He crawled along the polished floor, groping in the darkness for whatever it was that had fallen from Sarah’s grasp.
His tiny fingers closed around a metal object attached to a thin chain. He held it up against the light from the doorway and found that it was a small, plain gold cross. The one she always wore tucked beneath the collar of her dress.
Once again something deep inside him told him to go back to his room, to his bed and pretend that he had been asleep this whole time. That the confusing and distressing scene he had witnessed was just a bad dream. That Sarah would come in to comfort him, laugh in her silvery way and tell him a story of her homeland…of skelps and pixies, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Sarah was never coming back to him.
Maybe it was that thought which had him climbing to his feet in the darkness. Maybe it was the heartsickness and sorrow that had him creeping slowly down the stairs at a distance behind his father.
Wondering where he was taking her, he followed him to the study, and peered around the door, watching as his father reached for a secret catch on the bookcase.
There was a strange sound, a series of clicks and whirrs as the bookcase slowly swung open, revealing a hidden doorway into which his father disappeared.
The boy crept into the room, one of the places he was not allowed. He barely glanced at the ornate heavy desk nor the glass fronted cabinets containing rows upon rows of books. Instead he headed for the hidden doorway which was still open a fraction. Reaching out he slipped inside, the entire back of the doorway was made up entirely of tiny mechanisms, cogs and wheels, and metal pulleys, reminding him of the delicate watches and clocks his father made.
Turning away from the door he found a plain staircase. Following it down, he came to a long corridor with a deep plush runner down the center. His frozen toes sunk into the springy carpet as he snuck down the corridor like a sneak thief. A few of the candles had been lit in the sconces and had burned down almost halfway, casting dim light and long shadows.
At the end of the corridor was another door. This one stood wide open and spiraling down into the darkness below was a shiny black metal staircase.
He padded down on silent feet, circling endlessly into the black well below, until his feet hit cold solid ground and he found himself face to face with another door. Reaching out toward the handle the door suddenly slammed open and when the boy looked up, the huge imposing figure of his father stared down at him with black eyes. The white tiled room at his back was well lit, making the pure white wings of hair at his temples amidst the black almost glow incandescently, but the boy paid no notice. His wide terrified eyes were locked on his father. He lost control of his bladder, feeling trickles of hot urine rolling down the inside of his legs and staining his nightshirt.
His father did not speak. He reached out and grabbed his upper arm, dragging him roughly back up the stairs. He pulled him along the corridor; the boy couldn’t keep up, couldn’t move his feet but it didn’t matter, his father dragged him along the ground his feet dangling almost a full inch above the floor. His arm was numb, and his bicep pinched painfully where his father’s fingers dug into his tender flesh, already leaving dark purple and black bruises.
Once they reached the well-lit study, he didn’t stop there but dragged him out into the foyer. Ignoring the stairs, he marched toward the back of the house, through the butler’s pantry to the scullery. He stopped in front of the back wall and shoved the rough wooden table out of the way, so violently it skidded across the flagstone floor with a loud grating noise.
He knelt down next to the bare, whitewashed brick wall. There was a mark in the wall, little more than a dent, tiny and innocuous. The boy watched fearfully as his father withdrew his watch from the pocket of his finely embroidered silk waistcoat of deep maroon. He flicked the pocket watch open and turned the face counterclockwise slowly, until with a quiet click a small skeleton key emerged. He placed it into the dent which was deeper than it appeared and suddenly there was a series of clicks and whirring, like the innards of the carriage clock he’d watched his father make.
A small door, barely large enough for a child, certainly not big enough to accommodate a grown man, swung open and the boy saw a small dark space barely three feet by three. There was nothing in that hole but a small metal grate covering an envelope sized air vent.
‘NO PAPA!’ he tried to pull away, his feet slid and scrambled against the cold stone floor. ‘I’M SORRY…I’M SORRY…’
But his father was too big, too strong, he simply tossed him into the darkness and the door slammed shut behind him. The clicks and whirs began again, and as the footfalls of his father’s boots faded away, he reached out. His tiny fingers felt the rough cog like edges of a clockwork mechanism, just like the ones his father made, just like the hidden door in the study and he knew, with a heavy sinking heart that he was trapped for however long his father wanted to leave him in that tiny black hole.
He shivered violently against the freezing cold; the wetness of his urine-soaked nightshirt clammy against his skin. Pulling his legs up underneath him he wrapped his arms around his knees, folding himself into a ball and with the small plain gold cross still clutched in his tiny fist, he laid his head on his knees and wept bitterly.
12
Ava woke with a start, her heart pounding as she sat up and dragged in a shaky breath. Her hands trembled as she shoved her heavy, damp hair back from her face.
‘Are you okay?’
She glanced over to the bed next to hers and saw Kelley propped up on a pile of pillows reading a book, wearing nothing but a hospital gown, just as she was. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her feet dangling inches above the cool sterile floor.
‘Yeah,’ she swallowed against the dryness in her mouth. ‘Bad dream.’
‘Wanna talk about it?’ he asked.
