Paranormal Intruder Read online

  Mike heard it too. The room eventually fell silent. Weary, John and Mike fell back asleep as Trevor snored. A sharp poke in the back woke Mike with a start. Confused, he tried to figure out what disturbed him. Mike rubbed his back as he stared at the seat. There was nothing there. The red cushioned chair was backed against the wall.

  John rubbed his eyes. ‘You alright there?’

  ‘Dunno, something just poked me in the back.’

  Just then, a male voice whispered something barely intelligible. ‘Did you hear that?’ John whispered.

  ‘Yes.’ Gibberish echoed through the room in a raspy whisper.

  ‘Shit!’ John exclaimed as loud banging noises thudded from upstairs. Bang. The house felt like it was being brought down by a demolition ball. Bang. It was terrifying.

  Neil, Lee, and Chris galloped downstairs. Neil burst into the lounge, ‘Did you hear those bangs?’

  ‘We could have heard those back in Tyneside Neil!’ John replied.

  ‘You won’t believe what else happened,’ Chris said. ‘We were upstairs in Sarah’s bedroom when a loud screeching noise came from the bathroom wall. It sounded like someone was tearing into the tiles with a chisel from one side of the wall to the other.’

  ‘Or claws,’ Neil shuddered. He imagined what sort of entity would be capable of such an action. ‘We went to check but the tiles were untouched. That’s when the banging started.’ The investigators ventured upstairs but found nothing. Everything was as they left it. The bangs stopped, and eventually, everybody settled back down to sleep.

  The next morning the investigators returned home, still on a high from their experiences. Neil and Lee stood in the kitchen recounting events. As expected, there was a backlash from their visit. Thumps emanated from upstairs and Neil did his best to ignore them. ‘It can thump all it wants,’ Neil said, ‘that doesn’t worry me anymore.’ But it appeared the entity did not like being ignored. ‘Ow!’ Neil yelped as a sharp finger poked into his shoulder. ‘Something’s just poked me, that really hurt.’ Another hard poke followed. Neil winced at the contact, rubbing his shoulder. He hated the physical contact but tried to stay strong.

  Lee jumped as he received a sharp prod. ‘Ah, get off!’

  ‘Not you as well,’ Neil said, standing against the wall in an attempt to avoid further prodding. It was fruitless. For the next forty minutes, both Neil and Lee were prodded intermittently. The physical contact was felt, but not seen. There was no one to call, and nowhere to hide.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The Darkest Day

  A week after the investigators’ visit, I sat at my work desk, trying to drum up the energy to write up a crime report. Instead I found myself staring out the window at the darkening clouds. My fingers rested on the computer keyboard, awaiting instruction. My mobile phone rang out with Neil’s name on the display. He had agreed only to call me at work if there was an emergency. My stomach twisted into a knot as I accepted the call. ‘Hello?’

  Neil’s voice trembled on the line. ‘Something’s happened. I need you to come home.’

  ‘What is it?’ I asked, clutching the gold cross around my neck so tightly its edges bit into my fingers.

  ‘Things are getting out of hand. Please, just come home.’

  ‘Okay, okay, I’m leaving now.’ I could only imagine the horrors that awaited me. I glanced at my watch. My shift was almost over. I logged off my computer and gripped the table as I stood up, trying to control the anxiety that overwhelmed me. I walked outside to the car park just as my colleague Ian drove in.

  ‘Are you OK?’ he asked, a frown crossing his face.

  My breath hitched as I stuttered an explanation. ‘Neil’s called. I need to get home, it’s an emergency.’

  ‘God, Caroline you’re in no fit state to drive, I’ll take you home,’ he said, running around to the other side of the car to open the passenger door.

  ‘Thanks,’ I whispered. I tried to pull myself together during the car journey as we sped towards home. Normally I would have been embarrassed to have fallen apart like that. I was not one for bursting into tears, but the tone of Neil’s voice frightened me. The minutes passed in a blur as I fought to control the shaking inside my body. Ian tried to reassure me that it would be all right, but I was not so sure. Whatever happened, it must have been bad for Neil to beg me to go home. He had not been himself, and I knew the stress was piling up on him. After what seemed like an eternity, the car pulled up on the drive and we both rushed into the house.

