by Ella Etienne-Richards
espresso
The smell of fresh country air and the birds singing outside my window was like an injection of exuberance and excitement. For some reason I had a feeling this day was going to be different than any other. I couldn’t really place a figure on it but I was filled with optimism. Since moving in, I had lazed about for a whole week. Now it was time to get things organized. Jeff was already outside in the back garden pottering around. He was like a kid in a candy store; with all that space he could pursue his hobby to his heart’s content. He wasted no time; he had already started digging up the soil and looking at different gardening magazines. He wanted to design the best garden in Fudge Town.
His eyes lit up with excitement as he explained his plan for the back yard. “On the far corner of the fence will be all roses in memory of Aunty Dee she was the Rose in our life.”
I nodded as he looked at me for confirmation or some sort of approval. He had never gotten over his aunt’s passing, it was so sudden.
While he continued to bombard me with
his fabulous garden design I was thinking, I really need to clean out the
basement. The attic will be a much bigger job but I need to start with the
basement first.
As quickly as he came in he was out of the door again
with a hot steaming cup of tea. Lisa walked into the room with an "I'm so bored"
teenager look written all over her face. In an instant a thought came into my
head. It would be great if Lisa would help me to clear the basement. I knew it
would take a hell of a lot of convincing or just good old fashion bribery.
I
kissed her good morning as she mumbled something like, “What's good about it?”
“Everything” I said with gusto. I would be damned if I allowed her to damper
my spirits. Turning into a teenager had dropped a cloud of depression over her.
“I have an exciting project in mind and you are going to love it.”
She rolled
her eyes and cocked her head to one side, "What?" she said in a rude tone of
voice.
I continued trying to maintain my excitement. “This is a very old house,
I am sure people have left a lot of old antique stuff behind. Stored in the
basement waiting to be discovered.”
“And your point is Mum” she interjected
again with sheer insolence.
“Well I was thinking of cleaning the basement today and
I thought we could do it together.”
“I beg your pardon" she said.
Never in my
wildest dream would I ever be able to speak to my mum like that but I carried
on. “Can you imagine the family heirlooms, and God knows what, might be in that
basement? We could have a garage sale.”
She pushed her breakfast plate aside,
stood up and started to walk away.
“Not so fast” I said, “You know that iPhone
you wanted? You could use that money to get it.” She stopped
and turned around. Yes, I thought I got her, hook, line and sinker. Now I need
to reel her in.
She turned around and walked back towards the table with
a sheepish smile on her face. “What if there's just pure junk in the basement.”
“What if it's not?” I said “We can start straight away, are you in or not?"
“Come on Lee Lee we’ll have fun. I promise you. It will be
like old times. Do you remember that time when we cleaned Grandma’s basement and
we found all these old dolls hidden in an old trunk.”
I saw her eyes lit up as
she nodded and smiled.” “Yeah she said that was cool.” I was so excited, I
felt like I was getting my old Lee Lee back.
Jeff burst through the back door and I almost dropped my
cup of coffee.
"My garden bulbs and seedlings are being delivered today” he
announced. “By the way what's the plan for today?” he asked as if trying to
motivate us.
Before I could respond Lisa surprised me and said, “Mum and I are
going to clean out the basement.”
Jeff looked at me in total and utter shock.
He obviously didn't expect that response from Lisa. Lately she seemed to spend
her life on Face book and bloody Snap chat.
“I am going to put on my old jeans”
she said as she walked out of the room. Before I could even finish my coffee
Lisa was back in the kitchen with feather duster, bags and all. “Come on Mum she
said what are you waiting for?”
“OK” I said “I'm coming, meet you downstairs.”
“I am dumbfounded" Jeff said "What's come over her."
"Nothing to do with me, a
change of location and exposure to clean countryside air can have a positive
effect on anyone" I said, lying through my teeth.
"Whatever you did I'm glad" he
said, “I feel like we've got our old Lee Lee back.”
I raced upstairs took off my pyjamas and put on
something more practical. I had to get down there quick before she changed her
mind. I was dressed and out of the room like a flash.
“Be careful down there
Jeff shouted” as I almost toppled down the basement stairs in my haste to join
Lisa. At first I could not see her but it was a big basement with a lot of stuff
so I knew she was there somewhere.
“I'm here" I shouted, and I heard a horrible
grunt in response. I giggled thinking of the days when she was much younger and
would always try to scare me. We had so much fun, how I miss those days.
Becoming a teenager had really changed my Lee Lee.
There were so many boxes, I was curious to discover what
was in all these boxes, left behind and stored away. I did not know where to
start. “Lee, Lee why don’t we start over here together.”
In response I heard a
muffled sound coming from the far corner of the room. I was a little curious and
thought; if she wants to scare me I will teach her a lesson and really make her
jump. Slowly and quietly I walked over ready to pounce.
To my horror I saw Lisa slumped between two boxes, with
her hands clutching her throat, "What on earth Lee Lee" I screamed. She looked
like she was choking. I immediately grabbed her and pulled her towards me.
