Chapter Four
"For the last time, will you stop such inappropriate and indecent behaviour? Are you so bent on the whole town knowing?" A muffled voice said from somewhere in the pitch black darkness that surrounded me.
It sounded as if it was coming from the surface as I waded deep underwater. This feeling was implemented when I tried to move my limbs, but they felt so very heavy and sluggish, as if I was walking against the raging current that wanted to see me pulled under.
"The town will talk no matter what I do, so I may as well live by my own rules. Something, I highly recommend you to try." A bored voice answered with a little condensation layered in the words.
I turned around, trying to figure where these muffled words, belonging to strange voices, were coming, but nothing but darkness met my searching eyes, no matter where I looked.
"For Pete's sake, it's high time you stopped your impudent ways and did your duty. You have been coddled for too long, causing you to become a spoiled child doing whatever you want with no care for the consequences." Said the first voice in rising anger.
"Do my duty and become a miserable sod like you, Clarence? No, thank you." The second voice said, humour evident in the deep tone.
The words were becoming clearer and clearer as if I had broken the surface of the water, and by the deepness in their tones, I could distinguish that both speakers were male. But who they were, was still a mystery. And where I was, an even bigger one.
"I'm warning you for the last time, if you do not take the responsibilities given to you seriously, I will be forced to intervene." The first voice said in suddenly calm tone, before a new, female voice broke in.
"Boys, you should not be fightin-"
The voices went underwater once again before being cut off completely .
Trying to figure out where exactly I was while keeping my nerves, was proving to be difficult, especially so when my ears pricked at the sound of soft sobbing coming from somewhere in the darkness. Without any warning, a scream burst out from within this dark, dark place I was in.
"MY BABY."
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I awoke with a start, heart thumping wildly in my chest, like a caged bird battering against the bars, as I lay gasping, eyes searching for something familiar, but finding nothing in such an unfamiliar room.
Slowly the shock trickled away until nothing but disquiet remained, and only then did I ease myself up into a sitting position, rubbing my temple as I tried to make heads or tails out of the dream but it was like hitting a brick wall. Nothing at all made sense; not the voices, not the words, nothing. Which had me wondering if it was just a random dream that meant nothing at all and I was just adding more questions to my already overflowing box full of them.
With a quick glance at my partially dark room; the only source of light coming from the cold rays of light from the moon, through the window- I knew I was truly alone.
I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding, before plumping up my pillows, trying to make them more comfortable to rest my head on. I was just about to lay back down again, and try to go back to sleep, trying to forget the bizarre, when my stomach suddenly let out a small growl. Normally I would have ignored it in the favour of sleep, but I already found myself throwing off the covers and getting out of bed, braving the cold the old plumbing system could never truly get rid of. I normally didn't stress eat, but this whole supernatural business was quickly becoming more and more troublesome.
I glanced at the bright blue numbers on my alarm clock, the seconds passing with small, light ticks, as if mocking my inability to sleep by progressing slower than usual.
It was nearly one.
I rubbed my eyes with my clenched fists, as if erasing sleep itself away.
I took quick, quiet steps out of my room, not wanting to wake Mum up with my late night food hunt.
I hadn't taken three steps towards the stairwell when I heard a sound coming from Mums bedroom on the other end of the hallway.
I froze for a brief second, my mind going over the possibilities behind such an indescribable sound- Cole being a prominent one- but I didn't wait further to understand what it was as I took quick steps towards her room, all the while hoping it wasn't anything serious.
I had just grabbed the cold door handle, ready to push open the door when something made me stop just at the moment I was about to fling it open.
That something being the sound of muffled sobbing accompanied by little keening, like a sound an injured kitten would make. I stood there for a minute, listening to make sure it was what it appeared to be, but there was no mistaking it. It was uncomfortably reminiscent of the dream I had before.
Mum was crying again. It was becoming evident that she had never stopped.
Every part of my body wanted to do nothing more than throw open the door, and hug her tight until she stopped, comforting her with words we both would know were lies, but I knew the one thing Mum hated more than anything, was anyone seeing her so vulnerable and weak.
After all she prided herself in being a strong and a very much independent woman, but she feared that image would be shattered by the tears and pitiful cries that fell from her eyes and lips if anyone saw. So she always hid such a vulnerable state, even from her family.
But I had never realised that she would have hidden it so well. I thought she was passed the crying stage, but as I stood outside her door, I was reminded very much so that the wounds were still very much fresh and bleeding.
