Relentless: Three Novels (4 page)

“We’re fresh out of them.”

“I guess pirates are popular this year,” I said. I went back to the kid’s section and decided on the racecar driver. It was a cute costume and on sale and Frank watched NASCAR and was trying to get Trenton into it. I didn’t much care for it, but I guessed it was a guy thing.

I brought the costume up to the counter and the cashier rang it up. As I handed her my credit card, I got the same sense of panic I had the night before. My heart raced and I began to sweat. I thought I might even be sick and held my hand over my mouth.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” the cashier asked.

“Yeah, I just need some fresh air.”

I signed the receipt, grabbed the bag and bolted out the door. I started my car and raced home. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I just knew I needed to get home. My hands shook on the steering wheel. I was sure I was going bat crazy. All I could feel was dread and I had no idea why. As I turned on to Bruce Street, I noticed Elizabeth’s Volkswagen in the cottage’s driveway. I parked my car behind hers and got out.

“I was just going to call your cell,” said Elizabeth. “Oh, wow, you look like death warmed over.”

“I haven’t eaten yet. I probably just need to eat. I had to rush around and pick up a Halloween costume for Trenton.”

I led Elizabeth in to the cottage and once again, found the house unlocked.

“You really shouldn’t leave your house unlocked,” she observed.

“I am positive that I locked it this morning. The same thing happened to me yesterday.”

“That’s weird. Maybe the ghost did it.” She began to laugh.

I looked around the house again to see if anyone was there. It was the same thing as the day before: no one was in there. I shook my head. “I’m starting to think I’m going crazy.”

Elizabeth put her arm on my shoulder. “You’re fine, Jodie. You are hungry and probably stressed.”

I agreed and made myself a sandwich. “Want a ham and cheese sandwich?” I asked.

“No, I’m good. Okay if I look around?”

“Sure. Make yourself at home.”

Elizabeth made her way around the cottage, looking in the all the rooms. “I have to say this place does have an eerie feel to it. There are cold spots. Drafts, but no windows open.”

“Are you sure you just don’t think that because I said something?”

“No, come here for a second.”

Elizabeth was standing in the corner of Trenton’s room, I joined her. “See it’s really cold right in this corner. But when you move to the other side, it’s a normal temperature.”

I walked to the other side of the room and realized she was right. The temperature in the corner of the room was a great deal colder than the rest.

“Gah! It’s freezing over here!” She shivered.

“So, what do you think? Is there a ghost in here?” I asked her.

“I’m not sure. I really don’t know too much about this kind of thing. I just remember Margaux telling me that when a spirit is in a room, it’s extremely cold.”

“In just one spot?”

“I don’t know. It seems weird. Your cottage is both crazy cute and very creepy.”

I shook my head. “There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for all of this…coldness and seeing things.”

“You said yourself you saw a ghost last night.”

“I thought I did.” I took a bite of my sandwich and started to feel better after I ate about half of it.

“But you aren’t totally sure?”

We meandered into Trenton’s room. “Yeah, I thought I knew what I saw, but I wasn’t completely positive. You know I don’t believe in that kind of thing, Liz.”

I looked up at Trenton’s dresser and glanced at his Elmo doll. I thought I had seen it slightly move and then dismissed my fear. Nothing would happen because Elizabeth was here with me.

“What’s up, Elmo?” I joked.

Before I could look away, Elmo was heaved at my face and bounced off my nose and hit the floor. Then it skittered across the floor on its legs, as if walking. I was in utter shock.

Elizabeth screamed. I screamed. We ran into the kitchen and hugged each other, practically crying.

“What the hell
was
that, Jodie? Are you playing some sort of trick on me?”

“No. Are you kidding? How would I do that, and why?”

“I want to go home,” Elizabeth said.

“Please stay with me. I’m petrified.”

“So, come to
my
house.”

“No, I can’t let them run me off. I pay $500 a month to live here.”

“You’re officially crazy, Jodie. You’re staying in this…this haunted cottage?”

“We’ll stay up all night.”