  Neil and Lee stood in the hall next to a big puddle of straw-coloured liquid. Neil hunched over, trying to mop it up. Lee stared at the puddle in a trance. Neil raised his head and stared at me with dark circled eyes as he slowly pointed to the stairs.

  I looked at the steps and exclaimed, ‘Oh,’ as I gazed at the large wet claw prints going up each one in turn, in front of the other. ‘Where is David?’ I whispered in a whimper.

  ‘He’s OK now. Mum and Dad are with him in the living room. He was upstairs…’ Neil said, unable to finish the sentence. I crumbled. The vision of the ugly footprints going up the stairs towards where my son was playing… My beautiful boy… a wave of nausea overcame me as I put my hands to my mouth. I swallowed back the bile that threatened to spill over. Taking a deep breath I searched the faces around me for explanations. ‘This is my home… what’s happening to it?’ I cried, unable to contain the anguish any longer. I looked to Neil for support but he had also fallen apart.

  ‘I… I just can’t take it anymore,’ Neil whimpered. He covered his face with his hands and broke down. I stepped forward and reached for him, holding out my arms, and he leaned heavily into my embrace. All the tension from the previous nine months came pouring out as we both stood in the hall and sobbed. I became aware of our silent audience as Lee and Ian shifted uncomfortably.

  Taking Neil by the hand, I led him into the downstairs bathroom, grabbing some tissue to dry our tears. We took some deep breaths to recover ourselves. I shoved the balled up tissue into my pocket, and we joined the others in the hall.

  I walked upstairs and looked into David’s empty room. His toys lay scattered on the floor. The reality of what happened hit me again when I imagined him innocently playing as the horrors unfolded. A wave of nausea washed over me, stronger this time. Clasping a hand over my mouth, I ran to the bathroom as my stomach lurched. Gagging, I kneeled in front of the toilet and gripped the sides as vomit spewed out. Involuntary tears ran down my cheeks, and I hung over the toilet bowl sniffling until the retching subsided. I stood up, flushed the toilet, and drew a handful of water to my mouth from the bathroom sink. My job had been grim at times, and I had seen some horrific things, but nothing had affected me in this way before. Still feeling sick, I returned to Neil to see if he was OK.

  Lee handed me the phone, telling me Mike wanted to speak to me.

  ‘Hello Mike,’ I said flatly.

  ‘Are you alright, Caroline love?’

  I could barely hold a conversation. ‘Why is this happening Mike?’ I knew I was asking an impossible question.

  ‘I wish I could give you a proper answer to that.’

  ‘But why us? Why is it doing this to us?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know,’ Mike said. ‘But it’s obvious that it is targeting your home, your family.’

  ‘This isn’t my home anymore. It isn’t like a home. This isn’t my home anymore,’ I kept repeating. My voice felt distant. Mike tried to reassure me that he would always be there to help. I thanked him and handed the phone back to Lee, who looked as if he had been on a day trip to hell.

  Neil’s parents walked out from the living room, having cared for David who was temporarily placated watching television.

  Standing in the hallway, Neil explained, ‘It’s been a very active day. Things got bad and we were planning to leave with David.’ Neil twitched involuntarily as he spoke, his body reacting to the prolonged trauma. ‘We were walking from the living room to the hall when we both heard a dri
pping noise. We saw this puddle of yellow liquid on the wooden floor, dripping from above. At first, it looked as if it was coming from the ceiling, but when we looked closer, it was coming from an inch below, from thin air. That’s when we saw the footprints. I was scared at what might happen next, so I called for help.’

  It was difficult to comprehend. Neil put his head down as he continued trying to clean up the puddle, which was as big as a bucket of water. It did not look like water. It had a straw yellow colour and smelt of urine. The puddle had a dry patch in the middle and splayed outwards. I did not know what it was and did not want to know. I wanted it gone. Minutes later it was barely visible. I inspected the step marks on the stairs. The round sodden prints had edges on top, like claw marks. They were not the way you would expect steps to be. There was one directly in front of the other, not side to side as with normal footprints. They also stopped three quarter ways up. I could not take it in. Neil took pictures of the mess before it dried. He knew it was the only way to explain to people what was happening. Mike advised us to document everything, although sometimes we were too upset to do so.

