House of Shadows

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  “Has anyone been blessed this way besides you, I wonder? If they have, there’s no record of it, not that I’d expect there to be.”

  “Actually… that’s not true,” Miles said.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, really wondering.

  “Well, there are several accounts in the Bible of people being raised from the dead.”

  “Oh. I completely forgot about that.”

  I’m not the scholar that Miles is. Or Jenny.

  We were silent as we both thought things over.

  “You did pray about it,” I reminded him. “You told me in your letter that you prayed you’d be able to stay, the all-you guy that you used to be. Remember?”

  “I remember. I’m not questioning how this happened, or from where the miracle originated. Just… feeling very humble that it did, and grateful, and like I want to be sure and do the very best I possibly can, with this life I’ve been given.”

  “I have no doubt that you’ll do that,” I said. “You already are. You do so much good through the Bannerman Foundation, and I only know a small part of how many you help through that. In other ways too, you help people, just as you did—well, not the same way exactly, but like you did when you were semi-transparent.”

  “I am so glad Alfred didn’t get hold of the inheritance. He would have dismantled the Bannerman Foundation. As soon as control was put into my hands, I had my attorney set up the Foundation as a trust. The terms protect it from being used for personal gain, and from being shut down.”

  “That’s wonderful,” I said. I knew the kind of difference the Bannerman Foundation made in people’s lives, because of what it did for me and my family.

  We reached our vehicle and Miles opened the door for me. I hugged him before getting in, as memories washed across my mind.

  “I’m just so glad you’re here,” I said.

  “Me too,” Miles said, returning my hug.

  I leaned back and looked at him teasingly.

  “I remember something else you said in your letter.”

  “And what is that?” asked Miles.

  “You mentioned no tears in heaven. So, maybe that’s why you’re here, instead of there. You would have cried, because you missed me so much.”

  Miles laughed, he found that very funny.

  “I don’t think that’s how it works,” he said.

  “I don’t either. But however it does, I’m just glad.”

  “Me too,” he smiled.

  Chapter 8

  Fall was dressed in her best. The oak trees that surrounded the grounds of the castle, wore brilliant shades of red and orange. Leaves were beginning to fall, sprinkling the grounds with color. Pulling into the driveway of the estate, the sky a vivid blue and the windows aglow with the late afternoon sun, and with jack o’ lanterns set at intervals on the steps leading to the front entrance, the castle was stunning. It belonged on a greeting card.

  “How beautiful!” I said, taking out my iPhone and snapping a picture, as we pulled into the driveway.

  “It is, isn’t it,” agreed Miles.

  We let the dogs out to run and collected our bags, then entered the castle. We saw Grandma Polly in the parlor. I wasn’t sure, but there seemed to be a hint of worry in her eyes. If there was, it quickly vanished when she saw Miles.

  We visited for a while, then it was time for dinner. Afterward, as we often did, Miles and I went for a walk in the garden. Then he walked me to my room, and kissed me goodnight.

  I went to bed, but not to sleep. In spite of dinner, I was starving. I lay there, trying satisfy myself with thoughts of the breakfast that was only… another nine hours away.

  I made a face, and sat up. If I wanted to sleep tonight, I’d first have to satisfy the gnawing in my stomach.

  Slipping out of bed, I pulled on my robe and quietly stepped out into the hallway, shutting my door softly behind me. There were no more strange occurrences, or sightings of dark hooded figures, or moving shadows, in the past several weeks. The apprehension I felt at one time had eased, and I was hungry enough that I was willing to make the long trip to the kitchen.

  I tip-toed down the hall. Our rooms were in the east wing of the house, and the kitchen was all the way in the original, and central part of the structure. The hallways were lit just enough to keep from running into furniture and walls, but not enough to be comforting.

  Apprehension began to fill me as I moved further away from my room. I should have brought Chip with me, but I knew his nails would click on the floor, and likely wake Grandma Polly or Miles.

  So I moved silently through the many halls, thinking I really was awfully hungry to be willing to wander around at night like this, by myself, as stressed out as I was.

  I froze. The sound of my heart pounded in my ears, and I struggled to hear in spite of it.

  Very faint, but unmistakable… there were voices.

  No one should be in the castle except me, Miles and Polly! None of the current staff lived on-site.

  I pressed against the wall, trembling. I took a deep breath, and considered my options.

  Panic and flee; that was my favorite. Get ahold of myself and investigate; least favorite. Continue to the kitchen and get a snack; completely out of the question, now.

  I hovered, indecisive, as the voices droned on, now rising in pitch and then falling, and now and then I heard a thud, like something was being moved. The voices paused for a moment, then started back up again. I couldn’t make out any of the words. I leaned forward and looked cautiously down the hall, considering how many twists and turns and dark open doorways I would pass on my way to investigate.

  That would be bad enough. The thought of coming face to face with the person or persons—or worse yet, non-person—who was doing the talking, made my stomach drop sickeningly.

  I really wanted Miles. But I didn’t want those voices behind me. The thought of them following me, or moving to another part of the castle and hiding—I gripped my head in my hands and took a deep breath, determined to get more information.

