Dwell (Kassidy Bell Series Book 2)

by Lynda O'Rourke

  “You won’t need to worry about dealing with Alex,” spat Mrs. Gables. “He’ll deal with you – all of you.” She turned and walked down the staircase.

  “What do you mean?” asked the bishop, his eyes looked down upon the dark hall – it was pitch-black. “What have you done...?” He gasped and threw his hands up to his face with a look of shock – or was it sheer terror that appeared in his eyes?

  “What the fuck does it matter if the old bag leaves?” snapped Jude, “Who gives a shit?”

  “Dear God.” The bishop closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “Now ain’t the time to stand and pray!” yelled Jude. “She’s leaving – so what – we’re leaving too.”

  “The fires… she’s put them out… help me get them started…” the bishop flew down the stairs. Reaching the fireplace, he turned to Mrs. Gables as she unlocked the front door. “Where are the coals… they’ve gone… where have you put them?”

  “There are none.” Mrs Gable’s cold stare appeared in the slither of moonlight that seeped through the gap in the door. Stepping out, she slammed the front door shut. The clank of a key turning filled the large hall with an echo.

  “She’s locked us in,” hissed Raven.

  “We need to get the fires going…” shouted the bishop.

  “Why...? What is it with these fires?” I snapped, watching the bishop frantically crawl around on his hands and knees in search of some coal.

  He looked up at me, his face pale. “When the fire goes out… Alex comes out.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  “He climbs down the chimneys.” The bishop stood up and looked about the large hall. “The third floor has several fireplaces and they all have access to different rooms in the house.”

  “Shit,” whispered Max, looking over his shoulder.

  “If we light the fires then we can stop him,” said the bishop, turning away.

  “Wait,” I whispered. “He’s already in the house.” That was why he hadn’t appeared when we had struggled up on the third floor. He had already climbed down one of the chimneybreasts. But which one?

  “What?” Max took a step nearer until he stood right in front of me. “How do you know?” His eyes grew wide with fear as he stared into my face, his voice little more than a whisper. “Please don’t tell me he’s right behind me?”

  I was about to answer him when the sound of scattering came from the fireplace. We stepped away – all of us. Small bits of brick dropped out from the inside of the chimneybreast and tumbled onto the stone floor.

  Jude held up the torch and shone it at the fireplace. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when a low, guttural moan came from the darkness of the chimneybreast.

  The bishop grabbed Jude’s arm and yanked it down. “Don’t shine the light – he doesn’t like it.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Jude headed for the front door. He gripped the handle in his fists and pulled with all his strength. It wouldn’t budge. Max joined him and began to kick at the door. It was pointless – we weren’t ever going to get out that way.

  “Upstairs!” shouted the bishop. “Is the fire still going in your bedroom?” He headed for the staircase.

  “I don’t know, it was beginning to die down but I couldn’t find any more coal,” I said, chasing the bishop up the stairs. Raven followed close behind – Jude and Max at her heels.

  “Why are we even going with him?” asked Raven. “He lied to us and tried to get us killed. He could be leading us into another trap.”

  The bishop swung around at the top of the stairs and looked at us. “Alex is on the loose – I need you and you need me – if we are to get out of this mess unharmed. I can’t contain Alex by myself, and besides, we can’t get out of the house. Mrs. Gables has probably taken all the keys. We’re trapped in this together.”

  He turned away and continued to head toward our bedroom.

  “What should we do?” I asked the others. “Do we follow him?”

  A noise from the hall downstairs echoed up through the dark – like something had fallen.

  “I don’t think we’ve got time to stand here and debate it.” Max started to shove us down the corridor. “Go – go!” He looked over his shoulder as the sound of feet slapping on the stone slabs of the hall became louder – nearer.

