The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) (17 page)

‘What happened to your hair?’

Father John shook his hair, ‘Nothing, what makes you say that?’

‘Part of it has turned white.’

He stood up and walked past her to go into the hall and take a look in the mirror which hung on the wall above the sideboard. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers through his fringe. He didn’t look too long at his face because he felt as if he had aged by at least twenty years and he wouldn’t know what to do if his face looked exactly how he felt. ‘I don’t know Sophie; I guess God thought I needed a different hairstyle.’

She giggled, ‘Well I hope he doesn’t decide that I need a new one. I like my hair how it is.’

He winked at her. ‘How do you feel now Sophie, do you think he’s gone?’

She paused for a moment, ‘I feel better. But I also feel the way when I’m watching television and I know something is going to happen but I don’t know what.’

‘I feel exactly the same. I think I managed to make him go away, he disappeared before my very eyes.’ He wanted to tell her that everything would be wonderful now but he couldn’t say the words because in his heart he didn’t quite believe them. The images of Beth in the bathroom had had a profound effect on him, leaving him feeling unsettled. The shadow man had known all about his internal conflict and John was worried that it had left him open to something. When he had walked back to the presbytery from the church he could have sworn he got a whiff of him but it had gone as quickly as it had arrived and he couldn’t be sure.

Sophie walked over to him and stretched her small arms around him, hugging him tight. ‘Thank you Father John, you have tried to help me and I’m very glad that you did. I’ll always be grateful that you cared that much.’ She let go and turned and ran out of the room to go and find her brother to play with.

John felt a big, wet tear roll from his eye and down his cheek. It felt as if she had just said goodbye to him. Why were kids so accepting of everything? Well he wouldn’t ever let the shadow man hurt a hair on Sophie’s head. He had refilled his bottle from the font just in case he needed it. He looked up to the ceiling:
Please God, let this all be over. I beg of you let that family be okay
.

John knew he needed to face Beth, he had been hiding from her for the last couple of hours but he didn’t want to talk about the images he’d seen in the house or about what might happen next. He didn’t need to go looking because Beth came and knocked on the door. He could hear the children running around upstairs, their laughter echoing throughout the house, and it made him smile.

She walked in. ‘I don’t know how to thank you John, I know it must have been so hard for you.’

‘You don’t need to thank me Beth; I would have done the same for anyone.’

She walked over and perched on the corner of the desk, directly in front of him. ‘Your poor hair has gone white.’ She lifted her hand to touch it and he felt as if an electric current had just been passed through his body. Just being in such close proximity to her made him feel alive, truly alive. She moved closer until her face was inches away from his. He tried to contain himself and told himself to pull away. Instead he groaned and reached out for her. He pulled her down onto his lap, she leant forward and kissed him so hard that it took his breath away. He had never felt this way before about any woman; he wanted her more than anything. She began to unbutton his shirt, the whole time kissing him, her tongue darting inside his mouth. He reached up and began to unbutton her blouse, the sight of the black lacy bra she was wearing was almost too much for him to bear and he buried his head into her cleavage.

An almighty scream and a deafening thud made John’s blood run cold. Beth jumped off him and ran for the stairs, ‘Sophie, Sophie, what’s the matter?’ John ran after her taking the stairs two at a time overtaking Beth. Sean was standing at the top, his face ashen and his eyes staring at something that they couldn’t see. They were locked with fear and then he turned and ran for his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

‘Sophie.’ Beth ran towards her daughter’s room and the stench hit her, she screamed in frustration. John passed her and threw the door open. His eyes watered the smell was so bad but it was nothing compared to the figure that towered over Sophie, pinning her to the bed. It turned to stare at him, ‘I told you to give her up priest; you are a disgrace to the God that you serve. Where was your God when you had your tongue down her throat?’ It lifted a finger and pointed towards Beth, the thing’s eyes were much redder than before and Beth ran towards her daughter, John followed, rushing towards the shadow. Sophie opened her mouth to scream and the shadow began collapsing inwards, making itself so small that it hovered above her head. John swiped his hand towards it but it disappeared into Sophie’s open mouth and down into her throat. Sophie began to convulse, her eyes rolled to the back of her head until only the whites were visible and she began foaming at the mouth.

