The Haunting Within (18 page)

56

He was rushing to catch up with Aiden and put as much distance as possible between him and that awful room when a shrill scream pierced the air. Neither one of them looked at the other. They kept their eyes forward and walked on quickly. They turned the corner into the long dank corridor that led back to the kitchen when they heard it again. Closer this time like it was following them. Picking up their pace they had visions of some horrible grotesque thing lurching after them. They virtually ran through the door and back into the kitchen. Lisa and Debbie were sat looking perplexed at them.

“What on earth’s the matter with you two?” Debbie asked.

“We heard one of you scream and we rushed back to see what was wrong.” Aiden answered.

“We never screamed and we didn’t hear a scream either! You must have imagined it.” Lisa said. She didn’t believe for one second that they imagined it; she just didn’t want Mr. Matlock to know the secrets of the house. “Come and sit down at the table and have a nice cuppa.”

They took their seats at the table, obviously unnerved, but after a couple of minutes they had themselves under control again.

“It must have been air that was trapped in one of the rooms that we let out and it made that noise when it escaped.” Mr. Matlock said, happy with his analysis of the noise, though not happy enough to want to go back through that door. He thought to himself the only way he would go back in there was if somebody were to offer him a very large amount of money, in cash. This thought re-jogged his memory as to why he was here anyway.

“I would like to discuss my valuation of the property with you Mrs. Adams” he thanked her for the cup of tea she had just poured him and continued “This house has a lot to offer, as I’m sure you know. It has all of its original features which I find astounding, quite frankly. There are a lot of people who would love to own a house with so many features from its original architect. They are quite hard to come by, you know. You can buy likenesses in certain shops, but they are shoddy compared to the originals. It is a very large, well-built house with around, and my partner only calculated this roughly before I came here by the way, around sixty to eighty acres of land, including the drive and gardens, the surrounding forest - did you know that was part of the land also? Of course, that was only estimated by photographs of the estate and we are unsure as yet where the properties boundaries are, so it could be more or less. It has enormous potential Mrs. Adams and I think it shouldn’t take too long to sell. As for its value, well, it is worth an astounding amount of money. How much were you expecting from the sale?” he asked earnestly, obviously eager to have their thoughts on the price before he told them the wonderful news.

“Well, at a guess, I would have to say around seven-hundred thousand. Is that close, or is it far too much?” Debbie asked him with a look of embarrassment on her face.

He gave her his best smile for he loved this part of the job, unless people expected it to be more than what it was worth which happened more frequently than he would like, but he had never had a house worth this much on his books before. “It is way off Mrs. Adams. Far too low a price for a property of this excellence.” He took in their astonished expressions before he went on. “I would actually put the asking price at around one point six million pounds Mrs. Adams! But of course, I would need to be sure how much of the surrounding area belongs to this estate first and also if there any other buildings on the land that would, of course, bump the price up.”

They sat there not quite believing what they had heard. “I’m sorry, how much did you say?” enquired Lisa wanting to double-check before they got too excited.

“One point six million! I understand your surprise, but let me assure you that I am being very serious about this. Some people choose to lower the price they get from the valuator, but I suggest you stick to the final price we give you. I am certain you will receive the full asking price for the property, Mrs. Adams.” The smile on the face of Mr. Matlock was genuine.

