Halton Cray (Shadows of the World Book 1) (29 page)

‘Then you tried so hard to befriend me. You made
up your own mind to know me, despite what you’d heard and seen. I’d been so
desperate to live alongside others that I never imagined I’d fall in love. You
were always patient with me whenever I needed you to be. I began to think that
deep down you had an idea, on some level, of what I was. I convinced myself
that you might accept it and love me in spite of it. I had an opportunity to
tell you the truth and I wish I had. I went over and over how to tell you. I
tried to put myself in your place.’

He stared at me intently for a moment before
moving off, crossing the room, and sitting down in the armchair.

The lamp cast his shadow behind him.

‘And what about that?’ I pointed to it. ‘How is it
there one minute and not the next?’

‘No natural light will cast my shadow, only
artificial light. That’s the only drawback to venturing out in the sun. It
doesn’t burn me or even know I’m there. Likewise, I don’t feel its warmth on my
skin. It’s only lamps like this where you’ll catch a reflection of light in my
eyes. It’s similar with water. I have no reflection in the stuff. Only in
glass.’

I looked out the window. It was pitch-black
outside and must have been sometime after midnight.

‘And when you have a shadow you can move things
with it?’

It was a rhetorical question. He nodded
nevertheless.

I took another deep breath before asking, ‘So what
happened to the stranger in the attic? Who was he? Is he like you?’

‘No, he’s not like me.’

A pause.

‘Alex, there are different types of demon and
different types of possession. Mine is of a perpetual kind. His was temporary. Johan
sent him here to see if he could kill me, or at the very least immobilise me. Those
times I made enquiries about Johan’s whereabouts, in parts of Boston, Maine and
Pennsylvania; it seems my search for him was leaked in some way. These things I
learned from the stranger. Seth is his name. I never feared Johan becoming
aware that I hunted him. I suppose he’s been thinking up ways to stop me for
some time, but never had any idea of how before Seth came along. I don’t
believe Johan would come here to face me himself. He doesn’t see the need to
get his hands dirty – besides, his predilection is killing women and girls. As
for how he met Seth, and who Seth has been for the past few months– Alex,
answer me this, have you ever played the Ouija board? But what a silly
question! Of course you have. A regular delinquent once.’

‘You read my face,’ I said, ‘and I only played it
once.’

‘I expected nothing else of you.’ He looked
altogether disapproving. ‘And did you make contact with anything?’

‘It’s hard to say.’

‘Why? You think someone with you was forcing the
planchette?’

‘We made the board ourselves, just me and a
friend. We used an upturned glass. I’m not certain, but yes it’s possible she
was pushing it.’

‘A homemade Ouija board?’ He didn’t hide further
disappointment. ‘It’s never a good idea to play it in the first place, but putting
it together out of household objects – that’s tantamount to explicitly inviting
trouble. So, just you and a friend?’

‘We were fifteen,’ I insisted, mounting my
defence. ‘She always maintained that she hadn’t pushed the glass, but a year
later we fell out, and in such a way that made me wonder if I could’ve ever
trusted her. We’d tried to contact a relative of hers, but the response was
strange and it misspelled names and places. The scary truth is, after we played
the board, I found out that my aunt and uncle, who’d visited the day before,
were involved in a car incident. My uncle completely lost control of the car
for no reason he knew of. No one was injured, but the car was a wreck. My aunt
told me later she couldn’t account for what had happened, mentioning the time
they’d crashed, which was the exact time I was playing the board. I never
thought it was just a coincidence, since I had been warned before not to use
the Ouija for that exact reason. I never used one again.’

‘I’m glad of it,’ he uttered. ‘It’s not uncommon
that people report misfortunate events when someone close to them is conducting
séances! Especially when they are wholly amateur at it. Those spirits who cause
such things to happen are not deceased. They never lived, never had form; were
never of this dimension. They’re looking to cause mischief and mayhem. They
will try many things to come through. Games such as Ouija can open doorways to
them if the exact practices, tools or beliefs are applied. There are other ways
too but I’m mentioning the witch’s board as an example in this case. If played
correctly using a well-designed board, the spirit is forced back when the game
is finished. All communication is severed. However, if played incorrectly a
demon can attach itself to the board and find a way through. This is usually
evident when the players cannot contact any other spirit. If the demon is a
good liar, it can be hard to distinguish. And if it begins counting down on the
board, then there’s certainly trouble ahead.’

‘So you’re saying that a demon came through a
Ouija board and possessed the stranger, this Seth?’

