The sceptic, p.28
The Sceptic, page 28
After we arrive, I look up at the house. It’s dark and shuttered, seeming to stare down on us. There’s no sign of anyone about, not even the ghostly woman I spotted on the first day.
Jem turns to me. “Be careful,” he says, his face stern.
“What do you mean?”
“You were the one who saw the woman that first day. Something about that makes me very uneasy. I want you to be careful.” He cups my face in his strong, callused hands. “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he says fiercely.
The emotion in those grey eyes warms me and simultaneously scares the shit out of me.
“Okay,” I finally whisper. He smiles. Before he moves away, I grab his hand. “You too.” He raises one eyebrow. “I mean I don’t want anything to happen to you either.” I scratch my chin. “It would be bad or something,” I mumble. His eyebrow climbs even higher, his eyes now alight with mirth. “Oh, shut up.”
He laughs and opens the car door, waving at Levi, who has parked nearby. We get out and stretch, and I turn as a car door opens and Ben and Liam appear on the street.
Ben hugs me while Liam does the same to Jem. “Thank you for coming,” Ben says, a serious look on his arresting face. He turns to Blue, and his expression lightens a little. “Can I just say how thrilled I am to meet you, Mr Billings?”
“Blue, please.”
“Blue, then. Thank you so much for coming. I’m positive someone with your abilities can help the family. I’ve read everything there is on the subject of Ingram Hall and the events at your own house. I even wrote a paper on your dealings with the Worsley Poltergeist.”
Jem says something, drawing Ben’s attention away, and Blue turns to me, his eyes shining. “Did you hear that?” he breathes.
I roll my eyes. “I couldn’t fail to miss it, unfortunately.”
“It’s like I’m Kurt Cobain.”
“I think it’s doubtful that you even own a cardigan, and your singing voice is atrocious.”
“It is not.”
“A hippo in a bathtub could do better.”
“He wouldn’t be so suave and good-looking.” He shivers suddenly and turns to look at the house. Then he gives a jerk. “A man is watching us.”
“A man? Where?” I gasp, staring wildly around.
“In the right-hand window on the first floor.”
I look intently but I can’t see anything this time. The windows are dark. “That’s where I saw the woman on the first day. I never saw a man though. I wonder whether it’s Walter.”
“I wish people wouldn’t name these spirits,” he says fervently. He looks back at the window. “He’s very unhappy,” he whispers. “I can feel it from here.” He pauses. “But more than that, he’s angry.”
“And that’s bad?” Ben asks.
Blue grimaces. “He’s full of so much rage and anger.”
“But who can that be? And what’s the connection with the woman who Will saw?” Ben mutters, looking up at the house.
Blue shudders and Levi places a hand on his shoulder. “Steady,” he says in a quiet voice, and Blue visibly relaxes.
He looks at the house again. “He’s gone.”
“Gone where?” Liam asks.
Blue shrugs. “I don’t know.”
I groan. “This is just wonderful.”
Blue turns to Liam. “He’s not gone far though. He’s waiting.” He grimaces. “We need to be very careful in there.”
“Spiffing,” Jem mutters.
Blue and Levi make their way over to Liam and Ben, and I hesitate a moment, looking down the street. It’s deserted. I glance back at Jem. He’s gone quiet, staring intently up at the window that Blue pointed out. Even as I watch, he shudders and staggers back, as if a high wind is buffeting him.
I put out a hand to steady him. His skin is ice cold to the touch, and he doesn’t answer. I tighten my grip on his arm and give it a gentle shake. “Jem?”
He turns to me, and for a second, it’s as if he doesn’t recognise me. Then his face lights up with so much excitement that it makes me stir uneasily. “Wow,” he breathes. “This is amazing, Will. We need to get in there.”
“Are you alright,” I ask curiously. Where has the earlier caution and sternness gone?
