Chase took Lucy’s hand and led her away.
Steve turned back to the chair, and it contained the Lucy lookalike. He felt another pain in his chest as the chair rocked provocatively. He hit it hard with the ax and pushed it sideways. “It’s over. You mean, spiteful, bitch, it’s over.” He hit it again. It flew into the air a good six feet, landing on its side.
Steve ran back to the deck and grabbed the petrol can.
“Help me,” Val called from the netting.
“I am,” he said, and strode off the deck back to the rocker. It was upright and rocking its way back to the cabin. He stuck out his foot and stopped it. It rocked backward, and Lauren was in the chair. She looked wonderful and smiled up at him. He kicked the chair through what would have been her belly and his foot struck the wood.
He pulled off the top from the petrol can, and Lauren was back in the chair. He cried out as he poured petrol over her, soaked her clothing, her hair, and the rocker, and then she was gone. All he could see was the chair. He emptied the can onto it and stepped back.
He pulled matches from his pocket, and Lauren was back. She smiled up at him, a smile that chilled him to the bone. He lit a match. Lauren looked terrified. For a second, he hesitated, and the match burned lower, closer to his fingers. He could feel the heat from the flame, closer to his skin.
“It’s not her,” he whispered and stared at the match. It was burning lower, the fire devouring the wood in a last gasp. Just before it burned out, he flicked the match at the chair. It erupted into flame, and it was empty.
With a sigh of relief, he walked back to the cabin.
Chapter 40
Steve sat with his back against a large, gnarled old oak tree, staring down the road that led to the cabin. His heart still raced, and his breathing was ragged, but they were safe. Lucy and Chase were wrapped in blankets. Their tired faces smiled up at him, and a surge of love warmed him through. Lauren was next to him, still wrapped in the netting. She looked exhausted.
Steve stared at the stars, tiny pinpricks of life in a coal-black sky. He knew how lucky they had been, and somehow he knew this would strengthen them, and they would get through it. He turned and looked back at the cabin and realized they would all be glad to see the back of the place. To one side, away from the cabin, an orange glow still surrounded the chair.
Burn, you bitch. You deserve it.
“Mummy, are you okay?” Lucy asked.
“Yes, pumpkin, I’m fine.”
Lucy relaxed and shoved Bunkie at Chase, knocking his book from his fingers.
Steve tensed. Would the boy react? Chase dropped his book and grabbed the bunny, pushing it back at Lucy and using it to tickle her. The woods reverberated with delighted giggles.
Steve stared down at Lauren. Her face was covered with bruises and flecked with dirt. He smoothed her cheek and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
She smiled the biggest smile he had seen in months. “Don’t be. You saved us. From what, I may never understand, but you saved us. Just take me home.”
Steve hugged her close through the netting, marveling that they had survived.
“I don’t want pie for at least a month,” Lucy said.
Lauren laughed. “No, sweetie, Mummy’s never cooking again.”
The kids had sidled over to the tree and curled up close with their parents. Steve reached over and pulled their blankets up; the night was getting cold.
“We miss you, Mum. In fact, you’re nearly as grumpy as Dad used to be. Can you be at home more?” Lucy asked.
Lauren stared at them and then up at Steve. “You bet, pumpkin. I’ve missed you too.”
They could hear the sound of a vehicle approaching on the long road up to the cabin. Headlights blinded them as a police car pulled up on the narrow track.
Steve hugged Lauren and the kids, taking comfort from their warmth as they drove away from the cabin. He knew it was over and that now they could start and rebuild their lives. He glanced back. The chair was still burning. It created a merry glow in the sky. Soon it would be gone and Val would hurt no one else.
He smiled and looked forward as the two policemen drove them back to the town. They would have some explaining to do, but it was over. He felt a sharp pain and reached for his chest. When was the last time he had taken his aspirin?
Lauren’s look of love became one of concern. The police had removed the netting, so she reached down and checked his pulse. It was weak and erratic. “Steve. Steve,” she said.
“Is everything all right?” the policeman called.
“Hurry, please, he has a bad heart.”
Lauren clutched him to her as the children slept peacefully, oblivious to the unfolding drama.
The car surged down the hillside as the chair burned in the rear-view window. It started to rock, backward and forward, and the fire receded, as if starved of oxygen. The flames flickered and faded and with one final sputter, they died.
The chair rocked gently, spotlighted in the moonlight as the car whisked the family to safety.
Epilogue
A little over a week later, Lauren ushered the children into a plain gray hospital room. Steve was sitting on the bed wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Though he looked pale and a little thin, there was a smile on his face.
“Daddy,” Lucy shrieked and ran to him. “Are you coming home?” she asked as she hugged him tight.
Steve hugged her for a moment and then lifted her and sat her on the bed next to him. “I’m all dressed in clothes again, so I guess that means I can come home.”
Chase hugged his dad and sat on the other side of him. Lauren stood in front, a beautiful smile on her face. For a moment, Steve was transported back to the cabin and the horrors there. He spotted the fear in Lauren’s eyes. So far, they hadn’t talked about what happened. There hadn’t been time.
