but the spirit wanted her. Without her it probably wouldn't show. They could investigate, but the chances were it would be a total waste of time. Once they left and she came back the problem, the spirit, would return, and she would be in danger once more.

  "We will be there with you," Gail said."

  As Jesse drove, the two women talked and he was amazed at how easily Gail changed the subject, taking Margie's mind off the danger.

  "Do you have any children?" Gail asked.

  "Two: a boy Jonathan and a girl Jessica. Both are married now and live down in Sussex."

  "That must be hard," Gail said.

  "It was at first. You feel such a loss when they leave, but they have their own lives. We talk often and they came up for the funeral. They even offered for me to go down and stay for a while. Do you think that's a good idea?"

  "Maybe," Gail said, and glanced at Jesse.

  He nodded, she was doing a wonderful job of helping Margie to relax, much better than he could.

  "Let's see what we can work out over the next couple of days," Jesse said. "This is your home and I see no reason why we can't sort this out quickly." Even though he sounded confident, he was really at a loss. If it wasn't her husband, then who was haunting Margie? Where had he come from and why had he turned up just after Alan's death? It all made no sense, and yet he knew he had to unravel the mystery. He had to find out who the spirit was, why he was here, and what he was attached to before they even had a chance of getting rid of him.

  "I understand," Margie said, but he heard the shakiness in her voice. He had frightened her once more.

  "Why don't we watch a movie?" Gail offered. "It will help pass the time while we wait."

  Soon they were discussing movies like two excited teenagers. They had decided to watch a film called, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was one he had never heard of and was about people retiring in India. Suddenly, he was glad he had brought his book.

  Back at the bungalow, Margie made some drinks and some popcorn. Jesse could hear Gail and Margie talking in the kitchen as he set up the equipment in the main bedroom. It was something he had done so many times that he’d soon set up an EMF, cold spot meters, and various cameras. His actions were automatic and he could do it without really thinking. Then he linked them all with his laptop and returned to the living room. He took the chair that faced slightly away toward the bedroom and angled it a bit more. It gave him the best view of the bedroom.

  The familiar excitement churned in his stomach. They were ready. Now all they needed was the spirit.

  Jesse munched on popcorn and monitored the laptop. It had been over an hour and his initial excitement was waning. Headphones prevented any noise from disturbing the girls, but so far the meters had all been quiet. Nothing was happening. That wasn't unexpected, as most ghost hunting was comprised of long periods of boredom in waiting for the spirit. At least he had a comfy chair.

  Gail and Margie sat opposite him watching the film. From time to time they would both roar with laughter, and it brought a smile to his face. Margie had been so frightened when they first walked into her life, and here she was relaxed and having fun. It had taken ten years off of her and the smile on her face was something he imagined had been pretty rare recently.

  For a while he tried to watch the film, but his mind kept drifting back to the book and his own quest. For the past few months he had been trying to contact his spirit guides. So far, he had managed to discern three of them. The first was Rose, the boxer dog he had as a child. She was the one most likely to allow contact with him. Unfortunately, she was also the hardest to communicate with. Then there was the grinning man. He was an old man with gray hair sticking out at all angles and an infernal grin. He had been the first spirit Jesse had ever seen.

  Jesse remembered a time when he had woken in the middle of the night. He was probably just eight or nine. There, in the corner of the bedroom, was a shadow. It coalesced and moved as he tried to focus on it. His breath caught in his throat, his heart pounded in his chest, as he realized a crazy old man was in his room. Terror froze him to the bed, and it was some time before he could scream.

  His parents had called him a liar and forced him not to talk about it, or even to mention it, and for a while he believed them. But the grinning man had returned. Night after night he would wake to see the man in his room. One night he woke to find him staring down at him.

  Dark, empty eyes and an open mouth that was full of blackness caused a crushing wave of terror, forcing him onto the bed. For long moments they stared eye-to-eye, mouth-to-mouth, and then the man had grinned even wider before disappearing.

  It had been a few weeks later when Jesse mentioned it to his grandparents and then they finally introduced him to a new world: one of spirits, ghosts, and adventures that excited him more than he could say.

  A screech from the headphones pulled his eyes to the screen. The temperature had dropped by 5° in the bedroom. Were things about to get exciting?

  Holding his breath, his fists clenched, Jesse watched the screen and the room at the same time. The cold meter had gone back to normal, the EMF had not moved, and the room was as silent as a church.

  Nothing was happening, not just yet.

  He let his mind drift back and remembered the excitement he first felt when he realized he could see ghosts. It was great that his grandfather, Charles, and his grandmother, Sylvia, had encouraged him.

  When Sylvia passed, he longed to communicate with her, but at the time it was not to be.

