Chapter 4: The Knight

A Chapter by Mathew Nicolson

The day before the summer holidays ended, Carrie was having Dinner at Rebecca’s house. They were having pizza.

“This is really good! Did you make it yourself?” she asked Eve.

“Oh… yeah,” she replied, lying.

About a month ago, Rebecca had put the locket under her bed (along with everything else she wanted to keep but would rather not see) in the hope she could just ignore it. The ticking sometimes stopped her getting to sleep, but she felt scared to move it again.

“I’d better get back home,” Carrie said while helping Eve stack up the dishes. “Dad wants us all there to watch the premier of some documentary . . .”

“Sounds fun,” Billy said sarcastically.

They walked into the living room. Carrie picked up her coat off of the sofa and put it on.

“Thanks again for the pizza!” she said, about to open the door. “Rebecca, I’ll ask if you can-”

She opened the door. It immediately got slammed shut again, for there was a Knight in black armour standing there, holding a sword.

Which could only mean one thing.

The locket!

“Out of the way!” Rebecca pushed Billy into a lampshade as she raced up the stairs into her bedroom.

“Rebecca!” Eve shouted after her. She opened her mouth to shout something else, but was cut short as the sword stabbed through the wooden door, narrowly missing her. She screamed and leapt back.

Rebecca dragged the bed out from the wall and dived in, looking for the locket. She heard the scream, and stopped. If anyone were hurt, it would all be her fault!

“Where is it?” she cried.

As she lifted up an old spineless book, her hand felt something scorching hot. She cried out in pain, and realised she had a burn mark on it. She didn’t need to bother looking for what had caused it �" the golden triangular item she despised was sitting on the carpet, sizzling away.

Thud! Downstairs, the door came crashing down, and the Knight wandered into the living room.

“What do you want?” Eve shouted despairingly. Without replying, the Knight held up the sword, and swung it.

Rebecca wrapped the locket in a cloth, and put it in a shoebox she’d fortunately kept. She then rushed down to join her family.

Billy pulled his mother out of the way just in time, and the sword stabbed into the sofa.

“God help us… this is a dream!” Eve babbled.

“It seems very much real,” Billy murmured, grabbing Eve and Carrie, and pushing them behind him. He picked up a poker from the fireplace and held it towards the Knight.

“Run for it! I’ll hold it off!” he shouted. They didn’t need telling twice. Rebecca charged down the stairs. The Knight looked at her the moment she did, and, ignoring Billy, moved straight towards her.

“Rebecca, run!”

She had to get away from everyone else; it was only after her.

She nodded.

“Get yourself away too!”

The Knight swung �" Rebecca ducked.

“You first! I can-”

He stopped after seeing Rebecca’s fierce glare.

“Okay then… run!”

Rebecca leapt over the sofa to avoid the Knight, and ran out of the room, with Billy following closely behind. She looked back, and saw the Knight was also chasing them, with an unnatural speed.

“He’s gaining on us!” she shouted.

“So run faster!” was Billy’s reply.

They headed towards the city centre, where a crazed Knight with a sword would most likely get noticed. After a minute however, they looked back and saw they’d lost it.

“You reckon it’s gone? ”Billy asked, “Or hiding, waiting to ambush us.”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Well, you seem to know a lot about it.

Rebecca opened the book, and took out the cooling locket. It always seemed to get warm when the Knight was around.

“I need to find Paul,” Rebecca decided out-loud. Paul had said he’d deal with the cabinet she’d found the locket in. If he had kept it, maybe it would have information in it…

“Well I’m going to the police,” Billy said, going in the opposite direction.

“What will they do? What can they do?”

“What can you do?”

Rebecca hesitated.

“Find Paul!”

Carrie and Eve had gone in two separate directions as they left the house. Carrie ran straight to her house, and Eve hid behind the house, and phoned the police.

On the way to her house, Carrie spotted Paul walking in the opposite direction.

“Paul!!” she screamed! And fainted, fortunately falling onto grass.

