Read Online Where the Birds Hide at Night by Gareth Wiles - Free Book Online

see all of good, and also ultimately all of evil – it is too much to bear; it sickens you, warps your mind. I am forever tainted, my worldview stunted and twisted towards the cruel.’ He turned back to Noose. ‘You yourself said that I was capable of such good, and yet I ended up doing such sick things again and again. Whilst I continue to live this immortal curse, I will continue to fall down like that.’
    â€˜There
is
terrible cruelty and suffering in the world, yes,’ Noose responded, ‘but there is also the possibly and the hope for amazing wonders.’
    â€˜Nature is a wonder; a wonder of survival. All survival boils down to is killing something weaker than yourself. Life, hah! Life is but an opportunity to cause pain and death for others. What is the circle of life, but a sick joke on endless repeat?’
    â€˜Then why bother at all, why do anything?’
    â€˜Because there
is
that chance, that ever so slim chance, of putting things right at the very last moment and achieving something truly amazing.’ Peter smiled, but it was a sad smile full of sorrow and regret. ‘You must seek out who murdered those poor people and framed you, it is your call and only yours. The truth is locked away deep in the mind of the true killer, and only you can find them.’
    â€˜Why can’t The Space help?’
    â€˜The Space is the summation of everything that was, is, or will be; but it is for each of us to try to harness and gain access to this. It is not an open book or a big man in the sky waiting to answer our prayers.’
    â€˜But how can I gain access to it?’ Noose pleaded, seeing a chance to clear his name and trying desperately to seize it.
    â€˜You cannot, you must fall back on your own humanity to solve it. And, I must ask you a favour: I implore you to seek out and make contact with the keepers of The Space. There is some good left in the ones who are not dead.’
    â€˜The keepers of The Space? Where can I find them?’
    â€˜They once masqueraded as the Museum Club – the secret gathering of minds that took me on and re-introduced me to The Space in this lifespan. They were unable to keep contact with The Space for long, so needed me. Reaping Icon was too strong, turning them into murderers and blocking my mind again and again.’
    â€˜There were those murders by Barbara Davies at the museum: Louis Sellers and James Harrington, all those years ago,’ Noose remembered, searching his mind. ‘And then there was the murder of those other three men afterwards, deep in the museum, like a sacrifice of some sort. We never did identify those men.’
    â€˜They were some of the keepers of The Space, driven to madness and ultimately their own deaths.’
    â€˜So some are still alive, and you want me to seek them out? It’s crazy!’ Noose laughed.
    â€˜Yes, you must. It is the only way I can put things right and try to end Reaping Icon’s reign of horror.’
    â€˜Well what do I do when I find them?’
    â€˜You will know what to do,’ was Peter’s simple reply. Noose wasn’t so sure he
would
know what to do.
    â€˜Yes, I remember the murder of those three men – you were so young and innocent, Peter,’ Noose saw back in his mind. ‘Corrupted by these intrusions into your life, you didn’t stand a chance did you? Then,’ Noose welled-up, ‘then there was Lucy.’
    â€˜The worst thing I could ever have done was forget her,’ Peter lamented, trying to keep his demeanour balanced so as not to upset Noose further. ‘But, I did. My mind was quick to wipe itself away each time, egged-on by Reaping Icon’s ceaseless shadow-attacks.’
    â€˜Did the keepers of The Space murder her?’ Noose wondered, clenching his fists and looking ready to murder someone himself.
    â€˜They would never have done that to me, would they? Even so, they
did
know who Lauren really is