There was a gap at the end. Sliding her hand in, she felt along the wall. Although the gap started very narrow, it widened and she couldn’t feel any barrier at the other side.
The groan was louder this time, and clearly came through the space in front of her. ‘Bill? Is that you?’ She waited. There were voices in the hall upstairs and the sound of footsteps. Amelia’s high-pitched laughter grated on her, and she wondered if the woman’s pull over Jonan still held any power. Slowly, she slid into the gap. It was tight and she breathed in, making herself as small as possible. As the space widened, she wondered what waited for her on the other side. The groaning was louder now, but so was the scent of fresh air.
Beth took a deep breath as she stepped out of the gap, filling her lungs and expelling the feel of mould. She shone her torch around the room. It was larger than the one she had left and an external door swung open in one corner allowing cold air in. She shivered. Another groan drew her attention to the corner opposite the door. ‘Bill?’ she pointed the light in the direction of the sound, but the beam only bounced as far as her next few steps. She followed the light, leaning forwards to get a better view. The groan was louder this time. She lurched towards the sound and her phone slipped through her fingers. The light went out.
‘No!’ She dropped to her knees, feeling around with her hands as she searched. Broken glass pierced her fingertips, and then she felt something smooth and cold. She pressed the on button. She felt across the screen, her skin catching on the fragments of broken glass. A faint glow came from it, but it was fading fast.
‘Bill?’ she said again, moving slowly now in the near dark.
‘Beth?’ The voice was thin, reedy, but she recognised it at once.
‘Bill!’ She closed the gap in a couple of steps. Close up, she could just about make out the slump of Bill’s body. He was sitting, but bent forwards, unable to hold himself upright. She crouched down and put one hand under his cheek, raising his face into the faint light. His chin was covered in stubble that would have been grey without the ingrained dirt. His lined skin was pasty and there was a deep graze on his right cheek. Dried blood mixed with dirt in the wound. He was icy cold and his breath rattled as he fought to draw the damp air in and out of his lungs.
‘How did you end up in here?’
‘I don’t remember.’ He coughed and his thin frame shuddered over and over with the force.
‘Were you drugged?’
Bill coughed again. ‘Maybe. My head feels as though it’s about to crack and my eyes just want to close.’ He raised his hand and touched the side of his head gingerly.
‘We need to get you out of here.’
‘I’m stuck.’
‘Let me look.’ Beth shone the torch over Bill and found a thick rope tied to his ankle at one end, and to a thick, iron ring at the other. ‘It’s okay, I’ve got this. Hold the phone and point the light at the knot.’
Bill took the phone.
The light went out.
‘Here, I’ll do it,’ Beth said, reaching for the device. She pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
She tried again. Nothing.
She tried the on switch. Still nothing.
She took a deep breath and put the phone back in her pocket. ‘Never mind. It’s run out of battery.’
‘That’s bad isn’t it?’
‘Not at all. I can handle these knots. Do you know where that door leads to? I want to get you out of here.’
Beth fumbled with the knots. She didn’t want Bill to worry. She wanted to reassure him she was in control, but she knew that wasn’t the truth.
Was Amelia still looking for her? The woman had told her to look around, but the footsteps and voices in the halls told her Amelia was not as relaxed about Beth exploring as she wanted to appear.
The knots would have been difficult to untie in full daylight. In the pitch black they were near impossible. She kept picking away, ignoring the pain in her fingernails as the tough rope bent them backwards. Time and fear were playing tricks on her mind. She felt Amelia’s influence snaking through the dank cellar and tried to hold distance. She wasn’t sure whether it was conscious or just the remnants of the woman’s energy, but the intrusion thrummed through her veins as though she had been drugged.
Bill was still just about sitting, but was becoming more slumped by the minute. His weight was now pushing on her left shoulder, forcing her sideways and sending pins and needles down her arm. Her back ached, but she adjusted her weight, angling into him to give her more stability against the cold stone floor.
‘Bill,’ she whispered as the final knot released. ‘Bill, wake up. It’s time to go.’
He snorted and sank more weight onto her.
‘Bill!’ She shook him.
He lurched away from her as he woke with a start.
‘It’s Beth. Let’s go.’
He tried to stand up, but his legs were weak from long days in a hospital bed and they crumpled under his weight. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay, but I really need you to try your best.’
She helped Bill up, and then took his weight as they shuffled over to the open door in the corner of the room. ‘Oh no,’ she said, feeling every pound of weight pulling at her back. The uneven steps up to the garden were wet and slippery. ‘I’m really going to need you to use your strength up here.’
‘Of course,’ Bill mumbled, but he took little of the strain as she dragged and cajoled him up towards the path and the garden.
She was breathing heavily by the time they reached the road, and untangled herself from him, leaning him against the wall to claim a moment to recover. ‘Can you manage this hill?’
‘Of course,’ Bill said, but he slumped to the pavement before they had moved ten paces.
The walk should have taken a few minutes, but it was half an hour before Beth stood outside the Third Eye with Bill leaning heavily on her shoulder. She rang the bell.
The silence was deafening. It hadn’t occurred to Beth that Doriel might not be in. It was nearly one in the morning and she had assumed the woman would be tucked up in bed. ‘Please, Doriel, come to the door,’ she whispered. She was just about to turn away when Doriel peered through the glass door. She had a red dressing gown gathered tightly around her, with Chinese dragons snaking up the front. Her long hair was loose for once, and cascaded over her shoulders in a tousled mess. She was dishevelled, but her eyes were sharp with no sign of sleep.
‘Doriel, you’re here, thank goodness.’
‘What’s going on? And what happened to the shop?’
‘This is Bill. Amelia had him tied up in a cellar. I need to get back to Jonan. He’s still at the inn with Amelia. I’ll explain about the shop later. You’ve done a great job of clearing up.’
Doriel nodded. ‘Help me get Bill upstairs, and then you get back to Jonan.’
One on each side of Bill, they helped him up the narrow staircase and onto the sofa. Doriel lit the fire and within moments it was roaring, pouring heat into the tiny room.
Bill was shivering and pale. His face was gaunt, his eyes flat, expressionless.
Doriel clasped Beth’s hands. ‘Don’t worry about him, I’ve got this. Go and find Jonan.’
‘Thank you. Can I borrow your phone? Mine broke.’