by Ian Rogers
Peggy flipped back the coverlet and slid her long legs out of bed. She was quite tall—taller even than Tom’s considerable five feet ten inches—and while she had always taken pride in her long legs, she didn’t much like looking at them anymore. Like Tom’s hands, they were starting to show their years. Not that it mattered. Her legs had the years and the mileage. When the floor creaked under her feet, she thought that part of the sound—surely not the greater part, but some part at least—was the joints in her knees letting her know that her days of junior varsity soccer and ringette were over—long over.
She pulled up the baggy cotton boxer shorts she was wearing, the ones with the Peterborough Petes’ logo on them, and reflected that her days of sexy lace underwear from I See France, the lingerie store downtown, were over, too.
This is where I ended up, she thought as she ambled out into the dark hallway. This is where life has taken me.
It wasn’t as bad as she made it out. She had a satisfying marriage to a man she was still in love with, they had no major financial concerns, and they were both healthy. There were no kids because they had planned to wait until Tom’s first novel put them on easy street, and when it didn’t, they decided that the window had passed and, really, would it be such a tragedy if they didn’t have kids? They had a house that was paid for, a car that was only three years old, and a large nest egg for their steadily approaching retirement. All of these things have brought me here, she thought, walking down a dark hallway to the living room where they watched a lot of movies but not much living really took place.
Tom tried to get back into his book, but he couldn’t concentrate. He was distracted by vague feelings of guilt. He felt a bit like a guy who had taken a girl out on a date, then told her, no, he wouldn’t walk her home, even though it was dark out. Like a bit of a louse, if he was perfectly honest.
But it was just their living room, he reasoned. Nothing scary about that. He listened for Peggy’s footsteps, which should have been audible on the old hardwood floors, but he didn’t hear anything.
All of this over a stupid candle.
“Peggy?”
The house was an old Colonial, and even the cat, who weighed a whopping seven pounds, made the boards creak and pop as he padded around. It was not a house where you could sneak up on someone undetected; they could hear you coming a mile away. It had even gotten so he could tell, just by the different groans and creaks, exactly where someone was headed, from the living room to the kitchen, from the bedroom to the bathroom. The sounds had become as much a part of the house as the smell of oats from the Quaker factory across the river that wafted in through the open windows when the wind was blowing right.
From where he was lying in bed, he could see only a small sliver of hallway through the open doorway. The bedroom was located at the very back of the house; the living room was at the front.
He looked over at the clock on the nightstand and tried to figure out how long she’d been gone. Two minutes? Three? Surely not as long as five minutes. Long enough, he figured, to walk into the living room, check to see if the candle was still burning, and if it was, blow it out.
“Peg?”
No reply.
She’s screwing with me, he thought. She’s not answering because she’s pissed off. Soon he’d hear the creaking floorboards and she’d stroll into the room and slip back under the covers as if nothing was wrong.
Fine, let her be that way. Two can play that game.
He picked up his book again. He tried to read.
Thirty seconds passed. It felt like thirty minutes. Tom closed his book with a clapping sound that seemed extraordinarily loud in the silent room. Silent house, he corrected. Why is it so quiet? He was so distracted that he had forgotten to put in his bookmark. He swore under his breath and jerked back the covers. He was sliding out of bed when he heard the sharp, unmistakable sound of a woman screaming.
His first panicked thought was that it was Peggy. That’s why she hadn’t answered him. Something was wrong. Had someone broken in? His guilt was no longer vague; it was as solid as the obstruction that had formed in his own throat and kept him from calling out.
But the scream hadn’t come from the house. No, he was sure of that. Tom’s gaze flicked toward the bedroom window. It had come from outside.
It wasn’t Peggy, he told himself, assured himself. It was someone in the house next door, or maybe even from one of the houses further down the street—it had certainly been loud enough. But it was muffled, too.
That’s because it came from inside one of the houses. Not from someone on the street.
He didn’t know how he knew that, but he did.
He climbed out of bed and walked over to the doorway.
“Peg? Where are you?”
Nothing.
He stepped into the hallway and out of the glow thrown by the bedside lamps. He was alone in the darkness. The smell of roasting oats was very strong. It was not an unpleasant smell, but it was one that had gotten old very quickly. His stomach made a protesting, groaning sound.
He walked into the darkened living room, the hardwood floor popping and creaking under his bare feet. He moved past the dining room table, the futon they had bought for guests to sleep on because they didn’t have another bedroom. The shapes of the couch and the loveseat were limned against the orange glow of the streetlights. He saw the candle, a smaller silhouette on one of the end tables. It was out. There was no sign of Peggy.
He started to turn around, to search the rest of the house, when he suddenly realized the room wasn’t empty.
Someone was sitting in the old wicker rocking chair, which was no longer in the corner of the room but in front of the wide bay window that looked out on McDonnel Street.
He was straining his eyes to see who it was when the candle on the end table suddenly flickered into low-burning life. Tom’s eyes were drawn to it instinctively. His mouth fell open. In the dim light he saw it was Peggy sitting in the chair.
It rocked forward and Tom jerked backward. He didn’t scream. Not like the woman next door, he thought randomly. What had that woman seen? Her husband, maybe, sprawled out in his favourite recliner? What had he gotten up to do? Check to make sure the front door was locked? Bring in the dog?
