The Third Skull (Book Two - The Revelation): A Paranormal Mystery Thriller

by Andrew Stafford

  The officer paused and then spoke in an even more hushed tone.

  “What’s with the hole, he told me he’s digging for treasure?”

  “I know, he told me that too, I don’t know what’s happening. I'm sure a counsellor can help.”

  “I’m worried about the kitchen falling in on itself, have you seen how deep it is?”

  “I have, and luckily I was in the building trade before I retired, so I can assure you his house is safe, providing he digs no deeper.”

  “He’s lucky to have you as a friend,” said the officer.

  Butler smiled and shook his hand.

  “I’ll note what you’ve told me in my report.”

  “Yes officer, you do that. And if you need to speak with me, you’ll find me in the house across the road,” said Butler pointing to the other side of Whitcombe Fields Road.

  Butler saw the officer to the door and promised to keep an eye on Finn. He closed the door and let out an almighty sigh.

  He turned to see Finn in the hallway with a vacant look upon his face.

  “I can't do this anymore,” said Finn.

  “You can, you’re almost there, you can’t stop now. Think of the money and what you can do with the seventy five thousand pounds I’m paying you.”

  “I’m tired and I ache,” complained Finn.

  “Come with me,” said Butler as he took him by the arm and led him towards the kitchen.

  With every step Finn took towards the kitchen, Drake became more prominent. Butler guided him to the edge of the hole and the two of them peered in. Drake’s character overpowered Finn’s diminishing spirit. Butler noticed the muscles in Finn’s arm tense as they looked at the hole. Finn climbed down. The instant his feet stepped from the ladder he called to Butler who was looking from above.

  “Joseph, pass me the pick and be quick.”

  Butler smiled when he referred to him as ‘Joseph’.

  “Good work Alexander, you must be close.”

  Alexander Drake looked up at his old friend Joseph Morris and smiled as Morris handed him the pick.

  “I am close Joseph, I’m very close indeed. I can almost smell those little bastards beneath my feet.”

  Chapter 63

  “I can assure you I don’t know anyone called Gabriel Butler,” protested Sophie.

  “He told me he’s been friends with your husband for a long time,” said the police officer.

  Sophie was confused and looked perplexed.

  “He said he lives in the house across the road,” he added.

  “That house belongs to Kieran and Linda Tempest, but they’ve moved out. They did a moonlight flit, they just upped sticks and went.”

  The officer noted what Sophie said.

  “The thing is Mrs. Maynard, your husband has broken no laws, there’s nothing he can be arrested for, and all I can do is refer him to Social Services and that is already in hand.”

  “ALREADY IN HAND!” shouted Sophie.

  “Yes, Mr. Butler is taking care of things.”

  “I’m telling you, neither Finn, nor I, know Gabriel Butler.”

  Sophie stood up, stormed to the other side of her parents’ lounge and faced the officer with her arms folded.

  “So you’re telling me that although my husband has made a complete 360 degree turn in personality, he no longer seems to remember who he is, has thrown me out of the house and is digging a cavern beneath our house, there's nothing the police can do.”

  “It’s hardly a cavern, it’s a hole,” replied the officer.

  “That’s not the point, and you know it.”

  “As I’ve previously mentioned, Gabriel Butler has contacted Social Services and has arranged a home visit from a counsellor.”

  “WE DON’T KNOW GABRIEL BUTLER!” shouted Sophie.

  She turned away and placed her hands against her temples to calm herself.

  “Sorry, but you may as well go, you are neither use nor ornament.”

  The officer stood up and placed his notebook in his pocket.

  “I’ll investigate Gabriel Butler and see whether we have any information on record,” said the officer in a sheepish tone of voice.

  “Yes, you do that,” snapped Sophie as she almost bundled the police officer out of the house, closing the door behind him.

  Heather sat in the corner.

  “We have to get Finn out of there,” said Sophie.

