The House of Wood (16 page)

If it was possible, the house
seemed colder, darker than it had before. Every shadow, every creak
could have been dangerous to me. I had never felt so frightened in
all my life, as I approached the front door. I put out my hand,
turned the knob to open it.

It wouldn't move. I turned it
again. Still nothing. My breath was coming out in bursts, my heart
hammering hard against the prison of my chest. I couldn’t budge it,
no matter how hard I pushed and pulled at it. The relentless
howling of the wind continued through the hills, adding its
horrific chorus to the nature of the night. My fists pounded as
hard as they could, but the door just rattled in its rotting frame.
We were trapped.

I dashed over to a nearby
window to see if anything had blown in front of the door, blocking
off the exit.

Standing next to the swing was
a small girl, her jet black hair blowing wildly in the wind giving
it a life of its own. There was no mistaking it this time. It was
the girl from the picture, her lifeless eyes staring straight at
me. She was pointing to the upstairs. The ghost of Lilly had sealed
off the house, only for us to become her playthings; that was until
she decided she no longer wanted us.

Several moments passed before I
could even think about moving; my brain had shut down from
everything that was happening. When my body did decide to move, I
ran for the stairs to tell Justin that we were trapped. The sight
of the girl and our current predicament, had calmed my nerves. Our
fate was sealed, it was just a matter of time before we were all
dead. There’s something about the inevitable that makes it easy to
accept. Especially when it involves death.

Chelsea must have stopped
crying.

“Justin, we’re -“

The sentence was cut short.
Just as I thought the night couldn't bring any more horrors, I
found that I was wrong. Standing in front of me was Justin. My eyes
moved down over him, the dread rising in me like bile. In one hand
he had a long curved knife that dripped with blood.

“What’s happened?” I asked, the
words catching in my throat. “Where did you find that?”

Justin didn’t answer.

“Where’s Chelsea?”

Still no answer came from him,
only a faint guttural breathing. Then I forced myself to look to
his other hand. My fear grew with every passing inch. First I saw
curls. Soft, red curls matted and knotted. Then I saw the eyes.
They were rolled back leaving just the whites visible. I realise
with a choked sob that he held Chelsea’s head in his blood soaked
fist

I looked at him. His face was
twisted in a malevolent grin, drool dripping from one corner of his
mouth. An insane glow shone from his eyes like that of a wild
animal, trapped behind a cage.

“Hello sugar pie, having a good
time? Don’t be afraid, the fun is just beginning.”

I gathered my senses and ran
back the way I had come, my feet thundering down the stairs. Behind
me, I could still hear the crazy laughing of the only other person
left in the house. I had no idea what had happened to him, or if he
had killed Tim as well. And Lilly. What part did she have to play
in the unfolding drama?

Thoughts raced around my mind
as if it was a race track. I didn’t have time to ponder the
answers; I could hear Justin coming for me, humming the tune to
Make ‘Em Laugh
. There was no doubt in my
mind that he had gone totally mad.

I was determined to get out
this time. I took a quick look out of the window, but no one was
there. The humming was getting closer. I picked up a chair.

“Ready, or not, here I
come.”

Without thinking, I launched
the old wooden chair, riddled with termites and years of decay, at
the window. It splintered in to pieces on impact, but so did the
glass. I was free.

Not wasting any time I
clambered through the makeshift exit, cutting my hands and knees in
the process. Justin was right behind me, but I was out of his
reach.

“Run, Rach, run,” he shouted.
“You won’t get far. I’ll find you and bring you back. Then the real
party can start.”

I ignored his wild howls, as
the strong gusts of wind battered my frightened body. Tears
streaked down my cheeks. I didn’t take any notice. I ran as fast as
I could down the track that had turned from dust, in to a thick
slippery mud in the heavy rain. There was only one place I could
stay hidden.

