Beneath the Elder Tree (19 page)

   ‘You don’t trust him, do you?’

   ‘I have never met a ghost I could trust. Perhaps you could change all that. A ghost with a conscience and compassion might be one that I could invest my trust in. A ghost like that might make for a worthy companion.’

   I wanted to tell her that I desired to flee the city forever. She had spoken to me in a fashion that I could relate to. Not even Tim’s compliments and promises affected me like Natalia’s words. I found her comforting. She was a person, not just a ghostly remnant of a long dead mortal. I could have talked to her the whole night. I could listened to her the whole night. Unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to exchange another word.

   A thick black cloud whipped up in the space between us and a figure gradually emerged from it. His red eyes blazed through the gloom and focused on me. I could sense anger and confusion before I even saw his face. Tim had returned and was very pissed off.

   ‘Where were you?’ he demanded. ‘Is this a game that you’re playing with me? I was looking…’ He trailed off when he sensed there was another ghost standing behind him. His eyes sank in colour and his cross demeanour disappeared when he realised it was Natalia. ‘What’s all this…?’

   ‘I happened by and found your friend here,’ Natalie said confidently. ‘She’s been looking for you.’

   ‘What have the two of you been talking about?’

   Natalia’s eyes blazed red and she visibly grew in size. ‘You pry into my affairs, child?’ she snapped. ‘Do you believe that you are superior to me in some way?’

   ‘Just curious…’ Tim said, almost cowering before the older ghost.

   ‘You know what they say about curiosity, don’t you.’ Natalie looked at me and winked before disappearing into a violent storm of black mist.

  ‘What did she say to you?’ Tim asked angrily when he was sure Natalia was gone.

   ‘Very little.’

   ‘Be careful of her, Lucy. That ghost is very old and very clever.’

   ‘Those aren’t things to fear.’

   ‘She can poison a person’s mind with only a few words, Lucy. No ghost is to be taken lightly.’

   ‘Let’s not argue, Tim. Let’s go somewhere away from this rotten cathedral. Maybe we can go to the forest again?’

   ‘I can’t. Not tonight.’

   ‘Why not?’

   ‘I am to speak with the others again. And I’d like you to come with me this time.’

   ‘No. I told you before, Tim, I don’t feel comfortable with your plan. I’d rather stay out of it and away from the others. You said it yourself, no ghost is to be taken lightly and I don’t think I’m experienced enough to deal with a situation like that.’ It was a wonderful lie, and one that Tim believed.

   ‘I must go to them, Lucy. It will mean another night here without me.’

   ‘I’ll live.’

   ‘Of course you will.’ He reached out and caressed my cheek, before gravitating towards me and kissing me softly. Tim was so tender and sweet when he wanted to be - when he wasn’t thinking about revenge. ‘Soon we’ll have time and freedom.’

   ‘Tim, don’t depend on something that is uncertain.’

   ‘I don’t like that you doubt me so much.’ He drew his hands away and paced to the centre of the attic. ‘Would it hurt to believe in me?’

   He had disappeared before I could answer.

*  *  *

The line between friend and foe was often blurred in the afterlife. I’d been aware of that since I first entered the spirit world. As each day passed it became harder to tell one from the other. Perhaps I was still thinking as mortals do. Perhaps friendship was a concept that only existed in the mortal world.

   Natalia commanded both fear and respect. She was so strong and confident that it was almost impossible to question what she said. Tim had brought me down to earth quickly, saying that she was trying to cloud my judgement. But I wondered why she would do that? She would gain little by befriending me - certainly not as much as I would gain from a possible friendship with her. And it was clear my fears that she was involved with Tim were way off the mark. She had treated him with indifference - almost distain. He had reacted to her with fear. He had cloaked it well, but both Natalia and I sensed that he was intimidated by her.

  Her offer was a tempting one. One that I knew would be hard to ignore as time went on.

   My thoughts then turned to the vampire ghost I had encountered earlier in the night. Such a monstrosity. If most of the ghosts were like that I didn’t want to be near them. I was glad I’d refused to attend the meeting with Tim. The desire to distance myself from the city was growing by the minute.

