The Family Lie

by P L Kane

  Watts had been getting up though, which was just as well because as he did so Bella looked like she was going to keel over, drop forwards and land flat on her face. He’d just about got to her in time, catching the woman before that happened. She was mumbling something as she lay there in his arms, and he just made out the name, ‘Mitch’.

  Then she was out of it again, eyes closed and breathing heavily. She looked like Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters when Bill Murray catches her levitating. Watts had carried her back to the bedroom, returning her to his bed. He thought about calling for an ambulance, but she’d already settled down a bit. He’d hung around anyway, sitting in the wooden chair in the corner and watching her for a while in case she decided to start floating above the covers.

  It had been Bella who’d woken him up that morning, after he must have dropped to sleep eventually. She’d shaken his shoulder, and he’d started. ‘Wha—’

  ‘Shh. Ashley, shh.’ She was a fine one to be shushing him, the racket she’d been making the night before. ‘It’s okay.’

  ‘Bella? What time is it?’

  ‘Later than I’d like it to be, I overslept.’

  He glanced at his watch, it was gone eleven. ‘Probably needed it. Are you all right?’

  She was simply staring at him, but in a different way than she’d been gaping at apparently nothing last night in the living room. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘No, I’m not. But I know what’s happening now, I think. Sort of. Some of it anyway. The fog’s beginning to lift.’

  ‘You were screaming last night.’ He thumbed back to the room beyond the door. ‘Out there in the living room.’

  Bella nodded; definitely seemed more lucid. ‘Yeah, I’m sorry.’

  ‘And you were saying your brother’s name.’

  Another nod. ‘He’s in really big trouble, Ashley. So much trouble.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘In Green Acres. I should have gone with him. I just hope it’s not too late.’

  ‘Too late for what?’

  Then she held his gaze without blinking and said: ‘He’s in so much danger.’

  Again, Watts was shaking his head, not understanding a word of this. Why was he in danger? Who from? But as chilling as Bella had been last night, the next thing she said chilled him so much more:

  ‘I think … Ashley, I think they’re going to kill him.’

  Chapter 28

  The only way he could think of describing this, was that it felt like his mind was rising up through layers of mist or fog.

  This time Mitch did dream. He saw the figures, the fire. But that was hardly surprising given what he’d seen before he went under. Interesting choice of words, he thought. He hadn’t just gone to sleep, he’d been put to sleep. One word doing it, like—

  He’d seen this somewhere before, seen it done, but like everything else in this strange dreamscape, it was elusive. Hard enough to think, let alone anything else. So he just watched to begin with, watched as the hooded people in his dream did their thing. Muttering in their weird language, dancing round that fire. What he could see under those hoods looked like mannequin’s faces.

  Where was he? All right, so he was dreaming – but of what place? And he realized why it was so hard to pin down, because it was constantly shifting. First he was in his cellar, someone’s cellar anyway – looked like his dad’s – then he was in the caves again, where he’d seen that ritual recently, the first time.

  Had it been the first time? He wasn’t so sure anymore.

  Wasn’t sure about anything. Except that he’d seen it again just before being put to sleep. He’d been in the barn, Granger’s barn. Had chased the people in black there, the ones who’d set fire to his father’s house.

  The figures in the hoods … hoodies? No, definitely hoods now. Robes, too – dark robes. More maroon than black, now he thought about it. Preparing. Mitch had stared at the barn walls, painted red and yellow. Painted to resemble flames, to look like fire. The bunting and ribbons in those same colours decorating the tops, the corners of the barn: a celebration, like when he’d first arrived back. And in the centre of the room, a bonfire much bigger than the one he’d spied on in the caves, made out of kindling. On the floor encircling it were strange symbols and markings, again painted in reds and yellows. They were getting ready for something much bigger here, to call up something much bigger? Not a demon, but maybe the head guy himself? That’s what they believed anyway. Wasn’t real, couldn’t be.

  Nothing in his dreams was real, he reminded himself. But before, back out there in the waking world, he’d definitely seen those preparations in the barn. Hadn’t he?

