“Jeff! Are you calling it a night, honey? We’ll get to the rest of the unpacking tomorrow.”
Silence.
As she started to open her eyes, she felt a cold hand grip her arm. Eyes wide open, Linda stared around the room; no one was there.
This time, Jeff heard the scream and raced up to Linda. She was on the bath mat, soaking wet, clutching her arm.
“Linda?! Are you okay? What happened?”
“Someone…grabbed my arm…”
Jeff raised an eyebrow. “Linda… who? No one is here, honey.”
“I…don’t know. I felt a hot breath on my neck and thought it was you but you didn’t say anything. I was half asleep and then someone grabbed my arm. I screamed but no one was there…”
Jeff tried not to show any emotion as he listened to what Linda was saying. Who could have grabbed her arm? It was only he and Linda in the house. Sebastian was outside. “Honey, are you sure it wasn’t a dream? You said you were almost asleep? Maybe you really were sleeping and had a bad dream?”
Linda didn’t know what to think anymore. After only a short time in the house, she’d experienced way too many creepy things. But Jeff could be right. She’d probably been in that weird state of sleep where one is not fully asleep yet not fully awake, either. That had to be it. No one was in the bathroom. No one was in the house except her and Jeff. Her mind was tired, and her body was tired. There was nothing to be afraid of. Once she had a good night’s sleep, things would be much better.
Chapter Two
April 16th
Linda’s fingers began to ache, her hands cramping around the brillo pad clutched in her grasp. She sighed while looking at the small stretch of metal railing she had finished cleaning versus what she had left. She felt like she was never going to be done. The verandah took up most of the third floor’s east side. The vast sunroom had been a feature the hospital offered its patients from day one, since Vitamin D was the only proven treatment against tuberculosis at the time. The most patients did was sunbathe.
Linda looked at the L-shaped railing, picturing what the rusted metal and faded wood once looked like. The bottom railing had an intricate design of triangles and squares, which was accented by the wooden arches at the top. The flooring was a laminate wood design, with too many holes and tears to count. Diamond shaped laddish, or what Linda imagined once was diamond shaped, made up the roof. Now, it was hanging down in places or completely gone in others. Ghostly imprints of where chairs, benches, and tables once sat remained. Linda hoped that, one day, she could restore it to its former glory. Looking around, though, she had her doubts.
Linda gave herself until dark before calling it quits. She was willing to work and not stop until it was finished, but her body was not. She knew they needed help, but couldn’t afford it. Every penny they had was going to have to go into renovations.
Before the last bits of sunlight dispersed, Linda began packing her tools. As she did, her stomach began to growl. Thinking about it, she realized she hadn’t eaten since Jeff had brought her up a sandwich six hours ago. It was odd behavior for Jeff. He never went two hours without eating and three hours without checking on her. She picked up her pace, eager to see what was keeping Jeff.
Once Linda was finished packing up her things, she turned for the stairwell. Jeff had been working on the second floor all day trying to salvage what he could from the furniture. Several of the rooms were left fully furnished, along with the waiting rooms. The only rooms that hadn’t been emptied were the operating rooms and exam rooms.
Linda and Jeff had hoped that most of the furniture would be salvageable. It would save them a lot of money in the end cost. All the wishing and hoping in the world didn’t change anything. Mold and time had done a number on the wooden furniture, and they were discovering they were going to have to throw most of it away. Still, Jeff had hope and continued to look through the furniture room by room.
Linda was almost to the stairwell when she thought she heard children laughing. She paused, bewildered, when a slight push came behind her legs. It was like when children were running and playing in a tight space and got too close, but Linda and Jeff did not have children. Linda’s knees gave and she started to buckle but caught herself against the wall. She spun around to look for the source of whoever had pushed her. Perhaps Jeff had snuck up here and was playing tricks on her.
But no one was there.
She rushed down the verandah to look in the other hallway that led to the west wing. Linda was sure she had heard a child, or multiple children, laughing. When she opened the door that led down the hallway, nothing was there. It was dark and all that could be heard was the howl of the wind whistling through the cracked windows.
Linda stood there, perplexed. Besides the laughing, who had caused her knees to buckle? She could have sworn… Shrugging her shoulders, and blaming the incident on how tired she was, Linda turned to go back to the stairwell. When she did, the door to her left slammed open while the one on her right slammed shut. The laughter came again.
Linda’s heart raced, and she began to back toward the door. A figure appeared at the end of the hall, and stood as if watching over the place. Linda’s knees buckled again, and she was able to catch herself. The woman at the end of the hall shook her head. Linda couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Was that a—?
“Boo!” Jeff grabbed Linda by the shoulders and spun her around, fast.
Linda screamed, her heart racing a mile a minute. “Jerk! You scared me.” She tried playing it cool, but glanced back over her shoulder. Nothing was there, although Linda didn’t believe that. Did she?
Sebastian yelped at their feet.
Jeff laughed. “That was the plan.” He pulled her into a tight hug as their beloved dog did circles around their legs. He had been patient all day, helping Jeff cart off old chair legs and such. He was ready to relax with Linda as much as Jeff was. “I think I made some progress.”
“Oh, yeah. Did you find a whole chair this time?” Linda teased.
“Even better. A stool.”
They both laughed as Jeff wrapped Linda in his arms and led her back to the stairs. As she snuggled into his side, she looked over his shoulder, swearing she heard a child laughing again.
***
Linda tossed and turned. Jeff’s snoring was keeping her awake. She could knee him in the back or go sleep on the couch. She opted for the couch.
“Come on, boy, want to go downstairs with me and snuggle on the couch?”
Sebastian lifted his head from the floor, not sure if he wanted to move.
“All right, you stay here with daddy. You snore just as much as him at times.” She bent down to rub his head. “See you two in the morning.”
She grabbed the afghan thrown over the headboard and then made her way downstairs, turning on the hall light to illuminate her way. The stairs creaked as she walked down them, startling her. It didn’t take much to startle her anymore. She was always on guard; always on edge. She hadn’t been this anxious since she had first arrived at rehab.
Safely on the couch, she turned on a light and reached for a book. Reading always made her sleepy. She hadn’t slept well since moving into the house. She was scared to sleep. She always had horrible nightmares and feared sleep as much as she feared the dark.