She shook her head. Even now the dream was quickly fading, and she found she couldn’t quite recall the details. It had upset her, she knew that much, but every time she reached for it, the dream tattered and fell apart, slipping through her fingers as fragile as a spider’s web.
‘How long was I asleep for?’ she swung her legs slightly as she straightened her gown.
‘About an hour,’ he replied as he watched her.
He didn't add that it hadn’t been a very restful sleep. She’d tossed and muttered in her sleep, her brow furrowed and her body tense. He’d spent more time watching her in concern than he had reading the book one of the nurses had loaned him.
There was a knock at the door and they both looked up as it swung open and Gus walked in.
‘Dad,’ Kelley greeted him, ‘what’s going on?’
‘Jesus,’ Gus removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair to smooth down the wild tufts. He dragged a chair across the room and sat down, his elbows propped on his knees as he clutched his hat in his hands. ‘I don’t know what to tell you, it’s like a three-ring circus up at the house right now.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ava frowned.
‘The forensic pathologists were called in because we’re dealing with human remains. We’ve opened an investigation but it’s obvious the bodies have been down there for some time, decades even. The county coroner’s office has called in a forensic anthropologist from the University of Maine. Apparently, no one knows bones like she does, but because of the high concentrations of arsenic found at the scene, amongst other things, we’ve had to call in the CDC and the New England Poison Center have gotten involved too.’
Kelley nodded, ‘I figured as much.’
‘The bodies are to be carefully removed for further examination but again, because of the poison, it’s a slow painstaking business. All work on the house has been halted until the site is cleared by the CDC.’
‘I wouldn’t have thought it would take too long,’ Kelley mused. ‘Once the bodies are out and the place decontaminated it should be safe. It’s the bodies themselves that are dangerous.’
‘H
ow the hell did you know?’ Gus asked his son, ‘that they were embalmed with arsenic?’
‘Last year I covered one of the senior classes while Rachel Solomon was out on maternity,’ Kelley told him, ‘and one of the books we covered was Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. As a fun extra credit project, we looked at the Victorian preoccupation with re-animating corpses and briefly we touched on 19th century pseudo-science and anatomy.
One of the things we discovered is that in the 19th century they used to embalm the deceased by flushing out the veins with water and filling them with arsenic. It worked incredibly well. There’s nothing, not even modern-day practices, that can preserve a corpse like arsenic, however it was extremely dangerous to anyone handling the body. Many doctors and medical students were accidentally killed by heavy metal poisoning. Eventually they discovered formaldehyde and discarded the use of it.
When we were in the mortuary room, I saw volumes of books about anatomy and on the desk scientific papers and illustrations detailing the embalming process. There were large bottles labeled arsenic on the trolley, next to a porcelain autopsy table and yards of rubber tubing. When I walked into the other room and saw the bodies it just clicked.’
‘You always were a smart kid,’ Gus murmured as he watched his son thoughtfully.
The three of them looked up at another knock at the door. It swung open and the doctor peeked his head around.
‘Mr Ryan, Miss Cortez,’ he nodded as he entered the room carrying a clipboard, ‘and?’
‘Sheriff Ryan,’ Gus stood and held out his hand for the doctor to shake.
‘Any relation?’ the doctor looked to Kelley.
‘My dad,’ he nodded.
‘Ah alright then,’ he reached into the pocket of his white coat and retrieved a pen, clicking it before he scribbled something on his notes. ‘Well, we’ve sent your blood work off to the lab for analysis, but it won’t be back for a little while longer. You’ve not displayed any symptoms of arsenic poisoning so far and that’s a good sign, although because you inhaled fumes rather than ingesting the poison directly, symptoms can take longer to manifest. However, I believe your exposure was very minimal from what you’ve told me, so I’m confident the test results should come back negative.
Your clothes have been disposed of as a precaution and you’ve been decontaminated. We’ll keep you under observation for a few more hours then after that I’m happy to release you, but if you feel at all unwell, you’re to come straight back. Symptoms to watch out for are changes in your fingernail pigmentation, a metallic taste in the mouth and garlicky breath. Also, excess saliva and/or problems swallowing. Also be aware of blood in the urine, cramping muscles, hair loss, stomach cramps, convulsions, excessive sweating, vomiting and diarrhea.’
‘Sounds delightful,’ Ava muttered sourly.
Gus’s phone rang loudly, and the doctor excused himself as the sheriff stepped back and talked quietly.
‘Damn it,’ he swore as he hung up.
‘What?’ Kelley asked.
‘We’ve got a problem,’ he scowled angrily. ‘I need to get back as soon as possible. Some idiot leaked this whole mess to the press, they’re arriving on the island by the boatload. I’m not sure whether or not they know about you two, but just as a precaution I’m going to request the local PD put a couple of guys on the door, just in case they show up here. We have to wait a few more hours for your test results so I’ll have someone bring you both some clothes and escort you back to the island when you’re ready. Ava, I don’t want you staying in the RV on site alone tonight, so we’ll have to make other arrangements.’
‘But everything I own is there, and what about Bailey? She’s there on her own at the moment. I need to get back to her.’
‘Bailey’s fine,’ he assured her. ‘She’s at Killian’s place being spoiled rotten by Hope and the kids.’
‘What?’
