The Lighthouse

Chapter Thirteen

"Hello", Holly said

There was no reply. She began to feel scared. All Holly could hear was a heavy breathing filling the room. She stood still. She knew that there was someone in there with her but she could not see them.

"Hello, I know you're there, I can hear you", she said as Kiwi nudged her hand and let out a whimper.

Holly felt for Kiwi's collar. Once she located it, she hooked the lead onto it. Kiwi began to pull Holly towards the stairwell at the other side of the room.

"Kiwi, slow down, I can't see"

But Kiwi did not listen, she was determined to get Holly to follow so she could show her what she had found.

When Kiwi started to descend the steps, Holly slipped down the first few as she was unaware they were there. She placed her hand on the wet, stone wall, in an attempt, to stop herself from slipping further down. She finally came to a stop and landed in a puddle of sea water. She turned around and looked behind. There was only darkness. She could smell damp all around and coldness overcame her. She shuddered.

Holly made her way, carefully down the remaining two steps, to which, she was stopped by another wooden door that was bolted shut. She looked at the door and saw it had the same engraving as the locket. Holly traced the spiral heart and star with her finger then, placing her hand on it, she gently pushed the door, but it did not open.

Suddenly, a flash of light came from behind the door. Kiwi jumped up and began scratching at it. Holly watched the dog scratch furiously at the door. Worried that she may hurt herself, Holly tried to tug her away but Kiwi pulled against Holly and continued to scratch. Then another flash came and Holly jumped as the door shot open.

Kiwi ran straight in while Holly reluctantly looked in. There was only darkness.

"Kiwi, where'd you go?" whispered Holly, "Kiwi"

Holly could hear footsteps coming down the stairs behind her. Fearing the worst, she quickly walked into the room and shut the door tight. She tried to look around but there did not seem to be anything there. A small crack in the wall, gave way to a sliver of light. She heard Kiwi bark.

"Kiwi" Holly called.

Kiwi let out another bark.

Holly followed the sound of the dog's whimpers to the far right corner of the room. There was a lot of debris on the floor. Holly crunched her way over it, not realising that the debris was bones of crabs, rats and mice that had perished there over the years. She walked slowly towards Kiwi, trying to see what the dog was nudging. As she neared another flash of light came, revealing that Kiwi was trying to show her the skeletal remains of a young girl. They were still wearing a silk nightdress and fragments of tape could be seen binding the girl's wrists and ankles. Above the girl was the spiral heart and star symbol.

Holly gasped. She wanted to get out of there but could not run away as she was being pulled closer and closer to the bones of the young girl. Fixated by the bones, Holly knelt next to them. The floor was cold and wet. The water seeped through her jeans but Holly did not care. She wanted to know who this girl was and what had happened to her.

"Holly", a voice whispered.

Holly did not break from the trance she was in. Kiwi gently nudged her hand towards the bones. Holly slowly lifted her hand and placed it on the girl's hand. A jolt went through Holly and she began to see what had happened to the girl.

Every night he would come back to see Lucy. He would bring her fish or crabs and a glass of water. If she refused to eat and drink he would force the food and water into Lucy's mouth and would hold his hand there until she had swallowed. He would brush her hair and apply some red lipstick before moving her.

The night she was killed. She saw his face. This night he came earlier than usual. He did not bring food and seemed to be in a rush. He tore the tape from her mouth and applied the lipstick. As his hand grabbed her wrist, a flash of lightning came and illuminated his face. For the first time in weeks, Lucy saw who her kidnapper was.

"Father", she gasped in horror

The man did not say a word to her. Another flash of lightning came. Lucy this time kicked her legs out at him. He fell back.

"Why?" she screamed.

He did not answer.

Lucy managed to escape and run towards the sand dunes. She kept running until she fell. He grabbed her and took her back to the lighthouse.

"Why?" she asked again as she kicked him to the floor.

He got up and pushed her against the wall. She kept screaming and crying but he kept hitting her against the wall, he then threw her to the far right corner of the room, tied her back up and left. That was the last time he would step foot down there. He left Lucy cold, hungry and alone. She died a few days later.

There was a flash and Holly was jolted out of the flashback. She had tears running down her face. She reached out for Kiwi and hugged the dog.

"It was her father, kiwi, he did this to her"

Kiwi let out a whimper as Holly buried her face into the dog's fur.

Holly was so consumed by grief for what had happened to Lucy, that she had not realised that the man had made his way into the room until she felt someone grabbing her hair and dragging her to the other side of the room. Holly let out a scream and tried to free her hair from his powerful grip. He placed Holly by the wall and as she scrambled to get up, he turned and then threw her against the wall, causing her to hit her head. She could feel warm liquid running down the side of her face. As she staggered to get back up, he pushed her to the floor and she knocked her head again. She could feel the fear rising. Everything began to go blurry before eventually it went dark and Holly had become unconscious.