Chapter 2: Deep Personal Issues
"Rory, please talk to me," Boo begged from where she sat beside me on the floor by the sofa.
My lips were currently clenched, trapping the scream that was trying to work its way out of my throat. I'd seen Jane murdered, seen her throat ripped out, but I'd barely known Jane. Charlotte was someone I'd went to school with, someone I'd seen every morning at breakfast, who I'd had a million conversations about with Jazza. And she was dead. Gone. For good.
I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the mutilated body in the attic was hers.
"Rory," Boo said again, her hand rubbing soothing circles into my back. I could hear the footsteps in the attic above our heads where Stephen, Callum, and Thorpe were analyzing the… scene.
I'd almost passed out up there, staring at the blood. It had taken several minutes for me to stumble down the stairs and catch my breath and several more minutes before I could steady my voice and call Stephen. After that, I hadn't moved from this spot.
"How did it happen," Stephen questioned as he came back down the attic stairs with Callum and Thorpe on his heels. His voice was steady but one look at his face and I could tell he was as shaken as me. Although where I was in a state of shock, he was angry. "How did they get the body up into the attic without any of us seeing? We were home last night and Rory is here all day."
At this last statement, his eyes found mine. They were horrified. I knew the same thought that crossed my mind was in his – that Sid and Sadie could have brought Charlotte's body up to the attic while I was here alone. Which meant they'd probably known where I was all along.
"Get up," Stephen ordered me, his hand already on my arm as he hauled me to his side. I leaned into him, his strong arm around my shoulders all that was holding me up. Usually, when he puts his arm around me – which doesn't happen often – he's hesitant. But now he was holding me to him with almost bruising force.
"You need shoes," Stephen noted. "Where are your shoes?"
"Whoa, wait a moment," Boo interrupted. "What are you doing? We need to focus on getting the body out of here, yeah? The police can't tie Charlotte's body to this place. There'll be too many questions we can't answer."
"And we will. But first I want to get Rory somewhere safe."
"Stephen," Thorpe began, but Stephen was already pulling me towards my room.
"They got into this place without any of us noticing," Stephen yelled, causing everyone to jump. "She's here most of the day alone. They could do anything to her. We have to move her."
"And we will," Thorpe placated, his voice calm. "But first we have to deal with Charlotte. And I want to understand why they killed her and why they left her body for us to find."
"I think it was a scare tactic," Callum threw in, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. "You said the power went out just before you found her, right?"
I nodded.
"It's back up now, which means it probably wasn't an accident. I think they left her there for you to find, Rory. I think they want you to know that they can get to us any time they want."
If possible, Stephen's arm tightened even more around my shoulders, squishing me to his side.
"All the more reason to get her out of here," Stephen decided, pulling us into my room where he began to frantically look for my shoes without letting me go.
"What will you tell her family," I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper. My lips were quivering and I focused on getting them to still.
Stephen froze, tilting my face up and running his thumb over my lower lip. Pulling me to his chest, I felt him bury his face into the hair at the top of my head. "We'll come up with something. Something that keeps her in a good light. It won't help her parents to know she'd joined a cult."
"Where are you going to take me?"
He was quiet for a moment. I could feel his heart beating in his chest and it calmed me until the last of the panic left my body, leaving me exhausted.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. If they found us here…"
"Then why not just stay here."
"Rory–"
"No, wait," I continued. "If they wanted to hurt me, they could have. They could have come while you were at work and taken me, but they didn't. It's like Callum said; I think they just wanted to scare me. And there's a good chance they'll find me wherever you take me. We should focus on making this place more secure."
I pulled back to see his face, aware that he was giving this some serious thought.
"Boo's right," I went on. "Charlotte should be the priority right now. We have to move her."
"That will be hard to do in the middle of the day."
Leaning back into him, I tried not to shudder at the thought of leaving her body here for the rest of the day. It was already starting to smell and the blood was still dripping down through the ceiling.
"I'm not leaving you here alone," he stated, and as much as I wouldn't mind being surrounded by my friends just now, I'd had enough of being defenseless.
"You can't be with me every second. You, Callum, and Boo all have day jobs and even if you could be with me every second, we've tried this before. The Ripper got around it, remember? And we both almost died." His arms tightened around me and he took a deep breath like he was ready to argue, but I cut him off. "I'm tired of feeling helpless all the time. Of feeling like I always need someone to come save me."
"I believe you've saved my life just as much as I've saved yours."
"I want you to teach me how to fight."
This time, I kept my face buried in his sweater. He was always so determined to keep me safe and out of the action; I didn't know how he'd react to this. But I couldn't go on feeling like the weak link. I wanted to be able to defend myself… even if all forms of self-defense would be pointless against Sid and Sadie.
"Okay. I'll teach you."
"Stephen," Thorpe called from the doorway. "We've come to a decision about the body. What did you decide?"
With a long sigh, Stephen pulled away from me and we joined the others in the living room. "We're staying here… for now. I want a new security system. The best you can get us."
"Done."
"And the body? You said you'd come to a decision?"
