The White House - Book 6, The Porth Kerensa Series

Chapter Twenty-Six

Elise shuddered and remembered that Val had said the same thing. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

Kay closed her eyes and swayed, slightly. When she spoke her voice was low and soft. “It’s been there a long time, Elise. It’s not just a ghost anymore.… it’s much more than that. There's so much hatred there, so much need. It’s evil, Elise.” She opened her eyes and looked at Elise, fearfully. “I wouldn’t even know how to go about getting rid of it. If I was you I’d call in a Catholic priest.”

Elise recalled the last strange conversation she’d had with Val and she began to laugh. It was a harsh strangled high octave laugh that hitched with every breath she took. She saw them watching her, alarmed, and she stopped, abruptly. “Thanks for your help, Kay. I appreciate it, really, but I’ve been on the road for a long time and I’ve had a shitty couple of days so I’m going to go indoors and have a long hot bath.” She nodded, politely to Ben and Kay and turned away.

“Elise,” Kay said, quietly. “I brought you a protection crystal to wear around your neck, please take it.”

“I’m not sure it will be any good to me,” Elise replied, sarcastically.

“The blonde woman next to you wants you to have it,” Kay said, gently. “She’s right next to you and she’s nodding when I tell you to take it.”

Elise couldn’t hide the bitterness in her voice when she said, “Is this a joke?”

“She’s a pretty lady, with blonde hair and blue eyes,” Kay said, candidly. “She’s dressed like…” She paused, laughed and said, “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle . She says I have to tell you she's looking after your little ones, Elise.”

Elise smiled, sadly, at the thought of her lost babies and Val when she’d first arrived in Porth Kerensa. She wiped the sudden tears from her eyes and turned back to look at Kay who reached out and passed Elise the silver chain with a pretty pink crystal hung from it.

“It’s a Rose Quartz and I hope it helps.”

She slipped the necklace in her coat pocket. “Thank you, for the necklace and thank you for coming to see me.”

She turned away again and walked to the white house without looking back.

When Elise stepped into the house she stopped and stared, shocked, at the devastation that lay before her. Pictures had been ripped from the wall, ornaments and books had been smashed and torn, and the dining chairs had been upended. Glass and debris were scattered all over the floor, along with mud and shredded houseplants that had been ripped from their pots.

Tears spilled from her Elise’s tired eyes and she sunk to the floor, clutching her knees, with her mouth open in shock. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, hoping it was all a bad dream, but the carnage was still there when she opened them again and she shoved her fist into her mouth to force back the scream that threatened to break free.

Slowly, she stood up and moved through the room, wincing at the sound of glass and china crunching beneath her feet. The ship in a bottle and watch that she’d bought James were smashed to smithereens on the dining table and the clothes were torn and crumpled in amongst the broken glass on the floor. The birthday card that she’d laboured over had been ripped into tiny pieces and the word ‘Bitch’ had been scrawled, in marker pen, over the aerial picture of Porth Kerensa that she’d carefully wrapped up.

She couldn’t even imagine how she was going to explain any of it to James when he finally got home. She wondered if he’d presume she’d gone on a grief stricken rampage and chalk it up as another example of her ever increasing madness. He’d definitely call her mad if she told him she thought an evil presence in the house was responsible.