The Ghost House

by Helen Phifer

  Will swung again but missed and got him in the stomach. The man shouted and lifted the hammer. Will ducked, expecting him to aim for his head but instead it went much lower and he smashed it into his left kneecap. The pain was blinding – hot and white – and Will couldn’t stop himself from falling to the floor. The man came at him again and Will pulled the small black canister of gas from his pocket and aimed it at his eyes. He heard a loud yell and hoped he’d managed to blind him but then the hammer swung down. He tried to roll but the pain in his leg was immense. The hammer connected with his temple and the world went black.

  Henry smiled. This had been his biggest challenge and still he had managed to conquer it and take him out. The man’s face was a grey mask covered with beads of perspiration, Henry leaned forward.

  ‘She’s all mine, you know. She always has been. You could never compare with me and Alice knows that. She knew the day I set eyes on her that I would eventually own her. It was my choice to decide whether she lived or died.’

  He unlocked the door and dragged the semi-conscious, blood covered Will into the room.

  ‘What have you done to him?’

  Henry dropped Will and turned to her. ‘Well, Alice, here we are again: same place different time.’

  The chair in the corner began to rock.

  ‘I’m not your Alice, you stupid prick. I know who you are though. I’ve seen your little trophies. It’s been a while. What took you so long?’

  He was taken aback by her courage and found himself getting excited. He always had liked it when she put up a fight. For a moment he imagined what it would be like to take her right here in his little room with her boyfriend watching.

  Annie whispered to Will, ‘Stay with me. I love you and I promise we’ll get out of here.’ Annie’s eyes filled with tears and she turned to face Henry who was watching them with his arms crossed.

  ‘Aww, that’s so sweet. Are you two finished because I’m getting rather bored of this?’

  Annie felt the rage and fury which had been building up inside her explode and she lunged for Henry. Hitting him with all her weight she took him down in a rugby tackle. They landed on the hard ground; it knocked the wind from them both. She didn’t let it stop her and she lunged for his eyes. He caught her wrist and twisted it sharply behind her back. She tried not to yelp but he twisted it again so hard that Will heard the crack as the bone snapped. This time she screamed.

  Will watched as Henry threw her to the side like a rag doll and then kicked her in the head for good measure. Annie felt herself losing consciousness; the darkness a welcome relief from the pulsating pain in her arm.

  Henry looked at Will. ‘It’s such a shame you’re going to die down here watching the woman you love being beaten and murdered by the greatest killer in the world.’

  Will’s eyelids fluttered. How pathetic. What he wanted to do was kill the bastard with his bare hands but the room was swimming and he couldn’t put any weight on his leg.

  Henry walked out of the room leaving them alone. Will tried to shuffle over to where Annie lay but the pain was so bad he slumped against the wall and tears of frustration and anger rolled down his cheeks. After a while he sensed movement and opened one eye to see her crawling towards the chair. She started to dig in the soil with her good arm, her fingers frantically scraping away looking for something.

  Annie didn’t know why she was doing this but Alice’s voice had whispered for her to keep going and so she did. What else was there to do? Her fingers brushed against something cold and hard. She had no idea what it was but she struggled to work it free. Finally it gave and she rolled onto her back exhausted. She looked at Will. His leg was bent at a funny angle and there was a steady stream of blood running down his head. He looked like a corpse. She lifted her hand to see what it was she was holding. It looked like a piece of dirty white bone the size of a small bread knife and she gasped, horrified and elated at the same time.

  Shuffling back over to Will she leant back against the wall next to him and whispered, ‘Hang on in there. I love you and I won’t let either of us die down here.’

  Will murmured his reply and he shoved his canister of CS gas into her hand. She smiled, then wiped the soil and sweat from her other hand and lifted the bone to look at it. She didn’t like holding the thing and knew it was one of Edward’s. She shivered. There was nothing else in the room she could use with one arm and she prayed she would be able to use the bloody thing to put an end to it all. Her arm throbbed and she shut her eyes letting it all wash over her. An image of Alice with a dirty, tear-stained face holding a spade made her whisper, ‘Same place, different time.’ She tucked the bone under her leg and waited for Edward to come back. She knew exactly what she had to do.

