House of Shadows

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  “You don’t think someone’s feeding her a bunch of lies, do you?” Miles asked in concern.

  “Anything’s possible I suppose,” I considered. “If they are, she needs to tell us about it, instead of letting it make her sick. But she doesn’t act odd around you, look—”

  Polly saw our vehicle as we drove up, and her eyes lit with happiness. She hugged him and kissed his cheek as usual, as Chip and Trixie raced around the garden paths. They loved having room to run around and play, whenever they wanted.

  “Well aren’t you adorable,” Polly greeted Night Furry and Pandora. They each appreciated the head rub Polly gave them.

  “How are you?” I asked, as I leaned sideways into Polly’s hug. It was the best I could do, with my hands full of gray kittens.

  “I’m perfectly fine,” she said brightly. Turning, she led the way into the castle.

  I didn’t believe her. The thoughtful look on Miles’ face told me he didn’t, either.

  We said goodnight to Grandma Polly, and Miles and I proceeded to Mission Control, which is what we called the combination library and office. It was perhaps our favorite room in the house. Miles added another log to those already burning in the fireplace, and we took our usual places on our favorite loveseat.

  The juniper-fed fire crackled cheerily, casting flickers and shadows of light around the room and its occupants. Night Furry lounged in front of the fire, his eyes half closed and his head nodding forward now and then, waking him, only to repeat the process every minute or two. Pandora sat purring on Miles’ knee, and Chip and Trixie were sound asleep, stretched out on the rug on each side of Night.

  “What do you think is going on with Grandma Polly?” I wondered quietly.

  “I don’t know, but we have to find out,” Miles answered. “Something is very wrong. I don’t know why she was fine at Thanksgiving… unless it’s because there were so many people here, maybe the company was good for her.”

  “Did you see the way she glances around now and then, like she’s expecting something bad to happen?”

  “I did,” Miles said. “When I’ve questioned her, she’s been adamant that she hasn’t seen anything strange at the estate. Whatever’s going on, whether this is related to the shadows that you’ve seen before or not, we need to get her out of here. I think she’s about to have a nervous breakdown.”

  “I think you’re right,” I agreed.

  We sat there thinking for so long, I started to nod off, so we banked the fire, and I scooped up my tiny little panther kitty. As I watched Miles cradling a sound asleep Pandora, I couldn’t help smiling. What a great dad he was going to be someday.

  “They’re totally sacked out,” I said, nodding at Chip and Trixie.

  Miles looked at our sleeping pups, as he gently stroked Pandora’s forehead.

  “Yes, they are. We might as well let them sleep…”

  “Might as well. Chip will let me know if he wants in my room, later,” I agreed.

  “Trixie will too. Or she’ll just let herself in. She may not be able to go through walls anymore, but she’s figured out how to unbolt and open doors, and ride the elevator.”

  “Really?” I looked at him in surprise.

  “Yes, really. Tuesday night when Xander and I got back from our game, she was waiting in the parking lot for me,” Miles replied.

  “No way! Oh my goodness.”

  “Exactly. Poor Trix isn’t accustomed to living in an apartment. Or being contained.”

  “Wait, how did she get past the lobby?” I wondered.

  “I guess the guard didn’t see her. She’s pretty sneaky when she wants to be.”

  Trixie stretched and groaned, one eye opening just enough to look at Miles, then closing again.

  Miles laughed.

  “What did she say?” I asked. I’d never get used to how those two could communicate with a look.

  “She reminded me she’s old enough and smart enough to do what she pleases, and the sooner I accept that, the better.”

  “I don’t think you’d be laughing, if I said that about myself!”

  “Where your safety is concerned, I most certainly would not!” Miles said firmly. His stern expression and vehement response, made it impossible to stifle the laughter that insisted on bubbling up. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head a little, then finally smiled and laughed along.

  We left our dogs by the banked fire, and carried our sleeping kittens with us.

