The Ghost House (13 page)

Will and Stu had missed the all-day full English breakfast: the cook had just removed the last pieces of bacon as they joined the queue so they both opted for steak pie and chips.

‘Glad to see you eating healthy, Stu. Debs hasn’t managed to convert you to that eat no carbs for the rest of your life diet then?’

Stu laughed, spitting flakes of pastry all over the table. ‘Come on, Will, seriously do I look like I do everything my wife tells me to?’

Will took a moment to consider the question. ‘Yes, actually you do but I’d never hold it against you.’

Shoving a huge forkful of chips into his mouth Stu mumbled, ‘Get lost.’

They finished eating at the same time, stood up and wiped their mouths on some paper napkins. Carrying their trays over to the big trolley near to the counter Will turned to thank the women behind it who all blushed simultaneously.

Once they were outside Stu lowered his voice. ‘How do you do it? How come every woman you speak to goes red and gets their knickers in a twist? I don’t think you’re that fantastic, no offence and all that. I suppose you’re not bad for your age. I even asked Debs the other night and she said she didn’t know, there was just something about you.’

‘What do you mean? Every woman I speak to does not get like that at all, you soft git.’

Stu rolled his eyes. ‘All right then, tell me one who doesn’t get all giggly around you.’

Will could think of one but couldn’t say her name because Stu would tell Debs and she would tell someone else and within ten minutes the whole station would know and he didn’t want to cause Annie any embarrassment. He shook his head. ‘None of them, do you daft bugger.’

Stu scrunched up his face. ‘Unbelievable, you don’t even care do you?’

They walked the rest of the way to the pathology lab in silence; Stu sulking and Will trying to think if every woman he spoke to turned into a gibbering wreck.

The Coroner’s Officer, Lisa, and Matt, the Pathologist greeted them at the pathology lab. Lucky for them it was his day to be down here; he was normally based in Lancaster. Both of them looked grim. Will nodded at Matt and winked at Lisa, watching for her reaction. He was surprised when a faint redness appeared at the bottom of her throat and began working its way upwards, she let out a small laugh. Stu glared at Will who shrugged back at him. Matt broke the silence.

‘The boyfriend and sister have just made a positive ID: it’s Emma Harvey.’ Matt led them into the male changing rooms to get scrubbed up. The strong smell of disinfectant hit Will’s nostrils. It had been a while since he’d been in here yet it felt like yesterday. Another dead girl, this time killed by a drunk driver.

When they walked through Dr Frankenstein’s lab, as Will referred to it, he positioned himself at the top end of the table where her head was, as far away from the stomach as possible. He could stand just about everything except the stench when they opened the stomach cavity and the smell of everything from faeces to puke filled the air. He smiled as Lisa took her position next to him; he left Stu to stand further down near to the stomach. Will knew how much Stu disliked post mortems and that Stu hadn’t figured out what it was about them that he disliked so much, apart from the obvious. Will had been meaning to tell him about the stomach gasses but he’d wound him up so much with his earlier comments he couldn’t be arsed. It served him right.

Lisa was talking to him but he watching Matt as he pulled the sheet down and was making his initial observations. Lisa took some photographs and then Matt began to unwrap the brightly coloured scarf that looked out of place on the dead girl’s body. Will thought it looked familiar; he’d seen one like it before but couldn’t remember where: women’s fashion wasn’t really his thing. Lisa took a sharp intake of breath as she saw the gaping wound the scarf had been covering; it was crusted with dried blood.

‘I think it’s pretty obvious what the cause of death is, folks. That is one nasty cut.’ Matt began to measure, photograph and record every injury on Emma’s body. He occasionally looked to Lisa who was writing everything down.

She talked even though she was busy. ‘I suppose it was going to happen one day, I mean, look at Bradford. It’s inevitable with all the inbreeding around here. It’s no surprise that some twisted sicko would eventually realise he wanted to live out his fantasies instead of dreaming about them in bed every night.’

Stu looked at her and Will. ‘Are you having a laugh, a serial killer around here? No one is that clever or that stupid, come to think of it, to want to start a killing spree around here. I mean, why would they? It doesn’t make any sense.’

Lisa paused. ‘We’ll see. Girls just don’t disappear and bodies turn up without there being some connection. Not in this town.’

Will agreed with her on that point.

