He would have to let her and my inheritance go. She assured me that she would succeed, and she assured me that the pressure of Sigmund’s disappearance would force his hand but it had not happened. And now I questioned everything. Once upon a time, Father had extreme wealth but after my mother’s death his grip on his purse tightened. He still had wealth but he grew more vocal about his disappointment in me. I was not worthy of his name or wealth but in Sigmund he had another chance.
But Altima never wanted to be a mother. In fact, she never wanted to be a wife but like many women, she had little choice in the matter. She and I became fast friends and later she befriended Agnes and an easy peace settled over our family until Altima became pregnant.
Sigmund was mine. He was certainly my son. Although she had been forced to marry my father it was me that she wanted. But earlier tonight, Altima failed to appear for our rendezvous and I had no earthly idea what my next move should be. All I knew was I loved Altima like I loved no other. Those other women, those girls, they meant nothing. In fact, my encounters with them had been her idea to put Father off the idea that she and I had anything romantic between us.
And I chose to believe her.
In the beginning, when she told me the news of her pregnancy I even offered to poison Father, shoot him if need be but she’d wept on my shoulder.
“No, Jamie. I cannot allow you to do such a thing. It would bring a curse on us. Please, do not speak of it again.”
But later she changed her mind and broached the subject as if she’d thought about it herself. It was too late. I came to realize that I had no stomach to kill my own father. Although he misunderstood me, although he hated me for reasons that were beyond my understanding, I loved him still.
Altima had been right to begin with. I could not kill my father.
And now I was sick with worry. Going back to the spring house I thought about how to deposit him back at Oakleigh without being detected. I had no more clothing for the child, no more peppermint milk. No knowledge of how to care for him beyond what I currently offered. That’s when I toyed again with the idea of asking Minnie for help but things did not go the way I planned. I had second thoughts about involving Minnie. I had no wish to implicate Altima. But if she didn’t show up soon I would have to seek help somewhere.
Instead of chasing Agnes through the woods I would go see for myself. Perhaps I would go ahead and bring him back to the house; put him somewhere safe where one of the servants would find him. But Altima would know and she would hate me.
I raced to the deserted spring house and found the baby gone. Not only was the baby gone but there was a bloody handprint near the slab where I’d laid him.
Agnes! What have you done? Not the child!
“Sigmund!” I moaned but the child was not here now. I was going to make this right. I was going to bring him home! I had made up my mind but now…what would happen now? I began to call my sister’s name but she did not answer.
“Agnes! Stop!” I caught a glimpse of her blue cotton dress in the thick green forest but she did not stop for me. And even in the dark night, I could see the bloody bundle in her arms. I wanted to vomit at the idea of that baby dying. And I knew Agnes could do such a thing. She had done many horrible things in the past. Killed a bird, tortured a dog. She had a strange sense of right and wrong but a baby? I made my way out of the rickety house and went towards the woods.
It wasn’t too late. I could make this right!
Suddenly, I heard my own voice making an awkward sound and a tremendous pain struck me in the back of my head. The pain was so intense that I fell down immediately. My eyes blinked rapidly but the rest of my body could not move. Not my hands, my fingers, not my feet.
What has happened? Agnes?
“You thought you could betray me? Steal my money? Defile my wife? You thought I did not know? What a fool you are, Jamie Everett. What an intense, disappointing fool.” With savage strength, my father grappled with my arms until he had a good grip on me. He was dragging me or trying to drag me. As my head wobbled I could see the bloody rock on the ground. He’d struck me with a rock?
But he wasn’t as strong as I imagined. He’d shed his coat and wore only his shirt, vest and pants. I tried to speak, to question him but my words came out slurred. I could ask nothing, only make strange gurgling sounds. A warm fountain of blood streamed down my face and I was helpless to fight him.
“She told me what you did to her, how you forced yourself on her. My Altima! My own wife! You have no shame, Jamie. I know you killed my boy! He was my boy! My own son! But I will have another. I will get another! No more of your evil.” Father wept as he dragged me to the pond. I could smell the water before I saw it. I could smell the rotting foliage and the dank water. Would he kill me? That must be his intention. I will die here!
