“How’s the new place?” he asked, his words muffled by the piece of the helmet that still covered his mouth.
“Loving it.” She beamed at him. “Do you have any idea if the owners want to sell? If they’re interested, I’d like to have first option.”
Graham removed his helmet. “I have no idea. I’ll find out from him and let you know.”
“Oh, and by the way, the roof leaks. We need someone to come out real soon.”
“Of course. I’ll contact the owner and inform him.”
They continued their chat for a while longer about the deposit and minor points concerning the contract. Graham agreed again to contact the owner to send a contractor to her house as soon as possible. After they said their goodbyes, Graham left on his motorcycle, and Kayleigh and Sarah proceeded to their house.
†
When Kayleigh unlocked the door, Sarah snuck past her down the hallway and sprinted straight up to her room.
“Don’t run in the house!” Kayleigh called out after her. That was rule number four in their book of rules.
Kayleigh went to the bathroom and stripped for a shower. After their big lunch, neither of them would want dinner. Kayleigh thought they’d have some ice cream and sit outside on the patio until it was bedtime.
Kayleigh stepped under the shower spray and thought again about Rebecca. She wasn’t used to thinking nonstop about her friends. She felt like a child with a new pet or toy. Rebecca’s a new friend. It was normal to think about a new friend all the time. Wasn’t it?
The warm water from the shower felt great on her tired muscles. After she’d lathered herself down with soap, she closed her eyes and allowed the water to soak her face and her hair. She lifted her chin toward the spraying water. An image entered Kayleigh’s mind of Rebecca stretching, her breasts pressing hard against her T-shirt.
Okay… where did that come from?
Kayleigh shook away the image as if she was shaking away the water in her hair. Instead, she focused on how sweet, sincere, and full of energy Rebecca was. Those thoughts were much safer.
The unexpected feel of a clammy, claw-like hand on her neck made her jerk around in terror. The pressure on her neck was unmistakable. It had felt exactly like an icy human hand, but there was no one there. She leapt out of the shower and grabbed a towel to cover her body. Water ran down her skin and pooled on the floor. Fear gripped her insides. She reached for the sink, where she heaved and gagged into the drain. Her legs shook violently, and she struggled to stand without them giving way from underneath her. Lifting her head from the basin, she raked her surroundings again—her eyes wide with dread.
“Oh, my God. You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” she whispered to the emptiness that surrounded her. She grabbed her gown and wrapped it around her, not caring that she still hadn’t dried off. She turned off the water before she left the bathroom and hurried to see if Sarah was safe. Kayleigh’s heart was beating insanely fast, her chest aching from hyperventilating. She paused for a moment at the foot of the stairs to catch her breath and ease her dizziness. She pushed back another wave of nausea.
“Sarah?” she called out, as she scuttled up the stairway. Sarah wasn’t in her room. Kayleigh panicked. “Sarah!”
“I’m in the kitchen, Mom!” Sarah called back from downstairs. “I’m making you some tea.”
Kayleigh breathed a sigh of relief as she turned toward the kitchen, water still dripping from her long hair. Sarah was standing on her tippy toes, reaching for the tea bag jar. With the jar finally in hand, she turned around to face her mom. “Jeez, Mommy. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Kayleigh collapsed in a chair and tried again to control her breathing. The last thing she wanted to do was scare Sarah. “Tea sounds great, love. Thanks. Just let me pour the hot water. I don’t want you to get burned.” She managed to keep her voice calm, even though her heart was still slamming away in her chest.
She got up on shaky legs and added two spoons of brown sugar with cold milk before adding the hot water. She was in desperate need for some glucose to soothe her nerves. After stirring it, she sat down again and started downing the warm liquid. It took her only a minute to finish the tea. When she looked up at Sarah, she saw that her daughter was staring at her as though she’d gone nuts.
“It was so delicious, I couldn’t stop,” Kayleigh said, before she placed the empty mug down on the table.
