Descension

by Shani Struthers

  “Fucking bastards!” The vehemence in Cash’s voice could not be mistaken. “They invite you into their house only to set you up. If I’d known…” He clenched his fists making Ruby very glad that, like her, he hadn’t suspected a thing.

  Corinna reached across and patted his arm, consoling him even if Ruby couldn’t.

  “Ruby, this must all be such a shock,” Ness continued. “The death of your grandmother is terrible enough without finding out about Peter as well as Hames, if Hames is your father. He might not be, he can’t be the only Aaron Hames.”

  Ruby shook her head. “I’ve already run an online check. There are a handful in the north, and three down here. One of those is two years old and the other has just celebrated his eightieth. This Hames fits the profile. He fits it to a tee.”

  Ness remained adamant. “Ruby, I don’t advise seeing him.”

  “I have to.”

  “Darling,” Theo tried to cajole, “I’m in agreement with Ness. It’s not a good idea. We’ve told you a little of what he’s capable of. He’s… dangerous, very dangerous. Besides, you’re in the midst of grieving for your grandmother.”

  “Are you suggesting I can’t think straight?”

  Understandably, Theo was hurt. “No!”

  “Good, because in some ways my mind has never been clearer. Ness, is Hames responsible for any other deaths besides the one you’ve mentioned?”

  It was Corinna who gasped now. “He’s a murderer?”

  Ness sighed, did her best to explain. “He has insights into people, Corinna, negative insights. His speciality is exposing dark secrets and then taunting people mercilessly with them. He’s driven people to kill themselves; that’s the theory, although he’s done nothing so obvious as plunging a knife into them or strangling them with his bare hands. The way he works is a lot more insidious than that.”

  “Christ!” Corinna and Cash said in unison.

  “So now you know,” there was only the slightest hint of a crack in Ruby’s voice, one that she rushed to disguise. “My father is as good as a murderer and insane to boot. Be careful what you wish for, eh?”

  “He may not be your father,” Ness continued to stress.

  Cash agreed. “Having the same name could just be a coincidence.”

  “What are you trying to do? Explain one coincidence by introducing yet another?”

  “Ruby—”

  “This is fate, Cash. I not only wanted to meet my father, I was meant to meet him.” She turned to Ness. “You got Theo in, so you can get me in too. Please, try and understand I can’t just brush what I’ve learnt under the carpet. Make a few phone calls, bend a few ears, do whatever it is you have to do; just get me into Ash Hill.”

  * * *

  Ness had done it. She’d managed to secure herself, Ruby and Theo an afternoon visit, but only on condition that Ruby didn’t meet Hames, the link between them being at present too tenuous to hold much sway. However, she’d be allowed to observe him via camera from a separate room. There was no arguing with the decision, not at this juncture; it seemed to be set in stone. Ruby either accepted it or it was a no go. Unable to wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to grind faster, Ruby accepted.

  They piled into Ness’s car, Cash and Corinna insisting on accompanying them, even though they wouldn’t be allowed access to the unit; they’d have to wait behind. Ruby had shrugged at their dogged insistence. It was up to them. In Ness’s Rover, she, Cash and Corinna squeezed into the back, while Theo occupied the passenger seat. As they drove, Theo and Ness gave some background information.

  “Despite being issued with a ‘requires improvement’ notice in 2016, it’s a pretty decent place,” Ness said. “The staff there are great, they really want to help their patients, and they go out of their way to do just that, exhausting every avenue.”

  “Of which we’re one,” Theo agreed, “although in my case it’s more a boulevard.”

  She laughed at her own joke but the others, it seemed, weren’t in a laughing mood. In the back, Cash kept squeezing Ruby’s hand in what she presumed to be a show of support. In the end, she smiled at him but removed her hand and leant forward slightly so she could hear her colleagues better.

  “Patients sent to Ash Hill are regarded as medium risk,” continued Theo, “therefore a danger to themselves and others. Some patients are criminally referred.”

  Corinna baulked at that. “A man who drives people to commit suicide is considered medium risk? I’d call it a lot more than that.”

