Her Dark Retreat: a psychological thriller with a twist you won't see coming

by J. A. Baker

  ‘Wh … where are we going?’ Peggy asks, her words a whisper, a battle to be heard against the raging wind behind them.

  ‘I know a place,’ Audrey says softly, wanting to soothe Peggy, to get her to think straight, ‘I’ll be with you in the car. You just need to drive and I’ll do the rest.’

  ‘Is it far?’ Peggy asks, her eyes pleading, ‘I can’t drive too far. I just can’t!’ she cries, her entire body convulsing with fear.

  ‘No, it’s not far at all,’ Audrey replies, ‘You know where the local recycling and waste centre is, on the outskirts of town?’

  Peggy’s eyes widen, ‘NO! We can’t just dump her body there! Please, no, Mum! I’m begging you …’

  ‘Peggy, shhh! Please listen to me. We’re not just going to dump her body at the local rubbish tip for goodness sake. There’s a place I know,’ Audrey looks around furtively, forgetting their current isolated location, and huddles closer to Peggy, ‘they have a place there. I know this because my friend - my companion John, works there and he’s told me about it.’

  Peggy’s eyes are veiled in fear. Audrey touches her hand and is shocked at how cold she is.

  ‘They have a place, a kind of bunker, I suppose. It’s where people go to dispose of anything that contains asbestos. John has told me time and time again how none of the people who work there will ever go near the place. Whenever anyone comes in claiming they have something to put in there, the staff direct them over and leave them to it. It’s then locked up with a bloody huge padlock to make sure nobody can get in.’

  Peggy begins to shake her head and Audrey grabs her shoulders, suddenly angry, ‘Do you have a better suggestion, Peggy? Do you? Because try as I might, I can’t think of any other way out of this mess we’re in!’

  Audrey stops, fatigued by it all. The only way she will get Peggy to do this is if she is removed from the situation. Audrey will have to locate the corpse, drag it out - a horrific task for sure but a necessary one - and get everything ready for Peggy to bring the car round. That’s all she wants her to do. Just drive.

  ‘Right,’ she says sharply, her temper and energy waning by the second, ‘you go inside, get a large blanket, a few of them if possible, while I do what I have to do. Okay?’

  She watches Peggy stagger to her feet and lets out a sudden, sharp shriek.

  ‘The messages on the phone!’

  Peggy bends over and clutches her stomach as if wounded.

  ‘What happened to the phone, Peggy? What else did you do?’

  ‘I - I found it after I moved her. It must have fallen out of her pocket!’

  Audrey gasps. What was she thinking? Her frail, helpless daughter adding lie upon lie until she was so steeped in duplicity and immorality that there was no way out.

  ‘Find it and bring it down with you!’ Audrey shouts.

  Peggy nods limply and staggers to her feet before Audrey’s hand pushes at the small of her back and propels her inside.

  51

  Peggy

  This isn’t possible - any of it. It’s a nightmare. It has to be. Peggy floats through to the kitchen, her legs numb, her mind verging on hysteria. She stops and stares around. Why is she here? She can’t remember. Everything is so messed up in her head right now. She gasps for air and tries to put everything in order in her brain. Something big - a sheet or a blanket. And the phone. Oh God, the phone … Catapulted into action, Peggy darts upstairs and rummages in every cupboard and drawer, pulling items out, watching as they come toppling and crashing to the floor. Piles of things everywhere, jewellery, clothes, bags; they sit at her feet, strewn around the room; items that used to mean so much to her which she no longer cares about. Nothing matters anymore.

  Yanking a drawer open, she pulls out an old purse. With shaking hands, she unzips the inside pocket and grabs Sheryl’s phone, the battery long-since dead. After sending a few desperate messages, she couldn’t bring herself to look at it anymore, to be reminded of what she had done, so she’d stuffed it away with the intent of destroying it when her courage allowed. She tucks it in her pocket and stands up.

  Sheets and towels. Her head buzzes. She can’t remember where the sheets and towels and bed linen are kept. Why can’t she remember? This is ludicrous. Chamber Cottage is her house for God’s sake and she can’t even think where anything is stored anymore. She is going mad, she feels sure of it. Her sanity is slowly slipping away, bit by bit, the working parts of her brain ebbing away from her like the tide that sits two hundred feet below her, crashing into the rocks before departing and disappearing from view. Peggy brings her hands up and slaps the side of her face over and over. Think! For God’s sake, woman - just think!