  A colleague named Paul arrived to check if we were OK. Still in uniform, he removed his hat and rubbed his forehead with a tissue to blot the light sweat breaking out. ‘Everything OK?’ he asked.

  ‘Shh!’ Neil said, ‘Listen.’ Drip… Drip… Drip. It started again. But where was it coming from?

  Neil’s father Ben pointed overhead. ‘Look up, there it is!’ The pitter-patter of drops was coming from the direction of the ceiling, about a foot away. We stood rooted to the spot, staring at the activity.

  ‘Will you look at that,’ Paul said, staring at the ceiling. ‘They’re coming from thin air.’ I looked at the splattered drops hitting the floorboards, then returned my gaze to the ceiling. There was no source. The drops started falling a couple of inches down from the ceiling, one drop at a time. They made a trail towards us, then into the downstairs bathroom.

  ‘It needs the toilet!’ Ben said with a nervous laugh. Not great timing for a joke, but people reacted in different ways. Ben had been spared the horrors of our experiences. Today his curiosity overcame him. We took turns looking into the downstairs bathroom. Ten drops fell before the drips returned to the hall, just above our heads.

  ‘I can’t believe this,’ Ian said. A seasoned Police Officer, he shook his head incredulously. Minutes later the dripping ceased.

  ‘That was amazing,’ Paul said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Muffled banging noises thumped from the empty rooms upstairs. The floorboards creaked as footsteps could be heard walking around. Paul decided to take the lead. ‘Want to check it out?’ he said, his eyes alight with curiosity.

  Neil wearily followed him up the stairs. They looked around, but nothing could be found. All they heard was a cluck… cluck… cluck noise. Then silence. It was the entity’s party piece. Create utter chaos then when the Calvary came, disappear like a sniggering coward.

  Ian took me to one side as a concerned look crossed his face. ‘You need to get some help. I’m really shocked to see how bad Neil looks. Mentally, what has been done to him is the equivalent of a GBH. He looks a wreck.’

  I knew the phrase well; grievous bodily harm was a serious offence, which could be inflicted upon victims mentally as well as physically. I nodded, unable to find the words to reply. I felt drained, and just wanted the whole crazy mess to go away.

  ‘Caroline,’ he said lowering his voice, ‘to be honest you’re not far behind him. You need to take some time off and sort things out. You can’t go into work like this.’

  ‘You’re right. I’ll take tomorrow off.’

  ‘Tomorrow?’ Ian said, raising his eyebrows. ‘You need a couple of weeks at least. Just go to see your doctor, both of you.’

  I looked to Neil as everybody returned to the hall. ‘I’ll go back to the nick now to book off duty, and I’ll see the doctor tomorrow.’

  Somebody knocked on the door. It was Chris. Neil called him earlier in the day, and Chris explained he just picked up the message.

  I told Neil I was going back to the station to clear up my things and would return home to pack up and leave for Clacton. I felt happier knowing Chris was there, he was very sensible and would not hesitate in getting Neil to leave if things became dangerous.

  Paul said his goodbyes and I returned to the police station with Ian. I clicked my ‘out of office’ notification on the computer and notified control I was signing off due to sickness.

  I was home within the hour. I walked through the open front door and thought I saw the car briefly flicker its hazard lights. ‘Neil I’m back, are you ready?’ I said, looking around. The house had a peculiar energy. The air seemed thicker, almost palpable.

  Chris, Lee and Neil came from the kitchen. Joe had just arrived home and they all seemed to be searching for something. ‘What is it, what have you lost?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s the car keys. The central locking system keeps going off in the car,’ Neil said.

  ‘Doesn’t that mean someone’s pressing the button on the key fob?’ I said.

  ‘Well, yeah, but we’ve all held our hands up, it’s none of us, and it’s still being pressed.’

  ‘Have you tried your pockets? It’s just that I know… It… sometimes puts things there.’

  Chris replaced the strewn sofa cushions and checked behind the sofa. ‘We’ve tried that, we’ve looked everywhere.’

