Annie did not sleep well. Her dreams were filled with dead and dying people. By the time she got out of bed it was early morning and she couldn’t shake the visions her dreams had left behind. They were as clear as photographs and had imprinted themselves onto her mind. Dragging the duvet from the bed she took it downstairs and laid on the sofa.
In no time, her eyes began to close and she drifted off. This time it was a handsome young man who haunted her dreams. His eyes were black and she had never seen eyes like them. He smiled at her and waved and she smiled back: he obviously knew her but she had no idea who he was. His expression changed to a sneer and he looked menacing. Annie knew that he wanted her to run and hide from him so that he could chase her. One of his arms hung down by his side and he was holding something that was dripping with a dark liquid. Terror took over and she began to run, pumping her short legs as hard as she could to put some distance between them. He was very fast though and catching up to her. His laughter sounded behind her so close that she felt his warm breath against her ear. His hand reached out to grab hold of her when a loud knocking on the door woke her from the nightmare.
She looked at the clock on the mantle and was horrified to see it was quarter past nine. Running her fingers over her head and rubbing her eyes she went to the kitchen door and peered through the tiny pane of glass to see Will standing on the other side. He looked even better than yesterday, in a pair of faded jeans and a red Berghaus® jacket. Oh bugger. She unlocked the door and he grinned at her.
‘Good morning and a lovely one it is, bit of a nip in the air.’
Annie squeezed her eyes shut against the bright sunlight. ‘Morning. Sorry, I didn’t sleep too well last night and ended up on the sofa where I finally fell into a coma. Come in, I won’t be long. Do you want to put the kettle on?’
‘Of course. You go get dressed and your coffee will be waiting.’
She ran for the stairs and realised she was wearing odd pyjamas and pink fluffy bed socks. Nice one, Annie. This is certainly not like it is in the movies where you get to be in your best silk pyjamas with not a hair out of place. If this hasn’t freaked him out you may be onto a winner.
When she came back downstairs Will was putting her empty wine bottle into the recycling box. ‘They are not all mine in case you’re wondering. I only drink rosé, my brother drinks the red. I forgot to put them out for the bin men.’
‘Don’t worry. You should see mine, it’s full of empty Stella cans and they are all mine.’
She laughed and tugged at the blue hat that was firmly back in place.
‘You know it’s driving me mad wondering what has happened to Jenna,’ said Will. ‘She couldn’t vanish off the face of the earth with no trace. I’m worried in case she has gone and done something stupid. There are so many horror stories of teenagers falling out with their families then going and killing themselves. It makes me feel sick.’
Annie agreed with him it wasn’t that long ago she had been first on scene to a teenage girl who had hanged herself because she was being bullied. It had taken her weeks to get that image from her head.
She took a loaf of bread from the cupboard before turning back to him. ‘Now, I’m warning you: toast I can usually manage but I’m not that good in the kitchen. For some reason I tend to burn everything.’
‘That’s OK, I’m used to it. My mum was an awful cook. I had to learn how to cook at school to stop my dad and me getting fatally poisoned. My dad had tears in his eyes the first time he had a roast dinner he didn’t have to use a carving knife to eat the veg with. God bless her. He was more upset than my mum when I moved out. He said there was no way he could go back to the burnt offerings. But then he never had to because she went out shopping one day with her friends and collapsed in the street; she died instantly from a massive heart attack.’
‘I’m so sorry. That must have been a terrible shock for you all.’ She watched him fiddle with his mug then passed him a plate of toast.
His eyes lit up. ‘Is that real butter?’
‘Yep, not much point in eating toast covered in margarine: it tastes like plastic.’
‘Annie, I’m impressed. I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl who admitted to eating butter. My last girlfriend only bought that lower than low fat rubbish. I used to eat my toast dry it tasted so bad.’
Annie felt her cheeks turn red. ‘Just don’t tell my slimming club leader. It’s one of the reasons I’ll never be a size ten. I like my comfort food and wine far too much to be able to give it up.’ Now she felt stupid as well as fat. Way to go. You’ve just admitted you eat more than an elephant to a guy who thinks anorexia is in fashion. She turned to the sink so he couldn’t see her face and began to rinse the pots.
Will carried his plate over and put his hand on her arm. ‘That was really nice, thanks. I’m sorry if I upset you, I didn’t mean to.’
Annie turned to face him and felt fresh tears threaten to fall. ‘It’s not you, it’s me. Since I hurt my head things have been affecting me in the strangest ways. I keep crying over nothing and talking utter crap.’
He stepped closer and pulled her towards him, holding her tight. She let her head rest against his chest. Will lifted his hand to stroke her head and she pulled away feeling self-conscious.
‘I’m sorry. See what I mean I keep acting weird?’
He stepped back to give her some space. ‘Well, I’m not sure what my excuse is apart from the possibility the butter went straight to my head.’
They began to laugh and Annie felt her heart flutter. Damn, she really liked him even though she knew she shouldn’t. ‘Come on, let’s go and check out the house before we get ourselves in trouble
She led him out to the tiny path she had run along yesterday. She was terrified to be going back into the old house so soon but she wouldn’t tell him that. At least she wasn’t alone this time. He followed behind her until they reached the house.
‘Can you imagine living here? It must have been so amazing,’ said Will.
‘It is beautiful but I don’t think that having this house and all the money brought them any happiness. From what I can gather they were afflicted by one tragedy after the other.’ She didn’t tell him how she knew this or mention the diary, wanting to keep it to herself.
