by Matt Shaw
“The horror books. The ones you love reading - I think you should give it a rest for a while.”
“You think I can’t differentiate between fiction and reality?”
“I’m not saying that, I’m just saying..”
“Yes you are. That’s exactly what you’re saying. Well I’m sorry if I might be a little over-cautious when it comes to the safety of my family but it has absolutely nothing to do with what I may or may not choose to read. If anything, perhaps you should start reading some of what I choose so you can get a glimpse of what the real world is like.”
“The real world? What you think you’re going to find real life stuff in books by Matt Shaw, Iain Rob Wright or Michael Bray? They’re fiction. Nothing more and nothing less. The products of an individual’s vivid imagination.”
“You’re an idiot. Just… Don’t even talk to me.”
James sighed. He kicked his shoes off by the front door and walked through to the living room, leaving Cathy sitting on the stairs - fuming. Misty and Libby looked at James, a worried look on their faces.
“Are you and mum going to get a divorce?” asked Misty.
James tutted under his breath as he let his laptop bag slide from his shoulder onto the floor, “No. Sometimes mummy and daddy just like to raise our voices for a change. Otherwise it can get boring hearing the same voice all the time. This way it mixes things up,” he said with a wink.
The girls laughed.
Cathy called through from the stairs, “And your dad is an idiot,” she shouted.
Keeping things light, James smiled at the girls, “But you already knew that..” he gave them a wink.
FRIDAY
Friday was a breath of fresh air all round for James. It had finally stopped raining and even the sun had come out a little, although only teasingly so as it still liked to disappear behind the many clouds dotted across the sky. Sure it wasn’t a perfect day but considering how the rest of the week had been - it was a beautiful summer’s day by comparison. Cathy hadn’t really spoken to him the previous night - their earlier argument on how best to handle the situation with the strange couple had turned to ‘the silent treatment’ but neither seemed to mind that much. Cathy had used the night reading her horror collection on her Kindle - if only to annoy James a little more after he’d told her to give them a break - and James had spent the night staring at various assignments on his laptop; each one with an ever-looming deadline which didn’t help his stress levels.
It wasn’t just the weather which had changed though. By the time James had returned from work he was pleased to note that Cathy’s mood had also taken a turn (for the better) and - not just that - she didn’t mention the couple at all. There were no more letters, there were no more issues… Everything just seemed normal.
Over dinner James kept expecting Cathy to mention something about the couple but she didn’t say a word. Well - not about them at least. She mentioned the weather, she said what she’d done with her day, she asked the girls how school was, even asked James what he’d been up to at university (although the exact details never usually interested her because she didn’t share that particular passion). As James sat across from her - he couldn’t help but watch, and listen, wondering whether she was continually talking in an effort to keep her mind from turning to the couple. Had she really managed to finally put it from her mind or was it still there, bubbling underneath the surface? He half wanted to test the water by asking her whether there had been any mail delivered today. On one hand an entirely innocent question but - given recent circumstances - one which could have been taken completely differently. He swallowed his next mouthful of potato down, along with all thoughts of testing the water. He didn’t like arguing with Cathy. If she was making the effort to forget about the strangers - and their strange requests - then he should respect that. No sense in rocking the boat for the sake of it.
The rest of the evening went smoothly too. The girls played quietly for a while before all - at varying times - heading off to bed. Cathy sat with the television on, happily knitting with her assorted balls of wool. James himself sat on the sofa with his laptop on his lap - university assignment loaded up (and near completion much to his relief). Even Loki was behaving; lying down in the middle of the living room floor quietly snoring, with his back leg twitching. It wasn’t even a question of being given the silent treatment as - occasionally, when it looked as though James was taking a break from writing his assignment answer, Cathy would ask him something or tell him something that she thought he’d be interested to know. She’d even talk about the television programme she was watching - some old horror movie - laughing about a predictable character or questioning the abilities of the writer.
As the credits rolled James asked her whether she had liked the film’
“It could have been good,” she said, “but no. I don’t know… It was like Joe Pasquale reading a passage from The Shining.”
James couldn’t help but laugh. He liked how Cathy critiqued various things she read, or watched. Sometimes he wondered whether she was trying to be genuinely funny with her comments or whether it just happened. He leaned across from where he was sitting and gave Cathy a kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?” she asked.
“Can I not just kiss my wife?”
She eyed him up suspiciously.
“Try again,” she said.
“It’s just nice.”
“What is?” she raised an eyebrow.
“This.”
“This?”
“This is nice. Tonight, this evening. It’s been nice. You know, after last night… The silence…” he immediately regretted bringing up the previous night.
Cathy shrugged, “I’m just bored with arguing about it,” she said. “You have your opinion. I have my opinion. If they get in touch again - for anything - we’re going to the police, no arguments.”
James nodded, “That’s fine. Thank you.”
