As I’d been in my dream – obsessed or possessed – what was the difference?
Mr Mowbray continued to speak. “John was struggling with Ally, I mean really struggling. It was wrong, all wrong, he’s a big bloke, and she’s just a wee thing. He yelled at me to call an ambulance, so I had to leave them and rush back downstairs, but I could hear Ally screaming all the while, and not just screaming, she was saying stuff too.”
My breathing becoming more rapid, I was unable to calm it; I didn’t even bother to try this time. “What was she saying?”
“Something along the lines of ‘It’s won. We played the game and it’s won.’ What could she mean by that? What on earth could she mean? I’m telling you that girl was bucking and kicking, she was foaming at the mouth. And when I got home, Amy, my own kid, had locked herself in her room too, as if she knew what had happened, although I hadn’t yet told anyone. She was crying, inconsolably. My wife and I, we tried our best with her, even our dog, Smokie, sat by her door, howling away as if pleading to be let in, but she just kept on crying. And then she stopped and said something, something which raised the hairs on my arms.” He paused again, looking as if he was about to start crying himself. Instead he clamped his lips into a tight white line before continuing. “She also said ‘It’s won’. The same words Ally used. Who’s won? What’s going on? I came here because I’d heard you were investigating the case, that you’re a psychic. I need to know what’s going on!”
“I don’t know the full picture,” I admitted, “not yet. But it’s far from good.”
His complexion was grey almost. “Don’t tell me they’ve summoned the devil?”
I was eager to dispel that notion. “I think it’s more likely they’ve tuned into negative energy of some description, and it’s… erm… a force to be reckoned with.”
“I told Amy not to go to the lighthouse,” he said, such despair in his voice, “to stay away. But would she listen? Do teenagers ever listen? And that game, that stupid game… Why do they do that, try and spook themselves? How can we put an end to this… I don’t know… spell that they’re under? How do we reverse it? Play the game again?”
About to say no, I stopped. What he’d suggested made a dreadful kind of sense.
Looking at each of them in turn, noting the fear and confusion that had begun to haunt them, I finally gave an answer. “I think we should do exactly that; beat it at its own game.”
Thirteen Chapter Nineteen
Angus had grown pale, and Eilidh was clutching at the collar of the dress she wore. My agreement with Ben had shocked them, but Ben – a parent of one of the teenagers afflicted, a girl who was barely sixteen – looked hopeful, and that spurred me on.
“We’d have to exercise the utmost care,” I explained, “perform some rituals of our own before we enter the lighthouse en masse again. I don’t want you to be alarmed by that; it’s not black magic. It’s working with the universe, and drawing on the light to protect us.”
“I’m not alarmed,” Ben said. “Pardon my language, but I want to beat this fucker at its own game. And believe me, I’ll do what it takes.”
“But will your daughter?” I asked, wary of putting traumatised kids under more pressure.
“We need to hold a meeting,” Eilidh declared, “with all those who’ve been involved. See who’s willing to help and who isn’t. And if they’re not…”
“If they’re not, some of us will take their place,” Angus insisted. “In memory of Moira.”
I smiled at him. “In memory of Moira.”
Eilidh stood, brushed the front of her dress down and then clasped her hands in front of her. “There’s a community hall near Dunvegan, that’s central enough for everyone I think. Angus and Ben, can you see who’s willing to come to the meeting?” She checked her watch. “It’s nearing two, we need to get on. How about we set a time of five o’ clock?”
“It’s doable,” Angus said, “if Ben and I leave now. There are eleven families other than the Dunns to speak to, we could divide them between us, Ben?”
“Aye, that’s fine, everyone needs to know what’s happened to Ally.”
“Ben,” I reiterated, “it’s imperative that no one goes to the lighthouse under duress, only those that are reasonably confident. If they all decline, fair enough, I’ll find another way.”
