Me and the Devil

ChapterFour

I shook my head and returned back to the shelves, then my eyes landed on a narrow staircase leading to an upper gallery. I hadn’t seen that section yet anf there was a clear brass sign that said ‘ARCHIVE’, although the lettered look faded with age.

I climbed the stairs carefully and the upper part was darker than the rest of the library. Everything was covered in thicker dust than the ones below, meaning that only very few people came here.

The shelves there had old church documents and prayer books that dated back to decades ago. When I ran my fingers across the books, many were crumbling and ready to fall. I spent minutes which turned into hours, and outside, the thunder rolled across the sky.

I was just about to give up when I noticed something unusual, one shelf appeared to be a bit out of line with the others. Frowning, I pulled many books aside and behind them, I saw a small stack of prayer books, intentionally hidden. Unlike the others that looked just old snd dusty, this one looks without like someone has used it more frequently than normal.

I carefully removed the top book and it had no title on the front, just a faded cross. When I opened it, most of the pages had handwritten prayers and notes that were copied from the scriptures… nothing. Then a folded piece of paper slipped through a page, my pulse quickened as I picked it up and began to unfold it. The handwriting looked a bit hurried, like whoever wrote it was frightened. The first line made my breath hitch.

“ELEANOR HARGROVE.”

My heart sank into my stomach… at last I found something. With trembling hands, I continued reading and there was only one sentence beneath that name.

“If you hear him speak your name, do not answer.”

For several seconds, I could only stare until the words began to blur before my eyes. Thunder crashed outside and the library lights flickered, then a cold wind swept through the upper gallery even though the windows were shut tight. My grip tightened on the paper and strange dread filled my stomach. Eleanor knew about the voices… someone else has heard him too and I wasn’t just losing my mind, and that someone had disappeared.

The floorboards then creaked softly but when I spun around, the place was empty. I still felt like someone was watching me and that unsettled me… then I heard the voice rumble in a low tone. “Ruby?”

My entire body froze and the note trembled in my hands, “if you hear him speak your name, do not answer.”

I hurriedly left the library and just when I shut the door behind me, I saw Mrs Graves pretending to dust the portraits in the hallway, but I could see her staring at me from the corners of her eye.

I have that the rain had stopped immediately I left the library and when the clouds cleared up, it was already night time.

I ignored her and went downstairs to meet Ellis already walking through the entrance doors.

“You’re home,” I tried to force a smile.

“The meeting ended early,” he passed his suitcase and soaked coat to the butler.

Then he paused and studied me like it was his job, while my pulse raced.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, trying so hard to steady my voice.

“Nothing, Ruby,” he breathed. “I’ll be upstairs if you need anything.” Then he walked away without another word. I sank into the chairs, remembering Malachir’s words earlier… he wanted to see me again tonight. A part of me wanted to go for the pleasure but the other part of me needed to so go I can get answers to the questions in my head about Eleanor.

The cathedral was silent as I slipped out of bed, right after Ellis had fallen asleep… I spiked his meal. For several minutes, I stared at the ceiling trying to fight the pull that I felt in my chest. But the memory of Malachir’s voice haunted me.

The words followed me through the dark corridors as I went down to the lower parts of the cathedral. The lower I went, the colder the air became, then I perceived that scent of incense and ash. I tightened my grip on the lamp I was holding, the hidden note folded in my pocket.

When I reached the abandoned room, it was so silent that I thought he would not come.

“You came,” his voice swept passed my ears and the light in the lamp flickered.

“Malachir,” I whispered as I turned slowly to see his shadow darker than before.

His low chuckle echoed through the stoned walls. “I was beginning to think that you had lost interest.”

My hands went to my pocket, about to slip out the paper. “I have a few questions.”

I felt a gush of wind move around me and especially through my legs making that ache return.

“Questions?” He whooshed.

“Ruby, I can see your greedy cunt ache so much that I don’t think you’re here for… questions.”

My breath hitched… he was right but I really needed answers too to I tried to remain still and fight the urge to respond to the ache. He noticed it quickly so he stopped.

“Ask me.”

“I found something today,” my finger tips were now at the edge of the paper.

“What did you find.”

“A name.”

I felt the air shift strangely like tension was beginning to grow and the darkness grew thicker.

“Eleanor Hargrove,” I said and paused for a reaction.

He finally spoke in a calm voice that sounded like it was calculated so he wouldn’t say something he wasn’t meant to say… yet.

“A ghost from another life.” His voice was cold.

I frowned. Mrs Graves looked frightened when she was mentioning that name to me earlier and now Malachir was completely avoiding the question.