CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
I was pleased to see that Jude, Max, and Raven had woken up.
“How are you this morning?” asked Jude, smiling at me. “Feel better?”
I nodded my head and felt my cheeks go red. “Yes, a lot better…. thanks for putting up with me…” I didn’t know what to say. I felt awkward. “Sorry I woke you up.”
“No probs,” he smiled, pulling on his shirt and buttoning it up. “I’m always here to help a damsel in distress.” He winked at me.
At least he didn’t seem angry, I thought. That was a relief. I could live with the embarrassment more than having to put up with him being pissed at me.
“You had a bad night?” said Max, holding his black leather jacket over his shoulder.
“Yes, but I’m fine now,” I said, picking up the satchel and just wanting to get off the subject. “In fact, I feel great – ready to take on any shit that falls at my feet.”
“Are we gonna leave now?” mumbled Raven. She still wore the leather jacket I had given her yesterday, she had slept in it all night.
“Breakfast first,” said Jude, “I’m starving.”
“When aren’t you?” smiled Max. He turned to look at me. “Do you think the bishop has a top I could have? I can’t go around with a bare chest forever and I can’t live in this jacket all day and every day.”
“Fancy yourself in a dog’s collar, do you?” smiled Jude.
“Not really what I was thinking of,” said Max, heading for the bedroom door. “A shirt or jumper would do.”
“Mrs. Gables might be able to help you out there,” I smiled, remembering the Beyoncé T-shirt I had seen hanging on the washing line.
“I’d rather have the dog’s collar than one of Mrs. Gable’s flowery dresses, thanks, Kassidy.” Max opened the door.
“Come on then,” I said, pushing past Max and heading out into the hallway. “Let’s go and have breakfast and see if we can get you a top to wear.”
The smell of bacon and toast wafted up the stairs as we headed down into the large hall. My stomach rumbled, even though I had eaten well the night before.
Jude strolled into the dining room and we followed close behind. The table had been set for breakfast and the small fire still burned away in the hearth. We took our seats, eager to tuck in.
Mrs. Gables appeared at the door carrying a tray with dishes covered with silver lids. As soon as she saw us sat at the table she almost flinched and hesitated, obviously contemplating on changing her mind and leaving the room now that we were there.
“Morning, Mrs. Gables,” I said, wanting to engage her in some kind of conversation. I didn’t want to let her off the hook – let her vanish – avoid us. “Breakfast smells good.”
She nodded her head as she placed the dishes down, but still didn’t speak. I wanted her to see that we were normal human beings – not monsters. It bothered me to think that anyone would try to avoid us just because we had these unsightly black veins and twisted nails. Looks weren’t everything, and although I knew that we must look weird, underneath we were all safe – we still had feelings. I would have understood her fear about us if we had climbed out from one of the graves in St. George’s church, but she knew we had come from Cruor Pharma and the way we looked wasn’t our fault. Surely she felt a little more comfortable around us now that we had spent a night here. We hadn’t climbed from our beds and tried to kill her, and neither had Robert, Alex, and Sylvia when they had stayed here.
“Is the bishop having breakfast with us?” I asked, still trying to get a word out of her.
She shook her head and turned to leave.
I stood up, frustrated that she wouldn’t even look at me. “Mrs. Gables, I know you must think of us like we have the plague or something but we don’t mean you any harm. It’s not catching and you won’t wake up in the morning looking like us. We’re just four people who needed a place to stay and some answers – that’s all.”
“Well said,” mumbled Jude over a mouthful of bacon. “I guess we’re crowding your holy space and there’s no room for people who have had the misfortune of dancing with the devil and his followers. But fear no more, Mrs. Gables, we will be on our way soon and then you will never have to look upon our demon-like bodies again – you can turn back to your Bible and thank your God that we will no longer cross your holy path.” Jude turned to look up at Mrs. Gables, a sarcastic smile across his face.
The room fell silent. An uncomfortable atmosphere lingered on the air. I watched Mrs. Gables as she dithered by the door, unsure as to whether she should leave or face us.
“It has nothing to do with my religion.” She spoke with a sharp tongue, which took me by surprise. She had seemed so meek and timid that she was the last person I would have suspected to speak with such a harshness to her voice.
