Backlash

by Charley Dee Brown

  Ava was desperate to help her son, she’d lied to Johnboy, she knew where he was, however without Matilda’s help she couldn’t help him. She knew Matilda had performed an exorcism on Lance, and the procedure had been successful. The difference, Lance had been dead, Archie was very much alive. She’d spoken to Harry, and he’d warned her of the dangers of approaching Archie…he’d told her Matilda could die…So if Matilda told her what to do, she was willing to risk her own life to save her son. Their family had been cursed for years….George Brook had instigated the curse many years ago….She had to get this right, or her plan would fail….and that wasn’t feasible…they had all waited and suffered far too much…..with resolve, she went to find Matilda…..

  Chapter 23

  I knew the time had come for resolutions, I was the mob boss, and unless a strategy was put in place, things would get out of hand. We were all in the office awaiting Johnboy’s return. Billy was fired up, angry, he never argued with his fists, though his words packed a powerful punch. He was old school, being a gangster was his life; his words had an air of finality about them, foremost on his mind was Archie. No matter how hard I railed against him…nothing would change his mind…Archie had to be stopped. I agreed with him, and respected his values, finding him was a different matter….I gave a silent sigh of relief as Johnboy appeared. I could see him taking in the atmosphere, which was tense. ‘Have I missed something, has someone else died?’ He asked bluntly.

  ‘Not that we know.’ I replied tentatively. ‘How did things go at Matilda’s, and did you manage to speak with her?’

  ‘No, although I did speak to your mother.’ She hadn’t told him not to repeat their conversation; he pushed the parcel towards her.

  ‘What did she say?’ Billy interrupted.

  ‘She said she knows where her son is, and no one else will find him.’

  ‘And you didn’t ask her!’ Billy yelled. ‘What’s up with you mate?’

  ‘Enough! She’s my mother, and I’ll question her.’ I knew instantly by the look in his eyes, my words had hit the mark. ‘If we start to argue amongst ourselves we’ve lost. Did she say anything else Johnboy?’

  ‘She said the feud was coming to a head and it would all be over soon.’

  ‘I know how angry you all are, I will find out what is going on, maybe Archie has been in touch with her. Meanwhile let’s try and calm down. We need to make plans for Reed and McRoy, because they are going to turn up here at any time. Surely we haven’t come this far…to let them take what’s ours.’

  After a few quiet moments, Billy spoke. ‘Ok girl, I’ll arrange tight security, we need all of you on sight for the next few days…armed.’

  ‘I’ll take a quick trip over to Clouds and make sure the place is secure, Weaver could use this as an opportunity.’ Rudy added. ‘No one’s been watching Hampstead or Clouds for the past couple of weeks, so better to be sure.’

  ‘Ok Jack, will you take me to Hampstead on the bike, I won’t be gone long, I need to speak with my mother.’ I swiftly got up and left the office, the looks on all of their faces was a picture, one I would always remember.

  Jack fired up the engine, I jumped on the pillion, with anger surging through me like a smouldering pain….I needed to take control and fast, and the last thing I wanted was to fall out with Billy. However my mother’s words must be heard. As we went inside the house, I made my way to the kitchen…the hub of the house. The looks of astonishment on my appearance, made me feel as though I were an apparition….only the last time I checked I was still very much alive…. ‘I’m sorry to burst in on you, mum I have to speak to you now.’ I affirmed.

  ‘Ok honey, follow me.’ I noticed the troubled look on Matilda’s face, how I wanted to be able to speak to her. My mother led me through to the bedroom, I didn’t hold back. ‘Mum what is going on?’ I demanded. ‘You told Johnboy that you knew where Archie was, if you do, then you must tell me.’

  ‘Yes Crimson I do know where Archie is, although I have no intention of revealing where.’

  ‘Mum you have to, do you realise what he’s been doing.’

  ‘I know everything honey and I am going to deal with my son myself. I will not have him shot down by hit men. I deserve one try to save my boy, it is not his fault, he’s been demonised, I have to try.’ She said firmly.

