Oxford Shadows

by Croslydon, Marion

  The rain beat against the car roof like a drum and filled the silence. They could see their breath in the cold air.

  Rupert switched off the engine. He rubbed a hand over his face and exhaled. “So here’s the plan. We’ll check the manor house first, and get to the park extending the perimeter gradually. Okay?”

  Rupert’s eyes had settled on Madison for the first time since the Big Reveal at the townhouse. She searched for some connection in them, but read only a burning mix of exhaustion and determination. He finally released her gaze.

  “Why don’t we split the ground search now?” she suggested. “I’ll start on the outside while you clear the inside. If we see anything, we use our cells to warn each other.”

  Rupert’s gaze shot back toward Madison and he zeroed in on her. “You do not, under any circumstances, leave my side. Have I made myself clear?”

  Madison jerked against the back of the car seat under the fire of his anger. She nodded. She wasn’t one to be pushed around, but she knew that the closer to Rupert she stayed, the better she could keep an eye on him.

  42

  RUPERT OPENED THE door wide and jumped out of the car. Madison took in a gulp of air and forced herself to follow. She ran around the Morgan’s bonnet to catch up with Rupert. His arm wrapped around her shoulder and he offered his body as a shelter against the torrential rain. In vain. By the time they stepped into Magway, Madison’s shirt and pants were drenched.

  Rupert ran his hand absently over her face to wipe the droplets that were flowing down her forehead and cheeks. The contact didn’t last. He forged across the hallway, finding his way through the sparsely lit rooms on the first floor.

  Madison followed in his wake but her attention was focused on different clues entirely. Rupert was looking for two living people—three maybe, if the child had been born—while her own senses were heightened to respond to the dead.

  Liliana. Laura. Even Henry.

  Through grand room after grand room, immense floor after immense floor, Rupert hunted down the prey he didn’t want to hurt. Madison struggled to keep up with his pace. She kept her hands open in front of her, palms up, letting the air flowing inside Magway caress her skin. The air was vapid. There was no spirit, at least not inside the building.

  “There’s still the cellar. We can access it from the kitchens.” Rupert stood on the edge of the spiral staircase, considering the descent down to the first floor. “It’s the only place we haven’t checked yet.”

  His foot was already on the first step when Madison grabbed his elbow. “No need. They won’t be there.”

  His face tightened and he bit the inside of his cheek. “Are you sure?”

  Cold had seeped through the material of her shirt to her bra, and goosebumps had broken out on her arms and chest. She repressed a shiver and the chattering of her teeth to answer Rupert’s question. “I assumed you drove thirty miles an hour over the speed limit because you took me serious—”

  He cut her off. “Don’t always bring things back to yourself. I don’t want to take any chances.”

  Madison pointed her index finger at him. “We’re running out of time. I’m telling you, they’re not here. Dead or alive. We need to check the grounds. Now.”

  Rupert gave her a tight nod that felt more like dismissal than agreement and ran down the stairs. She followed him as fast as her much shorter legs could carry her. In the drawer of the antique table at the side of the hallway, Rupert grabbed a flashlight. Without turning back to check if she was behind, he jerked open the wide wooden panel of the entrance door and propelled himself into the darkness and rain outside.

  Madison’s feet froze on the doorstep. The chilly wind flooded into the hallway, pasting her wet T-shirt against her skin. She breathed in and let her senses decipher the signals of the night. She ignored the fat droplets that smashed like marbles onto the stone floor at the entrance. Her spirit flew away in search of other spirits. She called their names.

  “Liliana.”

  “Laura.”

  A face shot to the forefront of Madison’s consciousness. Blond hair, dark blue eyes and chiseled cheekbones. So familiar. Laura had shared so much of Rupert, but fear tensed her beauty into a mask of death.

  Water, so much water … An unknown voice echoed in Madison’s head. Laura’s?

  With a whoosh Madison plunged into tumultuous flows, violent streams pushing her body down to the abyss. Her hand opened to release the crushed petals of a lily. Surprise and understanding made her gasp. Her mouth filled with water, as did her throat, her lungs … Ahhhh.

