The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) (16 page)

John dithered, should he tell her a white lie or be truthful? He settled on the truth, ‘I honestly don’t know. I hope to God that it does but I can’t say. I don’t know what else to do but it has to be better than doing nothing.’

‘When are you thinking of doing it? I want to be ready; you know, try and build myself up to going back in. I’m terrified.’

He lifted his wrist to look at his watch, ‘In half an hour. I’m going to the church for some holy water and to ask God for his help. Mrs Brown will watch the children, I want to do it while we still have plenty of daylight because I have no idea how long it will take.’

‘Thank you John, I appreciate everything that you are doing.’ She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. John paused, unsure what he should do but then he hugged her back – briefly. He pulled away first, his cheeks flushed pink and Beth let out a giggle.

‘It was just a hug; everyone needs a hug now and again. Even servants of God.’ She winked at him and then turned to go back into the kitchen to play with her children until it was time.

Father John left the presbytery and walked across the freshly mowed lawn to the church, the scent of cut grass tickling his nose. He kept asking himself would he give up God for the woman who had stolen his heart, and her children? He should have told himself no, a short, sharp no. Instead somewhere inside his head was a niggling thought that perhaps he could, that he might like to live a normal life, have a family and be loved. He reached the church doors and went inside, where immediately an invisible cloud of guilt settled over his shoulders, weighing him down. He made his way to the altar and knelt down, apologising to God for his impure thoughts and asking for his help and forgiveness. Asking him for the strength to do what he had to do to get rid of the shadow man. When he finished he pulled the empty bottle from his pocket and walked over to the font, blessing the water he then submerged the plastic bottle, holding it down until the air subsided and it was full. He screwed on the cap and wiped it on the side of his trousers to dry it, then he walked to the alter and picked up the official aspergillum and filled the silver ball with more holy water; it didn’t hold enough to bless the whole of Beth’s house, that was why he needed the plastic bottle. He wasn’t going to chance running out half way through, leaving half of the house unblessed because he had a feeling this was going to be one mean fight and the shadow man would object strongly. He was going to be prepared at all costs. He picked up the gold crucifix from the altar. It was heavy but it felt good in his hand. A true weapon of God, and if all else failed he could throw it and run.

When he got back to the presbytery Beth and her children were still in the kitchen and had been joined by Mrs Brown, who was there with her sleeves pushed up to her elbows and flour spread all over the worktop. Sophie and Sean were both standing on chairs, one either side of her, they both had flour dust on their nose and all over their hands. They were engrossed in what they were doing and for that John was thankful. Beth looked at him and nodded. She walked across and kissed both her children on the top of their heads. Then she followed him into the hall, gently closing the door behind her.

‘Are you ready Beth?’

‘Not really, how can I be ready to go and bless my house against a shadow that shouldn’t ever exist? I thought this kind of stuff was all made up to sell films and books.’

‘I wish it was Beth, I truly do.’ He had to fight the urge to hold her again; he needed to start acting like a priest so instead he patted her on the shoulder. ‘Come on, let’s get it over with and then we can come home and eat some of Mrs Brown’s delicious apple pie, smothered in fresh cream, and pretend that we are normal people.’

He walked out of the front door and she followed, closing it behind her. Neither of them wanted Sophie or Sean to follow them, they had both seen quite enough already. The sun was dazzling and it was hot enough to be sitting outside in the garden, sunbathing. John wished that was what he was about to do, it seemed such a tempting thought to do just that and forget about all it for a while. They reached Beth’s house and a black shadow descended over them, the air cooled immensely and both of them looked up to see a huge black cloud in the sky, obscuring the sun and taking away its light and warmth. Beth gulped and looked up and down the street to see if there was anyone around. It was deserted. John placed his hand on the metal gate to push it open but he snatched it back. ‘It’s freezing cold. How can it be so cold when the sun has been baking it for the last hour?’

