“No. I’m telling the truth.”
She turned around again. “I’m calling Mum.”
“No! Please! Wait! Stop!”
I was surprised when she stopped once again, even if she didn’t turn to face me. I took a deep breath.
“I’m telling the truth. You have to believe me. You could call Bella, tell her about me, make me leave. But what if I’m right? What if I might be the only person who can help her to get better?”
I prayed that she would believe me. I prayed that she would give me a chance. I tried to sound as convincing and heartfelt as possible, so that she would think I wasn’t lying.
When she turned back to me, I was shocked to see that her mouth was twisted in smile. That was when I realised that she was going to help me, but not for the reason I wanted. “Okay, I’ll give you a chance. But you need to prove it to me, that what you’re talking about is true.”
“Alright. And you won’t tell Bella about all of this?”
“No. Not if what you're saying turns out to be true. But understand this: if you don’t manage to prove it to me ‒ which you won’t, of course ‒ I’ll tell her everything. What you were really doing out in that shed, calling Mum a lunatic. And then that little story you just told me, trying to play tricks on me. The whole thing. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now don’t disappoint me.”
With this, she turned, and walked back up the stairs.
I sighed deeply, slumped into a chair at the table. Cursed myself at how terribly that conversation had gone. Now, I only had another problem to deal with. I had to think of a way to convince Zara that what was happening to her mum was true. There was definitely no going back, now. I was in far too deep.
I sat in that chair for a time. Zara didn’t reappear. Bella and Dad would be home soon though, and then, the claustrophobia would return. I wouldn’t be able to do anything more to help Bella.
Earlier, I’d ignored my phone, and the possibility of calling for help. Now though, I knew that I needed Aaron’s expertise. I needed help with this juggling of Bella, the spirit, Zara. Even if I didn’t want to call him, even if it would mean reopening the door to my past fully. I had no choice.
I made the call at the table, while looking out to the sea of grey, washing the sky. It reflected the feeling at the bottom of my stomach, as I flicked through my phone for his number. Seeing his name staring back at me, I wanted to do everything other than press call.
Pressed it anyway.
The phone dialled. With each tone, I thought about what I was going to say. How I was going to resurrect our—
“Hello? Jonny?”
At first, I said nothing. I even considered pressing the red circle to cancel the call.
“Hello,” I managed, after a few seconds had passed.
“Hey. How are you? How you keeping?”
“I’m alright, thanks. Doing better over these past few weeks. How about you?”
“Yeah, good. I was just thinking of you actually. I was speaking to a client, and I was thinking about how I missed having you around to help.”
I knew he was trying to cheer me up, but his comment only made my stomach turn. It reminded me of the times we’d sat with Stephen. The reason why I’d lost him.
“I wanted to move away from that, Aaron. After everything that happened.”
“I know. I get that. What happened was awful, and I knew that you needed time. But I also knew that you’d call me when you were ready.”
I didn’t have time for this smushy stuff. I cut to the chase. “I need your help, Aaron.”
“I thought you might. Help with what, exactly?”
“It’s a long story, and I don’t have much time. Do you have many bookings over the next few days?”
“Hmm. I’m pretty sure that I’m free until Wednesday. Why do you ask?”
“I need you to come to Hertfordshire for a few days, to a little village called Peene. It's really important.”
“Right. What are you doing up there?”
“Seeing my dad.”
He paused for a moment. “What? But I thought that you didn’t speak to your dad anymore?”
“He reached out to me, and now I’m visiting him. It’s the first time I’ve seen him for a year-and-a-half. We’re trying to repair our relationship, if that makes sense.”
“I hear you. So why do you need me there?”
“Like I said, it’s complicated, and I have very limited time. They could be home any second, and I don’t want them hearing this call. However, I can tell you that it’s to do with his new partner, Bella. And, obviously, it has something to do with a spirit.”
“Okay. Well, look, if I packed a bag, I could probably get down there by this afternoon?”