He grins. “I’m great,” he says in a bright voice that sounds nothing like his usual wry tones. I frown. “Will, don’t be such a grump,” he chides and reaches up to drop a kiss on my lips. It’s casual and feels almost like an afterthought because he instantly moves away. I resist the impulse to hug him tight and watch as he opens the boot and pulls out his camera.
Why is he filming this when he made such a production about me being safe?
“You’re filming, then?” I ask in a low voice. It feels like a slap in the face somehow.
He stares at me in blatant astonishment. “Of course. This might be a chance to do something no one else has truly done and get real footage of a ghost.”
“It’s also a chance that you’ll get hurt.” He huffs, and I stop him with a hand on his arm before he passes me. “Are you sure about this?”
His brow furrows. “Why are you going on like this?” he snaps.
“Because it could be dangerous,” I say patiently. What is wrong with him?
“Will, I face dangerous situations in my job all the time.” His voice is suddenly patronising.
“Not with the dead, and you’re a bit of a daredevil, Jem. Promise me you’ll be careful. This isn’t animals. It’s something none of us know yet.”
To my astonishment he shrugs me off, his face set and cold.
“Jem?”
He’s already making his way over to the others, shouldering his camera as he goes and not looking back.
“Are you okay with me filming?” he asks Blue. “You can have the first refusal over the footage and decide what you want to show.”
Blue turns to me. “Kurt Cobain,” he mouths.
I roll my eyes, trying to push away my hurt at Jem’s casual dismissal of me.
“Now you’ve done it, Jem,” I say. “You can deal with the aftermath when Blue is unable to fit his head through doors.”
He ignores me. Blue glances at him and then me. True to his character, he doesn’t say anything, but he steps a little closer to me, a frown on his face.
Ben stands to one side, his natural ebullience is missing in action and Liam stands close, an ever-present support. “You’re not filming too?” I ask Ben, and I’m surprised when he shakes his head.
“No. I’m partly responsible for the ghostly anger issue. I just want it sorted, so the family are safe and happy again.”
“You should cut yourself some slack,” I mutter. “You might have only just realised that people are more important than ghosts and YouTube followers, but you’re still here, aren’t you? You’ve come back to help.”
“Thank you,” he says softly. Liam pats my arm, a grateful look on his face.
I look to Jem, but he’s turned away, filming busily. It’s as if I don’t exist.
Blue gazes at the sky. “It’s not a good time for this,” he mutters. “We’re going to get that storm, and that’s bad news for us.”
“Why?” Liam asks.
“Because ghosts thrive on energy, and a lightning storm is like a huge battery charger to them. The whole atmosphere will be energised, and things will draw strength that shouldn’t.” He shivers as the wind picks up. It's only five at night but it looks like midnight out here, the sky a strange purple colour. “Let’s go in,” he says.
Ben produces the key and opens the door, before I know it, I’m once more in the hallway, the house still and cold around us. I never thought I’d be coming back here.
“Through here,” Blue says, leading the way into the dining room as if he’s been here hundreds of times before. He stares at the scrawled messages on the window that read, I died.
“This isn’t a poltergeist,” he says abruptly and I sag in relief. Finally.
“What?” Ben exclaims.
“It isn’t. I can understand the mistake because of the objects moving, but poltergeists are naughty spirits. They exist for mischief. I don’t know many that materialise. This is different. The whole place feels very wrong and far from the atmosphere of the poltergeists I’ve dealt with before. It feels so sad and angry.” His face is pale as he pivots to take in the room. “There’s more here than meets the eye,” he whispers in a thoughtful voice.
A chill works its way down my spine.
“Should we leave?” Levi asks. It’s obvious that he’s not frightened, just watchful of Blue’s safety.
Blue shakes his head. “No. It’s right that we’re here. But we need to move quickly. There is something else here.” He trails off then points at Ben and Liam. “Sit at the table, please. We’re going to do a séance.”
“Is that wise?” Liam asks uneasily.
