by Helen Phifer
She jogged off towards the front door and he felt terrible. What if something happened to her? What would he do then? He’d look great standing outside like a big wuss. She’d already disappeared through the door and he shook his head, striding across the gravel to follow her. A police car turned into the drive and he felt relieved to see two much bigger, very hairy men jump out and run towards the house.
One went inside and the other ran around the back. Joe didn’t know what to do so he waited at the front door. He could hear them shouting, ‘Police!’ as they checked out each room in the house. He had a terrible feeling that whatever it had been it wasn’t a burglar. If that was the case, though, what was it and what had it been dragging? He couldn’t exactly tell them he’d been frightened by a ghost. Today was not a good one for him. He just hoped it wasn’t going to get any worse. The small policewoman came out followed by the big hairy men and Joe knew what they were going to say.
‘We’ve checked the entire house: every cupboard, wardrobe and under every bed. There’s no one inside, Father.’
Joe shook his head. ‘I was afraid that was what you would say. I’m sorry for wasting your time, but thank you so much for coming and so fast as well. It’s very kind of you.’
‘What made you think there was someone inside your house?’
‘There’s only me that lives here. I came home from visiting an old friend and heard a loud bang upstairs followed by heavy footsteps. I should have gone up and taken a look around before calling you out. I’m so sorry.’
‘No, don’t be sorry; you did the right thing. You can never be too careful. If there was someone they managed to leave before we got here. I suggest you make sure all the windows and doors are secure and if you think they’ve come back please don’t hesitate to call us. That’s what we’re here for.’
He thanked them and watched them go back to their vans where the lights were still flashing, illuminating the dusky sky. He looked up at the landing window and crossed himself. He turned to wave as the officers got ready to go to the next emergency; then he strode into the house whilst he was feeling brave. He went into every room and checked the windows were secure. The house was empty just like it always was. Nothing was out of place, so what had the dragging sound been? He shivered, not wanting to think too much about it.
Satisfied there was no one of the mortal kind in the house, he went back downstairs to the drawing room and the book he’d been about to take a look at. This time he walked in and the room felt warm. It was no longer freezing cold; in fact he felt hot under his starched, white collar and he had to unclip it to let his skin breathe. He crossed to the cabinet and opened the door, but the heavy black leather book was no longer there. He ran his finger along every single book to double check. When he got to the bottom row there was no mistaking it – the book had been removed. He looked down onto the floor in case he’d dropped it in his hurry to get out of the house. It wasn’t anywhere to be seen and he’d checked every room apart from this and knew it wasn’t in any of them.
He lifted his hand and began to rub his head. What was happening? He didn’t understand it. How could a book so old and heavy disappear into thin air? Somebody or something hadn’t wanted him to look at it and had drawn his attention away from it. Puzzled, Joe decided it was time to make something to eat and have a drink. Maybe he was tired and needed to give himself a rest. He locked the front door and went into the kitchen. He was going to warm up a pizza and get a bottle of ice-cold Grolsch from the fridge, then go upstairs with his pizza and lager to play on his Xbox until he fell asleep. Tomorrow morning nice and early he would go and visit Kate to tell her about the convent and its tragic history. The woman had lived there without serious incident up to now; one more night wouldn’t hurt.
***
It was almost dark by the time Ollie pulled up outside Kate’s house. The girls were fast asleep in the back seat cuddling their new dinosaur teddies. Kate looked in the mirror and smiled. She’d never felt such an overwhelming rush of love for her children, who looked so angelic whilst they were asleep. Autumn was the serious one and loved to read as much as Kate did. Summer was more giggly and fun-loving. They were both very individual and she loved them more than anything. Ollie whispered in her ear, ‘You should be very proud. They are great kids. They didn’t ask for much and were so well behaved. It was a pleasure to take them.’
‘Thank you so much for today; I don’t know what I’d have done without you. It’s pretty late now though and you must be tired. Why don’t we take everything inside and order a Chinese. We can leave all the boxes in the hall and put the mattresses on the floor in my room for tonight. They can sleep there.’
