"This better not be a prank. Because it's not funny. I'm not laughing."
"It's not a joke."
"I wonder how Frank is doing..."
Mel paused and looked out the massive windows overlooking the beautiful lake. "He, uh, well, he didn't make it, Katie."
Katie got up and calmly walked to the kitchen. She took the bottle of wine she had just opened, poured a glass and returned to the living room, bringing the bottle with her.
Neither woman said a word. Both faced the window and stared for what seemed like eternity.
Then the tears came. A storm of emotions burst out of Katie. She was sobbing uncontrollably, so much so that she had to put her glass of wine down.
Mel got up and sat beside her and gave her a big hug. "It's going to be okay, chickie. We'll figure this out."
"I watched him die, Mel. I watched that thing get him and kill him--"
Katie suddenly stood up and went back to the kitchen where she had dropped her purse and keys. She pulled out her phone and hurried back to the living room. "Here, look."
Mel took her phone and looked at the screen. She looked at the hallway picture and noticed an orb. She flicked through to the picture in the attic. "Holy crap."
"Heh heh," Katie laughed out loud and swigged another gulp of red wine. "Wait for it. Wait for it..."
Mel flicked to the next picture. She sat stunned. She was looking at it just like people do when they pass a car crash: you know you shouldn't stare, but you do anyway.
"What is it?"
"Beats me. Your buddy talked to it. It killed Father Frank. I'm guessing it's not very friendly..." Katie said. Her slurring was getting slightly more pronounced.
"But is it gone?"
"I hope so. I want to finish the house up and dump it. Quick."
"Katie. Listen, I'm not letting you go back. Not unless we are sure that this...thing...is gone."
"Uh, it's apparently a double-thing. Evil mother apparently drove son nutty. I think the evil thing is him, with her inside...or...something like that."
"Double evil? Sounds like the poor guy had an abusive mother. Stories were told of her living quite the socialite life when she was younger. Then she got older and got sick. Sounds like she got bitter."
"Was there an earthquake today? Wait. Don't tell me. No, right?" Katie asked.
Mel considered cutting Katie off from drinking, but after what she'd gone through today and the past while, she figured she needed the medication. As it turned out, Katie fell asleep on the couch in short order.
Chapter 15
Hangovers suck, Katie thought, struggling to get out of Mel's comfortable guest bed. She stretched, held her forehead and meandered to the kitchen.
Wow. Bright.
Coffee was brewed and waiting. A note from Mel said just one thing: "Call me."
Grabbing the coffee, she headed to the shower. Katie popped a couple extra strength aspirin and jumped under the running water. The heat and the steam was glorious and revitalizing. Yesterday seemed a thousand miles away. The shower was like the safety of a womb.
Katie toweled off and got dressed. The pills were kicking in and the headache was slowly ebbing. Katie headed back to the couch and looked out over the beautiful lake. Wish I lived here.
Katie took her cell phone and dialed Mel’s number.
Mel answered immediately, ”Hey, chickie. How's the head?"
"Getting better. Wow, though. I don't even remember going to bed."
"Well. You decided to take off your clothes in the living room and I had to bribe you to your bedroom with a glass of wine."
Katie winced. "That bad, huh?"
"It was a bad day, Katie."
"Where are you?"
Mel paused. "I'm actually at your house. You were out cold this morning and I knew that your contractors would be here, so I came to get them going--"
"I'll be right over--"
"NO! I've got it. Really, I don't think you should be here for a wee bit, and I definitely don't think you should ever be here alone."
"I've survived so far--"
"Katie. No. At least maybe not for the next couple of days. Listen, I'll be home shortly, I've got some lunch for us and we'll talk more. The guys are working away here, and everything is fine, so you don't need to be here."
Katie paused. Maybe Mel was the voice of reason. Maybe a couple days off would be in order. Her stress level must be pushing her blood pressure off the charts. Reluctantly, Katie agreed and Mel promised to be home within an hour.
