Clarissa lay on top of the white duvet on her bed, tossing and turning in her sleep, in the small room in her cottage. The air was humid and thundery. In the dream, she wore a long Victorian dress and her red gold hair had disappeared to be replaced by a lustrous mane of dark chestnut piled high on her head. Glancing down at herself sitting in a chair drinking tea from a china cup and saucer, she found she was heavily pregnant. An old man in English upper-class Victorian garb sat on the opposite chair conversing with her in a drawing room filled with people. "I was talking to someone in town, earlier today. He was looking for you and said he was a friend of your family. I believe he was one of your American cousins." The man paused to take a drink of his tea. "He wouldn't tell me his name. A strange fellow. I mentioned where you lived and he said he would call." Clarissa stood from the chair so fast it made her head spin. The china cup and saucer fell from her trembling hands, spill
The early morning mist rolled across the smooth surface of the water towards the shore. The dawn had just risen and the sun was strong enough to cast the first of its rays through the shroud of white over the surrounding hills. Clarissa raised her camera to capture the moment and rolled off another reel of film. The main focus of her attention was a large island in the middle of Goldwater Lake. The place had fascinated her since she was a child. Upon it sat an old haunted Victorian mansion, the focus of many ghost stories after the murder of a young Victorian family. The house was mysteriously hidden amidst the trees lining the shore and it was hard to capture even a glimpse of it, especially in the summer when the trees were in full leaf, though it never stopped Clarissa trying. Something caught her attention. Zooming into the boathouse on the island, she was surprised to see a tall man in a suit standing on the wooden jetty. He was looking straight at her. Clarissa zoomed in furthe
Clarissa poured hot water onto the teabag the moment the kettle finished boiling. Then she completed her own small tea ritual by squeezing a little of the flavour from the bag out with a silver spoon before removing it and dropping it into the peddle bin on the floor. She stirred her tea. "Not sure. I will look for one when I next go into town. This might sound daft, but I think the spirit is connected to the murders on the island and not to me. Perhaps he has just attached himself to me because of the story. He might not want me to write it and expose him. Maybe he is the murderer?""Don't say that! If that is right, then why did he attach himself to you before you even thought about writing the story?""Maybe he gave me the idea?"Clarissa took a sip of her hot tea and savoured the comforting taste in her mouth."No. You are wrong, and you are scaring me. Stop it. Maybe you should stop writing the book and do something else, just in case?""No way. I have come too far with this. Th
A loud scream echoed helplessly from her lips. But this time, it was in unison with a hurt male cry. The ghost turned his head in the direction of the voice and the memory dimmed. Clarissa found herself back in the shower. The ghost towered over her small, crumpled, bleeding form as she desperately tried to plug the wound with shaking hands. His brown eyes narrowed and the cruel smile of satisfaction made her want to vomit. He was watching her die just as he had done in the memory. Her mind was cloudy. She couldn't think straight. Panic had overcome all of her senses. It was so hard to breathe. Every breath entailed a mammoth effort and involved the heaving of her injured body. But all of a sudden, a persistent ringing noise broke through the fog to reach her. It was the doorbell. As in the memory, the ghost turned his head in the direction of the noise and cursed. She cried with relief when his image suddenly vanished. Clarissa knelt whimpering on the floor of the shower, knowing,
Around mid-afternoon, Clarissa decided to take a trip into town. The rented cottage proved to feel stifling and claustrophobic after the morning's events, and after Liz's continual nagging for her to seek help from a psychic medium, she finally found the will to leave her laptop and go out into the world, amongst the living. As she walked around the small old Lakeside town nestled between the hills in a valley, she couldn't help feel as though she were being watched and followed. It had to be the ghost. Determined not to let his stalking frighten her, she did her best not to keep looking for signs of his presence. After some diligent searching and a detour in a book shop, Clarissa found a psychic medium to consult, in the back of a crystal shop in one of the old eighteenth century buildings next to a coaching inn. The surprisingly large shop was filled to the brim with angels, cards, angel ornaments and crystals. Somewhere a sandalwood incense stick burned, relaxing the atmosphere i
A loud scream echoed helplessly from her lips. But this time, it was in unison with a hurt male cry. The ghost turned his head in the direction of the voice and the memory dimmed. Clarissa found herself back in the shower. The ghost towered over her small, crumpled, bleeding form as she desperately tried to plug the wound with shaking hands. His brown eyes narrowed and the cruel smile of satisfaction made her want to vomit. He was watching her die just as he had done in the memory. Her mind was cloudy. She couldn't think straight. Panic had overcome all of her senses. It was so hard to breathe. Every breath entailed a mammoth effort and involved the heaving of her injured body. But all of a sudden, a persistent ringing noise broke through the fog to reach her. It was the doorbell. As in the memory, the ghost turned his head in the direction of the noise and cursed. She cried with relief when his image suddenly vanished. Clarissa knelt whimpering on the floor of the shower, knowing,
Clarissa poured hot water onto the teabag the moment the kettle finished boiling. Then she completed her own small tea ritual by squeezing a little of the flavour from the bag out with a silver spoon before removing it and dropping it into the peddle bin on the floor. She stirred her tea. "Not sure. I will look for one when I next go into town. This might sound daft, but I think the spirit is connected to the murders on the island and not to me. Perhaps he has just attached himself to me because of the story. He might not want me to write it and expose him. Maybe he is the murderer?""Don't say that! If that is right, then why did he attach himself to you before you even thought about writing the story?""Maybe he gave me the idea?"Clarissa took a sip of her hot tea and savoured the comforting taste in her mouth."No. You are wrong, and you are scaring me. Stop it. Maybe you should stop writing the book and do something else, just in case?""No way. I have come too far with this. Th
The early morning mist rolled across the smooth surface of the water towards the shore. The dawn had just risen and the sun was strong enough to cast the first of its rays through the shroud of white over the surrounding hills. Clarissa raised her camera to capture the moment and rolled off another reel of film. The main focus of her attention was a large island in the middle of Goldwater Lake. The place had fascinated her since she was a child. Upon it sat an old haunted Victorian mansion, the focus of many ghost stories after the murder of a young Victorian family. The house was mysteriously hidden amidst the trees lining the shore and it was hard to capture even a glimpse of it, especially in the summer when the trees were in full leaf, though it never stopped Clarissa trying. Something caught her attention. Zooming into the boathouse on the island, she was surprised to see a tall man in a suit standing on the wooden jetty. He was looking straight at her. Clarissa zoomed in furthe
Clarissa lay on top of the white duvet on her bed, tossing and turning in her sleep, in the small room in her cottage. The air was humid and thundery. In the dream, she wore a long Victorian dress and her red gold hair had disappeared to be replaced by a lustrous mane of dark chestnut piled high on her head. Glancing down at herself sitting in a chair drinking tea from a china cup and saucer, she found she was heavily pregnant. An old man in English upper-class Victorian garb sat on the opposite chair conversing with her in a drawing room filled with people. "I was talking to someone in town, earlier today. He was looking for you and said he was a friend of your family. I believe he was one of your American cousins." The man paused to take a drink of his tea. "He wouldn't tell me his name. A strange fellow. I mentioned where you lived and he said he would call." Clarissa stood from the chair so fast it made her head spin. The china cup and saucer fell from her trembling hands, spill