Free Saving Nathaniel by Jillian Brookes-Ward Page A

combination of words and alcohol made his eyelids feel heavy, his head drooped onto his chest and he fell into a doze. A tapping on the study door startled him awake.
    'Go away!' He sat up sharply and rubbed his eyes. The knocking came again, but louder.
    'Not now!'
    The knocking became a hammering.
    He hauled himself out of the chair and wrenched the door open. 'Bloody hell, woman, can't I have a minute's…..' His words died on his lips.
    The hallway beyond the doorway was in complete darkness. He didn't understand why had it gone dark so quickly and why had Megan not put on the lights? He must have been asleep for hours and she had gone home. If so…who the hell was banging on the door?
    'Nathaniel…'
    He spun round at the sound of the voice behind him, and he staggered back into the room. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open, breath escaped with an audible squeak through a throat clenched shut with fright. Between himself and the fireplace stood an impossible vision whose very appearance made him doubt his own sanity.
    Enveloped in a voluminous white garment soiled with dirt and slime and mould, a woman stood at the mantle, looking at the photograph of…herself. She turned to face him. The smile she offered had nothing to it - it was cold and soulless.
    Her skin, chalk white and waxen, was at points so thin that the fine bones of her skull were visible beneath the surface. Her hair hung lank and loose over her shoulders and her eyes, sunken within heavy shadow, were deep dark holes with no spark of life, yet he was sure he saw something move in there.
    'Joanna?' he breathed.
    'Hello, darling,' she said in a soft husky whisper that could only have come from the lips of a lover. 'Have you missed me?'
    'Jo?'
    She turned back to the photograph. 'I was so pretty then, wasn't I?'
    A breathy, 'Aye,' fell from his mouth.
    'Do you think I was pretty, sweetheart?'
    'Aye.'
    'It's been a long time, Nathaniel…such a long time. How long has it been, four years? No nearly five. Goodness, how time flies when you're dead. You did know I was dead, didn't you darling? Of course you did, how could you not?'
    Nat continued to stare, not believing his own eyes. He closed them tightly, but the image had already been burned onto his retina. Behind his eyelids he could still see the shadow of her. He shook his head, trying to force away both the image and the hysteria threatening to well up and overwhelm him.
    I'm holding a conversation with a corpse , he thought. I'm obviously hallucinating. Too much drink – that's it. Too much drink and not enough sleep. It's finally driven me mad.
    When he dared open his eyes again, the woman was still there. 'This…this is not real…you're dead…you're not here,' he muttered.
    'Oh, Nathaniel, we're hurt.' She cocked her head to one side. 'Anyone would think you didn't want to see us?'
    Us?
    She took a step forward. Nat took a matching step backwards needing to preserve the space between them. 'Stay away…don't come near me…'
    'That's not very nice,' she said and took another step toward him. He again matched her advance with a retreat and his legs collided with the chair. The seat knocked against the back of his knees, collapsing them. He lost his balance and sat down heavily on the seat. The blood drained from his face leaving him almost as pale as the spectre, and he broke out in a cold sweat. The chilly dampness gathered between his shoulder blades and ran down his back.
    She stood over him, blocking him and looking down into his terrified face as he cowered in the chair. 'I've come to see you, darling,' she cooed. 'I've been so lonely without you.'
    His heart pounded in his ears and he began to breathe in sharp shuddering gasps. She leaned down to him, putting her face close to his and his nostrils filled with a smell of something…bad - the metallic smell of old blood mixed with the antiseptic odour of a hospital, that and…something else. He couldn't identify it, and didn't want