by Peppi Hilton
A silent interlude followed as Kelly closed her eyes and relaxed back on the sofa, taking deep breaths in order to calm her emotions. Although recounting it all had taken its toll, it had also been therapeutic, and she knew she would feel better for it. She had emphasised to Francine just how real it had all seemed to be, but how past experience had proven to her that hallucinations are real to the person experiencing them. People, images, actions, are just as real in a person’s mind, as if they are truly happening, and at the time they can’t be convinced otherwise.
Francine was unconvinced by Kelly’s assurances that none of it had really happened, that it had all been imaginary. It was all too bizarre, too specific, and she had never shown any signs of a relapse since being given the all clear. So the hallucination theory just didn’t do it for her.
But Francine was well-read on the subject of the occult and unexplained encounters, and had a keen interest in the opinions of many well-respected and suitably qualified voices, whose theories – whilst differing from one to another - all had a common thread which bound them all together: the belief that the souls of the dead sometimes walk the earth. And whilst Francine looked at everything with an open mind, she did happen to share those views.
“Don’t you think that you may have had a glimpse into the past, Kelly? After all, who’s to say that hallucinations and time-slips are not linked?”
“You know me Fran, I don’t go for that kind of thing. I judge by the facts. And the fact is that I have experienced that sort of thing before, and it is medically termed as hallucinating.”
“Well it could be possible that a murder took place there in the past, and for one reason or another, you walked into a time-warp. It will be simple enough to find out, because if a murder did take place it will have been recorded. I suggest we check it out on the internet first, and if that doesn’t work, then old newspapers should hold the key.” Francine reached over to a cabinet and withdrew a pen and pad from a drawer and proceeded to make notes. “You described the period as Victorian, so that will cut down the research. I don’t suppose you can be more specific, such as what part of the Victorian period it might have been? Or is there anything else you can think of which may make it easier to find?”
Kelly gulped down her remaining wine, before acknowledging what Francine was saying.
“I don’t mind you looking into the history of The Grange Fran, but I won’t get involved if you don’t mind. I just can’t bring myself to believe in apparitions, hauntings, or glimpses into the past as you call them. They’re all off my radar I’m afraid. I’ll stick to making sure I don’t overwork myself again, and take sensible breaks. But you go ahead by all means. I’m certainly interested in any information you can uncover about the history of The Grange, because there must be a wealth of fascinating facts about a property so ancient and which has lived through two major wars.”
“I’ll Google the name and address - it’s bound to pop up immediately. As for the period, that shouldn’t be hard to track.”
Kelly looked at her seriously. “Before you get carried away, you need to remember that you are researching the history of the house and not an imaginary murder. This is not one of your court cases. Nothing happened there Fran. Think of it like a mirage which takes place in a desert, when a tired and weary traveller is suffering from thirst under the hot blazing sun. It doesn’t exist and never did – it’s all in the weary traveller’s mind, brought on by his circumstances. You’ve got to realise the hallucinations are real, but only in the mind of the person at the time. They’re not part of the past - or the future. Sightings, visitations, premonitions, or visions of the past – you can call them whatever you like, they just don’t exist.”
Francine knew only too well where Kelly was coming from. Her atheistic views had been strongly expressed on many an occasion, and her reputation as a committed agnostic was well circulated. She knew she would be treading on dangerous waters if she voiced her opinion too strongly, and she valued their friendship far too much to risk upsetting Kelly. Nevertheless, she was convinced that she had actually seen something, and she had every intention of finding out. But she would have to do it in her own time, and if her suspicions were proven – well she would have to cross that bridge at the time.
Francine topped up their glasses with the wine, and they both engaged in relaxed chatting away from the subject of ghosts, apparitions and suchlike. She was genuinely concerned for her friend. She realised the incident must have been a terrible experience for her, and she truly hoped that there wouldn’t be any after-effects due to delayed reaction; particularly when she had suffered a mental breakdown all those years ago. She recalled silently the trauma that Kelly had suffered at the loss of her parents, and she knew it had taken time for her to get her life back on track. Something like this could put her back where she started. If she could prove to Kelly that a murder had been committed at The Grange, sometime in its past, then surely that would dispel all her fears of heading for another nervous breakdown; and whilst that result would be in absolute contrast to her agnostic beliefs, it would at least solve the riddle of her encounter and subsequently put an end to that once-in-a-lifetime chance experience. Because as far as Francine was concerned, if she could prove that’s what it was, then it would never happen again; but if Kelly convinced herself that she was heading for another breakdown, the stress and worry of that may well be the cause of another.
Having studied many case histories on the subject of the paranormal, relating to people around the world who had experienced the same kind of phenomenon, Francine was leaning towards the theory that if a very profound, traumatic event, had occurred in that house in the past, one of such magnitude as Kelly described, then something of those deep emotions may have remained embedded in the fabric of the building. Whereas, hallucinatory images, often induced by the taking of drugs or a mineral deficiency even, may not relate to anything except pure imagination, as Kelly said; although Francine believed that perhaps one day they may prove to be linked.