  We reached the hall that held our bedrooms. Miles stowed Pandora on my bed, kissed me goodnight, and I closed the door behind him.

  I looked around my room as I lay Night on the bed next to his sleeping sister. I remembered searching it with Miles a year ago. It was beautiful, as all of the rooms were. At some point in time, bathrooms were added to each bedroom. In most houses that wouldn’t be possible merely from a spatial standpoint. But this was the castle, after all, and every room was several times the size of a normal one. There was plenty of space to borrow from, for a bathroom and closet.

  Now that I wasn’t leaning with my head on Miles’ shoulder in front of a warm fire, I wasn’t tired. I turned on the bathtub faucet and poured in some bubble bath.

  After thirty minutes in the sudsy warm water, I was relaxed and sleepy again. I looked at my beautiful engagement ring, brighter and filled with more rainbows than all the bubbles in the tub. I loved the ring because of what it represented. A future with Miles.

  I got out of the tub and dried off, then pulled on a t-shirt and yoga pants. I turned back the covers on my bed and started to crawl in, when I heard a sound.

  My muscles tensed. I stood there, motionless, straining to hear.

  There it was again. A thud, and then a moaning sound—from Polly’s room?

  I flew across the bedroom and threw open the door.

  “Miles!” I called down the hall toward his room, determined to avoid another lecture. I pounded on Polly’s door, tense with concern.

  Something large, and dark, flew down the darkened hallway towards me. Before I could react, it hit me hard, hurling me to the ground.

  I was dazed, now I knew what it meant to see stars.

  Miles’ door flew open. He flipped on the light and ran to where I lay, stunned, on the hallway floor.

  “Are you okay?” he asked anxiously, brushing the hair away from my face.

  I tried to nod, as I felt the back of my head. A lump was already forming.

  “What happened?” Miles asked, supporting me as I tried to sit up.

  “Polly—” I said, as her door opened. She was ashen, and I hurried to explain. “I heard sounds coming from Grandma Polly’s room, like she was hurt or in trouble. I yelled for you first, then knocked on her door. Something dark flew past me, and knocked me down.”

  I felt chills, remembering what happened. Miles already had his iPhone in his hand, dialing the Sheriff’s office.

  I thought of one more thing.

  “It had to be a person, covered in a dark cloak, or cape, or something. It was very solid. I think it’s what I thought was a shadow.”

  Miles nodded, as his call was answered. As he talked to the Sheriff, he helped me to my feet, and ushered me and Polly back into my room, where we sat on the couch in front of the fireplace.

  “Are you all right, dear?” Polly asked worriedly.

  “I’m okay,” I said, feeling of the painful knot on the back of my head, where I hit the doorframe or floor, I wasn’t sure which.

  “But I don’t know where the kittens are—” I looked around, and saw them still curled up on the bed. I was relieved they didn’t get out. If they did, we might never find them.

  “Oh, I thought… I never thought… this house…” Polly could hardly say what she wanted to.

  Miles hung up the phone.

  “The Sheriff’s office is sending someone out right now.”

  He knelt in front of the couch, and looked at both of us.

  “Are you okay?”

  Polly nodd
ed, and so did I.

  “You’re sure?” Miles asked me. “You’re not hurt? Did you hit your head when you fell?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted, feeling of the back of my head again.

  “Anika, look at me,” Miles said, checking my eyes.

  “Are my pupils the same?” I asked.

  “Yes, thank goodness. I don’t think you have a concussion… how do you feel, though?” he asked, gently feeling of the back of my head. He looked grim when he felt the lump.

  “My head hurts,” I said honestly. “I think I’ll be okay, but I’d really like some ibuprofen later.”

  “We’ll have a paramedic check you out to be on the safe side.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary, it’s just a bump.”

  “I’ll feel better about you if a professional weighs in on that,” he said, before turning to Polly. His voice was gentle, but firm. “Grandma Polly. Please. Tell us what’s going on.”

  Polly wrung her hands and looked distraught.

