Juliette stood staring up at the old church that sat on Fleet street. It sat back from the bustling London roads. It was strange to still be standing amongst the modern buildings of London, but it seemed that it had been there for hundreds of years and wasn't going anytime soon.
There was something about the building that kept her eyes fixated, as if there was something below the surface that was yet to be discovered. It was as if there was a hidden beauty beneath the missing bricks and broken stained glass windows.
"Juliette hurry up or we'll be late" Conrad called from further down the street. His crystal blue eyes rested steadily on her, waiting for her to catch up. He ran his fingers through his wavy blonde locks, pushing it out of his eyes.
"You really should get a haircut. You're starting to look shabby" She teased hoping he would forget about dragging her along to his friends gig.
"Oh and destroy my dashing good looks? But then all these beautiful women would miss out." He smirked. He was obviously attractive but Juliette knew that he wasn't really that cocky.
"God if only women would find you as attractive as you think you are." Juliette's voice was thick with sarcasm.
They continued to walk in silence until they reached an old fashioned pub, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Juliette smirked. It seemed like the type of place only the old regulars visited on occasion. She wasn't expecting a big turnout for this gig.
Inside wasn't much better. It was dark and everything seemed to be covered in a layer of dust. The walls were adorned with Irish memorabilia.
The pub reminded her of the one she had visited regularly with her father. They had gone to the same pub every Saturday night for dinner and to listen to the live music. She felt a wave of sadness wash over her, she missed him dearly. She sighed and tried to shake the thought of him from her mind. She needed a distraction. She glanced around and realised that they were the youngest in the pub by about 30 years or so, which didn't fill her with excitement as to how the night would progress.
"Conrad, will this be over soon?" she paused hesitantly.
"I mean I have heard these guys practicing and, I don't mean to be rude but they're not exactly Queen or ABBA." She muttered.
Conrad laughed loudly. She breathed a sigh of relief that he took it so well.
"It wont take too long. I just promised that we would come to support Ian. It's his bands first gig." He flashed her a crooked smile that would have made any other girl swoon.
She rolled her eyes and sat down at a booth. Conrad walked to the bar and ordered two beers.
Since her father died, almost a year ago, she had been living with her best friend and his family. She had nowhere else to go. No more family. She had never known her mother, she died when Juliette was very young. Her father had often told her that she reminded him of her. He told her that she had her mother's blue green eyes and her curling brown hair, but he never showed her a picture of her mother.
She often felt alone in the world, like there was nowhere that she belonged anymore, but Conrad had always tried to change that. She couldn't imagine a day in the world without him.
They emerged from the pub over an hour later. Juliette took a deep breath of the evening air. The sun had set and only street lights lit the way.
"Thank god that is over. I hate to say it, but they are truly awful" Conrad laughed as they stood in the street. "I don't have the heart to tell Ian that maybe music isn't his calling".
They walked in silence through the streets of London. It was only until they reached the abandoned church that she had passed earlier that she paused. The wrought iron gates were chained together and an oversized padlock adorned the chains.
There was a symbol on the lock. She moved forwards cautiously and traced the symbol with her finger.
Where have I seen this before. She frowned as she traced it again, lost in thought.
"Juliette what are you doing? What's with you today?" Conrad's voice broke her from within her own mind.
"Where have I seen this symbol before?" she questioned him without looking away from the lock.
He walked to stand beside her.
"Juliette I didn't think you were such a lightweight on the beer. There is nothing there, now can we go?"
His arm came around her shoulder and guided her away but she couldn't help but feel that symbol calling her, burying into her brain, refusing to be forgotten.
They reached the small terrace house that Juliette had called home for over a year now. It was plain but homely.
Conrad's mother, Helena, was sitting in the lounge knitting.
"Oh hello dears. Dinner is in the kitchen, help yourselves." Her high pitched voice used to irritate her when she was younger, but now it had become associated with the only motherly figure she had ever had.
"I'm not that hungry. I might just head on up to bed, thank you Helen." Juliette spoke with caution. She knew Helena hated it when she skipped dinner, she thought she was skinny enough as it is.
Her eyebrow raised suspiciously, as it had done on many occasions before. Juliette smiled slightly and snuck off up to her room.
She flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, remnants of old music posters were hanging down like vines. Helena had tried to take them down when Juliette moved in but whatever her oldest daughter had used to stick them there wasn't letting go any time soon. She had pinned two photos of herself and her father to the wall beside her. They looked happy. Her father was smiling and holding her in his arms, neither of which he had done for many years before he died. Instead he had become reclusive and suspicious. He often didn't leave the house, he stayed locked in his office for days at a time.
