Ashley’s bedroom door flew open and her dad stormed in, red-faced and seething. He pointed a finger at Ashley and growled. “What the hell have you got involved in, Ashley? Do you know how much trouble you’re in? The police are looking for a dead girl because of you. You tell me everything you know, this instant.”
Ashley’s mum crept in behind her dad but kept silent.
Ashley hopped up off the bed, her heart pounding. “Dad, I swear, I didn’t do anything. I only went back to look for the woman because the police couldn’t find her. Jude and I wanted to prove she was there.”
“Oh, so you two are kid detectives now, are you? The police said they found nothing, so why didn’t you forget it? Why did you have to stir up trouble? What the hell happened to this Lily Barnes girl? You told the police she’s been murdered.”
Ashley shook her head desperately. “No, Jude said that. But it’s true. The woman killed Lily. Rose killed her.”
Her dad’s eyes bulged. “You need help, Ashley. First thing tomorrow, you’re going to see a doctor. You’ve been getting away with this kind of ridiculous behaviour for far too long. I don’t work as hard as I do to—”
She groaned. “Oh, here we go again. Yeah, Dad, we all know how hard you work because you never stop telling us. Sorry that I was born, okay? Sorry that you have to feed me. Sorry you didn’t get to open your stupid restaurant and live out your dreams. Sorry that—”
Ashley yelped as her dad slapped her across the face. She twisted and fell sideways onto her bed, bounced on the mattress and tumbled to the floor. He stood over her and glared, pointing a finger. “Don’t you ever talk to me like that, young lady, do you hear me? I’ll throw you out on the goddamn street.”
Ashley’s mother moved from the door and reached out a hand to him. “Honey, calm down. This isn’t helping.”
Ashley’s dad threw an arm out and caught her mum across the chest. She cried out, more in fright than pain, and tumbled into the wall. “Quiet!” he yelled at her. “I’m sick to death of having to deal with everybody else’s problems around here. Things are going to change. First of all, young lady, you are never to see Jude again. His mother is an alcoholic, and he’s clearly bad news too. It’s time you got some proper friends. Other girls.”
Ashley felt something warm on her face and realised it was blood trickling from her nose. She was terrified, but she was angry too.
So fucking angry.
She leapt to her feet and got in her dad’s face, which was a foot and a half higher than hers. “I will not stop seeing Jude. He’s my best friend, and the only person who gives two shits about me.”
“You’ll do as you’re told while you live under my roof.”
“Fuck you!”
Her dad raised his palm to hit her again.
Ashley flinched and brought up her hands to defend herself. But the slap never came.
Gingerly, she lowered her arms. Her dad had turned away and was holding his face. He was bleeding. Immediately, Ashley’s mum rushed over to him and started making a fuss. “Honey, your nose is bleeding.”
Ashley wiped away the blood coming from her nose and wondered how her dad was suddenly bleeding as well. She hadn’t fought him, so what had happened?
Even though distracted, he was still angry. He shoved Ashley’s mum away and grunted. Blood dripped from the end of his nose. “Probably my blood pressure,” he said, trying to stem the flow with the back of his hand. “All the stress you two cause me.”
Ashley’s mum continued to fuss over her dad, despite the aggression he showed towards her. “It’s really gushing,” she fretted. “Come on, honey, let’s get you to the bathroom.”
Ashley stood in silence while her parents exited her bedroom. She asked herself why the hell her mum was fussing over her dad when she had a nosebleed too. And hers wasn’t accidental.
Her dad had never hit her before, and she didn’t quite know what to do. Lately, it was as though he was a stranger – or at least slowly turning into one. It made her afraid to be in her own home.
I hate him.
I fucking hate him.
She couldn’t stay in this house. She couldn’t cope with everything in addition to her dad hitting her.
I’m out of here.
Ashley hurried downstairs and headed out the front door.
Chapter Fifteen
“I can’t believe we haven’t heard anything,” said Jude.