  Then when he was twelve, he met the black-eyed children, and soon after, his grandfather died. For a moment, Jesse was overwhelmed with guilt. He had let the children in against his grandfather's wishes. That was when he discovered Sylvia was one of his spirit guides. She had died a few years before, and he had tried to contact her many times, but each time he had failed. That night, she contacted him and told him he would meet the black eyed-children again, and then the battle would commence.

  Charles had died soon after his meeting with the spirit children. The doctors had said it was a heart attack, but Jesse knew different. Something else had changed that day… he had lost his gift. Since then, he had done all he could to regain it. Then one day he found out that Gail, a nonbeliever, could see ghosts.

  At first he was both excited and lost. What purpose had he if he couldn’t see spirits, help spirits? Then he had attempted to contact his spirit guides, to try and prepare for the battle he knew was coming. To that end, he picked up the bag from Occult
Mysteries and pulled out the book.

  The book was about contacting animal spirit guides. It was one he hadn't read, and as Rose was the easiest of his spirit guides to contact, he had decided to concentrate on her for the moment.

  Most of what he read in the book he already knew, but it was a good way to refresh himself, so he closed his eyes to practice one of the meditations. Gradually, he began to drift and relax. This was always hard for him; it was difficult to do nothing, challenging to switch off, but this adjustment to his breathing techniques seemed to be working. He wanted to call out to Rose, to check to see if she would answer, but he knew this was not the right time. So he brought himself back to the present and opened his eyes to find Margie was staring at him.

  Heat rushed to his cheeks. "I wasn't sleeping… I was just reaching out to my spirit guides."

  Margie laughed. "It wasn't that. I noticed your bag from Occult Mysteries. I went in there just a few weeks ago. It's strange, and it’s not really my sort of place, but I was drawn to it. When I got in there I found it really interesting."

  Before he could answer, a shriek pierced his ears through the headphones and the bedroom door slammed shut. The sound of something hitting a wall was followed by breaking glass.

  It looked like the spirit was back and it was game on.

  Chapter 10

  A jolt of adrenaline brought Jesse to his feet and he was the first to arrive at the door. The brass handle was ice cold in his hands as was the smooth white wood against his palm. He was still holding the EMF meter and the needle was going mad, spiraling into the red and staying there.

  Margie and Gail came up behind him and they all jumped back as a roar came from within the room. It sounded like an injured bull, as if some dark creature had been impaled through the gut and was now being tormented by his captor. The sound was of pain, anger, and despair.

  The noise reverberated against Jesse's chest and hurt his ears. He had dropped the meter but he left it on the floor. Right now, he didn't need it to tell him there was spirit activity. The groan from beyond the door grew louder and more forsaken sounding. It was something he had never come across before, and excitement gave way to a touch of fear. Logically, he knew it was the spirit, but it sounded like some demonic beast, and every fiber of his being wanted him to run, to get Gail and Margie far away from the creature behind that door.

  But that was what it wanted, to bring fear and torment to this poor woman. He would help her get rid of it… he just wished he knew how.

  Gail and Margie were backing away, and he knew he had to control the situation or he would lose their trust.

  Closing his eyes, he went back to the door and grabbed hold of the handle. It was so cold it stuck to the skin, but he gripped tighter and turned. Nothing happened. Now with both hands on the handle, he tensed his muscles and put every effort he could into opening the door. His shoulders and biceps shook with the effort. The door resisted and that infernal noise just kept battering away at his senses.

  Then the pressure dropped, the noise had gone, and the handle turned. Jesse stumbled into the bedroom.

  The window was open. He flicked on the light and nothing happened. Grabbing his phone, he shook it to bring on the touch app and walked further into the room.

  Chaos greeted him.

  The pretty rose bedspread was tangled on the floor along with the pillows. Pictures and ornaments were scattered around the room, but that wasn't what made him gasp.

  On the back wall something had been written in blood. Below it was the picture of Margie and Alan, smashed into pieces.

  "No!" Margie cried, and she dropped to her knees by the picture.

  Jesse hoped she hadn't seen the writing. As he got closer he could read the words.

  Blood of wrath and jealousy.

  He recognized it as Ezekiel 16:38 and knew that the passage referred to adultery. The punishment for adultery was stoning to death. For now he wanted to get Margie out of the room before she saw that dreadful message. Using his eyes, he indicated as much to Gail and watched as the color drained out of her face, but she nodded.

  At least they now knew why the spirit was angry. Was it Alan? Had Margie cheated on him? Had that been a factor in his death? These were all questions that needed to be answered and Jesse knew he should be pleased. The message gave them somewhere to start, something to work on, and yet his instincts told him it was sending them in the wrong direction.

