by Matt Shaw
***WARNING***
The following book contains scenes and descriptions which some people may find upsetting. Please be aware this is an extreme novel intended for a mature audience.
***
Copyright©2014 by Matt Shaw
Matt Shaw Publications
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The characters in this book are purely fictitious.
Any likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
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Dedication
To Cathy Hudson.
I have known Cathy for a few years now. I first came to know the name after reading one of the reviews she left for my work on Amazon. And - after reading that review - I soon came to fear the name for it wasn’t the best of reviews. It wasn’t the worst, but as a new author at the time… It was enough to dent my confidence a little bit.
Let me just explain now that honest reviews (positive or negative) is not a bad thing. They help us writers get to know what people do and do not like. They enable us to work on our craft in an effort to try and produce something better the next time we put words down. This does not mean that negative reviews do not suck though… Telling an author their book is bad - whether you’re being honest or not - is very much the same as telling a parent their newborn baby is dog ugly. It’s hurtful in the short-term but good in the long-term. In the case of the baby, in case this confuses you, it is entirely possible the parent was thinking about putting their kid’s picture in one of those baby competitions. By being told their baby is a munter - they will no longer enter them thus saving their embarrassment when the paper showcasing the pictured entrants is pushed through the door of every house in the village. See - sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind. But I’m getting off the point.
Over the years I’ve come to respect Cathy’s opinion and I have even sent her books months before they are released just so I can hear her feedback. I don’t necessarily change what I’ve written if she doesn’t like it - but it is a good bench mark to work with. If Cathy - someone I like to think of as a true horror fan - doesn’t like something then there’s a good chance others will be turned off too and I don’t want that. We’ve become what I like to think of as ‘cyber-friends’. People who get on quite nicely but have never met in real life.
Months (and months) ago her husband got in touch asking if I’d be willing to write her a book for her Christmas present. I immediately told him that I would love to undertake such a challenge and - a split second later - I shat myself when the size of the task at hand dawned on me. Here is a woman who isn’t afraid to publicly speak her mind and here I am about to write a book designed especially for her; her family, her fears, her life. Talk about pressure.
Well Cathy, I have been in secret conversations with James for months and I truly do hope I am able to write something worthy considering the amount of effort he has gone to in order to get this off the ground for you. Did you know he took me on a guided video tour of your home, explaining all the different bits and pieces about your life and how he has been there constantly answering my questions in emails whenever a new one popped into my mind? I may have put hours in, putting these words down for you, but only because he was there - step by step - egging me on and drip feeding me the relevant information to make this a truly personalised horror story for you!
I truly hope you do enjoy it more than anything else you’ve read before. I want this to be your book. I want the story to stick in your head and haunt your dreams and - more than that - I want to make you feel uneasy in your own home…
… Because we’re friends.
I wish you (and your family) a very Merry Christmas and hope you get all you’ve ever dreamed of and more.
Best Wishes,
Matt Shaw
my FAMILY
MATT SHAW
“My darling Cathy, As always, my mind, body and soul are yours to keep. Merry Christmas, I love you.”
- James Hudson
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT
The weatherman had been promising a storm for a just under a week and tonight was the night it finally decided to hit. A barrage of torrential rain, high winds with thunder and lightning. If this was the tail-end of the hurricane that had been promised, Cathy Hudson couldn’t even begin to imagine what the full force of the storm would have been like. She turned onto her side, towards the window, as another roar of thunder shook the house. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of a shadow standing by the window. A flash of lightning illuminated the room just enough to reveal her husband, James, standing there watching Mother Nature unleash her fury outside.
“What are you doing?” Cathy asked.
She was keeping her voice low so as not to wake their youngest daughter, Quinn, who was so far managing to stay asleep during the storm. Quinn was one of their five daughters. The youngest of the five girls at four years old. Due to the cramped nature of their house, she shared a room with her mum and dad. It wasn’t the easiest of situations but they’d all gotten used to it over the months.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” James asked. Another clap of thunder and a crack of forked lightning hitting somewhere over the woodlands at the back of the garden. “It’s practically on top of us.”
“Get back into bed before you wake up Quinn,” Cathy moaned.
“You sure she’s even in her bed?” James joked.
“That’s not funny.”
“How the hell is she sleeping through this?” James crawled his way back into bed, next to Cathy. He cuddled up to her, stealing her warmth.
“You’re freezing. How long have you been standing there?” she asked.
“Come on, it’s exciting - when do we ever get storms like this?”
The next clap of thunder shook the house. Quinn started to cry as the sound scared her from her peaceful slumber.
A flash of lightning.
“Oh great,” Cathy moaned.