  “I’ll speak with Mark and Hugh from work, the big guys I told you about. They’ll have no trouble convincing him to leave.”

  “Call them now, Finn needs to be out of that place as soon as possible. I’m worried that he'll go the same way as the others."

  Just after six pm, Hugh Black and Mark Cook pulled up outside Finn and Sophie’s house in Hugh’s transit van. Heather and Sophie were sitting on a couple of bean bags in the back.

  Both Hugh and Mark were well over six feet tall and both played rugby for Clifton Old Boys. Most of the time they were two gentle giants unless someone or something had upset them. If that were to happen, there would be trouble with a capital ‘T’.

  Butler watched with curiosity from his lounge window as Sophie knocked on the door. He wondered who the other young woman and large men were.

  Sophie rapped again - no answer. She grabbed her keys and luckily Finn hadn’t deadlocked the door from the inside. Sophie entered, followed by Heather, Mark and Hugh.

  Finn wasn’t in the lounge or dining room, so Sophie went to the kitchen expecting to find him in the hole. He wasn’t there either. She was shocked to see how deep it had become since the last time she’d seen it.

  She made her way back to the hall where the others were waiting for her.

  “He’s not here,” whispered Sophie shrugging her shoulders.

  Heather put her fingers to her lips and shushed her sister as the sound of running water came from upstairs.

  “He must be in the bathroom,” whispered Heather.

  Sophie ushered Heather and the two giants into the lounge and waited for her husband at the bottom of the stairs.

  Finn made his way down, and at first he didn’t notice his wife waiting in the hall.

  She was shocked at how vague and worn he looked.

  His eyes met with hers. He said nothing, pushed past her and made his way back to the kitchen.

  “Finn, you need to get out, please come with me.”

  He didn’t answer and continued to make his way to the hole.

  “Don’t go to the kitchen, come with me, you must leave.”

  There was no response.

  It was time to involve Mark and Hugh.

  Butler strode across the road. Again he had to intervene. Whatever Sophie was doing needed to be stopped.

  The door was ajar, he pushed it open and stepped inside. Finn stood by the kitchen door and Mark and Hugh gripped his arms.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” boomed Butler.

  “We’re getting him out of here,” replied Hugh in a confident voice which made it clear he wouldn't be intimidated by the elderly man.

  “Under whose authority?” demanded Butler.

  “Mine!” said Sophie stepping into the hallway.

  Sophie looked at the tall old man with grey hair.

  “I suppose you must be Gabriel Butler,” said Sophie.

  “Hello Sophie, it's a pleasure to finally meet you,” replied Butler in a suave and charming tone.

  “Boys, don’t listen to this man, get Finn out of here,” demanded Sophie.

  Hugh and Mark walked Finn along the hallway. He didn’t put up a fight and sluggishly allowed them to walk him towards the front door.

  Butler stepped between Finn, Mark, Hugh and the door.

  “Let go of him!” demanded Butler.

  Hugh and Mark ignored him and continued to walk Finn out of the house.

  Butler stood nose to nose with Hugh, who was similar in height. Hugh had the advantage as he was fifteen stone of well-toned muscle. Butler was small framed
at just over 12 stone.

  “I'll ask one more time. Let go of him and step aside,” said Butler in a calm and authoritative tone.

  Hugh grinned and continued to push pass Butler whilst holding Finn by his arm. Mark was on the other side gripping Finn’s other arm.

  And then it happened.

  Sophie could not believe her eyes. In a heartbeat, the old man grabbed Hugh’s arm and twisted so he’d broken it and the ulna protruded through his skin.

  Hugh dropped to the floor and howled as the pain made him feel ill.

  Mark couldn’t believe what he’d seen. A man who appeared to be in his seventies, had broken his best friend’s arm and had hardly touched him. He relaxed his grip on Finn’s arm and took a step back.

  “Now, unless you would like the same thing to happen to you, I suggest you let go of my friend.”

  Mark pulled Finn towards him and replaced his hand on Finn’s arm.

