Chapter Five
"What the fuck happened to my hand?" When I looked at her she saw the marks where she hit and clawed at me.
"Holy shit. What happened?" It took me awhile to form words.
I told her what happened and she was hysterical. I didn't mention the part about Mr. Du Bois apparently sleeping with Isabelle. Or that she tried to slice her wrist. I just told her Isabelle was upset and hit the glass with her hand. She ran downstairs to her room and slammed the door behind her. She ripped the dress off while screaming at me from behind the door. "How did I get in the attic?"
She swore she didn't go in the attic on her own. Last she recalled she was on the couch reading. Drawers and cabinets were opening and closing frantically. I was about to knock when the door suddenly opened.
"We've got to get out of this house." Her bags were on the bed and she was throwing her clothes on top of them.
"Calm down Ash. I'm going to lock the attic up so you can't get in it. You said it yourself, it's something to do with the attic. We'll go see Gale tomorrow and see if she can help us figure it out. Until then, I won't let you out of my sight, I promise."
"Are you fucking insane?" She protested.
"Where are we gonna go, a hotel? I've stayed here every night since I bought the place and nothing has happened. Nothing has even happened to you at night. It seems to only be happening in the evenings. We can sleep on the couch again and I'll stay up to make sure you're safe."
I was starting to feel guilty for not telling her everything. If she was that pissed about what I told her, imagine how nuts she'd be if I told her Isabelle actually tried to cut herself. She didn't need to worry about it. I was going to stay up and protect her like I said. I didn't feel like Isabelle wanted to hurt Ashley anyway. If I hadn't acted like a total jackass, Isabelle wouldn't have gone crazy; I don't think. Maybe if I had sat and talked to her, none of this would have happened.
I guess my reasoning made some sort of sense because Ashley agreed to sleep in the living room again. This time we tied a string from my wrist to hers so I would feel if she got up in the middle of the night. She wanted me to sleep too. She tied so many knots there was no way to get free without my arm moving. It worked pretty well because she had to wake me up to go to the bathroom. She actually had to cut the string off my wrist and made me wait outside the door while she peed. Then she tied the string back on my wrist with another dozen or so knots.
Daylight illuminated the living room. The first thought on my mind was Gale. We had to get back to the Quarter and see what she had to say about all this. For a brief moment I thought about the fact that she'd have the last laugh. I wish I hadn't acted like a jerk when she was talking to us about Ashley's 'abilities'. If I had listened, I might have known what to do.
We were on the road by 10 AM. Forty-three minutes later we were knocking on Gales door. The lady in the lobby had a message; "Gale said to tell you two she will be a few minutes, you can either walk around the Quarter for a bit or wait, up to you."
"Tell us? She knew we were coming?" Ashley asked.
"I'm just the messenger." The girl cut her off short.
We were both so anxious neither of us moved; nor did we speak a word. After some time, Gale came out of the hall behind an older lady. The lady hugged her before leaving.
"Clay. Ashley. Good to see you again. Come on back."
I'm not sure who was up the fastest; me or Ashley. We were practically sprinting to Gale's door while the secretary gave us funny looks. Gale just smiled. Somehow I think she already knew what we were about to tell her.
"So, why don't you tell me about it." She knew.
"I think you were right." Ashley said nervously. She sounded like she was about to tell her darkest secret.
"I know." Gale was confident in her abilities. "I meant tell me about the encounter."
"That's the thing. I can't. I don't remember them."
"Hm. Then how do you know they are happening?"
"I saw it." I spoke up.
"What did you see?"
I told her what had happened. Of course I gave her the same version I gave Ashley. Gale was stunned that Ashley hosted Isabelle so quickly. Normally someone doesn't host without communicating for a while. Gale believed the diary was how Ashley was able to link with Isabelle. She explained how she thought Isabelle was connecting. The resting state makes it much easier for a spirit to latch on and release a host. Therefore, each time Ashley fell asleep while reading the diary, she gave Isabelle the opportunity to latch on to her.
"It's interesting that she believes you are her former employer. That means he played a role in her choice to remain here." Gale directed her observations towards me.
"But what can we do to stop this?" Ashley asked.
"Any movie you've ever seen on lost souls could answer that for you. Even fiction isn't entirely fictional you know." Ashley and I just stared at her.
"Help her." She paused then realized we still weren't following. "Help her answer her question."
"But what is her question?" I asked
"That's what you have to find out Clay. It seems to have something to do with Mr. Du Bois. And as far as Isabelle is concerned, you are Mr. Du Bois. Ashley is the host, she's not going to recollect what Isabelle says or does. You will have to figure out the mystery yourself."
Even though our problems were far from over, my tension and fear was somewhat at ease; and I could tell Ashley felt the same. Gale told us Isabelle wouldn't be violent as long as we appeased her. I was instructed to talk to Isabelle as much as I could to look for clues. Most spirits stay behind because they had a secret, something they wanted desperately but couldn't have. In order for me to get her to talk about it, I had to get her to trust me. Gale said it's like making a new friend. Her last warning was; "Don't treat it like an interrogation. You have to live in her world if you want to get her to open up to you."
After we got home I was actually impatient to get started. I wanted Ash to go to the attic and read. She was hesitant. We were discussing questions I should ask when Ashley had an idea; she wanted to record it.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't think about it before. Lets put a camera upstairs and record it."
"Why?"
"Because, if she's using my body I at least want to know what she's doing with it. Besides, I can help you listen for clues."
I was really nervous about the camera idea. I left out a lot of detail about my encounters with Isabelle and I was afraid of what might be revealed. But Ashley had a right to know what happened. A thought occurred to me while setting up the equipment.
"Ash. I just realized something about this space." She looked at me curiously. "Its the only area in the house that dates back to Isabelle's time. The only area that hasn't been modified or updated in some way." She was pondering my statements. "Maybe that's why Isabelle only shows up in the attic."
We hid the camera behind some boxes. We were ready. I sat in silence waiting while Ashley read from the diary. After about an hour, I saw her nodding off. I was about to have another conversation with Isabelle.