She reached over for a lamp and flicked the switch illuminating the room. She sat up and looked down at the small bed next to her own double bed. Little Quinn was lying in her bed with the duvet pulled up close to her chest. Her eyes wide with fear.
“It’s okay. Just thunder and lightning.”
“I’m surprised any of them are asleep to be honest,” said James. “Mental out there…”
The bedroom door opened and four little faces appeared in the doorway.
“We’re scared…” said the tallest of the four girls; Cleo, Kiah, Misty and Libby.
Cathy shot James a look as though blaming him for the children being awake; his words jinxing the situation causing them to stir from their individual dreams. Had he not said anything - they’d still be asleep… But, no, he had to jinx it. She checked the time on her mobile phone which was plugged into the wall next to where she lay, charging ready for a full day of use starting in the morning. It was one minute past midnight. She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. Great. A day of feeling crap in the morning then. It wasn’t even as though it were a weekend so they could all have a lazy day and catch up on some needed sleep. She had things to do, the kids had school.
Another roar from above and flash of lightning. The girls screamed and jumped on the bed.
“You think the dog is awake?” James joked.
Cathy shot him another look.
“
Who fancies a midnight snack then?” she asked.
It was cramped enough in there with Quinn, Cathy and her husband. It was even worse with all seven in there and it was clear they wouldn’t be sleeping. Flash of lightning. Cathy figured (thunder) that they may as well get up and have a little party in the living room to try and ease some of the tension. Turn the thoughts of the terrible storm into something more positive and fun. Besides which - there was more room in the living room anyway. Lightning bolt.
* * * * *
James was sitting with the children in the living room. The curtains, leading to the back garden, were closed in an effort to block out the constant lightning and the television was on - some music channel - turned up loud to help block the sound of the rumbling thunder.
The girls were setting up a game of Monopoly in the middle of the living room floor. The pet dog, Loki, was sitting on the sofa watching over the proceedings; a little quieter than usual due to the raging storm outside. He was only a puppy and this was certainly the worst storm he’d ever been a witness to. James was flicking through the music channels on offer trying to find something that would - at least - pass for decent music. The problem with tunes these days is they all sounded the same. He settled on a channel at last and looked down at the board game being set up. He sighed. He didn’t say anything but he’d sooner be playing the Playstation 4. Assassins Creed to be precise.
“Monopoly then?” he asked.
The twins, Libby and Misty, looked up at him and smiled. He sat next to them and started to help with the setting up. Hopefully by the time the game was ready, they’d either be asleep in various positions around the room - or, at least, ready for the bed even if the storm was still raging.
Cathy walked in with a large tray in her hands; a midnight feast of cheese and crackers. She set it down on the floor, next to the board game and immediately shot the dog a look as if to warn him away before he’d even made a move to investigate what was on offer. Cathy should have been more concerned about the look on her second eldest daughter’s face. Kiah was fourteen years old and, unlike her sisters, a fussy eater who was completely obsessed with…
“Sushi! Where’s the sushi?”
“Be thankful for this!” Cathy said, “You should be in bed anyway!” Cathy helped herself to one of the crackers, and a slice of cheese she’d cut in the kitchen, and leaned back on the sofa watching the board game getting set up. She looked at James and laughed, “Surprised you didn’t talk them into taking turns on Assassins Creed.”
“Didn’t even think about it. What about it girls?” he asked. “Want to take it in turns playing Assassins Creed? I’ll go first?”
“We’re playing Monopoly!” said Cleo. She was the oldest of the sisters and had the most attitude. At nearly sixteen years old, if there were arguments to be had in the household between mother and daughter it would usually be these two banging heads. A typical teenager. She turned to Quinn, “You can start because you’re the youngest,” she said as she handed the dice over.
“Maybe we should play in teams?” Cathy suggested. She knew Quinn would struggle with the rules of the game. She’d be fine moving the pieces and she’d be fine picking the cards and rolling the dice but - the maths required for charging rent would most likely be asking a bit much of a four year old who’d only just started primary school.
“No!” Cleo went to argue.
“Well okay - you can all go on your own but I’m going on Quinn’s team.” She turned to Quinn before Cleo had to chance to argue further, “Go ahead and roll the dice! Try and get us a couple of double sixes!”
Quinn rolled the dice with a smile on her face when a knock on the door startled them all.
James looked at Cathy, “Well who the hell is that at this time of night?” he asked.
Cathy shrugged. James stood up and walked towards the living room door.
“What are you doing?” Cathy asked.
“I’m going to go and see who it is,” he said.
Cathy stood up. “Whoever it is - they can stay out there.”
“Honey, it’s pouring down out there…”
“It has also gone midnight and we have children in the house.” Cathy tried keeping her voice calm so as not to worry the children who were still taking their turns on the game.
