Rickie was
running. Her breath came in painful gasps as she tried to stay ahead of the
police car. One foot before the other. Keep it up, girl! She hurried
through the streets of London where night was falling. The siren screamed. Was
it really closing in on her?
She did not look back. It would only
slow her down. She dove into a narrow alley and ran as hard as possible. Then
she saw the house. She had seen it before. It always looked deserted and
neglected, surrounded by its tangled garden full of thistles. She had often
wondered about it. A property of this size – it must have been built in
Victoria’s age – was worth a fortune nowadays. So why were there no people
living in it?
In a fraction of a second she
decided. Damn! Those wretched shrubs would not budge. And now she saw the blue
light of the police car. She was not going to make it! They would spot her any
second.
“Shit!” she sobbed. “Let me through.
Please!”
All of a sudden unseen fingers
grabbed her by the arm. Before she knew it she was pulled through the hedge.
The branches that had formed a secure barrier before now gave way and even
seemed to push her forward. She found herself in the safety of the garden when
the police car shot by.
She looked around, puzzled. She
could not see a thing. Yet she sensed the nearness of – something.
“Hello?” she whispered. “Anyone
there?”
Rickie heard nothing. She kept
waiting until she sensed the being was no longer there. Her breathing returned
to normal. Her imagination was probably playing in overtime, she grinned.
Ghosts did not exist. She must have found a place where the hedge was not so
dense. In her panic she had not seen it before.
Now what? She needed a place to hide
out. The police would be looking for her. Would she dare to try the house? Now
that she was feeling brave again, she decided it would do no harm. She circled
the property a couple of times while trying to figure out how to enter the
house. Breaking a window was no option because of the noise. She could try to
pick a lock with her pocket knife. The moment she put her hand against the
front door it opened. She almost stumbled in. That was weird! Who would leave
such a house unlocked?
Then, she sensed a nearness again.
She got the feeling that someone – something – was watching her. The front door
fell into its lock. She looked around, not yet sure as how to proceed.
“Who’s there?” she repeated. The air
around her did not move. All she could perceive was the utter silence of the
house. She waited five more minutes until she felt certain she was alone once
more. She shrugged. If someone tried to scare her, they would have to do
better. She did not scare that easily. Not after what had already
happened to her. She would stay the night, and nobody would drive her out.
The hall was broad and lofty as far
as she could judge by the dim light of the street lamps. She lowered her
backpack and rumbled in it to find her torchlight. She always made sure she had
batteries to feed it. Torch in hand, she wandered through the house, making
certain no-one was hiding in the shadows.
The hall led to various rooms
downstairs. There was a kitchen and pantry, a big dining room annex, living room,
a toilet, and even a library. The furniture still seemed to be in place
although covered up in dust sheets. When she climbed the stairs, she found four
bedrooms, two with a bathroom en suite, and two smaller ones without. These had
to use a separate bathroom further away down the corridor.
She chose the nicest bedroom for
herself. It had a four-poster bed and windows that overlooked the garden. But
what attracted her most was the splendid mirror above the dressing table. It
was oval-shaped and quite big. She could tell it was worth thousands of pounds.
She dropped her backpack on one of
the thick carpets, lay down her torch on the dressing table, and walked over to
the bed. She grabbed a tip of the dust sheet and tore it off. To her surprise
the bed was made up with fresh linen and had a duvet coverlet. She let go of a
low whistle.
“Blimey!”
Who did live in this house?
Why did they keep out of sight? Different questions popped up in her mind, but
she was simply too tired to worry anymore. She kicked off her shoes, removed
her upper clothing, and rolled into the bed. Within seconds she was asleep.
She did not wake up when light
suddenly gulfed out of the mirror and set the room in an eerie light.
“You’ve returned to me!” a voice
whispered. “I knew you would come!”
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