Ravens Deep (one) (5 page)

             
“Probably not, it will get left to some relative,” I muttered, shaking my head. Then I questioned the sensibility of living out here permanently; although wonderful in the summer, it would be very isolated and lonely in the winter months.

             
A little later I threw all the windows wide open to get rid of the old and musty air, and reset the clock on the mantle which instantly filled the peaceful room with a constant reassuring tick. The house was already starting to feel alive again, and it wouldn’t’t take long to make this a beautiful place to live in, as it had been so long ago.

             
For the remainder of the afternoon and most of the evening, I dedicated myself to

washing
the china and crystal until they shone like new.  The years of neglect had left a tough grime on all the surfaces and floors, but undeterred by that fact, I cleaned and polished until the kitchen and its contents were transformed into something far more appealing.

             
Too tired after all that to do much else, I made myself a bed on the sofa in the sitting room and sat down to relax for the evening.  I turned on my portable television and was pleased to find that I could actually get adequate reception here.  I knew before arriving that modern amenities would be limited, so along with the television I had brought my laptop computer and a cell phone in case of emergencies.

              I lay back on the sofa feeling tired, vaguely aware of some news program in the

background
, and lost in my thoughts of the day's events and Ravens Deep, I must have drifted off to sleep from sheer exhaustion.

             
It seemed that only a few moments had passed, but I woke suddenly. Instinctively, I checked my watch still feeling dazed.  It was just after three in the morning and I had slept for at least four hours. My attention was drawn to the television that was still turned on, but now the picture was gone and it had been replaced by a quiet hissing.  I sat up wondering if, in fact, it was the television that had roused me from my peaceful sleep.  My eyes slowly adjusted to the light from the table lamp and as my initial confusion subsided, I became acutely aware of my heart racing as I realized something other than the television had disturbed me.

             
The prickles started on the back of my neck and ran all the way down my spine and I fought to control my growing fear. I sat still, straining my ears for the slightest sound. 

             
Was there an animal outside, an owl perhaps?

             
My mind searched for something that would give a reasonable name to my fear, as I tried to remain calm and analyze exactly what I had heard.

             
Was someone in the house?

             
I had locked all the windows and doors.

             
For goodness sake, it was probably the television!

             
I reached down to the television remote and pressed the off button.  The hissing ceased and the room became peaceful and quiet once more. The prickles started to dissipate and I began to relax even though anxious thoughts continued to meander through my head.  I sought to make sense of the fact that you could be alone somewhere during the day and not the slightest sound or movement disturbs your peace of mind, but in the middle of the night when dark shadows shift unnaturally and the smallest of disturbances can become construed as a menacing force, then perceived fear could overwhelm rational thought.  The voice in my head told me that my imagination was working overtime and the hissing from the TV had allowed strange noises to infiltrate my vulnerable dream state of being. Now, I was sure that’s what had happened and I began to feel much calmer. It was only a dream.

             
Another sound . . .

             
The prickles were back and all of my senses were horrifyingly alert. The creaking continued in clarifying detail and I was certain that it was not the usual expansion and contraction noise that sometimes occurs with temperature changes, this was different, it sounded more like a door being opened very slowly.

             
I strained my ears, listening as the noise continued and all my previous thoughts seemed irrelevant, the frightening reality was, this noise was not imagined -- it was real. 

             
Something is here!

             
I shivered inwardly as the spine tingling sensations of fear threatened to take over

my
entire being as the source of the noise was coming from the kitchen and I turned towards it in alarm, my eyes fixed on the passageway in an unblinking stare.  Slowly I rose from my sitting position. Glancing around the room, I noticed the heavy gold candlestick on the sideboard, I moved fast across the room and snatched it from its resting position. I gripped it tightly in my shaking hands and pressed it to my body.

  
             
What should I do?

             
I had to do something.

             
“Calm down, you have to calm down,” I repeated quietly to myself.

             
With every moment that passed my feeling of dread grew, knowing that I would have to confront whatever, whoever was there.  I quickly looked around for my phone and then remembered that it was in the kitchen, along with the key to the front door.  I felt panic, I was trapped and somebody else was in this house.

             
“Bloody hell,” I uttered under my breath, realizing the horror of that thought.

             
My throat tightened unnaturally and my skin flushed with a sudden intense heat. But I moved towards the passage, my progress was not quick, knowing that each step potentially brought me closer to meeting someone that wished me harm.  My eyes were transfixed on the open doorway and I did not dare to even breathe. 

             
Terror threatened to overwhelm me, as I looked through the opening into the kitchen, I saw the sinister blackness that obscured the majority of the room. I stared harder, searching through the darkness for a shape that would confirm my suspicions.  It felt that the air had a chill to it -- a consequence of something evil about to happen.  I felt the blood drain from my skin as I heard something breathing -- something was close to me.  Terrifying images of murderers and madmen stalking me in the shadows flew through my mind before I summoned the courage to think rationally, and pull myself together. There were knives in the kitchen drawer, if I could reach them, and then at least I might be able to defend myself if the candlestick failed.  I remembered the

location
of the kitchen light switch -- it was just inside the door

             
I had to turn that light on, but the fear kept me frozen to the spot.