"Boo and I will take care of it," Callum explained from the hallway where he was busy lying towels down to soak up the blood. "We're getting a plain, black sedan. Something that most people will overlook. There's a set of empty apartments a couple streets over where they're renovating. Thought we'd leave her there."
"And her family," I asked. "When will you tell them?"
"If no one has reported the body by this afternoon, we'll call it in tonight. So… probably tomorrow morning."
I nodded. There was really nothing left to say for the moment, and I was thankful that Boo and Callum would be dealing with Charlotte. It wasn't like I had warm and fuzzy feelings about her, but I just couldn't imagine being the one to move her body.
"Go get your shoes," Stephen insisted, much calmer now.
"But I thought you said–"
"I'm not moving you to another apartment," Stephen interrupted, grabbing my jacket from the kitchen table. "But I think it would be a good idea to get you out of here for a little bit. Maybe get you something to eat."
I honestly couldn't think of eating right now, but I was desperate to escape the crime scene. Dashing to retrieve my shoes, I cast one last glance at the growing red spot on the floor, fighting my gag reflex the whole way.
~SoL~
"I still don't know why we aren't putting cash on this game," Callum pondered, taking down another one of my knights in a brilliant chess move.
"Because I suck at chess and I'm really low on funds."
"What about strip chess. There has to be something to make this more entertaining."
I heaved a sigh, procrastinating my next move. We were spread out on the floor in Callum's insanely messy room while Stephen and Thorpe dealt with the Charlotte situation. As planned, Stephen had "found" the body at exactly 6:15pm and the forensics were still "identifying" the body. I tried not to think about the mass of wounds that made this difficult.
"We could talk instead. Finish that Boo conversation we started," I suggested, making yet another wrong move.
"Check," Callum called out. "And that conversation was finished."
"It is not! I know you like her."
"Rory, just leave it."
"Come on, you like her."
Rolling his eyes, Callum threw himself back on the floor, mimicking my positon. "Haven't you ever heard what they say about office romances? They don't last and they make everything weird. I'd rather not complicate things."
"Yeah, that's what my uncle says. And now he's been in love with the same girl since high school and never made a move. He's alone. All alone. That will be you in twenty years."
"You don't know that."
"I know a lot of things. I'm very wise."
Callum chortled, flicking over my few remaining chess pieces.
"Hey," I yelled with mock indignation. "I haven't made my move yet!"
"You're forfeiting, and I'm officially tired of chess." Suddenly, Callum's lips turned up in an evil smirk as he eyed me. Whatever was about to come out of his mouth would not be good. "While we're delving into deep personal issues, why aren't you jumping Stephen's bones?"
I felt my cheeks flame and immediately grabbed a pillow from the bed and lobbed it at his face… which he caught in mid-air. "That is none of your business!"
"And my love life is your business?"
"I am only looking out for your happiness. You and Boo would be great together."
Callum's phone rang and he grabbed it as he deftly threw the pillow back at my head. My reflexes were nowhere near as fast and I was rewarded with a mouthful of cotton.
"Stephen," he answered and I was instantly on alert. I watched as Callum's face darkened and his eyes darted over to me. "No, no, we'll go… Yes, I'll keep her safe. I won't let her out of my sight."
"What happened," I blurted out as soon as he was off the phone.
"There's a disturbance close to the Royal Gunpowder Pub where that bartender was killed."
"Yeah, the ghost with the hammer."
"Stephen thinks it sounds ghost related. He wants us to check it out."
Jumping up instantly, I rushed towards my room to change. "He's actually letting me out of the house?"
"Temporarily! And you have to keep your head down and not say a word. Not a word, Rory!"
It turned out the disturbance was in a set of apartments just around the corner from the pub. Callum had explained on the Tube ride that a woman claimed she had been pushed down the stairs, but had seen no one and her sister, who was still locking the apartment door at the time, claimed that there was no one there and that she had to have tripped and fallen. But being that it was in the same general area as the crack from Hawthorne, it was worth looking into.
"What are you doing here," Callum inquired as we approached the apartment's brick face.
Standing by the door was Freddie, her make-up free face looking young and exuberant. "Waiting for you. Stephen called and said this would be a good experience for me. Are we going up," she asked, practically bouncing on her feet and giving me a small wave.
My answering smile needed a little work, but I was busy fighting down the jealousy that Stephen had called her. After hearing her go on about her ex-girlfriend, it was clear he wasn't her type, but they just had so much to talk about. She knew so much about the ghost stuff – stuff I was still busily trying to cram into my brain – and he always became so animated when they spoke.
"Let's get this over with," Callum ground out, and I was a little satisfied to hear that he wasn't particularly warmed up to her either.
Once inside, the staircase was dark, barely illuminated by the small recessed lighting. We could hear the TV blaring from one of the lower apartments, followed by raucous laughter. Somewhere on one of the upper floors someone was arguing, their angry voices carrying down to us and the carpet had some ugly brown stains that smelt of pee. Overall, not the place I would pick to live.
"Just keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual," Callum instructed, climbing the stairs.
"Like someone you can see through," I chuckled.