  She slumps down on the side of the bed and looks around trying to control her breathing, hoping that logic will return and not desert her completely when she needs it most. She just needs to calm down, dampen the fire that is raging in her mind and start thinking straight. She dips her head between her knees and takes a few seconds to think.

  It suddenly hits her. Jumping up, she dashes into the bathroom and pulls open the doors of the large cupboard in the corner. Alec is always telling her she should sort it out, that there is too much in there. A stack of sheets tumbles down on top of her, along with a mountain of towels. She stands - a tower of white linen draped over her - and wonders where to start. She needs the largest ones she can find. Dragging a mass of cotton fabric around the floor, Peggy scoops up a pile of bed sheets, holding them tight to her chest, her arms locked over them, and heads downstairs. She stumbles on the last few steps, the white material caught under her feet. Managing to tug it free whilst remaining upright, Peggy practically throws herself into the living room, a vision of fabric and fear as she sees her mother standing there, her face frozen with horror, her presence ethereal and ghost-like. Pulling the phone from her pocket and throwing it as if it is burning hot, it hits the floor with a thump and spins around, the dull vibrations another reminder of her what she has done.

  ‘What?’ Peggy cries, sensing thing are about to get a whole lot worse. Something has happened.

  ‘Are you sure you got it right, Peggy? You’re absolutely sure you put her body in there?’

  Peggy nods, too numb and terrified to speak. Her stomach goes into a spasm and the floor begins to spin.

  ‘You must have got it wrong, love, because there’s nothing there. No body, no Sheryl. She’s gone …’

  52

  Audrey

  For such a tiny creature, Peggy feels inordinately heavy and cumbersome as Audrey hauls her up off the floor and lays her down on the sofa, the sheets bunched up and tangled under her body.

  ‘Come on, Peggy! You need to wake up, sweetheart. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.’

  A low moan emanates from Peggy’s chest, rumbling up through her throat and her slightly parted lips. Audrey taps her face gently and drags her upright into a sitting position, Peggy’s head lolling as she moves.

  ‘Where did you put her, Peggy? Did you actually do this?’ Audrey wants to scream. Has she made this up? Were her first suspicions that Alec was involved not unfounded after all? ‘Peggy, you need to wake up and explain this. Are you making this up and covering for Alec?’

  Audrey starts to feel a deep resonating hum begin to take hold in her head. She is so tired. Her body is aching, her brain too weary to think straight anymore. A ball of fury starts to build in her chest, growing and burning until she can no longer hold it in. It explodes into the room, an orb of angry, accusatory flames, white hot and unforgiving,

  ‘ARE YOU COVERING UP FOR YOUR HUSBAND?’

  ‘No!’ Peggy suddenly kicks into action, her head shaking uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming.

  ‘Then where the HELL is the body, Peggy! Where has it gone?’

  Audrey slumps on the floor and rests her head against Peggy’s legs, her pulse a deep ticking in her neck, strong, regular, a sign that this is real.

  ‘There’s another door,’ Peggy says weakly. She s
niffs and wipes her face with her sleeve. ‘You can get to it from the hatch on the kitchen floor under the rug. We had mice and rats a while back and …’

  ‘Another door?’ Audrey screeches, ‘Jesus Christ, Peggy, it’s a dead body we’re talking about here and not …’ she stops, her breath rattling about in her chest. Surely not? Audrey can hardly bring herself to think about it.

  ‘Peggy, please tell me she was dead when you put her in there? Please, please tell me you checked for a pulse?’

  Her daughter’s silence says it all. With a source of strength she didn`t know she possessed, Audrey jumps to her feet and drags Peggy up with her, the urge to shake the very life out of her so strong and overwhelming, she has to grit her teeth to overcome it.

  ‘SHOW ME!’ Audrey screams at her, too far gone to keep any kind of decorum. She feels her mouth begin to contort as she rages at her daughter, the tiny creature in front of her who is sobbing uncontrollably, ‘Show me EXACTLY where this other door is right now!’

  Peggy lurches forward and hobbles into the kitchen, staring at the raffia rug sitting in the centre of the tiled floor, ‘Under there,’ she squeaks.

