Witch Silenced in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  Will switched the microphone on. “Angelica, it’s Will. Lily’s seen trouble for Beren too.” He could have texted Beren. Maybe he thought he needed Angelica’s approval to give him such shocking information?

  She must have been taken aback because she’d had some kind of reaction that Beren noticed. He leaned towards her. “What’s wrong?” His brows drew down. “Angelica, talk to me?”

  “I can’t call off this investigation. You know that, Will.”

  Will shut his eyes, and his head fell forward. He massaged his forehead with one hand. So, he’d been hoping she’d get them both out of there.

  “Dammit! Why not?” I knew I was out of line, but what the hell? I was ready to run in there and scream the place down, ruin it for them.

  It was Will’s turn to grab my arm. His sad eyes bored into mine, and he shook his head. “Arguing with her won’t make any difference.”

  Angelica’s voice filtered through. “Beren, dear, Lily’s seen something. My fate is yours, but we must see this through. I’m sorry, but this will be our only chance to catch whoever’s doing this.”

  “Is it worth your lives? Really? They’re old people. You’re both too valuable, too young,” I pleaded, tears freely sliding down my face. “Surely there’ll be another chance in a week or a month?”

  The calm in Angelica’s voice made me want to scream. “And how many others will die before then? Whatever happens to us, you’ll have on camera. These people will be caught, and they won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

  “But what if it’s all for nothing? What if you die and we still don’t catch them?”

  “That’s nonsense, Lily. If you can’t be quiet, you need to go home. I can’t be having this conversation.”

  Someone knocked on the door. Beren turned. The door swung slowly inwards. There was a sharp intake of breath, and Beren said, “Will!” Then, before I could see who was coming in, our screens went black.

  “What the hell?” Will growled and pressed some keys. His tapping noises turned to loud, keyboard-destroying finger pounds when it wouldn’t work. “Shit, shit, shit!” He snatched his phone from the table and dialled. “What’s going on in there, Cardinal? We’ve got nothing here.” Will ran his hands through his hair as he listened. “Forget about fixing it. Get up there…. What do you mean the lights are out? Don’t they have a generator…? Just get up there. We’re coming in.” Will hung up and shoved his phone into his top jacket pocket.

  “Imani, we’re going in.” Will pulled out the “toolbox,” mumbled a few words, and four handguns plus extra ammo appeared in mid-air. Imani grabbed two of each, and Will grabbed the rest. Will looked at me. “Call Millicent. Tell her we have a code red and that we’ve gone in. Then wait here. Do you understand?”

  My mouth went dry, and my heart pounded a thousand beats per minute. I had to push the words out. “Call Millicent. Stay here.”

  Will slammed his lips against mine for an instant.

  Then Imani hauled the van door open, and they both jumped out.

  He was already gone when my words finally came.

  “Stay safe, Will.”

  I bit my fingernail and called Millicent.

  “Hi, Lily. What’s up?” She sounded happy. I was about to ruin her day.

  “Will and Imani have just stormed the care home, if two people can storm…. Will said to tell you it’s a code red. Someone was walking into Angelica’s room when Beren called out to Will and the transmission went black, and all the care-home lights went out. Will spoke to Agent Cardinal and told him to go to Angelica’s room, but that’s all I know.” I shifted from foot to foot. I needed to get outside and see what was going on.

  Millicent left me hanging for a minute. Her spritely tone had changed to serious and businesslike when she finally said, “Okay. You stay put. I’ll have other agents there in a jiffy. You’ll have to point out the care home.”

  “Okay.”

  “Bye, Lily.” She hung up before I could say goodbye.

  Despite being told to stay there, I jumped out of the van and ran around to take a look at the care home. All the lights were off. Evening had taken hold, so there was hardly any natural light either. It wouldn’t have been impossible to see in there, but it wouldn’t be easy. God, I hoped everyone was okay. What was happening inside? I resisted the urge to run in and help. I returned to the van in time to greet the six agents as they exited the cubicle one by one. Five beefy men and one super-fit-looking woman. They were in full black protective gear and heavily armed.

