by Jim Ody
That agreed, they set off back out past the reception hut and along the road that took them into the village.
“Can I ask you something?” Nat said, and regretted starting with that. It was an annoying line, and she’d always wondered why people said it when they could just come out with the question. Not many people ever replied no to it.
“Sure,” Adam said.
“What happens when we go home?”
“What? With us you mean?”
Nat looked down at the floor, swung his arm with the way she was gripping his hand, and replied, “Yes.”
“I don’t know. I like you―” Her stomach sank, anything that followed was bound to be negative. “―I mean. I’d like to see you again…”
“So, what are we?” she said, and again she’d fallen into that trap. “A fling? A holiday romance? A relationship?” She had already started so had to finish the conversation. Part of her wished she could rewind back, but another part wanted to see it out. She deserved to know how he felt.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s still early, but I like you. I like you a lot.”
Nat wasn’t sure how she felt. What did she expect? He was hardly going to get down on one knee, nor was he going to use the L-word. But, he’d seemed enthusiastic enough about their relationship.
“So… are we girlfriend/boyfriend?” she pushed needing the confirmation of a label to connect them.
“Yeah,” he said with enough enthusiasm for her to fling both arms around his neck and pull him in for a deep kiss.
“Wow!” she said. “This is so amazing!” She got out her phone and went straight onto social media. She changed her status from Single to In a Relationship, and tagged him.
“You’ve just told the world, I presume?” he grinned, and didn’t look too scared at the prospect.
“Basically.”
There was a bounce in Nat’s step as they got to the top of the hill and turned right.
“Oh, there’s a pub here,” Adam said. “We’ll have to come here tomorrow.”
“You and your mates like to drink, don’t you?” Nat commented.
“We’re lads.”
“You’re too nice to be lad-lads, but I think you all try to be.”
“Busted. Nothing wrong with that though.”
She squeezed his hand. “No, nothing wrong with that at all.”
Nat looked at her phone. She’d researched the cottage using the highly trusted means of Google. Of course, the name of the cottage and a photograph of the outside was a click of a button away.
“I think it’s the last house,” Nat said, showing the small screen to Adam. “The locals know it as the House of Blood! Great!”
“Inviting!” Adam said, pulling a face. “It’s a bit weird that nobody else is here though, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I was expecting people to be wandering around.” The whole thing was strange. She wasn’t sure about it, and maybe that was the real reason for her wanting to stay in the cabin with Adam. Although, looking at his strong arms, she definitely had other things on her mind.
They both stopped at the gate, neither wanting to be the first person to enter the property. There was a car in the driveway, and a huge big tree outside.
“Shall we?” Adam said.
Nat looked around. “I guess so. This is definitely the house.”
They walked up the path and noticed the door was slightly open.
Music played from inside.
“Is that Silent Night?” Adam commented.
“Yeah sounds like it, although it seems a lot slower.”
An arrow was attached to the bannister pointing up.
On the fourth step was a tray with two full shot-glasses, and a message:
Have a free shot on us!
Adam grinned at that. “Now we’re talking!”
They picked them up, and linked their arms so as they could then drink the shots whilst still locked together.
It was strong. Nat felt it burn down her throat.
“Whoa!” Adam said. He clearly thought the same.
“Strong.”
Slowly, they climbed the stairs towards the music.
“It sounds so weird…” Nat began, but it was a struggle to form the words.
“I know… it’s hard…” They made it almost to the top when their heads began to become fuzzy. Somehow each foot found the last few steps, and in a trance-like state they both walked forward.
Nat was really struggling. It felt like vertigo, and then the world rolled as she fell flat on her face.
“Na…t!” Adam slurred, his lips and facial muscles became numb. Then suddenly he was falling too.
Their worlds went black.
Neither knew that their bodies were being dragged into the bedroom. Nor did they feel the blood as it spilled.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 52 - Will
T he dessert came out on small plates. Vanilla cheesecake with a red sauce, and a small selection of berries at the side.
Will struggled to remember a time when he’d eaten a meal so good. He wondered whether Matilda was a chef on the side.
“This looks amazing!” Will said. “I must admit, I do have a bit of a sweet tooth.”
“Yes, me too!” Fiona agreed.
“I do hope you don’t mind my husband and son not being here? It really is very poor of them not to let me know.”
“Don’t be silly,” Fiona said. “I’m sure they have their reasons.”
“I’m sure,” Matilda agreed, but without conviction. She then offered the jug of single cream, and each of them took it, liberally drizzling it over the wonderful food.
“So how did you two meet?” Matilda asked, a big smile on her face.
Will looked at Fiona, and she back at him.
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Fiona said.
“Yes, we were great friends first,” Will said. “It was only natural things would progress.”
“Wonderful,” Matilda said. “But what about that first time? The first kiss?”
