by Hoy, E. S
There was more room in the garage now and actually she thought it had potential to be turned into a gym. She could buy a running machine, exercise bike and maybe some weights. Tara hated the gym because she was conscious of her slender boyish figure, being flat chested was not a good look in Lycra. Eve always tried to reassure her to no avail, so this way at least she could stay in shape privately. There were only three boxes left, as another two were just full of more sales leaflets. Next she lifted the box that had the rosary beads inside; this box was more personal. She found all their birth certificates apart from hers; she wondered whether social services had sent for it? She discovered her mother had been born Leila Sharps born in Brighton to a Gordon and Marie Sharps. Perhaps she could look them up, grandparents would be nice, and she already knew her father’s parents were dead as he had told them about a car crash when she was little.
The box also contained small leather bound bibles that looked well worn. Also a box of her mother’s jewellery; nothing valuable but Eve put the box on her dresser, it was the only thing she had of hers. Lastly there was a collection of books that she put on her bookshelves. Her love of British literature must have been inherited from Leila; Thomas Hardy, Jane Austin and one strange find a book on Dante. Tara will be intrigued Dante’ was her specialised subject at university. Eve thought it weird and a bit deep for her tastes; Tara however was obsessed with Beatrice and Dante’s relationship.
The second to last box was full of her father’s clothes so she bagged them up for charity. It was almost four o’clock already so she left the last box for tomorrow. Washing her hands she set about making a chilli for their tea, Tara hated kidney beans so she always left them out. After laying the table she heard Tara’s car pull up outside. Opening a bottle of beer for them she went to welcome her at the door;
“Hey working girl how was your day?” Tara laughed dropped her bag, grabbed the beer and scooped the kitten up off the floor for a cuddle.
“Oh Eve tell me that is chilli you have made, I could smell it outside” She was delighted when Eve dragged her to the table and handed her a bowl full. After third helpings, they retired to the lounge to watch some television feeling bloated but happy.
“I love it here Eve thank you for letting me move in with you” Her friend had so little self-esteem, even less than Eve. As if Eve would ever let her be alone after supporting her throughout her time at Holly Tree. Eve’s mind drifted back to her teenage years and the events that brought the two girls together.
Rory was the alpha male in the home, he chose his friends wisely, his girlfriends too. He had set his sights on Eve the minute he noticed her blossom into womanhood. She was fifteen and he was four years her senior; Eve found his attentions flattering. Tara her quiet shy roommate was scared of him and tried to warn her off; Eve however revelled in his adoration. It wasn’t long before he talked her into his bedroom. Eve began wearing revealing clothes and more make up to please him she even experimented with class c drugs. Tara backed off from her friend, trouble was coming and she would be there when it did but for now she wanted none of it. The trouble came when Eve found herself pregnant, Rory was furious and as she was underage he took her to a back street clinic for an abortion. Dumping her back at the house he said his goodbyes and disappeared, Eve never saw him again.
Two days after the abortion Eve still didn’t feel well enough to get out of bed. Tara was concerned and when Eve finally confessed to the abortion she asked the house warden to check her over. Eve had a fever and stomach cramps; Steve didn’t need to ask what was wrong, he had already suspected Rory had a reason for running away. An ambulance came and Eve was in surgery within the hour. After a three hour operation doctors had cleared her of the massive infection but with devastating consequences. Tara sat with her while she was pumped full of antibiotics, and held her hand. Eve began to get stronger, the doctors wanted to talk to her but Tara convinced them she was the one to tell her friend the sad news.
Eve had such a severe infection that the surgeon had to perform a full hysterectomy, Eve could never have children. Eve took the news better than Tara thought, but at fifteen the fact she would never have periods was kind of cool. It was a couple of years later the reality hit her, in the dark nights she lay crying. Tara would crawl into bed with her and dry her eyes. Eve had felt abandoned as a child; her one hope to make up for it was to be the best mother ever when the time came. Now Eve had a life time on hormones and no chance of ever redeeming her mother’s failings. From that time the girls had been inseparable, the secret they shared had never gone beyond the two of them. This was why Eve hid her beauty, if a man fell in love with her he would be disappointed, no one would want a barren woman.
She lay in bed that night feeling calmer than she had done; the house was feeling like it had accepted her now. The small items of her parent’s history gave her some comfort; she still had no idea why they gave her away. Maybe it was time to let go, she would never have the answers she was searching for. Disturbed by something Eve sat up in bed, the curtains were glowing with an outside light yet again.
“Damn it I must have left that light on again” Creeping down stairs she hesitated; the garage had felt okay these past couple of days but in the dark it still felt sinister. The door creaked as she tried to reach for the light switch, stretching her arm and feeling along the wall to avoid entering. A crash came from inside that made her squeal. Peeking in she saw that the last box had tipped all over the floor, debating whether to leave it or not she was startled by Freud rubbing round her ankles.
