by B. Groves
Lily’s mood turned somber. She climbed into bed and opened her phone to distract her from running into the house and begging Michael to throw the talisman into the ocean. She didn’t want to think about the future. She wanted to enjoy the moment, but it was hard to do that with the literal dead wife taunting her from the window.
Lily turned over and fell asleep. She didn’t wake up from any strange dreams or any strange interruptions.
Lily woke up that Sunday in a gloomy mood. She made herself some coffee and dressed. Michael sent her a text telling her breakfast was ready.
She tried to put on a happy face when she joined him in the dining room and later in his study, but she knew Michael’s mind was as preoccupied as hers when they heard the soft banging from the locked doors as they climbed the stairs to the study.
Michael retreated to his study after his feedings. The original study had been downstairs near the ballroom until he converted that into a bathroom about 40 years ago, according to him. He said it was easier for him to walk down the hall and retreat into the study to read a book or listen to music after one of his kills.
Michael sighed. “The house is trying to lure me back, but I have one more person to call on.”
“Is it worth it?”
Michael hesitated. “Yes, because it’s important for the future.”
Lily didn’t understand what Michael meant. “The future?”
“I will explain everything when I return home. It should be by nightfall,” Michael said.
“Michael, what are you talking about?” Lily asked.
“Please trust me. If there’s anything I can ask, then I want you to trust me. Do you Lily?”
Lily softened. “Yes,” she whispered.
“Good. I will speak to you when I arrive home,” Michael said.
The phone went quiet and Lily sighed. She didn’t know what Michael meant about the future, but she hoped it was worth his pain because she heard discomfort in his voice.
He explained that leaving the house for more than a few hours caused him actual physical pain and she hated to think of what he was sacrificing for a little more money in his bank account. Assuming that’s what he meant by the future.
Hannah’s banging started on the other side of the house. The late afternoon sun was drifting behind the trees outside when she glanced out of the window. The day was hot and muggy. Michael hadn’t installed central air inside the house, and this particular summer had been brutal.
She walked back into the foyer and glanced at the stairs. Lily walked over and placed her hand on the banister, listening to Hannah’s bangs on the walls and the door.
She grasped the talisman in her pocket as she reached the landing. This might be her only chance of freeing Michael from his curse if she opened the door and threw it at Hannah.
But what if he died too? She didn’t want that.
Lily expelled a breath and stopped in front of Harry’s portrait.
Lily reached out and touched the portrait. She gazed into the little boy’s frightened eyes.
“I lived in fear too, Harry,” she said. “I hope you’re happy and at peace wherever you are. I hope you’re watching over your dad because he misses you more than words can say.”
“I love your father.” Lily laughed nervously. “I think I’m going crazy, but I love him. I want him to stay here, but I understand if he takes a different road. I’d understand if he wanted to be with you but I don’t want him to do that.”
Lily swallowed trying to hold back her tears. She looked away from Harry’s portrait and walked down to the double doors.
She remembered the first time she saw Hannah for the monster she was.
The bangs on the door became more frantic. Lily almost turned and ran away when she heard a low, but piercing scream come from the other side of the door.
The door and the locks seemed secure enough for Lily to approach them.
She sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. She waited for the thumping to cease, but she could hear Hannah restlessly pacing back and forth inside the room.
“Hannah,” Lily said.
The pacing stopped, and Lily heard Hannah moving closer to the door. Lily
Hannah made some kind of movement behind the door. “I might sound like I’m making excuses, but I’m not.” She scratched her head thinking she must sound so dumb. She was trying to explain her affair to a walking corpse, but Michael told her that Hannah sometimes understood when he spoke to her.
Lily listened to Hannah’s dress rustling on the other side. She swallowed remembering how horrifying Hannah looked but she wanted to see why the woman became quiet.
Lily got on her knees and crouched down. Black hair spread out against the floor. An eye stared at her through the opening. Lily realized she saw intelligence in one bloodshot eye. Understanding? Had she understood what Lily was talking about?
“Hannah?”
Hannah’s fingers had moved and attempted to get closer to Lily.
Lily somehow wasn’t apprehensive. She wasn’t afraid that Hannah would seize her hand and try to bite it.
Lily pressed her hand flat against the wood and moved her fingers underneath the door.
She barely touched the cold, spongy flesh, but they touched and Lily tried her best not to break down.
Both women stared at each other. Lily didn’t know how much time passed but Lily felt like a mutual understanding develop between them making Lily smile softly. She hoped Hannah would mimic her and return her smile.