Will found this a little odd, but then glancing at the empty seats perhaps she was just lonely. An old romantic whose husband spent too many hours working, and she was left with cheap romance novels depicting topless muscular men on the covers. He didn’t know what came over him, but he thought he’d give her what she wanted.
“Wow, it was a wonderful night,” Will began, and Fiona looked at him as if to say: what are you doing?
“Fiona was at a business function that I was attending in London.” He turned to Fiona. “You were wearing that red dress.” He winked at her, then turned to Matilda. “It was stunning. It was long and sleek, with a split at the side that went right up to her upper-thigh, and a plunging neckline.”
“Oh, wow!” Matilda said leaning in.
“I was a lot skinnier back then,” Fiona added, helping the story along.
“She asked me if I was happy with my life. And I replied with,” he turned to Fiona. “D’you want to tell her?”
“No, you do it so much better than me.”
“I am now I’ve met you!”
Matilda gasped and clutched her hands to her chest. “Oh, how romantic!”
“He’s definitely that,” Fiona said, and took another mouthful.
Will had to admit, he quite enjoyed the story. The truth had been a whole lot seedier, perhaps to them it was romantic, but from the outside looking in, it was anything but―An illicit liaison fuelled by sexual tension and deceit.
When they had finished, Fiona said, “You really must show us more of your paintings. We’d love to see them!”
“Would you?” Matilda said surprised.
“Of course,” Will agreed.
“Well now, if you insist. Let’s get some sherry, and we’ll take it with us, what do you say?”
“That sounds great.”
Matilda took their glasses and filled them high with the sherry. She handed them out, and then said, �
�Come with me.”
Will and Fiona followed her as they walked out of the dining room, down the corridor, and stopped at a door.
“This is my art studio,” she turned the key then said as if by warning. “It’s an awful state down here, so please don’t judge me. When I’m feeling creative… well, I just go with it!”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Fiona said.
It was.
They walked down the stairs into the cellar. In front of them were a handful of paintings covered by small sheets. Then there were a couple of boxes, and some stacked chairs.
“Why d’you cover them?” Fiona asked. Will was pleased that she always asked the questions he thought of, but never wanted to speak out loud. It was one of the many reasons why they worked so well as a team.
“I don’t know. I think it’s a creative thing. Sometimes I love them, and other days I want to paint over them and start again!”
Matilda pulled back the sheet on the first one, as both Fiona and Will took a sip of the sherry.
The sherry was good. Strong and sweet.
The painting was of a girl. There was a sadness about her. She held a teddy like it was her best friend.
“That’s amazing!” Fiona said, but stifled a yawn.
Will then yawned. “It’s catching!” He grinned. “It’s really very good.”
“It was one of my first… I…hmmm,” Matilda said, and seemed suddenly overcome with emotion.
“What’s wrong?” Fiona asked and took another sip of the sherry. In fact, she finished it up.
“You’re so talented,” Will added. He also felt the addiction of the sherry and soon finished his too.
“I’m sorry,” Matilda said. “What must you think of me! I suppose I get a little emotional about this painting.”
Will suddenly felt strange. Fiona turned to him, and he wanted to say something to her but he noticed her eyes roll back into her head as he caught her.
“What’s wrong?” Matilda said looking worried, and Will caught her arm as his whole world went black.
Neither noticed the figure enter the room.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 53 - Jenny
I t was strange how it had happened. Going on the Treasure Hunt with Max would’ve been okay. They were friends and it might even be fun. If she was honest, she’d have liked them to do a guys against girls type challenge, but that said, she could understand why her friends wanted to be with their new men. To have suggested it would’ve seemed like her jealousy was making her decisions.
Then somehow Keith appeared from nowhere. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, and she didn’t think it would be the last. It was all a little suspicious. She wasn’t sure she trusted him. He looked and acted like a stalker.
And here he was leaning over her as she opened her email. He didn’t seem to understand personal space. She could feel his breath on her cheek.
“What does it say?” he said with excitement in his voice. That was even worse. She wished that Max hadn’t disappeared off so quickly. She didn’t feel safe with Keith.
Maybe that was harsh. He might just be a lonely weirdo, who happened to have a crush on her. Or maybe he was something else.
A strange guy who ran a campsite with his mother. It was really all a bit too Psycho for her liking. And they’d not even seen his mother despite all of the conversations when Keith talked about her.
“It says…” she started, and looked over the clue.
The house on the hill, is where you must go;
Step inside, then go down below!
“Ohhh, this is fun!” Keith said, sounding like a child.
“Does that mean anything to you?” Jenny said.
Keith nodded, “It does, but it’s probably not fair that I tell you!” He grinned and rubbed his hands together.
“What? We’re a team, aren’t we?”
“Ye-ah, but…” he whined. “Come on if I wasn’t here what would you do?”
“Probably go back in the cabin, take a nice hot shower and relax until the others came back.”
Keith was shaking his head now and frowning. He looked like a little boy frustrated. “No. No. To figure this out? How would you do it?”
