Aftersight

by Brian Mercer

  "I've provided headsets for all of you. Archie will show you how to use them. When you talk in one, identify yourself. Talk softly but clearly. We don't want to do anything to disturb the family more than they are already.

  "I'd like you girls to pair up. One pair should stay with Emily in her room, the other can sit in the lounge or move about wherever you see fit, just do take care not to wake the Humphreys. I'll let you girls work out between yourselves who sits where and for how long. For now, I'd like you to remain here in the attic for the most part until the Humphreys go to bed."

  A handheld two-way radio crackled on the table. "He's coming."

  "All right, it's time for the party to start," Thomas said. "Sir Alex, would you mind joining me for a parley with Lord Humphreys? Between the two of us, maybe we can settle him down long enough to get something done."

  "Certainly, Mr. Banks. Please lead the way."

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Becky

  East Barnet, Northern London

  May 6, 7:45 p.m.

  Archie handed me a headset, clipped the pack onto my belt, then showed me how to press the button to talk. "Whatever you say will be heard by everyone on the channel, including me, so be sure you don't mind it being broadcast before you say it." He smiled a snaggle-toothed grin.

  "I feel ridiculous," Sara remarked, playing with her earpiece. "Is this what working retail is like?"

  "What do you say?" Cali nodded toward the stairs. "Time to meet Emily?"

  "Maybe we should meet her one at a time rather than descendin' on her all at once," Nicole suggested.

  "Maybe," Cali agreed. "Who do you think ought to go first? Sara, maybe? They're the same age."

  "Oh, let me go first," I volunteered. "I'd like to meet her."

  "Okay, why don't you go down and spend a little time with her," Nicole said, "then come back here and we'll figure out who goes next."

  "Sounds like a plan."

  "And Becky..." Nicole added.

  "Yeah?"

  "Maybe lose the headset for now."

  "Right."

  I descended the stairs to the second floor. The bedrooms and hallway were dark but a glow welling up from the stairs gave off enough light to see. I heard what I assumed was Lord Humphreys' muffled voice shouting from somewhere below, between the softer tones of Thomas or Sir Alex.

  When I reached the ground floor, I realized why Lord Humphreys was upset. Equipment was everywhere. Cameras on tripods sprouted from seemingly every nook and corner, their red record lights glowing like eyes in the dark.

  I was passing through the kitchen on my way to the lounge when I saw a young girl sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. She was pretty, with long brown hair, fair skin, and thick eyelashes. "Are you Emily?"

  The girl, her mouth full of cookie, sporting a fine milk mustache, nodded.

  "I'm Becky."

  Swallowing. "Pleased to meet you." We shook hands. "Would you like a biscuit?"

  A biscuit? "Oh, a cookie. No, thank you."

  "Won't you sit with me?"

  I pulled up a chair and we sat for a moment in silence.

  "Are you psychic?" Emily asked.

  My forehead creased involuntarily. "Hmm. I guess. But I suppose, in a way, we're all psychics."

  Emily seemed to think about this. Nodded.

  The door to Lord Humphreys' study opened. There were heavy footfalls in the hall. An immense globe of a man in a navy blue suit appeared in the doorway. He seemed startled that I was there. "Oh, hello there. You must be one of Sir Alexander Bray's students."

  I stood. "I'm Becky Reynalds."

  "Well, you look perfectly normal," he pronounced. Then to Emily, "Princess, why don't you patter upstairs with your new friend, show her your room?"

  "Yes, Daddy."

  Emily and I picked our way through the forest of tripods and electrical equipment. There were three cameras in Emily's bedroom alone, capturing the space from all angles. I felt a bit strange thinking that they were recording our every move, but Emily didn't seem bothered by it.

  "Would you like to play a game?" she asked.

  "Sure!"

  We sat on the bed. Emily started shuffling a deck of cards.

  "It must be kinda weird," I said to fill the awkward silence, "all these strangers in your house like this."