Reaching out again, this time he pushed it open. Beth glanced at his white face and the blood drained from hers. He sprinkled some holy water onto the gate and stepped towards the front door, holding his hand out towards her for the key. She placed it on the palm of his shaking hand. He was terrified but he never said, ‘Let’s forget the whole thing and go back.’ Instead John continued walking until he was near enough to reach out and insert the key into the lock. It turned and the door swung inwards. Both of them gagged at the stench that was released into the air. It was just as Sophie had described, the house had gone bad and it was rotting from the inside. He stepped inside, closely followed by Beth. He breathed out and watched his breath fog up in front of him.

‘In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’

He crossed himself and Beth copied. A rumble underneath their feet made her let out a small shriek. She reached out and grabbed a handful of his robes; he had the cross from the church tucked underneath one arm and he thrust it towards her. ‘Here, you hold onto this.’ He sprinkled holy water onto the front door and the paint began to bubble and steam as if he had just sprayed it with acid, then he stepped inside the house. Beth followed, holding her hand up to her nose. John went through each downstairs room sprinkling his holy water and saying his blessing, the last one he blessed was the living room and when he stepped out back into the hall the air felt cleaner. The smell had faded and wasn’t as eye-wateringly bad, it still lingered but it wasn’t making their stomachs clench like before. Beth grinned at him, ‘It’s working, can’t you feel how much better it is and that smell isn’t as bad.’ She threw her arms around him from behind, hugging him tightly and completely breaking his concentration. Until that point he had been so focused on bringing in the power of good to fight the evil that it had been working. He had forgotten about his dilemma, about his feelings for Beth and how torn he was over his love of God. He turned to look at her and a low voice laughed into his ear and he felt every hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Pulling away from her he began to climb the stairs. ‘We’re not finished yet, not by a long way.’

Beth followed behind him.

John struggled to climb each stair, his feet were so heavy that he had to drag them. As he neared the top he couldn’t go any further, two invisible hands placed themselves onto his chest and they were pushing him back down. He leant forward, turning to the side slightly and pushed forward. His teeth began to chatter and he shivered but he kept on pushing against them. The smell was worse than ever up here and he heard Beth groan behind him. He lifted the aspergillum, sprinkling water in front of him, and began praying. There was a loud hiss and the pressure lifted from his chest. He carried on. It was dark up here, even though the sun should have been shining through the windows. A blanket of darkness covered the entire place.

‘I’m scared.’ Beth whispered from behind.

John nodded his agreement, not daring to speak it aloud. He went into the first bedroom which was Sean’s; continuing with his blessing. As he sprinkled the water around rays of sunshine began to filter through the window into the darkness, chasing the shadows away. Beth let out a small whoop of delight. John made his way out of the door and walked past Sophie’s room – he would save that one until last. He knew that the thing was in there, waiting for him to go in and meet him face to face once more. If he blessed the rest of the house, filling it with God’s light, he may just stand a fighting chance. Beth’s room was full of shadows and he saw movement in the thick, black fog which filled the room. He walked in and carried on with his blessing, throwing holy water in the direction of whatever it was that was squirming in the corner. A low growl echoed around the room and terror filled John’s mind as he imagined some huge, demonic beast in the corner, waiting to pounce and rip his head from his shoulders. He made the sign of the cross and threw more water in its direction and it was gone. Sunlight began to pierce the darkness in here as well. Two more rooms to go, the bathroom and Sophie’s. As he led his way towards the bathroom he could hear someone splashing in the bath. A vision of Beth, naked and lying in a tub full of bright red water filled his mind. Her eyes dull, glassy, dead. He didn’t want to look past her beautiful face to see the gentle swell of her breasts but he did, he couldn’t stop himself. ‘Look hard priest because that is as near to the real thing as you will ever get,’ a voice shouted down his ear, ‘Unless you give me the girl. Let me have her and then you can have whatever your heart desires.’ This time an image of Beth alive, standing naked in front of the bath, flashed before his eyes; her arms wide open, inviting him towards her. John roared, ‘Get your filth out of my mind Demon.’ Beth jumped backwards and he began praying harder than ever. Throwing water at the door he stepped forward and threw it open, expecting the shadow man to be inside waiting for him but he wasn’t – it was empty. The bath was also empty and he felt relief, although he had known it would be because Beth was standing right behind him. He turned to look at her but she wasn’t there and he felt the skin on his arms begin to prickle with cold, hard, fear. He knew this had all been too easy.
Fuck
.

