Chapter 6.3 – Till death do us part

Things between Lottie and Dylan were moving along quickly and soon they were spending every waking moment together. 

Dylan was the ultimate gentleman wining and dining Lottie and taking her out on dates all the time.  They also got on really well with Kitty and Ami and the happy foursome were always hanging out together and going on double dates.

So it was no surprise to anyone when Dylan got down on his knee one day and proposed to Lottie.  He had taken her to the park at the foot of the waterfall and laid on a picnic for a queen including all her favourite foods. Afterwards they took a stroll along the river and before Lottie knew it, Dylan was down on his knee with a gleaming diamond pointing up towards her.

Lottie was so happy and so taken aback that she could hardly get her words out and eventually managed to spit out a yes.  As Dylan gently slipped the ring on her finger, Lottie wondered if it was possible to be this happy.

Kitty and Lottie planned a joint wedding in their garden.  Kitty designed and made her own dress and helped style her sister for the big day.  It was a bit of a tough job selecting a dress for Lottie – nothing seemed to be right.  They were either too boring….

… too frumpy, or just too sexy.

Kitty was getting a bit fed up and kept calling Lottie Goldilocks for being so fussy.  But eventually, after trying on 20 dresses, Lottie found the one that was just right.  It was simple, elegant and so her! It was perfect!

To celebrate their nuptials, Dylan and Lottie even went and got matching tattoos.  They chose a simple heart design. Dylan had it applied to his arm and Lottie had hers on her lower back.

The wedding was planned for the following week and they had invited all their friends and family. Unfortunately, Ivy and Lottie’s dad Jonas could not come but Jasper did make it.

And Marshall even turned up!  He was proud to tell his family about his career in crime and how he now lived and worked for a gang in Sunset Valley.  Kitty and Lottie did not bother to lecture him; they were just pleased to see him.

Kitty and Ami were the first to exchange rings. They had written their own vows and promised to love each other forever.  It was very moving.

Then it was Lottie and Dylan’s turn.  They had decided to stick to more traditional vows and as Lottie recited: “I Lottie Seraphine take you Dylan Jennings to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us…” her heart was filled with such love she knew she would stick to her vows no matter what it took!

Afterwards, everyone tucked into the wedding breakfast and then danced on into the night.  It was the best day of Kitty and Lottie’s lives and they knew that no one could take that away from them.  The next day Kitty and Ami moved into their own house down the road. Though Lottie would miss her sister, she was pleased to have the house and Dylan all to herself.

Back at work, Lottie still loved her job as a ghost hunter.  With her experience came tougher jobs and before long most of her jobs were poltergeist invasions.  It was always tougher to find poltergeist as you could hardly see them, but because of her expertise she never left a job undone.  This was until she was called to the Smyth household on Diamond Drive one day.  The owner was a portly man who it seemed lived alone.  When Lottie arrived could instantly tell how terrified Mr Smyth was.  “Thank you god you’re here,” was the first thing he said to her.

“What seems to be the problem Mr Smyth,” Lottie enquired although she instantly knew what the problem was.  She could feel it in the air.  There was a very angry spirit inhabiting this house. 

 “It’s this house,” Mr Smyth cried!  “I can feel something, someone watching me all the time!  I put things down and the next minute they have been moved across the room.  I see furniture moving and on the odd occasion I have even felt like someone was poking me.  I can’t take it anymore, you need to help me get rid of whatever it is that is haunting me before I go crazy!”

Lottie really felt for this man.  He looked at the end of his tether and Lottie could only imagine how awful it must be to have a poltergeist haunting your home day in and day out.  “Don’t worry Mr Smyth, leave it with me.  I will get rid of whatever it is that inhabits your home.”

“Bless you,” Mr Smyth replied shaking Lottie’s hand and rushing out of the door leaving her alone with the angriest spirit she had ever encountered!

The moment Mr Smyth left, the anger in the room seemed to dispel and Lottie suddenly had an overwhelming sense of sadness.  The feeling hung heavy throughout the house and Lottie knew that something very bad had happened here.  It was an old house so the tragedy could go way way back.  Remembering her great great grandmother’s words, Lottie promised herself that she would help this spirit.  It did not take long to find it.  Right in front of her a chair and plant flew into the air and started spinning round and round.

Lottie brandished her Banshee Banisher, aimed and fired! 

But no matter how hard Lottie fought, this spirit was not going anywhere.  It flitted around the room and swept passed Lottie.  Like most poltergeists, Lottie could hardly see it, but she certainly felt it.  Following her sixth sense she charged up the stairs after the spirit.  As she searched around she found the bathroom and what must have been Mr Smyth’s room empty.  Then there was a third door.  As Lottie entered the room she was faced with a small room that looked like it was a young girl’s bedroom.  The blanket of sadness was so strong in this room that Lottie felt like she was going to faint!

But before she had time to think, the bedside table sprung into life and started spinning around in the air.  Once again, Lottie aimed and fired but it was no good.  This spirit was not going anywhere and before long Lottie had to give up and leave before she passed out.

