by Belle Zimet
“Alexa was truly gone?” He confirmed.
“Yup.”
“You don’t have an animal in the house?”
She looked at him incredulously. “What size cat do you think this would have to be?”
“Perhaps a yeti?” He ventured.
“Sure, a shapely and trim woman Yeti in California…why not?” She said with an eye roll.
“Well, this still isn’t exactly hard core evidence.” He told her.
“We will just have to see if anything else happens to change your mind.” She told him as she leaned back.
They finished their dinner without incident and they both resigned to go to bed early. They were both spent from the painting, but Ella knew they weren’t having sex because of lingering memories for Bryan and Ella wasn’t anxious to have sex with him knowing of Mercedes’ presence.
As they turned off the light the now usual thumping began in the attic. It was low and steady, and Ella expectantly tried to make out Bryan’s expression in the dark. He turned on the light next to his bed and looked at her.
“This is what I deal with almost nightly.” She told him.
“It could be anything, Ella. It’s an old house.” He reasoned.
“No, we are not attributing regular thumping in the attic to old house syndrome.” She insisted.
“It could be rats.” He suggested.
On cue the thumping became louder and more insistent. She stared evenly at him. “Those are some big, fucking rats.”
“I’ll take a look.” He said fearlessly as he jumped out of bed. She took note that he grabbed one of Mercedes’ elaborate candlesticks as a weapon.
She got out of bed too and followed behind him as he headed towards the attic, obviously knowing just where it was as a result of being such a frequent guest in the past.
She stopped at the stairs and looked nervously behind her as he climbed the steps and disappeared into the attic. As she predicted, the thumping stopped once he stepped into the attic.
She waited patiently, half expecting him to run out a wide eyed believer. Instead she stood there for at least five minutes, listening to him thoroughly looking through the attic for the source of the disturbance.
He finally came out nonchalantly and shrugged. “I didn’t see anything including a ghost.”
She snorted and dropped her arms to her side. “The thumping stopped once you entered the attic.” She pointed out.
“Yes,” he agreed. “The lights scared away whatever animal you have up here.”
“What size animal would it have to be to make that noise?”
“A family of large possums could probably scare up that cacophony.” He told her seriously.
“Alright, I suppose I’ll just have to bide my time,” she said. “I’m sure that’s not all that Mercedes has planned for us.”
She turned on her heel and walked back into the room with him trailing behind her. He carefully replaced the candlestick and started back into bed.
“Ouch.” He gasped as he sat on the bed. She watched as he lifted his foot up for inspection and saw the red blood begin pooling from an embedded piece of glass in his big toe.
“I’m so sorry.” She cried as she went into the bathroom and got her first aid kit. “All of the photo frames jumped off the wall in the attic not long ago and there was glass everywhere. I’d thought we cleaned it up, but the glass seems to keep making its way down here.”
“Jumped?” He paused to look at her. “Were they suicidal?”
“They all spontaneously fell off the wall and broke after I saw Mercedes.” She didn’t care how it sounded at this point.
“Hmm, well, we should probably clean more thoroughly up there tomorrow.” He said as he finished putting a bandage on the cut and settled back into bed. He kissed her on the cheek and said goodnight before turning the light off again.
Ella laid there for a bit waiting for more unexplained noises, but they didn’t come. Simultaneously she basked in the comfort of having him in bed with her in this house. It was the most comfortable she’d felt here regardless of the nights events. Eventually she drifted into a deep sleep.
Ella woke with a start to hear footsteps in the room. The room was still dark and she felt next to her and found Bryan sleeping soundly still. It was still the dead of night, but the full moon bathed the room in a soft, eerie light. It didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust and she looked around the room frightened and while the steps stopped, she saw a dark figure sitting at the edge of the bed. Mercedes was sitting silently facing away from them with her head down, long tresses obscuring whatever profile would have been visible. Her shoulders were rounded down and the stillness of the apparition was unnerving. It was as though she’d been perched there ominously for sometime as they slept.
Ella tried to keep her ragged breathing in check as she found Bryan’s ribs and elbowed them silently. He ruffled a bit but stayed asleep and she desperately shot another elbow at him and panicked when he began to shift in his sleep, sending ripples down the bed where Mercedes sat quietly. The bed and covers moved, but Mercedes did not, as though she were immovable. Ella silently willed Mercedes to not turn around as she continued jabbing Bryan in an attempt to wake him up. The bed was shaking with her efforts and Ella kept her eyes trained on Mercedes as the ruckus finally seemed to affect her. Ella watched in terror as Mercedes head lifted slowly, and though still turned away, she slowly began to look back.
“Bryan!” Ella screamed with one final jab to wake him up.
“What’s wrong?” He rasped back, voice leaden with sleep. He sat up in bed and looked at her desperately. “Ella, are you OK?”
Ella just pointed in abject terror to the apparition at the end of the bed as it continued to turn to face them. Without warning Bryan turned on the lamp next to them and flooded the room in artificial light, effacing the image right in front of them like a paranormal magic eraser.
“There’s nothing there.” He told her.
“What?” She cried. “You must have seen her.”