I bit my lip. “That won’t work. Dad and Bella are going to be around for the rest of the day.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“But if you booked a hotel for tonight, I could meet you tomorrow morning? My dad will be at work, and I can tell Bella that I’m going for a long walk or something.”
“Yeah, that would work. Tell me at least though: have you spoken to a spirit? And is Bella in danger?”
“Yes to both.”
“Blimey. I’ll get down right away, then.”
“Thank you, Aaron. Can I just say though, to make it really clear: this is a one off. If Bella wasn’t family, then I wouldn’t be helping her. And I don’t plan on making a habit of this again.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good. I’ll call you tomorrow morning, then? Just text me when you get a hotel room.”
“Will do. I’ll see you tomorrow. If it gets more urgent, let me know.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
“Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
I dropped the phone to my lap. Hung up.
Bella and Dad walked through the door as I pressed send on the text to Mum, telling her that things were going well. That I was going to be spending a few more days in Peene.
“You alright, son?” said Dad as he walked into the kitchen. His eyes hadn’t recovered, unlike yesterday. They were still puffy and purple.
“Yeah, all good,” I said. Bella walked in a moment later. We made eye contact. This time, however, she snapped her eyes away again, as if she didn’t want to look at me. Had Dad spoken to her? Had she finally realised how ridiculous her act was?
“Was everything okay while we were away? Not too bored or anything?” Dad asked.
I imagined that I couldn’t have been less bored. And, at the exact moment I thought this, Zara raced down the stairs.
She stood in the kitchen doorway. As she looked to me, her eyes narrowed. My heart leapt. I waited for her to open her mouth.
“Morning Mum. Morning Michael,” she said. And then, still looking at me, as I thought she was going to turn me in, tell everyone what I’d told her, she said, “Morning Jonny.”
I breathed out. Though I could tell from Zara’s twisted grin that she was enjoying my suffering.
“You mean to say you’ve only just woken up?” said Bella. She was still wearing the scarf, so that we couldn’t see her bruised and mottled neck.
“Yeah. Sorry, did I miss anything?”
“Nothing at all,” said Dad. “We’ve just got back from horse riding, and now we have nothing planned for the rest of the day. In which case, Jonny, what do you want to do? It’s your last day in Peene, after all.”
“Well actually, that’s the thing. I’ve texted Mum, and I’ve told her that I’m going to stay here for a few more days.”
“Really?” said Dad. His face seemed to brighten, his mouth lifting into a grin, as if the events of the previous evening had been taken from his shoulders. Though I also caught a glimpse of Zara. Her face only darkened.
“Yes,” I said, feeling Zara’s stare bore into me. “Just for a few more days. Just to catch up a little more, you know?”
“Okay. But I’ll be at work.”
“I kno
w. But I’ll see you in the evenings. And I thought it would be nice to spend a bit more time away from Grantford. It’s started to feel a bit like a trap.” This wasn’t untrue.
“Okay. Well, Bella will be around. But I guess you can do whatever you want during the day.”
Dad walked over and patted me on the shoulder. But, even as I felt his delight, I looked again at Zara, her smile contorting as she turned away.
9
When I awoke to sunlight creeping under the curtains, I sighed with relief. A night without one of Bella’s strange awakenings. Another day to try and help her.
I hadn’t been able to get away from Dad and Bella for the rest of Sunday. Most of the day had been spent watching films. Occasionally, I had glanced at Bella. She’d certainly been more awkward in the afternoon. She seemed more sombre and downcast, with that trademark grin nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the façade had become too exhausting for her. You can only act whole for so long when you are torn inside. The rope of bruises, only becoming a deeper purple around her neck, was a symbol of this.
I had no privacy to do any more research into Bella’s condition. Besides, when Aaron texted me that evening, telling me that he’d arrived at his hotel in nearby St Albans, I realised there would be little point. I needed his encyclopaedic knowledge of the spirit world, and his brain was just as good, if not better, than what Google could offer me.