   I soon capitulated to that desire and decided to revisit my mortal home in Hampton. I abandoned the cathedral and headed north. I longed to be with my family. I thought about the grief there were enduring and hoped that now I could cure their hurt. I didn’t want to reveal myself to them. I simply wanted to take away some of the torment. Now, as a ghost and not a spirit guide, I could take the risk. Emily had warned me not to do this, but most of her warning and rules meant little to me now. I had felt the wrath of the shepherd and was free of all constraints. A fear remained that he would hurt me in some way for meddling in the real world, but after seeing the vampire’s acts hours earlier, I was confident that my crimes would be of little or no concern to him.

   It took most of the night to walk from the city and to cross the grasslands that stretched out towards the satellite towns. As night world gave way to mirror world I crossed the freeway - not far from where I had sat with Emily on my second day as a spirit. It was morning and there was a river of misery from the lines of traffic. I should have been lapping it all up. I didn’t. It was dreadfully depressing and I took the long way to Hampton by cutting through the forest by the old derelict factory. It would only delay me by an hour. This didn’t seem like much of a loss. One hour is insignificant to an immortal.

   I strolled off the freeway, down an embankment and along a dirt path that led into the woodland. I passed into the shade of the tree line and instantly became aware that I was not alone. Someone else from the spirit world was lurking in the shadows of the boughs. Who was it? What was it?

   An entity of some form was watching me, I could feel it. I inclined my head and walked purposely towards the opening that led to the old factory, pretending that nothing was out of place. The feeling grew more intense and choked my senses. Whatever it was had come right up behind me. Fear spread in me as I instinctively quickened my pace.

   As soon as I reached the border of the woodland, and had a clear escape route, I turned swiftly to face the entity. I had been expecting one of the powerful and callous black spirits that lurked in the city, what I found disturbed a pool of pity inside me. It was Mia.

   ‘I mean no harm,’ she moaned softly as she backed in to the woods. She became enveloped by shadows and disappeared from sight, but not before I got a good look at her. She’d been a wretched sight on the two previous occasions that our paths had crossed. Now she was a shell of her former self. She was covered in burn marks and her limbs were impossibly thin - almost unable to support her feeble frame. Her face was so broken and hollow than it pained me to look upon it.

   ‘I only came close to you in the hope that I could steal some of your energy. I am so weak… So very weak…’

   ‘What happened to you?’ I asked, edging back towards the trees. ‘Did the shepherd do this to you?’

   ‘The shepherd hates me as he hates all our kind. He is not quite this cruel, though. He has never troubled me since my banishment, as I have never troubled him.’

   ‘Who could do this, if not him?’

   ‘You did this to me.’

   ‘Me?’ I exclaimed. I stomped into the shadows of the forest and stood over her as she lay down into a bed of dead leaves. ‘I did nothing of the sort, Mia. You are mistaken.’

   ‘Oh, you did not do this with your own hand, but you are the cause of it.’

   ‘I don’t understand. How could I have caused this?’

   ‘You and I met in the grasslands some days ago. We spoke about your lover. You told him of that conversation and he punished me for having it. He did this.’ She raised her singed arms and her spirit was literally falling apart. ‘He punished me simply for speaking to you. Look at what that swine has done to me.’

   ‘Tim? Are you saying that Tim did this to you?’

   ‘You have many other lovers?’

   ‘I don’t believe he could do this to you. It’s not in his nature.’

   Something akin to an ironic snort came from Mia’s lipless mouth as she rested her head against the foot of a tree.

   ‘Mia,’ I persisted. ‘You must be confused. He could not do this.’

   ‘I am so glad you found me, child. There’s not much good in me anymore. Once I was true of heart and quite radiant to look at. That changed when the shepherd imprisoned me here. My heart has slowly turned black since that awful day. I have tried to reclaim my previous identity. I have tried to reverse this rot that has taken me. I have tried everything. Nothing works. The wickedness always works its way in and shows itself in so many unexpected ways. For me, the evil sparks off my curiosity. I cannot resist watching others. I like to know things. I like to keep secrets.’ Her dead white eyes met mine. ‘I have a terrible secret, Lucy. Only after this torture was inflicted upon me did I see that I was wrong to keep it from you.’

   ‘You have a secret about me?’

   ‘I do.’

   ‘Tell me.’

   ‘I find it tragic that you have ended up in this dreary realm. I honestly do feel very sorry for your plight, Lucy.’

   ‘Tell me your secret, Mia!’

   ‘First I will speak of redemption. You have to know that it is still possible to reach the world beyond, to be forgiven for your sins and to achieve true redemption. Know this, Lucy. Remember this. There is a way back.’