“I woke up in a dark room with vision blurred by sleep.” He told her calmly.
“You saw a figure at the end of the bed.” She told him. “I know you must have.”
“I can’t tell you what I saw, but I can tell you there is nothing there now.” He told her reassuringly as he patted her arm. “Whatever you saw was due to it being dark and you being sleepy.”
“No,” she told him angrily. “I was watching her for over a minute. Just sitting there, scaring the shit out of me. She was just finally turning to look at us as I woke you up.”
“I can see you’re upset-” he began dutifully.
“You know, for someone super smart, you are kind of dumb.” She told him as she sat up in bed. “What does she have to do to get you to believe? Do a dead person belly dance in your face?”
“You’re talking about my best friend.” He said quietly. “Have some respect.”
“I’ll have some respect when I can sleep and not worry about a ghost frightening me daily and nightly.” She said stubbornly, before truly absorbing his words and tempering herself. “I’m scared, I’m sorry.”
“Ok,” he said pushing her back down gently. “You sleep and I’ll stay awake.”
“Doing what?” She asked suspiciously.
“Watching over you, so you can sleep in peace. If nothing happens, great, and if it does, then I’ll be converted to a believer and will be the first to be frightened.” He told her. “It’s a win/win situation for you, dear heart.”
“You’d do that?” She asked.
“Of course,” he looked at the clock. “Dawn is in a few hours, and once it’s light I’ll go back to sleep. We’ll both get a full night of sleep.”
“Thank you.” She said genuinely.
“Go to sleep.” He told her as she obliged and turned onto her side feeling confident she didn’t have to be frightened the rest of the night.
She woke to the breaking sun and curiously
looked over to see Bryan sitting in bed reading the ghost book she’d bought on impulse. He looked over at her and smiled.
“Nothing happened,” he told her simply. “I think I’ll take a nap now if you don’t mind.”
She smiled and nodded and jumped out of bed to take a shower and go downstairs to look at their painting handiwork and started going through the room that had flooded for obvious trash.
She’d been hard at work for a few hours when she heard Bryan thumping down the stairs. She turned to smile and thank him for staying awake and keeping watch but saw that his mouth was in a straight line as he walked purposefully towards her with a small object in his hand.
“Where did you find this?” He asked seriously as he showed her a small stone pendant on a delicate gold chain.
“I’ve never seen it before.” She told him truthfully.
“Why was it on the bed then? It wasn’t there this morning.” He demanded.
“Bryan, I didn’t put it there and I’ve never seen it before.” She told him, loathe to mention what the cause probably was.
“This is not funny.” He told her somewhat harshly. “Toying with me like this will not inspire sudden belief in the paranormal.”
“Sudden? You’ve seen an apparition in the photos, one on the bed and unexplained thumping in the night. What will it take?” She demanded.
“Not this, Ella.” He said as he dropped the pendent on the ground and stalked away outside.
She found herself incensed and picked up the necklace and put it carefully on a nearby dresser. She was disappointed by his lack of ability to realize the nonrational things he’d seen and heard could not be forced into rationalization. She was doubly annoyed that he thought she’d been playing with him using his feelings for Mercedes.
After they’d both had time to cool off she walked to the back porch and found him sitting there looking straight ahead.
He grabbed her hand reassuringly as she sat next to him. “I’m sorry I reacted that way, Ella. I just hadn’t seen that tourmaline necklace in a very long time.”
“What is the significance?” She asked. “I truly don’t know.”
“I gave that to Mercedes for her 16th Birthday. She gave me a kiss on the lips as thanks and told me it was the best present she’d received that year, including the car she got.” He smiled. “She never stopped wearing it, even after the Birthday had long passed.”
“It’s really beautiful.” Ella offered.
“I asked the family about it after she died, and they said they couldn’t find it.” He shrugged. “I’d always wondered what happened to it.”
“I have never seen it before, and even if I had, I could never have known its significance to you.” She told him gently.
“I cannot believe what you’re telling me.” He admitted.
“Because the only other explanation is paranormal?” She asked, still hurt at his disbelief.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “It cannot be the only explanation. I’d believe Troy was hiding out doing this before I would believe that it’s Mercedes’ ghost.”
“It is not Troy.” She said as she shook her head. “Do you still want to stay here?”
“Yes, I told you I would.” He said with a small smile.
“I understand if it’s too painful.” She told him, hoping desperately that he would stay, but not wanting to be selfish.
“She’s been dead for a long time, but it’s a lot to be here. I wasn’t quite prepared but I’ll feel better soon.” He reassured her.
She doubted that he would, but didn’t vocalize it. Mercedes had reached out to him personally and she didn’t see that ending until he acknowledged her. She was nonplussed at his denial in the face of such proof, and wondered what it would finally take for him to believe.
As if Mercedes had felt bad for Bryan, nothing happened the rest of the day. They made up and continued working in the house and she knew she may have some explaining to do when Troy and Alexa got home as to how she managed to do so much by herself. She hadn’t decided whether or not she would come clean about Bryan being there. She felt that Troy had no real right to be angry with her in any case.