Chapter
Sixteen

“That’s it. Nothing more,”
Rachel said, her entire body shaking, sweat dripping down her
spine. “I can’t do this, it’s too much.”

“They’re only memories. They
can’t hurt you any more.”

“I know, David, but I won’t do
it. I can’t do. It hurts too much.”

He put down his knife and fork
neatly next to the plate of half eaten food. He shook his head.

“But Rachel,” he said, a grin
widening across his face, as his eyes fixed on her. “The party is
just getting started.”

“What did you say?” The words
tumbled from Rachel’s mouth, the whites of her eyes gleaming with
terror. She wanted to run, but couldn’t move. “Tell me what you
said.”

“I said,” David replied,
sitting back in his chair. “You were just getting started. In my pr
-“

“No you didn’t. That’s not
it.”

“What do you mean?”

Rachel’s mind was spinning like
a carousel. “You said the party’s just getting started.”

He looked puzzled. “Excuse
me?”

“You did,” she was getting
agitated. “I heard you say it.”

“Why do you think I would say
that? What I was about to say, is that in my professional opinion,
it’s best to finish the story. All the memories have been dragged
up already, so not finishing your story could be even more
detrimental to you than bottling everything up inside.”

She didn’t know what to
believe. David seemed so genuine, his features soft and concerned.
Had she heard him say those words? Was it her mind? All her
instincts were screaming at her to leave. But something was holding
her back. She doubted herself too much to be certain. It wasn’t the
first time since she had been home that her mind had sent her
reeling through the dark corridors of her memory. If she hadn’t
heard those words from David’s lips, then where had they come
from?

“I’m not going on anymore.
Things are getting too weird for me.”

“But Rachel, you're doing so
well. I really think that you should try and continue. It's for the
best.”

“Best for who? It might be for
you, with your case files and conferences, where you can use me as
an example of a freak. But it's not for me.”

“That’s not why I'm here with
you tonight. Surely you know that?”

“I don't know what to think.
Why are you so interested in this anyway? It's not like you lived
here back then, or knew anybody involved.”

David fidgeted in his seat, his
hand fumbling with his tie. He cleared his throat. “I, err, ummm…I
don't really know what to say.”

That makes two of us, Rachel
thought. Up until now, it hadn’t even crossed her mind as to why a
complete stranger wanted to help her out. “Go on, why are you so
interested in me?”

Again, he cleared his throat.
“In all honesty, you intrigued me. I have to admit, that after I
saw you at the bed and breakfast, I went to the hospital and
checked the files. I ran your name through the system and your case
was still there. I read through and didn't know what to make of it,
so I thought that it would be interesting to get a first-hand
account of what happened.” He lowered his eyes to the table, as if
he was trying to avoid eye contact. “I’m sorry, I should never have
agreed to this. My professional curiosity got the better of
me.”

Rachel was astounded at the
audacity of it. The whole time she thought she had been out on a
date with a guy that was genuinely interested in her. Instead, it
was nothing but a game to him; something to take back to the office
and make a name for himself. That couldn't be the only reason, she
thought. Could it? She wanted to know, but didn't know how to ask.
She sat there, the food on the table going cold. Just like her
heart.

“Look,” David said, shattering
the awkward silence. “If you want to go home, leave this with me
and I'll settle up. I didn't mean to hurt you.”

She felt as though she could
cry. “How could you do this to me?”

“I honestly didn't mean to. I
thought I could help you at the same time as learning something
from you.”

“But I thought you liked
me.”

This time it was his turn to
look shocked. “Are you trying to tell me that you wanted this to be
a date?”

Her cheeks flushed red. “Kind
of.”

“Well,” he replied. “I’m
flattered. I didn’t know that was your intention.”

“I guess we both got the wrong
idea tonight then.”

She wanted to get out of the
restaurant. It felt as though a million eyes were on her, boring
into the back of her skull. How could she have been such an idiot?
It didn't explain away the fact that her trust had been broken by
someone that was supposedly trying to help her. She felt betrayed.
It was a feeling she knew all too well.

