The Fine Line Book One Between Worlds Series (18 page)

Even with the clear explanation given by
Robin, Matt still had difficulty believing in the supernatural. He
believed if he couldn’t see it or couldn’t touch it, then it didn’t
exist. There was always a logical explanation.

His rationalizations brought him back to the
vividness of a child’s imagination. He believed it was possible
that Robin’s imagination and creative nature may have caused some
of the things she explained she saw. Nevertheless, he still
couldn’t find an explanation for the man standing in the
doorway.

The Awakening

The gorgeous Saturday afternoon gave Matt
the opportunity to mow the large yard and gave Robin the
opportunity to work on laundry. As she stood folding the fluffy
towels, she felt that performing a blessing on the house would be
the first step in bringing peace to the home.

Richard had not agreed with her change in
her faith, but he respected it. He had always told her he wouldn’t
judge her. He had always encouraged her to seek out the truth in
her own way and be independent in her beliefs.

She picked up her cell phone lying on the
laundry table and dialed. The happy voice of her stepdad boomed
from the device. With her head bent and the phone to her ear, she
really didn’t have any idea where to begin. So, she made small
talk, but after a few moments Richard knew something was wrong.

“
What’s going on ladybug?
Something’s wrong,” he stated bluntly.

“
Daddy,” she started, “the
house needs blessed. I thought maybe you could…”

“
But I thought…” he
started.

“
I know. I
know.”

“
You told me you didn’t
believe in all that anymore.”

“
Daddy, I know what I
said. But I’ve also said there’s a little bit of truth in every
religion. How could a blessing on the house hurt anything, you
know?”

“
Why don’t you tell me
what’s been happening baby girl? You sound scared.”

“
I just want a blessing
done on the house. It will make me feel better,” she
answered.

“
Okay. Well, tomorrow
afternoon okay with you? Me and your mom will make a day of
it.”

“
The sooner, the better,
Daddy.”

“
See you tomorrow,” he
concluded.

****

The sun’s heat wasn’t overpowering yet as
Matt drove along the property line on the riding mower. The sound
of the blades chopping up the grass reminded him of white noise as
he zipped up and down the large lawn on the edge of the field. From
the corner of his eye he saw Mr. O’Bryan waving and walking toward
him. He turned off the mower, hopped off, and with a friendly
smile, met him in the middle of the field, hands outstretched for a
friendly shake.

Curtis O’Bryan had always been kind to Matt
and Robin. He had conveyed a deep appreciation for the land and his
family during the times he and Matt had talked. They met one
another when the renovations on the house began. Curtis conveyed to
Matt how happy he was to finally have neighbors again.

Curtis and his wife, Katie, had made Matt
and Robin feel very welcome. The O’Bryan’s had baked pies. Robin
and Matt had also been to their home for dinner a few times.

“
See ya’all made it
through the winter and the spring in that ol’ place,” Curtis said
with a smile.

“
Yes. Here we are in June
already. Can’t believe it,” Matt said with a nod as he brushed the
sweat from his face.

“
You and the wife doing
okay?” Curtis asked inquisitively.

“
She’s tired, but we both
are. Seems like all we do is work.”

“
I remember what that was
like,” he started, “Katie was a school teacher; seemed like we
never saw each other much before we retired. Don’t know how we
found the time to raise three kids. You two expecting any little
ones yet?”

“
Not yet.”

“
I see a little girl
playing over there,” he continued.

“
She’s mine from a
previous marriage.”

“
I see. Well our grandkids
are at our house constantly when the weather’s warm, so anytime she
wants someone to come over and play, well, you just send her our
way. We’d love to have her. I know my granddaughter gets awfully
bored sometimes when she’s here. My son and his wife are airline
pilots, so they’re gone a lot. During the winter months she is
usually with her mom’s mom, but during the summer she can’t seem to
get enough of us.”

“
I will certainly send
Olivia over. She’s coming to visit today.” He paused hesitantly as
his mind went to a more serious place. “Let me ask you something
Curt…”

“
Sure,” he answered as he
crossed his arms.

“
The people who lived here
before, did they ever say anything to you about strange things
happening in the house?”

Curtis took in a deep breath and then
exhaled. “Well, the house sat empty for about 12 years or so when
you folks decided to buy it. The people that lived there before
kept to themselves. They said ‘hello’ to us maybe twice the entire
time they lived there; never said anything to us about anything
strange though. Everything okay?”

“
I was just curious.” He
didn’t hide his unsettledness well because Curtis caught on
quickly.

“
You sure you two are
okay?” he asked with concern in his tone.

“
Oh yes. It’s nothing
serious, but Robin and I hear things sometimes. And I’ve been
feeling a little strange too.”

“
I don’t know anything for
sure, but that house,” he said as he lifted his chin toward the
daunting structure, “has a long history. You might want to research
it. Maybe that’ll help you understand what’s happening.”

“
Okay, Curt. Well, um,
thanks. I better get back to work though. I’ll send Olivia over
when she gets here,” Matt concluded as he waved and headed back to
the mower.

Diligently, he continued mowing the grass.
He saw Sheryl’s car pulling up the drive and watched as Robin
walked off of the porch. Her arms were outstretched as Olivia leapt
into them. He saw Sheryl wave as she drove back down the long lane
to the main road.