  It was making him question everything, but yes. He remembered faces under those hoods, human faces. Some he didn’t recognize, people who worked up here at the farm? But others he did. Granger was here, naturally. And his sister.

  What he hadn’t been expecting was Wilkinson. The old sergeant standing there in his robes, wearing one of those hoods. Just watching all the prep, because Lord knows if he was to help it would take them ages. Watching as … Larson put the finishing touches to one of the paintings. Hidden creative depths, the doctor had. Hidden lots of things.

  It explained why Mitch had never been able to get any traction with the investigation, why things kept getting swept under the carpet. Or set fire to. The authorities here were in the Commune’s back pocket, under their control. Mitch recalled some of the things he’d learned then about those cults, the methods they used. Cult of personality, Daniel and Leah. They’d wormed their way in …

  But also how groups like that used persuasion, hypnosis. Were these people doing things against their will? Hadn’t Mitch read that you couldn’t do that, couldn’t force someone to do something under hypnosis that they wouldn’t otherwise do? Couldn’t get somebody to kill, for example, if it wasn’t already in their nature.

  Still, the thought was there. That these people might just be the Commune’s zombies, their workforce or foot soldiers, that they were being prevented from thinking for themselves. Innocents, being used to do the cult’s dirty work. Key figures in the area, bent out of shape so they could get away with all this. Was that what his dad had seen, what he found out about? And he’d been too strong, or even too far gone with the dementia to turn? What about Sheldon?

  Mitch had witnessed all this, was dreaming about it now too, but suddenly started to rise up through that mist. Rise to the surface again, back to the real world, the suggestion – hypnotic suggestion? – wearing off now. Or was he being brought out of this, what … trance?

  I’m counting down from five. Four, three, two, one. You’re back in the room!

  I’m getting a Henry? Does anyone here know a Henry, he’s trying to tell you—

  No, nothing like what his sister did back in Golden Sands. Forget what he’d said to Denise, she wasn’t really a performer.

  She didn’t hypnotize people like some corny stage magician, Mitch was bloody certain about that. Didn’t fool them into thinking she was talking to their deceased loved ones. She actually believed it.

  Why was he thinking about Bella again? Was it because he was worried about her?

  Or because she should be here with him. Because he needed her, for Heaven’s sake! Because he needed her help! Like he’d never needed anyone before.

  Fight it. Bloody well fight it!

  Mitch’s mind was racing, pouring out gibberish as he rose through those layers of fog. As he returned to – what he hoped was – reality.

  Back to the barn, goodness knows how much later. Minutes, hours? It was hard to tell. There were even more of the robed figures inside here now, he saw them milling around as he shook his head from side to side. And, yes, there was the ginger guy, the red-haired bloke he’d last seen at the Commune, and the acne-riddled – burned – woman. In their other, darker outfits.

  ‘Well now, would you look who’s back with us!’ A female voice, followed by a clap of the hands as the small woman put them togeth
er in joy. Granger’s sister again, what had her name been? Ella? Ellie, yes that was it! Her hood was down at the moment, and she was grinning from ear to ear, delighted Mitch was awake again. ‘How wonderful!’

  Mitch tried to move, struggled. Realized he was tethered to something. Chained to some kind of post, hands behind his back.

  Just like Neil Sheldon had been.

  Had they tried to do that to his dad? Maybe he’d got away from them, and they’d set fire to him as he ran? Or had they needed to restrain him anyway if he was having one of his bad days? So many questions. Some of which had already been answered, confirmed, some that were still hanging in the air.

  ‘Cam! Cam!’ Ellie called over her shoulder. ‘He’s woken up, tell the others! Tell all our brothers and sisters.’

  ‘Good day, brother!’

  ‘Brothers!’

  She faced Mitch once more. ‘Almost time, young man. Almost time. Oh, it’s so exciting!’ Ellie clapped again.

  ‘Let me go!’ he shouted at her. ‘Unchain me!’