‘Yes. And whatever you’ve heard or read about this
sort of thing, it is very difficult for any spirit to possess someone. Though
some do manage it. Seth remembers only fragments of the days following, but does
recall speaking with Johan.’ Thom’s nose wrinkled up. ‘Johan’s changed his
habits. He now hunts outside alone and at night. But he still takes them back
to his residence to play with them. Perhaps he was unaware of Seth’s possession
when he accosted him. Or, if he has half my ability to sense these things, he
would have known of Seth’s condition on approach.’

‘So he could,’ I began to say, ‘
feed
off a
possessed person?’

‘He could, but to do that he’d have to overpower
the demon, considering it will protect its own host. Seth isn’t sure, he can’t
remember.’

‘But could Seth still be killed in a fight with
him?’

‘Certainly. He is still mortal and can still
bleed. You saw his blood on my hand and mouth after the attic incident.
Instead, Johan befriended him with the promise of making it to his advantage.
As I said, all demons want form, perpetual if they can get it, especially the
most mischievous of them. They want to carry things out, which in spirit alone there
are great limitations. That’s likely why your aunt and uncle were uninjured in
the car crash you mentioned. Johan made use of this knowledge, by offering
Seth’s demon permanent possession of his body with one bite. He convinced him
he could do it, after he’d done his bidding, of course.’

‘So he was lying?’

‘Inarguably. The two demons are as different as dungeons
and dragons. It’s clear now that Johan hasn’t a clue how to destroy me, and was
using Seth to test his own baseless theories. Perhaps he merely intended to
send me a message – I can’t be sure. But he instructed Seth to use a weapon
made around the same time that I was turned. For this he chose the scythe. With
it he was to quart–
but
perhaps that’s too graphic, and you’re pale
enough already. After providing Johan with some proof that the deed was done,
Seth’s fate would be sealed, in one way or another.’

Twenty-six

‘The hands of the dead are in my bosom; they move me,
they pluck me, they guide me; I am a puppet at their command.’

– Robert Louis Stevenson,
Olalla

‘You weren’t the only one,
Alex, to notice Seth loitering around the Cray,’ Thom continued. ‘His
appearance was quite telling of his condition. I thought I’d merely caught his
attention and he was curious. I was suspicious when the scythe went missing,
but it surprised me when he flew at me in the attic. I anticipated people
rushing up to see what the commotion was, and so I blew the lights deliberately.
Soon, you were there and I could hear Mrs Evans on her way up. I had no choice
but to try to weaken him. I did; I bit and bled him until he slumped to the
floor. Only then could I knock him out effectively. During our struggle, some
wardrobe doors came off. I tipped the thing over to hide him under it. I still
wanted to prevent Mrs Evans coming up and scrutinising the room. Though I had
seen you standing there before, I knew I would have to persist in a lie, which
with you is easier to do than with the other. That’s not to suggest you’re
gullible, Alex, but are more partial than Mrs Evans to accept what I say.’

‘So much so that I lied on your behalf.’ I let my
eyes settle briefly on his.

‘I haven’t forgotten.’

‘I also expected an explanation one day.’

‘Which I promised to give, in time.’

I ran my eyes over his athletic frame, his pale
skin and dark eyes, unable to digest much of this. ‘I got more than I bargained
for,’ I said. ‘So did you keep Seth up here?’

‘Not at first. I attempted to keep him elsewhere,
but that didn’t exactly work out well.’

‘In the cellars?’

‘Precisely. Nobody goes down there. It’s dark,
cramped, and crawling with bugs. I don’t even like going down there. I thought
it was perfect for keeping him as long as necessary. I made sure I possessed
the only key. The main entrance is in the courtyard. I’m in no doubt you’re
already aware of more than one entrance to the cellars.’

‘I know of a secret passageway.’

‘Obviously not so secret anymore.’

‘I found one in the De Morgan Gallery, years ago.’

‘That is the one I’m going to reference. You may
also have deduced that where one exists so perhaps does another. All the
passageways connect under the house. Keeping Seth compliant would have always
been impossible. I had to restrain him with chains, as well as keep his blood
volume reduced – this decreased his physical size during his possession.’

‘Poor man,’ I mumbled.

‘Yes, Alex, but I did it for his own good, only to
help him. During his time down there he invariably managed to get hold of
objects and bang them on the floor, or throw them at pipes. He made as much
noise as he could, which was my fault for not binding his mouth, for the real
reason that gagging him on top of imprisonment was going too far. A few strange
noises at the Cray are not unheard of – excuse the pun. People would associate
them with the ghosts, and I’d rather that than he suffered any more besides. I
had to renew Seth’s chains daily, as it would take him twenty hours or so to
break through a link. He’d managed to escape them a couple of times, before searching
for an exit, each of which I kept locked. One day – the day of the blackout – he
got loose and tried to ascend using the De Morgan Gallery passage.’