  “Come no closer,” said Mark. His voice hinted an air of nervousness.

  Before Mark could react, Butler darted forward, grabbed the back of his head and rammed it into the newel posts of the stairs. His head broke clean through a post, rendering him unconscious.

  Butler turned to Sophie.

  “Young lady, don’t be deceived by my appearance, you can see what I am capable of. I suggest you and your friend leave and don’t, under any circumstances, involve anyone else.”

  “I’m not giving up that easily,” said Sophie trying her best to not show fear.

  Butler raised an eyebrow.

  “Let me put it this way. You’ve seen what’s just happened to Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Wouldn’t it be a shame if something happened to your beautiful children.”

  “Don’t you lay a finger on them,” demanded Sophie.

  “Oh, I’m sure I won’t, unless you continue to snoop around and get in the way of things.”

  Sophie took Butler’s advice. She looked at Hugh, who rocked back and forth while he gripped his broken arm. She glanced towards Mark, who was out for the count and had a severe cut to the top of his head. She called to Heather who had been in the lounge and was trembling with fear.

  Heather stepped into the hall and for the first time she set eyes upon Gabriel Butler.

  But she didn’t see the tall silver haired man that Sophie, Mark and Hugh had seen. Instead she looked at a short, squat, ugly man with a blue ink tattoo on his cheek and a mouthful of rotten teeth.

  “My God,” whispered Heather into her sister’s ear. “That’s the man who killed Alice Donaldson.”

  “What do you mean,” replied Sophie in a confused tone.

  “He’s not Gabriel Butler, his name is Joseph Morris, and he’s the one who murdered Alice Donaldson…….., we need to get out of here now.”

  He cackled a menacingly deep laugh and watched the two women leave the house and hurriedly make their way along Whitcombe Fields Road.

  “I’ll deal with them later,” he said to himself. He turned to Finn slumped in the doorway to the kitchen.

  “Come on Mr. Drake, the party’s finished. It’s time to return to work.”

  Chapter 64

  “What do you mean ‘it’s cold’,” snapped Linda Tempest.

  “Because it’s a cold lump of rock,” replied Kieran.

  He held the head and examined the painted face.

  Linda placed her hand next to her husband’s on the rock and shook her head.

  “What’s the matter with you, it feels as if it’s been in an oven!”

  “Not to me it doesn’t.”

  She sighed, took the stone head with an oven glove and cautiously placed it on the floor. Kieran eyed her with suspicion.

  “Butler called this morning,” announced Kieran.

  He was nervous about telling Linda because she didn’t trust the man.

  She glared at him.

  “I guessed it wouldn’t be the last we’d hear from him. What does he want?”

  “He has a job for me.”

  “I hope you said no.”

  “I didn’t, he told me it'd be worth our while. He’s talking about a million for an evening’s work this month. It’s the last thing he wants me to do for him.”

  “A million, for an evening’s work in December? What does he expect you to do? Be Father fuckin’ Christmas for the night?” snapped Linda.

  “He didn’t say, he told me about the money. I mean a million for an evening’s work, I couldn’t say no.”

  “Kieran, we don’t need any more money, we have more than we’ll ever need and I don’t trust the man. And to be honest, I was happier before we were wealthy.”

  Kieran attempted to speak, but Linda interrupted him.

  “I’ve told you before. He’s got his claws into you. He thinks he has you under his control and you need to prove him wrong. Tell him you’re not interested.”

  “But you know what he’s like, it’s difficult to say no.”

  “Which is why you need to stand your ground and tell him no.”

  Kieran knew she was right.

  “Admit it, weird shit was happening in our old road, and Butler wanted to find out everything. Like who lived in that house, who died there and how they’d died. And that stuff you had to confirm about the connections between those who’d killed themselves.”

  Linda stood up and circled the room.

  “And what about that bloody bird, that huge crow or whatever it was.”

  “It’s a raven.”

