Chapter Text
Alison sighed. “You take that side of that cupboard, I’ll take the other one.”
Mike grumbled, but nodded. They had procrastinated clearing the attic, but the deadline came closer.
“Stop grumbling, Mike. We need insulation if we don’t want to pay those enormous energy bills again next winter.”
“I know,” Mike sighed. “Okay, lift it on three?”
They tried to lift the cupboard, but without success.
“Yeah, that won’t work.” Alison said.
“Maybe we should just take it apart.”
“Or maybe we should start with other things.”
Alison took the boxes from their storage and gave them to Mike to clear the way. So far they’ve found boxes full of old Christmas decorations, school books from the early 1900s and some kids toys that wouldn’t be out of place in a museum.
Suddenly Alison spotted some other boxes behind an old settee. She climbed over it to take a better look.
3 July 1945
It said on the one on top. Two months after World War II had ended.
“Mike, take these boxes.” Alison said. She found four boxes that apparently had been there for almost 80 years.
Mike had already opened one of them. He found pictures from 1939 until 1945, newspapers from the time and some little knick knacks that were probably from the soldiers staying in Button House.
“Is the Captain in one of these pictures?” Mike asked as Alison sat down next to him.
The first picture she saw was a group photo. It was labelled Button House XI, 17 October 1939. All men were dressed in what seemed to be cricket uniforms. Alison let her eyes scan over the picture until she saw a familiar face.
“Yes, this is Captain,” Alison showed Mike. “This must’ve been when they just got stationed here in Button House. The war didn’t start until the beginning of September 1939.”
Meanwhile Mike had opened another box. It contained everything needed to play cricket, and a wrapped up box. It had the address of Button House on it and a post stamp dated London, 12 May 1945.
“Do you know a Theodore Wilcox?” Mike asked.
“I don’t. Maybe we can ask the Captain. If it was someone who was stationed here, he’d know them. Maybe we can open it together, with him.” Alison said, but Mike had already opened the package. Alison shot him an irritated look.
“I was curious.” He innocently said.
Mike took two things out of the package: a notebook and a letter. The letter was addressed to the same man as the package in its entirety was. The notebook had some elegant calligraphy on the front: Property of W. Havers. Alison was sure she had heard the name Havers before, but she couldn’t place it.
Mike looked through the notebook.
“I don’t know whose notebook this is, but the man could draw.” He said as he passed Alison the book.
Alison looked at the first page. It was a sketch of a bird. She didn’t know enough about birds to identify it, but it was beautifully detailed.
Behind her, Alison heard some commotion. When she turned around, she was met with dust materialising a person-like figure. A figure with one of the faces she had seen in the pictures from the box. He was dressed in a similar uniform as the Captain’s, but it was a lighter colour. The man looked around confused.
Another ghost.
“Where am I?”
“Hi, I’m Alison. You’re in Button House. You have been here before, right?” She asked.
Mike wanted to ask something, but Alison shut him up with one small hand sign.
The man nodded. He stood up with his arms crossed behind his back and took a deep breath. It felt hollow somehow. Realisation came over his face.
“I died, didn’t I? How come I can talk to you? Is this the afterlife? I feel like I was stuck in the dark for years.”
Alison stood up and carefully closed the distance between them.
“You’re a ghost. Can I take a guess and say you died as a soldier in World War II?”
The man nodded. “I did die, as a Lieutenant, on the North-African front.”
Alison took a deep breath before continuing: “We’re the year 2023. There are more ghosts here in the house. I’m alive, but I can see and hear you after I’ve had an accident.”
“So that darkness was me as a ghost being stuck somewhere for 80 years?” The man asked.
“The only thing about ghosts I know is that they mostly stay where they die and how they die. We have a couple here. I don’t know how you arrived at Button House, but we’ll find out together.”
Alison saw the man was even more confused, so she shut up for a second. The man lifted up his sleeves and Alison saw red dots all over his arm. The ghost quickly pulled the sleeve back down.
“Is the ghost still here?” Mike asked.
“Go downstairs, Mike, I’ll be there in a moment.”
Mike sighed, but he knew better by now than to question her when it came to ghost things.
“Sorry about my husband.” Alison told the man standing in front of her.
The man shot her a forced smile. “Did we… Did we win the war?”
Alison smiled. “Yes, yes we did. The war ended in 1945.”
That brought a genuine smile on the man’s face for the first time, but the tension was still visible in his stance.
Alison took the notebook and looked at the front again.
“Is your name Havers, sir?” Alison asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Lieutenant William Havers.”
“I think I have your notebook, Lieutenant.”
Havers smiled. “It arrived. My brother listened to me.”
Suddenly Alison remembered where she’d heard the name Havers before. She didn’t always listen when the ghosts were telling her about their past lives, but she was always attentive when Captain opened up to her since he rarely did. She was sure he told her the name Havers before.
“Hey, Lieutenant. I think there’s someone who would love to meet you.”