by Amy Cross
“Don't be an idiot,” he replies. “You're never -”
“Take it, then!” I yell, before turning and plunging my hands into the flames that are roaring from the nearest pew. I hear Graham scream my name, but I force myself to keep the bear in the fire, even as the flames start searing my hands. The pain is intense, but I can feel the bear disintegrating at the heart of the inferno and finally I fall back.
The last, singed remains of the old toy bear fall from my burned and bloodied hands.
“That was mine!” Graham screams. “I waited all this time! Her soul belongs to me!”
I turn to him. “You're not -”
Before I can finish, the air all around us bursts into flames. I duck down, but this time the inferno just seems to be spreading and spreading, as if in his fury Graham is determined to burn the entire church to its foundations. Barely able to keep my eyes open as the brightness increases, I spot Kate shivering again on the floor nearby, so I crawl over and grab her arm. She doesn't respond, so I start dragging her along the aisle, trying to get her out of the building before the entire church burns.
I can hear Graham screaming somewhere at the heart of the fire, but finally I reach the door and pull it open.
Dragging Kate outside, I pull her through the rain until we reach the gate, at which point I turn and look back toward the church. The entire building is engulfed in flames now, and a moment later I watch in horror as the roof collapses with a vast crashing sound. Fire has burst through the stained-glass windows, and I can hear more loud, ominous creaking sounds coming from deep inside the building. Rain is still pouring down, but even the violence of the storm isn't enough to dampen the inferno.
And then I see him.
As Kate clings shivering to my side, I see Graham's silhouette in the doorway. Just as I think he might be about to come after us again, however, the flames consume him.
Finally, I watch as the entire church falls in on itself. The spire tips and falls, smashing down into the trees, and all that's left is a huge fire.
“It's okay,” I tell Kate, looking down at her face. Light from the fire flickers across her features, and I see that her eyes are back to normal. She's staring up at me with an expression of pure fear. “He's gone,” I continue, kissing the top of her head before pulling her closer. “He's gone forever. You're free.”
Chapter Sixty-Five
Alice
As dawn breaks, there are police cars and ambulances at the church. I brought Kate back down into town a short while ago, and now she's sitting in my car. I had a spare set of clothes in a bag in the boot, so I've managed to dry her off, but she's staring out at the gray morning and watching occasional spots of rain falling on the windshield.
She's barely said anything since we escaped from the church.
“I don't think I'm going to go and talk to them,” I explain, sitting in the driver's seat and watching as several locals come wandering back along the street. “How would I even explain what happened? As long as it's finally over, we can -”
“How do you know it's over?” she asks, turning to me.
“I destroyed the soulspiece,” I remind her. “The bear. That was the link he had to you. Without that, he can't do anything.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do. He told me a lot about how it works, before I realized who he was.”
“He might have been lying.”
I shake my head. “No, I don't think so. I think he was just so confident, he didn't see any point in not telling me. Maybe it all added to the amusement value for him.”
“But he might come back!”
I shake my head.
“He might!” she continues, starting to sound increasingly desperate. “If he bought my soul once, he could buy it again!”
“Not according to everything I've read,” I reply. “I'm sure he'll buy another soul at the next auction, and I'm sure he'll be much more careful to make sure he gets what he paid for, but for you it's over. The soulspiece burned, so you're out of his reach.”
I wait for her to say something, but it's clear she's still not certain. Reaching over, I'm about to place a hand on her knee, when I feel a flicker of pain. My hands are badly burned from the fire, with most of the skin gone and large blisters starting to form. I'm pretty sure it's only adrenaline that's keeping me from screaming, but I know I'm going to have to get to a hospital soon. Already, the pain seems to be getting worse with each passing second.
“If these demons could just target anyone they wanted,” I continue, “then we'd all be screwed. Obviously there are rules, and obviously the soul auction is involved in that. When that thing won your soul, he gained a soulspiece, which was the one item that – at the time – you cared about the most. I promise you, Kate. The link is gone.”
Again I wait for her to reply, but she's simply watching the locals as they head into the pub. The landlord is with them, and he briefly glances this way. For a moment, I worry that he's going to come and speak to us, to maybe ask us what we know about the church fire, but then he simply nods before following the others inside.
He clearly knows something happened last night, but I don't blame him for wanting to know the details. I'm sure he's just happy to think that it's finally over.
“How do you feel?” I ask Kate.
She doesn't reply.
“Kate?”
“Huh?” She turns to me, clearly startled.
“I saw him taking something from your body,” I tell her. “For a moment back there, you seemed different, as if he'd taken hold of you somehow.”
