by Dan Scottow
What.
Is.
Happening?
Dizzy, she lumbers towards the worktop to support herself, dropping the wine as she does so.
It seems to fall in slow motion, before smashing on the tiles below. Ruby-coloured liquid explodes across the floor, and up her legs, drips down the cabinet doors around her like blood.
In the dark puddle by her feet, she sees Rose’s reflection, laughing.
She spins; nobody stands behind her, but the sound of the laughter still echoes in her ears.
Where is my stick, she wonders?
Once more, the scene changes in a flash. She now sits in the boat at the end of the jetty. The bottom is filled with water, soaking into her clothes. She shivers, looking around.
How did I get here?
The red paint from the outside of the boat bleeds into the loch, and with horror she realises she is floating on a lake of blood.
She feels as if she is not in control of herself anymore. Someone else is operating her, like a marionette. She glances up, and sees long strings protruding from her flesh, trailing off into the clouds.
Blinking, they are gone.
Darkness seems to swoop in from the horizon, the light shrinking around her as if she holds a lantern in a vast black space. The glow becomes smaller and smaller until it is tiny. Just a pinprick in the dark.
And Diana Davenport screams, holding her head in her hands, as tears well in her eyes.
81
Lucy
‘Next left,’ Cassie says breezily, and Lucy dutifully indicates, before taking the turn. Afraid to damage the car, she drives like an old lady, painfully aware that Cassie is smirking at her from the passenger seat.
‘Park up anywhere you can find a space,’ she instructs.
They climb out and Cassie watches as Lucy seems to relax as soon as she is no longer in control of the vehicle. They head towards a small double-fronted café. Pushing the door, a bell jingles as it swings inwards, and she holds it open as her friend steps inside.
‘Wow. Civilisation!’ Lucy breathes. ‘This is… nice!’
‘Sadiya used to love this place,’ Cassie responds, sliding a chair out from beneath a table by the window. Lucy smiles sympathetically, looking away towards the counter as they both sit.
‘So what’s good here?’
Cassie holds her hand up. A waitress totters over to them, smiling as she approaches.
‘I’ll take a double G and T, please, and…’
She looks at Lucy, who purses her lips, but doesn’t reprimand her.
‘Coffee, black, please.’
She glances back towards Cassie.
‘You’ll have to stay at mine tonight if you keep this up.’
‘No chance. I’m not setting foot in that place again. Not with that mad bitch there.’
Lucy doesn’t respond. The waitress brings their order, and Cassie takes a large gulp from her drink. Lucy sits blowing on her coffee, eyes fixed on her.
‘Want to talk about it?’ she finally says, sipping her beverage.
‘Which?’
Lucy raises an eyebrow questioningly.
‘That Sadiya is dead, or that your employer believes my other dead friend is haunting your house?’ She pauses without looking away from Lucy’s face. ‘Because if I’m being honest, I don’t really feel like talking about either of those things.’
Lucy sighs.
‘Cassie… you have to understand, Diana is not well. I’ve been witnessing her spiral out of control mentally for a while now. This ghost thing… it’s all part of that. She’s losing her mind. I’m sure of it.’
Cassie empties her gin, holding her hand up. The waitress glances over, and Cassie nods towards her glass.
‘It’s fucking sick.’ Her words are beginning to sound slurred. The waitress brings her drink, and hurries away to another customer who is trying desperately to get her attention. Cassie gulps a large mouthful, screwing up her face as she does.
‘Enjoying that?’ Lucy smirks.
‘Immensely.’
They sit in silence for a few minutes.
‘So she’s nuts. Unwell. Whatever you want to call it. Nothing new there. Rose always used to say she was insane.’
Lucy’s eyes shoot towards Cassie’s cheek.
‘Does it hurt?’
‘It’s sore,’ she replies, raising her glass. ‘But this is helping to numb the pain.’ She takes another sip, pressing the cold glass into her face.
‘And Mylo knows about this? That Diana thinks Rose is haunting her?’
