by Helen Phifer
‘You better come in, lad. Congratulations by the way. I don’t think I’ve seen you since you got your promotion.’
‘Thanks. How are you keeping? It must be lonely around here without Vera.’
Crosby nodded, turning his head away so Tony couldn’t see the tears that filled his eyes and were threatening to fall. He lifted his sleeve and brushed his eyes with it. Then he coughed to clear his throat.
‘Aye, you’re not wrong. It’s miserable is what it is. I never knew what a boring job it was making the tea until I had to do it myself every day the week after she passed. Poor lass had been doing it for forty-four years and never complained once.’
‘That’s because Vera enjoyed it, you daft bugger. She made the best beef stew and dumplings I’ve ever tasted in my life. She was a lovely woman and I’m sorry that she’s gone.’
Crosby nodded. ‘She was. So what brings me the pleasure of a visit from you?’ He didn’t really want to know, because he already had a sneaking feeling what it was.
‘The church have decided to open the convent; it’s going to be an orphanage.’
The words hung in the air. Crosby inhaled sharply. His throat constricted and he felt as if he couldn’t breathe.
‘Sarge, you’ve gone grey. Are you all right? Come on, let’s get you sat down.’
Tony took his arm and directed him to the chair he’d been sitting in; then he went in search of a bottle of whisky. He knew that Crosby was partial to a drink so didn’t have to look very far. He came back into the sitting room with a half empty bottle and a glass. Crosby watched as he poured out a large measure and handed him the glass.
‘Here, drink this. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to bother you with this. I know you have enough on your plate, but I couldn’t not tell you. I didn’t want you to find out at the post office or the pub. I think you have a right to know and I have to tell you, boss, I’m terrified. I don’t know what to do; I’ve spoken to the priest who’s taken over from Father Patrick. I’ve phoned the archbishop. None of them are interested because none of them ever set foot in that house. They never saw the horrors we saw or dealt with the aftermath, and now they’re going to fill it with kids who have no families, no one to love them. They’re sending them to their deaths. All those innocent souls are going to get dragged into whatever dark place that exists in there and I don’t know how to stop it.’
Crosby swallowed the amber liquid in one mouthful. ‘They can’t. Don’t they realise what they’re dealing with?’
‘Obviously not – they don’t care because they weren’t here when it happened. What should I do?’
‘Burn the fucking place to the ground. I’m sorry, Tony, but I can’t see any other way around it. If it’s burnt down they can’t open it up as an orphanage, can they?’
‘I can’t do that. I’d end up getting arrested and lose my job. I’d go to prison. I have too much to lose.’
Crosby nodded. ‘I suppose not. Well then, Tony, I don’t know what to suggest. I do know that whatever the price you can’t let innocent children live there. It doesn’t bear thinking about. I’ll phone the church tomorrow and speak to the priest. I don’t really know him that well, although he seems a decent enough chap. He came to see me after Vera died and he’s been a couple of times since. Maybe it’s time to fill him in on the history of the convent. If he’s got any conscience he will agree with us and do his best to put a stop to it.’
Tony nodded.
‘That would be great, thank you. I’m sorry I had to bother you with this, but I didn’t know who to turn to. You were there – you know how bad that house is. What would you do if you were me?’
‘I’ve told you, son, burn it down until there’s nothing but ashes left.’
‘I wish I could. If there was some way possible, believe me I would.’
Tony had left with the promise to come back and let him know if they’d managed to stop the convent being opened up again, but Crosby knew. He knew fine well that the powers that be had decided and they wouldn’t change their minds. Hell, he wouldn’t believe it if he hadn’t witnessed firsthand the brutal deaths that house had caused.
He looked at the bottle of whisky, then picked it up and took a long gulp from the bottle. He stood up. He knew what he had to do and he was going to do it. Screwing the cap back on the bottle, he carried it to the garage where he kept the box of cleaning rags that Vera no longer had use for. He took the heavy metal can he kept full of petrol and put it into the boot of his car along with the rags, then he put a crowbar and sledgehammer inside.
It was time to end this before anyone else died. He should have done it years ago. He opened the garage door then got into his car, half expecting it not to start as if the house would know what he was going to do and try to stop him. He looked at his watch. It was almost eight o’clock. With any luck he’d be home before anyone realised the house was on fire. He’d go to bed and lock the door in case the police came to speak to him. Hopefully it would be Tony. Even though he would know it was him, he would realise he’d done it for the right reason and decide not to come and arrest him. If he did arrest him then so be it. At least he’d have some company in prison.
He never passed a single soul on the way to the convent; the roads were deserted – so far so good. As he approached the drive his head, which had been slightly muzzy, cleared. All traces of the alcohol disappeared from his system. He wished he was still drunk and looked at the whisky bottle on the seat next to him. He turned into the drive. He could turn around; it wasn’t too late. He could forget about it, but he was here for the right reason. It was the perfect time. There was no one living in that house. As the car rounded the bend, the headlights illuminated the house. Crosby’s heart skipped a beat.
