Page 73 of The Little Shop of Curiosities, The Music Box Part 2

“His house was the only one standing?” Sam nods. “That’s a hell of a coincidence.”

“Or something was protecting it,” Sam remarks.

I release a slow breath and turn my attention back to the house. I’m not really sure how I feel at the moment. I’m not afraid to walk inside that house, but the memory of the carnage committed within its walls is still fresh enough to turn my stomach, and coupled with the memories of the boy…

I suppress a shudder. Part of me wants to walk away and never look back, but another part needs answers.

“You don’t have to go in there. I can do this on my own.”

“No.” I look at him sharply, then gentle my tone. “You’re not going in there alone, Sam. The house has borne the weight and magic of a demon, and who knows what his presence has woken up in there.”

His gaze searches my face. For a moment, I think he’s going to argue with me, even suggest that it’s not safe for me given my strange connection to the situation, but he seems to think better of it. Instead, his hand brushes against mine, linking our little fingers.

“Together then.”

I nod. “Together.”

We head up the path and Sam rings the bell. A moment later, the door opens and a woman not much older than us and wearing jeans and an old hoodie appears in the doorway. Her long dark hair is swept up in a messy bun and she pushes dark-framed glasses back into place as she looks at us curiously.

“Hi, we’re looking for Riley Tyldesley.” Sam pulls one of his business cards from his pocket and offers it to her.

“I’m Riley,” she says, her eyes wary. “How can I help you, Mr…?”

“Stone. Sam Stone, and this is Harrison Ames. I run a private investigation agency, and your case was passed to us by Mr Hadley at Hadley and Mason.”

“Oh, yes.” She leans against the doorframe, tapping the business card against her palm as she studies us both. “He mentioned he was referring me to someone who dealt with unusual cases.”

I nod. “We do. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

Her assessing eyes flick between us and then she finally nods. “Come in. Be careful, it’s a bit of a mess. I’m still renovating.”

Sam steps back to let me enter first and then Riley closes the front door behind us both.

I’m no more than five steps into the hallway when I stop and suck in a sharp breath.

An apparition has stepped through a wall where a doorway had been in my dreams. He’s almost transparent, with an eerie green glow to him, and wearing a Victorian evening suit. A demonic mask sculpted into misshapen features and with tiny horns protruding from the temples covers half his face, leaving his unsmiling mouth exposed.

The surprised sound that comes from Sam makes me realise he can see him too.

“You can see him?” Riley whispers beside us. I turn to see her wide eyes trained on my face. “I’ve wondered if I’m going crazy so many times these last months, but you see him, don’t you?”

I nod. “Do you know who he is?”

She shakes her head. “I just see glimpses of him. And the others.”

“Others?”

She points to a door down the corridor, a door that the man now disappears behind.

I know exactly which room that door leads to.

Breathing deeply, I follow the path of the silent spectre into the parlour where Cordelia had Ishaan rip Judge Maycliffe into bite-size portions.

The room is empty. Like really empty, not a single stick of furniture, and the walls are partly demolished. The fireplace has been stripped back to bare brick and there’s a hole in the chimney breast.

The exposed floorboards creak under my weight as I step further inside, but as I do, the light flickers. In the space between one breath and the next, a circle of high-backed, almost medieval-looking chairs appear, spaced around the circumference of the room. Each chair is occupied by a man in evening dress and a mask, each of which is a different monstrous, demonic visage that covers only the top half of his face.

“Oh my god,” Riley whispers. “I’ve never seen them all together like this.” She rubs her arms through her hoodie. “It feels like my hair is standing on end. It’s never been this strong before.”