by Rey S Morfin
‘Don’t worry,’ Elizabeth continued, ’I don’t plan on touching a hair on that pretty little head of yours, I’d just like have a quick chat.’
The locks on the doors snapped shut as I ran for them.
I yanked on the door hard, before changing strategy - and kicked it with all my might. I knew what the result would be before I’d even finished: I was trapped in this house and would need to see this through.
I turned to face the room, scouring it for weapons I could use to fight whatever power this woman was yielding.
‘I’ve told you Rey, there’s no need to panic. I won’t hurt you. You have my word. I just want to talk about that power growing inside of you - that pain in your heart as the Root takes hold, those voices that won’t seem to quiet.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about! Just let me go, I don’t need to tell anyone about any of this! I promise, I-I-I promise!’ I pleaded.
‘Oh, please, tell away! Who is going to believe that poor little Elizabeth who lives in the woods is… what? What am I?’
‘A witch.’
‘Oh, not really. Not like in the stories, at least. Not like the children say I am. And who really puts credit in the tales of children?’
Her eyes began to glow red, and in that moment I knew that the secrecy, the strange, unexplained events I’d witnessed around town weren’t simply figments of a demented mind - they were real, and very much worth being afraid of.
‘I don’t care, Elizabeth, I really don’t care, you don’t have to tell me, I just want to leave!’ I shouted.
‘Would you care if it helped you find Laura?’ Elizabeth asked, twisting her face into a smirk which contorted her features almost beyond recognition.
‘I- Can you?’ I asked, focussing my mind on Laura and not the terror that stood before me, ‘Can you help me find her?’
She laughed. ‘Of course I can! And I even might! You ask me how I know Arthur sent you? It’s because they scream at me! The Voices, all of them!’ She jabbed aggressively at her skull.
‘What voices? Do they- do they know where she is? Where Laura is?’
‘The voices, the voices! The souls that scream at me from inside my mind! Day in, day out! Every last minute of my existence.’
‘What voices? I haven’t got these voices!’ I replied.
‘You will! In time. You’ll have all of them. All the voices of those you kill.’
‘I’m not… I’m not going to kill anyone!’
Elizabeth tutted. ‘Have you not been listening, Rey? I know these things, I know more than you - even about yourself. It will happen. It will happen soon. The voices tell me - Oh!’
Suddenly Elizabeth sounded surprised.
‘And what have we here? My latest conquest, finally finding his voice! As I source more and more of them, you know, there’s more and more voices. It becomes louder, until you can barely hear yourself think! How do you act sane when you can’t hear your own inner voice? Sometimes you just… snap. Oh, he’s really going now. He’s really going for it. Little Peter Samson is shouting to you, Rey.’
‘Peter Samson? From the-’ I didn’t need to finish the question; I already knew the answer. The missing boy was long gone. ‘What did you do to him?’
‘You don’t get to my age without farming a few souls here and there, Rey. And I’ve watched too many people die. I’ve watched my own children head off to war and never return. No! No, I’m not going to suffer the same fate. I’ve fought hand to hand with Death and won, don’t you understand?. No. Not the same fate for me. Do you want to know what Peter Samson is telling you, Rey?’
Before I could answer, she continued.
‘He’s telling you to run, Rey, that’s all he is saying- no, screaming, shrieking, over and over. Run! Run! Ruuuun! And will you, Rey, will you run? Can you?’
The bolts on the doors unlocked once again, and I ran for them.
Elizabeth shouted after me, ‘Do you want to know where Laura Kamryn is, or don’t you?’
I stopped on the far side of the doorway, not willing to let myself be trapped once again.
‘Yes!’ I shouted through sweat and tears.
‘I know you’ve asked her father, Rey. I know you’ve been there. But have you really asked? Do you know what he’s really capable of?’
‘He’s… he’s just a man. He’s not a monster! Not like you!’
Elizabeth held a hand to her chest and acted offended.
‘Me? A monst-’ she stopped and tutted. ‘Maybe you need to revisit your definition of “monster”.’
