Cherreads

Chapter 169 - Chapter 163: It Is A Gift Or A Curse...

After some hesitation—

And a long, quiet drive home filled only by the sound of the turning engine—

Lynn finally nodded and stepped aside at her front door, allowing the three women to enter.

Nod~

"I don't usually do this,"

She said, her tone clipped.

"But something's not right with my son, and if you're really here to help... then fine. Come in."

Jenny stepped in first, offering a soft

"Thank you, ma'am,"

As she crossed the threshold.

Lorrine followed silently, her eyes already scanning the hallway with subtle intensity.

Leah, the last to enter, paused on the doorstep—

Then slowly stepped inside.

But the moment the trio entered the house, something changed.

"____"

"____"

"____"

Jenny froze.

Lorrine's breath caught in her throat.

And Leah—

Though she couldn't see the dead—

Sensed the air shift like walking into a room heavy with old grief and thick secrets.

She glanced at the other two, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You two are seeing something, aren't you?"

Jenny didn't answer at first.

"____"

Her gaze lingered on the stairwell, then the living room corner, then the darkened hallway just beyond the kitchen.

Then came her whisper, tight with empathy and disbelief.

"…No wonder the kid's terrified."

Lorrine nodded slowly, her features pale.

Nod~ 

"They're everywhere."

Dozens of spirits lingered within the small house.

Some stood silently, watching.

Others drifted like forgotten memories—

Half-formed figures with blurred faces and hollow eyes.

One woman in a tattered hospital gown wept silently by the window.

A boy missing part of his face crouched beside the couch, staring right at them—

And right through Cole, who sat quietly on the armrest, aware he was being watched again.

But not all spirits were so quiet.

At the end of the hallway, near Cole's bedroom, a man in a decaying suit stood perfectly still.

His lifeless eyes bore into the group as if daring them to come closer.

A guttural rasp escaped his mouth, though no one else could hear it but Jenny and Lorrine.

"Help… me…"

Jenny's stomach clenched.

She looked at Cole again.

This was his life.

Being haunted—

Not by one ghost, not by a vengeful spirit, but by a chorus of the dead.

Every room. Every hallway.

Some begging. Some lurking.

Some are lost in pain.

Not every spirit looked frightening—

But to a kid his age?

It would be a waking nightmare.

She turned to Lynn, who was pouring tea in the kitchen, and then back to Lorrine.

"We need to talk to him."

Jenny said softly.

"Soon."

Lorrine gave a subtle nod.

Nod~ 

"Before one of them decides to do more than just watch."

An uncomfortable silence had settled in the living room.

Then came the clink of ceramic as Lynn entered, balancing a tray with three steaming cups of tea.

Her face was polite, tight around the eyes.

She placed the tray gently on the table and sat across from them, hands folded—

Waiting.

"____"

Jenny accepted the tea with a quiet "Thank you,"

And let a beat pass before speaking.

"Your son, Lynn… he doesn't have a psychological issue."

Lynn's posture stiffened, but she didn't interrupt.

Jenny pressed on, her tone calm but clear.

"Cole has a gift. He can see spirits. The dead."

The room went still.

"____"

Lynn blinked slowly.

Her lips parted as if to laugh, but she didn't.

"You're saying my son—my ten-year-old-is—is haunted?"

"He's not haunted,"

Jenny replied gently.

"He's a beacon. A rare one. And without proper training or the right environment, that gift can spiral. The more spirits realise he can see them, the more they'll come. That many voices… that much negative energy? It can break a person, especially someone his age."

Lynn's face darkened.

"So now it's not mental illness—it's ghosts?"

Jenny nodded once.

Nod~ 

"Yes."

Lynn let out a long breath, her voice sharp.

"I appreciate your concern, but I still believe this is a mental condition. Maybe trauma. Something medical. Something we can treat."

All the while, in the corner of the room, he watched.

The man in the suit.

The one who followed Cole from school, who whispered instructions, who called himself Doctor Malcolm Crowe.

He stood by the lamp, hands behind his back, eyes filled with quiet confusion.

'Why couldn't the mother see him? Why wouldn't she listen to her son?'

He didn't understand.

And worse… he didn't know he was dead.

Jenny glanced past Lynn for the briefest moment, her gaze flicking toward Malcolm.

She could see him.

And he knew something was wrong.

Jenny looked back at Lynn.

"I understand this is hard to hear. I didn't believe it either when it first happened to me."

Lynn raised an eyebrow.

"I got this gift after an accident."

Jenny continued.

