A Death Displaced

by Andrew Butcher

  Was the portal itself speaking or was there a being on the other side?

  What’s your name, Soulless One? The portal asked.

  Juliet answered automatically, the way she always did when greeting someone, ‘Juliet Maystone,’ she said aloud. Then she considered that giving out her full name might not have been a great idea.

  Soulless One. The portal mocked her. The urge to pass through the portal came to her again. She rationalised that if she could get to the Otherworld, then she could get back, and if she could lose her soul, then she could gain it back.

  Failure was never an option; there had been times when she’d wanted to run away from problems in the past, but practical and applied thinking always got the job done.

  Decided, she was about to step into the gleaming pool, but she heard Nick’s voice, a long way off. He called her name.

  She wasn’t sure how far she’d travelled.

  Hastily jogging up the steps, she struggled to remember what direction she entered the clearing from. Nick called again, so she followed his voice.

  She ran through the woods; she sprinted from spring to autumn. Running was easy, she ran on her treadmill most mornings, but that would be wearing trainers, not wedge boots. Too hasty, she almost tripped and was lucky not to twist her ankle.

  Locating the fallen tree trunk she’d previously sat on, she stopped. She couldn’t risk Aldrich not having his blindfold on.

  ‘Juliet, where are you?’ Nick shouted, ‘I’ve put the blindfold back on him. Hello?’

  ‘I’m here, I’m coming.’ she paced.

  When she found Nick, he looked vacant. His posture was slouched. She tracked down his body to his gored hands. Blood on his knuckles, Why are his hands bloody?

  She felt she knew why, but she didn’t want to look. Is he the sort of person to attack a restrained, defenceless man? It was a disheartening thought. She straightened her back, stood tall, and found the courage to peer over at Aldrich. His head hung low, the chocolate-brown throw didn’t cover much of his body anymore, and phlegmy blood had further stained his tweed jacket. His lips were bloody, his forehead swollen, and his hair was clotted.

  ‘What have you done to him?’ she trembled.

  Nick stared blankly for just a moment. He looked to Juliet, and his eyes reddened. Although she didn’t know what had preceded this moment, and although she barely knew him, her heart ached to see Nicolas this way.

  ‘He... murdered my mum…’ weakly, Nick said, ‘It was him.’ and his face screwed up. He looked down to cry.

  Juliet hurried to embrace him; it was the oddest feeling, she couldn’t remember comforting a man in this way before. She’d consoled Kim a few times, but that was after break-ups with random guys. It wasn’t on the same level as this. But pain was pain, she supposed; whatever the extent, and she’d help if she could. Though, she certainly didn’t feel comfortable or adequate to support someone who’d just discovered something so horrific.

  Poor Samantha… poor Nicolas… and his family. She squeezed her eyes shut, bit her bottom lip and shook her head with tiny but significant movements.

  Nick’s chest convulsed heavily. Juliet could tell he was reining back on making any noise. It would have been natural for him to wail uncontrollably, but she was glad he wasn’t in that state.

  He began to settle, ‘I didn’t think I had the energy to cry.’

  Juliet didn’t know what to say. She went for, ‘It’s okay.’

  ‘Sorry, I was angry at him, the way he killed her… for no good reason. If there ever could be a good reason to kill someone! I wanted to kill him, but I couldn’t do it.’ he said.

  It disturbed Juliet to hear Nick say these things aloud, so she didn’t respond. She empathised with his anger, his rage, but it was foolish to further harm Aldrich when they already didn’t know how to get out of this situation.

  ‘I need to show you something. In the woods, I found something.’ she said.

  ‘Right now?’

  She answered, ‘Yes, you have to see it. I don’t know if I imagined it. I saw the strangest thing.’

  Nick pulled a quizzical face; he seemed intrigued. Aldrich turned his head and tried to mumble something, but it came out a gurgle.

  ‘Juliet, could you go and find my brothers, please?’ Nick asked, ‘They can watch over Aldrich.’

  A silent nod and she was on her way. She jogged to the extent her wedge boots could handle and brought together the twins. They returned to Nick, and he asked them to keep an eye on Aldrich.