“What is it then?” asked Max, causally leaning back in his seat. Max, who seemed normally chilled and wouldn’t hurt a fly, even had a look of annoyance over his face. His happy green eyes looked pissed. An irritation lingered behind them. “Why don’t you like us being here?”
“I wish you’d never turned up here at the bishop’s,” snapped Mrs. Gables, her lips screwed up and her eyes narrowed. “Do you have any idea what an inconvenience you all are being here? What a difficult situation you’ve put myself and the bishop in?”
“No, please tell us,” smiled Jude his voice – cocky.
“We’ve had people like you here before,” Mrs. Gables spat, smacking her fists down onto the table. “Life was good, life was peaceful, and then those freaks turned up and upset everything. Now I’ve got you four to deal with.”
Raven stood up and slammed her fists down, her face just inches from Mrs. Gables. “I’m sorry,” Raven peered into Mrs, Gables’s eyes. “We’ll just go back to Cruor Pharma and ask if they’ll be kind enough to remove this demon-shit from our veins and then I’ll go to church and beg the Lord for forgiveness for asking to be injected with this crap and for inconveniencing your perfect holy life. After all, we asked for this, didn’t we?” Raven looked round at us. “We all volunteered to be turned into people-eating, crazy-killing freaks that rip people apart and eat their intestines! We want to fuck people up and kill them – it’s fun… maybe you should book yourself an appointment with Doctor Middleton, after all, you can see how much we love looking like this.”
Raven sat down. Even after a good night’s sleep she still looked like something that had been dragged out from the gutter – her face sullen and cloudy, her black hair back to looking greasy and stringy. Mrs. Gables certainly hadn’t done anything for Raven’s mood.
“I don’t want any of you here,” Mrs. Gables continued. “If you go, then you might speak out about me and the bishop and then we’ll end up with the same fate as Father Peter or Father William. If you stay then you’ll change like…”
The door to the dining room suddenly opened and the bishop walked in.
“Good morning, everyone,” he smiled. “Sorry I’m late for breakfast but I had to take the morning service. Sometimes I wonder why I still bother. The congregation has fallen to such a small number that I wonder whether it’s worth heating the church these days and instruct the parishioners to attend the Sacred Heart in Rane. Anyway, they are my problems to sort out. I trust Mrs. Gables is looking after you all?”
We sat in silence and looked at each other, unsure as to whether the bishop had heard our raised voices. We waited to see if Mrs. Gables would continue her rant. But she just stood looking somewhat deflated – back to her usual meek, timid demeanour.
“I’ve been looking after them just fine.” She smiled awkwardly. “Would you like some black pudding, my dear?” She held out the bowl toward Raven, a forced kindness in her voice. “It’s very good.”
Raven recoiled back in her seat, a look of revulsion across her face.
“I don’t eat blood,” she hissed, screwing her nose up. “It’s disgusting – the fluid of evil.” She poked around the food on her plate
, picking it up with her fork and inspecting it closely. She obviously still believed that Mrs. Gables was lacing the food with poison – and who could blame her after the angry outburst that had just happened?
“Help yourselves,” said the bishop, pouring himself a cup of fresh tea and ignoring Raven. “I hope you all slept well?”
“Yes, thank you,” smiled Max, watching Mrs. Gables leave the room. He had put on his jacket again – probably too embarrassed to sit bare-chested.
“We were wondering if you had a spare shirt or jumper that Max could wear. He only has that jacket, you see,” I asked, piling my plate with bacon, sausages, and black pudding.
The bishop sat quiet for a few moments and then said, “I think I have a T-shirt you could use. I’ll ask Mrs. Gables to find you one.”
“Thank you,” smiled Max, taking a sip of his coffee.
