Mark Bilham, 19.04.15, Lewisham, London, UK
Mark doesn’t believe in the supernatural, and is only making a statement because his girlfriend Kathy asked him to. Kathy graduated from university in 2014 and moved in with Natalie, and while Natalie seemed nice - albiet very religious - she and Mark don’t get along as they have little in common.
In late October that year, Natalie’s mother passing away causes her to withdraw further into herself. A few months later, she shared that she had found a new congregation and became even more reclusive than she had been previously. She spent more time away at her church, staying out all night or singing in a foreign language into the morning. Kathy begins to hear movement from her room when she’s out, and upon inspecting the lightbulbs in the house (which keep breaking) they find Natalie has been removing them.
One night, Mark comforts Kathy who had shared a disturbing dinner with Natalie - who fed her something similar to cold overcooked spinach before announcing she planned to move out and wait 300 years for Mr Pitch to collect her and her congregation. She offered Kathy a place with them, which she declines, disturbed. Mark decides to confront her about this, but finds in her room that she’s stacked all her furniture against the window, blocking out all light. One piece of paper is in the centre of the room - which reads “Hither Green dissenters” and has a stylised image of a closed eye on the back.
He eventually found a chapel in Hithergreen, Lewisham, and found it completely boarded up, seemingly abandoned. The church was empty, littered with detritus. His torch failed, and he took the batteries out to check them. He dropped them. Feeling around, he realised the floor was cold and smooth - missing all the ruined bits littered around the church he had just been in. Singing started in a foreign language, which culminated in the words “Ny-Ålesund”.
He walked forward in the dark for a full minute, but felt nothing. He came upon rusted metal grates in a criss-cross pattern, and when he went to remove his hands, leathery hands gripped him. Remembering his phone, he turned on the flash and found himself back in the church. He later reported Natalie missing to the police. It’s owner by Outer Bay Shipping - a shell company owned by the church.
Notes: The episode also features a cameo from the People’s church of the divine host. The chapel had a police report of screams- but no cause - on the day Gertrude died. Ny-Ålesund is the northernmost settlement in the world - which has extremely long nights in the winter. Martin worked on this case. Mark Bilham shares a last name with Christopher Bilham - one of the victims of Edwin Burroughs from MAG 19 and 20.
