She gave him a look which could only portray: are-you-for-real? Then she said, ‘If I go through there, and you follow me, then it’s your choice to follow me, and you are putting your life in danger. I’m not taking responsibility for your actions.’
He wasn’t sure if she was purposefully being cold and hard-hearted, but her words stung him. He supposed that what she said was fair; he was an adult and his choices were his own.
‘Okay,’ he sighed, ‘I shouldn’t try to guilt-trip you. But let me ask as a favour instead. Please just give it at least five minutes?’
She looked up at the haloed sky through the tree-tops as if it could provide a solution. Her shoulders lifted and then dropped. ‘Sure. I’ll wait.’
‘Thank you. I’m going to try find out more from it before you make a decision.’
The little sparrow was motionless. Nick thought, Is it watching us? He remembered the seagull in Amiton before the car incident, and the crow that clunked on his bonnet earlier today.
The portal spoke: The seagull, the crow, the sparrow.
‘What?’ Nick responded.
Silence.
He thought about what Juliet had said. That she was thinking about the pool of light when it responded to her. Do I have to talk aloud? Can I speak to it in my head?
: Yes, in your head.
He heard the answer; it felt to be inside of his skull, like his own thoughts. It was pervasive and unnerving to have someone (or something) else’s thoughts so clearly in his mind.
He aimed back at the portal, Okay, why does Aldrich think you are Moloch? What happened to the children that he sent into the light?
: Aldrich is an idiot, desperate to believe in a higher reason for his killings. In the past, he burnt the children in worship to a false god. Now he sends them through here. They are better off on this side.
The portal’s ‘voice’ was clear, but oddly it seemed to say everything simultaneously, yet Nick could pick out and understand the separate strands.
He directed his thoughts again, How many of you are there? What use do you have for the children? Aldrich said he sacrificed roughly one every ten years or so. Why? Are they alive on your side?
: You ask too many questions. Why not come through yourself? Please do, I’d love to have your company. Your first name is Nicolas, what is your full name, Oracle?
No, Nick mentally replied, desperately trying not to think about his middle or last name, in case the portal read his mind.
Juliet interrupted, ‘Nicolas, are you talking with it in your head? What is it saying?’ she asked.
: Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas...
The portal sung his name to a creepy tune. ‘I don’t trust it, Juliet. I don’t think you should go through there.’ he said, almost desperately.
‘Well, I haven’t heard it say anything, so why should I trust your judgement? How am I supposed to know that you’re not hiding important things from me? I’ve seen you keep information from your brothers already.’ she spoke forcefully, demanding justification.
‘I know you’ve seen me dodge the truth, but you know the reasons I didn’t tell them everything. I’m trying to protect them, and I’m trying to protect you.’
Then they heard a male’s voice, panicked and calling for help. Nick and Juliet both shifted to listen out. Whoever was shouting, they were saying, ‘Help me!’ and wailing a man’s scream.
‘My brothers. We have to go back.’ Nick spoke fast.
They rocketed towards the entry bush of the clearing, but before they reached it, they were vaulted off their feet. They tumbled and scraped along the floor. A stentorian boom let loose, and fire billowed from the steps, followed by a cloud of black smoke.
The portal had exploded and the steps began to crumble inwards.
The ground in the centre swirled like a whirlpool, eating up the steps. It sounded like bones and rock scraping, cracking, splitting.
Nick, propped up on his elbows, watched in fascination, ‘What… the…?’ he almost said. ‘I told you we couldn’t trust that portal.’
Smoke caught in his throat and he coughed violently. The explosion, like fire, the steps, the smoke, the choking sensation. No time to think. The explosion had chucked him a good few metres, and his bruises were fresh with pain, again!
The little sparrow was gone; the noise must have frightened it. Nick could no longer hear the demulcent humming from the portal, only crunching and the earth shifting.
Rising to her feet, Juliet stared at the transforming ground, her expression unreadable.
‘My soul…’ she said, low in volume.
‘We need to get back to my brothers.’ Nick stood up and brushed down his clothes.
After a grinding roar that came to an echoing stop, the earth settled into a flat muddy area as if the portal had never been there.