It loomed against the backdrop of the inky sky like some giant beast, but he forced himself to keep on driving towards it despite the cold shard of fear that had lodged inside his chest. There was no going back. This had to end now, tonight. He stopped in front of the house and grabbed the bottle of whisky. He unscrewed the cap and took an extra-long gulp, then he took one of the rags from the boot of the car and pushed it inside until it was soaking up the alcohol.
He lifted the heavy can of petrol out of the boot and began dragging it towards the front door. After fumbling with the cap he managed to unscrew it and began to pour it around the front door, then along the perimeter of the house as far as he could go until he’d emptied the can. As he ran back to the car he took out the box of matches he kept in the glove compartment. With hands that were trembling, he tried to strike one to light the rag in the whisky bottle. It blew straight out. He struck another and this one snapped in half.
Praying for God to give him a break and at least help him halfway he struck one more, which lit. He held it to the alcohol-soaked rag and grinned; then he stumbled towards the house and launched it at the puddle of petrol he’d left by the front doors. As the glass bottle smashed there was a loud whooshing sound and the flames began to rise. They licked at the heavy oak doors. Movement from the upstairs window made him look up. He was horrified to see Vera watching him from up there. She was banging on the glass for him to get her out.
‘Vera, oh my God. I’m so sorry. I’m coming. I’ll get you out, love.’
It never crossed him mind that Vera was dead and even if the house burnt to the ground it couldn’t hurt her. Shouting her name, he ran towards the front steps to get to the front door. He stepped in a puddle of petrol and it soaked the bottom of his trouser hems, which he’d been meaning to take up and had never got around to it. As he carried on shouting her name and trying to get through the flames to rescue her, his trousers caught alight and within seconds he was fully ablaze.
Crosby stumbled back, falling down the stone steps. His body burned as the flames engulfed him. As he fell to the floor and looked up, he could no longer see Vera. In her place was the young woman with the darkest hair and the reddest lips he’d ever seen. He gasped. Lilith. As the flames began to
burn the flesh from his bones, he realised he’d been tricked and he prayed for death to come quick. The house had won yet again and this time he was the victim.
***
Tony couldn’t settle. He kept thinking about what Crosby had said and he wondered if he was right. Maybe they should burn the house to the ground. The telephone on his desk rang and he picked it up. ‘What now? Christ, have you called the fire brigade? Right, I’m on my way.’
It didn’t take a genius to work out that Crosby had decided to finally do something about the convent and had taken the matter into his own hands. He ran from his office and slapped Jed around the head. Jed was in his chair, eyes shut and snoring loudly. Jed jumped up.
‘Sorry, boss, what’s the matter?’
‘The convent is on fire. Come on.’
‘What’s the rush? It’s empty and you were complaining about it earlier. Aren’t you glad to see it burning down?’
Tony never answered him as he dashed towards the car. Both men got in and he drove as fast as he could through the narrow, winding roads to get to the house. Although he wanted the house to burn to the ground, he wanted to make sure Crosby wasn’t in any trouble.
As they approached the house they could smell the acrid smell of smouldering wood and something else. Tony knew before he even got out of the car what he was going to find and his heart felt heavy. Crosby, you old fool, what have you done? He stopped the car next to Crosby’s and climbed out. The only thing alight was the body lying at the foot of the steps to the convent entrance. It was almost out, but the stench was horrendous. Tony covered his nose and mouth as he heard Jed gag next to him.
‘Is that…? Oh my God that’s a person! Oh shit, I’m going to…’
He didn’t have time to finish his sentence as he stumbled away and was violently sick all over his own boots. Tony stepped as close as he could. He couldn’t recognise his old boss and friend, but he knew it was him without a shadow of a doubt. Crosby’s car was there.
Tony looked up to see if the house was burning down. The flames had all extinguished themselves. There was some smoke damage to the brickwork and the front door had black singe marks running up it, but apart from that there was no real damage. Tony knew why. There was no way the evil in that house was ready to give up without a fight. Crosby had died for nothing; the house didn’t even look as if it needed anything more than a hose down and the door needed a lick of paint. Movement from the upstairs window caught his eye, but instead of looking up like Crosby had Tony chose to ignore it.
‘Boss, boss, there’s someone inside. Upstairs. I just saw them.’
‘No you didn’t. It was the curtain blowing in the wind. That front room is draughty; it always looks like that. I need you to get something out of the car to cover him over with. I can’t bear to look at him like this.’
‘But I swear…’
‘And I’m telling you, Jed, if you know what’s good for you go and get a blanket. There is no one in that house. It’s been empty for years.’
Chapter Nineteen
Ollie and Kate arrived first, closely followed by Beatrice and Joe. Ollie took hold of Kate’s hand. ‘I have no idea what’s going to happen – or if anything will – but I want you to know that I’m falling in love with you more and more each day. If we can’t sort this thing out and it’s too dangerous for you to live here, then I’d like you to move in with me. You can sell the house. It should get a good price with the amount of renovations that have been done and you can find somewhere else.’