"Miss Pearson? This is Stan. I'm one of the wallpaper contractors. Good news: The library is looking amazing, but we have questions about how to paper around the fireplace. We need to run this by you because Big John isn't here to answer for us--"
Katie looked at the time. Mel was supposed to have been home long ago.
"Hey, Stan, can I speak to Mel?"
"She left hours ago."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I saw her drive away."
"Okay. Um. Let me call you right back."
Katie hung up the phone and then immediately dialed Mel. Mel's phone went to voicemail. She hung up and then called Mel's office. Ingrid answered and told Katie that Mel hadn't been in all day.
It was unlike Mel to be late. She was always on time or had the decency to call. Katie began to panic.
"Hey, Stan, I'm coming over now. If Mel shows up, have her call me immediately, please...no problem, I will see you soon."
Katie hopped in her car and headed to the house. She called Mel and left a message. "Mel. Where are you? I'm worried. Call me back right away on my cell."
Driving up the long, windy road gave Katie the heebie-jeebies. The only consolation was that Mel wasn't at the house.
As Katie got out of her car, hatred filled her heart. A hatred she'd never felt before in her life. "Oh my God, has this...demon...gotten ahold of me?" she said out loud. She felt like she wanted to hurt something. It was a horrible feeling.
Katie pushed open the door and found four men sitting in the living room. Up jumped one man, almost embarrassed for being caught sitting on the job.
"Hello, I'm Stan!"
"Hey, Stan," she said, trying to muster reasonable enthusiasm. "This room looks magnificent. You've done a great job. Big John will be proud."
"Oh," he paused, glancing a nervous look to the other men, who'd frozen up at the mention of Big John's name.
Katie looked at the men. Then back to Stan. She stepped toward him with a murderous look. "What happened? Spit it out."
Stan leaned back from the intenseness of Katie's demeanor. He didn't mince his words: "Big John had a massive stroke this morning. Not sure if he'll make it."
Katie stood in place, closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Stay calm. Stay. Calm.
Nobody moved or said a word. All eyes were on Katie. She opened her eyes and coolly asked, "What was your question for me?"
There was argument amongst the men about where to stop and start the wallpaper around the intricate design of the fireplace. Katie told them what she wanted, asked if there was anything else and then left quietly, dialing Mel as she walked out the door.
The door closed behind her, and looking out Katie was startled to see Chris Watkin standing by the willow tree. Anger surged through her. Her eyes felt burning warm and it felt like hate was burning through her bloodstream.
"The house looks...majestic... I love what you have--"
"Shut up. What the hell lived--or lives--in this...this..." Katie stuttered, at a loss for words.
"I don't understand?"
"This is a hell-hole you sold me. It's a house of death and horrors--"
Christopher's left eye twitched. He was staring at Katie in disbelief and relief at the same time. "You've seen it?"
"Yes! Yes I have. And I'm not the only one--"
"Wait. You saw the specter?"
"What the hell is a specter? A ghost? A cloud? Darkness? Whatever the hell you call it? YES, da
mn it, I've got a freaking picture of it!"
Christopher's face went blank. "Everyone thought I was crazy. My wife said she saw it. I swear it killed her...nobody believed me. Nobody..."
This wasn't what Katie had expected. Her anger softened slightly. "Where did you feel it or experience it, Chris? Tell me!"
"Upstairs. As soon as we would leave the bedroom, it would get...depressing. I'd hear noises in the attic, that's where Blackstone's mother was murdered. There was nothing in there, but wow, it made me want to be sick..." Chris drifted back to a memory from long ago.
"I need you to go on, Chris. What else?"
Christopher was staring at the house. "Children. I'd hear children. We never had any more children after our daughter died, and it was torture to hear, my wife wanted more kids so badly..."
"I'm so sorry. Please. Go on. I need to hear about everything, Chris."