Lucy nods.
‘Diana made us take part in a seance… roped in some old local lady who claims to be psychic.’
‘That woman… she loves to be the centre of attention. Even today, when I should be focusing on my friend, I’m here talking about her, instead. You know she doesn’t need that stick? I’m sure she uses it to get sympathy. She hardly ever used it when Rose lived with her. Only now and then when her leg was giving her trouble. Now she seems to act like she can’t stand without it. And she pretends she’s unable to get up the stairs… but she can, let me warn you. Don’t leave anything lying around in your bedroom that you don’t want her to see. Rose used to find things had moved around… thought it was a bit odd. One day she got home earlier than expected, and caught the cow red-handed in there, sitting on her bed, reading her diary! She had to hide it after that.’
‘You’re kidding?’
Cassie shakes her head, sipping more of her drink.
‘I’m so sorry about Sadiya,’ Lucy continues. ‘She seemed nice. I… didn’t really get to talk to her, but… you know…’
Fiddling with a strand of loose hair, Cassie smiles wistfully.
‘She wasn’t too friendly towards you. She can be a little aloof, but it’s because she’s shy. It comes across the wrong way sometimes. If you’d had a chance to get to know her, you’d have loved her.’
‘I’m sure.’
‘The guys… Colin and Lucas… they’re not my type of people. They’re Mylo’s friends, really. But Molly and Sadiya, they’re my world. I can’t actually believe she’s gone.’
‘Shouldn’t you be with the others?’
‘Molly is at work. I haven’t told her yet… but gossip travels fast around here. It won’t take long for her to find out. I don’t want to be the one to have to tell her… to tell anyone. Mylo… he knows everything before most people usually. That’s the thing about working in that damn shop. All the old busybodies go in and spin their yarns… embellishing… they thrive on it. They don’t have anything else. It’s so fucking boring round here…’
‘Why do you stay? If that’s how you feel?’
Cassie takes another swig of her gin, shrugging.
‘I get to live at the marina in a luxury apartment and dine at a five-star restaurant three times a day. I drink as much champagne as I want. I party on my father’s yacht with my friends. All in return for helping out with a bit of paperwork now and then, sometimes pouring a few drinks behind the bar. It’s a no-brainer.’
Lucy nods slowly. Cassie sighs, downing what’s left from her glass, motioning to the waitress for another. She points at Lucy, who holds her hand over the top of her mug, shaking her head.
‘I’m sorry things didn’t work out with you and Mylo. I was sure you were going to hit it off. He deserves to be happy again.’
‘We did kind of hit it off… we’re great friends.’
‘I know… but… you know what I mean. He needs to find a nice girl and settle down. I thought you were perfect for him.’
Lucy gazes out the window.
‘Did you know Diana’s daughter was murdered?’ Lucy asks, staring at her friend.
Cassie’s eyes widen.
‘Shut up! No. When?’
Lucy shrugs.
‘Don’t know exactly, but it was years ago.’
Cassie shakes her head.
‘Mylo knew her, apparently.’
‘Did he?�
�
‘Yep. Went out with her for a while. He knew Diana too.’
Cassie screws up her face.
‘That’s weird. He never mentioned that.’
‘No? Hmm. Anyway… I just thought it was interesting.’
She lets that hang.
‘I really wish you two were a couple,’ Cassie says, as if she wants to change the subject. Lucy suspects she is too drunk for anything she has just told her to register too much.
‘It doesn’t matter. Not in the grand scheme of things. That’s not why I’m here,’ she says.
Cassie tilts her head. Lucy looks back at her.
‘I mean, I’m here to work. To look after Diana and her husband… not that I seem to be doing such a great job there either. But I didn’t come to meet a boyfriend. It was the last thing on my mind.’
‘You deserve to be happy too, Lucy.’ Cassie’s words are beginning to run into one another.
Lucy’s cheeks flush as she glances away.
‘Shut up! You’re drunk.’