‘I love you too, Oliver, and thank you. I also love this house and I don’t know why I feel so strongly about it, I just do. Today I’m going to fight all I can to reclaim it. Do you believe in reincarnation? From the very first moment I set eyes on this place I felt as if I was finally home, as if I’d been away a very long time. I know I was destined to buy it and turn it back into a house filled with light and love. That’s what I intend to do. Whatever evil is lurking inside there isn’t going to scare me off. I’m reclaiming my home and it can bloody well go and fuck off back to wherever it came from.’
Despite the graveness of the situation he began to laugh. ‘Maybe you’re right. I wonder if you were one of the original nuns who lived here. Before it all went horribly wrong and turned bad this would have been an amazing place to be. Well, if you stay and fight I’ll be right by your side.’
‘Thank you, but if you need to leave then you must go. If you are in any danger then you get out as fast as you can and don’t worry about me.’
‘What about you? What if you’re in danger?’
‘I have a feeling that Agnes and the other sisters might help me to find the courage to fight my corner. I truly believe that this was meant to happen, that things happen for a reason. My whole reason for buying this place was to come here and stand up to whatever it is that’s been lurking in there for far too long. I think that God wants me to reclaim his house of worship.’
Oliver didn’t know if she was delusional, coming down with some kind of fever or being plain brave. He wished he felt as confident as she did. Kate jumped out. Ollie followed along with Joe. Beatrice, who had been having an animated conversation on her phone, also got out of her car. They stood in a circle as Joe began to bless them all, asking God to protect them with his love and light.
Ollie thought he was about to throw up everything he’d ever eaten in his entire life – his stomach was churning so much. Beatrice’s cheeks had lost every ounce of colour that had been there moments ago and Joe looked ashen. They were scared, but if they didn’t try and do something more lives would be lost. Only Kate seemed to be glowing. Her skin looked fresh and her normally blue eyes were shining brightly. There was an aura of calm spreading out from her, which the others could feel through their fingertips, making them feel slightly better about the whole about-to-go-into-battle-with-the-devil thing. The clouds began to filter over the sun, blocking out the bright light and making it gloomy.
Joe broke the circle. ‘I’ll lead and begin to bless the house. Where should we begin?’
***
Kate thought about it for a split second.
‘I think whatever it is likes to hide up in the attic, so should we bless the rest of the house so it can’t escape? We could corner it up there.’
Joe nodded. His voice came out as a whisper. ‘Sounds like a plan to me.’
She let go of Ollie’s and Beatrice’s hands and led the way to the front door. It opened before she could even put the key into the lock.
Ollie caught Beatrice’s arm. ‘Wait, what if the house has been burgled and there’s someone still inside?’
‘Ollie, I don’t think any burglar in their right mind would break into this house. It’s always had a stigma to it, a bit of an urban legend sort of thing. That’s why I was so surprised when I found out the church had sold it to a woman, a single woman. But now I think I understand. I think Kate’s right. Her whole life has been engineered to lead up to this very moment. I believe in her one hundred per cent. I think she’s been sent by God to put this right – to make up for the past – and I believe that he thinks she’s strong enough to do his work.
‘Forgive me, Joe, but I don’t think this is about you. I don’t think you blessing the house is enough to make it leave. It hasn’t worked in the past. I do think that Kate’s love for this place and her belief that it can be the family home she’s always dreamt of is the key to this. With her connection to the house’s past through Agnes, I think that Kate will be the one strong enough to rid the house of the demon once and for all. Although don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t try anyway. We need all the help we can get – no offence.’
‘None taken, Beatrice; let’s hope the pair of you are right. I feel like I’m some pawn in a game of chess that’s being played between God and the Devil. So it’s our move. Let’s hope we can make it to checkmate before the dark side does.’
Kate smiled at them both. ‘You’re making it sound as if it’s
the next instalment in the Star Wars series. Come on, let’s do this so I can reclaim my home and life.’
She pushed the front door as wide open as it would go. The minute she stepped inside she could feel the drop in the temperature. As she breathed out, a thick cloud of fog filled the air in front of her face. Ollie stepped in behind her and did the same. They hadn’t turned the heating off yesterday before they’d left so there was no way it should have been this cold inside. Joe and Beatrice followed them. Immediately Joe began to pray, asking God to bless the house.
***
As they went from room to room downstairs the light outside began to fade fast. Beatrice looked at her watch. It was only one. There was no way it should be so dark. The curtains were all open and the darkness began to cast shadows in the rooms. She thought she saw the shadowy figures of three nuns standing in the hall at the bottom of the staircase and tugged Kate’s sleeve to get her attention, but when she turned back they had disappeared. She leant towards Kate’s ear. ‘They’re here. I’ve just seen three nuns standing by the stairs.
‘Good, that’s good. I’ll take all the help we can get.’
‘So will I.’
As each room was blessed there were no incidents – nothing to scare them and make them turn and flee. Joe began to get louder with each incident-free blessing.
***
Ollie, who stood behind them, thought that maybe they’d got it all wrong. That they’d made a big drama out of a few unexplained occurrences. They’d be sitting around the kitchen table in ten minutes laughing at themselves. As they began to climb the stairs to the first floor he heard the footsteps – the same light ones as they flitted from room to room. Beatrice nodded at Kate. They’d heard them too.