  “I thought I was losing my mind. I’ve seen strange things, living here over the years, but nothing like this, nothing… unfriendly. I hear sounds at night, thumping on the walls, something moving up and down the hall…” Polly’s voice trailed off. She was shaking. I put my arm around her as Miles held onto my other hand, and both of Polly’s. She looked back at him anxiously. “Items are disappearing. Some jewelry, a vase, one of the silver tea sets. I would suspect the staff, but it happens during the night when no one is here except myself. In my own room, I have found things rearranged after being away for only a few minutes.”

  Miles and I glanced at each other.

  “We’ll figure this out,” he assured her soothingly. “You aren’t losing your mind, you can take comfort in that. Anika has heard the same thing, and seen some things, too. Something very real ran into her out in that hall.”

  Polly looked around again nervously, and I felt of the back of my head. It really ached.

  “I can tell you this,” Miles said. “You ladies are not spending the rest of the night here. After the authorities search the house—and good luck to them—I’m getting you to a hotel for the night.”

  “What about you?” I clutched Miles’ hand tightly. I was afraid he planned to stay alone in the house.

  “I’ll be right there too,” he assured me, brushing another wayward lock of hair away from my face. “I won’t leave you.”

  The Sheriff Deputies came, but they didn’t find anything. I don’t think any of us expected they would. The house is just too big. For every place a person searched, there would be hundreds more left to search.

  An ambulance arrived, too. I didn’t have a concussion, and was fine other than a painful lump on my head and a headache. I declined a ride to the hospital and an MRI. I was sure I was fine, and between that and what the paramedic said, Miles was reassured.

  Around one o’clock in the morning, the Sheriff Deputies were through searching, and we drove to town and checked into the hotel. They didn’t even blink when we showed up in our pajamas, carrying two kittens and a litter box, with two sleepy dogs trailing behind. Miles called ahead, and since it is his hotel, they showed us to two very nice rooms with an adjoining door. Polly and I took one, and Miles the other. I don’t know about Polly, but I felt reassured knowing Miles could be there in a second if anything else happened.

  Chapter 15

  By the time Polly and I woke in the morning, room service had arrived. As we ate sausage, eggs, and blueberry pancakes, we talked about what happened the night before.

  “When did this start?” Miles wanted to know. “It wasn’t going on during the summer, right?”

  “No, Miles dear,” said Polly. “It started after you two left for college.”

  “Who could be doing this?” I asked the obvious question on all our minds. “And how?”

  Instead of answering, Miles made a call to his security company and ordered that a complete system be installed.

  “This should have been done years ago,” he said. He looked a little frustrated. “Now, until the system is up and running, no one is staying at the estate. So, ladies, we need to make alternative plans for Christmas break.”

  Eventually, Miles and I decided to go back to our apartments. Polly said she thought she might like to do some traveling again, like she used to do with some of her friends. But she’d join us for Christmas, at my parents’ house.

  So Polly arranged a trip with her favorite friend, and by afternoon, she was on her way.

  “Not exactly the Christmas break we were planning on, is it,” Miles said ruefully, as we headed back to the city.

  “No…” I said, interlacing my fingers with his. “But we’re all okay. We’re all safe. Grandma Polly has been dealing with this all semester, but finally she knows it wasn’t her imagination, or a ghost, and she’s away from that situation.”

  “True. And we know it isn’t a ghost, or your imagination, either. I can’t tell you how relieved that makes me. In spite of my past, I wasn’t comfortable with that idea at all, especially if it had the superpowers I used to. But a person… that, we can deal with.”

  “Of course you can, I feel perfectly safe,” I said, reaching over with my other hand, to squeeze his bicep. He laughed.

  I sat on the floor playing with Night and Pandora. They crouched, perfectly still, watching the feather toy I dangled. Then, shaking their little back ends, they suddenly pounced. I stifled a laugh.

