by Lily Taffel
She never touched him.
Her rigid body was at a sixty degree angle from the floor, her face just inches from Jim's palm-and yet she did not fall. She rested in that position while Jim watched, astounded. He tried to touch her chest to push her back, but Faith's body lifted backwards slowly, avoiding his hand. Jim could only watch and gasp.
When she was upright once more, the little girl turned around and walked slowly back towards Jenna's room.
Jim followed his daughter's progress in disbelief. His skin crawled, goose bumps forming all over and his hair felt like every strand was standing up his scalp. He started to follow his daughter back into the room, but before he could walk farther, he heard an unmistakable hiss to his left.
He wheeled around just in time to see a floating shadow fade into thin air. His gaze was glued to the spot, wanting to scream at it for putting his child in grave danger but hesitated because he did not know how to fight it. He hurried back into the room. Faith was already inside and he quickly closed the door behind him.
When Susan saw him, she let go of Jenna. They watched her sleepwalk towards her bed while Faith went back to her place on the sleeping mat. Jenna had reached her bed, climbed into it, and lay down.
"Sleepwalking, they're just sleepwalking," muttered Jim to calm the shaking Susan down. "Nothing's going to come to them."
Soon, the children were on their backs, fast asleep. But this time, Jim was on guard. He knew the night wasn't finished.
And he was right. It only took a few minutes and another event began again.
21
IT STARTED with the voices that came from outside the house. It sounded like a huge crowd had gathered on the grounds and decided to speak all at once.
Jim could not make out any word of it. That didn't stop him from standing up and peering out the window. Susan ran to Jenna's bed when the child started to sit up again and took her next to Faith, laying her on the mattress on the floor.
Jim was squinting hard outside but he could not see anything. But the sounds of the voices were getting louder now and the house seemed to vibrate from the force. The glass panels on the windows started to shake lightly and Jim had to take a step back. The voices grew louder, and it was ascending.
"Stop, stop, stop," Jim heard clearly. He turned back and saw Sue murmuring this to herself as she cried. She had her eyes tightly closed. Her hands had balled into fists and she repeatedly used those to pound the floor.
But the voices continued until they seemed level with the second floor. The glasses in the windows were vibrating so hard now it looked like they were going to explode. The sounds seemed to come from all around them, and above, and below. Jim did not know what to do. He looked out the window to see what was causing this. Still, he saw nothing.
And then the voices died down abruptly. So did the lights. The room was bathed in darkness. But in a few moments, the light struggled to come back on. It flickered slowly, and then built up in frequency. It felt like they were blinking their eyes rapidly though they weren't.
Then Sue screamed a horrifying scream.
Just as the bulb flickered, the room was alternately bathed in light and darkness. She was seeing in front of her the old, hideous woman with the dark eyes. Every time the light flickered on, the entity seemed to be coming for her-one step at a time, one flicker at a time.
Jim wheeled around to see what had made his wife scream. His skin was crawling with goose bumps. He was close to desperation. He could see where his wife's gaze was directed, but there was nothing there!
He ran to her side and when he reached her, the lights stayed on for good. Susan held on to her husband, crying and shaking. The children slept through it all.
For the couple, of course, sleeping was no longer possible.
22
JIM WENT OUT first thing in the morning.
He said that he was going to buy additional lights that he would place around the property for better illumination. He insisted there were people there during the night who wanted to creep them out, and that they were probably vandals. Though he insisted, Susan saw in his eyes that he was just as baffled as she was. Though he lied, she understood.
Susan was left with the children. She had finally managed to get Jenna out of her room. Although a little pale, Jenna was feeling considerably better already. They played a bit in the living room, mostly watching whatever came on TV. Sue left them to themselves.
She sat by herself on the far side of the living room, her eyes never leaving her daughters. She quietly watched them play and watch TV. Her mind drifted.
It went back to that morning. When the sun came up, she spoke with her husband about what happened last night. He shrugged it off, adopting a rational explanation for everything that happened. Though he confirmed witnessing his daughters sleepwalking and hearing the voices from outside, that was all he would admit to. He was still trying to deny it, but he was desperate now, too. There was no guarantee that the entities would not harm them. In fact, there was every indication that they meant to do so. And Jim couldn't deny this to himself, even if he tried.
It was close to noon when Jim came back. He brought with him eight outdoor lights, several boxes of rolls of electrical wires, and two cheap CCTV cameras. Sue didn't ask. She just let him go on with his tasks while she, with nothing better to do, prepared snacks for the afternoon and the ingredients for their meal for the evening.
Jim placed two outdoor lights opposite each other on each side of the house. The wiring took him a while. He wanted to place them farther from the house so it would illuminate anyone who was coming towards them. He wanted to prove, more than anything, that he was right; that the events were caused by people controlling whatever gadget they could to make the kids behave the way they did and produce the entities to scare the new neighbors. It was the explanation he could think of because, if he was wrong, the alternative was too horrific to accept.