“Whatever tonight may have
been, you still lied to me about your reasons for agreeing to this.
Why didn't you tell me that you’d looked into my file?”

“I don't know. I suppose a part
of me didn't want to tell you because I like you and wanted this to
be a date too. I thought you would think it unprofessional of me
asking you out after having only just met you.”

“You have a funny way of
showing that you like someone. I think you need to work on your
people skills a bit more.”

She felt slightly better after
hearing the revelation that he did like her. She could tell that he
was being genuine. For the last ten minutes, he hadn't even been
able to make eye contact with her. In a way, it was sweet. Screwed
up, she thought. But sweet.

“I’m sorry if I was a bit
heavy-handed with you.” His cheeks flushed. “You make me
nervous.”

She started to feel herself
sympathising with him. “I make you nervous? How is that
possible?”

“I haven't been around women
since…” David’s eyes fell back to the table.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…I haven't been on a
date since my ex-girlfriend. That was a few years ago now.”

“Oh really? Why did you break
up?”

He pushed the food around on
his plate with the fork. “It doesn't matter.”

Rachel didn't want to push it,
but now she found herself intrigued. Maybe this was the thing about
him that she kept picking up on? If she knew all his secrets, then
maybe she would find it easier to talk about her own.

“Please tell me.”

He looked up. There was a deep
sadness in his eyes. “She died when we were in our second year at
college. Suicide. That's when I decided to switch my major to
clinical psychology. I wanted to help people like her, so that
nobody had to go through what I went through. You remind me of
her.”

She didn't know how to reply to
that. Now she understood why he wanted to help her. In a way, it
made her feel awkward. She wasn't sure she liked being compared to
a dead person. But her heart went out to him. She knew what it was
like to lose someone she loved.

She stroked his hand. “David,
I'm so sorry to hear that.”

“I’m just going to pop to the
toilet. I'll be back in a second.”

He pulled his hand back from
her, stood up and walked away, leaving Rachael sitting alone at the
table. She felt terrible. Sometimes, she tended to forget that she
wasn't the only person in the world to have a past that she wanted
to escape.

She mulled over the facts in
her head. The girl had obviously meant a lot to him and although he
had broken all the confidentiality rules she could think of, he'd
only been trying to help because she reminded him of his
ex-girlfriend. And it had been thrown back in his face. Damn, she
thought. If only she had known all of it sooner, then she never
would’ve gotten funny with him.

Footsteps behind her said he
was back. She waited until he was sat down.

“David, please forgive me. I
understand now that you're only trying to help me.”

“That’s okay. I should’ve been
more honest with you from the start.”

He gave her a warm smile that
melted away any reservations she still had about him. There wasn't
anybody in the world, that she could remember, who could wipe away
all her doubts with a simple smile. She returned it.

“You’re very cute when you
smile.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.
That is, when you're being honest with me.”

They both chuckled. It changed
the atmosphere around them. The air didn't feel so oppressive and
tense any more. There was a sparkle in his eye. She couldn't resist
him anymore. A sudden impulse overcame her senses. She lent forward
towards him. Her heart fluttered like the beating wings of a
butterfly. She felt like she could do anything.

As they kissed for the first
time, it felt as though the whole world had come to a standstill
around them. She could hear people from a nearby table tutting at
their display of affection, as her tongue felt the dry softness of
his mouth. It had been a long time since she had acted on a whim.
She could feel the gentle pressure of him kissing her back. Nothing
else mattered to her except this one moment. For the second time in
her life, a kiss had changed everything. It felt so familiar and
yet so different. She could trust him with anything. She knew that
now.

After a few seconds they
parted, adjusting themselves, realising that people had been
watching.

“Well, I wasn't expecting
that.”

She felt nervous. “Is that a
good or bad thing?”

“From where I'm sitting, it's a
good thing,” David replied.