At last, my fingers began to move but my eyesight was failing me. I could hardly see and the pain was not diminishing. Not at all. I needed to be free from all this pain. And as he dragged me into the water, I was free. I barely noticed when the water covered my head because I experienced the sensation of floating. Floating above the water.
I was no more.
*****
“Oh God, Helen! We have to go. Take pictures! There is no more time. This pain! I can’t wait!”
“I’ll call an ambulance! Calling them now!”
“No! Please take the pictures for Midas and take me to the hospital. I can’t wait for an ambulance!”
“Oh, Lord!” Helen snapped photos quickly and searched for her purse. “Okay, where are my keys? Found them! Let’s go, Cassidy. Don’t worry about the door. Get in the car. I’ll put my flashers on and we will make it. I swear, we will make it! I knew you were lying to me.” Once we got inside she dropped the keys on the floorboard again and then we found them again. She shoved the keys in the ignition and took off for the nearest hospital. Luckily, it was Springhill, the place where my doctor advised me to go from the beginning.
As Helen slung the car left and then right I yelped in pain. She apologized but it was too late. I was going to die. I could feel that light inside me fading.
And then I saw her, Minnie Lee. She was here too, tears on her cheeks, nodding her head. Agreeing with my thoughts.
Yes, this is terrible and it is so unfair. But now there are two of us and we can both watch over Midas. He should stay with us. Let us keep him close. I wish I could have kept Jamie close but I cannot find him. We must keep Midas, we must keep him.
“No!” I screamed at her.
“Hold on, Cassidy! We’re almost there!”
Do not worry, dear Cassidy. I will take care of Midas. I will take care of him always…
I could not speak. All I could think was, “No!”
And then everything went black.
Chapter Sixteen--Midas
Sierra raced across the lawn towards me without even looking behind her. She was panic-stricken when she caught up with me. She practically tripped and fell in my arms which was totally out of character for my tough as nails second in command.
“You saw him; I know you saw him, Midas. What the hell? Man, I’ve got the creepy crawlies. I’ve been feeling watched all night but it seems to be getting more intense out here and now this.”
Glancing over her shoulder I could see that the apparition had vanished completely. “He’s gone, Little Sister. Did he say anything? Did he touch you?”
“I could only see him out of my peripheral vision. A man in black. And I could feel him touch my shoulder. That kind of thing normally doesn’t freak me out but he put me on edge.”
I frowned as we walked around the tree behind the bench. I don’t know why I was looking because the guy had vanished. “It was hard to make out details but yeah, I did see a man standing behind you. He was reaching for you and then you took off running. I guess your spidey senses kicked in. I’ve seen him before, in Cassidy’s painting. I guess I should show them to you.” I pulled out my phone and saw Helen’s message.
Actually, no message just two pictures.
Sierra ran her hands through her blonde hair and growled at me, “You wait until now to reveal this?”
“At your request, remember? You didn’t want anyone contaminating our work by showing her art too early. You were pretty clear on that subject.” I took my phone out of my back pocket and scrolled to the picture. It was hard to see all the details on the tiny phone but Cassidy had created a creepy image. Dark cloak, dark hair, white skin, eyes that were black. But he was human. I “felt” that.
Geesh, here I go again. Feeling everything. Why was I being so emotional?
“Is that why she isn’t here tonight? Has this painting affected her some kind of way? Or is it me? Did I offend her? You know I have a big mouth at times.”
“No, Sierra Kay. She’s not mad about anything except me and my big mouth. I may have suggested that she was sick because she was pregnant. She did not appreciate my attempts at humor.”
“Midas Demopolis, are you joking? That’s not funny at all,” she began to scold me when Joshua and Bruce arrived both appeared winded. Joshua’s cheeks were pink and his blonde hair was wet with sweat from running.
