Haunted by Willow Cross, Ebyss Read Free Book Online Page B

moment, I thought she was going to cry.  
    “I’m so sorry!   I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” I said.
    Lola shook her head and replied, “No, it’s not you.   I-I just can’t go home.   Tina’s working tonight.”
    “Okay?”
    She took a deep breath and grabbing my hand, pulled me into the living room.   “Okay, sit down.   And don’t laugh at me,” she said as she plopped on the couch.
    I eased my pregnant body onto the other end, leaned back, and rested my feet in her lap.   “Spill it, sister.   I promise not to laugh.”
    “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to blurt it out.”
    I laughed.   “You’re pregnant?”
    Lola rolled her eyes and let out a nervous chuckle.   “No!   Now shut up and let me talk.”
    I gave her my best long suffering expression and waited for her to continue.
    “My house is haunted.”
    “What makes you think it’s haunted?”
    She paused for a moment to think it over, before saying, “I see shadows all the time.   Places where there shouldn’t be any.   When I’m upstairs I feel like someone’s watching me, it really creeps me out.   And then there’s the other thing.”
      “What other thing?”
    She shook her head.   “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
    “I already think you’re crazy,” I laughed, “But that has nothing to do with your haunted house.   So what other thing?”
    It took Lola a long time to answer me.   Several minutes it seemed.   When she finally did, the words nearly tumbled from her lips.   “I’m hearing voices.   I know that sounds nuts, but every time I sleep alone in the house, something whispers my name in my ear and wakes me up.”  
    Lola scrutinized my face and waited for me to say something.
    I didn’t know what to say.   I believed her.   After my experience with the Protector, it would have been hypocritical for me not to.  
    “Well say something!”
    “What do you want me to say?   You’re house is haunted.”
    Her face flooded with relief as she sighed.   “So what do I do?”
    “Move?”
    We both laughed a bit, and of course Lola slept over that night.   In fact, for several weeks, every time Tina worked, she stayed with us.   The atmosphere in the house continued to bother her.   Within that time period, Tina decided to move in with her boyfriend.   Unable to bear the idea of living there alone, Lola moved back in with her parents.  
    Now we fast forward a couple months to a month before my first child was born.   This was probably one of the single most ridiculously arrogant decisions I’ve ever made.   Solely because I was under the impression I knew what I was getting into.   I soon found out I didn’t.
    Our tiny apartment was in the top floor of one of the downtown businesses.   Not only were the stairs getting more and more difficult to navigate, but the landlord didn’t want any children living there.   We’d been looking for a new place for several months when Lola’s duplex opened up.   The price was right, it was a beautiful place, and it was close enough to my husband’s job that he could easily walk to work if he needed to.    Sure it was haunted, but I’d already had an experience with ghosts, so no big deal--right?
    Honestly, I lumped Lola’s feelings in with Sandy’s and figured it would be the same as the last time.  
    Our first week there, I did feel uncomfortable, but I was pretty sure it was because of everything Lola had told me.   The second week there…I began to clearly understand how both Lola and Sandy had felt.
    It started with shadows where shadows shouldn’t be.   Have you ever looked out a window on a sunny day?   The sunlight streams in heating the entire room and fills it with light.   Then, for no apparent reason, a shadow would form on the floor.   Now I’m not talking about shadows shaped like a person, ghoul, or devil.   Just an ordinary, circular shadow in the center of the sunlit floor, with