Clifton Falls

by L A Taylor

  SIX

  During the past hour, Blake and Karen had gone home, dried themselves off and had changed into fresh clothing. They hadn’t been able to avoid the onslaught of vicious splashes of water tossing down from the sky. The weather wasn’t letting up as raindrops, almost as big as table tennis balls crashed onto pavements, while drainpipes up and down the street gushed out water. There were no signs of humans or animals at this time. Even the birds had flown to safer and drier places. No one was stupid enough to be caught up in this, unless, like Karen and Blake, were heading home from somewhere.

  If the roaring thunder, lightning and rain kept up this pace then Blake’s plan for them to have an amorous meal somewhere was probably going to be scrapped.

  “Maybe our romantic dinner might have to be put on hold for a while. Well, at least until the rain slows down.” Karen looked disappointed and Blake knew he needed another plan of action to make her smile again. “If it doesn’t go away before seven then I promise to make a romantic meal here. What do you say?”

  “How can I resist such an offer,” she replied.

  “Problem solved then,” he said with a smile.

  Last night had rekindled the flames of desire between the two of

  them but today the water from the rain was close to putting the flame out again.

  He gave Karen a comforting hug, she responded, hugging him back. It was a good thirty seconds before the clinch was released.

  Blake remained close and lifted her chin with his left hand. He stared deeply into her pupils, his own eyes shining like they’d done last night.

  “I know you’re upset about our plans being dampened, but I’ll make it up to you. Just wait and see.”

  Karen felt an urge to sexually attack her husband with kisses again and her face moved closer to his, he responded, doing the same. Their mouths slowly searched for each other’s, but as soon as they reached an inch apart, froze. Their eyes remained open, but who was going to make the first move? Karen couldn’t resist the moment and moved her lips to his, a touch at first, but then licked Blake’s lips with the tip of her tongue which caused a refreshing event in his trouser area. They now kissed in a lustful and erotic manner. It was like their first time kiss all over again. Karen’s tongue went through the motion of slipping in and out of Blake’s mouth as her right hand aimed toward his groin. She felt the lump and rubbed her hand over it. Blake was now becoming a victim of an over-sexed woman whose sexual appetite had increased by fifty percent in the past day. He reached for her wandering hand before it ventured into his trousers via the zip, backing away slightly, but not enough to send out the wrong messages. He was keen to continue this, but in a more appropriate room. “Stop for a minute,” he said, panting.

  “What’s wrong?” Karen frustratingly replied.

  “We can’t do this here. I don’t want Gene Kelly looking through the window and seeing my arse go up and down.”

  “Gene Kelly?” she asked, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.

  “Yes. Have you seen ‘Singing in the Rain’, the movie with that bloke in it? He could be out there as we speak, his umbrella collecting raindrops. You never know, he could be.”

  “Stop being stupid, that’s just a film, and not even Gene Kelly would be daft enough to step outside today. Trust me. Get your arse upstairs. If you can’t take me out then I’m going to have to find something else for you to do.”

  Karen became very forceful in her choice of words. Blake did what he was told and forgot about the man in the movie.

  The sheets were messed up within the first fifteen seconds of them touching down on the bed. Blake felt younger and younger as the minutes ticked by.

  Karen’s excitement allowed her to take control of this sex act. She turned him onto his back before swift hands searched for the belt on his trousers. It was unbuckled before being pulled away from the item of clothing.

  “So lover, what would you say if I told you I was going to tie you up?”

  Blake’s mood at this time meant he couldn’t care less what she did to him. “I would say belt me, baby.”

  Karen gripped his hands together, wrapping the belt around them and the headboard. Once secured, went on to the next step in her little plan. Blake’s trousers were undone.

  Karen tugged at them until they slipped to his ankles. One more tug and they were off completely. She then moved toward him and Blake began to smile…

  The storm hadn’t slowed down as the time reached 7.00pm. For the past two hours Blake and Karen had slept, showered, and were now back downstairs looking bleakly at the rain drenched, monsoon-like street.

  “What are you waiting for, get in the kitchen and cook me something.”

  “Okay, I will. Just give me a moment to compose myself.”

  “Get in there, I’ll show you where you’ll find what you need.”

  Blake wasn’t really known for his cooking skills so wasn’t surprised to see his wife follow. To Blake, the kitchen was a place of mystery. “Okay, okay, so I’m not very familiar with where to find everything.”

  He looked inside the fridge and noticed a couple of nice, juicy steaks that Karen had bought for yesterday’s meal. He removed them and placed them on the table. He then smiled at his wife. “I’m going to make you the best steak surprise you’ve ever tasted…”

  Karen laughed at the funny man who stood in front of her. Blake placed his hands on her shoulders, turned her around and pointed in the direction of the living room. “Get your arse in there and leave me to impress you with my cooking skills.”

  Karen still howled with laughter, but did as she was told.

  For the next hour or so all she could hear was clattering coming from the direction of where Blake was supposed to have been making dinner. “Is everything okay in there? You haven’t smashed any of my good crockery have you?”

  “Babe, everything’s brilliant. It’s all under control, and no, I haven’t broken anything.” The quick snapping reply came.

