The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) (9 page)

The clock in the hall ticked loudly, every tick amplified. She tossed and turned but couldn’t get to sleep. Throwing back the duvet she got up and looked out of the window. Will was still outside in his car. Muttering under her breath she went downstairs, slipped her battered pink Converse on and opened the front door. She walked down her steps, onto the street and knocked on the passenger window. Will jumped, swearing, but realised it was Annie and put the window down.

‘Just what exactly are you doing sitting outside my house like some stalker?’

‘I’m waiting, well watching. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.’

‘Well that’s very kind of you but I’m fine, so you can go back to work or wherever it is you’re supposed to be.’ She felt like a total bitch.

‘Good, I’m glad you’re okay, I was worried about you when I saw you earlier. I couldn’t believe it. I’m sorry Annie, so sorry that I messed up. I promised myself that I would look after you and all I’ve done is hurt you and then stand back while other people hurt you.’

Sighing, she opened the car door and got into the passenger seat. It was warm in the car and it smelled of leather and Will’s aftershave. Leaning back she closed her eyes.

‘I heard from Jake this morning of all people that you were so inebriated that you wouldn’t have been able to shag a porn star the other night. If Jake was sticking up for you then there must be some element of truth to it, so why did it happen? Why did that skinny blonde bimbo end up sleeping next to you almost naked?’

Will shook his head, ‘I honestly don’t know. I was really drunk. I was so shocked when I woke up and she was there; it was like a bad dream, a really bad dream. I don’t even like her apart from as a colleague. I heard the bang as you fell over and it woke me up. I thought I was lying next to you and when I turned and saw her it made me physically sick. I threw her out and then I threw up all over the hall floor. The rest you know. That day when I got home late after working the crime scene at the church and you had packed you things and left was the worst day of my life.’

She knew exactly how he felt. ‘Look at me, another disaster and another black eye. I think I must be destined to live the most messed up life possible. I’m sorry too Will, you were the best thing that ever happened to me.’ She stretched out her hand, reaching for his, finding it in the dark and squeezing it tight. ‘How long were you planning on sitting out here anyway?’

‘I don’t know, until I was sure you were safe. Probably the rest of my life.’

‘Well you can rest easy; I think I’m okay for the time being. What time are you working ‘til?’

‘Eight, I was about to finish when I saw you come into the station. I was so shocked I had to go back and check the logs to see what had happened to you. Are you okay?’

‘Yes, I’m okay and I’m sorry. I always seem to mess up your social life.’

He laughed, ‘I don’t have a social life, you are my social life. I was just so angry with you and Jake that I ended up sinking vodka shots as well as pints of lager. I won’t ever be doing that again.’

‘I do believe you Will but it still really hurts and I’m in a bit of a mess at the moment. I really need to clear my head. Maybe it was all too soon after Mike.’

Will felt his stomach drop to the bottom of his shoes, the last thing he wanted was for her to regret the last six months they had spent together. He knew he needed to let her have some space, he wouldn’t put pressure on her, but he also realised more than ever just how much she meant to him. In fact he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He released his tight grip on her hand. ‘So what are you going to do about that wanker? If Kav and Jake hadn’t gone looking for you …’ The word rape hung in the air but he couldn’t say it. Just the thought of another man putting his hands on her when she didn’t tell him he could made his blood boil.

‘I can’t face going to court Will. I’ve given a statement but I don’t really want to. If he had gone any further then it might be different but Jake and Kav managed to give him a few good punches, so that will do for me. He was drunk and it’s surprising how many people act stupid when they’re drunk.’

Will didn’t argue with that, hadn’t he been stupid? She yawned. ‘I think I better go and get some beauty sleep, that wine is doing the business better than two Tamazepan any day.’

‘If you need me Annie you know where I am, where I’ll always be for the rest of your life. I love you so much Annie Graham and I’m a total idiot.’

‘Yes, you are.’ She got out of the car and went back inside her house, tears rolling down her cheeks.

