“Fine. Goodnight then. If you need any cream for your neck, there’s some in the bathroom.”
As soon as we heard his bedroom door close, Zara said, “He’s such an idiot.”
I bit my lip. “I suppose it’s a big thing believing that ghosts exist, an even bigger thing believing your son can speak to them, and an even bigger thing still believing your partner is trying to kill herself, and others, because of a spirit.”
“I guess so,” said Zara, feebly. “So, what do we do? We can’t let Mum stay here, can we?”
“No. Definitely not. She needs to go.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “I think this might be a task for Aaron. What do you think?”
“What? Get him to speak to Michael?”
“Yeah. Maybe he can talk some sense into him. In fact, let me call him now. He’ll have to come early, before Dad goes to work. We need to get them away from here as quickly as possible. Hopefully, he won’t be too upset at being woken up.”
15
It turned out that Aaron was also having a sleepless night, and he was wide awake, reading in bed when I called him. I supposed that knowing the dead were lurking made it difficult to sleep.
He was more than happy to come over and speak to Dad. He said he’d arrive at seven. Which left a few painful hours of lying in bed, not sleeping. Staring at the ceiling. Listening intently in case I were to be attacked once again by Bella.
Thankfully, she stayed in her bedroom. As soon as morning light crept past the curtains, I got up, exhaustion eating at my eyes, my neck caning.
I sat downstairs, waiting for everybody else to awaken. Listening for footsteps on floorboards or the squeak of a bed.
I’d been researching Samantha Lowry on my phone when Aaron arrived. He called me to tell me he was outside, rather than ringing the bell. Though I could now hear movement from upstairs.
Aaron looked at me levelly once I’d opened the door. Then, as soon as he really noticed me, his mouth opened. “Oh my god, Jonny. Your neck!”
“I know. I know. Like I said, she put all her force into it. There was nothing I could do.”
“Jesus. Your voice doesn’t sound great, either. She must have damaged your vocal cords.”
I shrugged. “At least I’m still alive, right?”
A smile flickered around Aaron’s mouth. “And your Dad? You told him you could speak to the dead? About Samantha Lowry?”
“Yeah. Come in, come in.”
Aaron followed me into the hallway, his signature black cowboy hat brushing against the top of the doorframe as he went.
“I told him all about it,” I continued. “But he won’t believe me. That’s why I need you to try and talk some sense into him.”
“Okay. But I don’t know why he’d listen to me over you. I can try, though.”
“Thanks. It means a lot. And you’re an expert; so I’m hoping he’ll listen to you. You want a tea?”
“Yes please. You know how I like it.”
We walked through to the kitchen. I put the kettle on, while Aaron sat at the table and waited for Dad to come downstairs.
I was pouring sugar into Aaron’s mug when Dad walked around the corner.
His reaction to Aaron wasn’t too dissimilar from Zara’s. As soon as he saw Aaron, he took a step back. “Erm, excuse me. Who are you, and what are you doing in my home?”
Aaron stood up, dwarfing the room as he did so. Unlike the day before, there was no humour in his voice when he said, “Aaron Wright, paranormal investigator.” He held out a hand. “I’m a friend of Jonny. He asked me to come over, to speak to you about what’s going on with your partner.”
Dad looked to me, his mouth hanging open. I nodded at him, a confirmation that Aaron was alright. Reluctantly, Dad pulled himself together, stepped forward, and shook Aaron’s hand. “Michael. Nice to meet you. But, may I ask, how the hell do you know my son?”
“It’s a long story. Jonny and I have been working together for the past year or so, and I suppose that I helped him to understand his . . . gift. I trust he’s spoken to you about it?”
“About being able to—” Dad stopped himself. It was as if he couldn’t quite say it. “Yeah,” he continued instead. “He told me last night.”
“Good. And you believe him?”
Dad paused for a moment. He looked to me, looked back to Aaron, looked upwards, presumably thinking of Bella. Meanwhile, his silence pained my heart. “Right now, I’m not sure what to believe.”
