by Helen Phifer
He stepped closer, bridging the gap.
‘Mary and Edith gave themselves to me willingly. You can be reunited with them. All three of you will have eternal life and be rewarded for your sacrifice. There is something so sweet about the blood of a woman who has never been tainted by a man.’
He ran his tongue over his lips and Agnes couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. They were so big and hypnotic. What he was saying made sense; she wasn’t getting any younger. She could be with her two friends again. They could all be together. Then she heard Mary’s voice scream inside her mind. It was so loud that it broke her trance. ‘Agnes, don’t listen. It wants your soul. You’ll spend the rest of eternity in hell; it’s torture. Every minute I’m dying the same horrible death over and over. Kill it and release us.’
The vampire in front of her smiled, holding out his arms for her to step into them, and she did step towards him, but at the same time she lifted the knife. She was determined she was going to sink it straight through its heart and kill the monster. It didn’t realise she was holding the knife in her hand because she had kept it tucked behind her back the whole time. As she stepped into its embrace she brought the knife around and thrust it with every piece of strength she could muster into its chest. The vampire gasped, stumbling backwards, and then it let out a roar so loud that she lifted her hands to cover her ears.
The ground began to rumble underneath her feet and the stench of decay became so overpowering she found her eyes started to water. She stepped away from the quivering, shaking thing in front of her. It looked at her with blood-red eyes as it began to change its shape in front of her. Her heart started racing and she knew that she was going to die. She hoped it was of natural causes and not some bloodthirsty, agonising death at the hands of one of Satan’s henchmen.
She felt herself being lifted off the ground and thrown. As she collapsed in a heap she heard the bone in her ankle snap. The noise was as clear as if a twig had been snapped in half. The pain filled her mind as she looked out of the corner of her eye to see the mountainous shape in front of her. It was half woman, half winged beast. It no longer had a handsome face and big, mesmerising eyes. Now it had bright red eyes that were watching her.
She began to pray over and over again as it gathered strength and the shape that had been hard to see through became solid. There were two huge horns that stood on the top of its head but the face was that of the woman who had been the start of all of this. Lilith peered at Agnes, her red eyes glowing, and her top lip curled up in a snarl. There was blood pulsing from a gaping wound in her chest where the knife had been plunged deep inside.
‘You should have let me kill you, old woman, just like the others did.’
Her voice filled the entire cellar; Agnes lifted her hands to cover her ears. She wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. She couldn’t walk let alone run. Instead she closed her eyes, placed her palms together, and prayed to God to forgive her and take her soul before Lilith could.
Chapter Ten
When Kate opened her eyes she couldn’t believe it was morning. She had slept right through without so much as a drop of alcohol and no bad dreams. Her mouth was dry with the familiar thirst that no amount of water would quench. She stretched out her arm to see if Ollie was still there – too afraid to turn around and look in case he’d decided it had all been a horrible mistake and crept out hours ago. She felt his warm arm and ran her fingers across his naked chest.
Smiling to herself she turned around. He was fast asleep and she lay there watching him. She had never been a selfish person, not until the wine became her best friend. If Martin hadn’t slept around and made her feel like crap she wouldn’t have got herself into this state – she knew that. It had started off being an escape for her: one glass of wine used to make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Two glasses she’d be giggling at everything, even Martin’s terrible jokes. Three and she was gone, falling asleep in the chair.
How things had changed. Now it was more like three bottles. She was glad that she’d made a conscious decision to cut down when she’d moved into the house, even though she hadn’t always stuck to her plan. She climbed out of the bed trying to make as little noise as possible. She wanted to phone the doctor’s and see if there were any appointments. She wanted to stop drinking – now, today. Not next week. She grabbed her mobile off the bedside table and crept out into the hall. There was a draught coming from somewhere and she walked up towards the front door to check it was shut. The open panel with the blackness inside made her shudder. Shit she’d almost forgotten all about the head.
Walking across to the panel, she could feel the cold air that was blowing through it and wondered where it was coming from. She wanted to go inside and look at just how big it was, but something told her not to. She felt along the wall for the hidden button, which had been accidentally activated after all this time. She just wanted to close it for now and forget all about that poor woman’s head. It was so damn scary to think someone decapitated her and stuffed her head in a secret cupboard for years. Why would they want to do that? And what if it turned out to be her distant relation – then what? What had she ever done to anyone that would warrant that kind of death? It didn’t make any sense.
Kate wondered what the priest would find out for her. She should really give him a ring and let him know what had happened. The doctor’s receptionist told her she would get the duty doctor to ring her back sometime to speak to her. She put the phone down and punched the air. For the first time in a long time she felt in control, that she could make the right choices for once.
She went to the kitchen and began to pull the eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms from the fridge. She was starving. She couldn’t remember the last time she had woken up feeling as if she could eat a substantial breakfast instead of the obligatory slice of burnt toast and jam. She even rooted through the cupboards until she found the box with the unused Christmas gift set that Amy had bought her containing a cafetière, a bag of ground coffee and two Starbucks mugs.
