Page 26 of Be With Us: An Urban Foursome Love Story

Cassian slid the box open and emptied the contents into his palm.

‘A key!’

Emilia’s eyes widened and she smiled for the first time as Cassian rushed over with it, passing it to her to slide into the lock. She reached up, and clicked it into place, turning it clockwise. As she did so, the face of Annie appeared in the mirror and both girls screamed and fell back.

Mark stepped forward and past the petrified girls and opened the cabinet, inside was a set of rosary beads, but without the traditional cross.

Emilia reached forward, ‘Give me those.’ She gripped them tightly in her fingers and peered around the room, eyes wide with fear.

Mark looked around the room too, and Cassian followed his gaze.

‘I think we have to perform an exorcism to get out,’ he said.

‘How the hell do you that?’ said Amy.

‘There must be something we’re missing,’ said Cass, desperate to contribute, conscious that Mark was doing most of the work and wanting to be more involved.

‘We need a Bible, for an exorcism?’ he said, not entirely certain, but then the clock stopped and the lights went out once more.

There was that dragging noise again, and Amy screamed, but this time the noise was closer, it was in the room and the voice of a little girl spoke.

‘You can’t get rid of me,’ she whispered. ‘I’m already dead.’

This time, just one of the lights flickered back on. Amy and Emilia ran to it like moths to a flame and stood wild eyed and terrified looking out into the dim darkness, eyes looking back at them from everywhere. Even Mark seemed on edge now, and Amy had noticed.

‘Why the fuck are we doing this? I don’t like it. I don’t like it, Mark,’ she and Amy were clinging to each other now.

Cassian came closer and began to look around and then something caught his eye in the corner of the room.

‘Was there a cot over there when we came in?’

‘Oh fuck right off,’ said Emilia as she turned to look.

In the corner, where before there had been nothing, was an old and rotten rocking cot. It had no mattress, or decoration and it was rusted and peeling, and worst of all, it was moving as though an unseen hand was gently pushing it.

Inside, very neatly sat on the metal coils of the springs, was a music box, and as they all looked over, it started to play.

‘No, no, no. I don't like it,’ said Amy. ‘What do we do?’

Mark didn't move, he seemed to be frozen to the spot. So Cassian walked over to it nervously, as Amy and Emilia shuffled forward, peering.

Cassian looked back at Mark, frowning.

‘We all have our limits, mate,’ said Mark, staying put.

Cassian nodded and leant over the edge of the cot to pick up the music box. It was still playing but it was winding down slowly. In the bottom was a turn key to wind it back up, and Cassian realised it was the missing cross for the rosary beads. He pulled at it, and it came out in his hands, the clock work still whirring and the creepy song still playing.

‘Where are those beads?’ he said and Emilia produced them, wrapped around her knuckles which were white with fear.

‘Amy, can you hook this onto there?’

‘Let me see,’ she said, and she let go of Emilia’s hand.

The light went out.

Something brushed past Emilia’s leg, and something else touched Amy’s face and both girls began to scream. Then there were voices everywhere, as though all the dolls were talking at once.

‘You’re worthless,’ they whispered. ‘Useless. You can’t stop us. Why did you come here? You can’t do this. Just give up and die. Die, die, die…’ The chorus of voices sounded like it was coming from everywhere.

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