  Tom wanted to know what happened to Aldrich, while Tommy demanded that Nick tell him everything. Nick fumbled over his words and tried to avoid the truth for now; he probably didn’t have the emotional stamina to repeat it again. Juliet didn’t blame him.

  The three of them argued; it went in circles, and Juliet sighed as it continued. Nick didn’t inform the twins that Aldrich had murdered their mother.

  ‘I don’t have time to tell you everything right this second. Just watch him, please.’ Nick impatiently said.

  Tommy gritted his teeth, ‘Yuh gotta give us more than that!’

  ‘Why don’t you trust me, Tommy? I said I would tell you, and I will. Just not right now.’

  ‘Well, you’re obviously not tellin’ us summin’! Just, whatever I can’t be asked. I ain’t standin’ around here in the cold no more. This is bullshit, I’m goin’ if yuh ain’t tellin’. Come on Tom, let’s get outta here.’

  Tom looked torn between his brothers; he shifted on the spot, inclining towards Tommy.

  Juliet sensed that Tommy was the dominant twin. Even she found him slightly intimidating. She was definitely fonder of Tom.

  ‘Fine! It’s his fault Mum never came home. It’s his fault she’s dead.’ Nick gave in and pointed desperately at Aldrich.

  The twins simultaneously looked at the beaten man against the tree.

  For a split moment, there was an awful silence where the air seemed full of prickly cactus spines.

  ‘I’ll tell you it all when we get back. Juliet said she found something in the woods. We’ll be back in a minute. Just make sure he stays blindfolded.’

  The twins were silent. Tommy paced angrily. Tom looked sunken, bewildered and in shock all at once.

  ‘Just watch him please.’ Nick said.

  Juliet led the way through the trees, recalling where the thing had flitted and flashed through the woods.

  They sprinted and jumped the roots and fallen branches together. Nick took the chance to hold her hand as they ran. His hand was rough and cold. Juliet tried not to look at the blood.

  It was nice to link hands: to be in it together.

  Spring came upon them, and Juliet pondered if leaving the twins with Aldrich was such a smart idea or not.

  Nick slowed his pace and gently tugged for Juliet to stop. She watched him view his surroundings in wonder. His jaw literally hung open.

  He grabbed her other hand so that both were in his now, and she was face-to-face with him. He made a point of looking into her eyes.

  ‘This is amazing. It’s beautiful.’ he said.

  ‘I know. I thought I imagined it. I felt like Alice falling into Wonderland.’ Juliet said, and then felt stupid at her lazy comparison.

  She hadn’t even read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; it was nonsensical to the point that it annoyed her, but she’d seen the 1951, Alice in Wonderland, Disney animation. That was nonsensical too, but she thought that it was watchable… as a child.

  ‘There’s more to show you.’ she went on, ‘I think it’s this way.’

  ‘Wait, before we go any further, I want to say something.’

  Slowly, she responded, ‘Okay.’

  She swallowed nervously and braced herself.

  Chapter 17

  ‘Thank you for saving me earlier.’ he said.

  He recalled how urgently he ducked when Juliet screamed, ‘Get down!’ and how deafening the shotgun fire was.

  ‘That’s okay.’ she respo
nded.

  ‘I realised that I hadn’t said thank you yet.’

  She laughed, ‘If you remember, it took me a while to thank you for saving me from the car.’

  ‘That’s true.’ he smiled and focused on her warm fingers wrapped in his.

  ‘It was your mother who saved you earlier, not me. I waited outside the manor and I thought you were taking too long. I realised that something must have been wrong. Then your mother appeared and told me to save her boys.’

  In the way Juliet spoke, Nick could tell that she’d become used to spirits appearing. It seemed natural for her to speak of it.

  He tried to smile, ‘It was still you who acted so swiftly. You saved us.’ It warmed him to know that his mother still looked out for him. It almost made the whole situation bearable.

  ‘I know you’ve just found out the truth about her death, and that’s what she wanted, but she obviously still loves you. I hope that comforts you.’

  ‘It does, but is that all she wanted?’ he asked.

  ‘When she appeared, she said that you needed to know the truth.’

