The Haunting of the King's Head

by Amy Cross

  In my mind's eye, however, I can't help thinking back to the sight of Muriel Hyde's dead body slowly rising from that chair. I keep telling myself that the whole thing is crazy, of course, but at the same time I know exactly what I saw and I saw a very dead, very old corpse getting up and stepping toward me. I even heard the cracking sound as her bones moved after so many years. And given what I've realized today about ghosts, I guess it's not too much of a step to figure that maybe reanimated corpses are a thing now.

  I'm starting to wish we'd just stayed in Blackpool.

  A moment later, hearing a scratching sound over my shoulder, I turn and look back again into the darkness. I know I might well be imagining things, but I swear I feel as if we're not alone down here.

  “Bonnie?” I whisper.

  Silence.

  Darkness.

  I'm holding my breath.

  A moment later, Bonnie brushes against my leg, and I tell myself that she caused that sound. After all, wouldn't she start barking if we were being followed.

  “I really need you to help us get back to the pub,” I say finally, reaching down in the darkness and patting her side. “Can you do that, girl? Or just anywhere that I recognize.”

  She turns and starts walking again, and I follow. If I had my phone with me, I'd be able to light the way, but instead I have to keep going in darkness. After a short way, however, I spot another crack of light high above. Stopping beneath the crack, I stand on tip-toes and try to peer through. At first, all I see is a street corner, but slowly I begin to realize that I think I recognize where we are. We're near the church, and that means that the pub must be just about a mile to the south. Of course, that's easy enough in theory, but I have to actually find a tunnel that goes that way.

  Otherwise, I might end up trapped down here forever.

  Running my hands along the wall, I suddenly find a junction, with another section of tunnel heading to the south. This might actually be my first lucky break of the day, since I think the pub should be in that direction.

  “Come on, Bonnie,” I say as I feel her brushing against my legs. “We might actually have a chance.”

  As I keep walking, I start to wonder whether it'd help to cry out. After all, there are people up there in the streets, and maybe one of them would guide me to the pub. At the same time, I'm not entirely sure that I trust anyone in this town, and there's a chance that they'd simply turn me over to Gary Hayes. I need to stay unnoticed for as long as possible; once I get to the pub, I'll have to find a way to sneak out of town. Once I reach the hospital, I can try to persuade Dad that Hayes and the brewery really are insane, and then at least we'll be safe. For now, however, I feel as if I'm going round and round in circles. For all I know, I really might be repeating my steps, trapped in an endless loop beneath the streets of Malmeston.

  And then, after what feels like endless wandering, I hear voices up ahead.

  I stop for a moment, before realizing that the voices are coming from above. I step toward another crack in the tunnel's roof, and I feel a rush of relief as I realize that I know where I am now. I'm directly under The Golden Bow, which means that The King's Head can't be much further. I start walking again, but then I stop as soon as I realize that I recognize the voices.

  “Keep her here,” Gary Hayes is saying angrily. “I want to make an example of her once I've dealt with everything else.”

  “Please don't hurt me,” Jennifer sobs. “I couldn't let you hurt Charley, that's all. She's just a girl, she doesn't deserve any of this.”

  “She's a girl who's caused me some trouble,” Hayes replies. “I'm disappointed in you, Jennifer. I always thought you were a good girl. A loyal girl. I thought you cared about your hometown.”

  I reach up to the crack in the floor and peer through, and I'm horrified to see Jennifer in a crumpled, bloodied heap. She's bleeding from a cut on her arm, and Hayes is holding a knife as he stands over her.

  “I care!” she blurts out, trying to pull herself back from the blade. “I just couldn't stand there and watch you kill her!”

  “So you chose outsiders over your own kind,” Hayes says, sounding deeply unimpressed and disappointed. “How very telling. The brewery has always been generous to your family. Your father worked in one of our warehouses, and your mother spent some time managing our gift shop. You had safe, happy lives, and all you had to do in return was show some loyalty and gratitude. What did you do instead, Jennifer? You inconvenienced me.”

  “You were going to murder her!”

