Dark Winter: Trilogy

by Hennessy, John

  You meant in the bed with ‘me’, didn’t you Romilly? Don’t be so coy, with Troy. Say what you mean, mean what you say…

  Inside my head, I had found a way to hiss the Demon to silence. I knew it would only stay silent so long as it was content to do so.

  “You want me to stay in Gorswood then?”

  Troy sat down and closed his huge, shovel-like hands over mine. The effect on me was instantaneous, and I shook uncontrollably.

  Don’t do this to me Troy. I’m barely keeping it together.

  “My folks would want me to stay,” said Troy. “I can’t find Toril, Beth is…well…you know…Beth, and Jacinta…is gone. But if you want me to stay in Gorswood, I will.”

  I bit my lip. Hard. Here was everything I wanted, and yet, I was thinking that I could never have happiness with Troy. Toril missing, did not equate to Toril being dead. Until I was sure of that, I could pursue nothing with Troy. Also, I could not wish Toril dead. She saved me more than once. I owe her better than this. If only I could put my hormones away. Forever. I could also not accept that Troy would give up on Toril so easily, no matter what was tormenting him.

  While I was processing this in my head, Troy leaned in to kiss me, and not on my forehead this time. The shock made me pull away.

  “Troy!”

  He looked confused at me, as if to say What? You don’t want me? You’re playing me? You’re actually playing me?

  My heart was beating faster than ever, but this…this wasn’t the time, or the place.

  “I-I can’t do this, Troy,” my voice sounding increasingly uneven. “I need to stay focussed. If I can’t deal with the Mirror, I have to leave. Staying in Gorswood isn’t an option, even if you wanted me to. Toril must be alive, because the Mirror has not been taken. We would know already if it had. In your heart, you know it too.”

  “Rom, please. Toril wouldn’t want me, not now, not like this. Damn it, I am so confused.”

  “Toril loves you.”

  “Love? Huh? Yeah, sure Rom. That’s why her phone is silent, why she won’t return my calls, texts going unanswered, no answer at her door. She is interested in only one thing, and you know what it is. Vengeance. It’s going to get her killed, Romilly, and I won’t have any part of it. I’ve escaped from that hell hole, and I am not going back.”

  I could agree with some of that, but the fact remained that we didn’t know where Toril was. I could not believe she would abandon us. It wouldn’t be logical.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Rom, but things have changed. We’ve all changed. You’re talking about love? Well, Toril loved Jacinta. I mean really loved her. She was her best friend, man. I threw the axe that killed her best friend. Even if Toril comes out of this all okay, me and her don’t have a future.”

  I sat bolt upright in the bed. “Troy, it wasn’t your fault! She doesn’t blame you. She could not, would not blame you.”

  “She sacrificed me, Rom. She made no attempt to stop me, you know, back in the Forest. But you did. You did. I’ll never forget that to you Rom. Beth is just the same as Toril. Last thing I saw was both of them dragging you back into that circle she cast.”

  I sighed heavily. Toril was thinking on the go, making spot decisions there and then. I had truly hated her at that moment, but I knew too that she had saved us all, once again. At that point, I believed I would never see Troy again. I bet Toril thought the same.

  “She didn’t sacrifice you, Troy. In a roundabout kind of way, she saved you.”

  “No, Rom. She had no idea about the Mirror and what void lay beyond it. As far as she was concerned, if I died to save her skin, it was worth it.”

  My eyes narrowed when I saw Troy’s eyes water up. He wasn’t crying, but close to it.

  I placed my hand on his arm, and he looked up at me.

  “I believe Toril did what she thought was best, Troy. I also think we came together to defeat this evil, and I can’t defeat it. Toril’s decision was containment, and I agree with that decision. You can trust her to make the right decision.”

  “You just want to be friends then?”

  I wanted to choose my next words very carefully. I could be ruling myself out of contention forever if I chose poorly. Part of me believed that the Demon would bleed me from the inside out if I chose any differently.

  “I want you to know that I hated Toril for being with you. I want you to know that I hated that she was so nice to me, to everyone. I want you to know that through all this stuff we’ve experienced together, that I think she is the bravest and smartest girl I have ever known. I don’t adore her like Jacinta did, but I admire and respect her greatly, and I would be a terrible friend to you if I interfered with that. I won’t do that, Troy. I can’t.”

  I held my head in my hands. It wasn’t even the case that I blurted it all out. I really had chosen my words carefully. Troy put a brotherly arm around me.

  “If Toril ever wanted a friend to be on a level with Jay, it should be you, Rom. I think Toril, if she is okay, would need a friend right now. I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I’m sure I would have acted like this before the whole Dana stuff. I don’t think I’m any good to anyone at the moment. Bet I really burst your opinion of me, huh?”

  “No,” I said warmly, shaking my head, and allowing myself a smile. “No, Troy. You’re terrific. I will always think highly of you.”

  “Rom, just know that if it wasn’t for Toril, I-”

  “I know, Troy. I know.”

