Housebound Page #3

nails in that wall, Amos,

'cause the last time Graeme

tried to put a shelf up in here,

- he actually hit a power cable.

- Thanks for the concern, Miriam,

but I always check the circuit's

off before an installa...

Oh. Sh*t.

Are you all right?

Did you hurt yourself?

At some stage... you just might

want to get your wiring checked.

What are you doing now?

Just getting a baseline

reading for the data loggers.

- What are they supposed to log?

- Fluctuations in room temperature.

Ghosts have a lower body

temperature than humans.

Do they?

Yeah, they do.

You know, the closed mind is the worst

defense against the paranormal, Kylie.

What are you gonna do

against a hostile spirit?

- You just gonna crack jokes?

- No, I'm going to smash it in the face.

You cannot punch ectoplasm.

Nice. You know, I can still see you.

I can hear you breathing.

The f*** did you just say?

Stop tickling me.

I just want to be friends.

I could never do that to my friend.

Could you give that a shake,

please, Miriam?

- What about the cameras?

- Checked the cameras remotely.

- And?

- And what?

Spend eight hours waiting for a

teddy bear to crawl out of a fireplace.

- It was pretty uneventful.

- You think I'm making this up.

Honestly, I don't know.

But unless I have reason to think

otherwise, I have to remain skeptical.

Skeptical? The other night you were

practically creaming your pants.

And you thought it was all a big joke.

Interesting turn of events.

Hey. I've got better things to do with

my time than make up ghost stories.

Sure you do.

Our brains are made up

of cells called neurons.

These cells have nerve

endings called synapses.

Synapses release chemical

and electrical stimuli

which communicate with each

other to form neuropath ways.

- Now, if we...

- How long have you been a counselor?

Oh. Gosh... 15, 16 years.

A few years of study prior to that.

So you got, like, a diploma?

A doctorate in clinical psychology.

My mum thinks this house is haunted.

And what do you think?

Some things have happened

since I've been here.

Things I can't explain.

When you put an overactive

mind in an inactive environment,

there's bound to

be complications. Particularly,

- if chemical substances are involved.

- I'm not on drugs.

Well, the easiest way to

maintain a healthy mind

is to make sure it has

plenty of exercise.

Now, look, you can view the next

eight months as a punishment,

or you can see it as...

as an opportunity.

- Jesus Christ! Graeme, what the f***!

- Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you.

What do you want?

I'm just wondering if

you're not doing anything,

maybe you wouldn't mind

helping me with this.

Piss off. I'm not your slave.

If you hold this piece,

I can put this piece on top.

Just need to hold it

in place until it sets.

- How long does that take?

- Ten minutes.

Sorry I'm not much

of a conversationalist.

What?

Well, just, we don't really talk.

It's fine. Neither am I.

- If you wanted to...

- I don't though.

No.

It's just...

I suppose what I'm trying to say

is that I don't want you to think

I've got anything

against you or nothin'.

My old man was never

really there, you know.

My mum, she wasn't much better.

I don't know.

I think maybe I was the only reason

they stayed together probably.

And maybe they resented me for

that or something. I don't know.

The thing is, I never

talked openly about things.

And you're the closest thing

to a daughter that I've got.

You don't feel cramped in here?

Look at the state of this f***ing room.

- No wonder you've got asthma.

- Angina.

If you cleared some sh*t out of here,

you could have a half decent work space.

Your mum's a bit funny about

throwing things away.

Yeah 'cause you never know when you're

gonna need a three-quarter scale Jesus.

Besides, if it means that much to her,

why does she keep it in the basement?

Most of this stuff was here

when she bought the place.

- Why didn't they just take it with them?

- Well, they left in a bit of a hurry.

And most of this stuff

was probably donated.

Why would anyone donate

to a bed and breakfast?

Why would anyone donate to

a bed and breakfast, Graeme?

I think you better go

and talk to your mum.

Look, it wasn't even my idea.

It was your father's.

He knew they'd want rid of

the place as quickly as possible,

so he made them a cash offer.

And he had some idea about moving the place

off-site and restoring it somewhere else

and then subdividing the section

off to the neighbors or something.

Look, I don't remember the details exactly,

but the way he explained it to me...

we would've got twice

what we paid for it.

You knew a girl was murdered in my

room and you still let me live in it.

It wasn't an ideal situation, but as I said,

it was only supposed to be short term.

Ideal? She was stabbed 67

times with a meat fork.

Listen, when you start working and

you have to pay bills of your own,

we'll see how quick you are to

snub your nose at a bargain.

I can see why you never

open your mouth, Graeme.

Don't blame him. He thought

you'd already told me.

- Why didn't you?

- Because you were four years old.

And by the time you were old

enough to know the truth,

you never wanted to

speak to me anyway.

Look, I'm sorry, Kylie. Okay?

I guess I just thought... what you

didn't know wouldn't hurt you.

"In what was considered one of New

Zealand's most brutal murders,

Elizabeth Chalmers, or Lizzy as

she was more commonly known,

had been beaten, bitten

and stabbed over 60 times

with a carving fork.

Police claimed to have multiple suspects,

but to date, no arrests have been made.

After alleged reports of assault against

staff and an increase in neighborhood crime,

this was the last in a long line

of unwanted controversies

for the church-owned and

operated halfway house

which was forced to

finally shut its doors

on February 28, 1996."

I may have been a bit hasty

with my initial investigation.

If I had to make a bet, I'd say

this place is crawling with NRE.

- What?

- Negative residual energy.

- It's what happens when a spirit...

- I don't need to know the lingo.

- I just need you to get rid of it.

- Well, it's not that simple.

- Why did you say it was?

- I didn't.

All I said is I could help you

figure out what we're dealing with.

And now we know. A murdered

girl who needs our help.

So what are you suggesting? A sance?

You wanna light some candles, play pass

the parcel with a f***ing dead girl?

I don't have time for that.

Kylie, as long as you live in this house,

I'm not sure you have a choice.

The thing about the

justice system, Kylie,

is that they don't really like

to make special allowances.

I'm not asking them to change the sentence.

I'm just asking for a transfer.

And in another three months,

once you've shown some compliance,

- maybe we can ask the judge to reconsider.

- Three months? I could be dead by then.

- What we need is some perspective.

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