The Guest House Hauntings Boxset
Hazel Holmes
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
The Haunting of Bell Mansion
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
1
“Mommy, I really don’t feel well,” Olivia said, her pale skin sweaty and red. Her sweet blue eyes, so much like her mother’s, were heavy with fear and exhaustion. She’d never been so sick in her life, and her mother felt helpless as she faced her daughter, unsure of how to cure this. Olivia had only been sick for a couple of days, but it had hit hard and trampled through both children.
“I know, baby.” She put a cold cloth up to her daughter’s forehead. Her light curls were wet with sweat, though she shivered under her blanket. “The medicine will help you, okay? You just need to get some rest. Can you eat any more of that soup I made you?”
“I can try.” She eyed the bowl cautiously. She had thrown up earlier that day, but her mother hoped the ginger tea would help her keep this meal down.
“Good girl.” She kissed the top of her forehead and soothed her with soft murmurs and kind touches while she ate.
As Lyla tended to her daughter, Richard sat with his son in his room, reading him a story of pirates and their grand adventures. Kyle was so involved in the story that he too was finally eating the only thing they could even get him to try, pepperoni pizza. His stomach was handling everything a bit better than Olivia’s was, but he also had a fever and was exhausted. He stayed awake for twenty minutes at most. Long enough for him to eat his pizza, drink chocolate milk, take some medicine, and fall asleep again.
His hair, dark as his mother’s, was messy. His father’s brown eyes were a little better rested than Olivia’s. He was just as pale though. Still very under the weather.
“Dad, when do you think I’ll feel better?” he asked. He was eight years old, three years older than his sister, which made him just old enough to understand he probably had the flu. He also understood that he had never felt this sick before.
“Soon,” Richard assured him. “You know how these winters are up here. We should’ve kept you home from school when all those other kids were getting sick.” He shook his head. “I swear, this place is a breeding ground for germs. This winter has been the worst.
“But I think you’re getting out of the thick of it. You always feel your worst before you get better. You’ve just got to be tough for a little while longer, okay? You need to make sure to eat up and get plenty of rest. I’m sure by the weekend you’ll be back to playing and annoying your sister.”
“She’s the one who annoys me!” he protested. Richard laughed.
“I personally think you’re both annoying,” he teased.
Lyla and Richard stayed with their children until they both slipped back into sleep. Then they joined each other in the living room in front of the massive stone fireplace. The warm flames danced across the red walls, reminding Lyla of a heartbeat. Her life was contained in these four walls and it was most upsetting when things were disrupted like this.
“Do you think we should bring them to the doctor?” she asked. “I’ve never seen them this sick. What if it’s more than the common cold?”
“It’s definitely more than the common cold,” Richard agreed. “It’s still nothing to worry about too much though. Looks like a bad case of the flu. It’s been making its way around town lately. Sam caught it too. Passed it onto Brittany last I heard.”
“Poor thing. I guess it is to be expected at this time of year. It’s just… I don’t know, I hate seeing my babies like this. Maybe if they wake up again…”
“Tonight?” he asked. She nodded. “Lyla, the only thing open tonight is the emergency room. We can’t bring them to the emergency room over the flu. Maybe if they’re not better soon we can take them to the doctor, but I feel like you’re getting a little too worked up over it.
“I don’t like seeing them like this either. No parent wants to see their children sick. But we’ve all lived through these types of illnesses before. It’s part of being human. I’m sure they’ll pass it on to us and then they’ll be better in no time. The worst of winter will be over soon enough, and we’ll forget all about it as spring kicks in.”
“I suppose. It just seems worse this time than usual. It’s hit them hard. I worry it’s something more serious.”
“I understand that. If it were just one of them who was feeling this way, I’d be more concerned that something more serious was wrong. But seeing as it’s both, looks like an awful case of the flu.
“It always seems worse each time because we love them so much. But hey, how about if they don’t feel at least a little better by tomorrow, we’ll call the doctor about it? If he says we need to bring them in, we will. I’ll bet they’ll be feeling a bit better by morning though. A good night’s rest always works magic.”
“I can agree to that,” she said.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised. He kissed her on the top of her head. They settled down for a movie that they were far too distracted to really watch,
