As Brian had predicted James was let out of the hospital three days later. He was still weak from his experience, but at least he was at home. He wanted to jump into the work immediately, telling Brian he will go pick the rocks with Rodney, but Brian told him to rest instead. But instead of following instructions James decided he will sit on the lawn and watch his father and brother work and taking them glasses full of cold refreshments while their mother went to sit at the hospital, waiting for Luke to wake up.It was hard for Jerry to help them, he had picked up extra shifts to make extra money for his baby and the wedding. Nadine was still having the weird experiences in their home, but Jerry was completely oblivious. When Jerry worked night shifts Nadine would stay in the house. Brian was back in his house, so Rodney used Brian’s old room on the nights he stayed over.James had been home three days when he finally felt strong enough to go for a walk up the path. So that Wednesday
As the days and weeks passed the front lawn was quickly transformed into a construction site. Luke had still not woken up and was still in ICU. Brian and James could feel him slip away from them, no matter how hard they tried to patch things up with their father.Joe was starting to feel the pressure, no matter how many times he had sat next to Luke in his private room, no matter how many boulders he carried with James, or how little time he was spending in his study, nothing seemed to help Luke at all. The doctors were starting to lose hope for Luke, even though he still had brain activity and reacted to everything around him. His heart was still beating, all be it slow, as if he was in a deep sleep, there was no medical reason for him to still be in the coma he was in.Nadine’s pregnancy was progressing quickly, but she wanted to wait for Luke before she set a date for her wedding. The crying in House one still woke her during her naps, but she felt the irritation ease when she sang
Luke did not return for another week, a week where Brian changed his mind more times than anyone could count.Brian’s final decision was to have the pond slope inwards, and then pan out in the center, where the pavilion and the pump house were going to be. Brian did not want a pump house at first, but after some research he realized he was going to have to put pumps and filters in to make sure the water is always clear and moving.Since the pavilion was going to be roughly thirty six squares in a hexagonal shape, he agreed to have the pump house underneath the pavilion knowing it would leave enough space for the twelve square the pump house needed.Joe had to force Brian and James to return to school the same week Luke returned home. Brian made his instructions very clear to the builders he had enlisted to build the pump house, and would rush home after school to check on the site.The structures came up quickly, Luke took pleasure in sitting outside in the shade and watch the men sin
No one thought anything of it when Luke did not come in for lunch, they thought he was perhaps sleeping, since he kept telling them how tired he was. However, the situation started bothering Brian when he started hearing the crew talk about his brother whilst they were working.“Roe, what did you just say about Luke?” he asked quickly.“I’m saying your little brother is in that creepy barn up there, knocking holes in the walls with an axe. He said he’s going to burn that place down.” Roe told him quickly.“When was this?” James asked and poked his head out of the pump house.“About an hour ago. Cracker here just said he heard voices, sounded like the kid was arguing with someone, he came down to tell me.” Roe replied.“Fuck. James! Get Dad! Hurry!” Brian yelled and ran as hard as he could up the paths.“Let’s go lads!” Roe said to the crew and set off after Brian.Cynthia had watched from the kitchen window, and when she saw the sudden commotion she screamed for her husband.“Dad! Dad
Brian would be sore for more than a week after he helped rescue Luke. But he could hardly complain. Luke was still in the hospital since both his legs were broken just above the knee, his shoulder was fractured, and he had a couple of deep gashes where the nails had gotten to him as the building collapsed on top of him. Luke was permanently in a bad mood since he had to be pushed around in a wheelchair for his legs to heal or stay in bed. He was in constant pain too, but he did not complain about it.Cynthia knew something was wrong with Luke, but she could not put her finger on it; yet. Roe had told her they had discovered an axe near where Luke had been, it was a crew member’s axe, and the very axe they had been looking for since the day of the incident. All construction on the property was halted to clear up the pile of wood. Brian had planned a wooden floor for the pavilion, the dark mahogany had already been purchased, but after his experience with the beams, he felt they were
Brian and James were on their own for the better parts of the next two weeks. Between Luke and Nadine, the parents had their hands full. The only relief everyone had was that Saon and Elizabeth were there when the boys needed to make themselves lunch and dinner.The pond and pavilion progressed quickly, the contractors had seen what the ghosts were capable of, and they just wanted to get the job done so that they can put Thomas Gardens behind them. True to his word, Brian had gotten help from the ghosts, and every morning upon their arrival, a little of the work had already been done.Cynthia couldn’t believe her eyes when she finally came home the next Sunday. What had once been a construction site was now a gorgeous pavilion, decorated with fairy lights. Two bridges were on either side of the pavilion, and everywhere she looked was greenery and lights in between.The car jerked to a halt all of a sudden, and she nearly hit her head on the steering wheel.“You really need to look whe
Nadine and Jerry got married on the fifth of January, the garden was in full bloom, and the koi fish were jumping in and out of the water, which scared the pastor half to death since he thought he saw a woman in the pond.Some of the guests jumped when the wedding march was played on a guitar, that stood up against a chair, the strings moving as if by themselves. All though unsettling as it was to some guests, they still enjoyed the wedding. At the end of the ceremony, Luke leaned in to whisper something in Jerry’s ear who had nodded and then repeated it to Nadine who simply nodded.Brian, James and Luke stepped forward, closed their eyes and their bodies shook for a second. When the boys opened their eyes the pastor crossed himself quickly and held up a crucifix towards them.Brian was the first to open his mouth, his lips did not move, and yet, a deep baritone voice filled the air.“I, Robert James Thomas, hereby bless thee with a long life, full of prosperity and love, with the kno
Not everyone was allowed to sleep in the next morning. The three brothers were up by eight am, feeling as if a train had run them over. They were exhausted, and they had no recollection of the previous day’s events. All three of them woke up in house four, groaning at the aches in their bodies.They got dressed silently and then headed out to the front lawn to clean up a mess they had no recollection of participating in. It took the boys three hours to clean up everything, fold up the chairs and take the tent down. By the time Joe emerged from the house everything was done, and the boys were sitting in the pavilion with their feet in the cold water of the pond below.Joe looked around him, noting the difference immediately.“You guys did this all by yourselves?” he asked as he walked to the pond.Brian looked at his father with bloodshot eyes.“Yeah. What happened yesterday?” he asked his father carefully.“What do you mean? You were here!” his father replied.“Doesn’t feel like it. T