Then who had he just seen?
Dread scored its nail down William’s spine, flaying flesh wide open, exposing bone. His gaze snapped from Hanbury back around the surrounding view, searching for answers. Something drove him to press the button on the keys as if that would answer his question.
And he was sure, somewhere close enough to hear, Edward caught the beep of a car unlocking.
William pressed the button over and over, following the beep sound until he found what he was looking for. Beyond the crumbling gatehouse, behind an overgrown forest of wildlife, was a narrow dirt path. It was an easily overlooked place, considering the bushes had claimed the view, concealing the entrance. Branches from trees reached over to one another like two lovers trying to knot limbs together. Pushing them back, William navigated inside, peeling back layer after layer of foliage, careful not to nick his bare skin on brambles at his sides.
And there it was, the impossible made possible. A car.
It was parked within the shadows of the woodland, covered in bird droppings, fallen leaves and a strange green film. William had come up with reasons why Edward hid the car from him. Perhaps he just wanted an excuse to stay at Hanbury. But deep down, after hearing Edward’s story and the connection to Archie, he had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly why he wanted William not to see the car.
It was as if a bolt had hit his stomach, driving the wind out of his lungs. He doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Bile burned up his throat, but his stomach was so empty he didn’t have anything to expel from it.
He’d seen this very car before. The last time had been from his window back in London as he watched it swerve into Archie, knocking him off his bike and killing him on impact. Of course, since Archie’s death, William had come across many of the same model and make, and every time he settled eyes on one, he wanted to throw-up, scream, and cry – all at the same time.
But those were just lookalikes. Thiswasthe car that killed Archie. And it was no wonder Edward hid it from him, whether to protect him from the truth or just keep it from him for longer.
It would’ve been easier to drop to the floor and give up in the face of this realisation, but William wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t. Because if Edward’s car was still here, he didn’t know who’d driven away from Hanbury. The car hadn’t looked like a taxi, but then again, William didn’t get a good enough look.
Righting himself, doing everything in his power to stifle the grief and bury it for another time, William pressed on. In the cool shadows of the gatehouse’s exterior wall, he rounded the car. As if to prove himself right, he pressed the key again to unlock it. The head and brake lights flashed, followed by another beep, the noise grating enough to disturb birds from their perches in trees above.
Something else moved amongst the trees, weaving and dipping, unseen but there. William caught distinct movement out from the corner of his eye. By the time he looked up, half expecting Edward to reveal himself with all the answers, it was to find someone else.
A young man with greyed skin, and features unnaturally blurred, stared back at him. More movement, just to his left. Another man stepped out – no, it was like the wind caught a cloud and it blew into a physical, solid form.
Both figures were odd. From their clothes to their colouring. It was like the world had leeched them of life, leaving behind mere scraps of what they’d once been.
“I see you,” William said, heart thundering in his chest.
There was a knowing, deep down, that these men had nothing to do with the car he’d watched drive away. In fact, from the bruised patches across obviously rotten skin, it was clear that these men hadneverdriven a car.
Because they were dead.
In tandem, the figures looked to one another, and then back to William. As their gazes settled on him again, William realised something. Their features were not blurred. They were missing. Empty, eyeless holes froze him to the very place he stood. Something wet and fat wriggled within the gaping wound, slithering amongst skull and flesh.
“Oh, my God,” William gasped, backing into the car, the solid and real form of it giving him a sense of comfort.
Silence replied.
“What… what do you want?” He braved.
So, Archie wasn’t the only spirit to haunt Hanbury. Had these young men been here the entire time, watching on from Hanbury’s grounds, lurking in the corner of gazes and dwelling in shadows?
One of the spirits lifted a hand, pointed it in the direction towards the car but not quite on it, and then lifted his bent, bone-exposed finger, back to his mouth.
A gush of wind rushed, emanating the sound of the figure shushing William. And then, like seeds from a dandelion, they blew away, breaking down to nothingness. William clamped his eyes closed as the strange mist reached him. Old musk danced across his senses, stuffing his nose with a smell he never thought he could get rid of.
As soon as they’d arrived, they left him.
With every muscle in William’s body, he knew he had to leave Hanbury. And luckily, he was holding keys to a car that still propped him up.
“I’m going,” he mumbled to himself, wondering who else was listening in. “I’m going, and I’m never coming back.”
His fingers fumbled with the keys, as he navigated around to the front of the car. William soon discovered out that unlocking the car wasn’t required. The driver’s side window was smashed. Glass littered the muddied ground beside it. Some of the windows remained like the jagged teeth of a beast, ready to snap the arm off of anyone stupid enough to reach inside its maw.
Keeping a cautious distance, he peeked inside the broken window and saw nothing to note. He put the car keys on the front seat, knowing it was better to leave them there instead of dropping them, and losing them in the undergrowth.
Edward filled his mind again. What had driven him to smash the car window?
