The Ghost of Briarwych Church Read online

  Where is Elizabeth? Everything is in place now. She must not let me down.

  ***

  Morning sunlight streams through the window as I stand alone, staring out at the world. The glass is dirty and old, so I really can see no more than vague blurs of color. I can hear the rustle of nearby trees, however, and a moment later I realize I can also hear voices.

  She is here.

  “It's all rather a mess, actually,” the priest says as he comes back inside. “Look down there, there's dirt on the floor. And here again, there seems to have been no work done for quite some time. So I'm afraid that the initial clean will have to be rather thorough. Somebody had even left a bicycle in here, so I don't think the place was really being used much as a kitchen back in the day.”

  Stepping out into the corridor, I freeze as soon as I see her.

  Elizabeth – my dear, darling Elizabeth – is standing at the corridor's other end, and she is staring straight at me. I want to rush over, to hug her and tell her that I'm so glad she is finally here, but I manage to hold back.

  “Is everything alright?” the priest asks, from the kitchen.

  She turns to him.

  “Oh, of course,” she says, and then she goes through to join him. “Forgive me, I suppose I'm just surprised to be in here. I never thought...”

  Her voice trails off for a moment.

  “You never thought what?” the priest asks.

  “Well, that I'd ever come in here again,” she explains. “After Father Perkins left, and considering the circumstances, I rather thought that perhaps the church would remain locked forever.”

  I listen as they talk. Elizabeth is doing so well, she sounds completely innocent, perhaps even a little naive. I am impressed, and a little surprised, that she is able to lie so well. At the same time, I feel a growing sense of tension in my chest as I realize that the moment of truth is now fast approaching. Sooner rather than later, the people of Briarwych shall return to the church, and then my plan for revenge can be put into action. Then I shall prove myself to Shaltak, and perhaps finally she will promise to never hurt my darling Elizabeth.

  I know I should keep away from my dear girl and let her get on with things, but I have missed her so very much. Making my way along the corridor, I stop just outside the kitchen door.

  “You are not the first person to get that look on their face while talking to me,” the priest is saying. “Is there something about Briarwych Church that I should know?”

  “Was she really not here?” Elizabeth asks.

  “She? Who is she?” There is a pause. “There is only one key to this church,” the priest continues, “and I can assure you that it is in my possession, and that it was given to me just a few days ago in London.”

  Good. He does not know of the secret spare key.

  “Oh, I'm sure that's true,” Elizabeth says, sounding rather convincing. “It's just that we all know what Father Perkins did when he left here a couple of years ago. Everyone knows. I mean, he... He locked her inside.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “That was two years ago,” she explains. “Several people saw the moment when he left, when he pulled the door shut and turned the key, locking Miss Prendergast inside.”

  I feel a shudder pass through my chest as I hear my dear Elizabeth refer to me by that name. At the same time, I am so very proud of her for fulfilling her role.

  “She's doing well, isn't she?” Shaltak's voice whispers.

  “She is,” I reply, as Elizabeth continues to speak to the priest.

  “Let's hope that she keeps it up,” Shaltak continues. “You want your revenge, don't you?”

  “Desperately,” I tell her, although there is a part of me that feel a flicker of fear, for I know what must come next.

  ***

  I stand completely still in the bell-tower, listening to the sound of somebody coming up the steps. I have been waiting here for a while now, anticipating the inevitable next stage of the plan, and I must admit that I feel no joy. Staring down at the floor, I cannot help but look at my poor, rotten body curled on the floor.

  Finally the priest emerges from the stairwell. At first he doesn't notice my corpse at all. Instead, he looks up at the bells and then he glances around at the walls. He almost looks directly at me, but then he turns and I see the expression of shock on his face as he stops and stares at the dead body. For a few seconds, he simply stares and stares, as if he cannot believe what he is seeing.

  “Father Loveford?” Elizabeth calls out from below. “Are you okay up there?”

  He hesitates, before turning as we both hear footsteps on the stairs.

  “Wait down there!” he says firmly.