  “Madison, breathe. Breathe again.”

  Rupert’s hard shake of her shoulders extracted her from her vision. Pain radiated from her knees. She had collapsed to the ground. Looking back at the manor, she saw she was now at least three yards away.

  “Liliana drowned herself,” she managed to say. “She drowned herself, and that’s what she has in store for Camilla.”

  Rupert slid his hands underneath Madison’s armpits and lifted her back to her feet. Her legs were shaky, but she had regained mental focus.

  “They’re at the lake.” Madison was certain.

  His mouth opened and she expected another one of his “Are you sure?” looks, but he swallowed his words. “Let’s go,” he said.

  They ran hand in hand around the main body of the manor onto the vast expanse of grass that descended toward the wood and the lake. The feeble ray of light from the flashlight gave them a couple of yards of visibility into the denseness of the rain, but Rupert knew his way by heart. There was no hesitation in his steps.

  Out of breath, Madison pushed her legs to move as fast as Rupert’s. The light in the boathouse confirmed her intuition. That was where the action would take place, whatever the action was. Or had taken place if they were too late to prevent the tragedy.

  Her feet flew forward and her bottom splashed backward into a puddle, cutting her fears short. She rolled sideways to recover her breath, only for her cheek to squash against the runny mud that covered the field.

  “Shit.” She stood up quickly, but with the sudden movement an acute pain shot from her ankle up to her hip and back again. “Double shit.” She winced.

  “Are you hurt?” Rupert knelt by her side. The rain had increased in intensity and the noise around them almost muffled his question.

  “It’s my ankle … but don’t wait for me. I’ll catch up with you.”

  “No fucking way I’m leaving you behind.”

  “I’ll slow you down. There’s no time for that.”

  Rupert slid one arm underneath her knees while the other lifted up her shoulders. He stood, and her face, which was now plastered with mud, rested against his chest.

  Rupert had also seen the lights in the boathouse. He broke into a run as if he wasn’t carrying an extra one hundred and ten pounds. With a kick, the wooden door of the boathouse burst open and he stepped inside. His eyes scanned the room, messy with ropes and tiny boats leaning against the walls.

  “They’re not here.” Disappointment gave Rupert’s voice an usual edge.

  Twisting her neck, Madison scanned the place for herself. Her eyes caught an alarming sight. “Put me down please.”

  “We need to check every corner of the riverbank … and the waters.” Rupert broke off at the last word.

  “I can see something. Go over there.” Madison pointed a shaky finger to the opposite corner of the room.

  Rupert obeyed her order but released her only after they had reached the corner. When her injured foot touched the ground, Madison swallowed a cry of pain, but she forgot about the acute sensation when Rupert grabbed the material rumpled on the floor.

  A torn bed linen soaked with …

  “Blood. A lot of it.” Rupert threw the material back to the floor and wiped his hand on his pants. Without any warning, he picked her up in his arms again.

  “Go to the jetty. That’s where Liliana appeared to me.”

  Rupert agreed with a curt n
od. The muscles of his shoulders tightened under Madison’s palm. An ache formed in her throat.

  Now for the final showdown.

  43

  OUTSIDE, THE RAIN pounded against their bodies, prickling their skin. The pain in her ankle throbbed but she ignored it. Instead, she trained her mind to repeat the words she’d have to say to save Camilla, if she was still alive: the words of the prayer Mamie had written in her little book of magic.

  Rupert’s sprint came to an abrupt halt when he flinched and expelled a breath as if in pain. His grip on Madison increased and she struggled to breathe under the new pressure.

  She followed the line of his gaze and cried out, “No!”

  The jetty jutted into the broken and dark waters of the lake. At its edge stood Camilla’s frail silhouette. She was still alive but she looked like a ghost, wearing a white shirt too large for her that stopped well above her knees. Her body faced the lake but her face was turned toward the bank, toward Hugo.

  Hugo, who held the gun Rupert had been looking for.