Things had calmed down with Sheryl, which
delighted him. Time had played a large part in her adjusting to the
current situation. Matt figured Sheryl had realized there was no
point in fighting about Robin. After all, she had never been a
trooper for lost causes and Matt’s hopeless love for Robin would
trump anything Sheryl could throw his way.

As his eyes remained fixed on the house,
something in the window of the study seemed unusual. Someone stood
there. He studied the figure industriously trying to determine
whether it was male or female. The figure stared right into his
eyes. He felt it.

Without hesitation, he jumped off of the
mower and ran up to the porch, throwing open the screen door. After
kicking off his grass covered shoes, he flew passed Robin and
Olivia, running up the stairs. He heard Robin trailing behind
saying,

“
What’s wrong? Are you
okay?”

He felt the anger swell within him as he
neared the study. He burst into the room to find no one.

“
What the hell is going on
here!”

“
Matt, what’s wrong?” she
asked calmly.

He plopped into his rolling desk chair and
shook his head. Expressionless, he gazed up at Robin who stood in
the doorway.

“
Okay, Robin,” he began,
“I am starting to wonder if you’re right. Something’s going on
here.”

“
What happened?” she
whispered as she walked toward him. She pulled her own rolling
chair over and sat facing him, her hands resting his
thighs.

The words didn’t pass through his lips
easily. His healthy skepticism failed him this time.

“
I was in the field. I saw
someone here, in this room, looking out the window at me. I got the
distinct feeling it was the man that stood in our doorway the other
night.”

“
My dad is coming tomorrow
to bless the house.” Her hand touched his warm cheek. “Everything
will be okay after that.”

“
There has to be an
explanation for all of this!” His training and common sense forced
him to backpedal. It wasn’t possible for him to give up on logic
yet.

“
We’ll figure it out
together,” she concluded

****

The day wore on. Troubled by the
conversation with her husband, Robin knew staying busy was her best
option for keeping her mind off of things. So she continued with
her laundry chores. Standing in the basement at the long table with
towels scattered about, she listened to the music playing on her
phone. Suddenly, the music faded out and then stopped. She grabbed
the device and shook it. “Damn,” she whispered. She assumed the
battery went dead.

Quickly, the room temperature dropped and
the hair on her arms and neck stood up as the goose bumps peppered
her skin. The fog from her lungs expelled from her mouth. She
realized she was seeing her breath. An invisible strength wrapped
around her neck unexpectedly and the gasps for air were futile.
Terrified, she clutched her throat trying to remove whatever was
choking her. Coughing and panting, the tears began falling down her
face. Her feet felt as if they were lifting from the ground and the
grip around her neck worsened. Unable to scream or even speak, she
realized the urgency of the moment. Finally, she felt the grip
release and bent over the table trying desperately to catch her
breath. When her ability to speak returned, she screamed for Matt
and heard him running through the house. The basement door swung
open so hard it shook the drywall at the top of the stairs. He
thundered toward her as she continued resting her elbows and torso
on the laundry table.

“
Robin!” he
shouted.

She still struggled to breathe. “I felt like
I was being hung.”

“
Hung?”

“
Yes. My music on my phone
completely stopped and the next thing I knew the room got cold. I
felt like something was hanging me. I felt my feet lift off of the
ground,” she cried.

She stood up and dropped into Matt’s chest,
sobbing uncontrollably.

“
I’m here now,” he said
softly as he caressed her hair. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

With such a terrifying event, Robin knew she
needed to meditate and find her balance. Later that night, she sat
in the floor of the master bedroom, legs crossed with her eyes
closed. She let the peace surround her as she tuned out the stimuli
around her. The breathing came easy as she stretched out her hands
on her knees.

After 15 minutes, she got up and snuggled
into bed. She grabbed a book from the nightstand and began
reading.

She felt someone staring at her and looked
up, unsure what she might see. It was just Matt standing at the end
of the bed with a peculiar look on his face.

“
What were you doing?” he
asked.

“
When?” she asked
curiously.

“
Well, I walked by and you
were sitting on the floor,” he clarified.

“
I was
meditating.”

“
Do you do that a
lot?”

“
I do it when I have time,
but I’ve been trying to make time each day lately. It makes me feel
calm and I rest better. After today, I needed it. It seems to help
me make sense of things sometimes.”

“
Do you pray,
too?”

His curiosity seemed heartfelt. Robin didn’t
feel he was patronizing her.

“
Sort of. I give thanks to
the Creator and then I just let the Creator talk to me. I also
commune with my spirit guides during my meditation.”

“
Wow,” he said shaking his
head, “I don’t understand any of this.”

“
I have some books about
meditation if you want to read them.”

“
I think I’ll pass. I
don’t know if I’m ready to buy into all this, but if it makes you
feel happier, I’m all for it.”

Matt struggled to find sleep. Disturbed by
the events of the day, for which no rational explanation could be
found, he knew he had seen a man standing in the study. Then Robin
telling him about her encounter didn’t help matters

He glanced over at her as she slept
peacefully, but the atmosphere in the room felt anything but calm.
In fact, he felt angry and very aggressive.