   ‘How?’

   ‘By undoing great evil. Alas, I could not achieve it for myself. I learned of this too late. Evil had worked its mischievous fingers into my soul and prevented me from doing good. I will never walk with angels…’

   ‘So, there is still a way back for me?’

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘What must I do?’

   ‘You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.’

   ‘How do you know of this, if you do not know how to do it? Are you making all this up so I’ll feel pity for you?’

   ‘I don’t need lies to receive your pity, child. It was in your eyes as soon as you saw me this way.’

   ‘How do you know about it, Mia?’

   ‘Because I watch. I am always watching, therefore I am always learning. I once saw a black spirit reaching the light of the world beyond. The shepherd was there and did nothing to prevent her from passing over. I saw it from a distance, yes, but there was no doubt as to what had happened. A black spirit had won its redemption. It has driven me demented trying to find out how it was won. It is too late for me now. Not too late for you, however.’

   ‘Thank you, Mia. If only for giving me some hope.’

   ‘Hope is good … Knowledge is king.’

   ‘Then give me the knowledge. Tell me of this secret you have kept.’

   ‘You seek a killer in the mortal world. This Rosehill Ripper…’

   ‘I do.’

   ‘The mortal you seek is but a puppet. It is being used by a spirit who feeds off the negative energies created by each murderous act. The true killer you seek walks in the land of the dead.’

   I thought back to the vampire I had seen. I knew what she was saying was possible to a certain degree. Spirits could live in mortals and commit atrocities in the physical world.

   ‘Do you know the identity of the real killer?’

   ‘I know the spirit behind all these deaths, yes. This particular spirit also plotted against your chosen.’

   ‘I know. The ripper almost killed her. Who is it, Mia?’

   ‘The killer you seek is your own lover.’

   ‘Tim…?’

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘Tim cares about me,’ I protested. It was like a bullet had penetrated my soul and all my energy was bleeding from the wound. I could not accept this. She was lying. She had to be lying. ‘Tim would never do such a thing. Why would he try to kill Laura? That makes no sense.’

   ‘It makes perfect sense, child. Tim doesn’t simply care for you. He is obsessed with you. And he was fully aware that you would pass into the world beyond some day and leave him here. He would not accept that. The easiest way to keep you here would be to trick you into committing a sin - to break the shepherd’s rules. Then he would have his chosen kill yours. You would begin to pass over. Then the shepherd would block the way and banish you for the sin your lover tricked you into committing.’

   ‘No. You’re wrong. Tim’s chosen died. How else would Tim be a black spirit if his chosen wasn’t dead?’

   ‘Tim’s chosen killed himself. Then he was revived.’

   It all began to click into place. A spirit’s chosen doesn’t have to be dead for them to pass on. It only has to die. It can be revived and live on - but once the heart stops, the bond is severed. Tim’s chosen could still be alive. Tim could have been using him to commit the murders. Tim had always been controlling towards me. I was a fool to think he would have simply let me slip away into the world beyond without him. It was Tim who had talked me into possessing Laura - the sin that got me banished. Tim was in the abandoned house in Millbrook on the night Josh was murdered. It had all been staring me right in the face, but my feelings for him had blinded me to the obvious. Tim was the monster that I was searching for all along.

   It all made sense. He had stalked me while I was mortal. That’s how he knew what Emily said to me on my first morning as a guide. “It’s easy to do but hard to explain”. He’d been watching me all along. He was there in the city on my first day as a guide and had waved. He was on the roof waiting for me when after I made the bond with Laura - knowing that I was vulnerable after making the bond and would become infatuated with him if we connected. He was going to dive off the roof, knowing I would reach out to stop him.

  Tim was the killer. That was why I knew the ripper would find Laura - it was not paranoia, I had picked up on Tim’s intentions. He must have had it all planned. And he drew me away from the apartment - miles and miles away - to give his chosen time to kill Laura. The bastard.

   ‘I know its true.’ I fell to my knees and stared into Mia’s opaque eyes. ‘It’s true.’

   ‘There is more,’ she said, leaning forward, ‘if you can bear it.’

   ‘Go on.’ I nodded at her. ‘Tell me everything.’

   ‘He is a murderer and uses a mortal to ply his wicked trade. In this he is not exceptional; many ghosts do this to maintain their aura. Tim, on the other hand, has taken his murderous activities to a stage that is very rare indeed. He has learned to reach into the physical world…’