  Ellie just laughed, had no intention of doing that. Was waiting for ‘the others’ to arrive, clearly. Daniel, Leah, all of their lot. Granger strode past his sister, nodded a grudging hello at Mitch. His opinion hadn’t changed of the man from the night in the pub, from the encounter on the road: complete psycho! Unless he was also being controlled? Another innocent? Mitch doubted it somehow.

  Over Ellie’s shoulder he saw a familiar face. So Mitch hadn’t imagined that bit, then? Hadn’t dreamed it, assuming he was actually awake at the moment. ‘Larson! Hey, Larson!’ The man looked up and over, touched his chest like he was surprised Mitch was even calling to him. ‘Yeah, you! Get me out of this!’ Mitch strained against his bonds again, but it was useless.

  Larson trotted over to stand not far away from Granger’s sister. ‘I’m afraid I can’t do that. Sorry.’ He said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world, and he still had that bloody smug expression on his face – only now Mitch just wanted to wipe it off.

  ‘Are you … Can you think for yourself? Are you being controlled?’ It sounded barking mad even as he was saying it.

  ‘Not that I know of,’ came the reply from the medic.

  ‘Then why are you—’ Another thought occurred to him then. ‘Are you being blackmailed? What do they have on you?’

  Larson looked confused. ‘Who?’

  ‘The Commune!’ snapped Mitch.

  Wilkinson had joined them by this time, Ellie wandering off again to do something else. ‘I’ll handle this,’ said the old man in his characteristic drawl.

  ‘You’ll handle … You mean like you’ve handled everything else, everything since my dad? What really happened to those campers, Wilkinson? The ones who gave the statements?’

  Scared the life out of them.

  ‘Sent them on their way? I bet you did! Couldn’t risk anyone from the outside coming and poking around, could you? Anyone else that is!’

  ‘People go missing here,’ the sergeant told him.

  ‘Yeah, I know. The lights, the UFO bull, right?’

  He nodded. ‘Something like that.’

  ‘Oh no, the lights! Holy …You didn’t? You did, you burned them to death, didn’t you?’

  The policeman said nothing. He didn’t have to.

  ‘And Sheldon’s wife, partner. You did the same to her. She wasn’t away anywhere at all, was she?’

  ‘She was not,’ came another voice off to the side of him. Mitch turned, saw another man in those robes, limping this time, leaning heavily on a stick.

  ‘Nuttall? Not you as well?’

  ‘Never get old, son.’

  ‘I’m not planning on it anytime soon.’ Might not get the chance.

  Just how deep did all this go? The Commune was like a parasite, burrowing into the very heart of Green Acre’s infrastructure, wasn’t it? He shouldn’t have been too surprised, they apparently had their hooks in the police, the medical examiner. Why not politics? All that talk about strangers and wanting them gone, it had all just been a—

  A smokescreen.

  And Mitch was the latest one to fall victim to it all. But why not just kill him when they broke into his house that night? Drag him away and set fire to him out in the square like they’d done with Sheldon? (He had to wonder now whether it had just been Granger on his own who’d done that, or if he’d had help … probably the latter.) Or drag Mitch off to the woods, the caves, to do the deed there instead?

  ‘I can see you have a lot of things you want to ask, lad,’ said Nuttall, then looked at his watch. ‘I’m not sure we have time for all your questions, but we’ll do our best to make you understand. It’s the least we can do really, in exchange for everything you’ve … Everything you’re about to do for us tonight.’

  So it was night now? Early evening at the very least. ‘You mean you’ll get me to see, do that whole “look into my eyes, not around my eyes” bollocks.’ Though he had to admit, nobody had looked at him when he fell into his trance. They hadn’t needed to, just touched his shoulder and whispered the word. That was how good they were.

  ‘No. No more of that, we don’t need to,’ said Nuttall. ‘No more drugs either.’

  ‘Drugs?’ Shitting hell! Seriously, drugs? ‘When?’

  ‘Ever since you arrived. Nothing much, just enough. Except for last night. The barman got a little carried away,’ admitted Nuttall. ‘Overzealous.’

