by Helen Phifer
‘There’s something in the house.’`
‘Like what? You mean there’s an intruder, someone has broken in?’
Emilia shook her head. ‘No, I don’t know what it is. It’s a monster.’
‘Honey, the only monsters in this world are the bad people who do bad things to good people. Like your…’
Mrs Smith stopped talking, a faint redness creeping up her neck.
Emilia looked at her. ‘Like my brother, you’re right. He is a monster. This isn’t a human being I’m talking about. I was using the Ouija board to speak to Mae, but something else was there. It smelt bad, it made the room freezing cold, and it growled louder than a grizzly bear.’
Mr Smith was talking to a police officer on the phone. Mrs Smith led them into the drawing room, closing the door behind them.
‘Honey, you shouldn’t be playing around with one of those boards, they’re evil and bring forth spirits that have no place in this world. I read that your brother used one as well as painting satanic symbols all over the walls. I think he may have summoned more than your dead aunt from Milwaukee.’
Missy looked at the woman and Emilia felt her knees give way as she slumped onto the couch. She was relieved that Mrs Smith believed her, it meant that she wasn’t going crazy.
‘What do we do about it because it’s getting stronger and it’s taking over the house?’
Mrs Smith checked to see her husband wasn’t listening. Then leant forward and whispered.
‘I can help you to get rid of it, but it won’t be easy. We mustn’t let David know either because after the last time I chased an evil spirit he made me promise I wouldn’t ever do anything like it ever again. You are lucky you hammered on my door because Mrs Fitch is a good Christian woman who would have shut the curtains and turned her television louder.’ She winked at them.
‘Why did he make you promise?’
‘It nearly killed me, honey, but I survived. Damn it, I knew there was more to this than your brother flipping his lid. He’s been meddling in stuff he had no right to meddle in. Have you called in a priest?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He got sick and had to leave; he rushed out of the house and said he had to speak to the Archbishop.’
Mrs Smith chewed her bottom lip. ‘That will take a long time and the church although it survives by preaching to its flock about the fight between good and evil, well, it has kind of a hard time actually believing that those kind of evil spirits truly exist. Some priests are good and will help, others won’t. Do you think he’ll help because it would make it better if we had a man of God standing with us?’
Emilia didn’t like the way this conversation was going. What did she mean by ‘standing with us’?
‘I don’t know, I thought I could trust him, but he ran away.’
‘Fear can do that to anyone, sometimes what you need to do is stand your ground and fight it head on. These demons, entities, whatever you want to call it. They feed off fear, they invoke it especially for their own pleasure.’
Emilia stole a glance at Missy who was looking paler by the minute, this whole situation had gone from nought to one hundred in the space of an hour. She had spoken no more than a few words to the short, round woman standing in front of her for the last couple of years. Yet here she was giving them shelter and talking about fighting a demon with them. Any moment now someone was going to shake her awake from this nightmare. How relieved would she be to discover it had all been a horrible dream and that Mae was at this moment in time taking her final bow on the theatre stage. That James was back on Staten Island and the House on West 10th Street wasn’t the current home of some beast from the depths of hell.
‘I don’t suggest we deal with it tonight, they like the dark and gather more strength. Daylight is their enemy, so we will gather what we need tomorrow morning including your priest. I will wave Mr Smith off to work with his lunchbox just like I do every day and then we will prepare to do battle. Is this agreeable by you?’
Emilia nodded. ‘Yes, thank you. I don’t expect you to put yourself at any risk though, Mrs Smith.’
‘I can no longer live across the road from a house full of evil and ignore it than I can a starving child begging on the corner of 5th. It’s my calling; my mom had it and so did her mom. Mr Smith doesn’t understand it, he thinks it’s all a bit of game. I’ve been cleansing houses and speaking to dead people since I was eight years old. I do God’s work, not all spirits are bad. Some are lost, or lonely, some are shocked and don’t understand that they’re dead. A guiding hand and a soothing voice can send them on to where they need to go. Most of the time they’re thankful to be able to speak to someone who can still hear them. Some of them are a bit grumpy. You get used to it, I like to think that I do God’s work on earth for him. A bit like a shepherd, only instead of a flock of sheep I gather lost souls.’
