by Sarah Barrie
CHAPTER
33
Connor watched Callie work, looked for signs of any of yesterday’s distress. She hadn’t talked much about it. She needed time to process, he understood that. Maybe he needed time for the same himself. He wasn’t really comfortable with what had happened. He’d got his head around the fact the majority of the Waldrons had issues. He even understood that because Eileen surrounded herself with mentally ill followers, a lot of the people involved in the investigation were going to have issues too. But not Callie. It wasn’t catching. So now he had a choice to make. Did he start believing in ghosts? Or did he send the woman he was in love with in search of professional help? It helped to see her running the place this morning with her customary competence while Tess was out with a tour group. But he was worried.
‘If you have time to stand around in the doorway indefinitely, I’m revising my share of the workload.’ Callie’s sharp green eyes flicked over him before returning to the computer screen.
Amused, Connor pushed away from the door and sat in the seat opposite the desk. ‘Place is running like clockwork. Thought you might be getting bored.’
The harried look she sent him said otherwise. ‘I’ve just rearranged shifts to cover for a sick cleaner, argued with the plumber over when he can get back to fix the spa in room four, which he managed to leave in way too many pieces after he left for some emergency yesterday, paid the stack of invoices you’ve got your feet on,’ she said, slapping at his shoes to make him lift them, ‘organised times to interview the new reception staff you’re after, answered a complaint about a possible spider sighting in room eleven and made about twenty calls. I just need time to take two or three life-saving breaths—that’s if the phone stops ringing—then I’ll work up a suitably scathing reply to your comment.’
‘And knowing you, it’ll be efficiently emailed to my desk by close this afternoon.’
‘Do you really not have enough to—there! Answer that phone.’
He chuckled to himself and picked it up. When he was done, she was waiting.
‘So now that I’ve managed to fit all that into one morning, and Tess will be back soon, can you do without me for the afternoon?’
‘I’ll miss you terribly,’ he only half teased. ‘Why?’
A shadow crossed her face. ‘I want to head back to Waldron Park.’
‘To look for Jonah.’
‘I didn’t imagine him, Connor! Besides, there’s work to do out there.’
‘Okay, okay. How about I come out later on this afternoon and give you a hand?’
‘Sounds wonderful.’ She placed a kiss on his lips. ‘Bring a bag. I want to stay out there tonight.’
‘Got it.’
* * *
A china doll in a floral dress, a music box, a scary book. But where to put them? He was coming. She knew he wasn’t far away. She needed to keep them safe. A sound outside drew her attention from the movie playing in her mind. She slipped quietly from the bed and dragged on her robe before opening the door. The sensor light was on so something was out there. Two eyes in the garden, the swish of bushes as the little dog just on the edge of the light wagged her body excitedly.
‘Molly?’ she called.
Molly raced towards her, skidded into her leg, then charged off again.
‘You are real! Come here!’ She attempted to lure the pup back. She almost got a hand on her twice, but the dog kept bouncing around just out of reach.
‘Mol—ly!’
Was that Jonah? Callie chased after Molly, who was heading down the trail to the river. She moved as quickly as she could, almost tripping over a patch of particularly uneven ground, trying to keep the dog in sight. It was definitely Jonah’s voice calling. She needed to see him, to talk to him, to prove to herself both Jonah and Molly existed. Callie broke through the trees to the clearing, stopped dead and backed up.
Figures draped in thick black robes rose from the earth and torches of fire blazed, casting shadows across faces, adding flickering explosions of flame to eyes already mad with power.
As she backed into the protective cover of the trees, a circle formed, becoming a wall. From within something writhed and squealed. A sacrifice. The circle became movement, the chanting more urgent, more commanding. As they danced and swayed, one figure abruptly ceased, his head turning to stare into the trees concealing Callie. There was nothing in that featureless face but darkness. Then, as it found her, a wicked smile.
She took a cautious step back. Another. Another. Then turned and ran.
* * *
The shake of the bed and the distressed sound that came from Callie’s throat woke Connor from a deep sleep. ‘Hey, what happened?’ he asked groggily.
‘Sorry,’ she said, rubbing her eyes. ‘Just a weird dream.’ She sounded breathless.
‘Come on, lie down.’ He offered his arm, hoping she might snuggle in. She did, and he wrapped himself around her, could have yelped as her freezing feet touched his legs. Man up, he thought and tightened his grip. She was cold all over and … damp? Must have been a bad dream if she’d sweated her way through it. How could she be so hot and cold at the same time?
Then she was pushing away.
‘I need a drink of water.’
He switched on the bedside light. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not sick, are you?’ He stared at the sheets as she threw off the blankets. ‘Callie, what’s this?’
The sheets were smeared with wet dirt. Her feet were filthy. She stared at the mess, just as shocked and confused as he was.
‘Did you go outside tonight?’
Her face lost all traces of colour. ‘I thought it was a dream.’ She looked at the window, then walked out to the lounge room in a daze.
He got up and pulled on some track pants and a shirt.
‘What was? Hey—don’t go out there, it’s freezing!’
But she was already out the door. She stood so still, so silent. He got her robe and put it over her shoulders, stood shivering beside her in the cold air, wondering what was going on.
