Daisy Madigan's Paradise

by Suzy Turner

  Jack had discovered a secret place within the cemetery for them to sleep at night, a place protected from the elements and from any strangers that wandered through the park.

  The catacombs beneath the War Memorial weren't creepy, not to her or Jack anyway. It was like her new home. She felt incredibly safe down there, especially with Jack to keep her company.

  He'd found it by following a ghost who wandered down there one day. Although the main entrance to the catacombs had been closed up, the ghost had led him to a secret passageway. The moment he'd entered it, he'd known that Daisy would love it down there. She'd feel safe and that was all that mattered to him now.

  Daisy had collected a number of old candles that she'd found in the back of the old corner shop. Shariq had let her keep them, so she'd taken them back to the catacombs, where she'd kept them for a special occasion. One like today, she thought.

  Lighting them, Daisy then opened the bag that Balvinder had given her and took out the food that had been so carefully prepared by the old woman.

  Aromas of spices filled the room and Daisy smiled as she began to tuck in.

  'I wish you could taste this, Jack,' she said as he just sat and watched her eat with a smile on his face.

  'Yeah, I know. I do miss it... food, that is.'

  'I'm sorry Jack.'

  'What for?'

  'It's Christmas Day and you're stuck down here with me. Don't you want to leave? You must miss your parents?'

  'Of course I miss them but... I'll have an eternity with them when I cross over. I just don't want to... not yet anyway.'

  'Would you know what to do when the time comes? I mean, is there a light or something?' she asked.

  Jack turned to look over his shoulder with a smile, 'yeah, it's there, always there right behind me.'

  'Sometimes I wish I could cross over with you,' she admitted without even thinking about it.

  'No Daisy,' he scolded. 'Don't you dare think like that.'

  Daisy looked up at him suddenly, her face reddening.

  'You have your whole life to look forward to. Don't even think about... about dying yet. It's not your time.'

  'Sorry,' she whispered.

  'It's okay,' he whispered back before he glided upwards with a giggle as he suddenly started to sing,

  'Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way.... oh what fun....'

  Daisy began to giggle before she started to sing along with him.

  Soon, another voice could be heard. At first Daisy was so startled that she quietened into silence, but the sound was so jolly and fun that she carried on.

  And then, another voice joined in and another and another until it sounded like a full choir singing Christmas Carols.

  As the song came to an end, Daisy laughed as the other voices cheered, but not one showed themselves to her. So she began to sing another.

  'On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me.....'

  The voices sang along with her, all full of joy and excitement, as if they hadn't sang in such a long time.

  As they sang the last few words, Daisy stopped singing and just listened, hoping that at least one of the ghosts might reveal themselves to her.

  And sure enough, one by one, she watched in delight as their forms began to materialise in front of her. Soon, about twelve ghosts sat quietly in a circle, all grinning from ear to ear.

  'Hello dear,' said a lady of about 40 with curly blonde hair pinned up in true 1920s style. She wore a beautiful pleated blue dress and blue shoes. A trickle of dried blood stuck to the side of her face.

  'H..hi,' replied Daisy.

  'We've been watching you, you know?'

  'Why... why did you wait so long to show yourselves?'

  The lady smiled, 'we didn't want to frighten you,' she answered simply.

  'Oh... okay. What's your name?'

  'I'm Elizabeth. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Daisy,' she smiled.

  'It's nice to meet you too.'

  The other ghosts introduced themselves. They included a man called Simon who was about 30. He wore seventies style clothes and had a huge afro. He also had a hole in his chest.

  Terence was around 60, his cheeky face was deathly pale and he was missing an arm as well as his left ear. Charlotte was the youngest of the group. She looked like a regular girl of about 18 or so and had long wiry auburn hair that draped all the way down to her bottom. Daisy had never seen anyone so thin. Her face was gaunt and pale and her expression looked like she was going to sick. But she was friendly... like all of them were.

  'We've never had anyone sing Christmas carols here before,' she whispered. 'Its nice. It brings back memories of when I was alive,' she sighed.

