Page 66 of Fighting My Demons

Screams hit my ears, screams of the past, the energy very much alive, and I can almost witness what happened in there, making me wonder what I would see if I allowed it in. However, I know Latham can see everything play out like a live broadcast. He doesn't have to focus as we do.

He stops in the entryway of the kitchen. Bella is unaware of us watching him until she reaches a door further down and stops. She turns and looks over at us while Latham stares into the gallery-style kitchen. His eyes watch what had happened all those years ago. The anger radiating off him makes my fingers twitch.

"What is it?" Bella asks, and he pulls himself away to look at her.

"Latham can see the past. This place has a lot of energy. It can cast. Like watching a movie of certain scenes play out," Blaine explains to her, and she glances briefly at the door before she swallows.

"Like everything?" she asks.

"If the emotion is strong enough surrounding the incident, yes," Latham answers before he walks past me.

Making my way down the hall, we stop beside her. The closed door sends a shudder up my spine, and her hand shakes on the doorknob when I realize she can't bring herself to open it.

Latham steps closer to her, grabs her hand, turning the doorknob, and pushes the door open. He tugs Bella to him, tucking her under his arm before he steps aside. The room is freezing despite the fact that the rest of the house is warm. A shiver runs up my spine, and the rotting scent of death wafts to my nose, which makes me look at Latham, who is completely frozen.

He peers down at Bella, whose eyes are locked on her bed, making me glance at it. Chains and thick cuffs hang off the headboard and ankle braces. Blaine is already inspecting the room when he picks up a straight jacket. His eyes then fall on the cupboard. He walks over to it, opens the doors, and I am blasted with energy, a cast falling before my eyes, unable to stop it.

The past vision motion moves in front of my eyes like I am in the room with her. She is a teenager, and I watch her run to the door, banging on and screaming, begging and pleading to be let out of the room. Her face is streaked with tears before she glances behind me, and I turn to see what she is looking at, but nothing is there. However, whatever she is staring at is very real as she bolts for the cupboard, hiding in it. I can just make out her face, her eyes watching something, and I move to the cupboard, standing inside it.

That is when I see him, the ghostly figure standing in her room, the dark entity that taints and still haunts her. The only thing I can tell is it is male and the faceless monster that scares the life from her angelic face. The cast moves forward, and I watch as who I assume must be her parents and her brother come rushing into the room before dragging her out of the cupboard, kicking and screaming, before strapping her to the bed. I watch her beg and plead, screaming for them to look behind them when they turn, leaving her with the monster in the room.

Latham moves through the room, but even I can tell he is unsure who it is, leaving two possibilities. They are strong enough to mask themselves completely, or the negative energy she saw she conjured up and made real, leaving a lasting effect on the place, exactly how poltergeists are created. Negative energy is fueled by fear, not a real living being or a once-living being, but dark matter created only by conjured thoughts until the energy lingers.

Latham is watching the cast play out when a new one starts. Bella's eyes move as she watches the figure standing over her. Still, he only touches her, caresses her, never does anything too inappropriate when suddenly he disappears, and the door opens up. The ghostly scene plays out, and I can see Bella still standing at the door, her breathing harsher, like she is about to have a panic attack. I move toward her to comfort her. I wrap my arms around her, turning her into my chest before looking back in the room to see who’d walked in during the cast.

It is her brother.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Xavier

In the cast, Bella is now asleep while he stands over her. I watch as he peels the blankets back and strokes her hair before he pulls a flip phone out of his pocket. He takes a few pictures of her barely clothed body before running his hands up her leg, which makes her wake. She jumps and peers up at him. Latham growls, and I know he is watching the same thing. We watch as they talk for a second. He continues rubbing her tied-down legs, and she continues to struggle in her restraints. Bella turns away when he tries to grab her face, only for him to slap her, and the sight causes me to jump.

The defiance in her eyes is evident when he shows her something on his phone, and she hangs her head and her shoulders slump. They talk some more. Well, Brian does. However, we can't hear words. Although I can tell she doesn't like whatever he is saying to her when he suddenly removes the cuffs.

Her brother continues to take photos of her in different states of undress until she is completely naked. When he finishes, he restrains her again before pulling a torch from his pocket and handing it to her. He turns it on and places it in her hand before walking out, leaving her in the dark with just a torch.

"Why?" I hear Latham ask her, and she untucks her face from my chest.

"Why what?" she asks as she peers over at him.

"What did he show you on the phone?" Latham asks her, and I feel her go rigid in my arms.

"Pictures of my mother."

"Why?"

"To allow him to take the photos. He said Dad's empire was falling, that he owed some bad people money, that if I didn't give him the photos, the man would hurt mum again. He used to give me the torch as payment," she answers, and I feel shame course through the air.

"So you did as he asked?" Latham asks, and I smell her shame seep into my nostrils.

"I found out later the pictures were sent to the man who supposedly bought me to clear the debt."

Latham nods. Her skin heats, and I glance down at her and tip her chin up to meet my gaze.

"What is it?"

Bella shakes her head, and Latham growls at me.