She was intelligent, funny and quite entertaining. “why did your parents give you a forename with such a strange spelling, Tonie?”
“They told me that they wanted me to have an unusual name. ‘Tonie’ is not very common and can be used for either male or female first names. Apparently, some countries will not allow children to be given such ambiguous names, but no such problem in the U.K.”
Suzanne made me laugh by saying, “Perhaps your parents were not certain which sex you were at birth!” She had difficulty stopping herself from giggling. “Sorry Tonie, I couldn’t resist that. Anyway, somehow, it suits you and I like the fact that it is so different.”
After a very enjoyable meal, we drove back to my house. Relaxing in my lounge with a drink of coffee. Noticing the picture on the wall, Suzanne asked, “Are you keen on steam trains, Tonie?”
I explained how I had always been interested because of my Grandfather’s fascination and love for steam locomotives. “Unfortunately, it’s only a print, not the original. The artist, Terence Cuneo included, like a trademark, a mouse in all his paintings after 1956. See if you can spot it, Suzanne.”
“A mouse?” She put her coffee mug down on the small table and stood up to get a closer look at the picture. After a few minutes study, she said, “No, I’ve no idea where the mouse can be. Are you going to tell me, Tonie?”
Smiling, I said, “Look at the telegraph poles towards the right side of the picture. The mouse is on one of the cross-bars.”
She laughed. “Oh, I see it, now. I don’t think I would ever have noticed it if you hadn’t told me.”
Suzanne took her seat again and, continuing with our coffee, we resumed our conversation about the previous occupants, going over all the facts known to us.
I almost spilled my drink when Suzanne suddenly asked, “Tonie, would you like me to stay overnight?”
“You don’t have to”, I blustered, uncertain just what to say as a reply to this strange question.
Suzanne gave a delightful giggle. “Don’t worry, Tonie. I’m not proposing a wild orgy. I just thought that, if the events of the previous nights happen while I am here, then, at least, I can tell you what I can see is actually happening.”
“Are you certain that you would want to stay?” I could see the logic in her reason, but it did seem a lot to expect of a good friend and I did not want her to feel under any pressure.
“I don’t have a problem with it, Tonie, if you don’t.” She paused for a few seconds, deep in thought. “No doubt, my mother would disapprove, but I think that I have a solution.”
Suzanne used her mobile to contact a good friend of hers, Emma, asking if she could use her name as an alibi, for staying out overnight. Suzanne laughed as Emma obviously thought the worst. “It’s okay, Emma. I am helping a good friend, but, you know what my mother would think! I really should not have to justify my actions to my family – I’m twenty-five and can do what I want with my life without having to justify every one of my decisions to my parents.”
Apparently, Emma agreed with Suzanne and had no problem in going along with the deception for her friend. The two had known each other since junior school and had always supported each other, over many years.
After disconnecting the call, Suzanne said, ”No problem with Emma. I’ll send a text to Mum, saying that I am staying overnight with her.”
“You’ll do all this, just for me?”, I asked in surprise.
“Of course, Tonie. I want to get to the bottom of these mysterious happenings as much as you, but, at least, I will be able to see the things that are causing the problem, although, I must admit the prospect of the hauntings scares the pants off me.”
I laughed at her choice of words and had a mental vision of a pant-less Suzanne. She had a point. “Okay. I don’t know how to thank you enough”, I said.
Suzanne, who was sitting next to me on the sofa, leaned over and kissed me full on the lips, taking me quite by surprise. I put my arms around her and pulled her closer to me, enough to feel her heart beating against my chest. “You are a very special woman, Suzanne”, I whispered.
She responded warmly, her body relaxing against mine. “You are pretty special, yourself, Tonie. I have always found you very attractive, but I just never had the courage to admit it, especially to you.”
“Really? I always felt the same about you, Suzanne, but didn’t think that you would be interested in having a relationship with a blind man.”
She laughed. That shows how little you know about me. “You know that your blindness will never hold you back and it shouldn’t. I love you for what you are and not for what you would like to be.” After a short pause, she added, “Your lack of sight is not even your fault, Tonie. It is just a weird twist of fate and you must never be ashamed of your blindness. You are a very capable guy and I think I fell in love with you as soon as we met at the office a couple of years ago.”
I was taken aback, not fully realising the extent of Suzanne’s feelings for me, even as far back as our first meeting. It did feel good to know that someone actually wanted me for what I was.
Suzanne sat upright and said, “I do have one other problem with staying overnight, Tonie.”
I could sense a smile in the way she spoke. “What’s that, Suzanne?” I hoped that it was not going to be a difficult problem to solve.
“I don’t have anything to wear and, if it is going to get chilly, as you told me, I need something to keep me warm.”
My fears of the nightly presence subsided as the thought of sleeping with Suzanne excited me. I imagined her naked, lying close to me in my bed. At least, my imagination still worked fine, even if my eyes did not. “I’ll do my best to keep you warm, but I’m certain that I can find something for you to wear.”
“I’m sure you can, but nothing too big, please.”
After letting Kelly out to relieve herself for the night and settling her in the hallway, Suzanne and I began to ascend the stairs. The heavy, strange feeling I had experienced over the past few days, was absent. Everything felt quite normal and I was beginning to wonder if it had all been a figment of my imagination. If so, I would feel very foolish to have enlisted the help of Suzanne. Would she think that it had all been a ploy on my part to get her into my bed?
Nothing changed as we entered my bedroom. Thankfully, the room felt quite normal and, if my intuition was correct, it felt as though it held no menace for us.
I walked over to my wardrobe and opened the doors wide. “Let me see what I can find for you to wear, Suzanne.” I had many tee-shirts on hangers and pulled one off it’s hanger. Next, I rummaged through my clothes on one particular shelf, satisfied when I found a pair of pyjama pants. I held the clothes up and asked, “Will these do, Suzanne?”
She giggled, impishly. “It’s perhaps a good job that you can’t see me when I’m wearing your clothes!”
“I think you’ll look a lot better than me in these pyjamas”, I laughed. “Anyway, I’ll give you some privacy while you change. I’ll be in the bathroom, getting ready for bed.”
Chapter Six: feeling the presence
Once I had finished in the bathroom, I paused outside my bedroom door. Smiling, I knocked on the door, not wanting to enter the room while Suzanne may be in a state of undress. To my surprise, there was no response. I pushed the door open, uncertain of what I would find. “Suzanne! Where are you?” I heard nothing and the hairs on the back of my neck began to bristle. “Suzanne!” Still no response. My heart was now thumping hard in my chest, as I wondered where she could possibly be. I wondered if she was already in bed, playing a prank on me, yet, somehow, I knew this was not the case. Still, just to confirm my suspicions, I leaned over my bed, patting the covers for a recognisable lump. There was nothing and I felt certain that the bedding was exactly as I had left it that morning.