  Audrey bends down and pulls it aside, dust scattering and swirling in the thin shafts of light filtering in from the window. She stares up at Peggy and then down again at the handle before yanking it open and peering down into the darkness below.

  ‘There’s a light,’ Peggy whispers, ‘if you go down the ladders, there’s a switch on the wall at the bottom.’

  ‘Show me,’ Audrey barks as she glares at her. She cannot believe this is happening. Only a couple of hours ago she was planning how she could rekindle their relationship and now - well, now they are doing the unthinkable, something Audrey never once dreamt she would have to do. She has seen plenty of dead bodies in her time as a nurse, but never under such dire and extreme circumstances. Never like this.

  Audrey steps aside as Peggy makes her shaky descent down to the dark basement. She hears a squawk and watches as the place is flooded with light. Peering down she sees Peggy almost bent double, her hands covering her mouth as she begins to sob. Audrey clambers onto the top rung and makes her way down. She lands at the bottom with a clatter, her legs weak with fear and dread.

  ‘Where is it, this door to the tunnel?’ Audrey’s voice is husky. She is finding it hard to breathe.

  Peggy points to a large wooden unit against the wall, ‘There,’ she replies, ‘it’s behind that chest of drawers.’

  Stalking over, she pushes the large unit aside and takes a deep breath. Behind it is a large steel door. She turns and stares at Peggy, ‘Have you or Alec ever opened this before?’

  Peggy shakes her head and widens her eyes, ‘The lady who sold us the house showed us it but it always scared me down here so we put that set of drawers up against it. I was concerned it was a way in for burglars or intruders …’

  ‘Or a way out for a dying, suffocating woman?’

  ‘STOP IT!’ Peggy starts up again, a river of tears dripping off her chin, running down her neck, soaking into her clothes.

  Audrey can’t stop it. She is furious with her daughter. Exasperated, swamped with pity, exhausted; filled with every emotion it is possible to feel. But right now, their priority is opening that door and getting that poor woman out of there.

  ‘Turn and face the other way, Peggy,’ she says.

  Peggy stands unmoving, a slobbering, heaving mess of snot and despair. Audrey closes her eyes for a second and lets out a deep, quivering groan, then stares at her long and hard,

  ‘For Christ’s sake, Peggy, JUST DO IT!’

  With a shriek of terror, Peggy turns away. Audrey can see her legs trembling and shaking through the fabric of her trousers and is torn between wanting to hug her and wanting to slap her. She steps forward and places her fingers around the cold metal handle on the door. With a mighty tug, it gives way, creaking ajar and sending Audrey reeling backwards, almost colliding with Peggy. It takes her breath away as it hits her. She knows what it is instantly; the stench of rotting flesh is like no other. She is down here. That poor, poor creature was put in here still alive. And Audrey’s daughter was responsible. She put her in there to die.

  ‘Get the sheets,’ Audrey says, as she straightens up and tries to set her brain into motion. Peggy is going to have to help with the grisly bit now. They don’t have the time for sensitivities or protecting Peggy from any of it. This is her doing. She is part of it. Audrey simply cannot do this alone. It’s too big an undertaking. She is tired, not thinking properly. She needs help. ‘In fact,’ she adds quickly, ‘before you do that, you’ll need to bring the car round to the house. Get it as close as you can to the door. Reverse up as close as you can. I’ll come with you and direct you. You need to be close but with enough room so we can still open the boot. Do you understand?’

  Peggy nods like a frightened child; bleary eyed and submissive. Audrey pushes her ahead and they both climb the ladder back up into the kitchen where the air is clear and she can breathe properly without the omnipresent stench of death filling her lungs.

  Audrey hands Peggy the car keys and holds her tightly by both arms as she stares hard into her eyes. ‘Now remember what I said, yes? Slowly reverse the car up to the door. I’ll guide you in and let you know when you need to stop so we can open the boot. Understand?’

  Again, Peggy nods, docile and silent. Audrey pushes her towards the door and watches as her daughter stumbles over to the car, unlocks it and slides into the seat. She looks like a small child behind the wheel; tiny and frightened, her expression a mask of horror. Audrey’s breath comes out in shallow, desperate gasps as she watches the car begin to move. They can do this. All Peggy has to do is drive a bit closer, haul the body into the car and get away from here before the police arrive. This thing is nearing closure. She can feel it. Soon it will all be behind them, a thing of the past, an occurrence they will never speak of again. Their very own terrible, dark secret.

