2.0 - What Lies Below

by Helen Phifer

  ‘I’ll see you later,’ he said, still looking puzzled. ‘Maybe you could come to the pub for a bite to eat.’

  ‘I’d love to. I will. Definitely.’ She opened the door and all but pushed him out of it.

  She felt bad she hadn’t even offered him a drink. But before she could change her mind, she shut the door behind him. There was a slight pause and she envisioned him standing on the other side with his hand in the air, debating on whether to knock on the door or not. Then she heard the crunch of the gravel under his feet and released the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding in. The noisy engine of his car turned over, and she heard the sound of the tyres rolling along the bumpy, gravelly drive.

  Almost running down to the kitchen, she tugged open the fridge, grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass, and ignored the confetti which was strewn all over the floor. That could wait. She’d clean it up when she’d finished writing.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  S eth gave one last glance over his shoulder at the house behind him before it disappeared. Well, that was weird. He’d spent all afternoon helping her search for the bogeyman and she’d practically thrown him out of the door. If that was all the thanks he got, she could find someone else next time, although realistically he hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.

  He liked Maddy much more than he’d liked anyone in a long time and weren’t writers supposed to be a bit strange? He drove back to the village, the windscreen wipers squealing against the glass in sequence. The rain was heavy, much heavier than forecast, and he hoped that didn’t mean any unprepared walkers would get lost or stranded on the fells. The weather around here could be brutal and change in an instant.

  When he turned into the main street, he saw Maddy’s car. He needed to get hold of Andy to take it to his garage and check it out. At least returning her car would give him an excuse to go back and see her; maybe she’d be in a better mood tomorrow. He’d never been particularly good at reading women. He’d had his fair share of girlfriends over the years, but he’d struggled at keeping hold of them. Maybe Maddy was different. It didn’t seem as if she had any better luck with men, judging by the comments she’d made earlier about her last relationship.

  The pub was empty; the rain had seen even the diehard customers off. His dad was sat in the armchair near to the fire, which was lit for the first time in months.

  ‘Are you okay, Dad?’

  ‘Fine, just felt a bit chilly. What have you been doing all this time? Although I’m not sure I really want to know the answer. Did you find the owner of the dress?’

  ‘I decided to check the house from top to bottom, to make sure there were no crazy people living in the attic.’

  Jacob laughed. ‘Oh, there have probably been a few of them in that house over the years, especially in the attic. Did you find anyone? They say the family who originally built it had a daughter who wasn’t quite normal and was confined to the attic space.’

  Seth grabbed a packet of crisps and sat down opposite his dad.

  ‘No, we didn’t, and we searched every room. It’s huge. I’ve been in it before, but I had no idea just how big it really is inside. That’s awful, what was wrong with the daughter?’

  Jacob shrugged. ‘Probably not a lot, I think she had some physical deformities, and back then it was seen as a blight on the family name. They used to hide anyone like that away out of sight, God knows why. The poor girl must have led a miserable life cooped up in there.’ He sighed heavily. ‘That house is an optical illusion. I used to work in the garden a long time ago, when it was summer and old Samuel the head gardener couldn’t manage. It was hard graft for a bit of extra cash, but it was a beautiful place back then. I only went inside a couple of times, but I remember how big it was.

  ‘There were a couple of times when I worked out in the front gardens that I felt as if someone was watching me. I’d turn around and stare up at the house but could never see anyone. Far too many windows to take in before I’d set my eyes on whoever it was. I used to wonder if it was the poor girl in the attic, watching the world continue outside without her. Then again, I think she died a long time before I even started working there, so it might have been her ghost.’ He frowned. ‘Not that I’m saying it’s haunted, mind. I’m just reminiscing, and there’s a chance the Oramorph is making me a bit nostalgic, for want of a better word.’

  Seth laughed. ‘I never knew you worked there, why didn’t you say?’

