The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)

The Dark Place - Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Forty-Nine

1

Wendy Jones still felt eyes on her even as she closed the curtains. Just before she lost her view of the outside world with a last tug of the material, she could have sworn that she had caught sight of the little girl she had helped to imprison in the old, woodland building, in the last flash of lightning. She pulled the curtain open a little and stared at the spot where she had been but there was nothing there.

I've got to tell dad, she thought, fear and guilt pulsing through her. I've got to tell him everything. He'll hate me forever but I just can't live with it anymore!

2

Martin Jones clutched his wife's hand as he sat at her bedside. It had been hard enough to get her into bed and harder still to convince her to take the sleeping pills that were working their magic on her at that moment. He could not remember the last time he had seen her looking so at peace.

The next lightning flash brought him out of his trance and he looked down at his watch.

9:46 pm

He could not believe that he had been holding vigil over his beloved for almost an hour. Surely Wendy should be home by now! he thought, getting to his feet. He had been too busy to spend time with her recently, what with his work at the hospital and the worry over Miranda's mental health. With his wife comfortably tucked up in bed he headed out of the room to find his daughter.

3

As soon as she heard the bedroom door click closed Miranda Jones opened her eyes. She listened to her husband's footsteps as he walked along the hall and down the stairs. It was only when she could no longer hear them that she spat the drug infused saliva out of her mouth and into the glass on the bedside table. Martin had sat with her for so long that she had swallowed more than she had wanted to and she had starting to feel the groggy effect from it.

She climbed out of the bed and made her way over to the window on unsteady legs. Through the sheets of thrashing rain, Miranda could just make out the shape of the little girl standing on the corner on the opposite side of the road. The white nightdress clung to her slight frame as the torrent beat down on her but she seemed oblivious to it.

Even from that distance, Miranda could see the face of her little angel. Jane had come home at last. She wanted to call out to her but as she pounded against the glass with her fists, the girl just raised her finger to her lips as if to ask her to remain quiet.

"Stay right there," Miranda whispered through the glass. "I'll come and let you in sweetheart!"

4

Wendy stood in the kitchen and listened to her father's footfalls as he descended the stairs. Everything inside her knotted up tight as she tried to think of how to begin telling him what had happened.

Where should I start? How much should I tell him?

She had promised herself that she would tell him everything, get it all off of her chest but now that she could hear him coming she became a mess of muddled confusion.

Once I tell him he'll hate me forever!

"Wendy, where are you?"

She heard the kindness in his voice and the sting of tears hit her eyes.

"Go into the living room daddy, I'm just making some tea. I'll bring it right through when it's ready." She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard him move away from her and toward the living room.

5

Dr. Jones turned on the radio and his ears were greeted with the happy sound of Vivaldi's, Four Seasons. He turned it up a little then sat in his favourite armchair by the unlit fireplace. He closed his eyes and gently rubbed his fingers against his temples, soothing his headache away whilst allowing the music to make him relax for the first time in ages.