The Haunting Within

by Michelle Burley

  67

  Almost running down the stairs Lisa nearly collided with her mum who was sitting on the top step at the bend in the stairs. “Mum, we need to go now!” said Lisa frantically.

  “No darling, we don’t need to go yet” Debbie said calmly with a serene smile on her face.

  “Erm, yeah mum, we do! Something’s going on here and I have a really bad feeling. I just wanna leave now.” Lisa tried gently tugging at her mums sleeve like she used to when she was a little girl and wanted her mum’s attention.

  “I don’t want to leave yet Lisa.” Debbie said while brushing off her daughters hand from her arm. “Let’s have a bit of dinner first. It’s a long drive home.”

  “I don’t want any dinner mum! There’s something here, in this house with us! I’m so scared.” The last words came out in a whisper. Lisa told her mum about the writing on the bathroom mirror, crying as she came to end of the story. She was tired. Physically and emotionally drained. She didn’t know how much more she had left in her. Why was her mum so hell bent on not leaving? What was there to wait for? As far as Lisa could see things could only get worse the longer they were here. If she ever had any doubts that there was something evil here then they had all been dispelled now.

  Putting her head in her hands she sobbed bitter tears. She just wanted to be at home with her mum and brother. She just wanted to be anywhere but here. She prayed silently and earnestly to a God who had never been a big part of her life. If she wasn’t so desperate she would feel like a hypocrite. She prayed with all of her heart that they would get out safe and sound and that their mum would be ok, that she would be their mum again. Even now as she sat weeping, Debbie who had stayed sitting next to her the whole time, got up and stood looking down on her daughter, indifferent to her tears. For some reason she felt alienated from them, as though she was on the outside. Why were they so insistent on leaving? Didn’t they know she had an important job to do first? Why was she crying? How dare she cry?! It wasn’t her who was on the receiving end of his temper. She had no right or reason to be upset.

  Lisa looked up at her mum with red, pleading eyes “Please mum, please let’s go home.”

  Repulsed by the sight of her daughter with a snotty nose and swollen eyes Debbie spat out “Stop snivelling you stupid little bitch! We will go when I fucking well say so!” with that she turned and stomped off down the stairs, leaving Lisa to sit and cry harder than ever.

  Aiden had the uncomfortable feeling he was being watched. He could feel the prickles on the back of his neck as his hair stood on end. The urge to turn and see who was there was overwhelming, but at the same time he dared not for fear of what he might see. Instead he walked into the front room, determined not to look. His will power lasted all of a few seconds once he sat down and realised he still had the feeling. Whatever was watching him had followed him. Plucking up all the courage he had he slowly turned his head. He was relieved to see his mum standing in the doorway. Letting out the breath he had been holding in he closed his eyes and thanked God it was only his mum. Glancing back to her he saw her tensed stance, the way she had both her fists clenched, the way she stood with her legs apart, the way her eyes gleamed with malevolence at him.

  “Mum?” he ventured warily. “Are you okay?” Nothing. No response. Not even the slightest acknowledgment that she had heard him. He may as well have not uttered a word. Frowning with concern he slowly stood and walked towards her with his hands out in a placating way, worried she might lash out at him. “Mum?” he asked again when he was right in front of her.

  Her eyes suddenly searched the space around him until they landed on his face and focused fully on him. “Oh, it’s you son. I thought you were somebody else.” She told him as she walked over to the couch. Jesus, here we go again, thought Aiden. As if things weren’t weird enough.