‘My grandkids fell instantly in love with her, they think she’s a wolf.’
Ava’s eyes softened, ‘Killian didn’t have to do that.’
‘We take care of our own Ava,’ he murmured absently as he read a message which had pinged through to his phone. ‘I’m sorry you two, I really have to go. I’ll see you back on island later. Kelley don’t worry about the bar; Miranda is going to cover.’
‘Cousin,’ he told Ava as she glanced at him curiously. ‘One of many.’
Gus bid them a hurried goodbye and slipped from the room as Kelley lay back down on the bed and tucked his hands under his head.
‘Guess we’re stuck here for a while longer,’ he remarked easily.
‘You just take everything in your stride, don’t you?’ Ava watched him.
‘I try not to let things bother me,’ he replied, ‘if that’s what you’re getting at. Especially if I can’t change it.’
The daylight in the room had dimmed and turned gray. Ava turned her head to look as the first patters of rain hit the window. After a few moments the rain came down harder, perfectly mirroring her mood as it streamed down the glass like rivers of tears.
‘What is it Ava?’ Kelley asked softly.
‘I don’t know,’ she watched as the sky lit up suddenly and there was a loud crack followed by a long roll of thunder. ‘Everything, I guess. From the moment Serenity died, I feel like I’ve been trapped on a rollercoaster.’
‘A good one or a bad one?’ he asked as she looked over at him. ‘I’m just saying; sometimes rollercoasters can be fun.’
‘Honestly?’ she replied, ‘I’m not sure whether I want to laugh, cry or throw up.’
‘You tried that earlier.’
‘Thanks for reminding me,’ she shook her head. It was true though, when he’d carried her out of the house and set her down, she’d heaved and heaved. She wasn’t sure if it was the shock or the lack of oxygen underground but thank god, she hadn’t actually eaten anything, and her stomach was empty. She’d have been mortified if she’d actually vomited in front of everyone.
‘Did you know, Serenity didn’t even tell me she was sick,’ Ava told him quietly.
‘What?’ he frowned.
‘My mother didn’t tell me she was dying, that she was leaving me all on my own. I never got the chance to say goodbye. First I knew about it, was a phone call from one of her friends who was high on something at the time, telling me she was dead. Then I find out she was loaded and that I’d inherited a house on an island I’d never heard of. Now I’m here and the house is full of dead bodies, and your dad is telling me I’m ‘one of their own’ but I don’t feel it. I still feel like a stranger, like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I’m just floundering.’
He didn’t say anything for a moment, he just opened his arms to her. She didn’t stop and think, didn’t allow herself to second guess. She crawled onto the narrow hospital bed beside him, taking the comfort he was offering as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the warmth of his body.
‘I think my ass is hanging out the back of my gown,’ she frowned, ‘I can feel a breeze.’
She felt his chest jiggle beneath her cheek as he chuckled.
‘I’ll bet it’s a beautiful ass too, but to prove what a gentleman I am, I won’t look.’ He reached for the thin, pale blue, hospital blanket and draped it over them both, tucking her into him comfortingly.
For a few moments they just lay there in silence.
‘You know when I said I wanted to get you naked again,’ his voice rumbled quietly, ‘I didn’t mean with us wearing hospital gowns, in an isolation room, with suspected heavy metal poisoning.’
This time she laughed.
She tilted her head back and found his piercing green eyes watching her.
‘You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you,’ she murmured.
His mouth slowly curved.
‘Back at you.’
He watched slowly as she stretched up and pressed her soft lips to his. This time it was just the two of them, cocooned in the dim room with the patter
of rain against the glass as he sank into the feel and taste of her. His fingers tangled in her damp hair and she unconsciously pressed closer to him, her arms wrapping around him.
He took his time Ava noticed, like with everything else he did. He was unhurried as he explored her mouth like he had all the time in the world. It was a devastating kiss, rich and warm, filled with promise and underlaid with heat. It smoldered just below the surface; a need that was so potent she ached from it.
‘Kelley…’
She wasn’t even aware she’d breathed his name until the word was hanging between them, a promise, an invitation, she wasn’t even sure which. His hand trailed down her body and she could feel the heat of his touch through the hospital gown. They rolled slightly, aware they were on a narrow bed and she arched into him, helpless to do anything else when she felt the hot hard length of him pressed against her.
She wanted him, everything else just seemed to fade away until there was nothing but the feel and taste of him. He groaned and pulled away reluctantly, pressing his forehead to hers, his breathing ragged.
‘You have no idea how much I hate myself right now,’ he panted, ‘but we shouldn’t do this. Not here, not like this.’
He was right, she hated that he was right. Her whole body was humming with need, but she certainly didn’t want any doctors, cops or even worse reporters walking in and finding them in a compromising position.
He rolled back over onto his back taking her with him, so her cheek was pressed to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding beneath her as his breathing began to slow.
‘We need a distraction,’ he murmured as the lightning slashed across the sky outside, once more followed by a sulky roll of thunder, mirroring his mood perfectly. ‘You want to read?’ he picked up the book he’d been reading earlier and held it out to her.
She shook her head.
The Clockwork House Page 19