‘Hold her arms now, we need to bless her. Has she been christened?’

Sophie was flailing her arms all over and as Beth tried to grab one, she shook her head. Sophie was trying to claw at John’s face. For a little girl she had the strength of three grown men and Beth had to fight with her to pin her arms down. John pulled out some rosary beads from his pocket and placed them onto Sophie’s forehead, her skin began to sizzle and burn where the cross touched and Beth began screaming at him to stop it. John withdrew his shaking hand, he wanted to throw up, shut his eyes, faint, die. He wanted to be anywhere other than here. He carried on praying and Sophie began to choke.

‘Please, you have to do something to help her, he’s killing her.’

John didn’t know what to do, he needed divine intervention and he needed it now. Then the little girl, who had turned grey, began to choke even more. They tried to sit her up, one on either side, grabbing her arms, but it was impossible, she was a dead weight and it felt as if her body had been glued to the bed. She made a strangled sound and just like that her heart stopped beating, the choking stopped and the room was silent. Beth threw herself onto her daughter and began to sob uncontrollably. John felt gravity finally claim his legs and he stumbled backwards, falling to the floor. He kept tight hold of the rosary beads, ‘We need to phone an ambulance Beth.’

He pulled himself up on shaking legs and made his way to the landing; the phone was in the office and he began to run down the stairs on unsteady legs. He didn’t care if he fell and broke his neck. His life had just ended along with Sophie’s; there was nothing left to live for. His God had deserted him in his hour of need and he had failed Beth and her children, all because he had doubted his faith and fallen in love.

Chapter 19

Annie had started yawning ten minutes ago and couldn’t stop. ‘Sorry guys, I’m worn out and need my bed.’

Jake went to get his car keys. ‘Come on you hardcore party girl, I’ll drop you off and then I’m going to take a food parcel to our friend Will. He’s going to be in a bit of a state and I bet he hasn’t eaten all day.’

Annie smiled at Jake, ‘You’re an amazing friend Jake, that’s really sweet of you.’ She wondered if she should offer to run into the station with it but the office would be full and it might be a bit awkward. She felt her phone vibrate and read the text from Will, what was she going to do? She didn’t know what to say so she didn’t reply. She had put up with so much crap from Mike while they were married, there was no way she was stepping straight into another doomed relationship. The thing was she knew that Will hadn’t done anything wrong except get drunk and let Laura go home with him so he could snore down her ear all night. The fact was it hurt deep inside her chest, like a physical pain that she couldn’t describe but it was there. She wanted to stay friends with him but it would have to be just that unless he proved himself otherwis. She also knew that he was going to be so busy now that he wouldn’t have time for his own life, never mind her.

They drove to her house in comfortable silence. When Jake stopped outside her gate she leant over and kissed him on the cheek, ‘Night Jake and thank you.’

‘Night Annie, do you want me to come in and check the house.’

She laughed, ‘No thank you, I’m a big girl. I think I can manage, anyway who would be mad enough to break into my house?’

Jake didn’t reply, just smiled, and she had to stop herself from thinking about last year when a man had got into her brother’s house when she was looking after it. A man who had wanted to kill her. She shook herself and lifted a hand to wave at Jake and turned to walk along the path to the front door. Jake didn’t drive away until she got her key out and let herself in, locking the door behind her. He still didn’t drive away until the hall light, then the living room light came on. Satisfied that she would have been out on the front street screaming by now if anything was amiss he drove down the street, making his way to the police station to see Will.