“I can’t just leave them out there.”
“They’ll go. They’ll think we’re not in and they’ll leave.”
“They would have seen the light. Come on, it’s fine, I’ll just find out who it is and what they want…” James walked from the room before Cathy could argue anymore. She stood up and walked over to the doorway so as to keep watch on the front door; a worried look on her face.
James opened the door. A young couple were standing there. Despite wearing relatively smart clothes - he was in a suit and she was in an evening dress - the pair looked like drowned rats. Outside the rain was still coming down hard and heavy. Low rumbles of thunder echoing through the air and the stink of electricity hanging in the muggy air.
“Can I help you?” James asked - taken aback by what he was seeing. He hadn’t known who was on the other side of the door but he did know that he hadn’t been expecting a man dressed in a smart suit and a woman in an evening dress. Not something you saw everyday in this neck of the woods.
“I’m really sorry to disturb you,” the man spoke with a well spoken tone, “but we saw your light on and…” he laughed out of embarrassment, “… we really need some help.”
“What is it?”
“We’ve broken down just round the corner and have no signal on our phone. Not sure if it’s the weather…”
“Certainly is bad out there,” James agreed.
“… Well I was wondering if we could just pop in for a second and borrow your phone. Just a quick call to the recovery agency?”
Cathy walked from the doorway to her husband’s side in the hope her presence would make him turn the couple away. Her presence didn’t have the desired effect.
“Sure. Come on in.”
James opened the door wider and took a step back, giving the couple space to step in.
“Oh thank you,” the man said. “Everyone else’s lights were off. We didn’t want to knock on their doors in case we disturbed the people inside.”
James laughed, “We’re already disturbed here.”
The couple laughed, more out of being polite than finding his joke funny.
“Phone’s through here,” James said - leading them through to the living room where the kids were still playing. They walked through and James pointed to the phone, on the side next to the stereo and television.
“Thank you.”
The man walked over to the phone and picked it up. He dialled a number which was on a scrap of paper, pulled from his pocket, and waited for an answer. The woman - presumably his partner - stood in the doorway and smiled at the children who were looking at her with suspicious gazes. She gave them a little wave - one which they didn’t return.
“Is that your doll?” the woman asked Quinn. She had spotted a tall figurine of Pinhead, standing on a small table along with some other knick knacks. Quinn shook her head; overcome with shyness.
“It’s mine,” Cathy snapped - sensing the woman was mocking the figure as opposed to complimenting it.
The woman smiled at Cathy. It hadn’t been her intention to mock her. She was just trying to lighten the obvious tension in the room. In fact the only ones who didn’t appear to be sensing the atmosphere were James and her partner; who was busy giving the address of the broken car to the operator on the other end of the phone.
“Give them our address,” James suggested, “there’s no sense waiting out there in this weather. They can pick you up from here and take you to your car. It’s fine.”
“Really?” the man was surprised at James’ generosity. He had just planned to make the call and leave. He hadn’t even thought about asking to wait there in the dry.
“James we really need to t
hink about getting the kids to bed,” Cathy said. It wasn’t that she minded helping out strangers but - when it was gone midnight - she wasn’t too keen on the idea of strangers being in her house. Especially when the kids were still up.
“We haven’t finished our game yet!” Cleo looked up from the board game.
“Thank you but we don’t want to cause any trouble,” the man said.
“It’s no trouble. Tell them…”
The man hesitated. He looked at Cathy and back to James again before speaking down the phone, “I’m sorry - can I change the address? Can you pick us up from where we are now and then we’ll take the driver round the corner to where the car is? … The car is at the address I just gave you but we are at…” he paused and looked to James. James told him the address and the man reiterated it down the phone to the operator. He was given a rough timeframe before the operator disconnected the call. The man put the handset back next to the stereo and thanked James.
“Not a problem.”
Still feeling the tension, the woman tried to ease it up a little by telling Cathy, “You have lovely children.”
“I know.”
“You two got any children?” James asked quickly before Cathy had a chance to really say what was on her mind.
“No.” The man shifted uneasily in his chair. “Not happened for us yet, has it?” he turned to the woman. She shook her head.
“Can I get you two a drink?” James offered the couple.
“We’re fine. Thank you, though. And thank you for letting us wait here,” the man said.
“Well - it’s horrible out there. No night to be stranded,” James said.
“It’s my go!” Libby shouted at Cleo who had taken a hold of the dice no sooner than Quinn had thrown them.
“No. We’re going this way round the board. It goes Quinn and mum, then me, then dad, then Kiah and then you two.”
“Why do we go last?” Misty asked. She was just as annoyed as her twin sister at being pushed to the back of the queue with regards to who gets a turn and when.