Cathy smiled at him. What James didn’t know was Cathy had already approached the police, along with the two letters drafted by the couple. She kept the story straight with regards to what happened exactly; she said how her husband had invited them in and she mentioned the letters. She did not mention her theory about both the origin of the chocolates or the family dog being potentially snatched (albeit temporarily before it was given back again). The police officer who came to talk to her agreed the whole thing seemed a little strange but they didn’t seem overly alarmed about it. They did - however - say they’d run a check on the two names just to be safe. If there was anything to worry about, they explained they would step in and have a word and perhaps talk to Cathy and James about the option for a restraining order but - otherwise - Cathy should just keep an eye out for them. They were of the same opinion as James; Cathy had told them that they weren’t interested and that they should leave them alone and - since then - that’s exactly what they seemed to have done.
“With any luck,” the officer had said, “you’ve seen the last of them.”
He had also explained that Cathy should call them straight away if she felt her family were in any immediate danger but, given what had been talked about, it sounded as though it had already been dealt with. Funny how the officer’s words put Cathy at ease despite the fact James had - more or less - said the same thing himself.
“And - for the record - if you invite anyone else in out of the rain… I’ll kill you,” Cathy smiled sweetly at him.
James nodded, “Fair enough. So - what did you do with the letters?” he asked.
“I put them in the bin. I just wanted them out of the house.”
“Shame. We could have framed them. A permanent reminder for when the kids are misbehaving. We could have turned to the letters, hanging on the wall, and reminded ourselves that once - once upon a time - someone actually liked them enough to want to take them off our hands.” James laughed as he continued to make light of the situation, “Hell, we’ll probably be pulling the damn thi
ngs off the wall and seeing if the offer still stands.”
Cathy hit him, “Don’t be so cruel.”
“Oh come on, I’m joking. You know I love them. Ninety-nine percent of the time. But come on… Let’s play the game…”
“What are you talking about?”
“The hypothetical game of what if.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not playing…”
James continued regardless, “What if we did decide to give two of the children away?” James asked.
“I said I’m not playing…”
“… Which two would you give up and why?”
Cathy put her knitting needles down to the side, “And on that note I’m going to bed.” She got up and walked towards the door after telling James he could turn everything off.
“Come on,” he called after her, “two names… Who’d it be?”
Cathy walked from the room.
James stood up, smirking at having wound Cathy up, and turned to look at the picture of the whole family which hung on the wall above the settee. One of those family photographs taken by a professional which saw them all posing together; beaming smiles on their faces. He looked at the picture and laughed again at how easy it was to playfully wind his wife up. He wouldn’t give the children up, none of them. Even on the worst day he wouldn’t part with them, just as Cathy wouldn’t. He’d love them no matter what and would never want to be away from them and Cathy was the same - if not a little more so (although the difference was negligible).
He turned the television up and gently tapped the dog awake, “Come on, boy, time for bed…”
The dog grunted as he slowly came out of his pleasant dream and scrambled up to his feet. As James helped him towards the door, with a foot up his bum, Loki turned and grunted another low growl at him. James couldn’t help but laugh as he imagined it was Loki’s way of telling him to ‘fuck off’.
“Yeah, you fuck off,” he laughed.
When they were both out of the living room, James turned around and closed the door behind him. Loki was still a puppy, maybe when he was older they could trust him to stay in there for the night but not now. Too many accidents despite his best intentions. Accidents happen.
Loki started to growl. James noticed he was staring at the front door.
“What’s crawled up your arse?” he asked.
The dog whined and ran up the stairs with his tail between his legs. James watched him for a while before turning to the front door.
“Well that was a first.”
James turned towards the stairs and froze. He turned back to the front door and paused a moment. He turned his head back in the direction the dog had run. Loki was sitting at the top of the stairs - staring at the front door.
“What is wrong with you? Come here…”
Loki whined and backed up a little.
“Loki, come here… Look… There’s nothing out here.”
James walked to the door and opened it up. A burst of cold air rushed in from the dark night beyond. James turned back to the dog and beckoned for him to come down the stairs to see for himself that there was nothing to be scared of. Loki didn’t move; he let out a low growl once more. James tutted as a shiver ran down his spine as another gust of wind blew into the house.
* * * * *
Having got changed into a tee-shirt and leggings ready for bed, Cathy crept quietly to her side before climbing in. Quinn was quietly sleeping in her own bed and Cathy didn’t want to wake her - not that she was particularly easy to wake up. She pulled the duvet up around her body and snuggled down in the hope that the bed would hurry up and warm a little. She rolled onto her side, facing the window, and couldn’t help but wonder where James was. She thought he was coming up right behind her. She shrugged to herself as she guessed he’d been distracted by something on the computer. It wouldn’t be the first time and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last either. It used to bother her at first but now she was used to it and - sometimes - it was the other way round anyway; he’d go on up to bed and she’d stay downstairs until she’d finished the chapter she was on with whatever book she was reading.