  Daisy was desperate to know how these people died but she knew asking the question this soon after meeting them might scare them off. It might be a bit, you know, personal.

  The group sat chatting about Christmases gone by for a while, in between a good old sing-song, but later on there seemed to be a heaviness in the air. There was no reason for it, it just changed the ambience in the catacombs. A slight breeze blew out the candles and when Daisy went to re-light them, she noticed that everyone, except Jack, had vanished.

  'What happened?' she whispered, a bit freaked out. 'Where did they go?'

  Jack shrugged his shoulders but shivered at the same time.

  'What was that?' she asked.

  Jack's expression suddenly changed and the smiley boy she knew disappeared.

  Daisy felt a shift in temperature and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Shivering, she climbed back into her sleeping bag and zipped it up tightly.

  'Jack?' she whispered. 'Jack... where are you?'

  When he didn't return or respond, Daisy pulled the cover over her head and closed her eyes.

  CHAPTER 11

  Jack didn't come back for three days. When he did eventually show himself, something about him had changed. Daisy noticed it immediately.

  'Jack? Where the hell did you go? I've been worried sick,' she scolded as she watched him float around the sleeping lion before he settled down in front of her.

  'Well?'

  'Well what?'

  'Where have you been?'

  'I... I... don't know.'

  'What do you mean you don't know?'

  'I mean exactly that... I don't know where I've been. The last thing I remember was singing Christmas carols with you in the catacombs. Why? I haven't been gone long... have I?' he asked.

  'Long? You've been gone for three days,' she almost shrieked angrily.

  Jack looked shocked.

  'But... but, it seemed like I was just there with you.'

  'Yeah well, you weren't. You left me, alone, for three whole days.'

  Jack lifted his face to look into her eyes, stroking his hand on her cheek. 'I... I'm sorry, Daisy. I don't know what happened.'

  A tear fell down her cheek as she realised something freaky was going on and whatever it was, she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

  'It's okay, Jack. I'm sorry for freaking out. It wasn't your fault.'

  'So you have absolutely no memory since the catacombs?'

  Jack shook his head sullenly.

  'What about the others?'

  'What others?'

  'The ghosts.'

  'What ghosts?'

  'You know, Elizabeth, Terence, Charlotte, Simon and the others,' she replied.

  Jack laughed, 'I have no idea what you're talking about, Daisy. I've not met any ghosts around here. You know that.'

  Daisy squinted at him, 'Jack, they introduced themselves to us the other day and they sang carols with us. Don't you remember?'

  Again he laughed, 'You're so funny, Daisy. There was nobody with us. It was just you and me, the candles and the songs.'

  But Daisy shook her head firmly, 'No Jack, you're wrong. What's happened to you?'

  Jack gulped, suddenly realising that something had indeed happened to him. His memory had all but disappea
red.

  'I'm surprised you even know me,' she huffed.

  'Of course I know you!'

  'How did we meet?' she asked.

  'That day in the park... you were, um... you were...'

  Daisy raised her eyebrows.

  'Drawing?'

  'Um, yeah I guess you were drawing.'

  'What happened to your house, Jack?'

  'My house? What house?'

  'The house you grew up in? The house you lived with your parents?'

  'I don't know what you're talking about. There's no house,' he chuckled nervously.

  'Jack... how did you die?' she whispered.

  'Die?' he asked, a silly grin across his face, 'now I know you're messing with me. I didn't die,' he laughed as he rolled backwards so he lay on the ground across from her.

  Daisy's eyes opened wide. Jack had forgotten almost everything about his life. The only thing he did know was her.

  CHAPTER 12

  The next few days were tough. After Daisy had tried to explain to Jack what had really happened, he'd gotten angry with her and disappeared again.

  She'd told him about his mum and dad and the house fire... she'd even ventured out of the park to show him the charred remains of their semi-detached house, where he had lived all 17 years of his life. But he had no idea. He acted like he'd never seen the place before and after a few more hours of Daisy trying to drum it into his head, he'd shouted at her to shut up and had walked away.

