Jake couldn’t think of a worse road to travel along at break-neck speed and hoped to God they made it in one piece without taking any pedestrians or other motorists out.

***

Cathy was zipping up her body armour as she was running for the door. ‘He won’t pick us up. They’re not going to waste any time. Come on, Kav, I’ll drive.’ She plucked a set of keys off the board in the small office and they ran out to the van.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck. You told her I’d go with her. Why didn’t she wait for me?’

‘We might be panicking over nothing yet, Kav. For all we know she could be sitting having a cup of tea with this old bird and might not be able to get a radio signal. You know how these mountains and hills make the signals drop out all the time, don’t you?’

‘Let’s hope so.’

***

Henry and Megan half carried, half dragged Annie into the kitchen of Beckett House. He was fuming with Megan for hurting Annie like that, but she would have hit her emergency button if she hadn’t, so he understood why she’d done it. But still, he didn’t like that she’d grinned when Annie had dropped to the ground.

‘As soon as we get her into the cellar I want you to go, get away from here. You’ve served your purpose. This is personal. Do you understand what I’m saying, Megan?’

She nodded. ‘What about her?’ She pointed to the old woman who was semi-conscious on the floor and tied up. ‘I’ll take care of her as well. Take the van and go. Thank you for all your help.’

Megan looked at him in disgust, clearly annoyed that he was just dismissing her like a naughty child after everything she had done for him, everything she’d given up. They picked up Annie again, who was a dead weight, and began carrying her towards the cellar. He’d taken the key chain from around the old woman’s neck and had already unlocked the bolts and padlocks while waiting for Annie to arrive. He swung the door open and tugged on the cord, illuminating the stone steps. The smell of earth and a much stronger one of decay, which he recognised, hit his nostrils and he wondered what the old woman had been keeping down here. They struggled to get Annie down the steps – they were so steep – without dropping her, but they managed it and set her down on the damp, cold floor at the bottom.

‘Thank you, Megan, now go and leave me to do what I have to do.’

She stood up, her face a mask of anger and whispered, ‘Fuck you, Henry,’ between clenched teeth. But she turned and walked up the steps. As she got to the kitchen she saw the flashing blue lights illuminating the drive and heard the police van skid to a halt on the gravel outside. She heard two voices as one shouted at the other to go around the back.

Picking up one of the large carving knives from the draining board, she wondered at how heavy it felt in her hands. Then she wondered what it would be like to actually stab it straight through someone’s flesh. She fell to her knees by the sink seconds before one of the coppers pushed the back door open and walked inside the house. A man’s voice shouted ‘Annie’. There was no reply because she was out for the count, about to be slaughtered like a pig in an abattoir.

Megan smiled to herself. The copper stepped in just past her and stood still to listen. At the same time he sensed there was someone behind him she lifted her hand and thrust the knife straight into his side, under his body armour at an angle. He let out a gasp and fell to his knees. Megan stood up, wiping the blood that had seeped from the wound onto her leggings, and watched as he fell forward. His hand clutched at the knife that was now protruding from his side and he gasped for breath. She stood over him and smiled.

‘You fucking bitch. Where’s Annie?’

***

Annie blinked then tried to open her eyes. If she’d felt queasy before it was nothing compared to how she felt now. She had no idea where she was, and then the smell of damp, rotting earth assaulted her nostrils and her lungs, making it hard to breathe. The tightness in her chest, as cold fear lodged inside it, was overwhelming when she realised what had happened. She didn’t speak, too afraid to let him know she was conscious, but she could sense that he was close by. Her head was lifted and she felt him pull her close. Annie wanted to scream, but who was going to hear her? He’d done it, tricked her, and this was where it was all going to end, back in a cold damp cellar like the one where it had all begun. She tried not to cry out with revulsion when Henry started to stroke her hair.

‘After all this time we finally made it, my beautiful Annie. I have to admit I never thought I’d see the day that I’d hold you in my arms once more, but look at us. Here we are. We were meant to be together, you and I. It was our destiny. How could you deny fate? Last time you were too scared and I understand that. I truly do. But I promise it won’t take long.’

She choked back a sob as he pressed the cold, sharp blade against her neck. He lifted her head closer to his face.

‘Are you awake now? I need you to wake up so you can see me, Annie, see the joy in my eyes at being reunited with you.’

Henry didn’t notice the monster that was pulling itself out of the drain in the corner of the cellar. It cautiously put one clawed hand out of the hole and sniffed the air. It could smell blood and fear. Silently now, it pulled its whole body from the drain and stood on its two long, spindly legs. Wary of the noise its clawed feet would make on the hard, stone floor, it moved closer to the man who was holding the woman on the floor.

***

Jake hammered on the front door one last time then ran around to the back where the kitchen door was wide open. He ran in and saw Megan standing over Will. Why was Will on the floor? He looked at her blood-stained hands, then realised something was seriously wrong. Forcing himself to look away from her and at his friend, he pressed his radio. ‘Control, boss, Kav? Urgent assistance at Beckett House. Will’s bleeding, everywhere.’

Jake pulled out his taser and shouted his warning to her, but she turned and ran, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to leave Will like that. ‘Fuck.’ He bent down to press his fingers against Will’s neck, thanking God that there was a pulse, even though it was faint. It was only when he knelt down that he noticed the old woman on the floor, tied and gagged. She blinked her eyes and he nodded. Pulling every tea towel off the draining rack he pressed them against Will’s side where the blood was seeping from. He picked up Will’s limp hand and put it on top of the wound. ‘You have to hold this on as best as you can and hang on. Help is on the way. Please don’t die on me, Will.’

Then he looked up and saw Megan standing by the open cellar door. He knew she was luring him down there, but he also knew that was where Annie was. He was torn between who to help first, but the old woman began to shuffle over to Will, so Jake ran after Megan. She was grinning at him, which made his blood boil. He lurched for her, but instead of catching hold of her arm he pushed her and she teetered on the top step before falling backwards in slow motion, her arms waving around in the air as she tumbled all the way down into the blackness at the bottom. As she hit the last concrete step a loud snap echoed around the cellar and Jake knew that she was dead, but he didn’t care. It was nothing more than she deserved.

He ran down the steps into the blackness and stopped when he saw Henry crouched on the floor with a semi-conscious Annie in his arms. Jake moved and Henry lifted the knife so he could see in the muted light. He looked over at Megan whose neck was bent at a strange angle with her unblinking eyes staring at something he’d never see. Realising she was dead, Henry cried out to her, then forced himself to take control. He looked at Jake, who was frozen to the floor, staring at something that was moving behind Henry. Henry didn’t dare look away from Jake in case he made a move. Henry bent down and tenderly kissed Annie, then raised his knife ready to slit her throat.