The only other possibility was a possibility he was not ready for. He had to cling to the explanation that made sense to him.
The fact that the ground outside the house was not disturbed on all sides, as if nothing physical and solid had tramped there the night before, did not sway him. He just went on with his business. He estimated the distance of the lights from the house to be far enough to illuminate someone approaching from afar, yet close enough to limit the possibility of a dark area between the house and the lights. In close to three hours, he was done with the lights.
He went inside the garage to retrieve his power drill then went inside the house to get the old laptop he had which had, up to that time, remained unused. It was purchased for his wife three years ago. At this point, it was only good for browsing and playing children's games. The lack of connectivity in his place, however, meant that the laptop was basically useless at the moment. But it was more than adequate for the installation of the two cheap CCTV cameras that he had purchased.
He set out to test them first before installing them on the porch.
"Honey, did you notice that odd smell? It seemed to be coming from outside. Could you check later?" asked Sue as she passed by him.
"Did you check earlier?"
"Yes, I did while you were out. It's not anywhere near the house, but it smells. Like something's rotten," she explained.
"Okay. I'll just finish installing this," he said.
He noticed the way his wife talked. There wasn't any life in her words. It was like she just needed to tell him about it so he could get rid of it. He chalked it up to being tired. Having been unable to sleep, he knew he was. He could not imagine just how tired she was, knowing she had been at it, based on what she told him, for more nights than he had.
But he knew that he had to keep his head intact. Giving in to her horrifying stories, even if he went through some of it himself, would mean losing control. And so he continued to tinker around until he was finished installing the two cameras, each covering a certain direction with a little overlap in between. Jim
had a snack after that. Once done, he headed outside to search for where the stink was coming from.
It came from the river. And the area around the walkway that stretched into the water was littered with dead fish, turning round and round due to the current, floating stomach up. He stared at the dead things for a moment, thinking that something poisonous might have been slipped into the water to scare them again. This was getting out of hand. Should he call the cops?
No. He thought, if he let whoever was doing this to spook them, then it was a losing battle. So he furiously looked for a pole, but finding nothing satisfactory, settled for the rake he found in the garage. Jim proceeded to push the dead fishes towards where the river could carry them away.
He had decided not to tell his wife what had made the smell. She would be spooked alright. And again, he thought, there was nowhere else for them to go if she ever thought of leaving. They had just been here for a few days. It was too early to do anything yet.
Those troublesome neighbors would soon tire out of this initiation.
Once he was done, he smoked two cigarettes before heading back to his house to take a quick shower.
23
WHILE JIM WORKED on the CCTV cameras and the dead fishes, Jenna and Faith had become bored of playing inside the house. It was close to five in the afternoon already. The TV program was indeed boring so Sue turned the radio on to have some music in the house. But the reception was bad so she ended up allowing Faith to play her favorite children's CD.
In truth, she only wanted to make sure that they didn't leave her sight. She could not bear the thought of night approaching. She absentmindedly went about her chores until she was done cooking. Jim came in shortly after that and played around with the kids.
As soon as the sun was about to die out, they ate. Supper was just as silent as the night before. Though Jim still tried to keep the table alive, he didn't do so with the same effort. Susan did not comment on it. Once everyone was done, they gathered in the living room to watch old DVDs that the children loved. They all retired upstairs after two movies.
Jim was glad that Sue agreed to have the children sleep in their own rooms. Jenna was feeling better already. The thought of being able to sleep in their bed with his wife beside him after many nights of unrest appealed to him. While Sue tucked their children in bed, he went down to the living room to check on the laptop. It was still working. He turned the lights off and made sure all the doors and windows were locked before going back upstairs.
Sue was already waiting for him when he entered their room. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. He could see that she was still worried.
"What a long day," he said, breaking the silence. "Do we have anything there to cap it off?"
Susan turned her head in Jim's direction. A hint of a smile came to her face when she saw her husband doing naughty poses to emphasize just exactly what he meant.
"Stop it, you look silly. I'm really tired, honey."
"Pffft, you're no fun," Jim answered, pouting.
"Tell you what, if I get a good sleep tonight, I'll wake you up tomorrow," she said with a wink.
"Is that so? Then let daddy make sure you get a great sleep!" As he said the words, he came to her side. "Turn around," he commanded. "Let me show you the massage that brought all the world's women to my feet."
Sue didn't respond. She turned on her stomach and let Jim take care of her. The precise pressure he placed with this thumbs, fingers, and palms on areas that felt good had Susan relaxing soon.
And soon after that, she fell asleep.?
24
THEY WERE ROUSED by the noise.
Jim was the first to immediately get up, looked at his wife and climbed out of bed. He had not gotten out of the room yet when he heard his wife speak.
