'Please! Please Dad! Leave the music on,' sobbed Sophie.

'Darling you are old enough to go to bed without having music playing. You're nearly nine.'

'Dad you don't understand.' Her little body wracked with each sob. She stared at her Dad with huge saucer brown eyes.

'What don't I understand?' he asked looking puzzled.

'The man.'

'Sophie, not that again please. There isn't a man in this house,' he insisted.

'But he only stays out of my room when the music plays,' she pleaded.

'Nonsense. Now I'm going down stairs, so I'll say good night.' He leant over to give her a kiss and she turned away from him. This action hurt but he had to get her into the habit of sleeping without the music. He had promised his wife that last night was the last time. The family had moved into the old rectory a month ago; from the moment Sophie arrived she had acted very strangely . She would not go up stairs unaccompanied it was driving her mother to distraction.

Sophie made one more attempt to have the music left on he saw fear in her eyes but he switched off the light and descended the stairs.

'Well done John. No music.'

'I think you should pop up and say good night to her in a bit.'

'Let's see if she goes off to sleep first. I couldn't go through all her pleadings for the music. Perhaps we need to take her to see someone. Have you sensed anything unusual in the house, John?'

'Not really.'

'Sorry?' She half turned towards him. 'What do you mean not really?'

'Well, it was about a week ago as I went up to bed I thought I saw someone standing on the first floor landing. Trick of the imagination. One minute it was there the next it had gone. As I left Sophie's room last night the same thing happened.'

'Stop it you're freaking me out.'

John bent over and kissed his wife, Jenny, on the top of her head, 'Don't worry it's quite harmless.'

'Do you think we should get Sophie to see someone?'

'What, like a shrink? She'll grow out of it. Can't hear any noise up stairs can you? '

John opened a bottle of wine and they switched on the TV. They were both oblivious to the sounds coming from Sophie's room. Jenny had thought of going up to say good night but she became too engrossed in the film. She decided she would look in when she went up to bed.

It was a little after two when John and Jenny switched off the downstairs lights and went up stairs. Jenny popped her head into Sophie's room. At first she couldn't see Sophie. The bed covers had been pulled back and the bed was empty. 'John? Is Sophie in the bathroom?'

'No. Why?'

Jenny flicked the light switch and gave out a scream. John rushed along the landing he stared in horror at the sight of his daughter crouched in the corner. It was that look of fear on her face. Jenny was on the floor beside her screaming and wailing. John crossed the room and bent down to pick Sophie up her small body was icy cold. He turned to see a figure of a man smiling at him from the far corner of the room holding the hand of a child remarkably like Sophie.

The room filled with the gentle sound of music and the man and the child disappeared.