"What's wrong" I said as she collapsed into my arms and whispered hoarsely, “Get
me out of here Mum, get me out of here?” She coughed and spluttered and
I immediately patted her back because I thought maybe she had swallowed
something by accident.
“Are you alright” I said trying to look closer at
her. She suddenly wheeled around pushed my arms away and flew up the steps like
a bat out of hell. Confused, I chased up the steps after her to find out what in
God's name was going on. I got to the top of the stairs as she sprinted across
kitchen and into the backyard into father's arms. I pushed my way through
the swinging back door and joined them in the backyard.
Jeff looked at me,
bewildered expecting an explanation. "Eleona!" what in God’s name is going on with you two?"
he exclaimed angrily. Maybe he thought we had one of our heated arguments again.
“Calm down and let her explain," I said. "Tell us Lee Lee, what’s the matter?"
“Oh my God Mum” she said “I almost died down there” She raised her voice almost
wailing “Mum something tried to kill me. I could not breathe I was trying to
call you but I could not get any words out. I could feel a hand suffocating me”
"Oh my God" I said “Did you see anyone? It sounds very strange to
me".
“Dad you’ve got to believe me, there's something down
there, something awful, something evil. I don’t know what it is but I am not
staying here one day longer. I am going to Gran’s.”
“Now, Now” Jeff said,
“Let’s calm down. Let’s not start making any hasty decisions .There might be all
sorts of things down there, it could be anything. Did you see or hear
anything Eleanor.”
“Well I did hear some sort of a grunt but I just thought
Lisa was making silly noises."
“That explains it” Jeff said “There must be some
sort of wild animal down there. I will get my gun and get to the bottom of
this.”
“No Dad Lisa pleaded you can't go down there it’s dangerous, this is no
joke.”
“Nonsense" Jeff grumbled. "I am not scared of anything
not in my own house."
Crazy thoughts were going through my head, it all seemed
very bizarre.
“Ma’am, ma’am” we all turned around to see a lady next door
frantically calling and waving at us over the fence. “What now” I thought. Jeff
smiled and waved dismissively in an attempt to get rid of her but she continued
waving.
She looked right at me and beckoned me to come over. “Stop” she said as
Jeff started walking towards the door to go back inside. “I need to talk to both
of you.”
Lisa was sitting on a bag of compost in the middle of
the garden and she looked like she had just seen a ghost. I took a few steps
towards the old woman and Jeff followed me. I smiled and said, “Hello.”
She did
not smile back. She looked straight into my eyes and blurted out. “Your family
is in danger, demons, evil, When I saw you move in I prayed it wouldn’t happen
again, but they will never leave this place, no one can ever settle
here.”
“Sorry Ma'am but I don't believe in ghosts” Jeff said as
he grabbed my hands and said “Come on Eleona.”
I looked back as we walked away and I saw a look of
terror written all over the old woman’s face. With pleading eyes she looked at
me and said, “Please get out of there while you can.”
Lisa was getting highly agitated at the thought of her
father going down to the basement. “Please Dad; let’s just get out of here.”
I
could feel the hair stand up at the back of my neck but I knew I could not
stop Jeff. “Maybe we should call someone.” I said.
He spun around looked at me
and uttered “Who? Ghost busters?”
I followed him as he dashed into the house and
grabbed his gun above the kitchen cabinet. I was consumed with fear as to what
we would find down there. With his gardening boots still on he kicked open the
basement door and cautiously went down the first few steps. I was about to
follow him down when the door swung shut in my face and I heard a blood cuddling
scream from Jeff .
Terrified I desperately tried to kick the door open but
it would not budge.
“Dad, Dad.” Lisa yelled from behind me.
“Go find help” I
shouted as I continued frantically kicking at the door. I heard a few shots
being fired then that deep grunt again, this time louder much louder as if
coming from the bowels of the earth and I shuddered at the thought at what the
hell was making this ghastly noise.
Suddenly there was a deafening silence and the basement
door slowly swung open. For a second I stood frozen to the spot
in absolute shock, and then I quickly came to my senses as I heard Lisa coming
through the door with one of the neighbours. I turned around as he walked in and
said “My husband, he’s down there, I heard shots...
“Stand back” the man said,
“Raphael and Jake is on their way, always trouble with this old house, it should
be bulldozed. I would do it myself if I could. Come on Jake” he shouted as two
other men joined him, one of them with a big dog. I was about to follow behind
them when the younger man said, “Oh no! wait here if he’s down there
we’ll bring him up”.
I didn’t understand what he meant, I was so weak I slumped
to the floor near the basement door with Lisa seating near by in a terrible
state.
I could hear them shouting to each other, “Move those
boxes Raphael Can you see anything.”
I could hear boxes being shifted and
dropped as I waited for a sign that Jeff was alright. I couldn’t take it any
longer. “Stay here Lee Lee I’m going down, I can’t just sit there
doing nothing.”
“No Mum” Lisa said “No.”