‘Yes to the takeaway. I love any kind of Chinese food. And it’s okay if that’s what you want, but I don’t mind putting the beds up. They shouldn’t take too long. As long as you feed and water me I can work all night, boss.’
He began to laugh and she nudged his side. ‘Am I really a slave driver?’
‘No, I’m joking. I love being with you, Kate. I also have an ulterior motive. If I don’t build the beds the girls will be sleeping in your room and I’ll have to go home and sleep on my own. I know it’s very selfish of me, but being in bed next to you last night gave me the best night’s sleep in months and if I’m honest I don’t want to leave you girls here on your own.’
‘I want you to stop too. Let’s get everything inside, then you can crack on whilst I order the food.’
‘Yes, my lady; right away, my lady.’
He jumped out of the car before she could elbow him harder this time. She got out and went to unlock the front door. The house smelt of fresh paint. Ollie had left Jack and Ethan finishing painting the room the girls had picked out to be their bedroom. It was the first one at the top of the stairs, so it was close enough that Kate would hear them if they needed her in the night.
They left the sleeping girls whilst they unpacked the car, dumping all the boxes in the hall. They’d bought beds, chests of drawers, bedside tables, lamps, rugs and the cutest dinosaur bedding Kate had ever seen. Ollie had pointed out the girls’ section of bedding, but both girls had shook their heads in disgust and picked out the dinosaur duvets and matching pillowcases. As they put the last boxes down the doors on the van slammed shut as both girls climbed out. They wandered inside rubbing their eyes.
‘Are you hungry?’
They nodded in unison. ‘Good, what do you fancy to eat? Ollie and I are going to get a Chinese, but you can have pizza or whatever you fancy.’
‘Chicken chow mien, no bean sprouts, prawn crackers and salt and pepper chips, please.’
Autumn nodded at her sister’s choice. ‘I’ll share with her, if that’s okay.’
‘Of course; I’ll order it now.’
‘Do you have a television, Mum?’
‘I don’t. I always prefer to read. We can go and get one tomorrow although I haven’t got Sky TV.’
‘It’s okay. Have you got internet?’
Kate nodded, wondering when her girls had turned into miniature tech geeks. They sounded so grown up.
‘That’s okay then, you don’t need a television. We can watch Netflix on our iPads.’
‘Why don’t you go and lie on my bed? You can watch your iPads in there whilst me and Ollie go and sort your room out.’
They grinned and ran off towards her bedroom. She turned to Ollie.
‘Wow, they’ve grown up so much since I last saw them.’
‘They certainly know their stuff. What the hell is Netflix?’
They picked up one end of a long box each and carried it up the stairs. Kate went first and as she reached the top step a cold draught surrounded her, making her shiver. Then as if someone had walked through her she felt her insides turn to ice water and her heart froze. She let out a gasp.
‘Kate, what’s the matter? You’ve gone white.’
She heard Ollie’s voice, but she couldn’t speak. Her mouth felt as if it was full of cotton wool and her tongue was too
big.
He put his end of the box down, worried about her. She had frozen to the top step, disorientated. Panic filled her chest as she tried to breathe and couldn’t. Something had hold of her heart. It felt as if there was a pair of icy hands wrapped around, squeezing it. She looked at Ollie and he must have seen the look of fear in her eyes. Pushing the box to one side he ran up and grabbed hold of her, shaking her shoulders.
‘Kate, what’s wrong?’
She let out a loud gasp as if she’d been holding her breath whilst whatever it was that had stepped inside her body stepped back out.
‘I don’t know. I couldn’t breathe; it was so cold.’
He pulled her close. Her body temperature had dropped so drastically in seconds. She was shivering so much her teeth were chattering. With shaking arms she held on to him. She had no idea what had just happened. She wondered if it was alcohol withdrawal, but she didn’t really believe it was. It was as if someone had stepped inside her body, taking over it, but that was impossible.
‘I don’t feel well.’