“What is going on out here? Why are you guys screaming like two lunatics? I would be surprised if the cops weren’t called out. So much for being low key. Is everyone okay? I expected to find you two murdered.” Joshua eyed us both and Bruce sat on the bench Sierra had just gotten up from. He dabbed at his forehead with a red handkerchief. Keeping up with Joshua had been taxing for him. Bruce had no idea the fright Sierra had experienced sitting in that exact spot.
“That was me. A man, a dead guy got the jump on me,” Sierra apologized as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Literally jumped you?” Joshua’s voice tensed up.
“No, he didn't get the chance to do that kind of jumping but I think he wanted to. I’m not sure. We’re sorry about that. He just surprised me is all. Midas saw him too and cried out. I guess we did sound like two rookies out here.”
Joshua glanced from me to his wife and shook his head. “Okay, so heart attack averted. You said something about a bad odor out here?” He hoisted his camera back up and began surveying the yard.
“There’s a stench in the Cook’s House and I’ve got the Trigger Bear set up in there. I know for a fact that there’s a guy out here. I know we’re here to figure out what’s going on at Oakleigh but we cannot ignore the activity outside. And don’t forget, Helen and I heard the sound of a baby crying in Cook’s House last night. You know, come to think of it, it’s like it wants to draw us out of the house. Wants us to stay out.”
Bruce added, “Or maybe the true activity is really happening out here. Cameron had a heart attack on the front lawn. Artemis was pushed off a ladder outside. We got nothing inside, not much. Except what Midas experienced unless I am missing something.”
I had to agree. “Let’s do this. Let’s focus for the next few hours outside, and in the Cook’s House. Here’s a photo of Cassidy’s latest paintings. I am pretty sure this is the guy that came for Sierra. I saw him too. And here’s the Lady in Black, I assume.”
Bruce was on his feet and peering over Joshua’s shoulder. “Geesh. So he manifested right in front of you? Partial manifestation? Was he solid?”
“Very solid. I could only see the top half of him as he was behind Sierra but, oh yeah. He was very much there, guys. Sierra, that had to be terrifying to feel a hand on your shoulder but he must feel as if he could talk to you. Can we try an EVP session? Without putting you in danger? Should one of us do it?”
“I’ll be okay. Yes, we can,” the petite blonde said as she whipped out her digital recorder. Everyone settled around the bench as Sierra returned to her spot. Joshua and I were staring at the IR camera while Bruce began taking pictures of Sierra and the bench with the digital camera in quick bursts.
She settled in and spoke in a calm voice, “Hey there. I am sorry if I frightened you. You scared me too. It’s not polite to sneak up on a person but I’ll forgive you because I want to help you. What is your name?” She let the tape roll and Bruce popped off a series of pictures.
“My name is Sierra McBride. My husband Joshua is here. You cannot jump me or attack me in any way. I don’t like that. But I want to hear what you have to say.” A few gusts of wind blew the leaves around but there wasn’t much else to see or hear. Not with my ears anyway. “If you talk really close to this device I can hear you. It is hard for me to hear you with just my ears. I think we are on different frequencies but if you get really close to this red dot it will help me. Can you do that?”
We waited as the bugs began to swarm around us. Where did all these insects come from?
And then we heard a voice. Low, grumbly.
No…
Chapter Seventeen—Midas
“I think we all heard that, right?”
“Be still, Sierra. Be perfectly still. I see something moving toward you.” Joshua tapped on the camera screen and the image became clearer. I resisted the urge to take the camera from him. He was doing a great job without me taking over. I had a tendency to do just that, I have been told.
“What? What do you see?” she asked in a quiet voice. “Nevermind. Don’t tell me. Let me see with my own senses.” I watched as she closed her eyes and began to focus. “I think it’s to my left. Short, small. Energy. It is changing sizes though. Is that right?”
“Yes, a blob of energy. Yellow in color. Really small.”
Her eyes flew open. “If it’s a raccoon or something you better speak up. I’m out of here. You know I hate living critters.” I could tell immediately this was no living critter. It was something unseen, not an animal but a person. An entity of some kind.