The very mention of her name seemed to quieten us all. Now I knew what her problem was it made leaving here easier. There was no way I wanted to stay another night in a house where I wasn’t welcome. Even though the bishop had been kind, I still felt uncomfortable being around someone who obviously hated the very sight of us. I had been wrong in believing that Mrs. Gables was scared of us. Instead she was one of those people who wanted to turn a blind eye to any kind of trouble – bury her head in the sand and rid herself of anything that could cause her problems. It made me feel sad, but didn’t really surprise me. Would I want the likes of the cleaners, the doctors, or the bent police disposing of me because I knew too much? Probably not, but I would like to think that if that situation had arisen that I wouldn’t turn my back on someone who needed my help. I guessed that the bishop had no idea how Mrs. Gables really felt. He seemed quite oblivious to her behaviour around us. At least he was a kind soul. But what I couldn’t tell was whether Mrs. Gables wanted us to leave or stay. She seemed annoyed by either option. But that was the only two outcomes – unless she had plans to dispose of us – bump us off and hide our bodies. I shivered.
I looked over at Jude. He was still stuffing his chops. I smiled at him when he looked up at me. His cocky speech to Mrs. Gables had left her silent for a few moments and I felt my lips turn up into a small grin. Even Raven had stuck it to Mrs. Gables. It actually felt good to be a part of this group. The more time I spent with Jude, Max, and Raven, the more I felt comfortable with them. We all had a horrible secret that we shared but I was glad to see that we would all get stuck in and watch over each other.
Pushing his plate away, Max looked at the bishop. “Did Robert and the other two leave on foot or did they have a car?”
“They left on foot,” said the bishop, eyeing Raven with a wary look as she sniffed at a slice of bacon. “I did try to stop them, but Robert wouldn’t listen. He was determined to get to Doctor Langstone’s. I had no choice but to let them leave – I couldn’t force them to stay.”
“Did you know that Sylvia tried to kill herself?” I asked, stirring a spoonful of sugar into my tea. “She tried to jump off a bridge.”
The bishop sat and shook his head. “No, I didn’t know that. If only they had stayed here. Is that what you meant last night when you said that Sylvia hadn’t made it? Is she dead?”
“No, she’s been locked up in a mental institute,” I answered. “We don’t know if it’s because of the drug she was given – if it turned her crazy – or whether she was so disturbed that she couldn’t go on and tried to kill herself.”
“Or maybe it’s something else,” Jude suddenly piped in. He stared intently at the bishop. “Maybe what happened to your Father Peter is what almost happened to Sylvia.”
“You think that something from Cruor Pharma caught up with Sylvia and tried to deal with her before she could speak out against Doctor Middleton?” said Max, finishing his cup of coffee.
Jude shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows? Anything is possible.”
“It would make sense for Middleton to erase anyone who might speak out against him. We know he’s got the police covering up for him, but Sylvia and your brother and Alex got past them, so he probably sent out the cleaners like he’s done for us.” I pushed my plate away and sat back in my seat. “Only they didn’t get to finish off the job – Sylvia is still alive.”
The bishop looked worried. I could see it in his eyes – that unmistakable look of fear cowered underneath his bushy eyebrows. He sat silent for a few minutes and then stood up. Using both hands to lean against the table he peered at us.
“Now, have you all had a good think about staying here with me and Mrs. Gables? There’s plenty of room and you can all stay safely inside without fear of being seen.”
“We’re leaving,” hissed Raven. “I’m not staying locked up in here where you can’t use the toilet at night and the housekeeper wants you dead.” She stood up, her hands firmly placed on her hips.
The bishop looked rather taken aback by her outburst. “I’m sure we can come to some arrangements to make you all feel at home. Mrs. Gables is trying her best to make you all feel comfortable – there isn’t one harmful bone in her body. It’s not safe for you all to leave. Now that you’re here, I really think it would be in our best interests if you stay put.”
“Thank you for being so concerned about us,” I said, trying to smooth over the bad feeling that was now evident in the room thanks to Raven. I looked over at her and glared. Why couldn’t she pick the right moments to open her mouth? Mrs. Gables deserved what Raven had said to her, but the bishop hadn’t. Why did she have to be so rude all the time? Raven needed to learn when it was okay to speak out and when it wasn’t. “We really can’t stay. We have to find Robert and we need to see Doctor Langstone.”
“We really appreciate you taking us in last night,” said Max. “You have helped us more than you know. If it wasn’t for my brother then maybe I’d stay, but I can’t.”