  Things just got crazy serious.

  “The care home is this way.” I jumped out of the van and jogged to the middle of the road. I pointed. “There it is. The room you want is on the first floor. Third window from the right. That smaller one there.” They’d likely been provided with a map of the place, but I wanted things to be as clear as possible.

  “Thanks,” an agent with a buzzcut said. He gestured to his comrades, and they bolted to the front doors, their boots slapping rhythmically on the bitumen as they crossed the road. Without even testing to see if the doors were unlocked first, they kicked them in and disappeared inside.

  I stared at the care home, but there was no sign of what was going on inside. Were Angelica and Beren dead? I took a shaky breath and shook my head. There was no way I was going to stay here. Surely everyone knew I wasn’t going to stay put just because they’d told me to. I mean, this was me we were talking about. Last time, though, when I’d ignored that order in Paris, I’d been kidnapped at gunpoint, and it had resulted in me killing one of the gang who was after me—not an ideal situation, and not one I wanted to repeat. But this time I hadn’t started anything, and many of the people in there were people I loved. Losing one, let alone three of them, was not an option.

  I didn’t have a weapon, and I wasn’t about to go and grab a gun from the van when I had no idea how to use it. I was likely to shoot myself or someone I was trying to save rather than a bad guy.

  I went back inside the van and took a deep breath to calm myself. They’d told me to stay put. Please do what they want, just once, Lily. I clenched my hands into fists and looked at the black screens. I leaned over and pressed random keys on the keyboards, trying to get the screens to work. Argh, nothing!

  That was it. I couldn’t stand here in an empty plumbing van looking at equally empty screens when my friend’s lives were on the line.

  I leapt out of the van, a total failure at doing what I’d been told. I’d work on my dismal obedience skills later. After dashing across the street, I yanked a brick out of the edging of the care-home garden bed. Ooh, great! This would be ideal for bashing in someone’s head. Hmm, since when had I gotten so happy about finding ways to hurt people? Angelica’s influence had definitely rubbed off on me.

  I rolled my shoulders back, bounded onto the front porch, and ran through the front entry.

  I only hoped I got to them in time.

  Chapter 13

  As I made my way down the entry hall, screams and shouts reached me. At least only non-dementia patients were on the ground floor. The staff would have better luck keeping them contained. Faint light filtered in from the front entry, but the further down the hall I went, the darker it became.

  I reached the reception area. Squinting and blinking did nothing to help me see. But lighting on the walls, about five inches from the floor, stuttered to life—emergency lighting. Phew. That was definitely better than nothing.

  No one manned the reception desk, whether it was because it was after hours or because of the unfolding drama, I couldn’t tell. I was pretty sure the lift wouldn’t be working, but I hurried over and tried it anyway.

  Nope. The little button refused to light up when I pressed it. And I couldn’t hear any noise indicating the car was moving. I jerked my head this way and that. Where were the stairs? Where would the stairs have been when it had been a house? Oh, there was a lit sign on the wall further down the corridor. I jogged to it. It was a map of the care
home with all emergency exits shown in red, and there were the stairs.

  I had to backtrack to the reception area, then keep going. Thumping came from above. This part of the building was the older section with timber floors. Looked as if all the action was upstairs. I hadn’t seen a soul on the ground floor, which was eerie and worrying. Where had everyone gone?

  I reached the small open area that held the original staircase. Emergency lights lit every third tread, and I could just make out the dark timber banister rising into the darkness.

  As I warily climbed the stairs, a scream spilled down. Was that a resident or Angelica? Nah, I couldn’t see her as a screamer. She was a battle-hardened PIB agent. She wouldn’t scream—she’d be the reason someone else would scream. But what if in her moment of truth, when she was being murdered, she just let loose?

  My heartbeat throbbed in my neck. Adrenaline had turned my legs to jelly, and my breathing came too fast. I did my best to slow it. I focussed on the brick, on its coarse texture, the comforting weight of it. I tightened my fingers around it till they ached. As I neared the top step, I was as ready as I ever would be.

