Authors: Francene Carroll
****
“Oh my god, what does it all mean?” said Bonnie. They were standing across the street, partly obscured by some trees as they looked across at the real estate office. They could see Yvette’s bird-like head in profile as she talked on the phone and sipped a coffee. She had no idea they were watching her or that they were onto her secret.
“N
ow I know why she pushed so hard for us to take a look at the house. And to think I actually felt sorry for her.”
“
How on earth would someone on her income afford a place like that? The agency wouldn’t be bringing in that much money in this small town.”
“She probably got it for next to nothing off so
meone who was desperate to sell, and now she’s doing her best to dispel all of the rumours about the place so she can make her fortune. That would explain why she was so interested in Damien moving in with me, and why she implied that he could be unstable. When strange things started happening she could blame it on him.”
“I knew there was a reason I never liked that woman
, but I never thought she was this conniving. This is unbelievable. Do you think she suspected there was something going on over there before I told her off?”
“Definitely.
I called her about that broken light on the first day I got there and she basically said I was complaining about nothing. She said the owner wouldn’t make unnecessary repairs, and now we know why.”
“
Yvette has always been a cheapskate, but we can worry about her later, right now Damien is our main priority.”
“You’re right, where is this church?”
“It’s not far from here and mass should have just finished.”
The
church was located within walking distance from the main street down a quiet tree-lined side street. It was a beautiful old brick building with a spire reaching towards the heavens and lovely stained glass windows. A door at the side was open, and as they stepped into the dim foyer Ursula felt a sense of calmness overtake her. Although she wasn’t religious in the traditional sense she always found churches soothing, and she was glad they’d decided to come here.
There didn’
t seem to be anyone around. They made their way past the polished pews towards the altar talking in hushed tones, feeling like intruders for disturbing the silence. They were almost at the altar when a thin, middle-aged man came out from a door at the side wearing street clothes, but with the distinctive white collar that marked him as a priest. He was carrying a stack of bibles and he looked surprised when he saw them.
“
Hello ladies, if you’re here for the morning service I’m afraid your too late, it just finished.”
“Oh no, we’re here to talk to you about something else
, Father,” said Bonnie. “Do you have some time right now?”
“Certainly
, how can I help you?”
“Well, I’m not really sure how to say this, but we think
….,” she hesitated, “We’re not entirely sure, but we’re worried about our friend. We think he might have been taken over.”
“What do you mean by ‘taken over?”
“We think he might be possessed,” said Ursula. “By a ghost.”
“I see,” said the priest,
blinking rapidly. “Well, this is highly unusual. Why don’t you come over to the presbytery and you can tell me all about it.”
Twenty minutes later Ursula and Bonnie
had told the priest the entire story about Colton Manor and Damien’s behaviour. He did not seem to completely grasp the gravity of their situation as he sipped his iced tea and plucked lint from his trousers.
“And you’re sure
this isn’t just some sort of mental breakdown on the part of your friend? He sounds dangerous and I believe this is an issue the police should be dealing with.”
“Yes, he is very dangerous, but we’re worried that the police won’t believe us and that they’
ll arrest him if we tell them what’s going on. That’s why we came to you,’ said Ursula, trying to hide her frustration.
“I see. Well this really isn’t my area of expertise. I can’t say I’ve ever had to deal with
anything of this nature before, but Father Sebastian does have some interest in these things. It’s not something we encourage, but I believe he’s the one you should talk to. Unfortunately he’s away at a Diocesan meeting. He won’t be back till later today.”
“We really just need someone to come to the house with us so we can get him away from there. I’d ask my husband but he’s on a business trip.”
“I’m sorry but I wouldn’t be comfortable going there without letting the police know. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“What time will Father Sebastian be back?”
“I’m expecting him before lunch.”
“I guess we have no choice but to wait until then,” said Ursula, getting to her feet. “Thanks for seeing us, we’ll be back later.” They both looked at each other helplessly when they emerged onto the street and began walking back towards the car. It was just after nine thirty and they still had hours before they could make sure that Damien was alright. It was going to be an excruciatingly long wait, but there was nothing else to do.
They were
getting back into the car when Bonnie’s mobile phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and gasped in surprise when she saw who the caller was.
“Oh my god, it’s Damien. Hello.” Ursula could hear his voice on the other end of the line but she couldn’t make out a word he was saying. All she knew was that he sounded extremely agitated. “Calm down please, Damien,” said Bonnie. “What’s going on? Are you still at the house?” Ursula could only listen as Bonnie tried to make sense of his words. “Okay, okay, alright. We’ll be right there.” She hung up and turned to Ursula. “He wants us to go over there and get him. He thinks he’s losing his mind. He asked me to hurry up before he comes back and hurts her. I assume he’s talking about Edward Stanton.”
“But who is he afraid of hurting?”
“It must be one of the wives he’s hallucinating about, or even you.”
“Do you think it could be a trick to get us over there?”
“It could be, but do you want to take that risk and leave him there on his own? He sounded very upset, who knows what he might do.”
“Maybe the priest was right and we should just call the police.”
“If the police get involved anything could happen. Did you know they shot a mentally ill man just a few weeks ago in the city? I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.”