It’d been over four hours since PC Riaz had left to take Ashley home. Before leaving, the officer had ordered Jude to remain with his mum. For once, she was being strict with him and had forbidden him from using his phone or going up to his room where she couldn’t see him.
Currently, Jude was sitting in the kitchen opposite his mum. The cordless landline phone lay on the table between them and they both stared at it. PC Riaz had promised to call as soon as he knew anything. Despite his reluctance to believe their story, he had at least taken it seriously.
Jude wondered if Lily’s family had been contacted yet. He really didn’t want a run-in with that bunch of lunatics. Part of him held a sliver of hope that the police might find Lily alive, but he knew, deep down, it was impossible. No way could she have survived after losing so much blood.
“I’m sure we’ll get an update soon.” His mum reached out and patted his hand. She looked at him with bleary eyes. In the last couple of hours, she’d drunk an entire bottle of white wine. She kept shaking her head and muttering under her breath. Every now and then she would look up and smile. “Everything will be okay. I… I just don’t understand what on earth you and Ashley have got yourselves mixed up in.”
Jude slumped onto the table and buried his face in his hands. “I don’t want to go over it all again, Mum. We did nothing wrong. The only reason we were even in the woods was because Ricky Dalca and Lily Barnes chased us in there. If I could take it all back, I would, Mum, but the woman we saw – Rose, she’s…” He couldn’t get the words out. He tried to swallow a lump in his throat.
His mum blinked at him, sniffed, then blinked again. “She’s what, sweetheart?”
“Evil, Mum. I think she’s evil. Like, an actual monster.”
She patted his hand again. “Try not to get carried away. You’re safe, and I believe you.”
“No, you don’t! I overheard you on the phone last night. You think I’m mental.”
She frowned and acted as though she didn’t understand what he was talking about. Perhaps she didn’t. She’d been drunk last night, too.
“Mum? Answer me!”
She reached out and took his hand in hers. Her pupils were large. “Jude, listen to me. I admit, I’m not really sure what to think right now, but I know my son. I might not be a perfect mum, but you’re a perfect son – and you’ve never been a liar. Never have you hurt anybody. Whatever’s going on, I know it can’t have been your fault. Is that enough?”
A maelstrom rose in the space behind his nose and eyes. It resulted in an explosion of tears. His mum scooted around the table on her chair and pulled him into a hug. Then he let go completely, and all the emotions from the last forty-eight hours erupted from his lungs. Ricky’s punches. Lily’s taunts. The chained woman he thought had been a victim but had revealed herself to be a monster. Now the police were searching the woods, and things would probably only get worse. Right now, he just wanted to hide in his mum’s arms. He wanted to be a cuddled child.
A loud knock at the door startled them.
Jude pulled back away from his mum and realised she had been crying too. She wiped at her tears, embarrassed, then stood from the table. With a huff, she straightened herself up. “That must be the police. They’ll be buying us a new front door if they keep banging on it like that.”
Jude reached out to her. “Mum…”
She turned and wiped his tears away with her thumbs, then kissed his forehead. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart. I’m here.”
Jude sat trembling at the breakfast table while his mum answered the door
. He pictured PC Riaz marching in to arrest him, charging him with the murder of Lily Barnes.
What if Ashley told them it was me to save herself? She already screwed me over by lying about the locket. She was angry with me.
But she would never do that to me. She wouldn’t let me take the blame.
This is all because of Rose. Please let the police find her.
Butterflies took flight in Jude’s stomach as his mum opened the door. He listened to her greet the person who had knocked. “Oh, it’s you!” she said. “Come on in. Have you heard anything?”
Jude relaxed when Ashley stepped into the hallway. His mum closed the front door and ushered her into the kitchen, where she sat at the table and nodded a ‘hello’ to Jude. Her nose appeared swollen, and there was a small cut on the bridge. Her lips were red like she’d been sucking on an ice lolly. It was blood. “Whoa!” he said. “What happened?”
