Now sick and dizzy, she sat down at her desk with a thud. Toby, frankly, had been an idiot. How he’d got himself tangled up with a silly girl like Amy, she’d never know. After all he’d been through, and off he goes into the woods to play the Ouija board like one of those vacuous teens in a horror movie. You couldn’t make it up, and frankly it was hard to decide whether to be furious with him or concerned.
She put her hands over both eyes just to rest them from having to see things in colour, almost enjoying the stinging relief.
The story about how Amy had managed to persuade him to go to Woodpecker cottage was vague to say the least – he’d been adamant he couldn’t remember a thing, from the moment he arrived at her house to finding himself outside in the moonlit garden playing Ouija.
“Do you remember driving there?” she’d asked, still half asleep as she sat up in bed trying not to panic because the lights were off. Did I switch them off before I went to sleep? Did ?Because I just do not remember doing that!
“No.”
“What? Erm, okay – well do you remember her asking you to take her there?”
“No.”
“So from the time you entered her house to finding yourself in the middle of Woodsend at midnight, you are completely blank?”
“Believe it or not, Becky, yes, I am.”
“What can you remember then – anything?” She hadn’t meant to snap, but distracted by the fact the lights appeared to have been switched off, and having had less than four hours sleep, she was going to have to forgive herself.
“I arrived at her house. She answered the door in this sexy outfit and then we got a bit frisky. She lit a spliff and that was it. I don’t remember anything after that.”
“A what? A spliff? Did I hear that right? Are you for real?”
“I know, I know, but it was nothing really, just a bit of weed and I only had a couple of drags – if that.”
“And then you drove a car? Oh, for pity’s sake.”
“But that’s just it. I wouldn’t have done that if I’d been in my right mind, would I? You’ve got to believe me, Becky, please. Anyway, the next thing I know I’m sitting in the middle of the forest and it’s really windy, like gale force, and the whole thing is like some kind of crazy nightmare – like it’s happening to someone else–”
“That’d be the spliff.”
“Yeah, well maybe, but this next bit definitely wasn’t the spliff, not the kind I’ve ever had anyway. We were upstairs in one of the cottage bedrooms – that’s where I’ve just come from – and no, I have no recollection of how I got there. I just remember suddenly coming out of this weird dream and panicking because Amy’s eyes were all funny, like rolling back in her head so you could only see the whites – it was horrible. Then she collapsed on me, fitting with all her limbs jerking. I carried her out and turned her on her side into the recovery position. I didn’t know what to do and there’s no phone signal out here either, but thankfully she’s come round. I asked her if she was okay to make it back to the car and that’s where we are now – by the river at Woodsend.”
“And she’s ok, is she?”
“Yes. She’s asleep in the passenger seat. I’m going to take her straight home. She’s got the sort of parents who let her do what she wants. She goes out all night to clubs and stuff and they don’t bother so I’ll just get her back and then that’s it. She’s freaked me out, I mean seriously freaked me out. I don’t think I’ll see her anymore. I’m sorry I rang, Becky. I just got scared. I thought she might need to go to hospital.”
“No, but she may have epilepsy by the sound of it, so you’d best tell her mother if you can. At least let her know. If you want my advice though, Toby, I’d lay off the bloody spliff and vodka and get a girlfriend who’s a bit less wacky. You don’t need this.”
And neither did she. Not at four in the morning anyway.
Toby was another one, though, another friend she’d do anything for. It wasn’t his fault she was in her mid-forties and pregnant with a husband who was always away, or that she had a high-stress, under-staffed job.
There came a tap at the office door and she looked up sharply. If it was that arrogant, lazy little snot with the goatee…
A tall, blonde woman dressed in jeans and a white shirt walked in carrying a toddler.
“Amanda! Oh my God, how wonderful to see you.”
Amanda grinned. “Just popped in to say I’ll be at the staff meeting tomorrow. I start back next week.”
Becky heaved herself up, waddled over and threw her arms around the other woman. “Oh, thank God. I am so, so happy to see you I could cry. I can’t tell you how relieved I am you’re coming back. You seem like an angel.”
