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Bert sat on the floor until his bottom went numb. The crystal ball was cheap rubbish, and he wiped away his fingerprints before returning it to the box. Mother would send the presents back when the whim suited her anyway. He didn’t like the ouija board. The second he placed the plinth on the wood he knew it was a doorway into something too dark for him to handle. What if his brother started talking to him through it? What if Callum said that he was going to hell for making him fall from that tree? His mother told him about hell once, a long time ago, when she used to go to church, but Bert’s harsh life lessons demonstrated that the darkness of hell was not reserved for the afterlife. It was with him every minute of every day.
He turned his attention back to the cards, feeling a tingle shoot up his finger as he touched the deck. It brought with it a hint of the power lying behind the shop-coated smell. A flutter of excitement rose, as he clumsily thumbed the pictures. Death, temperance, and judgment, the meaning of each card whispered softly into his senses. Bert smiled as he brought them to his nose, inhaling their power. The empty feeling he had been carrying evaporated as he basked in their potency.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The itch. The damned itch! Je
‘No,’ she said, ‘get away from me, no!’
A light flickered on and Je
‘Hey, hey, it’s me, Will. You’re dreaming.’
She blinked, looking left to right. ‘Mmm? Where am I?’
Will murmured softly. ‘Shhh, it’s OK, it’s just a bad dream.’
Je
Will pressed his lips against her forehead before turning to face the wall.
Easing herself into the warmth of his back, Je
[#]
‘You’re late, I didn’t think you were coming,’ Amy said, pulling open the door. Her usual weekly visit had been delayed by a late afternoon lie-in at Will’s, and a shared shower after di
Six sterilised baby bottles were lined up in a row next to an open tin of milk powder, and Amy completed the routine of mixing, shaking and storing the feeds before wiping down the counter and making two cups of tea. Je
Je
Soon the pair of them were chatting about the kids, family life, and a censored version of life in the police force. Je
‘I got his test results back today,’ Amy said, lightly stirring the tea before pushing it across the marble counter.
Je
‘What did they come up with?’
Amy shrugged. ‘He’s perfectly healthy. No ADHD, no autism, nothing. Just a busy boy with an overactive imagination.’
‘Good,’ Je
‘You seem different tonight, sis, any news?’ Amy said, delivering the words with a knowing smile.
Je
Amy leaned forward, her chin resting on the palm of her hand. ‘So you’ve not been shagging anyone? It’s just that you stink of sex.’
Je
‘The sort of thing you say when your sister’s been holding out. Now spill. I know you’ve been seeing someone.’
‘I’ve not …’
Amy chuckled, sliding her mobile phone across the counter and pressing the button to display a text. ‘Then why did you send this text an hour before you got here?’
Je
‘It’s early days, I wasn’t going to say anything yet.’
Amy wagged her finger. ‘I’m your sister, you shouldn’t be holding out on me. It’s the guy that stayed over when you were in hospital, isn’t it?’
Je
‘Hmm,’ Amy said, raising her cup to finish her tea. ‘He’s a bit scruffy, but you like them rough and ready, don’t you?’
Je
Je
‘Does he know about our band of misfits?’ Amy said.
Je
‘Well I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for farting,’ Amy gri
Je