Matt was carefully weighing the heart and looked over to Will. ‘Shall we see what the results are first and then we could set up a sweepstake for the number of victims we’ll end up with before you and your shit-hot team manage to catch the killer.’ He winked at Will. ‘You can put me down for a fiver that this town has given birth to a serial killer and I reckon we’ll end up with four bodies before you catch him or he kills himself.’

Stu tutted. ‘You’re sick, you lot, you know that, don’t you?’

Three heads nodded in agreement with him and Lisa smiled giving him her sweetest smile. ‘Come on, Stu, you got to laugh about it or you would go home and hit the bottle and end up a raging alcoholic. I suppose we are but we’re not as sick as whoever did this and besides you won the last one we had so I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I’ll go for five before he kills himself.’

Will shook his head. ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence in my team of detectives. What are you two trying to say?’

Will felt his nostrils flare and his insides cramp as he got a whiff of the freshly opened stomach. He looked to Stu whose face had turned the same colour as the dead girls.

‘Urgh.’

Will smirked like an eight-year-old and continued breathing through his mouth, knowing he couldn’t win. He would be able to taste the smell in the back of his throat all night. He thought about Annie to take his mind off it and wondered if she had received his last text message. If Lisa was right, they were in trouble because he’s already taken two girls in such a short space of time that he would already be planning his next one. He had a thing for the Abbey so it was likely that Jenna White was hidden there somewhere. Will would get his posse of PCSOs to canvas the area again, revisit all the houses and search all the outbuildings and barns. Matt was talking fast and Lisa, head bent, was busy taking notes to type up later. The cities had state of the art mortuaries but down here it was still good old-fashioned pen and paper.

The cold woke Annie from her sleep. The room was freezing and her left hand, which was sticking out of the duvet, was so cold she could barely feel her fingers. It was dark. The room was full of shadows so she reached across to switch the lamp on. She pressed the button but nothing happened. Throwing the duvet back she stood up to try the main light switch, hoping there wasn’t a power cut. Her teeth began to chatter and a feeling of dread settled over her: something was wrong. She opened the kitchen door and breathed out, watching her breath turn into a swirling white mist; it was even colder in here.

Sensing movement in the corner she looked to see dark shadows swirling around. They began to gather substance and formed a black mass, which began to swell.
I must be dreaming, I’ll wake up now
. She pinched her arm and let out a yelp.
Nope, wide awake
. The shadow mass was getting denser. It was still in the corner but it was huge and looked more solid, not as transparent. It was forming into the shape of a man. Alarmed she backed into the snug, slamming the door shut behind her and pressed her back against it. She was unsure what good it would actually do but it was better than nothing. What she wanted to do was scream but who was going to hear her. Silent tears began to stream down her cheeks and she reached for her phone, which was on the side table. Her fingertips brushed against it and she clutched it tight bringing it towards her. She dialled Jakes number: no signal. Who was she kidding? She had known there wouldn’t be. Tess had backed herself into the far corner and was shaking more than Annie was. She closed her eyes and began reciting what she could remember of the Lord’s Prayer, the rest she made up not knowing what else to do. She didn’t even believe in this sort of stuff so what the hell was happening and why to her?

She paused and felt the door move slightly. She pressed against the hard wood of the door. An image of a pair of ghostly arms reaching through the wood and wrapping themselves around her neck made her want to cry out in fear but she couldn’t make a noise. She had heard people say they were frozen in terror and wondered if this was how they felt. The blood in her veins felt as if it had turned to iced water she was so cold. Whatever was on the other side of the door was intelligent because it had been listening to her. She imagined a man standing on the other side, his head cocked to one side waiting to make his move. It wanted to hurt her, she had no doubt about that: it felt evil. God, who was she kidding? What did she know?

Her heart was pumping the blood around her body so fast it was deafening inside her head. She was waiting for the door to be shoved with such force from the other side that she would be flung across the floor but then a small ball of white light appeared by the window. There was a slight shift in the heavy atmosphere inside the room. It hovered, glowing brightly, and the panic in her chest began to subside a little. The light moved towards Annie, pausing directly in front of her for a brief moment and then it moved through her body and, for a second, she felt different, not like herself. The feeling disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

From the other side of the door she heard a woman’s voice, it was gentle but firm. ‘Edward, leave this place at once. You are not welcome here, ever. I forbid you from coming back. Go back to the house and the cellar if you must but stay away from here.’