  “I’m going to help you get out of here Rom. Right now. I’ll be right back. Oh Jesus. Oh. Holy f-!”

  I could not stop the Demon’s attack. It wouldn’t let me smile, even in my admission to Troy that I knew he could love me, and I could love him too. The Demon bled me from inside, and poked a hole right through my stomach, turning all the bed-sheets red. The skin on my arms made a slish slish sound as the cuts appeared, and I bled heaviest around the markings on my hands.

  Troy’s expletives filled the ward, and the nurses and doctors wore panicked expressions as they realised there was nothing they could do.

  I will drink every drop of blood you have bled

  Isn’t that what I read at the house of Diabhal, and I had mocked it as a load of crap.

  No. It was Satanic verse, and Diabhal was far from diminished. He would come for me one day. Right now, I had more immediate concerns.

  The Demon was dormant no longer.

  Beth’s Truth

  “Would you like some tea, Beth?” said Tori-Suzanne brightly.

  Beth would normally say yes instantly to such a question. Given the strange woman who had been present in her dreams, she elected for something different.

  “Do you have coffee Mrs With -, I mean, Tori?”

  “That I do,” said Tori-Suzanne. “Milk? Sugar? Just go with Suzanne, or Susie, if it makes things easier. My husband calls me Susie.”

  “Alright then, Susie it is.” Beth beamed.

  “What is it, Beth? You look like you have something to say.”

  “I’m not sure I want to say.”

  “You’re amongst friends here, Beth,” said Tori-Suzanne warmly.

  “Well. Okay. It’s just…..can’t you read my mind?”

  Tori-Suzanne laughed. “Whether I can or not shouldn’t mean we forget our place. It costs nothing to be polite, Beth. I hope you don’t think you can’t speak your mind here.”

  Tori-Suzanne ushered Beth into the main living room, which again, was unlike what she was expecting. She had been at the Withers residence before, but Toril had only ever hurried Beth upstairs to her bedroom. The downstairs area was ‘forbidden’, according to Toril. Whilst Beth was running these thoughts through her mind, Tori-Suzanne interjected.

  “It was never off-limits, Beth, not to friends of my daughter. But there are things here that might…upset some people, and terrify others. You’re more than safe here, be sure of that.”

  “My folks wouldn’t like this place, Tor - I mean…Susie. I h
ave just come from the church as well. I guess you know that.”

  “You’re not scared though, are you? Maybe curious, that’s all. What did you come for, as you know, surely as I do, that Toril is not here.”

  “I came for some answers,” said Beth plainly.

  “You can’t find them at church?”

  “No.”

  Tori-Suzanne studied Beth intensely. She knew all the details of the prophecy off by heart. There was a reason why Beth was there, in the Withers’ residence, here and now. There was also a reason why Toril was not there. It was all connected.

  Tori-Suzanne did her best to put the uneasy feeling she had aside for now.

  “Have some tea, Beth.”

  “Thank you, that’s a gift.”

  “You have a beautiful way of putting things, Beth. I love that accent of yours. Northern Ireland?”

  “No,” said Beth. “The South. The Republic. Eire, you know.”

  “Whereabouts?”

  “County Clare.”

  “You were born there, or that’s where your parents were from?”

  “Born there. We came over to England when I was eight years old.”

  “That’s why your accent is still so strong then. It’s beautiful, Beth. Don’t let living in England affect how you speak.”

  “Most people say sorry when talking about my parents.”

  “I don’t see any point in that, Beth,” said Tori-Suzanne cryptically. “What I mean is, it was their destiny. You shouldn’t feel bad about someone fulfilling their destiny, whichever way it happens. Though….I am sorry for your loss.”

  Beth’s eyes welled up in tears. A huge tear drop fell off her cheek, sinking deep into the Axminster carpet. The dark blue colour with gold detail swallowed the tear up.

  “I’m sorry,” said Beth.

  “Oh child, you have nothing to be sorry for!” Tori-Suzanne impulsively hugged Beth, who was shocked by the force of the embrace.

  “You fear for Toril’s safety, don’t you?” said Beth.

  Tori-Suzanne eased the tightness of her hug on Beth. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  “It would seem that you’re the mind reader, Beth,” said Tori-Suzanne. “I fear for Toril. I fear for all of us. Dear child, I heard it was you that was going to kill that man with that unearthly weapon.”

  “Troy stopped me, otherwise I have no doubt I would have done it.”

  “You would have destroyed yourself in the process,” said Tori-Suzanne. “Our every action, and in-action, becomes us. Don’t you think so Beth?”

  “I suppose so.”

  Beth looked at Tori-Suzanne, who seemed to have aged fifteen years since she came into the house. Beth could tell that Susie missed Toril very much. That kind of hug you tend only to give to a much-loved daughter.

  “I can’t hug my parents ever again,” said Beth. “He robbed that from me.”

  “So you came here for the answers that your faith doesn’t provide.”

