Chapter Five #3
Then again, Elizabeth was wearing her rosary, and she didn’t seem like she was distressed. If she was possessed, he imagined it would be far more violent.
Right?
At that moment, she was peaceful and just doing her thing. The whole castle was silent around them, and there didn’t appear to be an active haunting going on.
Not for them.
What that thing was, he had no freaking clue, but he was fighting the overwhelming desire to scoop her up and get her the hell back to her bed.
Curiosity, though, was winning this one. She was going to want to know when she woke up, and it appeared he was going to be the one explaining it to her.
Yeah, Elizabeth. You’re haunted.
That should go over like a lead balloon.
Going over to the fireplace, she dragged a chair that was not far away to stand on it. The whole time, both men moved closer in case she fell.
What she was doing, they had no idea, but it appeared she was climbing in her dream.
Together, they watched with Michael ready to catch her if she fell, as she touched the painting.
What she touched, specifically, befuddled them.
The necklace.
Then, she stared at it, for a few minutes, doing nothing more than touching that blue piece of the artwork. This was some weird shit.
That was for damn sure.
Getting down, she began moving again, and Graham put the chair back, and they followed. She was slowly meandering down the hallway toward the crypt.
Oh, boy.
They’d not shown her this part, simply because they all knew how she felt about crypts in the basement.
Now, here she was heading right there.
Man.
Honestly, Michael wished that she’d do this during the daylight hours.
Down past the foyer, there were only so many places she could go. She bypassed the office, the dining room, the ballroom, and the library. That meant she was absolutely going to the crypt.
Oh, boy.
If she woke up there, the shit would be hitting the fan.
For.
Sure.
Once the gate was pulled open, Elizabeth entered without a single obstacle in her way.
“Uh, that was locked,” Michael stated. “We keep it chained, so no one bothers the graves.”
Yeah, Graham was about to say the same thing. That wrought-iron door shouldn’t be able to open. In fact, the fact that the chain and lock were in a pile on the floor was freaking him out.
It might be silent, but the dead were definitely not at peace.
Then, as Elizabeth walked in, they saw it. On the floor, by the one post, there was the thick chain, and on it, the padlock.
Still locked.
“Oh, shit,” Michael stated. “Unless she’s practicing magick and possessed by Houdini, something unlocked that gate.”
Graham wasn’t sure about that reference, but he understood what he was saying.
Oh, and they suspected they knew ‘what’ did it.
The dead.
It appeared they were back to being haunted again, and Elizabeth was the catalyst that set it all off. Her looking just like Ceit had to have done this.
They’d bet on it.
Inside the crypt, they watched her stand there. She was facing Ceit’s tomb, and not moving. She was staring at the stone, and there was zero emotion on her face.
That went on for about ten minutes, and Michael was starting to get worried. It was pretty chilly down here, and she was only wearing his t-shirt and undergarments.
Then, she did something alarming.
They watched in horror as Elizabeth climbed onto the tomb and laid there.
TO.
SLEEP.
“Okay, I’m creeped out beyond normal,” Graham said. “What the hell is going on? Is she really taking a nap on a tomb?” he asked in horror.
Michael had no idea.
This was horrifying, and the first time at this particular rodeo.
“I think we need to move her. That’s all kinds of bizarre. We absolutely can’t let her sleep down here.”
Well, yeah, and for a variety of reasons.
It was all kinds of cuckoo.
Moving toward her, he gently touched her hand, and she didn’t move. What he could tell was that her body was beyond chilly. Her fingers were icy cold.
“Jesus! She’s freezing,” Michael said. “Let’s get her out of here. I don’t like this. She’s going to get sick or something!”
Yeah, that was a bad sign. It was very cold down here.
Carefully, Michael scooped her up, and they began heading back to the main part of the house. Elizabeth, the whole time, was unresponsive. She was breathing and he could feel her pulse against his arm as he cradled her neck, but she was still.
This was one hell of a deep sleep.
That was for sure.
Yeah, this really was odd for her.
Then again, she’d had a rough few days. Could this all be because of exhaustion?
If that was the case, Chris was getting a call.
Only, that didn’t explain the bubbles in the lake, the painting falling from the frame, or the unlocked crypt.
Now did it?
“What are we going to do?” Graham asked. “We absolutely can’t leave her alone. What if she wanders off? Or gets hurt? We promised to keep her safe.”
Yeah, he’d been thinking about the same thing.
Carrying her up the stairs, he broke it to his husband. It appeared it was sleepover time.
“So, how do you feel about a threesome?” he asked.