by Carrie King
Though she wanted to run, she knew she had to keep looking. She could have retraced her steps the way she came, but she wanted to take a quick look to see where the tunnel went.
Heart pounding, she tightly grasped her flashlight but not tight enough to keep it from trembling. The beam jerked over the tunnel floor as she quickly headed along it. Crazy thoughts raced through her head. Was Mindy locked in another room? Was someone stalking them? Was it Greyfield?
Maybe thirty or forty meters past the secret room, she found another door fitted with another iron ring. She tugged the door open, and before she saw them, she heard the sound of the waves.
Fresh, salty air tugged at her hair. Sighing with relief, she stepped outside and saw…
"Mindy!" she screamed.
Chapter 53
Mindy lay face-up, half in the water, half out. Her arms were spread out beside her, wide eyes stared up into the sky. Her skin was ghastly white, but the whites of her eyes had turned a faint shade of blueish-gray. A small sand crab crawled its way across her head and paused on her right eyeball.
"Mindy!"
Jessica fought the urge to vomit as she scrambled forward and fell to her knees beside the body of her friend. She brushed the crab away before it could dig into Mindy's eyeball.
Even that touch showed that her skin was cold and her head was tilted at an odd angle. Mindy’s neck was obviously broken.
Tears filled Jessica’s eyes, and she was gasping back sobs as she glanced between Mindy and the top of the cliff. Had she fallen? What had she been doing out here by herself?
Over the sound of the waves gently lapping at the sand and over the distant cry of a seagull, Jessica heard a distinct laugh in her ear. Grasping Mindy's hand, she checked for a pulse, but her first thought was right. It was cold. So very cold. Mindy must've come out here sometime before dawn and died soon after.
But why?
Jessica knew she shouldn't touch the body. That she should race back up to the house, climb into her car, and get back to the nearest town to let the authorities know but her legs wouldn’t hold her, and she buckled down to kneel in the sand beside her friend.
Jessica couldn't leave Mindy lying here like this. What if the tide came in, her friend would be swept away into the ocean. Holding back tears, telling herself that she would cry later, she stood and tugged on Mindy's arm.
She was so heavy … dead weight. Jessica choked back her heartache and focused on getting her friend out of the water. Finally, choking back a sob, she managed to move her inch by inch until she was higher up on the beach, closer to the cliff wall.
Trembling from her exertions and from the trauma of finding her best friend like this, she sank down onto her knees beside her, finally allowing the tears to come.
"Mindy, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" She quickly glanced over her friend's torso. Nothing other than her neck looked broken. If she had taken a fall from the top of the cliff, her body would have been bruised and battered.
It was then that Jessica realized that Mindy had not fallen and had not been pushed over the side of the cliff. She had not been coaxed to the edge where she missed her step and tumbled downward. Without a doubt, Jessica believed that Mindy had gone to explore the tunnel on her own. Maybe she too had seen the bodies in that hidden room. Maybe the spirits here, either Lord Greyfield or his murderous wife, had led Mindy downward, and then …
Jessica had never heard of a spirit who could cause such a degree of bodily harm. Scratches, pinches, and shoves, yes, but a force powerful enough to break someone's neck? Never had she heard such a thing.
And on the heels of that thought came another.
Was she destined for the same fate?
Chapter 54
Jessica stood frozen, torn between leaving her friend down here all alone and returning to the manor house, where she could try to call the police. But their phones were dead. There was no service—no bars. Her only other option would be to leave her equipment, grab her keys, and drive to the nearest town to find a phone, not only to report Mindy's death by unknown circumstances but the discovery of the two corpses inside the tunnel.
She couldn't process it all. It was too unbelievable. And frightening.
Perhaps Greyfield Manor wasn't inhabited by unsettled spirits at all, but a demonic presence. Only once before had she tackled such a situation and she had done her best to avoid anything like that ever happening again. Choking back her tears, she searched the cliffside and saw the meager trail winding its way up to the top. With one last glance down at Mindy, her heart heavy and thudding dully in her chest, she quickly made her way to that path.
It was steep and wound its way up the cliffside. Scrambling on the loose, sandy soil, occasionally forced to reach out and grasp at the shrubs for balance, she clawed her way up. The exertion helped focus her but still her mind reeled, her heart fluttered, and her head pounded so badly that it really felt like it was going to explode at any moment.
At the top of the cliff, Jessica paused for several moments to recover. Bent, nearly double hands on her knees, her chest heaving with exertion, she glared at Greyfield Manor. The early-morning sunlight gave it such an innocent appearance, but she had no doubt now that something evil resided within those stone walls.
What she wanted to do was get away from this place, but first, she had to make sure that Mindy and those two people down there in the tunnel would be properly taken care of. She couldn't let any of them suffer an eternity in this place.
"Jessica …"
It was Mindy, and the voice brought her to an abrupt halt, halfway between the edge of the cliff and the front door of the manor house. She turned toward the cliff.
"I'm so sorry, Mindy," she cried, swiping at the tears on her cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I won't leave you there, I promise!"