  Chapter 38

  Jake made it to the grounds of the house without running the van off the steep track, down the embankment and into the river at the bottom.

  Kav breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I didn’t doubt you for a minute. So now what? Do you want to split up or stick together?’

  They got out of the van and walked up to the front of the house and the open door.

  ‘Well, seeing as how neither of us has a clue I reckon we should stick together.’

  ‘Not much of a plan but it will do for now, Jake.’

  Jake walked into the darkness followed by Kav. They listened but it was silent. Standing inside the hall Jake pointed to the stairs. Kav shook his head and pointed to the long corridor that led away from the hall. He began walking that way. Jake followed, terrified.

  Henry leant against the other side of the door trying to compose himself. The bitch had taken him by surprise and hurt him with that little outburst. Who did she think she was? He couldn’t let her think she’d almost got the better of him. It was quiet now. There had been some movement and whispering but it had stopped. He hoped the man was dead; it would serve her right knowing she was next.

  It had all gone wrong and he had no choice but to go for his backup plan. He had a petrol can hidden in the corner. The only thing he could do now was to burn the place to the ground with the bodies inside and hope that no one would be any the wiser. Unscrewing the cap he began splashing it around the cellar and a steady stream of it ran under the gap between the door and the floor.

  Petrol fumes roused Annie from her semi-conscious state and she began to panic: fire was her worst fear. If he didn’t come back inside the room they wouldn’t stand a chance. The fumes were already overpowering, making her eyes water. Then the key turned in the lock. She tensed. This was it. She knew he was coming to kill her before setting them on fire. She reached out and squeezed Will’s hand.

  ‘We’re not going to die in here, Will.’ And then she shut her eyes. Let him come to her.

  Henry walked in and smiled to himself as he placed the candle on the small table. Taking a final look around his room he strode over to Annie, bent down and pulled her head back to expose her throat. Annie didn’t make a sound but lifted the gas, aimed it into his eyes and sprayed, blinding him. He cursed and released his grip on her a little. She felt underneath her thigh for the piece of bone and with as much force as possible drew it back and then plunged it deep into the inside of his thigh. An invisible hand wrapped itself around hers, helping her to keep on pushing as far as it would go. He howled in pain and let go of her, stumbling back. Blood was gushing from the wound: she hoped she had got his femoral artery. She waited for his next attack but it didn’t come. He deflated in front of her. All the fight had left his eyes. He stumbled backwards holding his leg. His legs gave way and on his way down he knocked the table and the candle to the floor.

  Loud footsteps ran across the cellar towards the room and Annie tensed. Please God don’t let him have an accomplice. You can’t let me think I’m going to live and then kill me anyway. She dragged herself to her feet, one hand covered in his blood and the other dangling by her side. She sobbed as she saw the face that appeared through the doorway.

  ‘Annie.’ Jake
stepped inside followed by Kav, whose face paled at the scene in front of him. He sniffed as the petrol fumes hit his nostrils.

  ‘This place is going to go. We need to get out.’

  Jake ran to Will. Dragging him up he threw him over his shoulder. Kav turned to help Annie.

  ‘I’m OK, I can walk. You have to get Jenna out of here. We can’t leave her, I promised I’d take her home.’

  Kav winced. He was by no way squeamish but she had been dead a few days. Annie implored him with her eyes so he walked over, bent down and scooped her up into his arms.

  They left the room as the candle flame ignited the petrol fumes. It was Kav who shouted, ‘Run or we’re going to get cremated.’ And they did as fast as they could to the cellar steps, carrying the wounded and the dead out of there.

  Annie was terrified to look behind her. A wave of heat washed over them as they neared the top of the stairs. Running now they made it to the front door.

  Annie stopped. ‘We can’t leave Derek. It’s my fault he’s mixed up in this.’ She turned and ran back to the scullery where he lay. Jake screamed at her but he couldn’t do anything with Will over his shoulder; he needed to get him out to safety. Kav too was helpless, the body in his arms weighing heavy. They carried their loads out of the front door and down the steps to the overgrown, grassy lawn. Jake laid Will down and watched as Kav gently laid down the body of Jenna White. They turned and watched relieved as Annie stumbled out of the door, her good arm wrapped around Derek.

