‘No,’ Annie said, her voice muffled by her hands. She pulled her head up, revealing a face that had grown red. ‘This was something different. I don’t know what it was, but I knew I needed to get away from it. Being around your dad and that old woman was bad enough, but this… this was different. Just looking at it made me more terrified than I was when I was inside the house with your dad.’
‘What did it look like?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Annie said, stepping away. ‘The important thing is that your dad is dead. So, hopefully, the nightmares will stop, and whatever it was died there with him.’
‘Please,’ Danni said, ‘I need to know more. Don’t go.’
The woman opened the car door, still sobbing. ‘There’s no more to say. I’ve told you everything.’
‘But there has to be more,’ Danni said, pleading. ‘What was the thing in the mill? Did it do anything, say anything?’
‘No,’ Annie said and got into the car, shutting the door behind her. The window was already open and she looked out to Danni as she started the engine. ‘You need to get your family out of that place. It isn’t safe. There is something evil there. And it’ll kill you all.’
She then put the engine into gear and drove away, leaving Danni stunned.
12
THE JOURNEY back to the house was a quiet one.
Jon had asked Danni what the conversation she’d had with the woman was about, but she didn’t answer, instead drawing into herself. He wanted to press the matter with her, as it had clearly upset her, but, given that she had just come away from her father's funeral—and was obviously upset—he decided to leave it be.
For now.
He knew that heading back to the house wouldn’t really help his wife’s mood either, so when they approached the turnoff for the house, he simply kept on going.
‘You missed the turn, Dad,’ Alex said from the back seat.
‘I know,’ Jon replied, ‘but I thought we could do with spending a little time together away from all this.’
‘What did you have in mind?’ Danni asked, turning to face him.
‘It might not be the best place in the world, but I’m sure we can find somewhere in this town that has nice food. And not pizza this time. A proper meal. Sound good?’
‘It does to me,’ Alex said.
‘Yeah,’ Danni agreed. ‘Yeah, it does.’
They drove to town, to the relatively large car park in the centre of the square. It gave them a panoramic view of the whole area, allowing them to see what it had to offer.
They found a spot and got out of the SUV and Jon noticed that Leah, seemingly lost in her own world, did not make her usual bee-line to help Alex. The incident in the shower last night was obviously still playing on her mind. If Jon was being completely honest with himself, that disappointed him a little.
Though could he really blame her? She was still young—he needed to remember that. Hell, he’d had his own incident as well. One that, for a split second, had him considering the unthinkable: that something had pushed him. Of course, that was rubbish, and he’d admonished himself for even entertaining the idea. Still, a little time away from that house would be good for them all.
He walked to the rear door and helped Alex disembark before retrieving the boy’s crutches for him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leah take notice, and her face flushed; clearly a little embarrassed about not helping her brother.
‘Anywhere look good?’ Jon asked.
While there weren’t any restaurants around, per se, he did spot some pubs and figured a few of them would offer Sunday lunch.
‘How about that one?’ Alex asked, pointing a crutch to a public house in the centre of the square, aptly called The Old Mill. Out of the meagre selection available, it looked the most appealing, with a new render to its outer walls, clean windows, and a sleek sign with cursive font. It had clearly benefited from a recent makeover, which hopefully meant the food would be good.
‘Looks fine to me,’ Jon said. He looked to Danni and Leah for approval. ‘Everyone agree?’
Danni and Leah glanced at each other first, as if sharing a telepathic link. Without a word spoken between them, a consensus seemed to have been formed.
‘Let's go,’ Danni said.
DANNI REMEMBERED THE OLD MILL, but back in her day it had been known as The Fox Cub, and it had changed drastically since she had last been inside. It was the first place she’d ever bought an alcoholic drink, and it had been known in the village as being quite lenient in regards to who they served. This drew a younger crowd, many underage, getting them acquainted with the main pastime for adults in towns like this: drinking.
It was a completely different place now. The grimy carpets and stained, faded seats had all been replaced and upgraded. More than half the bar was set up with tables and chairs, and the place was more food oriented with only a small section designated as bar. The decor inside was now light and airy: lots of whites and magnolias, as opposed to the grungy feel she remembered from her youth, drinking the night away instead of going home to her father. Danni thought the place now bordered on being trendy.
A polite young girl who didn’t look much older than Leah approached and asked if they were intending to order food. Jon said they did, and she asked them to take a seat.
‘Anywhere specific?’ Jon asked.
‘Oh,’ she said with a big smile, ‘just sit wherever you want. The menus are on the table, so just decide what you want then come up to the bar and order when you’re ready.’
‘No problem,’ Jon said, but Danni knew he would have preferred being seated and having a waiter come over to take their order.
But Danni was just relieved that they didn’t have to go straight back to that house. Annie’s story was still fresh in her mind, and she was conflicted about what to do. She remembered the rather ominous warning.
You need to get your family out of that place.
It isn’t safe. There is something evil there.
And it’ll kill you all.