  “Is everything alright?”

  “Wait down there,” he says again, before stepping a little close to my corpse. “Whatever you do, do not come up here.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do as I tell you,” he says, making his way around one side of the body while I walk around the other. He clearly has no idea that I am here. “For the love of God, do not come up.”

  Even in death, even rotten and tattered, my face has a certain nobility. I remember the moment of my death so clearly, and it is strange indeed to see my features frozen in the form they took in those final seconds. I suppose there is still some dignity to this situation, and I know that my body – alone and abandoned as it has been – has nevertheless served a purpose. It has been useful. And while I suppose I might be a little biased, I truly believe that my corpse retains a degree of pride. Indeed, I have seen living people who are less dignified. Violet Durridge springs to mind.

  Suddenly, hearing a whispering sound nearby, I turn and look at the priest. It takes a moment before I realize that he is uttering something under his breath. A prayer, perhaps.

  “Is everything alright?” Elizabeth says as her footsteps resume on the stairs. “Father Loveford?”

  “Wait!” he calls out. “Don't -”

  Before he can finish, Elizabeth appears at the top of the stairs. She glances briefly at me, just for half a second or so, and then she looks down at my dead body. The expression of horror on her face is exquisite, and I am truly taken aback by her performance. Then again, perhaps she is merely channeling her genuine grief as she stares for a moment longer at the dead body. And then, with no warning, she breaks the silence with a scream.

  Everything is going according to plan.

  ***

  “I failed you,” Elizabeth sobs, kneeling on the floor in the corridor, surrounded by the darkness and by the stench of the fire that was only just extinguished. “Mother, I'm so sorry. I love you so much, but I couldn't do it. I just couldn't burn all those people!”

  “Wretched failure,” Shaltak sneers, as if she's standing right behind me. “You know what you have to do. You can only redeem yourself by punishing her for her actions. And you can only punish her with death.”

  “She is the most beautiful, innocent girl in all the world,” I reply, with tears in my eyes as I watch Elizabeth's anguish. “I should never have made her do this.”

  “Do you think you had a choice?” Shaltak asks. “Well, I suppose you did. And you chose to make the same mistake that led to Father Perkins' death. Now your daughter must die as well, and it shall be by your hands, even if I have to control your hands to make you do this.”

  “No,” I whimper, “please, I'll do anything but you have to let her live!”

  “Her fate is sealed,” Shaltak replies. “The time of her death has arrived.”

  Before I can say anything, I suddenly spot a figure entering the church, and I recognize him at once. It is Father Loveford, a man I have come to respect over the past few weeks. He is a man of the Lord, and he has been good to my darling girl. Although everything feels doomed, I know that this man might yet be able to do something to help. It is far too late for me, of course, but Elizabeth must yet be saved.

  “Lizzy,” he says cautiously. “What are you doing here?�
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  “I'm so sorry, Mother,” she whimpers.

  “Lizzy,” he says, taking a step toward her, “I need you to look at me. Can you do that? Can you even hear me? Lizzy, can you -”

  “Kill her!” Shaltak screams.

  Elizabeth turns and looks at the priest, but at the same moment her body is pulled along the corridor until she slams into the floor at my feet.

  “Do it now!” Shaltak roars. “Do it, or I shall do it for you with your own hands!”

  “No!” I sob. “You can't make me!”

  Sobbing wildly, Elizabeth looks up at me.

  “I won't let this happen,” I whimper, but then I feel my arms moving, and I see to my horror that Shaltak is using my hands to reach out to my daughter's shoulder. “I won't let you hurt her,” I continue, trying desperately to stop Shaltak as she uses my hands to take hold of Elizabeth and twist her around until she has her back to me. “Don't you dare do this! You've hurt her so very much already.”

  “Lizzy,” the priest says as he comes closer, “I -”

  “She made me do it!” Elizabeth shouts at him, her voice filled with fear. “She made me, I didn't want to but she made me! She made me do it all!”