  She shrugged. "Can you see into the future?"

  "Me? I don't know. Sometimes I get information about the future, I guess."

  "Do you know what's happening to me? Do you know if I'll be all right?"

  "I'm not exactly sure what's happening to you. Not yet. I'm kind of new at this. But I know what it feels like to have contact with spirits. That's how all this started for me."

  "Really?" Emily perked up and for the first time since we'd met, she seemed genuinely interested in talking to me. "Will you tell me about it?"

  "I got into a car accident about a year and a half ago. I was riding in a car with three other boys when we were struck by a drunk driver. I was the only one in the car who survived."

  "Were the boys your friends?"

  "One of them was, yes. Not long after that this little girl named Jenny started talking to me. I could hear her but I couldn't see her. I've since learned that she died several months before my car accident. After Jenny, other spirits came to talk to me, too."

  "Really? Were you scared?"

  "I was very scared," I admitted. "Emily, I have some friends, friends from my school, who are upstairs waiting to meet you. They're girls like me, who've had some of the same experiences that you're having. I think you might like to talk with them."

  "I'd love to meet them."

  Sara came down next and within minutes the three of us were playing cards together and laughing and joking. I thought it was going well enough for Nicole and Cali to make an appearance, so excused myself to go upstairs and get them.

  When I reached the attic, I found Nicole on a chair meditating and Cali sitting behind the table of computer monitors with Archie, watching the grid-like row of video feeds coming in from all points of the house. The conversation taking place in Emily's bedroom was being broadcast quietly over loudspeakers. They had been listening in on every word.

  Nicole and Cali followed me down to Emily's room. Our arrival interrupted the card game, but only briefly, and soon we were all playing and chatting. It was going so well I momentarily forgot why we were there until Emily's mother appeared in the doorway, met everyone and announced she was going to bed.

  We had been making a fair amount of noise and, to be respectful of the Humphreys' home life, Nicole suggested we break up the party. Cali and Nicole would stay behind and Sara and I would go downstairs for a while.

  "But I want Becky here, too," Emily whined.

  "I'll be back before you go to sleep," I assured her. "Nothing to worry about."

  Sara and I sat on the lounge sofa in the dark. The only lights on downstairs were a lamp in the hallway and the under-mounted cabinet lights in the kitchen. A sliver of dim illumination and the faint tap of typing spilled out from under the door to Lord Humphreys' study.

  After about ten minutes of sitting Sara announced. "What time is it? I'm bored."

  "Eleven-thirty and I'm with ya. It is kind of boring just sitting here."

  "I want to go upstairs and play cards with Emily."

  I gazed over at the stairs. "Yeah, well, I think they've got everything covered upstairs for now. Are you sensing anything here?"

  Sara shook her head sulkily. We waited in silence for another few minutes before Sara sat up and lifted her head off her chin. "Wait a minute," she whispered. "Do you see?"

  "No. See what?"

  "Wait a minute." Sara gazed at the faint diamond of light leaking onto the floor from the kitchen. Her eyes followed the invisible movement of something ambling slowly and lowly across the ground. "Did you really not see that?"

  I shook my head.

  "It was the grey bunny, th
e one I've seen several times at Waltham."

  "This is surreal. It can't be a coincidence. If you're seeing the same bunny, then it's something connected with you, not something that's usually here in the house."

  "Connected with me or connected with you?" Sara asked. "You know, I never see that bunny unless you're around. I saw it the first day at Waltham, not long after you arrived. I saw it during our first day of Animal Communications, remember? It only seems to come around when you're nearby. I even saw it at hospital when I went with you for those tests last month."

  I was still digesting this when we heard the thump, thump, thump of Sir Alex's cane. He appeared from the hallway looking happy if not slightly amused. "Hello, my dears. I just came to check up on you. How are you doing? You've met Emily and are getting along all right?"