  “Thanks, Don,” Miles said, as he ended the call he just received, then checked his email with his iPhone. He held the screen so we could both see. “Look. This is the security footage of the person who dropped off the pink envelope.”

  “Huh… That sure looks like Blondie.”

  “It does. The video system needs updating, though. I wish the image was sharper.”

  Miles immediately made a call to have the system replaced with a better one. While he was on the phone, he asked for an update on the envelope and card. Miles listened, then ended his call and set his phone aside. He absentmindedly picked up Pandora’s feather toy, and began waving it for her.

  “What did they say?” I asked.

  “There were no fingerprints on the card. And you may have noticed in the video, she was wearing gloves. The only prints on the envelope were mine and Steve’s.”

  “Pretty fortunate that Second-Miles was never fingerprinted for anything.”

  “No kidding,” Miles said. “It would be about as easy to explain why my fingerprints changed, as it would be to explain how I went from brain dead, to bleeding out from gunshot wounds. The image in the video isn’t great, and I’m sure she’s wearing a disguise. We should study it, anyway. I have a feeling we’re going to see this woman again, and I’d like to recognize her when we do.”

  “I’d like to check out the people in the Student Services office, too,” I said. “The problem is, if she is there… she won’t have any problem recognizing us, but we may not recognize her at all.”

  “I don’t think we’d have to ask Xander twice to do some recon for us,” Miles pointed out. “He’s watched just about every spy movie out there. We can send him in with a hi-res webcam from the security company. We’ll see and hear what he does.”

  “Ooh, too cool,” I said. “Let’s do it.”

  “I’ll have the security company order the equipment we need, and talk to Xander. As soon as school starts up again, we’ll see what we can find out.

  Christmas break wasn’t what we expected it to be, but we spent it together, and that was all that really mattered.

  Miles and I brought home a tree and set it up in Jenny’s and my apartment, then shopped for decorations. My very favorite was the “our first Christmas together” ornament. Even though technically, we were together last Christmas, too. But not the way we were now.

  The scent of the Frasier fir filled the apartment, as we strung the tree with lights, and hung the ornaments. When we were finished, we sat on the couch, watching the
colored lights softly fade in and out. The kittens had fun batting at low-hung ornaments, and now and then a limb suddenly shook, as a fur ball tried to climb the tree.

  Chip and Trixie lay on the floor watching the kittens. They good-naturedly put up with their little brother and sister, when occasionally they decided to climb on them.

  I sat curled up next to Miles with my head on his shoulder, holding his hand with both of mine, soaking in the memories we were making, and appreciating the sparkle of my engagement ring as it glittered in the multi-colored lights. I sighed.

  “Happy?” asked Miles, looking down at me.

  “Very,” I said. “You?”

  “Indescribably so. It was about this time last year, that we found the paper doll letter. Can you believe that? Never in a million years would I have imagined being here with you like this, a year later.”

  “Oh, wow. What a difference a year makes,” I said. “Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that you’re here?”

  “This is only the third time you’ve said it today. You’re starting to slack off,” Miles smiled.

  “Well, I am glad. Very glad. I couldn’t be more glad.”

  “Me too,” Miles said. “Me, too.”

  We saw my family several times a week, a benefit to living in the same city. Jenny was still in town, working at her part-time job as a barista. Xander also stayed in Glen Haven over the Christmas break, so the four of us went out to dinner often, and had movie nights at our apartment. John and Annette went to their respective homes for the holidays, but we had Paul and his girlfriend over a couple of times, too. He and Miles were becoming good friends, in spite of our concern that Paul would have expectations that couldn’t be met because of his friendship with Second-Miles. I’m sure it disappointed Paul that Miles had none of those memories… but he came to accept they were gone for good, instead of trying to help Miles remember, and it wasn’t turning out to be an issue after all.

  Miles and I sat on the couch eating pizza and watching a movie. I thought of the movie night Jenny and I had when I was sick with grief, thinking I’d never see him again. Now I saw him every day, he was my fiancé. What a difference a few months can make.