  “As I said,” Theo answered, “his crimes are at best unsubstantiated. His isn’t the hand that ends people’s lives. His victims do that all by themselves.”

  “Once he’s exposed the darkness in them,” Cash pointed out.

  “That’s right,” Theo replied. “And, as no one’s whiter than white, everyone’s at risk. His medical team are at their wits’ end with him and this ability he has. He knows so much that he shouldn’t know. A lot of those who’ve been dealing with him are very much alive, they haven’t committed suicide, but some have gone on sick leave indefinitely. Ruby’s already told us that Sarah suspected he had a crude type of psychic ability, although Jessica hadn’t picked up on it – just his avid interest in the occult. But whatever he was then, he’s certainly psychic now, and in his case I wouldn’t call it a ‘gift’, far from it. Whatever Sarah did, it opened something in him.”

  “A door which can never be shut again,” Ruby quoted her mother. “Not fully.”

  “No,” Ness concurred. “Not fully. I’ve mentioned this to you before, Ruby; moving Hames to a high-risk facility is currently being considered. He’s been locked up for several years now, but not always at Brookbridge. He’s been in several facilities. And he goes through prolonged subdued periods, but every now and then he seems to ‘flare up’, as they call it. This latest bout started around two weeks ago.”

  Ruby frowned. “Two weeks? That’s roughly around the same time I started to get a regular series of phone calls from the Brookbridge estate – from the Watkins family, the Stems, the Barkers and the Griffiths too.”

  “Actually, we’ve had a couple more,” Corinna informed her. “Ever since… you know, your Gran. But I’ve told them work’s on hold. For… several reasons.”

  Ruby looked at her. “Hames flares up and then the estate does too. I thought it was because of the imminent destruction of the hospital building, and perhaps in part it is; but it could also be due to him and the negativity he’s emitting; it’s bringing everyone out of the woodwork.” Remembering the writhing walls in the first corridor, the only corridor she’d ventured down, she took a deep breath. “That’s actually kind of apt. When I initially visited the rear ward block, it was as though people were coming out of the walls, if not the woodwork, with their hands flailing and reaching out. How long has Hames been at Brookbridge, Ness?”

  “Around a year now. He was transferred from a place called Mill View in Essex, but for much of that time he’s been in a subdued state.”

  “A year?” Ruby questioned. Her father had been within reach all that time and she hadn’t known; hadn’t sensed a thing. But she was sensing it now: the closer they drew to Brookbridge the harder her heart thumped, the sound in her ears, deafening.

  Cash placed his arm around her. Ten out of ten for persistence, she thought. She let it linger there, unsure what else to do, but still there was no comfort in it.

  Turning onto the estate, they kept to the outer edge. On the far side, demolition was most likely in progress. Would what Eclipse feared actually happen, she wondered. Would the grounded retreat further into their terror, some of them to surface in their new surroundings much later, to the shock of future residents, while others remained in limbo? She’d failed them; she’d failed Eclipse too – had reneged on her promise; but even if the two of them had tried again, they might not have got anywhere. If some did resurface, once new walls had shot up, she’d be on hand to help. All the names she’d learnt, all the patients she’d
encountered in visions, she wouldn’t forget them; she’d send love and light when – if – she was able to once again feel love for anything.

  Ness slowed the car down. They were in a small car park, packed with vehicles, but she managed to find a space. Trees encircled them, as much a barrier as the green fencing, which was higher than the fence that surrounded the abandoned building, and decidedly more sturdy with no gaps in it at all.

  For a while all of them sat in silence, just staring at what was in front of them. It was low-rise, redbrick, and modern, built in the 90s according to Ness, replacing what had once been there – a much larger secure wing, packed to the hilt with cells. Nowadays, Ash Hill was one of sixty units in England. In it was a 16-bed female ward and a 16-bed male ward, as well as an 8-bed for elderly males. During ‘episodes’, patients were kept under observation in padded seclusion rooms with communication via intercom.

