No Way To Escape | Novel

CHAPTER 54: SETTING UP

It was night by now. As I stood there before the mansion, right over the gravel path across the front yard, nostalgia hit me. I had been there once before, the similar way, and it was night time too. But there were three vicissitudes now - firstly, the last time around I had my dear friend Larry with me and now it was Father Richard, right by my side. We were rushing out of it the previous time and this time I was facing it. It was a rainy night back then and now it was just calm with soft breeze kissing my cheeks, giving me a phlegmatic feel before I could proceed for the needful.

I started crying. Larry's face started flashing before my eyes. The face which when I saw for the last time was an impulsive one, ready to give up his life. And then what came was the old Larry - the one I had known for years. The stout, jovial, happy-go-lucky guy. I just couldn't hold my tears back. Father pressed his palm against my shoulder and asked me to rethink.

'It's not any other way around, dad'. Finally, I spoke out the word. He didn't seem to be surprised at it. We felt so connected now. He nodded. We finally shared a glance before deciding to move in. My hands were itching to have that bloody coin in my hand. As we walked up the porch and my hand was just about to pull the knob, the words - Not any other way around - resonated again in my mind. I halted a while and then shaking by head, jolted the door open.

It was utterly silent in there. But wasn't it already supposed to be? But in this case, it was not. The silence in there was resonating. I felt like being in a transition state before death. As we walked in further into the hall, the sound of our footsteps echoed quite loudly.

As we walked up to the center of the hall, my vision went to the spot where I had seen Momma Warwick die, in a pool of blood, with her face up, eyes wide open, giving a dead-stare to the ceiling. I glanced at the ceiling up above. An old, huge chandelier above us, with candles all over it, was dangling from the ceiling.

Wait, I had seen the chandelier, but had the candles been there before?

My glance shifted to the spot where the exorcism was performed and Edward had finally taken his last evil breath, before getting rid of the sandy mass off him. The recurring vision made me judder. I kneeled down by that spot and told Father that it was the very place where it had all started.

'Any coin around?', he asked. I tried to peer through the darkness but couldn't see any. 'No', I replied.

'You better have a look around, Liam. We need to finish it off as fast as possible', he said as I stood back up.

'Hm, I'mma have a look around the kitchen, you check the main room', I said as we split in opposite directions in the darkness. I pulled out the mobile phone from my pocket and switched on the flashlight as I moved further towards the kitchen. I could hear footsteps behind me - of Father's - going back.

As I got to the kitchen, I pushed the door open. It swayed open smoothly without any creepy effect. You want me in, don't you? Without delaying much, I started searching for the coin everywhere. I checked all the drawers, the sink, the shelves; everywhere; but it just doesn't seem to appear; as if it had hidden itself somewhere.

And then suddenly the music commenced. The music of a toy. Startled, I turned back swiftly and faced the door. The door had been left ajar by me. It had opened so smoothly after all. I pointed the light in the music's direction and anticipated the worst.

But then my mind screamed to me to just focus. It isn't real, they are playing with your brain. I turned back again and started searching for the coin again. There were some old, small cardboard cases on the wall-side worktop. I started probing through them while I could hear the music close in on me. All the boxes were filled with junk and scrap. I thrashed down the cases in anger and leaned against the worktop. I could still hear the music. It was almost by the door now.