"Or someone about to shove you down the stairs."
The second floor was slightly better lit than the first, and Callum pointed out the woman's apartment. At first, I could see no one, but then, we heard the whimpering… and saw the door rattle.
"I think someone's coming out," Freddie noted, moving back towards the stairs. "Stephen said no one would be home."
Callum moved closer, placing himself just in front of me. "I don't think it's anyone living," he explained.
The door looked like it was bowing outward, trying to escape its hinges and then a knee poked through the wood, followed by an entire leg. The whimpering was louder now as the body came into focus, pushing through the door inch by inch. It was a short man, dressed in stained white pajamas with his hair in wild disarray on his head. Once all the way through, he slumped against the wall with his eyes squeezed shut.
"Hello," I chirped up, and Callum shot me a look.
"What part of 'not a word' are you having trouble grasping," he hissed, but the man had already heard me, his beady eyes focusing right on my face.
"Leave," he shrieked, so piercingly that it physically hurt our ears. "Leave!"
"Look, Mate, we're here to help. Can you tell us who you are," Callum asked, taking a cautious step closer, but the man shrieked again and Callum stumbled back into me. "I don't think he wants us here."
"Do you think he's dangerous," Freddie inquired, her eyes wide, but otherwise unshaken.
"He pushed someone down the stairs. What do you think?"
"I think that she's still alive. Maybe it was an accident. He might not have meant to hurt her."
But I agreed with Callum. The man didn't look stable. Most likely one of the lingering Bedlam patients.
"Stay back," the ghost yelled. "I won't let you put me in anymore chains. No more! No more!"
He was practically sobbing now and I noticed the rough wounds on his wrists, wounds that appeared to have been made by pulling at his handcuffs. Had this man been chained to a wall when he was alive?
"Rory…," Callum began, and I nodded. This had to be done and Stephen and Boo had the only other two termini we owned.
Moving carefully, hoping not to startle him, I stepped around Callum and crossed over to the mental patient. But before I reached him, he let out a terrible cry and rushed at me. It was like being struck by a train. I toppled over, my head striking the floor, and his hands still on me, stuck to me. The blinding light was there, but now there was pain – intense, soul-crushing pain – darting through my entire body, nearly rendering me unconscious. Once the man was gone, it took me a moment to realize that the lingering scream had been my own.
"Rory, Rory," Callum called, his hand tentative on my shoulder. "Are you alright? What happened?"
Opening my eyes, the world was blurry and unfocused, intensifying the pain in my head. I could just make out Callum's head hovering in my field of vision.
"We should get her out of here. I think someone heard that," Freddie said, and sure enough, I heard the click of a door opening down the hall.
"What's going on out here," a woman, with a very thick accent, yelled.
"I'm fine," I managed to squeak out, nervous of how it might look to see me laid out on the floor with muscular Callum lingering over me. "I just… ran into the wall."
"Her voice sounds funny," the lady noted. "What happened to her?"
"Like she said," Freddie began. "She ran into the wall. It was my fault really, I scared her. Thought it would be funny. I didn't mean for her to get hurt."
Freddie's voice was shaking, but it was a well delivered line. Reaching out for Callum's hand, I let him haul me to my feet, though the world wobbled beneath me. Realizing the lady was still staring at me, I did what I do best… I started babbling.
"It's like one of those fun houses I used to go in with my friends when I was little," I started, thankful that Callum's strong arm was wrapped around my waist, keeping me upright. "Where you have to walk through the tunnel that's spinning and try not to fall down. My friend, Mindy, fell down in one once and Allen didn't see her and he stepped on her. Then he fell and it was like this big pile up in the fun house. Mindy ended up with a broken arm and the fun house was shut down and we were all disappointed."
"Um… how hard did she hit her head," the woman inquired, which was opposite to the response I was hoping for.
"Oh, she's fine," Callum cut in. "She always talks like this. Just doesn't know when to shut up."
This last part was directed right at my face and I gave him a wobbly smile.
"We were just here visiting a friend," Callum continued. "But I think I better get her home instead."
Thankfully, the woman let us leave without any more questions and Callum half-carried me down the stairs and out into the frigid evening. For once, I didn't mind the cold; it helped clear the shakiness from my head.
"That was incredible," Freddie chirped, a broad smile on her face.
"Incredible?! Rory nearly passed out," Callum yelled.
"But the ghost. It's gone, right? That's incredible! You just touch them and their gone. I mean, don't get me wrong, some ghosts are great and I don't want them to go away, but that was just… that was…"
"Tiring," I finished for her. "I think I'd like a bed now."
Callum nodded, his hand pushing the hair back from my face while he examined me… and then he froze, his eyes widening.
"Rory," he whispered. "You nose."
Reaching up, I felt the small trickle of blood running out. It wasn't much, it was gone with one swipe, but… I'd never bled after offing a ghost. Ever.
"We're taking you home," he ordered. "Now. Can you walk?"
In response to that, I let go of him, only to begin to slump towards the ground. His strong arms caught me, hauling me back up and depositing me on a bench by the building.
"Cab it is then."
