Locating the fallen trunk she’d previously sat on, she stopped. She couldn’t risk Aldrich not having his blindfold on.
‘Juliet? Where are you?’ shouted Nick. ‘I’ve put the blindfold back on him. Hello?’
‘I’m here. I’m coming.’ She paced.
When she found Nick, he looked vacant and his posture was slouched. Juliet tracked down his body to his gored hands. Blood on his knuckles;
Why are his hands bloody?
She felt she knew why, but didn’t want to look at the evidence.
Is he the sort of person to attack a restrained man?
It was a disheartening thought. She straightened her back, stood tall, and found the courage to peer over at Aldrich. His head hung low, the chocolate-brown throw didn’t cover much of his body anymore, and phlegmy blood had further stained his tweed jacket. His lips glistened red, his forehead was swollen, and his hair was clotted.
‘What have you done to him?’ She trembled.
Nick stared blankly for just a moment. He looked to Juliet and his eyes reddened. Although she didn’t know what had preceded this moment, and although she barely knew him, her heart ached to see him this way.
‘He ... murdered my mum …’ said Nick, weakly. ‘It was him.’ His face screwed up and he looked down to cry.
Juliet hurried to embrace him. It was the oddest feeling. She couldn’t remember comforting a man in this way before. She’d consoled Kim a few times, but that was after break-ups with random guys. It wasn’t on the same level as this. But pain was pain she supposed, whatever the extent, and she’d help if she could. Though, she certainly didn’t feel comfortable or adequate supporting someone who’d just discovered something so horrific.
Poor Samantha … poor Nicolas … and his family.
She squeezed her eyes shut, bit her bottom lip, and shook her head with tiny but significant movements.
Nick’s chest convulsed heavily, and Juliet could tell he was reining back on making any sounds. It would have been natural for him to wail uncontrollably, but she was glad he wasn’t in that state.
He began to settle. ‘I didn’t think I had the energy to cry.’
Juliet didn’t know what to say. She went for, ‘It’s okay.’
‘Sorry. I was angry at him, the way he killed her … for no good reason. If there ever could be a good reason to kill someone! I wanted to kill him, but I couldn’t do it.’
It disturbed Juliet to hear Nick say these things aloud, so she didn’t respond. She empathised with his anger, his rage, but it was foolish to further harm Aldrich when they already didn’t know how to get out of this situation.
‘I need to show you something in the woods. I found something,’ she said.
‘Right now?’
‘Yes, you have to see it. I don’t know if I imagined it. I saw the strangest thing.’
Nick pulled a quizzical face and seemed intrigued, even in his anguish. Aldrich turned his head and tried to mumble something, but it came out a gurgle.
‘Juliet, could you go and find my brothers, please?’ Nick asked. ‘They can watch over Aldrich.’
‘Will you be okay here?’
‘Yeah. I think I’m all cried out. Or I hope I am.’ He laughed both miserably and awkwardly.
A silent nod and Juliet was on her way. She jogged to the extent her wedge boots could handle and then brought together the twins. They returned to Nick, and he asked them to keep an eye on Aldrich.
Tom wanted to know what had happened to Aldrich, while Tommy
demanded
Nick tell him everything. Nick fumbled over his words and tried to avoid the truth for now, most likely lacking the emotional stamina to repeat it again. Juliet didn’t blame him.
The three of them argued, going in circles, and Juliet sighed as it continued. Nick didn’t inform the twins that Aldrich had murdered their mother. ‘I don’t have time to tell you everything right this second. Just watch him, please,’ he said impatiently.
Tommy gritted his teeth, then said, ‘Yuh gotta give us more than that!’
‘Why don’t you trust me, Tommy? I said I would tell you, and I will. Just let me get it straight in my head first.’
‘Well, you’re obviously not tellin’ us summin’! Just … whatever. I can’t be asked. I ain’t standin’ around here in the cold no more. This is bullshit. I’m goin’ if yuh ain’t tellin’. Come on Tom, let’s get outta here.’
Tom looked torn between his brothers. He shifted on the spot, inclining towards Tommy. Juliet sensed Tommy was the dominant twin; even she found him slightly intimidating.
I’m definitely fonder of Tom.