“Ah, you’re really at the end of your rope, aren’t you? Sit down, Becky – I’ll make us some tea and we can chat for a bit. You’ve got bedlam in the dayroom, by the way, did you know?”
Becky grinned. “Oh, I’m sure Ewan can handle it. I don’t suppose you’ve got any–”
Amanda rooted inside her copious tote bag and plonked a packet of chocolate digestives on the table. “Of these?”
“Ooh, I did kind of hope.”
“Thought you might appreciate them – I know what I was like. Becky look, I want to apologise for not being able to cope before when Jack was ill. I had Ellie to think of and frankly, it got way too scary. I heard about it though, when Tanners Dell was raided, and well, I did feel bad about abandoning Ruby. I know she needs me and Claire can’t do everything, and I do love my job. So, well, I’ve had a long discussion with Isaac and he says the job’s mine if I want it, so here I am.”
“I heard you were coming in for interview. I have to say I’m thrilled, I really am. Noel will be too.”
Plonking a mug of tea in front of her, Amanda nodded towards Becky’s bump. “When are you taking maternity? Not long now by the look of it.”
“I want to go soon. Next week if possible. Thing is, Noel’s a bit unwell, but I think he’ll be back in a few days and I’ve been training up an agency nurse who seems very competent. More than competent. She’s a general nurse too, and she did midwifery – early sixties and very old school. She’ll keep them all in line for sure.”
“Wow! Sounds good. Although I’ll miss you being here. This place is you and you are this place if you know what I mean?”
Becky laughed. “I’ve had enough of it, though. I am so tired you would not believe.”
“I’m not surprised; you’ve been through a hell of a lot in the last year, and pregnancy can take it out of you at any age. No, you go as soon as you can. Enjoy it, you and Callum.”
“I would if he was ever around, but it seems like the CID is short-staffed too – he’s all over the place. He’s got to go to Crawley next week. Anyway, as soon as I’m happy everything’s in order here, I’ll take the holiday I’m due and go.”
“If this agency nurse is as capable as you say, why worry?”
“True. She’s called Sandi, by the way. The only thing is Ruby doesn’t seem to like her. Still, she’s got you now so I feel happier about leaving.”
“Maybe it’s just because Sandi’s new? It takes a while and if she’s a bit officious it could be off-putting. Oh, I just popped into to see Ruby and she remembered me like I’d never been away. She looks like a different girl – so much healthier. You’ve done a brilliant job. Although I did think she seemed rather anxious and jittery. I thought she’d be on less haloperidol not more. Anyway, we can catch up tomorrow at the team meeting.”
Becky frowned, about to respond when the phone rang.
“Hello. Riber Ward, Sister Ross speaking.” Her frown deepened. “Hold on, hold on. What do you mean, ‘an incident to do with Alice’?”
***
Chapter Eighteen
Ruby
Drummersgate
It’s so quiet in here tonight – no one’s shouting and moaning, or banging their head against the wall. That’s a first. It lets your mind be peaceful. And it’s nice
just lying here looking at the sky with all the stars glittering. Every few minutes a meteor bursts across it with its tail on fire, shooting over the moors…I wonder what happens at the end? Does it explode mid-air or does it land somewhere and burn everything? God, I don’t know. I don’t know these things at all. The world is made of magic yet people like me don’t get to see or understand any of it; sitting in our little cages in case we go and hurt someone, I suppose.
Oh, look, my legs are twitching again like they’re being electrocuted… No, really, they are literally jumping about.
I need to think but it’s not coming to me; everything’s in a haze lately. Something’s not right, though – not right at all - something to do with that bitch, Sandi. Her face in mine, that sly smile when she whacks in a double dose of fucking haloperidol like I don’t know what she’s doing; like I’m stupid; like I can’t see my own limbs twitching like a junkie’s; like my own neck doesn’t jerk round in spasms that hurt like hell. Fucking bitch, fucking bitch, fucking–
His face is shown to me without warning. Only to fade away again in an instant. A man – the face of a man. Why? Who is he? Why is Spirit showing a man to me? I need to know about Sandi, not this bloke, whoever he is. So is he something to do with Alice, then?