‘No. Well… yes… but I mean it. There’s something in you… a sadness. I can see it. I’m good at reading people. I saw it in you when we first met. You smile… but I don’t think it’s real. It’s a shame.’
Cassie twirls a strand of her honey-coloured hair between her fingers, placing it between her top lip and her nose, holding it there. The waitress brings her another drink.
‘So… you will definitely be staying over tonight,’ Lucy says, eyeing the glass.
‘No way. You come to mine! We can order room service and get shit-faced.’
‘I can’t. I have to see to Richard. Plus, I don’t think Diana should be left alone overnight right now.’
Cassie tuts, rolling her eyes like a petulant child.
‘Eurgh… I really can’t sleep in that house. Where Rose died. It creeps me out. Not to mention that woman attacked me!’
‘You should have thought about that before you got so drunk.’
She sighs, her shoulders slump in resignation as she downs her drink.
‘Right,’ Lucy says matter-of-factly. ‘That’s enough. Time to go.’
She stands, crosses to the counter to pay the bill. She helps Cassie up from her chair, draping one of her arms loosely over her shoulder, and they head out to the car.
82
Lucy
Neither of them want to return to Willow Cottage, not yet at least.
It’s nearing lunchtime, so they pull in next to a burger van in a lay-by. Lucy suspects that cheap burgers are not usually on Cassie’s menu, but she probably would have eaten anything to avoid heading back to Diana’s house. They sit on a rickety wooden bench, atop a cliff behind the truck, staring out over the loch.
‘It’s mad… I’ve been here for a while now, and it still seems there’s so much of this place to see…’
She flicks her eyes towards Cassie, who looks as if she’s struggling with the food. She picks a gherkin out from beneath the bun between the tips of her fingers, tossing it onto the grass. The burger remains in her lap.
‘It is stunning. Even on a day like this… the way the sun breaks through the clouds now and then… it gives me hope. Look…’ She nods at the horizon.
Lucy follows the direction of her gaze, gasping as she spies a rainbow in the distance.
‘Beautiful,’ she whispers.
‘This place… it’s full of lovely things. People like Mylo, who grew up here… they’re always so desperate to get away. If his dad hadn’t died, he’d still be living in London. He’d never even have met Rose. Who knows… perhaps your paths would have crossed there.’
‘Everything happens for a reason,’ Lucy says without looking at her friend.
‘Do you believe that?’
‘I think so. You have to, don’t you? Else what’s the point?’
Cassie stands from the bench, walking closer to the cliff edge. A metal railing, the only thing between her and the sheer drop on the other side. She leans on it, taking a bite of her burger.
‘I don’t know. What reason is there for what’s happened to my friends? To Rose… or to Sadiya? They were both good people. What possible excuse could there be for two such beautiful human beings to be taken from the world so young?’
‘I’m not sure… I don’t have the answers. Nobody does.’
Cassie turns, leaning her bottom on the railing.
‘Sadiya had a kid. Not even a year old. He has to grow up without his mum now. That’s… so sad.’
Lucy stares out at the rainbow.
‘I didn’t know she had a child. That’s… terrible.’ Her voice trembles as a tear wells in the corner of her eye. Cassie cocks her head.
‘Are you crying?’
Lucy wipes her eyes.
‘It’s sad… like you said. No child should have to go through that. It’s tragic.’
Cassie crosses back to the bench, tossing what’s left of her burger onto the grass, screwing up her face. She sits beside her friend, draping an arm around her shoulder.
‘You’re a good person, Lucy.’
Lucy shakes her head.
‘No, no I’m not.’
‘Yeah, you are. I couldn’t do what you do… looking after that guy. Doing everything for him. I take my hat off to you.’
Lucy stands, wiping her hands together.
‘I don’t do it out of the goodness of my heart. I do it for money. Diana pays well. It’s a job, that’s all. I’m no saint. I’m far from perfect, and I have many flaws. I’ve done horrible things…’
Cassie cocks an eyebrow.