She was so tired at bedtime that with Bryan safely next to her she gratefully passed out and the night passed into day without even so much as a creak in the house.
When she woke, Bryan was not by her side, but she immediately smelled coffee and breakfast wafting enticingly up the stairs. She smiled and skipped downstairs but was disappointed to see that Bryan was fully dressed and had his laptop packed.
“Did something happen in the night that I was unaware of?” She asked seriously.
“Not at all,” he smiled and planted a huge kiss on her lips. “There is an inventory crisis at my store and I need to take care of it.”
“Ok,” she said understandingly on the surface, but she felt her stomach sinking at the thought of being alone again. She felt as soon as he left the stalemate would be over and Mercedes would be back in full form.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible,” he told her as he pulled her into a long, warm hug. He kissed the top of her head tenderly. “Probably less than half a day.”
“Take your time.” She said hollowly.
He steered her over to a seat and set some coffee, eggs and toast in front of her. He gave her a final kiss on her cheek before leaving. She listened as he closed the door behind him and drove off. The stillness of the house was unwelcome and she quickly turned on the TV in the kitchen to give the illusion of life not dampened by death.
After lounging with the coffee she dragged herself upstairs and elected to take a shower in Troy and Alexa’s room, hoping that since a majority of the frightening things had happened in Mercedes’ room that she would be safe.
Afterwards she quickly dressed in her room and took no special care with her appearance as she planned to try and work mainly outside today, to just avoid the house altogether. As she was walking to the bed to sit down and put her socks on she felt a sharp pain on the bottom of her toe and she gasped at the pain in surprise. She propped her ankle up on her other knee and saw that once again there was a small piece of glass lodged in her foot. She bit her lip as she pulled it out and was gratified that she’d left the little first aid kit by the bed. She fixed it up to match the other wound on her foot.
She began to become suspicious as she remembered that Troy had cleaned the attic and she had vacuumed around the bed multiple times since the last time Bryan was in the attic. No more should have been tracked down into the room.
She got on her knees and looked under the bed to make sure there wasn’t a secret cache of glass waiting murderously under the bed, but she was greeted by nothing.
Frustrated she looked at the ceiling where the attic was and suddenly saw a glint on the ceiling where there should be nothing. She quickly stood on the bed to try and see it a little clearer and was shocked to see what appeared to be a small hole in the ceiling, by the wall and directly over the bed. She could see that something reflective had been placed over it and was creating the tantalizing glint she had noticed.
She gathered her bravery and put on her flip flops and grabbed a flashlight just in case, before trekking up to the attic. She took a deep breath for courage as she ascended the steps and threw open the door and switched on the light to be greeted by the familiar stillness.
She made sure the door stayed propped open before she swept across the floor to the wall where all the frames had broken, right by where the hole she had seen should be. She quickly noted that a small dresser had been moved over a foot, and realized it must have been covering the hole in the ceiling the last time she’d been up.
She grunted with effort as she moved the dresser just enough to look for glints of glass and saw none, so she carefully got on her knees to investigate. She moved a shard of what appeared to be a mirror and saw the hole. She swallowed hard when she realized that it was perfectly round and appeared to be a deliberate peep hole. The view was as s
he’d been fearing, a complete view of the bed and some of its surroundings. If this had dated back to Mercedes then all her sexual romps and even her changing clothes would have been visible from this hole.
“Who did this?” She wondered aloud. “Did anyone know this was here when you were alive?”
There was no answer and she began to think back, hoping that this hole had pre-dated the current Tavares family and that none of them had even known it existed. She knew it was unlikely since Mercedes had gone through great lengths of breaking the glass and somehow pushing it down into the room for her to find.
“Did someone spy on you?” She asked meekly. In almost perfect sync with the end of her sentence the door to the attic slammed shut.
She looked up frantically and saw the door wedge she’d placed had slide across the room with phantom force. She scrambled to her feet and tried not to let panic set in as she tried the knob. She yelled despite herself when she found it to be locked.
Suddenly all her fears bubbled up inside of her and in a fever pitch she started screaming for help and pounding and kicking the door in a barrage fueled with panic. After she was spent and the door hadn’t budged she slid her back down the door and sat on the floor with her head in her hands.
She frantically tried to think how long Bryan had been gone in order to determine when he may be home and was beside herself when she realized it had been scarcely an hour and that it could be four or five more before he could be back.
“What the fuck do you want from me, Mercedes?” She yelled in complete desperation, pounding her fist on the dusty floor..
The silence was deafening and she found her tirade continuing. “Then let me out of here. I don’t deserve this!” She screamed into the air. She was terrified that Mercedes would appear in front of her and she would have nowhere to run and nothing to do but be prey. She tried to rationalize that Mercedes did not want to hurt her, but the prospect of having no escape in the presence of the paranormal evoked a primal fear in her that she could not reconcile, or talk down.
Shortly after, she heard a slight sound buried in all the boxes across from her. She quickly got up and looked for anything in the sea of boxes that was amiss. She didn’t have to look very far to find a medium size, battered box with a top that was suspiciously sloughed onto the floor.