The Seer by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 27

The next few weeks were quiet. Tom continued to put in long hours at work, driving as far as Portland, while Kara kept on with school and homework. Linda had begun working with Zachary on basic spelling and numbers, as he would be starting school within the next year and she wanted him to be prepared. The house also seemed strangely quiet, as if it was resting, and the children were no longer talking about receiving nightly visits form their deceased grandmother.

Linda spent the majority of her day as she did every day, cleaning the house, planning dinner and making sure that Zachary's time was occupied. It was early afternoon when she decided to take a break, and sitting on the couch, she brought a hand up and wiped the sweat form her forehead. Living in a large house meant that cleaning was a full time job with little opportunity to sit for long periods. But, as she sat back on the couch, allowing the sweat to dry from her body, Linda heard a faint sound coming from upstairs. She had put Zachary down for a nap about twenty minutes ago, and although the sound she heard was nearly silent, she, like Tom, had developed a sharp sense of hearing, and got up to investigate. Being far too old for a crib, Zachary slept in a child's bed, lying low to the floor. Even if he were to roll off, the fall would be no more than about eighteen inches. But as Linda climbed the stairs, she heard the sound again, and it seemed to be coming from Zachary's room. Quickening her pace, she went to the open door of his room, but was stopped by something that frightened her beyond anything she could have imagined.

Frozen with fear, Linda stood staring from the doorway as a grayish shape sat on the edge of Zachary's bed. She blinked her eyes and shook her head in an attempt to force some clarity back into her mind. Looking again, the blurred image had become sharper, giving itself away in frightening detail. She quickly realized that this was what Tom and the children had been talking about. For Linda, it was an unbelievable story, something one might tell while sitting at a campfire, late at night, under a warm summer moon. Her mind tried to cope with seeing what she knew couldn't be real, and struck with horror, Linda backed up across the hallway quickly enough that she ran the back of her head against the wall.

With her hand at the back of her head, Linda bent down to keep herself from passing out. But as the back of her head began to throb, she slowly crossed the hallway and peered around the edge of the door. However, instead of seeing the gray specter sitting on the sitting on the side of Zachary's bed, it was now at the doorway and confronted Linda with a scowl of disapproval. It seemed to be scolding her as it raised a finger to its lips. Linda was terrified beyond words, and again, backing up into the wall, with her hands over her face and tears in her eyes.

“What are doing here?!” she screamed. “You're supposed to be dead!”

Her screams woke Zachary, and climbing out of bed went to his mother's side.

“Mom?” he said.

He knew by the state she was in that she had witnessed Eleanor's ghostly appearance, and spoke in a reassuring voice.

“You don’t have to be afraid. She's not going to hurt us. She loves us, just like before.” Zachary's unblemished mind had accepted Eleanor's visit as reality, and did not understand how anyone could be afraid of such a kind and caring presence.

Without time to explain her reaction, Linda picked Zachary up and carried him downstairs, perhaps believing that he would be safer elsewhere in the house. She moved quickly through the house, still in a state of terror, and glancing back, imaged the familiar looking apparition to be following her. Perhaps, giving chase. But now, running from the bottom of the staircase, she looked back to the second floor and found nothing. However, this did not lessen her fear, and putting Zachary down, told him to the kitchen. At the back of the house, it was the room furthest from the stairs, allowing Linda the illusion of safety from something she perceived as a threat to her family.

Zachary stopped several times on his way to the kitchen, trying to explain to his mother that, not only had Eleanor returned, but that she had done so with the intention of watching over them. But, Linda was distracted by fear and confusion. It was one thing to talk about the returning dead as a possibility. That, perhaps, something could exist beyond earthly reality. However, to see the disembodied deceased take shape was a harsh test of Linda's faculties, and she found herself straining to remain clear-headed. But Zachary was insistent, demanding that she stop long enough to listen. It was only when he wrapped his arms around her leg that she paused in her escalating hysteria to hear him out. Not that she chose to, she had simply been slowed to a stop by Zachary's weight.

“Mom!” he yelled. “She's not gonna hurt us!” Linda picked him up again, and taking him to the kitchen put him in a chair at the table. Zachary grabbed her sleeve as she turned to go back upstairs.

“Zack,” she said. “Mommy had to go back upstairs, okay?”

She tried to gently remove Zachary's grip from her sleeve, only to find him holding tighter.

“Zachary!” she began.

His voice wasn't angry, but surprised and impatient. She didn't want to leave him alone, yet, her instincts demanded that she protect her child by investigating whatever it was that had driven them from the second floor.

