The girl started to cry again and let out a wail that seemed to rattle Gail's teeth and turn her stomach.
Jesse turned to her again and this time gave her one of his now look what you've done looks. At that moment, she wanted to slap him, to just grab him by the shoulders and pull him into the car and then to drive away to safety. Yet she knew that if she said anything that he would just laugh at her and then maybe think she was trying to destroy his dreams.
So she did something she really did not want to do. Reaching out a shaking hand she touched the girl's shoulder. At that moment of contact she expected her fingers to sink right through, only they didn't. The child was flesh and blood, and she was freezing.
"Jesse, grab a sleeping bag," she said. "We need to get you warm and then to take you home. Come on, tell us where you live."
The child's tears stopped almost as quickly as they had started and she looked up with big liquid eyes. Her bottom lip was quivering, and she was trying hard to gain control... and yet Gail could swear that she could see triumph in her eyes. Hiding just beyond the surface was something that scared her more than she could say.
"They're not there,” the girl snapped in a weak and yet forceful voice. “They left me all alone, and I don't want to be alone anymore."
Gail could sense Jesse's anger, and she felt annoyed herself. How could parents do this to a child? How could they leave it alone and afraid? It didn't bear thinking of. Why could she not think of the child as a girl, a her? Why was she always an it?
"Well, you can stay here with us the night," Jesse said.
In her mind, Gail screamed no, but the words never came out.
For some reason, Jesse explained to the child what they were doing and why they were there. Then he suggested that Gail stay with her and comfort her while he continued to search the house. Just the thought of being alone with the child sent cold shivers down Gail’s back, and she knew she could not do it.
"Why don't we stick together?" Gail asked.
The child nodded her head in agreement.
Gail could see Jesse thinking. She knew he wondered if they should leave or if they should just stay together and yet the pull of the house was calling him. This was his dream, this was what he had worked for, and he was not going to give up on this opportunity. So, in the end, he nodded, and he found a jacket for the girl, wrapping her in it until she was warm and comfortable.
"I want to check out the other bedrooms," Jesse said. "This time I want you to have a lantern, Gail. And we will stick close together."
At least that was something that Gail could agree with, so, she collected one of the lanterns and was ready to follow Jesse. Something ice cold touched her fingers, and she looked down to see the child grasping onto her hand. Every fiber of her being wanted to pull away, wanted to shake the cold icy appendage from her fingers, and yet she knew she could not. So, she smiled a weak smile and then turned to follow Jesse.
It was easier going up the stairs with a lantern and a lot less scary but the child would not let go of her fingers. The cold from that touch seemed to spread up her left arm and had seeped into the bone of her shoulder. It was so bad that her clavicle ached and throbbed as if frozen.
"What's your name, honey?" Gail asked. It wasn't really because she wanted to know but because she found it strange not knowing and she wanted to hear her own voice.
"Sarah," the young girl said in a voice that was barely a whisper.
"Sarah, that's a nice name. What's your second name?" At last, she was getting somewhere, and Gail couldn't seem to stop asking.
"Thornton," Sarah said.
Gail didn't know why but that name sent a shiver down her spine. Where had she heard it before? What did it mean?
They had all reached the top of the stairs, and they turned left. Jesse walked past the first door and went to the second. The dreaded room. This time the handle turned, and the door opened away from them. He gave a smile before stepping inside. Fading paper hung from the walls. It was some form of relief pattern and was pale yellow washed out to almost white. The bedroom was furnished, with a small bed, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. Jesse walked to the bed holding the meter out before him, but there was nothing, nothing at all.
Gail stood in the middle of the room with Sarah clutching her hand. By now her whole arm was enveloped in a deep ache, and she found it hard to move. It was as if the appendage had simply frozen. She watched as Jesse walked to the bed and then past it. As always, he was testing with the EMF meter, but nothing was registering, and yet she could hear whispers. Turning around she looked for where they had come from... but there was nothing, and now they seemed to be all around her.
"Jesse, do you hear that?" she asked.
"Can't hear anything, what is it?"
"It's like the whispering of a crowd... as if they are just too far away for me to hear them."
As she glanced around the room searching for the whispers, she noticed footprints in the dust of the floor and her heart nearly stopped. They were small barefooted prints that were obviously that of a child. The footsteps led from the hallway directly up to Sarah. Had Sarah been here all this time? Were they her footprints they had seen earlier? It didn't make sense but who else could have left them?
"Sarah, how long have you been at this house?" Gail asked. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Jesse walking around the room. He had reached the chest of drawers and pulled one open.
"Always?" Sarah said.
What did she mean? Gail turned to speak to Jesse, and the temperature seemed to drop in the room. She yanked her hand free from Sarah’s and hugged her arms. It felt like static running across her, raising the hairs on her neck, her arms, and even her scalp. Jesse seemed to have noticed nothing, and the EMF device in his hand was silent.
Gail did not know what to do. Surely Sarah was lying or telling tales, surely she had not been here all night? Or had she? The pressure in the room seemed to increase and Gail was finding it harder to breathe. She watched Jesse open the wardrobe door. Leaning around it, he looked inside and pulled back and turned away.
