by kindels
"Bloody hell," said Forbes. "If this thing, this entity, gets off the island, it could end up anywhere."
"Potentially, yes," said Kate. "That's why we must try and ensure that it never leaves Skerries Rock."
"And just how do you suggest we do that, Kate?" I asked.
"Well, David. That's the thing, you see. We can't touch it, feel it, or even see it properly. We don't even know what it is, to be honest, so my answer to that one is an unequivocal, I don't know."
Forbes stared at Kate, that haunted look appearing in his eyes once more. He clearly felt the grip of fear, as the atmosphere in the room appeared to chill with Kate's words. I admit I felt it too, and I realised that the next few hours might begin to become dangerously uncomfortable for all of us if, as Kate suggested, we were about to go into battle against our unseen, but, conceivably possible real enemy. I knew as well as she did that the entity, the spirit of The Ripper as we'd come to designate it, wasn't about to meekly give way and allow us to destroy it. Whatever powers it possessed were about to be unleashed, and only Kate, Forbes, and I stood between it and its future. In my mind, my island home on Skerries Rock had suddenly become an enormously lonely and impossibly isolated place.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Screaming Walls
"He's here," said Forbes, his eyes darting around the room in much the same way they had when he'd first arrived. His body tensed, and my guest assumed the stance of a man ready to defend himself, but, against what?
"What makes you think so?" I asked. "Can you see something we can't?"
"No, but I can feel him. He's here, I know it."
"How do you know it's a he?" asked Kate.
"I don't know. It's just a feeling. Can't you sense it too, David?"
I had to agree with Forbes. Something imperceptible had changed in the sitting room, though it would have been difficult for me to put an accurate description to it.
"It's certainly become decidedly cold in here all of a sudden," I said. "In fact, it's as cold as the grave, and that doesn't feel right. The weather doesn't merit the house feeling like this. Look outside. The sun is shining and there's hardly any wind at all. For Skerries Rock, this is a mild day."
"There's no doubt it has grown colder in the last few minutes, but I can't sense anything malevolent in the room, at least not yet." Kate added. "Perhaps you should light the fire, David?"
"Good idea," I said. The large brass scuttle that I used to keep a supply of logs ready for the fire, stood empty on the hearth.
"William, would you mind coming and giving me a hand to bring some more logs in from the woodshed?"
"To be honest, I'll be glad to get out into the fresh air for a minute or two," Forbes replied.
"Will you be okay on your own, Kate?" I asked, picking up the scuttle as Forbes and I walked towards the door.
"Of course I will, dear boy. Don't be silly. Go fetch the logs. I'll still be here when you get back."
As soon as Forbes and I stepped across the threshold, into the fresh air, it became evident that we hadn't imagined the drop in room temperature in my home. The outside temperature felt at last five to ten degrees warmer. The warmth of the sun felt good on the back of my neck as we strolled across the yard, to the outhouse that I utilised as my woodshed.
"There's definitely something evil in that room, David," said Forbes, as we began to gather a supply of pre-cut logs with which to fill the scuttle. The pile of firewood, in the outhouse, was growing depleted, and I made a mental note to order a new supply from the emporium. Forbes went on. "I know you and Kate are oblivious to it, but, trust me, I've felt it before and now it's in there with us, for sure."
"I'm not saying you're mistaken, William. In fact, you're probably correct, especially after what's happened so far. All I said was that I couldn't see or feel anything."
"Let's just be careful when we go back inside, David, please?"
"No problem, William. We'll all be on our guard, as Kate obviously thinks things are about to start happening anyway."
Five minutes later, we returned to find Kate, on her hands and knees, busily scraping out the remains of the previous night's fire from the grate, placing the ashes and dead embers into a steel bucket she'd obtained from my kitchen. Hearing the front door open, she turned and smiled at us.
"Thought I'd keep myself busy while you boys were fetching and carrying."
"Thanks, Kate. We'll soon have the fire set and the room'll feel a bit cheerier."
"What do you use to light it, David?" she asked.
I pointed to a small, carved, wooden box in the left-hand corner of the hearth.
"There's a supply of fire lighters in there."
"Right then, you boys put those logs down and I'll see to the fire."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Of course. It's been ages since I had the chance to light a real, old-fashioned log fire. You two go and make us a pot of tea or coffee, whatever you fancy."
Forbes and I dutifully left Kate at work on setting and lighting the fire, and made our way to the kitchen. When we returned a few minutes later, armed with a pot of tea and one of coffee, Kate had already completed her task. We were met by the warming glow of the rising flames as the heat from the burning logs began to suffuse the room and bring some semblance of normality to the temperature in the croft.
"That's better, Kate," I said as Forbes and I placed the pots of hot drinks on the coffee table in the centre of the room. Forbes returned to the kitchen and came back a minute later with a supply of mugs, sugar, teaspoons, and a plate of biscuits on a tray.
"A fire makes all the difference, don't you think? Makes everything seem less, well, less gloomy," said Kate as we sat together, the three of us, sipping tea and coffee and wondering what would happen next.
