Inside Evil

Chapter 18 - Part II

*Inside Evil and its sequels are available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks* 

Covering her ears as the scream erupted from Roberta's mouth, Susan saw with horror as the woman in front of her convulsed several times. She went still before the mist which had disappeared inside of her body erupted through her skin, creating a silvery shadow of Roberta's form. It lingered in the air momentarily before rushing into the ground beneath Roberta's left foot, damaging her shoe and scorching the earth as it did so. Released from its silvery grasp, Roberta's lifeless form swayed briefly, before it toppled silently over the edge and down into the dark, impenetrable depths.

The group never spoke to anyone else of that night again. Roberta's dying wish at being left well alone was honoured, and for now it seemed the Ammokra had been stopped. There were no more deaths, and with no one likely to ever find her body, each individual on the cliff that night knew that they had seen the end. Sam returned once to the scene, scattering flowers over the edge whilst he tried to avoid looking down. Morbid fascination overcame him, and he glanced at the rocky rubble that lay below the precipice and was relieved to see no sign of Roberta's crumpled body. She had fallen through one of many cracks in the boulders, allowing Sam to avoid having the image of her lifeless corpse burnt into his retinas.

Life at Best Books returned to normal quickly. The fireplace was repaired and Susan saw that the alcove which had been boxed in was ripped down and replaced with a hatch to the cellar. Having returned to her shop after Roberta's death, Susan discovered that the candles and the stone had vanished, leaving the rotting table empty amidst the dark and dank room. She busied herself with the daily pleasure of running a store, but could never bring herself to remove the stone disc from her pocket. Her questions over Vanessa's death had been answered and with the help of Martha, she managed to move forward. However, the stone disc stayed about her person always as a constant reminder of what had happened. She could not bear to look at it, but feeling its weight wherever she went, allowed Susan to believe that the events she'd been caught up in were real and not some strange and vivid dream. Susan also had Mr Millison fired for his involvement in providing Vanessa with a fake ID, and feigned ignorance on Roberta's whereabouts when those looking into the assault of Emily Stone asked.

The night upon returning from the woods, Karl had phoned his superior and verbally handed in his resignation. He was a terrible policeman and had made such a list of errors whilst in Ridgewood that it would likely cost him his job anyway if his colleagues ever discovered just what had happened. He was an outsider, looking in at a town of people who he'd once known and cared about. Being in Ridgewood, however horrible the circumstances had been, had opened his eyes and he was determined to stay, to keep watch, and to prepare for what could occur in the future.

The largest change for anyone was that of Martha Wittle. The disappearance of Barry all those years ago had plagued her for many years, but her recent experiences had changed her. She worked with Susan in the shop, but she was always alert. Like Karl, she became a guard of the secrets that had been unearthed and she silently alleged herself to prevent such circumstances from occurring again. This place, Ridgewood, was not the quiet, safe retreat that its residents thought it to be, but the centre for a curse which seemed age old and which she had to help guard against. She had been the lone victim of the attack in the street and had seen those eyes. Martha knew that there was something more out there, hidden in the forests, something that they hadn't yet discovered. She had been the only one to experience the true horror of the visions, and she vowed to discover all the secrets that lay in the woods. To fight the Ammokra to her very end.

It was a quiet and sunny day in January when Sam heard a knock at the door. Having spent Christmas at Roberta's, Sam realised that his time in Ridgewood was coming to an end. He walked around the house reliving the nightmare every day, but try as he might to pack his belongings and move on, Sam found that he couldn't quite bring himself to leave Ridgewood behind him.

"Martha, come in," Sam smiled as he saw the immaculate appearance of his former bookstore colleague in front of him.

"I had a visitor in my mirror," Martha said quietly as the door closed behind her.

"Oh," Sam replied. "I wonder why she..."

"Well apparently," Martha continued softly, "You have a book in your possession. A book that Mrs Peacock wants me to have."

"Yes! I'm so sorry, I'd completely forgotten about it. She gave it to me the night...the night Roberta went into the mirror."

Sam ushered Martha into the living room and pulled the large and old tome off the table.

"Here, all yours, I'm sorry Martha, I had meant to pass it on."

"I know," Martha smiled. "Don't worry, it's fine. How are you anyway? I haven't seen you at the shop for a while."

"I know, I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back there," Sam replied. "This house is bad enough, but every time I start to pack I find it's too hard to leave this all behind."

"Maybe you should stay," Martha said as she placed a small hand on Sam's shoulder. "I mean, you know what happened, perhaps you're supposed to stay. And, you have your paper to write."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Well, that's proving to be far more difficult than I'd imagined. I keep writing and then realising I've wandered off into our story and having to go back and scrap it all."

"Yes, well, your paper is on Myths and Legends, we wouldn't want the actual truth getting out would we." Martha's eyes glinted. "Anyway, I better be off, thanks for the book."

"Don't thank me before you read it. It's blank as far as I can see, apart from a surprise in the front."

"It might not be blank for all of us," Martha smiled.

She patted Sam's arm and left him standing in the living room surrounded by Roberta's things. The past few months had been as Sam never could have imagined, and now that it was all over, everything was going back to normal. For Sam though, life would never be the same again."

*I will be posting one or two scenes a week as the story builds. However, if you can't wait that long, Inside Evil is available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks.

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