Paul’s mother, Ann, never had liked Eve, or anyone related to Sam. Since she split up with him five years ago, Rebecca had only seen her once or twice. She was therefore slightly uncomfortable about having to go to her house to find Paul. But, this was important, far more important than a silly dislike.

There wasn’t an answer when she knocked on the door. She tried a second time, but again, no answer. What a bad time to go out for Tea!

But after a minute, Rebecca heard a bolt be undone, and the door opened slightly to reveal a shabby looking man with greying long and greasy hair. It was Ann’s boyfriend, who’s name Rebecca couldn’t remember.

“What you want?” he murmured.

“I’m, uh…” He was very intimidating, and looked like he could violently lash out at any moment.

“Is Paul here?”

“Who?”

“…Your step-son.”

He stopped to think. It was no wonder Paul didn’t like him.

“Well, I don’t know, I’m not his personal secretary, or did you think I followed him all day and made notes of everything he did?”

“I…No!”

“Or that he should inform me of everything he does? He’s old enough to look after himself, even if he does cry like a wimp sometimes!”

Rebecca didn’t say anything.

After a pause, he shouted, “What, you want me to look for him?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble-”

“WELL IT IS! LOOK YOURSELF!” he bellowed, slamming the door shut. He didn’t slide the bolt along, so Rebecca took that as an invitation to go in.

To describe the hallway as untidy would be an understatement. The wallpaper was half pealed off in several places, there were stains on the parts of carpet visible under all the beer cans and cigarettes, and a small pile of wood lay crumbled by the wall, which once may have been a table. She passed the living room, where the man was sitting on a decaying sofa watching some sitcom, drinking what looked like vodka.

Rebecca assumed it was alright to climb the stairs and find Paul’s room. Stepping over a lampshade she made her way up the staircase. At the top, to the wall on her right, was a large stain of redness that could only be blood. She resisted the urge to scream only because of the fear that the man would hear her. What sort of household did Paul have to put up with? But she kept going. If she gave up and went home without finding out anything about the locket, blood might be something she would have to get used to seeing.

She found a door that said “PAU ’S R OM” �" the other letters were on the carpet, buried under layers of dust �" and went in. It was such a difference compared to the corridor outside. It obviously hadn’t had a serious clean in years, but it looked like Paul at least tried to keep it tidy.

Paul wasn’t in there, but she didn’t think he would be �" nobody nearby could have misheard the man shouting at her �" but after scanning the room she found something almost better. The cabinet from Sam’s room! If the locket was in there, then perhaps, just maybe. . .

But, why would there be anything useful in there? Sam was a victim of the locket just as much as her. He’d have found it somewhere just like her, and also like her, would have found out it couldn’t be destroyed. Was it the locket that had killed him?

LEAVE

Rebecca’s attention changed to the footsteps stomping up the stairs. She’d left the door open! Would he notice? It was too late to close it.

The footsteps moved towards the door, he had noticed! The door slowly opened, and the man stood there menacingly.

“I think you shouldn’t be here…” he said, stepping forward while closing the door behind him. “You’re a… a naughty girl.”

He walked towards her, or rather stumbled; he looked very drunk.

“Stay back…” Rebecca cried.

The door downstairs opened.

“Barry? Barry, are you there?” Ann’s voice shouted up the stairs.

The man’s eyes filled with fear. He twirled round a couple of times, repeating “Oh no, oh no, oh no!”

He faced Rebecca.

“Don’t make a sound, alright. Not. A. Sound!” he whispered. “She wouldn’t forgive me this time, not after everything else.”

Rebecca nodded.

“Barry? Where are you?” Ann repeated.

“I’m here, woman! Can’t a man have some privacy these days?” he bellowed, storming downstairs. They began talking, and walked into the kitchen.

Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief, and darted towards the cabinet. She tried to pull open the door, but noticed a padlock on it. Why could nothing ever be simple!!

Rebecca fell to the floor in despair. She’d have to find Paul, explain everything to him, and ask for the key!! But there was no time!! The Knight could already have killed everyone!!

She looked up, hands clutched to her head. The key was on a desk by the window.

“Oh.”

prev chapter