The Haunting Within (14 page)

41

Out in the great hall Debbie was looking at her father with new loathing in her eyes. So now he wanted to traumatise her children the way he had done to her. She stood staring at him, her eyes boring into him filling her with more hatred…until he looked at her and it all evaporated. She knew he would punish her or, worse still, the children, for looking at him in such a manner.

“I want to see them Deborah. You bring them to me or else get out of my house and do not ever darken my doorstep again! I have a right to see them Deborah. I could have made things so much more difficult for you if I had chosen to. You think about that.” Turning his back on her he walked through the hall and disappeared into the kitchen. Her heart dropped. What could she do? Oh she wanted to walk away so badly, to take the children and leave this instant but she didn’t dare. She would have to get them. She knew what he wanted them for. At least if she did it, it wouldn’t seem as bad for them. Yes.
She
would do it. Not
Him.

From in the lounge the children heard their mother sob “They are good children Father! Very well behaved.” Then the door opened and she came towards them with tears running down her face. “You have to do as you are told my darlings” her voice breaking with emotion “we are going to play a game ok? You have to hide and stay really, really quiet, as quiet as mice, until I come and get you. Come on, be very, very good for mummy” and she led them to the cupboard underneath the stairs…

42

The door opened onto a stuffy blackness that looked as solid as the door itself. They stared up at Debbie with pleading eyes and she felt so incredibly helpless that she pulled them into a tight hug and cried into their hair.

“Mummy, please don’t make us go in there” Lisa begged.

“Sweetheart, your Grandfather wants you to play the game. We mustn’t make him cross must we? Be good and he will want to meet you after it has ended” she tried for a smile at the last word but came up short.

Aiden stood peering into the hole with huge eyes that sparkled with unshed tears. “How long will it be for mummy?” he asked.

“Not long darling. Just quickly get in and then we can all go home” and she gently but firmly pushed them inside and locked the door.

43

Standing in the inky blackness they held on to each other and silently sobbed. There was no sound at all and they strained their ears to hear anything. After what seemed like an eternity to them they heard raised voices talking outside the door.

“Father, please! They are just babies!              You don’t know what it’s like in there! There is something in there!” her screams were hysterical.

Hearing this, the children in the cupboard started to panic. What was in the cupboard? They looked around them but could see nothing but a wall of darkness surrounding them. Their sobs became louder and their tiny bodies shook with terror. There were some muffled noises from just beyond the door and a small thump made them scream.

“Deborah, you stop this right now! Do you hear me? Stop it!” bellowed their Grandfather.

“There is something in there Father!” Debbie shouted hysterically as she tried desperately to get her father to see sense. “It is in there and it is dangerous! They need to get out!” her voice was lost in her muffled cries and they heard their grandfather shouting.

“You get them out of there Deborah! Open that door and get them out right now! You bring them to me! They are staying here! You are a disgrace to me Deborah. A disgrace as a daughter and now a disgrace as a mother. I should have done something with you a long time ago. You should never have had children! You get them out of there and you give them to me and you go and never come back!” as he was shouting he was trying to prise the key out of Debbie’s clenched fist.

“No Father! You can’t do that! They are my babies, not yours!”

“Deborah, I want you to get out of my house! You are no daughter of mine!” They heard in between their own cries, the cries of their mother as if she was being hurt. Then came an almighty crack that seemed to explode their eardrums so loud was the noise. A brief silence followed and was broken by sobs from their mummy as she yelled at her father to go ahead and hit her if it made him feel better. It went on back and forth between their beloved mum and their grandfather for so long that they gave up on crying because they were so worn out. Their little hands were sore from clawing at the door and their throats raw from screaming for their mummy to help them. They huddled in the corner of the cupboard for a long time, trying to comfort each other as the bitter cold pockets of air kept sweeping passed them, caused by something that had no solid shape, that was deathly silent and that seemed to thrive on their fear.