†
Kayleigh spent half the night tossing and turning and the other half placing buckets around the house. The house was obviously not rain proof, and between that and the problems getting settled, she hardly got much sleep. When her alarm went off at six o’clock the following morning, she struggled to get out of bed. The bags under her eyes were a dead giveaway. She splashed her face with cold water, brushed her teeth, and went to Sarah’s room to wake her, only to find an empty bed.
“What now...?” Kayleigh descended the stairway to the kitchen. Sarah was up and fully dressed. She sat at the kitchen table with drawings scattered in front of her. Kayleigh frowned and looked down at Sarah, who was in an obvious trance. She seemed to be drawing the same picture repeatedly.
“What are you drawing, honey?” Kayleigh asked. Not wanting to startle her, she gently touched Sarah’s shoulder.
Sarah stopped scribbling suddenly, leaving the trance as her eyes shot up to look at her mother. As Sarah’s eyes darted around the kitchen, it was obvious to Kayleigh that she clearly had no idea of where she was. Sarah’s gaze went down to the pictures she’d drawn, and she frowned. “I don’t know, Mommy. I came down to have breakfast, and....”
Kayleigh picked a few pictures up off the table and stared at them. They were all the same—a square with a half-moon handle on one side of each square.
“You mean you didn’t know you were drawing these?”
“I’m sorry, Mommy.” Sarah was close to tears.
“It’s all right, my angel.” Kayleigh placed the pictures back down on the table and bent to embrace and comfort Sarah. Kayleigh was close to a breaking point. All she ever wanted was a bigger house—not all the supernatural crap that obviously accompanied this one.
†
It was just before eight o’clock when Kayleigh entered the CD store. With insomnia leaving her vulnerable, her heart pounded in her throat when she spied Rebecca.
The shop itself looked magnificent. Rebecca had been working on it. She’d stacked all the shelves with CDs and had hung paintings of music legends. A big sign that read Wall of Fame hung on one wall. She’d placed three couches of different colors around the shop. Their funky green, red, and orange colors made the place look very hip. Music blasted from massive speakers mounted next to the CD shelves. Those few changes would definitely put the CD shop on the map. And soon.
Rebecca spotted Kayleigh and lowered the volume on the music system. “Oh, my goodness, woman. Pardon me for saying so, but you look awful. What the hell happened?”
“Thanks,” Kayleigh said, not hiding her sarcasm. Then she burst into uncontrollable sobs.
“I didn’t mean to....” Rebecca rushed up to her, placed an arm around her, and guided her to the red couch. “Sit down. Tell me now. What happened?” Her voice was gentle. She placed both her hands on Kayleigh’s shoulders and pushed her down onto the couch, sat down next to her, and placed her arm around Kayleigh. “Did someone hurt you? Tell me, I’ll go and fuck their shit up for them,” Rebecca said, her voice laced with anger.
“No, no... it’s nothing like that... I can’t tell you... you’ll think I’m totally wacko...,” Kayleigh managed to stutter out around her sobs.
“Try me.” Rebecca got up, went to the door, and locked it. Then she pulled a tissue from the counter before she sat down next to Kayleigh again. She handed her the tissue and gently put a hand on Kayleigh’s leg. Kayleigh tried hard to maintain her composure and to control her breathing. Wiping her eyes and her nose, she looked up at Rebecca.
“I think my house is
haunted.” She shook her head as she realized what she must sound like. “First I heard Sarah talk while she was fast asleep, then something touched me in the shower, but there was no one there. This morning, Sarah was in a trance drawing weird pictures without knowing it.” She went on to explain all the incidents in detail, while Rebecca stared into her eyes.
“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all this,” Rebecca said finally. “Maybe you’re both just tired from the move. Besides, it’s a very old house. Old houses tend to croak a lot.”
Kayleigh laughed at the term. “They croak, you say.”
Rebecca gave her a quirky smile. “Yes, croak. Do you want me to come home with you tonight? I can have a look around for you. Debunk everything for you.” Rebecca’s voice was full of concern. “I’m a skeptic, so I’ll find the reason for all these experiences.”