"The kitchen was my favorite place to sit. Bright, airy. Felt good. But, I wanted to..."
"Chris. What did you want?"
"I wanted to kill someone. At first, it was me. Then, I thought of killing...anyone," he said. Then he glanced at Katie.
"No, no I didn't act on it. It was a horrible feeling. Horrible. So I locked the house up. I often come by to check on it. Sorry to spook you--"
"Chris, is the bedroom safe?"
"Yes. Nothing ever happens there. It's peaceful in there. The only problem is that you have to walk through the house to get to it, or leave."
"Thanks. Thanks for coming by. Thanks for checking in, Chris."
Katie pulled into a roadside diner. She placed another call to Mel with no luck. Another call to the office. Hadn't seen her all day.
Katie called the hospital. She braced herself for bad news, but was partially relieved to hear that John was in serious but stable condition.
The open-faced hot turkey sandwich was barely passable, the coffee the most horrid she had had in a long time. Thankfully, she got talked into a lemon merengue pie that was not only delicious, but fresh. Something good was happening today. She slid a bite between her lips and let it melt in her mouth.
The monitors, she thought. The thought came out of nowhere. Katie pulled out her laptop and logged into her security system. It took a few minutes to figure out, but she replayed the attic footage. Minutes ticked by. "Come on," she said out loud.
Nearly ten minutes had passed when she hit the right spot. All three of them in the attic. Against the wall. It looked funny watching it fast-forward. Frank looked terrified looking at him from the side. No shadow could be seen.
"Wait," Katie said, to nobody. She darted her eyes from side to side to see if anyone had caught her talking to herself.
She fast forwarded the video to where they were against the wall and Father Frank was moving forward. There he was, raising his Bible and cross and then...
The camera went white. Katie hit rewind and played it again. It was a recording glitch. After 32 seconds the recording was back and Diana was standing over Father Frank, who was lying on his back.
Had Father Frank given his life to save them? To save her?
Could the evil bastard be gone?
Katie wanted to find Mel. She picked up her phone, but the moment the screen turned on, it went off. Battery was dead. Damn it.
Logging into her email she sent Mel a message: "Where are you? What happened to you? You vanished. I'm heading to the house--call me crazy--but I need to check some things out. Big John stable, but not good. Love you, KP. Oh. LOL. BTW, Chris showed up today. He described the entity to a T. Seemed relieved I experienced it too. Xoxo
Closing her laptop, she left cash on the counter and headed back to the house.
The sun had nearly set. Stan was packing his van and was the only one left.
"Hey, Miss Pearson. Running a bit late, but I'll be out of your way in about five minutes."
"No problem." She walked into the library, fully lit, wallpapered and with a crackling fire. "Did they chimney sweep today?"
"Yes. The contractor disconnected an old bad electric wire on the chimney that was connected to a light of some kind at sometime, and they swept as well. The guy said it is a miracle this place didn't burn down 50 years ago."
"Wow. I burned a few fires--"
"Dear God. I've never seen so much crap come out of a chimney before! You're lucky to be alive--"
Katie laughed sarcastically. "Yeah. In more ways than you know."
The wallpapering looked stunning, particularly around the fireplace. The bookcases were back to their magnificent glory, just awaiting books to be put back. Someone had put a small number of books back on a shelf to show what it would look like.
"You didn't see Mel, did you?"
"Not since this morning. Just us workers today, we'd remember pretty ladies. Good night."
Katie smiled at the creepy comment. What is it with contractors hitting on clients? She laughed. She stood on the porch as Stan drove away. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked back in.
The library looked stunning. The house actually looked warm and inviting. Still, she was as nervous and as trusting as a frightened cat. One move--just one move--and she'd be gone.
With her car keys in her pocket, she latched the front door, walked to the kitchen and turned on the lights. She scurried back to the fireplace. Jesus, stop being so jittery!
