Terms of Assistance Part 2:
The Second Broken Rule-The Book
Thump. Thump. Thump went Siobhan’s head. It was like a fist knocking on a door — except the door was her head. Opening her eyelids a fraction, she was overwhelmed by blurred vision and excruciating pain behind her eyes.
“Ah!”
She touched her head attempting to sit up then almost on cue, a voice came from across the room.
“”That was quite a fall you must have had.”
Ms Garret moved forward with two cups of tea at the ready.
“What? How?”
“Don’t try to get up. Just take this and drink up. Slowly.”
A hot beverage was shoved into Siobhan’s hand. The steam made her sight worse.
Ms Garret retreated to a seat at the other end of the room.
“You should probably eat as well. I’m sure you must be famished. No wonder you passed out.”
Passed out? Where?
“In the kitchen, dear.”
Ms Garret watched Siobhan, careful to show concern rather than suspicion.
“Don’t you remember anything before the fall? What you were doing, at all?”
I know I wasn’t in the kitchen.
Siobhan shook her head, avoiding eye contact.
“No”
Ms Garret sat back in her chair taking a sip from her over-steaming cup.
“It seems I owe you both my appreciation and an apology. Thank you because despite possibly feeling unwell, you were able to complete the tasks, including the meal, perfectly.”
Siobhan cleared her throat and nodded in appreciation.
“And the apology?”
“Ah. Well, I must be working you so hard that it has caused you to become unwell.”
“Ms Garret.”
“Eleanor.”
“Eleanor, you have no reason to apologise. I…”
Siobhan tried to sit up in mid speech but fell back. It’s just as well because she had no idea how she was going to finish her sentence.
What was she going to say?
I’m to blame for my current condition due to doing exactly what you told me not to do.
Ms Garret pressed her down on the sofa, slowly ushering the cup into a tilting position. The tea seeped into Siobhan’s mouth giving her no room to protest.
“Drink dear, and take a few bites of the sandwich. Then I’ll call you an uber.”
“That really isn’t necessary. I can get up and go soon. I just need to get myself together and…”
“Nonsense. Relax. Eat. Drink. Then you can go.”
Great, an incomplete day of work. Hours that’ll be clocked out of my…
“And don’t worry about making up the time. The agency will never know of this. You will get a full day’s pay. Now please.”
Her hand gestured to the food and beverage on the table in front of Siobhan who obeyed Ms Garret’s instructions.
Moments passed. When Ms Garret was satisfied with the amount Siobhan had ingested, she called for Arthur.
“This is Arthur. He lives next door and is extremely trustworthy and helpful. However, I understand he may be a stranger to you so I won’t ask him to take you home, but he will help you into the uber.”
“Thank you Ms Garret, I mean, Eleanor.”
Ms Garret smiled and nodded.
Arthur approached Siobhan, offering an assisting hand.
She walked through the corridor, her weakness portraying itself and betraying her. By the time she reached the door, her legs gave way. Arthur scooped her up and carried her to the car.
Siobhan closed her eyes as she was placed into the uber like a fragile baby. Ms Garret smiled thinly, stroking her head gently as if she were her own child.
“Enjoy the weekend dear, try to relax. And I’ll see you on Monday.”
The door slammed before she could respond.
Squinting at the bright sunlight, Siobhan turned to the driver.
“Has there been anything strange with the weather today?”
The driver glanced at her in the rear view mirror, with one eyebrow raised.
”No love. It’s been sunny all day.”
“Right.”
“I heard from your aunt…”
“My boss.” She corrected.
“Right. Your boss that you’re a bit unwell and what not. That you might be a little… unsteady.”
Siobhan looked at him sharply, not appreciating his description. She was offended. She didn’t know why, only that she was. Deeply.
“We’re nearly there. Will you need some help once we’re there? Do you need me to call anyone?”
“No.” she let out quickly. “I’m fine, mister, err…”
“Terrance .”
“I’m fine, Terrance. I just need to get home.”
The rest of the ride continued with silence broken only by the information from the GPS directing the driver to their final destination. As the car stopped, Siobhan fumbled for the door handle. Her legs wobbled like jelly.
Finally.
She was home. Inside. Safe.
But she didn’t feel very safe.
Standing in the middle of the living room, blinking rapidly and breathing deep hard breathes, a thought flickered through her mind.
Was Eleanor testing me to see whether I would break and admit what I’d done wrong? Did I imagine everything in a dream once I passed out.
If all of that was real, that would then mean something dark and paranorm…
No!
