The Haunting at Grays Harbor (The River Book 8) Read Online Free PDF Page A

me to
stay in bed, that he’d check it out. I heard him go upstairs, and then I heard
him yelling. Georgina began screaming. So I ran up to join them, but Brad was
coming down the stairs with Georgina in his arms, screaming at me to call the
cops. I asked him what was wrong, and he said there was a man in Georgina’s
room. He’d been hiding in the corner when Brad walked in, but he stood up when
he figured Brad had spotted him. Brad grabbed Georgina and they came
downstairs.”
    “I’m guessing the cops didn’t find anything?” Roy asked.
    “Nothing. Brad was clearly terrified, and he had scared the
wits out of Georgina. When the police began to question his story, he got very
defensive. I think they felt he was dreaming.”
    “Is there a window in Georgina’s room?” Steven asked.
    “Yes, but it’s the third story, and there’s no easy way up to
it. The cops found the window locked, from the inside, and no evidence that
anyone had tampered with it. It was rather embarrassing, but what can you do?
My husband was very upset by it all. That’s when I decided to reach out to
Father Wynan, and see if another blessing would help. I thought things were
improving with his visits, but he seemed so shaken the last time he was here, I
figured I’d never see him again. I’m a little relieved that he at least sent
you.”
    “Can you show me where the spiders were?” Steven asked.
    Barbara rose from the bed and walked to a corner in the room.
She pointed up at the ceiling. There was nothing there – no marks, no cracks,
no light fixtures. Just painted sheetrock.
    “I know, crazy, right?” Barbara said. “Where did they come
from?”
    “Did you ever see them crawling on the ceiling?” Steven
asked.
    “No,” she replied. “I’m not sure they even started on the
ceiling at all. They were in the air above my head, near the ceiling, like they
were dangling from threads. Then they dropped.”
    Steven looked at Roy and shrugged.
    “Would you mind if we saw Georgina’s room?” Roy asked.
    “No, not at all,” Barbara said. “I need to check on her
anyway. She’s been home from school all day, sick. Follow me.”
    Barbara opened the bedroom door and walked to the next set of
stairs. Steven and Roy sat their mugs down on a dresser in the bedroom and
followed her.
    The stairs leading to the third floor were tighter than the
previous set, and as soon as Steven reached the third floor landing he felt the
“wrongness” that Father Wynan had described. Things felt thicker; moving seemed
a little harder. It was as though a distorted lens had been placed on a camera
– things that were supposed to be perpendicular seemed to be leaning a little,
giving the floor an odd, funhouse feel.
    Barbara led them to a room at the end of the third floor
hallway. She knocked on the door.
    “Georgina? Honey, I have some visitors,” Barbara said as she
opened the door.
    Georgina was sitting on her bed, dolls arranged around her.
Barbara walked up to the bed and placed her hand on her daughter’s forehead,
checking her temperature. “How are you feeling?”
    “OK,” Georgina said weakly.
    “Dear, this is Roy and Steven,” Barbara said. “They have some
questions. I want you to listen to them for a moment, and answer them if you
can, alright?”
    “Alright,” the little girl replied meekly. She turned to
Steven and smiled. She had short blonde hair and there was a smattering of
freckles across her nose. Steven thought she looked adorable.
    “Hello, Georgina,” Steven said, lowering himself to her level
by the bed. “Your mom tells me it’s hard for you to sleep in this room. Is that
true?”
    “Only on the nights she won’t leave me alone,” Georgina said,
smiling back at Steven.
    “Who won’t leave you alone?” Steven asked.
    “The girl who appears when you turn off the light,” Georgina
said.
    “She only bothers you when it’s dark?” Roy asked.
    “She’s never around in the light,” Georgina said. “Only