“He seems a little nervous about us being here,” Steven replied.
“Maybe he thinks you’re here to steal his business,” she said.
“We don’t charge for what we do,” Roy said. “Never have, at least.”
“Well, I’d pay thousands right now to have this solved, believe me,” Barbara said. “I just think spending it on him might be a waste.”
“What can you tell us?” Roy asked. “About what’s happened here?”
Barbara sat on the edge of the bed. “We moved here from Bellingham,” she started, “about four months ago. Brad’s in prison administration, and he had an opportunity to transfer out here. We fell in love with the place when we saw it; so close to the ocean, neighborhood is quiet, the view is nice. The house was perfect for our family. So we moved.
“It started soon after that. Georgina, our oldest daughter, came down from her room in the middle of the night, complaining that a little girl was keeping her up. At first I thought it was May, our other daughter, who has a room right next to Georgina. I thought maybe May was scared, being in a new house, and went into Georgina’s room in the middle of the night. But Georgina was insistent that it wasn’t May. It was some girl she’d never seen before.
“Naturally, I went up to her room to investigate, but no one was there. This went on every night for a week. We figured it would stop once she became more comfortable with her room, but it didn’t. She still complains about being kept up all night by the girl.”
“What about your other daughter?” Steven asked. “Has she had similar problems?”
“No, not that we know of,” Barbara replied. “She seems to be doing fine. It’s just Georgina. I’m afraid the lack of sleep has taken a toll on her schooling too. She’s doing terrible, much worse than before we moved here.”
“Anything else?” Roy asked.
“Yes, there is more,” Barbara said. “After Father Thompson told me he couldn’t help us, I figured we’d just try to live with things. I was hoping things would calm down on their own. Then, the spiders…” she paused, and looked up at the ceiling.
“The spiders?” Steven asked, urging her to continue.
“I was lying on this bed,” she said. “Brad and I had just turned in. I was worried, lying on my back, looking up at the ceiling. Things aren’t completely dark in this room at night, there’s light from the windows and the hallway – we usually sleep with the door open, in case we need to hear the girls. Anyway, I’m lying there, looking up at the ceiling, and I… you’re going to think I made this up, but I swear to God – I see things wiggling in the air. I’m trying to figure out what they are, when suddenly they drop on me, six or seven of them. Right on my face. I screamed and batted them away. I sat up, and Brad turned on a light. There were spiders on my pillow and in my bed – large brown ones, about this big.” She held up her hand, her index finger and thumb connected to make a circle about the size of a quarter.
“Adult spiders?” Roy asked.
“They were huge,” she said, shuddering. “Brad killed them all, then he inspected the ceiling.”
“I’ve heard of spider eggs hatching on the ceiling, and the newborns descending like that, but never that many adults,” Steven said.
“The next morning I treated the room with a full can of bug spray,” she continued. “Didn’t see a single spider. I went to sleep thinking the spray had solved the problem. At some point in the middle of the night I awoke and felt the movement of legs on my cheek. It was enough to wake me up. Another half dozen spiders. Once again Brad killed them all. I made him move the bed out from under that spot, that’s why it’s sitting in the middle of the room like this.”
“Did that solve it?” Roy asked.
“Haven’t had any fall on me since then,” Barbara said. She got up and walked to the bathroom. She grabbed the coffee pot and refilled their mugs. “I had all the bedding cleaned, and Brad called a fumigator and we had the room done professionally. I haven’t been willing to put the bed back into position. I loathe spiders.” She shuddered.
“Spiders could be explained rationally,” Steven said. “Especially if they haven’t come back since you fumigated. Would you be willing to put the bed back into place, and see if they’re gone?”
“If it’s evidence you’re looking for, you don’t need spider evidence,” Barbara said. “I doubt I’ll be moving the bed back anytime soon. Then there’s what happened to Brad.”
“What was that?” Roy asked.
“About a week after the spiders, we heard noises coming from Georgina’s room in the middle of the night. It’s right above us. Sounded like walking, heavy footsteps that she wouldn’t be able to make. Brad told me to stay in bed, that he’d check it out. I heard him go upstairs, and then I heard him yelling. Georgina began screaming. So I ran up to join them, but Brad was coming down the stairs with Georgina in his arms, screaming at me to call the cops. I asked him what was wrong, and he said there was a man in Georgina’s room. He’d been hiding in the corner when Brad walked in, but he stood up when he figured Brad had spotted him. Brad grabbed Georgina and they came downstairs.”
“I’m guessing the cops didn’t find anything?” Roy asked.
“Nothing. Brad was clearly terrified, and he had scared the wits out of Georgina. When the police began to question his story, he got very defensive. I think they felt he was dreaming.”
“Is there a window in Georgina’s room?” Steven asked.
“Yes, but it’s the third story, and there’s no easy way up to it. The cops found the window locked, from the inside, and no evidence that anyone had tampered with it. It was rather embarrassing, but what can you do? My husband was very upset by it all. That’s when I decided to reach out to Father Wynan, and see if another blessing would help. I thought things were improving with his visits, but he seemed so shaken the last time he was here, I figured I’d never see him again. I’m a little relieved that he at least sent you.”