Dirt smeared hands reached out of the dark wardrobe. There was at least a dozen of them grasping, clutching, and grabbing for Jesse. They seemed to writhe and undulate, their fingers opening and closing hungrily as they got closer and closer to him.
Gail let out a shriek.
As he heard her, Jesse turned quickly and pulled away just in time to avoid the hands. They shrank back into the cupboard, and she wondered if they had been real. If she had seen them or if they were just in her mind.
BANG.
The bedroom door slammed closed and then flew open crashing into the wall behind it.
BANG.
It slammed closed again and then flew open.
BANG, BANG.
"Jesse!" Gail pleaded for an explanation.
Jesse was looking at the door with an expression of rapture. He glanced down at the EMF and then shook it. There was nothing, it was as if it was dead.
"I don't think this is working," he said as he approached Gail and started walking towards the door.
The door kept slamming, open and closed, open and closed.
"We have to get out of here," Gail said as her eyes swept from the door to the wardrobe and back again. The hands had gone, and yet the inside of the cupboard was much darker than it should have been. It was like a void, like a pit, like an entrance into somewhere evil.
"We don't need to leave," Jesse said. "We need to document this, to record it, to investigate what is causing it. You have to realize this will make my career. With this behind me, I can do anything."
Gail swallowed, she wanted to say only if we get out alive but the words would not come. Yet she knew she had to do something, maybe if she took the child away, maybe the house would be calmer. It was a strange thought to have, and yet somehow she believed it. So she opened her mouth and was about to tell Jesse just that when a voice in the room silenced her.
".
.. the girl," the voice hissed like static on the radio.
Gail noticed Jesse was looking around.
"Did you hear that?"
Jesse nodded.
"What about the girl?" he asked.
The hissing rose and faded like a wave on the air. There were voices in it, words in it that they could just make out...
“Sarah.” Was one and there was, “pain... torment.” But they could not make out complete sentences. The rest was just static on the air, and she could see that Jesse was getting frustrated.
Again he turned the EMF off and as he turned it back on it sparked violently and flew from his hand.
"Jesse!" Gail screamed.
Jesse staggered, his arm held out before him, his hand looked to have been seared with smoke. For a moment, he seemed to overbalance to stumble backward, and as he righted himself, he overbalanced and dropped onto his stomach. As he hit the floor, the door stopped slamming, and the pressure eased. Whatever had been there Gail knew it was gone.
Fear coursed through her and she screamed out his name, “Jesse!”
Chapter 9
Gail felt her world dissolve as she watched Jesse fall. What had happened to him? What would she do if she lost him? She dropped to her knees at his side and grabbed hold of his arm, automatically searching for a pulse. Jesse's eyes were closed, but as she touched him, they opened. The pupils dilated wide and looked black against the gray, slowly they focused, and he smiled up at her. Relief was like spring sunshine after a winter storm, and she pulled him into her arms.
"Jesse, Jesse, oh, my God, are you all right?"
Jesse nodded and began to sit up.
"I'm fine." He looked down at his right hand, there was a small burn, and it was blackened with smoke, and yet the smile on his face got big enough to light up the room.
"Did you see that?" he asked. "That was just amazing."
Gail nodded. "I saw it, and I heard it… and I saw hands in the cupboard reaching out to grab you… we need to leave, we need to get out of here as quick as we can. Can you stand yet?"
Jesse started to get to his feet, and Gail offered him her arm. He seemed fine and was steady once he was on his feet.
"We can't leave, not now,” he said with a look of astonishment on his face. “This is exactly what I've been searching for. I need to get the better camera and document as much of this as I can."
Gail was overwhelmed with fear. Maybe it was the tumor, maybe it was her impending death, but she did not want this, and she did not think she could continue to search this house.
"I can't," Gail said. The fear in her voice shamed her, but she could not hide it. "I'm frightened and I don't want to do this anymore."
Jesse turned to look at her and reached out a hand to her cheek. He caressed her gently and pulled her close, so they were leaning forehead to forehead.
"I understand," he said as his fingers circled the back of her neck. The gentle touch relaxed her as it always did. She could smell him, and it felt so comfortable, so normal and so safe.
"I won't make you stay," he said, "but I would prefer it if you did. Why don't I take you and Sarah back down to the room where our things are. I brought a bottle of wine... in case we needed to celebrate. Why don't you have a glass and stay in that room... just you two together, while I look around a bit more?"
Gail wanted to say no, she wanted to leave, to go home, to go to the pub, she didn't mind which. Yet a glance at her watch told her it was three in the morning, there was not much of the night left. Maybe she could stay until morning, maybe that would be all right. She glanced at Sarah, not sure if she wanted to be in the same room as the pasty looking child. Something had changed, the girl looked better, healthier. Now, why would that be?
"I'll stay, but no more exploring and the next thing that goes wrong, we’re leaving."
Jesse reached up and kissed her forehead and then pulled her into a hug. Gail relaxed into it for a moment and hugged him back and then she pulled herself from his arms and looked down at his hand.
