by Amy Cross
“Don't test me now!” Herbert sneered, his features already red and blustery. “I'm warning you, Jack. I'm not in the mood for your foolishness!”
“The hospital just called,” Margaret said as she got to her feet. “The doctors have finished examining Diana, and they think she's well enough to come home. And the police have concluded that she's not responsible for Rachel's disappearance so, well...”
“I'll hire more doctors,” Herbert stammered, grabbing his phone and bringing up a number. “I'll hire every doctor in the bloody country if that's what it takes! One of them'll section the stupid bitch. What's the matter with the medical profession these days? Do none of them understand the value of cold, hard cash?”
“Maybe they have ethics,” Jack muttered under his breath. “Just a thought.”
“Diana's free to come home today,” Margaret explained as she joined Jack and Natalie in the doorway. “I think Herbert thought she was going to spend the rest of her life locked away, but it seems she's not nearly as troubled as he assumed.”
“Or as he wanted,” Jack whispered, watching as his brother yelled at somebody on the phone.
“I should get a room ready for Diana,” Margaret continued, heading out into the hallway. “The poor woman must be exhausted.”
“Are we still leaving today?” Natalie asked Jack, placing a hand on his shoulder from behind. “Babe?”
Jack watched Herbert for a moment longer, before turning to her. “His plan's falling apart.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whatever he's up to,” he continued, “it's not going very well. I'm starting to think he wanted Diana out of the way. Maybe this whole mess with Rachel is some concoction he dreamed up to give her a breakdown, but she's proving to be far more resilient.” He hesitated, and finally a faint smile crossed his lips. “It's always fun to watch Herbert's plans come crashing down. They always do, I don't think even one of them has ever worked the way he intended. Except this time, I think he's really crossed a line. At the very least, he could be done for wasting police time, but I reckon he's maybe gone even further.”
“You think he's broken the law?”
“I know he's broken the law. I can use this against him.”
“But you said you didn't want to keep taking his money!”
“I don't, I just...” His voice trailed off for a moment. “You're right. I was tempted there for a moment, but you're absolutely right. Still, I need to see this through to the end. I think old Herb's world is about to collapse, and it wouldn't really be fair of me to run away, would it? After all, I'm his brother. I owe it to him to be there until the bitter end, and to laugh in his face.”
“Then give me the number of a doctor who will!” Herbert screamed, before slamming the phone down with such force that a piece broke free and clattered to the floor.
“No luck, old boy?” Jack asked airily.
Herbert glared at him for a moment.
“They asked,” he said finally, “whether I would be picking Diana up from the hospital myself, or whether they should send her in a taxi.”
“Tough choice,” Jack pointed out. “A taxi might be easier, but -”
“I'll fetch her,” Herbert sneered, before making his way around the desk. “I think it's time I started taking matters into my own hands. If everybody else is going to keep letting me down, what choice do I have?”
“Don't worry,” Jack said to Natalie, as Herbert stormed away. “He's a pussycat, really. He couldn't hurt a fly.”
“I hope you're right,” she replied. “I don't think I've ever seen a man look so angry. Or so desperate.” She paused for a moment, as a ripple of fear ran through her chest. “I think you might be wrong, Jack,” she added finally. “I think your brother Herbert might be a very dangerous man indeed.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Today
Stopping in the doorway, Herbert saw that Diana was sitting in the bay window. He watched her for a moment, before suddenly she gasped and turned to him, as if she'd sensed his presence.
“I can't do this anymore,” he stammered. “I just... I think it's time to put things right. I think it's time to undo what we did fifteen years ago.”
She stared at him for a moment, before finally nodding. “I think so too.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
15 years ago
“I should have left years ago!” Margaret sobbed as she threw more clothes into a suitcase. “I should have walked away from this house and never come back! I was -”
“No!”
Grabbing her wrist, Herbert held her firmly in place. She tried to wriggle away, but he took hold of her shoulder and turned her around, and then he kissed her. When she tried to break free, he simply pulled her closer and forced the kiss to continue, and finally he only let go when he needed to take a breath.
“I will fix this!” he told her, as she stared at him with an expression of shock. “As God is my witness, by the end of the day I will have made sure that Diana is out of the way permanently.”
“But I thought the doctors -”
“Screw the doctors!” he hissed. “I thought I could reply upon them, but evidently I was mistaken. Evidently I shall have to take the more direct approach, but that's alright. A man shouldn't be afraid to get his hands dirty from time to time.”
“What are you going to do, Herbert?”
“I'm going to go out for a few hours,” he told her, “and by the time I get back, you'll have moved your things into my bedroom.”
“But -”
“And that's final,” he added, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Keep packing your suitcase, my darling, but remember that your journey will only take you across the hallway. Meanwhile, I shall give those media parasites the slip, and I shall take Diana to Rafter's Wood.”
“Rafter's Wood?” She furrowed her brow. “Why would you take her there? It's completely barren.”
