The woman in blood...

It was half past eight, and Simon and his older sister were having dinner with their parents.

“Today, I went to the next door neighbour’s house to hand over some cookies. There was no one there. The windows were all closed,” Rachel, the children's mother cried.

"Mum, could you please send Mrs. Beth the list of books that I would like to borrow from the library?" Simon's older sister, Jean exclaimed.

"Sure love. Just send me the books and I'll get it for you," her mother smiled. After dinner, Jean was helping her mother to load the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Could you please just finish doing the last two dishes? Have to tuck Simon to bed, and check on Henry" Rachel ran upstairs. She opened the room door and Simon was standing in his striped pyjamas. His small face was full of tears.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"My gums are bleeding," Rachel called her husband who worked as a dentist. He came up.

“Dad, my gum has blood. It’s not stopping,”

"Bit into this gauze. You must have bit into your gum I guess,"

"I was walking around the room and I saw a lady in blood. She was walking down the hill," His sister then came in her pink coloured nightgown.

"What happened to Simon?"

"His gums are bleeding. It's late. You kids should sleep now,"

I will have a look at his teeth tomorrow morning at my clinic. Don’t worry,” He hugged her and she went to bed. It was the next morning, Simon was brought to his parents clinic.

“Good Morning Simon, what’s the issue with your teeth? Ms Rachel please have a seat with your son,”

“Dad, come on. Don’t be silly,” His father laughed and started checking his son’s teeth. 

“It’s your gum but the swelling is going down. You will be fine soon,”  Simon waited outside. 

“I brought lunch for you. Take care. Love you,” He kissed her on her cheeks. They were on their way home. 

“Mum, I really saw the woman in blood. She was nearby the stream facing my room,” 

“Okay, Granny has made some chicken soup at home. Please eat it. I want to do some work outside,” He nodded his head. He reached home. His Granny was in the kitchen preparing the soup.

“Mum, I have some work to do outside. Just give that boy soup and rice. Jane won’t be back until five. I’ll pick her up,”

“Alright,” Simon came running to his mother.

“Mum, Mum, can you go to the library and get me some books? I’ve sent you the list that I want,”

“Sure,” She left and all of a sudden her husband called. 

“Is Simon fine, Rachel? I’ll bring the painkillers later. Plus, the lunch is awesome,” he questioned. 

“Yes, I’m just going to the library to get some books he wants. I’m a little apprehensive about the woman in blood. You know that the next door neighbours never come out. Simon became freaked out and his-,”

“Rachel, we’re leaving in which century? He’s just hallucinating and about the neighbour’s maybe they just don’t want to come out. Stop getting worried. A patient came,” He cut the call at once. She wiped the tears that coursed down her cheeks. She went to the library. There was an old librarian with brown hair. 

“Hey Rachel dear,” she called out at once. 

“Hi, my son has asked for these books. Do you have them?”

“Pass me the list and I’ll check it for you. Let’s chat together,” Rachel followed the woman.

“I was just wondering, have you heard about the woman in blood?” 

“Of course, I have heard about her,,” Rachel’s phone started ringing. Her daughter’s netball class had been cancelled. 

“I have to go now. I’ll meet you tomorrow,” She nodded her head and went to pick up Jane. 

“Mum, is  Simon fine? Ms. Beth was asking me about him,”

“Yes, he is,” They reached home. Her husband was at home holding a crying Simon. 

“What’s wrong Simon? Is it your game?”

“Woman in blood came to get me,” he sobbed. 

“Alright, I will look into this. How about you eat something?” Simon sat at the dining table eating a slice of cake, his whole body shivering.. 

“Rafael, I’m going to meet the librarian,” Just then their youngest child, three years and a half years old, was crying bitterly. Rachel ran upstairs.

“What’s wrong, Mary?” she questioned the nanny.

“She accidentally hit her head into the bookshelf. I’m sorry, but madam it’s really painful,” Rachel carried her child and brought her down and lay her on the sofa.

“Rachel, what’s wrong?”

“She hit head on the wall. Mind getting me some ice?” Her husband brought the ice. Just then she got a text message from the librarian saying there’s more about the woman in blood. 

“Timothy, can you look after her? I really have to meet the librarian.”

“Rachel, I see that you aren’t very interested in taking care of your child. She’s most of the time with the maid,” She just kept silent and put the ice on the little girl’s head. After a while she stopped crying. Timothy brought a small plate of vanilla ice cream and started feeding the child who was sitting on her frustrated Mum’s laps. The librarian wasn’t free. It was night time, 

“I’ll make Alice sleep tonight,” She brought the girl upstairs along with Timothy. The other two children were in their own rooms. The girl started crying and crying. Just then, Simon came crying.

“Mum,”

“What’s wrong?”

“The woman in blood I saw her again,” At the same time, their oldest daughter was crying. 

“Mum, Dad, the woman is real. Alice is crying because she can see the woman as well,” Both the kids went closer to their parents.

“Timothy, I told you that I wanted to see the librarian but you didn’t allow me. She knows about this,”

“Alright fine, let’s just bring the kids inside the car.

“We’ll go to the librarian’s cottage. I’ve already messaged her about it,” Tim drove to the small little cottage by the river. In went all of them went and the librarian served them some warm porridge. She sat on the bed carrying her daughter.

“The woman in blood’s real. She lives near the hill facing your house. She actually died in an accident,” Timothy burst into laughter.

“Mrs. Beth, are you giving us a moment? Can you please give me a warm glass of water with a slice of lemon?”

“Sure dear, no worries,”

“Timothy, all our three kids saw that woman. Why can you just believe it? You bought that house for a very low price and there’s a reason. Timothy, do it for the kids and us,”

“Fine, but where are we going?” he questioned her.

“We could stay with my parents for awhile,”

“Your dad hates me. Just because, I’m mixed blood,” he quickly said. 

“I’ll talk to him, don’t worry. We’ll leave tomorrow morning,” she sobbed. He agreed.