“Okay. Well, Jonny has asked me to come here this morning to try to explain it to you a little better. To try and help you to get your head around what’s going on. I’ve been in this business for over 20 years, and I like to think I’m an expert. If you’ll hear me out, I should be able to make sense of it for you?”
I stared at Dad, and he noticed this. He knew how much it meant to me, speaking to Aaron. So he only hesitated a little when he said, “Okay. Shall we step into the living room?”
Aaron looked to me. “You okay with that, Jonny?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m feeling a bit light-headed, anyway. I think I need to sit down for a minute.”
“Okay.” Aaron turned back to Dad. “Shall we?”
Aaron picked up his mug of tea, and they walked through to the living room, closing the door behind them. I picked up my own mug of tea, and took a seat at the kitchen table. I could hear muffled voices from behind the door, but never a raised voice, or the sound of anger from Dad. I hoped that meant he was listening to Aaron, that he was finally considering that what was happening to Bella wasn’t normal; had to be linked to supernatural causes.
After listening for a time, I closed my eyes, allowed all sound to drown away from me. Sleep began to encircle me, pull me towards it. That hollow, pleasant, sinking feeling, where all of your senses are numbed.
“Jonny?”
I gently opened my eyes. Blinked. My sight was a little blurry, but after I blinked again, refocused, I looked straight into the soft face of Bella. Tears stained her purple eyes. Her skin was as white as china, her blonde hair a mess.
“Bella. Are you okay?”
“What do you mean, am I okay?” She sounded as if she’d been crying for some time. “What about you?”
I shrugged. Smiled. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Jonny, I . . . did that to you. Right?”
I looked to the floor. Then I nodded, once. “Yes. You did.” I looked up again, saw her quivering mouth. “But it’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
Bella shook her head. She gripped one of the kitchen chairs, pulled it away from the table, lowered herself onto it. Then, she took a deep breath, before looking me in the eyes. “Your Dad told me your theory. About the spirit.”
I didn’t react.
She smiled, for the first time in our conversation. “I believe you. Every word. And I certainly believe my own daughter, when she says that she heard the spirit.”
I felt the corners of my mouth rise. “I’m glad.”
“So it’s the spirit’s fault that I’ve turned into this . . . monster?”
I shook my head. “The spirit isn’t doing this on purpose, it’s all accidental. It’s her emotions that are making you feel this way. She was burned alive, and she’s desperate to know who did it to her. She can’t remember anything about how it happened. Before I spoke to her, she couldn’t even remember who she was.”
“And who was she?”
“Samantha Lowry. Twenty years ago, she lived in this house. Did you know that?”
Bella shook her head. “No, I didn’t know that. How old was she when she died?”
“Seventeen.”
“Burned alive at seventeen?” Bella gasped. “Oh, how awful.”
“I know. Anyway, we can’t blame the spirit. Or, at the very least, we can’t be angry with her. But even I’ve noticed parts of the spirit’s anxiety seeping into you. Your night-time attacks, and also your obsession with witches.”
“Witches?”
I explained how Samantha had believed she was a witch.
“Perhaps that’s why you wanted to visit Devil’s Lake, because it’s where Samantha was burned. Do you see all the parts of Samantha that have been bleeding into you over the past months?”
Bella nodded. “I see. So how do I stop all this from happening to me?” Her eyes were wide blue pools, desperate for something, anything, to save her from this pain.
“Well, we need to do two things. Firstly, you need to leave, and get a long way from here. That way you’ll break the link that has formed between you and the spirit. You should notice the night attacks stop, almost immediately. Secondly, my friend Aaron and I need to get the spirit to cross over. Aaron, by the way, is the man who Dad is talking to in the living room. He’s a paranormal investigator. He knows a lot about this stuff. He’s an expert.”
“Okay. And if you get this spirit to cross over, like you said, then this house will be safe again?”
“Yes.”
“And how do you get her to cross over?”
I smiled. “Work out the puzzle of how she died. Help to answer her questions. Then, she’ll be comfortable in her crossing.”
