“Yes, why?”
“Not much room. It’s so small in here, there’s hardly enough space for three people to sit and talk, let alone a group.”
It hadn’t even occurred to William. One detail that had passed over his head at the time, but standing here, he knew Edward was right. “That still doesn’t help us figure out how to get out of here alive. We need to focus.”
Edward didn’t reply. His attention, although fogged by the pain racking his body, was entirely on the wall. He was searching for something that William hadn’t yet realised. Until Edward’s breath hitched, his nail dipping into a noticeable grove. Their eyes locked as Edward ran his thumbnail vertically down, tearing the wallpaper as he went.
“What’s that?” William said, stepping closer, although careful to stay away from the window.
Hooking slender fingers into the tear, Edward began peeling back strands of the wallpaper until the answer was clear before William. “A hidden door. Of course a haunted house isn’t complete without hidden doors… is it?”
Discomfort etched inside him, barely noticeable considering how much of a tenant that emotion had become since arriving at Hanbury. “Do you think this is what Robert wanted us to find.”
A place to hide. Somewhere hidden which only an old soul would know about.
“Yes,” Edward said with certainty. “I believe so.”
He didn’t stop tearing and ripping, not until a dark-stained door was revealed. There was no handle, just a smooth and flat surface, all besides the rusted-looking lock placed tauntingly before them. “And I also think we’ve just found where that extra key is supposed to fit.”
William knew Edward was right, deep in his core. Because the journal entry also mentioned something else that Robert had heard. He himself believed that Hanbury was haunted because he heard movement from inside the walls. What if it was just him hearing his father host meetings inside this hidden room?
There was only one way to find out.
“Stay here,” William said, his mind drawing up an image of the keys hanging by the door downstairs. “I’ll be a second.”
Edward didn’t ask what he was doing, nor did he try and stop William from leaving. Instead, fixing all-seeing eyes on him, Edward’s lips parted enough to offer him some words of warning. “Go. Be quick.”
There was no hesitation as William barrelled outside of the study. He ran across the landing, threw himself down the stairs and came to a skidding halt in the corridor. The front door was in the distance, and beyond the cracked glass, William saw the outline of a person.
A shadow waited beyond Hanbury, rattling the door handle, confirming that whoever was there was trying to get in.
In that moment, both parties noticed each other. William made out the person lifting a hand to their brow as they leaned into the glass, pressing their face close in. Muffled words greeted him.
“I know you’re in here.” A twisted voice sang. The door thudded with the crack of a knuckle. “Open up. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
William recognised the voice, but sheer panic stopped him from placing it in his mind. Instead, he was driven by this strange and sudden possessiveness. The need to protect – not himself – but his house.
And Edward.
Instead of responding with words, because there was no point for them, William lifted his middle finger. Perhaps the man wouldn’t make out the details of the gesture, but to William, it felt fucking fantastic.
With confident strides, he moved to the door. The knocking became banging as the man beyond demanded to be let in.
He recognised the voice, like a tickle at the back of his mind.
Snatching the keys off the hook, William turned to move back up the stairs when glass sprayed inwards from behind. A gloved fist had burst through the pane. William choked on a garbled shout and ran.
There was no point waiting around to see what happened next. He heard the click of the bolt, the snap of the handle. Clearly, the intruder had figured out that asking for entry was wasted breath, and he’d have to let himself in.
William took two stairs at a time. The sheer speed of this escape had him barrelling into the wall, all before he could turn up the final flight.
“Boy, come out, come out…” The last thing he heard of the man as he gave chase was an almost misplaced comment. “Whatisthat smell?”
Edward’s eyes flew wide as William made it back into the study, closing the door softly behind him. He looked like he’d been sleeping, but William knew the reality was much worse.
“He’s in the house.”
“No time to waste then,” Edward said, struggling back off the floor. “Try the door.”
