Ghost of a Marriage by Richard Dansky

Author:Richard Dansky
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: horror, ghost fiction
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2021-10-08T18:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Night turned to morning and Jen had nothing to say to him. They passed each other in the hallway, a barely perceptible nod the only sign she recognized his existence. Francesca was only slightly better, affectionate when it was time for food and otherwise absent. More of Jennifer’s belongings moved downstairs, to the point where the maze of boxes became impenetrable. Gary kept to himself, avoided Jen’s things, and headed to work early.

He left work early as well, mindful of his appointment with Dr. Swisher. Arriving early for that, he sat quietly in the waiting room until summoned to the back.

Swisher was there, his notepad out. “Ah, Gary,” he said warmly. “Good to see you.”

He got up out of his chair and shook Gary’s hand. His handshake was firm; Gary tried to match it with equal pressure before releasing and sitting down on the sofa.

“So, where were we?” Swisher flipped through his notes while Gary waited. Finally, and with a harrumph, Swisher leaned forward. “You’re getting close to the date when your wife is going to move out, aren’t you?”

Gary nodded.

“How did things go last night? You mentioned that they had been deteriorating. You also said it was her idea for you to come see me. Was there improvement?”

A bark of laughter escaped Gary’s throat before he could do anything to stop it. “Last night? You want to know what happened last night? No, things did not improve, and you know why?”

“You’re going to tell me ghosts, aren’t you?” Swisher made a small notation on his pad.

“Just one. And she saw it too. Or more accurately, she chose not to see it. Wouldn’t look at it, wouldn’t turn around, covered her eyes. All she had to do was turn around and then she would have seen it, and we could have talked about it. About what it meant. Oh, and the best part?”

“Yes?” Swisher’s tone was carefully neutral.

“The ghost said something to her. Just before it disappeared.”

Swisher harrumphed and adjusted himself in his seat. “Do you know what she—it—said?”

“No. But I was stupid enough to ask Jennifer—that’s my wife—if she’d tell me.”

“And what did she say?”

“She told me to fuck off.”

“Ah. Did you?”

“No, she walked off before I could do or say anything. So did the cat, for that matter.” Gary gave a sour smile. “The cat’s my ghost detector. Whenever anything weird’s going to happen, she freaks out.”

“That’s interesting,” Swisher said. “So you have a witness of sorts.”

Gary snorted. “I don’t think the cat’s testimony is going to hold up in court.”

“No, I just mean that you have some sort of outside stimulus making you aware of these…visions. What do you think they are?”

“Hell if I know,” Gary said. “They didn’t show up until recently, and the first ones were, I don’t know. Innocuous? Ghost candles and things like that, imitations of things Jen used to do.”

“And then it moved on to the figure?”

“Yeah.” He thought for a second. “Then the figure started being able to move things.”

“And all of this escalated—is that the right word—as her departure date got closer?”

“Yes.

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