  The sound of the engine alarms Audrey as Peggy begins to drive the car closer to the house. Her speed is erratic and Audrey feels a tic take hold in her jaw as she watches. The car judders as Peggy gets closer, the wheels screeching and crunching on the gravel. She should have done this. Peggy is too much of a state to concentrate properly. She is a wreck. Audrey should have known better than to let her do it. What was she thinking?

  Audrey steps forward and raises her hand, indicating for Peggy to stop, but she takes no notice, moving forward, the engine screaming under the strain. Peggy is close enough now for Audrey to see her face. She is crying still, her body shaking as she grips the steering wheel. Audrey stands in front of the car and holds up her hand, but Peggy swerves around close to the edge, taking Audrey’s breath away. What the hell is she doing? Audrey breathes hard, her nostrils flaring as she inhales the freezing air. She has to gain control of this situation right now. Peggy isn’t capable of this task. She should have known. Spinning around, Audrey watches as the car begins to reverse up to her, wheels still screeching. She lets out a sigh, then widens her eyes and swallows hard as Peggy drives away once more. What is she doing, for heaven’s sake?

  The space behind the house is limited but there’s enough room for her to turn around and come back. Audrey bites her lip as she watches Peggy slowly edge the car around back towards the door. She moves forward, her legs weak from exhaustion and fear and tries to guide her round, indicating that she is close to the edge. Their eyes lock for a fraction of a second and Audrey feels a needle of ice trail its way up her spine as she watches Peggy’s hands rest on the wheel.

  ‘Swing back round! You need to reverse up!’ Audrey mouths the words at her but Peggy doesn’t respond. She sits mutely, her hands resting on the wheel, her eyes glazed and uncomprehending.

  ‘I said move back round!’ Audrey half-shrieks it this time, panic beginning to grip her as she watches Peggy’s bland features morph into something unrecognisable, something she can’t bring herself to look at.


  The small car suddenly splutters into life as if remembering it has to move. It jolts forward and stops momentarily, the engine revving hard. Audrey breathes a deep sigh of relief.

  ‘Right, now just move back round a bit more and then you can start to reverse up to the door.’

  Audrey watches as Peggy’s eyes darken. She tenses. Just a few more minutes. That’s all it will take. Just a few minutes to manoeuvre the car round and then her bit is over and done with. Audrey will take over and do the rest. Peggy just has to hold it together for a little while longer and—

  It all happens so quickly and Audrey is unable to do anything to stop it. Heart hammering and thrashing in her chest, she stands helpless as Peggy stares over at her, then begins to edge the car closer and closer, still in first gear. Audrey clenches her fists together, her nails digging into her palms, watching and waiting. What is she doing? She needs to swing the car round and reverse up to the step.

  The engine roars, smoke billowing out from under the wheels, the acrid tang of burning rubber filling the cold air, seeping into Audrey’s nostrils, making her feel sick. The car lurches forward again and stops.

  Audrey runs forward and shrieks at the dead expression on Peggy’s face as she sits waiting. ‘Too close! Move back. You’re too close to the edge! You need to turn around and bring the car up to the door. Just do it. Do it now!’

  Continuing to press her foot down on the pedal, Peggy appears to take no notice, her eyes dark and unresponsive. She edges forward some more, the vehicle perilously close to the sheer drop below. Audrey almost throws herself at the passenger door, wildly gesticulating for Peggy to reverse. For a second, the car grinds to a halt and Peggy seems to snap out of the trance she is in, a look of horror evident on her face. Then Audrey feels herself slipping to one side, pushed away by the momentum as the car begins to move once more, gaining in speed, the engine shrieking as it slowly but surely edges towards the tiny wooden fence that scales the perimeter of the cliff edge - an ancient, decaying piece of wood; the only thing between Peggy and certain death. The car stops once more and Audrey almost cries, bringing the heels of her hands to her eyes to stem the flow of tears. She watches as Peggy begins to reverse back into the tiny space behind the cottage. She turns the vehicle around and slowly starts to reverse back around the corner. Finally! Then she stops again, the car engine howling under the strain, the wheels kicking up tiny sprays of moss and gravel.