  “Whatever the hell the thing is, it freaks me out.”

  “Butler predicted it would turn up when the right person moved into that house, and he was correct,” said Kieran.

  “Which is why you must have nothing further to do with him. I’m telling you, he’s trouble, and I reckon he’s evil.”

  Everything Linda said was right. He should say ‘no’ to Butler, but just couldn’t. Linda had hit the nail on the head when she’d said Gabriel Butler ‘had his claws in him’.

  “I promise, this will be the last job I do for him,” said Kieran.

  Linda crossed her arms, shook her head and didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. Her body language made it clear she’d had enough of Butler.

  Butler had promised Kieran one million pounds. But there wasn’t enough money in the world to pay for the task Butler had in mind.

  Chapter 65

  Butler bundled Hugh Black and Mark Cook into the transit van and assured them if he ever came across them again, or should they contact the police, he would kill them. They knew he wasn’t kidding, and what scared them about the threatening and intimidating old man, he was more than capable of carrying out his promise.

  He’d guided Finn back to the kitchen, and just as before, the closer Finn got to the hole, the more prominent Drake became.

  An hour later, Joseph Morris sat in the corner of the kitchen reading Middlemarch, making observations of the story in his notebook whilst listening to the clank of the pickaxe against the rubble. The sound of Drake digging stopped and Morris looked up as he hauled out another bucket of rubble to be dumped.

  He emptied the stones and soil in the garden which looked like a bomb site, returned to the kitchen and sat down next to Morris.

  “You’re still reading that crap,” said Drake.

  Morris smiled and put the book down.

  “Haven’t you something else to do, whilst I’m sweating my balls off digging that hole?” added Drake.

  Morris sighed.

  “All in good time. Don’t worry I’m confident I’ll find Mathias. Azazel will guide me as he has for the past two hundred years.”

  “Well, don’t be too confident. If it wasn’t for you dumping the kid in the pond, we wouldn’t be here today wondering where the hell we should look for his body.”

  Morris raised his hand.

  “It’s going to be fine. Just leave Mathias to me.”

  “What about Albert Cromwell? He needs to be with us too.”

  “I know, I know. That’s som
ething I’ve already taken care of.”

  Drake took a swig of water and climbed back into the hole, whilst Morris settled back in a chair and continued reading his book.

  Drake was like a machine. He was relentless and it was astonishing how much rubble and soil he’d cleared in the past few hours.

  When Finn began digging, his work was sluggish and half-hearted. His only motivation had been the money Butler offered. Finn didn’t know he wouldn’t receive a penny from Butler, nor did he know that within a matter of days Finn Maynard would no longer exist. The deeper the hole became, and the closer he came to the well, the more Alexander Drake’s life force crept up and infiltrated him. Memories of Sophie, Rosie and Jack became lost in the swirling ocean of Drake’s evil mind. Recollections of the time when he had last walked the earth just under two hundred years ago became clear and vivid, as if they were yesterday.

  The sound of the pickaxe against the soil changed. Instead of the dull thud and the cracking of stone, Drake heard a hollow clunk. He stopped and took a breath. In the cramped confines of the hole, he lifted the pick and plunged it down again.

  He heard it again. Drake put down the pick and stamped on the ground. He detected a slight movement.

  “Joseph, throw me the spade, I’ve found something.”

  Morris jumped up and ran to the edge of the hole.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure, just pass me the spade.”

  Morris dropped the spade which Drake caught by the handle.

  “Get me a torch.”

  Drake scraped away at the soil and rocks with the spade until he came across something flat and smooth. He knelt down and in the confined space he scratched at the soil with his fingers.

  “What is it?” repeated Morris.

  Drake didn’t answer, he continued to clear away the soil with his hands. His beating heart was in his mouth as shards of grit cut into the tips of his fingers.

  Morris waited impatiently for Drake to say something, but couldn't wait any longer.

  "Alexander, what is it, what's down there?"