The Shadow in the Flame

Stories

### Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Death resides in a house where a terrible accident occurred. Now thirty years later a group of girls struggle to survive in a house with bad memories and where the main resident is death itself...

Complete Chapters 13

Rating 4.6 ( 28 reviews ) Age Rating 16+

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Chapter 1

"Please, oh my god! Please help!" The woman stood by the window, tears streaming down her face. Her blonde hair fell across her face in an unkempt manner, and her night wear was tinged by patches of sweat. She banged on the window in desperation, "Please...anyone, help us!" Behind her the sounds of panic reverberated around the room as other people pushed and forced their way through the chaos. She continued to bang on the glass as she begged for unseen and unhearing help from the outside world.

Flames licked at the walls of the room as the fire spread across the floor. Other women struggled in vain at the door in the corridor, while others threw pieces of furniture in the direction of the window. The woman sobbed uncontrollably as her hand began to bleed under the pressure placed on the glass as she banged. Tears mixed with blood from her nose and both combined and slid down her face. "Please..." she begged desperately. One woman in the corridor screamed and clutched at her hand as the heat from the fire licked the metal handle and burnt at the door. She looked at her hand and sobbed as the flesh was burnt from her palm.

Activity on the street below broke the sound of screams as the main doors of the building were thrown open. As the cold night air invaded the building, a clutch of people dressed in plain white overalls spilled out into the night air. Three men looked up toward the upper floors of the building and hid their faces as they saw the sight from the upper echelons of the building. One of the men grabbed at a necklace around his neck, closed his eyes, made a quick prayer, and then kissed the chain before turning and making haste into the cool embrace of the night. More people spewed onto the pavement and out across the courtyard close to the grassy area by the building while two women stood watching the terror unfold before their eyes.

The younger of the two grabbed at the shoulders of the elder. "You had no right to lock those doors, there are still people trapped in the building!" desperation tinged her emotions as she pleaded toward the elderly woman.

"What I did Sister Turnbull, I did for the safety of the majority" There was a coldness to her voice as she spoke, "If the fire is contained within one area, we can save most of the patients and hopefully maybe even the hospital itself"

Sister Turnbull turned from the elderly nurse with tears in her eyes, "There were children in there" she whispered. The conversation was ended abruptly by the shrill noise of the siren produced from the wail of the approaching fire engines. As more people spilled out into the night air, three large red behemoths hurtled up the gravel path toward the hospital. The engines screamed out to the survivors to move and as they came to an abrupt stop, doors were flung open and uniformed men filed out in mindless precession.

The woman stood banging in desperation at the scene below, sobbing and begging for help. Cracks appeared on the glass and as she continued to hit the glass, the window became stained with the red smear of the blood. "God help us..." she sobbed. The woman slowly turned and leant on the locked window and slowly slid to the floor and watched in defeated silence at the scene unfolding around her. As she watched the scene, time appeared to slow down to a smoky, fiery haze. Women and children sobbed and ran from the windows to the doors. Some sat rocking in chairs, while others threw objects at the window in desperation. Flames leapt and danced their way up the walls, catching the fabric of curtains and furniture before playing wistfully across the wooden surfaces of tables and chairs. The woman was aware that the sound of sobbing was being slowly replaced by the sound of screams as fire caught hold of nightwear and the smell of burning flesh began to fill her nostrils.

Then, another noise filled the room and with it the sudden rush of air which excited not only several of the patients, but also the fire. Glass erupted outward from the building as a small chair broke the tension of the surface area of the window and flew through the night air and crashed amongst the watching party below. Both fire-fighters and patients covered their heads from the deadly shower of glass from above as the window scattered in a multitude of deadly pieces of shards. The noise of the screams and pleas for help spilled out of the upper floor and invaded the still night air. The woman watched from her sitting position as another woman climbed through the open window and jumped into the night. The figure was joined by another, then another. She was stirred into activity by the sight of a woman clutching a baby in her arms leaning from the window, "please!" she called to the throng below "Save my baby..." The woman grasped at the woman’s shoulder and was forced back by the ferocity of her glare as she held her baby out at arms lengths.

She watched in horror as the baby fell from the woman’s arms and plummeted through the air, hitting the ground below with a sickening thud. As she leant out of the window she could see the carnage beneath as fire-fighters struggled under the mass of metal and plastic as they held the hoses firmly in place, directed resolutely toward the building, whilst paramedics from the hospital attempted to clear the ever growing pile of corpses growing around their feet from desperate people attempting to escape the blaze. She gripped the edge of the window in vicious anger, shards of glass forced their way through the woman’s hand and blood flowed freely over the broken window frame. Tears dried in the heat of the fire and were replaced by distain and hatred as she watched the matron walked silently across the grass, escorted by police officers away from the hospital. Her nasal passage became invaded by the smell of burning flesh; her burning flesh, but the smell and pain subsided through her own feelings.

Water soaked and cascaded across the outside of the building and forced its way into the hospital where it began its battle against the fire inside. Several windows blow outward, forcing glass and flames to mix together in a deadly cocktail and rained down its fiery fury on the spectators beneath. Flames continued to spread up the woman’s night clothes and she could feel an intense searing heat penetrate her very soul, but remained unflinching in a silent hatred. She had no more tears to give, no more screams to scream...just pure contempt. The room behind now lay as a charred battleground, in which the fire had been triumphant. Finally the woman collapsed, her heart losing the battle against consciousness and her soul giving up against life. Like so many on that fateful night she had found an uneasy peace.

