AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alex answers on the second ring. “Jessica, is that you?”
“Yes,” I reply.
“Oh baby, I’ve been missing you like mad! I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear your voice. All day I’ve been hoping and praying that you would call me just so I can hear your voice. We are so in tune with each other, you must have read my mind. Is everything okay?”
I scratch the side of my nose. “Not really.”
“What is it? What’s happened?”
“So, I’m thinking that maybe we shouldn’t meet up tonight. I know we planned for you to drive down again but I think it’s all a bit too risky at the minute.”
A hint of panic enters his voice. “What do you mean? Why are you saying this? Last night was so magical, I thought we had a new understanding between us. I thought you understood that I now need to see you every single night, never fail. I don’t mind driving a thousand miles, you know I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you, even if it means only staying for an hour.”
Biting my lip, I press my thighs together and try desperately not to get aroused by his voice. Even at this distance he’s affecting me, and my sex is crying out for a good seeing to.
“I know, and I do want to see you too, believe me,” I say, in an attempt to pacify him. “It’s just that one of my neighbours, Mrs Biederhof, told my mum she saw us climbing through my bedroom window on Saturday. My mother confronted me about it today and I denied it, obviously.”
“Did she buy it?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure she did, she kept asking all sorts of questions, but either way it might be safer for us to cool things for a couple of days, or at least until things have calmed down. It wouldn’t be safe right now for you to come to my bedroom as she’ll be watching me like a hawk, not to mention Mrs Biederhof.”
“Then can you come over to mine?” he asks hopefully. “I could come and get you later and bring you back here to spend the night? Don’t you understand how much I need to see you, my beauty? I’m literally dying here.”
“Me too,” I say, twirling the phone cord around my finger as I picture his head between my thighs. “I really wish I could be with you, but it isn’t just the thing with the neighbours that’s bothering me. There’s something else too…”
“What is it? What’s happened? Tell me!”
“Your mother Beatrix just came to see me.”
“What!” Alex sounds genuinely alarmed. “What did she say?”
“She said all this outlandish stuff. I don’t even want to repeat it.”
“Tell me what she said. I need to know everything.”
“It was just all this stuff about your father, something about you playing with a Ouija board, demonic possession and some creature called Erasmus. It was totally crazy, totally unbelievable. She…she wanted me to stay away from you.” There’s a long silence on the other end of the line. “Alex, are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m still here,” he replies, his tone dripping with ice. “I can’t believe she said all that to you. How dare she try to interfere in our relationship? I’m absolutely livid!”
“I’m so sorry, darling, I know it’s crazy. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ve got to do some shopping and then I’ve got to prepare for work. I’m on a late shift tonight.”
“I need to see you, Jessica. More than ever now that I know my mother is trying to drive a wedge between us. Please can I drive over tonight after you finish work, and we can go somewhere quiet to talk?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Like I said, I think we shouldn’t meet up for a while. We need to wait for things to settle.”
“It sounds like you’re just making excuses not to see me,” he growls. “I hope you’re not letting what my mother said get to you?”
“No, of course not,” I say, noticing a man standing outside waiting to use the phone. “But I’ll admit I’m a little shaken up by it. I’m sorry Alex, I really do have to go now. I love you. I’ll call you soon and let you know when it’s safe for us to meet again.”
“Jessica, wait—”
I hang up and make a hurried exit from the phone booth. It’s only as I’m walking away that I suddenly realise at no point did Alex deny any of the allegations made by Beatrix. He didn’t call them out as preposterous or show any signs of shock when I mentioned the name Erasmus. It was almost like he had been expecting it. But what the hell does this mean? That his mother was telling the truth?
No, that’s absurd. Demons don’t exist. I refuse to believe it. Even so, I shiver inwardly every time I picture Erasmus’ diabolical face and his terrifying animal eyes. No matter how hard I try to put aside my misgivings and tell myself I’m being silly, I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. It’s like I’m in way over my head in something I don’t fully understand with no viable escape route.
The rest of the afternoon passes without incident, and I try my best not to think about Alex or Beatrix, or Catholic priests and exorcisms. I try not to envisage Neville Kingswood lying at the bottom of the stairs with his body all twisted and his neck broken.
After picking Freddie up from school, I spend a bit of time with him in the local children’s playground and relish having some quality time with my little brother. As I watch him laughing and running around, I find it hard to believe that any of what Beatrix said is true. How could it be? This right here, having fun with Freddie on the swings, is what real life is about, not the dark world of demons and poltergeists and Claremont Hall, which once more feels like nothing more than a distant dream.
