Famous Last Words

It Ain't Exactly What You Planned

I wasn't sure what time it was when I finally woke but I could see it was dark and despite the rest – the first decent sleep I'd had in days – I felt restless and unhappy. Of course, I knew what the problem was. How could I rest? How could I relax knowing that my brother and friends were in that house. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that that house was just pure evil. Or, at the very least, pure evil permeated every inch of the place. I could have been wrong, and maybe it was just the fact that I was removed from it that allowed me some perspective, but I began to feel that the house wasn't the problem, just Frederick, the pockmarked man. If he could be removed from the house somehow, then everything would be all right. I started thinking about it and even without realising it, I was up and getting dressed. My clothes were hanging in the wardrobe and all I'd had to do was remove the drip from the cannula in my hand. In fact, I removed the cannula too – nasty little thing kept catching on my sleeve as I pulled my shirt on.

What was holding Frederick to the house? He worked there, but was that really enough? No. The answer was suddenly obvious to me. He had committed murder there, possibly twice. First Daisy Canfield's car crash and then Lucy Morgan, her best friend, almost certainly drowned in the bath tub in the blue room – my room. That was it, I was absolutely so sure I couldn't figure out why it hadn't occurred to me before. He was there still only to prevent anyone from discovering his crimes. The body had probably never been found and when we found Lucy's diary in the library – when we first realised that she had never made it to the police, that's when the attacks began to get so much worse.

"Okay." I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling brave in my certainty. "All we need to do is find the body."

Then in a rush I was nervous again. Partly at the idea of returning to the mansion, partly thinking about the guys still there alone but my overwhelming feeling was one of hopelessness at the enormity of the task. The Paramour Mansion itself had more than twenty rooms and the grounds were extensive. Where could we even begin to look for a body? But my mind was made up. I was going back. I was going to tell the guys what I'd realised. We were going to resolve this. Don't ask me where my determination had suddenly come from, or even if it was going to last long enough to get me through the gates of the grounds, but right then, right there I knew what I had to do. Slipping out of the hospital room, I headed outside to look for a cab.

*

As the cab drew up to the gates of the property, I looked in and a shudder ran through me. I was terrified. Part of me wanted to stay in the cab and go straight back to the hospital, but I knew I couldn't. Not just for the safety of the guys, but for my own sanity. I had the terrible feeling that if I didn't face this, it would haunt me forever. But as I stepped from the car and it drove away into the dark, cloudy night, a light rain spattered down on my shoulders and I had never felt quite so alone. Walking slowly towards the mansion, I took a deep breath. It was dark but still quite early and as I looked toward the looming imposing main building, I couldn't help but notice that none of the lights were on. My breathing hitched as I tried to suppress the potential meaning of that one simple fact. Was I too late? I started to pick up speed; my concern for Gerard and the guys outweighing my deeply held fears. I was within twenty feet of the main door when I was stopped dead in my tracks as every light in the entire building came on. I simply juddered to a halt with shock as in four of the windows I saw the silhouettes of bodies hanging from the ceiling by their necks – four of them.

"No!" I screamed, running forward.

Only then did I realise that I had no keys with me and I found myself hammering on the door. Who I thought would answer, I wasn't sure. What I could do if I got inside, I didn't know. Could I avoid the same fate? The door opened sharply and suddenly and I almost fell inside with it. Gasping for breath, I started to hyperventilate and found myself dropping to my knees. As I fell, I was vaguely aware that it seemed that the curtain of light that had covered me dimmed and I saw feet by my hands.