Once they were rescued he had been rushed to the hospital and it had been touch and go for a while. At last, they were releasing him, but he knew that he must take things easy. Still, they had to talk, had to try and understand what had happened.
“You kids grab Dad’s case and take it down to the car,” Lauren said.
As soon as they were gone, she took Steve’s hands. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
“I don’t really understand what happened,” Steve said, “but I know it wasn’t you. Maybe you were possessed, maybe I was going mad, or you were, but ...”
Lauren pulled some sheets of paper from her bag. “Remember that paper you picked up at the rest stop?”
Steve shook his head. “Vaguely.”
“It told of a woman who had murdered 29 people and then died in the rocking chair where she killed them. From what I’ve been able to find out, that was the rocking chair we picked up that night.”
“Oh my God,” Steve said, and his face turned slick and pale.
“Steve, are you all right? I don’t want to go on if it will stress you.”
Steve wiped the sweat off his forehead and shook his head. “Not knowing is more stressful. Wondering if it could happen again ... if the children are safe. Please. I need to know.”
Lauren nodded and squeezed his hands. “I didn’t know what to do after I found that out, but I wanted to see if I could get picture of the victims. I contacted the local paper from the area and they sent me these.” Lauren showed him the pictures and one by one, she turned them over.
Steve recognized each one—the cheeky boy, the girl who looked like Lucy, and on and on as Lauren showed him each page. As he saw them, he had a vision of what they looked like after Val had finished and it sent a shudder down his spine.
“They were there,” he said, and realized it sounded so weak.
“I know. I saw them through her, saw what I did to them.”
“But, how?”
Lauren let out a sigh. “I don’t know if you will believe me ... don’t know if I believe it myself, but I did some research ...”
The seconds drifted on and on. “Research?” he asked.
“I found out that some people believe that if people die in terrible circumstances, that it leaves an imprint ... it’s complicated, but there is a theory that energy can’t be destroyed, only changed. Therefore, when someone dies in such a terrible and violent way, that energy remains ... it manifests.”
“I ... I ... well, here, in the cold light of day, it is hard to believe. But I don’t know what else could explain what I saw ... not if you saw it too.”
“I did.” Lauren nodded. “I did. I think that Val somehow managed to control the people she killed ... she managed to control their spirits and forced them to do her bidding. With their energy, she forced me to do it too. I will never forgive myself for what happened ... for what I did and what I could have done.”
“How are they?” Steve asked.
Lauren smiled. “Amazing. I got them a counselor, but he said that if we don’t make a fuss that they will get over it and they seem to be doing just that. Sometimes Lucy has nightmares, but they are becoming less frequent. I think we are so lucky.”
“In your research ... is it over?”
Lauren nodded and a big smile crossed her face. “Destroying the chair will have severed the spirit’s link with this world. She would have been attached to that chair and without it, she will be gone.”
Steve pulled her into his arms and found her lips. They tasted sweet and promising. Just as he started to deepen the kiss, he felt a hand tugging at his arm. Looking down, he saw Lucy holding a bedraggled bunch of wildflowers.
“I picked these for you, Daddy.”
Steve took them and his eyes widened. “They are so beautiful. Thank you so much, my little pumpkin.”
Taking Lucy in one arm, he ruffled Chase’s hair and then grabbed Lauren’s arm. “Let’s go home.”
“I’ve cut down my hours,” Lauren said as they passed through the door and into the hallway.
“Really?”
“Yep, I’ve done some figures. We can manage even if you don’t start work for a while.”
“I guess the holiday was worth it, then,” Steve said.
Everyone groaned.
“Okay, maybe not,”
“It taught me one thing,” Lauren said.
Steve stopped to look at her and raised his eyebrows in question.
“Family is worth more than possessions. Now let’s go home.”
Lucy let out a shriek of joy and suddenly she had Bunkie. Steve noticed that the bunny had a bandage on his leg. Lucy ran down the corridor with him, pretending that he was being rushed into hospital.
The sound of happy laughter followed them as they made their way back to the car and a future that felt bright and exciting.
The Haunting of Seafield House – Preview.
30th June 1901
Seafield House.
Barton Flats,
Yorkshire.
England.
am.
Jenny Thornton sucked in a tortured breath and hunkered down behind the curtains. The coarse material seemed to stick to her face, to cling there as if holding her down. Fighting back the thought and the panic it engendered she crouched even lower and tried to stop the shaking of her knees, to still the panting of her breath. It was imperative that she did not breathe too loudly, that she kept quiet and still. If she was to survive with just a beating, then she knew she must hide. Tonight he was worse than she had ever seen him before. Somehow, tonight was different, she could feel it in the air.
Footsteps approached on the landing. They were easy to hear through the door and seemed to mock her as they approached. Each step was like another punch to her stomach, and she could feel them reverberating through her bruises. Why had she not fled the house?
As if in answer, lightening flashed across the sky and lit up the sparsely furnished room. There was nothing between her and the door. A dresser to her right provided no shelter for an adult yet her eyes were drawn to the door on its front. It did not move but stood slightly ajar. Inside, her precious Alice would keep quiet. They had played this game before, and the child knew that she must never come out when Daddy was angry. When he was shouting. Would it be enough to keep her safe? Why had Jenny chosen this room? Before she could think, thunder boomed across the sky and she let out a yelp.