They approached the front door and she pulled the key from her pocket, not realising how much her hands were trembling until she tried to insert it into the lock and missed twice. The third one hit home and she shoved against the door but it wouldn’t move.
‘The rain must have made it swell.’
Both of them leant against it and pushed hard. Annie hoped it wouldn’t budge; it would save her the trauma of having to go back in and face her fears. But after a few attempts it gave a little and after a couple more it swung inwards. Her mouth went dry and her heart began to race as she followed Will inside; he was as mesmerised by the place as she had been yesterday.
They searched every room on the ground floor. All of them were empty, like she had said. The relief they hadn’t found the missing girl lying dead in any of them made her heart slow just a little. The only door to the downstairs they had no key for was the cellar door and for that she was thankful. Thinking about Alice lost down there in the dark made her skin prickle.
As they reached the stairs her stomach lurched and Will turned to her. ‘Are they safe? I don’t fancy falling through and breaking my leg; I’m far too busy.’ He chuckled but she couldn’t and struggled to smile back.
‘No, they’re fine. I was up there yesterday and everything is surprisingly solid. It’s true what they say, they definitely don’t build them like they used to.’ She let him lead the way and she hesitated at the foot of the stairs feeling like a caged bird; her heart was flapping so hard inside her chest. A feeling of dread washed over her and she looked down to see a large dark stain underneath her feet. Surely not. It can’t be after all these years. Would blood still be visible to the naked eye?
Will had made it to the top and was now watching her. ‘Are you OK? You’ve gone white. You’re not going to pass out on me, are you? Why don’t you wait there and I’ll go check it out.’
‘No!’ Her voice was sharper than she intended. ‘I’m fine. Wait for me.’
He held out his hand towards her. ‘Come on, I’ll pull you up.’
She ran up the stairs slapping his hand away. ‘You are such a cheeky git, Will. I don’t need your help, thank you. I managed to come up here all by myself yesterday.’ All the same she followed behind him letting him lead the way as he checked every room: still no sign of Jenna.
At the far end of the hallway they found a narrow staircase tucked behind a partition wall. Annie knew where this led and felt safe walking up them to where the servants’ quarters once were. Instinctively she knew which one belonged to Alice and stepped into the small, cosy room. A warm glow enveloped her. Will walked on checking out the other rooms along the small passage. Annie felt as if she was in a different time. Staring out of the window she could see the huge oak tree which towered above the overgrown garden below. The tree where Edward had attacked the girl and where his broken-hearted father had hanged himself.
Will’s voice broke her trance. ‘There’s nothing up here.’
Annie whispered, ‘No, not anymore.’
They went back down to the first floor. As they approached the schoolroom Annie thought she was going to be sick. She leant on the doorframe as he looked around the room.
Will had walked around the house oblivious to the atmosphere. Annie, on the other hand, was afraid of her own shadow.
‘I’m sorry, you were right but I suppose it was worth a try. I can’t believe those mantelpieces have never been stolen. They must be worth a small fortune.’
‘Ah, I can tell you why. There are too many scary stories about the woods and the Abbey and I doubt any burglar would be brave enough. Anyway there is no access for vehicles; it’s a totally private road. Only my brother and the council have keys for the gates so no one could get a van up here.’
Will sighed. ‘It’s such a beautiful old place. I would have loved to have seen it when it was first built.’
Annie didn’t mention that if she closed her eyes she could describe every room in vivid detail to him. Following him down the stairs she stopped as she felt the sudden change in the air as the temperature plummeted; goose bumps appeared on her arms. Exhaling her breath came out in fine, white wisps. She sensed someone standing behind her on the top step and felt a pair of black eyes burning into the back of her frozen neck. Terrified, she couldn’t have turned around if she wanted to so she continued to walk down the stairs and hurriedly crossed the hall to the front door. As she stepped outside she breathed out. Still afraid to look behind her she waited for Will to close the door and passed him the key to lock it, relieved to be out of the house.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’
She nodded her head, trying to compose herself so that her voice didn’t betray the fear that had taken over. Annie wanted to sound normal but she couldn’t remember how being normal felt. ‘I’m fine, really.’
They walked back to the farmhouse in silence. As they reached the gate she turned to him. ‘Do you want a lift to your car? I need to go into town so I can drop you off.’
‘That would be brilliant. You’re a little star, do you know that?’
She laughed and felt her heart tug as she wondered if this was it now, that she had served her purpose.
‘You know, if you fancy something nice to eat for a change I could come up and cook you a meal,’ said Will. ‘You provide the wine and I’ll provide the ingredients and the personal chef. Don’t think I’m being pushy but judging by the contents of your fridge I think a good home-cooked meal wouldn’t go amiss. The food will do you a world of good, not to mention my excellent company.’
Annie paused for effect. ‘I’ll have to check my diary.’ Then she giggled. ‘If you’re willing to cook that’s an offer I can’t refuse. I would really like that.’
‘How about tomorrow? It’s my day off. I could come up then.’
She tried to contain the excitement that was bubbling under her cool exterior. ‘Tomorrow it is then.’ She winked at him. Even though she knew it was a hopeless situation it wouldn’t hurt to just enjoy it for the moment. She needed cheering up and had never realised that underneath the reputation and the cool, calm exterior there was a man who was funny, kind and a bit of a gentleman. Better stick a lucky dip on the lottery, maybe your luck is about to change.