The Calling: A Paranormal Mystery Vol. I (3 page)

Billy and Brandi arrived home Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on the dot.  Karen was elated to see them come through the door.  She had gone about her day with relative ease.  It was almost as though nothing strange had happened over the weekend.
Was it just the night before that the police were going through her home? 
It seemed like a faded memory.

That evening the house was filled with chatter from the kids about their weekend, chores and a spaghetti dinner.  Ten o’clock was lights out. Karen realized how exhausted she felt.  She took a hot bath and slipped into her favorite fleece pajamas.  Sleep came almost immediately.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Billy was jolted from sleep.  He lay still in the silence, not sure exactly why he was awake.  Knock! Knock! Knock! Three loud knocks on the wall right by his left ear sent him bolt upright and out of bed.  Karen woke up with Billy crawling into her bed. 

“Hello?” Karen said into the darkness. 

“Mom, it’s me, I want to stay in here with you tonight.”  Karen sat up and could see the moonlight bouncing off Billy’s face.  There was no mistaking that look of fear Karen saw on her boy’s face.

“What’s wrong Billy?”

“Something woke me up in my room.  Someone was knocking on the wall!” Billy’s voice escalated in pitch with his breathing now fast and shallow.

“Shhh, it’s ok, I’m sure it was just a tree branch or an animal outside,” Karen said as confidently as she could.  “Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.” 

“I’m sleeping here,” Billy said emphatically and crawled into bed with his mother.  He turned over, feeling safe now next to his mother and drifted off to sleep.

Karen waited motionless in the dark until she was sure Billy was asleep.  She could hear his breathing deepen.  What started as fear now had had become motherly anger.  Whatever she felt earlier in the house was now scaring her child. 

Karen slipped out of bed and slowly edged into Billy’s room.  The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up as she crossed the threshold.  Standing just inside the door of Billy’s room she had the strangest impression of a teenage girl. A picture pressed into her mind. 

That’s strange
, she thought. 
Is that my imagination
?  
Where is this coming from?
  Karen stood still in the dark once more trying to control her breathing.  She shut the door behind her careful not to alert the children and spoke sternly in a loud whisper into Billy’s room.

“You can stay with us if you want, but you cannot stay if you are going to scare my children.  If it continues you will have to leave,” turning on her heel and stepping into the hall, Karen let her breath out quietly as she started back to her room.  One loud knock sounded off in Billy’s room causing her to jump. 

“I’m going to assume that means you agree,” she whispered into the silence. A single knock resonated from Billy’s room. 

Over the next couple of weeks Karen noticed small things happening in the house.  None of incidents had the alarming energy of the first few occurrences.  Little things disappeared and then reappeared somewhere else in the house.  The makeup in her bathroom seemed to be a particular hot spot.  She would find her eye shadow and mascara sitting near other mirrors throughout the house.  It made getting ready for work a little taxing.  Brandi noticed, what she thought was her mother, leaving her makeup scattered throughout the house.  

As far as Karen could tell, her children were not being involved or disrupted further.   The knocking appeared to have stopped. She felt her little talk, with what she believed to be a spirit, had worked. 

Two weeks had passed without incident.  She and the children played a game dominoes to end the evening. 

“To bed with you two, you have school tomorrow,” Karen said pushing the game to the corner of the table. 

“Good night, Mom,” Bradi and Billy said in unison, kissing their mother goodnight and shuffling to their bedrooms.  Karen read her newest romance novel briefly and turned out the light.  Just as she was falling asleep, the distinct sound of a domino tapping on the dining room table filled her room.  She could not believe they would sneak back out to play.  She went quietly to the kitchen expecting to catch Billy and Brandi in the act.  The dining room light was on but the children were nowhere to be found.  Turning off the light she slipped back into bed hoping to fall asleep quickly.  Then, out of the silence she could hear the domino tapping the table.

“Go to sleep!” she said into the darkness and it stopped.  This game went on for the next three nights.  The third night Karen put the game away but was roused from sleep an hour later by the same sound emanating from the dining room. 

“Seriously, go to sleep now!” she said out load from her bed.  The tapping once again stopped.

Lizzy called with her findings on house cleansing but Karen felt she had solved the issue with her ‘little talk’ to the spirit.

“Why do you think it is a teenage girl?” asked Lizzy.

“I just got a heavy impression.  It was like a picture of an adolescent girl and brief moment of her feelings were pressed into my mind.  It’s kind of hard to explain,” said Karen. 

“I think I understand.  I’ve had that happen to me.  Maybe not exactly but a version of getting information and having it pressed into me.  “You are sure you’re not scared?” asked Lizzy.

“No, I’m not right now.  So far I think she has backed off.”

“I just don’t get it,” Lizzy pressed. “Where did she come from and why is she there?”

“I don’t know Lizzy.  I feel kind of bad for her. That’s why I said she could stay as long as she behaved herself.” 

“Ok, I guess we’ll keep an eye on it but I’ve read that things can escalate without warning. I would prefer to bless the house and try and get her out of there!” Lizzy was not comfortable with Karen’s decision to leave the spirit in her home.

“Lizzy, I’m ok.  I’m going to let her stay.”

Brandi’s friend Tina had graduated a year ahead of Brandi.  Tina’s mother was rarely home while Tina was growing up. She absolutely could not be without a man.  She would morph into whatever person the man she was dating wanted. She would often act as though she didn’t have a daughter at home waiting for her.   There were dramatic fights between her and Tina.  Tina often took refuge at Karen’s house. It was no wonder that she had always been insecure.  As a teenager, she created situations to gain attention, but Karen knew she was a good-hearted girl.  Karen heard a knock at the door and for a moment thought
Oh no, not again!
  She was relieved when she opened the door to find Tina on the other side of it.