A noise from the landing stole Cathy’s attention. She sat up and listened intently; her head titled to one side as though that helped. Quinn’s heavy breathing from the side of the bed, the wind blowing through the trees outside, a car alarm in the distance but… Nothing… Wait. There it was again. Loki. He was growling from just beyond the bedroom door, on the landing.
“Loki, hush!” Cathy shushed him in a hushed voice herself so as not to wake her sleeping child. She stayed sat up as she listened to see if Loki had heard her and - more importantly - listened to her.
Quinn’s heavy breathing.
A slight fidget from Quinn as she turned in her bed.
The wind blowing through the trees outside.
No car alarm; the owner had clearly silenced it.
Loki growled again.
Cathy muttered under her breath as she climbed from underneath the duvet and walked from the room to see what the problem was with the dog. She couldn’t help but wonder why it was her investigating what was wrong with Loki when James was still up. She should have been able to stay under the warming blankets and James should have checked on the dog. In her mind, she had already decided to return the favour if this occasion ever arouse again with their roles reversed; James in bed and Cathy downstairs.
“What is it?” she asked Loki as soon as she saw him. Loki turned to her whined. Before Cathy had a chance to ask him again, he turned and ran past her - towards her bedroom. “Bloody dog!” She called downstairs to James, “Thanks for ignoring the dog. He’s not just my pet, you know!”
James didn’t answer. Cathy hesitated at the top of the stairs a moment, listening for any sounds from downstairs. Nothing. Everything was quiet.
“James?”
She waited again and - again - there was nothing.
Cathy walked down the stairs; heading back towards the living room, where she’d left her husband. She called his name again and - again - there was no reply. She turned into the living room and froze on the spot. Her pulse had raised slightly as she’d started walking down the stairs calling out to a seemingly absent husband but now - now she was confronted by this - her pulse was racing faster than she’d felt before with a sickness swirling around in the pit of her stomach.
“James?”
FRIDAY NIGHT
James was sitting on the sofa; he looked uncomfortable. Standing in front of him, with his head turned back to face Cathy, was Jeff. He wasn’t threatening James on first appearances; his hands were even in his pockets. That wasn’t what made Cathy feel nervous - it was the fact he was there at all.
“Oh hello, James had said you’d gone off to bed. We didn’t disturb you, did we?” Jeff said. His tone made Cathy uncomfortable too - as well as his appearance. It wasn’t the fact he sounded as though he were being overly aggressive, it was the fact he sounded perfectly normal. Like him being here was absolutely fine, even after his last conversation with Cathy.
“What are you doing here?” Cathy asked. She tried - unsuccessfully - to hide her shaking tone. Before Jeff had a chance to answer her question, Cathy was shoved into the living room from behind. She fell forward onto her knees with a heavy thud as the man’s wife walked into the room. James went to stand up in order to defend his wife but was kept firmly in his seat with a stern look from Jeff who simply shook his head at him.
“The children are asleep,” said the woman.
“Any preference as to which two you’d like?” Jeff asked his wife, Dawn.
Cathy sat up from where she landed on the floor; a look of horror on her face.
“I quite like the twins,” said Dawn. “Not many people have twins, do they? We’ll be the talk of the town!”
“You can’t have our children!” Cathy hissed.
Dawn walked across the room and stood next to her husband. They both looked
at Cathy in utter disbelief at what she’d just said. They’d come for the children and what Cathy didn’t realise (yet) was that they weren’t leaving without them. Not all of them - they didn’t want to rip the whole family apart - just two. Two children.
“Please come and sit next to your husband,” said Jeff. He held his hand out to help Cathy up from the floor. Cathy didn’t take his hand but clambered to her feet. She nervously walked over to James and sat with him. He immediately put her arm around her to offer her some form of comfort.
“Are you okay?” James asked her.
Cathy was shaking - clearly scared - but she was okay. She nodded.
“Let’s get this finished, shall we? Then we can go and start our new life with our little family and you can carry on with your life,” Jeff suggested. He looked around the room, “Where’s the paperwork we gave you?” he asked.
“She put it in the bin,” James said.
Jeff stood there for a moment; a look of confusion on his face.
“You put it in the bin? Do you know how much trouble we went to in order to get those drafted up for you? You really put them in the bin?”
Cathy shook her head.
“What? You didn’t put them in the bin? Yes or no?”
“I didn’t put them in the bin,” Cathy said.
Jeff visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Even Dawn smiled.
“You had me concerned then. I was going to say - here we are doing you a favour by giving you more time to spend with your other children and here you two are throwing it back in our faces. Not entirely sure the correct way to respond to that…” he laughed.
“I didn’t put it in the bin because the police kept a hold of them,” said Cathy.
James shot her a look. This was the first he’d known about the police. As far as he was concerned, the paperwork was binned and they’d agreed not to get the police involved as it all seemed trivial. Up until this point James had been silently kicking himself with regards to keeping the police out of it but now he knew they did know… He found himself irritated that Cathy had lied to him.