‘It’s gone.’ Juliet didn’t move.
‘We need to go!’
It was colder now. The soothing effect of the portal was no more, and goose bumps prickled over Nick’s skin. He looked up and noticed that the trees had begun to change. Rapidly. Their vivid green leaves browned and withered. The lavish foliage shrunk, giving sight to the brisk white sky.
Crinkled leaves fell from the branches. It reminded Nick of those nature documentaries where they video recorded something over days, weeks or months then played it back, but sped up. This looked the same.
Juliet finally drew her attention away from the buried portal, and headed for the bush. Nick joined her and they ran through the woods the way they came. The beautiful flowers were now rotted and flat. The trees shed their newly-browned leaves; they showered down.
The ground was disappearing in the piling up of autumn leaves. Running became difficult. Nick was mesmerised by it all and wanted to stop and watch the transformation, but he heard the man shout again. It sounded like Aldrich, so he picked up his pace.
Nick and Juliet made it back. A fallen leaf or two had snagged onto Juliet’s black jumper. She stroked them off, huffing at the state of her clothes. Afterwards, she looked up, and then covered her mouth, maybe to stifle a scream?
Tom stood alone, biting his nails, his eyes shut. He didn’t acknowledge their arrival. Tommy was stood over Aldrich, staring down at him. Aldrich was motionless.
The handle of a knife was visible; it protruded Aldrich’s chest. The blade was… sunk into his heart? The knife looked antique, with fanciful carvings. Nick instantly recognised it from his nightmare.
‘Oh, God, Tommy,’ Nick searched for words, his heart throbbed, ‘you’ve killed him.’
Chapter 18
Running aside, Juliet forced down the sick that was determined to come out. Don’t throw up. I can’t throw up. It’s evidence.
The entire situation had changed. Aldrich was dead. She was an accomplice to murder. All the previous errors along the way were stark clear now. Why did she even get involved in all this?
She bent over prepared to vomit in case she couldn’t hold it back, and stared at the leaves and dirt. The ground was a blanket of shadow, growing denser. It must have been past four o’clock; soon it would be too dark to be outside. She focused the sick away and listened to the others.
‘Tommy, why did you do this?’ Nick asked. Juliet heard the frustration prevalent in his voice.
‘What was that noise? That loud bang? And that weird rumblin’ sound?’ Tommy asked, ignoring Nick’s question.
‘It was some odd contraption in the woods; maybe a trap that Aldrich had built, or some kind of machine. We couldn’t tell. It blew up.’ He answered.
Juliet sighed, still arched over, irritated at Nick’s persistent lies. She could understand why he bended the truth about the portal but what upset her was how readily and easily he fabricated reality.
‘Someone might have heard it. They could be on their way.’ Tommy went on.
‘I doubt it; the nearest houses are over two miles away,’ Nick said, fast, and shook his head incredulously. Then he asked, ‘Why did
you stab him?’
‘You know why. It’s your fault, yuh didn’t tell us enough!’ Tommy retaliated.
‘What do you mean?’ he was quiet for a moment, ‘Aldrich’s blindfold… you took it off? Are you insane?’
‘Well you can’t just tell us it’s his fault mum’s dead and then walk off.’
‘I said I was going to tell you everything. You could have just waited.’
‘Yeah right, like I can trust you, Nick. Yuh ditch everyone when the goin’ gets tough. Like yuh left me and Tom with Dad. You’re selfish. Always have been.’
Juliet’s stomach calmed itself. She stood straight again but the acid in the back of her throat was uncomfortable. She tried to address the group without having to see Aldrich’s body in her peripheral vision.
‘But why did you take the blindfold off?’ Nick asked.
‘He said he’d tell us everythin’.’
‘And did he?’
‘More than you told us.’
Nick huffed and threw his arms up, ‘How do you know that, Tommy? Maybe he got inside of your head like he did to Juliet. Maybe he wanted you to kill him!’
‘No one can control me.’ Tommy said, defensively.
‘So you killed him on purpose? You murdered him?’
‘What I don’t understand, Nick, is why you didn’t kill him! He stabbed our mum to death. Why wouldn’t yuh want to kill him?’
