by Amy Cross
He leans closer and kisses me on the cheek, before starting to limp up the stairs.
“Don't be too long,” he calls back down to me. “I want to swing by Tesco on the way home and pick up some stuff. Or maybe we could eat at the pub tonight.”
“Sure,” I mutter, although I doubt he can hear me as I turn and walk back toward the bloodied circle. “Your choice.”
Stopping just at the edge of the circle, I crouch down and look at the small, almost imperceptible crack in the ground. That crack was not there five years ago, but it was there a year later, running a few inches through the very middle of the circle. I told myself it was nothing, but a year later the crack was just a little longer. In fact, it's grown very very slightly each year since, and now I think maybe it's even becoming a little wider. I guess it could just be a structural thing caused by the building settling, although I find it odd that it'd be happening only in the center of the circle.
“I have no idea how you could ever have made it back this far,” I say out loud, staring at the crack and wondering whether there's anything that can hear me on the other side, “but if anyone could do it, I think it'd be you. Are you there? Can you hear me?”
I wait, giving her a chance to reply, but all I hear is silence.
I ask every year, and I half expect that one day she'll answer.
“This circle will always be here,” I continue. “My blood, and one day my daughter's blood, and one day her daughter's and on and on for as long as time. So if you are there, if you did somehow make it back from the void and cling to the rocks again, you won't ever be able to get through. You know that, right?”
Again I wait.
Again, I hear nothing.
In my mind's eye, however, I imagine her somehow, impossibly – miraculously, even – clinging to that rock-face again and desperately digging with her fingertips, trying to find a way back through. I imagine her screaming with fury and hatred. I'm absolutely certain that for as long as she has even the slightest chance, she'll keep trying. And although I thought she was gone when she fell away into the void, I can't helping thinking that if anyone would be able to find a way back, it'd be her.
And then, just as I'm about to get to my feet, the crack lengthens slightly. Just a few millimeters, but enough for me to see it move.
“Not happening,” I tell her, before squeezing a little more blood from my palm and daubing an extra symbol directly on top of the crack.
Just to be certain.
Then I get to my feet and take a deep breath.
“You're not ever getting back through,” I say out loud, just in case she can hear me. “See you again in a year, and every year after that.”
And with that, I turn and walk away. I know the crack will be slightly larger next year, but that's okay. She can try as hard as she wants, but she'll never get through again. I'll make sure of that.
Also by Amy Cross
STEPHEN
Fresh from the convent, Beryl Seaton accepts a position as governess for the Brooks family. When she arrives at the family's remote house, however, she discovers that a terrible secret is waiting for her in the nursery.
From the author of Asylum and The Farm, Stephen is a horror novel about a young woman who finds herself torn between two worlds. Desperate to help her employers in their hour of need, she nevertheless struggles to look after their son.
What happened to Stephen, to leave him the way he is? What happened to the previous governess at Grangehurst? And what causes the sobbing sound that seem to drift through an empty room?
By the time she uncovers the awful truth about the family, and about little Stephen, it might be too late for Beryl to ever leave.
Stephen is a horror novel about a family with a deadly secret, and about a meek and timid young woman who finds herself drawn into the heart of a nightmare.
Also by Amy Cross
HAUNTED
Twenty years ago, the ghost of a dead little girl drove Sheriff Michael Blaine to his death.
Now, that same ghost is coming for his daughter.
Returning to the small town where she grew up, Alex Roberts is determined to live a normal, quiet life. As far as she's concerned, her past – and her family's history – shouldn't ruin her future. For the residents of Railham, however, she's an unwelcome reminder of the town's darkest hour.
Twenty years ago, nine-year-old Mo Garvey was found brutally murdered in a nearby forest. Everyone thinks that Alex's father was responsible, but if the killer was brought to justice, why is the ghost of Mo Garvey still after revenge And how far will the real killer go to protect his secret, when Alex finally starts getting closer to the truth?
Haunted is a horror novel about a woman who has to face her past, about a town that would rather forget, and about a little girl who refuses to let death stand in her way.
Also by Amy Cross
THE BRIDE OF ASHBYRN HOUSE
“I have waited so long for your return.”
In the English countryside, miles from the nearest town, there stands an old stone house. Nobody has set foot in the house for years. Nobody has dared. For it is said that even though the lady of the house is long dead, a face can sometimes be seen at one of the windows. A pale, dead face that waits patiently behind a silk wedding veil.
Seeking a much-needed escape from his hectic life in London, Owen Stone purchases Ashbyrn House without waiting to find out about its history. As far as Owen is concerned, ghosts aren't real and his only company in the house will be the thin-legged spiders that lurk on the walls. Even after he moves in, and after he starts hearing strange noises in the night, Owen insists that Ashbyrn House can't possibly be haunted.
But Owen knows nothing about the ghostly figure that is said to haunt the house. Or about the mysterious church bells that ring out across the lawn at night. Or about the terrible fate that befell the house's previous inhabitants when they dared defy the bride. Even as Owen starts to understand the horrific truth about Ashbyrn House's past, he might be too late to escape the clutches of the presence that watches his every move.
The Bride of Ashbyrn House is a ghost story about a man who believes the past can't hurt him, and about a woman whose search for a husband has survived even her own tragic death.
Also by Amy Cross
THE BODY AT AUERCLIFF
“We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!”
When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms.
A dead body. A woman. Old and rotten. And her aunt insists she has no idea where it came from.
The truth lies buried in the past. For generations, the occupants of Auercliff have been tormented by the repercussions of a horrific secret. And somehow everything seems to be centered upon the mausoleum in the house's ground, where every member of the family is entombed once they die.
Whose body was left to rot in one of the house's rooms? Why have successive generations of the family been plagued by a persistent scratching sound? And what really happened to Rebecca many years ago, when she found herself locked inside the Auercliff mausoleum?
The Body at Auercliff is a horror story about a family and a house, and about the refusal of the past to stay buried.
OTHER BOOKS
BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE
Horror
The Soul Auction
Stephen
The Ash House
The Camera Man
The Bride of Ashbyrn House
The Body at Auercliff
Haunted
B&B
Laura
Asylum
Meds (Asylum 2)
Annie's Room
The Farm
The Ghost of Molly Holt
The Curse of Wetherley House
The Ghosts of Lakeforth Hotel
The Haunting of Blackwych Grange
The Ghosts of Hexley Airport
The Devil, the Witch and the Whore (The Deal book 1)
Darper Danver: The Complete First Series
The Disappearance of Katie Wren
The Horror of Devil's Root Lake
The Printer From Hell
The Nurse
American Coven
Eli's Town
The Night Girl
Devil's Briar
The Cabin
After the Cabin
Last Wrong Turn
The Ghost of Shapley Hall
A House in London
The Blood House
The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)
Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)
The Border
Short Story Collections
Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories
Twisted Little Things and Other Stories
The Ghost of Longthorn Manor and Other Stories
The Vampire of Downing Street and Other Stories
Thrillers
The Murder at Skellin Cottage (Jo Mason book 1)
The Return of Rachel Stone (Jo Mason book 2)
The Girl Who Never Came Back
Other People's Bodies
Dystopian / Science Fiction
The Dog
The Island (The Island book 1)
Persona (The Island book 2)
The Abyss (The Island book 3)