“Okay, I guess we don’t have much choice. Hopefully he’ll still be in his right mind when we get there.”
They were both silent as they drove towards the house, and Ursula wasn’t surprised when the rain began to patter on the windscreen as they drew nearer. The sky was grey and overcast again, and she shuddered when she caught sight of Colton Manor through the trees. There was nothing attractive or charming about the house to her anymore, it looked like something straight out of a nightmare.
They
both saw the small blue car as soon as they pulled into the drive. It was parked behind Ursula’s car and the driver was nowhere in sight.
“
My God, I can’t believe she could be that stupid,” exclaimed Bonnie. “This just takes the cake.”
“Who?
What are you talking about?”
“Th
at’s Yvette’s car. We obviously made her very suspicious this morning and she’s come over to find out what’s going on.”
“
Oh no, that might be who he was talking about when he said he didn’t want to hurt her. We need to get inside right now.” There was no time to think about what they were walking into as they hurried towards the house. Ursula’s heart was pounding so hard she almost couldn’t breathe. The front door was closed, but not locked and she pushed it open slowly. All the shades in the adjoining living room were drawn and it was dark in the foyer. Even with the door open it took a few moments for her eyes to adjust, and then he seemed to appear from out of nowhere.
“I’
ve been waiting for you,” he said softly.
At first she couldn’t make out his face in the dim light, and Ursula prayed that Damien was waiting for them to take him away from the house. When he drew closer and she saw his empty eyes and blank expression it was clear they were in deep trouble. On the drive over she’d decided to bring the tyre iron from the trunk just in case, but the surprise of seeing Yvette’s car had made her forget all about it. Now they were completely defenceless.
The front door was still open and she w
as about to take Bonnie’s hand and run back to the car but before she could make a move he seized hold of Bonnie, putting his arm across her neck. To Ursula’s horror he produced a knife from behind his back and held it at her throat. Their worst fears had become reality.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said in a low, menacing voice.
“Please don’t do this Damien, we’re your friends and we only want to help you. Don’t you remember calling us and asking us to come and get you?” Ursula implored. He only laughed in response.
“Friends, is that what you think you are? You stole my money and tried to poison me, but now I will take my revenge. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time.” He pushed the kitchen door open and pulled Bonnie with him. Ursula could see how utterly terrified she was. “Come with me or I will slit her throat from ear to ear.” She had no choice but to do as he said and lead the way into the kitchen, where the cellar door stood wide open. He forced Bonnie down the stairs in front of him then beckoned for Ursula to go next.
“Hurry up, woman.” As they descended into the cellar Bonnie let out a shrill scream that almost caused Ursula to fall down the stairs. She had to stifle her own scream when she saw what had frightened her. In the flickering candle light there was a woman’s body at the bottom of the stairs. She was lying very still and Ursula recognised the clothes immediately as those Yvette had been wearing that morning. Her head seemed to be twisted at an odd angle and her hands and feet were bound. She was certain that Yvette was dead, but as they got closer she blinked, and Ursula felt such a surge of relief that her legs almost gave way beneath her. She had to grip the railing to stay upright.
“Get over there,” said Damien, motioning to a dank corner of the cellar. She and Bonnie scrambled over to where he pointed and huddled together on the ground, powerless to do anything but wait and see what his next move would be. Damien seemed confused as he paced up and down the small room, muttering incoherently to himself, but then he froze as a loud ringing sound broke through his reverie. It was Bonnie’s mobile phone.
“What is that noise?” he said, stepping closer to them. “What manner of creature do you have there?”
“I don’t know,” stammered Bonnie.
“Liar,” he said, seizing her by the arm and pulling her roughly to her feet. He stuck his hand into her pocket and took out the phone, looking at it in confusion. “Is this some sort of object to deceive me with?” He threw it on the ground with force and it smashed into many pieces. “It is the same as the object she had. You are all in league together.” He pointed at Yvette who just stared back in mute horror, and Ursula noticed there were pieces of a phone scattered on the floor around her. Their last chance of making contact with the outside world was gone. It seemed there was no escape now unless they could somehow make Damien come to his senses, but how?
“What are you going to do with us?” she asked, trying to make her voice soft and soothing.
“Be quiet. You have no right to question me about your fate when you have been plotting with these other two wretches to take my life for so long. I have heard you whispering to one another in the hallways and seen you following me. But now, finally, I will rid myself of you forever.”
“But we aren’t who you think we are, and you’re not Edward Stanton. You’re Damien Knight, and this is the twenty-first century.”
“I said be quiet,” he yelled, turning on her fiercely. “You are only trying to confuse me.” Bonnie shook her head almost imperceptibly to indicate that she should not say anymore. She was only aggravating him further, and it was clear that reasoning with him was not going to work. Damien could not be reached that way, so they had to think of something else.
He paced around the cellar for another few minutes before sitting down abruptly on an old packing crate. Ursula noticed there was another crate next to it with a flat piece of wood on top.
“What should I do with these women who have been the bane of my existence for so long?” he said, placing his fingers on an object on top of the wood. As she watched his hand glide over the wood she realised he was using the Ouija board he had found in the kitchen the previous day. It seemed the stories about Edward Stanton communing with the devil were all true.