  He shrugged again. ‘I worked all over the place, it’s what you did back then. Any odd job to make ends meet; work has never been exactly bountiful around here. It was even worse when I was a lad, although if you could travel, there were plenty of big houses that took staff on. You like her then, the city girl?’

  Seth smiled. ‘You don’t miss a trick. Yes, I suppose I do. I don’t think she quite likes me as much, though. She practically threw me out.’

  Jacob laughed. ‘She’s a feisty one then. I like a woman who can stand her ground and isn’t afraid to argue the toss with you. Your mother would disagree with me over almost everything, but it made me love her even more.’

  Seth felt a warm glow spread across his heart at the thought of his mum. She’d been the most loving, strong woman he’d ever met.

  Jacob’s voice broke into his thoughts. ‘Your other woman phoned up looking for you.’

  ‘What woman?’

  ‘Purple-haired Glenys from the kooky shop.’

  ‘What did she want? And you have to stop calling her and the shop kooky.’

  ‘How else do you describe the pair of them? She never said. Mind you, she did have the decency to ask if I needed a hand, which was nice of her.’

  ‘She’s nice, I’ve told you that. Maybe just a bit misunderstood.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll ring her back. Thanks.’

  As he walked away, Seth realised he didn’t have a clue what Glenys’s phone number was, so he would have to go and see her. At least it would give him a chance to ask Alfie it was him who’d been playing silly buggers at Lake House earlier.

  Tugging on his waterproof jacket, he pulled the hood up and stepped out into the rain. Despite it being summer, the sky was almost dark because of the looming rain clouds. He was knocking on Glenys’s flat door a few minutes later and heard the ancient window grind against the wood as she pushed it up.

  ‘Oh, it’s you.’

  ‘Dad said you rang. Is everything okay?’

  ‘Hang on, I’ll come down.’

  He stood in the shop doorway wondering what was up. Glenys appeared in a purple, fluffy dressing gown that was the same colour as her hair.

  ‘You could have phoned,’ she said, as she opened the shop door and he followed her inside. ‘You didn’t need to come out in this weather.’

  ‘I don’t have your number.’

  ‘Ah, sorry. I did something on my phone and now it comes up as withheld whenever I ring, it’s a right pain. It wasn’t important. I just wanted to ask you if Alfie had mentioned anything to you about people living under the water. He asked me before, and he seems a bit distant.’

  Seth shook his head. ‘No, I haven’t seen him today, although I do need to speak to him.’

  ‘What about?’

  ‘Lake House. Someone put a sodden wedding dress on the front steps and then threw confetti over the kitchen floor. I thought it might have been him.’

  ‘Why would he do that?’ Her tone was immediately defensive.

  ‘I don’t know, maybe he thought it was funny. The woman living there didn’t think it was, it scared her half to death. I wanted to let him know he can’t go around doing stuff like that.’

  Glenys folded her arms. ‘Look I know he’s a pain and he does stupid stuff, but I don’t think he’d have the capability to even come up with something like that. He wouldn’t connect a wedding dress and confetti together, and besides, where would he get them from? No, it wasn’t him, Seth. I know it wasn’t.’

  ‘Okay, but if he mentions Lake House, can you tell him
the lady stopping there on her own doesn’t want to be frightened to death?’

  Glenys glared at him then nodded. He could tell she was annoyed with him for even suggesting Alfie was responsible, but Seth knew the lad was a lot brighter than she gave him credit for.

  ‘Thank you.’

  He turned and began to walk back to the pub. He was hungry, and after today’s exertions he wanted to have a hot shower and make something to eat. All thoughts of Alfie, Maddy, and Lake House were pushed from his mind as he ran through the contents of the fridge and what to make for tea.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  P icking up the wine glass, Maddy realised how light it felt. It was empty. She looked at the bottle; that was empty, too. She couldn’t remember drinking so much and so fast, then she glanced at the time in the corner of the laptop and blinked. How could it be almost midnight? She hadn’t stood up for hours.