"My… saviour passed something to me when he healed me. I started seeing spirits. Hearing voices. At first, I thought I was going insane."

Jenny's fingers tightened around her cup.

"But with training, and time—I learned control. I learned how to live again."

Leah sat quietly beside her, watching Lynn carefully.

Lorrine finally broke the tension with a warm smile.

"I'm Lorrine Warren,"

She said softly.

"You might've heard of me."

Lynn squinted.

With a small nod, Lorrine added,

Nod~ 

"Try YouTube."

Lynn hesitated, then pulled out her phone.

She typed "Lorrine Warren lecture" into the search bar and tapped the first video.

The screen lit up with a large auditorium, Lorrine standing at the centre of a well-lit stage.

"...The spirit world is not just real—it's constant. It doesn't wait for our belief. It simply is."

Lynn stared at the screen, brows furrowed.

Frown~ 

"You don't have to believe us right now,"

Jenny said gently, breaking the silence.

"But watch your son. Really watch him. And if you ever hear him talking to someone you can't see… there's a chance he's telling the truth."

Across the room, Dr. Crowe shifted.

"____"

Confused. Unsettled.

Jenny met his eyes one more time—and this time, she offered a slight, knowing nod.

Nod~ 

She knew what he was.

And now… so did he, confusedly.

Jenny rose from the couch, pulling a sleek black card from her coat pocket.

The gold-etched letters gleamed faintly in the light:

DMC – Devil May Cry.

Below, her name and a private number.

She held it out to Lynn, who hesitated… then took it.

"If-when-you see the signs again,"

Jenny said quietly,

"Call me. Day or night."

Lynn looked at the card.

It felt heavier than it should.

Jenny turned to Cole.

Her voice softened.

"Stay strong, Cole. Even when it's scary. You're not alone."

The boy gave a small nod, eyes wide but a little less afraid.

Nod~ 

And with that, the trio—

Jenny, Lorrine, and Leah—

Stepped out of the house.

The door clicked shut behind them.

Lynn stood still for a long moment, staring at the card.

The words repeated in her mind.

'He's not haunted. He's a beacon.'

She walked to the kitchen like someone caught in a dream, the card still clutched in her hand.

Placing it on the counter, she leaned on her palms…

And memory began to trickle back in.

That day last month.

She had gone out to get the mail.

Cole was in the kitchen, eating quietly.

When she returned, she found every cupboard wide open.

Top shelves. Heavy doors.

Her son was small.

Too small to reach any of them.

And when she asked him—

"I opened them,"

He had said, voice shaking.

"They needed something to eat."

She thought it was imagination.

An excuse. She even got angry.

Told him not to play weird games.

But now… now it replayed differently.

She blinked and rubbed her arms.

Then another moment surfaced—

Two weeks ago.

The bathroom mirror shattered in the middle of the night.

No sign of forced entry.

Cole had been in bed.

Shivering.

Refused to speak until morning.

Lynn sank slowly into the kitchen chair.

Her heart beat faster.

What if they weren't wrong?

What if Cole wasn't sick?

She looked over at her son, who was now quietly drawing at the coffee table, a sad kind of concentration on his face. So small. So alone.

Lynn picked up Jenny's card again.

Ran her thumb over the edge.

Her hand trembled.

But her resolve did not.

She decided to observe her son for now.

Lynn stood near the sink, pretending to rinse dishes, but her eyes never left her son.

The DMC card still sat on the counter like a silent dare.

She had decided not to call.

Not yet. First, she would watch.

Just watch.

So she did.

All day.

She noticed the little things.

How Cole, walking down the hallway, would suddenly sidestep—

Like making space for someone else.

How he would freeze mid-step.

His eyes would widen, face would pale.

Then, without a word, he'd bolt to his room and shut the door.

There were moments when he stared into corners—

Unmoving, breath shallow—

As if whatever he saw rooted him to the spot.

Once, she found his soiled underwear in the hamper and saw water on the bathroom floor.

No sound. No complaint.

Just a quiet shame.

She didn't ask.

Couldn't.

Then there was the moment that broke her heart in a way nothing else had.

Late afternoon sunlight streamed through the living room window.

Lynn stood in the hallway, just out of sight, holding a basket of laundry she had no intention of folding.

Cole was sitting on the staircase, facing slightly to the left.

Talking.

His voice was low. Calm.

But animated, like he was trying to explain something important.

He laughed once—

Awkwardly.

Then went quiet. Listening.

Nodding. Arguing.

'There's no one there,'

Lynn told herself.

But there was.

At least, he saw someone.

She didn't move.

Didn't speak.

