Malevolent Hall 1666AD (22 page)

“I’m sorry,” Mike, said, lowering his fork from his mouth.

“I can’t quite believe it’s been eleven years tomorrow,” she told him.  “It doesn’t get any easier,” she added.

“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed, with sadness in his voice.

“Oh, Mike, I’m sorry that was thoughtless of me,” Matilda said, remembering he had lost both his parents recently.

“It’s okay, we deal with it right,” he said, his voice softening.  She nodded, and as she glanced at him, his dark brown eyes warmed, and she felt a flutter in her heart.

“I haven’t had a chance to tell you who I met today while out on my jog in the wood,” she said, breaking their gaze and looking at her glass of wine.

“Who?” he asked putting a fork full of food into his mouth.

“That man, you know the one you chased away.”  Mike put his fork down.

“You confronted him on your own?” he said, his voice stern with concern.

“Yes.  Well, I followed him.  Mike it’s my Uncle Tom, I thought he died in the fire but it turns out he didn’t and he’s been living out in the wood for the last eleven years.”

“What are you serious?” he asked.  She nodded.

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.  He’s badly scarred across his face from where he burned in the fire.”

“Why on earth is he living out in your wood?”

Matilda gave a heavy sigh.  “He had a mental breakdown over the loss of my aunt, and the rest of us.  He couldn’t face seeing anyone or talking to anyone about it.”

“Is he okay, I mean, he didn’t scare you or anything?”

“A little at first, until I realised who he was,” she replied.

“And you are definitely sure it is him?”

“Yes, Mike I am.”

“How do you feel about it?” Mike asked, tearing a piece of garlic bread in half and mopping up the lasagne sauce from his plate.

Matilda put her fork down.

“I’m not sure really.  Obviously, I am glad he is still alive and I really hope I can persuade him to move back in the Hall with me.  But I think he’s even more screwed up than I am.”

A cold chill blew through her, and she looked away from him, and glanced around the kitchen.

“Did you feel that?” she asked.

“Feel what?” he replied.

“That cold chill,” she said.  He shook his head.  Matilda gave a shudder, and put a forkful of Lasagne into her mouth.  Her fork rested on her lower lip as she watched her broom leaning up against the wall behind Mike lift up off the ground.  She looked at Mike, he was chatting away to her, but she was not hearing what he was saying.  Matilda was unsure what to do, should she warn him or could she stop it.  She swept her hand across the table and knocked the salt pot onto the floor.

“Sorry,” she apologised.

“I’ll get it,” he said, bending down to pick it up.  As the broom careered towards him, Matilda lifted her hand.

“Belcara,”
she chanted, directing her magic towards the broom.  It stopped mid-air and dropped to the floor with a bang.  Mike sat up startled.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Erm, the broom, it fell over,” she said.  He glanced over his shoulder at the broom and frowned.

“Weird,” he remarked.

“Very,” she replied, and she tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear.  They were getting more brazen with every hour and she had still not found this book, or any more information on the enchantment.

Matilda played with the locket around her throat, toying with what Eric had said about her trusting Mike and telling him everything.

“Haven’t you got it open yet?” he asked.  She glanced up and shook her head.

“No, it won’t budge.”

“Can I take a look?” he asked, sitting with a slight lean towards her.

“Okay, but I don’t think you will be able too,” she said as she took it off and gave it to him.  If she was unable to open the locket using her magic, what chance did he have?

As Mike ran a finger over the locket, she noticed a strange shimmer coming from his finger and illuminating the locket for a hundredth of a second.  He turned it over in his hand and read the inscription.

“Romantic isn’t it,” Matilda said, with a smile. 

As he looked at her, a frown deepened across his brow.

“What, what is it?” she asked, as his facial expression had turned grim.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” he cursed, and he put the locket on the table.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching for the locket.  She found it was slightly open, and opening it fully, she looked inside.  Her mouth dropped aghast, as there was a miniature painting of a woman, who looked similar to her, and one of a man.  Lifting the image closer to her eyes, she squinted at him.  She dropped the necklace on the table in surprise.

“Okay, this is really weird,” he said, looking at her.

“What is - my locket?” she asked.

“Yes, but not only the locket.  I have a connection with you and your family,” he said.  “And this, well,” he mumbled, and he held his hand to his head, unable to keep it all to himself any longer, not now he had seen the pendant.

“What do you mean?” Matilda asked.

“When it all happened to your family, eleven years ago, I was fifteen, and well, something happened to me too.”

“Mike, you’re not going to go weird on me are you?” she asked a concerned, and thinking back to what Eric had said about demons possessing other people.

“No, don’t worry, I’m not a nutter or possessed by a demon,” he said speaking her thoughts aloud.

“Oh, that’s good to know,” she said in sarcastic relief.

“I can assure you I’m not going to hurt you or anything, and if you don’t want to believe what I’m about to tell you, I understand.”

“Believe what, Mike?  I’m starting to get a more than worried here,” she said.

“Yes, well maybe you need to be,” he replied.  “Maybe we both do.”  He stood and starting undoing his shirt.