She stared closer at the photographs. There it was, the symbol that she had seen on the padlock at the church. It seemed to be burnt into the corner of the sign to the pub that they had regularly visited. It was also in the other photograph on the front of a book.
She pulled the picture from the wall and ran to Conrad's room. She didn't bother to knock, she burst into the room waving the picture frantically. Conrad spun around frowning. He was shirtless, which exposed his chiselled abdomen.
Juliette blushed and looked away.
"Sorry. I didn't think you'd be... I came to show you this." She stuttered.
He walked over, not bothering to finish getting dressed. He plucked the photo from her hand and glanced from the photograph to her and back again.
"I have seen this a hundred times before. What's so important?" He questioned carefully.
She turned and pointed to the symbol frantically.
"There, right there, that is the symbol on the padlock of the church. Why would it be on the sign to a pub AND on this book in the only pictures of me and my father?" she paused "It must mean something… right?"
Conrad paused and looked back at the photos.
"Juliette… I think you need to get some sleep." He gently guided her from his room.
She stood in the hallway confused and gobsmacked that he had just dismissed her so quickly.
She slowly walked into her room and sat on the edge of the bed, it creaked furiously under her weight. Her mind was racing, her thoughts kept leading back to that abandoned church, no matter how hard she tried to push it from her thoughts.
Maybe I really am going round the bend.
Juliette lay in her bed, willing sleep to come but it wouldn't. The streets outside were quiet, there was the faint sound of a siren off in the distance, but there was no shouting or cars racing past. It was peaceful. Juliette let her eyes droop and felt sleep trying to creep up on her.
A crash echoed through the house as the front door flew open, sending splinters of wood flying across the room. She jumped out of bed and stood shivering in the centre of the room.
She heard the thundering of boots on the floor downstairs but couldn't bring herself to move. A piercing scream cut through the house.
Helena.
She ran to grab her coat, as she reached for the door handle the door shot open. Conrad slammed the door behind him. His face was pale and she could see the worry in his eyes.
"Get everything! Pile it against the door… Hurry." His voice wavered.
In all the years she had been best friends with him, she had never seen him be afraid of anything. The thought only made her stomach drop. Something had to have been seriously wrong.
One after the other every piece of furniture in the room was used to create a barrier between themselves and the intruders. Just as she stepped back from the mound of furniture she felt a hard thud.
"They're trying to get in!"
She lurched backwards as the next thud smashed into the door. The furniture wobbled and precariously balanced objects fell to the floor. She gripped Conrad's arm with both hands and tried to breathe. The thudding was coming more and more frequently and what felt like harder and harder. They could hear the angry grunts of the men slamming into the door.
"what do they want?" her voice cracked and the tears welled up in her eyes.
She had never been more afraid in her life.
Juliette had barely noticed that everything had gone silent. Conrad pulled his arm away from her and watched the door. He guided her behind him protectively. She was too short to see what he was looking at all she could see was the muscles in his back tense as he moved.
A mumbled shout echoed through the wall.
"MOVE!".
Before she had the chance to register what had been said the door blasted open. Furniture shattered into pieces and flew across the room.
Conrad pulled her to the ground and sheltered her body with his own. She curled into his arms and buried her face in his chest. It sounded like heavy rain was falling all around them but it felt like knives were being dropped on her bare, exposed skin.
Before she had the chance to look up she felt Conrad be yanked away from.
"NO!" she shouted before she even had the chance to open her eyes. When she did she wished she hadn't. Three men were standing in front of her, each as terrifying as the next, covered in tattoos and each with muscles bigger than her. They stared down at her with no expressions, their faces were as hard as stone. A tall slender man emerged from behind them, a piece of wood was being elegantly twirled between his fingers. As he neared her she could see that his face was gaunt, his cheeks were hollow and his eyes were a brilliant red brown. His expression was a mix of smug success and buried rage. His long legs crossed the room in three strides and he crouched centimetres from her face.
"Are you Juliette?" his voice was deep and gravelly.
She stared at him in awe and said nothing.
"I believe you have something that belongs to me. Something that I so desperately need."
"Where's Conrad? Don't you dare hurt him." She whimpered.
The smugness left his face and was replaced by something else, something she couldn't read. He clicked his fingers and a tall dark skinned man walked forwards. The muscles in his arms pulsed as what he was holding struggled.
Conrad.
It looked as though with one small movement the man could snap him in half but he still held a knife to his throat. She gasped and tried to lunge forwards to him. A hand came down hard on her shoulder. It was long and bony, she felt as though her shoulder was wet under its touch. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that the hand was not ordinary. The had was tight, black and gaunt with what seemed to be bone visible through holes in the skin. It oozed black fluid onto her coat. She couldn't swallow the scream any longer. A sharp pain shot through the side of her head and she could do nothing to stop the darkness from claiming her.
