The Hill - Carla’s Story (Book Two): A Paranormal Murder Mystery Thriller. (Book Two)

by Andrew M Stafford

  She could hear voices coming from the lounge. Christopher was giggling and she could hear her mother. Campbell’s voice was coming from the kitchen and it sounded as if he was on the telephone.

  As she got out of bed her body felt as heavy as a rock, her legs were aching and her head was throbbing. It felt like the worse hangover she’d had in years, yet she couldn’t remember drinking last night, in fact, the more she thought about it, she couldn’t remember very much about last night at all.

  She trudged into the lounge to be greeted by Christopher who was ecstatic to see her. He ran over to her and threw his arms around her. Maria held the palm of her hand to her forehead in a vague attempt to ease her aching head.

  She said nothing as she sat down.

  Claire looked at her and saw what a mess she was. Mascara had run down and stained her face, her eyes were red and swollen and she had slept in her crumpled clothes.

  “Do you want coffee?” asked Claire.

  Maria shook her head and in a croaky, dry voice asked for a glass of water.

  Claire went to the kitchen and passed Campbell in the hall.

  “She’s in there,” said Claire, pointing to the lounge.

  “How is she?”

  “She seems pretty rough, and hasn’t said much.”

  “I’ve called Westhouse and told them she won’t be in today.”

  “What did you say was wrong with her?”

  “You know, women’s stuff, it seemed to do the trick, the woman on the phone stopped pushing me for details when I told her, I think she felt sorry for me.”

  Claire smiled.

  “I’m getting her a glass of water, why don’t you go in and say good morning.”

  He nodded and with trepidation entered the lounge.

  Maria looked miserable. Christopher sat next to her and he was also looking miserable.

  “Mummy’s not talking to me.”

  “I know Christopher, mummy’s a little unwell this morning.”

  “I don’t want mummy to be unwell.”

  Campbell hugged him and kissed his head.

  Claire brought the water and handed it to Maria. Her hand was unsteady as she took a sip.

  “Can you get me some paracetamol please.”

  Campbell went to the kitchen and came back with two tablets.

  “How do you feel?” asked Claire.

  Maria shook her head and didn’t speak.

  “Campbell, I’m due to have Christopher today as Maria would have been working, but I’m worried about leaving her alone, but at the same time I don’t want Christopher bounding around the place, I’m worried that he’ll push her over the edge,” said Claire barely above a whisper.

  “I’ll call the office, I’m sure they’ll let me have the day off so I can stay with her.”

  He went to the kitchen and called TM.IT and arranged a day’s leave at short notice.

  Claire took Christopher to the bathroom and got him washed and dressed. By nine o’clock she had him ready for the day.

  She sat next to Maria and held her hand.

  “I’m taking Christopher somewhere nice for the day so you can have some time to yourself, and Campbell will stay with you, that’s if you would like him to.”

  Maria didn’t respond. Claire squeezed her daughter’s hand and looked up at Campbell, who was standing by the settee.

  “Come on tiger, how would you like to go to the zoo?” said Claire as she picked Christopher up and held him in her arms.

  “Zoo mummy, zoo mummy, nanny’s taking me to the zoo.”

  Maria didn’t look up at her son who was flailing around in Claire’s arms, instead she vacantly stared at the wall on the other side of the room.

  Christopher face dropped when his mother didn’t answer. He was upset and had never seen her like this.

  “What’s wrong with mummy?”

  “Mummy’s got a headache, that’s all, she’ll be better soon,” said Campbell in his best reassuring voice.

  Claire kissed Maria and left the flat with Christopher, who had regained his enthusiasm for a daytrip to the zoo with his grandmother.

  Campbell’s phone was ringing and he took the call in the kitchen. The call had been from the doctor’s surgery to confirm the time of the visit. A home appointment for eleven had been made.

  The flat was silent. Neither the television nor the radio were on and Campbell felt like a spare part. He walked around looking for something constructive to do as Maria sat and stared into space.

  Eventually he tried talking to her.

  “Maria, what do you remember about last night?”

  She didn’t reply and was holding the glass of water that Claire had given her almost an hour earlier.

  “Maria, can you hear me?”

  She turned her head slowly, looked at Campbell and then stared back towards the wall.

  He went to the kitchen and was in need of coffee. His mouth was dry and he felt desperately tired. He made two drinks, he couldn’t be bothered to mess around with the cappuccino machine and made two instants, both with heaped teaspoons of coffee granules.

  He brought the drinks into the lounge and put one on the table for Maria.

  And then she spoke.

  “My son has a dead person inside of him, hasn’t he?”

  Campbell was uncertain whether he was being asked or told, whatever, he didn’t know what to say. He bit his lip, before he attempted to speak.

  “Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer, I already know,” said Maria in a lifeless monosyllabic tone.

  “Listen Maria, you’ve a visit from the doctor booked for this morning and I think we need to talk before he turns up. What do you want to say about Christopher?”

  “Why should he ask about Christopher?”

  “Dr Sullivan was here last night, do you remember?”