  "Yeah," I answered. "She's a sweet girl."

  "What do you think, will there be any paranormal activity here tonight? Do you sense anything?"

  Sara and I looked at each other. "Not as such," said Sara.

  "I haven't felt or heard anything unusual," I added. "It doesn't feel like anything is gonna happen."

  "I'm inclined to agree with you," Sir Alex said. "Spirits are very sensitive to energy. They don't seem to like change very much. You'll find that when a house is experiencing a noisy ghost after years of quiet, it's often due to a significant change, like a remodeling where walls are knocked down or rooms are added. It's not the change in the physical environment that they're reacting to, it's the change in energy.

  "The same can be said when a stranger is introduced into a locale with active disturbances. It's like the spirits are spooked by the newcomer — forgive the pun — and are reluctant to show themselves.

  "With all the people, cameras, and electrical equipment in here, I think whatever is possessing the house may remain dormant this evening. At any rate, we must do what we can."

  "Uncle Alex, I'm sleepy." Sara yawned, her eyes opening and closing drowsily.

  "There's a cot upstairs in the attic," he said. "Maybe you'll see fit to avail yourself of it. Just take care not to sleep too long."

  "I just need a little nap," she replied. "Only a few minutes."

  "There is another reason I came to pay you a visit," Sir Alex admitted. "I am of the understanding that Lord Humphreys is going to bed momentarily and I was wondering if you could take the first watch with Emily."

  "Of course," I said. "I promised I'd come up to see her before bedtime anyway."

  "Excellent," Sir Alex replied. "Would you please send Cali and Nicole down? I'd like to get their impressions of the energy down here."

  Emily beamed when I walked into her bedroom. Nicole and Cali went downstairs while Sara went upstairs to lie down. The staircase groaned and complained with the weight of Lord Humphreys' massive frame. He poked his head in to say goodnight to Emily, his forehead creasing at the sight of me. "Don't stay up too late, Princess."

  "Okay, Daddy."

  "You'll be all right?"

  "It's okay," she replied. "Becky's here to protect me."

  I did what I could to muster a confident smile as the large man retreated from the room and headed down the hall to his bedroom. Emily, already in pajamas, began rearranging her stuffed animals so she could get into bed. "Did you want to sit down? There's a chair over there." Emily pointed to her desk.

  I pulled out the chair and sat down as Emily climbed into bed and turned off the lamp on her night table. It was very dark. Only the faint glow funneling up the stairwell from the ground floor provided any light at all.

  "Would you mind sitting a little closer?" Emily asked.

  "Of course." I slid the chair over, glancing self-consciously at the cameras, knowing that their infrared lenses could see even in near-total darkness.

  "Goodnight, Becky."

  "Goodnight."

  "You'll still be here in the morning?"

  "I will. It might look like I rolled out of a trash bin, but I'll be here."

  "I'm so glad to have met you."

  "Same for me."

  The temperature had dropped sharply in just the few minutes since Emily had turned out the lights. I felt the presence of not just one but many sets of eyes. It gave me the impression of being on center-stage with a spotlight on me and an audience studying me from the shadowy theater.

  "Does it always get this cold in here?" I asked.

  "Usually," Emily answered, "when they're nearby."

  Emily lay quietly for a few minutes longer before asking, "Would you hold my hand?"

  "Sure, honey. Of course." I scooted even closer to Emily's bed and offered her my hand. She took it and drew it under the warm covers.

  "Becky, are you my friend?"

  "Of course I am, sweetheart."

  The temperature seemed to drop even further. How long could I stay in Emily's room before I needed to go upstairs to get my heavy sweater? I was about to stand up when I felt Emily shuddering beside me in silent sobs. She pressed my hand against her face and hot tears washed my hand.

  "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

  Emily couldn't seem to answer through the crying. I held her and soothed her and finally she croaked, "I miss my friends. They don't like me anymore."