“I sound like a real coward, I know. But I just can’t say no to that offer right now. I’m scared shitless. I have a child for heaven’s sake, and I’m so frightened that something could happen to her.”
“Kay, no problemo. I shalt accompany thou to su casa later.” Rebecca grinned at her.
“Oh, but I close doors at three pm. You close at five, right?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Can I give you directions and then you can come by for dinner and a drink?” Kayleigh’s voice shook. She always asked friends over, why should this one feel so different? “Or I can come and pick you up so you don’t have to drive on an unknown road.”
“I’ll be fine, thank you very much. You haven’t seen me drive that Mini Cooper of mine though hills and trees before, have you?” Rebecca paused and swallowed loudly before taking a deep breath. “I’d drive through fire for you, Kay.”
†
Immediately after Kayleigh left Rebecca’s store, she went for a quick visit at the estate agent’s office, which was only a block from her practice.
She took a few breaths to calm herself down before entering his office. “Hi, Graham.”
“Kayleigh, I was just about to call you. So glad you popped in.”
“I hope it was with regards to the roof. It needs fixing today, or else Sarah and I are going to need other accommodation.”
“I actually have a contractor ready to go fix it now.”
“Great. There’s no one at the house today. Can I just leave my keys with you?”
“That would be perfect. I’ll have them back to you by this afternoon. This guy is very good and he has a whole team who helps, so it will be all done by this afternoon. I’ll go with them so you needn’t worry about anything. Kayleigh, I’m really sorry, I had no idea the house was in such a bad state.”
“As long as it can be repaired, I’ll be happy, Graham. I really don’t feel like moving again so soon.” As she was about to leave, she remembered. “Oh, and please ask your contractor to check the insulation. One of the rooms is very cold.”
“Will do, Kayleigh. See you later then, love.”
“Thank you. See you later.”
Chapter 7
1896
“Good morning, sweetness,” Catherine murmured as they awoke. She rolled over and with her fingertips, touched Joshua’s muscular and tanned back. Joshua turned around and slid his hands up and down her slender back.
“Happy one year anniversary, my lovely,” he said and kissed her. He reached to the bedside table and took something out of the top drawer. It was a gold chain with a golden locket in the shape of a heart. He struggled for a short while with the clip before he opened it and Catherine bent her head so he could place it around her neck.
“This is so beautiful,” she said looking at the necklace. She gave him a long warm kiss. When she opened it, she saw two photos inside, one of her and one of him.
“It’s symbolic of our love. Whenever you get lonely, I want you to open it and remember this day.”
She beamed at him. “And when would I ever get lonely, my love? You’re always around.” There was a twinkle in her eyes before she added, “Do you mind if I remove the photo of me and replace it with a photo of me with our baby instead?”
“Well, of course not. One day when we have a baby, we will have a photo taken with all of us and I’ll have it fitted for you.” He noticed the expression on her face. “Wait a minute.…”
Catherine grinned at him and nodded.
Joshua grabbed her and pulled her close. “We’re going to have a baby!”
“Oh yes. Congratulations, my love!”
“I love you, more than life itself,” he whispered and kissed her.
“I love you too, my husband. Together forever.”
“Always and forever.” He gently placed his hand on her stomach. “How long have you known?” he asked as tears welled in his eyes.
“I went to the doctor last week. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I wanted to wait for the perfect moment to surprise you. You can’t imagine how hard it was not to blurt it out on so many occasions.”
“This is wonderful news. How are you feeling?” He jumped out of bed before she could answer. “I must feed you and the baby. Come now, my love. I’m going to make you a hearty breakfast.”
“You know we have servants for that, dear. Besides, I think Evelyn might be a better cook,” she said, teasingly.
“I’m going to take such good care of you.” He knelt by the bed and touched her stomach again. “I’ll get Evelyn to scramble you up some eggs and make toast.”
Chapter 8
Present day
I’d drive through fire for you, Kay....