“If they all decline?” Ben repeated and then he laughed, a booming sound that startled all of us. “You’re in the Highlands, lassie, we don’t breed wimps up here. There’ll be very few that decline, you’ll see. You cannae play Thirteen Ghost Stories on your own.”
A short while later, with Angus and Ben dispatched, I was ruminating on that thought. Could I ensure the safety of those who chose to go back to Minch Point? Was it reckless of me to even think so? What if it put them all in the line of danger? More danger, that is, than they were already in. After all, if Ally had worsened, so could the others. No one was safe, not really, no matter where they were – at home or at the lighthouse.
Eilidh came up behind me. “It’s a heavy load, isn’t it?”
“What? Erm… I suppose. Oh, what the hell… Yes, yes it is. To tell you the truth, Eilidh, I don’t know what to do for the best.”
Pulling up a chair so that she could sit beside me, she took my hands in hers, her skin felt like velvet, but despite that, her grip was firm. “Ben’s right in what he says, we’re a hardy lot that live here, but for all that, we’re spiritual too, you can’t help but be.”
“Angus said something similar,” I replied. “He called this God’s own country.”
She nodded. “Aye, and it is, but if we’re close to God, maybe the devil’s close too.”
“It’s so hard to believe, isn’t it? It’s so beautiful here.”
“But it’s wrathful too, when the weather sets in.”
Remembering what had happened at the lighthouse, I agreed. “It can certainly turn on a sixpence. One minute the sun’s shining, the next there’s another storm on the horizon.”
“Four seasons in one day, that’s how it goes on Skye. Look,” – releasing a soft breath, she leant forward – “something’s happening here, we can’t deny it, try as we might. We can’t hide from it either. And so what choice is there, but to face it head on?”
“But I’m worried about people getting hurt… more people that is. Ally stabbed her mum for goodness’ sake, she could have killed her, or turned the knife on herself.”
“I know, I know. I don’t think any of us are going to take this lightly, dear, believe me.”
“I know that. You’re good people, all of you.”
She smiled. “Surely that’s something in our favour?”
I smiled too. “I just… Like you said, it’s a lot of responsibility. If it goes wrong, and I can’t guarantee that it won’t, the buck stops with me.”
“I’ll not blame you, lass, or Angus, or any of the folks that I know.” She released my hand and sat back. “Och, but I bet you wish there were two of you sometimes, don’t you?”
For a brief moment I could only stare at her. “What did you say?”
The phone rang, a shrill sound that startled me again.
Still smiling, Eilidh eased herself out of her chair. “I’d best answer that,” she said, leaving the dining room and heading into the hallway.
I barely had time to think before she was back. “It’s for you. It’s the police.”
“The police? Oh, it must be Dan; he’s with the Sussex Police. I asked him to run a trace on the Camerons. Sorry, I gave him this number to contact me, I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay. Come on, don’t keep him waiting.”
I hurried into the hallway, eager to hear what Dan had to say. When I returned to the dining room, Eilidh was looking as grave as I felt.
“It’s bad news, is it?”
“The worst,” I answered.
The Camerons were dead, all four of them. Mr Cameron had shot his family and then himself eight years ago,
on another remote island, this one off the coast of Ireland.
* * *
Despite Ben and Eilidh assuring me there’d be a big turnout at the community hall, there wasn’t. There was Mr and Mrs Ludmore and their son Craig, Ben of course, with his wife, Caroline, and their daughter, Amy. Also in attendance were Isabel and her parents, Grant and his parents, a young lad known as Denny with his mother and father, and another girl, called Elaine or Lainey, as she preferred. She was there with her mother, Diane. Other parents had been talked to, but declined getting involved further, as had their teenage offspring. I guess there are some things even the hardiest of folks can’t face. I could sympathise with that. Ben started to apologise for the turnout, but I stopped him.
“There’s enough for us to do what we have to.”
