Her panicked gaze focused on him. “A-Aaron?”
He cradled her face gently. “Yes, it’s me. Take a couple of deep breaths. It’s OK.”
“There’s something back there— It’s chasing me…” Her voice had lost its level lilt and become a high, pitched terrified squeak.
He swung his flashlight behind her for a moment, but didn’t see anything. “Where?”
“It was in my car. Eyes, claws…”
He wrapped his arm around her and led her shaking form back to his Jeep. After he unlocked the door, he lifted her up onto the passenger seat. Pulling a clean hanky from his pocket, he pressed it gently against her head. “Hold this for me. Where’s your car?”
“In a ditch.” She gestured with her free hand. “I crashed. And I lost my phone…”
“OK.” He swung the flashlight in the direction she indicated, but could see nothing. Not even car lights. He had only taken two paces, when a thud behind him and a tight grip on his sleeve halted him.
“Where are you going?” Meggie stood behind him.
“Take it easy. I thought I’d go and find your car.”
“Don’t leave me, Aaron, please, don’t leave me alone. It’s not safe.”
He studied her. Whatever she’d seen had terrified her. Of course there’d be a simple explanation. Eyes and claws accounted for most country wildlife. But then, being a country girl, wouldn’t Meggie know that? He gently held her arms. “You’re quite safe here, I promise.”
She wrung her hands, her head shaking from side to side. “No…”
“Shall I take you back to the farm?”
“No.” The firm voice was back for an instant. “Please, take me home or to the church or…”
“Meggie, look at me.”
Finally, she focused her wide, terror-filled gaze on him.
He gently took the hanky and pressed it back to the cut on her head. “It’s OK. You’re safe now. I’m simply going to walk down the road, check out your car. See what damage you did. Then I can haul it out with a tractor in the morning.”
Tears ran unabated and she leaned forwards, clinging to him. For a moment, he stood still, his posture stiff, hand by his side. Then he folded his arm around her, holding her close to his chest. It had been years since he’d held a woman this way. He’d forgotten how soft and fragile they were. How the scent of shampoo and soap could move him.
How much he wanted to protect her from everything. He drew in a deep breath.
She’s not Nancy
.
You can’t let another woman into your heart, under your skin…
He ran a hand over her back, comforting her.
It’s too late. Meggie’s already there.
Finally, she looked up at him. “Sorry…”
“It’s all right, Meggie. Get in. We’ll drive up the road. I’ll check the car over and then take you home. It’ll probably be easier to pull it out in the morning once we have daylight.”
“OK.” She swung her legs around and did up the seat belt.
Aaron shut the door and ran around the Jeep, getting in. He started it and drove down the road, headlights on full beam.
She sat stiffly, one hand gripping the dashboard tightly enough to turn her knuckles white.
Not more than two minutes later, red lights glowed in the distance and Aaron’s headlights picked out the outline of a car partly buried in the ditch. He pulled up on the side of the road and opened the door. “Stay here, Meggie. You get scared again, just honk the horn.”
“O-OK.”
He grabbed the flashlight and leapt down. He walked to the ditch, following the tire tracks. Steam rose from the engine, swirling in the headlights. The driver’s door hung open and the engine still ticked over.
Shining his flashlight inside the car, he verified it was empty, before walking around the vehicle doing a visual check. The front bumper was dented, but other than that, the car was in pretty good nick. He turned off the engine and pulled the keys from the ignition. Flicking off the lights, he locked the door and searched the ditch for her phone. Seeing it a few yards away, he hurried over and picked it up.
A tinny voice came from it. “Meggie, its Cassie. Jack’s on his way to the farm now. Are you there? He wanted me to stay on the line until you either picked up or he found you.”
Aaron raised the phone to his ear as he headed back to the car. “Cassie, its Aaron Field. I’ve found Meggie.”
“Praise God. Is she all right?”
“She’s very shaken, got a cut to her head. To be honest, she’s not making much sense. I’m going to take her to the ED to get checked over before I take her home.”
“Good idea. I’ll hang up and let Jack know. He’ll probably insist on meeting you at the hospital just to reassure himself she’s all right.”