As Lottie staggered home, she felt like a failure, why could she not banish this spirit?  She had never encountered something so angry and sad all at the same time and Lottie knew it all had something to do with the girl’s bedroom.  Though it was the middle of the night, Lottie knew that Dylan was on a night shift too at the police station so she called him up and asked for him to meet her outside.  Seeing Dylan in his uniform always gave Lottie butterflies and even though Dylan had warned her not to kiss him while he was working, Lottie could not help herself and planted a big smacker on her husband’s lips.

“Whoa there gorgeous, what have I said about kissing me while in uniform.”

“Sorry darling, I could not help myself,” Lottie replied blushing.  “Anyway, this was not why I came down here.  I need a huge favour!?”

“Err oh, this sounds dangerous,” Dylan replied teasing Lottie.  “What do you need me to do?”
“It’s not much, I promise.  I just need you to look up the history of 28 Diamond Drive in your police database.  I have just been on a job there and I feel that something really bad has happened and I need you to find out what.”

Dylan promised his wife he would look into it straight away and Lottie slumped on home to bed. Later that morning, Dylan came home from his night shift and woke Lottie up with a kiss. “Wake up my princess; I have your results for you.”

Lottie wiped her eyes and got out of bed to brace herself for the worse.  “Go on tell me,” she said.

“Well I went back into the full history of the house like you asked.  The house was built around 93 years ago by the Hartington family who moved straight in with their two children.  Pretty standard family, no skeletons in their closet.  After the parents died, their eldest son lived there with his family until he sold it to the Jones family around 30 years ago.  The Jones were a couple of spinster sisters who lived in the house together until their death four years ago.  Again, nothing much to report on – they were church goers and quite involved in the community. The house was then put up for auction and a Mr Smyth and his daughter moved in three and a half years ago.”

“Yes that is who I met last night, Mr Smyth. But he did not mention anything about having a daughter though I did see a young girl’s bedroom.”

“Well that is where things do get a bit weird,” Dylan continued looking rather excited.  “Around three years ago, the Angel Falls school contacted the police telling them that Celia had not been to school for a week and they could not get hold of Mr Smyth.  When the cops went round to his house he answered the door and told the cops that Celia had moved to SimCity to live with her mother.  He apologised for not informing the school. Case Closed!”

“How could they close the case like that,” Lottie shrieked.  “Did they not call Celia’s mother to check?”

“Yes they did and she vouched that Celia was with her.”

“Oh,” Lottie replied rather disappointed.  She was glad Celia was safe but still knew deep down there was more this story and she was determined to get to the bottom of it!

But it turns Lottie investigations would have to wait a while as the next day she found out she was pregnant!

The look on Dylan’s face when Lottie told him the good news was priceless!

He was so happy and so excited all at once and instantly tried to feel Lottie’s tummy feeling for a kick.  “It will be a while before you will feel that,” Lottie joked.  “I am only a few weeks gone.”

As Lottie’s tummy grew, so did Dylan’s attention level.  He would not let Lottie do a thing and fussed around her like she was an invalid.  He was always giving her massages and insisted on doing all the household chores including all the washing and cooking.

One night there was a massive storm over Angel Falls.  When Lottie went downstairs the following morning to watch her favourite morning show, she found the living room covered with water and the TV not working.  Not trying to fix it, Lottie realised water must have fallen in it.  She decided to settle herself down to read a good book instead.  This was until Dylan came down and saw what had happened.  He mopped up most of the water and started to try to fix the TV.

“Please don’t worry with that darling.  We can get an engineer round to fix it instead later.” Lottie said annoyed that Dylan was fussing again.

“No I will fix it,” Dylan replied.  “I can’t have you missing your favourite show!”

What happened next happened so fast.  One minute Dylan was fixing the TV and the next minute Lottie heard an explosion and a scream coming from Dylan, he was being electrocuted.

“DYLAN,” Lottie screamed trying to rush to him.

“Don’t come near me,” Dylan managed to say.  “Keep the baby safe.”  These were his last words.  A few seconds later he was lying unconscious on the floor. 

Lottie did not know what to do.  She kept calling Dylan’s name but she knew he was right; she couldn’t touch him as the electro currents could kill her and the baby. 

Pulling herself together, Lottie knew she needed to call an ambulance.  As she reached for the phone she was distracted by a dark figure in front of her.  It was Death coming for her husband.  It was at this moment she knew that Dylan was dead and an ambulance would not help. Nothing could help him now!

All Lottie could do was watch as Dylan’s spirit rose from his body, shook hands with Death and disappeared.  She continued to call out his name begging him not to go, but Dylan could not hear her – it was too late!

All that was left of Dylan was a small box of his remains.  She picked up the small tin box and put it on the table beside her.  First she cried for hours and hours.  And then when her tears dried up she just sat and starred at the tin box. 

As the sun went down and night time fell upon Angel Falls, Lottie Seraphine sat in a dark room.  She could not believe that her husband was dead; she would not believe it and knew she had to find a way to bring him back.  As Lottie thought and thought she realised there was only man who could help her.  Scooping up Dylan’s remains she raced out of her house towards the Science lab… it was her only hope.  It had to work!!!