by Keeley Smith
Lester’s hand touched his. The pleading look in his eyes made Stephen’s stomach tie itself into knots. This was the place Lester had come to; he knew it deep down inside. This meant Lester knew what was here; he knew what they were about to face and the fear on Lester’s face made Stephen’s blood run cold.
“What’s here, Lester? What awaits us?”
Lester was shaking his head. He wasn’t going to answer. Or he couldn’t answer. Stephen was finally starting to understand. The holes, the reason behind the lack of answers, it was because Lester couldn’t say anything. He had been bound by whatever lived in that house down there.
Ignoring the pain in his feet from the constant walking, Stephen ran after the others who were already making headway to the house. The house looked fairly sub standard. It didn’t look daunting like one you would expect to see in scary films, the typical house surrounded by woods and the mist floating hauntingly around their feet. But he trusted Lester, especially after everything they’d been though and Lester hadn’t done one single thing for Stephen to question his allegiance. If Lester didn’t like this house then he would be careful.
He scrambled to a stop in front of his friends, the dry dirt making him skid and nearly fall over his own feet. They looked at him, eyes a little wide in shock because they probably wondered what the hell he was doing. This was a normal reaction to his quirky ways and comments usually followed. He didn’t say a word to them as to why he just jumped in front of them like a maniac yet the two of them remained silent waiting for his instruction. They’d come a long way.
“Stay behind me, okay?”
He received nods and walked ahead of them with Lester floating beside him. He couldn’t ask Lester questions but it didn’t matter because he would receive answers soon enough.
As they neared the house, Stephen could sense Lester’s nerves, they became more intense with every passing second. They seemed to run through him, like little sparks of electricity zapping around his body. This was freaking him out and it reminded Stephen of a scene from E.T, the one where the boy could feel everything the alien went through. Before he could share this thought, the bright red door opened. Stephen’s heart kicked into action. Lester stalled beside him.
It wasn’t a person who walked down the neat red brick path towards them. A hooded figure literally floated towards them. He watched as black snakes slithered along the path where its feet should have been. Was it a ghost like Lester? Somehow Stephen got the impression this was not a ghost. This thing was ten times scarier.
As the figure neared them, Stephen noticed the effect it was having on the garden as it passed. The once pretty yellow and pink flowers that lined the edge of the path shrivelled as the hood glided past them. The flowers now turned a death black, shrivelled up and then fell like ash onto the pavement.
He also noticed that the house started to lose its new shine, the once lovely white of the woodwork and the bright red window shutters were now decaying with every step the hood took. The house looked like it had aged a thousand years in just seconds.
“This isn’t good,” Phillip whispered.
Stephen was going to agree but the figure now stood right in front of them and he found his tongue was thick in his mouth. It didn’t have a face, or not one that he could see. The hood appeared to be an empty black space. He felt tiny snakes of unease move along his skin and couldn’t hold back the shiver. He didn’t like how they felt like snakes, like the ones crawling along the path.
Stephen edged back, he noticed under the dull glow from the lights that surrounded the house that the shadows from this figure crawled towards them.
“Lester, you are finally here.”
Phillip and Deyna’s heads whipped around in shock as they looked at Lester with silent questions in their eyes. He didn’t look at Lester. He wasn’t the least bit taken aback by this. Stephen knew.
He’d always known.
He looked at the hooded figure and swore he could see a smile from within the hood. The smile he thought he saw made his spine curl.
It was 100% evil.
“Introductions are needed I believe.”
The figure lifted up its sleeves and waved them extravagantly in some sort of gesture. Its voice sounded dangerously low, the emphasis on each syllable when it spoke sent more shivers crashing through his body.
“Welcome to Lehstreous, the place otherwise known as Three Souls. You are...”
Stephen watched as the figure pushed its sleeve back. A finger pointed at Phillip, yet it wasn’t a finger, it was pure white bone. There wasn’t a hint of flesh there. Deyna screamed and scrambled back. Lester shielded her behind Phillip.