“Erm, Mike, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Don’t worry, it’s only the shirt coming off,” he promised.

“Why?” Matilda asked, watching as he discarded it on the table.

“I need to show you my tattoo,” he replied.  Her eyes lifted back to him, and her gaze roamed across his broad shoulders, down to his six-pack, and lower to his tightly chiselled stomach.  Her eyes followed the V of his hipbones below the waistband of his jeans.  Shit, he was gorgeous.

“Tilly, look,” he said, and he turned his back to her.  Matilda’s eyes lifted to his shoulders, and to the writing that spanned across his back.
‘
Forever, my one true love’,
and below the initials
MAR.
  She stood and leaned her hands on the table.

“What the hell,” she muttered.  He turned around and faced her.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

“When did you get it done?” she asked.

“I didn’t,” he replied.

“What do you mean you didn’t?”

“Okay, this is where it gets weird.  You know I said things started to happen to me when I was fifteen, and I went to a house to drop off a quote.”

“Yes.”

“Well, that wasn’t entirely true.  Weird shit’s been happening to me all my life, but when I came here to your Hall to drop off a quote for your father things really got bad.”

“Here?” she said surprised.  He nodded.

“Your father wanted to have some work done on the Hall, but when I got here, something happened to me.  It was October 31
st
, eleven years ago tomorrow,” he said.

Matilda stared at him in disbelief.

“I wanted to tell you everything from the first day we met, but I wasn’t sure how you would react.  I thought if I were to get to know you better, you would be more inclined to believe me.  I remember approaching the Hall, I rang the bell but no one answered so I popped the quote through your door.  The next thing I remember is being in your lounge and I saw something, I’m not sure what.  Then I saw you cowering on the floor as it came towards you.  I can remember holding you and trying to protect you from it, but at the same time, it wasn’t me.”

He glanced at her, and tears were falling down her cheeks.

“I know it doesn’t make sense, but that’s how I felt, like I was there but I wasn’t in control of my body.   I remember there was a blinding light and then it all went dark. I woke up at home in my bed.  There was a terrible pain in my back, and when I looked in the mirror, the tattoo was there.”

She sat wordlessly, staring at him.

“I don’t know how I got home, or how the tattoo came to be there.  I hid it for years from my parents, too afraid to tell them.  Something has brought us back together, Tilly, I’m here because I’m meant to be with you, I know I am.”

She sat wordlessly, staring at him.

“Tilly, say something for God’s sake,” he pleaded.

She caught her breath, her heart pounding as she stared at him.

“Why do you keep calling me Tilly?” she asked in a whisper.  The way he had said her name then sounded just like the whispering voice of Eric.

As his eyes ran over her face, her heart shook at the intensity and she wanted so much to kiss him.

“I don’t know, it just feels right,” he said. 

“You saw it?” she asked.  He nodded and the tears continued to course down her cheeks.

“Please don’t cry, Tilly,” he begged, and he moved around to her and lifted a hand to wipe her tears.

“No one believed me,” she mumbled, looking up at him.

“I do, Tilly.  I spent years trying to understand what happened that day, and it has been driving me crazy, you disappeared and I couldn’t find you anywhere.  When you emailed my dad’s company about this job, I couldn’t believe it when I realised it was you.”

“But I don’t understand what’s going on, I thought he was the one,” she mumbled.

“He, who’s he?”

“The ghost,” she replied.

“You’ve seen a ghost?” he asked.

“Yes, I told you something is going on in this Hall.  I can see him as clear as I see you now.  I can feel him, and he me,” Matilda said.

“He touched you?” he frowned.

“Yes,” she replied in a breath.  She raised her hand to the locket, opened it, and showed it to him.  “Explain this to me?” she said.  “It opened when you touched it.”  Matilda stood, and he took hold of it in his fingers.  She inhaled him, and his scent lifted her heart.

“It’s me,” he said, and he looked at her, “and you, but we are wearing old fashioned clothes.”  She nodded.  “Tilly, there is something else about me, and I have never, ever told anyone, not even my parents,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“This,” he said, “but please don’t be scared okay, I would never, ever hurt you, I would rather die,” he pressed.  She nodded and watched as he held out his trembling hand.

“
Lluminare,”
he whispered.  Matilda stared in amazement at the orb of light that appeared in his hand.

“Mike,” she whispered.

“It’s okay Tilly, it won’t hurt you,” he said, concerned as to her reaction.  The last thing he wanted was for her to be scared of him.

She lifted her hand towards him.

“
Lluminare,”
she chanted, and she watched his face as the orb of light grew within her hand.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, and lifting their hands towards each other, they watched the power of the light as the orbs of energy swirled in their hands.  Matilda closed her hand, and the energy disappeared, he did the same.

“Tilly, you too,” he said.  She nodded.

“I think I’m witch,” she said.