44

By the time the door of the cupboard opened, their tiny bodies which still clung to one another were drenched with sweat. They had to shield their eyes from the bright white light that filled the small space. Once their eyes became accustomed to the light they looked up in trepidation to see who had opened the door to them. They were weak with relief to see their mummy standing in the doorway holding her arms out to them. They scurried out of the cupboard on their hands and knees and into her arms. They were all crying and hugging each other like they had been parted for weeks.

“Please can we go now mummy? I don’t like that game” Lisa whispered with a wobbly, raspy voice while she fingered a lock of her mums hair, twiddling, twiddling, twiddling it around her small finger the whole time they were cuddling.

“Yes we can go now” she replied to their relief. “I’m so sorry about that. Mummy tried to stop him from playing that game but he wouldn’t listen.” Debbie told them as she soothingly and gently pushed back their soaking wet fringes from their foreheads. “Did you know there was something else in there with you?” she asked the children, looking between the two exhausted pairs of eyes.

They nodded not wanting to talk about the terrifying experience they had just been through. They didn’t understand why she had not taken them away from here as soon as he started getting angry with them. Why would she let something like that happen to them? She was their mum, she was supposed to protect them and she hadn’t. She wouldn’t stop talking about the something that had been in there with them.

“It’s a man who is in that cupboard. He was a patient of my Father’s a long time ago. He wears a straitjacket because he was always trying to hurt people when he was alive. He…”

She was cut short by her daughter. “Mummy please stop. I don’t want to talk about it anymore! I just want to go home. Please can we go home?” she bit her bottom lip to try and quell the trembling of it as she peered up at her mummy.

“But darling, you need to be scared. It was your punishment. I needed to be scared when Father locked me in there with him when I was little. It’s the only way you learn how to behave. Father made me realise that you are quite naughty sometimes and you need to be punished. I know it’s not very nice, but you’ll thank me for it when you’re older.”

The children looked at each with confused expressions. They didn’t know what they had done to be naughty, but it must have been something very bad to be locked away like that.             

“He just made me see what is best for you.” She said looking down at them with a smile. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up” she said as she held her children’s hands tightly and led them to the kitchen. Terrified of their grandfather being in there they hid behind their mums back as they entered. It was only when Debbie, sensing their apprehension, told them it was all okay, that he was upstairs and he would not be coming back down, that they reluctantly went to her side. It was just them and the young woman who had answered the door to them. She smiled down at them sadly, pitifully. Not speaking at all to Debbie, the young woman got cool cloths and gently wiped their faces, all the while smiling so softly at them with what looked to be tears in her eyes that their hearts almost broke.

45

As they stepped outside into the fresh air they noticed it was dark, they had no idea how long they were locked in the cupboard for and they neither wished to know, nor had the energy to ask. The breeze was refreshing, yet cold against their clammy skin. Their faces tingled from the wet flannel the nice lady had soothingly patted against their hot skin. They had been in such a hurry to leave the house that they had to struggle into their coats whilst they were strapped into the back seat of the car. Aiden had wet himself in the cupboard but Debbie had said he would be okay until he got home. He was very uncomfortable in his cold, soggy trousers but he just wanted to be back at home so he said nothing. They finally drove away from the house and from their grandfather, all the time their minds trying to work out but unable to process or comprehend what had happened. From an upstairs window he stood looking at them, watching them leave. He was more livid with his daughter than he ever had been in his life. How dare she tell him he was not to see his grandchildren?! He never wanted to see her again.

During the drive home Debbie apologised for what they had been through.              “I will never take you back there again! I promise! It was wrong for him to punish you like that and it will never happen again! I want you to know that you didn’t deserve that, you did absolutely
nothing
wrong. Do you understand?” She glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw them on the backseat. They looked so small and tired. She wanted to pull the car over and scoop them up into a big hug, but she also wanted to go home and get them as far away from this place as possible, so she carried on driving.
Hugs will have to wait until we get home
she thought to herself.

