Ripples

by John Mc Caffrey

Natalie leaned her head against the door. So they all thought her nuts now. That’s fine.

  Destiny had been cheated and Destiny was a jealous lover

  She walked upstairs, stepping over the shoes she had placed there earlier. A fast drink to take the edge off, then she would go demand Alex talk to her. She was, after all, the parent. He would talk to her once she said how sorry she was.

  He had to.

  She opened her bedroom door and crossed to the bottle of scotch, tilting it back and taking a long swallow. The pleasurable burn on the throat as it passed calming her shaking hands. She picked up the glass and walked to the bathroom, dumping last nights ice turned to water down the sink and filling it near full before walking back to put the bottle back on the nightstand.

  Ice, need ice.

  She sipped on the glass as she made her way back downstairs.

  Maybe, a few drinks then sleep, I can talk to Alex tomorrow. Everything will look better tomorrow.

  She could hear the car as it purred somewhere outside, sounding so much closer now. She stopped to listen to it, closing her eyes and taking another sip from the glass. The ticking from the stove in the kitchen reminded her of dinner.

  He can get it later if he is hungry.

  She ignored the car and walked into the kitchen, opening the freezer to get out the ice tray. Plunking two cubes into her glass, she swished it around a moment before taking another drink.

  Better.

  She leaned against the counter, holding her drink in front of her. She raised it again to her lips and drank deeply. The warmth of the dark amber liquid spread throughout her body, relaxing her and allowing her to think straight. Dori and her in-laws were as bad as Hendrickson, and none were able to help her. Only Alex could help her. Shame they all couldn’t see that.

  Destiny, has been cheated

  She raised her glass in front of her, “To Destiny,” and drained her glass.

  A sound from the basement interrupted her thoughts. She put the glass on the counter and quickly crossed the room throwing the door to the cellar wide. She tried to flick the light on but it had burned out. She heard the steady hum of an engine as it idled, the deep bass of it resonating through the floor. She could smell the exhaust, and just under it, the smell of chocolate and thought of her dream.

  Alex.

  “Alex?” she called to the darkness below. “Alex? Honey, are you alright?” She took a step down and listened intently, another smaller thud and then weeping, soft and low. A car door as it closed, the engine idling still, always idling. Always waiting.

  She took another step and lost her footing, tumbling the last few stairs to the cement below. She lay sprawled out on the cold floor, the wind knocked out of her. She had struck her head on the ground as she came to rest and could feel the warm trickle of blood as it ran down her scalp.

  She rolled over on her back, looking around her and at once noticed that the basement was now completely black. Was the upstairs door closed? How could it be? She must have passed out when she hit her head and now it was dark. The scotch had affected her too fast.

  She groped around in the dark trying to find the stairs to pull herself back up into a sitting position. She smelled something just under the exhaust fumes, a sickly sweet smell, but something else as well. She could hear whispering around her, just under the noise of the engine.

  She pulled herself up into a sitting position, and tried to stand. Her leg hurt from the fall. Where was Alex?

 

  Alex?

  That sweet smell again. Chocolate? That’s what it was, chocolate, Alex. What was the other smell? Rank, foul somehow. Rancid. Better to sit, leg hurts. The car idling close by.

  The car was outside wasn’t it?

  She crawled around on the floor, but she grew tired with the effort. So tired.

  Sit now. Alex, honey, is that you? Come up and eat, I wont drink anymore I promise.

  She reached her hand out in the darkness, but the blackness was complete. She rolled over on her stomach and tried to lift herself up.

  So dark down here. So cold. What is that sound? The ground cool but, funny. Strange. Not cement. Something else. Grainy. Asphalt? So dark, so cool. Asphalt digging into my palms. I didn’t mean to send your father out that night honey. I’m so sorry. What was that sound? Loud, the engine revving up. Smell of chocolate and exhaust so strong, can't breathe. So sweet, so cold.

  She whispered into the darkness around her, “Alex? David?”

  Natalie screamed as the headlights bore down on her.

