Haunted Shadows 1: Sickness Behind Young Eyes Read Online Free

nodded, thankful that we were done
for the night. My arms and legs felt heavy, and I felt the faint tap of a
headache behind my eyes. I sat for a few seconds more. Jeremiah looked at me
expectantly and I realised I was in his room.
     
    I stood up and walked to the doorway.
     
    “Tomorrow we solve the case of the
non-existent ghost girl.” I said.
     
    Jeremiah nodded.
     
    “Lock your door tonight” he said.

 
     
    5
     
    My phone alarm woke me up the next
morning. I looked at the time and it read 5:55, and I looked at the signal bars
and there was nothing there. An alarm clock was the only thing my phone was
useful for all the way out here; the mobile companies hadn't thought it
profitable to extend their signal coverage to reach a village of fifty-something
people.
     
    I stood up and dressed for breakfast.
I felt shivery even when I was fully dressed, and the headache still tapped
away at me. The back of my throat felt raw. Great, I thought.
     
    Jeremiah was in a sullen mood over
breakfast. He was reading a book when I walked downstairs into the main pub
lounge. He didn’t put the book down, and if he saw me he gave no indication. I
sat across from him at the table.
     
    “Morning.”  I said.
     
    He closed the book. “Yep.”
     
    Outside the window, the village was
in twilight. Situated in a valley of steep Scottish hills, I didn’t imagine it
saw much light even in the summer. It seemed like a place that was comfortable
in the darkness, and that the people living there had grown used to it.
     
    Jeremiah wore a claret woolly jumper,
and the same jeans as the day before.  His trusty long coat covered the
ensemble. His beard seemed to be longer than yesterday, but maybe I was
imagining that. They didn’t grow so quickly, surely? It was a good beard, I
decided. One that matched his face well, because I got the impression that
under it he had something of a weak chin and saggy cheeks. The beard covered up
for that and gave him a grizzled  look.
     
    I decided that I’d try to interview
him over breakfast, because we were going to be busy today and it was evident
he wouldn’t answer my questions while we worked.
     
    “I thought this would be a good time
to get some of my questions done. You know, so we have the rest of the day to
look into the girl.”
     
    “No chance. I don’t want to be
interviewed over breakfast. Besides, you don’t really know what I’m about.”
     
    “Isn’t that the point of the
interview?”
     
    “Some things you can’t get through
asking questions.”
     
    A door opened behind me. Marsha
walked out of the pub kitchen carrying two plates. Stream rose off the top of
them. She put a plate in front of me. There was sausage, bacon, beans,
mushrooms, eggs. My stomach turned.
     
    “I didn’t ask for this,” I said.
     
    A look of annoyance crossed Marsha’s
face. Like it was too much trouble for her. As though she didn’t want them as
guests, and even the money they were paying wasn’t compensation enough for
their presence.
     
    “He ordered for you,” she said.
     
    Jeremiah shrugged his shoulders.
“What’s the problem?”
     
    “I don’t eat meat. And I can’t eat
this,” I said.
     
    Marsha stared at me, her eyes not
comprehending the idea of a human being who didn’t eat meat. I pushed the plate
away.
     
    “I don’t want to be a nuisance, but I
can’t have this.”
     
    Marsha’s eyes snapped back. The
confusion gone, the annoyance returning.
     
    “Just have the beans and the egg. Eat
around the meat.”
     
    “I can’t. The meat has touched
everything.”
     
    I knew I was being picky, that was
the worst thing. I could see why it would annoy Marsha. Hell, I got annoyed
when I was in restaurants and I saw someone being really choosy about their
food. But I just couldn’t eat meat. The idea of it turned my stomach to mush.
     
    Marsha picked up the plate and walked
back to the kitchen.
     
    “Vegetarian, eh? Didn’t have you down
as one of