STRANGE AND UNSEEN

Chapter 28

"What are you talking about, Tim?" Peter says as he takes Tim by the hand.

"It was Esther Rose that touched me. I smelled her perfume." Tim says as tears fill his eyes. "She .. she fondled me. I couldn't ... I couldn't move."

"I'm so sorry." Peter says as he rubs his thumb gently across Tim's knuckles.

"We were able to get him out of the room before she could go any farther." Chris says as he pushes Peter's hands away.

"Well, apparently she thinks she's still working." Peter says as he leans back in his chair.

"But the one that touched me didn't wear the honeysuckle perfume. Could it had been Jennifer?" Avi asks.

"Oh, you were touched too? I didn't know that." Peter says leaning forward giving Avi his attention.

"Yeah, upstairs in my bedroom. She rubbed me down the back." Avi says with a nod.

Peter begins to search through the newspaper clippings in his files.

"Hmmm, well, I'll be d*mned." Peter mumbles as he reads over an article.

"What?" Chris asks.

"Tim, is your bedroom on the first floor of the house?" Peter asks looking up from the paper.

Tim nods.

"Yeah, our bedroom is the only one on the first floor." Chris answers, stressing the word 'our'.

"That could be the reason." Peter says with a nod.

"Reason for what?" Adam asks.

"Esther Rose was murdered in the bedroom downstairs. Jennifer was murdered in an upstairs bedroom. Doesn't say which one though." Peter answers.

"Y'all would give me the haunted bedroom." Avi says smiling at Adam.

"Chris was scratched on the back while he was trying to help me. Would Esther had done that?" Tim asks.

"That, to me sounds more like Cher. She was also murdered in that room. But she might have been trying to stop Chris from stopping her girl from working." Peter shrugs.

"But what about the low moans and the footsteps and the door slamming?" Austin asks.

"I wish I had all the answers to your questions but I don't." Peter says as he begins to write something down. "I just so happen to have some close friends that are Paranormal Investigators that could probably help you out."

He hands the note to Tim.

"Zak Bagans and Aaron Goodwin." Tim reads.

"They are very good." Peter smiles. "Give them a call."

"We will." Chris says, standing up quickly and pulling Tim's chair away from the table. "Come on, guys. We need to go."

He starts to push Tim toward the door when Tim suddenly grabs the wheels of his chair bringing it to a halt. Shooting Chris an angry look.

"Thank you so much, Peter, for all your help." Tim smiles.

"Anytime." Peter smiles down at Tim.

"Absolutely, you definitely answered a lot of our questions." Avi smiles as he shakes Peter's hand.

"Now, at least we know what we might be dealing with." Adam says, also shaking his hand.

"If I can be of any more help, just let me know." Peter smiles and shows them to the door.

Tim angrily rolls his chair out to the van.

"Something wrong, Sweetheart?" Chris asks.

"SERIOUSLY!!?? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? WHAT'S YOUR F*CKING PROBLEM?" Tim shouts quickly turning his chair to face Chris.

"MAYBE I DIDN'T LIKE THE WAY HE WAS SMILING AT YOU AND HOLDING YOUR HAND!!" Chris yelled crossing his arms across his chest.

"HE WAS TRYING TO HELP US AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN THANK HIM!!" Tim shouts.

"Uh, guys. Can y'all not do this here on the man's front lawn?" Avi asks.

"HE WAS CLEARLY FLIRTING WITH YOU AND YOU WERE LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!" Chris shouts.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL??!! HUH?? HUH?? HURTS DOESN'T IT!!" Tim yells as his eyes fill with tears. "DOESN'T IT??!!"

He turns his chair around and rolls onto the lift. Adam quickly presses the button to lift his chair into the van.

Adam hops in, closing the door behind him. Sitting down between Tim and Austin.

Chris gets in the passenger seat slamming the door.

The ride back to the hotel was extremely quiet. Only an occasional sniff from Tim.

As they pull up to the room, Chance and Rob were already there.

Chris jumps out of the van and heads quickly to the room.

"*sshole." Tim mumbles under his breath as he opens the side door to the van.

Avi comes around and helps him out of the van.

"Why do I have a feeling that this is not over?" Austin whispers to Adam.

"Because it's probably not." Adam whispers.

As they come into the room they see Chris lying on the bed, staring blankly at the tv screen as he flips through the channels.

Chance and Rob give them questionable looks.

"Did you forget something, *sshole?" Tim growls heading to the other room and slamming the door behind him.

"O.k.?" Chance says, raising a brow at Chris. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Just an argument. Don't worry about him." Chris answers sharply.

"He's my cousin. Of course I'm gonna worry about him." Chance says as he gets up and heads to the room Tim was in.

He softly pecks on the door then walks in closing the door behind him.

"Hey Timothy." Chance says softly as he squats down in front of the wheelchair. "What's wrong, Cuz?"

"Chris and I had a big fight." Tim sobs as he wipes his eyes with the palm of his hand.

"About what?" Chance asks.

"The librarian was flirting with Chris and he sorta flirted back. With me right there. And then when we went to see Peter, he flirted with me. I kinda flirted back, I guess. I just wanted Chris to know how bad it hurt." Tim says as he sadly glances to the door. "And now he hates me."

"Chris could never hate you. You have him wrapped around your little finger." Chance smiles as he brushes back Tim's hair.

"I don't think I'm enough for him anymore. I think he wants a normal mate that can do things that I can't." Tim says quietly.

"That's ridiculous, Tim, and you know it." Chance says.

"What ... What if he wants to end our relationship? Chance, I don't have anywhere to go." Tim says as he wipes his cheek.

"Come mere. Let me help you in bed." Chance says. He helps Tim lay down in his and Austin's bed. He lays down beside Tim and pulls him closer. "I guarantee that breaking up with you is the farthest thing from Chris's mind. He loves you way too much for that."

"Promise?" Tim says as he lays his head on his cousin's chest. "I love him so much." He mumbles.

"I promise." Chance whispers as he hears Tim's breathing become more steady as he dozes off to sleep.

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