Mira glanced his way as they hurried inside.
“I told them I’d never put a finger on Lucille. I love her too much for that, but it was only when I insisted they take a look at me ‘cause I have many of the same types of bruises, did they let me go. I told them what was happening in the house and I could see they didn’t believe me. They just knew something weird was going on; didn’t know what. I think when they saw my bruises, it freaked them out and they figured we both must have some sort of disease or something that’s caused us both to look battered this way.”
Mira instructed Martin to wheel Lucille into a vacant room, where a nurse accompanied them. Bryant was made to wait out front while they examined his wife.
After checking all of her vitals, Mira told the nurse, “Could you ask Doctor Barns to look here a minute please?”
“Sure.” The nurse left the room and Mira leaned over and looked at Lucille’s eyes again. For the second time, she pulled her eyelids slightly downwards and shined the slit lamp all around them. Then, as she was about to finish her examination of the right one, she noticed something inside the pupil. The image appeared blurred at first, then gradually came into view. Mira gasped and backed off suddenly. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing! A shadowy figure with a noose around its neck was suspended in mid-air. The same image appeared in both eyes. Then around the pupils and spreading toward the iris were flames, which gradually grew wider and wider until they disintegrated the shadowy image, taking up the entire sclera.
She stood with her hand to her chest as the nurse returned with Dr. Barns.
Looking her way, Barns asked, “You called?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Are you all right, Doctor Cullen?” the nurse asked.
“You do look a little shaken,” Barns added.
“Yes. I’m all right.” She noticed Lucille’s eyes had returned to their glassy appearance. “Doctor, this patient is non-responsive. Her husband said she’s been this way for more than a week now. Doesn’t speak, doesn’t move, doesn’t blink. The entire time she was here not once did I see her blink. All of her vitals are good. The only thing I can think of, without certain tests being available is that...”
“She’s in a state of shock,” Barns said.
“Yes.”
“But from what?” he asked, not expecting the answer. “A CAT scan or MRI would be a good place to start in terms of tests.”
“Her husband indicated she was at the county hospital where they conducted in-depth examinations of the patient, but results were normal,” Mira said.
Barns took a look at Lucille who was sitting there as if on another planet – dead to this one. “Has she been eating?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Should we get her husband?” the nurse asked.
“Yes, please ask him to come in,” Barns replied.
He questioned Bryant in detail. He admitted that he’d been feeding his wife like he would a baby, but other than that there was no movement out of her whatsoever. He’d been bathing her, dressing her, taking her to lie down at night, and for naps during the day. However, those eyes of hers never closed and he even said that while attempting to close them at night for bedtime, they’d always pop right back open.
“This is certainly a strange case,” Barns declared. “Since all the medical tests that might have indicated a problem with the nerves or brain have been conducted, perhaps it’s best you take her to see a psychiatrist, Mister Sylvester.”
Bryant glanced at Mira. She was silent.
“Thank you, Doctor. Maybe I’ll do that,” he replied.
“Well, then. I’m sorry we couldn’t help,” Barns said. He looked at Mira. “I’ll speak with you later, Doctor Cullen.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied as he left the room. “That’ll be all, nurse. I’ll take it from here, thanks.”
When they were alone, Mira asked, “Are you and Lucille still living in that house?”
“Yeah. We’re there,” he replied.
“You must leave that house, Bryant. I urge you not to take her back there. It’s not good for her; she’s obviously in a severe state of shock.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think you understand, Doc. Like I told you before, Lucille and I have nowhere to go and we’re not about to head to any shelter. That house is all we own and I’ll be damned to pack up and let some unseen force kick us out of something our hard-earned money paid for. They don’t own that house.” He slammed his chest. “We do!”
Mira could tell that he was getting aggravated again.
“Calm down, Bryant. You and I are having a quiet conversation here. No need to alarm the entire clinic.”
He lowered his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Doc. It’s just that all this stuff that’s been going on is really getting to me.”
“That’s why you should take my advice, Bryant. I suggested you leave before and you and Lucille didn’t listen; now look what’s happened.”
Their eyes veered over to Lucille.
“There’s no telling what could happen next,” Mira added.
He was obviously in deep thought and had an inner struggle going on.
“I saw something in your wife’s eyes today which caused me great concern.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Flames.”
“Flames? What’re you talking about?”
She decided to mention the other thing she saw there as well. “It symbolizes something,” Mira explained, “although right now, I don’t know what that is. I just need some time to find out.”
“Oh, okay. I think I should tell you something,” Bryant said. “Remember that Paranormal Investigator I’d told you about?”
“Uh huh?”
“Well, after Lucille came down this way and I couldn’t find any help at the hospital, I went to his house to see if there was any way I could get some answers since he ended up similar to Lucille, you know?”
Mira waited.
“Well, his wife answered the door and told me he passed away a day earlier. Died in his sleep with his eyes wide open.” Bryant’s eyes were now brimming with tears. “Is that what’s gonna happen to my Lucille?”