“Okay.” Bella sniffed. Wiped her eyes. “I should probably go and pack a bag. And, Jonny, I’m sorry again for what I did to you.”
“Don’t worry. Like I said, it wasn’t your fault.”
Bella smiled at me, stood up. Began to walk from the room. But before she left, I called to her. She turned back to me.
“Bella, before you go, I just want to say that I think you’re a really nice person. I still haven’t forgiven Dad for what he did to me, but I’m glad that he found you, and that you make him happy.”
Bella smiled. “Thank you, Jonny. That means a lot. For what it’s worth, I think your mum raised a really good man.”
Her eyes lingered on me for a moment, before she turned, and disappeared up the staircase.
Aaron and Dad weren’t much longer in the living room. When they emerged, Dad looked at me with clear eyes, and a bashful smile. Hope burned in my heart.
“So?” I said. Dad walked further into the kitchen. Aaron lingered in the hallway.
“I’m going to leave you both to it,” said Aaron. “I think you’ve got a lot to talk about.” He pulled his cowboy hat down, his eyes barely visible. “I’ll be waiting in the car.”
Once the door had closed, the house sat in an uncomfortable silence, only punctured by Dad’s deep breaths. He lurched over to me. It took a few seconds for his brain to click into gear, for him to blink and pull out a chair at the kitchen table.
He rested his elbows on the table, stared into its centre as he spoke. “So your friend Aaron and I, we spoke a lot. About you. About Bella.”
“And?”
He took a deep breath. “I believe you. I believe that you can speak to the dead.”
I felt an explosion of relief in my chest. “Thank you. What did he say to you, exactly?”
“We both said lots of things. At first, I wasn’t sure on him. I mean, I wouldn’t be, a strange man turning up at my house like he did, claiming that he knows my son. But, as we spoke, I realised that he was genuine, that he had both yours and Bella’s best interests at heart. And besides, I realised that if my own son is telling me something, and I don’t believe it, then there must be something severely wrong with me.”
I nodded. “He’s a good guy, and he really knows his stuff. But more importantly, you’ll take Bella away from here?”
“Yes, I’ll take her. She believes you too, so I think she’ll be happy to come with me. And then you’ll try and help this spirit to cross over, or whatever it is that you do?”
“Yes. Exactly that.”
“Okay. Will it be dangerous?”
“Maybe. Probably.”
“Then be careful.” A smile played on his lips. “I have so many questions to ask you right now. Does your mum know about this?”
“No.” I felt a stab of guilt that Mum was now the only important person in my life that didn’t know about my ability. “I’ve been meaning to tell her for a long time, but the time has never felt right, if you know what I mean.”
Dad smiled. “You should tell her. I know it’s not easy, but we’re your parents, and we love you, no matter what.”
I looked to the ground, forced a smile. “So, where will you and Bella go?”
“I don’t know. A hotel somewhere. I think we could both do with a bit of a break. It’ll be good to catch up with her, to get our relationship back on track.”
“And what about our relationship?”
He paused for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, when all this is over, what happens? Will you call me? Will you ignore me for another year-and-a-half? What are you going to do?”
He shook his head. “Jonny, I was a fool. I never want to be out of your life again, you understand me? The last few days have been brilliant, just seeing you again. I forgot what it was like to spend time with you.”
I looked up, met his eyes. I noticed that they’d softened. “I was in a pretty bad place before I came here, you know that?”
He nodded, slowly. “I know you were. Your mum told me. She said about Stephen, and Cassy. I’m so sorry about your friend, Jonny. I’ve been avoiding the topic, because I know how you feel about it. But Aaron explained what happened to Stephen.”
“It was a tragedy,” I said. I felt my throat closing up.
“It was. I still remember him, a goofy little kid with curly hair and glasses. He used to remind me of a little chipmunk.”
I couldn’t supress a snigger. “Yeah. He did a bit.”
“How about Cassy? What’s she like?”