The news was filled with stories of the Cottage Hospital in Ashbridge over the following days. Stories ranging from the fire itself to the actions of the matron. Repercussions spread through the medical staff and involved discipline, court cases, finance packages and legal prosecutions over negligence, manslaughter and reduced responsibility amongst others. The hospital was never repaired, never reopened, it would stand there through the rain, snow and shine as a monument to the tragedy. The local community never attempted any work at the site, even in the early days. Tales of sobbing had warned most away from the site. Several brave enough to enter the property grounds spoke of wistful figures in the building and the gardens, or noises of screams and sobbing...but these were just old wives tales surely, designed to keep away the unwary and nosey from an unsafe structure. Over the next thirty years, through the upper floors and through empty window frames a singular female form stood by the empty glass and stared out into the countryside around the property.

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### Chapter 2: Chapter 2

The property was both impressive and imposing as the light from the sun forced its way through the beckoning chimneys. Ivy grew up the sides of the house in an attempt to wrap the property as great struts rose and soared high into the air. From her distance to the house, Amanda could see a lone figure standing in one of the windows of the upper levels, then as quickly as it appeared; it disappeared. She was aware that she was standing waving to thin air and shuffled slightly under her own embarrassment. Amanda looked once again...no...This time there was no-one at the window. She pondered in her own thoughts, surely she couldn't have been mistaken...there was someone there at the window, she was sure of it. Wasn't she? She glanced around with an uneasy feeling and seeing that she was still alone on the path she continued her walk up the path. As she walked she reflected how much she enjoy the noise that the gravel made under her feet and smiled as she remembered family holidays to Brighton as a child. Her mind was transported away to another time and another place as thoughts of her family replaced the apprehension of a new home, and a new life. University was only one smaller step on her long journey through life as she choose just one more path in her journey. She firmly believed that life was a series of paths which you decided would shape your own destiny and sometimes, the path you choose was the right one, sometimes your life would travel down the wrong path as you made wrong decisions.

Her revere was broken as she realised she made stopped dead in front of the large wooden doors of the building. The doors were sturdy and imposing and Amanda raised her hand to the old brass door-knocker and paused briefly before knocking. The noise of the ancient knocker echoed through the house as it slammed down three times. The door slowly swung open under the weight of the knocking and revealed its sanctuary to an invading world. Amanda looked up toward the upper floors of the building, once again before moving from her position on the main step. She shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun as she craned her neck to glance toward the windows above her head. The glass looked darker from her position on the doorstep and the feeling of unease remained by her side as she crossed the threshold of the house.

The main reception area was a large wooded room. Two archways trailed off at either side of the area, while a flight of stairs reached up into the house and stretched up feeling and hugging the wall toward the rear of the room. A large counter sat inviting beneath the wooden staircase, with a boxed shelving unit behind the desk. On the top of the counter sat a large leather bound book, which upon approaching Amanda could make out a series of scribbles across the open pages. She stood at the desk and rested her case upon the floor by her legs. She flicked absently through the pages of book and scanned the series of names and signatures in the book. For such a large book there were very few names, which seemed strange to Amanda considering the size of the house and the attraction of its location to the local travel network for the university. She noted all of the names were female and most had either checked in that day or a couple of days earlier. She frowned as she noted through the pages that several girls had left shortly after checking in, and this caused her mind to wander back toward the figure at the window earlier. She shook the thoughts from her head and continued to scan the pages of the book.

A voice from behind her made her jump slightly. She made an involuntary yelp of surprise as the voice drifted through the empty reception area from the adjacent room. She shifted with embarrassment, her cheeks flushed with a slight red tinge. Leaving her case by the desk she cautiously peered through the archway and into a large communal area. A young girl lounged across the brown leather sofa in the middle of the floor. She lay with her head resting on a pillow and her feet sticking high in the air, sprawled across the back of the sofa. The voice emerged from inside the magazine draped over her head. "I...said, old Turnbull should be here any second, just ring the bell"

"Oh...okay thank you" replied Amanda to the image of the magazine wearing female. She stood in the archway for a moment and stared at the smiling faces of a group of boys on the cover. The magazine exclaimed the latest slimming fad, a brother who slept with his sister-in-law and exclusive interviews with the latest boy band sensation.

The girl threw the magazine on the floor and sat up, facing Amanda and the two girls regarded each other for a moment. The girl had a friendly chubby face, and swung her feet off the sofa and rested them on the wooden floor. Her furry slipper covered feet made no noise on the floor as they met and she wiped her hands across her blue tartan bottoms. The white plain t-shirt she wore had stains scattered across the fabric as it fought to control the girl’s bulky frame. She smiled in the direction of Amanda and held out her hand, "Tracey..." The two women stood in an awkward silence for a moment before Amanda moved forward, her spell broken and suddenly brought to life by the introduction.

"What...oh...sorry, Amanda...Amanda Price" she looked about the room as she spoke. For a university house, she supposed that she would have seen posters of pop stars and movie moguls to adorn the walls, but nothing could be seen except plain wood panelling.

"One of the rules, I'm afraid honey" said Tracey, "no posters, no running, no boys, no ball games and no posters!" she leant forward and whispered in Amanda's ear. "Still can't stop us in our rooms!" she grinned as she spoke and took Amanda's hand and led her from the lounge. As she entered the reception area she held her arms aloft over her head and yelled, "Welcome to our retreat from the world!" As she yelled her voice echoed through the house, falling on deaf ears in the reception area and snaking its way up the wooden staircase.

"Now, now, Miss Reid" came a stern voice from a small annex behind the desk. Amanda peered at the newcomer and watched in her own disbelief that she had failed to notice the small wooden door set back from the desk. Tracey flushed and turned back to the lounge calling back over her shoulder as she walked.