  I snatched up a silver candlestick from the hall table beside me. Holding it like a baseball bat, I took the first step as I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I whirled around, and swung my impromptu weapon as hard as I could.

  Miles easily caught the candlestick in his hand. I let go, nearly passing out with relief that he was there, and that I didn’t succeed in clubbing him. He gave me a questioning look as he set the candlestick down, and I pressed against him, pointing down the hall towards the voices, noticing as I did, that Trixie was next to him.

  Miles nodded. Stepping in front of me, he cautiously moved forward with Trixie beside him. I followed right behind, hanging onto the back of his t-shirt. I was filled with fear at the thought of being separated.

  Trixie looked back at me. I’m sure she was telling me something, but I didn’t have the connection she and Miles did, and couldn’t understand. I tugged on his shirt, and pointed at her.

  Miles looked down at Trixie, and she looked back. I stood there silently, wondering what they were saying.

  Finally, Miles looked up and put his arm around me, drawing me forward.

  “I don’t think there’s anyone here,” he said quietly. “Trix says there isn’t, now.”

  “There isn’t—now? But the voices,” I whispered back. “If it isn’t someone—”

  My heart lurched sickeningly.

  Miles listened some more, and looked at Trixie again.

  “Come on. Let’s go see.”

  The voices grew louder the further into the castle we walked. I still couldn’t make out the words, but now and then I heard a few notes of what sounded like music.

  We rounded a corner. Through the open doorway of a darkened room, the voices sounded clearly. There were two people, and one was… giving relationship advice?

  We cautiously approached. Miles reached around the doorframe, and flipped on the lights.

  The room appeared to be devoid of people, but
on the chest of drawers sat a portable radio tuned to a talk radio station. I breathed a sigh of relief, as Miles turned it off. But could that have made all the sounds I heard?

  “What were you doing wandering around in the middle of the night?” Miles wanted to know.

  “I couldn’t sleep. I was hungry, and on my way to the kitchen, I heard those voices.”

  “And you were planning to investigate—by yourself?” Miles asked incredulously.

  I looked down, and rested my forehead against his chest.

  “Anika Riley… ” he breathed, his hands on my shoulders. “Will you please take better care of yourself? If anything happened to you…”

  Miles hugged me, and I didn’t say anything.

  “When you had the flu, and told me about locking yourself in the hall to search for the shadow figure you saw… the only reason I didn’t go through the roof then, is because you were so sick. Do you not realize the danger you put yourself in, when you did that? I don’t want you taking risks and getting hurt.”

  Miles was silent for a couple of minutes, then he spoke again.

  “You know how unbelievably massive the estate is. Even if there were no shadow figures to take into account, if you wander off by yourself, there are all sorts of things that could happen. You could be injured, or locked in a room you couldn’t get out of, or worse. If you disappeared, I’d have no idea where to look. It might be days before I could find you.”

  Miles hugged me so hard, I finally complained.

  “Ouch, I think I felt a rib crack!”

  He loosened his grip a little, but the look in his eyes was still serious.

  Finally he sighed.

  “Come on… I’ll walk you to the kitchen.”

  “How did you know where I was?” I asked on the way.

  “Trix woke me,” Miles said, as Trixie looked up at me. “I thought she needed out, but she told me you weren’t in your room, and I needed to find you. She showed me where you were.”

  I gave Trixie a look of gratitude, wondering at the same time, how she knew.

  “I’m glad she led you to me, I was terrified,” I said honestly.

  “I’m glad she did too,” Miles grimly replied. “Let’s not have a next time though, okay? If you want to wander around at night, please—let me know! I’ll go with you.”

  “I hate to disturb your sleep, though,” I said.

  “Really?” Miles laughed. “After this, I’ll be lucky to sleep again until after we’re married, for worrying about what trouble you’re trying to get yourself into at night, instead of staying in bed where you belong.”

  I made a face at him.

  We reached the kitchen. We filled two bowls with ice cream and sat at the large dining room table, talking about what we found as we ate.

  “It was probably one of the Queen of Clean girls,” I said. “I can’t imagine why else that radio would be there.”

  “Maybe so,” Miles said. “It’s awfully strange, though.”

  “Yeah… if I were listening to a radio while I was cleaning, I’d want music, not talk radio.”

  “It seems more likely they’d be listening to an MP3 player, too.”

  We finished our ice cream, rinsed our bowls, and put them in the dishwasher.

  “Think you can stay put?” asked Miles, as he walked me to my room. “Or do I need to station Trixie outside your door?”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “That better mean you intend to go to bed, and stay there until morning,” Miles said.

  “Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes again. “I’ll put off wandering until tomorrow.”

  “You do that,” Miles said. He kissed me goodnight, and I went back into my room, shut and locked the door, and went to bed.

  “Thanks, Molly,” I said. I pressed the END button on my phone, then turned to Miles. “It wasn’t Queen of Clean. She’s sure.”

  Miles thought about that.