  Saving her work, she glanced down at the screen. The words were blurred, unfamiliar, and looked foreign to her. A sharp pain in her bladder made her realise she needed to pee, and quick. Rushing into the toilet, she let out a sigh of relief when she’d emptied what felt like the entire bottle of wine into the toilet.

  Her head felt muzzy and she wanted to know how she’d been sucked out of this world and into another for such a long time. Yes, she’d had long writing sessions before, but never six hours straight.

  After washing her hands, she stripped her clothes off. And pulled on the clean pyjamas she’d left in the bathroom earlier. She felt exhausted, mentally drained. Not even bothering to brush her teeth, she lurched into the bedroom and shut the laptop. It didn’t matter what she’d written, now she needed sleep. Tomorrow she’d read through it.

  Clambering into the bed, she tugged the duvet under her chin and closed her eyes, then opened them again. The room was spinning, and she felt as if she was going to puke. How did she have room-spin from one bottle of white wine? On a good day she could manage almost two bottles and just be a little tipsy.

  Prickles of perspiration began to form on her forehead, and despite the house being cold she felt as if she was on fire. Throwing back the duvet, she kicked one leg off the side of the bed, lying on an angle with a foot pressed down on the bare, wooden floorboards to anchor herself. If she looked up at the ceiling, it was turning around at a spectacular speed. She closed her eyes and prayed she would fall asleep to escape the dizziness. Maddy cursed herself for being greedy. She should have checked the volume on the bottle to make sure it wasn’t something ridiculous and eaten something to line her stomach.

  Mercifully, sleep must have ascended over her fast, because sometime in the early hours of the morning there was a loud crash from somewhere inside the house. Maddy stirred, murmured something, then turned on her side without opening her eyes. Footsteps echoed around the halls and she didn’t hear a thing. They went from room to room, searching for something only they could find.

  When she finally woke from the deep slumber, it was to crawl to the bathroom. Her mouth was dry, her throat was parched, and her head was thumping so hard she thought her brain might escape through her ears. Grabbing onto the sink, she ran the cold tap then scooped up handfuls of the icy water; it tasted delicious. When she’d satisfied her thirst, she splashed the water over her face then stumbled back to bed. Her eyes were shut before her head hit the pillow, and she stayed there until the scorching heat of the sun’s rays through the full-length glass doors woke her.

  She lay for a while, wondering what had happened, afraid to move quickly in case the dizziness came back. No more alcohol for you. What if you’d fallen down the stairs and broken your neck, or choked on your own vomit? What a way to go. No one would find your body for days, because you were so rude to Seth last night. The builders would have come in and found your rotting corpse. At least, she wouldn’t have to worry about this stupid deadline, though, would she?

  Finally, she realised she was going to have to move, and pushed herself up. Her legs still felt wobbly. It was strange, she’d never felt this way in the past no matter how much alcohol she’d consumed, and there had been some times when she’d consumed enough to pickle her own liver.

  Pushing the kitchen door open, she saw the pastel coloured confetti which covered the floor, and felt her heart begin to race a little too fast. She still couldn’t figure out how that had got there. She didn’t believe in ghosts, and besides, why would a ghost want to throw confetti around? She’d never heard any haunted house stories where the ghost had a tendency to sprinkle that stuff all over the place.

  Putting three wedges of bread into the toaster, she switched the kettle on and made herself a large mug of coffee. Then, taking the dustpan and brush from the pantry, she began to sweep up the mess. Talk about adding insult to injury; it was bad enough cleaning up her own mess, without having to clean up a mess she had no idea who had made it.

  At least she knew the house was secure and there was no crazy person living in a locked room somewhere. She’d watched a film a few weeks before coming here about a nanny who went to live in a big house like this one and had to look after a doll. Maddy had been totally freaked out when the bloody thing had started moving around the house. At least she knew after Seth’s search that there were no dolls here either…unless there was one hiding in one of those old trunks in the attic.