  I knew exactly what she meant, having experienced the same isolation when my own paranormal experiences had started. No friends to confide in or talk to, just fear and a nagging sense that you might be going crazy. The ache in my heart at the thought of what Emily was going through was suddenly so powerful that it felt like my chest might explode.

  "Emily, you're not alone in this," I whispered, hoping the microphones planted about the room wouldn't carry what I was saying upstairs. "We're here to help you. I'm here to help you."

  "You promise?" she whispered back.

  "I promise."

  "Please don't leave me, Becky. Please help me."

  "I'll help you, Emily."

  "Please promise. Do you promise?"

  "I promise."

  I put my arms around her and gradually her convulsive sobs lessened. Her breathing settled down and, finally she seemed to drift off to sleep.

  "Becky," a voice, very quiet and small and far away. "Becky, are you there?"

  My heartbeat quickened. It sounded as if the voice was coming from my lap. And it sounded just a little like Nicole...

  Of course. I'd taken off my headset.

  I slipped it back on. "Hello?" Pressing the button now. "Hello?"

  "Hi, June Bug. How are things? When you didn't answer right away, I started to fret."

  "I'm okay. How are things there?"

  "I'm tryin' to convince Cali to go down into the basement with me."

  "Are you kidding?"

  "No. We're headed down there now."

  "Where's Sir Alex?"

  "In the lounge with Thomas, sittin' on the sofa."

  "He knows about this?"

  "Yeah. Thought it was a good idea."

  "Okay. Don't be away too long."

  "Believe me, I don't plan on stayin' down there a minute I don't have to."

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Cali

  Lord Humphreys' Residence, East Barnet

  12:32 a.m.

  I swiveled my flashlight back into the maze of piled boxes and furniture in the unpaved part of the cellar. The basement seemed darker than it had on my first visit here this morning. Then the fluorescent lights in the finished part of the basement had been on; now the only light was the single strip glowing over the washer and dryer like a nightlight. Thomas's team had only set up one camera down here. It was clipped to a shelf and directed into the dark stacks of boxes.

  "What did you have in mind?" I asked.

  "Just sit and wait," Nicole said.

  We took seats in folding chairs facing the basement's dark side. I closed my eyes and listened, taking off my headset to hear better. I kept thinking about my brother Chris's appearance that morning in our hotel room. It had been over a year since his death and
with all the times I might have seen him during my astral projections, why had he waited until now to show up?

  I thought about Sir Alex's theory, that Chris was looking out after me somehow. If that was true, had he always been watching over me or was it just today? Had he been trying to deliver a message by revealing himself or was it just a coincidence that I'd caught a glimpse of him on the day of our all-night vigil?

  It also occurred to me that whatever I saw in our hotel that morning might not be Chris at all. Like Nicole's experience when she thought her mother was playing the piano in the parlor next to our rooms at Waltham, what if the dark entity that had been haunting us had made himself look like Chris?

  I was still trying to sort all this out when I heard a thump at the far end of the darkened basement. It sounded exactly as if something had fallen over, like a box or a stool. I looked at Nicole and cringed.

  "What was that?" Nicole asked.

  I shook my head.

  "Did you hear that?"

  I nodded.

  "Do you want to go check it out?"

  I shook my head.

  "I'm just gonna poke my flashlight down there, to see what I can see."

  "Okay," I said, "then I'm coming with you."

  Nicole snapped on the flashlight and carefully approached the wall of boxes, edging down toward the end where we thought we might have heard the unseen item topple over. The beam threw distorted shadows along the walls and ceiling, offering a deceptive sense of movement where there was none. I twisted my head this way and that to try to get a better view, imagining — fearing — that a face might suddenly pop out from behind one of the stacks, its features contorted in rage.

  "Hey, what's goin' on down here?" cried a male voice from behind us, just a little bit louder than necessary.

  We started with a gasp. The flashlight fumbled out of Nicole's hands and onto the floor.