‘Oh I see. Well don’t stay up too late eh, you need your sleep.’
Jennifer turned to leave. She would let his mother argue it out with him.
‘Jenny?’ Josh said. ‘Stay away from the woods.’
Jennifer froze. ‘What woods?’
‘The dark woods. With the blackbirds. It’s a bad place.’
She crept back to her nephew, keeping her voice low. ‘I don’t understand. Where did you get this from?’
Josh shrugged, and giggled as he pointed to a character in the Beano magazine. ‘He’s called Pongo, he’s farty. Can you read it to me?’
‘Only if you promise to go to sleep when I’m done.’ Jennifer nudged him up on the bed and relayed the rest of the comic story. She knew not to push him for answers. Sometimes insights came in flashes, and were gone as quickly as they came. She closed the comic book and laid it on the floor.
‘Everything all right now?’ she said, an open invitation to disclose more.
‘Uh-huh. I love you,’ Josh said before snuggling into his pillow and closing his eyes.
Jennifer kissed his warm forehead and pulled the duvet to his shoulder. ‘I love you too, goodnight sweetie.’
She activated the soft round nightlight and switched off the bulb on the wall, casting the room into a bluish glow. Joshua looked so small under the Spider-Man duvet cover, his vulnerability raising her emotions until they formed as a lump in her throat. She clicked the door behind her and tried to decipher the message. It had to be related to the Raven, but how? Stay away from the woods? The woods where Felicity Baron was killed was miles away. Unless he meant the woods around the boathouse? No. These were fresh concerns. A new warning for her ears only. Chances were he didn’t even understand it himself, hence his inability to elaborate. It was as if someone had whispered in his ear and the words came from his mouth. Jennifer wondered if it was her mother at play. Sometimes it was easier for spirits to come through children than adults. Adults simply added their own perceptions to messages, whereas children told it as it was.
Jennifer’s happiness melted away as she drove home. She had made a quick call to Will to cancel their meeting. He was still at his parents’, and informed Jennifer they had invited her around for dinner. The thought of being introduced to his perfect mother and father made her squirm. It was doubtful they would approve, and according to Will, they had made no secret of the fact they wanted a grandchild – that was until his wife had an affair and split their marriage into two. Jennifer grunted to herself. They had better not set their hopes upon her. She had enough to contend with, without throwing a baby into the mix. Police careers did not support family life, least of all ones dealing with the supernatural. It was hard enough to protect Joshua.
Would they start on her family next? Thoughts loomed heavy and daunting in her mind. Joshua had told her not to enter the woods, but as she parked the car outside her home, she knew that was exactly where she needed to go.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bert
* * *
Mother was even more unbearable after she bought Bert the cards. Each evening she leaned against his bedroom door, her long black skirt casting shadows in his room, on his things. They were the same clothes she’d worn the day Callum died. Bert remembered the heavy material of her skirt dragging a crimson trail of blood as she carried Callum’s body to the car. The skirt was far too big for her now, and the slim buckled belt had tightened several notches around her waist. Perhaps it made her feel closer to Callum. Or maybe she was trying to remind him of what she had lost. Either way Bert didn’t care.
‘Bert,’ she rasped, through a pinched mouth, delivering shrill utterances that made him wince. Her once pretty features were locked in a scowl, her colourless skin stretched over jutting cheekbones, exasperated by the tightly wound bun in her hair.
Bert ignored his mother in the hope she would go away. At first he had appeased her, making up sickly sweet words of love, the kind Callum would be likely to say. I love you mummy. I’m always with you mummy. One day we will be together and you can read to me again. But after a while, the words ran dry. The very sight of her made him angry, and he was fed up with her constant need for reassurance. He wanted to slap her, to stare into those misty eyes and tell her that he was her son and he needed her here, looking after him, making him feel his existence meant something. But she was just a shell, filled to the brim with bitterness and pain. She coughed. Bert carried on with his sketch of the woods. He was trying to figure out a way he could make them private. He didn’t know who owned them, but as far as he was concerned, they were his. If he sowed enough thorny bushes, dug enough ravines, it would keep out the campers who sometimes came to explore.