  I didn’t need any persuading. I ran. It wouldn’t take Alex long to reach us. I remembered how fast the volunteers back at Cruor Pharma had moved, how they had crawled along walls and their ability to clamber over ceilings. I took a sharp right and caught sight of the bishop in the dark disappearing into our bedroom. Panic rose up inside me as I heard another low moan seep down the corridor. With long strides, I reached the bedroom and flew in, almost knocking the bishop off his feet. I turned to see Raven, Jude, and then Max pile in and slam the door shut.

  “Block it!” I shouted, grabbing hold of the end of the bed and pulling it across the floorboards.

  Max and Jude held the door. The bishop took hold of the other bed and began to slide it over.

  “Hurry up!” yelled Raven as she helped me push the bed against the door. Jude and Max climbed on and continued to push all their weight against the door while the bishop and I heaved the other bed on top of the first one.

  I stepped away from the piled-up beds and looked for anything else we could use. There was nothing. Just the wooden rocking chair.

  “The fire is almost out,” said Jude, leaning against the bed. “Now what are we gonna do?”

  The bishop bent down and began to stoke up the coals with a long brass fork. It was pointless. What little coals were left were barely glowing. There were no flames. Just wispy tendrils of smoke.

  “Try the window!” shouted Jude, still holding the beds in place.

  Raven yanked at the window latch but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked,” she hissed, “The panes of glass are too small to climb through even if we could smash them.”

  I looked out into the night. The ground below was too far down for us to jump even if we could get the window open, but I knew if it came to it, I would rather jump than take the option of fighting Alex.

  “Well,” said Jude, glaring at the bishop. “This is your place and your mess – how are you gonna get us out of here?”

  A loud bang against the door almost knocked Jude over. Alex was outside. The bang came again, followed by what sounded like snarling and groaning. Max and Raven pushed themselves up against the beds.

  The bishop closed his eyes for a few moments like he was lost in deep thought. His eyebrows twitched on his face. Letting out a slow sigh, he said, “The chimney.”

  “What?” Are you mad?” I snapped. “We can’t climb up chimneys.”

  “It’s the only way out of this room,” he whispered. “If we can get up this chimney, it will take us up to the third floor.”

  “Then what?” hissed Raven. “We trap ourselves up there and wait for that devil’s spawn to get us?”

  “There are other chimneybreasts we could then climb down,” whispered the bishop, pacing back and forth. “If we take the one that leads down into the lounge, we could get out through the front windows. The frames are weak – rotten – it wouldn’t take much to break them.”

  “Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have gone to the lounge in the first place then?” snapped Raven. “Why drag us all up here?”

  “I just thought that if we got all the fires going and maybe trapped Alex somehow then all this dreadful mess could have been contained,” answered the bishop.

  “Let’s just open the door and get him,” said Jude. “There’s only one of him and five of us – we can do it.”

  “No!” I shouted, just the thought of even seeing Alex petrified me – filled my head with images of Howard pulling himself across the floor on Ward 2 with his innards all hanging out. I didn’t want to face such sights ever again, let alone have to roll around on the floor and fight Alex.

  “Don’t open the door,” warned the bi
shop. “He’s way beyond being controlled. His strength is unbelievable. If we’re going to trap him then we need to approach him from behind – take him by surprise.”

  I chewed on my lip and paced back and forth like the bishop. What should we do? My heart pounded away inside my chest and I cursed myself for not being more vigilant toward the bishop and Mrs. Gables. How they had been insistent about keeping the fires burning and the weird scattering noises coming from the chimneys. I had been more concerned about fearing the outside – the cleaners and the police, to even think that I should be watching my back inside the bishop’s home.

  “Confront Alex or take the chimney?” Jude cut into my thoughts.

  “Why risk getting killed by Alex, when there’s a way out through the chimney?” asked Max. “I know it’s not ideal, but…” He broke his sentence and looked at me. “We’ve got this far and I know it’s all turned to shit but… we can do this… we can get out of here.”

