Spider House
That's the name of the novel I'm working on. Spider House A Madam Celeste novel. There is something mysterious going on at Cheryl Brently's abandoned family home. Nothing is as it appears. Celeste and her assistant have been called in to try to see what clues there are by performing a seance.
I've spent the last few days writing and rewriting the seance. It's coming along well. I haven't edited yet, but I thought I'd share a few paragraphs. Ready? remember, this is raw. NO editing yet.
Chapter 13
As everyone finished their pizza and took a seat in a circle on the floor, Madam Celeste gave each participant a crystal. “These are to absorb any negative energy that tries to enter the circle,” she said. Then she moved to take a seat on an overstuffed chair behind the circle, being sure to be in a position to be seen by Emma. "Please, may I have your attention," she started.
"We have come together here to contact the spirits of Chris and Mr. Ray Brently. We call on Angels and spirits, friendly to anyone and everyone in this room to protect us during this venture. Guard us against imposters or anyone with harmful intentions. Keep us safe from those who would try to trick us or lie to us about the facts involving the house in question or the boating accident. Thank you. Let the Séance begin," she said extending her hand in a grand gesture towards Emma.
Emma cleared her throat. She seemed quite calm. “Thank you, Madam Celeste. That was wonderful.
We have personal belongings from both Chris and Mr. Brently here in the middle of the circle. We ask them to join us in order to clear up some misunderstandings and to help us determine what is going on at the house.
Nothing happened. Not even for Celeste or Emma. The room was still. Emma looked at Celeste for help, but Celeste nodded her to continue.
“If you would join us here to answer a few questions, we promise to be quiet and respectful,” said Emma. “It’s very important to Cheryl. She needs some answers and we think you may have them.”
“Maybe you should be quiet for a bit and give them a chance to answer,” said Robert. “They could be here and waiting for a chance to communicate.”
“If they were here, I would know it, Robert. It’s my gift.”
As Emma was speaking someone began to materialize in the circle. Emma was hopeful until she saw that it was Paul.
“You want me to shake these things so they’ll know someone is here?” he asked.
Emma shook her head slightly.
“Who are you shaking you’re head at?” asked Cheryl.
“I saw it, too,” said Mia.
“There is a spirit here that I know. He was trying to be helpful, but we don’t need that kind of help. We need help actually contacting Chris and/or Mr. Brently. Paul was going to shake the items to put on a show for you.”
Everyone gasped as Paul raised the pen and the key fob that had been placed in the center of the circle. “See? Now they believe you,” said Paul.
“They already believed me, Paul,” said Emma. “We need to make contact with Chris and/ or Mr Brently. Can you find them? Maybe they’re at the house.”
Cheryl was trying to decide if Emma was for real or just crazy. “You’re talking to a ghost right now?” she asked.
“His name is Paul. He helps Madame Celeste from time to time. He’s very nice, but sometimes his idea of help is to trick people. That’s not what we’re trying to do.”
“There’s a bona fide ghost here and you’re worried about tricking us because it’s not the ghost you asked for?” Robert said with a chuckle. “Can he help find who we’re looking for?”
“He’s gone. I’m hoping to find them or at least one of them. He can be pretty persuasive with spirits when he wants to be.”
“Let’s all concentrate on the people associated with the pen and the keyfob. Maybe we can call them to us by thinking about them. Think about the room that was your fathers, Cheryl. Call to him in your mind. Let him know you need him here.”
There was a long silence while everyone concentrated on Cheryl’s father. Though some of them had never met him they had seen pictures and heard stories. A tear welled in Cheryl’s eye as she thought of him and with that, he appeared to Emma.
“He’s here,” said Emma in a hushed voice.
“Where?” asked Cheryl.
“Most of the people here cannot see you Mr. Brently. Will you pick up the object that was yours to show them where you are?”
The next thing they saw was the pen floating in the air. Cheryl’s father had been very attached to that particular pen and considered it his lucky pen for signing contracts and other important papers.
“I’m going to ask you some questions for Cheryl and the others. If you will answer me, I will relay your answer to the group. Does that sound acceptable to you?” asked Emma.
The apparition nodded as if he couldn’t speak.
“If you speak to me I can hear you. It will make the process a lot quicker,” said Emma.
“Do you spend most of your time at the old house?” asked Emma.
“Not usually,” said Mr.Brently softly. “I have better places to be, but lately I have been drawn to it more frequently. There is something wrong there.”
Emma repeated what he had said and the room erupted with questions. Emma raised her hands and lowered them slowly to quiet her new friends. They complied.