“I feel okay,” she replies, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
“You seem like yourself.”
“Do you think he got a part of me?” she asks.
“Part of you?”
“Part of my soul.”
I open my mouth to tell her that of course I don't think that, but deep down I'm not so sure. He clearly wasn't even close to finishing feeding from her, but I can't deny that he seemed to extract something from her body. Maybe I can't quite believe yet that the clear gunk was somehow part of her soul, but then again a lot of crazy stuff has happened over the past few months. I guess I can't rule anything out.
“You'll be fine,” I tell her. “I promise.”
“But what if part of me is missing?”
“Then we'll work on it,” I reply, before grabbing some empty plastic water bottles and a few crisp packets from the dashboard. “I'll just put these in a bin and then we can get on the road. I don't know about you, but I feel like I've spent more than long enough in Curridge for one lifetime.”
I can tell that she's not entirely satisfied with the answers I've given her, but I guess it'll take time for her to heal. Climbing out of the car, with the trash in my hands, I look around for a moment before spotting a lone wooden bin a little way further along the beach, in the direction of the cliffs. Making my way over, I trudge across the pebbles before finally reaching the bin and tossing the garbage inside. Then, just before going back to the car, I reach into my pocket and take out the photo of Mum that I recovered from Father Redman.
A shudder passes through my chest as I look at her happy, smiling face.
It's her.
It's really, truly her.
Finally, after all these years, I know what she looked like.
I haven't shown the photo to Kate yet, mainly because I'm worried how she might react in her current state. I'll let her see it at some point, probably over the next few days, but right now I think I need to protect her a little, to make sure that she doesn't get too upset. Still, for a few seconds, I can't help staring at the photo and marveling at the sight of my mother's face.
“Give her to me,” a voice whispers.
Turning, I look around, but I don't see anyone.
“Give her...”
I turn again, but there's still nobody nearby.
“Give her to me...”
Just as I'm starting to think that ma
ybe I'm hearing things, I spot a dark shape poking through some tall grass at the edge of the beach. At first the shape just looks like a set of old burned twigs, but then they move slightly and I spot a hint of orange-red cinders burning beneath charred flakes. When the twigs move again, I realize I can hear a faint rustling sound, and then to my horror I spot Graham's charred, smoldering face staring straight at me.
It's almost as if a few charred embers of his body were blown here by the wind.
“I'll give you anything,” he whispers, his voice barely louder than the morning breeze. “Anything you want. Just give me a new soulspiece for your sister. I waited so long to claim her. I can't be denied now.”
I take a step back, convinced that this has to be some horrible nightmare.
“You don't need her,” he continues. “You don't want her. You won't appreciate her. I tasted her, just a part of her soul. Now I want the rest. Give me a new soulspiece, and I'll give you anything in return. Riches, happiness, freedom... anything...”
“Go to hell!” I stammer, trying not to panic.
“Endless life. Riches. Anything, just so that I can have what I've been waiting for...”
Staring at him, I realize suddenly that all he can do is beg and plead. Without a soulspiece, he can't take Kate anymore.
“Please,” he whispers, before letting out a faint, pained groan. The breeze picks up, and for a moment the burning embers flare beneath his burned skin. “Anything... Just give me... please...”
“This is for what you did to my sister!” I hiss, grabbing a rotten branch from the shore and swinging it at Graham's remains, instantly crushing his blackened frame and causing burned flakes to fall down against the pebbles. “And this is for what you did to my mother!”
He lets out another gasp, as if he's trying again to beg for help, but I hit him several times and finally all that's left is a few still-burning embers. And then even those blow away, carried by a breeze that takes them across the beach and then out to sea.
Still shaking, I take a moment to pull myself together, but then I tell myself that there's no reason to be scared. He's gone now, and if he had any power at all, he'd have been able to take the photo from my hands. I'm sure he'll get another victim at the next soul auction, but that'll be a long time away. At least he's out of our lives. Still, I take one final look at the photo of Mum, and then I tear it in half and drop it into the bin. I've seen her face now, and it's something I'll never forget.
And I don't want anything that another demon could use as a soulspiece against me.
With that thought still in my mind, and with a sense of relief, I take a deep breath before turning and heading back across the beach. Back to my sister, who's waiting in the car for me to take her home.
Also by Amy Cross
THE ASH HOUSE
Why would anyone ever return to a haunted house?
For Diane Mercer the answer is simple. She's dying of cancer, and she wants to know once and for all whether ghosts are real.
Heading home with her young son, Diane is determined to find out whether the stories are real. After all, everyone else claimed to see and hear strange things in the house over the years. Everyone except Diane had some kind of experience in the house, or in the little ash house in the yard.
