Let Her Rest – JR Erickson

Charlie’s feet and hands went sweaty despite the icy cold in her blood. And then she noticed Bones. He stood on the chair, his fur a rise of spikes down his back and his tail stick-straight and frizzed like a feather duster. His two eyes, glowing yellow, were fixed on the woman. Charlie managed to will her feet backwards, into the hall. She stood, back pressed against the smooth plaster, her breath squeaking out between clenched teeth. The Doors song continued to play in the room.

“‘When you’re strange, faces come out of the rain…’” She eyed the door, struggling to form a solid plan. Run into the night? Pound on a neighbor’s door and demand they call the police? She thought of racing to her car several nights before, her shame in the morning at her overreaction. It was a woman in there. Maybe… maybe she’d walked in accidentally, confused this house with another. Charlie slid a heavy silver candlestick off the entryway table, clutching it behind her back.

She reached around the wall into the living room, searching for the light switch. She’d take the woman by surprise and if she seemed dangerous, Charlie would hurl the candlestick at her and run out the door. She flipped the switch and light flooded the room as she stepped back into the doorway. “Who are you?” Charlie shouted, but the words died on her lips. The couch sat empty. On the screen, the song moved toward the close as an old Jeep drove a dusty road into dense bush.

Bones hissed and jumped from the chair, darting out of the room past Charlie. Charlie stared at the back of the couch, irrationally sure the woman had lain sideways and concealed herself, but when Charlie walked closer, she found the couch empty and the floor too. Shaking, candlestick slick in her sweating hand, she crept around the room peeking behind the furniture. There was only one entrance into the room from the hall.

The woman could not have escaped without Charlie seeing her and yet… “Hello?” Charlie called out. No answer—only the voice on the television answered. Charlie grabbed the remote and stabbed her thumb on the off button. The picture disappeared and the silence took over. Charlie lay awake the rest of the night, sitting up at every sound.

When pre-dawn light turned her curtains from dark to a pale pink, the tension gradually drained from her body and she slept.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Created with Vellum OceanofPDF.com DE D ICATIO N For my Grandma Williams. Ninety looks good on you. OceanofPDF.com AU TH OR’ S N OT E Thanks so much for picking up a Northern Michigan Asylum Novel. I want to offer a disclaimer before you dive into the story.

This is an entirely fictional novel. Although there was once a real place known as the Northern Michigan Asylum, which inspired me to write these books, it is in no way depicted within them. In truth, nearly every book I have read about the asylum, later known as the Traverse City State Hospital, was positive. This holds true for the stories of many of the staff who worked there as well. I live in the Traverse City area and regularly visit the grounds of the former asylum. It’s now known as the Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

It was purchased in 2000 by Ray Minervini and the Minervini Group, who have been restoring it since that time. Today, it’s a mixed-use space of boutiques, restaurants and condominiums. If you ever visit the area, I encourage you to visit The Village at Grand Traverse Commons. You can experience first-hand the asylums—both old and new—and walk the sprawling grounds. OceanofPDF.com “J 1 ake… Jake! I’m talking to you!” He looked up from his sodden corn flakes. “What? Sorry. I was thinking about the job today.” Allison sputtered and threw up her hands, getting one tangled in her unbrushed hair.

“You’re always thinking about the damned job. When do you think about us? Am I alone in this? If you came home, and I’d packed and left, would you even notice or just grab a beer and plop in front of the TV?” “Allison, I’m not a drunk.” “Do you hear what I’m saying? Can you honestly be this dense? I’m not talking about you being drunk. I’m talking about you being absent from our life, from this room!”

Jake braced an elbow on the kitchen table and propped his chin on his fist.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 48705946e1b227e8
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,622,669 bytes (1.547 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 259
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 414.52 minutes
• Total Words: 82,904
• Total Characters: 458,633
• Average Words per Page: 320.09
• Average Characters per Page: 1770.78

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