‘Fine! It’s
his
fault Mum never came home. It’s
his
fault she’s dead.’ Nick gave in and pointed desperately at Aldrich.
The twins simultaneously peered at the beaten man against the tree. For a split moment, there was an awful silence where the air seemed full of prickly cactus spines.
‘I’ll tell you it all when we get back. Juliet said she found something in the woods. We’ll be back in a minute. Just make sure he stays blindfolded.’
The twins were silent. Tommy paced angrily, and Tom looked sunken, bewildered, and in shock all at once.
‘Just watch him please,’ said Nick.
Juliet led the way through the trees, recalling where the thing had flitted and flashed through the woods. Sprinting together, they jumped roots and fallen branches. Nick took the chance to hold her hand as they ran. His was rough and cold, and Juliet tried not to look down at the blood.
It was nice to link hands, to be in it together.
Spring came upon them, and Juliet pondered if leaving the twins with Aldrich was such a smart idea or not.
Nick slowed and gently tugged for Juliet to stop. She watched him view the surroundings in wonder, his jaw hanging open. He grabbed her other hand so that both were in his now, and went face-to-face with her. He made a point of looking into her eyes. ‘This is amazing,’ he said. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘I know. I thought I imagined it. I felt like Alice falling into Wonderland,’ Juliet said, and then felt stupid at her lazy comparison. She hadn’t even read
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
; it was nonsensical to the point of annoying her. Though, she had seen the 1951
Alice in Wonderland
Disney animation. That was nonsensical too, but she thought it was watchable … as a child.
‘There’s more to show you,’ she went on. ‘I think it’s this way.’
‘Wait. Before we go any further, I want to say something.’
Slowly, she responded, ‘Okay.’ She swallowed nervously and braced herself.
Chapter 17
‘Thank you for saving me earlier,’ he said, recalling how urgently he’d ducked when Juliet screamed ‘Get down!’, and how deafening the shotgun fire had been.
‘That’s okay.’
‘I realised I hadn’t said thank you yet.’
She laughed. ‘If you remember, it took me a while to thank
you
for saving me from the car.’
‘That’s true.’ He smiled and focused on her warm fingers wrapped in his.
‘Anyway, it was your mother who saved you earlier, not me. I waited outside the manor, and I thought you were taking too long. I realised something must have been wrong, and then your mother appeared and told me to save her boys.’
In the way Juliet spoke, Nick could tell she’d become used to spirits appearing. It seemed natural for her to speak of it.
He tried to smile. ‘It was still you who acted so swiftly. You saved us.’ It warmed him to know his mother was stilling looking out for him; it almost made the whole situation bearable.
‘I know you’ve just found out the truth about her death, and I think that’s what she wanted, but she obviously still loves you. I hope that gives you some comfort.’
‘It does, but is that all she wanted?’
‘When she appeared, she said you needed to know the truth.’
‘What if she wanted us to find something else here? I know she helped you save my life, but she put us all in danger coming here anyway. Why did she do that? Just so I’d know the truth? I feel like I’m missing something. What about this place? What is it? Why is everything so colourful? Did she want us to find this? And what are we supposed to do with Aldrich? Does she want us to report him or what … or …’ He flinched. ‘Kill him? I can’t imagine my mum would have wanted revenge, or for us to murder someone.’
‘No. I don’t think she wanted that.’
‘I hope not anyway,’ said Nick, unsure.
Juliet took one hand away and used it to gently rub his arm. The gesture relaxed him. He stole a moment to take in the area, and couldn’t believe what he saw; there were enormous sycamore trees, fully leaved, green and luscious. The same trees shrouded his front garden, and they
never
looked like this in autumn.
Another odd thing was that on the drive to Grendel Manor, as they’d reached the top of the private road on the hill, Nick had seen all this land in the distance but had only observed a small group of trees. These trees were massive and plenty, and the woods looked endless in every direction.
‘I just can’t believe this place,’ he said. Taking a step back he raised his eyebrows and gazed up and around himself. The surroundings had an almost narcotic effect on him, letting him forget for a moment the painful truth he’d learnt, inspiring feelings of safety and love and connectedness, even in these woods that belonged to a killer.