“Bryant, please listen to me.” She reached in and pulled three hundred dollar bills out of her pocket.
Immediately, he started shaking his head in protest.
“Take it.” She placed the cash in his hand. “Consider it a loan. You can pay me back. Just get you and your wife to a hotel tonight. Stay there for a few days until I touch base with you. Let me know where you are when you get a chance.”
To her great relief, he did not push the money away. She closed his hand. “Take Lucille to where she can have peace of mind and you too. You’ll be glad you did, Bryant. This is a good start; everything will work out from here, okay?”
“Okay,” he said, solemnly. He went over to get his wife.
“I can get a wheelchair for her.”
“No. That’s okay. I’ve got her.” He helped Lucille to her feet and they slowly started toward the door, then he stopped and looked back. “Thank you, Doc…for the loan.”
“You’re welcome,” Mira managed a half-smile.
“By the way, Bryant, who did you purchase your house from?”
“The name’s Latina Cosgrove.”
She quickly jotted the name down on a blank prescription form and shoved it into her coat pocket.
9
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The parakeet’s cage was placed in a corner of the living room. Whenever anyone’s name was called, the bird shrieked out the name a couple of times. Daniel found the bird most interesting, barking at it at first then sitting and staring up at it. The cage was on a tall, secure stand where he couldn’t get to it and that seemed to bother him for a while.
“Some bird you’ve got there!” Sara said.
“It’s a parakeet, Nana,” Rosie replied. “Her name is Esther.”
“Esther? Why Esther?�
��
“’Cause she’s a queen. See how beautiful she is?”
“She surely is.” Sara smiled. “How nice of Bobby to get her for you!”
“Yeah. Bobby’s the best. That’s why I love him so much.”
“You do, huh?” Sara sat at the kitchen counter next to her.
“Yeah.”
Sara’s wish for years was that Mira would one day marry the one man who Sara knew would gladly take a bullet for her daughter. She knew the battle was half won. At least, Mira relented enough to date him after he’d wooed her for so long. Bobby was just like another son to Sara and she never forgot how much he was there for them, chipping in when her husband, Michael, was sick. No one, in her mind, would be a better fit for a son-in-law.
“Burn it!” the parakeet blurted. “Burn it! Burn it! Burn it to the ground!”
Sara and Rosie got up and went over to the cage.
“Burn it to the ground, I say! Burn it!”
“What the hell...?” Mira emerged from the bedroom. The bird’s exclamations were loud and almost shrilling.
“That’s what the woman said at Tonya’s house,” Rosie told Mira, while she stared in awe at the parakeet. He was running around the cage; flying up on the wooden cylindrical bar, then down again.
“Yes, I remember you said that.”
“What does this mean to you two?” Sara was confused.
“We’re not sure ourselves,” Mira answered.
Soon, a few feet behind the parakeet, a woman wearing a long, royal blue Victorian-style gown appeared near the sliding door. She looked mysterious and angelic at the same time, and had wavy, red hair that fell all the way to her back.
“What… what do you see?” Sara asked them as their gaze went well beyond the parakeet.
The strange woman looked down lovingly at Rosie. Her affection for the child could not be denied. Mira felt her heart – it was heavy.
“Rosie...” Mira started.
“It’s Matilda!” Rosie happily exclaimed.
Mira could not forget the woman after she’d appeared some time ago to help a child named Cara who was hopelessly lost.
Matilda soon looked her way. Her eyes were desperately yearning for something that Mira could not pinpoint. “Go to Newport...” she uttered boldly.
“What will I find there?” Mira asked.
“Listen to the child and everything will become clear.” She walked over to Rosie and placed a single red rose in the palm of her hand, which Rosie gladly accepted.
Matilda glanced one last time at Mira before turning and walking away. She disappeared gradually into the tempered glass sliding door.
Sara was stunned. She saw the rose appear in Rosie’s hand, but did not see who had put it there; neither did she hear anything that was said other than what Mira and Rosie had uttered. “My goodness! You’ve got a rose.” She felt it to see if it was real. “Did this Matilda woman give it to you?”
“Yes, she did!” Rosie replied. “She’s very nice.”
She then looked at Mira. “You have to go to Newport, Mom. Remember the research you did?”
“Uh huh,” Mira answered.
“Well, it’s right there in your notes. You must go as quickly as you can.”
Mira had a strong feeling that the request was one that something or someone other than Matilda heavily relied on.
By now, the parakeet had settled and was picking at the sunflower seed and fruit mix.
“Newport? Why in the world would you go to Newport?” Sara asked Mira.
“I’m not sure.” Mira went straight to her room, pulled out a letter-size manila folder from the second drawer of her nightstand and sat on the bed. She skimmed through notes she’d made and newspaper clippings about Newport and the mystery surrounding a one Matilda Curry and Stephen Anthers in 1894; also the bizarre deaths of many men and several women on the night of June 5th of the same year, and the seemingly untimely death of Reverend Carl Ike. There was a note about the house where Matilda and Stephen lived, where it was located and the urban legend surrounding their deaths.
