Moon Face

I banged on the door again, loudly this time. I hadn’t seen or heard from Iris in over a week.

“Iris? Are you in there?” I peered through the letter box and finally saw some movement. I took a step back onto the pavement as the locks and latches slid open.

I looked around the door as it opened, hoping to see my friend, but it wasn’t her.

“Anna! I didn’t know you were here!” She looked awful. “Anna? What is it?”

She opened the door fully and welcomed me into Iris’s small, over-crowded living room.

“Hi, Helen,” she said, dully.

I looked at her properly. Her normally immaculate hair was hastily tied back in a loose bun, with not a scrap of makeup on her usually perfect face. She waved for me to sit.

My heart sank. “Anna? Is Iris okay? Has something happened?” Please don’t be dead.

“No, no. She’s okay.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and shrugged out of my raincoat. “Then what’s going on? I haven’t heard from her. And why are you here? Iris told me you were busy with the new firm.”

She took a seat opposite me, by the fire. It was lit, but the room was too warm already, with sunshine cascading through the windows. I clamored to undo my cardigan.

“I am. I was. Mum called me, sounding… I don’t know…. off. Not like herself. So I came.”

“And? What’s wrong?”

Anna sighed. “It’s Dad. She thinks she’s seeing Dad.” She looked down.

“Oh.” Well, that’s not good. He died three years ago.

“But there’s something else.” Her eyes caught mine and I sensed something more than concern. “There’s something in there with her, Helen.” She looked around, as if worried someone would overhear. “In her room,” she whispered.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Anna suddenly stood and began pacing around the living room; a difficult task when she had to avoid coffee tables and side tables and all the bits and pieces of Iris’s chaotic collecting.

“She won’t leave her bedroom. She won’t eat. I can barely get her to the bathroom. All she wants to do is be in her room… with it.”

“Anna, you’ve lost me. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I keep catching glimpses of it. When I turn my head. It’s there, Helen, and she thinks it’s Dad.” She shuddered. “I can see it when I close my eyes.”

“See what, Anna? Please sit down, you’re making me dizzy.” I patted the space on the sofa next to me. “Anna, please. I can’t help if I don’t understand.”

Anna didn’t sit down but instead offered me her hand. “I think I need to show you.”

Puzzled, I stood and let her lead me up the narrow stairs. She’s going to need a stair-lift soon. I can barely manage them.

At the top was Iris’ bedroom, door closed.

“What am I looking for, Anna?”

She paused, with her hand on the door frame. “You’ll see.”

She pushed open the door and to my relief, I found it empty, except for Iris sitting up in bed, looking quite cheerful, if not a bit… thinner.

I looked back at Anna, still not understanding. She nodded. “Go on, go and sit with her.”

I crossed the room and sat on a little chair by the side of Iris’ bed, taking her hand. “Hello, you.” I smiled. “I’ve missed you. What’s going on?”

Delight flashed across her wrinkled face. “Helen! I’m so glad you came! I have my George back, see? He will be so pleased you are here.”

I looked at where she was pointing, but there was simply an empty chair.

I locked eyes with Anna. No matter what, this wasn’t good.

“George, do you see? Helen has come to visit!”

There was a pause. Iris looked for all the world as though she was listening to thin air, and then she laughed. “George, you old devil!”

Her attention turned back to me. “It is lovely to see you, dear. Anna has been trying her best, but she doesn’t understand.” Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “She is trying to get me to leave him, but I won’t, of course. Not now I have him back.” She patted my hand and sighed. “It’s so lovely to have everyone back together again!”

I looked carefully at her face. She looked tired. “Iris, listen. I’m not sure he’s really here. He died, sweetheart.”

Iris pulled her hand away. “Don’t be silly, now. He’s right there.” She pointed towards the chair. “Clear as day. Honestly! And you two are the ones thinking I’m mad!”

I looked at Anna again, but her stare was fixed on the empty chair in the corner.

“Anna, shall we go and make Iris a lovely cup of tea?” I caught her attention and made a little gesture towards the door with my head. Iris was not okay, and she needed help.

I turned back to Iris, but she was also fixated on the empty space, listening to a ghost.

Anna nodded and I stood, ready to leave. As I moved towards the doorway, I looked back once, but once was enough.

Adrenaline shot through my body and I froze, but although the image was gone as quickly as it came, it was not one I would forget. That chair isn’t empty. A cold sweat crept across me and I staggered backwards into Anna.

“I've got you. Come on.” She took me by the elbow to steady me.

I meekly followed Anna back down the stairs and to the waiting sofa, shock making my whole body tremble.

“You saw?”

I nodded, my heart hammering in my chest. “What is it?” I managed to stutter. “Anna, it’s terrifying.” My hands were shaking.

This time, she sat with me. “Can you describe it to me?” She took my hands to stop the tremors.

I closed my eyes. “It’s small… almost childlike.” I opened them again. I could see it so clearly. “It was sat so still… So still.” Another shot of icy-cold adrenaline flooded through my veins and I faltered.

She nodded, encouragingly.