‘Bert. Do you have a message for me, Bert?’ mother said, in rapid bursts of staccato. She crossed her arms, her elbows pointing sharply either side as she waited for her message from beyond the grave.
Bert grimaced. It wasn’t as if he got any special treatment for passing them on. As soon as he’d given her the message, she would snatch away the words, repeating them over as she sobbed to her unseen ghost.
‘Bert. Are you listening to me?’
Anger rose with each syllable his mother uttered. He pushed his pencil into the paper, growling as the leaden point snapped in half. ‘Leave me alone,’ he said, pushing past her to the back door. ‘Just fuck off and leave me alone!’
Mother’s tightly laced leather shoes clip clopped against the bare floorboards as she chased him to the door. ‘How dare you!’ she thundered, her words laced with disgust. ‘How dare you speak to your mother like that!’
Bert laughed wildly as he flung the door open, sending it rebounding against the wall. Still laughing, he mocked her inability to leave the house. She could no longer visit Callum’s grave. Even her steps to the oak tree were unsure and faltering, and always after dark.
‘Callum’s dead!’ Bert screamed as he ran towards the oak tree. ‘And I wish you were dead too!’
But Bert underestimated his mother, and the fire of her fury propelled her out of the house, skeletal fingers extended as she hunted him down the path. Bert’s ear burned as she pinched it hard, swinging him off his bare feet.
‘Don’t you ever speak to me like that again,’ she spat, pulling back her hand to slap him across the face.
‘Ca … caw,’ Bert stammered. ‘Caw, caw!’
His mother froze, her right hand mid-air. ‘What? … What’s wrong with you?’
The words had barely left her lips when the raven drew down on her, slicing the back of her hand with dagger-sharp claws. Mother screamed, thrown off balance as the raven bore down again, slicing and tearing, its cries piercing the evening air.
Bert’s eyes sparkled as his black winged guardian defended him from the sharp sting of the slap that was to come. But as much as his mother annoyed him, he needed her to sustain him. He flapped his feeble arms as he called the raven off.
‘Come away, come away,’ he shouted, and the raven took flight, cutting through the air with long graceful wings as Bert’s mother lay bleeding on the ground.
Chapter Thirty
Jennifer could not hold back any longer. Enquiries with the Facebook group were taking too long. She had to visit the woods, if only to get answers for the questions relentlessly invading her thoughts. Her visit with Joshua reminded her what was at stake. She couldn’t wait for the Raven to make contact, and a quick internet search pulled up exactly what she needed. Haven was a historic town, and many of the original names given during times of folklore had long since been forgotten. The river, once named as ‘Black Water’, had been renamed Blakewater, and Haven was originally called Heaven, many years ago. Jennifer knew that, having lived there all her life. But she was surprised to discover an extended patch of woodlands behind the boathouses, named Raven Woods. She dug deeper, becoming drawn into an internet forum on local history, featuring the little known forest.
User frightgirl95 described camping with a couple of
her friends. Stories of witchcraft had drawn them to Raven Woods, where she described the stale air carrying the sour scent of decay. She spoke of their sleep being disturbed by gut-wrenching screams, and their torch beams picking up nothing but bark-stripped trees housing beady-eyed ravens overhead. Stumbling back to their tent, they were horrified to discover the heavy-duty material ripped to shreds. It was all the persuasion they needed to leave.
Jennifer traced the location of Raven Woods to the rear of the river, down a narrow weather-beaten dirt track. Tourists preferred to camp beside the riverside forest, with its picnic benches and BMX tracks. But there were no such paths where she was going, and the only things bordering the long stiff trees were strands of horned barbed wire, flanked by deep ditches and a keep out sign. The fact it was dented with buckshot gave a double-edged meaning. Keep – out – or else. Jennifer took one last glance before driving past. Someone just took a random shot, she thought, trying to keep the tide of dread at bay. She pressed her brakes as she caught sight of fresh tyre tracks in the mud. They veered off to the left and disappeared down a valley between the trees. Pulling her handbrake as far as it would go, she parked on a mound of grass. She had lived in Haven all her life but with acres of dense unexplored woodlands, she was a stranger to these parts. Swinging her legs out of the car, she plodded down the grassy bank, sidestepping the pebbles of rabbit droppings as she followed the tyre tracks. She checked her mobile phone. No signal. A cold breeze touched her skin and her internal warning system piped up as her nephew’s words replayed in her mind. Stay away from the woods. But she had to find answers, before it was too late.