Over text, we agreed that we’d meet in the morning at a café in the centre of Peene. I hoped that Bella wouldn’t get too vigilant in finding out where I was going.
When I finally wandered downstairs, I found Bella tucked up in an armchair, a cup of tea in one hand, a book in the other. She smiled warmly at me as I walked in. Immediately, I noticed that her eyes seemed clearer, less muddied. The bruising around her neck seemed to have faded a little. I guessed that a good night of sleep must have done her well.
“Morning,” she said to me.
This morning, my own smile was a little less forced. “Morning. Good book?”
“Yes.” She rested it on her knee. “Just a bit of chick-lit. I read so many books these days. I think I’ve pretty much exhausted all the other genres. That’s what it’s like when you have so much time to yourself.”
I nodded. Having spent so much time to myself recently, I’d realised this too. It was a long-term hobby, trying to evade my thoughts.
“Has Dad already gone to work?”
“Yes, he leaves pretty early. It takes him a while to get into London.” She smiled. “Still, I’m here to look after you. Do help yourself to tea. You got many plans for today?”
Sensing my opportunity to make my excuses, I said, “Think I’m going to go for a walk later around Peene. I’m interested to know what the village looks like.”
“Very nice. It’s quite cute at the centre. I would join you, but unfortunately I have to see my mother today. I’ll probably be gone for the afternoon.”
An opportunity to contact the spirit again? Could I involve Zara, prove to her that I wasn’t lying?
“Okay. Well, I might see you later on, then.”
“Maybe.” Though I hoped that she wouldn’t, because I didn’t know what she’d say if she saw me hanging around with Aaron.
Wandering into the village centre, I noticed again how old and quaint Peene was. It was like something out of a history book, with all the little grey cottages, some painted, some stone. Very rarely interspersed with a more modern house, such as Dad’s. And there were lots of gaping green expanses, full of looming trees and summer flowers. The houses were dotted around, barely connected. Country walkways twisted around the cottages, a trail into the hills and woodland that guarded Peene.
It wasn’t the place you’d expect to see somebody like Aaron. A thirty-something man wearing a trench coat, platformed shoes, a Slipknot t-shirt, and a black cowboy hat.
But this was how Aaron was dressed, waiting on the pavement outside the café. As a few families darted from Peene’s shops: a clothes shop, a charity shop, a little pub, and that was about it, he gained some odd looks. Not that he’d care, of course.
As soon as he noticed me, a toothy grin engulfed his face. I couldn’t return it. Inside, my stomach was exploding with the thoughts of what had been, and what might now be once again.
Approaching, I took a deep breath.
“Jonny!” At first, I offered my hand, but he tapped it away. “Don’t be ridiculous. Come here.”
He embraced me, his arms enveloping my shoulders. It felt like I was hugging a bear, rather than a man. A little of my apprehension dissipated. But it still felt like something was gnawing at my insides.
“How are you? How’s your summer been?” he asked me.
“Good, thanks.” I wanted to tell Aaron how I really felt about the past months, but I couldn’t quite find the words.
“Good, good. Pretty little village this, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s not too bad. We going into this café here?”
“Yeah. Let’s. Then we can have a proper catch up, hey? Not to mention try to get to the bottom of your dilemma.”
Aaron led us into the café, the bell on the door tingling, his hat scraping against the top of the door frame. It was a small room, with only five or six tables. All were taken save one, near the window. Luckily, it was a little further away from the other tables, which were tucked to the sides of the room. I hoped it was far away enough that we’d not be overheard.
I took a seat, while Aaron went up to the counter. A few minutes later, he came over with a tray, topped with a steaming pot of tea and two mugs. I had flashes of being at Aaron’s, him bringing the tea tray to the table, while me, Cassy, Stephen—
“So, it’s been a while.” Aaron placed a mug in front of me, which clinked against its saucer. “But I just want to say that I understand why you haven’t been in touch. After everything that happened—”
“Yeah. Which is why this case is a one off. I think we can still be friends after this, Aaron, but the months where we went around together, helping spirits, are done.”