  ‘I walked out to the car to hear the central locking click into place as the hazard lights flashed on and off.’

  ‘I know,’ Neil said, ‘I’m going to ask where he put the keys.’

  ‘I don’t think communication is a good idea Neil, it’s not as if he will just tell you, is it?’

  Neil signalled to Lee and Chris to get in the car. ‘If we all sit in the car, it might answer our questions. One click for yes, two for no.’

  I grabbed the car door before he closed it. ‘This is crazy. At least leave one of the doors open while you do it, I don’t want you getting locked inside.’

  Neil asked a series of questions and to his amazement, the activations of the central locking system clicked in response. ‘Are the keys in the living room?’ Click click responded no.

  ‘Are they in the bedrooms?’ Click click – no. I watched the men’s hands; they were free, and not responsible for the activation. Joe stood, his fingers on the lip of the car door, holding it open while I waited instruction. I was about to give up, when they got a positive answer. ‘Are they in the kitchen?’ Click – yes.

  ‘Right, Caroline you look in the kitchen while we try to narrow it down here. Joe can shout through the answers,’ Neil said, his brow furrowed.

  I walked through to the kitchen, swearing under my breath. Taking part in a game of paranormal ‘hot and cold’ was not on my agenda. Tired and upset, I just wanted to go back to Clacton. I searched through the bags of rubbish with no luck. I stared at the cans of dog meat on the counter, thinking hard. I hope I won’t have to poke through them. Neil found his mobile phone in all sorts of places in the past, in a tub of ice cream in the freezer, in the dog nuts… wait a minute – the dog nuts. I shouted through to Joe as I eyed the large wholesale bag of dried dog food. ‘Ask if they’re in the dog nuts.’

  I heard voices, and the central locking system click once. ‘Yes mum, it said yes.’

  Murmuring to myself, I tipped the nuts slowly into a black bin liner on the floor. ‘Right you bugger, where are you,’ I wrinkled my nose at the beefy smell and grasped something solid. It’s the keys, thank God.

  ‘I got them!’ I shouted through, holding the keys tightly in my hand.

  Chris wandered into the hall.

  ‘Where are the others?’ I asked through the open door, rubbing my hands on the sides of my trousers.

  ‘They decided to keep asking questions,’ Chris said.

  I walked through the hall to tell Neil to get out of the car. ‘Well I’ve got the keys, so I can’t see
how…’ An enormous roar, coming from the direction of the car, interrupted my sentence. Chris and I locked eyes, and then he turned and sprinted back out the door. Car doors opened and slammed as Neil and Lee stumbled out of the car. Another roar boomed from the car. It was deep and loud, and I wondered if someone was hurt. I followed Chris outside. ‘What the hell was that?’

  Neil and Lee were wild eyed and panting, leaning against the wall of the house. ‘I asked if it needed help,’ Neil said.

  ‘Are you telling me that noise did not come from either of you?’

  Neil put his hands on my arms as if to emphasise his statement. ‘Caroline, I swear on my life, that noise did not come from us.’

  I loosened my shirt collar. It was getting hard to breathe. ‘I really don’t like this. We’ve got the keys, let’s just get out of here.’

  ‘OK, I’ll tell Chris and Lee,’ Neil said. The men had made their way to the back garden to calm down with a cigarette. Joe went to his room to pack some things.

  I stood in the living room, my mind in a whirl, recounting the activity. I clenched my hands into fists, allowing the fingernails to bite into my palms. It served as a reminder this was not a nightmare from which I could awake. We need to leave, what’s taking them so long?

  A thunderous roar filled the room, sending me into a spin. Screaming, I ran to Neil and the others, who came running in from the kitchen.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Neil gasped.

  ‘Hear it? I was in the room with it,’ I shouted, frantically grabbing my belongings and locking the doors.

  ‘It came from the garden,’ Chris said, his face pale. The noise seemed to have reverberated throughout the house. The roar was unlike any of the other noises previously. Unlike the old, gravelly voice, or animalistic snarls I had heard before, this was younger, manly and very angry. Joe clambered down the stairs, his bag in hand.

  ‘Are you alright?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah, was someone shouting? It was really loud.’