by Amy Cross
“Dad used to say -”
“Forget about Dad,” I tell her. “Let's play a game. What about Cluedo? Or Risk? I'm epic at Risk, I'll whip your butt.”
“But Dad said -”
“Dad's gone!” I snap, although I immediately realize I shouldn't be so harsh. After all, she's just a kid. “Dad's gone, so there's really no point talking about him. When someone's gone, they're gone.” I hold a hand out to her. “Why don't we go outside and play in the garden? You know, get out of the house for a few minutes, something like that?”
She comes over to me and takes my hand, but I can tell she's reluctant. Still, I lead her out into the hallway and then through to the kitchen, figuring that we can find something to do in the garden. When I get to the back door, however, I pause as I see a figure watching the house from behind a tree. He doesn't seem to have noticed me at all, even though I should be perfectly visible to him. I blink, waiting for him to turn out to be a shadow or perhaps a weirdly-shaped bush, but as the seconds pass I can tell that it really is a man. He's wearing old-fashioned clothes, too.
“Do you see that guy?” I ask, taking Suzie to the window and pointing at the tree in question. “Don't be scared, it's okay, just tell me if you see him.”
She pauses, before looking up at me and nodding.
I feel a cold shudder in my chest as I watch the man for a moment longer. There's something about him, something that just doesn't feel right, as if he's not in the same light as everything else around him. After a moment, I head to the back door and pull it open, but the man remains in place. Again, it's as if nothing I do is remotely visible to him. I want to go and hide, to pretend this isn't happening, but I know I have to face it head-on.
“Hey!” I call out, waving at him. “Who are you? What do you want?”
He watches the house for a moment longer, before ducking back out of view behind the tree. When he doesn't reappear after a few seconds, I hurry across the lawn and head to the tree, and of course when I get there I find that he's vanished completely. There's no way he could have run off into the forest without being seen; instead, he just seems to have disappeared into thin air. Feeling a cold breeze all around me, I turn back to see that Suzie is standing in the middle of the lawn, watching me.
“There's nothing to worry about,” I tell her as I head back over to her. “It's just -”
I stop as soon as I see a figure at one of the house's upstairs windows. For a fraction of a second, just a fraction, I can see the figure sitting in one of the rooms, although the image is gone as soon as I blink. Turning back to look at the tree, I realize that the man a moment ago must have been watching the house to see if the priest was here. It's almost as if part of the past was briefly bleeding through. I instinctively reach for my phone to call Mum, before realizing that there's no way she'll ever believe any of this. Still, if this is how things are going to be during the day, I have no idea how we're going to get through the night alone.
“Hey,” I say finally, turning to Suzie, “do you fancy going for a walk?”
***
“Hello?” I call out as I lead Suzie into the church. “Is there anyone here?”
I look around, but I'm already getting the feeling that this place is completely deserted right now. I guess I was slightly hoping that Kate would be here, even though I knew deep down that there wasn't much chance. She told me last time that she only comes here once a month or so.
“Is anyone here?” I shout. “I need your help!”
Silence.
“Great,” I mutter, taking a deep breath. I don't know what I really expected that Kate women to do if I found her, but I suppose I was hoping that she'd magically make everything better. Still holding Suzie's hand, I lead her along the aisle and around the rear of the altar, only to find that the door to the office has been left unlocked. It's still messy as hell inside, but somehow it feels safer and calmer than any room back in the house.
As the rough edges of a plan start to form in my mind, I turn to my sister. The idea is nuts, but right now it's the only thing that even slightly eases the panic in my chest.
“This might sound crazy,” I tell her, seeing the fear in her eyes, “but... Do you want to camp out tonight?”
“Camp out?” She frowns. “In the garden?”
I shake my head. “Here. Right here, in the church.”
As soon as the words have left my mouth, I can see a hint of relief in my sister's expression. “I know it's kind of weird,” I continue, “and it might even be illegal, but I don't think anyone'll find us and to be honest, I'd feel way better spending the night in an empty, slightly spooky old church instead of... Well, instead of the house. We'll be find tomorrow when Mum comes back, but just for tonight we'll have an adventure right here. What do you think?”
She nods enthusiastically, and for the first time in a while she actually smiles.
“We'll need some things,” I tell her, “or we'll be cold. We'll have to go home just for a few minutes, just to get some blankets and stuff, but then we'll come back here with torches and snacks and games, and we'll have a party, just you and me. Whatever's going on at the house... I don't know, maybe somehow it'll play itself out, but I really don't want to be constantly worried about seeing people out the corner of my eye.”
“Will Mum be mad?” Suzie asks.
“Mum doesn't have to know, she -” Pausing, I realize that Mum's absence tonight is actually a perfect opportunity. I can hook my laptop up to the internet and leave it running in the house, and from here in the church I can use my phone to watch whether anything happens. Hopefully, by morning we'll have proof that something weird is happening. Mum'll have to listen to me once I've got evidence. “We just have to go back to the house,” I continue, heading toward the door, “and -”
Suzie pulls on my hand, as if she wants me to stay.