She was holding back tears, and her tone was angry when she answered the question. “My dad hit me. Smacked me right in the face while my mum stood there and watched. He hit her, too, but she just accepted it. I can’t be in that house anymore. I… I can’t.”
Jude’s mum had a hand over her mouth and gasped. “Jesus, Ashley, I’m so sorry. Let me get you cleaned up.” She hurried over to the oven and yanked the purple tea towel hanging from its long silver handle. After running it under the warm tap, she brought it over to Ashley.
Jude sat silently while his mum saw to his friend.
Once the blood was all cleaned up, Ashley relaxed. “Thanks, Helen. I’m sorry to come here. I just… I didn’t know where else to go.”
Jude’s mum put a hand on her back and rubbed. “Tempers are high at the moment, but you’re part of the family, Ashley. If you need a safe place to go, you’re always welcome here.”
A single tear escaped Ashley’s eye and tumbled down her cheek. She swatted it like a fly and snorted. “I don’t even know what’s real right now. I feel like this is a dream I can’t wake up from.”
Jude nodded. He was constantly having to sniff to keep back snot, and his eyes were itching with spent tears, but he managed half a smile. “Tell me about it. I keep thinking back to a few days ago when everything was normal. We were bored, remember?”
Ashley chuckled. “Yeah, give me bored any day.” Then she grew serious, her teary eyes hardening. “I wish we’d never gone into those woods, Jude. Damn Ricky and Lily for chasing us in there. This is all their fault. Ricky and Lily are to blame; they always are. Shit… what am I saying? Lily’s dead, and I’m angry at her. You’d think I’d let it go.”
Jude had no idea what to say. He watched his mum pull another bottle of wine from the fridge and unscrew the cap. She kept her back to him as she poured a fresh glass. One bottle was usually her limit.
“Mum, I know you said I couldn’t go to my room, but—”
She waved an arm back at him. “Yes, okay, I suppose we could all do with a break. If I hear anything, I’ll shout you.”
“Thanks.”
Jude was glad to get out of the kitchen, so he grabbed Ashley’s arm and pulled her up out of her chair. The two of them headed through the hall and up the stairs. When Jude opened the door to his room, he immediately felt calmer. This was his place. He was safe here.
Although I wasn’t safe last night, was I? I wasn’t safe when my bath turned to ice and my television showed me those children getting stabbed.
Somehow Rose got to me. Ashley, too. We’re not safe in our homes.
Is Rose going to come for us tonight?
Jude moved over to his desk and picked up a magic wand that he used as part of his magic shows. There was a secret cap on one end for pulling out handkerchiefs or small red balls. “I wish this was real,” he said, only half joking. “We could stick Rose back inside her triangle.”
Ashley nodded. “Yeah, I could use a little magic about now.”
Jude tossed the wand back onto the desk, knowing childish fantasies wouldn’t help him. They needed to approach this rationally, if that was even possible. There had to be something that could help them.
Ashley took a seat on the bed, but Jude remained standing as it occurred to him that they had something that didn’t belong to them. “Ash, do you still have Rose’s pendant?”
She frowned at him. “You mean the locket? Yeah, I have it in my pocket, I think.”
“Show it to me.”
Ashley leant sideways on the bed and slid a hand into her pocket. She pulled the locket out and held it in her palm. Instinctively, Jude reached out to take it, but he recoiled. The fact it belonged to Rose was enough to dissuade him from wanting anything to do with it. It was probably cursed.
A witch’s trinket.
This isn’t a game. There’s no such thing as real magic. Is there?
I took Rose’s picture. I’m sure of it.
The locket was exactly as he remembered it: a delicate chain with a thick chunk of metal at its centre. Gold in colour, but not actually gold. It was something else.
Ashley opened the locket and revealed the photographs inside. Jude was certain the two children were the same ones he’d seen on television. The mother, who had stabbed them to death, however, hadn’t looked like Rose.
“Rose isn’t the woman who I saw kill the children,” he said. “It was a woman with dark hair.”