  “I was going to keep the brewery and the town safe,” he replies, before pausing for a moment. “And do you know what? I still am.”

  “But if -”

  Before she can finish, Hayes leans down and drives the knife into her chest.

  “No!” I scream, as he pulls the knife out and Jennifer slumps lifelessly to the floor.

  I see Hayes look at me, and in that moment I know that I have to run. I turn and race along the tunnel, careering through the darkness at such speed that I keep bumping against the walls. I have to hold my hands up to protect my head, but I can't slow down, not even for a second. I have to get to the pub and hope that I manage to climb up and then get out of the building before Hayes gets there. For all I know, he might be faster than me, and he might even have sent someone on ahead to watch for my arrival, but this is my only hope. Fortunately I soon see the pub's basement area ahead, and finally I get back and reach up to start hauling myself into the bar area.

  Bonnie barks as I begin to climb.

  “Hurry!” I say, reaching back down and lifting her up.

  I wait until she's scrambled over the edge, and then I grab the edges and once again start climbing. My ankle is really hurting now, but somehow I'm managing to push through, and I roll out onto the bar's floor just as Bonnie starts barking.

  “Quiet!” I hiss, getting to my feet and turning to look for her. “I don't want you giving away our -”

  And then I freeze, as I see that the corpse of Muriel Hyde is now standing at the far end of the room, staring at me. Before I even have a chance to tell myself that this can't really be happening, I see her eyes move, and she takes a slow, unsteady step toward me.

  “Hell, no,” I say, stepping around the bar and looking for something I can use to defend myself. The only thing I spot is a poker next to the fireplace, so I grab that and hold it up as Muriel's creaking body comes closer.

  Bonnie's still barking, but even she starts backing away, as if the sight and smell of Muriel's dead body is enough to terrify her.

  I know the feeling.

  “Don't come any closer,” I stammer, stepping back with the poker still raised. I need to make run for it, but Muriel's blocking my way. “Please, just let me go. I never did anything to hurt you! Why are you helping the brewery when it's the brewery that killed you? They're the ones who caused all of this! They murdered Jack, they murdered you, and they just murdered Jennifer! They're killers! Why are you on their side?”

  She continues to come closer, although after a moment she stops as she almost falls over. She's really struggling to stay upright, but she doesn't reach out to steady herself against the bar. I look down at her legs, which are wobbling wildly, and which actually seem unusually long. Looking back up at her face, I see her eyes staring at me, but after a moment I realize that something's wrong here. Yes, her eyes are alive, but they seem to be somehow set back from the rest of her face, almost as if...

  I recognize those eyes!

  “Oh, no,” I say as I begin to realize what's happening here. “Come on, even you guys can't be that sick.”

  She lets out an angry, dry gasp and steps toward me, and I take that opportunity to swing the poker as hard as I can, slamming it against the side of her left leg. Just as I suspected, the leg twists and falls away, and Muriel's corpse screams as it topples over, hits the bar and then collapses to the ground. As it lands face-first, the back of the head comes away to reveal another head inside, and finally M
atilda Hayes starts coughing and spluttering as she sits up with pieces of dirt and flecks of rotten skin all over her face.

  “Wearing stilts and using a dead woman's body as a costume?” I say, horrified by the sight of the kid as she glares at me. “Wow, when this is over, you're gonna need some serious therapy.”

  She snarls and lunges at me, but I hold the poker out and she pulls back. For the first time, I'm starting to actually feel sorry for her. After all, she's just a child, and it's pretty obvious that she's been put up to this whole thing by her father. Sure enough, after a few seconds she clutches her knee, and I see that she's cut herself badly, most likely in the fall. She starts crying, and I have to force myself to keep from rushing over to comfort her.

  Suddenly the door opens, and I turn to see Gary Hayes stepping into the room. He's still holding the knife, with blood smeared all over the blade, and he looks down at Muriel's collapsed body for a moment before shutting the door and turning to me.

  “Stop sniveling, Matilda,” he mutters. “We'll talk about this later.”

