CHAPTER SIX
The ride to Kilkee was one of the most beautiful rides the team had ever experienced. Loaded into a multi-passenger van, they drove the winding, narrow roads of the Irish countryside, to the pond where the car had been found. When they arrived, two police officers were waiting just as promised.
“Are you the American lads?” said one of the officers. He looked at Julia and nodded. “Sorry. And lass?”
“That’s us,” smiled Marc. “Is this where the car went into the pond?”
“Right over there,” he said pointing to the broken barrier. “It’s concrete and steel. Took a lot of speed to get through that and as you saw, it would be difficult to speed along here.”
Rory, Dom and Fitz walked closer to the water, staring over the small rise at the end of the pond. Julia walked up behind them, touching Rory’s arm.
“Are you alright, honey?” he asked in a low voice.
“Yes. I’m sorry, I’m just unsteady right here. I’m not getting a ghost presence here but I feel as though the girl was taken from here. But she was already dead.” She frowned at the three men, careful to not raise her voice for the officers to hear. “Why would they take a dead woman?”
“Maybe to cover up the crime?” shrugged Dom. “Look over there. Someone was dragged by those plants but there aren’t any footprints for the person or persons who dragged them.”
“That’s very odd but to answer your question about a cover up. No. No, I don’t think so,” said Julia. “Everything feels strange, feels odd to me.”
“Can you be more specific?” asked Rory.
“I wish I could but it just feels wrong. Either way, I’m not getting anything right here. Maybe we can speak to the villagers and see if they know anything,” she said walking back toward the others.
“Julia,” said Joseph turning to face his wife. “This officer was just telling me about a story around a castle ruin not far from here. Castle…?”
“O’Shan, miss, Castle O’Shan.”
“It sounds lovely,” smiled Julia.
“No. Not at all. It’s a terrible place and not somewhere you should visit. The castle has been in ruins for nearly three-hundred years now. The old stories say that the Aire, that’s the family head, he was absolutely mad and the cruelest man ever to walk this earth.”
“Jock! That’s enough,” said his partner. “Ignore him. He likes to scare the locals.”
“He’s not scaring me and I don’t think he’s trying to scare us,” said Julia. “What do you know about this place?”
“I know that folks have gone there and been hurt, badly. All these people disappearing and that place sitting like a beacon of the devil himself up there. I won’t go. I refuse. If you go, you’d better be prepared.”
The two officers left them standing there and Julia just swallowed, closing her eyes.
“I think we have to go there,” she whispered.
“Why did I know you were going to say that?” replied Joseph.
“Because you know me,” she grinned.
They made the drive to the ruins of Castle O’Shan and the moment they stopped the vehicle, they all felt as if a dark cloud of evil had landed over them. Stepping outside, the winds picked up and they looked around the barren fields, now littered with towering stones once holding the fated walls.
Julia reached for Joseph’s hand and he held her tightly.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“There is so much evil here it’s suffocating. Hundreds, maybe thousands died on these fields. Horrible deaths. But there’s something else that’s dark. Like evil magic or the devil himself.”
“Honey, maybe you stay in the car,” said Rory.
“No,” she said shaking her head. “No, I won’t leave these people to suffer any longer.” She squeezed Joseph’s hand again, then reached for Rory’s.
Ahead, there was a new, well-made wooden bridge that carried you over what apparently was the old moat. Small signs littered the ruins, explaining what was once in that specific location.
As Dom and Fitz took up the rear, they both stopped.
“What’s wrong with the two of you?” asked Marc.
“Something is pushing on me,” said Dom frowning. “Like literally it feels as though something is shoving on my chest.”
“Same,” said Fitz.
“Leave them!” yelled Julia.
There was a burst of frigid air and the men stumbled forward, the force no longer pressing against them. They looked at one another, then at Julia.
“Did you see what it was?” asked Wes.
“No. I could feel it though. It didn’t feel human but it felt evil.”
“Honey, that doesn’t make sense,” said Marc.
“What about any of this makes sense,” she frowned. He nodded at her as they began to walk through the old gates, following around the outer bailey, then the stables.
“The ghost in my dreams was in a dark place, like a dungeon or cellar,” said Julia.
The men nodded, pointing to the main castle ruins. At one time, it would have been intimidating, powerful and magnificent. Today, it was crumbling from the winds of the sea and the salt the spray carried.
The massive fireplaces were still standing, some without walls surrounding them or roofs over their room. Others looked as if someone had just left them.
“How many castles have you visited in your day?” asked Dom to the others.
“Dozens maybe,” shrugged Rory.
“Same,” said the others.
“Have you ever felt anything so cold, dark, and absolutely horrible?”
“Never,” said Joseph looking down at Julia.
“I-I feel like we’re close,” she said.
“The kitchens were over there. There could be a cellar in that direction,” said Fitz.
He walked through the doorway, it’s height much lower than even his six-feet-one.
The others had to take it sideways, ducking nearly in half.
Julia immediately gasped, gripping Rory and Joseph’s hands so tightly, both men winced.
“Babe. Babe, what is it?” asked Joseph.
“It’s in here. It’s in here. The evil is in here,” she said taking in deep breaths.
“I think I might have found what we’re looking for,” said Dom pointing to the massive hole in the floor. “It used to be a well for the kitchen to use.”
It was surrounded by wooden railings with rope running through holes to block viewers from getting too close. Julia took slow, steady, tiny steps until she was near the edge. She fell to her knees, still squeezing the hands of the two men.
“She’s-she’s down there. She’s down there. They’re all down there.”