Whoosh. The visions are coming. Celeste is nearby, I can feel her …yes, yes… Got to get to work, sit down and ask for help… Oh please, please, show me…
“Dear Lord, I ask you for protection for what I am about to do. Please guard my soul while I am gone. I do this for the greater good and for the love of my child. I mean no harm and I ask for protection from all negative entities. Thank you and Amen.”
This time I do as exactly as I was taught, opening up the energy channels and imagining the most powerful divine light flooding into me. Celeste does not always show herself but tonight her presence is extremely strong, radiating power and something that feels like determination. Something is going to happen now and happen quickly.
And when it comes, just minutes later, the violent surge of energy practically picks me up, projecting me into the unknown… For a moment fear flutters in my stomach, but it’s only a moment; this trip mustn’t stop – it must take place. None of the others are coming. They are safe inside.
But I am flying…
Our body is left lying on its side, childlike in the blue-tinged light, as my spirit floats away. When I first did this I made the mistake of looking down at the bed and panicking. Would I get back in? But now I know I’m well protected and besides, there is no choice – my spirit is being taken to see something they want me to see.
But where is this? Not the house. Not where I was before. No, this is a dimly lit corridor with a linoleum floor. The air is stale in here, with a lingering smell of over-boiled vegetables, and there is crying, whimpering, from some of the rooms. It’s a sad place, confusion imprinted in an atmosphere heavy with rejection, anger and fear. At the end of the corridor a light flickers and the soft murmur of a television programme filters out…
Footsteps…
I am the shadow that makes him do a double take.
He shrugs off the ghost shimmering over his skin, pausing now to observe the occupants of the dayroom, his tread on the linoleum creepily soft. This is the man whose face I have just seen. Yes, a neat, sharp profile. He wears glasses, I see that now, the lower lip wet and protruding. Devouring his charges with large, watery eyes he stalks the ward, observing all, missing nothing. It is a thin disguise. And my heartbeat slams into my throat because the door he finally stops at is Alice’s. He peers through the glass as she lies there in bed with her back to him, staring out of the window at a small yard enclosed by a high concrete wall. Something has been written on that wall and it worries her greatly. She thinks of little else.
He lingers still, and my eyes bore into the nape of his neck. I would laser holes through it if I could. Abruptly he swings around, rubbing the skin as if stung; but moves along all the same, a tad uneasy.
What is his interest in my child? The suit, the deference from the nurse at the desk who nods goodnight… Alice’s doctor. Fuck!
The bumpy landing back into my own body is a nasty shock.
For a minute my head pounds sickeningly and my heart’s galloping. The moon is halfway across the window now, and someone down the corridor is calling out, deranged and disconnected, as if they just woke up.
The loud pulsing inside my head and chest finally starts to subside; and I hear the other parts chattering. How long have they been doing this? They’re not supposed to without me. They should be asleep. This matter alone is disconcerting – I am the host and everything must go through me or anything might happen.
“What is it? Why are you up and talking?”
Sandi.
“Yeah, yeah, I know about that bitch.”
She’s doubled the haloperidol.
“Yup.”
What’s the connection?
“Don’t know.”
Immediately the agitation I felt earlier is back, but this time my body is too sedated to move and lies exhausted instead. It’s often the way after using spiritual energy, but this is worse than usual.
It’s what she wants. To keep you looking mad. To keep you down. She doesn’t want you speaking to Becky or Noel. Soon there will only be her and we’re scared.
“I know. Keep everyone in. Keep them locked up. Marie, don’t let Eve or Dylan come out or she’ll have us in the straitjacket. Keep the little ones away. One of us is a snitch and she’ll prise it out, make them tell her what she needs to know.”
Why? What does she need to know?
“Jesus, Marie, I don’t know.”
What does she want with Becky? We don’t get it.