This was not good. While it was not unusual for her to hear or feel a spirit this was disturbing. It filled her with guilt, if only she hadn’t taken this job… Mindy wouldn’t be lying there,
"Don't … away …"
The voice came from inside her head but was hardly getting through. She knew without a doubt it was Mindy, but her friend was new, and she didn’t know what she was trying to tell her? Was it not to leave her down there on the beach? Or was it not to go back into the manor house?
Pausing, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the spirit of her dead friend. Though she used all her senses and waited for more, but after a full minute, there was nothing. Shaking her head, she ran the rest of the way to the house, opened the front door and rushed through. Without pausing, she took the stairs two at a time, racing up toward her bedroom, where she had left her phone and car keys.
Scanning the still rumpled bed covers she turned her attention to her cell phone on the bedside table. She quickly picked it up and turned it on. Still dead. Tightly grasping the phone in her hand, she snatched her car keys and raced back downstairs. Idiot! She had a phone charger in her car.
Jessica raced down the stairs and outside, leaving the door ajar. All she wanted was to get out of this property alive. With a regretful glance at Mindy's car, a myriad of thoughts tried to get into her head. Shaking it, she focused on the task at hand.
Once inside her car, she reached for the glove compartment. It took a moment for shaking fingers to find it, but there it was… she retrieved the phone charger cord, inserted it into the space formerly occupied by a cigarette lighter, and inserted the other end into the side of her phone. Shoving the car keys into the ignition she turned and… Nothing!
Trying again she prayed that it would work.
Nothing. A click, but that was it. She scowled, stared at the instruments on the dash, and tried again. No sound came from the engine, just that dull click. What the hell? She tried several more times, but there was no change.
With a growl of frustration, she glanced at Mindy's car. She left her car, shoving her keys in her pocket, then walked over to Mindy's car. The keys were not in the ignition. Groaning now, she re
turned to the house and scrambled upstairs. Several moments later she stood at the top of the stairs, eyeing the doorway to her friend's room. She stepped inside, staring at the rumpled bed covers, feeling sick to her stomach. She shook her head, numb. How had this happened?
With a shaky sigh, she looked for Mindy's backpack and found it on the other side of the bed. Guilt riddled, she rifled through her friend's belongings, but she knew Mindy would understand. Eventually, despite her shaking fingers she finally found the car keys in a side pocket. Pressing them tightly in her hand, she hurried back downstairs, fighting the surge of tears that once again threatened.
No, not now! She would cry later. Once again, she left the manor house and hurried toward Mindy's car. Opening the door, she slid inside and inserted the key in the ignition and turned. A slight catch. Hope surged, coupled with an extraordinary sense of relief.
Then … nothing.
Mandy's car wouldn't start either. This was unbelievable. It was not a coincidence. She turned to glare at the house and then slowly climbed out of Mindy's car, softly closing the door. She glanced toward the cliffside, then back at the house. Anger surged. She walked into the house and into the sitting room, grabbed her tape recorder and started recording.
"You're not going to get away with this! You hear me? Whoever you are, you're not going to get away with what you did to Mindy and those women downstairs in the tunnel!"
She heard nothing, felt nothing. Even her headache had eased. She glanced down at the tape recorder, pressed the stop button, and then rewound. She played it back. Nothing, just the sound of the tape running along the reel and her desperate breathing.
What should she do? It would take hours to walk to the nearest town. She had no doubt that she could follow the coastline, so she wasn't concerned with getting lost. But it would take time. A lot of time. She had to do something about Mindy. She couldn't leave her down there at the base of the cliff, exposed to … to the birds and the crabs … if only she could do something to protect her … to protect her body from the elements. She had failed her friend in life, but in death, she could help her maintain her dignity.
With a quiet, choking sob, Jessica left the house and once again walked toward the cliff. She could pull Mindy into the tunnel, just inside the door, then make her way back through the tunnel upward to the stairs that opened on the hallway. Not ideal. Not even something she wanted to do, leaving her friend in that dark tunnel all by herself, or with the two other corpses. Still, she didn't have many options, and the tunnel was certainly better than leaving her friend to the vagaries of the tide.
Chapter 55
It took about an hour for her to pull Mindy into the tunnel. She had never been near a dead body before, let alone handled one, but this was her friend. She calmed her shattered nerves, stilled her roiling stomach, and talked softly to Mindy the entire time, telling her what a great friend she had been, an excellent partner, and one of the bravest women she'd ever met in her life.
It was quite disappointing that Mindy didn't respond, but Jessica hoped she'd crossed over. Maybe she wouldn't be earthbound in spite of her sudden, violent death, which was a blessing, truly. Still, as she hunched down onto the ground next to her friend and smoothed her hair, she couldn't help but cringe as she stared at her open eyes. She tentatively extended her hand to close her friend's eyelids. Isn't that what they always did in the movies? After she closed Mindy's eyelids, she lowered her head and offered a quick prayer. Then, with one last glance, she started to rise…
Her heart skipped a beat, and she cried out. Mindy's eyes were open again. Had she moved? She seemed to be staring right at her. Jessica swallowed, then shook her head. This was so foolish. Her mind was playing tricks, her grief messing with her head.
