The Phantom Ritual (DCI Morgan Chester: Case One)

Chapter Three

Bobby Ryan's head throbbed as she lifted her head from the pillow. Her eyes were hidden under long lashes stung from the harsh industrial light above her. The side of her neck ached from where the needle had entered. Her breathing hitched when she saw the metal bars; she was in a large cage, trapped like a wild animal.

Fear gripped tightly at her throat, and she struggled to catch her breath. The mattress beneath her felt damp and stained yellow. She prayed it was not urine. Bobby slid her heavily exhausted body into a sitting position and rested her back against the cold brick wall. There was a rug of resistance as she pulled both knees to her chest. Her gaze fell on a shackle locked around her ankle. She wrapped her fingers around the chain and attempted to pull at it. The metal was too strong.

"Shit!" she cursed as she threw the chain down.

Tears brimmed in her eyes. She opened her mouth, feeling her chapped lips splitting, and prepared to scream for help when a soft voice warned her.

"Please do not scream."

Frantically, Bobby snapped her eyes around the darkness to find the owner of the voice. A timid face with straw-like blonde hair tied in a high ponytail appeared on the edge of the light. She looked no older than nineteen.

"My name is Bailey." The girl smiled weakly at her.

"Where am I?" Bobby's voice cracked.

"It is best if you don't ask questions."

Dread swept over Bobby. Do not show them any weakness.

"Please, I have a daughter. She needs her mum." Bobby told her.

She had taken her one-year-old baby, Jesse, for an evening stroll around the park. A pair of arms reached out, wound themselves around her. There was a scuffle, and the unknown person threw her into the back of a van. She had no idea what happened to Jesse, but she prayed she was safe.

"It would be best to forget about her. Either way, you will not be getting out of here alive. Nobody ever does." Bailey replied sullenly. She had come to accept her fate, and it would come soon.

Bobby bit her lip and swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. "What do they want from us?"

Bailey entered the light more. Bobby's eyes widened as they landed on the girl's swollen stomach.

"To give them a child. Sorry, a girl," she corrected herself, "they do not like boys."

"What if you give birth to a boy?"

"Then they will take the baby away, drop it off at a safe place."

"And I guess you have to get pregnant again?"

Bailey sighed and looked at Bobby. She came closer to the bars.

"You are no use to them at that point. Regardless if you give them a boy or a girl, they will dispose of you. The last girl gave birth to a baby boy. She was found face down in a riverbank in the closest town not too long ago. We do not know what happened to the baby. The next night I had to attend the black mass."

"Black mass?"

"A ritual they think Lucifer bestowed on them. They take the girl, tie her to the altar, and members of the cult will take their turns. And then you get pregnant."

Bobby looked at Bailey, horrified. Their captors will kill her and then dispose of her body. Then they would move on Bobby. They needed to get out.

Loud shouts and a piercing scream erupted outside the gunmetal industrial door beside their cages. It was the only exit and entrance to the room. Bobby's heart stopped as footsteps approached, but they quickly withdrew. Next, she heard a male's voice boom and spout profanities. Bailey's eyes lit up.

"She did it," Bailey whispered.

"What is going on?" Bobby feared the answer.

"Laura, she must have fought back and got out. If she gets out, then she can get the police." Bailey replied hopefully.

The door flew open and more lights in the ceiling flickered on. Bobby closed her eyes tightly as the bright light almost blinded her. They slowly adjusted as she opened them, her heart launched in her throat. There were another two cages on the other side of the room, one had a woman stirring on her mattress, and the other cage was empty. Bobby guessed that was Laura's cage.

Bobby's world stopped spinning as the pale-faced woman's cold gaze landed on her. She recognized her from the adoption process. Nicola Brown and her husband Eric would have been the adoptive parents of Bobby's daughter, but she changed her mind when her baby was born.

Nicola entered Bailey's cage without uttering a word to Bobby. She held in her hand a green box filled with first aid. Nicola asked Bailey routine questions a nurse would say to an expecting mother. Bobby remembered the hospital appointment scans when she was pregnant with Jesse. She pushed down the painful memories and focused on an escape. Jesse was relying on her. Bobby would easily overpower Nicola, but could she also take on Eric?

"Your due date is coming up quickly, Bailey. I think we can push it forward in a couple of days." Nicola told the girl, and Bailey just nodded. "You did exceptionally well this evening. I am proud of you."

"We heard screaming. Is Laura okay?" Bailey asked innocently.

Nicola's face tightened. "You will not see Laura again." She muttered.

Bailey's eyes widened. "But she has to prepare for the next stage."

Bobby shuddered as she knew Bailey meant preparing for her murder.

"She attacked my husband. The whore had to learn her lesson."

Bailey slumped back onto the mattress, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She knew Laura did not get out; she was dead.

Nicola put the lock back on Bailey's cage, ignoring the girl's silent sobs, and turned her eyes to Bobby.

"Hello, Bobby. So nice of you to join us." Her voice was cold and menacing.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You denied me what was mine." She shrugged.

Her breathing hitched. It was clear that this was because Bobby terminated the adoption.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I can't help that I fell in love with my daughter and wanted to keep her."

"It's too late for your grovelling. It turns out your little sprog wasn't what we wanted. Eric made sure to deal with it."

"Deal with it? What did you do!" she screamed and launched towards the bars, pushing her arm through it. Nicola laughed menacingly.

"Your precious little daughter is gone because you have betrayed us. Now you have no choice but to give me what I want. I will enjoy ripping this baby out of your hands." She turned on her heel. Her wickedly evil laugh followed her.