by Marcus Brown
Jason blamed himself. “I told Adam he’d been dreaming, but he wasn’t, was he?” He buried his head in his hands. “There was somebody at his window. Why didn’t I listen to him?”
His mother put her arm around him and drew him toward her. He rested his head on her shoulder.
“Jason. We don't really know for certain anything yet, and all this is just a best guess scenario. We’re hoping the fingerprints are from somebody within the hospital and your brother was just a little spooked and ran away. The rainfall has hindered our efforts, for all we know, he might be heading home right now, but the CCTV malfunctioned last night too, so we have no footage to sift through.”
Jason knew Detective Hope didn’t believe a word of what he was saying and was just trying to placate them.
“And how long until the results come back?” Jason asked.
“It could be any time now, but as soon as I have any news on any aspect of this case, I’ll let you know. I’m sorry I don’t have anything else more concrete to tell you.”
“I want to know as soon as you hear.”
“Of course.” The detective stood up and left the room.
His mother collapsed against Jason and began to sob. “I can’t lose him as well, Jase. Not my baby.”
“It’ll be okay, Mum. We’ll find him.”
Jason’s instincts were screaming at him. He knew Adam wasn’t going to come home.
Chapter Fourteen
Hilary drove down Promised Land Lane. Her nerves on fire. The last time she’d been there, things went disastrously wrong and she had been arrested and thrown into a police cell.
Speeding past number six, she parked her car near to the stables at that end of the lane intent on walking back to the house, waiting for the opportunity to find her way inside.
The sensible side of her knew what Tim would say. He would tell her to go home and stop being foolish, but she had no choice but to get inside that house and look around.
Even though Tim had tried to convince her she’d been dreaming the other night, she knew otherwise. Sandra had been at the window, but it wasn’t the same person she’d known for years. Something was very wrong indeed.
Hilary walked toward the house, concealing herself behind the large oak tree just outside of the property. It was a close call and she watched the haughty dark-haired lady emerge from the house. She swanned gracefully, but imperiously down the steps and slipped into her swanky red sports car before driving away.
The main gates to the house were wide open and the port-a-cabin that was there on her last visit had been taken away. The house no longer required a security detail, which was good news for Hilary.
She recalled her last visit, not realising anybody had moved into the house.
“What are you doing in my garden,” the well-spoken woman asked.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know anybody lived here.”
“Well, now you do.”
“I don’t want any trouble, but I’m looking for my friend, Sandra. The police said her phone was found inside your house and…”
“That may be,” the woman, interrupted. “…but you shouldn’t be out here. Who are you?”
“My name is Hilary Baines. I don’t mean any harm, but something’s happened to my friend, I know it.”
“And why do you suppose she would be out here of all places?”
“Because she was obsessed with this house, and this garden. I tried to tell her to stay away, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Your friend is not here.”
“Where’s David? Can I speak to him, please?”
“There’s nobody here by that name. I live in this house alone, and don’t appreciate unwanted… guests.”
“He is here, in this garden. The doll, if you let me look into the doll’s eyes, he’ll come, I know he will. I’m safe in the daylight. Get the doll and bring it to me. He’ll come.”
“I don’t know what you’re rambling on about and suggest you leave.”
“Everybody knows about the doll. It’s in that house over there.” She pointed towards the old doll house, which was now covered in black tarpaulin. “Surely you know about the doll?”
“I can assure you, Mrs Baines, there is no doll in there. Please leave or I’ll be forced to call the police, and have you removed.”
“How do you know I’m married?” Hilary wondered.
“Perhaps the ring on your wedding finger gave it away. Now, what is it you really want?”
“I need to climb down the well. My friend could be lying hurt down there.” Hilary knew she was coming across as crazy but didn’t care.
“You’re not going down the well, it’s too dangerous,”
“What if she’s down there?”
“Don’t you think I’d know if someone was lying injured down my own well?”
Hilary knew she was getting nowhere with the woman but had to try.
“I’m just going to have a quick look and then I’ll leave.” She headed away in the direction of the well. “I won’t be long.”
The lady walked towards the French doors and back into the house.
The police arrived a short time later.
Hilary was staring down the well when the officer touched her shoulder.
She swung round and caught him in the jaw before another officer threw her to the floor and cuffed her hands behind her back.
Hilary was arrested and taken to the local police station, but luckily the charges were dropped, and she only was formally cautioned.
Focus, she told herself. And think of a way to get inside that house.
The sun had set and there were no lights on inside the house. Memories of her first visit came rushing back to her, and whilst she was scared, nothing would deter her.
Hilary crept around the side of the house and down the familiar passageway. Nerves had overtaken the fear she initially felt. All that concerned her was finding out what happened to Sandra.
She was surprised to find the cats standing guard on the high walls. Last time, they scared her, but this time, they brought a sense of comfort.
She approached the doll house, stripped back the tarpaulin and peeked inside.
