Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1)

by Nellie H. Steele

  “I will let her see more, but I must protect her. She is fragile.”

  “Celine, we don’t have much time.” There was no response. “Celine?” Amelia paused. “Celine?”

  There was no response. She was gone. “Okay, Josie, I’m going to bring you out of the trance now. I will count backwards from ten and when I reach one, you will awaken, refreshed and rested.”

  The doctor counted backwards and when she reached one, Josie’s eyes opened. She glanced around. “What happened?” she asked.

  “We made great progress!” Amelia answered.

  “Progress? Did you find out why I’m having these dreams and visions?”

  “I would expect you to continue to have both, but I hope they will be a little less taxing for you. I’d like to see you again, perhaps Thursday. Let’s skip a day to let your mind settle.”

  “What? That’s it? No solid answers? I don’t feel much different, I mean I feel okay, but I didn’t learn any more than I did before.”

  “Josie, we need to let your mind come to its own understanding. But I’d like to push your mind to do that faster, I recognize the toll it’s taking on you. I think you may find that you do feel different overall, particularly with respect to the visions.”

  Josie sighed. “Okay, okay, I’ll trust you for now. Thanks, Millie.” Josie paused a moment before looking at Amelia, surprise on her face. “Where did that come from? I’m sorry, Dr. Gresham.”

  “It’s ok, Josie. It’s my nickname.”

  “Yeah, but you never told me that. How did I know it?”

  “I told you things would be different. The memories you have of me are starting to integrate into your mind.”

  “I’ll take your word for that.” She shook her head in disbelief.

  “I’ll take that and see you again Thursday to help you remember more.” Amelia clicked off the tape recorder, standing and putting it in her purse.

  “You said I could get a copy of that?” Josie said, also standing.

  “I’d be happy to share it with you after I’ve had the chance to write my notes on the session. I can share it with you on Thursday.”

  “Okay. Well, thanks. What time Thursday?”

  “Anytime that works for you, Josie.”

  “Can we do it around noon?”

  “Sure. I will come by Thursday at noon.”

  “Great. I’ll walk you down.”

  Josie unlocked the door and took Amelia downstairs. Both men stood as they walked down the stairs. “Thanks again, Dr. Gresham.” Amelia left, retrieving her umbrella from the porch. Josie closed the door, turning to find both Damien and Michael staring at her.

  “Well?” Michael prompted.

  “She said it was a productive session. She said I would be more settled and see improvement. And I feel better, since I woke up I feel decent. She said I might still have the dreams and stuff but she said we made good progress. She said we’ll have another session on Thursday.”

  “What, that’s it?” Michael asked.

  “Yep. I am, however, starving, so let’s go make dinner.”

  “Did she give you a copy of the tape?” Damien asked.

  “Ah, no, she said she would bring one on Thursday, she wanted to make notes.”

  “So, you don’t know what happened in the session?”

  “No, I don’t. Maybe that’s for the best though. Maybe knowing what happened last time was worse for me. Now can we please go eat?”

  “Sure,” Damien said, glancing at Michael.

  After dinner, Josie suggested they settle in to watch some T.V. and try to relax for the rest of the evening. As they settled down, she checked her phone, noticing a text from Grayson: How are you?

  Josie answered: Fine, not much different, but no worse so far

  Gray answered her immediately: I’d like to see you

  Josie considered it for a moment before answering. She wanted to see him, too. She couldn’t explain it but the reluctance she had experienced before seemed to be diminishing. She texted back: Ok, tomorrow morning… mid-jog?

  He answered quickly: See you then, Josie

  Josie put her phone down and settled into the couch next to Damien. For the first time in weeks, she felt relaxed; she hoped that translated to a more pleasant night’s sleep.

  Amelia unlocked the motel room door. “Well?” Grayson demanded, jumping off the bed as soon as she entered the room.

  “Well…” She sighed. “You were right, Celine is still there.”