She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Gosh, Jodie, the things I do for you!”

“Thank you, thank you. You’re a real friend.”

“Yeah, a real friend. If anything like that happens again, I’m out of here.”

We hung out on the couch for the rest of the night watching Disney videos and trying to calm down.

Chapter Six

For the next couple of weeks, the cottage was peaceful. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I was starting to think I had imagined the ghost. I couldn’t quite come up with an explanation for the Elmo doll being thrown at me and walking across the floor, but that time, I had a witness. Elizabeth was just as baffled as I was. I was sure there had to be some kind of logical reason. I tried not to think about it.

One Saturday afternoon, after being hounded by Trenton for a while, I decided to get him a puppy. I asked him why he wanted a puppy so badly and he said, “So, I won’t be scared anymore.”

I kind of felt the same way. Maybe adding an animal to our family would make us feel more protected.

Buck was a beagle mix that we found at the animal shelter. He was the cutest little thing, and Trenton adored him and had named him. Even though Buck was just a small puppy, I felt a little safer having him around. He did bark his little puppy barks if he noticed things, such as someone coming to the door, or when he wanted to be let out into the little back yard, which was enclosed with a little picket fence.

Buck was such a smart little puppy and within a couple of days, he was housebroken and Ray even came over and put a doggie door in the kitchen door, so Buck could relieve himself outside while I was at work and then run back in. He had the waggiest tail, ever, and he confined his chewing to the chew bones we had gotten him. I got used to the little jingle of his dog license as he galloped around the house with Trenton. It was a comforting sound.

Trenton did sleep better with the dog in his bed. He even looked forward to bedtime, something that had never happened before.

* * *

Thursday evening, Trenton had a soccer game. I took Buck along to the park to watch and he looked so cute with his little red leash and collar.

Trenton was a great athlete. That was something he didn’t get from me. I cheered him on as he got his team a goal. My ex was at the game, too, and he cheered on Trenton from the stands, where I was sitting close to the field in my lawn chair. I was glad Frank didn’t try to sit with me since the court said he was supposed to stay away from me unless we were dropping off or picking up Trenton.

Missy, Elizabeth’s daughter, also played on his co-ed team. She was a pretty good player, too. I was surprised that Elizabeth didn’t say hello to me. She and I usually sat together at the games but ever since the Elmo incident a couple of weeks back, I couldn’t help but feel that she was avoiding me. I knew she was scared, and had canceled coming over for dinner the next night.

I felt a little abandoned by her. She and I had been really close friends and I missed her. I decided to get out of my lawn chair and go talk to her. I pulled Buck along on his leash. I discovered her sitting on a blanket on the other side of the field.

“Hello, stranger,” I said. Elizabeth turned her head toward me and said, “Hello.” She didn’t look thrilled to see me.

“Can I sit down?” I asked softly.

“Sure, when did you get a dog?”

“We got Buck last week. And guess, what? No more ghosts.”

“Good to know. He’s so darn cute.”

Buck wiggled in her arms as she picked him up and she put him down after he licked her face and she stuck out her tongue. “Ack, he kissed me! Dog germs!”

I chuckled. “Elizabeth, how come you don’t call me anymore?”

She looked at me a little embarrassed. “I’ve been super busy.” I could tell she was lying.

“Is it because of what happened at my home that night?”

She turned her head. “I don’t want to talk about your cottage or what is in it.”

“What is going on?” I demanded.

Elizabeth broke out in tears.

“Liz, what’s wrong? We are good friends and you can tell me anything! Please, talk to me!”

She wiped her eyes. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but I’m going to. I don’t care how crazy I sound. The evening I left your house, I saw something. Something weird.”

“Like a ghost?”

She nodded her head. “I was in my car about to drive off and all of a sudden, there was a man next to me. In my car! He had blood all over him and a big hole in his head! I was so scared that I couldn’t even scream!”

“What? Oh, my goodness!”

