When Love Hurts and Ghosts Linger (9 page)

This thing tried forcing me back but there was no way I was going to let anyone take my son away. I fought back as much as I could, pushing myself to get to him until I was by Jack's side and I had him in my arms.

“Stay away from us….” The terror was in my voice as I cradled my boy.

“I will have you…and him….” 

And with a gust of wind this thing had gone. I looked around and there were so many ghosts, all with arms missing and all with neck wounds coming towards me. The seemed to be aiming for me and Jack and not in a friendly way! 

I closed my eyes and cried, yes they were ghosts but right now I was scared, scared for me and scared for Jack, this monster could throw me across the room, fuck knows what these could do.

“Robyn” a voice whispered.

As I opened my eyes there was my Nan, she seemed to be surrounded by light. Feeling she was there to help I ran towards her and she led me out of the morgue and back upstairs to the main office. I looked at her trying to calm my breathing and holding on to Jack extremely tight and just gave her a smile, she smiled back and again disappeared.

I went home after telling them I wasn’t too well and I didn’t let Jack out of my sight all night. I took my clothes off to have a shower and that’s when I noticed the bruising on my arm where this thing, whatever it was, had gripped me and across my back was marks from where I had hit stuff flying into them. I couldn’t believe it, this thing was somehow able to hurt me and I had no idea how to stop him.

Was I weak? I mean, I had, had my heart broken, not just by men but by death, I had a baby which made me protective and soft, I saw ghosts daily and I had no-one around to support me. I didn’t know if he was picking me because I was an easy target and that all the things the psychic and Jay had said to me was just bullshit, that I was simply the easiest person to go after because I was weak and I could see them, that was honestly how I felt.

I needed more help and this time I wasn’t going to go and see a dead psychic, I was going to go to and see one who could do a séance and try and communicate with someone or something that could explain all of this and of course was still alive. 

I researched and researched until I found one in a small town called Hollow in Georgia. I decided I was going to take Jack and go there looking for answers, yes it was a bit far but what choice did I have?

When I arrived in Georgia I had to hire a car to get to the small town as no buses or public transport seemed to go down that way. 

When I got to Hollow I saw it was a town well out of the way, it had a population of around three thousand odd people and was very dull and eerie, it seemed like the sun just didn’t shine here and was misty and cold.

There was only one bed and breakfast, no glamorous hotels or variety to choose from, just this one that was shabby on the outside and looked a bit run down. When I got in there I thought to myself that this bed and breakfast had probably not had any guests in some time as I doubt this hidden small town got any passing trade,. It needed some serious redecorating and some more windows as the inside seemed dim and lifeless, quite creepy if I’m being honest. 

People went on about their business but it seemed like a dead town, people seemed miserable and stuck, I wouldn’t want to live there and the only reason I was here was to see this woman. Why such people couldn’t live in nice places like Miami or Jamaica, you know, nice places to go, not creepy cold ones like this, I mean honestly!

I settled in and called her straight away, she demanded I come to her that evening for the séance and advised me there were going to be several other people present. She stated to me she wanted to have a chat with me first and then also to have a look at Jack. 

I didn’t really want Jack involved in this, I was going to take him with me and then put him down for a nap out of the way until it was over, I mean, I couldn’t exactly leave him at home and I couldn’t leave him at the hotel by himself, of course I felt bad about it, any mother would, but when you’re left with no choice you do what you have to do.

I arrived at her house not long after seven o’clock and it seemed darker outside her house than it was when I was in the bed and breakfast, clouds above were grey and turning black, the bushes surrounding the garden were of shade of dingy green, as if sunlight was not their friends, the garden had no flowers or anything to make it pretty, just patches of dead grass and a gravel pathway leading to the front door.

When I got inside the house it seemed beautiful, large open rooms with plenty of space, gorgeous sparkling chandeliers hanging from the ceilings in the rooms, and the big hall in which the séance was to take place was marble floored and stunning architecture all-around of angels and children, was unbelievably divine. 

“You must be Robyn” an old lady prompted rather friendly.

“Uhhh yes I am nice to meet you” I smiled at her and shook her hand.

“This must be Jack” she said smiling at him.

Jack smiled at the old lady and waived at her but I could see he was a little bit shy. She held Jack’s hand, he didn’t seem to mind and they seemed to connect, I watched Jack giggle and the old lady smiled at him, it was weird, like they were sharing something in the mind that I simply could not see. 

After she was done she ordered one of the ladies to take Jack into another room out of the way, naturally I was worried but the old lady assured me that Jack would be fine and that was the reason for this woman being there, to look after my son whilst we proceeded.

We were stood outside these huge double doors when she stopped and looked at me, her face seemed puzzled yet amused “your son has a great gift, he is just like you, a wonderful little boy, you should be proud.”

I smiled but was confused, “I am of course but tell me….what did you see?”

“His gift but something puzzles me, there is a connection between the two of you that I do not understand….” She started rubbing her hands together as if solving a mystery.

“Well he is my son of course we are connected” I looked at her like 
‘duh.'

But she said that’s not what she meant and that’s what this séance was going to help us figure out.  A man came out and said everything was ready and we all took a seat around the round table and joined hands as instructed. 

There were six of us in total but they were all there for the old lady, they worked with her and each brought their own unique talent. The old lady, I still to this day can’t remember her name, she was the psychic, the one who could communicate with them and deliver the séance, one woman was kind of like her and assisted her, two of the men were holy men and prayed as it all took place and the youngest of them all was the one who documented everything that was happening, he didn’t hold hands with us, he just sat behind the old lady writing all the time about what she was saying and the things she could see.