"I've got to walk back to the nearest town, Mindy, but I'll be back as soon as I can," she said, standing to shove the door to the tunnel closed. She flipped on her flashlight. "I promise, I'll be back, and we'll find out what happened to you."
Of course, Mindy didn't respond, but now, in the darkness lit only by the dull glow of her flashlight, Jessica wanted more than anything to hear her friend’s voice. To hear something. Anything. To think that this was the end … she didn't want to contemplate a life without her best friend.
Choking back yet another sob, Jessica turned and quickly made her way along the tunnel, shivering slightly as she passed the door to the secret room. All she could think of was getting upstairs, gathering her backpack and leaving the manor, hoping she could reach a hamlet, a house, anything, before dark.
She managed to get halfway up the steps, the flashlight beam focused on those stone steps, her mind focused on her task, still spinning, her emotions in turmoil, everything upside down.
She crashed into something and cried out in alarm, dropping her flashlight as she reached out to catch her balance. The flashlight clattered down the stairs. Everything in front of her was now pitch black. Her hands extended for balance, she felt the cool, hard-packed dirt wall. What had she run into? She extended her right hand in front of her, feeling for the door, but felt nothing. What had she hit?
Something brushed along her hair, and she swiped at it. It must be a cobweb. Reaching out she searched with her fingers… again, nothing. She glanced back over her shoulder but couldn't see her flashlight. No beam of light, nothing. She had to be close to the hidden door, and refused to think what it was she could've bumped into. Though her heart pounded and blood rushed through her ears, she listened and focused. There was nothing but her fast breathing and the all-encompassing dark.
All she had to do was get back up to the house. She stumbled upward, counting the steps as she went. Finally, after what seemed forever but could only have been a few seconds, she saw the dull glow of light coming from above.
Heart pounding more than she’d like to admit, she paused at the threshold and leaned against the side of the opening. That glorious opening she had made it, but it still seemed an impossible effort to take that final step.
With one foot in the hallway and the other on the top step of the tunnel stairs, she attempted to catch her breath and gain control of her emotions… but she was losing it. She could tell. Her heart pounded, her hands shook, and her thoughts seemed foggy and dazed. She was going into shock.
Then, out of nowhere, the air temperature dropped. The cold surrounded her, moving through her, becoming part of her. Goosebumps erupted on her skin. She felt her head swimming as if it was floating away from her body …
"No! She's innocent! They are both innocent!"
The Soul Taker laughed. "It does not matter."
Lord Greyfield's tortured soul was tormented, but he was helpless to fight against the darkness that hovered in every shadow of every room of his formerly beloved home. He had created that darkness, that evil. His anger and hatred had not stopped at the moment his heart had ceased to beat. Over time and through the decades that had passed since, he had gained a certain amount of consciousness of this 'other' place, stuck in between the physical and the spiritual realm. He sought rest and peace, but it would not come.
The darkness had eventually taken on a life and power of its own. The Soul Taker had become a real entity, absorbing his negative emotions as it grew stronger. Angus’ own powers and abilities had increased over time, but he had no power strong enough to overcome the evil that had originally fed off his own fury. He was enslaved by it, driven by it, compelled to do what "it" wanted.
He had been promised release. The entity had made a bargain. Take twenty souls for the exchange of his own soul, his release, his freedom. He only needed two more, and he would be free.
The woman standing at the entrance to the tunnel stared at him but did not see him. Her eyes were wide with fear, shining with tears of sorrow, and they tugged at his conscience, or what he had once called a conscience.
"Do it!"
The darkness was back. He had fought against it with these visitors, for neither of them had offended him, not like others
before them. The adulterers, the ones that came with evil thoughts, their liquor, their drugs tapped into his fury and his betrayal. They deserved what they got and little knowing it, they signed their own death warrants because of their evil ways. However, these latest two had wanted to make contact. They were not evil, not dirty like the others.,
"Do it now!"
Two more. After this one, he would only need one more.
“Your freedom, the end of your torment is so close, yet out of reach unless you take two more.”
The words once more hardened his heart, if he even had one in this realm, and he did what he had to do to gain his release from his captivity …
Jessica jolted with awareness, but it came a second too late. She understood now, understood what was happening here, but it was too late for her.
Something pushed her backward. She felt herself falling back into the darkness. A scream tore from her, and she reached out and tried to grab at something, anything, to halt her fall. There was nothing just falling and darkness, she was tumbling down the stairs, into the black of the tunnel.
Her breath was knocked out of her when she landed on the edge of a step, and she heard the crack and knew she had broken something. Then the back of her head hit another step with a loud thud. Pain exploded everywhere, and she literally saw stars … and then she tumbled down, head over heels, her cries of pain, alarm, and horror bouncing off the walls.
Above her, she heard the tunnel door slam shut. Finally, she stopped falling and landed on her back, staring upward into the blackness surrounding her. Only the sound of her raspy breathing broke the silence … until she heard a soft laugh.
Cold fingers touched her forehead, and she distinctly heard the voice whispering in her ear but couldn’t make out quite what it was saying.