Angel Manor (Lucifer Falls Book 1) (45 page)

Leaving Angel Manor came with some hiccups; it was impossible to walk away from a bloodbath such as that unscathed. Most of the bodies were never retrieved, just Julie’s and Pierre’s, and since it was proven that Oliver had killed Pierre, he was taken into custody. Oliver played the part of the insane murderer perfectly, and he confessed to crimes he hadn’t even committed. It looked like they might get off the hook, though he, Terrence, Freya, Mason and Marie-Claire were warned they could not leave the country as of yet. The investigation was still going on, but Logan couldn’t worry himself about that. He was alive, and that was all that mattered.

The only person they still spoke to was Terrence. He was even joining them for Christmas. Mason went back to his parents in Edinburgh, and Logan felt relieved for that. At least the young man had decent parents, unlike Terrence, who now lived with a friend in a flat in Bristol. What Florifera was doing, he didn’t know. They had parted ways rather abruptly.

He pulled food from the box, Dutch biscuits called Stroopwafels, a jar of mayonnaise, and then, in the bottom of the box, he saw what looked like a notebook. Curiosity tickled his senses as he pulled it out, and he was vaguely aware of Freya’s words to her mother.

“What did you send me? You had it all along?”

It was a diary, Logan realised, not just a notebook, bound in black leather. He opened it, feeling a little guilty for snooping, and pulled a large, white envelope from the first page. Curly black writing spelled ‘Freya Formynder’ in old-fashioned penmanship. He held the letter up for Freya to see, and she nodded at him then moved her head towards the phone to show she had to finish her conversation first.

He ran his fingers through the pages, and suddenly remembered the other diary they’d found and had never had time to decipher. The handwriting in this journal was clearer.

“
—that’s when Beth built Angel Manor, to keep the souls protected.
” His heart skipped a beat as he read the words, and he snapped the journal shut. Freya needed to read this with him; he couldn’t do it alone. The words ‘Angel Manor’ alone terrified him.

“I thought she was never going to stop talking.” Freya exhaled a deep sigh. “Did you know she had Aunt Miriam’s bloody diary this whole time? She didn’t want to send it to me because it was filled with crazy talk, but after what happened at the house, she decided it might be good to send it after all.”

“Why?”

“Because my mother is crazy.”

“Ah, you might have mentioned that.”

“I have to admit, I can’t really blame the woman. I wonder how much she knew. She still won’t talk to me about it.” Freya shook her head and wrinkled her nose at him. There was a smile in her eyes, though. Logan had mixed feelings about the diary. He wanted to know more about it, and at the same time, he feared the can of worms it might open.

“You found it then?” Freya’s voice cracked, and she ran the tips of her fingers across the black leather.

“The diary?”

“No, the Holy Grail.” She made a face, and he had to stop himself from kissing her; she looked so cute when she did that.

“Yeah. It was in the bottom of the parcel. It has a letter in it, addressed to you.” He handed her the letter with a bit of a flourish and looked at her with curious expectation. Her hands trembled ever so slightly when she took the envelope from between his fingers, and she stared at it with some hesitation.

“Do you want me to read it?”

“No, I’m okay.” Her finger slid into the gap in the top of the envelope and she tore it open, the paper ripping with a crisp sound. She bit her lip and pulled out the letter between her thumb and forefinger. The paper fluttered as she shook it open, and she eased herself onto the candy-red sofa, drawing her legs up under her. Logan slid next to her, careful not to look over her shoulder, as she didn’t like him reading along.

Freya cleared her throat and read in a soft voice.

“
My Dear Freya,

“I have created a new journal which will ease you through your task as a Guardian. A lot of the old texts were lost in the fire at the convent, so what I have written down is a mixture of the stories that have been passed down for generations, the ones my parents told me, and the diary of Sister Agatha that I have placed in the attic in my grandmother’s writing desk. The diary is rather incomprehensible, so I didn’t want to risk you having to decipher it yourself.
”

Freya tapped the side of her nose.

“So that’s the thing we found, Agatha’s diary? I’m glad Aunt Miriam decided to decipher it for us.” She lowered her eyes again and read the rest.

“
Of course, it would have been better if I could have trained you myself, but your mother never gave me the chance. I think the dairy will speak for itself. I’m sorry this is your fate now, but it’s a burden we must all bear. It’s our family curse and our secret. Please don’t neglect this duty. The fate of the world is in your hands.
”

Freya lowered the letter and let it rest on her lap, her eyes filled with worry.

“What?” Logan ran his hand across her jeans in what he hoped was a comforting manner. “Why the frown?”

“I just can’t help that nagging feeling.”

“What?”

“That we missed something. That there was a reason why those spirits were locked up in that house. I mean… why would my family take care of them for generations? Why not just have them exorcised like we did? I’m sure there are others like Florifera who could have done the same. Why go to all these lengths to be the Guardians of a house?”

“Because they were crazy?” He squeezed her thigh and was glad to get a little smile out of her, but her face turned serious again instantly.

“I think there might be more to it than that.”

“Don’t know, Frey. It could just be simple indoctrination, you know? If it started with ancestors, and they taught their children to be ‘Keepers’ or ‘Guardians’ or whatever, and they taught their children… that kind of behaviour can last generations. Look at the Amish, they teach their kids their lifestyles. This is not that different… it just has ghosts. I’m sure they all felt they were doing something important.”

Freya squinted at him, her brow furrowed and her lips curled in a doubtful sneer.

“What if we’re wrong, Logan?” Her bottom lip twitched. “What if there is something else there? What about that sleeping master thing? The spirits talked about it. What was that? We never found out.”