A growl so low and guttural made Annie begin to shake again and she dug her heels in and pushed her back against the door as hard as she could. Instantly the heavy atmosphere dissipated and the temperature raised enough that her teeth stopped chattering. Her hand felt its way up the wall until she found the light switch with the tips of her fingers. Pressing it down she finally breathed out as the room was bathed with a warm glow. She didn’t move, couldn’t move, not yet. She needed to make sure whatever it was had gone. She pressed her ear against the wooden door. After a few minutes she pulled herself up then, making the sign of the cross, she took a deep breath and threw the door open. It was still dark inside the room but the shadow had gone.

The light in the kitchen wouldn’t work but the atmosphere was no longer menacing. She stepped further in, ready to retreat if she had to. She was followed by Tess whose hackles were up and who was growling. Annie opened the fridge door to shed some light into the room.
Edward had been here in her house. Or had he? Am I going insane?
She sank to the floor, sitting next to Tess.

‘Edward,’ she whispered, afraid. Why would he come here, what had she ever done? He must have been dead for years. Confusion making her head spin she stroked Tess to calm them both down. She needed to speak to that medium guy. If he couldn’t help her she’d have to try Most Haunted or Ghostbusters but the most likely option would be the nearest mental asylum.

Once her shaky legs could bear her weight she went to get the card he had given her. Tess was whining to go outside so she opened the door and let her out. She ran straight to the gate and stared into the woods. Annie looked in the direction of the house and saw a flash of white darting between the trees and heading towards the mansion. She went back inside to dial Derek’s number but it went straight to voicemail. She left him a message to call her back. He must know his stuff because he had told her this would happen, hadn’t he, in his own strange way.

Tess needed a walk and as much as Annie didn’t want to walk in the direction of the house she had no choice. She couldn’t be sure who the white figure had been so she needed to go and check no one had been inside and that it was all still locked up tight. She wouldn’t forgive herself if she found out those girls had been kept inside and she had been too cowardly to do anything about it.

Putting on her coat, hat and gloves she set off. There was a light drizzle falling now but it didn’t stop Tess who bounded off in the direction of the house. Annie followed but at a much slower pace. The paths were lethal in the rain and she didn’t want to fall; she was aching enough already. Tess began to bark excitedly in the distance shattering the peace and quiet. She must have found a rabbit or squirrel. She was obsessed with them. One of these days she was going to chase one too far and get stuck down a rabbit hole. The barking stopped, restoring the woods to its normal peacefulness; they didn’t feel threatening like yesterday.

The outline of the mansion loomed in the distance and the déjà vu she felt was stronger with every visit. There were so many memories she could conjure up if she desired. Walking closer she felt as if she wanted to go inside. No, more like she needed to go inside. The feeling of belonging was so overpowering it must mean something. How did she know that Alfie had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and the cheekiest grin she had ever seen? He wasn’t much taller than her and he radiated warmth. His big strong hands, which had tickled and stroked her hair, kind and gentle. Alfie had been so heartbroken when he found her in the library with Edward. The hurt in his eyes so intense that even now, after all these years, it made her heart ache with regret. Things would have been so different if she had chosen Alfie and not Edward. They wouldn’t have had much but they would have lived in a small house filled with love and laughter and, more importantly, children. How she had longed to have babies but Edward’s deceptive charms and dashing good looks had taken away her one chance of real happiness.

Tess began to whine, stirring Annie from her daydream. She was surprised to see she was standing in front of the Gothic front door, face to face with that awful knocker. Annie had no recollection of walking this far. She had been so absorbed in the memories that she hadn’t realised. She had never believed in past lives but since her head injury things were happening to her that she couldn’t explain rationally. She needed to know what happened with Edward. It was something bad and whatever it was had changed Alice’s life back then forever.
Or had it been my life?
Annie was convinced that deep down she already knew the whole story but couldn’t unearth it from the depths of her mind. She hoped the diary would explain everything but every time she read that small leather book scary things happened and after this morning she didn’t feel brave enough.

A wet nose nudged her hand. ‘Tess, you bloody scared me.’ She had a stick in her mouth and was wagging her tail. ‘Come on, girl. Let’s check the doors and then we’re out of here.’

Tess followed, her tail still wagging. Annie shoved the front door hard: it was still locked up tight. Making her way around the perimeter she checked all the boards on the windows, none of them were loose. There were no corners that could be prised up to allow anyone to climb in either. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched and kept looking over her shoulder. This time it felt more inquisitive than anything else. She continued to walk around to the back of the huge house and came to the small scullery door, which was shut tight like the others. Her fingers reached out, touching the wood and she snatched her hand back as a tremor ran through her body. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, she had no key for this door but there was something wrong with it, even Tess began to whine and back away. Why did this door feel as if it was the gateway to hell? Annie reached into her pocket for her phone, she wanted Will to come and see –
Come and see what exactly? It’s a door you fool
.

