Witch: A Horror Novel (The Cursed Manuscripts) Page 12

  Ashley squinted at the screen and studied the image for a moment. There was only a single image on the newspaper’s front page and it was poor quality – the overzealous blacks obliterating the muddy greys and whites. It was clear, however, that they were looking at an image of an old farmhouse. The curious thing was that it was already dilapidated. The roof was still on, but several parts of the brick wall were missing.

  Ashley pointed a finger at the screen. “It says here that the pig farm closed down in 1948. Wow, it really is old.”

  “So it was abandoned for twenty years, and they just built the golf course around it. They left it there and allowed the woods to grow around it.”

  “And it lay forgotten until we went and disturbed it.” She shook her head. “We’re so dumb.”

  “Someone else was there before us, Ash. Whoever chained Rose up inside.”

  Ashley arched her back and stretched, her large breasts flattening and spreading out. “Does it say anything about who owns it?”

  “Let me check.” He tutted. “Only the front page has been scanned. The rest of the article isn’t here. Wait, hold on… It says the pig farm was operated by the Glendale family. The sale of the land was approved by… a Rita Glendale.”

  “Great,” said Ashley, but she pulled a face. “This was all in 1968, though, right? So this Rita will be dead by now.”

  Jude didn’t answer her. He was on a trail, which was something he enjoyed. Many times in the past he had become interested in a subject and followed the breadcrumbs across the Internet in search of answers. He entered ‘Rita Glendale’ into the search bar and hit enter.

  Something came up immediately.

  He clicked the first article.

  “Says here she was the town’s first female councillor. Wow, she was in charge of our ward.”

  Ashley frowned. “What does that mean? She was like a politician or something?”

  “Yeah, she used to help run this part of town, like a representative or something. There’s a picture of her here from the eighties. Look.”

  The two of them studied the faded picture of a bony woman with curly grey hair. In the photograph, she was holding a young boy against her side. The caption explained it was her son, Peter, an avid young artist. A chalk picture of some daffodils had been drawn on the pavement. It was pretty good if the kid had drawn it.

  “She had a son. Peter Glendale.”

  Ashley scratched at the inside of her nostril, grossly dislodging some dried blood. “So maybe we search for this Peter, then? Although, if his mum sold the farm before he was even born, he probably doesn’t know any more than we do.”

  Once again, Jude followed the breadcrumbs. He typed in ‘Peter Glendale’ and tapped enter.

  There were no articles about Peter, but he was listed as a company director on a government website. It looked like he owned some kind of marketing agency, but the crazy thing was, the website listed his home address.

  Jude gasped. “He lives here. Packer Street. Isn’t that down near the supermarket?”

  Ashley nodded. “Yeah, my mum used to clean for a lady down there. Nice houses.”

  “Do you reckon he could help us? Do you think he has any idea who Rose is?”

  Ashley shook her head. “No. It happened too long ago. Why would he?”

  Jude was about to conduct another Internet search, but a loud banging at the front door interrupted him. His mum yelled up the stairs for him to come down.

  He looked at Ashley. “The police, you think?”

  “Dunno.”

  They went over to the bedroom door and stepped out onto the landing. Rather than head downstairs, they eavesdropped.

  It was Ashley’s father. “Is she here?” he said, sounding tired. “I just need to talk with her, Helen.”

  “I think you’ve done enough talking for tonight, Tony. She wants to be left alone. She’s perfectly safe here, for now, so leave her be.”

  “She needs to come home with me. She needs to be home when the police come back. This has all gone way too far.”

  “I agree, but she said you hit her.”

  “That’s… It’s not like it sounds.”

  “Jesus, Tony.”

  “Keep your nose out of my business. Go pour yourself another drink and leave my daughter to me.”

  “How dare you!”

  “You’re pissed. My daughter isn’t staying here.”

  There was the brief sound of a scuffle followed by Jude’s mum grunting. When she spoke again, she was angry. “Come inside my house and I’ll have you locked up, Tony, do you understand? You might knock your own family about, but you’re not gunna play that game with me. Ashley’s here because she’s upset, so just give the poor girl some space. I’ll take care of her tonight and call you in the morning. If the police arrive, I’ll talk to them, okay?”