“I think it’s a child,” Joshua said quietly as we watched it hover near Sierra’s left hand. I couldn’t believe this was happening right before our eyes.
Bruce snapped off more photos. “Keep going, Sierra.”
“I think we can see you and that’s okay. What is your name? Why are you here?” And to my surprise, Sierra began to cry.
No, that’s not right. Sierra wasn’t crying. I didn’t see her crying at all but I could hear crying. Someone else was here. A woman for sure. But she was nowhere to be seen. Joshua and Bruce heard her too because they began to search for the source of the weeping. That’s when I felt another splash of water on my face. Like another teardrop. A breathy whisper filled my ear.
Stay with me, Midas.
Before I could tell the team about my close encounter, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Normally I would ignore phone calls but the phone kept silently ringing and vibrating. This wasn’t right. I had a terrible feeling about the whole situation but fear was my enemy. It always had been. It was the enemy of every paranormal investigator.
Don’t leave me. Help me.
“Hey, dude. You don’t look so hot. Talk to me, man.”
I stared at Joshua waiting for him to give some indication that he’d heard what I heard. But apparently, I was wrong. Only I heard the voice in my ear. That’s just great. Now I am hearing things.
“I hear a woman’s voice. She’s in my right ear and she knows my name. This is so odd. She says don’t leave me. Help me. Midas. Stay with me. That sort of stuff. Joshua keep your camera on Sierra. Bruce take some photos, please. Do a few bursts of me and let me know if you see anything at all. And take a picture of my cheek.”
Joshua ignored me and Sierra walked over as all eyes were on me. “Sweat? You’re sweating.”
“No, he’s not sweating. That’s a teardrop. It happened again. You think it’s the same woman that you encountered yesterday?” Sierra had come to join us.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Bruce flipped through his camera and found an interesting couple of pictures. One picture really shocked me. Orbs, not one or two but five. They were swelling together as if they were trying to manifest into something else. But what?
“Take that, orb deb
unkers. If these were merely bugs or specks of dust, they would stick around and be seen in the rest of the photos. Look. Next picture. All gone. I’m not seeing them again. When you had your hand up, Sierra, it appeared that the orbs were surrounding it. Like it was trying to wrap you in energy. Or whatever. Astonishing. Oh, hold on. I thought I put this thing on airplane mode but it keeps going off. It’s Helen. I think I should answer this. She’s called multiple times.”
“Me too,” Sierra said as she brought out her phone. “It’s Cassidy! You have got to go, Midas. She is in the hospital. Something about surgery? Yeah, I think you should go. Let us wrap this up.”
I don’t know why but I hesitated. Not because I didn’t need and want to be with Cassidy but the idea of leaving the team when so much was happening here. Could I risk that?
“Get your ass in the truck, Midas Demopolis. Text us when you know something. We are all the family she has, you know.”
“I know. Thank you, guys.”
I practically ran to the truck.
Chapter Eighteen--Sierra
“He’s there and Cassidy is still in surgery. Appendicitis is what the doctor says. They are removing her appendix right now. He’s a mess but he wants us to continue. Take a look at these portraits.”
The images were breathtaking and not in a good way. Cassidy always did a masterful job of capturing intense moments and these were no exception. She went with dark hues mostly, but there was just enough light and shadow to reveal clues about what was happening here. No wonder I felt confused. No wonder the spirits here were so angry and lashing out.
The image Cassidy sent us was that of an old fashioned Ouija board, complete with planchette. There were hands on the board, fingers touching the planchette and it was moving toward the word YES. Around the edges of the board were many skewed faces, each more tortured than the next. A woman with stringy dark hair, she had blood on her hands. Then there was a man with the long dark hair that covered his eyes but his mouth was open in a scream. Partial faces framed the picture each with their mouths open either to speak or scream I couldn’t say. But this was bad. Really, really bad.
The Ghosts of Oakleigh House (Gulf Coast Paranormal Book 13) Page 9