Stepping back she studied it to see if there was anything to explain why her copper’s instinct had gone into overdrive. There were no prise marks in the wood, no bloodstains. There was nothing other than an old, wooden door. She checked her phone: one missed call and a voicemail. She took one last look around before she began to walk as fast as she could away from the house and before she got sucked into a whole different world. When she was a good distance away she felt compelled to turn around. She turned and caught sight of a misty, white figure waving at her from Alice’s bedroom window; just a slight movement of hand. She blinked and looked again but the window was empty, desolate, like the rest of the house.

Today was the reading of the will. It was such a different affair from when Lady Hannah’s was read. Then there was only Edward, his Lordship and Mr Ernest the family lawyer. For his Lordship’s all the staff had been informed by Mr Ernest that they were to be present. Edward was not happy about this, he told me so himself, because he said it was a private thing.

All morning he could not sit still and was agitated, pacing up and down the drawing room while waiting for the time to come. His Lordship’s brother arrived early and took him into the study where they spent the next hour talking in hushed tones. Cook was nervous and kept wringing her apron so much that Harold ordered her to go and put a fresh one on because she had creased it so. Twice I watched her whisper into Harold’s ear and then stare my way. I am sure they must know about my illicit affair with Edward and if they did not then they soon will because Edward told me last night when we were together in his bed that he would announce our engagement after the reading of the will. I am most nervous about this for I know that I am not and will never be good enough for him. I told him I have nothing to offer him but my love and he told me that was all he would ever want from me.

Last night he produced a small present wrapped in the most beautiful paper. I blushed and told him I did not want him to buy me anything but he laughed and insisted I opened his gift. I unwrapped it and gasped when I opened the tiny box for inside it was Lady Hannah’s gold and diamond ring that she always wore on her wedding ring finger. It sparkled brightly in the candlelight and I felt tears begin to fall down my cheeks. Edward took the ring from the box and tenderly took hold of my hand, pushing it onto my finger and smiling at me: it fit perfectly. I told him I could never accept it but he silenced my protests with a passionate kiss. He told me that his mother would not want anyone else in the world to wear it and then he asked me to be his wife. I feel as if I am floating on air. I am to be the Lady of the house. Those dreams of filling the house with the love and laughter of children may not be dreams for much longer. I told him I would only wear the ring after the reading tomorrow and he agreed that it would be best to wait until then.

I walked into the library where everyone was waiting. Not one person coughed it was so quiet. Edward was the last to come in and he took his seat at the front of the room. Mr Ernest shuffled his papers, cleared his throat and then began to read. What he said next was such a shock I almost fainted and Harold had to sit me down on a chair. The house, land and money were to be divided in equal parts between Edward and myself. Cook gasped so loud it echoed around the room. I was so surprised I wanted to hide my face in shame. All eyes were on me and I wanted nothing more than to run from the room and hide in my tiny bedroom and shut the door on them all.

Edward was the worst. He turned to look at me and his eyes were the blackest I have ever seen. They were whirlpools of anger and hatred but then he smiled and congratulated me. He walked over and took hold of my hand and told everyone that today was truly Alice Hughes’ day because we were to be married and he slipped his mother’s diamond ring onto my finger and kissed me on the lips in front of them all. I was horrified for this was not the time or the place. My cheeks began to burn and the room began to swim, I felt my legs give way and then Edward scooped me into his arms and carried me into the drawing room telling everyone to leave us alone. I kept my eyes shut for I had no idea what to say to him. How had this happened? How had I gone from being the housekeeper’s daughter to the mistress of the house? Edward whispered into my ear that I should not worry and he would take care of everything. His lips brushed against my cheek and he left me alone while he went back to tell everyone about the changes that were to be made.

Things have been so very different around the house. I have been so busy I forgot all about my diary and it was only when I was searching for something in my attic bedroom that I found it and lay on the bed to reread it. I have brought it down to the master bedroom and locked it away in my bedside drawer to continue writing in it when I get the time. So much has happened since my last entry. Edward and I were married in April, a year to the day we first made love. It was a small ceremony, for the only family I have are that of my once fellow servants.