  She had no idea where he was, what he was doing or if he was even okay. Can a ghost feel pain, she thought? She certainly hoped not.

  After his first disappearance, she was beginning to get used to being alone again. She blocked him, her mum and her dad out of her mind and thought of nothing but survival and how she was even surviving in the first place.

  She'd noticed things within her were changing. She barely felt the cold, she could go days without drinking much water at all and when she went running, she realised she was fast, like super human fast. And then, in her burgeoning anger at Jack she'd kicked a tree, knocking it completely to the ground, realising that she also had, like super human strength.

  What was going on? Did it have something to do with the tattoo? Perhaps now she was on her own, she should track down her dad and find out the truth once and for all.

  But once she'd made up her mind that she needed to do just that, something happened.

  Every evening before she called it a night, Daisy would walk around the grounds of Abney park and just enjoy the peacefulness and the solitude in the dim light of dusk. But that night proved to be quite different.

  She could feel it in the air, the sensation that she wasn't alone in the cemetery. And it wasn't the ghosts or the animals in the undergrowth. This was different. Her senses on full alert, Daisy was cautious to make little noise as she walked slowly and carefully through the gravestones, past the sleeping lion and beyond the numerous headless statues of angels that were scattered among the trees.

  When she heard a howl, she stopped dead in her tracks and listened intently, her eyes skimming the area all around. The howl was followed by laughter, and not the fun kind. She knew immediately that she was dealing with a group. Her first instinct was to run but, not knowing which direction they were coming from, she climbed the nearest tree. Seconds later, she sat on a heavy branch, barely breathing. She'd never even realised she was capable of climbing trees and to do so at such speed shocked her. But she didn't have time to think about that, she knew those people in the park were bad news and she didn't want them to catch her.

  Silently waiting, she barely took a breath as she watched the group grow nearer.

  There were four men, three women and two incredibly large dogs. As they approached, Daisy bit her lip. They weren't dogs. They were wolves and they were on to her scent, sniffing all around the area. Fortunately, they seemed to lose interest and neither of them looked upwards.

  A pretty girl with long blonde dread-locked hair walked by the side of one of the animals, occasionally stroking the soft black fur on its back lovingly.

  The other woman draped herself across a guy who wore black from head to toe. His shoulder length black hair framed his handsome, yet pale and gaunt face. It was clear that they all looked up to him. Suddenly, the other beast howled loudly. Daisy watched in horror as his fur seemed to loosen and break apart. She heard its bones seem to crack beneath its skin and with her eyes wide open in terror, the wolf's limbs lengthened, its jaw pulled inwards until standing beneath the tree where she hid, stood a naked man.

  She placed her hand over her mouth to stop the scream that threatened to pierce the night sky. She gulped back the tears and shook her head. A werewolf? They were real? Her imagination went wild as she began to realise her world would never be the same again.

  'Get him some clothes,' said their leader to the girl with the dreadlocks. She smiled, temporarily appreciating the naked form that stood in front of her. He grinned back at her and she licked her lips before turning away and delving into the large holdall one of the others had carried.

  She handed him a pair of black jeans, black boots and a black t-shirt.

  Daisy watched as he slowly dressed himself. As much as she was terrified, curiosity took over. Apart from on TV, she'd never seen a naked man before.

  Once dressed, she noticed the other wolf continued to walk circles around the group, occasionally walking a little further away to sniff the perimeter. He was clearly keeping watch.

  Resting her head against the tree trunk, Daisy's eyes grew tired. But she forced herself to keep them open. She refused to fall asleep. Not while this strange group remained underfoot.

  'Drake,' said the brunette. 'We have company,' she snarled with a smile.

  Shocked and scared half to death, Daisy caught her breath. Had they spotted her?

  But it wasn't her they were referring to. Someone had drifted into their circle. Almost like he was under a spell. It was Jack

  Daisy held her breath as she watched him hover in between them.

