50 – The darkest room

BACK IN THE PASSAGEWAY, Jack saw another door directly opposite the master bedroom. It was an odd-looking door, with large brass ring door knocker that reminded Jack of medieval design. The door opened outwards and a thick black-red curtain blocked the entrance. Jack cautiously parted the curtain with his gun and flashlight. He gave an okay nod to Catherine and she followed him inside.

The light switch didn’t work.

Jack felt the cold, a bone chilling cold, drawing energy out of him.

Their flashlight beams swept the chamber-like room, furnished with a large round table, chairs and a curtained cabinet. The room needed more light. Jack walked over and opened the thick curtains covering the window. The curtains were held back with tie-backs on loose hooks. Daylight fought its way into the room. Jack had the strangest sensation the room cringed at the light.

“Not sure much daylight has ever entered this room,” Jack said, as he moved into a beam of sunlight hoping to get some warmth.

“Very little, I would say.” Catherine walked towards the cabinet.

Jack was looking around. “Not that it’s made a huge difference. They need to chop down some of those trees outside to let more light into this place.”

“I think this house has a preference for darkness.” Catherine stood in front of the cabinet. “This is a strange cabinet. It reminds me of what magicians use on stage.” She reached to open the curtain.

“Stop.”

Catherine turned to look at Jack.

Jack stood with his firearm in his hand. ‘‘Proceed with caution. You don’t know what’s behind that.”

Catherine nodded. She turned back to the curtain and slowly parted the thick material to show a wooden chair with something coiled up on it. A snake? It was rope.

Catherine jumped.

“What is it, Cath?”

She was panicking and reaching down the top of her shirt. She pulled out a pendant. 

“You okay, Cath?” Jack rushed beside her.

“It’s evil, Jack. Can’t you feel it?” Catherine said, walking backwards. “I call on the name of Jesus.” She said, raising her pendant in the air.

Jack was confused. Something was in the room. A presence of some kind. He looked around. Catherine passed him. Why did she call out for Jesus? As Catherine passed, Jack saw her pendant was a crucifix.

The thick curtain covering on the window fell from the tie-back hooks and the room receded back into darkness except for the wavering beam of Jack’s flashlight. He realised it was wavering because he was trembling. The flashlight dropped from his hand, landing with its beam facing away from the room. He stared into the darkness, frozen on the spot, trying to process the situation.

The darkness was moving.

Catherine touched Jack’s shoulder, and ushered him out, still looking towards the cabinet.

It took all energy reserves to back out of the room, firearm raised and scanning the room. He felt the entrance curtain on his back and felt it sliding off his back as he retreated out. He found the edge of the door with his foot and kicked it shut.

Jack stood, staring at the door. The knocker was vibrating, whether from him shutting the door or from whatever was in there, he wasn’t sure. Perspiration ran down from his head yet the room had been so cold.

Fear.

Looking down, he saw light escaping from his dropped flashlight through the bottom of the door. He was sure a shadow crossed the light. A hallucination? He knew fear could cause hallucinations. The fear was playing tricks with his mind.

The door was a dark rectangle against yellowy white walls—an entrance into something, into another world. His heart pounded against his chest. 

What was that all about?

He had never experienced fear like that before.

<°)))><

Toby Watts was hungry. He pulled onto a service road and then into a drive-thru. A burger would do the trick. He smiled at the girl who took his order. She looked nice, but hunger ruled.

He needed a stretch and preferred to eat the burger out of the car—he hated the smell of food lingering in a car. There was a council rest area not far from the burger place. It was quiet, with no cars. And no cameras. It had a small playground but it was a bit chilly for kids to be outside. He parked the car and sat down at a picnic table, unwrapped the burger, and attacked it like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. He wiped sauce from his face, drowned the finished burger with some Coke, and decided he was still hungry.

He still had a can of tuna in his backpack, and he’d eat that. A police car drove past. He ignored it, coppers had to eat too. He placed his hand in the backpack and rummaged around. He touched something solid but it wasn’t the tin. A phone. It was Shoana’s phone—he’d forgotten about it. He pulled it out and noticed it needed charging. He would do that later.

Replenished, he drove off. The phone sat on the passenger’s seat amongst clean and used napkins. After returning to the freeway and driving for some time, he looked down at the phone. There was sufficient charge there now. He pulled over.

He picked up the phone, gave it a swipe, entered her code, and opened the app he’d used to find Ruby.

Several inverted drop-shaped icons appeared on a map. He used his fingers to zoom in on the icons. He couldn’t believe it, Ruby’s head popped up in a bubble. A different location now but that was to be expected. He grabbed a clean napkin, found a pen in the backpack, and wrote down Ruby’s new address. How incompetent were these police?

But if he could locate Ruby using Shoana’s phone, then they could locate Shoana’s phone—and therefore him—by using Ruby’s phone. Although he looked nothing like the image that would pop up in Shoana’s bubble. He hoped they were still incompetent. He may need to change his plans.

51 – Mother nature, Father God

THIS KETTLE WAS NOISIER than the kettle in the other safe house. The not-safe house. Ruby waited for it to boil, needing caffeine after her disturbed and disturbing night. A cup of tea would fix the fog in her brain. It was unusual for it to hang around so long. The mist from the kettle reminded her of mist rising on a river. She pushed that thought away. Yes, she was coming to the surface and was catching her breath. More wrong thoughts. Surface, water, river. 

So much for clarity.

The kettle clicking off startled her but at least it distracted her from her troubling thoughts. Now, where were the cups? This place was different: more country, more cosy. The wire fence and wire gate gave it a heritage feel. There were police inside and outside, and more of them. She smiled at them but didn’t engage in conversation—she didn’t want to connect with her protectors after what happened to T1 and T2.

She found a cup. It was white with the words All You Need Is Love in large black lettering around the cup. Love. Yes, love. That’s all we need. She put the cup next to the kettle and then went looking for the tea bags.

Her phone lay on the kitchen bench. It lit up again but didn’t ring. She ought to get someone to check it. Anyway, it wasn’t as though she could use the phone—Jack didn’t want her or Zoe contacting anyone, not even Shoana. Ruby opened the location app—Shoana was up the coast. A date?  Nice for her. She put the phone down on the bench and went back to make her tea.

She found the tea bags in a vintage tin, orange with some kind of bird on the front. It had an Asian look about it, the last place she’d expect to find tea bags. But she needed to expect the unexpected, and recent events had confirmed the saying. Zoe shuffled in as she poured hot water over her tea bag.

Ruby gave her a smile. “You okay?”

Zoe yawned. “Strong tablets you gave me.” She closed her eyes.

Ruby knew she was fighting off the tears.

“I just can’t get the sight of T2 collapsing out of my head . . . and how she still tried to reach for her gun.” 

The tears came. Ruby pushed a box of tissues towards her and gave her a hug.

“I don’t think the thoughts will ever go away, Zoe. But they will get less over time.”