The Fine Line Book One Between Worlds Series (21 page)

She told him about all of the strange
events.

“
Matt saw something Friday
night when he came home from work. We’ve all seen things in the
house and on the property, but, Friday night… I knew what it was
the moment he described it and somehow I think I’ve known all
along… I really stopped believing in those types of entities.
There’s a whole lot that I didn’t believe, but wow, am I getting an
entirely new look at things.”

Once Robin finished, she needed reassurance.
She needed to know that she wasn’t crazy.

“
I know how all of this
sounds.” She said.

“
Believe it or not, I get
it. My sister had some trouble like that when they moved into a new
place years ago. They had the home blessed and then cleansed.
There’s a difference, you know, between blessing and cleansing. You
need to get a hold of a paranormal investigator. That’s what my
sister and her husband did.”

Contemplating quietly, she knew the advice
Terri gave was sound. “You know Terri,” she continued as she
glanced up at him, “maybe researching the house will help me
understand. I need to see if there is anything that’s been written
about the house that could be useful.”

“
That might help,” he
agreed, “But, I think you need to go to the auditor’s office or the
recorder’s office or something like that, too. Some place where
they keep deeds and property records. Either way, I’ll call my
sister tonight after I get home and get the number of the people
they used.”

“
Thanks Terri. Please
don’t say anything to Wendy. I don’t want her to worry.”

“
It’s between me and you.
It’s going to be okay,” he concluded. The positivity in his voice
helped Robin immensely.

That evening, Robin picked Olivia up for the
holiday visit. Olivia talked about school and projects. Robin
listened politely. The love she felt for Olivia was like nothing
she’d ever felt. She loved her unconditionally as if she were her
own. The enjoyment she found in her beautiful little stepdaughter
was incomparable. It was a different kind of love; a motherly
love.

Still, there was a heaviness that lingered
in the air around Olivia, inexplicable in nature. Robin felt it.
Olivia had changed. Granted, she was getting older, but that didn’t
explain Robin’s feelings. She realized with Olivia growing older,
her independence would become more pronounced. Yet, what Robin
felt, the energy surrounding Olivia, seemed different. It couldn’t
be explained by normal growth and development. Sometimes, Olivia
would quiet for no reason and withdraw. There had been times in
recent months Robin noticed a difference in her personality.
Although fleeting in nature, the energy persisted and troubled
Robin.

She also knew that Sheryl had talked to Matt
about Olivia’s grades; they had been dropping. Robin knew the child
was just as brilliant as her father, so the dropping grades had no
plausible explanation. She had always been in gifted classes.

For now, however, Olivia was okay. Robin
took full advantage as they continued to drive down the darkened
streets toward home.

Pulling into the garage, Robin looked over
at Matt’s truck. Oddly, he’d come home early. Trudging in the snow
and then opening the kitchen door, Robin and Olivia tossed their
snow covered boots onto the mat beside the door. The sweet aroma of
food engulfed their senses.

Olivia bounded down to the basement to play.
Robin realized she had the entire evening with her husband and
stepdaughter.

She glanced into the dining room and saw the
table set and candles lit. She looked back into the kitchen and saw
Matt at the stove pulling out a casserole.

“
You’re home early,” she
said cordially.

“
I flexed out,” he
answered.

Turning around with the baked spaghetti in
his hands, he winked and then smiled.

“
Told ya I’d make it up to
you.”

After dinner, Olivia got ready for bed.
While she was upstairs showering, Robin and Matt sat at the dining
room table drinking the rest of their wine. Because she couldn’t
ignore the gut feelings any longer, she felt it best to unburden
her heart to Matt.

“
Something’s wrong,” she
said quietly.

“
What?”

“
Something’s not right
with Olly.”

“
With Olly? What do you
mean?” he asked.

Robin could see the obliviousness in Matt’s
gaze.

“
Boys, do you think?” he
asked inquisitively with caution in his voice.

“
She’s too young for boy
drama. Boys don’t come for a few more years,” Robin answered
confidently.

“
I’ll talk to her after
she gets her shower,” he concluded.

A blood curdling scream came from the
bathroom. Frantically, they pushed away from the table and darted
up the stairs. Olivia stood in the bathroom wrapped in a towel,
trembling as the water ran off of her skin onto the mat under her
feet. Matt ran to her and knelt.

“
Baby what’s wrong?” he
asked.

She put her arms around his neck and
wept.

“
Daddy, don’t let it hurt
me.”

“
What baby?
What?”

She cried uncontrollably.

“
I was drying off and the
door was cracked and I felt like someone was staring at me, so I
looked at the door and I saw something standing there! It wasn’t
Emma, it was something else!”

Robin watched Matt’s expression as his anger
swelled.

“
Can I please sleep in
your room tonight?” she pleaded.

“Sure,” he said as he stood. “In fact, why
don’t we camp out downstairs? We’ll put sleeping bags on the
floor.”

She nodded.

“
Do you want Robin to
braid your hair and help you get ready for bed?” he
asked.

She nodded again.

Robin sat on the bathroom floor and helped
Olivia as she dried off.

“
Olly,” she asked “is
there anything that’s bothering you? Anything you want to talk
about?”

Olly’s head dropped and hesitantly, she
answered, “I’m fine.”