June 28
^th
1984

Beth yawned then stood up to go and turn the television off, she was tired but had started watching a film and then before she knew it the clock had chimed midnight. She checked the front door then made her way upstairs. Since Sophie had begun to talk about that shadow man she hadn’t slept very well. It freaked her out but as long as she didn’t believe any of it then they would be okay. She had got away from her last boyfriend who was a bully, she wasn’t about to let some imaginary man who smelled of rotten cabbage ruin her life. She could hear gentle snores coming from Sean’s room and she pushed his door open. He was splayed on the bed. his sheet was dangling on the floor and his hand was wrapped around one of the plastic action figures that never left his side. She bent down and kissed his soft cheek, he smelled so good. Then she pulled his cover up and crept back out of the room and into Sophie’s bedroom across the landing. She still had her My Little Pony nightlight switched on. The orange glow illuminated her daughter’s face, it was so pale and underneath her eyes were dark circles – she looked so old. The innocence she had last week had been replaced with the harried look she wore now. Beth made up her mind to talk to Sophie tomorrow and this time listen to what she was telling her. Maybe she could ask Father John to come round and they could all sit down and try to put Sophie’s shadow man to bed. Beth shivered; it was much colder in here than in Sean’s room. Sophie was restless, she began murmuring and her left foot kept jumping as if someone was tickling her foot. Beth bent down and kissed Sophie’s forehead, an awful smell wafted across her nostrils and she grimaced but then it was gone. She pulled Sophie’s covers up and walked back out of the room. As she pulled the door closed she didn’t notice the blanket that she had just tucked around her daughter being slowly tugged off the bed.

She made her way to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and then crept into her own bed. She was thinking of Father John, too scared to think about anyone or anything else. He made her feel safe, he treated her better than any man she had ever met, yet she would never be able to have a relationship with him because he was already married – to God. For now she could live with that, she was grateful that he was her friend. Her eyes began to close and she was almost asleep when an ear-piercing scream made her sit bolt upright. ‘Sophie.’ She ran out of her room and straight into Sophie’s to see her daughter huddled at the top of her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Sophie lifted her hand and pointed a finger to the corner of the room. Beth felt her knees tremble and threaten to give way as she turned to see Sophie’s blanket was suspended in mid-air. There was a man standing underneath it. Beth screamed and picked up the heavy silver cross from the chest of drawers. She threw it at the blanket which fell to the floor in a heap. A hand tugged hers and she screamed again, turning to see Sean rubbing his eyes behind her. She kept tight hold of his hand and ran across to the bed. Sophie was shivering so much that Beth could hear her daughter’s teeth clashing together. She grabbed Sophie’s arm and dragged her from the bed, running with both of her children down the stairs, she unlocked the front door and ran outside. She kicked it shut and the sound echoed around the deserted street. She ran down the path and along the road to the presbytery where she hammered on the door until a light turned on upstairs.

***

Father John woke at the sound of the banging on the front door; he ran downstairs and opened the heavy wooden door. He was shocked to see Beth and her children dressed in only their nightwear with bare feet. They were huddled together, Sophie was staring into space and Beth was crying. John ushered them inside and shut the front door behind them. He led them into the kitchen which was bathed in a warm glow. All of them were shivering. He turned the oven on to give off some heat. He then set about pouring milk into a pan to make them all mugs of steaming, hot chocolate. He didn’t know what to say; he looked at them one by one. Sean seemed the least bothered, he was sitting looking down at the toy figure in his hands. Beth looked as if she had seen a ghost and poor Sophie looked traumatised. Once the milk began to boil he took the tin of chocolate powder from the cupboard and added several, heaped spoonfuls into it. Stirring the whole time so as not to scald the milk, then taking a tea towel from the draw and four mugs, he poured the chocolate milk into each of them, making Sean’s the smallest, adding some cold milk to it so it wouldn’t burn him. Then he carried the tray to the table and set it down, Beth nodded at him and he smiled. The look of terror on her face said it all and his stomach felt as if someone had forced him to swallow a rock, it felt so heavy. They blew the steam from their drinks and slowly sipped, not one of them spoke of what had just happened and John was far too afraid to ask.