“Exactly,” he continued. “Those incompetent doctors won't be smiling when they learn that, just a few hours after being cleared for release, Diana Stone committed suicide. And she will kill herself. I'm not going to give her any other choice.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Today
“I'm scared,” Diana whispered, as she stood in the bedroom and held Jack's hands. “I don't think I've ever been more scared in my whole life. Not even...”
Her voice trailed off.
“We have to do this,” he replied, looking deep into her eyes. “The lies have eaten us from the inside. I don't know about you, but I feel hollow and empty. I feel like I'm the most awful person in the whole world, and I can't handle the guilt, not anymore. I became him. I mean I actually, truly became that monster.”
“We can't undo it, though,” she pointed out, her voice trembling with fear. “Can we?”
“No. All we can do is end this farce and do what we should have done a long time ago. It's time to go home.”
With that, he leaned closer and kissed her tenderly.
Chapter Thirty-Five
15 years ago
“Rafter's Wood?” Diana said as the car ground to a halt. “What are we doing all the way out here?”
“Get out,” Herbert said firmly.
She turned to him.
“Get out of the bloody car,” he continued, before sighing as he opened the door on his own side and climbed out. Hurrying around the vehicle, he finally pulled the other door open and reached inside, grabbing Diana's arm and starting to haul her out.
“I don't want to!” she shouted. “Herbert, stop! I want to go home! You said you were taking me home! You're hurting me, you said -”
Before she could finish, she tumbled from the seat and landed hard on the grass. Her husband took hold of her wrists and pulled her several meters across the bumpy ground before stepping back over her and slamming the door shut, and then he locked the car before leaning back against the side and trying to get his breath back.
Wincing slightly, Diana s
at up and looked around, but all she saw were trees on one side of the clearing and a vast green field stretching to the horizon on the other. They were miles from town, and even further from home, and the only sound – apart from Herbert's strained breaths – came from the rustling trees.
After a moment, Diana turned and looked up at him.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked, and now there was fear in her voice.
“I didn't,” he replied, still trying to recover from the exertion of dragging her from the car. “I took you home, and then you ran away and came here by yourself.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I raced here to try to stop you, but I was too late. When I found you, you'd already bled out.”
“Herbert...”
She watched in horror as he slipped a knife from one of his inside pockets.
“Herbert, what is this about?” she continued, inching away from him. “Herbert, you're scaring me!”
“I will have those doctors struck off the medical register for their incompetence,” he explained. “That's assuming they don't quit out of shame. You must understand, my dear, that I only wanted you out of the way. I thought you'd be quite happy in one of those mental institutions. You'd have been able to spend the rest of your days there, and they're not the most frightful places. You'd have made friends, you've have been able to take part in activities. You could have lived a quite reasonable life.”
“You wanted me locked away in a hospital?”
“You kept saying you wanted to kill yourself. I simply grew tired of waiting.”
“Herbert, please...”
“I suppose I should have taken the direct route in the first place. It would have saved time, and poor Rachel...” He paused. “I suppose I should let you know now that Rachel is quite fine. She's being looked after by Mac Trelawney, from the town. When this has all blown over a little, she'll be placed on the house's doorstep and we'll all rejoice at her miraculous return, and then she'll grow up as a proper member of the Stone family. That, I can assure you. She'll have the most wonderful life.”
“You kidnapped our daughter?” she stammered. “And then you tried to make me think I'd done something to her?”
“Don't get hysterical, dear.”
“You set all of this up?” she stammered, as a sense of rage began to rise through her chest. “You drove me to the point of madness! You have me locked away!”
“It all would have worked, too,” he explained, “if it hadn't been for two unfortunate things. First, the doctors refused to section you permanently. And second, my idiotic brother Jack decided to show up and start sticking his nose into things. I imagine I shall have to pay handsomely to get rid of him this time, but I'm sure he'll go away once he's got some cash in his pocket. That's just how his mind works.”
“And then it'll be...”
Her voice trailed off.
“Oh God,” she continued finally, as she began to realize what he wanted. “It'll be just you and Margaret in that house. That's what you've always been after, isn't it? You and your sister, living like a married couple and -”
“She's not my sister by blood!”
“She's your sister, you sick pervert!”
“Not by blood!” he roared, taking a step closer with the knife raised. “It's not wrong! I love her and she loves me, and it's not wrong!”
“You're disgusting!” she spat back at him, as she struggled to her feet. “I knew there was something between the pair of you, but I told myself you'd never act on it. You have acted on it, though, haven't you? Have you two been at it while we were married, or was it just before?”
“I'm not going to bother explaining myself to you,” he replied. “How could someone like you understand pure love?”
“Pure love?” she replied, before bursting into a fit of laughter. “Oh Herbert, you're out of your thick, piggy mind! Now take me back to the house and we'll start sorting this mess out. I'll take Rachel far away from you and your grubby little set-up, and then you and Margaret can do whatever you want. Honestly, it's no concern of mine where you dip your wick.”
“That won't be enough.”
She pushed past him as she headed toward the car. Still laughing, she wiped tears from her eyes.