With my own heart breaking, I sat slowly down on the floor, adjacent to her door, looking up at the ceiling as I tried to blink away my own tears. I paid little mind to the cold as I pulled up my knees and wrapped my arms around my legs, before laying my head on top, listening and listening until I no longer heard her crying.
I don't know how long I sat there waiting for her to stop, but once she did, I quietly stood up, wincing at the sore muscles, stretching as silently as I could, before heading back to my room, my hunger lost.
I froze for the second time this night when I saw Cole leaning against the wall opposite a little further on, with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at the wall opposite him. I had no idea how long he had been standing there and how much he had seen and heard, but his face gave nothing away. Not an inkling on how he felt.
After a moment of silence, he looked at me, eyes as cold as shards of ice, no longer holding the curiosity that I had started to become accustomed to.
"She has not once ceased in her crying since you've moved here. Every night she cries and cries when she thinks you're asleep." He said in a voice as deadpan as his expression, but something in his eyes warned me to tread carefully, a flicker of a brewing, angry storm in those green eyes of his.
I swallowed, my throat dry but my eyes unnecessarily wet. "I didn't know until now." I whispered hoarsely, somewhat taken aback by his abrupt and insensitive manner.
Maybe being a ghost for so long turned him callous and hardhearted.
I was about to brush past him, fully intending to ignore him and try to make sense of my befuddled emotions in my isolation, but Cole reached out and grabbed my arm.
This time his hand was as cold as his eyes, making me flinch, trying to free myself from his strong grip, which only ended up in my failure.
He forced me to face him with a hard tug.
"I can no longer put up with all the noise she makes. My patience is wearing thin."
Immediately my anger rose but I quickly squashed it down before it spilled over. The last thing I wanted to do was to wake Mum up and allow the ghost get a rise out of me.
"It's not something I can control so suck it up. I'm forced to put up with you without much complaint so I suggest you do the same." I hissed quietly.
His grip loosened, and without so much as a glance at him, I yanked my arm away and all but ran into my room, closing the door and quickly diving into my bed, cold to the bone as I pulled up the covers to my head, willing myself to sleep so I could just forget this dark night and pretend it never happened but that was soon to be proven impossible.
Without a warning, my covers were yanked from me by a strong grip, yet when I bolted upright, there was no one there.
Until I looked at the silhouette near the window, the light of the moon making his hair silver.
That was the last thing I saw before I was yanked by the front of my top by an unseen force and dragged through air to come face to face with a furious looking Cole. He looked almost feral with his wild eyes and expression, and suddenly I felt very scared of what he was capable of, alarm bells ringing off in my head as loud as sirens as I hung helplessly from an unseen grasp I couldn't even fight.
"Listen here, little mouse. You no longer amuse me, and I find myself fast becoming bored of you and your mother." He said in a deadly, calm voice as he looked at me, without ever raising a finger to touch me. I tried not to let my fear show, but it was getting harder and harder as I seemed to be levitating in thin air, in front of a vengeful spirit who could lash out at any given second, "Do not forget whose home you are intruding in."
Before I could so much as let out a squeak, with a small flick of his fingers, I found myself sailing through the air, eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the impact which surely would break some bones, but instead something soft and springy met my back.
Not daring to breathe, I opened my eyes to see I had landed on my bed with no injury and the ghost was nowhere to be seen in the darkness of my room.
Finally gasping with the fright I held in, my tears finally trickled out, much to my frustration as I quickly sat up in bed and quickly wiped them away.
So I had been very wrong about the ghost seeming to be harmless. And next time if I had caught him in his bad tempers again, I couldn't guarantee I would get out unscathed, but what made me even more afraid was that if he decided to take his anger out on Mum, she would never know until it was too late.
Wiping away my tears that continued to roll down my cheeks, angrily with the back of my hand, I vowed to find a way to get rid of him one way or another. With that thought, I grabbed a pillow and duvet from my bed, and quietly made my way downstairs to sleep on the sofa, not wanting to stay in his favourite room any longer.
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I had to admit, getting rid of the ghost was easier said than done for a number of reasons. The most prominent one being that no one aside from myself knew I had a ghost problem or that I could see ghosts, for that matter. My best and only bet was to find a medium. But another problem arose. Would there be a medium in such a small town in the middle of nowhere and if there was, would the person be genuine and not a fake?