Emilia stared at the woman wondering if she was being serious and decided that she was. Mrs Smith smiled at her and she saw a flicker of golden light in the iris of her chocolate, brown eyes. It was warm, loving and for the first time since Mae’s horrible death she felt safe, in this room with the friendly woman standing in front of her, smiling. Emilia nodded, she understood that somehow, she had been led to this house. Out of all the Brownstones in the street she ran to this one, a safe haven from the horror that had taken up residence in her home.
Chapter Forty-One
Frankie opened one eye and groaned when he moved his head. It hurt like a bitch. It was throbbing and he wondered if Christy had chipped his skull when she’d thrown the oversized coffee cup at his head. For all he knew he had swelling on the brain, it sure as hell felt like it. He wondered if Maria was up yet, he didn’t want to spend the morning feeling sorry for himself. He’d rather be up working and trying to find the killer before Addison hauled them off the case and gave it to the cold-case team. It would be pretty fine if they solved it, prove just how good Miller and Conroy were. It sounded good. Miller and Conroy could be one of those fancy detective series on the television. The modern equivalent of Cagney and Lacey or Starsky and Hutch. He sat up feeling a little dizzy. For the second time in less than five minutes he wondered if he had some kind of permanent brain damage. When he’d showered and dressed he put some bagels under the grill and called Maria. She sounded even groggier than he did.
‘Urgh, what time is it?’
He looked up at the oversized kitchen clock Christy had insisted they had to have from Macy’s that he fucking hated. It was like looking up at Grand Central’s huge clock which looked great on the side of a building, but not in his freaking kitchen.
‘Eight.’
‘What do you want?’
‘Oh, that’s real charming, I was going to ask you over for breakfast. I thought we could get an early start.’
‘I’m not home, hang on.’
Her voice went muffled and he knew she’d clamped her hand over the mouthpiece. What was worse she was talking to someone else and he felt his stomach drop. She came back on the line.
‘I can be at yours in an hour, I need to go home first.’
‘Where are you?’
There was a pause and he knew it really wasn’t any of his business where she was, Maria was also probably thinking the same.
‘At The Plaza.’
He began to laugh. ‘Yeah right, you spent the night at The Plaza.’
‘Why is that so hard to believe?’
He laughed even harder. ‘Because you’d never pay Plaza rates for a room, Miss tight-ass.’
‘Fuck you Frankie, I’ll see you at nine.’
She ended the call, she was being serious. Holy shit, Maria, who did you screw to get a night there? A bitter taste filled his mouth, he knew exactly who she’d spend the night with. Harrison Williams probably had a whole goddamn suite at the fucking Plaza. He clenched his fist, he wanted to smack the smug fuck in his mouth and knock his row of perfect white teeth out. For the next t
wenty minutes he slammed around his apartment until he calmed down. He knew he had no right to feel so angry because Maria had gone out on a date. What she did in her own time was nothing to do with him. They worked together, they were partners. That was it, they weren’t lovers. They’d never slept together. The voice in his head whispered, Yes, but you wanted to didn’t you? Now Christy has been screwing around, you’re a single guy and after years of being single the woman you’ve been in love with for years has found herself a very rich lover. So where does that leave you, Frankie? Out in the fucking cold, that’s where. This time it was him who picked up one of the stupid cups, another thing Christy had spent a small fortune on. The clock began to chime and he launched it at it, ducking at the almighty crash and as shards of glass flew everywhere. He stood tall and looked at the mess. Jeez, it was going to take him an hour to clean it up, but for the first time since he’d woken up he smiled. He would put the clock and pieces of broken glass in a paper grocery sack and mail it to Adam’s house as a housewarming gift.
Maria smiled as Harrison fiddled with his tie. ‘So do you always bring your dates here? Is this like your own personal suite?’