Reaching down to her bag, she pulled out her laptop, cords and phone. She immediately plugged her phone in and hooked up to the internet. She set the alarms in the house and also set the motion detectors to beep if there was any movement.
Sure enough, she stood up and 'beeeeeep' went the alarm. Loud, too. If something was coming to get her, it would startle both her and it. "Boo!" she said out loud, then laughed.
A bit relaxed now, she made a pot of green tea. She poured it into a super-sized novelty cup, one that could hold about four normal sized mugs, and headed upstairs. She left all the lights on.
Amazingly, she had forgotten about the sliding panel in the hallway, which was still open. But it was a bit too dark up there to be peeking into, so she decided to leave it for another day. Whatever is in there has been there for fifty years, another few days won't hurt anything.
Walking into her bedroom she looked around. It was normal. "Clear," according to Diana. She closed the door to the bedroom and slid a chair up against it. Overkill, she thought, but it was going to be one day at a time to heal from the stuff she had gone through these past few days.
Her dad used to tell her to watch cartoons when she was sad or sick. Laughter heals, he'd told her. So, lying in bed, she surfed online to find some of her favorite comedians. She watched old Tommy Cooper skits, but not even he could make her smile. It was just too much. She closed her laptop and rolled over.
I'll never fall asleep, she thought. Famous last words.
Chapter 16
Katie woke up. For the first time in a long time she hadn't had that awful nightmare. The curtains were closed, her room was dark and she could see the nightlight on in the hallway. For once, everything seemed to be good.
She rolled onto her side facing the door. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and prepared to go back to sleep again.
But something wasn't right. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something wasn't right. Maybe she was supposed to have a nightmare? Maybe that was it. She opened up her eyes and looked in the hallway again. The nightlight seemed awfully bright. Was that her imagination? Probably.
She closed her eyes again. But that niggling, annoying feeling you get when you just know that something isn't right was beginning to frustrate her.
Might as well get up and have a pee and check things out, she thought to herself. She slowly rolled out of bed, stood up and walked down the hall. A light was coming from downstairs.
Did I leave the light on in the kitchen? The library? That's weird, she thought. She headed downstairs. It wasn't her imagination: The kitchen light was still on. As she turned the corner to
the kitchen in preparation to turn the light switch off, she froze.
There was an older man sitting in 'her chair' at the kitchen table. He was slightly balding, wearing a white shirt, with his elbows on the table and his hands in the prayer position. His head was pressed against his hands and his eyes closed.
Katie stood frozen. Her mind started racing: Is this guy a vagrant? Did you break in for food? What is he here for?
He appeared not to have heard her turn the corner, and she stood there frozen in fear that he might notice her. He was speaking extremely softly, as in prayer.
On the table before him was an old black Bible and a beautiful wooden box. On the top of the box lay glasses. The man slowly sat upright and slowly opened up his eyes... Then he froze. He was staring right at Katie.
Katie was absolutely paralyzed in fear. The man looked dumbstruck.
"Hello," he said very softly. His face was devoid of any emotion. He looked tired and beaten by life.
Katie's whole body tightened. She was frozen there like a statue without a clue what to do. The first thought that ran through her mind was, What the hell were you thinking coming down here unarmed? She found herself shocked when she uttered the word "hello" back.
The man looked even more stunned. He slid his elbows off the table but kept his hands clasped together in a prayer position, resting them on the edge of the table. His shirt was white and unbuttoned down to his collar, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The shirt was clean, but clearly not new. He had sweat stains underneath his arms.
"You can see me, can't you?" the man said.
"Who are you?" Katie asked. She was utterly terrified, but for some strange reason felt comfortable enough to get some information from this intruder. Only, he seemed familiar.
The man continued to look puzzled. As though that was one of the weirdest questions in the world to ask.
He paused, then said, "I'm John. Are you...an angel?"
Okay. This guy is nuts. And crazy people do crazy things. Tread carefully, girl, Katie thought.
Sight Unseen Complete Series Box Set Page 10