The little grey-haired doll turned its head, making her jump. Its eyes flew open and focused on her. Did that thing just smile at me? Hilary trembled. I’ve lost my marbles and now I’m seeing things.
She told herself she was imagining it and the doll couldn’t have moved, but she was transfixed by how lifelike it was. The doll’s dirty grey hair looked out of place against the moulded childlike face. It possessed a delicate button-like nose and was clothed in a cobalt blue dress with white lace trim. To anybody else it would be cute, but to Hilary it was ghastly.
The doll’s eyes mesmerised her–they seemed too real and spooked her more than she’d like to acknowledge.
Deciding she’d seen enough, she dropped the tarpaulin back, covering the doll house.
“David, if you’re here, now would be a good time to show yourself.”
She walked up the stairs, towards the French doors.
A noise from behind startled her.
Chapter Fifteen
Hilary’s heart thumped in her chest. Somebody was behind her. David?
“Hils.”
“Oh, my God.” The hairs along her arms stood on end.
The voice sounded familiar, but different at the same time.
She turned slowly, afraid of what she would see.
Sandra walked towards her, looking as dirty and dishevelled as she had done a few days before.
Walking slowly down the stairs, she squinted in the moonlight.
“Is that really you?” Hilary was relieved to have found her. Tears threatened, but she held them back. “Where have you been?”
“You shouldn’t be here.” The moon cast a shadow across Sandra as she drew closer. She noticed how filthy Sandra’s clothes were and the terrible rotting kind of smell.
“You told me you were here. I had
to come–I’ve missed you so much,” she said, approaching cautiously.
“Don’t come any closer or I won’t be able to stop myself.”
Hilary was baffled by the warning. “Stop yourself from what?”
“Killing you.”
The words tore through Hilary like a knife. “You don’t mean that, Sand. I know you better than that. Whatever she did to you, we’ll fix it together. Just you and me, like we always have.”
“You can’t do anything to help me. I belong to Juliet now.”
“You don’t belong to anybody. Come with me now and I’ll take you to the police.”
“There’s nothing anybody can do to help me now.”
Hilary felt her heart would break. She saw the sadness etched across her friend’s face.
“Where’s David? Can’t he help us?”
“David’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“He did what he was supposed to do and can’t come back.”
Hilary stepped close to Sandra but was still apprehensive about approaching her.
“I told you not to come any closer, Hilary,” Sandra warned. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m struggling to remember who you were to me. I’ll lose it if you don’t stay back.”
“Please, we have to get out of here. Come with me now before that… that bitch gets back.”
“I can’t leave, Hils–she’ll find me anyway and force me to come back. She’s bound my soul to this house. I can’t stay away for too long. She’ll come looking for me, and whilst a shred of my humanity remains, I’ll never lead her to you.”
“Who is she? I don’t understand any of this, Sand.”
“Juliet is Samantha Whitmore’s sister.”
“You’re confused, Sand,” Hilary said convincingly. “She’s not old enough to be Samantha’s sister.”
“No, Hils. Listen to me. Juliet is stronger than Samantha ever was. Believe me when I tell you, you’re in terrible danger being here. She wants me to kill you, knowing once I do, I’ll belong to the dark. I’m trying to fight her, but she is so strong.”
“Sand, please, let me help you, I know you don’t want to hurt me.”
“Hilary,” she snapped, baring her teeth. “Go now and forget about me. Go away somewhere, far away from here and hide or she’ll come for you too, just like she did with Adam Lee. Mabel will tell her you were here so please, if you care about me, don’t end up trapped here with me.”
Adam Lee. The name was familiar to Hilary, but she couldn’t place it.
“Adam Lee. Where have I heard his name before?”
“He’s the little boy who lives down the lane.” Sandra smiled showing her rotted teeth. “With me.”
“You’re scaring me now, Sand.” She noticed the change in Sandra’s tone. “What do you mean?”
“Maisie went into the light and took David with her, but Juliet was lying in wait. She wants to bring Samantha and Luke back from hell and if she thinks you’re standing in the way of that, she’ll send Adam for you. You don’t want that, and I don’t want that for you either.”
“For Christ’s sake, I’m not scared of her, or a little boy.”
“You should be.”
“Well, tough shit. I’m not scared, and no way am I leaving you here with that lunatic.”
“Then you’re as foolish as I was. If only I’d listened to you when I had the chance, I wouldn’t be stuck in this God forsaken place, forced to hurt the people I love.”
“You’re still my best friend and I love you like I always did. You’re confused, that’s all. I can help you, but you have to come with me now. We’ll go anywhere you want as long as it’s away from here.” Hilary was desperate.
“I want that more than anything in the world, but my life is over. I belong to her now. I’ve resisted as much as I can, but she’ll kill you, just to prove a point. I couldn’t stand anything to happen to you, so go now, please. It won’t be long before Adam wakes. Please Hils...”
“But…” Hilary interrupted.
“If you love me like you say you do, listen to me. You’re in danger and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I’m not strong enough.”
