Stan nodded. “She’s been taken over. You need to get her out of that house if you ever want to see the real her again. That’s my advice, at least.”
Stu thanked him for his time and finished his pint before getting up to leave. He sent a wave to Bob before he exited the pub and got into his car to return home.
During the drive home, he thought about what he’d been told. He didn’t want to accept that the only way to save Maybell was to abandon the house. He loved the house. He saw a great deal of potential there for their future. He didn’t want to give up on that.
But he also wanted to save his wife. He couldn’t imagine losing her. He couldn’t imagine what he would do without her. And this depression would surely take her from him. She would likely starve to death sitting on the couch if he didn’t address the problem. And there clearly was a problem.
However, he knew that the solution could not be as one sided as simply leaving. He had an idea brewing in his mind and as he continued to drive, it was coming to fruition.
If he was going to jump down the rabbit hole, he was going to do so with both feet and his eyes clear. He needed to call in an expert. He needed to have the house cleansed. He needed the dark history to be addressed.
It was the perfect solution, he thought as he pulled up to the house. The lights he’d left on were still on and he doubted Maybell had moved at all. But his mind was made up on the matter. In the morning he was going to call a professional. He was going to find a psychic or a medium or a priest. He would fix the problem one way or another. He promised himself that.
Chapter 8
A Professional
* * *
The next day, Stu woke feeling exhausted. He hadn’t slept well and he’d slept alone, once again. When he’d returned home from the pub, Maybell was asleep on the couch. She had at least eaten the food he had left her. And the children were asleep in their beds.
His hopes weren’t so much raised, but he was glad she had eaten at least. Still, he planned to go through with the previous night’s idea. He needed to seek a professional and he figured he knew exactly the person.
While in veterinary school, he’d met a girl with quite an affinity for spirits. He had always brushed her off as a bit of a weirdo, but they’d still been decent friends while they were in school.
It took him about an hour to find her online, but she responded instantly to his message. And conveniently she lived only an hour away and was more than willing to make the drive for an old friend.
He felt a bit of the weight lift from his shoulders at that. It was nice to know that in an hour someone would be there to help. It was nice to know that by the end of the day, things could be back to normal for them. Though, when he really thought about it, they didn’t seem to have a normal; at least not yet. He would like for them to be able to find one at Tailsbend.
Exactly an hour later, Haydee knocked on the door. Stu hurried to answer it and was greeted by a very familiar face. She hadn’t changed at all since school. She’d aged a little around the eyes, but she still had the same crazy coloured hair, the same eccentric jewellery, and the same flowy clothing. She looked like a hippie gypsy, but she offered him a warm smile.
“Long time, Stu. I hear you got married.” She strolled into the house without waiting to be invited.
“Yup and have two kids now too. I hear you’re still rocking the single boat,” he replied conversationally.
“I’m a free spirit. You can’t keep me anchored to one place, let alone one man.” She sent him a wink.
“You always were like that,” he muttered.
She gave his arm a pat. “Some things never change.” She glanced around the entrance hall. “And some things do. Since when did you become a believer?”
“Since it started affecting my personal life.” He frowned. “Do you think you can help me out?”
She nodded slowly as her eyes continued to travel around the room. “You’d have to give me the grand tour, but there is definitely something about this house.” She frowned. “And it’s definitely something that is not very happy.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. Whatever’s going on it’s got my wife in a bit of a state and I’m worried that she won’t get out of it.” Stu glanced nervously towards the living room where he knew Maybell was seated staring at the wall. “I really need some sort of solution here.”
“Take a deep breath, Stu. We’ll get it sorted out for you.” She linked arms with him and directed them down the hall. “Now how about you tell me about the history of this place while we take a bit of a look around. Does that sound alright to you?”
He nodded and began the story.
An hour later, they were seated in the kitchen and Haydee wore a thoughtful expression. Stu sat silently. He didn’t want to interrupt her train of thought. He knew that she would speak when she was ready.
Haydee let out a big sigh. “You’ve got quite a bit going on here, Stu. It’s really rather extraordinary.”
“Is that so?” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice. “Forgive me if I don’t share your opinion on the matter.”
“Well that’s only natural. It’s affecting you directly. I’m just a third party, an observer.” She grinned. “But it really is one of the more active homes I’ve been in.”
He raised a brow. “And how is that?”
“Well, from what I can gather, you’ve got at least six spirits throughout the house.” She shrugged. “The husband is still here, but he’s just hanging out. He’s likely a little reluctant to give up what he worked so hard to get.”
“That would be in character from what I’ve been told about Aaron Suffridge,” Stu stated.
“There is the infant who died on the stairs. That’s tragic, but for the most part she’s a harmless spirit. She didn’t live long enough to be any sort of trouble to people in the afterlife.” Haydee tapped her lip as she considered what she’d experienced in the house. “Usually the spirits of such small children don’t stick around, so it is definitely odd that she is still here.”