"It all seems a bit surreal, really," said Forbes. "I mean, you've convinced us that something terrible might be about to happen and, yet, here we are, drinking tea and coffee, and sitting by a freshly made fire as though we're having a tea party."
"Yes, there's something terribly British about that, isn't there, William?" I asked. "No one faces danger or the unknown quite like us, do they?"
"I don't think it's really a matter for levity," Forbes went on. "My life, and yours and Kate's, could be in real danger, David, don't you realise that?"
"I'm sure you're right, William; but, in the meantime, we have to try and carry on as normal, don't you think so, Kate?"
"Of course, you're quite correct, David."
"So, what do we do next?" asked Forbes, as we downed the last of our respective drinks.
"We wait, I suppose," I replied, and then looked up and waited to see if Kate would come up with anything contrary to my advice. Instead, she nodded and said nothing. Her thoughts were obviously far from my sitting room at that moment. I didn't intrude on her private moment and, instead, sat looking into the dancing flames of the log fire, watching thin wisps of smoke rise from the tips of the flames and carry on their journey, upwards, through the chimney towards the clear blue sky that lay beyond the confines of my home. The logs themselves crackled satisfyingly as they burned, and the companionable sound of the grandfather clock, as it continued to tick in the corner of the room, was the only other discernible sound in the room, until ...
"What the hell is that?" asked Forbes, his face a mask of terror and panic, as a loud and terrible screeching noise assaulted our senses.
"Bloody hell!" I shouted in response, and such was the decibel level of that awful scream that I felt compelled to place my hands over my ears, though that manoeuvre had little effect in silencing the noise.
"Where's it coming from?" Forbes shouted above the din.
"It's everywhere, all around us!" I shouted back.
"Look there." Kate called out, pointing at the fireplace.
Incredibly, something appeared to be taking shape, born of the smoke and flames that continued to dance in the grate. The thing had little in the way of form at first, but
, with each passing second, it began to assume something akin to human appearance, until, before our bewildered and unbelieving eyes, it completed its configuration. It hovered just above the hearth, a black and swirling mass that appeared to have no solid figure, and yet bore the unmistakable shape of a man, or could it have been a woman? It was difficult to decide, but one thing was certain. The shape, the thing, stood at least six feet tall, and possessed no discernible human features, apart from its outline. It had no face, no head as such, just a shapeless bulge where one might have expected to find the head. The whole thing appeared to be swirling within a dense cloud of its own making, appearing similar to a shroud that held it cocooned, apart from the world in which we stood, but yet allowing it to encroach into our time and space. Could this be the actual entity that had possessed and cursed the Cavendish family for so long? I realised that Kate had so far done nothing in response to the manifestation. I looked across to where she stood. She appeared enthralled, rather than afraid, at the appearance of this strange, unearthly apparition. Her face betrayed not a single hint of fear and, for a moment, I imagined I saw a smile play across her lips as the thing continued to hover above the hearth, as the screaming continued all around us. At last, Kate shouted above the noise that filled the room.
"I don't think the noise is coming from that," she pointed at the amorphous, hovering shape.
She was right. The wall of screeching, terrifying sound that surrounded us, felt as though it emanated from the fabric of the walls of the croft, and certainly not from the hovering shape that now rose, almost majestically, to a position just inches from the ceiling. The thing's 'head' appeared to bow, as though it were looking down upon us, and we stood, transfixed, as it began to move slowly, but imperceptibly, towards us. Frozen in place, not one of us dared move as it approached closer and closer until, with the screams continuing to reverberate around the room, it came to a stop, hovering just in front of, and above, Kate. The three of us could do nothing but tremble against the shocking sound that filled our heads, threatening to send us over the edge into a madness born of terror, while, at the same time, unable to take our eyes from the strange, and potentially evil, manifestation that now began to visibly shrink as it drew closer to the motionless figure of Kate.
Then two things happened almost simultaneously. First, the figure that hung in the air began to throb as though it were being imbued with a life force of its own, drawn from some unknown and unseen source; and then, as suddenly as it had manifested itself, it dropped like a stone, enveloping Kate in a dark, fog-like shroud, and as she stood stock still, unable to resist the thing, whatever it was, it simply disappeared, or rather, I should say, it dissipated, as a cloud of smoke might do, and appeared to fall to the floor around Kate's standing figure, until, within seconds, nothing at all remained. At the instant of its disappearance, our ears were suddenly assaulted by the sound of silence. The horrible and terrifying wailing and screeching, that had gone on for what seemed like hours, but, in fact, must have been no more than a few minutes, died in an instant, leaving nothing behind but the solid ticking sound of the grandfather clock, the one constant in that room that had accompanied everything that had transpired over the last two days.
For a few seconds, no one spoke or moved. Perhaps we all felt that to do so would invoke a repetition of what we'd just experienced. Forbes looked as though he'd just witnessed a vision of Hell itself. His face appeared deathly pale, his body shook and trembled from head to foot, but, perhaps most strikingly of all, if ever we required proof of the terror engendered by what had transpired, Forbes's hair provided it. Where before it had been light brown with tinges of grey at the edges, his head was now adorned in pure white! His lips trembled as though he wanted to speak, but couldn't. I said nothing to him; he would speak when he felt the need.