In my rush I skidded down the steps
and landed on my bottom but I did not care. “Jeff" I shouted, “Where are you?”
“Sorry Ma’am” the taller man called Jake said as he rushed
towards me. “He’s nowhere to be found, Gone like all the others.”
“What do you
mean?” I protested, “He has to be there! I saw him go down.”
“Come on Ma'am we have to leave now.” the two other men
joined him as they forcefully guided me back up the steps. “You know, no one has
lived here for years. Too many things have happened in this house.”
“Sinister
quite sinister” the shorter gentleman whispered. It’s as if he was afraid
something or someone would hear him. “They said it would all be alright
after the exorcism and they put the building back on sale. I never believed it
myself.”
“The lady next door warned us if only I had listened, I
need to talk to her there must be something we can do” I said desperately.
“What
lady next door?” the man with moustache said. “No one has live next door since
old Miss Bertrand died almost twenty years ago.”
My jaw dropped, everything was
getting more and more peculiar. “Are you sure” I said, as I tried to describe
her. They looked at each other and shook their heads.
“OK that's it! Is
there somewhere you can go till the police get over here to investigate?”
Frustrated with their behaviour, I said "Listen my husband went down to the
basement so he’s in the basement; where else could he have gone.”
The taller man
gave me a stern look, like a naughty child. “Ma'am your husband is
gone, spirited away. He ain’t the first and until they bulldoze this place he
won't be the last. This place is hunted by restless troubled, dark souls. Take
your daughter and go, you need to go, lady, while you still can”. His eyes were
glazed over and bloodshot. He looked possessed. I was filled with fear and
trepidation.
I grabbed Lisa off the floor where she still sat huddled in a
corner rocking back and forth and made my way towards the front door.
There was an eerie silence as the men followed behind us almost pushing us out.
Maybe I should thank them I thought and I turned around but they were gone,
there was no one behind us. I was propelled forward almost lifted off my
feet and bounced off
the front steps landing in the middle of the lawn in the front yard with Lisa
right on top of me. Stunned and mystified I looked up to see the door violently
opened and shut three times as if by a strong gust of wind from inside the
house.
I flinched
as someone tapped me on the shoulder, it was a policeman, and the village vicar
was standing right behind him. "Ma’am are you alright? There was an emergency
call from this address."
Dazed and baffled I picked myself off the ground and
told the police that my husband was in danger.
The Vicar looked at me and Lisa
and made the sign of the cross and said, “You know, no one has ever made it out
of there alive. You are lucky, someone is watching over you”
“Please” I
said, “my husband."
“Ok” he said “Inspector Langley and I will go in and check”
The Vicar pulled out a wooden cross and some holy water, pushed the door wide
open and they both went in. I stood up to follow but an unseen force from inside
the house slammed the door shut right in my face.
Scared but very angry I
grabbed hold of the door handle but Lisa screamed, “Mum Stop! Please don’t leave
me on my own.”
I stepped back pulled Lisa close to me and waited anxiously. She
was visibly shaken and in tears. I tried to reassure her that the policeman and
the Vicar would get to the bottom of this and find Dad. She looked up at me in
obvious disbelief. “I will call the medics right now just in case Dad is
hurt.”
After about
what seemed like half an hour or so the police officer, followed by the Vicar
came rushing out the door with a look of fear on their faces.
“There’s no one
down there Ma’am the basement is empty” They were both out of breath.
The police
officer did not look well “We need to go. The air in this place is toxic. I had
serious trouble breathing. I almost passed out. Thank you Vicar I would not have
made it out without you. It felt like someone was literally trying to strangle
me.”
Without
warning there were loud siren noises and a commotion right across the road at
the end of the field. Everything was happening so quickly there were a few
curious bystanders and the police had cordoned off a small area.
The Vicar
rushed across the road shouting,“That will
be the body; nothing stays in this house dead or alive.”
I was in a heightened
state of distress. I followed closely behind the Vicar and Inspector Langley. As
we crossed the road I saw the body bag and my heart sank but I had to be sure.
“Stop” I screamed as I pushed my way through before they zipped up the bag but
the face I saw was unrecognizable. A bloody mangled mass of flesh eaten up by
some sort of creature or rodent. That definitely was not Jeff. I jumped back
horrified, light headed and weak at the knees as the Vicar tried to hold me up.
I had a
throbbing headache and as I opened my eyes and looked around Grandma was sitting
near my bed. “I am so sorry Eleona” she said, “a paranormal team and one of the
best psychics have been to the house. Jeff’s definitely not in the house. They
can sense his spirit but he is not with us.”
“What! But is he alive" I said in a
panicked state.
“Rest, Rest” Grandma said. “It’s an inexplicable phenomenon. We
have to wait and see. He may be able to find his way back. It’s never happened
before but it’s possible. We have to pray to help him find his way. We’ll have
all the family together we’ll have a Novena.”
I didn’t understand what Grandma
was saying. I was convinced that it was all a dream; I was having a horrible
nightmare. I would wake up sooner or later and everything, everything will be
back to normal.