"First, you need to let me look at this burn, we have a first-aid kit downstairs."
Gail tended to Jesse's hand. The burn was not too bad, so she applied some cream and a loose bandage, but she did not want to let it go. The fear of him leaving the room and searching the house... of him finding something, was so strong it was making it hard for her to breathe. Yet Jesse was simply excited, and she could see he was desperate to get back to exploring. Sitting still was never one of his strong points, and it amused her as he tried to rein in his enthusiasm, he was almost vibrating on the spot.
"I want you to check in with me every half an hour," she said as she let go of his hand.
Jesse was grinning like a party clown, as he grabbed the handheld camcorder. "I'll do my best," he said with a big grin and a wink. "But don't worry if I’m a little bit late, you know what it's like if things get exciting, I might not be able to come straight back down."
"What about the radios, or phones?" Gail asked.
"They may not work. If there is a lot of spiritual activity, it will interfere with the signals. Don't worry, I'll take one and if I can, I will message you. Look, Gail, just stop panicking, I'm a big boy, and I can look after myself."
The words crushed her a little bit, she did not panic, and yet she nodded. "I love you," she said and squeezed his arm.
"Ditto," he said with a laugh, a reference to his favorite film. Then he kissed her on the forehead.
Gail felt a deep sense of dread as Jesse left the room closing the door behind him. She had three lamps spread around the room, and it was well lit up. Yet still, she was afraid. In the corner, Sarah was sat on one of the sleeping bags. She was the quietest child Gail had ever known. Something suddenly struck her.
"Sarah, where’s your phone?"
"We don't have a phone," Sarah said.
What child doesn't have a phone? For some reason, it made Gail even more uneasy and then she realized the girl didn't say I don't have a phone she said we don't have a phone. That didn't make sense at all.
The moment Jesse had left the room he felt his confidence leaving him. Though his equipment was not working, he didn't need it to tell him that there was something wrong in this house. Nevertheless, he put on a brave face in front of Gail because this was his dream, yet right at this moment he felt unsure. Maybe Gail was right, maybe they should just leave. Only that was childish, how many years had he worked for this moment, for a real haunted house and now Gail was trying to spoil it for him. She was trying to take it away from him, to stop him from discovering the most amazing discovery of all time.
Jesse walked towards the stairs, this time he didn't have a light, all he had was the camcorder, and with its infrared screen, the world was strangely monotone. The stairs creaked as he stepped onto them and he fought down a feeling of dread. Something was happening here, and it was his job to research it and record it, why was he not excited?
Slowly, he made his way up the stairs, using the strange green shaded screen to light his way. The higher he went, the faster his heart pounded, and his breath was coming in short, sharp gasps. It was time to get a grip, to control himself. How many times had he told other people that spirits could not hurt them and yet here he was behaving like a virgin on his first ghost hunt?
It seemed to take an age to climb the stairs but eventually, he was at the top, only this time he turned right. There should be two more rooms on this side of the hallway. As he stepped forward, he passed through a cold spot and was instantly chilled to the bone. Something was here!
Panning the camcorder from side to side he held his breath and peered into the darkness. Something flashed across in front of him. It was nothing he could see, just an increase in the darkness. It simply became denser and harder to see and as quick as it had come the object was gone. Jesse turned left and right panning the camera across the hallway. Then a sense of dread overcame him, and he turned around. There was nothing behind him, and he let out a gasp of a
ir, but as he did the camcorder died, and the house was plunged into darkness. Jesse turned back around expecting to be attacked from behind, he was backing away slowly towards the stairs, and he could hear something in front of him. It was the scraping of feet across the carpet, and it was coming towards him. The urge to flee, to escape the house was strong and yet he knew it was the wrong move to make. Fighting down his panic, he shook the camera and was amazed when the light came back on. In front of him, a young man and woman were cowering in the corner. The man had his arms around the woman and was holding her close. One hand was held up as if to ward off danger and his eyes were wide and terrified.
Jesse felt fear seep down his spine and into his knees and they seemed to buckle beneath him. Reaching out with a hand he grabbed onto the wall and steadied himself, he looked through the camcorder and was pleased to see it was recording. The couple both lifted their heads and turned to him, they seemed to be pleading, and then they looked over his head. They were looking behind him, and their eyes opened even wider and their mouths contorted into a silent scream.
Jesse wanted to turn around, he knew something was behind him, and he knew it was coming for him, but he could not take his eyes off the couple. The fear and pain on their faces was something he would remember for the rest of his life. Part of him wanted... felt compelled to help them, so he reached out a hand and then they were gone. They blinked out of existence as if they had never been there.
Jesse spun around but there was nothing behind him, the corridor was just an empty blank canvas painted on the camcorder's screen. He let out a breath and dropped to his knees on the spongy, damp carpet.
He had it, after all these years he had proof, and it filled him with both elation and fear.
He had proof!
Part of him wanted to go down and tell Gail, to explain that he had succeeded and that he was fine but another part of him was pulled onwards to find more.
The Haunting of Seafield House (The Spirit Guide Book 1) Page 6