  I stopped and took a breath, held it to listen. A long, drawn-out but muffled groan followed by muted shouting made me clench my jaw. I remembered to breathe. The door to the top floor must be closed, which was a surprise. Why hadn’t the agents kicked that in too? Maybe someone had opened it for them?

  I tackled the final step to the landing. My eyes had adjusted to what little light existed. The door to the upper-floor hallway was in front of me. I reached out and tried the handle. It wouldn’t budge. Damn! But it made total sense since it gave access to the fire stairs. It would likely open towards me from the other side. Should I knock, or would that distract the agents at the wrong time?

  Maybe there was a different way to the first floor? Argh. I didn’t have time to look. Would it matter if I broke this door down? “Ha ha. As if you’re going to be strong enough to do that,” I whispered to myself. Stop being stupid and think, Lily.

  Maybe I could go outside and use magic to float to the top of the building and break a window to get in? I was pretty sure the magic ban only worked when you were inside the walls. But there was the little matter that I didn’t know how to fly with magic.

  Stuff it. I banged on the door.

  No one answered. The door being fire-rated, my fist hadn’t been loud against the solidness. I tried again, putting in enough effort that it hurt when I pounded. Still nothing. I growled, but I really wanted to scream. My friends could be being murdered right now.

  I couldn’t let it happen.

  I ran down the stairs and out the front door, managing not to trip in the gloom. The front yard held a couple of trees, some bushes, and grass. It wasn’t too difficult to reach the part that was under Angelica’s window. I tilted my head back and looked up. Nothing happening at her window, but she was in there, maybe dead already. No, I couldn’t think like that, or I’d collapse into a crying heap. I blinked back tears and gritted my teeth.

  I wouldn’t give in.

  So how was I going to get up there? There was nothing to climb on. Yes, I’d thought of floating up there, but I didn’t even know if it was possible. Was I strong enough to support my weight with magic? Oh my God, I was so stupid! I slapped my forehead. Of course!

  I mumbled a spell. “There’s an extension ladder in Angelica’s shed. Travel it to me now before everyone’s dead.” Hmm, that rhymed, but it was terrible. If everyone was dead, maybe it wouldn’t turn up.

  The aluminium ladder appeared at my feet. I wrestled with the extension function, but finally, I had it all stretched out and locked in. Now I just had to rest it against the wall. I grunted. It was heavy. I was such a crap witch. I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity.

  I dropped the ladder on the ground, dipped into my magic, and said, “Ladder lying at my feet, rise to stand and lean against the wall, so that window up there I can reach.” I pointed to Angelica’s window. The spell didn’t really rhyme, but whatever. I didn’t have time to appease the poetic spell gods right now.

  Tiredness swept through me as the ladder lifted and settled in place. Once the ladder stopped moving, the drain on my powers stopped, and I felt okay. Except I yawned. There’d be plenty of time for a nap later… I hoped. For all I knew, I could be about to meet the same fate as Angelica and Beren. I hadn’t taken any photos of myself lately, for good reason. I really didn’t want to know when my time was up. I’d say it was the only surprise I approved of. Well, not the surprise of dying itself, just that I didn’t want to know what was happening until it was all over. And even then, I wouldn’t know it had happened because I’d be dead, so did that mean dying suddenly wouldn’t even be a surprise? I shook my head. Going off on these tangents was slowing me down. And yes, it was a double standard that I had wanted Will to tell Beren he was going to die, but that was because I had a pretty good idea he was going to be attacked inside the care home, and maybe being forewarned could have helped.

  I gripped the sides of the ladder and climbed using one hand and one elbow—the brick stayed in my left hand. Halfway up, I wobbled. My heart shot to my feet, but it eventually came back up, and I continued. Gah, I was not cut out for this stuff. I wasn’t even an agent, for goodness’ sake. Well, if I had been one, I would have been about to lose my job for ignoring orders.

  And there it was. Angelica’s window. The blind was down, which would protect anyone inside from flying glass. This brick was coming in handy. Who knew a brick could have so many uses? It deserved to win building material of the year, except there was no such competition. Lucky it didn’t have feelings, or I imagine it would have been disappointed, not to mention the headache I was about to inflict on it.