  ‘What if she wanted us to find something else here? I know that she helped you save my life, but she put us all in danger coming here anyway. Why did she put us in danger like this? Just so I’d know the truth? I feel like I’m missing something. What about this place? What is it? Why is everything so colourful? Did she want us to find this? And what are we supposed to do with Aldrich? Does she want us to report him or what… or…’ he flinched, ‘kill him? I can’t imagine my mum would have wanted revenge, or wanted us to murder someone.’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t say she wanted that.’

  ‘I hope not anyway.’ he said, unsure.

  Juliet took one hand away and used it to gently rub his arm. The gesture relaxed him and he took a moment to take in the area.

  He couldn’t believe it; there were enormous sycamore trees, fully leaved, green and luscious. The same trees that shrouded his front garden, and they never looked like this in autumn.

  Another odd factor was that on the drive to Grendel Manor, as they reached the top of the private road on the hill, he could see all this land in the distance, but he only observed a small group of trees. These trees were massive and plenty. The woods looked endless in every direction.

  ‘I just can’t believe this place.’ he said. He hoped that Juliet would kiss him; it was the perfect moment… in these fantastical woods, mystical, romantic.

  He thought of why she’d kissed him in the car. Was it just the heat of the moment after escaping the manor? What was wrong with this moment? He didn’t want to pass up the opportunity, so he kissed her.

  She edged back, seemingly surprised at first, then connected and moved her lips with him. She stepped her body closer. As he slid his arms around her waist, she pulled him towards a tree trunk. She let herself rest against it, and he pushed against her with slow rhythmic thrusting, alluding to his desires.

  The kissing turned more intense. He eased a hand under her jumper and felt her bare skin. She dropped her hand to his thigh, teasingly close to the crotch of his jeans.

  He slowed off the kissing and drew away. He smiled at her.

  ‘I’d like to go on a date with you.’ he announced.

  Juliet came away from the tree trunk. She realigned herself and straightened up. Her eyes moved; she squinted and seemed to be weighing up the idea, balancing the pros and cons.

  ‘I think I’d like that too.’ she gave no eye contact, but Nick fluttered inside, pleased with her response.

  She continued, ‘But so you know, I despise what you did to Aldrich. I know you were angry and you had every right to be, but you attacked a tied up and helpless man. I think you almost killed him.’

  Nick looked down at his feet, ‘I know, I shouldn’t have done that. He taunted me… but there’s no excuse.’

  Juliet kissed him on the cheek.

  He smiled and said, ‘So what were you going to show me out here?’

  ‘It’s this way.’ she nodded to the side and began to walk.

  He followed her; she forced through a bush and held some braches aside so not to swing back in his face. He hurried through and said, ‘Thank you,’ then found himself in a large open sward.

  This place echoed a sense of déjà vu. I’ve stepped back into a memory. I’ve been here. No… I haven’t. He’d seen those steps in the centre before… ancient steps… he’d walked up them? Yes, that was it. He’d walked up, and then he’d been pushed down them, into a pit.

  The steps from the nightmare.

  A connectedness to everything. He was entwined with the fabric of the universe… even in his sleep, in his dreams. Another ultimately painless form of seeing the future. He ran to the steps, knowing what to expect, to see a pit at the bottom, possibly charred and full of ash, but that’s not what he saw.

  He saw a puddle: glowing, blinding. This was not in the awful dream, but it was another mystery answered… Aldrich’s words: They go into the light.

  It must be where the sacrificed children were sent. But what was it? He stared at it, paused for a short time, and Juliet joined his side. There was silence, but the bright puddle seemed to audibly vibrate.

  A sparrow darted from overhead. It landed a rough five metres away, facing Nick and Juliet. It twitched its head, looked here to there, the way sparrows do, and jumped from spot to spot.

  ‘I haven’t heard or seen any other birds in these woods.’ Juliet remarked. ‘When I came here a moment ago, it was silent, apart from that pool of light humming the way it is now.’

  ‘Hmmm, sparrows aren’t that shy, maybe we’ve just scared off the other birds?’ Nick put forward.

