Gorge rose in Gail's throat, and she had to swallow hard to keep it down. "The police came, did they find you... and help you?" Even as she said the words, Gail wondered if it would have been the police that needed help.
"No, they found daddy," Sarah said and started laughing. "I knew they would never find me, but I knew that they would look. So I let them hear me crying and then when they came to look for me I invited daddy into my room. That's when I pushed him."
"No… Oh, my God, no," Gail said. "This has to be some form of a sick joke. The year is 2017 if you were alive in ‘69 then you would be 48 now. Stop this, stop lying, tell me what's really happening. Tell me where your parents are for I want to take you home."
Before Gail had even finished talking she could see the anger in Sarah's eyes. They turned almost black, and her face screwed up into a snarl.
"I got the timeline wrong," Sarah said, and the anger was clear in her voice. "I'm not supposed to tell you dates or times. I’m not supposed to let you be logical. Why don't you feel sorry for me?"
"Because you scare me," Gail said before she even realized it.
Sarah started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh and the sound of it set Gail's nerves on edge. She wanted to shout at her to shut up, to get out, to go back to wherever she came from and yet no words would come. Maybe she had made a mistake engaging the child… was she even a child? Suddenly, she worried about Jesse again, and she knew she had wasted too much time. She tried to walk around Sarah but as she did the child launched at her.
In the blink of an eye, Sarah had crossed the distance between them, and her small hands were around Gail’s throat. Gail was carried back against the counter. It struck her in the kidneys with such force that she let out a gasp of air and her back was filled with a sharp pain that radiated down her legs.
The child's tiny hands were squeezing her windpipe. Gail tried to draw in a breath but she couldn't, and she remembered something else the doctor had said to her. Everyone needs help, whether you are religious or not, when things get bad ask for help. It had seemed such a strange thing to say at the time, but right now it felt like a lifeline. So she closed her eyes and asked for help. “Please, Lord, help me through this. Give me the strength to save Jesse for he is all that matters now.” The pain in her throat eased, and she dropped to the floor, she opened her eyes to find Sarah was gone.
Gail knew she had to run. That she must get out of the house as quickly as possible, only her feet would not move. Her head was pounding, the pain was so bad that it crushed her. All she wanted to do was curl up in the dark and stop the pain, and yet it was driving her onward. A wave of nausea and dizziness came over her, and she reached out to the wall to steady herself. It should have been hard and crusty with flaking paint, and yet it felt soft beneath her hands. As she leaned there gaining her breath and trying to control the pain, the wall moved beneath her fingers. It undulated and fluctuated, and she pulled her hand back as if it had been burnt. Staring at the wall, she could see faces appearing in the plaster. One would form and then disintegrate while another formed above it. Though she wanted to run she could not take her eyes off the strange phenomenon. Lifting the lantern, she played the light across the faces and could see the mouths opening and closing. Were they trying to talk to her?
Gail wanted to run, she didn't want to hear what they had to say and she feared they may break out of the wall and consume her. Yet with the pain and nausea, she was too weak to move, so all she could do was stand and stare.
Then the wall flattened, and the faces were all gone. She breathed a sigh of relief, maybe it was just the tumor. Maybe she's hallucinating again. Slowly, she reached out to touch the wall and just before she did one large face formed in the middle of it. The eyes opened and they were human eyes, blue eyes, bloodshot and weary, but definitely human. They seemed to look at her, and the mouth below them opened.
"Get him out of here or die."
At last her legs were free, and she ran out of the kitchen and into the hallway. As she tore across the room, she didn't notice that the tripods, cameras, meters and equipment had all gone. The house looked as it did when they arrived, empty, desolate, and untouched for many years. Gail ran as fast as she could in the semi-darkness hardly looking where she was going. Pulling up suddenly she reached out for the door handle, and the door was gone. With her heart in her throat, she looked around the room. All the doors had gone, there were just blank walls and an opening to the stairs.
Even the kitchen door, the one that she had just run from, was no longer there.
Chapter 12
Gail spun on the spot, around and around as the light chased shadows across the wall. What was happening? What was going on? As her head throbbed and her heart pounded against her ribs, she could make no sense of what she was seeing. The doors had all gone! There was no escape!
That was when she noticed the equipment was also missing. Was she hallucinating this, was it all in her mind? She took her left hand and squeezing through the thick fleece on her right arm she pinched as hard as she could. It hurt, and yet nothing changed. If this was a dream, then she was not waking up.
Again she turned a circle, the light chasing away the shadows and yet they reached in with their dark and cold fingers the moment it had passed. The light was ethereal and the darkness that chased it was menacing. In her mind, the dark was reaching out to take her. Where she did not know, yet she knew it was somewhere she did not want to go.
Jesse, she had to find Jesse, he was her only hope. Then she realized the staircase was her only exit. She was being herded upstairs, and suddenly, she remembered the window. So many deaths had happened from that window, would hers soon add to the list?
