Now? He’d only brought this to her now? Had he really just found it or had he only just decided to give it to her? And if so why?
‘It’s got notes in it about the house, its history, his research and about…about people’s experiences here. I thought…I thought it might help.’
She made herself open it. The handwriting was spidery and small. It would be a bugger to read. Great. She turned a page, the thick paper whispering as she did so, and a word caught her eye.
Chambers.
The chill that passed over her wasn’t supernatural this time. She read the rest of the line, and couldn’t help carrying on to those after it.
Chambers has his eye on the girl. He wants her for Crom.
I have tried to warn Edward but he remains steadfast in his conviction that this is all superstition and nonsense andhas warned me not to involve his children in my ‘delusions’. He insists on bringing her, despite my warnings. But now he will not heed me at all. I fear the worst, that the influence on him is already too strong.
Young Theodore promises me that he will allow no harm to come to his sister, or the estate, that he will keep her away from the areas of danger.
Edward, her father’s name. Theodore, her brother’s.
The girl.
Her grandfather was writing about her? The date at the top of the page matched up with that last, dreadful visit here all those years ago. Twenty years ago.
The argument in the study. The raised voices. Blaise’s arms folding around her…
A tear slid down her face and spattered on the page. She wiped it off hurriedly and shut the book with a snap.
Nick had moved towards her, a look of concern on his handsome face, his hand already reaching out to her.
Alex took a step back and he let his arm drop back to his side. Taking anything, even the simplest form of comfort, seemed like a bad idea right now. And something she desperately wanted.
But again, she recalled sitting on the stairs with those formless arms closing around her, pulling her in, and that voice whispering comfort and promises. So many promises…
She curled her arms around the notebook, holding it against her chest. She couldn’t think of anything to say. She had never felt quite so alone.
‘I’ll be downstairs,’ he said, awkwardly, so crestfallen that she felt a pang of something she didn’t want to examine too closely.
‘No, wait.’ God, this was horrible. Painfully awkward. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. The other night. Well, and the other day. I didn’t…I’m sorry, okay?’
Nick gave her a tentative smile. ‘I probably shouldn’t have told you all that stuff about Sally. It was…look, it just feels like she’s here and sometimes I think she is, that’s all. And I can’t leave knowing that. Not that I could leave anyway. And stuff does happen here.’
Well, she knew that, didn’t she? It couldn’t all be her imagination. Because if it was, she definitely needed to see a psychiatrist and get a prescription for some serious medication. No, this was not in her imagination. Not the batteries anyway. That was quantifiable. Evidence. And not the voice. Hopefully.
‘Thank you,’ Alex said, indicating the notebook. ‘It’s definitely a help.’
‘It looked personal.’
She tried to smile. The expression didn’t sit comfortably on her face. ‘I think so, yes. He was writing about my father, around the time he died. And about Theo and I.’
Chambers has his eye on the girl.
She shuddered. She couldn’t help it. Had Nick read that? Did he know what her grandfather thought?
Chambers had his eye on her now all right. He’d told her that himself.
Nick took another step, as if something pulled him to her unwillingly. Or shoved him from behind perhaps. But his face said he wanted to comfort her, that he felt sorry for her. He lifted his hands to her again and Alex swayed towards him, needing to feel his touch, to bury her face in his chest, to let him hold her and keep her safe.
If only for a moment.
The recorder burst into life, and a voice, a horribly familiar voice, blared out of the speaker on its side.