  Madison looked at Hugo and then Camilla again. Camilla’s arms were crossed over her chest. She wasn’t protecting herself from a potential bullet; she was protecting a small bundle wrapped in a sheet similar to the one Madison and Rupert had found in the boathouse.

  “She has the baby,” Madison screamed.

  Her voice pulled Hugo’s attention in their direction. Madison had expected to see the devil sketched on his face, but in the light of the boathouse she saw only fear and shock. His mouth hung open and the hand holding the revolver shook.

  Hugo was a victim of Liliana’s vengeance. Just like Camilla.

  “Drop me back on my feet and help me get closer,” Madison told Rupert.

  He obeyed her order without turning his face away from the jetty. With her arm encircling his waist, she limped toward the lake. Hugo didn’t react as Rupert and Madison narrowed the distance between them. Madison forced herself not to check on Camilla. She couldn’t lose her purpose. Sentences she’d heard in fake TV hostage situations sprang to her mind: “It’s not too late to back off.” “I understand how you feel.” “Let’s talk.”

  Establish a connection.

  “Stop fucking up, Father,” Rupert shouted.

  That wasn’t really the best move. Madison pinched the damp skin of Rupert’s forearm. “He’s not in charge. Liliana is.”

  “My dad is always in charge. He can make that nightmare stop.”

  She released her grip on Rupert’s waist to cup his face. “Not this time.”

  Rupert threw her hands away as if her fingers had burnt his flesh.

  “The prayer … that’s the only way to save them.” Madison begged him to choose her side.

  “I-I can’t let you do that,” Rupert stammered. “My mother can’t end up like Peter.” He turned away from Madison and marched toward his father, his hands in the air to show he meant no threat.

  “Please, please, Hugo. Have pity on us.” The plea came from Camilla, whose whole body now faced the shore. Her body rocked from side to side, her arms still wrapped around the baby.

  Madison rushed after Rupert, each step sending a jolt of pain through her leg. The rain eased, and then stopped. The sudden silence around them would have spooked Madison if she weren’t already totally wired.

  “Father, drop the gun,” said Rupert. “You don’t want to hurt them. They’re your family now. It’s the only chance you have left.”

  Hugo shouted and crumpled to his knees. A human form emerged from his slumped body. The form was flimsy and kept appearing and disappearing as if its life force was being turned on and off. Finally the vision stabilized and anchored itself.

  Laura.

  She wore an elegant evening dress draped over her lean silhouette. Her blond hair cascaded over her shoulders and in the darkness of the night she looked almost the same age as Rupert. With one hesitant step, she headed toward her son.

  A smile slowly broke across Rupert’s face. He extended his hand toward the ghost. Only for him, it wasn’t a ghost. “Mum.”

  “My baby …” Laura managed to put tears in her words. “I’ve been watching you for so long without being able to talk to you, to hold you.”

  “Are you real?”

  Rupert’s question prompted Madison to join his side despite the pain each step caused. “She isn’t, Rupert. She isn’t the person you remember.” Maybe she never was.

  “I haven’t changed, baby,” Laura said. “Do you remember what you said on that fateful night? The night of the accident?”

  “Rupert, don’t listen.” Madison threw herself against his chest, staring up at him.

  Without looking down at her, Rupert pushed her back to the side, his eyes glued on his mother.

  “You said you wanted to kill him for what he was doing to me,” Laura continued.

  Laura wasn’t lying. Those were the exact words Rupert had pronounced in the car. Madison had heard them in her vision. But Rupert hadn’t meant them. He wasn’t a murderer. But why was he still silent?

  Laura’s attention was entirely riveted on Rupert. She didn’t even give a sidelong glance to Madison.

  One micro-step at a time, Madison distanced herself from the two of them and stopped paying attention to the words of comfort Laura was using to persuade her son of the unthinkable. She only had to manage the five yards that separated her from Hugo. He hadn’t moved one iota. He was still on the ground, eyes cast downward, the gun held loosely in his hand. Careful to avoid any jerky movements, Madison closed the gap with Rupert’s father. She kneeled down to grab the weapon.