With that, the door slammed shut in front of me, and I understood that my escape was exactly as she intended. I didn’t wait around to wonder why she let me go - when she’d ended so many lives before - and for the second time today I ran as though my life depended on it. For all I knew, it did.
10
The Deafening Silence of Local Buzz
The pub was almost empty, and yet this was also about as busy at it got outside of key celebratory dates (Christmas, New Year’s Eve… maybe Easter if I remembered correctly). I sat alone at a table in the corner of the small room, sitting comfortably by the roaring fire. At the far end of the room, about twenty feet away, sat the only other patron. He was an older man, dressed in Barbour vest and matching hat, sipping a dark brown ale, and was completely engrossed in a John Grisham novel. I was trying to remember if he was the author who wrote Clear and Present Danger, or if I’d gotten that completely wrong.
I’d retreated to the pub earlier than planned, feeling worn by the encounters with both Sam Ramsey and Mrs Myerscough, and finding myself no closer to tracking down Laura. I’d needed a drink.
As I sat pondering the possible bibliography of John Grisham (The Da Vinci Code, maybe?), a pale-faced young man entered the Black Horse. It took a second for me to recognise him as Rey. He looked around the pub, before spotting me in the corner and giving me an upwards nod in greeting. I knew there was a difference in meaning between the upwards nod and the downwards nod, but I didn’t quite know yet what it was.
‘Do you want anything?’ Rey pointed at the (unmanned) bar.
I looked at my glass, which was far emptier than I’d have liked.
‘Sav Blanc.’
‘Aite.’
‘Thanks.’
Rey wandered over to the bar, and stood around awkwardly, waiting for service. The older man in the corner surveyed Rey from over his glasses. Rey coughed loudly, acting as though it was coincidental, but anyone could see that he was trying to attract attention.
The man in the corner watched Rey a few moments longer, before calling out, ‘John! There’s a young man here who wants a drink.’
Seconds later, accompanied by a shuffling sound, John returned to the bar.
‘What can I get for ya?’ he asked Rey.
I hadn’t met John before. That wasn’t to say I hadn’t previously frequented the Black Horse (the law on underage drinking was taken less seriously in a town this size), but it did mean that management had changed since my departure from Redbury.
‘One of those…’ Rey pointed at a tap. ‘Actually…’ He pointed at a different tap. ‘One of those, please. And a Sauvignon Blanc please.’
‘A foxtrot and a sav blanc, coming right up!’ John declared. ‘What brings you to Redbury?’
‘Oh, err… I’m- My partner is from here. Just visiting.’
‘Oh really! Who is your partner?’
‘Laura. Kamryn?’
John exaggerated his thinking face. ‘Kamryn? Joyce’s daughter?’
‘That’s right, yeah.’
‘Good for you, she’s a lovely young woman.’ John seemed more interested in small talk than in pouring the drinks. ‘I’m John, by the Rey.’ John held out his hand, and Rey took it, awkwardly stretching his arm around the beer taps.
‘Rey.’
‘And what do you do, Rey?’
‘I’m a writer.’
‘Oh really? Books? Articles?’
‘Articles, yeah. For the Beyonder.’
John’s smile faltered. ‘I don’t know if I know that paper?’
‘Oh, it’s not a paper, it’s just online.’
John nodded, understanding now. ‘Ahhh, of course, of course. Very modern. So people pay to access your webpage?’
‘Well… no. It’s an ad revenue model.’
The bartender didn’t say anything, so Rey continued.
‘So, like, we count on getting a certain number of users to click on a certain number of pages, which in turn means that a certain number of adverts are loaded, and we’re paid for serving these to our customers. Obviously, if users have accounts with us we can be more targeted with the ads we serve them so…’
Rey noticed that John seemed to be losing interest in this conversation, and realised that he was rambling.
‘So it’s interesting, yeah.’
‘Sounds it.’ John finished pouring the drinks in silence, not willing to risk starting another conversation with Rey.