Stu nodded, though he wasn’t certain why.
“Next, there is a little boy. He has no connection to the family, but he died of pneumonia during the First World War. He is lost, I think. He keeps looking for his mother but she’s obviously not here.
“And then there is a maid who took a tumble down the stairs. Again, harmless, but she is hanging out. She seems quite content to hang out. This seems to be the only home she’s ever really known. It’s all very sad, but then again you rarely meet happy ghosts.”
“I suppose that’s true. But what about Cilla? What about what is happening to my wife?” Stu’s eyes pleaded with her for answers and she held up her hands in surrender.
“I was getting there. Naturally I saved the best for last. Cilla is everywhere in this house. If I had to describe her presence, I would say it is rather inky black and depressing. She is not a happy camper. Though from what you tell me, she hasn’t been since the day her daughter died.
“She’s left quite the impression on this house. She fills it completely without even being present. I’ve never encountered anything quite like it. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with, but she doesn’t seem to have malicious intent. She just seems to exist. She seems to permeate every female who enters this property. They become her. They feel her suffering.”
Stu sighed. “And how do we fix that? How do we make my wife not be Cilla anymore?”
“I have a few ideas.” Haydee smiled and she tried to keep the excitement out of her voice.
Chapter 9
Put to Rest
* * *
Stu had never seen such a strange assortment of items as those Haydee brought in from her car: candles and bags of substances and gems. He didn’t understand any of it, but he had a feeling she knew what she was doing. He had to hope that she did, because he couldn’t take another day of this. He couldn’t stand to see Maybell like this any longer.
Still he loo
ked at Haydee with a hint of scepticism in his expression as she set her stuff up. “What exactly is all this supposed to do?”
“It’ll help me get in touch with all the spirits in the house and assist those who want to cross over to do so.” She shrugged as though it was the most normal thing ever to be talking about. “I can’t guarantee they will all want to leave. But it will allow me to talk to them a little better. I’ll be able to get them to talk to one another.”
“What do you mean ‘talk to one another’?” Stu asked. He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that.
“Well, it seems as though they’ve all been trapped in this house for several years without realizing that the others were trapped as well. I’m not sure how that is even possible, but they have all been stuck here for a while and still have no clue they are not alone. It’s all very depressing.” She sent him a glance. “Why did you pick such a depressing place to live?”
“I didn’t know that it was haunted when I bought the place.” He rolled his eyes. “It was just a house. An old house that had a lot of potential.”
She shook her head and gave him a condescending pat on the shoulder. “Oh Stu, when will you ever learn that old houses are never just old houses?”
“I’ll likely never forget it after this.” He glanced over at his wife who was still sitting staring at the wall. “Do you think she will be fine after all of this?”
Haydee shrugged, her face holding a less than reassuring expression. “It’s really difficult to say. Some people bounce out of some encounters just fine. Other people are never quite the same. There really are no two identical cases.”
“Oh well, that’s helpful,” Stu sighed.
He looked over at Maybell. He hated that she was like this. The children were occupied or asleep. He had seen to their wellbeing for the day. But he wanted his wife back. He wanted the love of his life back. He had planned to embark on this adventure with her and now she was just a lifeless entity sitting on the couch.
It broke his heart. And he hoped with everything that he had that once she woke from the state, she would be back to her old self. He hoped that they would be able to move on from all of this.
“I’m going to light some of these and say a few words. I don’t want you freaking out or anything.” She gave him a stern look. “I’m not summoning the devil, I promise.”
Stu nodded. It was really all he could do. He was not the expert here. He just hoped that Haydee was enough of an expert to actually bring all of this to a close.
Haydee lit the candles and sprinkled her herbs in the appropriate bowls. She could sense Stu’s nervous energy, but she did her best to tune it out. She needed to focus on making a connection to the spirits. She needed to focus on reaching out.
She muttered the words she had learned years ago when she had begun her trade as a spiritualist. She knew that if she repeated them, it would open her up to the spirit world. She needed to reach those on the other side. She needed to bring them all together.
Haydee drifted into a trance-like state. She left the room she was in behind. She left Stu and Maybell and the kids. She travelled through mist and smoke until she was in the shadow version of the house. She could still see the people she’d left behind. She could make out their faint outlines, but they could not reach her.
No, this was the land of the dead. The living weren’t meant to cross over to it. The living were not meant to see it. She knew that she was an outsider here. She knew that she was trespassing. But it was not her first time to do so and it certainly wouldn’t be her last.
From her position, she called out to the spirits she knew by name. “Aaron Suffridge. Cilla Suffridge. Penelope Suffridge. Follow my voice. Come find me.”
