Brian thought that he would be able to have a lie in that Sunday morning. But it was not to be. He heard his name called from some distance away, but he muttered ‘Leave me’ alone and turned around to snooze.Then the poking and prodding started in his legs, feet and his waist. He opened his eyes slightly, saw no one and muttered ‘Cut it out Bradley. It’s Sunday.’And yet the poking continued up his body and to his face. He felt the tickle in his ear and started waving it off, only to hear a childish giggle behind him. He turned towards the giggle, saw no one and put it off as Bradley playing tricks on him.“Cut it out Bradley.” Brian yelled annoyed and turned again, this time to lie on his stomach, arms above his head, leaving his bare back exposed.Again there was the sound of a childish giggle and then the tickling intensified. Brian thought flies and maggots were crawling up his back, so he jumped out of bed in a panic, swatting and wiping away anything that could be on his back.T
A couple of days passed quietly enough. In Cynthia’s personal opinion, it was a little too quiet.. No more marching footsteps in the hall, or lights flickering in the kitchen, or Brian’s old bedroom door opening and closing by itself. Worst of all, neither Saon or Elizabeth sat with her when Jeremy was with her.It was odd, Cynthia realized, how comfortable she had gotten with the ghosts around her. And how much safer they made her feel if she felt or saw or heard them around the house.What worried her the most, was that Bradley was no longer a constant presence in the house. No matter that Jackie and Jane were around, Bradley was their first ghost, and he had been the one updating her on how her sons were doing the day, and now? There’s simply nothing at all. And she didn’t like it one bit.“You know, I never thought I’d say this, but the silence is bothering me, a lot.” Joe said as he sauntered into the kitchen with his empty mug.“You know I was just thinking the same thing. It is
When the brother got home at around three that afternoon their father was still furious and yelling at the walls.“What’s up with Dad?” Luke asked cautiously as he walked into the house.“Have either of you seen or heard anything from the dead roaming the house?” Joe rounded up his sons the second he saw them.“No, why?” Brian asked confused as he took his coat off and hung it around the chair.“Because there’s two rascals on the loose and they keep making havoc all over the bloody place! Nadine hasn’t slept in days, and there is no parental figure around to make them stop!”Spittle flew from the corner of Joe’s mouth as he yelled.“I’ll take care of it Dad. Why don’t you go lie down, and I will see if I can find Bradley or their mother.” Brian replied calmly as he looked his father over.“Make sure you do that, and get a move on it. I hate to think what will happen if they get your mother on her own or with Jeremy.”With that Joe stormed out of the house and to his car. The family wa
The media blew the entire incident completely out of proportion. An outside newspaper claimed that one of the Thomas boys were responsible for a bomb that was hidden in a bag and dropped in the foyer when they had walked in. The towns folk read the articles, shook their heads, laughed at the ridiculousness of it all and used the newspaper as a rug for their animals to poop on.With half the precinct out with injuries Mayor McCummins was forced to get officers in from other towns. Buttershire was welcoming, but the new officers were wary. Jerry was taken off desk duty and placed back on the street with two other officers to show them around town.James went back to school the second day after the explosion. Some kids kept their distance, too scared to ask, even the kids that used to bully him kept their distance.His homeroom teacher welcomed him back to class, enquired after his health and wished his brothers a speedy recovery. After that, she simply let him be.“Hey.” Rodney finally
The Thomas family sat around in the kitchen, none the wiser of what was currently happening at the hospital. Cynthia was making coffee for Joe and Brian, who had for some reason decided he liked the taste.Brian was telling his father about the accidents at the site, and trying hard not to rub at the patch on his eye. James sat and stared into the darkness, not saying a word, and not paying much attention to what his brother was saying either.Static electricity filled the air, making the hair on the arms stand on end.“Hello family.” the soft baritone voice unsettled everyone in the room.“Roger.” Brian stood up immediately and looked around the room.The air crackled and snapped as the opaque outline of a soldier started to appear.“Nasty cut you got there boy.” Roger commented as his body began to solidify.“Hurts pretty bad too.” Brian said to him.“You should’ve paid more attention then. Lucky for you lot, your youngest has the brains in this family. He had a nice long conversati
That evening the family sat around the dinner table. Joe could see the disappointment in Brian’s face, and he knew where his oldest son had been earlier that day. He did the math and came to the conclusion that the meeting had not gone in their favor.“So, what are we going to do about the river?” Joe finally broached the topic.“I don’t know Dad. I’m scared to death of the water, and James can’t dive that deep. Luke is not going to be of much help, even though he had been cleared to come home in a few days. Jerry tried getting help from some of his buddies, but no one was interested. I was thinking of going over to Shamdon to ask for divers or salvage crews there but the ban on the families from there still stands. I can’t catch a break.” Brian replied miserably.“What about further north?” Joe suggested.“Where? Calledonia? Those folks don’t want nothing to do with Thomases. Our name is bad out there Dad, and not because of us. It’s no use going there and get into a fight.” Brian re
The crowd petered off around four pm, the father and son duo had not yet been able to get the second thing hooked up. They were slowly starting to tire, and loose hope. Cynthia stopped them after James nearly drowned when his anchor rope somehow got tangled up with the chain, which in turn, got tangled up in a crevice somewhere below them. He could not go up, or down. Joe had gotten him untangled just in time, but still the boy was rushed to shore spluttering and vomiting muddy water.Jerry insisted on taking James to the hospital, which left Joe without a diving partner. So he and Brian rolled up the chains and left them under the tree. Jerry frowned at his in-laws and then bundled the whole lot into the mini bus and drove them to the hospital.Nadine sat with Jeremy in Luke’s room while Joe and James were looked over. The baby was starting to stand up alongside things so she kept a wary eye out for him.“Your father and your brother are mad, you know that?” Jerry said to Luke furiou
The Thomas boys waited until nearly ten am before they decided to go back to the river and attempt the feat again. The put on their swim trunks, and went down to the river.From some ways off they could hear the voices on the river bank. Men and women were all talking and calling out to each other and then the laughing started. When the boys broke through the foliage they discovered seven people, all wearing wet suits, six diving tanks stood in batches of two near the water’s edge.Six of the seven wore flippers, the seventh just had boots on.Brian stared at them and then opened his mouth, but no sound came out.“Hello Brian.”Brian recognized him as the captain of the rescue squad from Firehouse 117.“Hi.” Brian finally managed to say.“I hope you don’t mind, Jerry let us in and brought us down here.” He said and then pointed to the people around him. “This is Hannon, Liza, Alex, Graeme, Shauna, and Blake. These were the only volunteers I could gather for you to help you boys out.”