Now that was something you didn’t see every day, a skeletal finger pointing at you.
“Phillip Whittard,” Phillip whispered, his voice shaking with fear.
The bone moved, creaking in the direction of Deyna who was whimpering behind Phillip.
“And you, young lady?”
He could hear the effort it took for Deyna to swallow past the nervous lump in her throat. “I’m Deyna Stuart.”
“Miss Stuart, welcome to my humble abode.”
The finger was already working its way around to him but Stephen was already tired with this game. They’d been put through the works since tumbling through the hole in the woods, he wasn’t going to wait.
“You float there pretending you don’t know our names, but you and I both know you do. I will play along with your little game, I’m Stephen Evans so now you know who we are, I want to know who the hell you are!”
He already knew.
A hooded figure.
A skeleton.
He was the puppet master and Stephen sensed he was so much more.
“I’m not sure you are ready for me to tell you,” the hood teased.
Stephen nodded and started laughing. His two friends looked at him like he’d finally lost the plot, he had, a long time ago. “You brought us down here to do something. Everything we’ve experienced has been part of your plan and I want to know who you are.”
Stephen glared into the space where a head should have been.
“As you wish... I’m Death, otherwise known as the Grim Reaper.”
He didn’t react outwardly, the features on his face remained impassive, it was his insides that were jumping around nervously. Deyna gasped, her hand hovering near her mouth in shock. Phillip’s face held the same expressionless look as his own.
Chuffing hell.
There was such a thing as Death, and he was stood here shouting at it and demanding things.
Great way to get yourself killed, Stephen.
This revelation still didn’t stop his mind or his mouth from working overtime.
“So, Lehstreous is the place on the map? That word means Three Souls?”
The hood moved its head like it was nodding. “It not only means Three Souls, the word itself spells Three Souls.”
He thought about it, putting the letters together. Clever, but he wasn’t going to stand around and appreciate it. Lester obviously knew what this place was as soon as his once eyeless sockets locked on to the map.
“I’m assuming Lester is one of the souls?”
The idea came to him, and as soon as it did, it fell right into place.
The hooded figure sauntered towards him, the bones slithered out from beneath the sleeve as the china white stick fingers pulled back the hood. Deyna screamed and fainted hitting the floor rather hard. Stephen couldn’t help her, he wouldn’t turn his back on Death but Phillip was there. Stephen felt lightness in his head and the quake in his knees but he focused on the thing in front of him.
The head that was revealed to them was a skeletal head, the bone as white as milk. Its eyes were a rich red but they weren’t eyes, the pits where the eyes should have been, glowed a vibrant red. The teeth were razor sharp and were positioned in the sickening grin most skeletons had.
“Oh, I can see
why he was your chosen one, Lester. Very brave,” Death congratulated Lester.
Chosen one? Lester had chosen him? What had he been chosen for exactly?
Another question popped into his head, a rather obvious question. How could a skeleton talk? It didn’t have a voice box. He assumed common sense was trying to make sense of this exchange but there wasn’t any to be found.
“You have endured this quest for one prize,” Death spoke loudly like He was putting on a show. “That prize is freedom.”
Freedom.
That was quite a strange prize because they were already free to some extent whilst living in a hamlet. It wasn’t impossible to leave the place.
Where was the treasure? The money?
Yet, deep down he’d known as he’d continued on this quest that the prize wouldn’t be something as easy as money. The more he came to understand Lester, the more he wanted to help the man. That’s what this quest had been about.
Stephen looked at his friends and back at the hood. Stephen was sure that Death wasn’t referring to them and their freedom from this hellish pit. Would Death try and keep them here? Stephen thought back, something Lester had said next to his headstone came back to him. Lester had said that the map would lead the way to the best prize a person could want.
Every person would want freedom.
And then it dawned on him, Lester had been imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit in his life and again in his afterlife, therefore Lester wanted his freedom.
“How long have you been here, Lester?” he asked, turning away from the skeleton to look at the man.
Lester’s frame quivered and he spoke very quietly. “I’ve been here since the moment I died.”
