She strained her neck up to kiss him, but his finger slipped between their lips preventing them from touching. Beccy let out a quiet, frustrated sigh.
He released her and she pulled away.
“But if you think you’re stopping me from going inside, you’ve got another thing coming,” she said with an indignant huff.
Liam knew there was no point in arguing.
Beccy must have seen the resignation in his face because she grinned cheekily.
“Come on then, you disobedient girl.”
He took her hand, and they stepped inside.
Musty, cool air laced with dust swirled around them as they crept to the bottom of the stairs. Although the house smelled stale, Liam noticed it wasn’t damp or mouldy. He ran his hand along the bannister as they tip-toed up the quietly creaking stairs and glanced at his palm. It was clean. Even though the house was empty, it wasn’t forgotten.
“I think this place must have a caretaker,” he whispered and showed her his clean palm.
Beccy raised her eyebrows and nodded.
At the top of the stairs, Beccy shone the torch left and right. Both ways were almost identical. The landing split and stretched around the stairs to the front of the house with four closed doors on each side. Another corridor led along the back of the house in each direction. Liam could make out the shadowy outlines of numerous doorways in their walls. Unfortunately, there was no sign with an arrow saying, “Attic this way.”
“Which way do you think we should go?” Beccy whispered.
Her torch light jumped from door to door along the main landing until it stopped on the one furthest away to the right.
“How about that one? It looks like it’s open a fraction.”
Liam shook his head. “I think the stairs to the attic are most likely to be at the back of the house. Keep the servants away from the gentry. Down one of these corridors perhaps.”
“Of course, it has to be down one of the creepy corridors.” Beccy’s nervous laugh echoed around the eerily quiet manor house. She clamped her hand over her mouth like a naughty child.
“Shine the torch down there again,” said Liam, pointing to the right.
Beccy crept closer to Liam until her body nudged against his and pointed the torch down the long corridor. About forty feet away, a small door stood half-open.
“See there’s a door at that end. There isn’t one down the other corridor. I bet it leads to the attic.” He took her cold hand. “Ready?”
She scrunched up her face but nodded. Determined to ignore the cold chill creeping down his spine, Liam took large strides along the hallway. The sound of their footsteps bounced off the bare walls increasing Liam’s unease. Beccy scurried along beside him, occasionally swinging the torch behind her, plunging the way ahead into darkness.
“Keep the light in front,” Liam snapped.
“Sorry,” said Beccy. “I’m just checking nothing’s following us.”
“We’re nearly at the door.”
“Yeah, like that’s any better.”
“We can leave. Right now. Come back in the daylight,” Liam said, hoping she would jump at the chance.
Beccy shook her head. Liam shrugged as nonchalantly as possible.
As they reached the half-opened door, the ominous darkness loomed in the gap. They both took a deep breath. Beccy squeezed Liam’s hand.
“Aunty Di?” she suddenly said, looking up at Liam.
“What?”
“That’s her smell.” She sniffed at the air. “Can you smell it?”
Liam took a deep breath through his nose. All he could smell was a musty aroma like dusty old books. “No.”
“Yes. It’s faint...like a mix of her floral fabric softener and...” She wrinkled her nose. “And her sweat. Like she smells when she’s been digging in the garden. She’s here I know it.”
“Up there?” Liam asked, tilting his head towards the door.
Beccy nodded.
He pulled open the creaking door and took the torch from Beccy. The yellow beam of light lit up a dusty, narrow staircase.
“Footprints,” he whispered, moving the light over the steps.
“That’s got to be her footprints.”
Liam nodded hoping she was right.
“Blood,” Beccy gasped. “I can smell blood. Quickly, she might be hurt.”
Liam straightened his back, lifted his head and went up first. Beccy’s hand gripped the back of his coat as she followed closely behind.
Just as they reached the top of the steps, a bright light dazzled Liam. His hand shot up to protect his eyes from the sudden glare.
“Who are you?” a voice growled from the darkness.
Beccy peered around Liam. The glaring light jumped to her face. Liam gripped his torch tightly, preparing to use it as a weapon.
The other light dropped away from their faces. A wheezing rasp was followed by a thud. A torch rolled along the floor, illuminating the cobweb strewn walls.
“Beccy. Help me.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Aunty Di!”
Beccy shot around Liam and raced across the attic with Liam close behind. The wood cracked and groaned beneath their feet.
“Careful,” Liam shouted worried their frantic steps would cause the floorboards to snap and send them plummeting to the floor below.
He snatched up the discarded torch and gave it to Beccy as she kneeled beside her aunt. The solidly built woman wore a long, waxed jacket, blue slippers, and little else from what Liam could see. A thick chain circled her chest several times, pinning her arms to her side and was secured around a wooden beam with a padlock. Blood-streaked mud caked her knees, and a thin line of blood ran from her swollen cheek. Her bloodshot, yellow eyes looked like an alien sunset. She stared at Beccy with both relief and fear.
“Oh, my God, what happened to you? Who did this? Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay. The man...he thinks I killed his brother...I don’t know where he is...he’s changing,” Di gasped and tried to sit up.
Liam slid his arms beneath her body and helped her upright, moving her so that she could lean against the wall. She nodded a wary thank you.
“There isn’t much time, Pup. He might come back any second. Did you find the key I left for you?”
Beccy nodded. “In your cellar. What the hell’s going on?” Beccy asked as she tried to loosen the chains.
“Listen carefully—in case something happens to me. The key unlocks a chest. It’s over there, under the blankets.” She gestured with her head to the far corner. “Inside are papers and journals that will explain everything. Our family history...our legacy.”
“That can wait. We need to get you out of here and to a hospital.”
“It can’t wait. You have to listen.” She glanced up at Liam. “Who’s he?”
“This is Liam. My...boyfriend. You can trust him.”
Liam smiled thinly as Di gave him a withering look. “Beccy’s right. We need to get out of here first. If whoever did this to you is coming back, you both could be in danger.”
Liam pulled on the padlock and chain. It was tightly secured. He saw another padlock fastening the chain around Di’s body.
“Do you know where the keys are?” Liam asked.