  ‘So when is this going to take place, and what do you intend to do for goodness sake?’ I added with humour. I suddenly felt that my mother had lost the plot, all of the unscrupulous events had become too much for her…..I understood that, however she has to realise that Archie must be stopped.

  ‘Tonight, I cannot tell you more, all I ask is give me until the morning, please Crimson, trust me. I promise he will not kill again.’

  ‘Ok, you have until seven o’clock tomorrow morning.’ Why was I saying this…my mother was not a flaming psychic…ok I’m humouring her, and at the same time risking other people’s lives… I so need to talk to Matilda, the security in this house at present is like the inside of Wormwood Scrubs. I had to give my mother her one chance to save her son, she’d lived through years of hell, she deserves that….All I pray is Archie doesn’t kill again…..going back to the office and justifying my actions is an unnerving thought….

  As I said goodnight to them all in the house, I could read the message my dear friend Matilda was portraying with her eyes….

  Be careful lass….

  I grabbed Jack’s arm. ‘Come on time to go.’ On our way back to the bike, I uttered as though to myself.

  ‘What the hell have I agreed to?’

  Jack placed his arm around my shoulder. ‘Don’t worry girl it will all work out.’

  ‘I wish I had your faith Jack.’

  ‘Would you like to talk?’He asked genuinely.

  ‘Yes...yes just for a few minutes. I need to absorb the conversation with my mother.’

  ‘I know the very place, hop on.’

  I found myself holding on to Jack, why had I chosen him to take me to Hampstead, Larry had been there? Jack pulled the bike up outside of the park…the evening shadows were swallowed by the encroaching darkness. We walked over to a wooden shelter and sat….in the gathering gloom the stars shone brighter in the sky…even in darkness there is light….I told Jack what I had agreed to…why was I telling him?

  ‘It’s only for a few hours lass, maybe by the time we return they’ll have all called it a night.’

  ‘No Jack, Billy won’t do that, and I don’t blame him. I feel as though I’m letting them down.’

  Jack slipped his arm around my shoulder. ‘You’re not letting anyone down.’ As I looked up towards him our eyes met….Matilda’s words flashed through my mind….he loves you girl……he leaned in a little closer…I couldn’t fight against the thoughts that were racing through me…his lips brushed mine…I wanted to pull away… before I was lost in the moment…but I couldn’t, my senses had been seduced….and I could no longer think straight….the kiss was slow and soft and the world fell away…as he pulled me closer there was no space between us….with a gentle finger he reorients my face, so that he holds the gaze I didn’t want to give him…stealing the passion from my eyes…in a way that only magnifies the spark…now there’s only the intensity of his gaze, that we both know is the start of the inferno to come….

  Ava donned the outfit she’d taken from Archie’s old bedroom, dressed like a young man, with a black knitted hat pulled tightly over her white hair, she went down to the basement. As no one had been watching the house for a couple of weeks, the security man at the front of the house was over the far side of the entrance. Ava slipped out of the side gate unnoticed. She was carrying a rucksack filled with the few requirements she needed. The night air was cool, Ava had never feared the darkness, the world was etched in charcoal…she kept her hand in her pocket, holding the key, the key to the old house, her once upon a time home…..she had loved the old house once, she’d spent her childhood there with her mother Brita,and father Eddie. It was on
ly when Eddie Jackson went missing that everything in her life had changed. Brita presumed he was dead, and she went back to Sweden, she’d never set foot in the house since, even though she’d kept the upkeep of the building, Ava believed her mother had always prayed her father would return, as a body was never found.. At that time Ava was married to Harry A, and Crimson and Archie were just young children, she had always visited the house alone, her childhood memories as an only child, were precious to her. She would sit in her old bedroom; the room was like a wonderland of comic driven recluses. A desk sat in one corner, littered with pieces of paper and crayons…..a few shelves pushed against the wall, filled with childhood books…stuffed toys propped up on the window sill, and posters hanging limply on the wall behind the bed…as she neared the house Ava took a deep breath….She knew she was risking her life…all she needed was her son to comply…..Because of the traumas her family had been forced to endure, this was the least she could do. She knew where he was, she’d seen him earlier…the house was a grey blur…the key turned in the lock, and the door swung open…..