“Let go! I need to go back upstairs!” In Zachary's mind, there was no threat. His grandmother had returned to watch over all of them. The only thing he wanted was to convince his mother that Eleanor's presence was not only benign, but caring.

“But mom!” he replied. “Nana wants to be here! She wants to take care of us! Like she did before.” These words suddenly deflated Linda's rush of adrenaline, as she sat down across from him and questioned him further.

“How do you know this?”

Zachary began to fumble with his hands as he hesitated in his answer.

“Zack,” Linda continued. “It's okay. You're not in any trouble, but we need to talk about this, alright?”

“Um...okay,” Zachary replied. “Well, she kinda told me.”

Linda was puzzled, and wondered how a ghost would speak to anyone.

“Did she talk to you?” she asked.

“Kind of,” Zachary answered. “I heard her...in my head.”

Given what she’d seen, Linda didn't believe that her son harbored any psychological problems.

“Alright,” Linda said. “I'm going to go back upstairs, so I need you to stay right here, okay?” Zachary nodded his head as Linda got up from the table.

“Just stay right here, got it?”

But, Zachary stopped her as she headed toward the staircase.

“Mom,” he said.

Linda turned quickly, stopping only for a moment.

“Yeah, Zack. What is it?”

He could see how concerned she was, and tried to put her at ease.

“It's okay.”

For a moment, her fear seemed to vanished as she gave him a gentle smile.

“I know,” she replied.

As quickly as she had stopped, Linda turned back to the stairs, and walking slowly, returned to the second floor.

Standing at the entrance to the hallway, Linda called out to something she was unable to see.

“Eleanor?”

Even though Linda had seen her, she was still unable to grasp the fact that she was now looking for the ghost of her mother-in-law. Searching the upstairs, she began whispering to herself, mostly to keep herself from the fear that was, again, making its way to the surface.

“Shit, I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm actually looking for a goddamn ghost.”

As she continued her search, Linda's ears began to hum, a reaction to the almost painful silence that had taken over the house. However, she was startled into a scream when the soundless air was broken by the opening of the back door.

Tom arrived early from work after two appointments had been canceled at the last moment. Just before entering the kitchen, he heard Linda’s terrified scream and throwing the door open saw Zachary sitting at the table.

“What was that?!” he asked. “Was that your mother?” Zachary looked up with wide eyes.

“Mommy's talking to Nana,” he said. Hearing Tom's voice, Linda came running down from the second floor in a panic.

“Tom!” she screamed.

Walking quickly through the kitchen, Tom met her at the bottom of the staircase. His voice was urgent as he inquired her emotional reaction.

“Hon, what is it? What's wrong?” Her face was pale and her hands trembling, as she began the account of her ghostly encounter with Eleanor. Still in a state of terror, Linda spoke quickly, but was interrupted as Tom tried to make sense of her hysteria.

“Wait a minute,” he began. “Linda, slow down.” Putting a hand on her arm, Linda waved him off and took a half step back. Realizing how agitated she was, Tom lowered his voice and took a calm approach.

“Did you say you saw mom? Because I thought we talked about this, right?”

Linda broke in again, providing a description of what she had seen.

“I had no idea that what you and the kids had been seeing was so real! We have to do something! What about the kids?! What the hell do we do?!” Tears came to her eyes as her emotions escalated.

“Linda,” Tom interrupted. “Linda!”

She stopped abruptly, taking a few deep breaths in order to quiet her mind and gather her thoughts.

“Okay,” she began. “I saw her. She was in Zack's room. At first, it was kinda blurry, but then I saw her as clear as I'm seeing you. I swear to God, I'm not crazy.” Having finally calmed down, her main concern was their children.

“Hang on, alright?” Tom interrupted. Looking toward the kitchen, he saw Zachary, still sitting quietly.

“Hey, Zack,” he said. “Ya' doing okay?”

Zachary perked up and answered his father with a smile.

“I saw Nana!”

Tom motioned Linda into the kitchen, as he quietly asked her not to get too excited. He had already seen Eleanor drifting through the upstairs hallway, and sitting on the edge of Zachary's bed, but he wanted more information, and as calm as Zachary was, Tom felt that he would be the person to ask.

During the unfolding of this ghostly drama, Kara was on her way home from school. Later, Zackary would describe their grandmother’s visit as though playfully telling a fairy tale. But until then, the event would be dealt with as a crisis of the unimaginable.

Both Tom and Linda sat down across from Zachary, and almost playfully began talking to him about what he'd seen.

“So,” Tom began. “When did you see Nana?” Zachary answered without hesitation.

