GHOST 👻 (A Paranormal Romance)

Harlan

Julia sighs resignedly, then stands up. "All right, I'll tell you everything I know about Harlan. But first, I need a drink."

Returning from the kitchen with a stiff martini, she sits down on the couch, taking a large sip before speaking. We all listen on edge as she starts disclosing information about my mother's past relationship with Harlan. "I never could understand what my daughter saw in that man." Her face twists in disgust as she throws up her hands. "In my opinion, he was a dangerous narcissist."

Protectively, Jerry puts his arms around my grandmother's shoulder when she shudders at the memory of Harlan. Collecting herself, she continues. "Lizzy, your mother was a wreck after she returned from college. She was on so many psychotropic medications, I thought she would never recover her sanity." I've never heard my mother's full medical back ground. I'd assumed she was born a schizophrenic. Now I understand she was psychologically abused. Seeing how shocked I am, Julia stops talking for a moment, then looking apologetically at me, she continues. "I'm sorry, Lizzy. I tried everything to help your mother, but nothing the doctors or I did could stabilize her mental condition. At the time, Harlan seemed to be an answer to my prayers. He was helpful and sweet with Sarah. He seemed to ground her. For a while, I thought she was getting better." Grimacing, her voice starts rising with anger. "Little did I know he wasn't helping her, he was pumping her full of illegal drugs."

"Wait." Exasperated, I stop her. "Why haven't you ever told me this before?"

"I wanted to protect you." Julia looks heartbroken. Immediately, I regret my harsh tone with her.

"What kind of drugs?" Dylan leans forward, simultaneously fascinated and horrified by this information.

"Experimental drugs. I've never proven it, but I think he was trying to increase her psychic powers."

I glance over at Jerry, to see his reaction. He looks as shocked as I am. Julia nods, closing her eyes as if she doesn't want to see the horrific memories flooding her mind. "When I found out, I confronted him about it that night. That's when he threatened to kill me."

"What happened?" My voice comes out in a whisper.  

"I stabbed him with a knitting needle. If only I'd succeeded in killing the bastard back then."

Jerry chimes in. "Yes, I remember Harlan had a scar on his right cheek. That must have been from you stabbing him."

Julia nods, "Yes, I was aiming for his eyes."

Hearing how horrible Harlan was, I feel sick to my stomach.  Suddenly, I have to know if this man was my father in order to keep my sanity. "Julia, was Harlan my father?" I'm afraid of the answer, but I have to know.

"What?" Julia's reaction is slow and exaggerated because of the alcohol. Drinking also makes her over emotional. "God baby, no!"  There's no way the scumbag was your father. He was sterile."

"Sterile?" Dylan and Jerry both echo Julia's disclosure. We're all wondering what she's going to say next.

"Most macho perverts have some defect they're compensating for. With Harlan, he was shooting blanks. It was something he was always complaining about to Sarah. She told me about his problem after I chased him away. I was worried she might be pregnant."

I'm so relieved, I want to cry. Suddenly, I remember something I read in my mother's diary. Danielle, her college roommate was giving my mother drugs. Could she and Harlan have been connected somehow? Were these evil maniacs working to getter to experiment on my mother? "Wait, I want to show you something in Sarah's diary, Julia. I'll be right back". Rushing upstairs to my room, I pull open my bureau to retrieve the grimoire.

Thank you for reading!👻