Silent Energies

Chapter Seventeen - Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer...

When the four of them were settled into the comfy, overstuffed sofas in the lounge area with their respective beverages, Katy turned to face Clara.

"So… Tell me what's been going on with everything around here. Why did you need our help...?"

Clara sighed heavily. After a few seconds of contemplation, she took a deep breath and began.

"Well… It all started when my Great Aunt passed away. She left me her entire Estate and property portfolio. She left me everything, but her Will made specific mention of a little hand-carved statue. It said that I had to make plans to pass it on after I went, well before anything happened to me; and I also had to spend time with the statue regularly." Katy raised her eyebrows quizzically at Clara, who shrugged helplessly.

"Honestly, I couldn't have told you why to start with. That is,until…" She hesitated. Katy smiled and said softly,

"It's okay if it sounds a little mad… Most of this stuff does until you actually deal with it firsthand…" Clara nodded and continued.

"True… I honestly did think I was losing my mind to start with." She motioned to the man beside her. "That’s why Weston ended up moving in here, instead of still being based at the Estate like he was before." He nodded in agreement.

"Poor Clara thought that she was going crazy, so I offered to be based here with her instead. Since it was just as easy for me to be closer to her anyway."

Weston patted Clara's hand reassuringly, and she relaxed visibly with his touch. Katy and Elias exchanged knowing glances, seeing the obvious chemistry between the two.

Clara leaned back into the chair. Weston offered his arm to her as she leaned back, and she relaxed into his strong embrace. She smiled appreciatively at him, and he nodded and squeezed her shoulders gently in acknowledgement.

"So, how did it all begin?" Katy asked.

"Well, since her Will said that I needed to spend time with the statue, and I wasn't going to be back at the Estate for a few days, I figured I would bring it back here with me so that it wasn't… I dunno…" She searched for the words for a few seconds. "... Alone...?" Katy nodded and Clara continued.

"When the noises first started, I thought someone had managed to break in, and I couldn't figure out how they'd made it past the Night Watchman downstairs… But then I couldn't find anyone in here, and all the doors and windows were still shut and locked."

Katy placed her now empty teacup on the tray in front of her and took a biscuit from the plate. She bit into it thoughtfully before asking.

"So did you double-check with the security guard to make sure it was nothing he knew about?” Clara nodded glumly.

"Yes, that was the first thing I checked. He was actually the one who came up and checked all the doors and windows with me. And Charles is wonderful. He knows I'm not one to panic usually… But even he was confused by the noises."

Katy's ears pricked up at this.

"So Charles has heard the noises as well...?" Clara nodded.

"Yeah, he was the one who first told me I wasn't going crazy…" Katy nodded.

"What sort of sounds were you hearing?"

"Well, it started out, kind of like rats or mice scurrying across the floor… Then it sounded like someone was going through my stuff. It got louder and louder, and I thought someone must be ransacking the place because it sounded like things were being thrown everywhere… I really thought I was going to have to shoot someone that night…"

Katy could see the fear in Clara's eyes as she told the story.

"What happened when you got to the room where the noises were coming from?"

"Just as I came around that doorway there," Clara pointed to a doorway that led off of the shared area they were sitting in. "It was so loud, I had my safety off, and I was ready to shoot an intruder… But I came around the corner, and everything was immediately silent. Like, it was almost deafening, it was so quiet all of a sudden…" Katy nodded thoughtfully, taking in the story.

Clara shrugged. “Everything was where it should have been. Nothing had been moved at all. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the statue. It was still in the glass case it came in. Still in the middle of the Dining Table over there, exactly where I left it before I went to bed that night…”

"Do you remember what time this all happened…?” Clara nodded.

"It was 3:03 am when I woke up."

Katy and Elias exchanged a glance.

"Oh." Clara raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, 'Oh'?”

Katy inhaled sharply and began to explain.

"Well, 3am is known as the Witching Hour… Things like this are most likely to happen at 3am, because it's the time of day that the veil between Life and Death is at its thinnest. This means that ghosts, demons, and other paranormal nasties can cross over a lot easier… It also usually means that we're dealing with a demonic entity…”

Seeing the look of alarm that crossed Clara's face, Katy hastened to add, "Not always… Just… Usually…"

Now it was Clara's turn.

"Oh."

Katy nodded, and Weston pulled Clara against himself a little tighter.

"Okay… so how often has this been happening?"

Clara shivered slightly. "The noises happened almost every night for about…" She hesitated and looked up at Weston, questioningly.

"About two weeks..." She nodded and looked back at Katy.

"Yeah, about two weeks, then the shadows started." Katy's eyebrows raised slightly.

"What kind of shadows started...?"

"Well, it looked like a really tall… I dunno… Man? I guess… but he was only there in the dark… Like, as soon as I turned on the lights, he'd disappear. I mean, he did… That was when Weston moved in because I got too scared to stay here alone…" She looked down at her hands sheepishly, mumbling the last sentence quietly.

Weston squeezed her protectively. "Hey, you we're braver than most people I know would have been… I'm so proud of you for lasting so long on your own…" Clara smiled weakly.

Katy added, "Absolutely… Most people would have run screaming on the first night and refused to come back into the place." Weston agreed.

"Exactly. And I'm still annoyed it took you nearly two weeks to tell me about it all. My job is to keep you safe, Clara. And I can't do my job if you aren't close enough for me to know when you're in danger." He gave her a stern look, and Elias chuckled.

"These strong, independent women are a nightmare to keep tabs on, aren't they?" Weston groaned and rolled his eyes dramatically in agreement, winking at Clara.

Katy swatted at Elias, who ducked out of her reach. She rolled her eyes and shot a knowing glance at Clara.

"Yes, it's almost as bad as these boys who think we're completely defenceless without them, hey? Okay, shall we go and see this statue so we can figure out a plan of attack?" Clara stood up.

"Of course, it's in the spare room." She took a few steps towards the end of the couch and waited for the rest of the group to join her.

When they were all standing, she led them to a wide staircase that led to a landing with a massive window that looked out onto a rooftop garden. A smaller staircase continued either side up to the next floor. Clara turned left and headed up to a hallway with a few doors leading off of it. Two doors were open on the rooftop garden side of the hallway, but the only door on the opposite side of the hallway was closed.

Approaching the closed door, Clara stopped and took a breath before turning the handle.

Katy stood, facing the door as it opened, and she was met with a blast of wind as it escaped the room and roared past them and down the hallway.