Clifford Close.(Stephen Pearmine) On the fields behind Clifford Close, a new road had been built. Strange things started to occur shortly after this. 
    The first time it happened, everyone thought it was a drunk causing trouble on their street. Late afternoon he appeared from a cut through from the neighbouring street ranting and raving in a foreign language, also picking up stones and anything else the man could find and chucking them at anyone close. People ran back to their homes, horrified. From the windows, they watched him. Without warning, he vanished into thin air. The police were called, and the witnesses described the man being in his late fifties and about 6 feet tall and wearing old-fashioned clothes. The law enforcers with further investigation had no leads to who this person was and why he'd act in such a way. The inquiries were dropped and the awful events were forgotten.
................

Due to having a fall, Mary Winters hadn't left the house for sometime, which resulted in staying at the hospital for a week. After leaving the hospital two weeks ago, the doctor told her to take it easy. Being the age of 82, Mary agreed with this and stayed put. Thankfully, her kind neighbour, John, would pick up items from the local shop for her, which helped tremendously. The sun shone, and the temperature was pleasant that morning, and this is why she'd decided to go for a short stroll. Being cooped up in the house all the time wasn't much fun. Her leg still hurt, but the nurse yesterday had said it was healing nicely. 
    She opened the gate, which led to the path. To help her get along, Mary had a walking stick. Once on the path, she proceeded carefully up it. There was a woman of a similar age a few doors away. She'd decided last night to pay her a visit to see how her friend was getting on. She hadn't seen her much since the accident. 
    Within a minute, Mary stood at the woman's gate. She was just about to open it when shouting was heard behind her. A little startled, she turned to see who it was. A man made his way towards her. He shouted abuse. Mary couldn't understand what he was saying because he spoke in an European accent. The man stopped a few metres away, then picked up a stone from the road.
    "What do you want?" she asked, trembling.
    He threw the stone at her while yelling something unfamiliar.
    She fell to the path in shock. She'd never been so scared. With an aggressive look on his face, he came closer. With horror, Mary observed him picking up another stone, bigger this time.
From the other side of the road appeared a neighbour. "What the hell are you doing?" the male neighbour said, confronting the brute.
    The man punched him hard in the face. 
    Mary screamed.
    The vile man disappeared into thin air.
    The neighbour whose name was Trevor, rushed to Mary. "Are you okay?"
    Mary peered up at him, terrified. "I'm not sure."
    Trevor shook his head in frustration.
    "What's going on? Who the hell was he?" the frail woman asked.
    His face said it all. "When you were in hospital after your fall, there was an incident involving the man we just saw. It was the same day a neighbour had invited the whole street to a barbecue in his garden." A bruise had now appeared around his left eye. "Well, he appeared out of nowhere and started shouting abuse at everyone. Then he found things he could throw at us. Even Geoffrey lost his rag and confronted him. Next thing you know, poor Geoffrey is knocked to the ground. Most of the neighbours then ran back to the safety of their homes to escape him."
    Mary couldn't believe it. "Poor Geoffrey, after organising the party, and then that happens."
    Gavin agreed with her. "Whoever it is, he needs to be stopped."
    "Should we ring the police?" Mary asked.
    "Okay, I'll ring them, but last time they couldn't do anything."
    After giving a statement to a police officer an hour later, Mary sat in her living room. She would be lying to herself if she didn't admit she was very scared of what the coming days might bring. 
    Who was this person and why were they acting like this? Only time would tell? 
.....................

    Some kids who lived in the adjoining street waited for their friend in the cut through to his road. He was running late. The leader of the gang, Samuel, was worried, as Jeremy was usually on time.
    "Where the hell is he?" one of the boys asked, growing irritable.
    That day, they were heading to the park to play football. 
    Samuel turned to the boy, then said, "We'll give it another 10 minutes. If he hasn't turned up by then, we'll make our way to the park."
    "Okay, mate," was all the boy answered.
    A huge man out of nowhere appeared shouting abuse at them. He grabbed one of the boys and pinned him against a nearby fence. Samuel tried to intervene, but was thrown to the ground. The man proceeded with haste through the cut through to the other close, where he observed a boy metres away.  
    Jeremy looked at him fearfully. "Who are you?"
    He then remembered the stories about the aggressive person. The brute came towards him, hurling abuse. Jeremy tried to run, but it was already too late.
....................... 