  The woods behind them finally lit up with blue and white flashing lights. Jake dropped to the ground to begin his best attempt at CPR on Will. He was unconscious and the same colour as the dead girl. Annie made her way across to them standing next to Kav. He had never seen anything like it in his twenty-seven years as a serving police officer.

  Annie collapsed on the ground next to Will, whispering in his ear, begging him to open his eyes. The paramedics arrived to take over and Jake, Kav and Annie huddled together.

  Movement from the front of the building caught their eye and they watched horrified as the man Annie had stabbed fell onto the front steps, his hair on fire. Kav ran across and dragged him away from the burning building. Taking off his jacket he used it to extinguish the flames. Annie walked over to the man who had caused all of this pain and suffering; he didn’t look so scary now. An orange glow filled the ground floor and she could feel the heat from the flames washing over them both. Bending down she wrapped her fingers around the bone protruding from his leg and yanked it free.

  Kav squirmed. ‘What are you doing, you need to leave that to the paramedics?’

  She waved the piece of bone in his face and then walked up the steps and threw it into the flames where it belonged. Burn in hell, you bastard.

  Another ambulance arrived and the paramedics ran to help the killer. Annie turned away in disgust. More police cars and two fire engines arrived. Annie walked to where Jenna’s corpse lay on the grass and knelt down next to her.

  ‘You’re going home, sweetheart. I told you I’d make sure that you did.’ And then she began to cry, real heart wrenching sobs.

  Kav wrapped his arms around her. ‘I don’t know where to start. The main thing is you’re OK and Will, well he’s in the best hands now. It might take a while but I’m sure he’ll be fine.’

  ‘I hope you’re right, Kav, because my life had just taken a turn for the better and I don’t want to lose him now.’

  He looked at her arm. ‘Come on, kid, I don’t think your arm is supposed to hang down like that.’

  At the mention of her arm pain shot through it up into her shoulder. ‘Ouch you’ve just reminded me how much it hurts.’

  He walked her over to the ambulance they were loading Will into. ‘Room for a little one?’

  The paramedic nodded and Kav helped her in. ‘You did great, Annie, it’s just a shame you managed to burn the house down.’ He winked at her and they both looked over to it. Orange flames were burning through the boarded-up windows, thick black smoke was filling the night sky; the whole of the ground floor was alight.

  As she looked up she saw a familiar white figure at the attic window. Annie lifted her hand and waved, the figure waved back.

  Kav shouted, ‘There’s a woman in there, top floor.’

  Annie shook her head. ‘No, it’s the ghost of a woman who lived there a very long time ago.’ They looked again but she had gone.

  Kav stared at Annie. ‘Jesus, this is getting worse by the minute. I don’t understand.’

  Annie leant her head back against the cold side of the ambulance. ‘Me either but I’ll explain it as best as I can later. My brother is going to bloody kill me; I was only supposed to be looking after the dog.’

  Kav roared with laughter so loud that it echoed around the clearing.. He slammed the ambulance door shut and watched as it slowly drove away.

  The only sound in the hospital room was the steady beep from the monitors stuck to Will’s chest. Annie had given her statement to Stu while her arm was being reset in the plaster room. She omitted the bit about what was in the room in the cellar and who was buried down there. No one needed to know, it was over.

  The Accident and Emergency Department had been chaos with the arrival of her and Will, closely followed by Derek and then the man who had started it all. He was under police guard but the doctors had said his prognosis wasn’t good. Jake had come to sit with her and after some dithering he had told her about finding the killer’s house with two more bodies inside.

  ‘Please tell me they weren’t girls?’

  Jake shook his head, pausing while trying to find the right words to say to her. ‘No, they found his elderly mother stuffed into the chest freezer.’

  ‘Who was the other one?’

  Jake hadn’t wanted to be the one to tell her but Kav had insisted it needed to come from a friend. ‘Mike, they found Mike dead in the bedroom.’

  ‘Mike who? Are you saying my Mike? Why would he be in some killer’s house, isn’t he supposed to be in Carlisle?’