  “Yes, and I can tell you miss your daughter.”

  “So you can also tell that I had no choice in the matter of her leaving. It was her destiny.”

  Beth shook her head.

  Tori-Suzanne, pursed her lips, but smoothed them out again. She wanted Beth to see only her kindness. “Bethany, are you telling me that you don’t believe in destiny?”

  “I cannot live in a world where Dana Cullen is right,” said Beth. “She told me once that everything has a design, that nothing ever just happens. She also told me to never forget what she had told me.”

  “Dana Cullen is dead, Beth.”

  Beth shook her head again, only this time, her mouth widened into a pained smile.

  “She’s very much alive, Susie. Her spirit has endured, and continues to do so. My nightmares are getting worse, because they are becoming real. There are many nights when she visits me.”

  Beth moved her hair and smoothed her hand over the side of her neck.

  “Child! Bite marks! Who gave you those?”

  “I think you know What, not Who,” said Beth. “The rules – that’s if she has any rules, have changed. She has changed, somehow. She’s older, like my age, and she looks a lot like Toril. But I knew it was Dana. It’s not just the marks. I feel the pressure from her fangs, biting deep into my neck. The pain is always there. It never leaves me. Are you standing by your statement? That Dana Cullen is dead?”

  Tori-Suzanne clasped a hand over her mouth, then let it drop.

  “I can’t go back, Beth, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s all up to Toril, and your good friend Romilly now.”

  The mention of my name shook Beth somewhat. She had been so preoccupied about her own troubles that I’d been forgotten, albeit temporarily.

  “She’s a good friend to me. I’m not so good a friend for her. For anyone, really.”

  Beth flopped back down in her chair. She could not understand why Tori-Suzanne wouldn’t go back. This was all about Toril, her daughter, after all.

  “I’m full of regrets,” said Beth, “but I don’t want to get to your age and have even more.”

  Tori-Suzanne smiled, then sucked her bottom lip in. Beth recognised that I would do that sometimes, usually when I would be nervous about what I was about to say or do. But nervous would not be a word to describe the number one witch in Gorswood.

  “I don’t know if you can avoid regrets in life, Bethany, but somehow, you’ll learn to make your peace with them.”

  “I regret so much wasted time. Chances to be happy. I really don’t know what is wrong with me. I spurned a good friendship with Romilly, and all I seem to do is antagonise Toril. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I really am crazy. This has to stop.”

  “What has to stop, Beth?” Tori-Suzanne could not help but look concerned at Beth’s face, which looked wrinkled with pain and anguish. Beth fumbled in her pockets furiously, cursing a Jesus here and a Feck there until she found what she was looking for.

  “My phone,” said Beth breathlessly. “I have been too caught up in myself to call Romilly, and you say there’s no point in trying to contact Toril. I have to call Milly, I have to see her.”

  Tori-Suzanne closed a hand over Beth’s, and gently put her phone on the table. “Beth, listen to me. You told me that you cannot live in a world where Dana Cullen is right, yes?”

  Beth nodded.

  “So what if I were to tell you that Dana Cullen is right, at least about some things?”

  Beth shot up out of the chair. “Mrs Withers! I’m ashamed to hear you even say something like that!”

  Tori-Suzanne grabbed Beth by the shoulders, and pressed her downwards back into the chair.

  “Bethany, listen to me child. There is a design. We can detour, we can even cheat it sometimes. But we can’t outrun our fate.”

  Beth welled up in tears. “I can’t accept that. Oh my. Who can I turn to? I go to the priest and I can’t even have a confession without Don Curie taunting me. I can’t sleep, because Dana comes to me. You’re my last hope.”

  “I’ll do it, on one condition,” said Tori-Suzanne. “You won’t like it, but if you want my help, these are my terms. Should you wish to be friends with them in your future, you will not contact Romilly unless she contacts you, and you must refuse to give Toril any help if she asks it of you. At least until it is over.”

  Ignoring the first part of what Tori-Suzanne said, because Beth would contact anyone as and when she wanted to. She didn’t care how powerful Tori-Suzanne Withers was reputed to be. Then again, she was the fully formed article. Toril was already good, just lacking in some areas. In twenty years, Toril would be super powerful too. Perhaps that’s why Tori-Suzanne was forced out of the Circle. That would make more sense.

  She asked a question whilst she processed the second part of Tori-Suzanne’s terms. “So how long will that be?”

  “You’ll know when it’s over, Beth. Maybe you don’t know what I am talking about right now, but you will when it’s over.”

  Another
exclamation of Our Lord. “Those were Toril’s exact words! Just before she kicked me out of the house!”

  “Bethany, for your God’s sake then, you should believe what I’m saying. I only want to help you. I’m not trying hurt you, but help you. Can you accept that? You tell me you want to be a good friend to those girls. You say it, but you don’t act on it, you understand me?”

  “I don’t know what to say!” screamed Beth. “I don’t know what you want me to say!”