I shook my head clear of all the doubts as I walked down to town in a brisk pace, on my guard for any red haired ghost that might make an appearance. Seeing the coast was clear, I relaxed a little, thoughts on the task ahead.
There was no point thinking negatively when I hadn't even tried to find someone who could help me with my problem.
The morning sun had just broken against the horizon with its pale pinks and yellows against the partially cloudy sky, as I walked into the picturesque town with it's little bricked buildings and pretty flowers outside in hanging baskets, that were still blooming stubbornly in Autumn's chill, as I huddled inside my coat against the chilly wind that promised ferocity later on in the day.
I couldn't have gotten out the house quick enough, skipping breakfast so as not to risk running into Cole. I had made sure to check Mum was alright before I left. When I saw her sleeping soundly in bed, I could have almost been fooled into believing her crying episode hadn't happened. Almost.
I had left her a note only saying that I would be going to the library to gather material for my college course that would start tomorrow. Which was partially true- I was going to the library, but only because that was my best bet in finding a phone and address directory.
My walk into town stopped only when I stood in front of the three story, bricked building, hoping it would be open so early in the morning. It wasn't as big as the one that I left behind in the city, but for a small town library, it was still a big and imposing building, the wide, glass windows glinting at me under the weak sunlight.
Taking a deep breath, I walked to the double doors and pushed.
The door didn't budge and I was about to scream internally in frustration when my eyes caught the sign near the handle stating 'pull' making me pause as I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed my embarrassing moment, but luckily for me, not a lot of people were out, aside from a couple walking their three dogs, too engrossed in their quiet conversations to pay any notice to me.
On the wall next to the glass double doors, there was a silver plaque with the times and I was relieved to find it opened at eight. When I had left the house, it was just coming to eight.
Pulling open the door, I let out a little relieved sigh before quickly making my way inside and out of the cold, warmth greeting me like a missed friend. Like one would expect of a library, it was crammed with books on aisles that took up most of the space, apart from a cluster of tables in the middle of the room. There was a sort of hushed and undisturbed silence that surrounded the place, and it wasn't hard to imagine quiet afternoons slipping by with a good book and a comfy chair.
At my right, further into the library, the main desk stood where a lone man was taking out books from brown boxes, too engrossed in his task to notice me for which I was thankful for as I slipped between two bookcases, eyes scanning my surroundings. If everyone knew everyone in this little town nestled in the countryside, then the librarian would surely rope me into making a membership card and I just didn't have the time.
Apart from me and the librarian- who I could distinctively hear shuffling books- there was no one else.
Looking out for a rack of information books for new visitors, I slowly made my way around the place, my footsteps cushioned by the lush blue
carpet underfoot.
Just as my good luck would have it, I found it nestled near the stairs leading to the second floor at the opposite end of the room from the entrance.
Quickly as I could, I flitted through each book with my hands, making sure I didn't miss any one hiding behind the others.
I was on my last row, mind already on finding another rack elsewhere or asking at the desk as my last resort, when my eye caught a little yellow book peeking from the corner of RiverEnd Map of the Town book. By it's partially hidden title, I could just make out the -sinesses in RiverEnd.
With a little smile of triumph, I picked it up and was proven that I had the right book as I read the title 'Phone and Address Directory of Small and Large Businesses in RiverEnd'
It was a small book, which wasn't much of a surprise considering how small this town was, and I didn't waste a second looking at the index. It took me a few seconds to find it and my smile widened as I realised it did indeed have, not one but two businesses dedicated to the supernatural cause- Diana's Tarot Card and Future Readings and the other, 'Mr M's Mayhem Mania, who despite the weird worded title, said in small letters underneath that it could solve 'unusual, otherworldly problems' which was good enough for me.
I quickly jotted down the address- oddly, no phone number- on my hand with the black pen I had grabbed on my way out from the house before placing the book back into its place.
I was just about to place the pen back into my coat pocket when I felt a pat on my shoulder, startling me as I quickly whirled around, guilty expression on my face thinking I had gotten caught by the librarian, but the sight that met my eyes was one I hadn't been expecting.
A pair of girls stood in front of me with different expressions on their faces. The one who had patted me wore a brilliant smile on her small, angular face, her short blonde hair as bright as her smile and her friend next to her had long black hair, her almond shaped eyes scrutinizing me, as if she was trying to figure out something out.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you there." Said the blonde girl, a little too loudly, but thankfully we were tucked away in the corner. "But I saw you coming into the library and could have sworn you're the new girl at college. And I was right. Told you it was her, Liu." She said the last sentence to her friend who seemed like she was done scrutinizing me and had found more interest in looking at the patterns on thd floor.