  “Just checking…”

  A strange aroma floated into the living room.

  “Jesus Christ, Blake, what’s that smell? Is there something burning?”

  Why did she have to say it like she’s taking the piss? he thought.

  The oven released smoke and looked like a fire-breathing dragon after spraying deadly flames on its prey. This wasn’t a good sign for Blake.

  “Don’t panic. It’s nothing serious, just a slight problem. There’s nothing to worry about. You sit down and watch some television. Dinner won’t be long now.”

  Karen wasn’t convinced that Blake had the situation under control, but gave him the benefit of the doubt this time. The television was switched on, but the screen was fuzzy. “I can’t watch it. The storm must’ve blown the aerial off the roof. If I can’t be entertained by that then I could help you with dinner?”

  “No, no, no, you sit back down. Do some knitting or something. Everything’s cool. I’m fine on my own.”

  Karen didn’t listen this time. She became too eager to see what he had or hadn’t achieved in the last hour so headed for the kitchen where she was met with an appalling mess. “Blake.” There was a major pause as her eyes scanned the area. “When have you ever known me to do any knitting?”

  “Well now’s a good time to start learning. You’ve no excuses. I might be in here for some time, so knit me a jumper or something. Christmas is only nine months away. I’ll definitely be out of here by then, so you can give it to me as a present.”

  Karen didn’t want to start laughing again but couldn’t force herself to be angry with him. She should’ve shouted at Blake for the mess he’d made but he was such a sweetheart with his apron on. He was trying so hard to impress her, even though he was the worst bloody chef she’d ever seen in her life. “I’m being serious now, I’ll go back into the other room but I won’t be knitting you any jumpers, cardigans or woolly hats. However, I am going to let you have another half an hour to come up with something resembling ed
ible food.”

  She slowly walked away grinning, deep down predicting that he wouldn’t manage to meet the set target.

  Blake was left once again alone in the smoke-filled kitchen. With a scratch of the head he opened the window to release the black, charcoal-tasting smog. He’d more important worries on his mind now than think about the rain splashing through the opening.

  He looked at the oven, knowing the steaks were ruined before opening the door. Oh well, he thought. Looks like I’m going to have to think of something else.

  At 9.00pm on the dot, dinner was finally completed. The smoke had cleared and Blake was at last on top of the situation. “Dinner’s ready. Come and get it,” he shouted.

  Those weren’t the words that his beloved expected to hear and her theory had backfired.

  He shouted for Karen to close her eyes as she came into the kitchen. He wanted to astonish her, so she agreed, but as she moved past the doorway, Blake reached out and led her toward the kitchen table. “You can open your eyes now.”

  Karen’s reaction to the sight in front of her wasn’t good and her hopes of a delicious, succulent, steak feast were deeply dashed when she saw what stared back at her. What’d started off as being a steak surprise had now turned into greasy chips, eggs, and beans.

  “What happened to my steak surprise?”

  “You’ve got steak surprise.”

  “There’s no steak on my plate,” Karen replied, with a hint of upset tapping at her brain.

  “Well, that’s the surprise. There’s no steak. Are you surprised?” he replied, as a large smirk spread across his cheeks.

  “Very funny... I was looking forward to a nice bit of rump.”

  “Stop moaning love, you’ve had enough romp to last you a lifetime.”

  “I said rump, not romp…”

  Blake shook his head, laughing as he did so. Karen was always a bit slow on the jokes, but did click on after another twenty seconds. “Okay, you got me, you were talking about the sex we had.”

  Blake concentrated on getting the conversation back to the appropriate subject. “So, what do you really think? I know it’s not what you wanted and I’m very sorry for burning the steaks, but at least the eggs came out okay. Look, I never even broke the yolk, just for you.”

  “You’re right. It’s not what I thought it was going to be, but hey, at least you tried.” Karen glared at him. “But promise me you’ll never, ever cook anything as a surprise again and I’ll let you off?” She paused briefly. “One more thing before I finish, those eggs do look nice.” They were back on smiling terms again. The couple sat at the table to eat, or at least try to eat their meals.

  SEVEN (WEDNESDAY)

  Two female visitors to Clifton Falls were exploring the area at 9.00am the following morning. Last night’s freak avalanche of rain had pelted their car into submission and had chipped away the paintwork. So much water had fallen that it’d soaked the engine, causing the car to stall on the side of the country lane. The women had taken refuge inside it until the crazy weather had settled down. Now they hoped that while they spent a couple of hours hiking through the sodden grass fields, the engine would dry enough to allow them to proceed with their journey.

  One of the women became uptight because she couldn’t keep up with the other person’s constant, pace setting strides, so complained about being left behind.

  “Slow down, Charmaine, you keep walking too fast for me.” “Sorry, Claire, you should grow longer legs then you’d be able

  to keep up.”

  “Ha, ha, that’s very funny. Anyway, where are we going?” “I don’t know. Let’s keep walking for a few minutes then we can

  stop and have some breakfast. What do you say?”