Rey returned to the table in silence, a drink in each hand. He set the wine in front of me, sat down, and began to sip his beer without saying a word (thank god).
We sat there a while by the fire, watching the sun retreat behind the trees and the houses, and the light changing from blue, to orange, and then disappearing entirely. Eventually, it became clear that I would have to start the conversation.
‘You looked very white when you came in, Rey.’
‘Cheers?’
‘What happened?’
Rey took a big gulp, finishing his pint. ‘I… I dunno… nothing. I can’t explain.’
‘Did you find anything out about Laura?’
‘More than I’d like.’
These vague answers were going to become very annoying, very quickly.
‘You asked me up here to help, Rey, remember? It’s fine if you want to wander off and such, but it would be stupid to not communicate.’
Rey nodded. ‘Yeah. You’re right, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…’ I could see him blinking back tears in his eyes. I could see his breathing becoming erratic.
‘I didn’t mean to snap, but let’s talk. Ok?’
He nodded rapidly.
‘Ok. Yes. Sorry. Let’s talk.’ He paused, then began to blurt out words at a rate of knots. ‘I heard Laura was spending time with her ex. I know- I know I shouldn’t be worried about that, but you know, in the spirit of sharing what I’ve found, I’m mentioning it, and-’
Rey was working himself up into a frenzy, and so, against my better judgement, I put my hand on his arm to calm him.
‘It’s ok, Rey. Laura and Sam, they just bumped into each other, that’s all. They barely spoke, Sam didn’t even know Laura was engaged, and you know she’d mention that within a few minutes, wouldn’t she?’
‘No, Anna, that’s not right. Art told me - the Vicar, he told me - they were going off into the woods together. Who told you that they barely spoke? And she didn’t even say she was engaged?’
Predictably, and as they always did, my efforts to comfort someone had not gone according to plan.
I sighed. ‘Sorry, Rey, I should’ve known not to take his word for it.’
‘Sam? Sam’s word?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Do you think… do you think he’d have hurt her?’
I thought about it. ‘No. No, he’s an idiot, but I don’t think he would do that.’
‘But you’ve been away from Redbury a while, Anna. People change.’
‘I know, Rey, but I’d find it hard to believe he’d change that much.’
He paused, and I could see his gears turning. ‘Anna, if… if you had to pick someone in town who would have hurt Laura, who do you-’
‘Rey!’ a new voice shouted excitedly. Turning toward the door, I could see Sarah, Laura’s cousin, gazing incredulously at my new drinking partner.
‘Rey!’ Sarah continued, ‘I didn’t know you were in town! Why didn’t you call!’
‘You’re thirteen, Sarah, it would be a bit strange if he had,’ I said.
‘Hey Sarah,’ Rey replied, little enthusiasm in his voice, ‘How are you?’
‘I’m ok, Rey, I’m ok.’ Sarah confidently sat down beside him. ‘So. What are we drinking? Wine?’
‘I don’t know if you… I don’t know if-,’ Rey started.
‘We’re not buying you alcohol, Sarah. Sorry to ruin the fun.’
She scrunched up her face. ‘Ohh… ok. So, do you know where Laura’s got to yet?’
‘Sarah…’
Rey, choking back tears, let me respond.
‘Sarah, I don’t know if it’s going to be that simple.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly, Anna, she always used to do this, you remember.’
I didn’t have the heart to argue, especially not in front of both Laura’s cousin and fiancee, so I let it go. Sarah quickly recognised that the mood between us was sour.
I bought more drinks. Another of the same for Rey and myself, and a J2O for Sarah. We sat in silence for a few minutes, with Laura’s cousin fidgeting and unsure what to say.
There was a commotion from outside, with a few deep, jolly male voices reverberating through the single-paned windows. The door burst open and three tall young men stormed in, talking loudly and boisterously amongst themselves, oblivious to the quiet mood in the pub. They wore designer shirts and had their hair meticulously groomed, and were the sort to slam on the bar to get the bartender’s attention (which, it turned out, was exactly what they did).