  'Jack,' she mouthed silently.

  'Well, what do we have here?' said the man called Drake.

  'Its the boy again. I touched him a few days ago,' said the brunette who now stood with her hands on her hips. She licked her lips and held out her hand towards the spirit.

  As her hand found his centre, Jack seemed to convulse.

  But he was a ghost, how could he be affected, thought Daisy.

  She wanted to help but knew there was nothing she could do. These were dangerous people. At least Jack was already dead, she thought guiltily.

  Instead she just sat motionless and helpless, watching from above as Jack was pulled and prodded by the young woman.

  'Hello Jack,' she said to him. 'Its good to see you again.'

  Jack hovered, his feet barely touching the ground with his head drooped forward.

  'Well, aren't you going to say hello?' she asked as she prodded him again, causing his head to flick upwards.

  'H...h...he...llo,' he whispered.

  'Hello what?' she probed.

  'H..ello Bea...trice.'

  The woman laughed and clapped her hands together. 'Aw, you remembered. How sweet. Now tell me, what have you been up to?'

  Jack said nothing.

  'What's the matter, don't you remember?' laughed the dread-locked girl who sat on the ground with her arm around the man who'd earlier transformed from a wolf.

  'Come on, Jack, I only played with parts of your memory. Tell me what you've done since you last saw me?'

  Jack looked up at her and opened his mouth, 'I...I... went to see Daisy. She... she told me I was dead,' he stuttered.

  Daisy held her breath.

  'Daisy? Who is this Daisy?'

  Oh no, please don't tell them about me, thought Daisy.

  'Daisy's my girl. She lives in the park.'

  Momentarily forgetting about everything that surrounded her, Daisy's heart did a little jump. He called me his girl.
>
  'She lives in the park? What? You mean this park? Abney Park?'

  Jack nodded and Daisy was brought back to reality with a bang.

  'Well, well, well... looks like we've got a runaway in our midst,' said Drake.

  'She sounds like fun, Drake,' said the dread-locked girl, 'can we find her? Can we... play... with her?'

  Drake knocked his head backwards and laughed with his eyes closed.

  'If you need another plaything to keep you occupied Darcey, sure.'

  Oh My God... they're going to kill me.

  CHAPTER 13

  Fortunately for Daisy, the group hadn't found her and they hadn't killed her. Not yet anyway. She'd stayed up there in that sturdy tree all night and just before dawn, they'd finally gathered their things and left the park. Jack had been allowed to leave hours before but Daisy had no idea where he'd gone.

  When she knew it was safe, she expertly climbed down the tree and rushed to her hiding place inside the catacombs. Snuggling down into the sleeping bag, she closed her eyes and slept for as long as she could. Well, for as long as the nightmares would allow anyway.

  Giant wolves chased her through the forest until she reached the tunnels beneath ground, escaping just moments before their deadly sharp claws tore at her skin. Breathing deeply, Daisy scurried through the darkness but she wasn't alone. She could feel their breath on her skin, ghosts followed her. At every move, another one appeared until there were so many underground with her that she couldn't breathe. Her lungs felt tight and she spluttered, gagging for breath, wheezing and coughing until she awoke with a start, covered in a light film of sweat.

  Moments later, when she realised she was safe, Daisy laid back down and breathed in and out, in and out, calming her breath until it was finally back to normal.

  It was just a dream, she thought, just a really bad dream.

  'Daisy?' said a woman's voice out of nowhere.

  'Ah,' she gasped.

  'Oh, sorry,' said Charlotte, one of the ghosts from the other night who appeared in front of her. 'I didn't mean to startle you.

  'That's okay,' muttered Daisy self-consciously pulling the cover up to her ears.

  'I, erm, I saw Jack earlier and he seemed, well, weird. He didn't remember me.'

  'Yeah I know, his memory has gone all weird... it's because of that scary woman.'

  'What scary woman?' asked Charlotte.

  'From that gang that were in the park earlier.'