“Whatever she did to you.” A sob escaped her throat. “You’re still looking out for me. You’re still you.”
“I’m trying to hold on, but it’s getting harder every day. I don’t know what she’s truly capable of when push comes to shove, but I died in that house and she brought me back, somehow, to torment me for eternity. She stopped my soul from going into the light and I was so close. I could see David waiting for me. I was happy. Then, as though I was attached to a piece of elastic, she pulled me back.” Sandra stepped into the moonlight and pulled the hair back from her face. “Look at me, Hilary. See what Juliet is capable of.”
Hilary screamed and leaped back. The cats jumped down from the walls, circling her, protecting her. She hadn’t been dreaming the other night–Sandra’s eyes were gone. “I’ll kill that fucking bitch.”
“I don’t want to hurt you but can’t fight the urges for much longer. As time passes by, it’s becoming harder to remember who I was. She wants me to kill you with my own hands, but I’m trying to resist her. I’m frightened I’ll forget who I am and come for you. I’ve already hurt Nathan–I couldn’t stop myself.”
“No, you couldn’t, you wouldn’t hurt Nathan.”
“I didn’t want to but couldn’t control myself.”
Hilary couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She’d cried at his graveside, heartbroken, but never thought Sandra could have been responsible. “What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t want to hurt him, but she made me choose. You or him.”
“God help me.” She felt as though she was in a waking nightmare.
“I didn’t want him to die, but what could I do? I wanted to warn him and waited in the back of his car. He noticed me through the rear-view mirror. I frightened him, and he swerved off the road. I killed him, Hils, but I didn’t mean to. I watched his soul leave his body and rise to Heaven.”
Hilary suddenly reached forward, taking hold of her friend’s hands. She choked as she focused on the angry wounds where Sandra’s eyes used to be. “I can’t leave you here, no matter what you’ve done.” Her friend was ice cold to the touch.
“You have to go. Adam’s coming, I can hear him.”
Hilary froze. The terrible sound echoing from within the well shook her to the core. She was reminded of her first visit to the lane.
The anguished cries reverberated around the garden sending chills right through her bones.
“He knows you’re here, Hils. Go.”
“I won’t leave you here alone.”
“If you won’t go for me, think of Tim–what will he do without you?”
Sandra’s words shook her back to her senses and for the first time since this mess started, she put her wonderful husband’s needs above her own. “I’ll go, but I’m gonna get help and come back for you. I won’t leave you here.”
“For your own sake, forget about me and this place. It’s cursed.”
Hilary turned towards the well as a hand breached the wall.
The cats fanned out around her.
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream filled the garden, scattering the cats far and wide. “I won’t leave you here with that… thing.”
“He can’t hurt me. Remember what I said. Get away and hide before she makes me hurt you.”
“I know you won’t hurt me, Sand.”
“She’ll send Adam after you.”
Hilary could see a shadow sneaking up the garden. Every instinct inside her told her to run, but guilt stabbed at her. She fought against leaving.
The cats returned en masse, but this time, they surrounded Sandra, pushing her back. They hissed and scratched at her. She yelled at them, but they didn’t break ranks.
A small boy appeared from the shadows and sniffed at the breeze. A strange gurgling sound came from him as he approached.
> “Hils, you don’t have much time.”
He tilted his head from side to side, sniffed again and seemed to pick up Hilary’s scent as he switched direction, heading straight toward her.
He was a few feet away when Sandra screamed. “Adam. No!”
He twisted round, his face caught in the glow from the moon. His mouth was stretched unnaturally, and his bottom lip hung against his chin. He too had no eyes.
Hilary let go of her bladder, standing rigid with fright. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
“My God. What happened to him?” she asked Sandra. “He’s only a small boy.”
He chuckled softly at her words. It was the most awful sound she’d ever heard.
“She ripped his tongue out.”
“Who did?” Hilary was aghast.
“Juliet.”
“Jesus Christ, we can’t let her get away with this–we have to stop her.”
“She can’t be stopped–she’s too powerful. Don’t you realize the danger you’re in? Please leave now. I won’t be able to stop him harming you.”
Adam stood opposite Hilary, tilting his head from side to side. She looked down at him, horrified that he too had no eyes.
She reached out her hand to touch him.
“No,” Sandra screamed.
Adam thrust forward, grabbing hold of her wrist.
Hilary screamed and tried to shake him off, but he was too strong.
“Adam. Stop!” Sandra begged, unable to help her friend.
“Sand. Help me please.” Hilary’s shrieks ricocheted around the garden as Sandra tried to kick the cats away.
“I can’t help you. I’m sorry.” The cats wouldn’t let her pass.
Adam pulled her toward him, digging his fingers into her wrist.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack and searing pain shot up Hilary’s right arm.
Adam chuckled as Hilary finally managed to wrench her arm loose.
Sandra pushed past the cats and jumped on Adam, stopping him from following Hilary as she raced towards the side of the house.