The two of them bracing their bodies and clashing their egos repulsed Juliet. She stood still, and her mind thought repeatedly about one thing.
I didn’t do it. I’m not going to jail for this.
‘Because I’m not a murderer, Tommy.’ Nick squinted horribly and shook his head. ‘Where did you even get that knife?’
‘I got it from inside the manor…’ Tommy said, as if it was obvious.
A welcome interruption came then, Tom stepped forward, ‘I’m fed up of you two arguing. We have a dead body now. We’ve got to deal with it, or else we’re all in the shit. Any suggestions?’
Juliet respected Tom’s practical-mindedness… but no, she couldn’t help dispose of a body, no way, she was innocent.
‘Take me home now, Nicolas.’ she demanded.
He looked like a struck puppy, deflated and almost guilty for not paying attention to her. ‘But, Juliet, we need to get rid of this body.’ he pointed behind himself, but neither of them peered over at the lifeless thing against the tree.
‘No, we don’t. Tommy killed him, he can deal with it.’ she dismissively waved a hand in Tommy’s direction. She didn’t want to look at him. Then it frightened her realising that she just antagonised a murderer.
‘What did you say?’ Tommy yelled. Juliet noted how Tommy could pronounce ‘you’ properly when he wanted to make a point.
She refused to answer him. Eyeing Nick, she said, ‘If you don’t take me home, I’ll call the police and say that you dragged me into this, and that you threatened to kill me.’ Thinking about it, it was a ridiculous idea, but she took her mobile out anyway and stepped backwards.
Tommy noticeably tensed his body, ready to chase after her if he needed to, but Nick gave him a scolding look. He turned away.
‘Juliet,’ Nick said softly, extending an arm towards her. ‘I’ll take you home, okay. Let us just sort this out, and I swear that if we get caught I will plead that you’re innocent… I’ll even say that I threatened you with your life, if that’s what you want me to do. Okay?’
He came towards her to touch her arms, maybe embrace her, but she snapped, ‘Don’t touch me! I don’t want to be near any of you right now. It’s cold and it’s getting dark. This body is your problem to deal with, not mine. I’ll wait inside the manor.’
She walked away, but Nick called to her, ‘Juliet, please wait. It’s not a good idea to split off. Let us sort this out first.’
With a great deal of self-restraint, she paused. She didn’t turn around to face them, but simply waited, refusing to reply. The thought of seeing that body was unbearable.
Here she was again, waiting and listening out for the next drama.
‘We could chuck him over the cliff edge.’ Tom suggested.
Nick wearily replied, ‘It’s a long way to carry him, Tom. And it’s getting too dark.’
‘What else can we do? Wait until morning?’
‘No way.’ Juliet interrupted without turning back.
‘Okay…’ Tom continued, ‘The cliff is the best idea. I’m not going to bury the body, and we shouldn’t leave him here.’
‘We’re going to need a torch or something then, or one of us could fall over the edge.’
Juliet wasn’t sure what Tommy was doing during the conversation… Most likely standing around looking belligerent.
‘Aldrich’s probably got a torch in the manor somewhere. We should look.’ Tom said.
‘And get our fingerprints everywhere?’
‘We’ve already done that. I searched the house for a blanket; my fingerprints must be on something. Juliet leaped onto the floor, so that’s her hand prints too. She got Aldrich a glass of water. We handled the shotgun. A bullet scraped Tommy’s arm, remember? There are probably tiny specks of blood on the floor and the walls. We’ve left forensic evidence all over the place.’ Tom listed it all calmly, seeming to calculate a next step.
Nick sounded less centred, ‘We’re going to have to clean everything we remember touching. That’s the best we can do, and if we find a torch, we will come out here and chuck the shotgun and the… the body, Aldrich, whatever, over the cliff edge. Okay?’
‘I have some gloves in my pocket.’ Tom said, ‘I’ll put them on. Don’t touch anything else. Only let me handle objects and we’ll clean everything down.’
The space around them was becoming dark and turbid. The sky was at the stage where dark boldly crept forward and could envelop them at any moment.
