The Tunnels 

Twice

The best way I have to describe it, is that, he sounded both far away, and as if, he was all around me at the same time

Tim later confirmed that this was Charlie. I took to chatting with them most evenings, and I got so comfortable with Gran and Charlie around me all the time

Gran loved sitting outside under a mango tree and watching the boys play

Every time one of them fell, Tim could tell me where they were grazed, because Gran told him

Going to the beach was fun

My boys enjoyed the water so much it was a battle to get them in the car when it was time to go home, and Charlie was no different. One night Tim and I had gotten onto the subject of previous relationships and Charlie decided it was time to tell/show him the hell my ex husband had put me through

He showed Tim things that I had tried to hide from myself

Pain, terror, anguish

Charlie even knew that my ex husband had planned to kill me

He had tried a few times, but never really saw it through, or perhaps Charlie stopped him, I'm not sure

Charlie had always kept a wood baseball bat in his car when he was alive, it had YANKY engraved on it in silver

And Charlie told Tim that he would have loved to take that bat and use it on my ex husband, that's how much he hates him

I remembered things that night that I had hidden from myself, frightening to remember what I survived, and liberating as well

Afterward Charlie kept apologizing through Tim, he never meant to cause me pain

Charlie was there, every day, and I never knew it. On New Years night I was woken up by blood curdling screams

My mom

I rushed out of my room and as I neared the corner to where she was, I was suddenly pushed up against the wall, Charlie

Then mom screamed again

It's a sound I never want to hear ever again

Charlie let me go (sensing it was safe enough for me) and I ran around the corner

Mom was still screaming, looking into the kitchen door, and holding my son in her arms

I immediately felt Gran radiating vicious energy and when I asked mom what was wrong she told me there was someone climbing into the window

They had tried to break in, he was literally ¾ of the way into the kitchen when mom walked in on him

When she screamed the second time he basically reversed and fell out of the window. Gran was in the kitchen, between mom and that window

I have never seen my mother so scared in my life

The would-be burglars got away, but I'm convinced he got a look at a very angry ghost before he fell backwards out of the window. Every time I was sitting alone late at night, Gran and Charlie were there with me

When I got scared or anxious, my hair or my temples were stroked

When I got angry, I had hands on my shoulders holding me back

Gran told Elaine that my aunt is scared of her, because she has a secret that she thought died with my Gran, and she is afraid it is going to come out

I am thinking, only time will tell.