“But mummy, you said he was right, that we deserved to be punished sometimes because we’re naughty. You said we needed to be scared to learn how to behave!” Lisa told her from the backseat.

“Oh, darling, you’ve had a horrible day; you know I would never say things like that.”

“But you did. Can’t you remember mummy?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about Lisa. I love you and Aiden so much and I would never let anyone tell me you needed to be punished. That is a horrible thing to say Lisa. I never want to hear you say I said that again.” Debbie was telling the truth, she had no idea whatsoever of what Lisa was talking about. She had no recollection of her saying such a thing to her precious children. She believed that Lisa was mistaken after the trauma she had been through. Or if she had said it then it was only to appease her Father so he would let them leave.

Lisa felt like screaming at her mother, felt like asking her why she would say it if she loved them so much, but the words remained unsaid. She just didn’t know. Maybe she hadn’t said that after all. She was so sleepy. She wanted to go home and climb into her bed with Digger the dog and Taffy the owl teddy that she slept with every night. She wanted to forget all about today.

They never did stop for ice-cream like their mummy had promised they would.

When they arrived at home and after much tearful apologising from their mum, they went up to bed. They weren’t sure if they would be able to get to sleep but they were exhausted so they had to at least try. Their tiny tummies grumbled with hunger. They had eaten nothing since dinner time but sleep was needed more than food so they didn’t ask for anything to eat. As Debbie was helping Lisa out of her dirty clothes and getting her washed and ready for bed in their small bathroom, she noticed strange burn-like marks on her daughters arm. Marks that looked like fingers, as though somebody or
something
had grabbed her tightly. She asked Lisa about these marks but Lisa said she couldn’t see any marks. Debbie left it at that, not wanting to upset her any more. But she knew exactly what had caused them. She herself had marks such as those on her little girl’s arm from when she was a child and had been locked in the cupboard with
it
, only her mother couldn’t see the marks either when Debbie had shown her, or didn’t want to see them would be more precise. Full of guilt at being unable to protect her daughter from the cruelty of her father she denied any such scarring. When Debbie had got the both of the children their beds she went into her room to get ready for bed. As she did so she rubbed the marks on the back of her calf. The faint red scarring of fingers. She prayed to herself that Lisa wouldn’t be left with a scar. John had been so gracious about it; always adamant he couldn’t see anything, and she would have believed him too except for there it was, every time she looked at her leg. The unsightly pale pink scar of fingers that had gripped her leg so tightly that she thought the blood would stop flowing. The hand that had gripped her had been so cold that it had burned her like frost-bite.

She went to bed and dreamed of the incident over and over again waking each time covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Lisa and Aiden hardly slept that night and each time they did manage to nod off they were woken by the slight murmurs coming from their mother’s room.

46

The kitchen was deathly silent as Lisa and Aiden sat with their memories of that day. They had tried so hard all these years to forget and now here they were, willing themselves to remember. It had been so hard on them to begin with. Aiden especially. He had started to have recurring nightmares about it which their mother refused to discuss. Luckily they got better as time went on, God knows how with no professional help, but they did. Maybe his subconscious mind had just point blank refused to let him remember that awful day. It took them years to learn to push the horrors to the very back of their minds. They often thought it might have helped if they were allowed to talk about it with someone, but they didn’t want to upset their mum by bringing this up so it was left to be forgotten.

They remembered now how strange their mum had acted when they were finally allowed out of the cupboard. They still didn’t understand why she said the things she said. Why she tried to frighten them even more by talking about the man who was in the cupboard with them. Why she really couldn’t remember anything she said afterwards. They had no doubt in their minds, even now, that there was a man in the cupboard under the stairs with them, but why did she tell them? Maybe if the things she had said weren’t said, they might have been able to put it down to their imaginations, then maybe, just maybe, it would have been easier to get over it and get on with their lives.

