As we eat, my gaze wanders over to Sharon. She is still acting out of character. She seems jumpier and more scared than usual; every little sound grabs her attention. It makes me wonder if they encountered something paranormal in the house. She keeps her gaze mostly in her lap, looking up occasionally.
The room's silence as we eat feels unnervingly oppressive, broken suddenly by the thunderous crash of a metal pan tumbling in the hallway. The deafening noise startles everyone, but Sharon is hit hardest—she leaps so high her body nearly collides with Andy's lap, her eyes wide with terror. I have a strong feeling that the house's unsettling influence has affected them in a similar way to how it affected Zeke and me.
"Wow, that scared the crap out of me," Zeke says with a laugh.
"What was that?" Donovan asks as he gets up and moves toward my door. He cautiously opens it and peeks into the hallway, where he sees a nurse picking up the metal pan and apologizing to everyone who has poked their heads out.
Andy wraps his arm around Sharon and draws her close, whispering reassuring words in her ear. He seems to be comforting her, assuring her that everything is okay. It is touching to see him look after her. Curious about her distress, I subtly glance at Zeke, silently encouraging him to find out what happened.
"Is everything okay? Did something happen at the house?" Zeke asks with concern. I move from my bed over to a chair near Andy, eagerly awaiting his answer. He looks at Sharon, and she nods as if giving him approval. Taking a deep breath, he grabs my hand with his free one. Just by his body language, whatever he is about to say can't be good. It seems like all we receive is a brief burst of happy news, followed by an overwhelming flood of bad news. There is no in-between.
"We bumped into my father as he was dropping Ted off at his house," he says, irritated not at me but at the sheriff. Donovan and Zeke look at each other in disbelief; then anger quickly takes over their features.
"What did you say?" Zeke and Donovan ask at the same time.
"As I mentioned, Ted is at home instead of in jail, where he should be. Apparently, good old Dad managed to secure a plea deal for him," Andy says, apparent disgust in his voice. "If he pleads guilty to assault and becomes an informant on your family's unsolved case, he'll get a lighter sentence." He looks at me with an apologetic expression. I know he feels guilty because the sheriff is his father, my grandfather. However, it isn't his fault; it is his father's. It's hard to believe my father came from such an evil man, since he was completely different from the sheriff in every way. The sheriff enjoys asserting his authority and forcing his will on those he considers inferior.
"How can they let him go home when he lives so close to us? How does that make sense? He shouldn't be allowed to be anywhere near our house." Zeke is pissed, and rightly so. The sheriff's department has repeatedly let us down and failed to protect us.
"I agree. He shouldn't be allowed that close to his victim. They should have at least put an ankle monitor on him. Instead of getting what he deserves, he will only be charged with a misdemeanor and not a felony," Andy explains. He squeezes my hand as tears run down my cheeks. Most of the time, I try to be tough and not show weakness, but I am just tired, emotionally and physically. It feels like everything is stacked against us.
Donovan has tried to persuade me to leave the house until the case is solved, but there is no way that is going to happen. The house is like a family member to me; I can't just abandon it. Even as we sit in the room, my whole body screams for me to go home. My life is tethered to that place. Explaining this to anyone is pointless; they don't understand the pull it has on me. Sharon finally looks over to me and gives a small smile. Andy looks over to her, and she nods at him as if giving permission to tell us something.
"Honey, tell her what happened at the house," she says softly. Andy looks at Sharon, as if asking permission, and she nods at him to go ahead.
"I know you mentioned strange things happening to you and Zeke before, but I never truly believed you until today." Then it hits me—they experienced some of the same paranormal events we did. "While Sharon was in your room retrieving the laptop and other items, I was making sure everything was locked securely. As I was finishing checking the window in the kitchen, a blood-curdling scream came from the living room. It scared me to death. I thought Sharon had gotten hurt because it was a woman's scream, and I went running to the entryway."
"It was so loud it startled me upstairs," Sharon says. "Quickly dropping everything on the bed, I ran to the top of the stairs. The only person there was Andy, standing at the bottom of the entryway, looking up at me, confused. I quickly ran back into the room, threw everything in the bag, including the paperwork, and ran down the stairs toward him."
"Seeing her upstairs confused me; I could have sworn it was her in the living room. So I asked her, 'Weren't you just in the living room?' and she told me no, she had been upstairs this whole time. We quietly approached the living room and looked inside, but it was completely dark. Instantly reaching for the light switch, my hand stopped midway because all the doors started opening and banging shut, except for the front door, as if the house was protesting our presence in it without you." As Andy tells the story, he seems in disbelief at what they witnessed. It has obviously affected Sharon more than him.
