Chapter Fourteen
I slowly approach the spirit on the road. They can move fast when they want to, and they can be strong – I’ve had the bruises to prove it. The calmer I am, the calmer the ghosts remain, and that makes it easier to do my work.
It’s a girl of about sixteen, in a white bonnet and grey dress with a round collar. She opens her mouth and I prepare for the screech as I start my incantation.
‘They know what you are,’ hisses the girl, her waxy face turned towards me.
The Latin dies on my lips.
I stagger backwards, staring at her, my heart leaping in my chest. ‘W-what?’ It spoke. It spoke to me . ‘W-what did you just say?’
‘They are powerful, and they know what you are.’
I step forward cautiously. ‘Y-you can hear me?’ The girl nods. So they can hear me. How long have they been able to hear me?
‘They slaughtered me and others like me,’ she says. ‘You must not let them take you.’
My breath catches, my hands trembling at my sides. Those were Richard’s words.
‘Who are you talking about? Who are they ?’
‘You must let us in.’
Realisation hits me like a bolt of lightning from the sky, rocking me where I stand. She’s the girl from my dream. The one in the cellar who was killed with a silver dagger.
‘Y-you were in a dream I had. You were murdered in a windowless room. A cellar?’ She nods again. ‘It was you who spoke to me. It was your voice.’ Another nod. I put a hand to my chest; my heart pounds against my palm. ‘Why?’
‘Because I know what you are .’ She smiles and goes to turn away.
‘Wait.’ I foolishly try to grab her hand, like a complete novice, my fingers gliding through her wrist, the chill rushing up my arm. ‘What’s your name?’
‘The dead have no names. But in life, they called me Elizabeth.’
‘Elizabeth,’ I whisper. ‘I don’t understand what’s happening here.’
But even as my words hang in the air, a puff of warmth against the cold, the spirit begins to vanish. And as I watch the last wisps of her melt away, her voice fills my mind again.
‘Do not trust the handsome man.’
I stare at the spot where the spirit disappeared, then rush forward, calling out, ‘Please, Elizabeth. I don’t understand.
I don’t know what you mean.’ My body shakes; violent trembles rolling through me from head to toe.
I’ve never had a ghost speak to me before.
Even as a child when I tried to speak to the spirits, I never heard words in their howls.
Why this one? Why Elizabeth? What does it mean?
There’s one thing I know it means: my dreams aren’t just dreams. They’re clues. What’s happening to me?
‘Holly?’ I snap around. Jason hovers beside his open car door. ‘Are you okay?’ he calls.
I stumble towards him, my knees threatening to buckle. He dashes to my side, but I push him away.
‘What happened?’ he says.
I glance back at the trees. ‘Nothing. Just another day at the office.’
The spirit’s words keep rolling through my head. You must not let them take you. Do not trust the handsome man . I need alone time. I need space. I need to be away from people so I can think.
‘I’m going to head to my room,’ I tell Jason when we get back to the Maddison.
He stares at me, his face still pale with worry. ‘Shouldn’t we bring Cal up to speed?’
As if on cue, Callum bursts into the hall.
‘You’re back. Fuck. What the hell?’ His hands are clasped on the top of his head and he’s puffing. ‘Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you.’
Jason and I glance at each other, confused, then Jason pulls out his phone and shows me three missed calls. ‘It must have been a dead spot or something?’
Ironic turn of phrase. I fish my phone from my back pocket. Five missed calls. ‘I don’t know why, but our phones didn’t ring.’
Callum’s wild eyes move from me to Jason and back. I’ve never seen him look like this. He’s panicked.
‘You…’ He draws a trembly breath. ‘You can’t do that to me. You can’t disappear like that. I thought…’ His fists now clench and unclench at his sides. ‘I thought something had happened to you.’
Jason whispers, ‘Fuck,’ under his breath. Then he places his hands on his friend’s shoulders and looks into his eyes. ‘I’m so sorry, Cal. But we’re fine, okay? We came back.’
I watch the interaction between the two men. This is clearly something Jason’s dealt with before.
Callum nods, then sighs slowly, his shoulders relaxing on the long breath. ‘Where were you?’
‘We went to see Richard,’ I say.
His gaze bounces between me and Jason again. ‘You went without me?’
‘He’s in a hospital, Cal,’ Jason answers. ‘We thought you’d prefer to skip it. Don’t blame Holly. It was my call.’
‘Oh. Right. Okay.’
My eyes catch Jason’s with a silent thank you.
‘Did Richard say anything?’ Callum asks.
‘Why don’t we sit, instead of standing out in the hall,’ Jason says.
