1.8 Family life

My pregnancy passed quickly and I tried to keep myself busy. I spent time in my garden whenever I got the chance but often my back was too bad from all the bending and lifting.

I was home alone when I went into labour, so I called Blake and he said he was on his way.

He arrived home just as I gave birth. Our baby daughter was born healthy and  happy and Blake and I were thrilled. We decided to name her Raiza.

Raiza was a perfect mixture of Blake and me. She had my eyes and her dads dark red hair. She loved being outside but seemed a little crazy at times.

Blake sometimes worked late into the night doing god knows what. He also came home smelling terrible sometimes, as if he had been rooting around in garbage.

I loved spending time with Raiza and was determined to be the best mother I could be. I immediately set to work trying to teach her all the necessary skills for life.

She loved her father, and he was brilliant with her. He loved helping around the house and spending time with her.

A few days later it was my birthday, I didn’t have time to make a fuss of it so I just carried on as normal. As I was outside pegging some washing on the line disaster struck. Our washing machine broke and our cooker caught fire at the same time.

I saw the smoke billowing out of the windows and panicked, Raiza was inside! I ran into the house “Blake, quick! The cooker’s on fire!” I screamed.. Blake grabbed the fire extinguisher and rushed over. Sadly he didn’t have much experience with putting out fires and managed to spray it at himself instead of the fire.

I called the fire brigade and they said they’d be there as soon as possible. He ran in and quickly extinguished the flames, but sadly we weren’t able to save our cooker or surrounding area.

As I cleaned up the mess that lingered from the fire, Blake set to work teaching Raiza how to talk.

Finally, the day arrived when I returned to work. I was excited as I had missed talking with the spirits and it was also good to get out of the house for a bit. But I was really going to miss spending time with my little girl. I just really hoped I didn’t miss too much. One thing I did not enjoy was the way people reacted to having spirits in their home. Did they not understand that freaking out didn’t actually help, and normally only made things worse?

Blake had been promoted and had been given some special items to go with his new post. Firstly he was given a large notice board to analyse his case notes on. He would spend hours staring at it trying to piece small clues together.

He had also been given a special door which he insisted on installing outside his office, he was very proud. Little did we know that his promotion would be coming in handy very soon.

I had started being sick a few days before, it had a familiar feeling to it. I was pregnant again! I had no idea how we were going to afford another baby, now I just had to break the news to Blake. Once again he was thrilled and he immediately began fussing around me.

Blake began taking fewer cases as he said that he wanted to be around more to help with Raiza and the pregnancy.

I just tried to concentrate on spending as much time as I could with her as I knew that when the new baby came along my time would be spread much thinner. She was such a happy little girl, and loved nothing more than sitting and reading a book.

I couldn’t understand it, I seemed so much bigger this time than with Raiza, I was huge!

I went into labour a month early. Blake was home this time although he wasn’t really any help. He had no idea what to do, and just stood there panicking while I screamed and pushed. When the labour was over we both had a surprise in store for us…

1.5 Moving on, moving up

Things carried on the same way for the next few weeks. A routine of work, sleeping, eating, looking after the house, and chilling. One day on the way home from the library I noticed that some one had moved in the house down the road from mine. I only caught a glance of them as they were busy talking. Hmm, might be nice having a new neighbour, I thought to myself as I cycled home.

A few days passed and I’d forgotten about my new neighbour. Then one day as I was cycling into town a man called to me from the top of the steps outside the house. Confused I parked my bicycle against the railing and made my way up the steps. The front door was open but a voice called “Come in! I’ll be right with you.” I walked  in shutting the door behind me and looked around. Suddenly a voice behind me said “Hi, I’m Blake. Blake Richards.” I turned around to see a man with dark red hair and startling green eyes.

“I saw you riding past the other day,” he began. “And I noticed that you dropped this,” he said stretching his hand towards me. I looked down and saw something glittering in his palm. “My bracelet,” I said instinctively looking at my wrist. ” I hadn’t even noticed it was missing,” I smiled taking it from his hand. “Thank you, I would have been so frantic when I realised it was gone. I can be so clumsy sometimes.” I laughed.

I glanced up to see him watching me, and found myself blushing under his gaze. He really did have beautiful eyes. I quickly thanked him and made my way towards the door. All the way home I couldn’t get his face out of my mind.

