The Fine Line Book One Between Worlds Series (19 page)

As he drifted in and out of sleep, he heard
talking. It sounded like Olivia. He listened more carefully. She
sounded as if she were having a conversation with another
person.

Throwing the covers off, he sat up on the
side of the bed. He grabbed his cell phone and looked at the clock.
It was 4:00 a.m. Matt stood up, walked toward the hallway, and then
stood in Olivia’s doorway.

“
What’s up princess?” he
asked. “Can’t sleep?”

“
I was just talking to my
friend,” she answered. “She woke me up.”

He walked in and sat on the side of the
bed.

“
It’s four in the morning
Olly. You need to go back to sleep.” Finally, what Olivia said to
him registered in his brain. “Who’s your friend?”

“
She’s a little girl that
says her mommy and daddy don’t live here anymore,” she replied
factually as she traced the lines on her comforter.

Matt knew imaginary friends were common
among children her age. He even remembered going through such a
phase as a young boy. So, he entertained her notion.

“
Really? What does your
friend look like?”

“
She is older than me.
She’s got long curly black hair with a really pretty red ribbon.
She’s really nice, but sometimes she gets scared.”

“
Oh,” he said continuing
to humor her.

“
She said one of her
favorite things is to watch you and Robin dance in the
kitchen.”

He felt his heart thump and his stomach sank
to his knees as he processed the statement. Olivia had never been
in the house to see the two of them dancing; he was very aware of
this fact. Sheer panic gripped him, but his face remained calm for
the sake of his daughter.

Olivia continued, “She says she misses her
mommy really bad, but Robin makes her feel safe. Cookie sees her,
too. She likes him. She says he’s funny.”

This was horrific. Matt couldn’t find words
as he searched for a way to deal with the information. Something he
couldn’t see was forming a relationship with his very vulnerable,
young daughter. There seemed to be no rationalization now,
especially with the details she gave.

“
Olly, honey, is she in
here with us right now?”

“
No. She left when she
heard you get up. You scared her away,” she answered.

“
Where does she live?
What’s her name?”

“
Her name is Emma and she
lives in the woods out back.” She continued, “She says she hears
you and Robin talking a lot about the others that live here. She
said that Robin is scared sometimes and you get mad. She says that
the man that lives here sometimes hurts her and won’t let her come
in and play all of the time. She says there’s a lady that lives
here, too. She said that the lady has asked Robin for help, but
Robin won’t help her. The woman tells Emma that the bad man hurt
her and her baby. And there’s something else here, but Emma won’t
tell me what it is. She said it’s really scary.”

Shock filled Matt’s face as his mouth gaped
open. Olivia knew too many details and he didn’t want her to be
traumatized by the crazy things going on. He planned to send her
away before Richard and Amy arrived.

“
Go back to sleep honey.
And if Emma comes back tell her you need to get some rest,
okay?”

“
Okay Daddy.”

Matt walked downstairs very shaken by the
conversation with Olivia. Walking to the sink, he felt his body
trembling as he looked out the window into the woods. Consumed by
fear, he then felt the comfort of Robin’s arms wrapping around his
waist. A relieved sigh left his lips as he closed his eyes and
reached down to touch her hands, but nothing was there. He felt the
embrace, but no warm arms or skin or flesh. He jumped and pinned
himself against the countertop, his eyes wide with fear. He felt
the color leave his face.

“
Who are you?” he
whispered. “What do you want from us?”

No one answered, but he heard footsteps
coming down the stairs. Then he saw Robin rubbing her eyes as she
walked into the kitchen.

“
Matt, what’s wrong
honey?” Robin walked to him and put her arms around him. “You’re
shaking. Baby, what is it? What’s wrong? Are you sick”

“
It… it… it touched me,”
he bit out as he pulled away from her.

“
What touched
you?”

He stammered. “I… I got up because I h.. I
heard Olly talking. She… she told me that a little girl has been
talking to her; said her name was Emma and she lives in the woods.
She also said that Emma has watched us dancing… in the kitchen.
Olly couldn’t know that.” He shook his head. “Olly also said Emma
told her that there was a man here who is mean to her and that
there is also a woman on the property. The woman has asked you for
help, but you won’t help her. And the little girl told her there’s
something else here, but it’s even scarier.”

Robin clasped her hand over her mouth, her
eyes wide.

Matt continued, “I was so shaken up, I came
down here to catch my breath and get something to drink. I thought
you might have followed me because I felt… I felt… I know I felt
your arms wrap around me, but… it wasn’t you… it… it was something
else. It was someone else.”

“
Honey, it’s okay,” she
said as she pulled him in close to her again.

His heart pounded against the walls of his
chest.

“
Daddy’s coming tomorrow.
It’s going to be okay,” she assured him.

They embraced quietly until she broke the
silence.

“
Honey, stop it,” she
insisted.

“
Stop what?” he
asked.

“
Stop pulling my
hair.”

“
Baby,” he began, “I’m not
pulling your hair. My hands are right here,” he said as he raised
his hands in the air.