He was taking great pleasure from their surprise and he hoped that it would help with their loss of Mrs. Adams’ father. He knew they would still have to grieve for him, but a lot of families are grateful for their inheritance, this family being no exception from the look of things. They were all completely stunned by this news. They had never had very much money and Lisa and Aiden always resented their grandfather for having so much and never once offering to help them out. He knew their mother was struggling as a single parent on her meagre salary and that they could only afford the basics. Even when Debbie did have a little spare cash, she spent it on the children, buying them toys they had seen on TV or the latest trendy trainers, none of it ever went on her. As long as her children got what she could afford she was happy just seeing the smiles on their little faces. That’s why, when they had both got themselves part-time jobs to fit around their college hours, they each insisted on giving her a little extra every month as well as their house-keeping money they gave her monthly. She never asked them for much, just ten pounds per week from each of them to go towards the bills and the weekly shopping, so they had decided to give her a bit extra just for herself. They made her promise to spend it on only herself and nothing else and it took some persuading, but eventually she had agreed to it. She was so grateful to them. She knew how lucky she was to have such wonderful kid’s, some parents got nothing but abuse from their children and there she was getting money from hers to treat herself. They would each give her ten pounds a month and she would buy herself some new clothes with it, or have a haircut, or have a manicure done. She felt very guilty at first, after all she was the mum, it should be her money being spent on them and when she told them as much they told her that’s the way it had been all their lives, her money going on them and her going without and that it was her turn to be treated for once. Sometimes they would buy her small gifts as well. Lisa had bought her a nice bunch of flowers and Aiden had bought her a big box of chocolates that she had insisted they all shared while they watched a film together, to which Aiden insisted that it was nothing romantic or soppy. In the end they had settled on a comedy. They had had so many good times that off the top of Debbie’s head she couldn’t remember one bad time, apart from their visit here that was.             

They never had much money, but what they lacked in that department they more than made up for with love and fun. While their friends were going to theme parks and on holidays abroad with their parents, they would go to the park for a picnic and a game of football, or to the swimming baths, or even just in their back garden for a water fight. The house was always full of laughter and happiness. Debbie lived solely for her children and they had everything they needed growing up. They never missed their father because Debbie was both mum and dad to them. She scalded them when they needed it which was hardly ever, and when they had been naughty it was only what children normally get up to; squabbling with each other, not doing as they were told, nothing really bad. She comforted them when they were upset, she played with them, amusing them for hours with her silly games, she went to all their parents evenings at school and relished the news that they were both doing brilliantly in everything, she cared for them in every way possible, but most of all she loved them with all her heart and soul, which she thought was more than double what their father could ever love them, they thought so too. And now with the incredible news of how much they stood to inherit from selling this house, their lives couldn’t have been better. Finally things were looking up for them.

57

They had another cup of tea with Mr. Matlock while he talked them through the upcoming process, then they talked about how things would proceed from there.

“I will put this house on the market first thing tomorrow morning when I get to work. I will also post a copy of the details through to our other estate agents in Leeds, which will surely speed up the buying process. Have you got a solicitor Mrs. Adams?”

“I haven’t no, but my father has, I mean had. A nice man called Mr. Leeson.” At this observation Aiden rolled his eyes.

“That is fine. Superb! If you can get in touch with him as soon as possible so he and I can start getting everything sorted out.”

“Do we have to be here when someone comes to view the house? It’s just that we were hoping to leave tomorrow you see.” Aiden told him.

“Not at all, now that it has been valued you don’t actually have to be here for anything else, it can all be done over the phone if that is easier for you. Of course, there will be paperwork but that can be sorted out by either coming to the office or your solicitors’ offices, or I could send the relevant documentation through the post. If that is what’s going to happen, I will need a set of keys to let in the viewers. All you have to do is sit back and wait for the house to be sold.”

This pleased them very much. They wanted nothing more than to go home and wait for everything to be done. They also informed Mr. Matlock that every piece of furniture would be left in the house for the new buyers to which he became visibly thrilled at that piece of information which he said it would help the house to sell even faster because of that.

“I have never had a house of such value on my books before, but in my experience houses like this with a lot of potential are usually sold quite quickly. That was a lovely cup of tea Mrs. Adams. If you will excuse me I must be getting back. Here’s my card” he passed her a small business card with his name, work address and phone number on and his mobile number printed on it, nothing close to as fancy as Mr. Leeson’s business card which was all embossed writing and a decorative border, but that pleased Lisa and Aiden. This was a man who was down to earth. The saying ‘what you see is what you get’ fitted perfectly. He flapped about as he tried to stuff everything back into his briefcase.

“If you need me for anything at all please, do not hesitate to get in touch with me. If you could just give me your home address and phone number before I go so that we can get everything done over the phone?” Debbie reeled off the address and number and he wrote it down in his note book before bidding them a goodnight.