  ‘I don’t know. It’s eerily quiet here, but that pool of light, it’s soothing to focus on. Can you feel it?’ she asked.

  He put his mind to the glowing pool and was immensely relaxed by it.

  ‘But what is it?’ he asked.

  ‘Don’t call me nuts, but I think it’s a portal.’

  ‘A portal?’ incredulous, his eyebrows stood up, ‘A portal to where?’

  ‘The Otherworld.’

  He wasn’t so ready to believe in that. Even though he wanted to become a Wiccan in the past and most Wiccans believed in an otherworld, this was just too hard to take in. He struggled with the possibility.

  ‘What? How could you know that? It could be anything, maybe it’s a natural substance, or maybe it’s manmade. Aldrich could have had this built. There could be lights under the liquid. It just looks like glitter mixed with water and soap.’

  ‘Do you really believe that?’ she asked.

  ‘I… don’t know.’ he huffed, but then he focused on the puddle… and he felt better. ‘Maybe it is a portal… or I don’t know.’

  ‘I saw something go into that pool of light. It wasn’t a spirit, it was something else.’

  ‘What was it?’ he asked, and then saw how stupid it was to ask. If she knew what it is, then she would have said what it is!

  ‘I don’t know. It looked like a firefly.’ she said, ‘But if that is a different world through there, then it could have been anything.’ she said in an almost frustrated tone.

  Nick laughed, ‘What? Like a fairy?’ he mocked.

  She pulled a stern face, and then smiled. ‘Anyway,’ she diverted, ‘I think the portal spoke to me. When I came here earlier, I was thinking about what the pool was, and then as if it read my mind, I heard the answer inside of my head.’

  ‘This is getting more far-fetched by the minute, Juliet. So now you’re saying it’s a telepathic portal to the Otherworld?’

  ‘Nicolas, shut up! Stop mocking me, and just ask it a question. See if it responds to you.’ she demanded.

  He ignored her unreadable attitude for the time being and looked over at the sparrow. It hopped about; flicking its head around like it was… assessing them?

  ‘I feel like that sparrow is watching me, I’ve got stage fright.’ he shyly laughed and looked at Julie
t. She ignored his comment and waited.

  ‘Okay…’ he faced the lustrous puddle. ‘What are you?’ he asked.

  No reply.

  He turned to look at Juliet. ‘Ask again.’ she said.

  ‘What are you?’ Whatever you are, you weren’t in my vision, he thought.

  Then it came from no particular direction: Hello Oracle.

  He physically jolted. It just called me Oracle. Does it know I can see the future? Are there others like me?

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Juliet leant near him to ask.

  ‘I heard it.’

  ‘I didn’t hear anything...’ she looked bewildered. ‘What did it say to you?’

  ‘I don’t really know what it said…’ he lied, ‘It wasn’t very clear. I’ll try again. What are you?’

  It rumbled in his mind: Well, I’m certainly not Moloch.

  Nick didn’t want to share with Juliet about the sacrificed children. He would tell her in the future, but she didn’t need to know now. The knowledge of it would only make the circumstances harder for her too.

  ‘But what are you then?’ he asked impatiently.

  : You don’t need to know that.

  ‘Fine,’ he resigned, ‘then where are you?’

  : The Otherworld.

  Turning to Juliet, he said, ‘It said it was in the Otherworld. I think it is a portal.’

  ‘Nicolas, Tamara told me that my soul is in the Otherworld. If I could get it back, I think I would stop seeing the spirits… I’d be normal again.’ She was frowning, and Nick thought she appeared vulnerable.

  ‘Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of going through that portal?’ he asked reprovingly, and shook his head.

  She pivoted, looked away. Then she swung back around and said, ‘It’s my choice. I don’t need your approval.’ she started forward.

  Nick grabbed her wrist, then she yanked it free, ‘Juliet, just wait, please. We don’t know what’s on the other side, like you said, there could be anything! Give it a bit more thought, five minutes, and I promise I won’t try to stop you if you decide to go through.’

  ‘Why should I wait?’

  ‘Because if you don’t and you go through there now, then I will follow you. Do you want to risk both our lives?’