I remained immobile, though I now felt no fear, no uncertainty. Something had happened to me during the long minutes of the screaming and the vision of the hovering apparition. I was no longer unsure of myself or of the sequence of events that had visited itself upon my home.
I turned my attention to Kate, who appeared calm, unruffled, and in complete control of herself, though she continued to stand, unmoving, as we looked at one another, exchanging knowing glances. At that moment, she and I seemed to connect in a way that our years of friendship had never allowed us to. We understood each other perfectly, and I think it was at that moment that we both knew exactly how this whole, strange affair must end.
Chapter Twenty-nine
The Fires of Hell?
A shocked and devastated William Forbes had locked himself in the bathroom, leaving Kate and I to talk in private for a few minutes.
"I've heard of people's hair turning white overnight, Kate, but I'd never have believed what just happened to Forbes if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. How could his hair have literally turned white in the space of a few minutes?"
"Maybe it isn't his hair," Kate replied, cryptically.
"I'm not sure I follow you."
"David, we know that something is here with us. If I'm correct, in reference to my earlier assumption, there may be two separate entities at work here, both of them focussed, in some way, on William. They may have other intentions that we're not yet aware of; but, until we can rid ourselves of one or both of them, I believe that none of us are safe. As for William's hair, it may be he's changed again, as we witnessed before with his facial characteristics."
"Oh god, Kate. In other words, Forbes may have been correct all along; and The Ripper, if it is indeed The Ripper, is now within his body, or his mind, or something?"
"That's just it, David, quite so. Remember that I felt the presence of two auras, both of them emanating from Forbes? They may now have been released and have become 'active', in a real sense."
"So, are you saying that the 'auras' you talked of earlier are, in fact, these entities that are now attacking us?"
"I fear so, David."
"I must say, I was becoming pretty freaked when that thing that appeared from the fire, appeared to hover over you, and then exploded into nothingness all around you."
"I believe the same situation occurred with the earlier entity-thing that appeared from within William. Somehow, the first one managed to infiltrate itself into the house, which is why we now feel its presence through the drop in temperature and the odd feeling of being watched, which we've felt and observed. As for the new one, I think it's done the same thing, and is even now somewhere within the fabric of your home, I'm sad to say. I was just unlucky to be standing where I was when it dematerialised."
"That's a none-too-cheery prospect, I must say. How the hell can we fight what we can't see?"
"We must be on our guard, David, and I must ask you to keep a close watch on our friend, William."
"You really think he may be dangerous?"
"Let's just say we should be careful at all times, from now on."
Just then, Forbes reappeared, still looking shaken and with his shoulders drooped as though in resignation. He looked a beaten man and, despite Kate's warning, I couldn't help but feel a degree of intense sympathy for him. Just a few, short months earlier he'd been diligently pursuing his career, in the law firm; and now, here he stood, a man in fear for his life, with only two strangers standing between him and an as yet, unknown fate.
"My hair," he almost sobbed. "How could this have happened?"
"Your own fear must have triggered an intense physical transformation, William," Kate offered by way of explanation. "The look on your face, when all hell broke loose, was one of abject terror. What went through your mind, at that time, I dread to think."
"That's just it. I can't remember what I might have been thinking of. Those few minutes are simply a blank in my memory."
Kate gave me a knowing look. She was suggesting to me that Forbes had indeed been 'possessed' by something during those crazy few minutes, and that he may still be harbouring some malevolent presence within him.
; "I think we should all take things easy," I said, attempting to keep everyone on a calm and level-headed footing. "We're all agreed that something unearthly, supernatural perhaps, is taking place. We need to be vigilant and try and figure out a way to stop it once we ascertain what its purpose is."
"I agree," said Kate. "We need food, I think. We must keep our energy levels up and be prepared for anything in the next few hours, for I feel that events are building up towards something I don't yet comprehend."
I certainly didn't feel at all hungry, and neither did Forbes, but Kate's suggestion made sense, so we all made our way to the kitchen where I prepared a plate of corned beef sandwiches and a large bowl of salad, which we all picked at, without enthusiasm, for the next twenty minutes.
With the sparse meal over and the dishes cleared away, we returned to the sitting room, where a chill had once again pervaded the room, despite the log fire continuing to burn brightly in the fireplace. As I walked towards the door to the hallway, intending to retrieve a thicker sweater from my bedroom, I tripped on the edge of the large rug that stood close to the door. In attempting to stop myself from falling, I reached out for the wall, but, instead, my hand came into contact with the grandfather clock in the corner by the door. As I did so, a feeling of dizziness came over me and I staggered backwards, away from the door and into the centre of the room. The clock rocked on its base, but its solidity and weight prevented it from falling and being damaged.
Seeing my apparent weakness, Forbes stepped forward and reached out a hand, taking me by the arm to steady me.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, David, what on earth's the matter?" Kate added.
I stood silently for a moment, with my eyes closed until the dizzy spell passed, and it was only when I opened them once again that a realization came over me. For some reason, a further degree of understanding of our situation had formed in my mind during those few moments of dizziness, as though my mind had opened up to receive the input of certain information to which it had previously been closed.