Chapter 5 of Tears For The Wicked

Chapter Five

 

We discussed the previous night over a lovely fry-up, my favourite type of breakfast. The smell of the bacon and sausages was almost intoxicating and those mushrooms fried in butter were so tasty. It was also Jack’s day off from work so he got to join us, which he was very pleased about, he loved a fry-up. Although saying that, he loved most foods. He was slim but could eat so much. Often, he’d clear his own super-sized portion before finishing off anyone else’s leftovers but he always remained slim. Something to do with a fast metabolism, he had told me.

“Three times it’s happened now.” Mum stated, “Three bloody times, it’s not right at all.”

Jack played with his neatly trimmed moustache, his long curly, black hair hung untidily around his shoulders.  It was matted and tangled after a bad night’s sleep. He reminded me of that Captain Jack from those pirate movies.

I don’t think any of us had slept well really, mum had large brown marks under her eyes and she seemed to have acquired more wrinkles overnight.

“And Troy?” Mum continued, “What about that then eh? Scratching at the wall, his odd behaviour…..the barking?”

“Mum, I…I don’t know,” I shrugged, my mouth full of those mouth-watering mushrooms.

“Maybe Sid was right, maybe the place is haunted.”

Jack laughed, “Yeah alright Jan,” He rolled his eyes at her, “Hey here’s an idea, why don’t we do a séance then?”

“We don’t need sarcasm right now Jack,” Mum warned.

“I wasn’t being sarcastic.”

Mum stood up, collecting the empty plates from the table and taking them over to the sink. She put them in quickly, making them clang against each other loudly.  “Absolutely not!”

I got up out of my chair and wrapped my thin, black cardigan tightly around my body. I walked to the cockatiel cage and tickled the grey bird’s head through the bars. He tilted his head when I touched the right spot.

“It gives me the creeps too mum but it might be a good idea.”

I left the bird alone, took my phone out of my cardigan pocket and proceeded to dial a number.

“I’m calling Yvette, she is meant to be coming tomorrow don’t forget. I’ll see if she can get here earlier in the day then we can a have a few drinks first, settle our nerves.”

“Yeah I’ll need more than a few,” Mum sighed.

Yvette was my cousin, younger by a year and mum’s niece. She was really tall, and I mean really tall at 6 foot two. She wasn’t thin but wasn’t fat either and had long blonde hair that she never did anything with, it just hung there. Yvette stayed most weekends at the old house and she was going to be doing the same at this one now that the move and the unpacking were complete.

My cousin finally answered. “Hello?”

I put the phone on to loud speaker so that mum and Jack could hear too.

“Hey Vette you still coming tomorrow?”

“Yeah should be there about six.”

“Oh. Is there any way you can get here earlier?”

“I dunno. Why?”

Jack started to wail in a ghostly voice, “We are expecting compaaannnnyyyy!”

I shook my head at him. “Jack shut up.”

“What did he say?” Yvette asked.

“Ignore him love.” Mum told her. “He’s acting daft.”

Jack sighed. “God. You women have no sense of humour lately.”

I ignored him and turned back to the phone. “We are doing a séance Yvette if you want to join in? You will have to come earlier though.”

“Yeah cool, I’ll take part. I can probably get there for four but I’ll go halves on a takeaway if you want?”

Jack rubbed his belly. “Sounds good Vette.”

“Yeah I agree with him.” I told her. “Right, we’ll see you at four then. Don’t forget to bring a drink.”

“Okay sees you tomorrow. Bye!”

I put the phone back into my cardigan pocket. “Well Vette’s up for it. What about you mum?”

 “Okay then but if anything goes wrong we are calling the vicar.” She warned.

Jack burst out laughing, “What bloody vicar?”

“I don’t know, any.”

“Jan calm down there might not even be a ghost here.”

Mum frowned at him. “Then how else do you explain it?”

“I dunno. Maybe the house is just……quirky.”

Mum snatched her coat off its hook and put it on, “Quirky? More like strange Jack. Anyway I’m going to Paula’s for a bit, this place is giving me the willies, see you both later. Oh and don’t forget we are going out tonight so get ready for five, I’ve ironed your clothes.”  She left the room and we heard the front door close behind her.

I looked over at Jack.

“I wish you wouldn’t wind her up so much,” I told him.

“She knows I was only joking.”

“I know but she’s a bit freaked out by this whole thing at the minute.”

Jack held his hand out to me, “I know but after the séance it will probably calm down. If there is a ghost that is.”

I walked over to him and took his hand. He pulled me to him and kissed my neck.

“Jack, stop it!” I giggled.

He pulled me on to his lap and leaned his chin on my shoulder.

“Where are we going? None of you told me we were going out.”

“Jack I told you yesterday. Mum wants to try that Indian restaurant down in the town. Syd told her it was really nice.”

“What clothes did she iron?”

“I have no idea.”

“Cool. Well, what shall we do in the meantime darling?”

I looked back at him through my lashes, raising one thin, black eyebrow. “Well, we do have the house to ourselves.”

His mouth dropped open, before he stood up and we raced each other to the bedroom.