Fear held her back, and fear drove her onward. Again, she circled on the spot, not knowing what she should do.
Whispers surrounded her once more, and she spun to try and find the source. There was a smoky substance in the room, it floated just beyond her reach, and as the light hit it, it seemed to dissipate.
"Get away from me," she screamed. "Just leave me alone."
The whispering rose like a wave coming to a crescendo it crashed all around her. Gradually the words were becoming clearer... the voice was taunting her.
"Coward… Betrayer… Liar… Death."
The words were coming faster and faster, the same few over and over again and others she could not quite make out. There was a presence in the room. The smoke would form into the rough shape of a person and then it would dissipate before her very eyes. Occasionally she could feel things, hands touching her arms, her hair, and her back. One grabbed onto the jacket on her arm, and she yanked herself away, watching as the smoky figure disintegrated before her eyes.
It was too much, she had to find Jesse, so she bit down her fear and raced for the stairs.
"Jesse, help me please, wherever you are, Jesse, please, I need you now," she shouted the words as she ran up the stairs. There was no reply, just the sound of her footsteps strangely hollow on the creaky old steps. When she got to the top, she could see a faint light to the right, so she turned that way. A wave of relief passed over her for she was moving away from that dreadful room. The room with the window, the room of the suicides, the hands in the wardrobe and the murders.
There was a sliver of light under the door of the first room. Gail grabbed the handle, pushed it open, and burst inside. Relief flooded through her like hot chocolate on a cold night. Stood in the center of the room was Jesse, seeing him she knew that now she was safe.
"Jesse, Jesse, oh, my God, I found you. You won't believe what I've seen, we have to get out of here, we have to get out of here now." She ran towards him, the words streaming out of her in an incoherent babble.
Jesse stepped back and raised his right arm. Gail was so delighted to see him that she did not notice the knife held in it. Just before she could throw herself into his arms and onto that knife, Jesse stopped her.
"You cheated on me, you bitch," he swore at her.
"What are you doing?" she begged of him, and as she did, she could hear laughing. It was Sarah, the cold, hard sound was unmistakable, and somehow she knew Sarah was behind all of this.
Jesse stepped towards her, slashing the knife before him and calling her a betrayer, a cheat, and a whore. Slowly, she backed away from him, watching the knife and his face. Looking for any sign of the man she loved, for any sign of recognition. There was none. For a moment, she thought about running and hiding. But where would she go? He had the only key to the house, without him there was no escape, and if she left him here at the mercy of this evil spirit she would never forgive herself.
So, she stood her ground and shouted back, "this is not you, Jesse, something is controlling you.”
There was nothing, he didn’t even slow down, and she noticed his gray eyes were darker. Cold, just like those of the girl. “Please give him back to me,” she mumbled and then she tried to look into his eyes. To see past the hatred to the good man that lived there. “I love you, Jesse, and I know you love me, fight this. I think it's that girl, somehow, I think she's been here every time there's been a death. There is something evil about her, and she is controlling you. She's telling you things, but you can fight them. Remember last Christmas, when you found that picture... the one I had lost? You had it framed and gave it to me, and I was so happy, so grateful. Remember how much we love each other."
Gail was slowly backing away, frightened that with each step she would trip or run into something else. What if Sarah was behind her?
Jesse never faltered, never blinked, he just kept waving that knife with a sick expression on his face. Every now and then she thought she saw him flinch. She thought that maybe the real man surfaced for an instant, but whatever spell he was under, it was just too strong for him.
"Please, remember our time together," she pleaded. The only answer was a fierce growl as Jesse launched himself at her.
Gail jumped to the side and avoided the knife, but she knew it was time to run, she turned quickly, and he slashed at her. The knife sliced through her fleece and drew blood on her left arm. It was like being cut with ice, the whole arm was instantly numb. Again she turned, twisting to try and avoid him but Jesse was too fast and too strong. A strong hand grabbed hold of her arm and threw her to the ground, twisting her over until he kneeled above her.
"You cheated on me, you betrayed me, and for that, you die," he almost spat the words at her and Gail flinched at every one.
"You don't believe that... you know me," was all she could say.
Jesse raised the knife, the room was almost black, and yet it caught the light and seemed to dazzle her with its brilliance. With a manic grin on his face, he drew it to one side over her neck, and she knew he was going to slit her throat. That soon she would be dead. Anger overtook her fear, she had so little time, and yet this was not the way she wanted to die.
"Just go ahead," she shouted at him.
Jesse's eyes opened a little, and he eased back, holding the knife still poised above her throat.
"Go on," she screamed. "I'll be dead in six months anyway. I have a brain tumor, it's big, it's aggressive, and its terminal. So, go on and kill me... save me the pain and indignity that is to come."
Jesse's eyes seemed to clear. They lightened back to their normal gray, and he dropped the knife.
Gail let out a gasp as it rattled on the wooden floor.
Jesse got off of her and looked down at his hands.
