The Writer Read Online Free PDF Page B

like it being turned into a pantomime,” I reply, keeping my voice low. “If there really is anything here, maybe -”
    Before I can finish, I look back toward the kitchen, convinced that I just heard a faint bumping sound.
    “What?” Jacqui asks.
    “Nothing,” I say, turning back to her, “I just… It’s not a game and I don’t want it trivialized. Either there really is something here, or I’m losing my mind, or -”
    “Nothing,” Louise says suddenly, coming through from the other bedroom.
    “I’m sorry?” I reply, turning to her.
    “There’s nothing here. I’ve been through the whole place, I’ve listened for any hint of paranormal activity, and apart from that brief moment when I was coming into the house, everything’s clean. This house is not haunted.”
    ***
    “I don’t know what else to tell you,” she says a few minutes later as we make our way out the back door and across the garden, heading for the gate. “I can’t pretend to have detected something when there was nothing there. It’s possible that I’m wrong, or that somehow the spirits are concealing their presence from me, but that’s highly unlikely. As far as I can tell, there are no manifestations in your house whatsoever.”
    “But when you arrived,” Jacqui replies, clearly a little disappointed, “you said you picked something up.”
    “And I did,” she says, opening the gate before turning to us. “It wasn’t strong, but I detected something right around the back door, over there.” She points toward the kitchen window, and at the alley that runs to one side between my house and John’s next door. “Frankly, picking something up so soon, I was expecting to be blasted when I got inside. Instead, it felt as if the interior of the house was completely devoid of spirits. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever encountered.”
    “So you’re saying her back door is haunted?” Jacqui asks. “And the alley between the houses?”
    “Not haunted,” she replies, “more like… I don’t know, I’ve never experienced anything like it before. Something just felt… off.””
    “I saw things inside the house,” I point out. “Not by the back door, not in the alley, but actually in the bedrooms.”
    “And they were physical and auditory?”
    “Yeah. I saw them, I heard them, once or twice I even…” I pause for a moment, wondering whether I’m at risk of making myself sound insane. “I even felt them. My daughter’s hand… Her palm was badly grazed, there was gravel in the wound, and glass…”
    A sad smile crosses Louise’s face, and I can tell that she feels sorry for me.
    “Has anyone else seen any of these manifestations?” she asks.
    “We both heard something,” Jacqui butts in. “A few bumps the other night.”
    “Bumps could be a lot of things,” she replies. “Have you or anyone apart from Beth actually seen anything?”
    “Well…” Jacqui pauses. “No…”
    “It’s just me,” I add.
    “There are a lot of reasons why something like that might happen,” Louise continues. “I believe in being completely honest with people, so that’s what I’m going to do right now. Paranormal manifestations are real and they can happen, but a lot of the time, there are other reasons why people see things. Emotional or psychological issues -”
    “You’re saying I’m mad.”
    “Absolutely not,” she says quickly, putting a hand on my arm. “ Absolutely not. It’s just, you shouldn’t underestimate the impact of an immense trauma.” There seem to be tears in her eyes now, as if she’s finding it troubling to empathize with me. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to go through the kind of loss that you’ve experienced. I read up about what happened before I came over. I have a husband and two kids myself, and if I lost either of them… My advice would be to make sure you get the maximum level of support that’s available, surround yourself with good friends, and hope that things calm