“They’ve got plans for Alice. They must have. They don’t want Becky or Noel liaising with me about her. It’s something they need her for. It’s all linked but I don’t know how. My brain’s foggy. I can’t keep awake, can’t keep the energy going to talk to Celeste.”
She’s knocking us out.
“I know.”
Noel’s fucked, have you seen him?
The other parts are kicking and pounding around inside me. It has to stop or I’ll get migraine and stomach cramps and then they’ll drug me up again and it’ll be worse than ever. I need to talk to Becky about Alice before Becky goes away. But Becky told me Alice was doing well with her therapist, and that we might even be reunited someday. But that doesn’t make sense. Nothing is making sense. I know there is something badly wrong yet I’m being told there isn’t.
Ruby, someone is blocking us. We can’t see. It’s dark in here.
Celeste is calling into my right ear, interrupting. Her voice, as usual, sounds like it comes from across an ocean and it’s difficult to hear, so faint. We all stop chattering. Strain to catch the words…
Tell Becky to watch Sandi.
“Why? Celeste, why? How?”
Lilith.
“But what does she want with her? How? I don’t understand.”
For several minutes the static crackles in my ears, but there is nothing more tonight; just a grid of shadows crawling slowly across the sheets.
***
Chapter Nineteen
October, 1583
There was a blood moon that October night, staining the sky in a palette of scarlet, orange and amber. On hearing a murmur of voices beyond the abbey walls, Magda shrank into the shadows, the shivering heat of fever now coursing through her veins.
Just a few short months ago she and Cicely had waited in this exact spot before stealing roses for the May Queen’s crown. A fragment of memory lingered – Cicely’s long golden curls coiling silkily in her fingers as she held her frightened sister with all the comfort of Judas. But this was no time for guilt. She did what she had to do to survive; and so it was again.
As the voices on the other side of the wall faded, she pulled the dark hood of her cloak down low, and crept around the side to where she and Cicely had found the low-ro
ofed log store. An oak tree marked the place, its branches extending almost as far as the main archway separating the kitchen garden from the manicured lawns. It wasn’t difficult to climb and turned out to be a good vantage point from which to observe the scene.
A file of black-clad figures appeared to be gliding towards a church next to the abbey. Ornate in design, the little, stone church was intricately adorned with carvings and gargoyles, surreal against the flame-red skyline. And to the side lay a tiny graveyard ringed with iron railings, its tombstones small and neat, set in lines. The nuns’ soft chanting was simultaneously haunting and hypnotic as they floated towards it…and Magda watched, mesmerised. It was the first time either she or anyone she knew had ever actually seen the sisters. With the name of the abbey being ‘Five Sisters’ it was a surprise, therefore, to see so many of them…thirteen in all…
Seamlessly, the nuns merged into the dusky scenery, fingering pendant crosses, heads bowed in prayer. When finally the last of the blackbird figures had been swallowed into the dour interior of the church, pulling the solid wooden door behind her, Magda jumped down into the shrubbery.
All was quiet. The abbey windows eyed her darkly - inviting the imagination to wonder about the occupants and the daily life of these reclusive women. Rumour had it the sisters took in orphans from town who’d been found diseased or abandoned on the streets. Did these children lie behind the long line of narrow windows upstairs? Did they ever recover from their fevers and poxes? Or die in those dark dormitories, listening to the owls and foxes in the forest, knowing their imminent fate lay in the cemetery mere yards from the window?
Perhaps they were observing her now? She looked up sharply, half expecting to see a row of small, sickly faces. Alas, there was nothing but the dead-eyed stare of unlit glass.
Dusk was descending rapidly now in a smoky chill; shadows from the huge oaks and horse chestnuts spreading across the lawns. Cautiously, Magda emerged from her hiding place. Anyone peering out of those windows would glimpse little more than a fleeting movement, she decided, darting over to the kitchen garden. This was about survival and besides, what else was she to do?
Magda: A Darkly Disturbing Occult Horror Trilogy - Book 3 Page 13