  Maria shook her head.

  “Well, he was, and he gave you something to help you sleep. I’d explained to him the stress you’d been under with Christopher’s sleep issues and I told him he’d seen a hypnotherapist, but I mentioned nothing about Ben Walker and I don’t think you should mention it either.”

  Maria nodded.

  “I’m sorry about all of this,” said Maria attempting a smile.

  Campbell took her hand and kissed her on the cheek.

  After half an hour she began to drink the coffee, even though she’d let it go cold, it made her feel more awake as the caffeine coursed through her system.

  She went to the bathroom and tidied herself up. She removed the mascara stains, but couldn’t be bothered to apply new makeup.

  Dr Parry had been and gone by eleven forty five and had diagnosed exhaustion which had been brought on by Christopher’s RMD and the lack of sleep over the last couple of years. He agreed that the sleep talking would have compounded the issues and prescribed something to allow her to sleep.

  Campbell agreed that he would deal with any issues Christopher may have during the night to take the pressure away from Maria.

  Dr Parry signed her off work for two weeks and wrote on her fit for work note that she’d suffered nervous exhaustion.

  Maria hated the diagnosis as it made it sound as if she’d lost her mind.

  Neither of them had eaten and Campbell was feeling shaky. He made some toast. Maria picked at hers whilst he finished his in minutes.

  Campbell returned from the kitchen after taking out the plates and he was carrying another two mugs of coffee. This time he’d used the cappuccino machine. The bitter instant coffee had left a nasty taste in his mouth.

  “I suppose we should talk about the elephant in the room,” said Maria in a quiet voice as she hugged her coffee mug.

  Campbell nodded.

  “I’ve been in denial since all of this kicked off, I mean since Ben Walker reared his ugly head.”

  Campbell said nothing and waited for her to continue.

  “At first, I didn’t want any more hypnosis because I was worried how it may affect Christ
opher, but now it’s because of me. I’m worried how it will affect me.”

  She stood up and walked to the window and continued to talk with her back to Campbell.

  “I’ve no idea what’s happening to my son and I agree that we need to use Tom Judd to find out what is really going on. Providing Esther doesn’t come back with anything which suggests hypnosis could be harmful, then I think Judd should continue.”

  Campbell nodded again.

  “But…….” she continued, “I don’t want to be there when it happens.”

  “Why not? I’m sure Christopher won’t go ahead with it unless you’re there.”

  “I’ll go along, but when Judd hypnotises him, I’d rather wait in the other room.”

  “OK, well you can always change your mind, it’s a woman's prerogative, isn’t that what they say?”

  Maria smiled.

  Campbell called Judd and put the wheels back in motion.

  Chapter ninety eight

  Liz Mason’s home

  2.27pm

  Monday 21st May

  Liz’s temperature had been fluctuating for the past week. The medicine had initially worked, but after finishing the course of antibiotics, her temperature was on the up again.

  Terry had called the doctor as her carers were concerned.

  The doctor arrived midafternoon and spent half an hour examining her.

  “I’ve prescribed another course of stronger antibiotics and I’m confident that this time they will work,” said the doctor as he calmly wrote the prescription.

  “But, if they don’t, I think it would be wise to admit her.”

  “What, you mean she would need to go to hospital?”

  “I think so. You’ve a great team of carers looking after your daughter, but if things get worse she needs to be somewhere where she can get the best treatment.”

  Chloe and David, the carers, did their best not to appear offended.

  The thought of his daughter going back to hospital left Terry Mason cold. He hated the place, which was one of the driving forces which compelled him and Anne to get Liz home as soon as possible.

  Until now there had been no major issues with Liz’s health. She’d had the odd cough, cold and stomach upset, but nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly nothing that the carers were not able to handle.

  The doctor had not been able to pinpoint the reason for her fever and was concerned that things could become serious.

  Terry thanked the doctor for his time and asked David to collect the new course of drugs from the pharmacy.

  He sat by his daughter as she lay in the continuous slumber from which she hadn’t woken for over two and a half years.

  He watched her chest gently rise and fall and thought how serene she appeared. He wondered what, if anything, went through her mind. Did she dream, or was it a constant blackout?

  Terry could hear Chloe in the other room. She was sorting some clean bedding for Liz which had just been washed.

  His mind began to wander and he recalled the meeting in the boardroom the other week when Campbell Broderick had a funny turn. For reasons he couldn’t explain, Terry suddenly became very nervous of Broderick and considered him a threat. Not to him, but a threat to his daughter. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something about the young Irishman that he didn’t like.

  As far as Terry was aware Broderick was a good worker and seemed to be a decent person.

  He couldn’t put his finger on it, he just had a sense that the man was trouble. He made a mental note to check the man’s background and personnel files when he was back in the office.

  Just recalling Campbell Broderick’s face was starting to make Terry feel uneasy.

  Chapter ninety nine

  Thomas Judd’s Practice

  7.32pm

  Thursday 24th May

  Tom Judd had called a meeting to discuss how to proceed with Christopher.