“I know. And I get it. If I lost somebody that close to me, I would probably stop, too.”
I nodded.
“Have you spoken to Cassy at all since ‒ you know?”
Her name was like a dagger. “I saw her at the funeral. We talked for a little bit, but it was so tough, after everything that happened.”
Aaron poured himself some tea. “Fair enough. Have you tried to talk to her since?”
No was the answer. Should I have, though? Despite her grief, should I have contacted her? Should I have tried to heal our relationship; make amends?
“No,” I said. “I thought about it – of course I did. But I decided in the end that she just needed space.” Even if I’d been compulsively checking my phone for the past month.
“Fair enough. Maybe it was for the best.” He looked to the table for a moment. I wondered if he felt a little guilt for Stephen, Cassy. If he did, then he shouldn’t. It had been me that had involved them in the supernatural, and no one else.
“Anyway,” he continued, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, “I’ve booked a hotel in St Albans for three nights. But I can always extend it if needs be. Appointments can be rearranged. Now, tell me, what exactly is going on?”
I leaned in a little, looked around the café to check that nobody could hear me. Then, I told him everything, starting with why I was down here in the first place. Then about Bella, and her night attacks. Contacting the spirit. Zara finding out. The whole lot.
“Blimey,” said Aaron, once I’d finished the story. Both our mugs were drained. I’d been talking for some time. “Well, as it goes, I do have a hunch as to what might be happening with Bella, but it has nothing to do with possession. The episodes are too regular and predictable in their nature. And the spirit would need to have bad intentions to possess a living being. Your spirit sounds too kind. So – my hunch. I’m just trying to think of an easy way to explain it.”
He glanced around the table, picked up the salt and pepper pots. Then, he sprinkled a circle of salt onto the table, and put the saltshaker in the middle of it.
“This salt is our spirit. You see, when a spirit feels a certain way, it emits energy, like any other human being. Have you ever been around somebody when they’ve been angry, or upset, and it’s made you feel uneasy?”
My mind rested on a time when Mum had been upset about Dad. The thought hit my heart like a dart. “Yes.”
“Well, that’s because they give off energy, emotions. Naturally, anybody near the energy is going to feel it a little, too. Also, think about cats and dogs. Very spiritual animals, and notice how they always come to you when you’re in emotional difficulty? Well, it’s because they too feel the energy that you give off when you’re upset. So, think of this circle of salt as the energy field, with the salt-shaker being the spirit at the centre.” He now picked up the pepper grinder, and put it within the circle of salt. “If I’m within that field, I’m going to feel the energy of the spirit. You following me so far?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, usually, emotions aren’t infinite. They have a sell-by-date, whether that’s a few minutes, an hour, a few days. But this spirit, by constantly dwelling on its loneliness, anger, etcetera, its emotions are only growing. Now imagine being hit by the never-ending radiation of those emotions, every hour of every day.”
And Bella was, of course, sitting in that radiation nearly every hour, of every day, just like Aaron had said.
“Bella doesn’t have a job. She’s at home a lot.”
“That would make sense then, as to why she’d be feeling the same way as the spirit. Now, you and I are mediums. We’re very perceptive to the emotions of spirits. We can feel them instantly, and name them for what they are. Regular people, however, don’t have the same radar that we do. With time, the emotions of a spirit would be like a cancer, slowly seeping into their subconscious. It would make them do crazy things, like trying to kill themselves in their sleep, as Bella is doing.”
He picked up the pepper grinder. Observed it. “I had a very similar case a while back. A man who kept trying to hurt himself in his sleep. Again, it turned out to be because of a spirit, inhabiting his house. A spirit wallowing in self-pity and misery, and that man just sitting in that energy field, all day, every day. But, when I helped the spirit to cross over, after a few days, the man’s night attacks stopped.”
The Witch Hunt (Jonny Roberts Series Book 3) Page 7