Dark Winter (11 page)

Or maybe, it’s the school caretaker, beating some poor child’s brains in with his fists because you, Beth O’Neill, were too pussy to open the door.

Splat. The sound made Beth jump, but it was just a pigeon that had thumped against the small school window behind her.

Open the door, or go back. After all, Curie might be questioned, and then released. No big deal. Have a nice life, Beth. I’m sure the boy’s dying screams will stop ringing in your head, eventually.

Beth’s hands were trembling like Toril’s were earlier in the evening. Grabbing her right hand with her left, she squeezed hard to steady the trembling.

“Okay, you old gawbeen, here I come.”

Beth didn’t like swearing, but it seemed like by saying it, she could feel a little but more in control of the situation.

The door made a really loud screeching sound, but Beth pulled it anyway. It slammed hard behind her, but what was done, was done.

Curie, I really, really hope that you are not here.

Deep down, Beth didn’t know what to hope for. Suppose she opens the girls toilets, only to find a boy there, tied up, petrified. What does she do then? Untie him, and waltz on out into the night?

That’s not what you believe though Beth. You know who will be there. The ouija predicted it. Two will die.

Beth realised that an irrational panic was overcoming her, but couldn’t escape the creeping sense of dread.

Two will die? Which two? What did it mean? Do I have to kill him, or something? Is that boy already dead?

Damn Toril Withers and that stupid ouija board.

Beth continued on unsteady legs towards the toilets. One for boys, one for girls.

She was sure she could see something, even before she opened the door. There was a light on. The rays gleamed, alien-like, underneath the door. Her hands trembled violently and her shoes dropped from their grasp.

The sound reverberated around the entire floor.

“Sweet Jesus, save me.” Beth clasped the crucifix around her neck tightly.

Another sound, not of Beth’s making, now filled the entire floor. It was a scraping sound, like….like something metallic. Something like…an axe.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Jes-“
said Beth under her breath.

A dark figure started to make its way towards Beth. She turned around just in time for the figure to knock her to the ground.

Standing over her limp body, it said gruffly, “Silly girls. You were told that two will die. Nobody ever listens.”

*                            *                            *

When Beth came to, her hands were bound. Curie, the caretaker, was crouched on the floor in front of her, burning a glare into her eyes.

“Arrrgh!!!!” Beth screamed with everything in her lungs, and Curie lunged at her, clamping his hand over her mouth.

“Quiet, girl!” he hissed.

Beth’s eyes flamed wildly, as she could see the axe in the corner of the toilets, propped up by one of the cubicles. The scabby taste of his skin made her want to vomit.

“Calm down, or I’ll have you calmed down. Beth O’Neill, isn’t it?”

Beth couldn’t speak.

“Speak! You’re Beth O’Neill, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

Funny, isn’t it Beth? Here you are, face to face with your nemesis, and look how weak and pathetic you are? That cross you wear? What’s the point? Where’s your God now?

“Then speak when you’re spoken to. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Maybe I have this night, who knows. But you sure are the Devil.

“Now what are you doing here? This school is private property. You left this year, haven’t you?”

Well, it’s like this. We were playing a game of ouija, you know, just for fun, and it said ‘Boy Trapped Fifth Floor Curie’ and I had to check it out because I just knew it meant something to do with you.

Beth was glad it sounded so messed up in her head. But her mind was racing. She asked the thing she wanted to ask, but also didn’t want to know the answer to. Before she knew it, it was out of her head.

“Two will die. What did you mean by that?”

“What?”

“You heard me. You said ‘Two Will Die’.”

“I did not. You’re imagining things, girl. Now answer my question before I turn you over to the police for trespassing. Now what are you doing here?”

“Is there a boy here, somewhere?”

“A boy? No! Are you insane? You are the only one here. The school is closed.”

Beth looked around the girl’s cubicles. There was no sign of a boy, no sign of any struggle. She wanted to ask ‘What’s with the axe, then?’ but decided against it.

It’s possible you got it wrong, Beth. The ouija board freaked you out. There’s no conspiracy here. Curie is innocent, and you’ll just have to accept that.

“I made a mistake, Mr Curie,” said Beth, carefully enunciating each word.

“That you did, girl, that you did.” Curie rose to his feet, and gestured to Beth to do so as well. Her head still hurt from the blow.

As she got up slowly, she realised her shoes were back on her feet, albeit with the straps still undone.

He touched me, the filthy bast –

Curie picked up the axe. But Beth had freed a hand, and struck a finger at the caretaker, right into his eye. He howled in pain and clutched his stricken socket, and Beth pushed past him, almost skidding into the splits on the fifth floor of her former school.

