“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but yes. Pray away.”Knock your socks off.
Edward nodded, then moved to open the curtains. Morning spilled into the bedroom, banishing the dark. It did little to ease the unsettled emotion occupying William’s body, mind and spirit, but action was better than standing still and doing nothing.
Edward began to pray.
William had never prayed before and wasn’t going to start now. So he let Edward take the lead. To be honest, he felt more at ease just listening to Edward’s voice. The deep tone cut through the heavy atmosphere with ease, soothing William more than he thought possible.
“I’m reverting to my original request,” William announced when Edward finished with a sombreAmen. “I want that board out of the house ASAP.”
Edward didn’t protest. “I’m with you on that. Consider it gone. Out of sight, out of mind.”
Tears stung at the back of William’s eyes. He had the sudden urge to crumble, letting the pent-up emotion spill out. But before a single tear could fall, he sunk teeth into his lower lip and faked some sense of control. “Tell me that wasn’t real.”
“If I had it in me to play pretend with you, trust me, I would. But whatever that was, it happened. We both saw it.”
Felt it, William wanted to say.
The icy fingers of dead breath itching across skin, the scorch of unwavering eyes on his flesh.
William began to pace, his exhausted body aching with every step, whilst his mind was as alive of a wildfire. “I’m no expert in science, but therehasto be a plausible reason. Something to explain it. Wonky floorboards that made the glass slip, or… or…”
“Will.” Edward stood before him in a blink, resting cautious yet welcome hands on William’s shoulders. He leaned in, looking through the frame of dark lashes at him. “It’s okay to accept that something is going on here. It’s also very normal to be afraid right now. I don’t usually admit this, but I was about one glass-move away from literally shitting myself. But we are okay, we are safe. And we’re not alone.”
William thought his last comment was supposed to relax him, but ‘we’re not alone’further heightened the feeling that the manor really was occupied by the undead.
No, Edward had to be wrong. The moment William accepted the possibility of ghosts, he accepted the decline in his mental strength again. He was already grappling with sanity, sinking bitten nails into it just to try and hold on for a few moments longer.
“Look at me,” Edward commanded. “Don’t let your thoughts consume you. Talk to me, let me help.”
Easier said than done.
“What does this all mean?” William’s voice shook violently. “Tell me what I’m supposed to think and help me arrange all these thoughts in my head.”
“We can only go on what we believe.” Edward released William’s shoulders and stepped back. Taking the board from the floor, he tucked it beneath his arm, holding it casually as if it hadn’t just torn the seam between reality and unimaginable apart before their eyes. “Ibelievethat Hanbury manor is cursed by its past. Whether we want to accept the possibility of hauntings or ghosts, I think that whatever happened here has sunk into the bones of the place. It’s latched on. Stained it’s very foundations. And unless we find out why, the claws will never retract, and the mould will just keep festering.”
“I can’t accept that.” William wrapped his arms around himself just to fend off the horrid chill across his flesh. “I won’t believe it.”
“Why?” Edward tilted his head, inquiring with wide eyes.
“Because Hanbury ismine. The last thing I have which belonged to Archie. If I accept something is wrong, I confirm that everything I’ve done or hoped for, has been for nothing. I will not concede to some imaginary, pretend thing that you think is… living here.”
Anger was building inside of William, a territorial growl that made him want to scream at the shadows around him and tell whatever was watching to get the fuck out.
“Then you tell me what you want to do,” Edward said, closing the space between them. “As you’ve said, this is your home now. You’ve inherited these walls and floors and the memories that’ve been soaked into them. You are as responsible for them, you decide how this goes.”
“What if I don’t know how?” William added.
Edward lifted a singular brow upwards, followed by the left corner of his mouth. It was impossible not to notice his pillowy lower lip and how the flesh lost its colour when he pursed them. “Then you’re very lucky, because I’m here and I’m willing to offer my precious time to help you.”
“Wrong moment to be joking around,” William said, irritable from tiredness, fear and a concoction of other emotions.
“Sorry. I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”
It hasn’t gone unnoticed. Never stop. William flickered his eyes to the Ouija board. “If that’s the case, then let’s start by burning that board.”
“I’ll do whatever you want to make you feel comfortable. But you do know that destroying the communication tool isn’t going to deal with the issue at hand.”
“Then what is!” All of William’s frustration erupted out of him in a shout that disturbed the manor. “What’s going to solve my issue, Edward? You tell me. Do we burn Hanbury down? Leave it alone to rot. Should I sell up and pass the burden onto someone else? What can I possibly do that is going to fix this?”