  Archie had been laying in his own vomit for hours, he had no idea how long he’d been there, he was cold, so cold….the voice in his head was quiet…he’d heard his mother’s voice…had he been dreaming? His weak fingers pressed into the skin of his forearms, his body shook…his heart was pounding so loud against his rib cage….what loomed before him was fear….he was about to die…then the voice was back….the soft gentle voice of his mother….he opened his eyes…when he met her gaze, he was drawn to her eyes, they were intense….and then his eyes met the glare of the cross hanging around her neck….he flinched and screamed…the voice was back…kill her! She swung the cross close to his face and chanted….Be silent…I cast you out demonic spirit……with every satanic power of the enemy…every sceptre from hell! The sound of the devil was raised above her….choke her now! Do it now! She took the cross from her neck and held it to his face….continuing with the ritual demanding the demons silence….he raised his hands towards her…..she pushed the cross closer….she was exhausted….slowly she fell to the floor…..

  Rudy woke every day now, as though someone had just fired a gun next to his eardrum…there was so much tension…the coolness of the morning was deceptive…as he pulled up outside of Cloud’s he at once noticed an old van parked up outside of the club….it had to be Weaver’s….rushing to the back door he wasn’t surprised to see the door had been forced open….taking his gun from his back belt, he entered the building….his senses sharpened with adrenaline…his ears strained for sounds….where was his old man? The gunshot cracked into the air like thunder, followed by a yell…..Rudy moved silently towards the main room…as he tried to open the door with his foot…something was blocking his entrance…after a hefty shove, he could see there was a body blocking his way…the question was…dead or alive? …Definitely alive….as he peered into the room through the crack in the door, he could see his old man propped up on the sofa…holding a gun….what the fuck was going on, and who the hell had he shot? Not wanting to receive a bullet himself he waited…. He could hear the exchange of abuse being hurled….and then eventually the door opened and a limping Stan Weaver appeared, with a blood soaked leg….how the hell had his old man managed to shoot the bastard? And where the hell did he get the gun? Rudy had stayed out of the way…once Weaver was clear of the building, he secured the door as best he could, and scarpered….Geary must have provided the gun….anyone entering Clouds now, would be taking their lives in their own hands… although with his old man’s sight, it would be more luck than judgement…..not his problem today…..

  What had I done? A feeling of incredulity hung over me. Matilda had warned me of Jack’s feelings towards me. Thankfully reality had saved me, or something had….before intimacy….a rush of anxiety had ceased the moment….suddenly I’d pulled away from him…we were on a park bench….what the hell had I been thinking….I’d gone through my life so far with one intimate relationship….unlike most girls of my age, who were married with children…however my life had never been typical…I was part of the underworld…I employed gangsters…I was a trained killer….to date I’d killed three men, in my own defence…nothing about me was conventional….nevertheless I was born into this life, and as much as my brother loathed…I relished……I needed to go up to the office now and face the boys, my mother’s time limit was almost up, what had taken place during the night, so far I had no knowledge….I’d come straight to bed last night, I’d failed myself….regret washed over me….Johnboy….

  As I was about to leave my flat the phone rang…picking up the receiver I prepared myself for unfavourable news. ‘Good morning.’ I said optimistically.

  ‘Crimson, thank goodness it’s you.’ Matilda sounded agitated. ‘I must talk to you girl.’

  ‘You sound troubled Matilda, whatever’s wrong.’

  ‘I’ve had to come down to the basement to get some privacy. Ava went to find Archie last night, she insisted on me helping her to perform an exorcism.’

  ‘I knew something was amiss, my mother has no connection with the spirit world, is she alright?’

