Apparition at the Window

Lightning tore through the sky and a crack of thunder stirred Beth from her slumber. She glanced sleepily at the ancient wind-up alarm clock that was ticking loudly, three in the morning. She groaned and flung her arm over her face to mask the bright light that was infiltrating the old fashioned bedroom.

A few minutes later, an anguished whisper from over by the window made her raise her head and stare in horror at the apparition that was gradually appearing in front of her. A young woman with a translucent quality, old fashioned skirts and stricken features was talking to herself and wringing her hands in angst. She slowly turned her back to Beth, flung up the window sash and deliberately swung her legs over the sill. A wretched scream and sickening thud stirred Beth into action and she raced over to the glass.

The wooden sash was firmly closed, she traced her hands over the thick pane noting the water droplets gliding down the glass as a torrent of rain drenched the outside world. The storm raged on. Craning her neck, she looked down into the dark garden below but there seemed to be no trace of a body on the grass. The lake glinted in the moonlight, reflecting the zigzags of light as they ripped through the ebony sky with destructive force. The atmosphere was charged; electrical and foreboding.

Beth rested her head wearily against her hand, her dark hair falling over her shoulders in tangles from a disturbed sleep. Am I going mad? She pondered as the forked lightning lit the bedroom once more. The recuperation invitation to her great aunts house in the country was not going according to plan. This was the third night in which the ghostly presence had appeared in the room in the oldest part of the manor. Perhaps I’m just feeling spooked by this old house Beth mused. It was crumbling and in disrepair like so many properties passed down the generations that sadly became dilapidated money pits, leaching the life out of their very foundations and owners alike.

That would be a perfectly reasonable explanation were it not for the huge oil painting in the drawing room. The portrait of an attractive young woman with auburn locks and penetrating green eyes who very much resembled the lady of Beth’s visitations. Once the lady of the house, her great aunt had told her the previous day during afternoon tea, whose tombstone in the chapel nearby referenced a disturbing and premature death.

I’m joining in with this great linky ~ http://mumturnedmom.com/2016/05/29/the-prompt-week-117/

Prompt word: Window  #ThePrompt