“You're just in time for dinner,” Karen chirped. 

Tina made her way into the house and plopped down on the couch. 

“So, how have you been?” asked Karen.  Tina sighed deeply and began telling Karen all about one of her professors she thought was hitting on her. 

“He’s married you know,” Tina added at the end of her story. 

.  “If this continues I think you should report him,” Karen said sternly.  What kind of man hits on an 18 year old girl in his class? 

“I don’t know that I want to do that!” shrieked Tina.

“Well, are you encouraging him Tina?”  Tina sat silently. “Tina, you need to stay focused on school and stop creating drama for yourself.  You’re just replaying your childhood and creating drama where you don’t need it.  You know I’m right!” Karen’s brow furrowed and Tina knew she needed to stop stirring the pot.

Tina had always considered Karen her honorary mother.  Karen was the mother she wished she had.  Her relationship with her own mother was still tense at best.  She was sure her mother didn’t really like her and the feeling was mutual.  Tina spent many a warm night at Karen’s with Brandi.  There were times that her jealousy got the best of her and she would find herself snapping at Brandi for no reason.  Over the years, Karen had given her a lot of support.  Karen was no pushover and Tina knew it.  She also knew that Karen would call Tina out if she were creating unnecessary havoc in her own life.   Karen would not tolerate Tina pulling Brandi into anything that would get her into trouble.  She had grown to need Karen’s approval, and would not do anything to jeopardize the relationship.

She had benefited from Karen’s firm loving hand during her turbulent teenage years.  Now at the tender age of 19, she felt she still needed Karen’s consistent nature in her life.  It soothed her and helped her feel safe. 

Tina loved the warm energy of Karen’s house.  It always smelled like spiced apple pie from scented candles.    Karen specialized in the best comfort food in the world and Tina learned to coordinate her visits with dinnertime.  Tonight was no exception.  She could smell the pot roast simmering in the oven. 

Tina noticed something different when she stepped into the house.  She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.  As she was washing her hands in the bathroom, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.  There was a light “knock, knock knock” at the bathroom door.  She opened it expecting to see Brandi but there was no one.  As she entered the kitchen, Brandi and Billy were sitting at the counter talking to Karen. 
That’s weird
, she thought. 

Karen looked up from the pot of potatoes she was mashing and said, “Nice timing, we’re having your favorite.” A big smile crossed Karen’s face. 

“What can I do to help?” 

Karen’s head snapped over to Brandi and Billy at the counter and rolled her eyes, “How about all of you get the table set.” 

Brandi smirked at Tina, “Brown noser!” Tina smiled as they set the table, she knew she was and didn’t care. 

Tina began to ramble about school, her job and the most recent calamity with her mother.  She decided to side step further conversations about the professor since Billy was present. 

Karen patted her on the back, “Just stay positive and keep moving forward, Tina. Remember, the past does not equal the future.  You are the one in the driver’s seat now. You can make good choices, or choices that create chaos in your life.  You are not your mother! I know you will do great things in the future if you just keep that in mind.”

Tina knew this was sound advice.  It was hard to follow sometimes.  Her immediate support system was limited to Brandi and Karen.  Her mother was in Mexico with some guy she met two weeks prior.  Tina was sure she would come home with a Mexican marriage certificate.

Tina lived an hour north near the college in Sand Hollow.  Her apartment was in an old house that had been converted into a triplex for students.   Her neighbor upstairs was Anna, a quiet Biology student.  They passed in the foyer occasionally but were not personally acquainted with each other.  Her neighbor with a connecting wall was a husky football player named Greg.  He had always been very nice.   All of them seemed to live harmoniously.  Occasionally, Greg would have some of the boys over and it would get a little loud but never past 10:00 pm.   When she had first moved in, Greg invited her over for a bar-b-que.  There had never been any issues between the three of them and Tina was happy for that bit of peace in her life.

“Alright,” Tina piped up, “I’ve got to get going. Thank you again for dinner, Karen!” 

“Any time Tina.  Keep studying and stay focused on your school work not that professor!” 

“I will,” Tina promised. She and Brandi walked to the door, hugged and she departed.

The warm air on her face felt good as she walked to her car.  Tina opened the door and a chill ran up her spine. 
That’s weird,
she thought.  A creepy feeling suddenly gripped her.  She spun around to check the back seat, half expecting someone to be there. 
Empty of course
, she thought.  She began her hour trek home feeling grateful for the kindness Brandi and her family had shown her all these years.  She flicked the radio on to her favorite country station and let her mind wander.  Her radio dimmed and switched stations.  Without thinking too much about it she switched it back and began singing along.  Again, the radio dimmed and switched stations.  It went to 106.7, the 80’s Wave, a station she hated. 

“What is going on?” she said aloud as she switched it back. Five minutes later the radio dimmed and the station skipped into “Girls just want to have fun” on 106.7 the 80’s Wave. 

She switched the station back.  This had never happened to her before.  She wondered if she had an electrical problem that she would need to fix.  This was something she really didn’t want to entertain due to her tight budget. 

The aroma of a sweet powdery perfume filled the car.  She rolled her window down, confused, she decided to turn the radio off completely in case there was an electrical problem.  The radio immediately came back on. The hair rose on the back of Tina’s neck and she felt a little dizzy. The odor was overwhelming.  She pressed her foot on the accelerator, wanting to get home and out of her car as soon as possible.  It was a long 40 minutes of 80’s retro and stinking perfume.  Tina pulled into her parking spot a little too fast and gravel and dust sprayed up as she stopped. She quickly gathered her things out of the back seat and jumped the three steps to the porch. 
Get a grip,
she thought,
you are overreacting.
  She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been with her in the car.