  Maria, Campbell and Esther were present, and this time Maria had wanted her mother to be there for moral support.

  She was fragile after her mini breakdown and needed her mother to be with her during this difficult time.

  Christopher was at home and Samreen had agreed to babysit.

  Esther was the first to speak.

  “I’ve been researching the dangers of hypnotherapy, and unlike most other areas of therapy, there doesn’t appear to be a governing body which sets the standards to which hypnotherapists should perform. There are organisations to which they may belong, but this is up to the individual hypnotherapist.” Esther paused as she turned to Judd.

  “I’ve spoken with the Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy and although Mr. Judd has assured us that hypnosis and hypnotherapy are harmless and have no ill effect upon clients, this appears to not be wholly accurate.”

  Judd shuffled nervously as Esther paused and continued to look at him.

  “From what I understand, hypnotherapy is safe, providing the hypnotherapist doesn’t suggest things to his client that could cause the client harm. Am I right Mr. Judd?”

  Judd nodded.

  “But you told me that a person couldn’t be hypnotised to do something which they would not normally do when not under hypnosis,” said Campbell in a raised voice.

  Judd said nothing and Esther continued.

  “However, after speaking with the Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, of which Mr. Judd is a fully paid up associate, they have assured me that he is one of their most highly regarded members and have also assured me that he would not do anything below the highest level of professionalism.”

  “Other than lie to me,” said Campbell bluntly.

  “It seems to me that Tom and the Association for Professional whatever they’re called are in bed together,” added Campbell.

  Judd shook his head as Esther continued.

  “Campbell, I think Judd was doing his best attempt at salesmanship, although I don’t condone him for stretching the truth, I have faith in him and don’t think he would do anything that would harm young Christopher. Besides, it was his idea to record the hypnotherapy sessions in the first place and I think this should prove he has every intention to perform to the highest level of professionalism to which he claims to adhere.”

  Judd let out an audible sigh as the others viewed him with suspicion.

  “Finally, I would like to add that Tom appears to have the ability to quickly hypnotise Christopher and conjure up, if that is the right word, Ben Walker.”

  “I can assure you Esther, there is no conjuring involved. Either Ben Walker is, or was, a real person, or he’s a character within Christopher’s psyche.”

  Esther apologised for her poor choice of words and continued to speak.

  “And in addition, Christopher appears to suffer no ill effect after being hypnotised, in fact, he seems to enjoy it, am I right Maria?”

  Maria nodded.

  “So I guess I have Esther’s stamp of approval.” said Judd.

  An air of mistrust filled the room and the atmosphere could be cut with a knife.

  Next, it was Tom Judd’s turn to speak.

  “To get to the bottom of what is affecting Christopher we need to ascertain two things. Firstly we need to work out whether Ben Walker is a creation of Christopher’s imagination. And assuming he is not, we need to establish when Ben Walker was alive, and considering he says he was killed, we need to know when the murder took place.”

  Silence filled the room.

  “In the heat of the moment, Maria said something the last time we were together, she referred to the notion that Ben Walker may be someone who had lived hundreds of years ago, and if this is the case, I need to find a way of switching him off so he no longer troubles Christopher.”

  Judd paced the room with his hands in his jacket pockets whilst searching for inspiration for what to say next.

  “But……..if we can prove that Ben Walker had been murdered in the recent past I have to consider that we have a mu
rder case on our hands and that puts a whole different angle on the matter.”

  Campbell stood up from his chair.

  “And just how do you propose we prove either of the things you suggest?”

  “Well, if Ben is a creation of Christopher’s imagination, no matter how well he is able to express himself verbally whilst under hypnosis, the knowledge will have been picked up and stored within his subconscious mind. He would be recalling conversations he’d heard in the past and somehow retained the information, which, when under hypnosis, manifests as an alternate person.”

  “Do you think my son has a split personality, could he be schizophrenic?” asked Maria.

  “No I don’t” replied Judd attempting to reassure her.

  “It’s early days yet, but I don’t think your son is suffering from anything as severe as schizophrenia. Anyway, as I was saying, if Christopher has created Ben walker, no matter how real he seems, he’ll fail some basic tests.”

  “What kind of tests?” asked Esther.

  “I’ve not given this much thought yet, but I am thinking along the lines of basic mathematics test, you know, the twelve times table.”

  “I’d struggle with the twelve times table myself, I don’t think that would prove anything,” replied Esther.

  “Well OK, maybe not the twelve times table, but something a child may not know, like who painted the Mona Lisa, or name some books written by Charles Dickens, that sort of thing.”

  Everyone agreed that a test like Judd proposed could prove whether or not Ben Walker had been a real person.

  “So if we prove that Ben was a real person who is presently residing in Christopher’s subconscious, we need to work out when he existed and again this can be done by asking a series of questions.”

  “Like what year where you born?” asked Claire helpfully.

  “Unfortunately not, Ben has already confirmed he can’t remember dates and seems to have no concept of the passing of time. I think we need to ask him about the world he remembers. Perhaps we should ask what sort of places are in his memories or who was queen, or king.”