“What do you want to do? Go back to that house?”

“No… oh God, no.” Her fingers clutched the paper envelope and it folded under her touch. “I… I want to read that diary, though. At least see what she has to say about it.” She shrugged, and he could see she was uncomfortable.

“Well, you got the diary, so why not?” He grabbed the journal and handed it to her. He was curious too, though he wouldn’t have minded if she had burned the thing either.

Freya opened the journal and started reading.

***

“Listen to this,” Freya glanced at Logan over the top of the journal. “I’m not going to read all of it to you because there’s a lot about the history of the world and stuff. It talks about some sort of celestial beings, angels and demons. Not sure what to make of it all, but this is where it gets interesting. ‘
Four Horsemen were created, or perhaps they were already in existence. They were brought forth because of our presence. Their sole purpose was to destroy everything in existence for the great rebirth
.’”
Freya rubbed her nose, and she saw that her excitement was lost on Logan.
“
I think these things are meant to restart the world or something.”

Logan just shrugged, and Freya continued to read. “‘
What stopped them was a great sacrifice, one that we still talk about in the Bible
.’ It goes on to talk about Jesus, and then this: ‘
It was not his fate to die. He was meant to prosper, but his sacrifice saved us all. The Four Horsemen were buried deep within the earth, but the only way to keep them in their slumber was if we kept making true sacrifices
.’”

Freya stopped reading. She looked at Logan and tried to understand the expression on his face, He looked deep in thought. His brow was furrowed and his green eyes looked far away. She took a deep breath and held it before speaking again.

“According to this, Angel Manor is the tomb of one of the Four Horsemen.”

“What do you make of all of this? Do you think it’s true?” He looked pale, and the question brought a pang to her heart.

“I don’t know. Celestial beings, the Four Horsemen? It sounds crazy, but after what we’ve seen, we can’t take the risk.”

“You want to go back to Angel Manor?”

“Want? No. But I have to.” She bit her lip. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“Don’t be daft. Of course I’ll come. You don’t have to do this alone.” He leaned in and kissed her, and she felt safe. There was no place on this earth where she would ever feel safe again, except in Logan’s arms. Their relationship had not been going long, yet there was a depth between them that she had never before experienced. Freya knew with certainty that he was the love of her life, and that she wanted to be with him for the rest of her days. The thought of him coming with her was an immense relief.

He found her mouth with his, soft at first, but then his kisses became more passionate, his tongue curling around hers, his lips massaging her mouth in a delicious rhythm. Her body sang each time he touched her and she responded to his kisses with her own, her hands stroking his neck and shoulders.

Logan froze mid-kiss, his forehead creased, and he pulled away from her. She looked at him, wide-eyed and confused.

“What’s the matter?”

“That diary spoke of the solstice and the equinox. When
is
the next solstice? I mean… it’s winter… has it been already?”

Freya felt her blood go cold.

“I don’t know. Google it.” A dreadful sense of urgency overtook her as she pointed to the laptop standing on the breakfast bar. Logan jumped up and turned it on, his hands visibly shaking. Ages passed before he could click on the browser and look up the information they needed.

“Has its own wiki page,” he muttered with some amusement. His face went pale. “December 22nd this year.”

“Oh goodie… so we have plenty of time then,” she said miserably.

“Two days.”

“Well, one really, since it’s late now. Day after tomorrow. We need to go back to Scotland, back to the house as soon as we can. We really do know how to time this shit, don’t we? I feel like one of those clichés with a ticking time bomb… you know, the kind with only a minute left?”

“This could just be nothing. I mean, it’s a pretty farfetched story.”

“As farfetched as murdering ghosts?”

“Touché. I guess we’ll leave in the morning.”

“Yes, but for tonight… please just hold me.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and Freya wondered if she would ever get to feel this safe again.

Chapter 37

The house looked different this time. Freya suddenly remembered the first time she’d stepped out of her car, filled with expectation. She could almost hear Bam’s voice ring clear across the garden, see her run up the steps towards the house. She felt Oliver’s hands on her shoulders… that moment seemed a lifetime ago now. The row of twelve angels stood guard in front of the house, looking alive in the bright white light of the moon, but the friendly yellow bricks looked grey and cracked. Freya wanted nothing more than to sell this cursed house, but somehow she still felt linked to it. She had to know if her aunt was speaking the truth, if one of the Horsemen really slumbered underneath the rock and concrete. Logan could be right; it could just be some hysterical myth that was made up generations ago and grew with the telling of it. Perhaps this whole thing was founded on the plans of some crazy nuns who just looked for an excuse to torment children.

And yet…

Her pace was slow and her heart was pounding. It was late, as their journey had taken longer than they expected, and the midnight hour dawned. Each step to the front door was agony, and when she reached for the lock, the key shook in her hand.

“Where do you want to look first?”

“The basement. If there is any way down, it should be there.”

“Good idea.”

She pulled the police tape aside and pushed the door open. The lights still worked, and she stepped into the dimly lit main hall, Logan only a step behind her. The inside felt bigger somehow, more spacious than before… more intimidating.

The house itself is still dead.

Even the large grandfather clock did not show any signs of life. There were still traces of blood on the floor in the main hall, and evidence that the police had done their investigation. Freya was shocked that no one had bothered to clean any of it up, and that apparently she was responsible for this. She couldn’t look at the blood. In the past three months, she’d often wondered where all the bodies had gone. She knew that the children had disappeared with the other spirits, but there were several human casualties of Angel Manor, and the house seemed to have devoured their physical remains somehow. The idea sent shivers down her spine.