Pain shot through her arms where she’d cut herself. She looked down at them to see Ollie’s white T-shirt now turning blood red where her arms were wrapped around him. Pushing away from him she stifled the scream that welled inside her, not wanting to scare the girls or let them see what was happening.
Ollie looked down to see the blood dripping through the long-sleeved shirt she was wearing. Kate, who’d never been good with blood, felt the room begin to swim as her ears turned fuzzy. As if he could read her mind, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the en-suite bathroom in the bedroom a couple of doors down from the room the girls were going to be sleeping in. He tried not to get blood on the freshly painted walls, which would scare the girls. Ollie looked terrified. Neither of them understood what was happening. First of all Kate had almost choked on nothing, and now she was bleeding again, badly. Ollie sat her down on the toilet. Holding her hands he lifted them into the air.
‘Kate, did something attack you? Try not to look at the blood; put your head down. I’ll try and stem the bleeding. What happened?’
She nodded, unable to speak. He rolled back one of her sleeves to inspect the now blood-soaked bandage. ‘Keep your arm up whilst I take a look at this one.’ She did as she was told even though it was hard to concentrate. As he began to unwrap the bandages she winced in pain. The blood was dripping down her arm; he turned it around, inspecting the cut. The wound had opened up. How had that happened? Ollie pulled his T-shirt over his head. It was ruined now anyway. He wrapped it around to try and stem the flow of blood. He looked at the other arm; thankfully it wasn’t bleeding as much.
‘I think we need to get you back to the hospital. Carrying those boxes must have opened up the wounds in your arms.’
She shook her head. ‘No, no hospital. Not when the girls are here. I don’t want them to know I’m a complete fuck-up. Please, Ollie, can you get the first aid kit from under the sink in the kitchen? I have some bandages in there. I’ll put some dressings on and a clean top. Sorry about your T-shirt.’
‘If you think that’s best.’
‘Ollie, I felt as if someone stepped inside my body. It was so cold and they were squeezing my insides so hard that I couldn’t breathe.’
‘Has it gone?’
‘Yes.’
He ran off and she leant back, the cool tiles behind her head clearing the fog in her brain. She had no idea if that was even possible, but something strange had just happened, whether she wanted to believe it or not. Ollie’s footsteps as he raced back up the stairs sounded comforting. He came back in with the green box tucked underneath his arm.
‘It’s okay, the girls are both in your room laughing at something they’re watching. Sounded like Little Britain. They have good taste.’
‘Thank you, I owe you again.’
He stroked her cheek.
‘You owe me nothing. I’m here because I want to be and if I can be of some use whilst I’m here then that’s even better. I’m worried about your arms though, Kate. Are you sure we shouldn’t take you back to A&E to get them checked out?’
‘Not bloody likely. Did you see the way they all looked at me with pity when I was there? I don’t need anyone looking down on me. Today has been the best day in for ever; I’m not ending it sitting in the hospital for hours when I could be with my daughters and you.’
He smiled and bent down to kiss her cheek. ‘My you’re tough, Ms Parker, and I’ll do my best to wrap them back up. Do you think we should try and find some paranormal group or a priest to try and help us figure out what’s going on?’
She watched as he kneeled on the floor in front of her. He opened the green plastic box and took out an assortment of dressings and bandages. Within minutes he had pads on both arms and had bandaged them up almost as well as the nurse had done. They were tight and so far so good; the blood wasn’t seeping through them. When he’d finished he took hold of her hands, holding them above her head.
‘Just for a couple of minutes to make sure.’
Kate nodded. ‘Thank you, and I’ve already spoken to a priest. The other day when I went for a walk, I ended up at a vicarage. He is supposed to be looking into the history of the house for me.’
‘Good. Let’s hope he can find something out that can help us then.’
He leant down and kissed her lips. She kissed him back with so much passion she thought her heart was about to explode from her chest. A loud knock on the door startled them apart. Ollie let go of her arms.
‘Keep them up; it will be the food. I’ll go.’
‘You’re semi naked.’
