Muscles strained. Fingernails scraped over porcelain. She couldn’t pull herself up.
Her lungs started to protest. She forced her eyes open to look up through the bathwater. At first, she saw nothing. Then the water churned as she struggled. Through the wavering surface, a vague shape loomed over her. Feminine. Foreboding. Too dark and distorted to make out features.
Darlene? No. Wrong shape. Too broad.Hanna flung her hand towards the unknown assailant to force her to let go.
Nothing. Hanna’s hand passed through icy cold air.
Fear screamed through her. She hadn’t taken a large breath before she ducked under the water. Now her lungs fought to gasp for the air they desperately needed. Frantic, she scrambled, thrashed, wasted air in an attempt to overcome the force that drowned her.Go. Pass on. Follow the light. Follow the dark. Leave me alone. Get off me. Oh God, I’m going to die here.
Fur brushed against her hand as she flailed at the shape beside the tub. Good cloth over a woman’s arm. Hands with long nails digging into Hanna’s shoulders.
Above her leered a malicious smile in a face Hanna had seen in a dream.“I’ll take that one.” Sour face. Fur-trimmed coat in a fancy car. The widow who took in Stuart.
Her murderer, if Hanna did nothing. The ghost held her upper body immobile. Hanna kicked out with her legs, attempting to work her way out from beneath the pressure that held her down. One foot caught in the tub stopper’s chain.
A final idea. She caught the chain over her foot and pulled. The stopper came free.
Water drained too slowly from the tub. Hanna’s need to breathe clawed at her, but she forced it down. The hands held her harder, tried to slide to her throat, but Hanna blocked them with her own.
For a moment, the water thinned enough for her to see the woman’s face, all hard lines left by frowns and evil burning deep in her eyes. Then, as the water level dropped and drained away from her eyes, the vision drained away as well, faded as Hanna’s face broke into the air.
No one remained in the bathroom. Only Hanna, coughing and gasping in the chill air, and the faint scent of patchouli, carnations, and vanilla.
She hauled herself out of the tub and fell hard on the bathmat. What water had sloshed out of the tub and onto the mat had frozen there in now-slushy spots on the fabric. Even the steam on the mirror had turned to frost.
Shivering, she pulled herself to her feet, naked and still dripping from the near-fatal bath. “So you’re still here, too,” she said to the empty room. “Still here. Still a vile woman. That won’t happen again. It’s time for you to leave this place to the living. Do you hear me?”
Silence.
Hanna grabbed a towel from the rack to wrap around herself. The material started out cold but warmed against her skin. “One thing’s for sure, I’m not any less tense than when I got in the bath. That was the opposite of relaxing. And I am really, really awake.”
Awake and far too alert. Every shadow in her room seemed too deep, every creak of plumbing sounded sinister. She couldn’t feel the presence she identified with Stuart nearby, but he had likely run away the moment the widow’s ghost manifested.I would have. Is she what he’s afraid of? Why he’s still here? They told me he became disturbed without a governess to keep him company. Is she why?
She needed to talk to Athena. But her laptop’s battery had mysteriously drained of all power. It didn’t even have enough to power up when she plugged it in.Right. I’ll let that charge while I go see if I can find hot chocolate in the kitchen. Or soothing tea. Or the cooking sherry. Maybe someone’s still up. Someone living.After what had happened, she felt the need to clarify that.
The old house held the nighttime hush sacred and kept its secrets deep within the gloom of its dark hallways and rooms with doors cracked open. Hanna crept downstairs with care to every step, not only to muffle noise but also not to slip on an unexpected bad step to tumble to her death. Reaching the bottom of the staircase alive felt like a huge triumph after her bath.
As she turned towards the way to the kitchen, a voice said, “Skulking around?”
A strangled screech escaped her. She jumped and turned around to see a very concerned Gregory. “Oh! It’s you. Sorry. You startled me.”
He held up both hands as he stepped forward. “Just me. You all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She blinked. That was a bit on the nose. “Would you want to know if I did?”
“God, no. Then I’d be seeing them everywhere and I’d never sleep again.” He grinned.
She laughed to break the tension. “Thought so. No. I just wanted something warm to drink and you scared me.”
“Sorry. I was looking for a warm drink myself.” He motioned toward the kitchen with his head. “Find one together? I thought about putting on a movie to watch while I drank it, if you’re interested.”
A thrill of excitement took the place of her startlement. “I’d love to, but I honestly thought you’d be headed to sleep.”
“I did, too. In fact, I was.” He fell in next to her as they walked toward the kitchens. “At my desk, because I don’t know when to quit, I suppose.”
“I don’t think it’s one of your strengths, no.”
“Not really. I had some weird dreams. The muddy kind, where you don’t really know what’s happening and you don’t remember afterwards, but you know you don’t want to fall back into them.” He shook his head. “I think I’d like to put a bit of distance between me and those dreams before I try to rest again.”