She ran down the stairs, barely making contact with any of them.

Click-a-clack, clack-a-click-a-clack.

The sound echoed into the night.

You were wrong Beth. There is no boy here. Just you, Curie, and an axe. His axe.

Beth pushed the door open and flung herself into the openness of the school grounds. She would make it to the gate before Curie would, there was no doubt about that. She saw the gate up ahead and breathed a sigh of relief, before a figure holding an axe stood in front of her.

Curie. How the hell did he get here so fast? How. How. How?

No time to think about that. Beth about-turned and ran to the other side of the school grounds. The crescent moon cast wicked shapes on the ground, and the trees looked like their branches might sweep her off her feet and crush the life out of her body at any moment.

Beth had few options. There was no second gate, but there was a high wall that, if she ran at it with enough speed, she might, just might be able to climb over it. The probability of failure was not worth thinking about.

The wall ran alongside the part of the building she had just came out of. Beth was going at such a high speed, that she tripped over the bundle in the ground. She fell, but not as hard as she thought she would.

She cursed herself for looking back, but she had to, just to see what it was that had felled her.

There was a big black bag on the ground, and a child’s hand lay limp between the zipper.

Two will die, Beth. Best get a move on.

With tears streaming down her face, her heart banging out of her chest, Beth launched herself at the wall. If she missed, Curie was just a pace or two behind her.

*
                            *                            *

The wall was wet from the heavy night’s rain, but Beth had made it to the top. She dug her fingernails in, and yanked herself up. She could see a garden hedge in front of her, about six feet below.

Curie was yelling at her to get down. He was brandishing the axe at her, and threatening the police would come for her.

Of course, he won’t call the police. Nor will you, Beth. After all, what would you tell them?

Giving her crucifix a kiss, Beth flung herself on the mercy of the hedge below. “Be gentle,” she whispered, as her body careered downwards.

She landed softly. Beth was free.

*
                            *                            *

Picking the leaves out of her mouth, Beth scrambled clumsily from the hedgerow. She could hear Curie cursing her name in the distance, but it didn’t matter. She was free of him. The boy, or whatever it was in that black bag, was not free, and would not wake to witness another dawn. Whilst this saddened her somewhat, she had to get away from the school, and towards the relative safety of Toril’s house.

Relative safety.

No, Beth knew it wasn’t safe to go back there. She decided to go to the nearest hospital, and hoped that Toril, Jacinta, and perhaps their parents too, would be there.

Beth took a look back towards the school, and even in the distance, the sheer size of the wall that she had somehow scaled, looked too awesome in height and scale for anyone to have achieved it.

Thank God I was good at hurdles,
thought Beth.

Her relief was tempered by another thought.

A pity that boy wasn’t good at climbing, but lucky for you Beth, you were always good at that. Good for you, Miss O’Neill. You can sleep soundly tonight.

Beth realised she was beating herself up, and slowed to a snail pace as she neared the hospital.

The plan was insane, Beth. How could you rescue someone who was already dead? The ouija gave you some information, you tried, but it was already doomed to fail. Sleep soundly. You did your best.

Unable to console herself, and unsure how she could make Curie pay, she entered the hospital foyer and pressed the buzzer for attention.

“Yes?” said the receptionist.

Trying to collect herself was not easy. Maybe the landing on the hedge was not as soft as she thought. Still, words started to come out.

“Beth O’Neill. That’s my, er, name. Looking for Jacinta Crow, bust her leg earlier tonight.”

“You’re not checking into the hospital?” quizzed the receptionist.

“No…er, no. Why would I do that?” asked Beth.

“You look like you’ve been through hell. No offence.”

Beth realised that she probably did look like hell. Still, Jacinta’s health was all important.

“None taken. I probably don’t look my best right now.”

“Hell of an evening, right?”

“Yes.”

“Oh well, let’s see. Jacinta Crow, you say….mmm hmm, here we are. Yes. Ward Three.”

“Is she alright?”

“Go to the ward, and you’ll see. But she’s in good hands, I’m sure.”

Beth looked for the directions to Ward Three. As she passed through Wards One and Two, the fluorescent light flickered. She had that sense of dread once again, and saw a figure crossing ahead of her in the reduced light.

It was a young girl, maybe ten or twelve years old, dressed in white communion dress.

It was a white dress, adorned with bows, and had an angels and unicorns print. It would look perfectly normal, only it was stained with blood, which looked like it had dried a long time ago.