“Oh Freud what are you doing out here” she scooped him up and wandered into the garage feeling braver with him in her arms. As she moved towards the rear of the garage the kitten arched his back and shrieked loudly scratching Eve’s arms as he scrambled to break free
“Ouch Freud okay I will put you down” the kitten shot into the corner mewing loudly, Eve began to turn the box back upright. There were some of her mother’s clothes including a notebook; it was some sort of diary. The year was 1987 that was the year Eve was born so she slipped it into the pocket of her robe. The rest of the contents were just memorabilia, postcards and paintings done by Izzy and Eve at school. She found postcards from Australia; it appeared that Leila’s parents had emigrated years ago. Eve could hear a muffled sound like someone crying;
“Hello? Is there anyone there?” The sound stopped abruptly and then the light bulb popped plunging the place into darkness. Eve was petrified she grabbed Feud who was trembling and felt her way along the wall to the door, this was crazy. She locked the garage door behind her trying to regain her composure.
“At least with the bulb blown I won’t be coming down to switch the damn light off again” Eve carried the kitten with her back into the kitchen, after making sure Freud was safe and sound, she made a cup of chamomile tea to take back to bed. She slept restlessly again, and her mother was back;
“Please let me go, Eve please set me free. I have been waiting for you.” The next morning as soon as Tara had gone; Eve rang a local builder to come and look at the garage. She wanted a new door, new electrics and flooring to revamp the place. There was no way she would set foot in there until it was done. Tony Judd, a lovely friendly builder arrived at one o’clock, he had just finished at another site so could start as soon as tomorrow. Eve took him out to the garage feeling calm with the six foot burly man by her side. She removed the last box to get it out of his way; Tony was staring at the bottom end of the garage.
“See that wall at the end?” Eve nodded wondering where this was leading
“That wall is short of the length, it has been added in the last ten years perhaps. It needs coming down, I need to know what’s behind it, and you are losing three feet of floor space because of it.” Tony tapped his large spirit level against it “Hear that? It’s hollow behind do you mind if I get my lump hammer and get rid of it? I can’t measure up or order new concrete for the floor until I see its entirety.” Eve gave him permission and l
eft him to it; making him a coffee before taking the last box inside to clear.
Chapter 4
Christopher Novak was sitting in the cutting room, painstakingly analysing every scene of his movie “Lady in Waiting.” Mia Shannon the leading lady was on course for an Oscar nomination from what he had seen so far. The painstaking task of cutting and skimming his movies always troubled him, but as a famous movie maker once said “You have to trim off some meat to create the perfect fillet”
Brian his co-producer was sitting beside him, they had just watched the knight’s banquet scene; as with all other scenes she had appeared in one girl stood out “Eve.” Brian likened her to Liz Taylor; he was right she glowed on screen. She had a vulnerability and innocence that made her almost absorb your attention. She drew everyone to her, males watched her unnoticed especially his protégé Nathan, he hardly took his eyes off her, the chemistry was obvious. One thing was certain she would be a star, Christopher wanted to make it happen but with care; she needed a profile and a gradual increase in her roles. The last thing a raw talent like Eve needed was to be thrust into fame too early. Christopher had a plan and calling her agent was step one.
Eve was washing up in the kitchen, she could hear Tony bashing away outside. He had been hammering for twenty minutes before it finally went silent. Eve was staring out of the window when she felt an overwhelming urge to vomit; she bent over holding her knees as she struggled to fight off the rising bile in her throat, then as suddenly as it hit her it had gone. She stood upright with a feeling of relief and emotion that brought tears to her eyes.
“What the hell was that?” She watched as Tony stumbled from the garage looking ashen, he pulled his phone from his pants and was making a call. Eve watched as he paced the garden, every now and then bending forwards to rest his hands on his knees. He looked up and caught her staring, she swallowed hard, something was very wrong. Walking towards the house Eve met him just outside the back doors of the conservatory.
“What is it? Something is wrong isn’t it?” He was struggling to find words and was looking at her in a strange way
“How long have you lived in this house?” Eve couldn’t understand why all of a sudden she felt guilty of something
“We Just moved in last weekend, my father passed away and I inherited this place” her answer seemed to pacify Tony
“There is a woman’s body behind that wall, looks like she was bricked in and left there. I have phoned the cops they are on their way” Eve stumbled backwards; Tony grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Woman’s body?” but Eve knew exactly who it was; the messages, the spooky goings on and the dreams all indicated it had to be her mother. Not normally a believer in all that stuff Eve found herself wondering if her mother had been trying to contact her to help her find peace. Being bricked into a tiny space didn’t lend itself to a peaceful death. The question was how had she died and who had put her there? She shouldn’t jump to conclusions but what other explanation was there?
The police arrived in record time; there probably weren’t many buried bodies around rural Cheshire. The clean-up operation was going to take some time; forensics didn’t have much to go on as after so many years the body was skeletal. Dental records for her mother had been sent for; it seemed the police had the same thoughts as Eve. They only briefly chatted with her as she was a child when this occurred and her father was dead so there wasn’t anything Eve could add.
An examination of the bones would not show cause of death and the only potential suspect was now dead. Detective Newton who was in charge didn’t think the case would take long to sew up. Just then Tara pulled up on the front and looked horrified at all the activity. Eve wandered over to escort her safely to the house filling her in on the way.