‘Oh yes, I forgot about that. I’ll answer the door then run to the truck and get my sweatshirt before I take it into the kitchen.’
Kate leaned back against the cool wall to try and stop the burning sensation inside her head. There was something about him that made her act like she was desperate for a man. She needed to calm herself down. She was too old for this. Or was she? Just because Martin had made her feel like an old maid it didn’t actually mean that she was. Maybe she should start wiping her time with Martin from her mind; she’d dwelled on those miserable twelve years of her life for too long. It was time to move on.
The thought of Martin reminded her that she hadn’t had a drink for over twenty-four hours. The thirst was like nothing she’d ever known. Her hands began to tremble and she lowered them to inspect the bandages. They were still crisp and clean, no sign of any blood. Good, she didn’t want to upset the girls. How was she going to get into her bedroom for a clean top with them in there? The front door slammed and she heard Ollie run down to the kitchen. He shouted to the kids as he went past her room and she heard the sound of them chattering as they went into the hall and made their way down to where she could hear the sound of plates and cutlery being banged around as Ollie began to dish up the food. Good.
She stood up on legs that felt as if they didn’t belong to her. Something was going on in this house and she was too scared to think too hard about it. She got to the top of the stairs, her heart racing in case there was a replay of the incident of less than twenty minutes ago. Gripping on to the banister, she walked down each step, careful not to fall over her own feet. She reached her bedroom without incident and wondered if she’d imagined it all before. Was she hallucinating because of the alcohol withdrawal? Yes, she decided there was a good chance she was.
Slipping into her bedroom she opened the drawer and pulled out a black, long-sleeved top just as she heard Summer call, ‘Mum, the food’s here.’ Taking a second to look at herself in the mirror she had to do a double take. The face staring back at her was much older with grey hair. She blinked and her own face was watching her. She really needed to get a grip of herself. She’d known the withdrawal from the wine would be bad, but she hadn’t realised it would be like this. She walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of Ollie and Summer dishing food onto plates, whilst Autumn watched from her perch on
the kitchen table, nibbling at the prawn crackers and making sure she got just as many noodles as her sister.
If Kate was honest she didn’t feel as hungry as she had earlier. Ollie turned around, passing a plate to Autumn, who took it from him, grinning. He smiled to see Kate and passed her the next one; Summer had already taken hers and was tucking in. Kate sat down in between her girls and wanted to pinch herself. Was this even real?
She reached out, letting her fingers brush along Summer’s arm, then smiled; yes, it was real and a bloody miracle. Summer looked at her and smiled, her expression one of someone much older and wiser than an eleven-year-old girl. They ate amongst the giggling from the girls as Ollie tried his best to use the chopsticks that had come with the food. He spilt more of it down his top and gave up, going back to using a fork. After they’d eaten the girls asked if they could go back to watching their iPads and Kate nodded.
‘Yes, of course you can; we still need to build your beds.’
Ollie groaned. ‘Bugger, I’d forgotten about that. I don’t think I can bend down I’ve eaten that much chicken chow mien.’
Autumn laughed. ‘Why don’t we sleep on our mattresses tonight and you can build the beds tomorrow? It is quite late and I don’t want you puking all over my new bed because you’re too stuffed to bend down and screw it all together.’
‘Wise words from that kid over there, Kate. Very wise.’
‘Is that okay with you as well, Summer?’
Summer nodded. ‘Yep, I don’t care what I sleep on as long as it’s comfy and I have my dinosaur bedding.’
Kate stood up. ‘Well then if you girls would scrape the plates and put them in the sink to soak we’ll go up and make up your beds.’
Ollie, who was now leaning back in his chair, held out his hand. ‘You’ll have to prise me off this chair. I don’t think I can move.’
She held out her hand and he grabbed it. She tugged him much harder than he expected and he stumbled towards her. He turned to look at the girls.
‘Hey, she’s much stronger than she looks. Remind me not to get in her bad books. She’ll probably chase me down the drive with a frying pan in her hands.’