  “No, not okay. I want my daughter.”

  “You’re not coming in.”

  There was the sound of another scuffle and Ashley raced halfway down the stairs. When Ashley’s dad saw her, his face lit up. “Ashley? I need you to come home. We need to talk about things.”

  “No, we don’t. Leave me alone, Dad.”

  He sighed and leant against the door frame. His right foot was inside the hallway. “I’m sorry for losing my temper, okay, but you need to come home. You need to face the mess you’ve made.”

  Ashley hissed. “Are you for real? The mess I’ve made? All Jude and I have done is the right thing. It’s everybody else who’s fucked up. I’m not coming home, Dad. Just go.”

  Her dad pushed himself away from the door frame and barged into Jude’s mum. She yelped in surprise and fell against the wall but threw out a hip to keep him from getting past. The two of them started wrestling.

  Ashley screamed and ran down the rest of the stairs. She paused in the hallway to point a finger at her grunting, red-faced dad. “Just fucking leave me alone!”

  Jude didn’t know what to do. His mum was fighting with everything she had to keep Ashley’s dad out. Meanwhile, Ashley fled into the kitchen. “Mum, I-I’m going to call the police, okay? Hold on.”

  “Yes! Call 999,” she begged. “Tell them I’m being attacked.”

  Ashley’s dad gave up the struggle and moved back outside. He adjusted his misshapen shirt and growled. “Fine. I’m going, okay? But you tell Ashley I want her home. Tonight. Or I’ll be the one calling the police.”

  “Get the hell out of here, Tony.”

  Jude raced into the kitchen, intending to tell Ashley that her dad was leaving, but when he got there, he found the kitchen empty and the back door wide open. Ashley had gone.

  The sun was shining outside, and Jude had to blink to adjust his vision. Ashley couldn’t have gone far because she had entered the kitchen only ten seconds before he had, and sure enough, he found her marching through the alleyway at the end of his close. The alleyway led to the playground, which was where he figured she was heading. The small park was away from the roads, which meant her dad wouldn’t catch up to her in his car.

  Jude felt bad for leaving his mum, but his priority right now was Ashley. She was afraid of her own dad, which he couldn’t possibly imagine, having barely ever known his own. Even so, he couldn’t imagine being afraid of a parent. His mum had plenty of issues, but he never doubted that she loved him.

  Jude caught up to Ashley as she exited the alleyway. She’d seen him coming, having peeked over her shoulder at the sound of his hurried footsteps, but she didn’t say anything as he joined her. She stared ahead in silence.

  This used to be so much easier. We always used to know the right thing to say to one another.

  “I love you, Ash. You’re my best friend, and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with all this shit on top of everything else. I didn’t realise things had got so bad with your dad.”

  “Not your fault. Just the way it is.”

  And that was the end of the conversation. They walked until they reached the playground, and when they
saw somebody sitting there alone, they grimaced.

  Ricky was slumped with his head between his knees and a mostly empty bottle of cider at his side. Jude was disinclined to disturb him, but Ashley decided differently and called out, “Hey, Ricky? What are you doing here on your own?”

  He flinched and looked at them. His brown hair was a mess and his eyelids were sagging. He said nothing until Jude and Ashley were inside the playground’s railings. “Did you tell the police anything about me?” he slurred.

  “We didn’t tell ’em anything,” said Ashley, “Have you heard anything? Have the police found Lily?”

  Ricky pulled a face and let out a silent belch. He reeked of alcohol, and it wafted towards them on his breath. “The plods were all over the fucking place earlier,” he said. “They went into the woods, and to Lily’s house too. Her family’s on the warpath. If they find out we left Lily to die out there in the woods, we’re fucked. We’re all fucking fucked.”

  Jude leant against the railings and folded his arms. It wasn’t cold, but he felt a shiver. “We weren’t the ones who hurt Lily. It was Rose. You need to tell the police you saw her, too. They need to catch her.”