“Oh my God Eve, your mother, perhaps that is why she never came for you, maybe she was killed because she wanted to come and get you” Eve hadn’t thought of that, her mother may have died for her or because of her. There was also the conversation she overheard as a child maybe it was the man they all seemed scared of. There was no point telling the officer about that, she was a child and only recalled snippets anyway. Tara helped brew up for the officers and it was almost dark before the place was finally silent and empty again. Just some yellow crime scene tape across the garage remained of the last few hours of stress.
Eve’s mind returned to the unexplained urge to vomit, it had coincided with her mum being discovered. She however decided not to mention it; talking to Tara about the paranormal could go on all night. It was a strange moment and she had experienced a few of those since moving in. They ordered a Chinese takeaway and sat with the kitten while they waited for food. Eve’s phone vibrated, she didn’t recognise the number strange only Sally had her new number.
“Hello?” Eve’s heart raced as she recognised the voice at the other end, she squeaked out a reply.
“Eve lovely to hear your voice, I have missed you. Were you trying to get rid of me once and for all by changing your number? I had to drag it out of Christopher.” Eve wondered how Christopher had it; her agent must have passed it on. She felt a flicker of excitement he must want to work with her again. She almost forgot Nathan was there, until he cleared his throat.
“Sorry Nathan, no it wasn’t you I wanted to get rid of, it was your stalker. Somehow she got hold of my number. She sent me roughly seventy messages and texts including some delightful insults and a death threat! Frankly you should keep your phone safe rather than allow the first girl you bump into after me to get her hands on it” Nathan was silent
“Eve I am so sorry she threatened you, what else did she say?” When Eve had repeated some of the messages she heard Nathan stomping round his room.
“Can I just clear one thing up, and that is that she wasn’t in my bed. She was in fact stalking me at the airport; she snatched my phone to wind me up, and took it into the ladies. She must have looked through my numbers and seen my texts to you and panicked” Eve was wondering why this girl was such a problem and hadn’t been dealt with by his security.
“I am so sorry, I do my best to avoid her but she is like the proverbial boomerang. Unfortunately she just keeps coming back, despite my attempts to get rid of her.” Eve sort of felt sorry for the poor girl, but no not really, not after the messages she sent.
“Make sure you keep my number safe, I am not happy Christopher gave it to you at all. I have enough going on here at the moment”
“Where are you? I went to Altrincham to find you, but you had gone. Your neighbours had no forwarding details or even knew if you were still in the UK. Obviously I wasn’t going to rest until I found you so Christopher helped me out. He only gave me your number because he wants us at the premier next month, together.” Eve gasped, premier with Nathan? That would be amazing. Cripes nothing to wear for that, plus there would be photographers all over them. Maybe it was not as exciting as she first thought, nerves took over her; Nathan sensed her change of mood.
“Eve don’t get stressed, he is putting us up in a hotel near Leicester Square. He has organised things with Sally? He said to tell you a makeup artist and stylist will be at your disposal plus an assistant to help you choose the perfect red carpet gown.” Wow that sounded extravagant, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity but she had one condition.
“I will go Nathan but I don’t want to walk in with you or leave with you, I will not be the latest girl you are photographed with, that is not how I operate.” Nathan admired her stance
“Sure I will go along with that although Christopher may not agree so keep it to yourself; he wants some publicity for you. I think you are his latest project, getting you noticed will enhance your profile, he must have a role in mind for you Eve.” This was food for thought, Nathan shocked her again with his next question
“Can I come and visit you? We need to get to know each other before the premier. I am in Manchester at the moment; can I pop over tomorrow?” Eve after a moment of hesitation and then decided it was a goo
d idea for them to get on before the premier, and so she agreed and gave him the post code. She had a wicked thought
“By the way the house is haunted and they just found a dead body in the garage, do you still want to come?” Nathan laughed and hung up, I warned him she thought and laughed too. Tara had been watching the exchange with interest.
“Nathan Matheson is coming here tomorrow?” Eve nodded “Well don’t broadcast it or Sue will be over and you won’t get a word in” They both smiled but Tara was staring oddly
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
“Eve I have never known you blush over a man or invite one over when it means you will be alone, what has this Nathan done to you?” Eve frowned, alone; that hadn’t crossed her mind. Nathan definitely rocked her boat but he also made her laugh and she felt quite relaxed with him.
In her bed that night she couldn’t stop thinking about his eyes. She expected his eyes to haunt her dreams but her mother was there again. She was standing in the back garden, mist was curling around her. She was smiling at Eve and then she waved walking away into the mist, Eve cried as she watched the image fade away.
Chapter 5
Eve drank the cup of tea that Tara had made before she left. Nathan was coming over and she had no idea what time. She had butterflies but she shook them off and jumped into the shower. Eve owned one pair of skinny jeans so for a change decided to wear them, instead of her usual shapeless pants. Choosing a t shirt that hugged her chest was a bit risky but she went with it anyway. Looking in the mirror at her long wavy hair she knew that she was asking for trouble, so she scraped it into a pony tail.
“That’s better, we don’t want to give him the come on do we?” she said to the cat, Freud sat on the floor mewing at her