Free Sometime Yesterday by Yvonne Heidt

arrived, on my way up to the house, I felt a barrier of sorts.”
    “Barrier? What kind?” asked Mary.
    “It’s a wall of energy that gives me a physical reaction. Cold chills, the hair rising on the back of my neck, things of that sort. Before I could get a handle on it, Natalie came barreling out of the house and it disappeared.”
    “And the painting?” asked Natalie. “You’ve said a couple of times that it was a doorway.”
    “Of sorts,” her mother answered. “There’s a strong feminine energy attached to it. I get the impression of powerful emotions. Love, passion, heartbreak, waiting.”
    “Waiting?”
    Her mother paused. “It’s hard to explain.” She directed her attention to Mary’s question. “It’s that I can feel Sarah’s emotions when I’m near it. My grandmother always explained it as the Knowing . There are times when there is a strong emotional attachment to an object, that spirit attaches itself to it. You hear of haunted objects in antique stores and such.”
    “That’s residual emotions, right?”
    “Right, but…”
    “Go ahead, Mom. I’m a big girl.”
    “The longer I’m in the house, the energy doesn’t feel residual. It feels trapped instead.”
    “Is this where the dark man comes in?” Mary asked.
    “Yes. What I pick up from that energy is stronger. I’ve got the impression that he keeps Sarah trapped and she’s unable to move on. He feeds off negative emotion and gets stronger.”
    “So it makes sense that he’s the one I hear walking the hallways and slamming doors.”
    “What does all this have to do with Natalie?”
    “I don’t know all the answers, Mary. Knowing isn’t an exact science; it’s feelings and intuition.”
    Natalie felt a little helpless. “So what do we do about it?”
    “We try and find out what we can about the history of the house and contact some of the previous owners to ask them what they experienced and why they left. We try and cleanse the house of the dark energy.”
    “What if it doesn’t work?” asked Natalie.
    “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

    *

    Natalie stood in the hallway. She could hear voices that appeared to be having a conversation, but she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. She strained her ears to decipher the direction she should go.
    The turret room.
    She approached the door then watched her hand reach for the knob in slow motion. Natalie turned it quietly. What? Did she think she was going to sneak up on them in the dark? She felt as if she were swimming in ice water and her pulse beat loudly in her ears.
    Natalie grabbed the banister for support. When she reached the top landing she hit the light switch. The room was empty, but the voices grew in volume, spinning around her, almost tangible like a speeding train. It was making her dizzy. Natalie put her hands over her ears and slid down the wall to sit on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest.
    The room stopped turning and Natalie lowered her hands.
    “Stop fidgeting. You’re ruining my lines.”
    Natalie’s eyes snapped open and she saw Sarah standing by the window.
    “It’s too hot in here, Beth.” Sarah fanned a hand in front of her face. “Can’t we finish this later?”
    “I’m almost done. Please, just a few more minutes? Go back to where you were. I want this to be perfect. Like you.”
    Natalie was puzzled by the additional voice. Who was Beth? She tried to see over the top of the easel but couldn’t from her position on the floor. She felt frozen in place.
    “You think I’m perfect?” Sarah’s cheeks turned pink.
    “Yes. Now please, get back into position.”
    Natalie was amused at Beth’s tone of voice. She herself had used it on many occasions when painting a live model.
    Sarah turned toward the window and placed one hand on the frame, the other along the back of the armchair beside her.
    The second Natalie saw her flip her long hair behind her she immediately recognized the pose in the oil