That remark replayed in Kayleigh’s mind all the way home. She took a deep breath to shake it off as she unlocked the front door.
The day at the practice had dragged on. Kayleigh hoped she’d given all the right injections, though she double and sometimes tripled checked each time. With all that was going on at her house, and the thought of Rebecca coming over later, she couldn’t keep her focus on work. At three, Graham had returned her keys and promised that the leaks had been sealed. He was a bit pale when she saw him and she wondered if anything supernatural had happened while they were at her house.
After closing for the day, she’d stopped at the store to buy the ingredients for the chicken a la king she was going to make, plus a bottle of wine for them to enjoy on the patio. Sarah was very excited that the CD-lady was coming for a visit. So excited in fact, she helped her mom clean and cook dinner without any of her usual fuss.
With the previous encounter in the bathroom still on her mind, Kayleigh barely managed to set aside her fear long enough to step into the shower. Thoughts of Rebecca and the dinner she’d planned helped get her mind off the spooky events, however. She was grateful for the temporary diversion. She finished showering, relieved that nothing happened to scare her witless again. After she brushed her teeth, she helped Sarah shower and then got dressed. Sarah had insisted on wearing a fancy white dress with matching sandals for this special occasion.
Now, it was Kayleigh’s turn to pick what to wear. She stood in front of her closet and frowned, before choosing a pair of ripped jeans and a tight green top. Her cleavage protruded above the low dip of her top, but she felt like showing the girls off and didn’t want to think about the why. To add some height, she slipped into her black leather boots with the two-inch heel. She rubbed some anti-aging cream under her eyes, added some eyeliner and mascara before brushing her hair so that it lay across her slim shoulders. With a final look in the mirror, she was satisfied with the results.
Sarah watched her from Kayleigh’s bed. “You look so beautiful, Mom.”
“Thanks, sweetie pie. You look prettier than a princess does. Got a date I should know about? Travis, was that his name? Or Tristan?” She winked at Sarah.
“No! Ewww! Boys drool!” Sarah wrinkled her nose.
Kayleigh giggled. “That’s what you say now. Wait ‘til you get older.”
Sarah’s compliment pleased her. She caught herself wondering whet
her Rebecca would also like the way she looked. It was nice to have a friend who was all alone like herself. A friend who understood what life was about when you had no one else.
As she was on her way down the stairs, the doorbell rang and Kayleigh’s heart skipped a beat. She breathed in deeply before opening the door with shaky hands. She was nervous, and afraid of making a fool of herself in front of Rebecca.
“Hi.” Rebecca greeted her with a smile. But then her lips faltered and her eyes widened. Her gaze went from Kayleigh’s face, slowly down her body, and back up. “You look so sexy,” she whispered.
Kayleigh blushed. “Thanks. What a nice compliment.” She breathed in Rebecca’s scent before taking in her appearance. Jeans hugged Rebecca’s perfect figure, and her black turtle neck sweater fit her like a second skin. Kayleigh’s mouth suddenly went dry. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Rebecca waved the bottle of wine she was holding. “Maybe this will help our nervousness.”
“Oh, great,” Kayleigh said. “You brought the entrance fee.” She took the bottle and stepped back so that Rebecca could enter. “Now we can be drunk when we piss the ghosts, or whatever it is, off.”
Sarah came rushing down the stairs. “It’s the CD lady!” She ran up to Rebecca and hugged her waist.
“You can call me Aunt Rebecca, if that’s okay.” Rebecca glanced at Kayleigh for approval. “Look what I have for you, kiddo.” Rebecca removed a CD from her bag.
Sarah shrieked. “Oh, thanks so much,” she said as she immediately ran and shoved it into the hi-fi system, pressing play. With the volume at almost full blast, Sarah started dancing to the beat.
Kayleigh flashed a grin in Rebecca’s direction and shook her head. “And that’s what I’ll be listening to for the rest of the month.” She motioned for Rebecca to follow her. “Come with me. Maybe it will be quieter in the kitchen.
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