Kate checked the date on the coffee was still okay. She didn’t want to poison Ollie. It was good until the end of the month, so it was just as well she was going to use it. She busied herself making breakfast. It felt so good to be useful again after all this time. She was a very good cook. There just hadn’t been much point when there was only her to feed. She heard the sound of the toilet flush just as she was setting two plates of cooked breakfast down onto the table. Perfect timing. Ollie walked in and groaned.
‘How did you know I was starving?’
‘I didn’t. I knew that I was, so I just hoped you would be as well.’
She sat down and he followed suit. Ollie began to stuff everything on his plate between two slices of toast, making her smile. Amy used to do the same. Every time they went out for breakfast she would cram everything between the bread then try and eat it, usually dribbling tomato or bean juice down her chin. God she missed her so much. Kate had never realised just how much she loved her friend until it had been too late. She stopped herself from thinking too much about it, or she would feel herself sink down into the blackness that swirled around in her brain like a vortex.
‘Are you okay this morning? I was a bit scared you’d have woken up and wondered what the hell you’d got yourself into last night.’
She laughed. ‘I’ve never been better, thank you. Last night was amazing and perfect; you are amazing.’
Kate looked up from her plate, pleased to see the redness that was creeping up his neck towards his face. It was nice that he wasn’t big-headed like Martin. Ollie didn’t think he was God’s gift to women – unlike her ex-husband did.
‘And so are you, Kate.’
It was her turn to blush. She tucked into her breakfast. There was a loud knock on the front door and she put her fork down and stood up. It was Saturday and far too early for the lads to appear. She walked through the house to the front door and shivered. It was so cold out here. Opening the door she sq
uealed to see her two daughters standing there. She wasn’t so happy to see Martin, but he’d brought them to visit. Kate opened her arms and both girls ran towards her. She hugged them close.
‘Can we come in?’
Kate looked up at him, desperate to mouth the words Go get fucked to him, but she knew he’d take the girls away and she needed this. She nodded and stepped back. ‘Girls, why don’t you go down to the kitchen and see if there’s any biscuits in the tin by the kettle.’ They let go of her and raced through the hall towards the kitchen and Ollie.
‘What do you want, Martin?’
‘Well thanks to you Tamara thinks I’m having an affair.’
Kate began to laugh. She couldn’t help herself. It was so bloody ironic. Why should she care what bloody stupid, immature Tamara thought and why would Martin think she’d be bothered?
‘You have no one but yourself to blame. What were you thinking trying to get me into bed? If you loved Tamara you’d keep your dick in your trousers.’
‘I don’t know, Kate. I do love her; I want to marry her. So I’ve come to ask you if you’ll have the girls for a few days while we go away for the weekend to try and smooth things over.’
‘Of course I’ll have the girls. You have no idea how much I miss them. Not that you’d care, but I do. Oh and for your information, Martin, I don’t care about you and Tamara; I care about my daughters, so don’t think I’m doing this for you because I’m not. I’m doing it for me and for them. They need their mother not some twenty-two-year-old whore.’
She winced as the words left her mouth in case he saw his arse again and stormed off, but he didn’t. He nodded.
‘Thank you. Should I go get their stuff from the car?’
‘Yes.’
Kate had no idea where they were going to sleep, but she was sure Ollie would take her to buy some beds and help her build them. Martin carried two small cases from the car to the front door, putting them down by her feet.
‘I’ll be back late Monday afternoon if that’s okay. Autumn has my phone number in her new phone so if you need me she’ll ring me.’
She nodded. He turned and walked back to his car and for once he didn’t seem so full of bullshit. Maybe he really did love this Tamara. She shut the door and walked back to the kitchen. The sight of her two daughters sitting at the table and chatting away to Ollie took her breath away and she had to blink back the tears that welled in her eyes. God what if he didn’t like kids? He turned to face her and grinned.
‘Autumn wants to know if I’m your boyfriend. I wasn’t sure what to say.’
‘Ollie is my friend and he’s the man who is going to help me get you two a bedroom ready, or so I hope.’
She looked at him to see if he thought she was taking it too far, but he nodded.
‘Of course I will. Which room do you think you girls would like to sleep in and what’s your favourite colour?’
They both chorused green and he looked at Kate. He’d been expecting them to say pink. She smiled. They’d always been different to the other kids in their classes at school.
‘Why don’t you go and see which room you like, then we’ll have to go shopping for some supplies, because I haven’t got much food in and we need some duvets, curtains and teddies for your bedroom.’
Both girls ran over and kissed Kate, then they raced off to go and look upstairs.
‘I’m sorry, I had no idea he was going to turn up out of the blue and let them stop.’
Ollie stood up and took both plates over to the sink. ‘Don’t be sorry; they seem like good kids despite having Martin for a dad. Should we get dressed and go pay a visit to IKEA? At least you’ll be able to buy everything you need and not spend a fortune.’
‘Is that okay with you? That would be amazing.’