Did a tear fall from Hannah’s eye? She thought she had seen it slide down the front of her face and hit the wooden floor.
Lily noticed Hannah struggle to draw a breath. A strange wheeze, raspy noise left her lungs.
“Free me.”
Lily gasped. “What did you say?”
The one eye closed and opened and this time Lily watched a tear slide down her cheek and drip onto the floor.
Another wheeze, another raspy noise from her lungs. “Free me.”
Lily blinked back her own tears. “You’ll be free soon. I promise. I found something that might help you.”
The eye closed as if in relief. Lily heard more gasping for air and Hannah retracted her fingers from behind the door leaving only Lily’s on the wood floor.
Lily watched Hannah move around when Hannah suddenly stood up and screamed. Lily sat up and looked around wondering what had caught Hannah’s attention.
Hannah started pacing the room. She’d stop and bang on a wall or something else.
Lily rose and searched around. Was Michael home?
Lily stepped into one of the vacant rooms and gazed outside. The gate was closed, and she didn’t have a decent view of the courtyard.
Lily exited the room and ran down the grand staircase. She made her way into the dining room and only found her car sitting in the driveway.
Lily stopped and listened. Hannah’s attention had torn away from her for a reason.
Lily stayed still for a few minutes and listened. This was such an enormous house, and the noises were hard to differentiate between the house settling and another person walking around.
Lily made her way out of the dining room, she investigated the kitchen, the servant’s quarters, the hallway, and finally the ballroom.
Something was here, though. Lily felt the presence lurking in the shadows as the sun dipped behind the treetops.
Hannah’s bangs became frantic. Lily pulled her phone from her pocket and rushed up the stairway.
She checked each room. She wasn’t in a panic yet, but she could have sworn something was spying on her from a distance.
Lily was getting annoyed with Hannah’s banging. She didn’t hear any other noise besides that and it made Lily nervous.
Lily stopped by Hannah’s door. “Hannah, you need to calm down,” Lily tried to reason with her, but the banging continued making Lily groan.
Lily moved away from the door and dialed Michael’s number as she walked towards the
study so she could get better reception.
“Hello, there. I’m on my way home,” Michael said in a cheerful voice.
“Michael, I think there’s someone inside the house,” Lily said trying to keep calm.
Silence greeted her, but she detected the roar of the Porsche’s engine.
“I’m coming. Where are you?”
“I’m near the study.”
“Get out of the house and go to the cottage,” Michael ordered.
“What about Hannah? Should I stay—”
“No. Leave her be. Get out of the house.”
Lily nodded as she glanced around more, the lights flickered and after a few seconds they turned off.
“Lily?”
“The electric went out,” Lily said as she stood in place.
“Stay on the phone with me until you reach the cottage and lock the door,” Michael said.
“Okay.”
Lily peered into the study one more time but it was empty. She made her way to the top of the stairs. She knew the electrical box for the house was inside the storage room for her cleaning supplies.
“Lily keep talking to me,” Michael said.
“I’m here. I’m leaving now. I have to get off the second floor.”
Lily descended the stairs when she looked up discovered someone standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Jordan.
Chapter 19
Hannah
Lily froze in place on the stairs. Michael’s voice called to her through the receiver but she ignored it.
She was more annoyed than scared. “What are you doing here?”
Jordan wiped his mouth. Lily watched as he threw an empty whiskey bottle onto the floor. He started walking up the stairs as his lips twisted into a sneer.
“Remember when I said I would get back at that prick? I meant it,” Jordan said.
“You better leave, he’s on his way home,” Lily said. She held up the phone to Jordan.
“He won’t get here in time,” Jordan answered. “And what are you going to do, Lily? Call the police?”
Jordan stomped as he climbed the stairs. His face twisted into an odd grin.
Lily backed up the stairs as Jordan moved closer to her. “Stay away from me.”
“Or what?”
“You remember a few days ago?”
“Oh, I came prepared this time. I came here with a plan,” Jordan declared.
“Jordan, turn around and walk out the front door right now.”
“It’s for a good reason, Jordan,” Lily explained.
“You are so fucking lying, Lily.”
Jordan reached the landing, forcing Lily to back up even further.
“I’m not lying.”
Jordan heard Michael’s voice through the receiver and laughed.
Jordan raised the mallet over Lily’s head. Lily backed away thinking he would strike her with it, instead, he moved forward and snatched the phone from her hand.