And we did have to, I saw that now, the deaths of the Camerons had clarified that for me. I was still reeling from the information that Dan had imparted. Mr Cameron had shot his entire family and then turned the gun on himself? For no obvious reason? Where they’d been living, Arranmore, with a population of roughly around five hundred according to Dan, and in a cottage, not a lighthouse, they’d done more or less what they’d done on Skye, and kept themselves to themselves, not mixed at all. “The fella I talked to that dealt with the case told me that fellow islanders described the family as weird,” Dan had said. “The general consensus amongst them was that Cameron wasn’t a man to be messed with, that he only had to look at you and you’d start shaking. The .22 rifle he used was registered to him.”
I’d asked Dan about the kids, Caitir and Niall, and whether that same man had said anything about them.
“Only that they were a pitiful sight, in death I mean. They looked half-starved, as did their mother. Not him though, he was a big man, he obviously ate well enough.”
“Poor kids,” I’d responded, “his poor wife.” I’d never known them, I’d only ever heard of them, but that didn’t stop my heart aching for them. They were victims in more ways than one. Even though the news was gruesome, it didn’t make me want to run away and take the next train headed south, removing myself from this lonely land and what dwelt in it. My friends also dwelt here. That’s how I’d come to think of Eilidh and Angus. Together, we had to try and finish what had been started so many years before.
In the hall, it was Ben who kicked off proceedings, explaining who I was to those who hadn’t yet met me, and also what we intended to do.
“There’s no pressure on anyone to go back to the lighthouse,” he said. “We’ve been quite clear about that, but we also think it’s the only way to eradicate this thing.”
“And if not eradicate it,” I added a touch more cautiously, “to subdue it.”
The usual questions were asked. ‘Is it the devil?’ ‘Are you really psychic?’ ‘What if we play and it wins again, if, like Ally, we end up losing our minds?’
“We’ll win this time,” I said in response to such questions. “And when we do, that will help Ally too; it will tame whatever’s in her. An important thing to remember is that we’re going in fully prepared, we’re not blind anymore. Our expectation is to win. Believe it.”
“It can’t be that simple,” someone said, Denny’s father I think.
I inclined my head towards him. “You think it’s that simple, do you, to believe in yourself? It isn’t. Sometimes, it’s the hardest thing of all.”
He pondered that, opened his mouth to respond, but clearly decided against it.
“You mentioned something about protection procedures,” Ben reminded me. “What did you mean?”
“More magic?” someone else muttered before I could respond.
“It’s not magic,” I said, reiterating what I’d said to Ben earlier today. “It’s working in harmony with the earth’s natural energies, an holistic practice if you like, and partly rooted in an ancient practice called Reiki, which I’m learning at the moment.”
“Learning?” It was Lainey’s mother who questioned this. “You’re not an expert?”
Eilidh stepped in. “Diane, there are some things that take a lifetime to learn. I can vouch for Ness, she does have psychic ability, but more than that, she has a good heart. That’s what really matters when you’re dealing with something like this.”
I was grateful for the support. “Eilidh’s right, but drawing on universal energy does help, and we all need to do that. Imagine the purest white light you can, coming straight at you from source, and wrapping itself around you. This is your armour – keep it in place. We also need to go in with good intent. Whatever’s there, however dark it is, it’s to be pitied, rather than feared.” Drawing on what Shelley had said, I added, “We can’t rid ourselves of negative energy entirely, it’s unrealistic to think that, but what we can do is restore balance. The plans that Angus’s uncle has for the lighthouse are a good thing – they’ll help to maintain balance. When we’re done, when the builders have moved in, when there’s life at the lighthouse once again, it’ll be a good place to visit; one where happy memories are forged, where there’s conversation and laughter. All that will help.”
“So why are we doing anything?” asked Mrs Ludmore. “Why don’t we just encourage Angus’s uncle to get started as soon as he can?”
“Because of Ally,” Angus said. “This thing is becoming more powerful, so we have to try and break it while we can, not wait for sales negotiations to be completed.”
“But why Ally? Why did it pick on her so bad?”