Chapter 10

Annie woke up to the sound of a young girl singing, it was hard to hear the words but she could make out the tune and it sounded like ‘Ring a Ring of Roses’. She blinked and turned onto her side thinking it must be kids playing on the front street but then she reached out for her phone which was on the chair next to the bed. It was only seven and not very light outside. After last year’s events Annie slept with a night light on, afraid of the dark. The voice was still singing. She climbed out of bed to peer through the window; pulling the curtain back she looked onto the street – it was deserted. She shivered, the heating must have turned off because it was freezing. As she turned to climb back in the bed she caught a glimpse of something white in the mirror. She turned slowly to see the girl from the other day staring at her and her insides turned to slush. The girl stepped nearer to the glass and slapped the palms of her hands against it; Annie heard the sound as clear as if she had done it herself. The girl smiled then whispered, ‘You have to help me, I don’t want him to do it but he won’t stop. He doesn’t understand that John tried to help.’

And then she was gone, leaving behind two small, white handprints on the inside of the mirror. Annie looked around the room to make sure the girl wasn’t standing behind her with an axe. The room was empty, cold and empty. She stepped forward and lifted her hand, and with a shaking finger touched the glass; afraid she might get pulled through into the other side and stuck in a different world. The handprints were starting to fade; Annie reached for her phone and snapped a couple of photos but when she looked back at them the prints had completely disappeared and the picture showed the mirror and her reflection. No sign of the girl from inside it who had been singing to her. She wasn’t sure whether she was afraid or curious; her insides were churning regardless. Who was that kid and why did she think that she could help her? If she had been staying at Will’s would the girl still have come looking for her?

Today was her first day stationed up at Windermere and she wondered at how much her life had changed in the space of a week. She knew that the change of job could have happened in the blink of an eye, a few of her colleagues had been shipped off to Kendal or The Lakes with little or no notice. At least this was her choice, she just wished that she was still coming home to Will every night. He had swept her off her feet when she was at a time in her life she never expected it would get better. Tears filled her eyes, why had that bloody Laura spoilt everything? She felt like a heartbroken, lovesick teenager. At least her appetite had disappeared, for the first time she wasn’t looking to find comfort in food. She decided that now she was wide awake she might as well get showered and ready for work. Better to be early and make a good impression on her new boss than be late and get off on the wrong foot. Downstairs she made some wholemeal toast and jam and a large mug of coffee, sitting down on the kitchen chair she couldn’t help thinking about Will. They both needed a clean break or so the voice in her head kept telling her, the one in her heart disagreed and kept telling her to ring him. It was tough trying to ignore it. With a bit of luck by the time she’d made the forty minute trip, worked a ten hour shift and then driven home she would hopefully be too knackered to even say his name.

Finally ready, she set off on the very pleasant drive to Windermere, the sun was rising and it felt much warmer than it had all year. When she got there she parked her car right outside the station and smiled. There would be no worrying about getting a parking ticket or driving round and round looking for a parking space; she loved it already. The building itself was tiny compared to the mausoleum in Barrow; it was quaint, built from local slate, and blended in seamlessly with its surroundings. She felt a little bit nervous but not as much as she’d expected. She checked her phone for the text that Kav had sent her earlier, with the door code to get into the building along with a good luck message that ended, ‘and try not to cause a major disaster on your first day’. Annie grinned to herself; she was going to miss him. She walked into the station, lugging her heavy black bag which was full of her police kit, and began to look for the locker room to dump it in. She was glad to be away from Will, Laura and the station gossips. Work affairs were a part of the job; it was one of the pitfalls of working for the police. It was well known that coppers were in and out of each other’s beds and the usual excuse was to blame it on the stresses of the job, when in actual fact the truth was plain and simple – they just couldn’t stop shagging anything that walked and talked. As unhappily married as she was to Mike she had always frowned on her colleagues that did just that, yet here she was transferred to a different part of the county because of exactly the same thing. The only advantage was the transfer had been at her request and she hadn’t been shafted out of the station for sleeping with a senior officer, which happened all too often.