  “I knew it!” he exclaimed. “Did you get through to her? Does she remember?”

  “I talked to Celine, but she wasn’t very helpful, so no, Josie doesn’t remember yet.”

  “You talked to Celine? What did she say?”

  “That she couldn’t return and that Josie needed to be protected. I think in the end she may have agreed to allow Josie to share more of her memories. I told her that Josie was being tormented by the snippets she was getting. I’m hoping that works. I see her again Thursday.”

  “Thursday? Why not tomorrow?”

  “Give her mind a chance to relax, Gray. We’ll find out more Thursday.”

  He nodded his head. “Okay. Okay, sorry, Millie, I’m just impatient.”

  “I know, Gray, I know. But we’re getting there, this is real progress.”

  Progress, finally, Gray thought, or at least he hoped so. He wanted to see her, needed to see her, needed to observe if the progress was real. He sent her a text and waited for a response. It seemed like lately all he was doing was waiting.

  Chapter 13

  The next morning Josie’s alarm woke her. For the first time in weeks, she had slept, experiencing no nightmares. She basked in the sleep she had gotten for a moment before rising from her bed. Getting up, she opened the music box. As she started to dress for her jog, she remembered that she was meeting Grayson this morning. The idea brought a smile to her face.

  She hit the road with a spring in her step. She had almost forgotten how revitalizing a good night’s sleep could be. As she approached the end of the road she saw Gray, leaning against his car. She continued toward him when a pain shot across her head. She slowed to a stop, shutting her eyes for a moment. As she did so, a memory formed in her mind. It was Gray; he stood in a large room, a glass of brandy in his hand. He turned to face her. “There you are, darling,” he said, smiling. As quickly as it came, it passed.

  Opening her eyes, Gray stood in front of her, having rushed toward her when she stopped. “Josie,” he called, grabbing hold of her, “Josie, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she answered, looking at him as if for the first time, “I had another vision.”

  “Another vision? Of what?”

  “You,” she answered.

  “Me? Do you remember me?”

  “No,” she said, breaking from his grip, “no, just that one fleeting memory, but I feel different. You seem so familiar to me, but I can’t place why or anything specific though.”

  “Josie, that’s great!”

  “Is it? I still don’t understand anything.”

  “You will, this is progress.”

  “Perhaps I should meet with Amelia again sooner?”

  “No, she said you need to let your mind relax.”

  Disappointment filled Josie, but she understood. “Maybe she’s right. Perhaps it’s best not to push it too fast. This is the best I’ve been in weeks. I didn’t have the dream, and the vision wasn’t too painful.” She turned to face him again. “I had better get going.”

  “Okay, text or call me if you need anything,” he said, putting his hands on her arms and rubbing them.

  “Okay, I will,” she said, grabbing his hand and holding it for a moment before turning to leave. As she jogged toward home, she turned back, giving him a quick smile before turning back around and heading away from him.

  Josie felt different, she wasn’t sure if it stemmed from a good night’s sleep or if something had clicked into place for her
after her session with Amelia. Either way, she planned to take full advantage of it, she resolved, as she powered through the rest of her run.

  The house was still quiet when she arrived home. She tiptoed upstairs to change and back down to make her cup of tea. Everyone must be sleeping in, though she couldn’t fathom why. No one had mentioned anything about it to her. As the sun began to rise over the horizon, a yawning Michael appeared in the doorway. He stretched as he came out to join her on the porch swing, still in pajama pants and a t-shirt.

  “No work today?” Josie asked.

  “I’ll work here, I’m not going in to the office,” he said, half-asleep.

  “Rough night?”

  “I’m a little tired, yeah. How about you? Did you get any sleep?”

  “Yes, I did! That session with Dr. Gresham must have helped, I slept through the night, no nightmares. Must have been a rough night for Damien, I see he’s still in bed.”

  “I don’t know.” Michael shrugged. “Did you put coffee on this morning?”