They stood at the door and watched as he struggled to get his rather substantial bulk behind the wheel of his silver Ford Mondeo and drove out of the grounds and out of sight, sticking a podgy arm through the open window to wave to them one last time.

Turning on the head lights as he rounded the curve that led from the drive to the lane where the gates stood at the end, he nearly had a panic attack at the sight that confronted him from the darkness. There in front of his head lights stood three small foxes, staring with their glowing eyes through the windscreen of the car at him. If he hadn’t turned on the lights when he did they would almost certainly of been hit. As he looked at their tiny faces he waited for them to scarper, but they did nothing of the sort, only stood there, in front of his car and continued regarding him intently. He thought about sounding the horn to scare them off but changed his mind just as his hand was poised over the horn. He wouldn’t want to scare Mrs. Adams and her children. Instead he slowly started the car moving forward, thinking they would make a run for it, only they did not. They moved around to the sides of the car so they were flanking him, one on one side, two on the other, moving at a very leisurely pace. Getting a little flustered, thinking they may be diseased, he pressed forwards faster and faster and for some reason that he didn’t understand he plipped the central locking. He looked out of the rear view mirror and to his disbelief and slight horror he saw the three little foxes chasing the car. He started to panic when he couldn’t remember if he had left the gate open or if he had closed it upon entering. If it was closed what would he do? He couldn’t get out of the car to open it, they would surely pounce on him and he couldn’t sound the horn to alert the family to his predicament as they would probably pounce on them too! His imagined dilemma and subsequent worry subsided as he came face to face with the gates and saw, much to his relief that they were standing wide open. Swinging his car round and onto the road he watched for the foxes but they didn’t appear, it was as though they did not belong outside the gates, they dared not venture through them.

Turning on the radio to calm him he began the long drive back into town, looking forward to getting home and to his routine of his wife’s huge dinner that no doubt waited, then on with his slippers and into his comfy old chair where he would dose off to one of his wife’s soap operas playing in the background.

58

When they were back inside Aiden looked at his watch. “God! It’s five-to-nine already! I didn’t think he’d been here that long.”

“I don’t care what time it is. We’re gonna be rich!” Debbie shouted throwing her arms around her children. “I can’t possibly sleep now! I’m far too excited! I can’t believe it! One point six million! What shall we do with it?”

They all sat around the kitchen table talking about the money and what they thought they should do with it until the early hours of the morning. They decided they should all try and get some sleep if they were going to be up early tomorrow morning, or rather that morning, to get home as soon as possible. Their moods were good, their spirits lifted as they made their way to bed - the same situation as the night before because they still didn’t want to sleep alone - because of the unexpected news and the fact they were going home in a few short hours and never had to come back again.

Debbie fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but Lisa and Aiden lie there for a while thinking about what they would like to do with their share of the money. They had all decided it would be split equally three ways and they would probably be able to live off the interest. Lisa was thinking that she could finish her course at college and then do a cookery course and when she had graduated she would open her own restaurant and build her chain from there. This pleasing thought eventually sent her off to a deep dream-filled sleep. Aiden was thinking about his money. At the moment he was a quarter of a way through a Health and Fitness course at college. He wanted to be a personal trainer. He decided that when he finished his course he would buy his own gym and run training sessions with himself as one of the instructors. He was deep in thought when sleep crept up and engulfed him without him even knowing it had been waiting.

They all slept peacefully again, apart from Aiden who had a dream about dying. He didn’t know how he had died in the dream, he just saw himself lying on the floor of the kitchen in his grandfather’s house, bleeding. In his dream it was as though he was having an out-of-body experience. He was watching himself die and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He could feel a pain in his chest and stomach which made it hard for him to breathe and he could taste blood in his mouth; his blood. Under his closed eyelids his eyes moved rapidly left and right as though searching for something or someone unseen. All of a sudden he felt extremely hot. He could hear a kind of roaring noise and then…nothing. He could see only blackness and he couldn’t feel anything - no more pain, nothing. After this he had a peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.

Debbie stood silently in the dark staring at, but not seeing, her son sleeping. She stood rigidly next to him for a very long time until she finally stumbled back into bed and slept the rest of the night away.