‘Like what?’
Lucy shrugs.
‘No, go on. Tell me.’
‘Last night, I killed a fox.’
Cassie’s eyes widen.
‘What?’
‘It was hurt… I think it had been hit by a car… but it was in the garden and I knew there was no hope for it. So I… killed it.’
Cassie stares at her friend.
‘How?’
‘I snapped its neck.’
They both sit in silence, staring at the rainbow until it begins to fade. Digesting that fact. Lucy wonders what Cassie is thinking about her. She doesn’t know why she told her. Something in the moment compelled her. She couldn’t help herself; regretted it immediately. She heads towards the car.
‘We should go.’
‘Do we have to?’
‘I don’t want to go back there any more than you do… but it’s my job.’
Cassie stands, grabbing her friend.
‘Let’s not then. Not just yet. We can drive the long way round. I’ll show you some of my favourite spots. Come on. What’s she going to do? Sack you? I can’t see her managing without you very well at the moment.’
Lucy bites her bottom lip.
‘Go on, you know you want to! Besides, I’m sad, and you’re supposed to be cheering me up!’ Cassie pouts, then grins devilishly, ear to ear.
‘Okay!’
‘Yes!’
Laughing, Cassie throws her arm around her friend as they stroll back to the car.
83
Diana
She climbs out of the boat, her clothes soaked, clinging to her skin. For a terrifying moment, she thinks she will fall over the side into the water below, but she manages to steady herself in time to land in a heap upon the jetty.
The wind has died down a little, but the afternoon is grey. In the distance, a rainbow decorates the hillside. Its bright spectrum, the only colour in the surrounding scenery. Suddenly the hues bleed into the rest of the landscape, casting glorious technicolour into the sky, the trees, the water. Diana has never felt like this before. The closest thing she can think of is when she and Richard had tried acid together at art college. She remembers how five minutes passed like five hours. The night seemed endless.
She’d hated it so much she vowed never to do it again. But that’s similar to how she feels.
Time doesn’t seem to be flowing in a straight line, rather,
jumping around. She can’t focus. Closing her eyes, she takes deep breaths. When she opens them, the colours have gone, the rainbow all that remains. Turning away, she retrieves her stick from where she left it on the beach, propped against the boardwalk. She crosses the lawn towards the kitchen.
The waves tumble onto the shingle, lapping at the grass behind her, like a threatening whisper.
Diana, it seems to call. She spins, staring out at the shoreline. As wave after wave ripples onto the stones, something in the distance bobs above the surface.
At first, she thinks it might be a seal. But it continues to grow taller as it emerges from the water.
Her eyes widen with terror as she realises it’s the top of a head. Hair wet and matted.
Blonde.
As the figure walks slowly out of the loch, Diana’s mouth falls open. She wants to scream. But she can’t.
‘Rose!’ she gasps.
The girl steps onto the beach, dripping. Kelp tangled in her locks, draped around her arms. Barnacles grow on her ankles.
‘Hello, Diana,’ she says in a horrendous, gurgling voice as a crab scurries from her lips, crawls across her face, disappearing over her shoulder.
Diana spins towards the house. She attempts to run, and it surprises her that she feels no pain in her leg or hip. Stepping inside the kitchen, she slams the door, locking it immediately. She turns her back to the glass, leaning against it. Heart pounding, she takes deep breaths. She leans to her left, peering around through the window. Holding her breath, she scours the shoreline, searching for Rose.
But the garden is empty.
A trickling sound from nearby draws her gaze away. Water is running out from the utility room. A huge puddle pools on the tiles, growing by the second. Shaking her head, she crosses the floor, pulling on the handle. The door swings open.
Rose stands dripping in the doorway.
‘My God!’ Diana screams, stepping back.
She slips. Falling backwards.
Down, down, down. Tumbling much longer than she should be. She feels she should have hit something by now, but she is still going. She lands in the puddle.