She shook her head rejecting any illogical and impossible thoughts. She was just unwell.
She pressed her palms to her temples. Her head still hurt.
On Monday I will start again. Pretend today didn’t happen.
Looking into space and gulping hard she moved herself to the bedroom and lay down.
I’m just unwell. That’s all. I’ll sleep it off and all will be normal on Monday.
* * * * *
The weekend passed. Unfortunately , Siobhan’s memory of the previous week had not.
She’d spent the drive back to work, as she had throughout the weekend, wondering why Ms Garret had been so kind in the end.
Yes. She was sure at least half of what happened was real, or at least the part where she entered the unauthorised room.
But why didn’t she say anything?
Perhaps she and I were thinking the same thing. A Fresh Start.
The car arrived directly in front of the house, where Ms Garret was waiting.
Her smile was calm, comforting and kind. Her expression showed knowledge of Siobhan’s blatant guilt but all was forgiven. Apparently.
“Are you better today?”
Siobhan nodded with a light humble grin.
“I’m glad. Now, come along I have quite a bit for you to do.”
Ms Garret had Siobhan by the hand guiding her through the house.
‘“The first three places you’ll be working are the study, the middle room upstairs and the living room. You’ll have help from… oh talk of the devil.”
A slim average weighted woman came sashaying down the steps, her brown eyes gazing at Siobhan’s face.
“This is…”
“Fiona .”
Before Siobhan could reach out a hand to greet her new acquaintance, her space was invaded and her body surrounded by Fiona’s embrace.
Oh my she is a friendly one. Very touchy feely.
As if on cue, Fiona slipped her body off Siobhan’s, sniggering and stroking her like she was her beloved .
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“I hope you are feeling better.”
“Better?”
“You look better. I’m glad.”
Fiona rubbed poor confused Siobhan on the shoulder then turned her gaze to Ms Garret who waited patiently for the end of the pairs’ initiation.
“The room upstairs is just a matter of folding and sorting specific clothes for charity. The study and the living room, well, Fiona will walk you through all of that. Nothing too strenuous today.”
The two went upstairs, hand-in-hand, mostly against Siobhan’s will.
She felt like one of the characters from A Tale Of Two Sisters going out to the pier to sway their feet in the water. Only she wasn’t a happy little sister playing but a confused individual being led around like a puppet.
Siobhan tried to ignore the overexcitable Fiona who constantly stared in anticipation.
“I was there, you know. When you dropped.”
“Yes. Hard as a rock. It’s lucky you didn’t crack your head open.”
Siobhan swallowed hard.
“I… I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what happened.”
“Nonsense! You were ill.” Fiona insisted as she reached out to pat Siobhan’s shoulder still maintaining an almost unsettling widened smile. Her smile. Her touch made chills run through Siobhan’s veins.
“You really must take care of yourself.”
She was in Siobhan’s personal space, gently smoothing a stray strand of hair from her forehead.
“Anyway, we are finished here. Put these in the hallway and meet me in the study.”
Off she went, leaving Siobhan to be a solo clothes carrier.
She was pleased to get a few moments without Fiona creepily gawping at her.
If she got any closer to me we’d officially become one.
Siobhan felt bad for being creeped out by Fiona, after all, she was only trying to be nice. In her own weird way. It’s something she’d have to get used to if she wanted to keep her job.
That’s the last batch of clothes. Now to return to the realm of weirdness.
“There are two boxes for you. That pile and that bookcase over there have the books and documents that need sorting.”
Fiona pointed at the two boxes; one labelled KEEP the other BURN.
“Oh, and Eleanor left a note for you.”
Siobhan slipped the note out of the unsealed envelope. It read:
Curiosity is a human flaw, Siobhan.
Do not look for meaning where you do not belong.
She gulped hard and turned to look at Fiona, whose smile showed her knowledge of the note’s content.
The two ladies continued the following thirty minutes of their jobs in silence. The culling was surprisingly quick. Perhaps if the dusting went just as fast, Siobhan could get to the living room and be done in time for a break.
Just this bit at the top and…
Plonk. Plonk. Plonk.
A copious amount of folders and photo frames fell on the ground, as did Siobhan. Some of the items had knocked her on the head.
On the ground again! This was beginning to become an annoying and embarrassing habit.
Siobhan picked herself and the items up before Fiona could offer a helping hand.
She placed the items on the desk, shuffling through the pile to see what should be kept and what to discard.