Aaron appeared first, which did not surprise her at all. He looked at her in a curious manner, his head tilting to the side in question. But he didn’t speak. It was very rare for her to actually hear the spirits talk. She simply spoke to them and hoped that her voice carried across the remaining barriers between the worlds.
“Aaron, master of the house, it is good to see you.” He nodded his head in welcome. “Your family will be joining us shortly.”
His eyes narrowed in confusion and then widened in surprise when he saw the bassinet appear beside him. He reached inside and withdrew a little girl. Her hair was short and curly and her smile was infectious. Her face lit up at the sight of her father.
“And one more to go,” Haydee muttered and, as if on cue, Cilla appeared in a swirl of dark smoke. But the moment her eyes settled on Aaron and baby Penelope, the smoke disappeared. The darkness disappeared and she was simply a woman staring in surprise at that which she thought she had lost.
Haydee watched her take a few hesitant steps towards her husband and daughter and then quickly close the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around them and took Penelope into her arms. She kissed the little girl all over her face and simply beamed at the sight of her.
“It’s time for you all to move on,” Haydee said to them and had grateful eyes turned towards her. “You’ve finally found each other. You can finally be at peace.”
She watched them turn away from her and become engulfed in a white light. It didn’t matter how many times she’d seen it, it would always surprise her.
She didn’t know where people went after they crossed over. That wasn’t for her to know. It would remain one of life’s mysteries until she made the journey herself. And then she’d have no one to tell about it. No one to send the facts to. It was better that way, she supposed. Some things in life should remain unknown.
When the light dimmed, she was still in the shadow world. She was still in her trance. There were two more spirits she needed to attempt to reach, but it would be more difficult because she didn’t know their names. Still, she had to try. While she was here, she had to try.
Stu watched her, seated across from her. He didn’t know what was happening. She hadn’t moved or spoken since she had begun chanting. She was beginning to resemble his wife in manner at the moment, and he could feel his anxiety building.
He was about to reach towards her when he heard a voice from the living room behind him.
“Stu?”
Her voice was weak but it was clear. He turned to see his wife looking at him in confusion.
“What are you doing, Stu? And who is that?” Maybell’s gaze went to Haydee and her confusion was clear.
“Oh my God, you’re awake!” He rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t think he’d ever been so happy in his life. “You’re finally awake,” he murmured, his face pressed against her hair.
“Yes, I’m awake. You make it sound like I went away.” She pulled him away from her so that she could meet his gaze. “What is going on, Stu?”
He wiped at the tears that had sprung to his eyes. He couldn’t help it. He was just so happy to see her, to see the real her, looking back at him. She had been nothing but a pale version of herself for days. Her eyes dull. Her body nonresponsive. But he could see that she was back now, and he would forever be in debt to Haydee for that.
“You went away for a little while,” he said to her. “You weren’t yourself. But Haydee, the woman with the candles, brought you back.”
“What do candles have to do with anything?” Her brow furrowed. Everything was hazy. She vaguely remembered feeling sad. She vaguely remembered wanting to never move again. But it all came to her in a dream-like memory. She couldn’t tell what was real and what had been a dream.
“To put it bluntly, you were kind of possessed by the spirit of the old lady of the house. There is a lot of history I should catch you up on, but that’s basically what happened.” Stu knew he was rambling but he couldn’t help it. Nor could he stop running his hands over her hair and looking into her eyes. It was so good to have her back.
“Possessed?” The word felt unnatural on her tongue. She glanced around the living room and was surprised to see that they had electricity. “When did we get
electricity?”
He chuckled. “Of course, that would be what you notice first. It came on a day ago. But you’ve been a little out of it for the last week.”
“A week!” Her voice was filled with shock. “But the kids?”
“I took care of them, darling. I wouldn’t have let anything happen to them.” He gave her a kiss. “I love you so much. You have to know that.”
She nodded. She still wasn’t processing what he was saying but it didn’t matter. She could see the kids. She could see her husband. And she would figure the rest of it out in time.
“So... I was possessed.” She nodded slowly. “And this woman helped?”
“I know it’s a lot to explain.” Stu nodded. When he looked over at Haydee, she was just coming out of her trance. She looked like she’d thrown back one too many whiskeys, but she was otherwise fine.
“Thank you,” he said to her and she offered him a small smile. Everything was going to be fine. He was sure of it. And he owed Haydee a huge debt.
Epilogue
When Haydee had finally come back to herself, she explained what had happened while she was in her trance. She explained that she had reunited the Suffridges. She explained that the darkness was now out of the house and that they would no longer encounter any issues with it. And she explained that the maid was the only one who didn’t leave.
“Will she bother us at all?” Maybell inquired. She had a better grasp on things after Haydee’s explanation. She’d had questions, but she felt like she finally understood what was going on.
Haydee shook her head and sipped at her herbal tea. She knew that it would take a few days for her to fully recover. She had never quite had an experience like the one she’d just had and it was taking a lot out of her.
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