"Congrats." She said sarcastically looking at her bubbly friend, twirling her finger around a strand of hair, boredom clear on her pretty features "You've said hi so come on and finish off your work and then we can get out of here." She made to grab her friends arm but the blonde shook her head, her attention still on me as I stood there frozen in indecision.
"Sorry, I haven't even introduced myself." She said as if she read my thoughts, slapping her forehead, "I'm Lola and this is Liu." She said indicating to her friend with her finger, who just gave me a quick nod in introduction. Not much of a speaker it seemed.
"I'm Zeinth." I said, not really knowing what to say. My only true friend had been Louie, my big, fat but incredibly fluffy cat who I had to leave behind along with my past life, so social interactions were a weakness for me.
At this moment, all I wanted to do was to get out of the library and find this Mr M, but it seemed like I would have to overcome another obstacle to do so.
I was thinking of the politest way to say I didn't have time to chat, but Lola filled the awkward silent with her excited words. I tried my best not to let a grimace show- I really needed to find the person called Mr M before the day was over. I didn't have the luxury to chat.
"Wow, cool name. I can tell by your accent, you're probably from somewhere down south eh? Where have you moved? How do you like this place?" A torpedo of questions left her mouth, and it looked as if she was one short of fulling jumping up and down like an excited kid, as she waited for me to answer with big, brown eyes filled with eagerness.
Before I could string a sentence together, her friend spoke up, "Lola, stop being so damn nosy all the time. Let's just go." She said as she grabbed the petite girl by her arm, and all but swung her away from me, despite the smaller girls protests, but not before throwing me a little glare, "At least try hiding the fact you don't want to talk to us."
I was taken aback that the girl had seen through me but I didn't have time to dwell on what future interactions would be like if we did go to the same college after this chat.
Not wasting another moment, nor giving Lola the chance to come back, I swiftly walked to the entrance, head down.
The wind still managed to whip my neck length hair across my face as I began to look for the address scrawled messily on my hand, putting the thoughts of those two girls out of my mind and focusing at the task at hand.
The task was proving to be quite difficult as I wasn't familiar with many parts of the town, but time passed and the streets began to fill up with more and more people going about their daily tasks, a few throwing me curious glances as I went past.
A litle while later, I found the place- after finally asking a passerby- tucked away in a little corner, between an antiques shop and a Locksmiths, with the words 'Mr M's Mayhem Mania' written in bold blue across the exterior of the shop. It was a simple enough two story building with a blue roof matching the letters, a simple exterior, if not for the words, could have been passed off for another little shop this town seemed to have lots of.
My eyes quickly focused on the figure sprawled across a chair in the front of the shop, and although the sun was partially hidden by grey clouds, sunglasses rested on his face, as he looked at the sky, not noticing me stopping in front of the shop, not until I cleared my throat.
He looked towards me, as he scratched his ruffled brown hair, head tilted in my direction, waiting. Even with the sunglasses covering his eyes, it was easy to see how handsome he was with his high cheekbones and strong jawline.
I wondered if he too was waiting outside for the owner of the shop to open up too, as no light or movement was coming from behind the shops large windows.
"Sorry to bother you, but do you know when the owner of this place will open up?" I said, fidgeting with the hem of my T-Shirt. "There aren't any times written anywhere."
"Yup, l do." He replied, standing up and stretching his long and lean body clad in simple black jeans and top, before letting out a yawn, "For I, am the great and mighty Mr M, owner of Mr M's Mayhem Mania, who will help with any unusual, otherworldly problems that you may be having." He said, walking towards me before sweeping into a mock bow in front of me.
"How may I help you?"
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A/N- Hello my lovely readers. I would just like to say thank you for all your amazing support that you have given me even when updates have been slow. My favourite thing in the world is reading all your wonderful comments!
But fear no more! I have finally figured out which direction this story is heading (plus I have chapter five already underway ;) ) so expect much faster updates from me :D
(P.S I do apologise in advance for any grammatical errors. I'm a bit behind schedule on the update so had to rush a little to get it published before going to sleep. I'll have it edited tomorrow fully :) )
Like always, I want to end this authors note with another question (All questions will be answered as the story unfolds) :- Why is Cole being such a moody little (enter own expletive) for?