Spook_me 2020 - Haunted - Chapter 16

[m_findlow]

Title: Haunted
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Gwen, Ianto, OCs
Author: m_findlow
Rating: M
Length: 50,847 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for spook_me 2020 Prompt - Ghost
Summary: The team investigate rumours of a haunted house in rural Wales.

Gwen's heart began to pound in her chest at the realisation she wasn't alone. She'd been prepared to face kids, or even adults, perhaps with weapons or at least enough gumption to break bones. She'd stepped into the unknown to face God only knew what more times than she could count, but she'd always been ready for it, armed, or at least had backup.

She reached slowly around behind her and felt for the phone in her back pocket that should be there. When her hand touched nothing more than denim covered flesh she could have sworn like a sailor. Her phone was still on the coffee table downstairs where she'd left it after downloading all her photos. Ianto's too, she realised, picturing the two of them side by side next to her laptop. She had no way of getting in touch with him, or Jack, assuming she could get any phone reception at all.

The low growl continued. Gwen searched the darkened room for the source but nothing was moving and nothing looked out of place. The room was large and spacious. It had its own hearth and a writing desk, several chintz chairs that were oddly pointed inwards rather than out at the country views through the windows. A huge gilt mirror hung over the hearth, reflecting back the huge four poster bed and the chaise that nestled at its foot. The rugs were worn in several spots and the canopy over the bed was equal parts fabric and cobwebs. In its day it might have been grand, but her inspections earlier had left her with the sense that its occupants had been depressed and uninspired by the views.

And there had definitely not been anything alive in here. As best she could tell the sound was coming from the one place she couldn't see. Under the bed.

Gwen remained stock still with her back to the door. The hand that had initially gone in search of her phone now stretched behind her back, seeking out the door knob once more. Please let Ianto be just on the other side. She'd have given anything for a slapstick moment of Ianto bursting through the door and knocking her flat on her face, discovering that it was only locked from the inside. Except there was no lock, she reminded herself. Not on this side of the door in any case. She didn't remember seeing locks on any of the doors except the front door and a rudimentary bolt on the kitchen door at the back. Perhaps the door was just warped in the frame, too many years of damp winters making it stick fast in the jamb.

She gave the brass knob another turn, praying it would open this time. It rattled so loud she thought the thing, whatever it was, would come leaping out straight at her. Her eyes remained fixed on the underside of the bed and the rotting valence, desperately searching for any sign of movement.

She resisted the urge to yell again. Whatever was under the bed would move faster than anyone would get to the door to let her out. What was under there? How had it gotten inside? They'd turned this place upside down all afternoon and found nothing. No sign of anything at all. Had Jack been right all along in thinking it was something alien? Maybe the house was situated on some kind of tear in space that allowed the thing to slip in and out unnoticed. Their equipment should have picked up something like that straight away. But why then did people think it was a ghost? Ghosts didn't usually growl like beasts.

Not the time, Gwen, she reminded herself. There'd be time enough for questions and curiosity once she was safely out of its path, or at least having subdued it. Instincts told her it was dangerous and that confronting it was a bad idea.

She looked around the room for inspiration. There were no wardrobes she could climb into or furniture she could use to defend herself. With the door stuck fast she was trapped in here.

The sound from under the bed faded until she began to wonder if it had ever been there at all or whether she'd somehow imagined it. Was the thing asleep maybe? Her eyes landed on the bed. It was a huge sturdy thing with carved posters and a heavy top frame hidden under all that frayed material. She could probably climb up on top of it and watch from up there to see what crawled out from underneath. She just had to know what it was. Of course, to get up there meant getting as close as possible. Her head told her it was a bad idea but her heart was flooding with adrenaline. What choice did she have? Stay here and wait for it to find her or take a chance at getting out of its path. Until someone came along and broke down the door from the outside, those were the only two options.

She steeled herself to take her first step forward. It was a languorous movement that was predicated on being as silent and unnoticeable as possible. When nothing happened she took a second step, and then a third, each with a long pause in between. It felt like she'd moved a mile but when she turned around to look behind her the door was only a yard away and the bed was still a good ten feet away at best.

She took another step and the floor creaked beneath her sneaker. She froze immediately, taking her weight back off it. She tried a few inches further to the left, placing her foot down as slowly as she could but as she added more weight to it, the floor groaned again.