When I got home I found a package waiting for me. I opened it and found a strange looking contraption inside, along with a note:

Hi Crina,

I forgot to give you this the other day it’s called a Spook-O-Meter. It’s only recently been developed and we thought it might be of some use to you. When used it can help indicate the proximity of  paranormal activity.

Thanks, Steve.

I put the Spook-O-Meter in my pocket, and headed out the door. My first job that evening was at a house across town. The woman on the phone  said that here was a ‘strange presence’ in the house, so I headed over to investigate it. I entered the house and turned on my new toy. It emitted a strange low drone filling the room. After a minute I felt a strange sensation wash over me, a sort of emptiness, not bad just, empty.

I moved to the upstairs landing and once again turned on the Spook-O-Meter. This time, after a minute I got a strange sense that something was close by. I walked toward the bedroom and felt it get stronger. Looking around I saw a vague mist floating over by the wall. That must be it, I thought walking closer towards it whilst simultaneously reaching for my Banshee Banisher. However as I got closer the mist seemed to shimmer and become more solid. Before my eyes the image of a woman seemed to form. Here, right in front of me was a ghost. Not a wispy, air and smoke ghost. This one had substance, a body and a face. And that face was smiling at me.

I walked over towards the ghostly woman and so many questions rushed through my head. I was overwhelmed.

“Hi, I’m Crina,” I said with excitement. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Oh,” she said smiling. “You’re the one who everyone’s talking about. I’m Helena Isiana by the way.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, by the way. Now, what can I help you with?” She said looking at me. I just stood there blankly. Up until now I’d always just used my Banshee Banisher, and the spirits I’d used it on seemed none too happy about it. But Helena seemed lovely and the idea of capturing her and handing her over to the science centre just didn’t seem right. Not knowing what else to do I voiced my dilemma to her.

“Well, dear you don’t have to capture me and hand me over,” she laughed. “Most of the ghosts you meet will be just disembodied mist and sadly there is no way to communicate with them and ask then to depart of their own accord. However for ones like me, if you can communicate with them you will most likely be able to simply ask them to leave.” She said. “Now I assume you know that each spirit can be identified by It’s colour?” I nodded. I’d read about this whilst doing my research. “Well then you know which ones are in need of help, and which ones are going to be difficult. When you’ve sorted that out release the good ones into the grave yard, theres a thin veil between worlds in a graveyard and they will be able to find their way through from there. The others you should give to the science centre, for if you release them they will just find a way to escape and cause more trouble. As for the ones you are able to communicate with, there are some who will not want to leave, and then you will have to capture them.” She finished.

I thanked her and then noticed that the room was beginning to lighten. “Well my dear, It was lovely chatting to you but I really should be on my way. Sorry if I caused any trouble,” she smiled beginning to shimmer. “Oh no, thank you,” I replied as she faded away.

Walking back out into the hallway I once again used my Spook-O-Meter and felt that same sensation that something was nearby. But this time it felt different, it made me feel nervous. Walking onto the balcony I saw another ghost but before I could get any closer it floated through the wall.

I followed him and noticed that he was glowing orange, a colour that could be difficult to deal with. Never the less I was determined to give it a go.

“Hi, I’m Crina. The people in this house are really scared and I just wanted to come and ask if I could give you some help crossing over.”

I was not prepared for the response I got. He leapt forward and yelled “LEAVE ME ALONE!”

I was so surprised I leaped back and yelped in alarm. I expected it to be difficult but I was not at all prepared for this!

He just stood there with his teeth bared, growling at me.

Eventually he stood back up with his fists balled and a scowl on his face. That was it. There was obviously no reasoning with this guy, I would have to resort to my trusty old Banshee Banisher instead.

He saw me reach for it and immediately floated too the opposite side of the room and began pulling rude faces at me.

Well, I wasn’t having that! I gripped my Banshee Banisher tight and planted my feet squarely on the ground. Then I turned it on and pointed it at him. Wow, I could tell that this was going to be a lot harder that anything else I’d dealt with.

That stopped him pulling faces. He yelled and flapped his arms about trying to escape from my rays. He was strong but not a match for my gun. After a what seemed like ages I eventually got the upper hand and saw him shrink and disappear into the cartridge. I smiled, unclicked it and popped it in my pocket before heading out of the house and home.