             
Another noise!

             
Someone was opening the pantry door!  All at once, cold logic took over -- whatever it was,
it
was at the pantry door, and that was at least six feet away from the

light
switch. Adrenaline kicked in, and I moved fast.  I reached into the kitchen, found the light switch and flicked it on, simultaneously aiming my candlestick, ready to strike the intruder that was certain to be waiting for me.     

             
The room was empty.

             
I didn’t quite believe it. Half relieved, half terrified, I took in the whole room. Nothing seemed out of place, but the pantry door was slightly ajar. I knew I closed that door.

             
I didn’t realize that I had been holding my breath, and I started breathing again slowly and quietly, but it sounded loud and laborious to my ears. The deafening sound of my own heartbeat was adding to the din.  Why had no-one come out yet, did they think I was fooled into a false sense of security. I approached the pantry as steadily as my trembling legs would allow, candlestick at the ready.  I would not be a victim, not go down without a fight, I was sure that whoever was in there could hear my heart beating by now and I hoped that courage would not fail me. I took a deep breath and somehow, I found my voice.

             
“Come out, I know you’re in there,” I said loudly.  The silence was deafening and no sound or movement came to my ears. I thought then that maybe I should just grab my phone and key and run.

             
But where would I run to? 

             
I could see my car keys, lying on the surface at the far end of the kitchen.  It was a long way to the other end, I had no choice but to confront whoever was in the pantry.  At least maybe I could retain some control over the situation. I edged closer.

             
Taking a deep breath, I moved very fast and kicked the door as hard as I could. It

slammed
back against the wall with deafening bang and something shot out of the pantry!  I screamed and pressed myself to the wall, wishing I could disappear into it.  The candlestick was gripped tighter in my shaking hands and I forced my eyes to focus on what had come out.  There before me was a mouse, huddled in the corner under the cabinet.

             
It took a moment to register that my imagined axe murderer was nothing more than a field mouse and I moved forward so I could see entirely into the pantry.  It really was empty.  I felt the colour creep back into my skin and I began to breathe properly again. A mixture of shock and relief overcame me, followed by a delayed reaction in which I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, as the adrenaline left my body.  My legs felt strangely weak and I sat down at the table to regain my composure.  It was obvious that there was bound to be the odd mouse or two in a house this old.

             
It was only a mouse! You idiot, a murderer would have just killed you while you slept.

             
I was annoyed that instead of behaving rationally, I had allowed my imagination to take control and scared myself half to death with all my thoughts of imagined breathing and unnatural noises
.

             
The pantry of all places, why would anyone go in there?

             
I had been reading too many Victorian novels.  In real life there was not an asylum down the road, and no escaped murderers waiting to kill beautiful women in the middle of the night. This was just an old house, it was remote, but the odds of anyone waiting around to kill the latest occupant now seemed absurd.

             
The mouse had recovered from the fright I had given him, and was now scurrying

around
the floor, in search of food no doubt.              On the whole I didn’t mind mice, but I knew where there was one, others would follow, and sharing a house with a whole colony made me shudder. I resolved to buy some mousetraps and deal with them in the daylight. As my apprehension disappeared, I turned on every light and walked around the rest of the house, although I kept the candlestick close, just in case.  I laughed at myself for thinking someone was in here with me, I had locked every door and window earlier, nothing could be here.

I went back downstairs and feeling much calmer, I made myself a cup of tea and sat at the kitchen table to drink it.  It would be impossible to sleep anyway, and my thoughts came back to that pantry door.  It hardly seemed logical that it would have been so easily opened and I went to examine it.  After opening and closing it, I concluded that it really was a heavy door and not easily pushed open, just as I had suspected.

             
Surely a mouse couldn’t have opened it.

             
“I probably left it open,” I muttered to myself in resignation. After all, I had been tired, that must be the explanation. I tried hard to convince myself of that fact, but somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered actually closing that pantry door.

Chapter Four
– Darius

              I took my tea and opened the front door, it was nearly four o’clock.  A single bird song resonated shrilly though the silent air and a moment later another joined in, the dawn chorus had begun.

             
The weather had been warm for the last few weeks, and even at this early hour it felt comfortable to be outside.  I made my way to the little stone bench and sat sipping my tea, gazing towards the sea which was as yet invisible.  The strange swirling mists that hung over the moors obscured my distant vision, and gave the landscape a surreal quality. 

             
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I turned and stared into the shadows of the trees.  In the dim half-light I thought I saw the shape of a person. I caught my breath and sat rigid, trying to focus my eyes.  The shape moved further into the tree line, away from me, but instantly a deer emerged from the same place.  She appeared agitated, and rapidly moved towards the gap in the hedgerow -- something had spooked her.