To escape the dangers of wartime London, Millie has been sent away to Wickford Hall, but what lurks there is far more sinister than anything war might bring.
---
THERE'S SOMETHING WICKED STALKING WICKFORD HALL...
As war rages on, Mildred Cunningham...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The fog that snaked through the grounds provided good cover, quickly swallowing them up as soon they ran across the courtyard and started down the drive. The night was bitter cold, just as Matthew had foretold. The chill cut through Millie's many layers, and she had to set her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.
Once Wickford Hall was just a shadow at their backs, Matthew slowed to a walk. He pulled out his flashlight as Millie caught up, panting from the effort of their run.
"Keep close to the edge of the drive," Matthew warned as she fell into step beside him. "If we hear anything, we'll head into the ditch and hide."
"Right," Millie replied. As she took a second to catch her breath, she looked around at their surroundings. She'd never been this far from the manor before. With the fog this thick, there wasn't much to see. All that was in view were the still-bare trees that ran along the drive, their gnarled limbs reaching out through the mist as if trying to catch her. Before them was even more fog, and the same behind them. It was endless grey on all sides. She shuddered and turned her attention to Matthew.
He was staring straight ahead, keeping the beam of his flashlight low. Despite being free of the house, he looked more on edge than ever.
Quiet stretched between them, and Millie scrambled for something to fill the void.
"I saw something strange in the photos."
Matthew glanced down at her, eyebrow raised. "Stranger than bloody bodies?"
"Yes, actually," she said. She shrugged off one strap of her rucksack, swinging around to her front so she could reach inside. She dug through the photos until she found the one with the strange carving in the stone floor, then pulled it out for Matthew.
Matthew took the photo, turning his flashlight on it. His face crumpled in confusion.
"That is strange."
"Do you see the strange lines on the floor?" Millie said as she leaned in to point it out.
"I do."
"What do you think that is?"
"Couldn't say," Matthew said, handing the photo back.
Millie didn't return it to her bag just yet. She kept staring at it, as though something could be revealed in the dim light. "Something about it makes me uneasy."
"Does it?" Matthew asked. "Why?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it," Millie said. "It was also something the nuns said in the basement, before we ran off... It stirred something in me. Like it's something I should know, but I just can't place."
Matthew was staring down at her now. "What did they say? I don't think I caught it."
"It was something about a 'worthy sacrifice,'" Millie said. "That the Mother thought all this loss of life was worth something. Is that what this is—" Millie flapped the photo in the air, stirring the fog, "—some kind of sacrifice?"