  “Yep, it’s ready.”

  “I’m going to grab a cup, be right back.”

  As he entered the house, Damien came out, coffee cup already in hand, yawning. “Ah, good morning,” he said, still mid-yawn.

  “Good morning, yikes, what’s with you two? Late night playing video games?”

  He sat down next to Josie on the swing, “Yeah, video games, yep.”

  Josie considered the response odd. She could tell when Damien wasn’t telling the truth, and this was one of those times.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, trying gently to pry.

  “Yep, all good, everything is all good.”

  “D…” she began, but Michael’s return interrupted her.

  She looked between the two of them. There was a weird vibe between them, she wasn’t sure what it was. “So, are neither of you going to the office today?”

  “Nope, just going to work from home,” Damien responded.

  “Yep, same here like I said before, working from home.”

  “Oooookay. Well, I’ll let you guys get at that then. I’m going upstairs to start some of my work.”

  Josie headed upstairs to her office. She surmised that she could actually be productive today. She checked her phone before diving into her emails. Grayson had sent a text: How was the rest of your jog?

  She smiled at the message and answered: It was good, thanks :)

  Setting her phone down, she opened her email account and began sorting, flagging, answering and deleting emails. The task took her almost two hours to complete. When she checked her phone next, it was approaching 10 a.m. Damien wasn’t up here yet which surprised her if he was planning on working from home. He must have gotten embroiled in another video game battle with Michael. Boys, she thought, rolling her eyes. She saw another text message waiting for her: I’m glad that session with Millie helped

  She was about to type a reply when she heard Michael calling her. “Josie, hey, Josie, can you come down here for a minute?”

  “Sure,” she shouted back, wondering what they needed. If they called her down there to get them a snack or a drink while they played video games she would give them a piece of her mind. She headed downstairs, as the living room came into view, she saw Damien sitting on one of the arm chairs, Michael at the bottom of the stairs. Someone sat on the couch. Even though her back faced Josie, she recognized her mother. What was her mother doing here, she wondered?

  “Mom?” she asked, glancing to each of them for an explanation.

  “Hi, Josie,” her mom started. “Come sit down.”

  Growing suspicious, she asked, “What is going on?”

  “Michael has been telling me a little about what is going on,” her mom began, “About your stalker. Josie, we need to talk, I need to tell you something.”

  Josie’s eyebrows raised, her eyes wide. “You called my mom?” she said to Michael.

  “Yes, I called your mom because I was at a loss about what else to do.”

  “What do you mean you were at a loss about what else to do? Are you kidding me right now?”

  “You’re acting crazy, Josie. You’re distant and secretive. You’ve been lying to us. You’re all over the map, so yeah,” he said, his voice growing heated.

  “I’ve been lying? Seriously? What exactly are you accusing me of?” Josie blasted back.

  “Yes, you’ve been lying. Your little story about going to Dr. Reed’s on Monday and the 'home therapy’ you had yesterday. I called Dr. Reed’s office. He didn’t meet with you Monday and he’s never heard of a Dr. Amelia Gresham.”

  “So you called my therapist and discussed my treatment with him and then you took it upon yourself to call my mom like I’m a kid?”

  Josie’s mom stepped in between them. “Stop this, you two, it’s not helping anything. I am glad Michael called me. I didn’t realize what was going on or the extent to which you’d been suffering with these nightmares. I certainly didn’t know you were being stalked.” She walked Josie to the couch as she talked, her arms around her shoulders. Sitting her down on the couch, she sat next to her, taking her hands. “I realize now what a tough time you’ve been having. I’m sorry to say, I have some difficult news to share with you. It may have some bearing on what you’re experiencing and may help with your treatment.” She turned toward Michael and Damien. “I’m sorry, but would you two mind giving us some privacy?”

  “Sure, no problem,” Michael said.

  “Absolutely, just yell if you need us, we’ll be upstairs,” Damien said. They both left the room, leaving Josie alone with her mom.