“You can do more?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Me too,” he confessed.  “I think, I maybe a warlock.  You know it’s what my name means, Tovenaar,” he said.  He put his hand on her shoulder, and his fingers gently caressed her soft, pale skin.  “You used magic on that key the other day, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, I did,” she confirmed, as a rush of electricity coursed through her body at his touch.

“I wasn’t completely sure. I can see demons, Matilda, in everyday normal people.  You remember that creepy guy at the pub?”  She nodded.  “He was a demon, I’m sure.  When I looked at him his face changed.”

“Changed, what do you mean?”

He lifted his hands to his face, and pulled it about.  She laughed.  “Seriously, it’s horrific their faces mutate into something so gross and evil.”

“The demon today on the roof, you saw it, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Yes, I did,” he confirmed. Mike moved in closer, nudging her chin gently with one finger.  Their eyes met and there was no hiding the attraction sizzling between them.  He ran his thumb lightly over lips and watched them part instinctively.  He pulled her towards him until her body was flush against his.  He brushed his lips over hers, and as he deepened the kiss, her lips began to move against his with a moan.

“I’m sorry, Tilly,” he whispered, as he broke from their kiss, “but I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Mike,” she whispered, and her heart was pounding.  “I’ve wanted you to do that for so long too.”

His mouth met hers she wrapped her arms warmly around his neck, excitement swirling through her, a curling warmth invading her stomach.  She gripped hold of him tightly, her nails digging into the bare flesh on his back as she pushed her body against his.

Mike’s hand moved down the curve of her neck, caressing the tension in her shoulders before sweeping his hands through her long, silky hair.

His touch sent a rush of passion through her and she groaned against him, her fingers tracing along his tight, stomach muscles.  She could feel him as he pushed against her, and as his hand slipped to her breast, she broke from their kiss.

“Mike, come with upstairs with me,” she begged.

“Are you sure?” he asked.  She smiled.

“I have never been more, sure of anything in my life,” she replied her voice a husky whisper.  His eyes widened with desire for her and he smiled giving a nod.  She took hold of his hand, and he weaved his fingers through hers.

“Parker, stay,” he said to his dog, and he closed the kitchen door.  They hurried up the two flights of stairs to the tower.  She closed and bolted the door.

The way he looked at her sent a delightful shiver through her whole body.  His eyes cast around the room.

“I remember this room,” he said, moving towards her.

“Well you were up here yesterday,” she said.  He shook his head.

“No.  It was before then, a long time ago.”  Sudden movement caught her eye, and she gave a gasp.  It was Eric, he smiled at her, and she smiled back.  She looked at Mike, and he was staring straight at her.

“Mike,” she said, but he didn’t reply.

“Eric, what have you done to him?” she asked, worried.  Eric walked towards her, and the resemblance between the two was uncanny.

“
We are the same, he and I,”
he said, and he turned and walked behind Mike, holding his arms open he appeared to walk into his back.

“Eric,” she called, but he had disappeared.  Mike took a step towards her, and she took a startled step back.

“We are the same, he and I,” Mike said, lifting his hand and holding her cheek, her skin silken under his fingertips.

“I don’t understand,” she replied.

“You will,” he promised, pulling her too him.  He kissed her deeply until she was quivering with need for him.

Matilda released her mouth away from his, her finger tracing the line of his jaw as she kissed across his cheek, down his neck and across his incredible shoulders.

He swept his hands through her hair, and his lips moved down to kiss the exposed curve of her shoulder.  He murmured against her neck as he slowly slid the zip of her dress.

As the dress fell to the ground, Matilda stepped out of it and kicked it away.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” Mike said.  He cupped her breast and his thumb toyed with her nipple through the silken fabric of her bra.

Matilda groaned as his hand moved down her stomach and he slipped his fingers inside her knickers.  She buckled against him as he teased her.

Her hand slid across his chest, to his tight stomach and to the buckle on his belt.  She undid it quickly, the urge to have him take her now firmly in control.  As he caressed her breast, his mouth kissed around her earlobe and she fumbled to unbutton his jeans. 

“Tilly,” he moaned against her mouth as she ran her hand up and down him.

“Mmm,” she replied.  He pulled back from her, and a shiver of anticipation ran down her back at the intention she read in his eyes.  As their mouth met in a fevered kiss, her body moistened and he forced her backwards until her legs hit the bed.

He winked at her, and it was about the sexiest thing she had ever seen, and with a playful smile, he pushed her onto it.

She giggled, bouncing on the mattress as she pulled herself backwards up the bed.

“Hey where do you think you’re going,” he teased, and slipping off his jeans, he crawled across the bed after her.

She squealed as he grabbed her ankle and pulled her back down the bed.  He straddled her and held her down.

“There’s no escape now,” he whispered.

“Why would I want to escape,” she purred.  Mike’s blood pressure shot off the scale at her sexy drawl.  He leaned and swept his lips across hers unable to resist her any longer.  His hand ran down the length of her body and unclipping her bra, he threw it to the floor. 

Matilda watched him, and shudders rocked her body as his wandering lips curved into a smile and he took her breast into his mouth.

He groaned as she slipped her hand inside his boxers and caressed his hardened length.