“It’s what has to be,” Blue says. He looks at Jem, who is still filming, his movements jerky and lacking his usual grace. Blue’s face creases in concern and he motions to me to come closer. “I need you two to stand clear of the circle,” he says in a low voice. “Jem is filming, but I want you to watch out, Will. Something in here is very interested in both of you and Jem doesn’t seem his usual self. Have you argued?”
I shake my head and shoot a look at Jem, but he ignores me again, his face fierce and focused. “No. He’s just suddenly become this way. I don’t really know him well enough to judge whether this is him though.”
Blue shakes his head. “Something is very wrong here. Watch out, Will.”
I pat his shoulder and watch as he takes a seat at the table. He gestures to Liam and Ben. “Liam, you take my hand and Ben, you take Levi’s.” They obey, their faces strained, and then Blue holds out his hand palm up to Levi. “Don’t let go,” he says with a funny smile.
Levi shrugs. “It hasn’t happened so far.”
Blue nods and then takes a deep breath. “Spirits in the house, I summon you,” he says in a loud, clear voice. “Come here to us now and make yourself known. We are here to help you.”
The house is silent. Outside, the wind picks up, and the first splatters of rain land on the windowpane. Jem paces around filming, his body tense. The light flickers and my heart jumps. For a second, he has the face of a stranger. A thin face full of rage and pain, the mouth curled in a snarl.
I double take and try to see Jem’s face again, but he moves, and it’s lost in the shadows. Then, thunder booms overhead, making everyone jump, and the lights flicker and go out.
Someone cries out, and I hear Blue’s steady voice. “Stay calm. Keep hold of my hand. Do not lose it. Spirits come here to us,” he commands.
I freeze as I hear the dragging noise again. It becomes louder and louder, and the others gasp as it nears the door, something banging on the stairs loudly as it approaches. Then there’s a thunderous knocking so loud that I cover my ears.
Then there’s nothing. Everything is silent.
“There’s more here than meets the eye,” Blue says in a dreamy voice.
“What do you mean?” Levi asks.
The room is dark, but the streetlights are filtering through. His eyes are closed, and his expression is absorbed. “There is something else here. I sense a man. Come closer, please.”
Footsteps sound around the room as if someone is pacing.
I jump and swing around. “I could swear I just heard breathing,” I say wildly.
“Come closer and let me help you,” Blue says in a measured voice.
I shiver as something blows coolly over my neck. “Someone’s breathing on me,” I whisper.
Jem swings his camera around to film me. He doesn’t check if I’m okay. His face is cold and set, nothing like the smiling man who warmed my bed last night. My chest wrenches and I feel an ache in my throat.
“He’s so cold and lonely,” Blue says sadly. “You want peace, don’t you? But more than that, you want revenge. He’s interested in you, Will.”
I jerk. “What?”
“You’re a lost soul like he is. Dispossessed in the same way that he was in his life. You interest him. He feels that you can help him. You can understand him.”
“How?”
Blue cocks his head, his face smoothed of all expression as he listens intently. Then his eyes widen. “She’s upstairs,” he suddenly shouts, making us jump. “She’s upstairs.” He shudders. “She’s dark and wicked. Oh god. She wants to be seen. She needs that.”
Jem moves suddenly, and before I know it, he’s run out of the room and into the hall. The door bangs back against the wall and comes to a stop.
“Jem,” I shout. “Where are you going? Come back.”
“He mustn’t go,” Blue says urgently. “She wants to hurt everyone. She will destroy him, Will.”
I race out, following Jem. Behind me, the dining room door slams shut, as does the kitchen door, the lounge, and the downstairs loo, one after another, the bangs echoing loudly through the house. Almost simultaneously I hear the locks engaging.
I stop dead and frantic knocking sounds on the dining room door.
“Will, the doors are locked,” Blue shouts. “We can’t get out.”
I look wildly around as if a key is going to suddenly materialise. “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine. It’s a diversion. Help Jem,” he shouts even as I turn and run up the stairs.