  Finally Ness started to move and soon they were all on the pavement staring at the building as opposed to being in the car and staring at it. The day was pleasant, blue sky evident between clouds. Lashing rain would have been more fitting.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Cash muttered beside her.

  Ness’s pale complexion looked even more drained. “He’s right, Ruby.”

  “I do,” was her simple reply.

  Corinna stepped forward and hugged her, afterwards so did Cash, both awkward gestures.

  “Where will you go while we’re in there?” Ruby asked.

  “We’ll take a walk to the other side of the estate,” Corinna answered. A sad smile made her seem older than her years. “I’ll send as much love and light to the inhabitants of that building, Ruby, don’t you worry. Even if we had been able to get there this week, it was a massive task to tackle in such a short time, but you tried; three times you tried. Maybe it had an impact we don’t even know about yet. Perhaps a few of those inside did take notice and moved onwards.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Come on.” Ness gently took Ruby by the arm. “Let’s get this over and done with. Corinna, Cash, we’ll call you when we’re done.”

  Again Cash reached out; again he squeezed Ruby’s hand. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” she replied, but as far as luck was concerned, she felt hers had run out.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Once their identities had been confirmed, the gate slid back and Theo, Ness and Ruby were allowed inside the fenced perimeter. They stood at the entrance to the building as a woman on the other side of the door busily unlocked it and greeted them. She was wearing trousers, a blouse and a jacket – her own clothes as opposed to a uniform. There was a warm smile on her freckled face as she ushered them in. The reception area was very pleasant, spacious and airy, with lots of light, but there was that unmistakable smell; the smell of an institution. Some things you couldn’t mask.

  Ness introduced Ruby to Grace Ellis, who was around the same age as Ness, but didn’t share her occasionally haunted expression. On the contrary, her whole persona was as bright as their surroundings. Oozing enthusiasm and compassion, she was an example of someone as passionate about her job as Ruby and the team were about theirs – their ultimate goal the same; to help people. Could there be any help for Hames? Ruby guessed she was about to find out.

  Grace tackled more doors, opening and unlocking a series of them, just yards apart, her impressive bunch of keys jangling all the while. “The unit is divided into blocks,” she informed them as they walked. “On the far side is the women’s block. All the doors there are electronic, making life so much easier.” She pulled a face. “I work in this block, however, and although it’s due to follow suit, I’m still waiting… and waiting. You wouldn’t believe how bad electronic card-pass envy can get!”

  Her laughter suited such a cheerful environment – relentlessly cheerful, but that was better than how it used to be, surely. In the Victorian buildings, in those all-grey interiors, what laughter there’d been had had a very different quality. From the corridor they were walking along now, there were views into areas of garden where some patients were either strolling or sitting on benches, several staff members close by, monitoring, but also interacting. It was a pleasant enough scene, harmonious even. It was also surreal, Ruby decided, as was this entire situation.

  After opening another door to a side room, Grace beckoned them in. It was little more than a square box, bright, with almost child-like pictures adorning the walls.

  Noticing Ruby studying them, Grace explained they were by the patients. “Art therapy is a very important part of what we do here; it allows the patients to express themselves.” She coloured a little and coughed. “Obviously, not all paintings can go on the wall, but some are really quite lovely, as you can see.”

  Ruby raised an eyebrow and turned to Theo and Ness whose smiles were as relentless as Grace’s, plastered onto their faces and masking any unease.

  “I’m sure Ness and Theo have told you,” Grace continued, “that we only talk with Aaron in short bursts. Anything more runs the risk of being upsetting for all concerned. That’s what we’ll do today – five minutes if it’s not going well; ten if it is.” She pointed to a desk on which stood a computer. “You’ll be able to view him via that. He knows we record sessions. We’re as open as we can be with patients here.”

  It was all worlds away from how it used to be. Grace clearly cared, and she was probably one of many staff members who did; who were attracted to the job for the right reasons. Yes, the unit had had an improvement notice slapped on it, but from what Ruby could see, it wasn’t a terrible place to be. Although the atmosphere contained a certain frisson, whether that existed all the time or was something she was generating, she couldn’t tell. Surreal and skewed, that’s how everything was at the moment – her personal involvement distorting everything.