I turn to her. “We have to pop back,” I tell her. “We need blankets.”
“I'm tired.”
“Well...” Looking at her, I can see the exhaustion and fear in her eyes. “I have to go back, at least,” I tell her. “I have to set everything up.” Stepping back over, I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Do you want to wait here for me?” I ask, figuring that she'll be fine in the church. “I know it's kind of scary sitting around in a place like this, but -”
“I'll be fine,” she says keenly, interrupting me. “I just don't want to go to the house.”
“Me neither.”
I pause, seeing the desperation in her eyes, and finally I realize that I have no choice.
“Take my phone,” I continue, slipping it from my pocket and handing it to her. “There are games on there, okay? Just don't go buying anything, or I swear I'll make you pay. Don't go online. Just play one of the games that are already on there.”
She nods, and I can see that she's more relaxed now.
“I'll be a couple of hours at most, okay?” I continue, pulling a chair out for her and heading to the door. “No-one'll come here, I promise, there's only, like, this one woman who ever comes this way, and I don't think she's due for weeks.” I stop and glance back at her, but she's already fiddling with my phone and I can tell that she's relieved. This whole situation feels completely insane, but right now I don't know what else to do. “Everything'll be okay, you know,” I tell her. “I promise.”
She turns to me. “You said that when Dad was ill.”
“Yeah, but -” Pausing, I realize that she's right. All the time Dad was in the hospital, I kept telling Suzie that he'd be fine, and look how that turned out. “This is different,” I continue. “This is stuff we have control over.”
I wait for a reply, but she's tapping at my phone and a moment later I hear the familiar menu music for one of the games I downloaded a while back.
“So just stay right here,” I tell her. “No leaving the church. Hell, no leaving this room. Got it?”
She nods, already transfixed by the screen.
As I head back a
long the aisle and out of the church, there's a part of me that thinks this is crazy. After all, I'm about to leave my sister alone in an abandoned church for a couple of hours, with nothing but a mobile phone to keep her busy. At the same time, I trust her implicitly, and I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like if we tried to spend a whole night at the house, just the two of us, listening to the weird sounds and maybe even seeing more people. I'm worried that in a few minutes' time I'm suddenly going to be horrified by the decision I made, but as I reach the edge of the forest and look back at the church, I genuinely feel as if Suzie is safer there for now.
I'm her older sister.
I'm keeping her safe.
That feeling only grows as I make my way through the forest. Each step back toward the house feels like it twists the knot in my stomach a little more, and there are a couple of times when I genuinely consider just turning back and trying to find blankets in the church. Still, I keep going and finally I get to the edge of the garden and stop for a moment, watching the house cautiously.
Everything looks fine.
Making my way across the lawn, I start to wonder if this whole mess has just been cooked up in my mind. The house looks so normal and so ordinary right now, it's hard to believe that there could actually be anything untoward here. Before we moved away from London, I was certain that ghosts didn't exist; now, after just a few days, I've become a nervous wreck, convinced that there could be figures watching me at any moment. I head up the steps and stop at the back door, peering into the house, but everything is exactly as we left it.
Maybe I have overreacted after all.
Even worse, maybe in the process I've messed up my sister's head too.
Heading inside, I make my way upstairs to my room and grab a few blankets, and then I open my laptop and bring up a messenger app. The smell of Mum's potpourri is stronger than ever, reminding me of her and making me miss her more than ever. If I had my phone with me right now I'd call her, just to apologize and hear the sound of her voice. Part of me wants to spend the night here after all, to prove that everything's fine, but I figure I owe Suzie a night at the church. Besides, just because everything seems normal now, there's no guarantee it'll be the same tonight. The room feels calm and quiet all around me as I click on my own phone number, and then I sit on the bed as I wait for Suzie to answer.
“Laura?” she says finally, her voice a little distorted over the line.
“Hey,” I reply with a smile, seeing her slightly pixelated face on the screen. “Just checking in. How're you doing there?”
“I'm fine,” she tells me. “I'm up to level eighteen.”
“Seriously? That's further than I ever got.” For a moment, everything feels completely, refreshingly normal. “Are you okay there? You haven't... I mean, have you seen or heard anything?”
She shakes her head.
“That's good. Do you still want to camp out overnight?”
She nods enthusiastically.
“Me too,” I mutter, looking around my bare bedroom for a moment. “I just need to find a few more blankets and then I'll head back to you. Is there anything in particular you want me to bring?”
“No,” she replies, “just -”
I wait for her to answer.
“Just what?” I ask.
“Just...” She pauses. “Be careful.”
I can't help but feel a little touched by her concern, but also sorry that she has to worry at all. “I'll be back in an hour,” I tell her. “Bet you can't get up to level thirty.”
“Bet I can!”