"That's not the only thing that happened," Sharon adds. She seems to open up as she recites the last bit of information. "While we were sitting in the car, staring at the house and trying to understand what had just happened, the lights suddenly illuminated brightly for about thirty seconds before turning off again, leaving the house in pitch blackness. The security lights outside even shut off. It was the weirdest and scariest thing we had ever encountered," Sharon says. She trembles as she recounts the details, clearly more affected by these events than Ted's release from jail. I don't blame her; encountering the paranormal for the first time is frightening. We had actually thought the activity had calmed down because we hadn't experienced anything in quite a while.
"It is very unsettling," Zeke agrees with them, sympathizing. "We didn't know what to do the first time that happened to us. It made us feel like we were losing our minds."
"Are you all trying to say our family home is haunted?" Donovan chimes in, obviously having a hard time believing what he is hearing. At that moment, a knock lands on my door.
"Come in," Donovan says loudly. My doctor walks in and smiles at all of us gathered together. He motions for me to come back to the bed. As I sit down, he starts to feel around my throat for swelling and asks how bad the pain is. It is tolerable as long as I don't try to talk too much.
"Well, Miss Sleighton, all of your tests came back fine. The swelling on your neck has gone down, and the bruising will be there for a while. It will slowly change colors from black and blue to a yellowish color. That's normal during healing. We are ready to discharge you tomorrow, provided no complications arise and as long as you come to your follow-up appointments," the doctor explains. I smile brightly at him, ready to leave and go home. He looks around at my loved ones and asks, "Do you have any questions?"
"How long before she will be able to talk?" Zeke asks.
"That just depends on how fast her vocal cords recover. She can try to talk each day. If it's still too painful, don't overdo it." The doctor bids us goodbye and leaves. I am happy and scared to go home tomorrow—scared about Ted and glad to be back in my house. That night, after everyone leaves except Zeke, I pull out my laptop and type two documents: one describing the events of what happened with Ted, what I remember of it anyway, and the other about my dream. Zeke lies on the small couch in the room, watching TV and dozing off. He looks uncomfortable; his legs hang over the edge. It makes me sad to think he will be cramped on it and in pain the next day. I start waving my arms in his direction, hoping he will notice, but he is oblivious. The only thing I can do is try to call him.
"Zeke," my voice rasps. It is weird because it sounds so foreign to me. His head slowly turns in my direction. I motion for him to come over. He hesitates for a minute and then walks to me.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? Do you need a doctor?" The concern in his voice is evident. I shake my head no to his question and pat the bed beside me. Scooting over, he lies on the bed with me. I rest my head on his chest. "Do you want me to lie here with you?" he asks.
Shaking my head yes against his chest makes him chuckle. We fit snugly together in the bed, and we both fall asleep quickly. It makes me feel safer having him close to me. I can hear the nurses come in throughout the night to check on us and giggle at the sight of this big man in bed with me. When we finally wake the next day, we have an audience standing in the room. Andy, Sharon, and Donovan are all smiling at us. Zeke slowly extracts himself from the bed, smiling sheepishly, and heads for the bathroom with his bag. He showers and gets dressed quickly as I awkwardly stare back at everyone.
Soon after, the doctor enters with my discharge papers and care instructions, reviewing them with me and everyone present. About thirty minutes later, we all pack into Sharon and Andy's SUV to return home. It never occurred to me that Zeke had ridden in the ambulance with me that day, mostly because I was unconscious. I had assumed he followed the ambulance to the hospital. Thankfully, Andy and Sharon have no problem driving us home; they have even been transporting Uncle Donovan back and forth. When we step outside, I breathe in deeply. It is a relief to get some fresh air and escape the hospital's antiseptic smell. The ride home feels like it takes forever, but in reality, it is only twenty minutes.
As we pull into the driveway, we notice Sheriff Dawson's car parked in Ted's driveway. At first, it appears they aren't outside until we step out of the car. Both of them are standing on Ted's porch, engaged in a heated discussion. It feels like déjà vu. I saw them not long after we first moved in, just as I am seeing them now. Andy looks pissed to see his dad standing beside my attacker. It doesn't shock or upset me because he has already shown his true colors. There is no love lost between us; he is no grandfather to me.
"What is he up to?" Andy says aloud. His anger is palpable.
"Rocky, go inside with Sharon. We need to talk to Sheriff Dawson," Zeke orders me.