The bishop let out a heavy sigh and nodded his head. “I see I’m not going to persuade you… but before you leave… let me get Mrs. Gables to find you that top you wanted.”
He walked over to the cord that made the bell chime and tugged on it. Within a couple of minutes, Mrs. Gables appeared, her eyes avoiding our stare.
“Could you find Max a T-shirt to wear? I’m sure we have a spare one that he could use,” asked the bishop.
“I’ll go and fetch one,” said Mrs. Gables, eyeing us nervously again. She backed out of the doorway. I was sure she thought we were going to pounce on her and infect her. Why bother to keep up the pretence? We had made it perfectly clear that we weren’t infected with something that she could catch. I guess she wanted to keep up her timid, whiter-than white appearance to the bishop. Mrs. Gables – the faithful Christian who would do anything for the bishop.
“Now, promise me you will come back here if you come into any trouble,” said the bishop, trying to smooth over his bushy beard. “My door is always open.”
“We will, thanks,” said Jude, standing up.
Mrs. Gables appeared back at the dining room door. She held out a grey T-shirt for Max to take.
“Thanks,” said Max, eyeing Mrs. Gables with a wary look. “I’ll just pop upstairs and put this on.”
We left the dining room and waited in the large hall for Max. The fire was still burning bright and the bishop threw on some more coals. Although I had woken feeling hopeful, now as we waited to leave, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. We were going back out there into the unknown. What would we find? I walked over to a small window and peered out onto the gravel driveway. The morning was bright and the sun still shone. Nothing seemed out of place. Just an ordinary autumn day to most people, but to us it was more than that. It wasn’t just a dark day that produced shadows and monsters. Demons could still hide in the sun.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Max appeared at the top of the staircase. He walked down holding the leather jacket in his hand. I felt my mouth drop open as I saw the picture on his T-shirt. It had the face of Pinhead on it from the film Hellraiser. The words printed
over it read He’ll tear your soul apart. I looked at the bishop and tried to picture him wearing it. I shook my head. There was no way it could be his.
“Nice top,” smiled Jude, nodding his head in approval.
Raven stomped her foot on the floor and tutted, “Why does everyone else get to wear all the good stuff? It’s not fair – I’ve got flowers on a blouse and bows on my shoes.”
Ignoring Jude and Raven admiring the T-shirt, I looked at the bishop. I couldn’t help but ask. “Is that your T-shirt?”
The bishop nodded his head. “Yes, it is, and Max is more than welcome to wear it.”
“You really like the Hellraiser films?” I asked, still finding it hard to believe.
“The what?” asked the bishop?
“Hellraiser… you like Pinhead?” I said, pointing out the T-shirt on Max.
As if seeing the T-shirt for the first time, the bishop took a few steps forward and peered at the picture on the front. “He’ll tear your… soul apart? Goodness me, whatever is that? I’ve never seen this top before, of course it isn’t mine.” The bishop screwed up his nose as if disgusted by the T-shirt.
“Well… whose is it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Urmmm… it must belong to Mrs. Gables. Yes, I think I’ve seen her using it as a duster,” said the bishop. “That’s right, she picked it up at the church fete last year. It had been left behind.”
“Really?” I smiled and looked away. I wanted to ask who was the Beyoncé fan but thought better of it. I didn’t want to annoy the bishop. He had been kind to us after all.
“Well, I guess we’d better get going,” said Max. “Thanks again and thank you for taking my brother in, you gave him a roof over his head when he most needed it. I really do appreciate your help.”
“Just let me know of any news you hear about Robert, and please take care of yourself – all of you.” The bishop smiled and unlocked the front door.
We stepped out into the sunshine. The tall Ash trees rustled in the light breeze and the distant sound of a cockerel could be heard. Waving goodbye to the bishop, our feet crunched over the gravel as we headed for Jude’s car. I was relieved that Mrs. Gables hadn’t come to the door to say goodbye. I didn’t care to see her again. As far as I was concerned, she wasn’t a true member of the church – just someone who took the parts of being religious that suited her – part time – a pretender. She liked the image but that was as far as it went.
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