He shook his head. ‘My mom’s in town, she’s on her twice yearly visit with her entourage of friends. I booked this suite for her, but she insisted on stopping with me. I love her, but, Christ, she drives me mad. I didn’t want to subject you to a grilling by her and the two ugly stepsisters.’
She laughed. ‘I could have handled your mom.’
‘Oh, I have no doubt about that, however I really like you and I don’t want her putting you off agreeing to another date with me. Which you would, I’m sure you would.’
Maria got out of the bed, slipping on the fluffy white robe emblazoned with the hotel’s logo. She crossed the room and began to fasten his tie for him. He let her and she enjoyed being so close to him, he smelt of mint and lemon shower gel.
‘I need to shower and go home, I have work. Thank you for last night, I enjoyed it.’
She turned to walk away and he tugged her back, pulling her face towards his he crushed his lips against hers and she felt her stomach begin to churn. As much as she wanted to go back to bed with him she had to go to work. She pulled away, her cheeks flushed.
‘Sorry, I do have to go. Could I have a lift please?’
He laughed. ‘I don’t know what shocks me more – you asking for a lift or the fact that you stayed the night.’
She shook her head. ‘Yeah, well it must have been the milkshake overload. All that sugar made me lose control of my senses.’ She turned and walked into the huge bathroom. He shouted after her.
‘I have to go, I’ll have the car drop me off and come back for you. Is that okay?’
‘Perfect, thank you.’
Maria turned the shower on, she never heard him leave. She had a lot to do today, even though facing Frankie was going to be difficult she wanted to get it out in the open. She didn’t know how long this ‘thing’ with Harrison might last, but she sure as hell wanted to enjoy it. And she couldn’t if she was sneaking around behind Frankie’s back.
As she got in the elevator she smiled at the elderly couple who were bickering over what to eat for breakfast. She couldn’t help wondering how long they’d been married. She felt a little overdressed for this time of day, but what the hell. They weren’t to know she’d only stayed overnight to sleep with her date. She felt a little bit like Vivienne from Pretty Woman and was relieved to reach the lobby. As she walked out of the entrance doors and down the red carpeted steps she saw Harrison’s driver jump out of a stretch limousine. He opened the door and nodded as she slid inside the car and he shut it behind her. Not quite believing her ride was so luxurious she stared out of the window watching the hordes of New Yorkers on their way to work. She would make it up to Frankie and buy him lunch, and she wanted to do everything possible to identify the man on the still, last seen with Anya. It was going to be a long day, but it was what she loved. The car stopped outside her apartment and she leant forward. ‘Don’t get out, I can manage. Thank you.’ The driver shook his head.
‘Ma’am it’s a long, boring day driving around. If I get out I can stretch my legs.’ He was out of the car and round to her side before she could object. He opened the door and she stepped out.
‘Thank you, what’s your name?’
‘Benjamin.’
‘Thanks, Benjamin.’
