The Woman In The Shadows

Part Thirteen - A Restless Slumber

"She's asleep." Alexander said as he let out a deep sigh of relief, turning to Julia, smiling slightly. "She should be out for the rest of the day, the night if we're lucky, but I can't make you any promises." He continued, turning to Jim who was still standing on the other side of the bed, his arms folded across his chest as he looked down at Sheila, her eyes fluttering slightly.

"None of this makes any sense." He said finally, shaking his head some more before looking up at Julia and Alexander. "Ghosts and goblins - demons - they're not real."

Julia turned to Alexander, an almost state of amusement on her face before addressing the statement.

"You came running out to find a woman you could barely see smashing your wife's head against a tool shed door and you still don't believe in ghosts?" She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Jim. I understand that this is a lot to take in - really, I do and I'm speaking from experience. But given the recent turn of events and your two children depending on you, I think you should open your mind a little."

"Now, now Julia" Alexander scolded, walking around to the other side of the bed where Jim stood, placing his hand gently on the man's shoulder, "go easy. You said it yourself - this is a lot to take in."

There was an awkward silence that overtook the room; the quiet murmurs of Sheila's dreams and the gentle sobs of the daughters in the next room the only noises to be heard. Jim looked at the two, opening his mouth as if to say something, then quickly closing it again.

Alexander remained at his side with his hand still on Jim's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. To Jim's surprise, it was working. Alexander, he had a way about him - a grace that put people at ease. The way he spoke was calm and collected and his movements were graceful in nature. Even the way he walked made it look as if he were floating above the floor's surface.

"I want you to talk to my children. I want you to explain to them - I want you to explain to me again what exactly is going on here because this is way outside of my element."

Alexander and Julia looked at one another a moment, then turned to Jim in unison.

"Alright Jim" Julia said as she turned to head towards the door, "I'm going to head downstairs and put a pot of coffee on if you don't mind. Why don't you get Sandra and, Meadow, is it?" She paused, waiting for Jim's confirming nod. "Right. Get Meadow and Sandra and we can sit down to the table and explain all of this."

Downstairs, Jim and his daughters sat at the table while Alexander leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen entranceway. Julia tended to the coffee; replacing the dirty filter Jim had left from the day before with a fresh one. Effortlessly, she found the coffee tin - the third cupboard from the left of the door that led outside. Jim watched as he counted inside his head, blinking slightly with each scoop added to the pot.

"Will the children be having any coffee?" Julia asked, a heaping tablespoon suspended above the growing mound as she looked for Jim's approval.

"Yes please." Sandra said, almost instinctively as she blindly looked out the kitchen window at the trees, watching them sway back and forth as the wind moved through them.

"No." Meadow whispered, her phone placed facedown on the kitchen table as she stared at nothing in particular, a look of loss and confusion in her eyes that made Jim feel like a failure of a father.

"So." Alexander said, straightening before walking to the table, pulling out a chair and taking a seat along with the family. "Where should we begin?"

"The beginning would be nice." Sandra said sarcastically, still looking out the window a moment longer before turning to the man she just met - the man she watched stick a needle in her mother's arm - the man her father allowed to stick a needle in her mother's arm.