Tears were running down her face, had he heard her? It seemed unlikely that he could hear such a noise over the thunder and yet the footsteps had stopped. Oh my, he was coming back. Jenny tried to make herself smaller and to shrink into the thick velvet curtains, but there was nowhere else to go.
If only she had listened to her father, if only she had told him about Alice. For a moment, all was quiet, she could hear the house creak and settle as the storm raged outside. The fire would have burned low, and soon the house would be cold. This was the least of her problems. Maybe she should leave the room and lead Abe away from their daughter. Maybe it was her best choice. Their best choice.
Lightning flashed across the sky and filled the room with shadows. Jenny let out a scream for he was already there. A face like an overstuffed turkey loomed out of the darkness, and a hand grabbed onto her dress. Jenny was hauled off her feet and thrown across the room. Her neck hit the top of the dresser, and she slumped to the floor next to the door. How she wanted to warn Alice to stay quiet, to stay inside but she could not make a sound. There was no pain, no feeling and yet she knew that she was broken. Something had snapped when she hit the cabinet, and somehow she knew it could never be fixed. That it was over for her. In her mind, she prayed that her daughter, the child who had become her daughter, would be safe just before a distended hand reached out and grabbed her around the neck. There was no feeling just a strange burning in her lungs. The fact that she did not fight seemed to make him angrier and she was picked up and thrown again.
As she hit the window, she heard the glass shatter, but she did not feel the impact. Did not feel anything. Suddenly, the realization hit her and she wanted to scream, to wail out the injustice of it but her mouth would not move. Then he was bending over her.
“Beg for your life, woman,” Abe Thornton shouted and sprayed her with spittle.
Jenny tried to open her mouth, not to beg for her own life but to beg for that of her daughter’s. She wanted to ask him to tell others about the child they had always kept a secret, the one that he had denied. To admit that they had a daughter and maybe to let the child go to her grandparents. Only her mouth would not move, and no sound came from her throat.
She could see the red fury in his eyes, could feel the pressure building up inside of him and yet she could not even blink in defense. This was it, the end, and for a moment, she welcomed the release. Then she thought of Alice, alone in that cupboard for so long. Now, who would visit her, who would look after her? There was no one, and she knew she could never leave her child.
Abe grabbed her by the front of her dress and lifted her high above his head. The anger was like a living beast inside him, and he shook her like she was nothing but a rag doll. Then with a scream of rage, he threw her. This time she saw the curtains flick against her face and then there was nothing but air.
The night was dark, rain streamed down, and she fell with it. Alongside it she fell, tumbling down into the darkness. In her mind she wheeled her arms, in her mind she screamed out the injustice, but she never moved, never made a sound.
Instead, she just plummeted toward the earth.
Lightning flashed just before she hit the ground. It lit up the jagged rocks at the base of the house, lit up the fate that awaited her and then it was dark. Jenny was overwhelmed with fear and panic, but there was no time to react, even if she could. Jenny smashed into the rocks with a hard thump and then a squelch, but she didn’t feel a thing.
“Alice, I will come back for you,” she said in her mind. Then it was dark, it was cold, and there was nothing.
25th June 2017
15 Elm Field Road.
London.
England.
pm.
Gail Pa
rker stopped the car and rested her head against the steering wheel. Suddenly, she felt so exhausted, so totally shattered that she did not think she could walk the few feet back to her house. It was not the walk that she dreaded but having to hide her diagnosis. Having to face Jesse and either tell him what had happened, or even worse, to keep it from him.
Yet now was not the time to give him her news. Jesse was excited, which wasn’t unusual. Whenever he found a new house to investigate he was always excited. Only this one seemed different. This time he was so sure, and this time she had agreed to go with him. She would give him this one weekend, and then she would tell him the news. They would face it together, or she would face it alone. It did not matter. Nothing could alter the outcome.
Tears prickled at the back of her eyes but she bit down on her lip and forced them away. A blue Daisy waved at her from the dashboard. When she bought the Volkswagen beetle, the little Daisy had delighted her, yet now she wanted to rip it from the dashboard and stamp on it. A laugh escaped her. As if that would really help.
Pulling down the visor she checked her face. Though her eyes were a little puffy, they were not too bad. This month she had lost 12 lbs, and that hid some of the damage. It didn’t look as if she had been crying, she would do.
It was time to put a smile on her face and pretend nothing had happened.
Seafield House,
Brinkley Moor,
Yorkshire.
7.45 pm
After a four hour drive, Jesse pulled the 10-year-old Jeep up outside a dilapidated house. The car was his pride and joy, it was the only vehicle that could take all of his equipment. It was not that it was any bigger than other cars, it was just that Jesse had spent years getting it just right, every corner, every nook, and every cranny was filled with custom-made pockets for his equipment. Sometimes Gail would wish he would change it, get something newer, something that had working air conditioning, but she knew it would never happen and the trusty car had never let them down... yet.
Daddy Won't Kill You- The Haunting in the Woods Page 18