  ‘The bar—’

  Thanks, Ted. What for? Poisoning him? Yeah, thanks for bloody nothing, Ted!

  ‘But I was there to keep an eye on you,’ said another voice, a female voice. Someone he’d asked to call the authorities before chasing the hooded figures up here in the first place, not that the call would have got through to the outside world anyway. ‘Hi Mitch,’ said Denise, holding up a hand in greeting. ‘I told you, didn’t I?

  ‘Told you we’d pick this up again tomorrow.’

  Chapter 29

  He still looked so confused, and she could understand that.

  Bella had tried her best to explain, as much as she could, even though it was still very much a muddle in her own mind. What she’d been seeing, a mixture of her memories and someone else’s. Someone who’d been trying to warn her. Trying to get through a barrier – those headaches of hers, which had finally, thankfully faded away. The one thing she’d known for sure, that she’d been at pains to make Ashley Watts understand, was this:

  Her brother Mitch was in grave danger. There were people at Green Acres who were going to kill him unless they stopped them. Unless they set off right that very moment, to prevent it from happening.

  ‘Bella, if you think Mitch might be in trouble, why don’t we just get in touch with the authorities there? I can—’

  ‘It won’t make any difference, don’t you see? The authorities, they’ve been … They’re not what you think, Ashley.’

  ‘What?’

  Bella had shaken her head, wasn’t getting things across very well. Didn’t really know how to. Not properly. ‘They wouldn’t listen, and by the time you get through it’ll be too late. Ashley, please! You said you’d help me. You promised.’

  ‘If you think there’s an imminent threat to life, we should let O’Brien know. She’d be able to—’

  ‘You think she’d believe you? Believe you based on my word. On my feelings?’

  ‘Er, yeah.’ A pause. ‘Okay, maybe not.’

  ‘So …’

  ‘Look, I’m not sure what you want me to do here, Bella?’

  She’d risen then, started to walk away from him, to get her clothes together. ‘I’m heading off to Green Acres, I’ll take the next train if I have to. But I have to go, have to save him Ashley. I’ve made a promise myself.’

  ‘Train?’ Watts got up out of the chair where he’d been watching over her, where he waited until she’d finally woken up, late: overslept. Woken up as well to the fact that Mitch, her baby brother, was going to die if she didn’t do something about it.
How she could have left him back then she didn’t know, but she really hadn’t had a choice with that either, had she? Had left him all alone there.

  She wouldn’t leave him to suffer his fate alone now, that was for damned sure!

  ‘There are no trains directly to Green Acres, none that I know of anyway.’

  ‘I’ll get as far as I can, then jump in a taxi,’ she told him, at the same time realizing she didn’t have any money.

  ‘I can’t let you do that,’ Watts told her. ‘Bella, this is insane!’ He’d grabbed her wrist then and she’d looked down.

  ‘You want to let go of me,’ Bella said, in a voice she hoped would convey the urgency of what she was trying to do – but was aware was coming across as hostile. After everything he’d done for her, as well. He must think she was a complete bitch, but she just couldn’t get him to understand. There wasn’t the time! ‘I’m sorry Ashley, I know you mean well. But this is important. It’s so important, I can’t begin to—’

  Watts did as she asked and took his hand away, sighing. ‘Can’t we just talk about this?’

  ‘Not unless we’re talking on the way,’ she said to him, hopefully.

  She could see him thinking: it would probably take the best part of a day to get to Green Acres from there, even if he broke a few speed limits. But he was thinking about it. In the end, once he could see how determined she was to go anyway, he’d agreed to drive her.

  They’d dressed, not even had time to eat, and headed off in his silver saloon. Hadn’t spoken for the first few miles, as Watts drove them to the motorway, which was already rammed, but Bella caught him looking across at her every now and again, probably wondering when she was going to start talking.

  But there was nothing really to talk about, they were doing the only thing they could do. They were the only people who were in a position to help Mitch, if he could be helped, and not even she was sure she’d succeed.

  All they could do was try.