“That’s fine. I’ll see him there.” He hung up and headed back to where Meggie waited.
He climbed in the Jeep and twisted in his seat to face her. “You dented the front bumper and scratched the paintwork, but other than that and steam coming from the bonnet, she seems fine. I’ve locked her up. I can pull her out tonight if you don’t want to wait until morning.”
“Tomorrow’s fine. Who said the car’s a she?”
“Cars are like ships. They are all female by default.”
Meggie shifted in the seat, wincing in pain. “Was there anything in there? An animal or something else?”
“No, there wasn’t. Everything is perfectly normal.” He pressed her phone into her hand. “I found this, too. Cassie was still connected. Evidently, Jack left to find you. She’s going to text him and get him to meet us at the hospital.”
“I don’t need to see a doctor.”
“I beg to differ. You bashed your head hard enough to make it bleed. And from the stiff way you’re sitting, I reckon you hit the steering wheel pretty hard. Am I right?”
“Yeah.” She inclined her head slowly, rubbing the back of her neck. She looked as if she were in pain, but was probably far too stubborn to admit it. All the more reason to get her to a hospital. Aside from the fact she was seeing things that weren’t there.
Aaron started the Jeep. “Right. So we’re going to the ED to get a doctor to check you over, then I’ll take you home.”
****
Meggie didn’t remember anything of the journey back to Headley Cross, except Aaron shaking her arm every couple of minutes to keep her awake. It was as if every ounce of adrenaline had left her body, replaced with exhaustion. The fear still lay beneath the surface, but she wasn’t sure now if she’d really seen the eyes in the back of the car, or just imagined the whole thing. It was like the face in the mirror…which was like the pepper pot and salt cellar creatures.
Maybe she’d let her fear and imagination get to her. Her eyes, too heavy to keep open, slid shut and her mind wandered. She jerked her eyes open again as Aaron shook her.
“Don’t sleep,” his calm, firm voice remonstrated with her.
“I’m tired,” she whispered.
And I hurt, but I’m not telling him that.
“I know, but until the doctor says there is no damage to your head, you have to stay awake.”
Aaron pulled into the hospital car park and stopped in the designated ED section. He leapt out and ran around the car. Meggie opened her door and stuck one leg out.
“Hey, let me.” He swung her into his arms and nudged the door closed with his hip.
“I can walk…”
“I’m sure you can, but humour me here.”
Two Aarons looked down at her, before they merged into one. “OK…you can be my hero.” She leaned against his firm chest, his heartbeat pounding in her ear. He smelled of outdoors, and some wood spice, and she didn’t want to be anywhere other than where she was right now. In his arms.
Which was crazy.
Was she crazy? Had she really hit her head that hard?
“Aaron.” Pastor Jack’s voice and running footsteps echoed across the car park.
Aaron turned slightly, his voice booming over the top of Meggie’s head. “Hey, Jack.”
“How is she?”
“I
am
here,” she whispered. “And he’s making a fuss over nothing.”
“If I am, then you can say I told you so, as much as you like,” Aaron told her.
“Mmmm—Kay,” she whispered. The men’s conversation flowed over her as Aaron carried her into the busy Emergency Department.
Almost immediately he mentioned the words car crash and head injury, the nurse led them through the double doors and into a cubicle.
Meggie felt bereft as Aaron laid her on the gurney. The sheet was cold after the warmth of his arms. Memories of the last few times she’d been in a hospital came crashing back.
The nurse came over and shooed the two men outside the curtain. “I need some details.”
“I crashed the car,” Meggie said, trying to work out which nurse she should be speaking to.
“Shall we start with your name?” Two smiles gradually blended into one.
“Oh, yeah…OK. Meaghan Knight.” She gave her birth date, address, and phone number. Then she lay still as the nurse ran a preliminary series of tests.
“The doctor will be in soon.” She hurried out.
The two men came back in.
“You don’t have to stay…” The words sounded feeble even to her.
“Your car is in a ditch,” Aaron told her. “You can’t get home without me.”