“
Something just pulled my
hair.”

It couldn’t be denied that the activity in
the house was intensifying.

“
What is happening?” she
asked.

“
I don’t know,” he
answered as he pulled her back into his arms. “I don’t
know.”

Real

Robin stood at the top of the stairs looking
down into the hallway. A large red ball bounced down the stairs.
She felt herself running down the stairs to catch it, but then felt
as if she were falling. As she toppled end over end, she felt a
jerk in her neck and heard a loud crack. Everything went black.

Eyes wide open and her hand to her chest,
Robin woke up from the dream abruptly. She looked beside her to see
Matt still asleep. The sunlight beamed into the room. She closed
her eyes trying to calm herself. The dreams meant something, just
as they did when she was a child. She just wanted to
understand.

Olivia returned to Sheryl’s in preparation
for Richard and Amy’s arrival. Matt gave Sheryl an excuse that the
home was being sprayed for pests

It was noon as Robin prepared some cold cut
sandwiches and a vegetable tray for her parents. The outdoor table
on the east porch was covered with condiments.

As they enjoyed their lunch with Richard and
Amy, Robin and Matt made small talk about the weather and how
beautiful the trees on the property were. But, in spite of the chit
chat, Robin knew she couldn’t fool Richard for long. His
discernment always amazed her.

“
You guys doing okay?” he
asked with concern in his tone.

She nodded. “We’re okay.”

He shook his head, “Little girl, you can’t
lie to me.”

He pulled the napkin from his lap and put it
on the table.

“
I’m your daddy and I can
always tell when you’re not telling the truth. Ever since you were
small, you get a look on your face that lets me know you want to
say more, but you either don’t know how or you don’t want to tell
me what’s really going on.”

She dropped her head and rested her hands on
the tabletop. Then she felt Matt’s hand on top of hers. She
listened as her husband took the lead.

“
Richard, there are
strange things happening in the house,” he began, “Things that have
scared both of us. After what happened last night I’m not sure what
to believe anymore or what to believe
in
for that matter. In
fact, if it keeps up, I might just put this place up for sale and
move.”

“
Son,” Richard said,
“there’s a fine line between what we can see and what we can’t;
what’s real in this world and what’s real in the next one. It says
in the Bible that we don’t fight against flesh and blood, but
against principalities and things unseen.”

Robin could tell by the scowl on Matt’s face
he was out of his element.

“
You’ll have to forgive
me,” Matt said, “but I don’t know much about the Bible. What does
that mean?”

“
It means that each day we
struggle against the spiritual world; a world we can’t see. Things
that we think are just coincidence or luck… well they aren’t. We
fight a spiritual battle each day. Sounds to me like that’s what
you’ve been doing. It explains why you both look so
tired.”

“
I don’t know what is
going on. I know that at times both of us feel like we’ve lost our
minds. And, I’m not a religious man; so really, I’m at a complete
loss with this stuff.”

“
Matthew, tell me what’s
been happening.”

Listening carefully as Matt recounted all of
the situations and events in the house, Robin couldn’t believe how
outlandish everything sounded. It sounded made up. Robin added
details in here and there as Matt continued to explain everything.
After hearing the summary of events, Richard got up and grabbed his
bag and his Bible. All of them walked into the house. They stood in
the living room.

“
Son,” he started again,
“I know you don’t believe, but try. And Robin, I know you still
believe in a power of a greater source, so please use that. Both of
you try to pray with us.”

They nodded.

Robin watched the ritual that she had been
brought up understanding. The confidence her stepfather exuded
changed him from the back-woodsy man who raised her to an
accomplished man of God.

Richard put a drop of olive oil on his
finger and touched the door frame of the east entrance. “Right now,
what I’m doing is blessing the house. We use oil to drive out any
unclean or unwelcome spirits and we pray blessings on the home,” he
explained as he turned looking at Matt.

Matt and Robin followed hand in hand through
the house. Richard said the same prayer as he walked from room to
room:

“
I bless this house in the
name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May His presence always
dwell here and may His blanket of protection keep Matt and Robin
safe. May He bless their union and keep them always.”

When they reached the study the chill in the
air made it difficult to ignore that something spiritual was
present. Robin glanced over at her mother. Her face contorted, it
was as if she could read her mother’s thoughts.

“
Honey it’s freezing in
here,” Amy said as she rubbed her arms frantically.

“
This is the coldest room
in the house,” Matt answered. “Always has been.”

“
There’s a reason for
that,” she replied.

The blessing of the study yielded no unusual
activity. Robin fully expected the entities to manifest and then
attack, but they didn’t. Relief swept over her as they made their
way back down the stairs into the heart of the house.

They then proceeded outside. They walked
around the parameters of the land. When they were finished, they
stood on the porch overlooking the field.

“
This place has a
history,” Richard said.

“
What do you mean?” Matt
asked.

“
This place is old. Think
of the families that it’s seen. If the walls could talk, imagine
what they’d say. If you truly want to know what’s happening, look
into your house’s history. I think you may find some answers
there.”