She believed that Kelly’s sixth sense could have kicked in, without her even knowing it. She went through a harrowing experience when she learned of the death of her parents in a fatal accident abroad, and the aftermath of that breakdown even though she had fully recovered, could have left her vulnerable, leaving her emotions so exposed that she could be sensitive to receiving images from a different dimension. Perhaps even triggered by the anniversary of the event, or some suchlike coincidence - and with that thought in mind, she quickly glanced at the date on her watch and noted it was the thirteenth of January. It was a tricky scenario and Francine knew that, because if she discovered she was right, she would have a hard job convincing her friend.
Kelly was the first to make a move after they had drained the bottle of wine. She put her empty glass on the table, and stretched her neck and shoulders to relieve the tension.
“It’s been an exhausting day and the wine is putting me to sleep. My resistance is probably low – too much work,” she yawned, pulling herself off the sofa. “Maybe we should go on that cruise you keep suggesting. In fact, I think you should try cruise-hunting on the internet, instead of ghost-hunting,” she laughed wickedly.
“Sounds like a good idea – in fact I have some leave coming up in a few months, I’ll get onto it right away.” Francine was pleased to see her friend perking up again.
“I haven’t taken any time off for at least six months, but I can’t take too much time off at once, it’s difficult in my job.”
“There you go again Kelly. No-one’s indispensable you know – somebody must be able to fill in for you.”
“Well, two weeks is the absolute maximum.”
“You won’t need to go back there will you – to The Grange I mean?” Francine asked with concern in her voice.
“Thank God no!”
“Well try not to worry about it again, and just put it all behind you.”
Kelly hesitated and looked at Fr
ancine thoughtfully. “I will - but it was all so damned real!”
They hugged at the door as they said goodnight, and a more relaxed Kelly went back into her apartment feeling certain that by to-morrow it would all seem like a dim and distant dream.
6
IKelly awoke the following morning feeling sluggish. She also felt slightly irritated and somewhat agitated, which she put down to the wine the night before. She wasn’t accustomed to such feelings, and made a vow to herself that she wouldn’t drink so much red wine, at such a late hour, when she had to be up bright and breezy for work the next day. Even her plan to eat a hearty breakfast before going to the office failed miserably. A quick shower, and a dish of cereal, was all she could manage before setting off to work.
After arriving at the office in good time, she was slow at getting organised. But once the energy kicked in, she spent the morning organising the documentation and images for The Grange, in readiness for the company who would prepare the brochures. It was all uploaded onto the company website and the images and specifications were emailed to the publishing company. The property was set to go to auction in a matter of weeks, so there was a lot to do beforehand. Thankfully, Kelly wasn’t involved in carrying out any viewings with potential bidders as that was down to Evelyn, so her dealings with The Grange would be more or less over by the end of the day.
In the meantime, Phoebe continually hovered around Kelly’s work station, using all manner of excuses to take a sneaky look at the images, much to the irritation of Kelly who pretended not to notice. But she had been determined that morning to make an effort not to allow the memory of her encounter to colour her view on the job in hand. It was up to her to present the property in a way which would attract investors, developers, or anyone else who may be interested, and her own personal conflict should not jeopardise it in any way. But Fee’s furtive glances were becoming a distraction, and they continued until Kelly could stand it no longer.
“Nothing’s going to jump out and draw you back in!” she snapped.
Fee looked shocked at Kelly’s unexpected outburst. She scuttled back to her own desk, her face bright scarlet.
“I did warn you about going up there!” she suddenly responded, as if summing up all the courage in the world. But if she was expecting an immediate response from Kelly, she didn’t get one.
A few silent moments ensued, in which Fee’s resolve was strengthened.
“You should have stayed away. You’ve probably stirred up something evil!”
Fee’s nervous babbling was seriously affecting Kelly’s concentration, and she could no longer draw upon her sympathetic side. Her own personality had felt disjointed ever since her visit to The Grange, she wasn’t herself, and her tolerance levels were extremely low. Now the thought of Fee gabbling in her ear was more than she could bear. She was becoming increasingly stressed, and her sense of humour seemed to have dried up.
“What on earth are you rabbiting on about Fee?” Kelly demanded, whilst at the same time not wanting to encourage an answer.
“Nothing!” she muttered almost inaudibly.
“Well, it sure didn’t sound like nothing to me!” Kelly snarled. “Say what you want to say and have done with it, or keep quiet and let me get on with my work.”
Other heads began to turn and look over curiously. Squabbling wasn’t something they were accustomed to in the workplace, but when they saw that Fee was in the middle of it all, they turned away and giggled quietly.