  Ricky said nothing. He picked up his bottle of cider and took a swig.

  Ashley moved directly in front of him. For a moment, she stared at the top of his head. Then she rolled her eyes. “You’re a complete mess, Ricky. If the police question you, how are you going to keep your story straight? We might need you to back us up. If the police don’t find Rose, they’re going to start looking for other answers.”

  Ricky tried to look up at her, but he couldn’t keep his head still and his eyes were all over the place. “You don’t say nothing about me to the police, you get me? I’ll fucking kill you if you drag me into this.”

  “You dragged yourself into this,” said Jude, “when you marched me back to the farmhouse. If you’d just let me call for help, you wouldn’t have got involved in anything. In fact, if anybody is to blame for what happened to Lily, it’s you.”

  Ricky stood up and took an unsteady step towards Jude at the railing. “The fuck you say to me?”

  Ashley grabbed Ricky’s arm and pulled him away from Jude. “You weren’t to blame, Ricky. It isn’t fair for Jude to say that, but we’re done with you and your threats, okay? You ever lay a finger on Jude again, I’ll kill you.”

  Ricky glared at her and took a step so that he was right inside her personal space. He leant forward so that his face was up against hers. “I’d like to see you try, flabby tits. Maybe we could even have some fun. You should ditch this prick and hang with me. I’ll show you what a real man’s like.”

  Ashley rolled her eyes and spat on the floor. “You spend so much time telling other people they’re losers, Ricky, but the funny thing is, you’re the biggest loser of all. You’re a train wreck waiting to happen, and if you were the last person on Earth, I still wouldn’t hang out with you. If you can’t be a normal human being, then just leave us both the fuck alone.”

  “And what if I don’t? What if I kick the shit out of Judy right here and now? What if I put him in hospital with a feeding tube? You going to do something about it?”

  “Don’t test me.”

  Ricky chuckled, then turned clumsily and took a step towards Jude. Ashley’s tough bitch act had been impressive, but Ricky was clearly incapable of good behaviour.

  He’s going to hit me. It’s happened enough times for me to know. What do I do? I really can’t cope with it anymore.

  Ricky got right in Jude’s face. It was the usual tactic of glaring at him and making him squirm, but this time Jude didn’t squirm. He put both hands on Ricky’s chest and pushed him away firmly. In his drunken state, Ricky staggered and almost fell, but it only made him angrier. He clenched both hands into fists and glared at Jude. “Oh, you’re a dead man now. I’m going to stamp on your fucking balls till there’s nothing left. That’s if you even have any.”

  “Leave him alone.” Ashley grabbed Ricky’s arm again and spun him.

  Ricky lashed out. He shoved Ashley away and raised his fist. The sight of him threatening her caused Jude to yell out in anger. He shoved himself away from the railings and threw himself towards Ricky.

  Ashley threw up her arms to defend herself.

  Ricky recoiled, then squealed like a stuck pig. He doubled over in pain and screamed. “My hand! My fucking hand.”

  Jude had still been a metre away, his attempt to stop Ricky from punching Ashley likely to fail, but something had happened that prevented the assault. Ricky was in agony. He kept on screaming about his hand.

  Ashley was visibly confused. “What is it? What’s happened?”

  Ricky stopped screaming and bit down on his lip. He looked at Ashley and threw out his hand for her to see. It had shrivelled up like the clumps of ginger his mum kept in the cupboard beside the fridge. His fingers were twisted, his palm withered like the skin of a rotting peach. Even as they stared at it, Ricky’s hand curled in on itself even more.

  Ashley and Jude exchanged a glance. Ricky had been about to punch her, but instead his hand had been destroyed. It didn’t seem a coincidence. Jude looked at Ashley and tried to figure out what the hell had happened. “He was going to hurt you. What stopped him?”

  Ashley’s face had grown pale, and she stared at him. Slowly, she reached a hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out Rose’s locket. She tried to speak but faltered and had to start again. “M-My dad gave me a nosebleed. Then his nose started bleeding.”

