Daisy Madigan's Paradise (6 page)

She had no
idea where he was, what he was doing or if he was even okay. Can a
ghost feel pain, she thought? She certainly hoped not.

After his
first disappearance, she was beginning to get used to being alone
again. She blocked him, her mum and her dad out of her mind and
thought of nothing but survival and how she was even surviving in
the first place.

She'd noticed
things within her were changing. She barely felt the cold, she
could go days without drinking much water at all and when she went
running, she realised she was fast, like super human fast. And
then, in her burgeoning anger at Jack she'd kicked a tree, knocking
it completely to the ground, realising that she also had, like
super human strength.

What was going
on? Did it have something to do with the tattoo? Perhaps now she
was on her own, she should track down her dad and find out the
truth once and for all.

But once she'd
made up her mind that she needed to do just that, something
happened.

Every evening
before she called it a night, Daisy would walk around the grounds
of Abney park and just enjoy the peacefulness and the solitude in
the dim light of dusk. But that night proved to be quite
different.

She could feel
it in the air, the sensation that she wasn't alone in the cemetery.
And it wasn't the ghosts or the animals in the undergrowth. This
was different. Her senses on full alert, Daisy was cautious to make
little noise as she walked slowly and carefully through the
gravestones, past the sleeping lion and beyond the numerous
headless statues of angels that were scattered among the trees.

When she heard
a howl, she stopped dead in her tracks and listened intently, her
eyes skimming the area all around. The howl was followed by
laughter, and not the fun kind. She knew immediately that she was
dealing with a group. Her first instinct was to run but, not
knowing which direction they were coming from, she climbed the
nearest tree. Seconds later, she sat on a heavy branch, barely
breathing. She'd never even realised she was capable of climbing
trees and to do so at such speed shocked her. But she didn't have
time to think about that, she knew those people in the park were
bad news and she didn't want them to catch her.

Silently
waiting, she barely took a breath as she watched the group grow
nearer.

There were
four men, three women and two incredibly large dogs. As they
approached, Daisy bit her lip. They weren't dogs. They were wolves
and they were on to her scent, sniffing all around the area.
Fortunately, they seemed to lose interest and neither of them
looked upwards.

A pretty girl
with long blonde dread-locked hair walked by the side of one of the
animals, occasionally stroking the soft black fur on its back
lovingly.

The other
woman draped herself across a guy who wore black from head to toe.
His shoulder length black hair framed his handsome, yet pale and
gaunt face. It was clear that they all looked up to him. Suddenly,
the other beast howled loudly. Daisy watched in horror as his fur
seemed to loosen and break apart. She heard its bones seem to crack
beneath its skin and with her eyes wide open in terror, the wolf's
limbs lengthened, its jaw pulled inwards until standing beneath the
tree where she hid, stood a naked man.

She placed her
hand over her mouth to stop the scream that threatened to pierce
the night sky. She gulped back the tears and shook her head. A
werewolf? They were real? Her imagination went wild as she began to
realise her world would never be the same again.

'Get him some
clothes,' said their leader to the girl with the dreadlocks. She
smiled, temporarily appreciating the naked form that stood in front
of her. He grinned back at her and she licked her lips before
turning away and delving into the large holdall one of the others
had carried.

She handed him
a pair of black jeans, black boots and a black t-shirt.

Daisy watched
as he slowly dressed himself. As much as she was terrified,
curiosity took over. Apart from on TV, she'd never seen a naked man
before.

Once dressed,
she noticed the other wolf continued to walk circles around the
group, occasionally walking a little further away to sniff the
perimeter. He was clearly keeping watch.

Resting her
head against the tree trunk, Daisy's eyes grew tired. But she
forced herself to keep them open. She refused to fall asleep. Not
while this strange group remained underfoot.

'Drake,' said
the brunette. 'We have company,' she snarled with a smile.

Shocked and
scared half to death, Daisy caught her breath. Had they spotted
her?