There were old scrolls and framed photos. Siobhan wiped the dust from the glass. The photographer managed to capture a beautiful tone and stance of Ms Garret and Fiona standing on a balcony.
“Oh! Those were lovely times.” Fiona chuckled and continued what she was doing. Siobhan noticed something a little odd.
The photographs appeared to be old, possibly from the 1920s
Fiona and Ms Garret didn’t seem to have aged over thirty.
Siobhan investigated more photos. In each, was the presence of a mysterious book.
She wasn’t sure why but she had an uneasy feeling every time she saw it in each picture. At the same time she couldn’t stop looking at it. Somehow it captivated her.
“It might be time for you to start in the living room.” Fiona interrupted.
“Pardon me?”
“The living room needs doing. Off you go.”
Fiona relieved Siobhan of the hypnotic photos and documents, then ushered her out of the study.
* * * *
Siobhan found herself standing alone like a fool in the hallway, the door to the study clicking shut.
Being kicked out of a room by the very woman whom not long ago tried to merge bodies with her was quite a shock to the system and a rather cold turn of character.
Right, she thought, living room it is.
The house was completely silent. Every step she took towards the living room weighed heavily on Siobhan’s body.
She noticed the entrance of the living room was ajar drawing her attention being caught by the neat wooden cabinet of ornaments and interesting ancient looking books. Things that were on the list of instructions that were forbidden to touch.
“Just clean the damn room! That’s all you’re here for. Clean and go home.”
She whispered to herself.
All around the room Siobhan cleared, dusted and organised but she couldn’t keep her eyes away from that damn cabinet. Until looking was no longer the problem. She was now standing in front of it.
Just a bit of dusting. I’m sure it hasn’t been cleaned for some time. She convinced herself.
Siobhan moved the duster from side to side, her hand trembling at the recollection of Ms Garret’s note: DO NOT LOOK FOR MEANING WHERE YOU DO NOT BELONG!
What had been happening to her lately. Nosiness and rule-breaking were not her thing at all. Never.
Why did she feel so compelled to go against her character in this house?
A voice echoed through the room. Siobhan spun around but no one was there. More voices sounded until there was an unbearable chorus of them, whispering louder and louder, causing Siobhan to jump. Her arm knocked over a beautiful ink vial and a book sending them crashing onto the floor.
The book flipped open onto a blank page. The ink seeped onto the empty pages forming words of their own.
Words she couldn’t understand.
The words began to rise into the air before Siobhan’s very eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She couldn’t move or scream. She could do nothing but watch as the smoke y words floated in front of her.
Sentence by sentence they revealed themselves:
IS CUID DINN TU ANOIS
Siobhan dropped the duster and her arms were forced to her sides.
Then the next sentence rose:
NIL AON EALU ANN
Her head was lifted involuntarily and her mouth opened.
The final sentence revealed itself, changing the texture of the book from ash stained leather to a dark veined leather. It was as if the words had strained energy from the book altering its very being.
TAR CHUIG AN DORCHADAS
The voices were getting louder, repeating those very words until they moved… directly into Siobhan’s mouth, ears and nose.
She couldn’t react. Not even a tear would fall until it decided to let her go.
When it finally released her, she dropped to the floor. Siobhan was robbed of a decent second to catch her breath by Ms Garret’s angered presence.
“Get out!”
Her eyes turned away from the book and towards Siobhan who was still on her knees.
“Okay ! Alright! I’m going just please don’t…!
Ms Garret was leaning over Siobhan now. She appeared to be taller. It was as if the anger had made her sprout up like an alien plant from The Shop of Horrors. Her eyes were large and turned a slight off hazel. Siobhan usually likes hazel-coloured eyes but this was frightening. Nobody’s eyes change colour at random.
Siobhan’s back ached from leaning away from Ms Garret.
“Why are you still here? Get out of here! Now!”
The room shook, Siobhan stumbled over watching as the remaining books fell off the shelves and ornaments crackled together and smashed.
Parts of the wall crumbled and the floor cracked in the centre of the room.
“Leave!”
Siobhan bolted through the front door rolling clumsily down the front steps and landed on her face.
Her handbag was thrown out by an invisible force smacking her hard in the face.
She looked up at a now calm and peaceful-looking house with Ms Garret sitting by the window.
She mumbled something, Siobhan couldn’t quite make out. As she squinted for clarification, the words formed on the window.
DO NOT COME BACK! AND DO NOT SPEAK OF THIS PLACE OR ELSE!
Then, the door slammed.