  Jude understood immediately what she was saying. “Because of the locket. It’s… It’s more than just a piece of jewellery, isn’t it?”

  Ashley stared at the piece of old jewellery hanging from her trembling hand. “I think so.”

  Ricky went back to screaming, and took off in a panic, which was hardly surprising. Jude couldn’t imagine how afraid he must be. He was a victim of witchcraft or some kind of evil spell. Would his hand stay that way forever?

  Maybe Rose isn’t evil. So far, the only people she’s hurt are Ricky and Lily. Bullies.

  Ashley and Jude stood in the playground, stunned. There was seemingly no end to the nightmare in which they found themselves. How much more misery would go around before it was over?

  “We need help,” said Jude, “before more people get hurt.”

  Ashley nodded. She still held the locket but wouldn’t dare look at it.

  Jude leant against the railing, needing to take a breather. “If this were a movie, what would be our next move?”

  “This isn’t a movie, Jude, so stop being an idiot.”

  “I’m not being stupid. We don’t have any other frame of reference, so why not a movie? What would our next move be?”

  She put a hand against her forehead and groaned. “Jesus, I don’t know. We don’t even understand what’s going on. I suppose we would go off in search of answers, visit the local library and go through old newspapers, or look for clues at a museum. Shit, maybe we would go ask Dora the fucking Explorer. Like I said, this isn’t a movie.”

  Jude huffed. He knew he was being stupid, but sometimes he found it easier to think in plotlines. He enjoyed order, and movies and books always followed a formula. Perhaps life did too; he would certainly like to think so. Then it came to him. He smiled at Ashley, which only seemed to annoy her.

  “Why are you grinning? Ricky lost his freaking hand because of me.”

  “You were right. If this were a movie, we would go looking for answers. What’s the one lead we have? The one piece of information we have that might lead to more information?”

  Ashley shrugged. She clearly didn’t want to play along.

  “Peter Glendale. We have his address. His family is connected to the farmhouse. Maybe he’ll know who Rose is.”

  “We’ve already been through this. There’s no way he could know anything. The farmhouse hasn’t belonged to his family in fifty years. Longer.”

  “Well, what else do we have? If we stick aroun
d here doing nothing, more bad things are going to happen. Either the police will come and arrest us, or your dad will find us. Maybe Lily’s family. And what happens to the next person who gets nasty with you? Ricky’s hand might only be the start.”

  Ashley held up the locket. “I’ll get rid of this. Then there’s no problem.”

  “It’s more than that and you know it. Rose came for us last night before you even got hold of that locket. She’s been after us since the moment we first met her. This doesn’t end until we understand who she is and what she wants. We need to go see Peter Glendale, because that’s the only thing we can do.”

  Ashley folded her arms and looked unhappy. It was her usual expression, and it was comforting to see it return. She shrugged. “Okay, so we walk to his house and hope he’s there. It’ll take us, what, two hours? Then what if he doesn’t want to talk to us? Or if he decides we’re crazy and calls the police?”

  “Then we’re in no worse position than we are now. What do we have to lose?”

  Ashley moved towards the playground’s exit. “Okay, then I guess we start walking.”

  And so they did. Neither knew a way to get to Peter Glendale’s house via the footpaths, so they followed the main road, walking along the verge and stomping through the unmowed summer grass. Several times, Ash thought she saw her dad’s car coming and ducked into the weeds, but every time it turned out to be a false alarm. Eventually, she started to relax.

  It was nice to just walk for a while, to get away from the playground and the woods and their parents. Jude even pretended in his mind that they were outlaws, fleeing the police and the murder and mayhem left in their wake. The problem was, things rarely turned out well for outlaws.

  Walking on the grassy embankments alongside the main roads was tiring, and after an hour, Jude’s shins ached. Ashley was shorter than he was, and she had sweated a little through the back of her T-shirt. He imagined her moist skin, and a picture of her, naked and panting, appeared unbidden in his mind. It was bizarre and unwanted, and not how he had ever thought about her. They had always been close, but after the last few days, they had become more than friends. They were allies now. Allies against a world that seemed to have it in for them.