The Visitor(85)

I set the book aside and tried to shake off the grogginess as I got up to fuss with his covers. “I’ve been here the whole time. Can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m fine, my dear. I’m still feeling a bit done in. I think I may try to go back to sleep for a while.”

“That’s an excellent idea. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

He reached for my hand. “There’s something I must tell you first. Something you need to know.”

“What is it?” He motioned for me to come closer. I sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned in. “What is it, Dr. Shaw?”

His skin felt icy as his fingers closed around mine. I wanted to pull away, but I was afraid of upsetting him. “You have to go back.”

The urgency in his voice startled me. “Where? To Charleston?”

“To the cemetery. You have to find a way to free them.”

My breath caught at the look on his face. “The ghosts?”

“Think how long they’ve been waiting. How long we’ve all been waiting for you.” His eyes glazed and his voice softened. The chill of death descended and I began to tremble because I knew that I was no longer speaking to Dr. Shaw. I tried to wrench myself free, but those glacial fingers tightened around me. “You’re the last of us, child.”

My heart pounded so hard I actually felt faint. “What do you mean? The last of who...what?”

“The Wysongs. The chosen.”

Something fearful skittered down my backbone and I shivered.

“You’ve always known you were different. You’ve always felt the ghosts even when you couldn’t see them. Now as you come into your own and your energy strengthens, more and more will come, drawn by your light and the promise of release. Others will come, too, child. The pernicious and the sly. They will also be lured by your light, but the dark ones will seek to destroy the very thing that attracts them.”

I thought of the entity beneath Rose’s house, the feel of its phantom fingers in my hair, the taunt of its ghostly tongue against my face. I drew a shuddering breath. “Why are you telling me this? What is it you want me to do?”

“You must hunt them down, the dark ones. You must find a way to contain them.”

“How?”

“Use the key. Study the stereogram. Let the numbers guide you.”

I jumped and startled myself awake. The book slipped to the floor with a thud and I looked around in confusion.

A nurse stood at the side of the bed writing something in Dr. Shaw’s chart. She smiled when she saw that I was awake. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “You were both sleeping so peacefully I was hoping not to disturb you.”

I sat up in the chair. “What time is it?”

“A little after five. Are you all right? You seem disoriented.”

“Still half-asleep, I guess.”

“Why don’t you take a walk and stretch your legs? We’ll be bringing the dinner trays in soon. Maybe you’d like to go down to the cafeteria and grab a bite. You don’t need to worry about Dr. Shaw. He’s in good hands.”

“Thanks.” As I reached down to pick up my backpack from the floor, I thought of the stereogram that Devlin and I had found in the headstone.

Use the key. Study the stereogram. Let the numbers guide you.

My gaze shot to Dr. Shaw. Had I dreamed the conversation or had Rose somehow spoken to me through my old friend?

As I hovered at his bedside, he opened his eyes and smiled up at me.





Forty-Eight

I had every intention of following the nurse’s advice and grabbing an early dinner in the cafeteria before returning to Dr. Shaw’s room. Instead, I found myself driving back to the guest cottage to collect the viewer that Nelda had given to me the day before. I’d promised Devlin I wouldn’t go back to the cemetery or to Rose’s house alone, but I could at least study the stereogram we’d found.

I entered the main house first to give Nelda an update on Dr. Shaw’s condition, but when I couldn’t find her, I went out through the French doors and crossed the garden to the cottage.

Someone had been in to tidy up while we were out. The bed was made and fresh towels had been left in the bathroom. I couldn’t imagine that Nelda did all the work herself, but as I moved about the tiny space, I detected the faintest hint of cloves.

The cottage unsettled me so I snatched up the stereoscope and hurried back outside to sit in a patch of sunlight on the steps. I would linger only for a moment, I told myself. Just a quick look at the stereogram and then I’d drive back to the hospital.

I inserted the card in the holder and lifted the viewer to the light. As I searched the house in the background, I once again experienced the sensation of being watched. Shifting my focus to Nelda, I peered into her three-dimensional eyes and the feeling grew stronger. The intensity of her gaze startled me and my first instinct was to set the viewer aside. I wasn’t certain I wanted to uncover whatever Rose had meant to reveal.

But the secret was right there in front of me. Literally staring me in the face. A mask had lifted when the shutter opened, allowing a glimpse of something feral in the curl of Nelda’s lips, in the angry flare of her nostrils.

A breeze swept through the trees and as I looked up from the viewer, I saw the real, flesh-and-blood Nelda standing before me. She hovered in the shadows of her garden watching me.