A hiss and a low animalistic heavy breathing started up. She became like a statue, not even blinking. She couldn't tell how long she held that pose until she knew that with her weight precariously balanced all on her back leg that she couldn't stay that way a moment longer. It was cramping from the effort. If she didn't move, she might very well fall over.

She slid her other foot a little further forward, praying the next spot on the rug she found didn't have a loose floorboard underneath it. With a ballet dancer's pose she pressed toes to the floor first, shifting from her back foot to her front. The silence held. She gasped involuntarily, not realising she'd been holding her breath and that her lungs were desperate for air.

She tried to steady her breath, forcing it in long cautious cycles. Her heart was pounding faster than it should be. She couldn't explain the deep-seated anxiety except for the awful sensation that she was alone. It felt like the house was empty all but for her and whatever was in here with her. It was madness. Jack and Ianto had to be just a stone's throw away. So why did she feel so alone?

She'd had nightmares about the kinds of monsters that lurked under her bed when she was little. Every night her dad had come in and checked for her before she got in, but it hadn't stopped her from insisting on the night light plugged into the wall, and the torch she kept on her bedside table so that she could use it to dispel the shadows when her mind convinced her that they were something more than they were. As an adult she'd felt ridiculous to have ever been frightened at all. At least she knew there was nothing under her bed these days. There was so much junk accumulated from her life with Rhys that nothing else could possibly fit under there. Now she was beginning to wonder if her fears hadn't been that unfounded at all.

Every step forward felt agonising and slow. She was almost there and that filled her with a renewed sense of anxiety. She was perhaps only three feet away. The thing was bound to come out at any moment and grab her. God, why had she ever thought this was a good idea?

She leaned her upper body forward, reaching towards the thick wooden poster. Her fingertips brushed it and she leaned a little more, wrapping her hand around it, feeling every groove in the carved timber. She reached out her other hand, holding it tightly with both now. She dropped her head to look down at the gap between her and the edge of the bed. It seemed so black she couldn't see if the valence was moving or not. She lifted her leg, trying to wedge it in the corner joint between the poster and the end board. She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat. One chance to heft herself up. She took a deep breath and then pulled herself up as quickly as she could. She didn't stop there. She jammed her foot into the next largest carved gap and kept going, reaching for the top of the frame to pull herself the rest of the way up.

It was enough motion to disturb the creature. She scurried over the top and then rolled over onto her belly. She brushed back her hair, pulling it behind her ear and slowly poked her head out over the side.

What emerged from beneath the bed made her breath solidify in her chest like cement. She'd thought it was dark in here before but there was a marked difference between the darkness her eyes had adjusted to and the thing that slid out from under the bed. She couldn't quite make out what it was exactly. It seemed to be all shadows and jagged thorns in a vaguely human shape, but moved like wisps of smoke. And it was huge. As more and more of it emerged it was impossible to see how it had hidden itself away under there. It expanded into a huge mass of sharp edges, blacker than the darkest thing she could imagine. It had filled the space between the bed and the door, completely blocking off any chance of exit. It hissed and gurgled menacingly, like it had been compressed into too small a space and was now finally reforming into its proper state. Soon it was going to be so large that it would be tall enough to see her, and maybe large enough to consume the whole room.

For a brief moment she was fixed to the spot as she felt a presence deep within the monster. She sensed it and it sensed her. She scrambled back from the edge as the thing glided up with frightening speed towards her.

She flung herself away and over the other edge of the bed. The thing hissed and wailed as it slid up and over the entire bed frame in its pursuit. Gwen bolted to the end of the room knowing full well it had her cornered with nowhere to go. It passed right through a chintz armchair in its path.

An icy rush of air preceded the thing and the window behind Gwen began to frost up with icicles. The window! She scrambled up onto the low cabinet and grabbed an armful of thick drapes before kicking out at the glass, forming as big a hole as she could. The drop from the window would be twenty feet at least. It might kill her but she was out of options.

She threw herself out through it, feet first, and felt the predictable tearing as the drapes broke away from their railing. The rest snagged on the broken window, ripping in long screeching tears which slowed her fall before they tore through completely and dropped her the remaining ten feet. She landed hard on her side, feeling her upper arm and shoulder take the brunt of the fall. The shock of landing lasted into a few seconds before she forced herself to her feet and ran. It didn't matter where, just so long as she put distance between her and that thing which was bound to be right on her heels.

Next chapter...