Her house was cool and it was a welcome relief after today, her forehead and chest were still burning. Annie checked the downstairs was secure then kicked off her flip flops and made her way upstairs. As she got near to the top stair she got a whiff of rotten vegetables and wondered if next door had burnt their tea. It smelled like school dinners, back in the day when she was nine years old and life was such a breeze. She went into the bathroom and began cleaning her teeth, splashing cold water onto her face. She looked into the mirror above the sink and froze, there was someone standing behind her. She whipped around to face them but no-one was there. Her heart was racing; she definitely saw the figure of a man. Picking up the heavy glass tumbler from the shelf she felt the roof of her mouth dry up as she edged closer to the shower curtain.
Please don’t let there be some freak standing behind it
. Her left hand shaking, she tentatively reached out and grasped the plastic, whipping the curtain aside and screeching as she did so with part fear and part relief - there was no-one on the other side. That horrible smell seemed stronger in here. With legs that felt like jelly she made her way out of the bathroom. The door to the master bedroom was ajar and she couldn’t remember whether she had left it that way or not. She should ring Jake and ask him to come back but then she knew it was probably her imagination playing tricks on her so she carried on.

Too scared to step into the room in the dark, she reached her hand and arm through the gap, feeling along the wall for the light switch.
Please don’t let anything grab my arm
. A vision of Pennywise, the clown from her favourite horror story when she was a teenager, filled her mind, ripping poor Georgie Denbrough’s arm right out of its socket with its sharp pointed teeth. She found the switch and bathed the room in light. She pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was empty but the smell was strong in here. It was so strong that she lifted her hand to cover her mouth and nose. She walked further in, across to window to crack it open and let some fresh air in. It smelled as if something had been left to rot in here but she hadn’t used this room since she’d come back. Afraid to bend down and look under the bed she forced herself to do it. The only things under there were the plastic storage boxes that were filled with the books that wouldn’t fit onto her bookshelves. Feeling braver now she walked to the wardrobe and flung open the doors, no smelly man hiding inside. Looking into the mirror she thought she saw a dark shadow flit across it and she turned to the space behind her where it would have been. The room was empty, a trick of the light perhaps. Satisfied there was no-one there, she turned off the light and shut the door until the latch clicked shut. Annie then opened the small cupboard which she kept her bedding and towels in. That was okay so it just left the other bedroom. Her legs were not shaking quite so much but she did the same and stretched her arm through to switch on the light. Once the room was lit up she stepped inside. It was empty and this room was so small there was nowhere for anyone to hide, the bed was a divan with drawers underneath it. There was an antique church pew which was currently an antique clothes horse and an old dressing table she had painted a chalky white colour, with a stack of magazines and books on it. Nothing was out of place and she was thankful the smell was only very faint in here because she was knackered and wanted to go to sleep. She went back into the bathroom to get the air freshener and began spraying it around hoping to mask the smell. Just to be on the safe side she ran back downstairs to check that she’d locked up and then she checked each room again. The house was empty and she was all alone. At least she hoped she was because something that smelled so bad couldn’t be a good thing, could it?

Once upstairs she got undressed into her favourite pair of faded pyjamas and then climbed into bed, leaving the nightlight on. Picking up her book she began to read about the sordid life of a celebrity escort. No longer able to read anything remotely scary before bed, she would read a couple of pages of some biography or other to keep her mind free from the horrific images that all too often wanted to take over.

***

Will was sitting at his desk. The office was empty, he had told his detectives to call it a night and he would see them bright and early to continue their hunt for Laura’s killer. How had this happened, he didn’t understand it. They had all been together two nights ago in the pub. They needed to find that guy she left with because it was a pretty good bet he had been the one to kill her, but would he have killed her if he knew she was a copper? Surrounded by twelve other coppers? Will wasn’t sure if anyone could be so stupid. Guilt gnawed at his insides and he felt sick, his body was fuelled by nothing more than caffeine and it was making him feel ill. He lifted his hand which was shaking like an alcoholic’s. He needed food to take away the wired, nauseous feeling in his stomach but he didn’t know what to eat –
What a bloody mess, how could one man fuck up his life to such a degree in the space of a couple of weeks?
He glanced up at the whiteboard with a picture of Laura’s face looking back at him. Her lips were smiling, but her eyes were staring at him, accusing him, and he looked away. He had let her down, just like he had let Annie down. He felt his eyes sting with tears. The door opened and he blinked several times to clear them, he couldn’t let anyone see what a mess he was, it wasn’t exactly professional. Jake strode through the door and Will breathed out in relief. Jake wouldn’t care if Will threw himself on the floor and howled, although Jake
would
tell the whole station about it.