Maybe the girl was crazy—that would be the most logical explanation, the one Jon would cling to—but when it came to her family’s safety, Danni wasn’t so sure she could just ignore it so easily. The simple fact was, she didn’t want her family going back there. They would have to get their stuff, sure, but after that she wanted to be gone. However, she knew she would be at odds with Jon on that. It was already getting late in the day, so driving all the way home tonight was out of the question. That left the option of staying at a hotel or a bed and breakfast for the night, but she wasn’t sure how amenable he would be to that idea, either, given the whole stop running from the past pilgrimage he had insisted she go through.
They took a seat in the corner of the pub, one that had a view of the town square from a large sash window, and started to peruse the menu. While doing so, Danni took a moment to look around and see if she could spot anyone she recognised. Not that she particularly wanted to reconnect with anyone—it was more of a general curiosity.
There were a few families eating their meals, and one looked a little familiar, but not enough to strike up conversation. It was a family of five: what she assumed was a husband and wife, with two children—both younger than Alex—and an elderly woman who was seated in a wheelchair. It was the old lady that Danni remembered, and then it fell into place; she used to be a teacher at Danni’s old primary school. Although, Danni couldn’t quite recall her name.
There were other people dotted around in the bar area as well, and again some faces were vaguely familiar, like fuzzy echoes from her past.
‘Anything look appetising?’ Jon asked the kids.
Alex smiled. ‘They do pizza, that looks good.’
Jon laughed. ‘You had pizza last night, pick something else.’
‘I’ll have the spaghetti, then.’
‘A good choice. Leah?’
‘Same,’ Leah said and set the menu down. Danni noted that her daughter had barely even looked a
t the menu before deciding. The poor girl seemed weary and exhausted, so Danni made a mental note to get her alone and talk with her, to see if she could help. It wasn’t fair to put her through this. Whatever was really going on back at the house, the fact that it was affecting Leah like this meant, at least to Danni, they needed to fix it and get far away from the source of agitation.
And that meant she needed to have a conversation with Jon away from the children and put her foot down.
‘Okay,’ Jon said, ‘How about you, Danni? Don’t tell me you’re having spaghetti as well.’ He was trying to keep the tone light and jovial, to counter the somber atmosphere that was hanging over them. That wasn’t the way to fix this, though.
‘I’ll have a burger,’ she said.
‘And I’ll go with the hunter’s chicken. And for drinks?’
Everyone ordered a lemonade, with only Alex showing any kind of enthusiasm. ‘No problem,’ Jon said. ‘I’ll go and order.’
He got up and walked over to the bar, taking a menu with him. Danni saw her chance. ‘Wait here,’ she said to her children, ‘I just want to talk to your dad about something.’
She got to her feet and approached the bar as well, arriving just as Jon was finishing up with the order.
‘I’ll go get your drinks, and your food will be out shortly,’ said the same barmaid that had greeted them earlier.
Jon turned and looked a little surprised to see Danni next to him. ‘Change your mind about the burger?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘No, it isn’t that,’ she said, her tone serious.
His face took on a look of concern. ‘What is it? Everything okay?’
‘It’s just,’ Danni started, taking a moment to choose her words, ‘the house. And us staying in it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, it’s putting a lot of stress on us. I get why we are staying there, I do, and it was a good idea at the time. But now, I dunno, I just think we should consider staying someplace else tonight before we head home tomorrow.’
Jon rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes, Jon, I am. Have you seen your daughter over there? She looks like she hasn’t slept a wink. She’s scared, Jon, and she’s exhausted. There’s no reason to make her stay another night in a place we know she doesn’t like.’
‘Come on, Danni,’ Jon said, ‘there’s nothing to be scared of. She got herself spooked and confused. That’s all. It’s not a good enough reason to run away.’
‘What do you mean run away? I just don’t want to put our daughter through more stress.’
‘There’s nothing stressful about it, other than what’s in her head. And if we leave, then that is running away. Running from nothing. Jesus, Danni, what are we teaching our kids if we let them get scared of their own shadow?’
‘Jon, that’s not it, it's just—’
‘No, Danni,’ he snapped, cutting her off. ‘It’s just nothing. I’m not having it. There’s a reason we are here. Leah is a big girl, not a child, she has to learn the difference between imagination and reality. Frankly, I really thought she was too old for this kind of thing.’
‘How can you say that? Something really got to her, and you’re just dismissing it like it's nothing.’
‘Danni,’ he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, ‘it is nothing. That’s exactly what it is. And she can’t go through life like that.’
‘And what about me?’ Danni asked, trying a different tactic.
‘What about you?’
‘Did you ever stop to think how staying in that house would affect me? Do you know what I went through there when I was growing up?’
She started to raise her voice a little, just as the barmaid was returning with the drinks. The girl set them in front of Jon and gave an uncomfortable, closed-mouthed smile. She then moved quickly away, leaving them to it.
‘Of course I do,’ Jon said, sounding now a little less confrontational. ‘But that’s the whole reason we decided to do this.’