  He wanted to get Margie from the room, but before he could, the door slammed once more. The temperature dropped and he began to shiver as the phone was torn from his fingers and sent flying across the room.

  Margie let out a wail of fear as they were plunged into darkness.

  "Stay calm!" he shouted. "We will get out of this; just stay calm."

  A cold blue light rushed through the window and into the room. It was about the size of a tennis ball and glowed in the darkness. Though it gave them light to see by, it didn't bring comfort or warmth.

  The orb circled the room and then stopped in front of Margie. The light from it illuminated the terror on her face. Eyes wide, mouth open, the terror was obvious, and she was shaking so hard he imagined her bones might break.

  Jesse knew he had to get rid of the orb, and he moved forward. In all his years he had never come across orbs, but he had read a lot about them. He knew the best way to get rid of them was to ask them to leave.

  Instinct told him that wasn't going to work with this spirit. Before he could stop himself, he reached out to touch the light. It was bone-chilling. It froze his fingers and then coursed ice up his arm, followed by a bolt of electricity. The charge shot into his chest and knocked him across the room.

  He hit the wall hard with his right shoulder and grunted as the breath was knocked from him. The arm was so cold, so useless, and he could see nothing but a bright light. In the distance, Margie and Gail shouted. Something was going on but he couldn't move, couldn't get to them. Every bone, every joint in his body had ceased up as though encased in ice.

  Gail watched Jesse approach the orb. She wanted to warn him, to shout out that he should keep back. It was too late; he touched the blue light and was sent flying across the room. He hit the wall with a thud and slid down to land in a crumpled pile.

  "Jesse!" she screamed, and started to run to him.

  "No, get off me!" Margie screamed from behind her.

  Gail turned to Margie. Jesse could look after himself and she had to believe that he would be fine. What she saw took her breath away, and she hoped she never saw anything like it again.

  Margie was lying on the floor, her face a visage of terror. Her arms flailed before her as she tried to push the orb away. The more she fought the more it whizzed around her, pinning her to the ground and causing ice burns wherever it touched her skin.

  Gail raced to her side and tried to grab hold of the orb. It moved so fast she couldn’t get near it. There was nothing there. Her hands found nothing to grasp onto, just cold air. The more desperate she was, the more desperate Margie became.

  The orb was changing, becoming darker, larger, and denser. It was taking on the appearance of a person, and it was on top of Margie forcing her into the floor.

  "Get off of her you bastard!" Gail screamed. "Begone, beast of Satan!"

  Suddenly Jesse was at her side, as he joined her praying in Latin for the spirit to go.

  Just as quickly as it came, the orb was gone. The pressure cleared in the room, the temperature warmed, and the light came back on.

  Margie wept so hard that she was shaking.

  Between them, they helped her to her feet and led her from the room. They managed to get her back to the sofa and sat her down. She was hyperventilating. Her face white as a sheet and her hands shook in front of her.

  Gail put an arm around her. The cold was so intense that Margie felt as though she had been in a freezer. Gail whispered soothingly against her hair.

  Gradually, Margie calmed down and she looked up at them with
tears in her eyes.

  "I can't take much more of this," she whispered.

  Jesse knew he had to ask about the message on the wall, but how could he do it? Not only had she lost her husband and had this terrible ghostly assault, but he had witnessed a Dark Man attacking and molesting her. And now he had to ask her if she had committed adultery? Somehow, he couldn't believe she would do such a thing. Grief hung on her like a heavy cloak. It was genuine, and so was the love that he felt had once filled this house with joy.

  Chapter 11

  "I just want to leave, to get out of here and never come back," Margie said, her voice almost breaking as it faded away to nothing.

  "We have all the time in the world, so just sip your tea and relax," Gail said. "We can leave if you need to... but we are safe for now. Drink and recover."

  Margie nodded her appreciation, and with shaking fingers, she brought the cup to her lips.

  Slowly she was getting over the shock, but too slowly for Jesse's liking. The spirit had tired itself with two attacks, but it was rejuvenating and coming back much quicker than he liked. He didn't know how long they had and he wanted to be ready.

  However, he knew that Gail was right. Margie was on the verge of breaking, and to help her, they had to give her time. They may even have to leave and come back without her--the problem was if they did, they may lose control of the haunting, and that was never a good thing. No, he had to get this sorted and finished, and he had to do it quickly. Margie wouldn't cope with much more, and the longer they left it, the stronger the spirit became.

  Taking his mind off things and to give Margie longer to recover, Jesse started to look through the video recordings.

  The first film clearly showed the window being shattered. Then the door slammed shut. Darkness rushed into the room and swirled around it, tossing anything and everything it came in contact with. They didn't see the photo of Margie and Alan thrown, but clearly heard it hit the wall.