  “A confession at the end,” Shaltak sneers, as my hands tear the fabric at the back of her dress. “It won't save her soul.”

  “What, Lizzy?” the priest asks. “What did she make you do?”

  “I didn't want to,” she cries. “You must believe me, Father Loveford! I didn't -”

  Suddenly she stops, as Shaltak digs my fingertips deep into the skin on her back and starts carving a line through her flesh. Blood begins to run from the wounds, and I can feel the blood's heat against my fingers even as I try desperately to stop hurting her. I am cutting open the cuts that she caused with the cat o' nine tails, cuts that had begun to heal, and I am digging fresh marks too among the scars.

  “If you'd just followed the plan,” I whimper, “none of this would be happening. You brought this upon yourself.”

  “I didn't!” she sobs. “Stop saying that!”

  “Shaltak might have let you go,” I sob.

  “Lizzy, you're imagining things,” the priest says. “You're not -”

  “I didn't want to do it!” she shouts, suddenly pulling away and slamming her head against the wall.

  “Lizzy!” the priest calls out. “Stop!”

  “I didn't want to do any of it!” she screams, as Shaltak forces me to grab her once more from behind. “She made me, Father Loveford. She made me do all those wicked, wicked things!”

  “It wasn't me,” I tell her, desperately hoping that she'll understand. “It was Shaltak!”

  “Are you talking about your mother, Lizzy?” the priest asks. “You must have loved her very much. I can tell that, but your mother... I am sorry, but your mother is dead, and you cannot take it upon yourself to punish those you deem responsible. Only God can stand in judgment upon their souls, and you must trust that he will see their true natures when the time comes.”

  I let out an agonized whimper as Shaltak drives my fingertips deeper into Elizabeth's back. After a moment, I realize that she's carving her name into the flesh. I try desperately to stop her, but for a moment I am absolutely powerless.

  “She's not yours!” I sob. “You can't have her!”

  “You mustn't listen to the voice,” the priest says as he steps closer. “The voice is in your head.”

  My fingertips are digging so deep now, and the nails are starting to scratch against her poor bones. Yet again, I am hurting my darling girl.

  “Come to me,” the priest says, reaching a hand out toward her. “Lizzy, ignore the voice in your head and come to me.”

  “Mother, I'm sorry,” Elizabeth whimpers. “Forgive me.”

  “You have done nothing that needs to be forgiven,” I tell her, as Shaltak continues to rip her back apart. “This is all my fault, my darling. It's all my fault, but I'm going to fix it.”

  “I shall pull her heart out and make you squeeze it,” Shaltak sneers.

  “It's over now,” the priest says, stepping closer and closer to us. “I shall get you the help that you need. Do you understand? I'll help you, and -”

  Suddenly he stops, and when I look at him I realize that he's staring down at my hands as Elizabeth's blood flows from her wound. It's as if, after all the time he has spent here at Briarwych Church, he finally sees me. I want to tell him that this isn't really me, that I would never hurt my poor dear girl, but Shaltak has taken control of my every move and I can only watch as my fingertips dig deeper and deeper into Elizabeth's back. I try to force Shaltak out of my mind, but if anything she's getting stronger.

  “What is that?” the priest stammers.

  “I'm so sorry,” Lizzy cries, leaning a little toward him. “She made me do it. She made me do all of it.”

  Shaltak forces my hands to keep working, to dig deeper into her flesh. At the same time, no matter how hard I try to scream, I feel Shaltak forcing my face into a grimace of hatred. She is getting stronger by the second, and she has begun to take over my entire form.

  “This is what happens,” Shaltak whispers in my head, “when you and your little whore of a daughter disobey me. I really should have finished the little bitch off with that rose. I should have jammed it in so deep, until the end popped out through one of her eyes!”

  “She made me kill the poor man at the airbase,” Lizzy sobs, as my fingers dig deeper and deeper, “to silence him. She made me steal the petrol. She told me to wait, she said eventually everyone would come to church, and that then I'd be able to avenge her death, but... But I failed her. I was weak, I let them go. Don't you see now?”