  “He has no idea I’m in this room?” Ruby checked.

  “None,” Grace confirmed. “It’s advisable that we take the softly softly approach with Aaron when he’s lucid. Besides which, we’d need firm evidence of a blood bond between you before we even consider broaching the subject with him. Is that something you might be open to in the future?”

  “Let me see him first,” replied Ruby.

  Grace didn’t push for a more positive answer, she simply nodded; a gentle gesture that told Ruby she understood.

  “Theo, Ness,” Grace continued, “shall we? Ruby, would you like someone in the room with you? Just in case…”

  “I’d prefer to be on my own, thanks.”

  “Okay, but a member of staff will be outside. Call her if you need her.”

  Ruby agreed that she would and Theo and Ness trudged off, looking as if they were heading to the guillotine. Once they’d left, Ruby took a deep breath, pulled the chair out in front of the desk, its legs scraping against the blue-tiled floor, and stared at the empty room on screen. It was another square box but one with a window, a sofa and armchairs. Its magnolia walls were meant to create a homely impression, to soothe, but it was all just another set-up.

  At last there was movement. A man entered the room – Hames, followed by Grace, Theo and Ness, as well as a guard who stood by the door with his arms folded. Aaron shuffled rather than walked, his head down so that Ruby couldn’t get a clear impression of him. He wasn’t especially tall – she’d say around five foot eleven – and he was thin, almost fragile-looking. She hadn’t expected that; she’d expected a more terrifying figure to appear, someone thickset and burly with his head shaved. But Aaron had plenty of hair. It was golden brown, like Ruby’s, and damn it, it obscured his face as he sat down, selecting a seat that would put him with his back to the camera despite Grace indicating the chair opposite. It wasn’t her first sighting of him, it was her second, but she knew this time it would never fade from memory.

  Grace started the conversation. “Good afternoon, Aaron. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us at such short notice today.”

  “But of course! It’s always l
ovely to meet with you.” His voice was smooth enough – some might even say pleasant.

  “How have you spent your day up until now?” Grace continued.

  “Sleeping and eating,” he replied, his manner amicable. “Oh, and shitting.”

  The three women and the guard stiffened, albeit fractionally. Ruby’s back straightened too. This was it – this man, this stranger, someone she didn’t feel any affinity with, not yet – was going to waste no more time being nice; not if his was just a five- or ten-minute slot. He was going to have as much fun as possible.

  Before Grace could say anything further or calm him in any way, Aaron continued.

  “Hey, Vanessa, you’re a bit quiet today, what’s the matter? Twin got your tongue? What did she do, run off with it when you banished her? When you left her alone in the dark?” His voice rose, became thin and reedy. “I don’t like the dark. That’s what she used to say. You didn’t give a damn though, did you? You didn’t give a flying fuck. Oh no, it was all about you all the time.” He pulled a sad face. “No room for poor little twinny. And that’s where she’s languishing still, in the dark; curled up in a tight ball and scared.” Again his voice rose. “I hate the dark, Ness, I hate the dark!”

  Ruby frowned – what was he talking about? Ness didn’t have a twin.

  “And looky, looky,” he said, his head turning towards Theo, “I swear you’ve put on a few pounds since our last visit. Have you been comfort-binging again? Trying to fill the gap dear Reggie left when that cancer ate him from the inside out? God, it was awful, wasn’t it, watching him writhe and scream? But all you could think of was your own pain, not his. It’s guilt you’re trying to suffocate, stuffing food down on top of it. Never mind as big as a house, you’ll be the size of an entire continent soon, because you wanna know the truth? Guilt never goes away! It eats away at you too; it swallows you whole with a gob that’s as big as you are.”

  ‘Aaron,” Theo’s voice was impressively even as she answered him, “why is it you cling to the darkness in people? How long has it been like this?”