But it wasn't
her they were referring to. Someone had drifted into their circle.
Almost like he was under a spell. It was Jack

Daisy held her
breath as she watched him hover in between them.

'Jack,' she
mouthed silently.

'Well, what do
we have here?' said the man called Drake.

'Its the boy
again. I touched him a few days ago,' said the brunette who now
stood with her hands on her hips. She licked her lips and held out
her hand towards the spirit.

As her hand
found his centre, Jack seemed to convulse.

But he was a
ghost, how could he be affected, thought Daisy.

She wanted to
help but knew there was nothing she could do. These were dangerous
people. At least Jack was already dead, she thought guiltily.

Instead she
just sat motionless and helpless, watching from above as Jack was
pulled and prodded by the young woman.

'Hello Jack,'
she said to him. 'Its good to see you again.'

Jack hovered,
his feet barely touching the ground with his head drooped
forward.

'Well, aren't
you going to say hello?' she asked as she prodded him again,
causing his head to flick upwards.

'H...h...he...llo,' he whispered.

'Hello what?'
she probed.

'H..ello
Bea...trice.'

The woman
laughed and clapped her hands together. 'Aw, you remembered. How
sweet. Now tell me, what have you been up to?'

Jack said
nothing.

'What's the
matter, don't you remember?' laughed the dread-locked girl who sat
on the ground with her arm around the man who'd earlier transformed
from a wolf.

'Come on,
Jack, I only played with parts of your memory. Tell me what you've
done since you last saw me?'

Jack looked up
at her and opened his mouth, 'I...I... went to see Daisy. She...
she told me I was dead,' he stuttered.

Daisy held her
breath.

'Daisy? Who is
this Daisy?'

Oh no, please
don't tell them about me, thought Daisy.

'Daisy's my
girl. She lives in the park.'

Momentarily
forgetting about everything that surrounded her, Daisy's heart did
a little jump. He called me his girl.

'She lives in
the park? What? You mean this park? Abney Park?'

Jack nodded
and Daisy was brought back to reality with a bang.

'Well, well,
well... looks like we've got a runaway in our midst,' said
Drake.

'She sounds
like fun, Drake,' said the dread-locked girl, 'can we find her? Can
we... play... with her?'

Drake knocked
his head backwards and laughed with his eyes closed.

'If you need
another plaything to keep you occupied Darcey, sure.'

Oh My God...
they're going to kill me.

CHAPTER
13

Fortunately
for Daisy, the group hadn't found her and they hadn't killed her.
Not yet anyway. She'd stayed up there in that sturdy tree all night
and just before dawn, they'd finally gathered their things and left
the park. Jack had been allowed to leave hours before but Daisy had
no idea where he'd gone.

When she knew
it was safe, she expertly climbed down the tree and rushed to her
hiding place inside the catacombs. Snuggling down into the sleeping
bag, she closed her eyes and slept for as long as she could. Well,
for as long as the nightmares would allow anyway.

Giant wolves
chased her through the forest until she reached the tunnels beneath
ground, escaping just moments before their deadly sharp claws tore
at her skin. Breathing deeply, Daisy scurried through the darkness
but she wasn't alone. She could feel their breath on her skin,
ghosts followed her. At every move, another one appeared until
there were so many underground with her that she couldn't breathe.
Her lungs felt tight and she spluttered, gagging for breath,
wheezing and coughing until she awoke with a start, covered in a
light film of sweat.

Moments later,
when she realised she was safe, Daisy laid back down and breathed
in and out, in and out, calming her breath until it was finally
back to normal.

It was just a
dream, she thought, just a really bad dream.

'Daisy?' said
a woman's voice out of nowhere.

'Ah,' she
gasped.

'Oh, sorry,'
said Charlotte, one of the ghosts from the other night who appeared
in front of her. 'I didn't mean to startle you.

'That's okay,'
muttered Daisy self-consciously pulling the cover up to her
ears.

'I, erm, I saw
Jack earlier and he seemed, well, weird. He didn't remember
me.'