“That’s it!” Mira exclaimed, eyeing that particular note. “She wants me to go to her old house.”
Sara and Rosie entered the bedroom.
“It’s the house. She wants me to go there,” Mira told them. “She’s spoken to you about these signs, Rosie, and the house has something to do with what we’ve been seeing lately. I’m almost sure of it.”
“What you’re saying makes no sense,” Sara said. “Are you considering going all the way to Newport because a ghost sent you there?”
Mira got up and headed over to the window. “Something’s wrong, Mom. Something’s seriously wrong. As crazy as this seems, I have to find out why she wants me to go there.”
“Well, I think it will be a mistake!” Sara barked. “You’re supposed to be level-headed, for goodness’ sake! But you’re gonna drive for hours to get to a town you’ve never been to before and not sure why you’re even going. Ludicrous!” She stormed out of the room.
Surprised by her outburst, Mira and Rosie looked at each other.
“It’s okay, honey,” Mira said to Rosie. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Sara was standing in the living room with her arms folded, looking out of a window.
“What’s the matter, Mom?” Mira asked. “I must say, your reaction in there stunned both of us. It’s so unlike you.”
Sara turned to her. “Mira, I don’t see the need for anything so drastic. Newport is an entirely different town. Why should you travel so far with no clear understanding of why you’d be doing it? It just seems silly to me. That’s all.”
“Mom, do you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you. Why should you ask that?”
“Do you trust my instinct?”
Sara seemed reluctant to answer.
Mira searched her eyes.
“All right. I do.”
“Then there’s no issue. You know I have to do this.”
Sara was clearly bothered still, but relented. “When will you go and who’s going with you?”
“I’ll leave in the morning. Just have to call in to work.”
“So soon?”
“The sooner the better.” She looked into her mother’s eyes, the irides of which had changed from their brown hue to a light, dull gray over the years. Aging had everything to do with it. “Will you be all right to take care of Rosie until I get back?” she asked.
“Rosie will be fine. How long do you plan on going for?”
“I don’t foresee being away for more than a couple of days, although I can’t say for sure how long I’ll be.”
Sara looked out of the window again. This time, her stare was not aimless; she was observing the yard. “I remember how your dad used to go and work in the yard every Saturday. Do you remember that?”
“I surely do.” Mira smiled.
“He used to love it so much, then when he couldn’t quite manage as well anymore, Bobby took over. That young man came here faithfully every weekend to help out your father.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“I can never repay him for how he looked out for us before you and Rosie moved back home.”
Mira knew what her mother was feeling and wanted to tell her what she knew would make her elated. However, she held back, certain that the timing wasn’t right.”
“Are you gonna ask him to go with you?” Sara asked.
“You mean, to Newport?”
She nodded.
“No. He has to work. I won’t drag him off his job for this. I’ll be fine. I’m going alone.”
Sara knew Mira’s mind was made up. There was no point in arguing with her.
10
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7:05 a.m. — the next day…
With a map in the front passenger seat, Mira was on her way to Newport. She estimated she’d take roughly five and a half to six hours to arrive.
The perfectly manicured landscape along the fre
eway was a calming and captivating sight to behold on that warm, sunny day. Instead of using the air-conditioning, she lowered the two front windows and the back ones only mid-way. The wind flying through her hair made her feel more alive than she’d felt for months since the very first sign appeared. She’d never forget that night at the clinic as she sat in her office making calls to inform patients of their test results. The buzzing sound she heard after hanging up from her fifth call, then the whooshing sounds seemingly emanating out of each of the four walls. Faces and scenes of so many people — happy, sad, terrified — men, women and children. The thing is they all started out content or happy, then the expression on each of their faces changed: worry seemed to surface initially, then fear, then dread. She couldn’t understand it, but it was the first thing that happened after Matilda paid Rosie that visit months earlier, mentioning something about “signs”. Mira was used to seeing apparitions, but this was different. These people were not reaching out to her in any way— she only observed their lives as if from a distance. So she knew their images were connected somehow to Matilda.
Then there were all the other odd events.
She grabbed her cell from the dashboard and dialed Bobby’s number. He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Babe. I’m on my way to Newport,” she told him.
“Newport? For what?” He’d just barely rolled over in bed.
“It’s a long story; I’ll explain when I get back.”
“How long will you be gone?” He was now sitting up.
“I expect to be back by nightfall, if not tomorrow. It depends. But hey, while I’m gone, could you please check in on Mom and Rosie?”
“Sure. Sure, I will. So, you’re driving there or you took a flight?”
“Driving,” she answered, while noticing how the tall trees and greenery cast matching shadows onto the still lake below. The scenery was breathtaking.
He hated to hound her, but thought he’d ask anyway. “Are you travelling there to Newport for work or something?”
The Cornelius Saga Series Box Set 2 Page 10