  I want to tell her that she's wrong, that I understand everything, but I can't get the words out. Shaltak has full control of my body now.

  “Lizzy, come to me,” the priest says. “Lizzy, hurry. Lizzy! Now! Lizzy, get away from her immediately! Lizzy! Now!”

  “I'm sorry,” she whimpers, as I feel Shaltak's strength growing and growing in my body, pushing my own soul aside until I am filled completely. “Father Loveford, I'm so, so sorry.”

  “If you -”

  Suddenly I lunge at the priest, or rather Shaltak lunges at him in my body. He falls back and I land on top of him, and I scream as I grab his throat. His head bumped hard against the floor as he landed, and I think he might have knocked himself out. I desperately want to pull away, but instead my hands tighten around his neck.

  “What a handsome head,” Shaltak sneers in my mind. “First, I'm going to rip it from his body. Then, since she has failed us so miserably, I shall kill that miserable girl. Perhaps I shall have her bash her own brains out against the wall. Or it might be more amusing to throw her from the bell-tower. Yes, that's how I'll kill her. You'll enjoy that, Judith, won't you?”

  “Please don't do this,” I whimper.

  “You're not strong enough to stop me!” she snarls, tightening her grip again. “You're going to feel his blood as it -”

  “No!” Elizabeth shouts suddenly, rushing at us and grabbing the priest, and trying to drag him away. “I won't let you hurt him, Mother! I love him, I won't let you do this!”

  “It's not me,” I manage to tell her. “It's Shaltak!”

  “Who?” she asks.

  “It's -”

  Suddenly she gasps and takes a step back. At the same moment, I regain control of my hands and pull away from the priest.

  “Run!” I shout at Elizabeth. “You must get out of here!”

  She stares at me for a moment, and then slowly she tilts her head and begins to smile.

  “Elizabeth, leave this place!” I cry. “You have done nothing wrong, but I cannot see you like this! Get away, before Shaltak -”

  “Before Shaltak what?” she snaps back at me, with hatred in her eyes. “Before Shaltak takes control of my body and makes me leap from the bell-tower?”

  “Before -”

  Stopping suddenly, I realize that
her grin is growing and growing, and after a moment she begins to laugh.

  “Elizabeth, what are you doing?” I ask, still hoping against hope that my fears are unfounded. “Elizabeth, please, tell me that you're not -”

  “That I'm not what, Mummy?” she giggles. “What's wrong? You look upset. Don't worry, the real Elizabeth Prendergast is deep in here, and she's screaming so loud. She wants to retake control of her body, but she doesn't stand a chance. I'll give it back to her soon, though. Just as soon as she's begun to fall. That way, you'll get to hear her real final scream as she plummets.”

  Suddenly she turns and runs, and I watch in horror as she races up the steps that lead high up into the church.

  “No!” I gasp, as I suddenly realize what's about to happen. “Stop! You can't do this!”

  Running past the unconscious Father Loveford, I hurry after Elizabeth, desperately trying to get to her before Shaltak can make her jump. I can hear her footsteps ahead, getting further and further away, and I run as fast as I can manage. Finally I get all the way up into the bell-tower, just in time to see that Elizabeth is standing in one of the arched openings, silhouetted against the stars. She is standing as I once stood, when – long ago – I tried to destroy the evil that had taken root in my soul. This horror is in danger of repeating itself. And then, slowly, she turns and grins at me.

  “Goodbye, Mother,” she sneers. “Remember. This is all your fault.”

  With that, she turns and topples over the edge.

  “No!” I scream, rushing forward.

  In an instant, Elizabeth's body is pulled back into the bell-tower, until she's once against standing in the archway.

  “Clever,” she says with a grin. “You're a little more powerful than I'd anticipated, Judith, but it won't last. I know you humans tend to think that love conquers all, but that really isn't the case. Love is a weakness that leads fools and dreamers into terrible mistakes.”

  She starts to send Elizabeth falling forward again, but at the last moment something stops her.