He went back out. Sophie’s bedroom door was ajar; it had been closed minutes ago when they passed. He stepped forward and kicked something hard; he looked down to see the cross he had given to Beth lying on its side. Stooping down to pick it up, he continued towards the door. Before he could push it open the smell overwhelmed him and he baulked. It was concentrated evil, if he had to say he knew what evil smelled like it would be this. He took the plastic bottle from his trouser pocket and unscrewed the cap, no time to mess around sprinkling tiny amounts, he might have to douse the bastard from head to foot in one go. John had never felt so terrified in his life; he made the sign of the cross and sprinkled the water onto the door into the same shape. There was a loud hiss as steam rose from the wood and the outline of the cross burnt itself into it. Kicking the door open he stepped inside. It was dark but he could make out Beth, she was cowering in one corner, her eyes fixed on the opposite corner. He rushed towards her and placed his hand onto her head; sprinkling water over her he began to pray. She shook his hand from her head and let out a high-pitched screech. John spun around to see the shadow man who had haunted his dreams standing in front of him and he almost lost control of his bladder.

He stared in horror at the dark figure; its body was formed from a black mass that was almost fluid. It rippled and rolled slightly as if it couldn’t stay still and it was much taller than him, almost seven foot, but the thing which scared him to the very core was its piercing red eyes. They were so bright he could feel them staring right through into the depths of his soul. He was frozen to the floor, he knew that he should be throwing his bottle of holy water straight into its face but there was something so horrifyingly hypnotic about it that he couldn’t do anything but stare into its eyes, and it stared right back. Beth let out a whimper, which broke his trance. John shuddered at the overwhelming stench which emanated from the thing and then he remembered what he had to do. He jerked back the hand which was gripping the bottle and watched in slow motion as the liquid travelled towards the thing. Then he lifted the heavy cross and began shouting his prayers to his God. The shadow opened its mouth, exposing a row of razor sharp, pointed teeth. The water hit its target, going straight into the gaping mouth and its eyes. The noise which came from it was deafening but the shadow began to disintegrate in front of his eyes. It started to fold into itself and then it disappeared. Beth was on her knees, clinging onto John’s legs, her whole body was trembling. John sniffed the air, the room felt clean and the sun’s rays began to filter through, piercing the darkness, turning it from a black hole and back into a little girl’s bedroom once more. John crossed himself then turned and made the sign of the cross on Beth’s forehead, holding out his hand, which she clasped and he pulled her to her feet. ‘I think it’s over, come on let’s leave God to reclaim his house and fill it with light, we need to check on the children.’

She nodded and followed him as he led the way back to the stairs. He didn’t look around, he wanted to get out of there to make sure that Sophie and Sean were okay. Beth ran down the stairs behind him. He pulled open the front door and they both stepped out into the brilliant sunshine. Neither of them looked behind and saw the two red eyes watching them from the gap in the attic trapdoor.

18:00

Sophie and Sean finished their tea and asked if they could go and play upstairs. Beth, who had almost recovered from the afternoon, nodded. ‘If it’s okay with Father John then you can, but go and ask him first. He might be tired and not want to listen to your racket.’

They ran off to find him. He had been in the church ever since they’d returned and discovered the children were fine. Sophie had heard him come back to the presbytery a short time ago and he’d gone into the office to make a phone call. He’d been speaking in hushed tones on the telephone to someone but it was all quiet now. Sophie knocked on the door.

‘Come in.’

She opened the door and peered at the priest, who now had a thick, white streak of silver running through the front of his normally dark brown hair. She stepped inside. Sean who was bored of waiting ran off upstairs to go and get his action figures from his room.