The Dreaming of the Shadows A novel

Chapter One

'We have to leave now, Cara'.

We were looking at the dim road.

'New York', Mom said.

I watched them, my parents.

It was Saturday night, around 9:00 PM.

I yawned, and dreamed of a place that was unusual.

I opened them after an hour on the cold road.

'Get up!', Mom yelled.

I was slumped down on my black, leather, seat.

The house hovered above skyline.

I shivered with dread, and knew it would be a late evening before I went to sleep.

***

The Dreaming of the Shadows fell onto me.

I awoke knowing that the little girl in a white dress was in the conservatory. I felt that she would speak to me in her own time; she was on the swings. Her small feet swishing in the cold breeze. The girl vanished in the ether. Was she an apparition? I didn't know if she was; she was the first of many spirits in the Mansion. 'Cara, what's wrong?', Mom asked me.

'Nothing, Mom', I answered.

And then I waited for the drama to start.

***

And the grimness of the house's burning atmosphere seared my mind. The dark rooms were ancient as the cemetery; dark and foreboding. 'And the time before, and after, the desired effect of the self shattered into fragments', I heard Mom say. I didn't care about the self as such; I was shattered by the grimness of the houses nearby.

This wasn't something I heard about in history class.

The shadows hovered above us, and stayed there.

***

"Cara'.

'Yes, Mom'.

'Where's your father?', she asked.

'I don't know', I answered; admitted.

'He is in town on business'.

'But, you said he was going to'.

'Things have changed'.

'How?'.

'It is the way things are, Cara'.

And that was the end of the matter.

***

'What do you see, Cara?'.

'See'.

'See'.

'I don't see; I dream'.

'Dreams are for the night time'.

'I know'.

'I have work to do. Place your luggage in your room, please'.

'Yes, Mom'.

She sighed, and knew that something wasn't right.

***

I watched the neon signs of Dad's work in Chicago. The dead bodies of the Morgue was chilling; the eyes of the dead were like a signal not to mess with them. That was controlled by gangsters like Al Capone in the 1930's. New York, the city that never sleeps, was an all morning, afternoon, and evening city; a city that became known for their darkness.

'Cara'.

'Yes, Mom'.

'Dinner is soon'.

'Fine, what about a movie on TV?'.

'Okay', Mom said.

I checked the TV Guide.

The best one was 'Jamaica Inn', the 1939 black and white film at 7:00 PM. I had read about Cornwall in school. The cliffs were sharp; the raging ocean was violent; the smugglers were nasty, and the book was on my bed. I grabbed the paperback of it, and decided to place it on the shelf.

***

By the morning, a Friday, I saw that the black colors of the sky.

I hated the rain.

Thunder erupted.

Lightning boomed.

And everything went dark.

***

Daniel Karr gazed at the house, and shivered.

He saw the car, and stopped walking.

At the door was a girl.

'Cara'.

'Yes, Mom'.

'You can go exploring'.

'Fine'.

I walked to the front door.

'Hi. I'm Daniel. You're Cara?', he asked.

'Yes, but how did you know?'.

'I heard your Mom. You're new here'.

'Yes'.

'This place is strange at night time'.

'Oh'.

'Yes'.

'Tell me more', Cara said.

And he did.

***

'I saw a ghost', I said.

'Amy Schaeffer', Daniel told me.

'When did she die?', I asked him.

'In 1948, three years after the end of World War II', Daniel answered.

'Where is she buried?', I said.

'In Markham Cemetery', Daniel stated.

And he pointed north towards the cold wrought-iron gates to the far left of us.

***

The darkness came towards the fickle storm.

Massie Gregson focused on the ill girl in her bed.

She crumbled in deep-set emotional turmoil; she felt cold. The south-easterly winds of the Santa Ana hills focused on the dread that killed off the sounds of dismay. Massie watched the rain, and she froze in horror. The dramatic sound burst the silence; the silence was deafening. She saw her sister freeze, as if from some kind of paralysis.

The color television news was on.

'Mom!', Massie said.

Silence.

Then came the screaming.

***

The storm lashed New York.

It battered the sharp rocks; it was so severe that the idea that the dark was terrifying. Cara looked at the windows. Thunder and lightning boomed in the black sky. Then all of New York was drenched in deep water.

***

Cara focused on the bed.

'Mom. I can't sleep with my sister in it', she sighed.

'She is there because she needs it', her Mom said.

'But-'.

'Don't I have a say...'.

'No'.

And Cara broke down and cried.

***

The Grandfather clock chimed 7 times.

Cara stood by the bed, and froze.

'She's afraid of me', Amy said.

And she smiled.

***

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