I met Viola tonight 

Really I have not seen her for many years

Come to think of it is must have been the summer of 1992

How is she

As well as to be expected for a time traveller

Really I thought she looked a bit tired and her coat was heavy

Where did you meet her

Farringdon Station it was late and I was waiting for a train

What happened did she just show up

No I saw her on the opposite platform and she waved to me

And then it happened

What happened

There was a blood curdling scream

At first I thought it was a worm hole that had accompanied Viola but she was quite normal 

She just smiled at me and told me a story about the origins of the haunting

It seems that the haunting is that of a young girl called Anne Naylor

Go on

Well before I start please imagine Anne as a sickly child prone to bouts of illness who was apprenticed to a mother and daughter who ran a hat making business

Poor Anne who because of her frequent bout of illness was unable to keep up with the demanding nature of her job and it was not long before the mother and daughter started to abuse her

She tried to escape on a couple of occasions but was caught and things began to get gradually worse for Anne as she was locked in an attic room and was given just bread and water

Anne tried to escape once more but was again caught and was badly beaten and a few days later one of the other apprentices noted that she was not moving

She was attacked once again which was a wasted effort as the poor girl was dead

The mother and daughter then tried to hide their dreadful crime by leaving the attic door ajar and bringing Anne bread and water

Anne’s sister was beginning to grow suspicious and because of this and the state of the corpse it was soon cut up and dumped in a nearby sewer

The mother and daughter just said that Anne had run away again and had not been found

They might have got away with it as missing children were quite common in London but sometime later they argued over something and I believe the daughter confessed to the authorities

They were both tried and later hanged on the 19th of July 1768

It was soon after this that Anne began her haunting and this was intensified when the railway came along

Obviously she was not buried but it might be that the construction of the railway could have disturbed the sewer where she was dumped

That is a horrible story Jacky

I know but it is a truthful account as it was told to me by Viola

How long were you with her

Until the last train

Then we went our separate ways

And that was it

Yes and no because shortly before we parted Viola said that she would try to go back to the year before Anne’s apprenticeship and ensure that she would be cared for

Time Travel is very unstable so how could Viola promise that

She did not promise to rescue Anne but said she would try

But there was one thing about Viola that unnerved me

What was that

It was twofold

Firstly whilst we were sitting together a drunk started bothering me but he took no notice of Viola

He then ran away in a terror which spooked me as much as it spooked him

The man was drunk and I soon let it pass as Viola’s story was so interesting

But as a train stopped I for some reason looked at my reflection and it was then I noticed that Viola was not being reflected

I thought this to be a trick of the light but the same thing happened with all the subsequent trains

Viola did not have a reflection

What did you do

Nothing as I thought it to be a peculiarity of Time Travel

You are an expert on Time Travel have you ever heard of it

No

Mind you and I am not saying this to spook you but ghosts have been known to travel in time

Really

Yes as although you are not in one piece when you Time Travel you can still die and it stands to reason to say that if you have a ghost then that might travel in time

Did Viola seem different

No apart from her general shabby appearance and the lack of her reflection she seemed normal

Are you saying that Viola might be dead

I am not sure

How did she leave you or did you leave her first

No she looked at her watch and kissed me on the cheek and then opened a worm hole and that was that

When did your train arrive

About five minutes later

Did anything happen during that time

Yes there was another bout of screaming except it as more intense and deeper than before

What was the reaction of the other passengers

They did not seem to hear the screams

Sit down Jacky as I do not think you are going to like this

Why

I think that Anne is also travelling in time and has ended Viola’s Time Travel and that the screams that you heard were Viola’s screams as she was ended

Are you saying that Anne has murdered Viola

In a way yes

Is there anything we can do

Not that I know of

If I was you I would visit Farringdon Station from time to time and see if you can connect with either Anne or Viola although be warned that I believe Anne to be a malevolent force which makes the situation far far worse

 

to be continued