The Franklin Series: Torment

Entry Twenty-eight

September 21st, 1982

The house was pitch black when I peeled my eyes open. There was a creak in the hall, a door being opened. A thump, thump, similar to that of my father's boots on the wooden floors of our family home. I left that place and I've yet to hear that sound again, until today.

The thump becomes louder and seems to be coming closer. Like footsteps that don't have a rhythm or a heart that forgot how to beat. While a person would be dead if their heart did that, I have a feeling this is no human. I doubt that the intruder is alive.

The thumping slows at my door and I see a shadow passing back and forth in the strip of light beneath my door. I'm still huddled in my blankets hoping to wake up from the nightmare I'm living.

Could it be my grandfather? Has he come to torment me as I always assumed my father would? Is my grandmother watching over me in the least peaceful way possible? What if it's Hazel's spirit? Could she possibly blame me for her death?

I put my blanket down because I need to see for myself. I need to know what is going on. "Hello! Who's there?" I shout, hoping that if this isn't a dream, I've frightened off any potential burglars.

"I have a weapon." I call out as I lift a large wooden leg post from my closet. It was once attached to the dining room table we used in our family home, I've since purchased a small metal framed table to suit myself and Morgan at most. But the leg will come in handy.

The thumping stops at the mention of a weapon. I feel around for the door knob and grab hold. I take a deep breath and feel the goosebumps spread across my body. The creak of my door as it opens is similar to the one I heard before. Had this person or thing just left my bedroom when I woke up. I'm shaking harder than I ever have before.

"Won't you read to me, please Wesley? Have I done something to make you upset, big brother?" Zel's Voice echoes through my ear and vibrates my ear drum, ever so lightly that I hear what's said but I begin to question my sanity.

I put my hands over my ears and tumble onto my side on the floor outside my bedroom. "I didn't know—" My sobs cut me off. "I would have saved you!" I'm screaming because I hear her voice but I don't know where it is coming from. Since she passed she hasn't visited, why now? Why me?

I pull myself upright after a few minutes of silence and look around my kitchen. The room is a different colour and every item of furniture is gone.

There is a fast, icy breeze that rips through the kitchen and forces the windows open. My spine tingles at the realization that the breeze came from inside the house. I'm losing my mind.

"You could have saved me!" A screeching voice unlike any I've ever heard rips through my ears. I'm trembling in fear, my breath is caught. I cannot exhale. This is a nightmare.

I woke up on the kitchen floor. I was laid out like a starfish, I must have slept walked.