'Yeah I know,
his memory has gone all weird... it's because of that scary
woman.'

'What scary
woman?' asked Charlotte.

'From that
gang that were in the park earlier.'

'Oh yeah, I've
seen them here before. I always keep my distance.'

'That's
wise... I watched what they did to Jack. It wasn't pleasant.'

'Wh...what did
they do to him?'

'I dunno, it
was weird. She kind of put her hand right into him. I could see he
was really uncomfortable. She said something about his memory being
lost and she made him tell her about me. I think they want to,
well, I think they want to k...k...kill me.'

Charlotte
gasped.

'How can they
do that to a ghost?' she asked, afraid.

'I wish I
knew. But I do know that they're evil and they're different. Two of
them are...are.... were...'

'What, Daisy
what?'

She gulped
loudly before continuing, 'Werewolves. Two of them are werewolves,
Charlotte. I saw one of them change. It was terrifying.'

'What are you
going to do?'

'Me?' replied
Daisy, 'I... don't know.'

'Maybe you
should get out of Abney Park. Maybe you should run away, go
somewhere safe,' she suggested as she floated around the
catacombs.

'But I feel
safe here. This is my home.'

'It is? But...
but you must have a proper home somewhere?'

Daisy sighed
and sat up straight.

'I did but not
any more. This is my home now.'

'I miss my
home and I miss my Mum and Dad. If I had the chance to go back, I
would take it like a shot.'

'How long have
you... have you...'

'What? Been
dead?' Charlotte interrupted and Daisy nodded.

'A while, I
guess. You lose all track of time when you're like this. I dunno.
What year is it?'

'2012.'

'Really?' she
said, shocked. 'I died in 1994.'

'How?'
whispered Daisy.

Charlotte
turned from her and floated away for a moment. Then she stopped and
turned back and before Daisy knew it, the girl was sitting beside
her.

'Liver failure
caused by bulimia... I was stupid. I was so desperate to be thin
that I couldn't see myself the way I really was. I made myself so
sick day after day after day. In the end my body just couldn't take
it any more and I died in the hospital. I can't bear...
the....p...p...pain I caused my family. I hate myself for that,'
she said trying to punch herself in the stomach.

'I'm so
sorry,' whispered Daisy.

'Don't be. It
was my fault. Completely and utterly my fault.'

'But why are
you still here? Why didn't you, you know, cross over?'

Charlotte
shrugged, her knees up to her chin. 'I just wasn't ready to, I
guess. Felt too guilty to leave my parents. I dunno,' she shrugged
again.

'Why don't you
cross over now?'

'I haven't
seen the light for a long time. I wouldn't know how,' she said
sadly.

'You mean
you're stuck here?'

Charlotte
nodded, 'I guess.'

'Is there
anything I can do to help?'

The smile
almost lit up Charlotte's gaunt face, 'I wish you could but I just
don't know how.'

'Have you been
to see your parents since, you know?'

'Since I died,
you mean?'

Daisy
nodded.

'I tried to
but I couldn't seem to leave the park.'

'That's weird.
Have you tried to leave since?'

Charlotte
shook her head.

'Come on,
let's try now.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, come
on,' yelled Daisy who was already at the secret entrance to the
catacombs.

Peering out to
make sure nobody was around, she rushed out and then covered up the
entrance with twigs, branches and leaves. By the time she'd reached
the old chapel, Charlotte was floating alongside her.

Daisy smiled
when they reached the gate.

'Are you
ready?' she whispered.

Charlotte
looked terrified but she nodded.

Walking
through, Daisy turned around on the other side and waited for her
new friend to try and make it through. The second she tried to
float through, it was like she'd had an electric shock and she was
dragged backwards, as if sucked into a vacuum, pulling her further
back into the park.

'Daisy!' she
yelled.

Dashing back
into Abney Park, Daisy followed the young ghost until they both
came to a halt outside the old chapel.

'Are you...
are you... okay?' asked Daisy in shock.

'I... I...
think so,' she replied in horror.