    The police turned up within minutes after one of the neighbours had called them and said a boy was being assaulted outside their house. One of the officers checked on the boy, who was in a bad way. Four more boys came into view from the cut through, two of them covered in cuts and bruises and telling the police about a man who'd attacked them.
    An ambulance arrived half an hour later and took the injured boys to the hospital. 
........................

    The police kept a close eye on the area for the next four days, in case the man turned up. Nothing had happened by the sixth day. The problem was the damage had already been done. People that lived there were terrified to leave their homes. The people that lived elsewhere in the town stayed away from that road as they'd heard the stories. After a week, the police patrols were called off to everyone's disappointment.
.........................

    The police officer headed down Clifford Close. It was like a ghost town. No one came out anymore. Supermarket deliveries flourished in this area. In the last hour, a resident had observed a strange looking man from his living room window, then rang 999. The officer named Gavin kept his eyes peeled for any suspicious activity. So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Finally, he'd made it to the end of the road and there was no sign of anyone. Suddenly, bangs were heard from the narrow pathway which connected this road to another. His heart raced, expecting it to be this person. With caution, he proceeded down the path until it came to a bend. With his trusty truncheon by his side, the officer followed to where the noise was coming from. He saw the man while he smacked a fence with his fists. Behind the fence was a house and in the top window were the terrified faces of a young couple as they peered out.
    Gavin needed to do something. "Can you stop that, please, sir? Or I'll have no choice but to arrest you," he shouted.
    The person turned to him, tears streamed from his eyes. A second later, he'd vanished into thin air.
........................

    Sylvia noticed the headline on page 7 in the local newspaper, which read.
    'MAN CAUSES CHAOS IN CLIFFORD CLOSE.'
    She carried on reading. By the end, Sylvia realised she needed to help. It was just down the road, a thirty minute drive at most. 
.........................

    "So who are you again?" asked the senior police officer as she walked into his office.
    Sylvia sat down, then with yesterday's newspaper in her hand, pointed to the headline about the aggressive man.
    The first thing he did was wipe his brow with a tissue. "I don't know what else we can do. He just seems to appear randomly. There's no pattern to it. In all my years, I've never known such a case."
    "But as I said on the phone yesterday, I think I can help," she said confidently.
    "I just don't understand how you can," he replied, looking stressed.
    "Look, if you don't want to believe me, then that's fine, but I can feel things, since a child I've had these abilities which I won't go into right now, but I truly believe I can help in some way."
    The man seemed agitated. "How much do you want for your services if I agree with this?"  
    Sylvia knew what he was thinking. "I'm not doing it for the money. My grandmother lives there. Her name is Mary. I haven't seen her for a few months as I've been travelling around the country for work. And knowing she lives there with all this going on breaks my heart."
    The man looked deep in thought, then replied, "Then please do your best to sort it. As I said before, I just don't know what to do. Even one of my officers saw it first hand how he vanishes into thin air. Is it a ghost haunting the area?"
     Sylvia wasn't sure and said, "First thing tomorrow, I'll go there and see what I can find. What's happened lately in that area to cause this, do you know, because it would help?"
    The man thought hard, then something came to him. "Recently they've just built loads of houses behind Clifford Close, and shortly after that, this is when it all started. Do you think this is connected in someway?"
    Sylvia had an inkling. "Let's see what I find tomorrow. And thank you for your time." 
    The senior officer stood up and shook her hand. "Tomorrow one of my officers will meet you here dead on 10am before you head down. Is that okay with you?"  
    Sylvia smiled at him. "Thank you for trusting me. Yes, I'll be here at that time and hopefully we can sort it. Goodnight, sir, and thank you for your time."
 ...........................