“Today,” he replied. “In my room. She came in while I was taking a nap.”

“Okay,” Tom said. “What did she do?” Zachary began nervously fumbling with his hands, sensing his parent’s tension. Tom reached out, and putting a hand on his arm, calmly told him that it was okay to talk about it.

“So,” Tom continued. “What happened?” Zachary shrugged his shoulders and gave an oddly vague answer.

“I don't know,” he said. “She was just there. She was there to watch me.”

“Did she say anything?” Tom asked. Zachary started fumbling with his hands again, as Tom gently gripped his arm.

“Hey,” he continued. “It's okay buddy. We just want to know what's going on, alright?”

Zachary nodded his head slightly, but still displayed a noticeable tension.

“Okay,” he answered.

After a pause, Tom asked his question again.

“So, what did she say?”

“I don't remember,” he replied. “But she talked to me in my head.”

Tom glanced at Linda and saw the mask of fear painted across her face.

“Linda,” he whispered. “I don't think there's any reason to be afraid, okay? And we don't want to scare the kids.” He turned his attention back to Zachary, still displaying a bit of nervousness at being asked such unusual questions about what he saw as harmless.

“So,” he began.

He leaned in toward Zachary, asking one last question. Based on Zachary's answer, Tom would know what to do next. Like Linda, his first concern was always the safety of their children, and he would be gravely concerned about anything that frightened them.

“Were you scared?”

Zachary shrugged his shoulders, and again answered in a nervous tone.

“No...” he replied.

“Well,” Tom said. “Most people would be really scared if they saw a ghost, don't you think?” Zachary didn't clearly understand the question. At four years old, he had not yet experienced real fear, but it was a certainty he would as he grew older, and became more immersed in the world.

“But, Nana loves me,” he said.

Tom got up from the kitchen table, and putting a hand on Linda's shoulder, motioned her toward the living room. Once near the bottom of the stairs, a quiet conversation began.

“The kids aren't afraid of this,” Tom said. “And I don't see that there's anything we can do about it.” Linda was still shaken by her experience, and in spite of their previous conversation on the night Tom first saw Eleanor drift through the hallway, she was beside herself with fear. It was easy to be unaffected when she was uninvolved, but now Linda was very much involved, and had become far more frightened than her family. In fact, she seemed to be alone in her fear, unlike everyone else, who had accepted Eleanor's presence.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” she asked. Tom took a moment to search for an answer.

“I have no idea,” he replied. “But, I don't see that any harm's being done. I mean, the kids are okay with it, and I think I can get used to it, as long as she doesn't wander into our bedroom when we're...you know.” Linda realized Tom was trying to lighten the conversation with a bit of humor, and reacted exactly as he expected.

“Jesus,” she began. “That is truly sick, Tom. I don't think your mother would want to see us having sex.” Although they spoke quietly, a child's ears can, at times, be very sensitive, and from the kitchen came Zachary's small voice.

“Hey mom?!” he yelled. “What's sex?!” Both Tom and Linda became embarrassed at being overheard by their four-year son, and at the same time, decided to take conversations of this nature farther from the delicate ears of their children.

“Never mind, Zack!” Linda said.

Putting a hand on Tom's shoulder she asked him to step back into the living room.

“Alright,” she continued. “So what's the next step?” Tom considered her question, but was unsure as to how to answer it.

“I'm not sure there is a next step,” he said. “But...I don't know.”

Tom's mind suddenly drifted off in another direction as his expression became blank.

“What is it?” Linda asked.

She was not so much concerned about Tom's sudden shift of attention, as she was curious, and given the situation, pressed him for a response.

“I was just thinking,” Tom began. “I wonder if we could talk to her?”

As ridiculous as it sounded, Linda began to think it made sense.

“Well,” she said. “I suppose we could try, but what if she wants to talks to us?”

Linda paused for a moment, having realized what she was saying.

“I can't believe we're talking about this,” she said.

“Yeah,” Tom replied. “It's kinda weird, isn't it? But think about it, with all the questions people have about death, we might have a chance to learn something about it. I mean, obviously this is real. We can't all be crazy, right?” Neither of them had ever considered the existence of the supernatural, and were at a loss as to how to proceed.

“Maybe we should look it up,” Linda said. “You can find anything on the internet. Just look up something like 'talking to ghosts'.”

Although it was an odd idea, it was a place to start, and after dinner, Tom found himself sitting at his laptop, searching for anything that would be useful. At this point, he was no longer driven by fear, but by curiosity and the chance to learn about something that had always been considered deeply obscure.