As Diane explores the house where she grew up, however, her son is exploring the yard and the forest. And while his mother might be struggling to come to terms with her own impending death, Daniel Mercer is puzzled by fleeting appearances of a strange little girl who seems drawn to the ash house, and by strange, rasping coughs that he keeps hearing at night.
The Ash House is a horror novel about a woman who desperately wants to know what will happen to her when she dies, and about a boy who uncovers the shocking truth about a young girl's murder.
Also by Amy Cross
HAUNTED
Twenty years ago, the ghost of a dead little girl drove Sheriff Michael Blaine to his death.
Now, that same ghost is coming for his daughter.
Returning to the small town where she grew up, Alex Roberts is determined to live a normal, quiet life. For the residents of Railham, however, she's an unwelcome reminder of the town's darkest hour.
Twenty years ago, nine-year-old Mo Garvey was found brutally murdered in a nearby forest. Everyone thinks that Alex's father was responsible, but if the killer was brought to justice, why is the ghost of Mo Garvey still after revenge?
And how far will the real killer go to protect his secret, when Alex starts getting closer to the truth?
Haunted is a horror novel about a woman who has to face her past, about a town that would rather forget, and about a little girl who refuses to let death stand in her way.
Also by Amy Cross
THE BRIDE OF ASHBYRN HOUSE
“I have waited so long for your return.”
In the English countryside, miles from the nearest town, there stands an old stone house. Nobody has set foot in the house for years. Nobody has dared. For it is said that even though the lady of the house is long dead, a face can sometimes be seen at one of the windows. A pale, dead face that waits patiently behind a silk wedding veil.
Seeking an escape from his life in London, Owen Stone purchases Ashbyrn House without waiting to find out about its history. As far as Owen is concerned, ghosts aren't real and his only company in the house will be the thin-legged spiders that lurk on the walls. Even after he moves in, and after he starts hearing strange noises in the night, Owen insists that Ashbyrn House can't possibly be haunted.
But Owen knows nothing about the ghostly figure that is said to haunt the house. Or about the mysterious church bells that ring out across the lawn at night. Or about the terrible fate that befell the house's previous inhabitants when they dared defy the bride. Even as Owen starts to understand the horrific truth about Ashbyrn House's past, he might be too late to escape the clutches of the presence that watches his every move.
The Bride of Ashbyrn House is a ghost story about a man who believes the past can't hurt him, and about a woman whose search for a husband has survived even her own tragic death.
Also by Amy Cross
THE BODY AT AUERCLIFF
“We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!”
When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms.
A dead body. A woman. Old and rotten. And her aunt insists she has no idea where it came from.
The truth lies buried in the past. For generations, the occupants of Auercliff have been tormented by the repercussions of a horrific secret. And somehow everything seems to be centered upon the mausoleum in the house's ground, where every member of the family is entombed once they die.
Whose body was left to rot in one of the house's rooms? Why have successive generations of the family been plagued by a persistent scratching sound? And what really happened to Rebecca many years ago, when she found herself locked inside the Auercliff mausoleum?
The Body at Auercliff is a horror story about a family and a house, and about the refusal of the past to stay buried.
OTHER BOOKS
BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE
Horror
The Ash House
The Camera Man
The Bride of Ashbyrn House
The Body at Auercliff
Haunted
B&B
Laura
Asylum
Meds (Asylum 2)
Annie's Room
The Farm
The Ghost of Molly Holt
The Curse of Wetherley House
The Ghosts of Lakeforth Hotel
The Haunting of Blackwych Grange
The Ghosts of Hexley Airport
The Devil, the Witch and the Whore (The Deal book 1)
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Darper Danver: The Complete First Series
The Disappearance of Katie Wren
The Horror of Devil's Root Lake
The Printer From Hell
The Nurse
American Coven
Eli's Town
The Night Girl
Devil's Briar
The Cabin
After the Cabin
Last Wrong Turn
The Ghost of Shapley Hall
A House in London
The Blood House
The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)
Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)
The Border
The Lighthouse
Short Story Collections
Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories
Twisted Little Things and Other Stories
The Ghost of Longthorn Manor and Other Stories
The Vampire of Downing Street and Other Stories
Thrillers
The Murder at Skellin Cottage (Jo Mason book 1)
The Return of Rachel Stone (Jo Mason book 2)
The Girl Who Never Came Back
Other People's Bodies
Dystopian / Science Fiction
The Dog
The Island (The Island book 1)
Persona (The Island book 2)