Ashley sighed, and a whistle escaped her swollen nose. “Rose has dark hair. I mean, she has blonde hair, but there was this moment back at the farmhouse, when the flash on your phone went off, that she changed. The whole room changed, and when I looked at her, her hair was darker. She looked like a totally different person. I think she changed her appearance to trick us. She wanted to look like a desperate woman, but that’s the last thing she is.”
Jude frowned. “My phone didn’t capture anything when I took a picture. How is that possible?”
“Rose can stop herself from being seen. Lily didn’t see her until it was too late, and the police didn’t see her either. I think she’s… you know…?”
Jude shook his head. “What?”
“Well…” She chewed her lip for a moment between words. “She’s not a normal person, is she? She’s, like, a witch or something. Maybe a vampire with the way she was biting Lily. She was eating her.”
Hearing the words out loud was both a relief and a terrifying reality check. Jude had hoped the madness was only inside his head, but it clearly wasn’t. Ashley was trapped in this nightmare too.
He deflated and sat on the bed beside her. Their upper arms pressed against each other, and he enjoyed the feeling of her warm body against his. Whatever happened, they were in it together. They were on the same side.
“I’m sorry I didn’t stick with the plan,” he said. “I know we agreed to stay quiet, but when PC Riaz started questioning me, I just…”
Ashley put a hand on his thigh, which sent a tingle from his knee to his groin. “An hour ago, I wanted to chew you up and spit you out,” she said, “but the truth is you were just being you, and that’s okay. I can’t blame you for wanting to be honest – it’s in your nature – so… we’re cool.”
Jude managed a smile. “One down, two down.”
“One down, two down.”
They sat for a few seconds in silence until Jude spoke again. “I’m worried Rose is going to come back for her locket. She told Ricky it belonged to her. It sounded like a threat.”
Ashley thumbed the locket closed and ran a finger over its dull metal surface. “I’m worried about that too. She was completely naked but still wearing this. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? Huh, I suppose everything about this is odd, right? I just want to hear from PC Riaz and know what happens next.”
“We should have told him about Ricky. I almost did, but then I had flashbacks about him kicking my ass. Maybe after covering for him, he’ll finally leave me alone.”
“If he doesn’t, at least you’ll have something to threaten him with.” She turned and looked at the alarm clock
on his nightstand. It was shaped like a crystal ball, with the readout floating in the middle. “Why haven’t we had an update yet? There must be people searching the farmhouse by now. I wonder who it even belongs to.”
Jude nodded thoughtfully. Surely the run-down ruin of a farmhouse didn’t have an owner. It must have belonged to the council or been forgotten about completely. The old building certainly was a mystery, but as much as he enjoyed the idea of an adventure, he decided the real thing wasn’t much fun. He would stick to books and films and playing video games on his laptop.
My laptop.
“Hey, why don’t we look it up? Maybe we can find something on the Net.”
Ashley grimaced. “Not sure I even want to know.”
But Jude was excited. Excited by the possibility of knowing more than they did right now. The most terrifying thing about their ordeal was the complete lack of understanding, but perhaps there was a way to make sense of things.
He reached under his bed and pulled out his chunky old laptop. Placing it on the bed, he opened it up and powered it on. The ancient computer took a good five minutes to wake up. Once it had, it was good to go. He brought up the web browser and search bar.
“What should I type?”
Ashley shrugged. “No idea. Old farmhouses and our town?”
It wasn’t much to go on, but Jude did his best to narrow things down. Eventually, he started searching for anything about farms around where the golf course was. Most of the results were articles about the golf course itself or adverts for restaurants. Then, right near the bottom of the page, there was a snippet that made Jude take notice.
Redsow pig farm to make way for town’s first golf course.
The reason the article was so far down was because it had been written in 1968. When he clicked the link, it wasn’t even an article but a scanned image of the local newspaper’s front page on that date.
Jude nudged Ashley, although she was staring right at the screen alongside him. “This is it!” he said. “Look at the picture.”
Witch: A Horror Novel (The Cursed Manuscripts) Page 11