“Its face….” My sentence hung in the air.

“I know.”

I swallowed. “Anna, it doesn’t have a face.”

Anna took a deep breath in. “I know. I think she sees Dad’s face when she looks at it.”

“But there’s nothing there! It’s round…moon-like…. empty….” I paused, words escaping me. “Anna, what on God’s green earth is it?” I breathed.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with God, Helen.”

“But what is it doing there? And how do we get rid of it?”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t know. But it’s almost like it’s… feeding on her.”

I shivered involuntarily. “She looked thinner.”

“She is.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s … not human. How is this possible?” My mind raced, trying wildly to think of a solution, anything that made any kind of sense of the terrifying creature in the chair.

“No, it’s definitely not human.” Anna’s face was pale, her body tense.

I looked towards the stairs. “When did …it… arrive?”

“I’m not entirely sure. She rang me a week ago and I came straight up. She sounded… happy. But overly happy, if that makes sense. I knew something was wrong.”

“She missed the bridge drive last week. It must have been then. Have you… have you tried to touch it?”

Anna nodded. “When she was sleeping, I tried to throw something on the chair. It sort of bounced off. Before it reached it.”

I sat back, my heart rate finally returning to normal. “That’s not good.”

“I’ve thought of everything. Demon, alien, ghost… I have no idea what it is, or what to do.” Anna’s voice echoed the desperation on her face. “And who can I go to for help? Who would believe me? Helen, I have no idea what to do… how to save her.”

“Maybe it will go away? Maybe it won’t stay?”

Anna shook her head. “No. It’s not going anywhere. I can feel it.”

I sighed. “I agree. It’s evil, through and through. It chilled me to the bone.”

“That’s why I have the fire on. When I see it, it’s like the temperature drops.” She paused and turned towards the stairs. “Did you hear that?”

I listened. There was a faint laugh; Iris was having a one-sided conversation with that… creature in her bedroom. “She’s talking to it. Does she always talk to it?”

Anna nodded.

“Is it always there?”

“Yes, I think so. But she’s sleeping more and more. I’m tearing my hair out, Helen… how do I help her?”

I thought for a moment. “A priest? I could ask my vicar.”

A heart-breaking look of hope flashed across Anna’s stricken features. “You could? Even at the risk of sounding crazy?” She managed a small laugh.

I nodded. “Yes. I’d do anything to help her. She’s my best friend.”

Anna’s body visibly relaxed. “Thank you, Helen. Really. I don’t want to leave her.”

“I don’t think you should leave her. I’ll give him a quick call and see when he’s free. I’ll let him know it’s urgent.” I stood and began to put my coat back on. In all honesty, I was glad of a reason to leave the house.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? After I’ve spoken to Father Damian.”

Anna stood and showed me to the door. “Thank you, Helen. It’s good to know I’m not alone.”

I gave her a quick hug. “I’ll call.”

As I passed through the doorway and into the fresh air, I felt like a dark cloud had been lifted from my shoulders. The atmosphere in the house had become oppressive, and I was glad to be out of it.

As I walked the short distance home, my brain began to try and process what was happening, but by the time I reached the end of the street, I’d mostly convinced myself that things weren’t as they seemed. A moon-faced demon in Iris’s bedroom? It was almost ridiculous. A creature that could masquerade as a dead loved one? Absolutely not.

I turned the key in my front door and suddenly a wave of tiredness hit me; the morning’s events had taken their toll. I’m not as young as I used to be. I kicked off my shoes at the front door and headed along the corridor to my bedroom, praising my foresight for having bought a bungalow after Ray died.

I reached my bed and began to turn back the covers, desperate to lie beneath the sheets, and close my eyes. When had I last felt this tired?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard a familiar cough behind me.

“Hello, my love.”

Startled, I turned to see Ray, lounging in the doorway, as though he belonged. As though he hadn’t died a year ago.

I stared, open-mouthed. “Ray! But… how?”

“Never mind that now, you just get into bed and rest. You’ve had quite a shock.”

I shook my head to clear it, but he was still there.

He walked over. “Now then. I’ll tuck you in, safe and sound.”

I frowned. Something didn’t seem right. “But how are you here?”

“Let’s just say I’ve found a way back to you. Now, you need to sleep.” Ray smiled, in that crooked way I’d almost forgotten.

“No! If you’re here, I don’t want to waste it! What if you’re not here when I wake up?” My heart hammered at the thought of losing him again.

“My love, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here, waiting, and then we can talk again when you wake up. Okay?”

I frowned, but he looked at me, just as he used to when he knew he was right. “Okay.” I let myself be tucked in and he stroked my head, just as he had every night for the whole of our married life. I sighed with pleasure. “You’re really here?”

“Yes, I’m really here.”

“I’ve missed you so much.”

“I know, my love. But I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. Not ever again.”

I felt myself drift off to sleep, thoughts of something being wrong slipping further and further out of reach.

“Sweet dreams, my love.”

As I closed my eyes, I saw him settle into the bedroom chair in the corner of the room, and I smiled. Ray was home. Everything would be okay.