  He joined her on the sofa and reached out for her hand. Instinctively she grasped it like a mother would grasp onto her falling child. It still amazed her sometimes how he had grown into a strapping young man. His babyish plumpness replaced by thickening muscles, his chubby cheeked smile replaced by prominent cheekbones and square, strong jaw which was lightly peppered with stubble, his hands which were once chubby and had dimples instead of knuckles now held her hand so securely in his with an underlying power of manhood. How did she make him? How did she make either of them? They were both so perfect it was hard to believe they came from her. There had not been a man in her life since John had left them but she had never needed one. Now she had one in her son. He already stood taller than her. She felt safe when she was with him, well usually, and she knew that was a selfish thing to feel, it should be her making him feel safe but she was no match for this young man who now sat next to her. She knew he was more than capable of looking after himself. One day he would make a wonderful husband. Just please God, not any time soon. Let her have him for a good while longer yet. She was not ready to let go of her only son, her baby. She adored both of her children but there had always been a special bond between her and Aiden. Whether it was the old saying of ‘mummy’s boy’, or whether it was because he was her baby she didn’t know, nor did she question it. She just enjoyed it, revelling in their bond and their closeness. She loved them both equally and she rejoiced in the bond she had with her only daughter also - they had such good girly shopping trips and often sat with some chocolate watching the soaps together - but she felt like Lisa needed her to look after her, whereas Debbie liked, no she loved the looks she would get from people as she walked down the street with her tall, handsome son who was fast becoming a man. Aiden seemed more independent, more sure of himself than his sister. He looked like John, there was no denying it. The older he got the more he looked like him. He didn’t have any of his personality though thank the lord. No, he would never abandon his wife and children.

  Squeezing her hand gently Aiden offered a small smile that filled Debbie with pride but at the same time, for some reason, broke her heart. Looking away quickly she said “You know I love you my darling don’t you?”

  “Course I do mum. I love you too.” Aiden replied in earnest.

  “I know you don’t believe what I have been telling you” she held up her hand when he started to protest “no Aiden, you don’t believe me. But that’s okay. It will all be over soon and then we can go home. But I have to tell you something so that maybe you can understand your Grandfather a little better.” And she began to tell him all about the film she watched in the secret study.

  Once she had finished telling him Aiden sat in shocked silence. He didn’t know what to say, what to make of her revelations. She’d told him it wasn’t really his fault. He just could not get his head round that. Of course it was his fault and he couldn’t believe his mum would think otherwise. After all he put her through when she was young, yet here she was trying to explain it. She had always told him you always had choices in life. Always. Yet now she was quick to change her tune. Nah, no way was he going to agree and say he understood why he had done what he had done. He was a nasty, evil man and that’s all there was to it. He wondered what Lisa would make of it when he told her.

  68

  The sun sat high and proud in the sky like a guiding light for the world. In the back garden Lisa wondered between the flowers, stepping on the cracked quaint stepping stones. She had finished with her crying. That wasn’t going to get her anywhere so what was the point? Her mum hadn’t wanted to know. She hadn’t comforted her like she normally would. She had been cold and distant and cruel. Lisa tried to understand what she was going through, she really did, but she just couldn’t. Even if she was grieving why did she need to be so callous towards her and Aiden? She hoped once they left and got home she would get back to normal again. She could hope, right?

  From the window Aiden saw his sister strolling through the garden. Was it his imagination or did she look defeated somehow? He followed her path through the garden, deliberately making some noise as he approached so he didn’t scare any more th
an she already had been in the last couple of days. She looked so fragile.

  “You okay sis?” he asked as he rested his arm gently on her frail shoulder.

  Sighing Lisa replied “Yeah I’m okay Aid, just tired.” Her sad smile spoke a thousand words.

  “We’ll be home soon eh and I’ll buy you some choccie from the shop” he added hoping to cheer her up a little.

  “Yeah that would be nice” came her deflated response.

  For want of having nothing else to say he said “Hey, mum said she found a film reel in some hidden room or something.”

  Lisa snapped her head round to him “She found it?” She asked wide eyed.

  “What, do you know what she means? I thought maybe she was just talking a load of rubbish again.”

  “No, I watched it too Aid. It was so sad.”

  Sighing deeply Aiden said “For god’s sake, not you too. He did it all himself Lis. It wasn’t the house that made him do anything, it was all him.”

  “What?” Lisa looked confused.

  “The film. Mum told me he was apologising, saying the house made him behave the way he did. And she believes him. Tried to get me to believe him too. Yeah right. Guess you think the same has she does though.”