  I swapped the brick to my right hand, raised my arm behind my head, and before I could debate with myself about what a stupid idea this was, I wrenched my arm forward and smashed the brick against the middle of the window. It didn’t give. In fact, it bounced, and I jerked back, almost losing my balance and falling. Gripping the ladder, I tried to slow my racing heart. I glanced down. I would probably survive if I fell since I’d be landing on grass, but it would likely result in broken bones. This was going to be harder than I thought.

  I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, and smashed the brick into it again, bracing for potential bounce back. But my aim was off, and instead of hitting the middle of the window, the brick connected lower down, which made an interesting crunch and no rebound. Hmm. I stepped down one rung and loaded my arm. I grunted as it connected with the window. Crunch. Cracks spiderwebbed out. I bashed it again and again. Finally, a hole! But that was just the first layer. Damn double-glazed windows.

  On the other side of this glass was Beren and Angelica. I had to hurry.

  I gripped the ladder with one hand and kept striking with my trusty brick. Eventually, the glass disintegrated into small beads.

  Shrieking came from inside. I smacked more glass out, until the hole was big enough, and jumped in, fighting with the blinds to gain access.

  Shouting came from the hallway outside Angelica’s room. I stood, brick poised in both hands, ready to strike anyone who came at me. The problem was, I couldn’t see much. But if I couldn’t see very well, neither could they. There looked to be three people in the room—one lying on the bed, which was probably Angelica—one taller than me and one shorter, both standing next to the bed.

  “Who do we have here?” a woman’s voice said. I recognised that voice.

  Elizabeth.

  Where was Beren? I blinked, hoping it would help me see better. Nope. Then I remembered my phone. I held the brick at the ready in my left hand and snatched my phone out of my back pocket with my right. I enabled torch mode and shone the light in their direction.

  Elizabeth stood next to… was that her boyfriend from the other day? Yes, I was pretty sure it was. Angelica was lying on the bed, eyes closed. Elizabeth held up a syringe and grinned. “If you’re here to save h
er, you’re too late.” And was that a crown on her head? Queen Elizabeth. So Will’s gran hadn’t imagined anything. Anger prickled every inch of my skin when I thought of how terrified she must have been. I dug my fingers into the brick and sized up whether I could run around the bed and smash Elizabeth’s head in. That might be somewhat violent, but I would do anything to make sure she didn’t get away.

  Someone banged on the door. “Open up. If you surrender without hurting anyone, we’ll show you leniency.” Will! If he knew I was in here, he would rush in, and he totally should. It was too late—Angelica was probably already dead. There was nothing to lose.

  Elizabeth yelled back. “Come in, and we’ll kill them all.” Hang on, what did she mean: all? There had only been Angelica, and now there was me, so didn’t that make us a “both?”

  I looked down. My eyes widened. Beren lay on the floor, face slack, eyes closed. Was that blood on his face? “What did you do to him?” God, no. They couldn’t both be dead. No!

  “And you’re next.” On her command, her boyfriend slowly made his way around the bed, a solid-looking bar in his hand. Well, I wasn’t going to stay silent like those idiots on TV that should have yelled when they were told to keep quiet. Plus, keeping quiet or doing what I was told wasn’t my forte.

  I opened my mouth and screamed. “Bash the door down. They’re dead, Will. They’re dead!” Then I shrieked as ear-piercingly as I could. Might as well make Elizabeth and her evil partner suffer as much as possible.

  My ears rebelled at the almighty thump and crack as the door splintered inwards. I fell to the ground to avoid being hit by flying debris, plus I could probably do some damage with my brick. Elizabeth’s boyfriend was distracted, so I leaned across and smashed his shin as hard as I could. Good brick.

  He screamed and bent to clutch his shin. His head was irresistibly close, so I drove the brick into it. He fell forward and collapsed on top of me. Booted feet shuffled into the room, and Will yelled, “Get down!”