"Gail, I… I... I don't know what happened. Please, forgive me. I don’t want to lose you... I love you so much, and I can’t believe that I might lose you. We will find something we can do, there must be something to cure you."
Reaching down he pulled her to her feet and into his arms. For long moments they hugged and gained confidence, warmth, and support from each other. Gail could feel tears running down her face. He was so sweet, and she knew it would hit him hard, but for now, she had to forget her tumor. For now, all that mattered was that they get out of the house alive. She pulled away.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but we cannot think about me now... that is for another day, and we have to leave.”
Jesse nodded, there were tears in his eyes, and his cheeks glistened. “I have to do something,” he said.
“Then get me out of here.”
Grabbing her hand, he picked up the lantern and started toward the door. “I will, I promise... I just wish I could understand.”
“It’s the girl,” Gail said. “Sarah, she is growing stronger, healthier and she said things. I think she has been here for all the deaths. I think she may be the reason for them. That she causes them somehow.” Gail told him everything she had found out from Sarah.
“It makes sense,” Jesse said. “If she was killed first then saw her mother killed then it could send her spirit mad. Now all she has is vengeance, and she is taking it out on anyone who comes here.”
“Can we leave?”
Jesse nodded. “I want to find out more, but I can do that in the daylight. Come on, let’s go.”
He took her hand and led her to the door. As he did, he felt an intense surge of jealousy and found he was squeezing her fingers.
Gail winced and gasped.
“Sorry,” he said.
“I know this is your dream,” she said. “But you can research in the daylight, maybe it will be enough.”
“It will be, I want to write a book on this house. Who knows, it could be a new career.” He let out a sigh and stopped her for a moment. “I can’t help the feelings I’m having. The spirit had given me an intense jealousy and built a rage inside me. It is hard to control. I imagine that is what happened to the other men. They were controlled and driven to a wrath that they could not understand or control.”
“Great,” Gail said and then winked. “Let’s make this quick.”
As they got to the door, a ghostly figure appeared before them.
Chapter 13
Gail wanted to scream, but the sound would not get past the lump in her throat. She stopped instantly, and Jesse bumped her from behind.
The apparition was in the shape of a woman, though she was translucent and shimmered in the doorway. Long dark hair hung down over an elaborately embroidered blue dress that was covered in blood. As she morphed in and out of the shadows, they could see her face was beaten, bruised and bloody.
Though she made no noise her mouth opened and closed and each time it did the air in the room seemed to charge with static.
"Get behind me," Jesse said, and he moved around in front of her.
As she watched, he pulled a bottle from his pocket and the crucifix from his neck. Holding the crucifix out towards the phantom he screwed off the bottle top and splashed water on the apparition.
Gail knew it was holy water. There were many times when she had got annoyed as he was filling up the flask. He never let it stand for more than three months, and they made many trips to the local church. How she had resented them and yet now... she never believed that it would be useful and yet tonight it may save their lives.
For a moment she felt hope, maybe they could get out of this house and maybe she would have a few good months left. Only, the woman was becoming clearer before their very eyes. When she first appeared, she was just a blur, a movement on the air. As she formed, they could see through her completely and easily. Though she was not yet solid, she was more so, and the air was becoming more and more charged with menace.
"We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all wicked legions," Jesse chanted at the woman.
It seemed to be having no effect, and she came into the room as if she owned it, floating towards them as if she were entering a ballroom.
Slowly, she circled them as Jesse continued to chant. Still, her mouth opened and closed, and she brought with her a coldness that
chilled to the bone.
"In the Name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ," Jesse chanted. "May you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb."
She was moving closer to them and gaining strength. It was as if she blinked in and out of existence and each time she came back she was a little bit closer to reality, to being a corporeal body. Gail’s heart was pounding, her knees were weak, and her hands were slick with sweat.
The spirit just kept coming no matter what Jesse did. Standing before her he did not look afraid. A flush of pride raised her hopes as she watched him chanting and throwing his holy water. Jesse never faltered, and yet she worked around behind them, and they had to back away to the door.
"She's heading us towards that window," Gail said.
Jesse nodded. "She's feeding on our fear and emotions. You have to fight the fear, I must fight my fear, rage, and jealousy. It is these emotions that are making her strong, that are bringing her onto this plane. By denying her these, we will have more chance of fighting her.” For a second, he turned and found Gail’s eyes. That look strengthened her, and she knew that he would keep her safe. “We must stick together,” he said.
Gail took his hand and squeezed it before reaching up and kissing his cheek. "You are the only man for me, know that with all your heart."
Jesse kissed her back before turning and continuing his exorcism.
"Christ, God's Word made flesh, commands you. Be gone, Satan, inventor, and master of all deceit, the enemy of man's salvation. Unclean and evil beast, hear the Lord’s words and be gone."
The woman was almost corporeal now, and they could hear more and more of the words she was mouthing.
The Haunting of Seafield House (The Spirit Guide Book 1) Page 8