  “What? No, that’s not the film I saw.” Lisa frowned.

  “So there’s more than one reel then” he stated rather than asked.

  “No, there’s just one. Unless she got it from somewhere else. Did she tell you where she got it from?”

  “Yeah. Under the floor apparently. Some spooky shit that. I mean, why hide something under the floor? Is it true or is she talking crap again?” Aiden loved his mum with all of his heart but he was getting sick and tired now of her stories and her strange behaviour. The hidden room tale seemed too unbelievable to be true, so he was shocked when Lisa confirmed it.

  “Yeah that’s where I found it. It was under the floor too. The floorboards moved so I had a look and found it. But Aiden, there was only one film reel and it didn’t have him on it apologising. I don’t know where she got that from. This is weird and I don’t like it at all.”

  To quell their curiosity Lisa took Aiden to the hidden room and she prized up the floorboards again to show him what she found. She had been right; there was definitely only one film reel there. Just to be sure they searched the floor, feeling all the boards to see if there was another hiding place but there wasn’t. For the second time Lisa watched the film, standing behind where Aiden sat on the only chair in the room. And for the second time she cried over the home movie.

  “Why would she say she saw something completely different?” puzzled Aiden still sitting in the chair. The silence that had followed the film had been complete. Lisa had shown him the entry written by their grandfather about their uncle dying. He just didn’t know what to make of any of it. “She told me he was talking too. There was no sound on that so where did she get that from?” Looking behind him at his sister he looked far older than his years. Worry was etched on his face.

  “There’s something wrong with her Aid. I think the sooner we get her out of here the better.”

  “But how’re we gonna do that when she’s refusing to go? We can’t drag her out!”

  “I don’t know” said Lisa with a tired sigh “I guess we just wait until she’s ready to leave.”

  “But what if she’s never ready? Then what?”

  “I don’t know Aiden! But we have to at least try and give her time!” Lisa’s eyes filled up but she refused to cry anymore. Sniffing loudly she put her shoulders back and said “We’ll get through this. We always do.” And with that she left the room.

  Rounding the stairs Lisa saw her mum at the bottom with her neck craned upwards looking directly at her. “What have you two been doing up there? Talking about me some more? Laughing about how crazy I am? I’m not crazy and I will prove it to you. Just you wait.” Lisa watched in despair as Debbie stormed off towards the kitchen.

  69

  Slamming around in the kitchen Debbie was muttering under her breath. To say she was livid was an understatement. How dare they sit up there gossiping about her?! Oh she knew that’s what they were doing. She just didn’t know why. She had done nothing to warrant them talking about her. Nothing at all. All she wanted to do was get back to normal. She felt betrayed by them. Their constant accusations that she was going mad had started weighing heavily on her. As she filled a glass with water from the tap it sloshed over the sides and onto the floor. Debbie stood, transfixed by the clear fluid which intermittently dripped down the side of the glass. Why was the glass leaking? Pouring the water into the sink she chose another glass and filled that one but the same thing happened. What was going on? Pouring the water out yet again she held the glass up to the window to examine it but it started blurring in front of her eyes. Slamming it down onto the side in fright she watched as it became solid again, just a normal-looking empty glass. Yet as soon as she picked it up it blurred again. Almost crying now she hurled the shape-shifting object across the room where it shattered against the bare brick of the inglenook. He was toying with her. She could feel it. He was there all the time, whispering in her ear, never giving her a moment’s peace. Is that what he wanted, to drive her to the edge? Because she could feel it coming up fast and she was unable to stop it. It was like being pushed to the ledge on a cliff face and staring down into the abyss that waited below. She had nowhere to grasp onto to stop herself from going over…

  Lisa rushed in, eyes wide with apprehension. She looked from Debbie who was sitting on the floor in the wet puddle where the water had leaked, to the pieces of smashed glass lying a few feet away. “Mum, are you hurt?” Lisa asked as she rushed to her side.

  Looking up Debbie replied “What am I doing on the floor? How did I get here?”