Jordan raised the phone to his ear and snickered as Michael yelled at him. “Say bye-bye, asshole.”
Jordan dropped the phone to the ground and crushed it underneath his boot.
“No!” Lily cried.
Lily stood up straight and backed away in shock and fear. She had no means of communication even if she wanted to call the authorities. In all the time she’d been with Jordan she’d never seen this kind of viciousness from him. Ever. She’d seen him drunk before. Hell, she got drunk right along with him, but he’d always been a happy drinker. They always had a great time together, and it changed in a heartbeat. All because Lily moved on with her life.
“I told that guy I would get my revenge. I guess neither of you believed me,” Jordan said.
“Jordan, listen if you free Hannah, she’ll kill us.”
Jordan laughed. “She should appreciate me. I’m doing her a favor.”
Jordan pointed a finger at Lily. “You’re disgusting Lily. I don’t care what you say. You fucked him. I know you did.” Jordan shook his head in disgust. “You’re as disgusting as he is. That disgusting corpse keeps his corpse wife locked up in a room. How gross.”
Lily shook her head. “It’s not like that.”
“Sure, sure,” Jordan said waving a hand in dismissal. “Now, get out of my way. I’m doing this woman a favor.”
Before Jordan moved, Lily grabbed his left arm and squeezed it with all her might. It had to be sore from where Michael had grabbed it three days before. She was trying to force Jordan to drop the mallet.
Jordan howled in pain and Lily was semi-relief when the mallet dropped to the floor with a hard thump.
Lily let go of Jordan’s arm. She reached for the mallet to use as a weapon against him, but Jordan wasn’t drunk enough that Lily could move quicker than him.
Fingers wrapped around her throat and squeezed. She struggled to grasp at the fingers to let go, but they were too strong. Jordan slammed her against the wall right next to Harry’s portrait.
Lily gasped for air and tried to kick and grasp at Jordan. Black spots were forming in front of her eyes. She wouldn’t last much longer if Jordan didn’t let go of her throat, and that threw her into a full panic. He had one hand around her throat and the other hand free.
He released his hold on her throat, but before she could recover, pain shot through her cheek, her temple, and all the way down her neck.
Lily’s vision went blurry, and she crumpled to the floor like a rag doll. She was about to pass out from lack of air when fingers tapped her cheek.
“Oh, no. You’re going to stay awake and watch this,” Jordan said.
Lily was hoisted off the floor. She was too weak and disoriented to fight back. A hand gripped her shoulder and dragged her down the hallway.
She was again thrown against the wall and left there. She tried to recover her senses. A blurry figure moved to her left.
“Stay awake, Lily,” Jordan said with a laugh. “Enjoy the show.”
Lily jumped when the mallet hit the wood of the door. She lifted a hand to her face. Something warm slid down her cheek. She placed that same hand on her brow since her head pounded from Jordan’s punch.
“Don’t,” she said weakly, but the banging continued.
Lily turned her head. Her sight was clearing, and she watched in horror as Jordan hit the locks with the mallet.
He turned back to her and said, “A few more hits and I’ll free that freak.”
He raised the mallet gleefully and turned back to the door to continue hitting the locks.
Lily managed to lift herself into a crawling position. A wave of dizziness washed over her causing her to choke on the bile stuck in her throat.
She placed a hand on the wall to steady herself and tried to stand, but she only sprawled out on the floor when a wave of dizziness rushed through her head.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” she pleaded. “Don’t unlock that door.”
Wood cracked with each bang. The first lock dropped to the floor and Jordan raised his hand in victory.
Lily again tried to steady herself with the wall. The freight train that had been rolling around in her head turned to a burning sensation.
Lily looked up and there was Jordan right by her face. He was holding up one lock and the latch.
“One down, one to go,” he said sounding victorias.
Jordan stood and turned back to the door. “Don’t worry, honey. I’m coming for ya.”
Jordan laughed hysterically while he struck the lock and break Hannah free.
Her vision cleared enough to realize one door had separated from the hinges. A hole had formed from where Jordan had knocked the first lock onto the floor.
Lily realized an arm was sticking out and trying to grab Jordan.
“Whoa. Whoa, honey relax. I can only do one at a time,” Jordan laughed as he continued to bang at the other lock.
Lily tried to rise but slipped back to the floor as a fresh wave of dizziness overcame her. She crawled a few feet and lay
her head down trying to calm her nausea.
Crack, bang, crack.
She lifted her head with her heart dropping into her stomach. With one or two more direct blows, Hannah would be free.