  I looked at the chimney. The sudden smash against the door made me jump. The wood panelling buckled and the beds rocked and jolted. It was obvious that we wouldn’t be able to hold back Alex for much longer. I didn’t want my life to end here or anywhere, and I didn’t want to see either of my friends get killed. I had seen enough death.

  I snatched up Father Williams’s satchel and reluctantly walked over to the fireplace. “Let’s take the chimney.” I got down on all fours and peered up into the dark cavity.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  With the smouldering embers now out, I climbed up into the chimney. It was like a narrow tunnel filled with nothing but an endless black space. My knees and elbows scraped against the rough, sooty brick as I tried to propel myself up. It was slow-going but the loud thuds and bangs coming from the bedroom door kept me moving. I had my eyes half shut as brick and soot crumbled down upon my face. Max climbed in behind me. I could hear his shallow gasps as he pulled himself up. Right now, I didn’t know what was worse. Trapped inside Cruor Pharma or struggling to get up this goddamn chimney with Alex lurking close by in the darkness? I paused, just for a second and tried to regain my breath. My muscles hurt and my throat felt thick with soot. How much further did I have to go before I reached the third floor? I felt like I was suffocating.

  “Keep moving.” The muffled voice of Raven filtered up. She must be below Max, I thought. I started up again – shinning my way up the chimney like a caterpillar. Just when I thought I would never break free from the constricting tomb-like tunnel, my hands found a break in the chimney. Spurred on by the sudden find and the longing to be free, I found the strength in my arms to pull myself up into a small fireplace. I crawled out, scattering tiny clumps of coal and brick with me. I took large gulps of air before turning around and helping Max as his head appeared in the gloom of the fireplace.

  He grasped my hands and pulled himself out. “Raven’s coming next,” he said, clearing his throat.

  We knelt down and grabbed Raven by her wrists, yanking her up and out of the chimney. As she cleared the fireplace, a yell came from down below. It was the bishop.

  “He’s coming, he’s coming!” the bishop shrieked.

  Leaning over in the dark void from where we had climbed, Max and I could just make out the top of Jude’s head. I breathed a sigh of relief that he was next and not the bishop.

  “Come on, Jude,” I urged him on. That nervous panic was rising within me.

  “Hurry… hurry,” called the bishop, his voice full of fear.

  Jude scrambled free of the chimney just as the cries of the bishop sounded out.

  “He’s got me… He’s got my ankles…help!” the bishop screamed. The sound of his cries and the noise of his body falling back down the chimney echoed up to the third floor. I pulled away from the fireplace not wanting to hear the sickening sound of the bishop’s flesh being torn from his body.

  “Block the chimney up,” Jude said, grabbing hold of what looked like several old suitcases. He pushed them down into the opening of the chimney, wedging them tight so Alex couldn’t climb out. “Don’t know how long that will hold him back but let’s not wait around to find out.” He headed across the shadowy attic toward a door.

  “We need to stay as quiet as possible,” whispered Max. “Remember, Alex is still roaming around down there and he’s got access to other chimneys. He could climb up here within minutes.”

  “We don’t know which chimney to take,” hissed Raven, spinning around and looking through the dark. “How will we know which one of these fireplaces leads down to the lounge?”

  “Fuck knows.” Jude shrugged his shoulders and quietly opened the door.

  “There’s nothing out here except that corridor we were in earlier where the bishop tried to lock us in,” whispered Max, peering over Jude’s shoulder. “I guess we need to pick a chimney and pray it’s the right one.”

  As my eyes adjusted to the dark attic, I could see we were in the roof of the house with its vaulted ceiling and old wooden beams. The attic was huge and I guessed this would have been the servant’s quarters many years ago. The air smelt of damp and rot, and as I looked down at the floor I could see bloody handprints all over it.

  “How many fireplaces can you count?” I whispered, struggling to see much further from where I stood.

  Jude disappeared into the gloom of the attic and came back within moments. “Six. I think we should pick the biggest,” he whispered. “It might be the one that leads down into the lounge or the main hall. Either one will do.”