‘You decided to do this,’ Danni said, pushing Jon’s hand from her shoulder. ‘You decided it would be best for me and didn’t listen when I said I was uncomfortable.’
‘Danni, I know it’s hard, but come on, have you ever really dealt with what happened to you?’
‘How the hell do you deal with something like that?’ She raised her voice even more, anger taking over. This wasn’t a discussion to Danni anymore, it was an argument. She was aware the children were looking over, but couldn’t help herself—she couldn’t ease off or let it go. ‘And you know something else? This isn’t your problem to fix. I’ll deal with it in my own way.’
‘Not my problem to fix? You’re my wife, Danni. Your problems are my problems.’
‘Not this one,’ she said, gritting her teeth. ‘You don’t just visit an old house where bad things happened and suddenly everything is okay. What happened left scars, Jon. Scars that will stay with me forever. That’s just the way it is.’
‘But it doesn’t have to be—’
‘Stop it!’ she said, shouting. ‘Just stop trying to fix everything with your fucking logic. This isn’t a logical thing. So just stop it and be supportive. That’s all you need to do for me. Just back me up when I say I don’t want to stay in that fucking house anymore!’
Jon looked shocked at her outburst. He didn’t respond and was either stuck for something to say or was considering her words. She hoped it was the latter.
It seemed like it was.
‘Please,’ she said, lowering her voice and stepping closer to him. ‘Just support me. And support your daughter. We need to get away from that place.’
He tensed up. ‘What do you mean? Why do you say that?’
‘I told you, I’m not comfortable there.’
He studied her face, making Danni want to look away. ‘That isn’t it,’ he said. ‘There’s something else, something in your voice. What did that woman say at the cemetery, Danni?’
‘Nothing important,’ Danni said.
‘Then why avoid it? Why not tell me?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Then just tell me.’
He had a thread now, Danni realised, something to pull on. And she knew he wouldn’t let it go. He’d picked up on the urgency of her wanting to get out of the house, something beyond just her unease. She cursed herself for pushing too hard, as he’d seemed ready to relent.
‘Something happened to her,’ Danni said. ‘She said that my dad attacked her. That’s it.’
Jon’s eyes narrowed. ‘In the house?’
Danni nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Was it serious?’
‘Of course it was. How is an attack not serious?’
‘Did he hurt her?’
‘A little, but she managed to get away.’
‘Odd. After you spoke to her, you were really shaken up, Danni. I know finding out something like that about your dad would have been a bit of a shock, but considering what kind of person your father was, is it really that much of a surprise? What aren’t you telling me?’
‘Nothing,’ Danni said, suddenly feeling her words were futile.
‘Just tell me. You want me to be supportive? Then you have to be honest with me.’
Danni sighed, not wanting to divulge that information, but she saw no other option. ‘She said she saw something in the house.’
‘Something?’
‘An old woman watching her.’ Danni hung her head as she spoke. ‘And something else too. Something in the mill.’
‘An old woman? And something in the mill? Are you saying what I think you are, Danni?’ It was now his turn to raise his voice.
Danni noticed a middle-aged man in a suit-jacket approach them from behind the bar. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said again, wanting Jon to focus on what was important.
‘I don’t believe this,’ he said, throwing his hands up in the air.
‘Excuse me,’ the man in the jacket interjected. His na
me badge read: Tom Reed, Duty Manager. ‘I’m going to have to ask you to please keep your voices down.’
‘Did you honestly believe what she was telling you, Danni? Please tell me you didn’t.’
Danni couldn’t think of anything else to say, other than to yet again repeat herself. ‘That doesn’t matter. It isn’t what’s important.’
‘It does matter,’ Jon said. ‘And it’s exactly what’s important.’
‘Excuse me,’ the duty manager repeated, more forcefully this time. ‘If you don’t return to your table now and lower your voices, I am going to have to ask you to leave. Understand?’
Danni saw that Jon looked visibly disappointed in her. Neither of them spoke.
‘Do you understand?’ the duty manager asked again.
Jon nodded. ‘We do,’ he said, and scooped up all four glasses, pressing them together and linking his fingers around them. He walked back over to the table without saying another word to Danni.
The duty manager was looking at her now, eyebrows raised.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, not meaning it, and returned to the table.
The children looked worried and surprised. Danni and Jon didn’t fight often, and never in front of the kids.
The food came shortly after, and they ate in complete silence.
13
JON DIDN’T LIKE IT.
The whole idea of turning tail and fleeing over what amounted to no more than a ghost story was preposterous. More than that, it would completely negate any progress Danni had made this weekend fighting off the only demons in this world that were real: personal ones.
And those could be overcome, provided you faced up to them.
He didn’t like that Danni was upset, and he had known this weekend was going to be intensely difficult for her, but the fact was he knew she could get through it. She was strong enough, and it infuriated him that she couldn’t see it for herself.
The drive back to the house had been as quiet as the dinner they’d eaten at the pub, and Jon could feel the sense of unease and uncertainty hanging over the entire family. The children had obviously heard the argument and would be in limbo about what was going to happen—were they going to stay or go?
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