She approached the leafy vegetation, her eyes narrowing as she took in the horizontal branches. Trees with no trunks … Jennifer shielded her arms over her face as she pushed through the undergrowth, nothing more than camouflage for the gap that lay behind it. Enough for a car to pass through, judging by the tyre tracks. She bit her lip as her apprehension grew. The forest held a presence all of its own. If she got into trouble nobody would see her in here, much less hear her screams … Giving one last glance back at her car, Jennifer allowed the dead branches to whip her limbs as she pushed through the makeshift gate, keeping her wits on high alert. Her breath felt warm against her lips, cooled by the drop in temperature. Casting her face to the tree tops, she searched the air for ravens as she made a three hundred and sixty degree circle. The forest was a kaleidoscope of mist and branches. Greasy leaves lined her path when they should have been shooting from fresh spring buds. She wrinkled her nose. This was not a pleasant woodland smell. It smelt meaty, decaying, and anyone venturing this far would be turning back now if they had any sense. She strode onwards in grim determination, her boots rustling through the insect-infested undergrowth. Her eyes shot back up to the trees disappearing into the misted sky. Where are the buds and shoots? Where are the finches and the robins, the squirrels and the foxes? Not even a raven in sight. The only signs of life were the spiders threading thick dewy cobwebs, ready to bait the flies trailing in her wake. The hairs prickled on the back of her neck as she felt the stare of hooded eyes, all holding dark intentions.
‘Come out, come out, wherever you are …’ Jennifer whispered, steeling herself for confrontation. Her heart froze as a sudden scream echoed throughout the forest.
‘Help me! Someone, help me!’
She ran through the thickening mist, following the screams to a copse in the distance. Her heart began to pound in her ribcage, and every fibre in her being demanded she turn back. A sense of evil intent emanated from the copse, but Jennifer drove onwards, feeling a hundred sets of eyes on her back. The sour smell was overpowering, and brought with it the tang of freshly spilt blood. Were the screams real or echoes from the past? Was she walking into a trap? She couldn’t leave now.
Swearing under her breath, her eyes searched for a weapon, and her fingers wrapped around a splintered piece of wood. Flapping black wings swooped through the sky as the ravens flew from their hiding places, but Jennifer’s attention was swiftly drawn back to an army of tiny legs marching up her arm. Screaming, she dropped the branch and furiously shook her hand to rid herself of the millipedes that claimed it. She thought of Will, and pulled her phone from her pocket. Groaning, she realised the newly charged battery was now completely drained. She couldn’t call for help even if she wanted to. She wrapped her fingers around her car keys, keeping the sharp edge exposed through her bent fingers. It was an old trick, but enough to gouge someone’s face if she had to. Her heart beating hard, she pushed through the prickly bushes, shielding her face as sharp-edged thorns scratched softly at the seams of her jacket and trousers.
[#]
Bert squinted at the sky as the raven’s caws filled the air. There was someone in the forest. His forest. He raised his nose to the air and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. Could it be? His senses strained to reach the outskirts of the woods, and he fingered the knife in his pocket. It was a shame he didn’t have his shotgun. But there was something very impersonal about guns, whereas knives … A rush of excitement flowed through his veins. The madness had returned, and he would do whatever it took to protect the forest. His thoughts went to Jennifer Knight. Could she be looking for him? After all, their futures were intertwined. She would not stay long in a forest filled with anguish, but she was strong. She would fight against her instincts if it meant leading her to the person who threatened her the most.