“Can you show me where the spiders were?” Steven asked.
Barbara rose from the bed and walked to a corner in the room. She pointed up at the ceiling. There was nothing there – no marks, no cracks, no light fixtures. Just painted sheetrock.
“I know, crazy, right?” Barbara said. “Where did they come from?”
“Did you ever see them crawling on the ceiling?” Steven asked.
“No,” she replied. “I’m not sure they even started on the ceiling at all. They were in the air above my head, near the ceiling, like they were dangling from threads. Then they dropped.”
Steven looked at Roy and shrugged.
“Would you mind if we saw Georgina’s room?” Roy asked.
“No, not at all,” Barbara said. “I need to check on her anyway. She’s been home from school all day, sick. Follow me.”
Barbara opened the bedroom door and walked to the next set of stairs. Steven and Roy sat their mugs down on a dresser in the bedroom and followed her.
The stairs leading to the third floor were tighter than the previous set, and as soon as Steven reached the third floor landing he felt the “wrongness” that Father Wynan had described. Things felt thicker; moving seemed a little harder. It was as though a distorted lens had been placed on a camera – things that were supposed to be perpendicular seemed to be leaning a little, giving the floor an odd, funhouse feel.
Barbara led them to a room at the end of the third floor hallway. She knocked on the door.
“Georgina? Honey, I have some visitors,” Barbara said as she opened the door.
Georgina was sitting on her bed, dolls arranged around her. Barbara walked up to the bed and placed her hand on her daughter’s forehead, checking her temperature. “How are you feeling?”
“OK,” Georgina said weakly.
“Dear, this is Roy and Steven,” Barbara said. “They have some questions. I want you to listen to them for a moment, and answer them if you can, alright?”
“Alright,” the little girl replied meekly. S
he turned to Steven and smiled. She had short blonde hair and there was a smattering of freckles across her nose. Steven thought she looked adorable.
“Hello, Georgina,” Steven said, lowering himself to her level by the bed. “Your mom tells me it’s hard for you to sleep in this room. Is that true?”
“Only on the nights she won’t leave me alone,” Georgina said, smiling back at Steven.
“Who won’t leave you alone?” Steven asked.
“The girl who appears when you turn off the light,” Georgina said.
“She only bothers you when it’s dark?” Roy asked.
“She’s never around in the light,” Georgina said. “Only when you turn off the light.”
“We’ve been trying to wean her off a nightlight,” Barbara said. “It’s been hard.”
“Do you usually sleep with the light on?” Roy asked.
“Sometimes,” Georgina said. “Those are the nights she doesn’t bother me.”
“What does she do, when she visits you?” Steven asked.
“She stands by my bed and stares at me,” Georgina said, losing her smile. “I try closing my eyes, but when I open them, she’s still standing there.”
“You mean right here, where I’m standing?” Steven asked.
“No, closer,” Georgina said, pointing to a spot right next to her bed.
“And does she just stare at you?” Steven asked.
“Usually,” Georgina said. “If I try to hide under the covers or anything like that, she laughs at me.”
“Does she ever try to hurt you?” Steven asked.
“If I get out of bed, she chases me,” the little girl replied. “So I just stay in bed and try to sleep. It’s hard with her staring at me. She looks mean.”
“Has anything else happened to you in this room? Anything odd, or strange?” Steven asked.
Georgina shook her head no. “Just her.”
“Thank you, honey,” Barbara said. “Are you hungry yet?”
“No,” Georgina replied.
The three adults left the bedroom and walked back down the stairs. “At first we didn’t believe her,” Barbara said as they descended the steps. “None of us have seen the girl. But we hear noises up there. Sometimes they’re loud bangs, noises Georgina couldn’t make on her own. Both Brad and I have heard two people moving up there, when we knew May was downstairs. Once I had my run in with the spiders, and Brad saw the man in her room, we stopped telling her she was imagining things.”
“Barbara?” a voice came from downstairs. “Barbara, can I see you for a minute?”
Barbara gave Steven and Roy an impatient look, then said, “Excuse me, I better see what he wants.” She left them on the second floor landing and walked down to the main floor.
“Father Wynan thought it was centered around the girl,” Steven said to Roy. “But both Barbara and her husband have seen things on their own.”
“They may be connected to the girl,” Roy replied. “The man Brad saw was in the girl’s room.”
“And if Barbara thought the spiders came from the ceiling, that’s Georgina’s room right above,” Steven added.
“If she’d be willing to let us explore a bit, I’d like to drop into the River and see how the place looks, especially the child’s room.”
Barbara came back up the stairs. “They’re going to try something in about an hour, and they want everyone out of the house when they do it. Talk about a pain in the ass!”
“Barbara, would you mind if we did a bit of exploring between now and then?” Roy asked. “Poke around a bit, see what we might find?”
“Sure, go ahead,” she said, walking into the master bedroom to retrieve the coffee pot. “Just keep in mind we have to be out soon. Who knows what they’re going to do; probably turn on some device that will fry us all!”