  “Okay, but only for about five minutes, as I’m tired. I didn’t

  sleep well because of all that banging from the thunder.” Claire and Charmaine were cousins looking for a little adventure

  in their lives. They were sick of their normal, daily routines, so had

  packed up to go on a road trip. However, their plan was failing fast

  because they weren’t sure if they would be able to start the car

  again. Furthermore, neither of them carried a mobile phone to

  contact a rescue service. It was Charmaine’s idea to have a mobile

  phone free zone during their timeout from people they knew and

  Claire made sure she constantly reminded her cousin of this stupid

  decision.

  “Look, Claire, if you go on about a bloody phone again, I’ll leave

  you here,” a frustrated Charmaine shouted.

  “I’m only saying,” Claire replied, smirking as she did. Spread out across the still wet grass was a large log, so they

  rushed over and sat on it. Backpacks were removed from shoulders,

  unzipped, and hands reached inside to pull out leftover sandwiches

  and half filled bottles of pop, but Claire’s eyes strayed over to her

  left every few seconds.

  “Are you okay?” Charmaine asked.

  “I thought I saw something.”

  “Is it still there?”

  Charmaine peered over in the direction of where her cousin

  stared.

  “I can’t see it now, but I swear I saw something,” Claire replied,

  becoming edgy.

  Charmaine shrugged. She wasn’t easily frightened so if Claire

  was trying to scare her, it wasn’t working. Charmaine grabbed her

  cousin by the coat and pointed to the surrounding area. “Look

  around you.” Claire scanned the area in front of her. “All around

  here are animals of some kind,” Charmaine suggested. “Maybe you

  saw a squirrel, a fox, or one of the other mammals that live here.

  There are loads you know.”

  “Who are you, Miss, presenter of the Animal Planet channel all

  of a sudden?” asked Claire.

  “Stop being sarcastic... I’m just making a point.” She gave Claire

  a friendly nudge. “Now let’s eat, I’m starving.”

  Closing in behind the girls was a repugnant looking, male

  figure. The features resembled someone with leprosy. Decayed flesh

  and loose skin dropped off the body as it walked. The clothing, or

  what was left of it, was shredded after being eaten away, along with

  parts of the body, by insects. One of the unidentified being’s eyelids

  remained shut. Its top lip wasn’t there anymore and cigarette

  stained molars showed advanced signs of infection and decay. The mystery being wasn’t even walking properly because the

  left foot dragged along the grass. However, it somehow stayed

  upright, but the movement resembled someone who was inebriated. The first person to be reincarnated as a living corpse was

  Rodney Wilson. For the past six months he’d often been seen

  walking the streets of the town. Rumours had spread that Rodney

  had given up his home to sleep on the street. The local Chief

  Inspector knew Rodney well so understood the story as to why he

  was homeless, but the Inspector never discussed it with people who

  didn’t need to know. Rodney had spilled the beans about his wife

  leaving him. She’d taken the children with her and he couldn’t live

  in his house at that time.

  For the past few weeks there’d been no sightings of him in the

  town so the Chief had checked the Wilson farmhouse to see whether

  Rodney had returned. There’d been no sign, so assumed that the

  farmer had come to his senses, packed some stuff and moved away,

  but in fact, Rodney had lost the will to live, ending his own life at

  the edge of the forest.

  A weird groaning sound escaped from the mouth as the

  uninvited guest close
d in on the humans. This thing wasn’t going

  over to ask the girls on a date.

  “Claire. Did you hear that?”

  The groans were faint, but still spooked the pair.

  “Yes, I did. What kind of animal makes sounds like that?” Claire

  produced a tiny smirk. “Maybe it’s a large bear and it wants a good

  shagging?”

  “Don’t be stupid, I’m being serious. What if it’s a dangerous

  animal and is very hungry?” Was it Charmaine’s turn to be

  worried?

  Claire’s fear faded and she was now in a humorous mood. “If

  it’s hungry then we can give it some crisps and an apple.” “Okay, the fun’s over. It’s time we moved on. We’ve been here

  long enough.”

  Charmaine now acted the part of a parent, making the decision

  to leave the area as the moaning noises increased in volume. The owner of the voice seemed to be stalking the women,

  choosing the right opportunity to close in without being spotted.

  The cousins were too busy throwing food into backpacks to even

  notice that this creature was nearing them.

  Claire rubbed her nose as a revolting smell wafted through the

  trees. The aroma hit hard like a piece of meat that’d been left in the

  sun for a week. Before she could mention it to Charmaine, a

  deformed hand reached over the log, gripping her shoulder. Both

  girls turned to face the owner of the skinless, weightless limb and

  screamed for help. They also thought the yelling would scare the

  unwanted guest away. It didn’t work, as the zombie moaned even

  louder, frightening the cousins to the point of panic.

  Claire struggled to free herself from the clutches of the madman

  so threw a punch toward the face of the freak. A nervous fist was

  embedded into the right cheek. Her own features filled with shock,

  but the adrenaline kept her from freezing. She removed her hand

  from the crushed area, screeching loudly when she saw maggots

  crawling all over it.

  Charmaine vomited all over her backpack while Claire yelled

  out even more, shaking off the wormlike insects, but she stepped