[#]
A rat jumped through the undergrowth, startled by Jennifer’s urgent footsteps. The screams had stopped, but the silence that lay in its place was heavy and menacing. Jennifer slowly edged around an imposing oak tree. It was different to the others. The surrounding air carried a thickness that made it hard to breathe. Tracing the scarred bark with her fingers, Jennifer knew she had reached the beating heart of Raven Woods. She pushed her tousled hair off her face, determined to keep her emotions in check. But she was deep in the forest – and she was not alone. Pressing her hands against the bark, her eyelids fluttered shut in a last-ditch attempt at communication. Her senses blocked her attempts, screaming a warning; she was in danger, and she had to leave now. Sense finally prevailed, and shielding her face with her hands, she pushed her way back through the briars to leave the way she came. But it seemed the forest was not ready to release her, and the thorns that gently scratched her upon entrance now held her firmly in their grip. She pushed through the copse, gasping as thorny cables tore through her clothes and into her flesh. Blood beaded on her thighs and legs, as black flapping wings drummed a beat overhead. Jennifer’s legs weakened as her own vulnerability became evident. They were coming. The ravens were coming. The sight of the birds circling the pearly grey sky sent a dagger of fear through her heart.
Jennifer clambered through the dense forest, trying to find her bearings as the birds settled in the branches just above her head. Their stares were icy cold, and the noise of her backward steps in the still air seemed magnified a hundredfold. Jennifer swallowed, trying to calm her pounding heart. More and more birds roosted on the branches overhead, until they were thick and black, bearing feathers instead of the rotting leaves underfoot. Lost and disorientated in the dead, soulless forest, Jennifer whispered a silent prayer.
[#]
Bert was close to the forest now, he watched as a cloud of black ravens descended in the woodlands and held their prey. His tongue darted from his lips and he moistened them in expectation. Just a few more minutes and he would be there.
[#]
* * *
Disorientated, Jennifer forced one leg in front of the other. If the ravens beat her down now, they would tear her to shreds.
‘Get the hell off me,’ she growled as the first raven swooped overhead. Jennifer batted the bird away, staggering through the woodland as another took its place. ‘Help me! Someone, help me!’ her screams echoed through the forest as she pulled up her hood to protect her face. Warm blood trickled down her hand as a raven tore flesh from the back of her hand, it
s screams intermingling with hers in the fight for control. Jennifer spun around, lost and disorientated as she batted off countless birds while clinging desperately to her hood.
Suddenly a flash of white cut through the air. Jennifer instinctively followed the fluttering wings as they swooped to avoid the predators overhead. Her arms aching, she batted off the birds as she found her way through the forest. The ravens held back as she left, and the leaves underfoot were replaced by fresh, untainted soil.
‘Wait!’ Jennifer cried, reaching out with a bloodied hand. Relief flooded through her as the clearing came into view, and she scrambled up the grassy bank to her parked car, which was pimpled in a dewy mist. Peeling the keys from her sweaty palm, she jumped inside and activated the central locking. The car veered onto the dirt path, the ding ding of the car alarm protesting until she clicked in her seatbelt. It was not until the forest was out of sight that she pulled over, her stomach lurching from the adrenalin come-down. Taking in lungfuls of air, she leaned through the open window. Jennifer spat the sour taste from her mouth and lifted her hand to wipe it, sticky with a mixture of dirt and blood. Tears prickled the backs of her eyes as the pain from her injuries cut through her nerve endings. Who was she to think she could overcome such darkness? She grabbed her bag from under the seat, and tentatively dabbed her hand before allowing the tears to roll down her cheeks. Her wound needed dressing, and she was in no state to do it alone. But where should she go? Will would give her a telling-off for going to the woods alone. Amy would ask too many questions, and turning up in such a state would upset her nephew, who had told her not to go. Her eyes blurred as she stared at her trembling hands, trying to muster the strength to drive to casualty. A flash of black darted in her rear view mirror as she turned the ignition key. Jennifer drove away, the ravens’ cries echoing in her ears.
Time To Die Page 16