The Haunting at Grays Harbor (The River Book 8) by Michael Richan Read Free Book Online Page B

the yard as he went. Eventually he found himself at the
large open archway that was the main entrance to Eximere. He went inside and
found Steven.
    “Nothing out there,” Roy said. “Looked around the whole
place. No Anita.”
    “I saw her!” Steven said, looking up at Roy. “I felt her!”
    “I don’t know what to tell you,” Roy said. “If she was here,
she’s gone.”
    Steven stood up and walked back into the drawing room, Roy
following him. He stood at the edge of the floor and looked out into the yard.
    “See? She’s not there,” Roy said. “Don’t know what you saw.”
    “I saw her,” Steven said emphatically, turning to Roy. “I
felt her. I’m not making it up. I’m not hallucinating. She was there.”
    The lights flickered again, dropping suddenly as if a power
outage had hit. They came back on after a few seconds.
    “That’s getting annoying,” Roy said.
    Steven grabbed his father by the shoulder and pointed out
into the yard. “Look!”
    The trees and bushes were gone. Dirt and rock ran from the
house to the edge of the cave. It was as though the landscaping had been peeled
up while the lights were out.
    Steven looked at Roy, expecting him to say something. He just
shook his head as he looked out over the yard, confused. “I don’t know,” Roy
said. “I’m as confused as you are.”
     
    ◊
     
    It was late, and neither wanted to drive back to Seattle, so
they decided to spend the night at Eximere. It was difficult as the light
levels kept changing, and there were no blinds on the windows to darken the
rooms. Steven tossed and turned, dreaming of a large blade that would come down
and sever him in half, and of his bed and room suddenly disappearing, leaving
him to fall through the air to the floor of the cave.
    When he met Roy for coffee in the kitchen the next morning,
Roy looked as unrested as himself.
    “What a shitty night’s sleep,” Steven said.
    “Yeah, the exact opposite of what I’m used to here,” Roy replied.
“I might have slept better in that flea bag motel in town.”
    “Have you checked on the state of things yet?” Steven asked,
pouring himself a cup of coffee.
    “The wall’s still gone,” Roy said. “But the landscaping is
back.”
    “What is going on here?” Steven said, sitting at the table
with his coffee and taking a sip. “I feel like we’ve lost paradise.”
    “I think we should go check on Barbara this morning,” Roy
said. “See if things worked out.”
    “I’m more worried about this place,” Steven said. “We need to
figure out what’s happening here and see if we can reverse it. I wonder if
Eliza would know how to interpret the changes in that legend shelf. I want to
call her.”
    “Good, we can do that on the way to Barbara’s,” Roy said.
    “I left Barbara my number,” Steven said. “She’ll call us if
things didn’t work out.”
    “If she called, we wouldn’t know, down here,” Roy said. “Tell
you what. I’ll buy you breakfast in Aberdeen. You can call Eliza and ask her,
and we’ll see if Barbara has called.”
    “Deal,” Steven said, rising from the table. “I’ll get cleaned
up and be ready to go in ten minutes. Hopefully the hot water still works.”
    “I’ll be here,” Roy said, flipping the pages of the book he
was reading. “I’ve been ready to go for the last three hours.”
     
    ◊
     
    Once they got back onto the main road, Steven’s reception
kicked in and he saw there was a message waiting.
    “This might be her,” he told Roy as he pressed play and
turned on the speakerphone.
    “Steven, it’s me, Barbara Winters,” came the voice from the
small speaker. “It’s Saturday morning, early. I’ll start by saying I apologize.
I should have listened to you and Roy. Sam did his thing and packed up and went
last night a couple of hours after you left, claiming everything was fixed. I
can tell you it’s not fixed, it’s worse. Now my other daughter is terrified –
she becomes very ill when she