I almost run into Jem as I turn the bend in the stairs. He’s standing a few steps from the top staring at something on the landing. “Jem,” I hiss, trying to grab him, but my hand misses his sleeve, and he gives me a startled look that shows no sign of recognition at all. Then without a word, he turns and books it up the last couple of steps with me close on his heels.
He gets to the top and stops suddenly, standing frozen. A flash of lightning comes from above illuminating everything in a cold light. I stop three steps below him, not wanting to startle him again.
“Jem, we need to go back,” I say gently. “Put the camera down. We need to leave.”
“I need to film this,” he says in a strange, slurred voice. “This is incredible.”
I follow his gaze, my eyes straining, but I can’t see anything. Then the lightning flashes again, and a huge, dark mass shifts on the landing, right where the cold spot usually is.
The black mass ripples—a shadow taking form. It hovers and expands, reaching out for Jem. Teetering on the top step, Jem gasps and drops the camera. The mass shoots forward as Jem flails for balance. I leap up behind him, bolstering him with all my weight, knowing that if he falls, he’s lost. To my horror, the mass expands, encompassing us both.
I scream, but there’s no sound. There’s no anything. The mass has turned everything around us into an icy, black hole. For a terrifying second, we reel into blank space…
Suddenly, Jem becomes a solid, warm presence in my arms. The awful black thing tugs and wrenches, trying to pull him away. I use every ounce of strength I possess to hold on. I will not—cannot—let him go.
Jem cries out.
“You’re not having him,” I grit between my teeth. The pressure increases. My arms are in agony, seconds from being pulled from their sockets. I tighten my grip instead of letting go. I’m sweating now, my hold becoming slippery. I scream in pain.
Suddenly the air shifts. The mass undulates and swerves as if it’s being shoved. Darkness eddies around us. There’s a sudden loud pop and it vanishes.
Jem and I waver as I try to keep us from falling down the stairs. I have a sudden memory of Jem’s dream where he’d seen me fighting with something and then breaking my neck. Was this the fight he’d been dreaming of?
The ceiling tilts sickeningly as I shove him forward to the landing, and we fall in a tangle of limbs onto the carpet.
For a few seconds, I lie panting, gritting my teeth against the pain in my shoulders. I manage to sit and look around wildly, but there’s nothing. Somewhere in the house, the clock chimes six o’clock and the wind blows the rain in scattershot taps against the glass. As if on cue, a flurry of bangs sound on the door downstairs and I hear Blue shout my name.
“We’re okay,” I yell and look around again, but the mass has completely vanished and the air is once more calm.
“What the fuck?” I breathe. “What just happened?”
Jem gives a plaintive groan.
“You okay?” I say, running frantic hands over him. “Jem?”
“What happened?” he says dazedly. He looks around. “Why are we on the landing?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what? I remember pulling up in the car and then nothing.” He pales. “What’s happened? What are we doing up here?”
“We had a séance that you insisted on filming. Blue said ‘she’ was on the landing, and you raced up here like your arse was on fire.”
“She?”
“Yes. Quick newsflash. There are two entities here, and neither of them is a poltergeist according to our resident spooky expert.”
He massages his forehead. “I don’t understand anything. God, my head fucking hurts.”
He’s very pale, and I reach out and rub the back of his neck. Unlike before, when he’d seemed distant, he cuddles into me. I try to ignore how happy that makes me. “It almost had you,” I say softly.
“What did?” He looks around frantically and dislodges my hand.
“I don’t know,” I say slowly. “It had you. Just another couple of feet, and it would have caught you, but I held on to you, and then it just vanished.” I shudder and hug him to me, gripping him tight. “It’s gone now,” I say with a deep inner certainty. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whisper.
He hugs me back, and I know he’s once again my Jem.
The words echo in my head and every part of my body tightens in alarm, but there’s no escaping the truth. He is mine in some funny way that defies reason. I press a kiss to his hair.
“Thank you for saving me, Will,” he whispers.
“You’re very welcome.” I pull back and kiss him, loving the softness of his lips against mine. “How about we fuck off out of here?”
