She prayed it was Jeff trying to scare her again. He liked to do that, liked to keep her on edge. When she turned to look to her left, nothing was there and she took a deep breath. She tried explaining the incident away by blaming it on a cold draft, but when her body began to lean to the right as if it was trying to get away from something that was beside her, she wasn’t sure. It was a natural instinct, and her body went with it.
Frantic now, Linda hurried to push the drawer closed and gathered her things. All she wanted was to make it back to Jeff, snuggle into his side, and pretend everything was fine. Before she could do that, though, a stronger chill ran up the left side of her neck. She went rigid, but shivered from the freezing air.
“Get out!”
The woman’s whispered threat was stern and clear in Linda’s ear.
Shaking the fear out of her bones, Linda turned for the stairs and ran.
Safely upstairs, she bolted the door to the basement. She wouldn’t be going down there again unless she had to. Her heart beating fast, she headed for the kitchen.
“Honey? Is everything okay?”
Linda shouted up the stairs to Jeff. “Yes, sure, sorry it’s taking so long. I’ll be right up.”
She ran to the kitchen to grab the popcorn. It was gone. She looked in the microwave. Nothing. Had she put it in the fridge? Nothing. As she turned around, the popcorn was back.
“Hey!”
Linda screamed. “You scared me! Jeff, please stop doing this to me! I don’t like when you scare me.”
“Linda – chill out. What’s gotten into you lately? I was hungry and thought I’d see what was taking you so long. When I saw the popcorn, I hid it. Then I snuck it back when I saw you looking for it!”
“Ha ha. Funny. Take it. I don’t want any.”
“Suit yourself.” Jeff turned and left without another word.
He is so not funny. Jerk.
Linda pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, exhausted. She was sure she was not imagining things, but then, she was sure she had to be. Jeff never mentioned anything about hearing voices, or lights going out, or being thrown to the ground. Maybe she needed to see a therapist. Maybe her brain still wasn’t healed from the drugs and alcohol. She’d make an appointment with someone soon.
She closed her eyes, counting to one hundred. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Her heart stopped racing, and Linda felt calmer. She was working too hard. Her diet wasn’t the best, and sleep was non-existent. She needed to take better care of herself. Everything was wearing her out; exhausting her and making her see and hear things. Jeff was getting impatient with her, and even Sebastien looked at her strangely.
As she opened her eyes, she saw her. An older lady, her eyes wide and frightened. “Help me! Help me, please. I’m better…Please let me go. Let me go home. Please.”
Linda watched in horror as the creepy nurse and doctor walked over to the woman and thrust a long object into her ribs. As the woman screamed in horror, Linda felt her world go black.
Chapter Four
April 22nd
Linda ran her hand down her face, exhausted, and put her paint brush down. It had been a long day already and it was only two o’clock. Long nights tossing and turning, while worrying what lurked in the hallways, and running a fever were doing her no justice. All she could picture was her massive bed waiting for her upstairs. It was calling to her like a moth to a flame. But she couldn’t. They had too much to do for her to take a day off, even if she was running a fever.
“I’m going to take a smoke break.”
Jeff turned to Linda and nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look so good.”
She smiled, touched by his concern. “I’m fine,” she lied and went out the door. She decided she would tell him the truth if she started to feel worse; at least the part about the fever anyway. She wasn’t about to tell him about the weird things she had been seeing, not yet.
When she stepped out onto the verandah, she shivered as the cool air rushed over her skin. It felt good against her burning skin. She took a long drag, feeling the weight of the fever dragging her down. She was tired and painting the furniture Jeff had salvaged was not on her to do list. She needed sleep, and lots of it. Renovating this huge place was exhausting enough on its own, but add having a fever, and it was almost unbearable.
She sighed. She had to stay strong for Jeff. He not only needed her help, but he depended on her company. They needed each other. Without his help this past year, she wouldn’t be standing on this beautiful covered balcony overlooking the quaint city below. She wouldn’t be on the cusp of co-owning this beautiful place which Jeff now wanted to make into a beautiful country inn, a place where people would come for peace and relaxation to get away from it all. Although Linda had liked the idea of a boarding house or apartment building better, she had changed her mind and agreed that an inn would suit their needs much better.
She knew without a doubt that without Jeff, she would probably be back in rehab somewhere and strung out on drugs. They had helped each other in so many ways, and this place was their victory. It was their baby. All Jeff could talk about was the day it was all finished and they opened for business. Linda didn’t want to be a reason the date was delayed. She knew Jeff would understand, but that wasn’t the point. She wanted that day just as much as he did.
She took the last drag of the cigarette and walked over to the ash stand Jeff had placed there for her. When he quit drugs, he quit everything. Linda hadn’t been that strong. She needed something to keep her occupied while fighting the temptations screaming at her for one more time. Jeff had understood and continued to understand, and never brought up her quitting. Instead, he made her smoking area as comfortable for her as possible. She planned to quit one day, but not right now. Not while the drug temptation was still strong at times.
Linda turned around and started for the door, dreading the next few hours of painting, when a sound caught her attention. It was coming from the west wing again. Curious, she went to investigate.
The rusty hinges creaked as she opened the door. Sticking only her head inside, she held her breath and listened. She didn’t know what she would hear, but the soft sobs she heard coming down the hall wasn’t it. Figuring some runaway or homeless person had found their way inside, Linda stepped into the corridor and went in search for the person.
She wasn’t surprised by the thought of someone breaking into a place like this for shelter, especially on a cold day like this. She and Jeff had done it a number of times. But she couldn’t let it slide, either, not if they were going to open this place for business. If she wasn’t stern about the rules of the property, word would spread and people would be coming and going at all hours of the day looking for a nice, safe place to sleep.
Linda wouldn’t be cruel about it, though. She would offer to get them a cab back into town and recommend the shelters she knew of in town. It was the best she could do. She couldn’t jeopardize everything she and Jeff were working toward.
The first hallways in the west wing housed guest rooms, with a nurses’ station at the corner and other hallways to the left with a few more rooms. Linda walked the shadowed hall, her ears attuned to the soft cries she still heard. It wasn’t until she reached the last room on the left, right before the nurses’ station, that the weeping intensified.