  “I’m not being stalked, this is all blown out of proportion. I’m fine, really,” Josie said, once the men had left.

  “Josie,” her mom began, “this has been weighing on my mind for a long time. I hoped never to have this conversation with you but I feel guilty keeping it from you now in light of what’s going on. I worried when you received the jewelry box but I hoped it was just some sort of a mix-up and nothing more came of it. But when Michael called me, I knew I had to come. There is something you need to know and I don’t want you to hear it from someone else. I want to be the one to tell you.”

  “Michael had no right to call you and upset you, Mom. I’m fine.”

  “Josie, please. This is hard enough for me, please let me talk.”

  “About what? What are you trying to say?”

  “Josie,” she began, squeezing Josie’s hands. “Your Dad and I, well, we, well, you know we love you more than anything. And, well, there is no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. The fact is, you’re not ours.”

  “What?” Josie said, struggling to understand what her mother was stumbling to say.

  “Biologically, Josie. You’re not our baby. I mean you’ll always be my baby, but I didn’t give birth to you.”

  “What?!” Josie said, shocked. “I’m… I’m adopted?”

  “More or less, yes.”

  “More or less? What does that mean?”

  “Your father and I were desperate to have a child. We were on the waiting list for adoptions but they told us it would be years before they even considered us for adopting a baby. We were desperate to have a baby.”

  “So, what? You were suddenly moved to the top of the list? What?”

  “No, we, well, we received a letter in the mail from a private adoption agency offering us the opportunity to adopt you. It said we had been selected from a list of potential parents and they had a baby for us.”

  “What? How?”

  “They offered us a baby, they told us you had no home and no parents and you could be ours if we promised to provide a loving and stable home for you. Well, of course, we accepted. We were so desperate, and you were so perfect.” She tucked a lock of hair behind Josie’s ear, smiling.

  “Are you serious? You got a random letter saying they had a baby for you?”

  “You weren’t some black market deal.” Her mother shook her head as
she answered. “We had no reason to expect they weren’t legitimate. It was a certified letter from a private adoption agency. We assumed we were doing something good and fulfilling our own dream of being parents. We thought you were just an unplanned pregnancy. We had no reason to question them nor did we want to. We were desperate to have a child, and you were beautiful.”

  “Some random agency sent you a random letter saying they had a baby, gave the baby to you and you didn’t question it?”

  “Of course we asked some questions, Josie. But the man we met with had reasonable explanations and documents and we only had a limited amount of time to decide. We were told because they were a private agency this would be a quiet adoption. We assumed perhaps to salvage the mother’s reputation. We weren’t prepared for it, it took us by surprise!”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet. Where is there even an agency who just mails random letters to people?” she asked rhetorically.

  “Maine. The agency was in Maine. We had to travel to a little town called Bucksville, I’ll never forget it. We didn’t even have time to get a car seat for you. I held you in my arms the whole way home. Oh, Josie, I’m so sorry we never told you, but it made no difference to either of us that you weren’t biologically ours. We never thought it was important, you had no health issues or anything that would have prompted us to look into your background and like I said, we were just thrilled to have a child. We thanked the Lord every day for you and did our best to live up to the promise we made.” Her mom’s eyes filled with tears.

  Josie’s heart went out to her mother. She kept the secret for almost twenty-five years and now she was forced to tell it. She knew her mother, she realized how terrifying this must be for her, how afraid she was of how Josie may react, petrified of being rejected by the daughter she had raised. The truth was Josie wasn’t angry, and she held no resentment toward her parents. They had lived up to their promise. She had a wonderful childhood that she wouldn’t have traded for anything. It didn’t make much difference to her that they weren’t her biological parents. They were her parents in every way that counted. She squeezed her mom’s hand. “It’s okay, mom. It doesn’t matter to me either that we’re not biologically related. You’ll always be my parents.”