 

  Barbara and Dori reached the corner before either spoke. Both lost in their own thoughts. It was Barbara who broke the silence.

  “I'm sorry dear, I wish I could have helped somehow.”

  Dori hugged the older woman, “Thank you Aunt Barbara, you tried.”

  The older woman returned the hug. Though not a blood relation, Dori and David had always referred to her as their aunt.

  “I wouldn't worry too much about your sister-in-law Dori, she’ll be fine.” Barbara released Dori as they began to walk down the block, Barbara scanning for a taxi.

  “You think it's in her head then? You felt nothing at all?”

  “Well, yes and no. A minor ripple which can be expected in an old house.”

  “A ripple?”

  “Well,” began Barbara, looking around her and spotting an empty bus stop bench, which she guided Dori over to.

  “You see dear, there are fluctuations, ripples, which I can sometime pick up on when there is a spirit, or presence around me. While I certainly felt one in Natalie’s house, it could have easily been a residual feeling from something long ago.”

  Dori nodded at the older woman not really understanding but too upset to pursue it.

  “I don’t know about such things Aunt Barb.”

  “It may also have been little more than post suggestion.”

  “Now you really lost me.”

  “Well it’s like this,” she said, placing her hands in her generous lap.

  “I must guard against feeling something that is not there due to someone else’s belief that there is in fact something there. Think of it this way, if you thought you felt an earthquake, and turned to me and asked if I felt it, I might agree even though there had never been an earthquake at all, you see?”

  Dori nodded though she still felt confused.

  “The same can happen when I enter a house. The less I know from the owners the better off I am and the more accurate I can be about my interpretations. Here however, due to the fact that I know you so well and you told me what's going on with Natalie, I might have prejudiced my own findings and that’s not good to do.”

  “So you did you in fact feel something.”

  “Well, as I said, it might have been nothing at all, but yes I did feel something but it was very faint as I said and I can not be sure.”

  Dori was concerned now, if Natalie was alone in a house and delusional, that was one thing. But alone in a house with a spirit, or ghost or whatever it was, that was quite another.

  “Dori, don’t worry about Natalie, she’ll be fine. Whatever is there has no power and can do her no harm. I think most of what’s going on is all in her head dear.”

  “Well, maybe it was hiding from you and didn’t want to be seen.”

  “Dori, try and understand this. Spirits are just lost souls trapped on this earth trying to cross over. They're confused and alone and want nothing more than to leave this plane for the next. There is a theory that I happen to believe that says the reason spirits are often times in houses, is that they attach themselves to places they are familiar with. They are lost as I said, and sometimes need guidance to cross over.”

  “But is it possible for a spirit to hide and not want to be seen?”

  Barbara thought for a moment, cocking her head to one side. “Perhaps, but for a spirit to be able to intentionally hide from me, hints at a malevolent intent I’ve yet to encounter.”


  “So it’s possible.”

  “Well, yes I guess it is, but Dori, it’s unlikely. You see, most spirits are harmless and are simply glamorized into horrible entities by Hollywood. A truly sinister entity is rare.”

  “I suppose you'd know,” sighed Dori. “I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to say Natalie isn’t crazy.” She smiled and stood up, “Besides, we’re talking about Alex, my nephew. He was just a young boy.”

  “Oh, well don’t let that be any type of gauge to place upon whether or not there is a malevolent spirit in her house.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When some cross over, especially children there can be a change within them which has little to do with how they lived their life. Especially in children I believe.”

  Barbara brushed off her pants as she looked to the street once again in search of a cab.

  “A good person here, when placed into a situation they do not understand can and often times will act differently than expected. Just because a person is nice and good does not necessarily mean they will respond to enormous stress in a good or kind way. Especially in a child who is mentally immature and capable of cruelties an adult would not be.”

  “Especially children,” Dori said more to herself than to Barbara. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She thought she must be a little crazy for discussing the ghost of her dead nephew at a bus top in the middle of the day.

  “At least that’s what I believe,” said Barbara, and spotting a cab waved her hand in the air until the driver pulled to the curb.

  Barbara reached out to grasp the handle and opened the door,