  “Come on,” he said. Reaching for my hand, he led me outside to the garden where the dogs were playing, and called Trixie.

  Miles knelt on the garden path and looked at Trixie. She looked back. I sure wished I knew what she was saying!

  Miles stood and shook his head, looking over his shoulder at the castle.

  “I don’t understand…”

  I waited.

  Miles shook his head again.

  “She says… it’s not exactly like me, not before, but someone comes and goes, and then disappears.”

  A cold sick feeling filled my stomach, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

  “Anything else?” I asked.

  Miles looked at her again, then reluctantly looked back at me.

  “She says they have a right to be here… but she doesn’t like it.”

  I started to sway, and sat down hard on a garden bench. Miles sat too, absentmindedly rubbing my shoulder as he considered what she said.

  “Trixie…” I said. She looked at me and waited. “Is this… a real live person, or something else?”

  Trixie tilted her head first one way, then the other, and looked at Miles.

  “She says not like before, they come and go.”

  “What does that mean!” I said. “I don’t understand!”

  Trixie rested her chin on my knees and looked up at me apologetically.

  “It’s—the best way she knows to explain it,” Miles said.

  I rested my forehead against Trixie’s and took a deep breath, ruffling her fur.

  “It’s okay girl, it isn’t your fault I don’t get it,” I said. “I know you’re doing the best you can. Thank you for that.”

  Trixie gave me a “you’re welcome” look, then trotted off to rejoin Chip, who was waiting for her to continue their game of playing keep-away with a stick.

  Miles and I sat staring at nothing.

  “She could have been talking about staff. Queen of Clean girls… workmen, if Polly’s hired any lately,” I said.

  Miles looked at me searchingly.

  “Do you believe that?”

  I looked back, determined to appear more certain than I felt.

  “It could be. Really, it could. ‘They come and go’—that’s what staff and workmen do. It could be what she means.”

  Miles finally nodded.

  “It could be.”

  He didn’t sound any more convinced than I was.

  We were both very quiet at dinner that night. I couldn’t help thinking that Polly actually looked less stressed than we did, at the moment. Maybe—maybe I was right. Maybe it was staff, or workmen that Trixie was referring to.

  The night passed without incident. Even so, as we drove back to Glen Haven Sunday evening and left the castle behind us, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

  It was Tuesday night, and Jenny, Annette, and I sat on the bleachers while Miles, Xander, and John played basketball against another team.

  “Do you have brothers or sisters, Annette?” I asked, after updating them on my sister’s health.

  “I do. A younger brother in high school.”

  “How about you, Jenny?” asked Annette.

  “No… it’s just me and my Mom.”

  “Her mom is a really sweet lady,” I said. “She owns a grocery store in Cedar Oaks. They have the most amazing bakery.”

  I clapped for Miles, who just scored a three-pointer.

  “How many is that?” I asked.

  “We’re ahead,” said Annette. “I lost count a long time ago.”

  Miles, Xander, and John make a good team, maybe because they’re such good friends. They each seemed to know what the other was thinking, and to be exactly where they needed to be to execute the maneuvers they did.

  “Does your Mom’s bakery do wedding cakes?” I suddenly asked.

  “Yes, they do,” said Jenny. “Would you like a catalog? I can have Mom mail one to you.”

  “How about mailing it to my Mom? She’s very excited about the wedding, and is having a blast planning it all out.�
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  “I’ll do that,” said Jenny, taking out her phone and texting her mom. “So your mom isn’t worried you’re rushing things anymore?”

  “We’ll know each other for a year by the time we get married, which has reassured my parents some.”

  We’d actually know each other close to two years, by the time our wedding rolled around. Miles would turn twenty-one the month before our wedding, and I would, the month after. We were nineteen when we met. But of course that’s not what everyone else thought was the truth. And so, to everyone else, we’re rushing it. To us, May nineteenth couldn’t come fast enough.

  “How is the lengthy list coming along?” asked Jenny.

  “We’ve worked on it some, but there are still questions left to discuss.”

  “What lengthy list is that?” asked Annette.

  “Anika’s parents gave her and Miles a list of topics they should discuss and come to an agreement on, before their wedding. It’s a good list, and a good idea,” said Jenny.

  “What are some of the questions on there?” asked Annette.

  “Like when will we have children, how many, where will we live, will we both work outside the home… the list is lengthy.”

  “So will you both work outside the home once you’re married?” asked Annette.

  That was a very hard question to answer, without giving away how financially well-off Miles is. He has so many businesses, he already has a job. He spends time every day making decisions and keeping on top of things. He’s in college because he loves learning and knows the knowledge he gains, will be useful. The truth was, neither one of us would work in the traditional, nine-to-five, answering to a superior, outside of the home, sense.

  “Well… we’ll have to figure that out.”

  It was the best I could come up with.

  “Will you be disappointed if you never use your degree?” asked Annette. She didn’t sound judgmental, just curious.

  “I’ll use it. Whatever it is, I haven’t decided yet. But one way or another, whatever I learn here, will get used.”

  “I just wondered. John and I have been talking some…”