  ‘I don’t know, she hasn’t come back yet, and no one knows where she went, do you have any ideas?’

  ‘I’ve racked my brain for places he could be; all I can think is Archie has rented another property and been in touch with mother. She refused to tell me last night. I gave her until seven this morning her times expired now, trouble is Matilda, where on earth do we look for them?’

  ‘I do have a notion, purely my power of perception, somewhere she’s spoken of rather a lot in her memoirs.’ Matilda sounded encouraged.

  ‘Where Matilda?’

  ‘Before I say, promise me you won’t allow the boys to go there, your mother has put her trust in me and I respect that.’

  ‘Of course, I understand, she could be dead Matilda you must tell me.’

  ‘The old house, your grandparent’s old home, where she was brought up.’

  ‘OMG why didn’t I think of that, no one’s’ set foot in there for years, well at least since mum went missing, she loved that house. I have to go Matilda, I promise to ring you back, and thank you.’

  Now I had to make a plan, make my excuses for going out, there was only one person that I would take with me….Johnboy.

  The boys and Janet were all in the office; Rudy arrived back at the same time as me. For that I was grateful, as he began to explain the situation at Clouds. I tried to avoid eye contact with both Jack and Johnboy; however Billy was the first to speak. ‘So what’s the plan then girl?’ He asked bluntly.

  ‘Billy we need to increase security here, I believe Reed is planning a visit, it’s my estimation he’ll wait until the club is full, to enable him to give the best impression.’

  ‘Yeah, me and Jack will have that sorted in the next few hours. What about Archie.’

  ‘I’m expecting a call from my mother, I’ll keep you all informed. Meanwhile we should all be back in the office by five o’clock….armed.’

  ‘That goes without saying girl.’ Billy added. I nodded at Johnboy, he held back. Janet had returned to her office, so at last we were alone.

  ‘We have an urgent appointment…in an old house.’ He grabbed his keys as we left the office…..

  Chapter 24

  In the van I repeated to Johnboy what Matilda had told me earlier.

  ‘So do you have a key to this house?’

  ‘There’s probably several lying around at the Hampstead house, I’m sure we’ll manage.’

  ‘Are you prepared for what we may find girl?’ Johnboy said cautiously.

  ‘I don’t shock easily, as you know.’ I added. ‘Let’s face it after Matt…..’ I left the sentence open.

  ‘This is your family lass, there’s a big difference.’

  Images flashed through my mind, hideous, horrifying, images….I had to face this…whatever was coming next. Johnboy pulled up in a side street, being a bright
clear morning, people were up and about….this house, apart from the gardener’s visits, had not seen life for years. As the house came in view, it looked tired…the white paint was peeling off at a rapid pace; the windows seemed to stare back…almost challenging you to step inside. The garden was pristine…nothing matched….heading around to the back of the building; we could immediately see how Archie had gained entrance. My mother would have had a key. The door juddered as Johnboy put his boot to it, the gap was wide enough for us to enter, the stench hit us first, stomach churning. Taking deep breaths before we went inside, it was truly a matter of following the repellent smell. I vaguely remembered the layout of the rooms…the long term occupants had weaved their webs from ceiling to wall….old cobwebs billowed in the draft…then we were in the main front room. Johnboy flashed a torch, and there lying on the cold dirty floor was my brother Archie….the only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest….his features were so much softer in sleep…who would believe this same person had savagely murdered two people, his appearance was youthful…innocent….But where the hell was my mother? Had he killed again? Leaving him lying next to the vomit drenched, old battered sofa, and we went in search of my mother. There was no sign of her in the basement, so climbing the dusty staircase, Johnboy shone the torch….following the small footprints…the house hadn’t been lived in for almost twenty years…the musty smell filled my nose….dustsheets covered the furniture…though portraits still hung boldly on the walls…no time to reminisce…they made their way up to the first floor….there was a spooky charm about the building…. One of the bedroom doors was ajar…and there lying on a mattress, covered in an old blanket…was my mother.