By this time Charlene had walked into the office and sat down at her work-station. She could clearly see that something had been going on. She noticed the guilty expression on Fee’s face, as she saw her messing around with some papers on her desk and fiddling with files; but as they were upside down, it wasn’t difficult to establish that it was just a cover-up. A quick glance over at Kelly and she could see she was engrossed in her work, but her impatient countenance told her that things were not as they should be.
Charlene had been keeping a low profile since Kelly arrived that morning, as she wasn’t exactly anticipating a warm welcome after yesterday’s escapade; the media interest and all that. But Kelly’s demeanour was very much out of character, she wasn’t one to bear a grudge and she usually laughed everything off. Fee must have really pressed the wrong button to affect her in that way. She made an attempt to find out what was going on.
“Is everything okay?”
But Kelly blanked her, whilst Fee grabbed some files and scuttled out of the office.
“You shouldn’t take any notice of Fee - you know what she’s like. Her hormones have been on high alert ever since she heard about the episode at The Grange. Thoughts of the Supernatural send her into a wild frenzy - she probably stayed up all night reading tarot cards.”
But that was the last thing Kelly wanted to hear. She immediately saw red and turned to face Charlene, her face contorted with anger.
“Perhaps if you hadn’t circulated your scare stories and your nonsensical fantasies in the first place, nobody would have thought any more of it. After all, the problem was mine and mine alone to deal with. Who asked YOU to fill in a report anyway, fuelled by your own wild imaginings? I certainly didn’t! So don’t look at Fee - look in your own quarters if you want to allocate blame.” And with that outburst she resumed work.
Charlene was aghast and speechless, and everyone else stopped what they were doing to listen in. This was a new Kelly, one they had never seen before. What on earth had come over her?
Charlene wasn’t going to be drawn into a tiff, because she knew that Kelly must be under extreme stress, caused by yesterday’s encounter, for her to behave in that manner. Another twenty four hours and the same old Kelly would be back with them, of that she was sure; so in the meantime she would behave as if everything was normal. Not another word was said, or even hinted at in respect of The Grange, and so things carried on just like any other day at the office.
As the day came to a close all Kelly’s work on The Grange was completed, much to her relief. There was no doubt that she would be glad when it was sold and off their hands, so that she could delete it from the website and from her mind altogether. It wasn’t expected to fail at auction, as there had been a flurry of interest from eager speculators and developers, since word had gone out of its intended sale. The location had wide appeal and the property’s origins were of immense interest nationally; and as sole agents they had great expectations of the sale exceeding the reserve price. It shouldn’t stick around for long.
The week ground to a halt on Friday for Kelly, much to her relief, as this was her week-end off. She worked three Saturdays out of four on a rota with some of the other staff. Fortunately the speculation and gossip which had circulated around the organisation regarding The Grange, had gradually subsided and nothing more had been mentioned. But even though Kelly had managed to shut the experience out of her head, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of agitation.
She’d had a busy but interesting week, visiting a few remote properties around the Lancashire and Yorkshire borders, and so she had been out of the office a lot which suited her down to the ground. But the highlight of the week was having met Matthew, an architect who also had his own property development business, which included rural barns and derelict farmhouses. Some of his conversions were ones she had been asked to visit and photograph for Evelyn. He had discussed several other ventures which he was in the middle of, and had invited Kelly to meet up with him for lunch the following Tuesday, with the offer of showing her round one of his sites; only as a point of interest and not on a professional basis, as that would be Evelyn’s job. And whilst she didn’t want to overestimate the invite, she knew there was little or no reason for him to ask her to take a look at his ventures, other than a mutual attraction. Luckily she was able to arrange other work appointments around the luncheon date, so that it would not interfere with her job.
It had been a long time since Kelly had felt even the faintest of sti
rrings for a man, and it made a refreshing change. In fact it was just the boost her morale needed. Relationships were something of a dilemma for her, as normally the man wanted more from her emotionally, than she could give, and so they naturally ended before they had time to begin. But with Matthew, even though she hardly knew him at all, her gut instinct told her that they had a lot in common. Their meeting during the week had revealed a little of his lifestyle: he was clearly a man under pressure and who took his commercial interests seriously. He travelled abroad a lot on business, and therefore had little time for other commitments. He was single, and although he didn’t impress upon it - Kelly soon realised he was available too.
She was mature enough to know when a man was seriously interested and when he was just flirting, and he certainly didn’t come across as the flirty type. He was quite serious, but with a sense of humour, good moral code, and was choosy with women. He didn’t suffer fools gladly and looked for something very special in a woman, and by his own admission he was an acquired taste. Kelly had learnt a lot about him in that short space of time when she was taking images of his properties. He had volunteered information which she would never have dreamt of asking, which is why she was brimming with confidence at his invitation. So much so, that she had made up her mind to go shopping in York the next day to buy a new outfit. She wanted to look and feel her best.