  She laughed at herself. Now you’re being ridiculous. Opening the bin, she tipped the confetti from the dustpan into it and slammed the lid down. Seth had to be right, this was someone’s idea of a joke. But it didn’t make any sense, and no matter how much of a brave face she put on, it didn’t mask the terror inside her if she thought about it for too long.

  She wished Stella was here with her. God, she missed her so much. Her friend’s loud laugh and permanent state of happiness would turn this house into a much cheerier place. Maddy was convinced that was what it was sadly lacking: fun and laughter.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  S tella woke up early. Joe’s sofa was comfortable, but she was aware of the prickling guilt in the back of her mind, coupled with the dull ache in her face where Connor had repeatedly punched her. She needed to speak to Maddy and explain what had happened. It didn’t matter if she was angry, Stella was worried that if the police hadn’t picked Connor up by now, he could be on his way to the Lakes to find Maddy.

  Stella had no phone to ring her friend to warn her. She would need to go to the shop and get Maddy’s number from Aden; he was like a walking phone directory. If not, she could log onto Facebook and try to get hold of her through Messenger. If all else failed, she could ring the local police where Maddy was staying and ask them to pass a message on, although she didn’t know if they would do that.

  The sound of Joe’s gentle snores filtered through from the bedroom. He was such a nice guy. He hadn’t even tried it on with her. As he’d said goodnight, he’d bent down and kissed the top of her head, which had sparked a tingle inside her chest. He’d left her with a warm feeling in her heart and a smile on her face – something no man had done for a very long time.

  Creeping quietly into the bathroom, she looked into the mirror and grimaced. What a state! There was no amount of make-up that was going to make this face look better anytime soon. Prodding and poking the swollen, bruised mess, she blinked to stop the tears before they could fall. She had no right to feel sorry for herself, because she’d got herself into this. It was karma for wanting to sleep around with her friend’s ex.

  Squeezing some toothpaste onto her finger, she opened her cracked, swollen lips and rubbed her finger around her teeth. Then, tugging the elasticated hairband from her wrist, she ran her fingers through her hair and tied the mountain of curls up into a messy bun. She left a note for Joe, telling him where she’d gone and that she’d be back later.

  First stop was the second-hand shop, next door but one to the bookshop. Stepping out of Joe’s flat, she felt the warmth of the sun on her face and it felt good. Things happen for a reason, and she was pretty sure
at some point she would find out why the last twenty-four hours had happened. If people asked her about her face, she was going to tell them she’d been in a car accident. It explained the mess and saved her the embarrassment of telling anyone what had really happened.

  She reached the tiny street and smiled to see her bookshop. It wasn’t much and it wasn’t making thousands of pounds’ profit a month, but it was surviving. A bit like her. She loved it and was determined to do her best to work even harder to make it work.

  Aden wasn’t there yet, and she looked up the steps which led to her flat. There was a large piece of wood across the middle of the door and a shiny new lock. She’d always hated that front door anyway, and as soon as she’d spoken to Maddy she was going to get herself a new one. A pink one, like the one she’d been admiring on Pinterest. She might even put a plant pot outside, filled with pink flowers. It was time to appreciate everything that she had, instead of taking it for granted.

  She came out of the second-hand shop with a phone. It was only a basic Samsung, but it was all she needed, as long as she could contact the police, Maddy, Aden, and Joe. Elsie, who owned the shop, had felt sorry for her and let her have it for free. Stella had argued with her, but she’d insisted, as long as the next time Aden baked a batch of brownies, he’d drop a few off for her.

  The world was full of good people, if you took the time to look. Despite her situation, Stella had never felt so much love and kindness. All she needed to do was speak to Maddy and she would feel much better.

  Aden was opening the shop, and she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her and let out a screech. ‘Jesus, Stella, take that mask off. You terrified me.’