“Margaret's all you want, isn't she?” she asked. “Well, fine, I'm not going to stand in the way of true love. Just give me a quickie divorce, and a decent sum of money, and I'll take Rachel and -”
Suddenly she gasped as Herbert drove the knife into her back. Stumbling forward, she grabbed the side of the car and tried to hold herself up, but Herbert had already slid the knife out. As blood flowed from the wound, he stabbed her again and again, each time bringing a groan of pain from her lips until finally her legs buckled and she began to slide down to the ground. The knife was embedded in her back now and Herbert was still holding the handle, but slowly he pulled the blade clear and watched as she toppled over and slumped against the grass.
“That's not how it was supposed to be,” he said after a moment, once again feeling a little out of breath. “It was supposed to look like suicide. They were supposed to find your body. Now I'll have to make you disappear instead. Still, the end result will be the same.”
He hesitated, watching as she gasped on the ground, and then he set the knife on the hood of the car before heading around to the other side.
“I suppose there are plenty of places to hide a body,” he muttered, before stopping and looking around, making absolutely sure that there was no sign of anyone else at Rafter's Wood. He waited, before opening the door and reaching into the car, taking out a packet of cigarettes and quickly lighting one so he could take a drag. “Are you dead yet?” he called out, and now he could no longer hear any gasps coming from the other side of the car. “I'll give you another couple of minutes,” he added under his breath, before taking another drag. “I suppose it won't be so difficult for people to believe, really. They'll assume you killed yourself in some isolated spot, horrified by the belief that you were responsible for Rachel's death. Then the tragedy will be compounded when Rachel is returned, but that's not so important right now.”
He paused, taking a deep breath, before stubbing the cigarette out and tossing it away.
“A man must do what a man must do,” he said finally, as he began to make his way back around the car. “Everything will be well in the end.”
Stopping next to Diana's body, he looked down and saw that the back of her dress was covered in blood, and that the knife wounds had left tattered cuts in the fabric. She was completely still, although a light breeze was ruffling her hair.
“Rest in peace,” he whispered, making the sign of the cross on his chest before turning and reaching for the knife.
But the knife was gone.
He hesitated for a moment, and then he began to turn. He was too late, however, and Diana screamed with fury as she used the last of her strength to lunge up at him. She dug the knife deep into his belly and then hung onto the handle, dragging the blade down through Herbert's body until the serrated edge caught against his leather belt. Still screaming, Diana refused to let go until finally Herbert tipped over and slammed down against the grass with his guts spilling out through the huge cut in his belly. Even now, Diana's bloodied hands remained on the knife's handle for a few more seconds before slipped away.
“Help me,” Herbert gasped, reaching down and feeling blood erupting from the thick wound that had been torn down through his guts. “For the love of God, somebody help me!”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Today
“Look at me,” Herbert whispered, staring into the mirror and seeing his own sad, mournful eyes staring straight back. “Look at what I became. Look at how successful I was at all of this.”
“You weren't the only one,” Diana replied, standing next to him and staring at her own reflection. “I've felt like a ghost for so long.”
She paused, before reaching over and taking his hand in hers, and s
queezing tight.
“We've both been ghosts.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
15 years ago
“Herbert!” Margaret shouted as she pushed the car door open and stumbled out onto the grass. “Diana! Where are you?”
She ran over to Herbert's car, before stopping as soon as she saw the two bloodied bodies on the ground. Frozen for a few seconds by the horrific sight, she finally took a faltering step back and leaned against the side of the car, as Jack raced past her and dropped to his knees next to Herbert's corpse.
“Is he okay?” Margaret asked as she watched him checking the dead man's pulse. “Jack, tell me he's okay. Tell me Herbert's okay.”
Even as those words left her mouth, however, she knew the answer. Deep down, twisting in her gut, the truth was beginning to stir.
Jack checked both sides of Herbert's neck, before trying his wrists too, and then he peered down and saw his brother's dead, glassy eyes staring into the mud. He paused for a moment as the enormity of the situation washed over him, but then he hurried to Diana and checked her for a pulse too. He tried several times, but it quickly became clear that she too was dead, and finally he pulled back and sat on the grass, staring at the two bodies.
“Tell me Herbert's okay!” Margaret sobbed, dropping to her knees as Natalie stumbled over to join them. “Tell me!”
“I can't,” Jack whispered, unable to tear his gaze away from his brother's corpse.
“Tell me!” she screamed. “Even if it isn't true, just tell me he's okay!”
“Oh God,” Natalie stammered, putting her hands over her mouth. “What happened?”
“Herbert!” Suddenly lunging forward, Margaret grabbed Herbert's shoulder and started shaking him, sobbing wildly as she tried to wake him from death. “It's me!” she shouted frantically. “Herbert, come back! We can fix everything else, but I need you by my side! Herbert, I can't live without you! I know you're dead, but you can come back! You can be the first person who comes back! Just hear my voice and come to me, and everything will be okay! Herbert, please, you can't leave me!” She leaned closer and started kissing the side of his face, even though his flesh was cold by now. After a moment, however, she saw the blood all over his belly, and when she pulled back she found that some of the blood was now smeared on her hands and arms.