She just stood there.

Frozen.

The laundry was slipping slightly in her hands.

Something inside her cracked—

Quietly, but unmistakably.

The kitchen was quiet, save for the soft clinking of cutlery on porcelain.

Dinner was simple.

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Neither of them had touched much of it.

Lynn sat across from Cole, watching him push food around his plate.

His shoulders were drawn in, his eyes fixed downward.

Beside him—

Unseen by Lynn—

The doctor watched intently, a concerned furrow on his brow.

He leaned in, hands folded, as though he were still on duty.

As if his job wasn't done.

But Lynn couldn't see him.

She only saw her son.

"…Cole,"

She said gently, reaching across the table to place her hand over his.

"Can you talk to me? Just be honest with me. Please."

Cole didn't answer at first.

His fingers twitched under hers.

His lips parted, but no words came out.

Then, after a long silence, he looked up—

Eyes tired, voice small.

"She wanted to tell you something."

Lynn blinked.

"Who?"

"Grandma."

Her breath caught.

"My mother?"

Cole nodded slowly.

Nod~ 

"She says… she's sorry she took the bumblebee pendant. That she didn't mean to hide it. She just wanted to borrow it… because it reminded her of you. She kept it in her sewing box the whole time."

Lynn froze.

"____"

Her heart thudded in her chest.

That pendant—her pendant—was something no one else knew about.

Not even Cole.

She'd searched for it after her mother's death, confused and quietly upset.

She never told anyone about it.

Never mentioned where she suspected it had gone.

And now… her son was sitting here, quietly giving her that answer.

Her throat tightened.

"____"

"She also said… You were right. About the red dress,"

Cole added softly.

"You didn't look fat in it."

Lynn's eyes widened.

"____"

Her hand shot up to her mouth as tears spilt down her cheeks.

Sob~ Sob~ 

That memory—

Years ago, standing in front of a mirror, asking her mother if the dress made her look fat—was private.

A moment shared between mother and daughter.

No one else had been there.

Her lips trembled.

"Oh my God…"

Across from her, Cole was still.

Fragile. But not afraid.

And for the first time, Lynn saw not a sick child—

But a boy carrying a truth too heavy for his small shoulders.

She let out a breath, stood, and walked around the table.

She knelt beside him, arms wrapping around his narrow frame as she pulled him into a trembling hug.

"I believe you,"

She whispered, voice cracking.

"I believe you, baby."

Behind them, the doctor watched quietly, face unreadable.

He didn't speak.

And Cole? For the first time in what felt like forever… he let himself cry.

The warmth of the hug still lingered between mother and son long after they'd parted.

Lynn had tucked Cole into bed herself that night—

No arguments, no pushing.

Just a quiet goodnight and a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Now, in the stillness of her living room,

Lynn stood by the side table near the window.

The streetlights outside cast soft, golden bars across the floor.

Her fingers hovered over a small, unassuming card.

DMC – Devil May Cry.Jenny Anderson,

Special Agent

Beneath it, a phone number.

Simple. Direct.

She picked it up.

Her thumb hesitated over the call button.

Then—tap.

The phone rang once. Then twice.

A soft click.

"Jenny speaking."

Lynn took a breath.

"Hi… This is Lynn. Lynn Sear. You—um—you came to see my son earlier today. Cole."

On the other side, Jenny straightened in her seat.

She was in the hotel room, sitting beside Lorrine and Leah, who immediately turned toward her when they saw her expression shift.

"Lynn. I'm glad you called."

Jenny's voice was calm but laced with warmth.

"Is everything okay?"

"I… I believe him now."

Lynn said quietly, her voice slightly shaky.

"Everything you said. It's real, isn't it?"

Jenny didn't say anything for a beat—

Giving the moment weight.

"Yes. It is."

There was another pause.

"____"

Lynn let out a breath, one that seemed to carry years of denial, guilt, and fear.

"I want to meet. Properly. I want to know what comes next. For Cole."

Jenny nodded, even though Lynn couldn't see it.

Nod~ 

"We'll be there tomorrow morning. At your house. 9 a.m."

"Alright."

"Thank you for trusting him."

Jenny's voice softened.

"That means more than you know."

The call ended with a quiet click.

Jenny lowered the phone and looked up at the others.

"She believes him now."

Lorrine offered a gentle smile.

Leah looked quietly proud.

"Then it's time,"

Lorrine said.

"Time to show her what her son truly is… and what he might become."

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

(Author's POV)

(A/N):

 

Thanks for reading the chapter!

Please give a review and power stone!!!

More Chapters