  We stood huddled together in the centre of the attic. I kept my eyes on the fireplace that we had just climbed – fearful that Alex would try to climb out. I listened but the only noise I could hear was from our own heavy breathing and the creaks of the floorboards.

  “Take that big one,” hissed Raven, pointing at the largest fireplace. “I’m not going down the smaller ones – I’ll get stuck and die of suffocation.”

  “Let’s go then,” whispered Max. “Use your arms and knees to support you as you go down – there won’t be anything to grip onto.” He headed over to the fireplace at speed.

  Raven peered through the dark at me. Her face was covered in black soot and her hair looked like she’d had a bucket of tar poured over it. She really did look like a swamp monster.

  “Don’t go slipping down that chimney,” she mumbled. “You’re no good dead. Maybe I should go before you – if you slip then I’ll break your fall.”

  “What about you?” I whispered, surprised by her suggestion. “What if you fall?”

  “I won’t,” she hissed. “I’m good at climbing.”

  I followed her over to the hearth and got down on my hands and knees. I felt sick. I really didn’t want to go back inside another chimney, especially this one. It was longer than the one we had just climbed up. My stomach churned at the thought that we could get halfway down and Alex could suddenly appear from either end. Then what would we do? It would be a race to get out before he caught us, and a chimney was no place to race.

  “You two go first,” said Jude, crouching down beside the hearth. “When you get to the bottom – wherever it comes out – head for the lounge and get those windows open. Don’t wait for anyone – just go.”

  Raven had already started to disappear down the chimney with just the top of her head poking out. I looked at Jude. His blue eyes almost seemed to pierce through the dark. He looked at me and winked.

  “What if one of us gets stuck?” I whispered.

  “I’ll be right above you,” he said. “If you get stuck then I’ll get stuck with you – now go.” He stroked the side of my face and ushered me into the chimney.

  I was just about to lever myself down when movement in one of the other fireplaces caught my eye. I froze.

  “What is it – what’s wrong?” whispered Max, his eyes narrowed.

  “The fireplace… look…” My heart beat so hard I thought it would explode. “Alex is coming out of the chimney.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

>   Alex appeared in the fireplace. Just his head and one arm at first. His long fingers snatched at the air like spiders legs and he gnashed his teeth together and snarled when he saw us. The sight of us seemed to excite him as he thrashed around, half in–half out of the chimney. I could hear his teeth snapping together along with his laboured breathing. It sounded like his lungs were full of liquid.

  “Go, Kassidy… go!” shouted Jude, pushing down on my head – the lower half of my body hanging precariously down the chimney.

  I didn’t need any persuasion. The sight of Alex and his snapping jaws had my body pumping with adrenaline. There was no way I was gonna hang around. I only prayed that Jude and Max would make it down into the chimney and reach the bottom before Alex could crawl in and get them both.

  As I disappeared down into the chimney, I wedged myself against the brickwork and shimmied further down using the same method I had done in the other chimney – like a caterpillar – only this time I moved faster. There was more room in this chimney, which was good, but it was also more dangerous – easier to slip and fall.

  I peered down into the dark. I couldn’t see Raven but I could hear her clambering down. Looking up, I could see Jude lowering himself into the chimney. I continued to move down. Father Williams’s satchel scraped against the brickwork sending clusters of soot and rubble tumbling below.

  “Keep moving!” yelled Jude. His feet were just above my head.

  “Is Max in here?” I breathed, fearful that he hadn’t made it in.

  “He’s right above my head.” Jude’s voice echoed past me.

  “Speed up!” shouted Max.

  I could hear the panic in his voice. If Alex got into the chimney then it would be Max who would be the first to die. I continued to move my body down – top half bent forward – lower half-knees up. It felt like I’d been stuck in the chimney forever. We had to be halfway down by now – didn’t we?