Juliet’s black jumper no longer offered much warmth against this late autumn afternoon. The icy air seeped through the fabric of her jeans, and her hands stiffened with cold fingers.
‘It took a long time to walk here. We should head back to the manor,’ Tom said, ‘but first, cover up the body, just in case.’
Juliet heard rustling noises, and curiously turned to see that Tom had bent down, scooped up a pile of fallen leaves and was covering the body. Her glance at the corpse twisted her stomach again, so she looked away fast.
Listening to Nick and the twins camouflaging the body, she thought about the portal. My soul… I can’t get it back. I’m going to see spirits until the day I die. The self-pity drew attention to itself, and she shook her head. Stupid, don’t be stupid. I said I’d make the best out of this situation that I can.
‘Right, let’s go.’ she heard Nick say.
They walked through the gloaming. Juliet could faintly detect the trodden path they followed on the way. Grendel Manor was a giant black monster in the dark, growing as they marched nearer.
Tom used his gloved hand to let them inside the manor. Juliet ignored all three of them, avoided eye contact and walked towards the entry hall. She passed the statue of the man with a bull’s head, and again felt like it would jump to life. The hallway seemed longer this time, and blackness had snuck into the manor.
When they reached the dried pool of Aldrich’s blood, Nick asked Tommy to search for a cleaning cupboard and locate a mop. Tommy begrudgingly turned to do as asked, and Nick reminded him not to touch anything directly with his hands.
Before Tommy made any progress, Juliet whispered, ‘Wait, can you hear something?’
A metal clicking sound, then all of them stared at the front door. With no time to hide, it swung open and a man walked through: an ugly, stubbly ginger man.
He twitched and paused in his step. He looked at Nick and the twins. His eyes lingered on Tommy’s large frame and then he sighted something on a step of the staircase. The man darted for it.
Juliet had gone unnoticed so far, but Nick and the twins stood paralysed as the man grabbe
d the shotgun and aimed broadly at them.
‘Why are you here?’ he shouted. His voice was rough. Spittle flicked through his crooked teeth.
‘Woah,’ Nick gasped, holding up both arms in a Don’t-Shoot pose. ‘You don’t need to aim that at us, we’re not dangerous.’ The twins mimicked Nick’s stance, though Tommy’s face was confrontational.
‘Why’s there blood on the floor then? Where’s Aldrich?’ he demanded.
‘Ryan, they’re with me.’ Juliet interrupted. The ginger man appeared startled to hear his name aloud, but he finally noticed Juliet.
‘Juliet? What’re you doing here?’ his face transformed, perplexed.
She replied, ‘What are you doing here? Does Kim know you’re here?’
‘Errrh… Where’s Aldrich?’ he didn’t answer. ‘Is that his blood?’
‘Aldrich’s dead.’ Nick announced. Tom squeezed his eyes shut, as if waiting for the pull of the trigger.
Ryan slowly lowered the shotgun so that it was aimed at the floor. He started to laugh. Juliet watched the faces of Nick and the twins shift and twist. She was equally confused. Ryan’s eyes reddened, he choked on his laughter, and his chest convulsed. ‘He’s dead? You’re sure?’
‘Yes.’ Juliet answered seriously.
He laughed some more, uncontrollably it seemed, and said, ‘You’re not joking, are you?’ Nick shook his head in response. ‘Finally…’ he sighed, visibly relieved… or at least visibly acting relieved.
Juliet watched Nick and the twins exchange confused expressions.
‘You’re glad he’s dead?’ Tom asked.
‘I’ve worked for him for over ten years. He… he forced me to.’ Ryan raised one hand to his forehead and rubbed the deep wrinkles on it, ‘I’m finally free of him.’
Tommy stepped forward, ‘I killed him.’ he said. Juliet made a tutt sound in her mouth, disgusted at Tommy’s cry for acknowledgement.
Ryan kept the shotgun in one hand but eagerly moved forward and hugged Tommy, ‘Thank you. Thank you so much!’ he said. Tommy stiffened and didn’t hug back, but he laughed in a manly kind of way, as if to say, ‘Sure, any time, mate.’
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