Helen Phifer - The Good Sisters - The perfect scary read to curl up with this winter

***

‘All right, Kate, what’s up with you? You look as white as a sheet.’

Ollie opened the door. He shrugged at Jack and Ethan, who were both sat in the back seat eating their pies.

‘Do you want to tell me what happened? Why you almost gave me a heart attack and crushed my dinner that I’ve been dreaming about eating all morning at the same time?’

Feeling stupid, Kate felt her cheeks begin to flush as she realised she sounded like a lunatic.

‘I smelt something weird in the bathroom. When I came out it was stronger on the landing and then I heard my friend Amy call my name. Only it couldn’t have been her because she’s dead. I followed the voice and the smell to the room you were working on less than half an hour ago.’

All three men were leaning forward, obviously wondering what she was going to say next.

‘I sound stupid, don’t I?’

Ollie shook his head. ‘No, not at all. You heard your name called, something smelt weird and then what happened?’

‘I couldn’t open the door. I was too scared so I listened and I heard the sound of something heavy. It was cumbersome and it was slowly moving towards the door. Well I knew you lot had gone to get some dinner and it scared me. There’s someone or something inside the house and I don’t know who or what it is!’

‘You wait here. Me and the masked avengers will go inside and investigate.’

‘Shouldn’t we just phone the police?’

‘I’m pretty sure whatever or whoever it is won’t want to mess us three around. We’ll be fine won’t we, lads?’

‘Speak for yourself, boss. If something scared Kate then who are we to doubt that?’

‘I don’t bloody believe it, you wimps. What’s wrong with you?’

Ethan got out of the van. ‘I’m not a wimp, but Jack is a complete wuss. Aren’t you, Jack?’

Jack gave Ethan the finger. ‘I’ll wait here with Kate, make sure she’s okay.’

Kate could feel her hands shaking and she clasped them together. She felt so cold even though it was a warm autumn day. She watched as the two men went inside her house and felt as though she’d just sent them in to their deaths, the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach was so intense.

‘I can’t stay here and wait. I have to go with them.’ She jumped out and ran to the door, closely followed by Jack who was muttering underneath his breath. She ran into the entrance hall and saw Ollie and Ethan almost on the top stair, stepping over the crushed pies on the floor. She ran as quietly as she could until she was on the step behind them. Ollie pointed to the bedroom that they’d been working in and she nodded. Ethan looked at Ollie who was now standing with his hand on the doorknob. He twisted it then threw the door open.

Kate, whose legs had turned to jelly, saw that the room was empty. There was no huge man in there with an axe waiting to kill them all, and no ghost of Amy. Ollie stepped inside followed by Ethan. They checked the en suite, but the door hadn’t been hung yet so they could see straight inside it from where they stood. All of them let out a huge sigh of relief except for Kate. She knew that she’d heard something inside there. She could also detect a very faint odour, the same as before, but it was residual and not as strong.

***

Ollie didn’t say anything. He was wondering if she’d been on the vodka again whilst they’d been gone. Alcohol could play strange games with a person. He stole a glance at her to see if she was a bit worse for wear, but she didn’t look like she was. What she looked was scared and he wanted to pull her close and hold her more than anything.

‘I’ll go and check the attic. Ethan, you and Kate can check the rest of the rooms on this floor. Jack, you go and check the ground floor. I’ll also do the cellar. Is that okay with everyone?’

They all nodded and Kate muttered, ‘I swear to God I’m not going mad. There was someone inside this room.’

No one spoke. They just went their separate ways and began to check every room, nook and cranny in the whole house. After ten minutes they all met up again in the kitchen. Kate had picked Ollie’s crushed pies up, which were still steaming hot, and put them onto a plate for him. He took one look at them and began to laugh. In fact he began to laugh so hard that tears fell from his eyes.

‘That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. One of them was yours, by the way, so should I divide that mess onto another plate.’

***

Kate smiled. Ollie had the nicest laugh she’d ever heard. Martin’s was such a loud, false guffaw, but this was a proper belly laugh.

‘No, thank you, I’ve done enough damage. I don’t want to deprive you.’

‘I already had one in the car on the way back. I swear I’m not eating that on my own. I’ll only eat half if you have the other. I’m not being rude, Kate, but you never eat. Even a pie in that state will do you a world of good.’

‘If you don’t mind sharing then that would be great. I’m actually starving. It’s the smell that’s making my mouth water. If I don’t look at the mess on the plate, I’ll be able to eat it.’

Ollie turned to take a plate from the cupboard and a knife from the drawer. After scraping half of it onto the other plate, he passed it to her. She picked up a fork from the draining board and began to eat, hoping it would stop the sick feeling in her stomach and stop her hands from shaking so much.

Ethan and Jack left them to it and went back upstairs to finish painting the walls of the room that had caused all the fuss. Ollie dead-eyed the pair of them, clearly warning them not to start gossiping about Kate when they got up there. He waited until they were out of sight and she’d finished eating.

‘So do you want to tell me what exactly you thought was going on, Kate? I’m worried about you. This is a huge house for one person to live in on their own. You’re bound to get a bit spooked. I know that I certainly would.’

‘I’m not hallucinating or drunk if that’s what you think. We both know that I drink, but I don’t drink through the day and I’ve been trying to cut down of an evening as well.’

She thought about the swig of vodka she’d downed her tablets with, but that didn’t count, did it?

‘I didn’t say that. I don’t like the fact that you’ve heard things. And what about those crosses? We haven’t got to the bottom of how that happened, have we? Does Martin know about this place? Because I’m worried he has something to do with it and is trying to scare you half to death so you’ll leave.’

‘I don’t know, Ollie. I didn’t think about that. You know I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s such a sneaky bastard. If he thought I was doing well for myself he’d jump straight in and try to rip it all away from me.’

‘Do you think we should get some basic CCTV cameras that cover the outside of the building and the drive? That way if anyone is sneaking around you’ll be able to see them and ring the police. I know it’s extra expense, but it would make me feel a whole lot better and you would feel a bit safer. I hate leaving you each night on your own.’

Kate felt her heart skip a beat at his last words. Had he really just said that or was she making a much bigger thing out of it than was completely necessary? Why the hell were all the nice men spoken for? He was such a gentleman and she hoped his wife appreciated just how lucky she was. If she was married to Ollie she wouldn’t ever want to let him out of her sight because he was too bloody perfect.

‘Do you mean that? I mean do you think cameras would make it better?’

‘It wouldn’t hurt. If you wanted I could have them fed through to my laptop at home as well, and then both of us could keep an eye on the place. I have to say, though, you are the bravest, craziest woman I’ve ever met. Not to mention stubborn. Most people would have run off by now and booked into a hotel. Plus if we catch Martin or one of his cronies on camera you can give it to the police and they won’t be able to deny it.’