‘So that’s what scared Stacey stupid.’ I grasped.
‘I came to have a look but found you’d locked the door and closed the shutters.
I soon realised where you’d gone. I just didn’t know why.’

‘When Stacey ran out of there screaming, I really
believed he was loose in the house, Alex. But I found him trying to break down
the hidden door from the inside. The moment he heard me unlocking it, he descended
in order to try another exit. I followed him down there, but he somehow managed
to get through a way that led upstairs, which is why I went back another route
to cut him off. That’s when I decided to lock the main door to the house. I
went about shutting up any easy exit – though I did this gradually, even as we
spoke in the Great Hall. I couldn’t imagine I’d missed one. As it turns out, I
didn’t know about another passageway. Beneath the hearth in the Great Hall,
there’s an alcove to one side. It looks like a place to store excess fuel.
Above this is a retractable slab revealing an almost vertical shaft, in which
foot holes lead upwards. This aligns with one of the inglenooks. From the top,
the small shaft connects to the fireplace in the gift shop. Seth must have
discovered it and got into the shop just as you all moved in there.

‘I became aware of screaming from that room. He’d
been spotted in the torchlight. Mrs Evans, bane of my life that she is, did a
marvellous thing in keeping her eyes glued to the door, and inadvertently letting
me know Seth was still in there. I went and blocked the hearth in the Great
Hall, so that he only had one shaft to re-enter. Then I called out to you,
before locking them up with him. This was so I could drive him back down to the
cellars to find another exit. He did exactly that, and that’s where I was
waiting for him, and that’s how I caught him.’ He smiled in satisfaction.

‘And after you caught him?’

‘You know what followed. I let everyone out and
you reprimanded me the whole time with your eyes for lying.’

‘Yes, but before that,’ I mumbled. ‘When you first
came upstairs from the cellars – you
did
kiss my neck in the gallery, didn’t
you? I didn’t imagine that?’

His stare softened on me. Those deeply fringed eyes
penetrated mine. He waxed a coy smile: one I didn’t see often, because he was
usually so bold or boastful. Equally, I loved seeing both sides of him.

‘I took advantage, Alex. I apologise. It was
wicked of me to try to seduce you like that, especially with what was happening
at the time. When I go from one room to another, I have to purposely make noise.
I have to create my own footsteps; the closing of doors – whatever it is I’m
doing, I must add sound in order to fit in. If I were natural about it, you’d
never hear me around, which of course would seem unnatural. I came up from the
cellars that night carelessly silent to find you standing there – where I’d
left you – in the dark alone, unsuspecting, unaware, and trembling too. All I
wanted to do was hold you and make you feel safe. In addition to this, as I am
a man, once I took hold of you, other less innocent urges took hold of me. I
wanted you.’

I was only going to rebuke him for denying it at
the time. After that confession I couldn’t. He seized an opportunity to come to
the sofa.

‘Alex?’ he said, taking a seat beside me, bringing
his enticing scent closer. ‘I’d give anything to kiss you again.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Thom, not right
now.’

He moved up to me, faced his body towards mine,
and placed a hand on my knee. ‘Alex, are you still mine?’

I didn’t respond. I was unsure what to say. I
stiffened and faced forward.

‘What about just a peck on the cheek then?’ he
murmured.

‘That would be going backwards. I’m not interested
this minute in going backwards or forwards. I’d rather we just stayed still, for
now.’

He nodded, but slid his arm underneath mine, so
that he was practically cuddling me. He brought his head up close and kissed my
temple, and lower – in front of my ear. ‘Alex, let me kiss your mouth?’

I turned to speak, to tell him to stop all this.
He mistook it for my approval and so glued his lips to mine. I found myself
locked in a long hearty kiss. Hot tears inevitably escaped my eyes during,
until I mastered my weakness and broke away from him.

‘Okay.’ I pulled back and looked away. ‘You’ve had
a kiss now.’

‘Wouldn’t you like another?’ He brought himself
closer still.

‘I’d like you to go and sit in that chair please.
You’re clouding my head when I’m trying to concentrate. I have questions I want
answered.’

He was reluctant to move from my side, having
finally secured a place there.

‘Very well.’ He gave in at last, shifting back to
the armchair.

I watched him for a moment with only one thought
on my mind: I was in love with him. No matter what answers he gave me nothing
could change that. He eyed me back in the same way, smiling at me somewhat
hopefully.

‘So,’ I said quickly, ‘going back to Seth and the
blackout. None of that explains why you wouldn’t enter the shop. You seemed to
have a real problem with it. In fact, I’ve never seen you go in there.’