  “Don’t move or I’ll kill you, too.”

  The threat sliced through Madison. She spun around to face Laura, her bad ankle sending a jolt of pain through her body.

  “That’s what you are now. A killer. In the name of love?” Madison failed to keep the venom out of her voice.

  “Stop talking, or I’ll—”

  A cry covered Laura’s last word: a baby wailing.

  The knowledge that the little being was still fighting for its life kicked Madison in the gut. Fury flashed through her, engulfing her heart. Her fingers tingled and heat built up in her curled palm. “I can’t let you hurt the baby.”

  Madison extended her arm, her mind focused on the ball of fire spinning around and begging to be released. With a swift movement, she threw the ball toward Laura, but the spirit vanished before the bullet reached its target. It hit a tree trunk instead.

  Madison turned around, scanning the space that surrounded her. “Where’s she gone?”

  Her question was answered when Laura appeared again, this time on the jetty midway between Camilla and Madison.

  “Go away,” Madison screamed.

  Laura ignored her plea. With a simple nod of her head, she threw a bolt of force at Madison that hit her in the chest, sending her flying three meters backward through the air. The shock of her crash-landing stole Madison’s breath. The coppery taste of blood spread in her mouth. She had bitten her tongue and the inside of her cheek badly. Touching the corner of her mouth with the tip of her finger, she felt blood running down.

  “Are you hurt?” Rupert was by her side, gently helping her sit up.

  Madison struggled to recover her senses and spatial awareness. Somewhere in the background, she heard sobbing. Not the baby this time, but Camilla.

  “I’m fine.” Just a bundle of aches and pains.

  “You shouldn’t have tried to hurt her, Mother.” Rupert pressed Madison’s upper body tightly against his chest.

  “She doesn’t count, my love.”

  Rupert flinched, but he kept his voice steady. “Mother, please stop this. You can still change your mind. Let Father’s family live.”

  “Never.” Laura stopped paying attention to them. She stepped toward Camilla, whose sobbing mixed with her pleading words. Words that Laura ignored.

  44

  WITH ONE PULL, Rupert dragged Madison back to her feet. “Say the prayer
now.” His arm encircled her waist, supporting her as they walked closer to the jetty. “Come on, Maddie, now.”

  Camilla had taken one step backward as Laura approached. One more and she would fall into the waters. So would the newborn baby.

  “Try and reach Camilla,” Madison told Rupert. She wanted to give his mother one last chance. “Maybe your mother will accept it if it comes from you.”

  He took hold of Madison’s shoulders and squeezed reality back into her. “She’ll never give up on making my father pay. I can’t let more people be hurt. I can’t let her hurt you.”

  “Try one last time,” she pleaded.

  He nodded and turned back to face Laura. “You always pushed me to be a better person, to be kind to people. You would never have hurt anyone on purpose.” Rupert made his tone soothing. He waved his hands gently to plead his case.

  “Kindness doesn’t give me anything.” Laura’s words were sharp and final. “Every time, he betrays me and falls in love with another. I won’t let him find happiness this time around either.” With a cruel smirk on her face that spoiled her ethereal beauty, Laura’s attention shifted from Rupert to a point behind him. She extended her hand, almost waving. At what? At whom?

  Madison swiveled to follow her gaze but arms violently clasped her, blocking any further move. Her back crashed against a powerful chest—Hugo’s. The cold touch of the gun barrel pricked at her skin.

  “I have to kill her,” Hugo shouted.

  Rupert spun around and panic flashed through his eyes. “Father, you’re not yourself. It’s still time to break free.”

  The muscles in Madison’s legs tightened and she gulped down breaths to stay quiet. Inside, her adrenalin spiked. Words bubbled in her mouth but she was scared to talk and tip Hugo over the edge.

  “I don’t have a choice, not anymore,” Hugo cried out. “I tried, I really—”

  “You still have a choice.” Rupert cut him off. “You can kill me instead.”

  In a whoosh Laura appeared by Hugo’s side. “Don’t listen, Hugo,” she cried out. “Kill her, like I ordered you.”