  Sure enough, Matilda starts sniffing back her tears.

  “It's over, Muriel,” Hayes says somberly, turning to look at me. “I know you can hear me. You've been dead for over a century. I think it's finally time for you to go quietly.”

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Charley Lucas

  Stepping back, with the poker still raised, I try to figure out my best option. I could make a run for it, but Hayes has that knife and I've already seen that he's prepared to use it. I could try to reason with him, but I don't think there's much hope there. Or I could scream for help, in a town that seems totally loyal to the brewery.

  I guess I need to think of a fourth way out.

  “I think I owe you an apology,” Hayes says suddenly. “On behalf of Hayes and Storford, one of England's greatest brewers, I want to apologize for the way you were treated. It was wrong, and my ancestors should have found a more humane way of dealing with the problem. Having said that, I think the past very much needs to stay in the past, and I'm not about to let the brewery become tarnished by past errors. I hope you understand, Muriel, why I have to tidy up these loose ends.”

  “Why do you keep calling me Muriel?” I ask, playing for time as I try to figure out what to do next. If I vault over the bar, I might be able to run through to the hallway and escape through the back door.

  “Muriel Hyde is inside you, Charley,” he replies.

  “That doesn't seem very likely.”

  “Oh, but she is,” he continues. “I've seen the signs. She's hiding inside you. I think she wanted to use you as a vessel, as a way to escape the pub, but by all accounts Muriel could be rather timid at times. I think, now she's got this far, she's scared. I understand that, but it's my job to protect the brewery at all costs. The modern Hayes and Storford is a proud, forward-looking company. We don't operate the way we did in the past. Once this pub has been demolished, and Muriel's ghost is gone forever, the past can no longer haunt us. We can move on, to a better future.”

  He takes a step toward me, but then he stops as I hold the poker's tip toward his face.

  “You murdered Jennifer in cold blood!” I sneer.

  “I had to show people the price of disloyalty.”

  “You murdered Judith Sinclair, too, didn't you?”

  He hesitates.

  “Judith was a well-intentioned busybody,” he says cautiously, “who unfortunately believed in digging up the past with a little too much vim and vigor. She was warned several times about the need for a little more discretion. I must admit, though, it was good that she kept hold of Muriel's corpse. That thing proved rather useful in the end.” He looks down and kicks the head. “The people of Malmeston needed a good show, to remind them of the importance of sticking together. They know that the brewery will look after them.”

  “By murdering anyone who gets in their way?”

  “By tidying up the loose ends of the past,” he replies. “If it makes you feel any better, I promise you that Jennifer was the second-to-last person who'll have to die.”

  I open my mouth to ask who'll be the last, but deep down I think I already know what he means.

  “It's a shame that cowardly Muriel chose to hide in your body, Ms. Lucas,” he adds. “It's really her fault that you're going to have to pay the ultimate price. Or, rather, let's call it a sacrifice. One that will allow this town to -”

  I turn and try to vault over the bar, only to fail miserably. My foot catches on the edge and I fall back, crashing down to the floor and almost losing my grip on the poker. As Hayes rushes at me, I swing the poker and miss him, instead slamming the end into the bar. I try to swing again, but Hayes grabs me by the collar and pulls me up, before shoving me against the wall with enough force to make me drop the poker.

  “Don't worry,” he says, “I'll try to think of something nice to say about you later.”

  With that, he drives the knife into my waist. I gasp and try to pull away, but he twists the blade and then slides it out as I feel blood gushing from the wound. He lets go of my collar, and I start sliding down the wall until I land hard on the floor.

  “Help!” I try to shout, but I can barely get the words out. “Somebody, please...”

  “Matilda, go and wait in my car,” Hayes says matter-of-factly, as if he's organizing a simple business transaction. “I'm going to speed things along here by starting a small fire. This time, no ridiculous campaign groups are going to save this pub.”

  Wincing as I feel a burning pain in my gut, I look over at the little girl and see that she's staring at me with a horrified expression.