“
You know that no matter
what, you can always talk to your dad or to me. We love you. I know
you’re scared about what just happened, but is there something
else? Anything else bothering you?”

“
No.”

“
It’s okay to be
afraid.”

“
I know,” she said as she
pulled her pajamas pants up. “Don’t leave me up here,” she
added.

“
I won’t. We’ll go down
together.”

After putting the wet towels and dirty
clothes in the hamper, Robin took Olivia’s hand and led her down
the stairs into the dining room.

“
Why don’t you wait here
and I’ll get a snack for you? Think that might help?” she asked
thoughtfully.

“
Yes,” Olivia
replied.

While Olivia ate her snack, Robin walked to
the basement to grab sleeping bags from storage. Matt sat on the
futon with the phone to his ear. She tried hard to figure out who
he was talking to, but couldn’t. So, she abandoned the
investigation and walked back upstairs.

With the sleeping bags scattered on the
floor, Olivia snuggled into hers and proceeded to watch a movie.
She calmed and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Feet up and the laptop resting on her legs,
Robin worked diligently approving assessments and trying hard to
stay focused on work. Nevertheless, as hard as she tried, she found
herself, once again, enveloped in concern about the happenings with
the house.

Finally, she heard the sound of footsteps
coming up from the basement. As he entered the living room and sat
down, Matt didn’t say a word.

“
Who were you talking to?”
she asked.

“
Your dad and my brother,”
he answered.

“
Why?” she
asked.

“
Because I really want to
understand what’s happening. You don’t realize how hard this is for
me, Robin.”

“
I know it’s hard for
you.”

“
I didn’t tell my brother
much. I really just wanted to hear his voice. Your dad, on the
other hand, talked to me about some things to try to help me out.
He agrees that we’re dealing with something… different in the
house.”

Robin looked down at Olivia. She slept
soundly.

“
Daddy thinks it’s
demonic, doesn’t he?”

“
Yes. How did you know
that?”

“
I told you. I was raised
in church. I know all of the signs. I was taught that any kind of
activity like this is directly related to a demonic presence. When
I changed my beliefs, demonic entities didn’t make much sense to me
anymore because I realized that ghosts do exist and not all bumps
in the night come from the pits of hell. I walked away from the
belief that there were demons. I know with all of my heart that
there are spirits trapped here on earth. Richard didn’t agree with
that and as far as I know he still doesn’t. He attributes
everything to demonic or angelic activity.

“
I know that some of what
is going on in the house is ghost activity. I’ve come to understand
that even more with some of the books I’m reading, so I’m not as
scared. I guess I can handle it a little better that way, but what
Olivia and you have seen is much darker, I think. In fact, I think
the three spirits that have been living here may not be here
anymore. I’m not completely sure about that though. What I am sure
about is that something else is here; something
scarier.”

“
What do we do?
Move?”

“
I talked to Terri today
and he’s getting a number for me. It’s for a team of paranormal
investigators.”

“
What the hell is
that?”

“According to the books I’ve read and the
internet research I’ve done, they can scientifically prove that a
house is or isn’t haunted,” Robin clarified.

“
So we’re an X-File
now?”

“
Don’t be like that Matt.
These investigators are just as much scientists as you
are.”

“
Frankly, I’m not sure
anything is going to help. I’m not sure what I believe anymore for
that matter,” he said desperately.

The next day at work, Terri gave Robin the
number to the Midwest Ghost Hunters. She put the number into her
purse and hoped the darker activity would stop which would make a
phone call to the investigators unnecessary. Robin didn’t mind the
three ghosts in the house because they didn’t seem to have any
intentions of harming anyone. Even so, she knew if they still
inhabited the house, they needed to be freed and cross over.

Poison for
Change

Matt sat at his desk looking over the latest
application he’d received. He requested the board hire an assistant
for him. He couldn’t keep working the long hours. It cut into his
life with Robin. He started feeling the distance between them and
could see her detaching herself.

The interviews he’d been conducting yielded
a promising employee: Audrey Mitchell, a beautiful young woman with
long black hair and an olive complexion. Attractive and voluptuous,
Matt couldn’t ignore how gorgeous she was.

After being hired and after only a few
weeks, Audrey proved to be a hard worker. She quickly cleaned up
the filing system and caught onto other tasks well. Finally, relief
lay in sight for Matt.

At the house, weeks passed again with no
activity. The holidays came and went as well as did Olivia’s
birthday. Despite hiring Audrey, however, Matt’s hours continued to
be longer than he liked. A domino effect ensued with Robin working
longer hours. Instead of leaving work at 6 in the evening, she
stayed sometimes until 8:00 p.m. The influx of cases, which was odd
for the time of year, kept her busy providing guidance to the
staff. More cases meant more assessments, too.

Robin had finally gained a significant
amount of respect from the employees. There were some, however,
that had quit, deciding to look for work elsewhere. This didn’t
bother her though. One of the many goals she had set when she took
the job was to form a united team. In fact, she had been very busy
preparing for an upcoming staff in-service meeting geared to build
morale and co-worker relationships, which added to work she needed
to get done after hours.

Fridays still allowed Robin to take time for
herself, but she missed Matt terribly. So, she decided to surprise
him for lunch. She put on a pair of jeans with her sneakers and a
royal blue hooded sweatshirt.