Chapter Three
“This is as good a place as any,” Roy said as they walked around the back of the house. He looked up at the windows, locating the one that belonged to Georgina’s room. Then he walked to a set of outdoor chairs, brushed the spider webs from one, and sat in it. “Let’s just drop in and see what we can see.” Steven joined him, brushing off the other chair and sitting down.
They let themselves drift into the River, and Steven followed Roy as he ascended to the level of Georgina’s room. Then they passed through the wall and into the house.
Inside the room appeared quiet. Georgina was still playing with dolls on her bed.
Nothing, Steven thought.
Well, their retelling of events did seem episodic, Roy replied. Georgina only reported the girl appearing when it was dark, for example.
They moved down through the rest of the house, looking for any sign of something unusual. Roy lingered around the equipment Sam White’s team was setting up, trying to see what it was. Steven eventually joined him.
I checked the basement, Steven said. Nothing there, either. We’ve covered the entire house except for the attic.
Look at all the gadgetry, Roy said, observing the computers and oscillators and cameras. This guy is a boob. I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.
I think Barbara probably agrees with you, Steven replied.
I mean, what do they hope to accomplish with all of this stuff? How can this possibly help?
I know you want to, but let’s try not to get in a pissing match with them, Steven said.
Roy turned to Steven, looking indignant. I have no intention of doing that. They’re not worth a pissing match.
I’ll hold you to your word on that, Steven said. I’m going to check out the attic.
Steven left Roy and ascended through the house, preferring to rise using the stairs rather than passing through floors. Once he reached the top floor, he found an area in the hallway that he figured would be directly below the attic, and he rose up through the ceiling and into it.
The attic was small and short, only five feet at the tallest point, and Steven felt an urge to crouch even though in the River he could simply let his feet hang through the floor as he moved. He knew instantly that something was different here. He felt an erratic pulse that seemed to pass through him and pull him at the same time. He searched through the contents of the attic, which were primarily cardboard boxes filled with Christmas decorations. He had the sense that there was something in the room, waiting to be found. Behind the boxes was a short knee wall, but Steven didn’t intend to go into it while in the River. Steven guessed the space beyond was probably small and claustrophobic, and he hated drifting into those types of areas, not knowing what was in them. He’d have to leave the flow and walk back up to the attic with his physical body.
He dropped out of the River, suddenly enjoying the cool breeze that blew up from the harbor. Within a couple of minutes Roy left the flow as well, standing up.
“Shall we go?” Roy asked.
“To the attic?” Steven asked.
“The attic?”
“Yes, I found something in the attic. Couldn’t see what it was. You didn’t go up to the attic, did you? You kept hovering over those guys from the eradication company. You always told me not to spy on people.”
Roy looked defensive. “Someone’s got to keep an eye on them. I don’t like what they’re up to. I think they may cause more harm than good.”
“Fine. In the meantime, I’ve found something in the attic that we need to check out. Let’s talk to Barbara and see if there’s a way to get up there.”
They found Barbara on the third floor, getting Georgina ready to leave the house.
“Barbara,” Steven said, “is there a way into the attic?”
Barbara stopped what she was doing with Georgina and turned to him. “There’s a ladder in the hallway. But we’re supposed to be leaving the house.”
Steven could tell she was frazzled. He didn’t want to irritate her, but he also didn’t want to be exiled from the house before they knew what was in the attic.
“We’ll only be five minutes, I promise,” Steven sai
d.
“Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they had to wait,” Roy mumbled.
Barbara smiled at Roy’s comment. “You know, you’re right. It wouldn’t be. Follow me, gentlemen!” She walked out of the room and into the third floor hallway. She opened a closet door and removed a long wooden pole with a hook on the end, then she went to a space near the end of the hallway and reached up with the hook, catching it on an eyelet in the ceiling. She pulled, and the panel above lowered. A ladder extended down automatically.
“Take your time,” she said, smiling. “There’s a light on a pull chain in the middle of the room up there. I’m sure it’ll take me at least ten or fifteen minutes more to get the girls ready to go anyway. And if White doesn’t like it, too bad!” She walked back into Georgina’s bedroom.
“I like her,” Roy said.
“That’s because she’s a lot like you,” Steven said, ascending the steps. Roy followed him. Once Steven reached the top, he searched for the light and found it, pulling on a string. This time he had no choice but to hunch over.
“Oh, tiny,” Roy said as he entered the attic. “Where did you see it?”
“Well, I didn’t exactly see it,” Steven answered, grabbing one of the boxes stacked against the knee wall and moving it to the other side of the room. “But I thought I sensed it. Behind here.”
Roy helped him move boxes, and after a minute they’d cleared the space in front of the knee wall. Steven saw finger pulls.
“Sliding doors,” Roy observed. “Probably so you could use the space behind the knee wall for more storage.”
Steven placed his finger into one of the holes and pulled the panel back.
“Jesus Christ!” Roy said. “What the fuck is that?”
Steven looked into the open space and felt the same reaction. What is that? he wondered.
It looked like a rod – roughly twice as wide as a soda can, and three times as long. It hung in the air, two feet off the floor of the attic. There was some kind of thin wire coiled around the outside of it, suspended over the rod.
The Haunting at Grays Harbor (The River Book 8) Page 3