I could only guess what happened when I left the room. Later, I could hear Robert’s low snores and I knew that Elaina wasn’t asleep.
As dawn approached, she finally rose off the bed and headed to the basement.
I didn’t waste any time. I needed to visit Robert in the spiritual realm again. I leaned over while he slept and whispered his name softly.
After nothing happened, I knew that I had to touch him. I placed my hand to his face and the familiar surge of energy connected us.
When I arrived; Robert was already there. He was waiting for me. It threw me off guard.
“I looked you up online, but I …this whole thing… is, it’s impossible.”
“But you do understand that I’m a ghost,” I needed to clarify.
“This is just a dream.”
“Robert…my spirit never left the house.”
“No,” he said. “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe any of it!”
“But why?” I asked. “How could you be so resistant? I’ve been in the house all along.”
Robert didn’t answer right away. Instead he turned. “I can’tbelieve you,” he said.
“Can’t?” I asked; his use of the word seemed odd to me.
Robert didn’t respond. Instead he turned and looked toward a little boy that wasn’t there before.
The boy was talking to the spirit of another little boy. “You always cheat!” He said to the spirit. It seemed that the two were friends.
I looked closer and could tell that the little boy was Robert.
“His name was Frankie,” Robert said as we watched his childhood self play with the ghost. “He appeared to me every night when my parents turned out the lights. Eventually I could see him in the daytime too. He drowned in a swimming pool years before we moved into the house.”
“Frankie, do you want to meet my mom?” The boy Robert said to the ghost.
“At first Frankie scared me, but after a while, he convinced me to play with him. So I did and we became friends. I was no longer afraid.” Robert said. He had turned away from the two boys and seemed to be recalling it all based on memory.
The scene faded and Robert was now next to a woman who looked like she could be his mother. “Momma, I want you to meet my friend Frankie!” The boy Robert said excited.
“Frankie? Where is he? Does he live on our block?” Robert’s mother asked.
“No momma…he’s right here,” Robert answered sounding confused.
The expression on his mother’s face was patient, but condescending as if she knew better.
“He’s a ghost. He used to live in our house. He drowned in the pool,” Robert explained as if to help his mother understand.
Robert’s mother smiled, but it didn’t appear to be out of joy. She seemed uncomfortable. “What are you talking about Robert?”
“I’m trying to tell you about my friend Frankie,” Robert didn’t seem to understand why his mother couldn’t see Frankie. His tone was heavy with frustration.
“Come on now Robert…you and I both know that there is no Frankie,” his mother said, wagging her finger at him.
Robert stamped his foot in a stubborn manner that only a very frustrated child could manage. “Frankie is real and he’s standing right here!” Robert insisted. His mother was thrown off guard by the force in his voice. She realized that Robert really believed in Frankie.
She seemed to be afraid, but her fear quickly turned to anger. “Why are you doing this Robert? You know that ghosts aren’t real!”
“But mom!”
“Do you want to be sent away? Do you want them to lock you up? You know what happened to your grandmother! You can’t go around pretending to see ghosts!”
I could see the fight slowly leaving Robert’s eyes.
“Only crazy people see ghosts! Are you crazy?” His mother asked; all of the patience gone.
“No mom,” Robert finally said; holding his hands up as if to defend himself from his mother’s harsh words.
“I had never seen her so angry,” the adult Robert filled in. “It scared me and I didn’t want to be locked up like my grandmother, so I decided to tell Frankie that I couldn’t play with him anymore.”
“Frankie didn’t go away right away. I could still see him from time to time, but his spirit began to fade. Eventually he was gone.”
“There were times when I missed him so much that I willed myself to see him again…but I couldn’t…even when I desperately wanted to. Over time, I convinced myself that he was never real. That I had only imagined him. But, I was so depressed that I spent most of my childhood alone and sad. I was like a child reliving the loss of a beloved pet over and over again.”
“It took a very long time for me to recover. I don’t know if I ever did,” Robert said as those old feelings visited him once again.
“I’m so sorry Robert,” I said; relating to the pain of the hurt little boy inside of him.
“I can’t go through that again…you’re not real!” Robert said raising his voice slightly.
“But Robert…” I tried to interject.
“No…There are no ghosts! There are no monsters! There are no vampires!” Robert shouted as if saying the words out loud would make them true.
Then Robert seemed to crumble with emotion. He cowered like a scared little boy. “Why is this happening again? Just go away…” He said softly.
“I’m so sorry Robert, but-” I repeated.
“No…” Robert said; refusing to listen to me. He walked away and it all faded.
