My Story: The Winchester House [Completed]

39: A Scare

I watched as Luke listened to the radio, flipping through the channels when they stopped reporting on the Balkan War. It was almost dinner, and the only time he wasn't by the radio was when he had to go to practice. He even moved the radio to the laundry room for when he helped me wash the clothes. When no channel was reporting, he was reading the paper over and over again.

"Luke, please go wash up for dinner," I said. He took off to the bathroom to wash his face and hands. Max touched my shoulders as I sighed.

"I can have him stop listening. I'll limit him to a hour a day," Max told me. I held his hand.

"War is his passion. How can we take that away from him?" I asked. Max looked down with a sigh.

"I wish my son didn't want to serve. He is a talented baseball player," Max said.

"He's always wanted to serve, Max. He was five when he first told us, and I don't think he is going to change his mind suddenly," I stated. Max squeezed my hand and kissed my head as Luke ran back to the radio and continued listening.

"Luke, you know listening to the radio too much will make you sad," Amanda stated. Luke looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm being well-informed, Amanda," he told her, and she leaned on him. He shook her off, and she fell on her behind. She walked to me and held my leg.

"Mommy, will Luke still listen to the radio as we eat?" Amanda asked me softly. I nodded as I leaned over to pick her up.

"The reports are almost done for the night. They said that they didn't want scare the children more," Luke said as he looked over for a second. I smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Luke," I said as I walked to the table to have Amanda sit.

"It's going to end in five minutes," Luke said as he put his chin into his hands. Max squeezed my shoulders as we watched Luke listen intently to the radio. When he flicked it off, he stood up and smiled at us.

"Go to the table," I told Luke. He nodded, and we followed him. Syren was sitting there, but Amanda wasn't. I noticed the door was open. "Syren, where is Amanda?" I asked. She looked at me.

"I don't know," she said. I looked at Max.

"Amanda!" Max yelled. The house was quiet. I ran outside, in panic.

"Amanda!" I yelled as I looked into the darkness.

~*~

An hour later, we still hadn't found Amanda. My sweet little girl. Max was holding me as we tried not to cry. A small group was trying to find her.

"Max, where could she be?" I asked as I choked on my tears.

"We'll find her, I promise," he swore as he held me close.

"I'm sorry. If I had just stopped the radio and been responsible," Luke sniffed. I grabbed my son and held him close as he tried to not cry.

"This isn't your fault," I told him. He let tears wet my skirts as he hid his face.

"Daddy," Syren said, and Max picked her up. I looked at Max.

"It's going to be fine," Max decided, and Luke held on to me tighter. I rubbed his head as Max walked closer to hold me.

"We found her," Josh said as he ran down the stairs to the house. He was carrying Amanda, with Braxton following. I ran towards them and took my baby girl. My sob came out as I held her close to me. She smiled at me, but her smile disappeared as she looked at me.

"Why are you crying, Mommy?" she asked. I held her closer as I rocked her.

"Don't ever do that again, Amanda," I told her. She played with my hair, and Max hugged both of us.

"I was following the other girls," she said. I looked at her and realised she was talking about the spirits. Like and Syren had nearly grown out of seeing them, but I didn't know that Amanda saw them.

"We don't follow them with Mother or Father knowing," Luke told her as he grabbed her hand.

"We were having fun... until Uncle Josh picked me up," Amanda sighed.

"Promise me that you will tell someone when you someone when you go to follow the girls," I told her, and  she nodded.

"I promise, Mommy," she said. I kissed her head as Max moved her hair.

"Go inside and relax," Josh said, and I nodded as Max put his hand on my lower back.

"Luke, Syren, come with us," Max said, and they followed us, respectfully. I sat on the couch with Amanda as Max sat next to us.

"Amanda, you are to not leave Luke's sight anymore. Do you understand?" I asked. Luke nodded as he touched Amanda's back.

"I understand," she said as she nodded, firmly. I kissed her head as I rocked her a little.

~*~

I closed the door to Amanda's room, keeping my eyes on her until the very end. She was dead asleep, and I sighed as I put my hand against the door. I stepped back and headed to Luke's room.

His room was filled with baseball related objects. His mitt and bat. Newspaper clippings of teams and players. He was sitting at his desk, writing something.

"Luke, go to bed," I told him. He walked over and gave me a hug.

"I'll be a better older brother, I promise," he said. I patted his head as I gave him a hug.

"Go to bed, Luke. Everything will be fine," I told him, and he climbed into the bed. I tucked him in and kissed his head. "Good night, Luke."

"Good night, Mother," he said as he turned over to sleep. I walked to Max's and my room where Max instantly hugged. I felt safe and knew that Max would protect our family.