As they bossed John about, the most confident of the group turned around to look at the room, and his eyes fixed on Rey, as if recognising him.
‘What’s this?’
Rey said nothing in response, only rolling his eyes and turning back to face the table. The man took this as an affront.
‘Too good to look at me, are you?’
Rey continued to face away, now taking a sip of his pint.
‘I’m talking to you!’ the boisterous man continued.
He stormed over, his two friends guffawing at the situation. Arriving at the table, he still didn’t provoke a response in Rey, who seemed well-versed in ignoring drunk idiots.
‘How about you get out of our pub, yes? We certainly don’t need people who aren’t from around here.’
This seemed like a strange thing to pick a fight about when you’re from a town with fewer than two hundred people (and in a pub with fewer than ten).
Rey was starting to crack, his face going red and his nostrils flaring. I hadn’t seen gentle, softly-spoken Rey get enraged before, and something told me it wasn’t going to be good. With all that was going on, this wasn’t a situation he needed to be in.
The man reached for Rey’s drink, and Rey shot up to face him, staring the man in the eyes, barely containing his anger. Still, he didn’t say anything.
‘Oh-ho! We have movement!’
While the man’s tone of voice remained calm, he stepped away from Rey, seeming to sense that he’d get more than he had bargained for.
‘What, are you going to try and hurt me?’
His friends laughed as they sipped from full pint glasses. John glared at Rey and his confronter, sizing them up, but rubbing his hip compulsively.
Rey slowly reached down behind him for the (mostly) empty glass, and, seeing where this was headed, I leapt up to stand between them.
‘Alright guys, alright. You’ve shown everyone how big your dicks are, now how about we calm down a little, yeah?’
I stood facing the unfamiliar man, who, after taking one last look at Rey, seemed to back down. ‘I’ll be seeing the two of you again soon, anyway.’
He backed up, signalling to his two friends, and left the pub, drinks (and the Black Horse’s glasses) still in hand. John looked to me and gave me a knowing nod of thanks. Sarah simply looked impressed.
‘That was scary,’ she offered.
‘Maybe it’s time you go home now, Sarah,’ I insisted.
&n
bsp; ‘No it’s ok, they’re always in here. Steve’s not usually like that though.’
‘Steve?’ Rey enquired.
‘Yeah. “Spoilt little rich shit”, my mum says. She also says I’m not supposed to say “shit”.’
‘Probably wise.’
‘It must be past your bedtime now, Sarah,’ I continued, ‘How about we see you tomorrow, yeah?’
‘…Ok,’ she replied reluctantly.
Sarah gave Rey a soft one-armed hug, and went for the door. She opened it softly to see if Steve and his cronies were still around, and then, comfortable that they were not, gave us a sad smile and left.
If Rey wasn’t already retreated into himself, he was now. He put his head down on the table, arms over it, as if shielding himself from the world.
‘You ok, Rey?’
‘Yeah,’ he replied from under his limb-based fortress.
I went quiet, leaving it to Rey to talk (if that was what he wanted). At first, it didn’t seem to be, but then he stirred, lifting his head and blinking as his eyes once again got used to the light.
‘That question I asked you earlier…’
‘Which one, sorry?’ I asked.
‘Just before Sarah came in. Do you remember?’
‘Yeah, you asked if someone here were to hurt Laura, who it might be. But I don’t know if we have to jump to the conclusion that someone has hurt-’
‘Who would it be, Anna?’ he insisted.
Of course, I knew the answer. I knew the answer because it was something I thought about on a daily basis. Something I’d thought about (and not by choice) for over ten years.
‘Robert.’
Rey didn’t look as perplexed by the idea as I’d have assumed he would. ‘Robert? Her dad?’
I didn’t say anything. Rey studied my face.
‘I mean… I know… I know he’s not the nicest man ever, but you think he’d hurt his daughter? Why? And- and why such a confident answer?’
Rey wouldn’t have been my immediate choice for the person with whom I first shared this information, but here we were: a broken, lost man and a scarred woman. I thought, at the time, that maybe it was time to tell someone.