  “I don’t know mum, let’s just get you up yeah.” Coaxing her gently Lisa pulled Debbie up from the floor and took her to the table to sit down.

  “I just wanted a drink but he is making everything so difficult. He made the glasses leak and then they went all blurry and I… I… I don’t know…” Debbie’s mind detached herself from the moment and she sat staring into space. Lisa swept up the broken glass and dried the floor and then she re-filled the empty glass on the side which Debbie hadn’t broken and she took it to her mum.

  “Here you go mum, have a drink.” Lisa persuaded and she placed the glass into Debbie’s hand. Immediately the water splashed out and ran down the sides and onto her trouser legs. She was shaking badly. Lisa had to take the glass from her and hold it up to her mouth herself like her mum had done to her when she was a baby. Debbie drank greedily and noisily and didn’t stop until it was all gone.

  Half an hour later and Debbie still sat at the table staring blankly at nothing, but her mouth constantly moved as though she was speaking silently. A few times Lisa and Aiden had tried to talk to her but she appeared to not hear or see them. She was in her own little world where they had no idea what was happening there or how to get her back. Having decided to call for an ambulance Lisa went to the hall phone. Picking up the handset she heard no ringtone, only deathly silence. Pressing the button in the cradle frantically she shouted Aiden to her. Hearing the anxiousness in her voice he ran to her to find her putting the receiver down and picking it back up again.

  “Aiden, the phone won’t work! There’s nothing!” Aiden picked up the handset and tried himself. Kneeling down he located the wall socket and found no wire connected to it so he ran the wire through his hand until he came to the end where the connector should have been, but instead there were just loose wires sticking out of the end like it had been ripped out or the wall. Holding the end up to Lisa his eyes locked on her terrified expression.

  “Mobile!” the both said at the same time and they dug in their pockets and brought their phones out.

  “No signal!”

  “Me neither” Lisa said starting to panic. “What happened to the phone?” Aiden just looked at her quizzically. “No!
You don’t think…? She wouldn’t have, would she?”

  “Well how else do you explain it?” he asked, secretly hoping his sister would indeed have another explanation. Instead she just shook her head and kept quiet.

  In the kitchen they found that Debbie was no longer at the table. Feeling irritable and completely fed up of being given the run around they slumped into the chairs. They couldn’t be bothered to go searching for her again. They didn’t want to have the responsibilities thrust upon them yet again. They didn’t want to see her in a heart wrenching situation. The wanted to go home and that was it. Just to go home. Then they would be happy.

  Debbie came out of the larder laden down with food. “There you are, I thought we would all have a nice meal.” She said smiling at them. “What’s wrong with you two mardy bums?” she asked playfully. They could not believe their ears. Did none of this matter to her? She may as well have not asked the question in the first place because she didn’t wait for an answer from them. Humming happily she started on dinner.

  Lisa and Aiden had left her to it while they sat out in the garden. They were both feeling resentful towards her and they didn’t want to be around her. The sun beamed down on them, warming their cool skin and making them pleasantly drowsy. They didn’t talk; they just sat listening to the sounds of nature. After a while it helped them to relax. They were in a predicament that they didn’t know a way out of. With no working phones there was no way they could call for help and although they could risk it and start walking it would mean leaving their mum alone in the house for however long it took and neither of them wanted to do that. The only way home for them was to wait until she was ready to leave. They just prayed it would be sooner rather than later.

  70

  The sun started to wane and the sky became darker and the wind became stronger. The insects and birds had retreated and all was quiet now except the sound of the wind rustling through the trees in the garden. Lisa and Aiden’s stomachs rumbled; in spite of themselves they found they were hungry. Pulling his phone out of his pocket Aiden shielded it from the first few drops of rain as he checked the time. It was five-thirty-two in the afternoon. They’d been outside for the best part of the day. Telling Lisa what the time was she was surprised. She had nodded off at some point, waking only when the raindrops had fallen on her closed eyelids, and now she worked the stiffness out of her neck.