I sighed, looked to the kitchen window. I pictured Cassy, her chestnut hair, her sky-blue eyes. The little flecks of yellow that lit up inside of them.
“She’s smart; funny; kind. She loved me, and I loved her. That was, until—”
“Until the crash, right?”
“Yeah. Until that.”
“Because she thought that being with you was too dangerous?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Because of that.”
Dad sighed. “It’s so difficult, son. Have you talked to her since?”
“Only at the funeral,” I admitted. “She said she needed space. Somehow, I’ve managed to stop myself from texting her.”
Dad shrugged. “Maybe you should.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe you should text her. I mean, have you told her how you feel about the whole thing? Have you ever talked about what happened to Stephen? Have you told her what she means to you, since the crash?”
“No . . .”
“Then how can you know it’s over, if you’ve not even tried?”
I blinked. “So you really think I should just text her? Try and talk to her about all this?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
“But she told me she couldn’t speak to me anymore, that it would be too much.”
“I mean, you’ve got a choice. You can respect her decision, and let her go. Or, if you care about her that much, if you think she’s making a mistake and that the love you share is worth too much, then you need to go after her.”
I searched for my decision, for what I wanted to do. I felt my heart burning, desperate to have Cassy back. To have her beside me again, where I needed her. Where I craved her.
“You think about it,” said Dad, before I could answer. I nodded. “For now though, just promise me this: you’ll visit me at least once a month from now on. I want to be a part of your life again. I want to be your dad.”
I smiled. Stood up. As we embraced, I said into his shoulder, “I will, Dad. I will.”
16
Dad shook Aaron’s hand as I lifted Bella’s suitcase into the back of the car. “Promise you’ll take care of him, alright?” Dad said to Aaron.
“I promise.” Aaron smirked. “Though I think he can take care of himself.”
They bo
th laughed. I gave Bella and Dad a hug before they left. Watching Dad climb into the car made my stomach hollow. It felt as if it would be the last time I’d see them. But I reminded myself: not this time. Not this time.
Zara shook my hand before she climbed into the back, which was strangely formal. She seemed a little jerkier since Aaron had arrived. I supposed the séance was still playing on her mind. Often, she’d glance at Aaron, as if a scream might erupt from his throat at any moment.
“Nice to meet you, Zara,” said Aaron as she shook his hand too. I’d learned over the past twenty-four hours that Zara wasn’t as nasty as I’d first thought.
We stood by the front gate, watching them drive into the distance. I felt an aching in my heart, and it was then that I realised that I’d actually felt at home these past few days, despite everything. I’d enjoyed being with Dad again, had enjoyed meeting Bella. And when I thought back to the train journey, imagining all the terrible ways that the past days might have gone, I nearly scoffed. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
It was only once they’d rounded the corner that Aaron turned to me, that I remembered why they all had to leave. “Okay, now that they’re safe and gone, we can talk about what I found last night.”
I snapped my gaze away from Dad’s car. I noticed the fire lit behind Aaron’s eyes, the way he always looked once he’d found a scent. “What do you mean?”
“Well, when I got back to my hotel room last night, I did a little search for our man, Josh Hunter. Nothing at all. As you’d expect for somebody who changed their name when they were a teenager.”
“Great. So what’s the big news, then?”
“Well, it all changed when I searched for Peter Abbott. That’s if we’re taking Phil Tanner at his word, of course, that Josh Hunter is now Peter Abbott. The first result was his website, which obviously we know about. But then I found a Facebook page, and that’s where the rabbit hole started.” Aaron looked to the house. “Can we use their computer quick?”
Aaron and I sat at the computer with two fresh cups of tea. I blinked tiredness from my eyes. I hoped that this new target of Josh Hunter‒Peter Abbott was going to prove to be fruitful, and not a complete waste of our time. All we were going off was an image of a pentagram that an extremely confused spirit had remembered. What if Aaron had been right, and it was an image from a witch, that had been misplaced into Samantha’s consciousness?
The Witch Hunt (Jonny Roberts Series Book 3) Page 12