“And Cassie told me to not to leave until we knew you were OK.” Jack added.
Aaron winked. “So looks like you’re stuck with us for a while.”
Meggie leaned back on the pillows. Stuck with Aaron. Now there was an idea she could get used to.
6
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. Psalm 22:6
In the cold light of morning, Meggie decided she must have imagined the events of the previous day. Those salt and pepper pots had creeped her out to the extent she was seeing things. After all, demons didn’t really exist in this day and age. Sure, they were in the Bible, but this was the twenty-first century. And perhaps she’d imagined the rest of it too. The way her skin crawled at Mrs. Field’s touch and the voice in her head and…
She looked at the church as Pastor Jack stopped the car outside. “Thank you for the lift.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll go and park and then I’ll be in.” He tilted his head. “You sure you’re up to working?”
“The hospital sent me home. If they didn’t think I was fit, they’d have said something. Besides, Aaron said he’d ring here when he’d pulled my car out of the ditch. I need to pick it up at some point. And he doesn’t have my mobile number.”
“Fair enough. You can proofread the service sheet—make sure I fixed those typos.”
“Will do.” Meggie got out of the car and walked to the office door. She unlocked it and let herself into the building. She shivered. It was cold. Had the heating not come on again? Tugging her scarf closer around her neck, she touched the radiator. Not on. She sighed. It was going to be one of those days, obviously.
She turned up the thermostat, and then flicked on the computer. Tilting her head, she waited for the
whoumf
of the heating clicking on. Nothing. She turned the dial to maximum.
Still nothing. Oh, well. Pastor Jack could deal with it when he came inside in a bit. She sat at the computer and tapped her fingers as she waited for it to load. She never turned off the computer at home. Instead, she rebooted it once every couple of weeks or so. The health and safety forms sat on her desk and she picked them up. Flicking through them, she noted Aaron’s signature on the right places. She ran her fingers over his signature, remembering the feelings of safety and warmth she had last night when he carried her.
She shook her head.
Come on, Meggie
she scolded herself.
He’s not the first bloke and won’t be the last to turn your head. Only you don’t stand a chance with him and you know it. ‘Sides there is this whole ‘evil’ thing going on. Unless you imagined that at all and let’s face it, the house is creepy enough for you to have done that.
She paused. Why did she always think of herself in the third person? Did everyone else? Or was it just her?
Pushing to her feet, she picked up the papers and filed them. Her mind turned to the images in the rearview mirror. Did such creatures even exist other than in her imagination? Crossing back to the desk, she sat and pulled up the Internet. After typing
demons images
into the search engine, she scrolled through the pictures. Some looked as if they’d come straight out of a horror film about zombies rather than demons. Others looked very Hollywood style. Hovering the mouse over the pictures, showed her instinct was correct.
Others gave her the creeps. Or as Gareth would say, gave her the heebie-jeebies. One in particular made her skin crawl. Her hand moved of its own accord, clicking on an image on the right. The picture opened in full screen. Eyes glowed, seeming to peer into her. Hypnotized by them, she couldn’t pull her gaze away.
Golden eyes grew in size, the centers glowing red and she shivered. Then the image was gone. The desktop sprang back into focus.
A hill with three crosses, silhouetted against a sunset with the words
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
written across the top.
“What are you doing?” a voice thundered.
Meggie looked up, startled by the unaccustomed anger in Pastor Jack’s voice. “I—”
“Well?”
“I was just thinking and—”
“No. You weren’t thinking at all.”
“I just wanted to know if demons really existed. That’s all.”
Pastor Jack sat next to her. “They are very real and best avoided.”
“What if— What if you can’t avoid them?”
“Of course you can, to some extent. Being in a spiritual war it’s not possible to avoid them completely. But what you can do, is to avoid putting yourself into situations where you will come into direct contact with them. Wearing the full armor of God, like it says in Ephesians six, along with prayer is a good place to start.”
“What if you can’t avoid them?” She looked at her hands as she repeated the question. She’d almost picked the finger raw without realizing it. “What if they are out to get you? Keep appearing and following you?”
“What do you mean? Start from the beginning.”