‘The room behind the shop holds a chapel. I’ve
never liked getting too close, that’s all.’

‘Oh. I forgot about the chapel. I wouldn’t have
thought it was consecrated ground in old houses like this?’

‘It may not be.’ He shrugged. ‘I haven’t found
anything registered to say it’s been blessed. The only way I’ll know for sure
is if I step foot on it, which isn’t worth the risk just to be curious.’

‘No, I suppose not. So after the blackout’ – I
rubbed my temples – ‘when the newspaper article on an escaped mental patient
conveniently gave your fiction of events some backing, the noises caused by
Seth stopped. How come? Did you move him elsewhere?’

‘To my bathroom.’ His eyes motioned that way, as
did mine. ‘It was easier to keep him there than I’d imagined. It probably
helped that I began draining him of much more blood, it rendering him
reasonably lifeless. You’ve seen my bathroom: a windowless box for which made a
reliable prison and comfortable den once I’d made some adjustments. Well, as
comfortable as can be with a chain about the neck. Having learnt lessons, I was
able to keep him from tearing it asunder so easily.’

My eyes again crept to the other side of the room,
to the closed bathroom door. I could visualise him behind it, though not as Thom
had described. In my imagination he stood there heavy-bellied with a scythe in
his hand and a broken chain about his neck. Until that moment, I’d never needed
to use the lavatory so much in my life.

‘He’s not in there,’ he reassured me, noticing the
newfound expression of dread I was awash with. ‘It was only recently that he
was able to leave. You may recollect his appearance. It is usual for a human
hosting a demon to become bloated, yellow or even red skinned. To have hives or
scratches on their bodies. For their features to alter.’

‘I remember him. I couldn’t forget.’

‘And do you remember the man you saw with me the
other day? The one whose hand I shook. You asked if you knew him.’

‘Him!
That
was him!’

‘It took months to rid him of the demon. Perhaps
it would have been quicker if I’d gotten a good exorcist. But these things
generally make a mess and get noticed, and too good an exorcist would certainly
have noticed me. I handled it myself; doing what demons hate most. I confined
its host as much as possible. The irony in that is remarkable, since the spirit
has confined itself within the host, in order to play out its desires
physically. I prevented that. After keeping him long enough confined I offered
it a way out. I’m sure I bored it to tears by keeping it restrained so long –
what fun could it have, what things could it do?’

‘When you say you offered it a way out?’

‘I showed it my demon. When you saw it in the
mirror, you didn’t just see my
Mr Hyde
, you saw the plane on which it resides.
Without realising it you saw a doorway to another world.’

I briefly interrupted him here to assure him that while
that demon was in my sight, I hadn’t examined anything else in the mirror.

‘It’s not a doorway that
you
could enter
through, of course.’

‘Of course.’ I rolled my eyes.

‘By placing a mirror in that room, on the floor,
and standing over it, I opened a doorway to that world the demon could pass
back into. I pulled Seth onto it so that our demons were face to face. It had an
opportunity to let go of Seth, which it did, detaching itself and falling away.
I stepped aside to close it up. Once the man began to recover, he started
telling me what he could remember, which is what I’ve told you. He also has some
gaps in his recollection of the past five months. But I’m glad he remembered
where Johan took him, and so I know where the bastard is!’

‘You’re going after him?’ I edged forward in my
seat.

‘Certainly!’

‘Please don’t– you might get hurt!’

‘Hurt by that arrogant fiend – not a chance! What
shall I do; wait until he sends another junior to try something new on me?
Don’t get yourself in a state, Alex. I won’t do anything for now. Right now,
you’re my only concern.’

‘Has Seth gone back to the States?’

‘Don’t change the subject. You’d still care if I
got hurt?’

‘I already gave that away. Please answer my
question.’

‘He’s staying nearby, at The Horseman’s Inn. He’s
not quite ready to go back. He fears Johan finding him. He’s not a coward, just
very much outmatched. I never thought I’d have any more reason to go after Johan
than I already had. The reasons are mounting still. I am finally starting to
see that I am
meant
to find and stop him.’ He paused to look at me. ‘I
feel that the task falls to me. What do you make of that?’

‘Of what – destiny, you mean?’

‘You’ve spoken of coincidences and fate before. I
want to hear your opinion on it.’

‘Those opinions might change,’ I said, ‘with
everything you’ve just told me.’

‘It won’t change your belief in fate.’

‘No, it won’t.’ I shook my head. ‘I think sometimes
events are played out so curiously and precisely, it can’t be mere coincidence.
It’s just too well orchestrated.’

‘By who?’