“I call out to you to talk about this girl Robyn, I know you have followed her here and we would like to speak with you” the old lady called out into thin air.

Now I believed I was going there to seek answers, not to speak to this bloody monster that had been chasing me and my son who I assumed she was speaking to and now she was willingly inviting him here? I couldn’t exactly run could I! We were strongly advised not to break hold of anyone’s hand. I felt scared, frightened, I was shaking and I swear at some point I think my heart stopped.

“We need your guidance, we need your answers” she carried on.

Guidance? I didn’t want any fucking guidance from this thing, my head was spinning and I just wanted to cry. The table started shaking and the chandelier above us started swinging, there was a breeze in the room but no windows were open, at that moment as scared as I was whatever was in there with us that day, right then it made me feel calm for some strange reason, I was no longer scared.

I looked at the old lady who then was looking directly into my eyes, her eyes had gone grey, like clouds were floating in them and her voice had changed.

“He comes for you Robyn, you are the key, you and your son are the connection he needs, this ghost does not want to be dead, he wants to be reborn and he needs your sacrifice to come here, he needs your soul, he will use your son to get it, if you give him your soul, you give your sons too, that is the key, with no soul inside your son he will take possession and be in the human world again….you must not go into the darkness, you must not go after him, you must do all you can to save your son….” This supernatural voice echoed.

“How can I make him go away, how can he get something from me if I don’t know how to give it? Why can’t he just leave me alone?” I growled at this thing speaking to me.

“There is a connection, he seeks you out, he will follow you but you are stronger, you have the will to fight him off, deep within you, you will find the answer, in the darkness he is stronger, you need to stay away, it is a place of terror and manipulation….” And then the old lady’s head fell low.

So basically this thing was coming for me because I was the key along with Jack because that was our connection, our souls and if I willed mine away I would will his away too and that way he would claim Jack’s body and be alive when he should be dead oh and some other sort of thing which I didn't quite understand.

And me? Well that was it, I guessed I would be forced to wander this dark place then forever if he had my soul I guess, I don't know, I was just guessing, I couldn’t believe it but then again I had seen far too much in my lifetime to not believe that something like this could actually be true.

The old woman looked up, this spirit or whatever it was that had spoken through her had gone and things seemed to be ok, but by inviting one for questions we had accidently invited him too, or maybe this thing that was after me just came anyway, I don’t know, however the circle was broken as I was lifted up by my throat and again thrown across the room. 

I got up and looked around, there floating above me was this black and grey thing, looked like a man with a goats head, sounds crazy I know but that’s what I saw, it was looking at me with those red eyes laughing and smiling callously at me. 

“You can’t stop me, one way or another I will have you and your son” he sniggered at me.

“Who the fuck are you? Why do you need me? WHY? Are you going to do to me what you do to them?” I screamed at it, my voice trembled with fear.

“I am he who will not tolerate this existence, I want to be free, to be born again, to fulfil that which I was denied before, Ivan the Fearless will rise again, and those souls you seem to be so fucking worried about, their arms are my trophies, with their souls incomplete they cannot move on, they are under my control…..” he told me harshly but still smiling.

“And their wounds?” I snapped back.

He came so close to me it was as if I could smell dead flesh “pain….” his evil voice rumbled lowly.

“Look, I don’t care who the fuck you are, Ivan the, what, for fuck sake, whoever you are, you may try and gain as many souls as you want but you will never ever have me or my son” I screamed feeling a bit confident.

Lights all around flickered on and off as we all looked around for this floating monster that seemed to have disappeared, but all we heard was the echoes of his malicious laugh. 

I remember after that I ran to the room where the lady had Jack, he was sleeping peacefully without a care in the world and thankfully he was untouched and unharmed. I took him in my arms and held him so tight I’m surprised I didn’t squeeze him to death. I was shaking all over like a washing machine, my insides were trembling and my heart was beating harder than a hammer on a nail. 

I sat with the old lady who tried to make me understand and said that there was something else she was not sure of but she gave me the name of the ghost written on a piece of paper. I didn’t actually want his name, I didn’t care, I just needed to find a way to make him go away but when she gave me that paper she gave it to me for good reason, at the time I just wasn’t thinking clearly.

I had his name which meant I could research who he was and hopefully learn how to defeat him. If I done that then maybe he would just go away, the people or souls or whatever he had would be free and Jack and I could be happy, just seeing normal ghosts I suppose, if there was such a thing. 

I left Hollow the following day, I didn’t want to stick around, although those people in that house were friendly, others in the town were not as I had been to visit the 
‘witch’
 as they called her and therefore I was bad to them too, some people aye, they simply have no fucking clue.

A few months went by before I saw another ghost after my visit with the old lady. It felt nice not to see them for a while, I felt normal, like everyone else going on about their day to day lives. I didn’t understand why but I didn’t question it at the time, I just lived in the moment that I felt free from all the death and misery. I didn’t understand where they had all gone, I hadn’t even felt a chill in such a long time and did the old woman help? I wasn’t too sure but I was enjoying just being a mother to Jack. 

The night in that house though replayed over in my mind and it still haunted me, this thing, this demon, ghost, whatever he was, he was after me and my son, there was no way I was ever going to let that happen. 

I had to find a way to stop him; I had to learn about who he was. I pulled the piece of paper from my pocket with his name on it, yes I know I said I didn’t want it but I never let it out of my sight, I knew once I was thinking clearly I would want to investigate this man, or thing further so I held onto it, carrying it with me so I never lost it.

I was sat in the library looking at history books, funny thing about this man was he was actually a historic legend, in the way that Vlad the Impaler was a legend, there was a whole book on his written by historians of this evil man and the history that came with him.