Free Dead Silent by Mark Roberts

I turned on the light switch on the upstairs landing, but it didn’t do anything to help because the light... pulsing... from Father’s room was... I pushed his bedroom door open a little and he wasn’t in his bed. I stepped inside the room and... someone – he must have been standing by the wall behind the door – slammed the door shut, trapping me in the room. I looked – the light was unbearable, white light and black shadows. No! Where was my father? I couldn’t believe it. But it was my father, naked, like a beast hanging from a pole with all that hideous light pouring over his body. My head felt empty, but my body was like stone.’
    She held her hands to her face, pressing her fingers over her mouth.
    ‘Did you see anyone in your father’s room?’
    ‘I felt him,’ replied Louise. She touched the nape of her neck. ‘Right here. I faced away from Father, the dreadful light was at my back, then it stopped and the room was plunged into darkness. Black. Deep, black darkness. That was when I felt his breath on me, on my neck, and his hands on my shoulders, pressing down on my shoulders. My legs were like water and all my strength had left me. He was in control of me. He laid me down on the floor. I thought I was going to die.’
    Clay watched memory play out on Louise’s face. ‘Did he speak?’
    ‘I heard a voice. I am the Angel of Destruction and I am watching over you. The First Born has spared you. Death, who we serve, has shown you mercy. ’
    ‘What was the voice like?’
    ‘Strange. He didn’t sound like a man, but he didn’t sound like a woman either. Like something in between.’
    ‘It was completely dark?’ asked Clay, a knife turning in her core. The proximity of Louise to the killers and the absence of light equated to the cruellest form of mockery.
    ‘There was some light, leaking in through the bottom of the door into the hall, and streetlight coming in through a crack in the curtains. And my eyes – I suppose they were getting used to the dark. I don’t know how long it all went on for because I lost all sense of time.’
    ‘Could you see his face?’
    ‘I could see shapes. He stood up. I think he was tall, but I was lying on the floor and he may have appeared taller than he was.’
    ‘Did he walk near the curtains, near the light?’
    ‘He stayed in the dark. He stood very still. In between me and Father. His back was turned to me, I think. He stood still for a long time. I think he was looking at Father through the darkness.’
    Louise looked into the middle distance, but, to Clay, she didn’t seem to be looking at anything in the hospital room. She was reliving the nightmare and converting it into stone-cold reality.
    ‘He turned on that dreadful light again. And walked out of the room.’
    ‘Did you see anyone else leave the room?’ asked Clay.
    ‘I think so.’ Louise looked harrowed. ‘When that dreadful light was back on and he walked out, I watched. And I don’t know if it was a trick of the light, but I saw another man follow him out of the bedroom. The First Born and the Angel of Destruction? But they weren’t angels. They were men. Just wicked, wicked men.’
    Clay held on to both of Louise’s hands. ‘Louise, look at me.’ When she made eye contact, Clay said, ‘We’re going to help you, Louise. Gina Riley will sit with you, talk to you, listen to you. But for now, I want to ask you about The Sanctuary...’
    ‘The Sanctuary?’
    ‘We found a leaflet in your bedroom for a summer fair there. Did you go to that fair?’
    ‘Of course I did. I go there every single day. Sundays included.’
    ‘You work there?’
    ‘It’s not work. It’s my vocation.’
    ‘The people there, they know you very well?’
    ‘Of course, everyone knows me. And I know everyone. It’s my home from home.’
    ‘Louise?’ said Riley.
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘When I asked you if you wanted anyone to support you, you said, No one . Couldn’t someone from The Sanctuary have come to your