He slings an arm around Callum’s shoulders and manoeuvres his friend back into the guest lounge. With a wistful glance towards my room, I follow them.
I plop to the couch and sink into the cushions. Callum drops down beside me.
‘What happened with Richard?’ he says.
My hands ball into fists as I think about the once-happy man I knew and the man I saw in that barren room. ‘It was awful,’ I say. ‘He was just sitting there, staring into space with blank eyes.’
‘So, he didn’t say anything?’
‘No, he did. When I asked him about the Western house he suddenly came to life, just for a moment. Long enough to suggest that we’re dealing with more than one spirit here. He mentioned them .’
Jason clears his throat. ‘What he said was… Don’t let them take you .’
‘Don’t let them take you?’ Callum asks me, his voice tense. ‘Who’s them ?’
‘I don’t—’
Before I can answer him, Jason butts in. ‘It sounded like what you were talking about earlier. Possession.’
‘Maybe,’ Callum says. ‘Maybe it’s a demon and not a spirit?
That could explain the exploding window, they have that kind of power.
’ He turns to me. ‘And why I saw something, and you didn’t.
It’s believed that demons can appear as human, though the Bible doesn’t say this implicitly.
But there are studies of what are believed to have been demons who took human form to trick someone into trusting them.
There’s demon mythology in multiple cultures and religions, not just in Christianity.
They can also possess objects, like the Annabelle doll. ’
‘I thought that was just a movie,’ Jason says.
‘No, no, it’s based on a real doll with a terrifying history of causing accidents and death. The doll is still regularly blessed by a priest.’
I rub my temples. ‘Okay guys, stop for a minute. I don’t think Richard was talking about evil dolls, and he’s obviously damaged – he bludgeoned someone to death with a flashlight!
Something must have happened to him, but I don’t know how much of what he said we can take as gospel, no pun intended.
You should have seen him, Callum. It was heartbreaking. His poor wife.’
‘His kids,’ Callum adds quietly.
I nod. ‘Anyway, he shut down before I could get anything more out of him. But if we look at what he did say… well, whatever we’re dealing with, there’s more than one of them, and we already know of two ghost stories so…
I don’t think we should be jumping to demonic conclusions.
We’ve been asked to investigate a haunting, and that’s what we should do. ’
‘I don’t think we should rule anything out either,’ Callum says, his eyes fixed on mine. ‘I don’t want whatever it is in that house trying to take you.’
Jason clears his throat. ‘That’s not all that happened. Holly saw a spirit when we were on our way back into town.’
Callum cocks his head, his eyebrows arched.
‘What? I see spirits all the time, you know that.’
A headache tightens across my brow. I want to tell Callum about Elizabeth.
I want to tell him that she spoke to me and ask him what he thinks it means.
Because it’s a big deal, it’s a very big deal, and I’m freaking out a little.
But I need time to process it myself first. I’m not used to sharing everything that happens in my life and opening it up for discussion.
If this is what being around people is like, maybe the rats aren’t such a bad option.
I stand and stretch. ‘It’s been a very weird day. I’m exhausted and I need a moment alone to catch my breath.’ I look down at Callum looking up at me. ‘Let’s talk later, okay?’
He nods, eyes wide and worried. I smile and gently touch his shoulder. He reaches up and lays his hand over mine. I linger there, our eyes locked, the warmth from our hands mingling, my heart’s beat a little out of rhythm, then I give his shoulder a squeeze and head to my room.
A streetlight throws a long shadow across the ceiling.
The drapes are open, and I’m lying on top of the bedcovers, still in my clothes.
I haven’t even taken off my boots. I shiver as my body becomes aware of the cold, rub my eyes and stumble across the room, cursing as I bang my shin on a small wicker table that appears to have been strategically placed for maximum bruising.
I close the window, draw the drapes and turn on the floor lamp, wincing from the sudden glare.
I check the time on my phone. It’s just after midnight, and I have two unread text messages from Callum.
We’re getting food if you want to come.
Then, an hour later.
Just checking you’re okay. I’m here when you need me.
I pull on a sweatshirt, kick off my boots and slip my feet into a thick pair of socks.
I’m ready to tell Callum about Elizabeth.
I’m ready to share that she’s from my dream – which I now know was more than a dream, though I don’t understand how.
He’s bound to have some insight. Besides, we’re supposed to be a team.
No more keeping things from each other, that’s what we decided.
I pad across the room and put my ear to the adjoining door. Callum’s low snores leak through the wood. Oh well, I’ll tell him everything tomorrow.