by Amy Cross
"That's great. You can tell me all about it next week".
"He was so hot," she continues. "I know it's an awful thing to say, Kate, but I'd do him. I'd totally do him. I swear, I could have climbed up on stage and done him there and then, in front of the whole audience. At one point, Dominic even asked me why I was squirming in my seat. Screw God, Kate; the Devil's the one with the big dick!"
"That's nice. You should go to sleep".
"Dominic's gone out again," she says, sounding a little sad. "Probably to one of his whores. What are you doing? You want to come over and help me raid the wine cellar?"
"Another time," I say, cringing a little at the thought of Bella stumbling drunkenly around her apartment.
"Come on," she continues, "what the hell else do you have to do with your time?"
I spend the next twenty minutes trying to end the conversation, although it's never easy to get rid of a drunken Bella. Eventually she starts falling asleep, and I'm able to cut the call. Hopefully she'll sleep the whole night through, dreaming about getting her way with the guy from the play. By the time she wakes up in the morning with a hangover, she probably won't even remember going to see the play.
Grabbing one of the folders from my desk, I pull out the pile of photos that I've added to my evidence file so far. Every time I go to a church, I end up taking a whole roll of film, and there's almost always one image in which the same man appears. Leafing through the photos now, I find it hard not to shudder a little as I look at him; there's something creepy about the way he stares at the buildings, as if he's desperate to get inside but can't use the door. He almost seems nervous, as if he's scared to get too close to the building itself but also can't bring himself to move away. When I get to the last photo, I feel my chest tighten a little: it's Mark, holding the baby, and I have such a vivid memory of the moment when I took that photo. It was only seconds later that everything changed. Not even seconds; less than a second, perhaps. I run a finger-tip over the image as I remind myself that I need to get some independent verification of all this. I need someone else with me, someone who can tell me that I'm not imagining all of this. Not yet, though. I need more time.
Checking online, I quickly find a bunch of news reports about the fire at St. Abraham's. It seems to be dying down, but there's no word as to the cause, and most of the reports mention the fact that the flames burned with unusual force. There's a brief reference to the fact that the priest, Father Malcolm O'Dowd, was found dead on the sidewalk outside, although curiously there's no mention of the fact that his body seemed to spontaneously combust as it was being loaded into the ambulance. I guess there'll be updates throughout the night, but for now it's as if the fire is at least being brought under control. I guess it'll be worth swinging past the scene on my way to the library tomorrow, so I can see the damage in the cold light of day. Although the building is mostly made of stone, it looks tonight as if the entire thing might just collapse.
When the timer rings, I take a deep breath and place the photos back in the folder. With any luck, there'll be a new image to add soon, so I head through to the dark room. It's odd, but at first I used to dread the development of the man's face on my photos. I thought it was a sign of something being seriously wrong with me, and I'd almost get to the point of praying that he wouldn't show up on each roll of film. These days, though, I actually look forward to seeing him. It's as if I've become obsessed with this little mystery, even though I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with the information I've been gathering. Pausing by the bedroom door, I remind myself that I could stop doing this any time I like. No-one's forcing me to keep taking these photos, but it's the first activity that's really grabbed my attention for a while. If I wasn't doing this, what else would I be doing? Just sitting around, waiting for my next tumor and my next course of chemo?
As soon as I'm in the dark room, I can feel in my gut that I'll find the man's image on the photo. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but it's as if I've got a kind of sixth sense that's telling me he's going to be there. Hell, it's not as if this is some random, possible connection that I've spotted in a few chance images: it's the same man, appearing in the same context each time. It'd be strange not to see him, although this time there's something else on my mind. I can't help thinking back to the way the priest talked about the steps, as if there was something unusual happening around that area. All day, I've been imagining the image of the man being seen by those steps, probably adopting his usual pose of staring at the door. I'm pretty certain by now that the man wants to get into the churches, but something's stopping him. I just wish I knew what.
After busying myself with the roll of film from the fire, and setting it up so that I can develop the photos first thing in the morning, I realize that I've delayed the moment of truth for long enough. I pause for a moment, as if I'm nervous of seeing him again, and then I walk over to where the photo is drying and I take a look. And there he is, except this time he's not staring at the church. He's standing at the top of the steps, exactly where I expected him to be, but he's staring straight at me.
COMING SOON
All That You Are
(Broken White 1.5)
With Mr. White's words still ringing in her ears, Elly tries to enjoy some time with Mark. Finally, they're able to go out on a date that seems to be absolutely perfect, and for the first time Elly is able to think of a possible future with the man she's starting to love. Everything is quickly shattered, however, by a single act of violence that leaves Elly running for her life. Back in the past, meanwhile, Jonathan Pope faces up to the prospect of his imminent death, while dealing with the fact that a face from the past is haunting his plans. With the dead seemingly coming back to life, can Pope work out what's real and what's not?
Romance
(Broken White 1.6)
Lost and alone, Elly discovers the true cost of her actions. Now that Mr. White is on her tail, she realizes she has to get out of London. Old friends offer little help, and eventually Elly is forced to turn to the one person she never expected to need. With the game starting to close its grip around her, it soon becomes apparent that Elly's fate is in the hands of sinister, unseen forces. Meanwhile, Jonathan Pope makes a shocking discovery that forces him to reassess everything he once thought was true, and soon he's beginning a journey that will lead to a horrific encounter many years later.
The Letting
(The Devil's Photographer 1.3)
Recovering from the terrifying incident at the church, Kate is keen to get her hands on the camera she dropped. John Dagwood, meanwhile, is being strangely elusive, as if he's unwilling to let Kate's work progress too far. Soon, Kate starts to learn more about Dagwood, including his interests in medieval medicine and his involvement with a strange group that has strong links to the events that recently took place at St. Abraham's. Evil is rising across the city, but Kate isn't quite ready to believe that the Devil is in town... until a horrifying image makes her question everything she thought she knew about the world and pushes her to the brink of madness.
The Promise
(The Devil's Photographer 1.4)
Now that she knows a little more about Amin Bell, Kate is certain that she's on the verge of an important breakthrough. Dagwood is still acting strangely, however, and Kate decides that there's only one way she can get to the heart of his activities. Allowing herself to be drawn deeper and deeper into Dagwood's world, however, Kate realizes too late that she might be trapped in a nightmare from which she can never escape. All roads, it appears, lead back to the burned-out church where Amin Bell was last seen, and where strange forces seem to be lingering.
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