‘Can you hear it?’ she whispered.
‘I can’t hear anything. Come back inside.’
‘Listen,’ she urged.
He listened, and … yeah, he could hear something. He had to concentrate, but it was there. ‘What is that?’
‘Chanting. Jonah and his pup were out here. I followed them down to the river but couldn’t find them. There was a procession of people in cloaks. They were chanting—wait!’
Like hell he was going to wait. Whatever was going on, he needed to get to the bottom of it. It wouldn’t particularly surprise him if a bunch of fruitcakes were out here playing around, not with the history of this place—especially now Cliff had passed away. And if the kid was around, he wanted to see him for himself.
He caught a glimmer of light through the trees as he crashed down the trail, but it faded from view as he got closer. He reached the river, gasping in lungfuls of night air. The light was gone. There was no one here, yet the chanting droned and reverberated as though from all around, the deep, macabre notes soaking into the darkness and adding weight to the heaviness of the night.
He searched the trees, shivering with the cold and the knowledge that something was very wrong.
‘Connor!’ Callie caught up with him. She tugged at his arm, just as out of breath and wild-eyed as he was. ‘If what I saw wasn’t a dream, we need to get out of here.’
‘Shhh.’ But the chanting had stopped, leaving silence. ‘It sounded like it was coming up from the earth.’
‘Jonah told me they come from under the ground.’
And damn if that didn’t freak him out more than he’d like to admit. ‘Get back to the car. I’m taking you to Calico Mountain for what’s left of the night.’
* * *
‘Sleepwalking?’ Indy asked at breakfast. ‘Really?’
‘I used to do it when I was little,’ Callie told Connor and Indy. ‘I think maybe that’s what I did last night. It w
as like a dream, but it was real. And … Cliff said he thought I was checking up on him some nights. I just kind of shrugged it off, assumed he was dreaming.’
‘Is that really possible?’ Connor asked. ‘Unlocking and locking doors?’
‘Absolutely,’ Indy said. ‘People have been known to complete loads of complicated tasks while asleep. Even drive long distances.’
Callie shivered. ‘It’s kind of creepy to think I’ve been wandering around out there, sound asleep.’
‘You think?’ Connor said.
‘But that doesn’t explain the chanting, or Jonah.’
‘It doesn’t make a lot of sense,’ Connor agreed. ‘I can’t imagine a real child would be out there at that time of night alone.’
‘But he wasn’t alone. The robed figures …’ Callie said, remembering the fear that had overtaken her.
‘It sounds creepy as hell,’ Indy admitted, ‘but I’m going to keep looking for a rational explanation. Eileen used black magic rituals to scare the group members into doing what they were told, carrying on a much older tradition out there. I think it would be naïve to automatically assume it wouldn’t continue once she was out of the picture. If that’s the case, I can’t rule out Adam’s involvement. Which means this could be the way to catch him. I’d like to put police in the cottage, put the place quietly under surveillance. I need eyes and ears out there so the next time anything out of the ordinary happens, we can swarm quickly. Any objections?’
‘No. I don’t think Paisley will mind either. But it’s been more than a month since I heard the chanting before this.’
‘That’s okay. It probably means we don’t need to panic, but it won’t hurt to be prepared.’
‘I’ll clean out the cottage as soon as Paisley gets back. We were going to move into the house, anyway.’
Indy looked her over with concern. ‘Just be careful out there, okay? Don’t be out there alone after dark.’
‘Won’t be an issue,’ Connor promised.
Callie went back to Waldron Park as soon as she’d finished work. It was almost a dare she’d set herself: Go back, cope, don’t think of monsters or robed demons or ghost children with cute puppies. Act like everything’s normal. This is your home now.
She was a little more uncomfortable when she noticed Ned at the house as she pulled in. He was just staring at her from the front steps. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the times when he was sickly sweet or the ones when he was silent and broody. She wondered what he was doing here and decided against heading up to the house until he’d done whatever it was he needed to do and gone back to Calico Mountain. Connor would be here in a couple of hours. She’d hang around in the cottage, make some dinner.
She took her time in the shower, letting the hot water seep into her. She’d banged her hip fighting back the branches of an out-of-control liquidambar earlier and as she got out, she could already see the bruise colouring up in the mirror. As she reached for her towel, her eyes caught sight of movement in the window behind her. ‘Hey!’ she yelled, and spun around.
The window she’d opened a crack for steam was now open wide. Ned was standing framed in it, staring emptily at her like he had from the house.
She drew the towel a round herself, backed towards the door. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Just came to see if you’d changed your mind about us,’ he said flatly.
‘Get out!’
‘Not in.’
‘What? Just … leave!’ She lunged forwards, slammed the window shut. Locked it. Then she went out into the main living area, saw he’d gone around to that window. ‘Ned, this is not right. Please, leave me alone!’ She reached for the window to close it and he grabbed it, tried to open it further. She struggled to close it, fear increasing with every breath as she fought.
‘Need to come in, Callie. Need to make you understand.’