“Go on, then.” Cutting the call, I let out a sigh of relief before opening the video program and plugging my laptop into the charger. I know it's a long shot, but I figure I can at least set it up to record during the night while we're out, and there's always a chance that it'll pick up something weird. If that doesn't work, I have no idea what to do, but at least I can get us out of the place tonight. Switching the camera to night mode, I make a few other adjustments, and I can see my face in green and black filling the screen. There's fear in my eyes, and for a moment all I can do is stare at my bright, glowing eyes as the night mode struggles to adapt to daylight. Am I crazy? Is this whole mess just a product of my feverish imagination? By the time darkness falls, I'm sure -
Suddenly something moves behind me, captured briefly on the screen. I freeze, telling myself that the video feed must have just hiccuped, but I know I saw a shape briefly flitting across the room. I turn slowly, but there's no sign of anything. When I turn back to the laptop, I realize I hadn't hit the button to record yet, so I quick set the program going and then grab the blankets before heading to the door. At the last moment, I turn and look back across the room. My heart is pounding, and I'm quite certain that I saw something, I just wish that I'd had the laptop recording a few moments earlier. Still, as I turn -
Before I can take another step, the door slams shut, sealing me in the room. I reach out to try the handle, but something seems to be holding it closed from the other side. Trying not to panic, I step closer, hoping to force the damn thing open.
Suddenly the smell of potpourri, which was so strong a moment ago, vanishes entirely, replaced by a stench of lavender and some kind of oil.
And then the door swings toward me, slamming into my face and knocking me back. I'm unconscious before I even hit the floor.
Chapter Sixteen
Daniel
“We shall have to go back for the third body soon,” Kate says as she comes to sit with me by the cemetery wall. “I can do that, though. I'll do it this afternoon.”
Barely even able to hear her words, I stare straight ahead at the two graves we dug with our bare hands, and which now contain the bodies of my sister and the other, unnamed girl we brought here. St. Michael's is a church that appears to have been abandoned long ago, with the grass left to grow long, and I can only assume that at some point a priest was driven out of here, maybe even killed, maybe even by Freeman himself. The ground is still holy, however, despite anything the king and his lackeys might declare, and I feel certain that Rosie has now been freed from her earthly body and has been taken up to the next life.
And now I'm waiting for my sorrow to subside so that my rage might take breath.
“They weren't witches, you know,” Kate says after a moment.
I turn to her.
“Your sister and those other two women,” she continues. “They were obviously tried as witches and sentenced to death, but no matter what some idiotic priest hunter might have said, they were innocent. They were just ordinary women who happened to fall victim to a monster.”
I nod, before turning to look back over at the graves.
“This isn't the first time I've come across the remains of Freeman's victims,” she explains. “I travel a lot in this county, and in the ones that neighbor us too, and maybe once a year I see some trace of his work. Say what you will about him, but the man is relentless. He constantly hunts priests and witches and anyone else who doesn't fit with his view of how the world should be, and his cruelty is unwavering.” She pauses. “While he might be able to track down a priest now and then, I assure you the man has no idea what he's looking for when it comes to witches.”
“He's hunting something that doesn't exist,” I say darkly, feeling the anger starting to rise through my soul. I was always taught to contain my emotions, but I can do so no longer. “Witchcraft is just another foolish superstition.”
“Don't be so sure,” she replies. “Even if Freeman cannot recognize it, that doesn't mean...”
Her voice trails off, and I turn to her.
“This church was once thriving,” she continues, evidently keen to change the subject. “Then one day Freeman decided that the local priest, albeit not a Catholic himself, might have certain sympathies. The priest denied it, of course, but when Freeman comes up with an idea, there is nothing that can be done to change his mind. So the priest was put on trial for treason and promptly executed, and th
e church was ordered to be abandoned. I myself used to come here sometimes as a child. My parents would bring me to sing hymns and meet some of the other children from the area, not that I had much interest in such things but still...” She pauses, looking over at the stone building. “It's still a church. No-one can change that, not even Freeman.”
“God would not want a man like Nykolas Freeman to be on the loose,” I mutter darkly. “When the king gave Freeman his appointment, he can't possibly have known what he was unleashing.”
“Don't be so sure about that,” Kate replies. “You'd be surprised how many people in the surrounding area actually support Freeman's work and believe he's saving them from the Catholic plague, and from the evils of witchcraft too. I myself have witnessed the man being hailed as a hero when he arrives in some of the villages. He's given free food and lodging, free wine, free use of many of their daughters. For a so-called man of God, he certainly knows how to enjoy the physical pleasures of the world.”
“Where can I find him?” I ask.
“Why? So you can kill him?”
“Of course,” I tell her, with my eyes still fixed on my sister's grave. “I might even torture him first, so he feels what it's like.”
“No. You mustn't become like him. If the good men of this world come to mimic the bad, then we are all lost.” She puts a hand on my arm. “If you find him, you must kill him quickly and cleanly, with honor.”
“He deserves no mercy,” I mutter darkly.
“Do you have any idea how many have been in your position? How many have seen their loved ones die at Freeman's hand and have set out to gain revenge? Good people, honest people, twisted into rage and anger, and not one of them was able to stop him. Freeman is smart and he surrounds himself with people who warn him when trouble is coming.”
“You doubt that I would be able to bring him down?”