“He was on the passenger side. He was a middle-aged man, and he told me that I need to stay away from the cottage. He said if I didn’t stay away, then he would come for me. It was a threat, Jodie! From a ghost! I’ve been even too scared to phone you about it, in case he…can hear our conversations.”

I stared at her for a while, not sure what to say. I knew Elizabeth and she wasn’t crazy. This wouldn’t be something she would make up either. “I believe you,” I said.

“You do? I’m not sure if I even believe me. I feel bad making fun of you when you saw a ghost. And then I saw one and he talked to me.”

“Don’t feel bad. This whole thing’s deranged. I don’t know what is going on either.”

“Have you seen anything else since that night?”

“No, in fact, the cottage has been quiet. Ever since we got the puppy, it’s been like nothing weird ever happened there.”

“The puppy keeps them at bay? Wow, that’s good, though.” She scratched Buck behind the ears. “You good boy.”

Buck’s tail thumped and he gave her an open-mouthed doggie smile.

“Liz, I wish you would have told me sooner why I hadn’t seen you at all lately.”

“I feel like a crazy person. Saying it out loud makes it sound even worse.”

“I felt the same way when I told you. Liz, suppose there really are ghosts? Suppose we are really seeing them and are not crazy?”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing. I still say you should call my friend, Margaux. She is a professional at these things.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. I’m still a little skeptical.”

“Skeptical? Jodie, what else do you need to see to convince you? We both saw ghosts. We have both been talked to by ghosts. I was there when a ghost threw Elmo at you and make him walk across the floor! It was like a dang…
Chucky
movie!”

“Ugh, you would have to remind me of that!”

“It’s safe to say your cottage is not only haunted. It is
very
haunted.”

I looked away from her and pretended to be deep in thought. “I just don’t want Trenton to be scared or to know what is going on in the cottage.”

“I know, but what if it starts bothering him? What if they scare him? He’s just a little guy.”

I thought about it for a moment and agreed to call Elizabeth’s friend if anything else happened.

* * *

Trenton fell asleep on the way home from his soccer game. I picked up his sleeping body and carried him to his bed. Buck was like his little shadow and was glued to his side, even when he was asleep. I removed his socks and shoes and covered him up with his blankets. I kissed him on the top of his head and shut off the light. Buck cuddled up next to Trenton and yawned, laying his head on the pillow next to Trenton’s head. It was comforting to have the little dog in our family.

Shutting his door, I headed to the bathroom to take a hot bath. It had been a cold evening and the heat of the water felt fantastic on my skin. I soaked a washcloth in the water and covered my eyes with it. It was nice to be able to relax. I took a long deep breath and breathed in the steam of the tub. I began to drift off when I heard the noise of Trenton’s toy fire truck go off in the living room.

“Trenton, are you up?” There was no answer. The toy fire truck siren went off again. “Trenton, it’s too late to be playing.” Then, I heard the television go on.

“Sheesh,” I said. I got out of the tub, annoyed. Trenton knew he was not supposed to be up playing this late. I put on my bathrobe and opened the door. I looked into the living room and saw a figure of a little boy sitting on the carpet playing with my son’s toys. It was a little white-faced ghost child. All I could do was scream and shake, which I did until the ghost child vanished.

Chapter Seven

I was surprised that I hadn’t awakened Trenton, but Buck yipped softly at my disturbance and then settled down again. I stood in the living room for a while, not sure what to do next.

I decided to call Ray. I didn’t care if it was late. I had had just about enough of this nonsense. This scary nonsense.
I needed answers!

His phone rang a few times and went to his voicemail. I left him a message begging him to call me as soon as possible.

I decided I was going to sleep with Trenton, to make sure he was safe. I climbed into his twin bed with the puppy between us and remained awake the rest of the night. When he awoke, he asked me how come I was sleeping with him. I told him my bed wasn’t comfortable. He gave me a strange look and said, “Mommy, you’ve seen them, too, haven’t you?”

My heart dropped. “You have seen the little boy and his mommy?”

He nodded sleepily and reached over the dog for my hand. I held it in mine. He was so small, so sweet. I was so glad to be near him tonight.