  “Matilda, did you hear me?” Hayes continues. “Go to the car. You've already screwed one thing up today. Let me assure you, this afternoon you'll be -”

  “No!” I scream suddenly, unable to help myself, and in that moment a violent force rushes out of my body.

  I watch in horror as the ghost of Muriel Hyde rushes up from me and races toward Hayes, and somehow the scream transfers from my mouth to hers as she grabs him and throws him against the wall. Matilda scurries away and hides under a nearby table, and I watch as Muriel's flickering, spectral form raises Hayes up and screams once more into his face.

  “Help me!” he gasps, struggling to get free. “Matilda, do something!”

  Slowly, Muriel forces him down onto his knees. Her face is filled with blinding fury, even as Hayes lashes out with the knife and slashes it helplessly through the ghost's chest. Muriel places a hand on his throat and starts to squeeze, causing a choking gasp to emerge from his mouth as he drops the knife.

  For a moment, I can only stare in horror and wonder at the sight of Muriel's ghost. She's visible and not visible at the same time, partially transparent but also flickering with some kind of faint greenish-blue glow. The expression on her face is one of pure, unbridled hatred, even as she squeezes tight and pushes Hayes even further down. It's hard to believe that she could have been hiding in my body, but I guess she entered me on the first night here at the pub and lurked there ever since, influencing me subtly but never doing enough to make me question what was really happening. She's been dead for over a century, but her rage doesn't seem to have faded at all; if anything, all those years seem to have made her angrier and more bitter, and I realize after a moment that Hayes is on the brink of death.

  Clutching the wound in my side, I struggle to my feet.

  “Don't kill him!” I gasp. “He deserves to rot in a jail cell!”

  Ignoring me, Muriel squeezes tighter, and I see Hayes' eyes starting to roll back in their sockets.

  “If you kill him, you'll be just like them!” I shout. “Is that what you want?”

  I wait, but I'm not even sure that she can hear me.

  “You've won!” I tell her. “Let him live! Make him tell everyone the truth about the brewery so that they -”

  Before I can finish, Muriel screams again and throws Hayes hard against the bar. He thuds to the ground
and then starts getting to his feet, clutching his throat and coughing and spluttering as he tries to get his breath back.

  Staring down at him, Muriel still looks utterly furious.

  “The truth's going to come out now,” I tell her. “Everyone will have to admit what the brewery's been doing. There'll be nowhere for them to hide. And I'll make sure that they all know what really happened to you! You'll get a proper burial, in a proper grave with a proper headstone, and I'll make sure that all the history books tell the truth! The brewery's days of running this town are over!”

  I wait for her to acknowledge what I'm saying, but a moment later I hear a bumping sound nearby and I turn to see that Gary Hayes has grabbed the poker and is rushing at me.

  “You'll never get the chance!” he yells, swinging the poker at my head.

  I duck down, just in time. The poker slams into the side of the bar and Hayes trips. He stumbles past me, and I watch in horror as the poker twists under his body. He lands on the tip, which crunches straight through his chest and bursts out between his shoulder blade. He lets out one final, pained gasp, before slumping to the side and falling dead to the floor.

  Still hiding under the table, Matilda screams. A moment later, Muriel pushes the table out of the way and grabs the girl, twisting her around and pushing against the wall. She already has her hand on Matilda's throat, and her fury looks stronger than ever.

  “Muriel, wait!” I yell. “She's just a child! She didn't know what she was doing!”

  Slowly, Muriel slides Matilda's struggling body up the wall, and then she screams into her face.

  “Muriel, stop!” I shout.

  She leans closer to Matilda.

  “You're not a murderer!” I scream. “That's what they said you were, but they were lying! Don't become one now! Don't become what they always accused you of being!”

  I wait, and after a moment I see her expression change. All the anger fades, and finally she lets go of Matilda and takes a step back. As the little girl slides down to the floor, Muriel stares straight ahead and then turns to look at me. All I can see now in her eyes is sorrow, as if she's finally come to understand the truth about what happened to her. I wait, not knowing what she might do next, and then she slowly turns and looks at the wall next to me.