   Sylvia arrived at the police station dead on 10. An officer approached her with a smile. He was handsome and about the same age as her.
    "Hi, you must be the officer who's coming with me today," she said.
    The man laughed, then answered, "Yes, I am. I'm quite nervous though, as the last time I was there it was very bizarre. Do you honestly think you can end this?"
    She wasn't sure. "I'll give it my best shot. Shall we go?"
    "Follow me," he said as both made their way to his vehicle, which was parked outside.
 ............................ 

    At the side of the road, he parked the car. 
    Sylvia turned to him and said, "My grandmother lives just over there. Would it be okay if I go and see her quickly?"
    "Yeah, sure," was all he replied.
    She knocked on the door and after a few seconds, a figure was seen walking to the entrance. The door opened and her grandmother stood there with a surprised look.
    "Hello, Sylvia. What brings you here today? I know you're a busy lady."
    Sylvia felt bad. "I'm so sorry I haven't seen you for a few months. It's been hectic."
    Mary smiled. "It's okay, I understand. Are you here for business or pleasure?"
    "A bit of both, actually. I've missed you so much. Now I'm back. I promise I'll visit more often."
    "Only if you have time. So, are you here because of that horrible man?"
    "The moment I read the story in the paper and realised where it was, I had to come. I'm afraid I've got to shoot, though. There's a policeman waiting for me across the road. Is it okay if I visit tomorrow for a little while?"
    Mary seemed happy about this. Even though they chatted frequently on the phone, she never told Sylvia about her accident and going to the hospital, as she didn't want to worry her granddaughter at the time. The good news was her leg was back to normal and getting about was a lot easier. Even though she wasn't going out at the moment because of him. "That would be lovely. I'll see you tomorrow and we can have a catch up. Bye for now."
    "Bye, gran."

    They were in the cut through five minutes later, where Gavin had seen the man before he disappeared.
    He pointed to the spot where the man had stood. "It was just there. Can you feel anything?"
    "I hope you don't mind, but could you leave me on my own for a few minutes so I can concentrate? I don't mean to be rude, honestly," she said.
    "Yeah, sure. I'll go for a little walk. Shout if you need anything."
    "Thank you," was all she said. 
    After he'd left, she bent down, then closed her eyes. It wasn't easy, but she persisted. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asked.
    Sylvia then had a vision. Under the ground, near to where she was, was a bag of bones that'd been disturbed when the new road was built. Now it all made sense. Sylvia felt a presence that unnerved her, followed by shouting. She opened her eyes to be confronted by the spirit. He grabbed her face and pushed her to the ground, hard. She screamed out petrified, while yelling, "Get off me, get off me!"
    Gavin appeared, then wrestled the brute off her. A second later, he'd gone.
    The officer straight away called for an ambulance.
............................

    She awoke and found herself in a white room. Sylvia remembered everything with horror. The kind officer who'd saved her was at her bedside. 
    Gavin noticed she was awake and said, "I'm so sorry I couldn't of done more."
    Sylvia didn't have much energy and her whole body hurt like hell. "It's not your fault. But I did learn one thing. When they built that road behind Clifford Close and the path that joins the two together, they disturbed a bag of bones, which caused the spirit to awaken. If anything, I feel sorry for him. He's scared and confused and doesn't know what else to do. If you want to stop this, then find them bones and bury them in the local cemetery. Hopefully, then, he'll be at peace." 
    "I'll have a talk with my superior. If we can end this before anyone else gets hurt, then I'm forever thankful."
    Sylvia noticed someone standing in the doorway. It was her grandmother.
    "Can I come in?" Mary asked.
    Sylvia smiled at her and answered, "Of course you can. It's lovely to see you."
 .............................

    Gavin visited the officer in charge later that afternoon and both agreed that urgent action was needed. Four days later, the bag of bones was discovered with great relief. Within two hours they were buried in the local cemetery where a reverent was present. From that day forward, nothing else happened and people began to come out of their homes again and slowly the nightmare which had plagued the street for so long was finally coming to an end.


The End.

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