‘What is wrong with you!’ With one last, desperate shove she got the window closed and locked it. She moved quickly, locking the other windows and doors. He appeared in every one of them as she worked her way around the cottage, his expression cold and blank. When she finished, and he didn’t look in the last window, she realised she couldn’t see him anywhere. It was almost dark. The sensor light at the front door kicked in. Two shadows blocked the light sliding underneath. Three knocks on the door, slow and rhythmical. Bang. Bang. Bang.
‘Go away!’
‘You really should change your mind, Callie.’
‘I’m calling the police!’ she threatened.
‘How?’
How? What did he mean? A tapping on the window whose curtains were still open had her eyes shooting to it. Her phone was being knocked against the glass from the outside. He had her damn phone! She bit back a sob. What now?
‘Connor’s coming!’ she yelled at him. ‘He won’t be long!’
‘Not coming. Thinks you’re heading back to him. Later.’
Oh God, he’d sent Connor a text?
‘You can’t go back to him, Callie. It won’t end well.’
She tried to figure out what to do. Her gaze fell on her laptop. She ran to it, opened it up. ‘Come on …’
As soon as the screen flicked to life she got in her password, opened messenger. She’d call—
No internet connection.
She slowly looked up. Ned was back in the window. Smiling.
She stormed over and ripped at the curtains, closing them, then went back into the middle of the room and slowly sank onto the lounge, trembling.
‘Want to get married, Callie?’ came from the vicinity of the front door.
‘Please go away.’ It came out as no more than a whisper. ‘Please. Please go away.’
‘I’ll protect you from the monsters, Callie.’
You are the monster, she thought, and she clutched her amulet as though the necklace could somehow make the situation better. She got up again, went to the kitchen, snatched the largest knife in the rack. If he came in, she’d use it.
Through the curtains she saw each sensor light around the house flick to life as he walked the perimeter. The first had only just gone off as he made it back, and it kicked on again. Then she heard the creak of the fuse box opening. Everything went off. She backed up in the darkness, squealed when she hit the wall behind her. She turned the knife around in her hand, held it out in front of her while her other hand felt around for obstacles as she tried to picture the layout of the room in her mind.
The door rattled. It was only a matter of time until he came in. She peeked cautiously through a slit in a curtain, saw lights on up at the house. There was a phone there. But how was she going to reach it?
She pulled on her jeans and a jumper, quietly unlatched her bedroom window; had it open an inch when his face appeared in it. She screamed, quickly locked it with clumsy fingers and staggered back. She turned in small circles in the centre of the room, overwhelming panic making it impossible to think. She only knew she had to get to the house.
She ran the floorplan of the house through her mind, tried to picture the exits. There were two back doors, no external stairways to the ground from the first floor. There’d been a phone in Cliff’s room, another in the kitchen. The kitchen would be easier. She could run out the back if she needed to from there. Upstairs she would be trapped.
She needed a diversion.
She picked up a rolled pair of socks and tossed them at the window across the lounge room. They rattled the pane. When she heard footsteps on the patio moving fast, she pushed open her bedroom window and jumped out, shut it behind her and crouched low, trying to hear over the sound of the blood pounding in her ears.
The grevillea was sharp and spiky. There was no way to get through it silently.
She ran.
‘Callie!’ Ned called out. ‘I see you!’
She didn’t stop, didn’t look back. She heard the sound of her own steps on the drive, heard his coming fast behind. Then she heard his raspy breathing, felt his fingers skim her shoulder
blade. Her legs were burning, the soft skin of her feet cut by the sharp gravel. She couldn’t breathe. She kept her eyes pinned on the front door and kept going. Reaching it, she slammed it behind her, knocking him back. He’d been so close.
There was an enraged growl, a pounding on the door. ‘You’re not being reasonable, Callie!’
She stumbled into the kitchen, almost pulled the phone from the wall in her attempt to get to the keypad. She’d only pressed the first two buttons when it was snatched from her hand and tossed aside. He grabbed a fistful of her hair. Oh God—it was happening again.
‘We have to be together,’ Ned growled in her ear. ‘It’s the only way. Understand?’
She nodded wildly, grimaced at the pain of her hair being ripped from her scalp. ‘Okay.’
‘It’s just you and me now.’
‘Okay, Ned. Of course.’
He kept his hand in her hair and marched her past the table. Her fingers wrapped around the rung of a kitchen chair. She got her other hand on it and swung it back over her head, crashing it into his. When his grip loosened she stepped out, swung again, sending him to his knees. Then she snatched up the phone as she got her legs under her and ran. She made it back to the foyer, saw the door under the staircase ajar and remembered it locked from the inside. It was the only choice.
She lunged at it, slammed it shut and locked it. Leaning against it she dialled 000.
‘I need help. Please. My address is—’
Crash.
The door reverberated with the force of the blow and the phone fell out of her hands. Silence. Then his footsteps, moving away. Where was he going? She fumbled around on the floor, could have sobbed when she couldn’t find the phone. If she didn’t call quickly he’d just disconnect the line. There was a faint glow somewhere below her. A black rectangle that was somehow brighter than the rest of the space. Its location didn’t make sense until she took a step, almost toppled when her foot found purchase much lower than it should have. Stairs. Of course there were stairs.