“Why?”
“Why? Why, he asks,” Death growled. “He murdered. His soul is mine.”
“How do you know he murdered?” Deyna questioned.
Stephen was rather impressed. She stood, no longer shaking behind Phillip, and had stepped forward challenging Death about Lester’s innocence. Her patience had finally snapped and it was about time.
She was magic when she snapped.
“I’m Death, it is my job to know.”
“So, if you are correct, and I’m not agreeing or disagreeing at the moment, then you just keep souls here. Why here? Where are the rest of the souls? I’m sure there are murderers all over the country,” Deyna replied impatiently.
“I have souls in many houses. There are three souls in this house. Only souls from your little hamlet come here and at the moment I have three disgusting, low-life souls live here, we could make it a fourth.”
“Are you proud of what you do?” she snapped.
“Why... yes I am.”
“You could try and show a little compassion. You’ve locked an innocent man up in this hell hole for decades.”
“I’m bones, young lady. I don’t have anywhere to put the compassion.”
“You make me sick!” she snarled.
“Sick enough you might die?” Death said, humour evident in His voice.
“Not for you. Never for you, anyway, I haven’t murdered anyone and I never will.”
“There’s time. There’s always time. I will keep my eye on you as you may be a good resident to have in my humble abode. I could have hours of fun torturing you...”
“Don’t speak to her like you do, she won’t ever step foot inside that house otherwise you will have me to deal with,” Stephen challenged.
The red flared in its eyes. He definitely pressed the right buttons, he got under that slick black material of His.
“I could kill you and you wouldn’t even know about it.”
“Well, yeah, I would because I’d come back and realise it then I’d kick your boney ass.”
He swore he heard Deyna giggle.
“I wouldn’t test my patience, boy,” Death hissed.
“You don’t scare me,” Stephen laughed.
“Oh, really...” The hood took a step closer and snapped its knife edge teeth at him.
“Please, do not do this,” Lester said and stepped in front of Death.
Stephen could see the fear on the man’s face but he’d still put himself between the two of them. Kudos to Lester for having the guts to stand up for him when this man really scared him.
Death stepped back. He obviously wasn’t ready to end His little game. He’d probably enjoyed the whole show so far.
“How do we keep Lester?” Phillip asked.
Lester looked to Phillip in shock. He was rather shocked himself. It had been the question to pop into his mind but he hadn’t asked Death it because another question had followed rather quickly after, what price would they have to pay to save Lester? There had to be a cost, most things in life came with a cost.
“A part of his soul can be released when you can prove his innocence.”
“A part?” Stephen enquired.
“Yes. To help you survive Lester sold some of his soul.”
“Lester, you didn’t need to-” Deyna’s argument was cut short by Lester holding up a hand.
“I wanted to and I couldn’t see you starve. If you hadn’t died from hunger you would have died from pneumonia.”
“Thank you,” Phillip whispered.
Stephen shook his head. He couldn’t let this man suffer for one second longer than he had to.
“Lester, I wish you had told me.”
“I couldn’t. There are rules I had to abide by. I wanted to, I feel like I owe you so much.”
Stephen glared at Death before looking back at Lester. “I know why you couldn’t say anything. It wouldn’t matter if you had. What can He do? You’re already dead.”
“He can keep my soul,” Lester whispered.
“He can’t because I wouldn’t let Him. I would have fought for you.”
“I didn’t know how far you were willing to go, especially if He continued to push you. I couldn’t risk it, you were dying and you were so ill. I had to do something to help you.”
“As touching as this is,” Death sighed, “I’m ready for your answer.”
“He’s innocent!” Deyna shouted.
“You may believe that, Miss Stuart, but there is only one person here who can free Lester and that person has tested my patience quite a bit since stepping into my home.”
Stephen smirked. “Why? Because I refuse to die?”
“That is one element...” Death shrugged, his menacing grin firmly in place. “I still require an answer.”
The grinning head with eyes the colour of blazing rubies glared at him.
j
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR