Something Wicked (part 3)
Below is the final part of my story, Something Wicked. For parts 1 and 2 please visit http://newauthoronline.com/2014/10/11/something-wicked-part-1/ and http://newauthoronline.com/2014/10/12/something-wicked-part-2/
Charles lay awake held fast in the arms of night terrors. The dark like a plastic bag placed over the head was suffocating. He thrashed and gasped for air. Charles tried to cry out but the sound which escaped his lips was a mere whimper.
Suddenly the intense blackness was broken by a dim light coming from the wardrobe which towered, menacingly above him.
A sound like that of claws scratching disturbed the profound silence. It couldn’t be Smudge. He had checked and the animal was definitely not in the wardrobe. Besides cats don’t generate light.
Charles lay paralysed with terror, unable to teare his gaze away from the wardrobe. Surely he was imagining it? He was certain (well almost so) that he had closed the wardrobe door properly. However it was now slightly ajar. Maybe in his desire to return to bed he haden’t shut the wardrobe properly. As the boy watched the door moved. So imperceptible was it’s motion that At first Charles doubted the evidence of his own eyes.
There was, however no doubting the reality of the arm which snaked through the gap between the wardrobe and it’s door (the latter had ceased to open leaving an apature just large enough for the arm to pass through). The white bone of the arm glinted in the baleful light emanating from the wardrobe. The skeleton wagged an admonitory finger in the direction of the boy who lay sspeechless with fear then, with a wave it withdrew into the cupboard, closing the door behind it. As the light was extinguished the child, overcome with fear collapsed in a faint.
—
Lord Brockett hurried along the narrow passage, his torch lighting the way. It was a sheer stroke of genius on his part to hit upon the idea of using the long forgotten priest hole.
Brockett Hall had been finished during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Brocketts along with other Catholic families where forbidden to celebrate mass (anyone caught practicing the Catholic religion was subject to imprisonment, torture and, frequently death). Many devout rich Catholic families continued to celebrate mass and to employ Catholic clergy for this purpose. The lay Jesuit, Nicholas Owen had overseen the construction of many priest holes which acted as hiding places for priests when the authorities raided Catholic houses in search of clergymen. Many such hiding places where concealed on staircases or in the vicinity of fireplaces, while the priest hole in Brockett Hall was hidden behind a substancial oak cupboard. A tiny apature, almost invisible to the naked eye would, when pressure was exerted open a section of the cupboard allowing a priest to pass through, close the panel behind him and escape by means of the passage along which Lord Brockett was now passing.
As a doctor Lord Brockett was aware of the heart condition from which his nephew suffered. A few more frights along the lines of that which Lord Brockett had inflicted that evening should result in Charles suffering a massive heart attack. Indeed Lord Brockett was surprised that his nephew had survived thus far unscathed.
The sombre books, the confiscation of the mobile isolating the boy from his friends and the artificial skeleton where all designed to hasten Charles’s demise.
Lord Brockett was able to observe his nephew’s reactions through the infrared camera concealed in the light fitting. The moment Charles reached out his hand to open the door Lord Brockett had ceased to tap on the back of the wardrobe. The existence of the priest hole had long since been forgotten by all accept himself and his sister, Amanda who was now dead as a consequence of her car having hit a tree.
The estate was mired in debt and those to whom he owed money where closing in. Amanda’s will left everything to her son Charles however, in the event of his death all her property passed to Lord Brockett.
“Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. The boy’s death would be seen as a tragedy with he, Lord Brockett being comforted as the man who had taken in his nephew Charles only to have him tragically die under his roof” Lord Brockett said to himself.
—
Lord Brockett pulled on a rusty metal leaver. A section of brickwork swung open. Pushing aside the ivy which covered the hall, Lord Brockett entered the grounds of the hall.