‘Yes, I’ll go home for a shower then I’ll be back in thirty minutes. We could stop off somewhere for lunch, then on the way home we can go food shopping. If it’s okay with you – until we know what is going on with the house, I think I should stop here to make sure you’re all safe.’
He walked across to where she was standing and pulled her close, kissing her. She kissed him back. The sound of thunderous footsteps coming down the stairs made them pull apart. He left through the back door and jogged around to his van. Kate watched him, her heart beating faster at the thought of his soft lips on hers. Today was a good day. She’d gone from being an unhappy, scared, suicidal, alcoholic wreck to a happy family again in the space of twenty-four hours and she loved it. This was how her life was supposed to be. She deserved some happiness.
Chapter Eleven
Joe felt terrible. He’d been so busy he still hadn’t made it back to visit Kate and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was actually scared to go back there. He began to look through the old books in the huge bookcase in the drawing room, just in case there was something about the convent in one of them. The house was silent as usual and it didn’t normally bother him, but today he was jumpy. He kept seeing dark shadows out of the corner of his eye, then he’d turn and there was nothing there.
Before he’d become a priest he’d had some experiences with the paranormal, which he didn’t usually talk about to anyone. His gran had told him he had the gift when he was a kid, only he didn’t consider it a gift because who wanted to wake up in the middle of the night to see some long-dead relation he’d never met sitting on the end of their bed freaking them out? Not him. She’d had to take him to visit a friend of hers with purple curly hair and the biggest silver hooped earrings he’d ever seen to make it stop.
The woman had sat with him and taught him how to block them out so he didn’t get scared. Even though she’d smelt like those small purple sweets he used to buy at the corner shop, she had been kind and funny. She also knew what she was talking about because after he started to do what she’d told him to his ghostly visitors had stopped appearing. Apart from the odd one, but they had to be really strong to get through the blocks he’d put in place.
That’s why he’d been so upset at the crematorium. He also knew there was something bad up at the convent. Kate seemed like a nice woman. How she was living up there on her own he didn’t know. He didn’t think he would be brave enough to. He walked into the drawing room and shivered. It was so cold in here he could see his breath. Joe walked across to check the radiator. He reached out to touch it then withdrew his hand. It was red hot.
Trying not to let his mind fill with the images that were floating around the edges he turned and opened the glass door, which the books were kept behind. He loved reading. He’d not had much time since he’d moved here. For a small town it was very busy. Most of the books were classics: Dickens, Shakespeare, Brontë, and Austen. As he made his way down the shelves he stopped at the bottom row. He was drawn to a thick, heavy Bible and he began to tug it out. It was very old and dusty. He didn’t think it had been touched for years.
A loud bang from upstairs made his blood run cold. It had been raining when he left so he knew for a fact that he hadn’t left any windows open for a draught to come through. Footsteps began to move across the ceiling, along with a heavy dragging sound. Putting the Bible back he shut the glass door and crossed the room to listen from behind the doorway. Could someone have broken in?
He felt in his pocket for his phone and tugged it out. When his finger was poised ready to press 999, the sound stopped as if whoever it was knew that he was listening. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he felt his skin begin to prickle, just like it used to when he was a kid and there was a visitor from the other side. There was no more sound from upstairs and he knew he should go up and check it out, but he was afraid that he’d get up there and not find anyone. He’d rather take his chances with a burglar than a ghost.
The most precious things he owned were his iPad and Xbox; apart from those he wouldn’t say he had many material possessions. He didn’t wear designer clothes or shoes; his hobby was his camper van, which seemed to take up most of his money
. He supposed some of the stuff that the church had lying around – like the heavy crucifixes and religious statues – might be of some value to someone, but they’d have to be desperate to want to steal that stuff. He knew he should ring the police. If they came and there was no one upstairs he’d look like a fool. Taking a deep breath he stepped into the hall. ‘Hello, is anyone up there? I’ll give you to the count of five before I ring the police.’ He counted as loud as he could. No reply.
‘Right I’m phoning them. I don’t care what you were doing up there as long as you come down right now.’
If Joe was honest he didn’t know what he’d do if a man came downstairs at this very minute in time. What else was he supposed to say? Feeling braver he walked to the stairs and put his foot on the bottom step. Another door slammed and the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards the landing made him turn around and run straight out of the front door. Out of breath, he rang 999 and asked for the police; then he went and sat in his camper van. If anyone came out he could either run them over or drive away. He felt safer inside his little haven.
Before long he heard sirens in the distance. Thank God they were on their way. A police van screeched into the narrow drive and came to a stop next to his camper van. The policewoman driving it turned the sirens off. He could still hear faint ones in the background. He jumped out feeling a bit embarrassed that he was hiding behind his steering wheel like some numpty when a woman who was talking on her radio was about to go into the vicarage on her own and see if there was a burglar.
‘I’ll come in with you. Should I?’
‘No, it’s best if you wait out here, Father. I’ll go and do an initial check of the building. My backup will be here soon and they’ll follow me in. Where do you think the intruder is?’
‘Upstairs.’