Craig had posed the question, but it was Isabel who answered. “Maybe it was because she’d just found out she was adopted.”
There was a sharp intake of breath in the room, and a few people looked at each other; their eyes wide with surprise. “Was she?” asked one.
“Aye,” Isabel continued, “and she found out by accident. She was looking for something and came across the papers. They were going to tell her at some point, but I think it was her mam who kept putting it off. She told Ally that it didn’t matter, she was their child, and they were her parents, in all the ways that mattered. There was a big hoo-ha and Ally was distraught, but I thought they’d sorted it out. What happened at the lighthouse, it wasn’t long after that, and Ally had been drinking – a lot. She never usually drinks.” Isabel looked at her parents, “And neither do I by the way, before you start.”
But no one started. If anything, everyone appeared dumbstruck.
“I’d never have guessed,” said Ben finally. “She actually looks like them.”
“Och, away with you,” his wife replied. “As Molly said, she’s theirs, in all the ways that count. I can understand it’s difficult to break the news, why you’d keep putting it off. You don’t want your child to love you any the less, do you, just because of biology, or rather the lack of it?”
Various murmurs of agreement floated around the room.
“Look,” I said, “I haven’t got all the answers to the situation we’ve found ourselves in, but Angus is right when he says that what’s there is gaining in power. I went to the lighthouse today to perform a basic cleansing, and, well, let’s just say, it’s clever, this thing and what it can do – it has intelligence, no matter how basic. From what I understand, especially in the light of what I’ve just learnt about Ally, it plays on your weaknesses, your sorrows, and your fears, it unearths them. If any of you feel vulnerable in any way, then please don’t come. If you’re going to do this, you have to do it in the right frame of mind.”
“What happens if we don’t come with you?” Again it was Diane who asked.
“Then I go alone.”
“Erm… hang on a minute, you don’t get rid of me that easy,” Angus looked as if he was going to breathe fire through his nostrils. “I’m coming too. I’ve told you.”
“Thanks.” It was all I could say. I would go back to the lighthouse alone, but the truth is I didn’t want to. As thirteen had proved, there’s strength in numbers.
“Well… in that case, Lainey,” said Dianne, “what
do you think? It’s entirely up to you.”
Lainey was a pretty girl, as dark-haired as myself, her skin just as white. She hesitated, but not for long. “I’m going back, Mum. If there’s a chance we can stop this, then I’m taking it. It is getting worse, that lady’s right. And lately, there’ve been visions.”
“And urges.” It was Grant speaking, a boy with hair as red as Angus’s. “That’s recent too. I’ve the urge to hurt someone.” He shook his head. “The hours I spend in my bedroom, sitting on my hands, trying to stop that urge. Mum, Dad, I’m scared for us. Ally’s a great girl, as gentle as they come, the fact that she attacked her parents…” He paused, as if trying to understand such a heinous fact. “Even despite what she’d just found out, she wouldn’t do stuff like that, not normally. But there’s this voice, it whispers in your ear, it tells you to hurt as many people as you can, and it’s getting louder. Just lately it’s not a whisper anymore, it’s more like a command.” Suddenly he lunged himself into his mother’s arms, who was sitting right beside him. “I’d never do what Ally did, Mum, Dad. I’d never hurt you. I love you. I’m sorry. I don’t want to think this way, but it’s making me.”
His mother didn’t even hesitate; immediately she comforted him, told him that she loved him too, more than anything. His father joined in, all of them hugging, clinging on to each other as if their lives depended on it. Seeing such a display of emotion, other teenagers in the room turned to their parents too, their parents reaching out just as readily to them. It was something wonderful to see – the love that they all had for each other and once again I was filled with hope. Love was stronger than hate. Love got things done.
But hate’s powerful too, Ness. Whoever loved you like that?
The thought formed before I could stop it, but I couldn’t disagree with it, not when it was true. Before I could think any further, Eilidh stood up and made her way towards me.
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