Debbie had been pottering around the house all morning. Lisa and Aiden even toyed with the idea of wandering into the garden to water the flowers and pull a few weeds up to take their minds off the house and their boredom. There was absolutely nothing to do. Their grandfather didn’t own a television because, according to their mum, he believed it caused people to go insane with all the electronic waves that it sent through the air. Now that was irony if ever they had heard it. If he did own one, Aiden wondered if he still would have gone mad. This thought made him chuckle. At least his sense of humour hadn’t been lost during all this. There was no signal for their mobiles either so they were rendered useless.

They eventually decided to go outside for a bit, seeming as it was such a lovely day. They stood on the top step of several concrete stairs that led down into the back garden from the house and looked around in wonder. The house was built on a slight hill so they had perfect views of most of the garden from where they were. It was beautiful! It was enormous and full of colourful blooms and huge old trees. It even had a large pond towards the rear of the garden that they stopped to look at that was home to lots of frogs they saw as they peered in. There was a large bunch of tadpoles under a lily-pad and lots of brightly coloured fish swimming around. Tall reeds stood around the edges of the pond casting shadows over the rippling water and providing safe places for the frogs from the birds that also inhabited the garden. Fat flies hovered above the water’s surface, darting in and out of the reeds. There was an amazing cascading mini waterfall on the far side of the pond that tumbled intensely clear water which sparkled like liquid diamonds in the sun as it poured down over the make-shift rockery below. The trickling sound it made as it hit the hundreds of smooth pebbles was so melodic to them that they felt like humming along to it. It was a total contrast to the house, it was almost unbelievable. It was the most uplifting and prettiest sight they had ever seen. The expression “Heaven on Earth” seemed to have been brought about by this spectacular view Lisa pondered. Even Aiden was completely in awe and he wasn’t the most sentimental of people. A load of crap he called things like this usually. He hated watching soppy love films and hated even more being out with his mum and sister when they saw something like a hillside view and called it “breath-taking”. It was just a hill for god sake! But as he stood and looked out over the garden he was speechless. He had to admit for himself for the first time in his life that the sight he was seeing was indeed breath-taking; it was beautiful.

“I could stay out here for the rest of my life” sighed Lisa, turning her face to the sky and feeling the warmth of the sun’s rays on her skin. “Have you ever seen anything so perfect Aiden?” He was too lost in the scenery to hear her so she repeated herself. He smiled at her and propped his arm around her shoulders.

Everything in the garden seemed so vibrant, like it was a newly painted piece of art. The colours seemed unreal. They were so vivid and bright. The fragrance of the flowers was floating everywhere swimming in and out of their nostrils. There were birds taking up residence in the trees, singing their joyful songs to anyone who wanted to hear, bees buzzing around the flowers, their plump little bodies gathering nectar, butterflies flitting between plants at a slow, almost lazy pace that seemed to tie in with everything in the garden. Everywhere they looked there was so much to look at. They spent about three hours outside watering the flowers and just looking around. There were no weeds to be pulled up; it had been very well maintained. They guessed their grandfather had hired a gardener to tend it. There was no way it could have stayed looking so wonderful unless a professional gardener had looked after it. Thinking about it, it probably would have taken more than one gardener to keep it the way it was because it was huge. There was so many different types of trees and plants and flowers that they were spoilt for choice over where to look. Lisa gasped so many times that Aiden lost count. Every time she saw something new she rushed over to get a better look. The smell was amazing. Everything seemed to have a smell of its own, yet all the hundreds of different smells tied in perfectly together to create one inviting, beautiful, fresh scent. They were absolutely awe-struck.

Just visible beyond the boundary wall at the very back were scrawny looking trees like the ones they had seen in the driveway of the house. They were there; bare and looming over the garden wall but even they couldn’t disturb Lisa or Aiden. They felt at ease here and they barely noticed the cold, ugly trees with their bare, bony branches bending over the top of the wall, trying to get in, trying to spread their savage disease.