‘You’re very welcome, ma’am, I hope to see you again soon.’ He tipped his hat at her and she laughed. She walked up the steps to the building and wondered if she would see him again. Or now she’d given in so easy to Harrison Williams would he even be interested in her. It didn’t really matter, she’d had a good time and that was what counted. She went into the dark apartment building, the elevator took her up to her floor and she got out. She’d forgotten about yesterday and her door being left open, all she could think about was finding Anya’s killer. Opening her front door she inhaled and wrinkled her nose, it smelt terrible. Had she left food or milk out? She didn’t think so, yet it smelled like rotten garbage. Closing the door behind her she kicked off her heels and went to the kitchen in search of the foul stench. It was so cold in here, she must have left the air con on super high. A shudder racked her entire body as she checked the bin and cupboards to see where the smell was coming from. The noise of the cupboards and drawers opening and slamming shut disguised the creak of the closet door as it slowly opened. There wasn’t anything obvious, although tugging open the fridge door it didn’t light up, the power had gone. All her food must have gone off. Annoyed, she checked the plug and saw it had been pulled out of the socket. What the fuck! How did that happen? Furious, she plugged it back in, the light illuminating the inside of the cooler. As she opened the door wide she opened her mouth to scream, on the shelf was a decomposing head. It was black and green, two eyes were staring at her. Open wide in horror, the smell was coming from the head. She cupped her hand over her mouth and nose. Panic filled her chest. Where was her phone? Realising she’d left her purse in the car she turned to run out of the apartment to Miss Green’s and slammed straight into the man who was standing behind her watching. Opening her mouth to scream his fist shot out and he punched her so hard in the side of the head her vision blurred. Stumbling, she grabbed the nearest thing to her which was a glass vase and threw it at him, he ducked as it whistled past his head, smashing against the wall sending shards of glass everywhere. He lunged for her and she side-swiped him, unsteady on her feet she was almost past him when he stuck his foot out and she fell forwards. Trying her best not to go down, she knew if she did he’d be at an advantage and she almost didn’t until he threw himself at her and they both landed on the carpet with a heavy thud. Maria felt her breath whoosh from her body as he straddled her back. Opening her mouth to scream the sound was cut off by the tautness of the rope wrapped around her neck. She gagged as she choked. He pulled tighter until she saw flecks of silver floating around in her eyes and then everything went black.
Chapter Forty-Two
Miss Green paused. Had that loud thump and crash come from Maria’s apartment? Not nosy in the least, but more concerned, she pressed her ear against the wall. She couldn’t hear anything, and if Maria had hurt herself she’d be shouting for help. It had occurred to her that if she had asked her Maria would have come to help them. The last thing she wanted though was to put her in any danger, she already walked that line every single day. Gathering what she needed she slung the heavy purse over her shoulder and turned to look around her apartment. She couldn’t complain, she’d had a long, happy life. It was far more than Mae Evans had and she felt truly blessed that God had seen fit to let her do so. If she died today then so be it, she was going to die sometime – that was one thing there was no escaping from. She placed the smooth, ivory envelope on the sideboard and walked out of the front door, closing it behind her. She decided to take a town car to West 10th, she could afford to splurge. As it stopped outside she leant forwa
rd and tipped the driver, he looked down and shook his head.
‘I can’t take this, ma’am.’
‘Yes, you can. Thank you.’
She got out and stared across the road at the house that had belonged to Mr and Mrs Smith. What she would give to have Mrs Smith fighting their corner once more. Only she was now older than Mrs Smith had been the first time around. Missy wondered if Mrs Smith was watching over her now, since that dreadful day she’d never really felt alone, even when she was. This thing, beast, demon, monster whatever it was called had inflicted far too much suffering on innocent, unwitting victims. It was time to end it for good.
The house stood tall and proud cloaked in a veil of shadows. Had it always been so dark? She didn’t think that it had; she remembered the days the sun was so bright it would burn through the windows. The heat would be far too hot, making the rooms stuffy and unbearable until she’d thrown them open to let the air flow through. No, the house hadn’t always been one of black shadows, cold draughts and foul smells. It had been a happy, warm, loving home, her home, her happy place until that night. None of them had ever felt safe again in there, she hadn’t been able to wait to move out. The day she left she’d been guilt ridden because Emilia had insisted on staying on, even after Clarke’s death when she could have gone back to the family home on Staten Island to be with her mother. How had she spent the last sixty five years living in the grasp of such evil? It was something Missy didn’t think she’d ever be able to comprehend. She turned around realizing she was standing at the foot of the steps to Mrs Smith’s Brownstone. She reached out and touched the gatepost, which was warm and her hand felt as if it was heating up. This house was the polar opposite of Emilia’s, it emanated light and peace from every brick. Placing both hands on the bricks she felt as if she was absorbing some of the goodness. She whispered, ‘Mrs Smith, I don’t know if you’re here. It feels as if you are, please send us your strength. You helped us to send it back once, please help me again. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do it on my own.‘