  Jake took hold of her hand. ‘He did a runner from the bail hostel yesterday and they only told us this afternoon. Matt said he thought he had been killed this afternoon and to let you know he will come and see you as soon as he can.’

  Annie felt numb. What did she do now? After Jake left she went to the cubicle where a groggy Derek was waiting to go for a CT scan.

  ‘I’m so sorry for getting you mixed up in all of this, Derek.’

  He smiled at her. ‘I knew you were trouble the minute I set eyes on you.’ He winked at her and the porter came to wheel him away. She then walked down to the intensive care unit where they had moved Will an hour ago. The nurse had taken one look at her and wouldn’t let her in because, in the nurse’s words, ‘You look like something from a bad horror movie, darling.’ But seeing the pain in Annie’s eyes she had melted and fetched a pair of blue scrubs from the linen cupboard, a towel and a plastic bag. ‘You go into the disabled toilet over there; clean yourself up and then you can come and sit with him for a bit.’

  Annie did as she was told. Carefully folding her clothes and put them into the evidence bags for Debs to analyse later. When she finally sat beside Will she tenderly picked up his hand and kissed it. Exhausted and broken the painkillers began to kick in and she pulled her chair closer to his bed and shut her eyes.

  Epilogue

  Three Weeks Later

  The winter sun was shining as they lowered Mike’s coffin into the ground. It had been a small service as he had very few family and friends. The majority of people in attendance were police officers and they were not there because of Mike but to show their support for Annie. Kav, Jake and Stu made a handsome trio in their black tunics. Will stood next to Annie wearing a black suit and leaning on a crutch. He looked much better but it would take a while before he would get back to normal. What mattered was that he was alive, they both were.

  Annie didn’t cry because she wasn’t a hypocrite. Mike had become a
stranger to her these last few years of their marriage and it was a relief to know he wouldn’t be able to come back and hurt her ever again. She was with Will now and in such a short space of time they had gone through more than what most couples face in a lifetime. She reached out for his hand. As the vicar said his parting words to Mike a huge weight lifted from her shoulders and she threw a single yellow rose down onto his coffin.

  Annie walked back to the funeral car and took out a beautiful bunch of white lilies. She began to walk in the direction of the old chapel. Will hobbled behind her at a much slower pace, keeping his distance. Jake, Kav and Stu watched her for a little while then turned away and began to talk about the latest football results. She finally reached Alice’s grave; the angel smiled at her. Annie bent down and laying the flowers at the foot of the monument she whispered, ‘Your secret is safe with me, Alice.’ She stood up and blew a kiss to the angel then turned and walked back towards Will. He took Annie’s hand and kissed her gently on the lips and they walked back towards the waiting car.

  Prologue

  June 30th 1984

  Six year old Sean Black didn’t like this house, it smelled funny and all the furniture was dark and old. He didn’t like the man who walked around wearing the long, black dress either. He knew that he was a priest because his mum had told him that he was, she also told him that they had to live in the presbytery next to the church but he didn’t know exactly what that meant. They had their own house two doors down from this one, it was much smaller with three bedrooms and a tiny garden but it was big enough to play in with his A-Team action figures. He wanted to go and dig out B A Baracus from underneath the rose bush in the front garden where he had buried him last week, before he got eaten by worms or went mouldy. His mum wouldn’t let him, he had asked her this morning when he had finished his bowl of Snap Crackle and Pop. She had gone mad with him when he said he wanted to go and get his toys and would she take him, so there wasn’t much choice. He was going to come up with a plan of his own – ust like Hannibal always did – and go on a rescue mission. He would wait until his mum had a bath. She always spent hours in there and wouldn’t notice that he had sneaked out of the door. He just hoped that the priest wasn’t an enemy working for the other side and wouldn’t drop him in it. His mum had been acting strange all week now and yesterday she wouldn’t let him go to his sister Sophie’s funeral. Instead she made him stay here, in this big smelly house with the woman the priest called his ‘housekeeper’. he liked her because she baked nice cakes and would let him eat as many as he wanted when his mum wasn’t looking.