“What do you feel is wrong?” asked Emma.
“They can’t hear me, but you can? Really? Are you a witch or something?” asked Mr.Brently.
“Not exactly. I just have a gift that allows me to see and hear spirits. Madame Celeste over there has a similar gift. She can see you, but she can’t, as a rule, hear you. Now, what doesn’t seem right at the house?”
“Recently I’ve noticed another spirit around. It’s not my son. I recognize him when he’s around. This one seems to be both spirit and physical, but not,” he searched for the word.
“Not what?” asked Emma after allowing plenty of time for him to think.
“I don’t know. It’s not right. It’s not what it appears to be, when it appears at all. Most of the time I can feel it, but I can’t see it. Yet I can see things that I’ve learned are not actually there. The house has become confusing. I try to avoid it, but something keeps drawing me back.”
Emma explained what she had just heard.
“Can he see the spiders?” asked Cheryl.
Emma looked at Mr. Brently knowing he had heard the question.
“There are a lot of them. I don’t know why your brother wanted those. To me they’re just creepy and there are so many of them now. I don’t like it one bit. I think it was a good idea exterminating as many as possible. You tell Cheryl that was the right decision.” He waited for her to fill everyone in. “I saw what you were seeing and yet I knew it was an illusion. I don’t know how I knew. I just did.”
“Is something coming in from the woods and stalking the house?” asked Robert.
“I don’t know. I don’t look beyond the house.”
“Were you there when I saw the demonic looking entity?” asked Emma.
He looked her directly in the eyes. “That was not me. I had nothing to do with it. That’s part of what is wrong with the house, now. I don’t know what it was or where it came from. I am not responsible for everything that happens in that house. It is not my fault. None of this is my fault. I was not responsible for the boating accident or the spiders or the tracks or the red entity. You think it’s all my fault, but it’s not!”
He was speaking too fast. Emma could not keep up relaying every word. She could feel the emotions pouring from him It was not pleasant.
“No one has accused you of anything, Mr. Brently. We are looking for clues and answers to some questions. If we find them then maybe it will help you, as well,” said Emma.
“What makes you think you will find answers where I have not?” said Mr.Brently.
“Think about why we didn’t just do this at the house,” said Emma. “Why do you think we wanted you far away from that house?”
“I guess it has frightened you,” he answered.
“What frightens us is that we don’t see things clearly when we are there. The spiders seem 10 times bigger than they really are and a small red light appears to be a vicious creature. Things don’t look the way they really are when we are there.”
“That’s ridiculous! What would cause something like that to happen?”
“That’s exactly what we’re trying to find out. Did you see us at the house the other day?”
“Yes.”
“Did you try to communicate with any of us?”
“I tried to talk to you. I approached you and you ran out screaming. I saw Cheryl when she was there without all the extras. I could have sworn she at least felt me, but she never acknowledged it. And then she came back with all those people and their weapons.”
“Weapons?” asked Emma. “What kind of weapons did they have?”
“They were all carrying some form of lightsaber and they had boxes for capturing spirits.”
“I think I get it now. Those were a kind of controlled hallucination. That’s what happened to us, too. We saw things that weren’t really there or that were there, but not what they appeared to be. It seems you have had a similar experience.”
“Someone, or something doesn’t want us in that house or speaking with my father,” said Cheryl. “Daddy, have you seen Chris? Does he come around the house like you?”
“I see him from time to time in lots of different places. We never plan to meet. We just bump into each other. He is very attracted to the house. I think he spends a lot of time there,” said Mr.Brently.
“I wonder why he hasn’t come here,” whispered Emma almost to herself. Then she spoke to Mr.Brently,”Where else do you see him? What other places does he hang out?”
“There are places here you wouldn’t understand. I won’t even try to explain them to you. But, in your plane of existence, he is mostly, as I said, at the house. Sometimes I will see him at the soda fountain in the jewelry store and I’ve seen him at the gym at the old high school. And I often see him at the lake where the accident happened. I go there a lot myself. I’m not sure why. Sometimes I’m drawn there and can’t leave.”
“Why do you think he’s not here now?” asked Emma.
“He and I rarely speak. He blames me for the accident. He doesn’t understand there was nothing for me to do. He has a lot of anger issues. He had them when he died and he has them worse now.”
“You would say that, you old coot,” Chris arrived screaming. “It’s all your fault. Don’t lie to these people especially to Cheryl. She deserves to know what a coward you are. I stayed for you and how do you repay me? You tell lies. I have every reason to be angry. Every reason.”
Part of what I've been working on. Let me know what you think. Should I continue?