When he looked back down, he saw in Juliet’s eyes that she was becoming lost in the ambience, just like he was. He hoped she would kiss him; it was the perfect moment in these fantastical woods. Mystical, magical, romantic.
He thought of why she’d kissed him in the car. Had it just been the heat of the moment after escaping the manor? What was wrong with this moment? Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, he kissed her.
She edged back, seemingly surprised at first, then connected and moved her lips with him. She stepped her body closer, and as Nick slid his arms around her waist, Juliet pulled him towards a tree trunk and rested her back on it. Nick pushed against her with slow rhythmic thrusts, alluding to his desires.
The kissing turned more intense. Nick eased a hand under her jumper to feel her bare skin, and Juliet dropped her hand to his thigh, teasingly close to the crotch of his jeans.
To Nick, it was as if the setting was cheering him on, spiking his adrenaline and sending tingles over his skin. He wanted to keep going and kiss her until dark fell and the stars came out. But he slowed and drew away. As soon as his urges were subjugated, he smiled at her. ‘I’d like to go on a date with you,’ he announced.
Juliet came away from the tree trunk. She realigned herself, and Nick could tell that the moment had taken her too. Her eyes moved, squinting, and she seemed to be weighing up the idea, balancing the pros and cons.
‘I
think
I’d like that too.’ She gave no eye contact, but pleased with her response Nick fluttered inside. Then Juliet said, ‘But so you know, I don’t agree with what you did to Aldrich. I know you were angry, and you had every right to be, but you attacked a restrained man and almost killed him.’
Nick looked down at his feet, realising how it all must have seemed to her.
She doesn’t know about the sacrifices, what he forced parents to do to their own children. She doesn’t know that he liked to have his way with his victims, and that he wanted to …
He struggled to even think it
… rape my mother.
‘I know. I shouldn’t have hit him so much. He taunted me … and I’m not normally a violent person.’ He was unsure of what to say.
To her, he’s guilty of only one murder, not potentially thousands across his long life. Understandably, she thinks the law should deal with it.
To please her, he said, ‘I suppose there’s no excuse.’
Juliet seemed unsure herself, but kissed him on the cheek. When she moved away, Nick smiled to her, to the extent he could manage.
‘So what were you going to show me out here?’ he asked.
‘It’s this way.’ She nodded to the side and began to walk.
Nick followed her. As she guided him through the impossible surroundings, he regretted how he’d treated Tom and Tommy. He should have told them everything about their mum’s death. They had a right to know. She was their mother too.
Why was I so selfish?
Maybe he was a coward, too afraid that repeating it would bring those gory images to mind, and force out more tears. He’d never been good at dealing with emotions, hence the depression. With all the revelations Aldrich had thrown his way, he’d struggled to get them in order, but worse than that, he had failed at being the older and supportive brother he should have been.
I’ll tell them everything when I get back. I will.
Juliet forced through a bush and held the branches aside, so not to swing back in Nick’s face. Nick hurried through and said, ‘Thank you,’ then found himself in a large open sward.
This place echoed a sense of déjà vu.
I’ve stepped back into a memory. I’ve been here. No … I haven’t.
He’d seen those steps in the centre before … ancient steps … He’d walked up them? Yes, that was it. He’d walked up, and then had been pushed down them and into a pit.
The steps from the nightmare.
A connectedness to everything; he was entwined with the fabric of the universe … even in his sleep, in his dreams. Another ultimately painless form of seeing the future. He ran to the steps, knowing what to expect, to see a pit at the bottom, possibly charred and full of ash, but that’s not what he saw.
He saw a glowing puddle, almost blinding, that hadn’t been in the dream. But it was another mystery answered … Aldrich’s words:
They go into the light.
It must have been where the sacrificed children were sent. But what was it?
Nick stared at the little pool, paused for a short time, and Juliet joined his side. There was silence, but the bright puddle seemed to audibly vibrate.
A sparrow darted from overhead and landed a rough five metres away, facing Nick and Juliet. It twitched its head, looked here to there, the way sparrows do, and jumped from spot to spot.
‘I haven’t heard or seen any other birds in these woods,’ said Juliet. ‘When I came here a moment ago it was silent, apart from that pool of light humming the way it is now.’