"Jim, they're back! The voices are back!"
The panic in Susan's voice was unmistakable. He started to tell her to stay put then realized she would not listen. He decided to tell her to do something else instead.
"Go to the children's rooms, make sure they're fine," said Jim as he turned the light on their bedroom on.
The sounds were much like they were the other night-like many voices talking all at once. It slowly built in volume until it felt like the house itself was making the sounds. Jim felt the vibrations on the floorboards. He heard the glass panes shake. He cautiously stepped out of the bedroom and peered out the corridor.
What he saw made him run to the stairs. Both Jenna and Faith were there, swinging dangerously on their heels at the top! He jumped down onto the stairs, anticipating his daughters' fall but as soon as he reached up to cushion their fall, the girls fell forward.
His reach fell short. He heard Sue's terrifies scream as he himself yelled.
But just like the night before, they didn't fall all the way -- they stopped falling midway. Faith and Jenna were on their toes, their bodies leaning over at an impossible angle. They should have fallen but they didn't. They defied gravity, and that was something he would never be able to explain. Last night might be brushed off as a part of his imagination, but this was the second time around, with both girls, and with Susan watching and seeing it, too.
"Jiiiim!" Susan screamed again.
He didn't look back. He went up, placed his palms on their chests and pushed them back. Susan came to where they were and immediately grabbed her children.
"What happened?"
"They were sleepwalking," he grunted, when what he really wanted to do was to cry. But he grabbed Jenna and carried her. Susan did the same with Faith. As Faith's room was the one in the middle, Jim led the way towards it. The children were deep in their sleep. They didn't even stir while being held close to their parents' chests.
Once inside the room, Jim noticed that all the glass panels were shaking because of the vibration from all the voices. He feared that the glass panels would break, even though they were all secured with silicon sealant. They placed the children on the bed and he told his wife to stay with the kids before heading towards the window that faced east. He peered outside cautiously as he put his hand on the glass to stop it from shaking.
He froze.
There were figures standing there, three to be exact. The figures stood in between the lights he had put up that afternoon and the lights from the house -- three men standing there and looking up the house. He stared at the figures for a few seconds. They didn't move. Seeing actual figures instead of ideas in his head made him braver.
Before he went out, he made sure that the children were still asleep. Jenna was murmuring in her sleep. Faith was making some gestures with her hands which Sue tried to stop. He did not have the time to watch them. Now that he could see the vandals, he knew he could fight back.
"You stay here," he told Susan.
"What are you going to do?" Susan asked.
"I'll be back," he added reassuringly.
Jim headed for Jenna's room and looked out of the window that faced east, too. The figures were there. The only difference was that the figure that was close to where he was now had its face tilted towards where he was!
He looked out the other window, the one that faced the river, and saw the same thing --three figures standing between the lights, looking up the house. There was something curious about them but he did not have the time to figure out what. He ran out of Jenna's room and headed for the master bedroom.
Once there, he immediately peeked out the window and saw the same thing, and that the figure that was closer to him had its head tilted in his direction, too. He looked at the wraith on the far left and saw that it was no longer looking at the direction of Jenna's room but at Faith's room where his wife and children were.
Then it dawned on him.
Six people could not account for the volume of the voices! Even if it did, six people could not produce the strength needed to literally shake the house. But those were the only figures outside of the house. Unless...
He went out of the room and tiptoed towards the
balcony. When he got there, he looked out of the glass door. The angle didn't give him the view he was looking for so he decided to open the door. He pushed the sliding door slowly so as not to attract attention.
He failed. When he was able to see into the front of their house, all the figures were looking up at him! There were at least ten silhouettes, standing shoulder to shoulder in between the lights!
This time, Jim had a good look at the lined up figures. He instantly realized what it was that looked curious. Most of them looked out of place. Some of them wore garbs from a different time! One of the figures even wore a top hat!
Susan's scream had him running back into Faith's bedroom. Then the lights suddenly went out. Just like the previous night, the voices died down as well. His pace was hampered by the darkness. He walked slowly, relying on his familiarity of the layout of house.
Susan screamed again. It was the same kind of scream she had let out the previous night-a scream that told of horrors come to life. The effect on him was stronger this time because he now had figures to pin the screams to.
When he got inside, he was able to make out where his wife was in the midst the flickering lights.
She was staring agape out the window. He ran to her, shouting at her to get away from there. But then the movement outside caught his eye and he turned to look.
And he froze, glued to where he stood.
The figures that stood just outside were coming closer to the house... floating up to the second storey window's level. He could not move, he could not scream. He just stood there, eyes wide, transfixed. With each blink, the figures came closer. And closer.
He was powerless as the wraiths covered the distance between them and the house, until they floated right outside his window...
And they closed in.
~ ~ ~ ~
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