Jenny puffed out her cheeks. “I don’t know. I know nothing about this area. I might, I dunno, Google?”
He clapped his hands. “Right! Right! Do it then!”
They were walking towards the main building, for no reason other than there were lights there and crowds. Jenny was doing her best to stay around people, and the clue suggested anything but.
She clicked into Google, and typed in the name of the village and the words house on the hill. She was surprised to find only one local result. All others were using only some of the words, and that included horror movies about houses on hills, and included a great one she’d seen recently called The Place That Never Existed.
“Bingo!” Keith said pointing and grinning like he was the local idiot.
“But where is it?” Jenny was getting frustrated and wasn’t half as into it as she was earlier that day.
“Look at the map!” Keith was rolling his eyes like she was a silly little girl.
She clicked onto it, and Google Maps opened. Her phone told her where she was, and she could tell that the house was in the far corner. Although you could get to it by going up into the village, going right past the pub, and then following the road almost until the end.
“It’s a bit of a walk,” she said devoid of enthusiasm.
“Nah, ten minutes tops!” he was grinning with excitement. “This will be great.”
“And you know nothing about this?”
“Me? Nah,” he said, but Jenny thought there was something he wasn’t saying. He was hard to read.
Keith was an awkward person. His eyes darted around, and he often had a strange unnatural smile on his face. He never spoke of any friends, in fact the only other human he spoke of was his mother.
“Come on!” he said, grabbing for her hand. She pulled away quickly, and he shrugged it off.
When they walked out of the park, Jenny heard alarm bells ringing. She thought she was a sensible person, and this definitely didn’t seem a sensible decision.
“I wonder how many other people are doing this treasure hunt?” she said.
Keith grinned at her, “Not many, I think…” he looked around as an afterthought. “See not many people around.” Not many people around was an understatement. There was no one. Zilch.
“No,” she agreed.
“Come on, Slow-coach!” he grinned back.
Jenny wondered where the others were. She longed to be with them.
As they followed the lane up into the village, they saw a few people mingling around. A tall man was walking his dog. He stayed on the path walking slowly as his dog zigzagged left and right, stopping to sniff and mark his territory, before running off again. Then an older lady walked by clutching a carrier bag of shopping from a local shop.
“Oh, there’s a pub here?” Jenny said as they walked by. The Old Oak was a large pub with a thatched roof, Jenny wasn’t sure why but it reminded her of highwaymen, although the main road was a way away so her imagination was playing tricks with her. Perhaps she felt she was being hijacked.
“Yes, it’s a lovely place. The food is nearly as good as ours!” he laughed.
An old guy walked out and looked at them.
“Hey Dave!” Keith called raising a hand. The guy just stared at him, nothing remotely friendly about it either.
“A friend?” Jenny said. She chuckled but it was forced, she was doing all she could to inject some humour into the atmosphere.
“Mother’s doing,” he sighed. “She has a habit of causing trouble. It doesn’t help business at all.”
“Surely the campsite brings business to this village?”
He agreed, as they walked past the last few houses. “Yeah, but there have also been a few incidents too. I mean, I get it. They’d rather j
ust make enough money with a few locals, than extra and have the odd break-in’s, etc.”
“It seems a strange business plan!”
Keith seemed the most serious he’d been since she’d met him. “What business plan? You think the landlord wanted to own a pub? Around here you still do the business you’re born into. You want a quiet and easy life. They don’t want outsiders. The rough city-folk, as they call them, coming here and spoiling their lives.”
“Oh wow.”
Keith then pointed to the last house with the large tree in the garden. “That’s the house where the murders took place. The House of Blood, it’s known as.” He slowed his pace almost to a standstill. Jenny didn’t want to hang around. The front door was open.
“So where is the house we’re heading to?” She said wanting to move on.
Keith pointed to where the road continued around a sharp corner and off to another village, there was a track which led off in the other direction through some trees.
“It’s along the track there. You can’t see the house for the trees, but when you go around the bend, the house is there on some flat land. Apparently, you can see the lake from the top floor.”
“Have you been here before?” Jenny asked, and Keith paused. She wasn’t expecting that. He seemed to be weighing up his response.
“Yeah, a couple of times.”
Keith was right, as they walked through the trees, the lane curved around to the right and in front of them was a huge and impressive house.
“Wow! Who lives here?” Jenny asked, and Keith grinned widely.
“Friends of my mother’s.” She waited for him to expand on that, but instead he looked back at the house proudly.
“You know a lot about the area, and the people,” she observed.
“When you’re looking to be successful it’s best practise,” he said, and looked at her almost coldly. “You said it yourself, it’s all about a business plan. You know that mine and my mother’s plans are slightly different… she’s typical from around here, she just wants to get by. It’s a basic business mentality without any desire to expand and make some real money. Who wants to just get by? Why not make lots of money?”
Jenny nodded, and to a certain extent she agreed, but the longer they were together, the more scared of Keith she was becoming.