 

 

A few hours later, I had on my nice red and black polka-dot rockabilly dress and matching heels while Jack changed into a grey checked shirt and a clean pair of black skinny jeans. He wore skinnies all the time; he had even donned a pair on our wedding day. Although they looked lovely with his top hat and gothic military jacket.

I was searching through my closet for my lace polka-dot scarf when he came up behind me, grabbing my buttocks. I squealed and spun around.

“Jack, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

He laughed, “Sorry but I couldn’t resist. We should get the house to ourselves more often.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Never mind that, have you seen my scarf?”

“Nope.”

“I can’t find it anywhere.”

“I dunno. Go ask your mum.”

I clambered down the stairs as quickly as I could in my heels and tripped my way into the kitchen where mum, who was already dressed, was waiting for us. She looked up as I entered the room.

“Are you two ready yet? We will be late if you don’t hurry up.”

“Nearly. Have you seen my scarf?”

“Which one? It’s a bit warm to wear a scarf Ell.”

“No, not a winter scarf, my lace one that goes with this dress.”

“It’s in your closet.”

“No its not. I checked there.”

Jack came into the kitchen, “We ready?”

“Yes, finally.”  Mum replied.

“No, I need my scarf!”

Jack handed me my short denim jacket and kissed me gently on the forehead. “You can do without it for one night darling.”

I sighed and followed my mother and my husband through the front door and out into the cool night.

We walked past the other houses and down an alley that led out onto the busy main street. People walked passed us on their way to the pubs, of which there were plenty in this little town. We turned left past the supermarket, a couple of bars, a Chinese take away and then we arrived at our destination.

The Indian restaurant had huge windows that covered the walls either side of the open double doors. A large yellow sign was hung above the doors. It said ‘The Spice Palace’. We walked in and were given a table straight away. The waiter handed each of us a menu and we looked through them.

“What we having then?” Jack asked.

“You know very well what I’ll be having.” I told him.

”Korma?”

I nodded and licked my lips. I loved a nice chicken korma.

“How about you Jan?”

“Yes same for me please. Oh and a naan.”

“Okay,” Jack gestured to the nearest waiter, who walked swiftly over. “Can we order now please?”

The waiter nodded, “Of course sir.”

“Can we get three chicken kormas with pilau rice, two plain naans, a pishwari naan and some poppadums with mint yogurt please?”

The waiter wrote it down on his note pad, “Drinks?”

“Er, Red wine?”

“Okay sir thank you.” The waiter bowed slightly and walked away.

  Half an hour later, our food came and it was delicious. It was certainly the best korma I’d had in a long time. Mum and Jack enjoyed theirs too. By the time we left, we were tired, tipsy and very, very full.

 

The dark street was quiet . Lit only by a small lantern that hung from a tall, rotting wooden post.  People stood around in a circle, staring at the centre, an orange glow was visible in the distance. The crowd were talking in urgent, hushed voices. I couldn’t hear what was being said but I wanted to see what they were staring at. I pushed through the crowd but it seemed to take forever, my arms felt heavy and slow like I was pushing through water or better still, thick mud. I pushed through to the front of the crowd. I screamed at the sight in the centre.  A woman with long, dark hair stood in front of me, her white dress covered in blood, something bright red and black was grasped between the fingers of her right hand. She smiled at me and stepped closer. I tried to step back but I couldn’t move. My feet were planted to the floor as if they had been glued there. The woman took another step closer….and another. I suddenly noticed that the orange glow had come closer too and with it came an immense heat. It was so hot that my skin started to burn. I looked at the woman just in time to see the orange light engulf the bottom half of her dress. Flames started to crawl up her legs and her body but she still smiled at me, still moved closer. They covered her dress, smoke rose from her and the flames climbed higher still, toward her face. She took one more step and stood in front of me, holding out her hand. I could finally see what she was holding.

It was my polka dot scarf.

She handed it to me before she was swallowed entirely by the fire.

 

I woke up the following morning but I could not see properly. My vision was blurred and the room looked as if it was in shadow. Something tickled my face and when I blinked, I could feel something shift over my eyes. Whatever it was, it felt fine and silky like gossamer.

Oh my god.

I cried out, sitting up quickly and grabbing at my face. It’s a spider’s web! I thought. I was so scared of spiders, even tiny ones brought me out in a cold sweat. I caught hold of the web but it wasn’t a web at all. It was too big, soft and silky. I opened my eyes, looked down at the thing in my hand and sighed, shaking my head in disbelief. The thing was red with black dots all over it. It took me a moment to realise that it was my lost scarf. The one I had been searching for last night……but why was it on my face? Jack had gone to work as usual and I had kissed him goodbye before he left so it couldn’t have been him who put it there. As for mum, she wouldn’t put a scarf on my face while I was sleeping. How odd.

Then, I remembered my dream. Blood drained from my face as I recalled it.  The dream was horrible, frightening. It made me shiver. I dream a woman gave me my scarf and then I immediately wake up and the same scarf is over my face?  This was getting too weird now, could it be connected to all the other strange things that had been happening? The painting constantly falling off the wall, the dog barking when there wasn’t anything there? I couldn’t wait to do the séance. Either someone was playing some sort of joke or something was wrong with this house.

Very wrong.