A cold sheen of sweat formed on his back. His pyjama top clung to him like a greasy second skin.
Peggy began to speak, but not in any tone Tom had ever heard in all the years he had known her.
“No questions, my sweet,” Peggy said in a sharp, clear voice. “No questions tonight. Just the answer. Your answer.”
What in the hell is going on? he thought frantically.
The candle flickered, and Tom glanced at it again. A smell wafted over to him. It was a sweet smell, a ripe smell that he couldn’t identify. It didn’t make any sense. The candle was vanilla-scented. It was a smell he and Peggy both enjoyed, along with Autumn Spice, Apple Pie, and Desert Rose, a smell that had filled the room earlier that evening.
Something was wrong. Peggy was staring at the candle, too. He had seen her profile a thousand times over the years—a hundred thousand times—and he knew it as well as his own reflection. But there was something different about it now. Different in the same subtle way that the smell of the candle was different. It was clearly Peggy sitting in the rocker . . . and yet it wasn’t. Something was missing, or something had been added—something that changed her entirely and made her a stranger.
Tom jumped as another scream split the night. Was it someone else making a similar discovery? Was it someone he and Peggy knew, someone in their circle of friends, someone, maybe, who had spent the night on their futon?
He had sent his wife out here to do something. Now he bent over to do it himself. He felt Peggy’s eyes watching him. He could feel them crawling on his skin like beetles. His eyes looked up at the window, and from this angle he could see the moon. It was different, too. The shape was right, but the colour was all wrong. Tom
took two deep breaths, one to steady himself and one to do what needed to be done.
Just pretend it’s your birthday, he told himself.
Peggy whispered, “Make a wish.”
He blew out the candle.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The stories in this book represent my first six years in the publishing industry, from my very first sale, “The Tattletail,” to my most recent, “Aces.” As a collection, I like to think this book shows my evolution as a writer over that period of time. But the one thing you might not get from these stories is the number of people who have helped me out along the way.
So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them.
First of all, I’d like to thank Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi for publishing this book and making one of my dreams come true. And to my editor, Helen Marshall, for her tireless work, her quick response to e-mails, and for coming down to the bar (along with Michael Rowe) to find me so I wouldn’t miss the announcement that ChiZine had accepted my book for publication.
Thanks to Paul Tremblay for the extremely kind introduction. Paul, the cheque is in the mail.
Thanks to Erik Mohr for the incredible cover art, and to Samantha Beiko for the stunning design work. This book is like a haunted house itself, and you were both the architects. I’d also like to thank Laura Marshall for coming up with some great ideas for marketing and promoting this book.
Some other people I’d like to thank for their friendship, their advice, and their support of my work over the years: Laird Barron, Craig Davidson, Peter Darbyshire, Kurt Dinan, Gemma Files, Richard Gavin, Orrin Grey, Nicholas Kaufmann, Michael Kelly, John Langan, Nick Mamatas, John Mantooth, Gary McMahon, Andrew Pyper, Michael Rowe, Robert Shearman, Simon Strantzas, Joel Sutherland, Jeffrey Thomas, Shayne Winters, and Rio Youers.
I’d also like to thank the editors who originally published some of the stories in this collection.
Last but not least, I’d like to thank my friends and family for their love and support. Most of all to my wife Kathryn who’s been with me since the beginning and that very first short story sale. It takes a lot of heart and a lot of patience to be married to a writer, and Kathryn has both in abundance. I love you, Peach.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ian Rogers is a writer, artist, and photographer. His short fiction has appeared in several publications, including Cemetery Dance, Supernatural Tales, and Shadows & Tall Trees. He is the author of SuperNOIRtural Tales (Burning Effigy Press), a series of stories featuring supernatural detective Felix Renn. Ian lives with his wife in Peterborough, Ontario. For more information, visit ianrogers.ca.
PUBLICATION HISTORY
“Autumnology” (as “Autumn Burns”) first appeared in Writers Post Journal (September 2007).
“Cabin D” first appeared in Supernatural Tales #17 (April 2010).
“Winter Hammock” first appeared in Revelation 4:1 (August 2007).
“The Nanny” first appeared in Nossa Morte #3 (May 2008).
“The Dark and the Young” first appeared in Bound for Evil (2008, Dead Letter Press).
“The Currents” (as “The Man from the Currents”) first appeared in Touched by Wonder (2007, Meadowhawk Press).
“Leaves Brown” first appeared in Shades of Darkness (2008, Ash-Tree Press).
“Wood” first appeared in Black Ink Horror #2 (September 2007).
“Vogo” first appeared in Northern Haunts (2009, Shroud Publishing).
“The Tattletail” first appeared in Dark Wisdom #9 (May 2006).
“Charlotte’s Frequency” first appeared in Horror Library, Volume 2 (2007, Cutting Block Press).
“Relaxed Best” first appeared in Not One of Us #38 (October 2007).
“The Candle” first appeared in Shadows & Tall Trees #2 (August 2011).
“Inheritor” first appeared in Cemetery Dance #58 (February 2008).
“Twillingate” first appeared in Salt (2007, Naked Snake Press).
IMAGINARIUM 2012:
THE BEST CANADIAN SPECULATIVE FICTION WRITING
EDITED BY SANDRA KASTURI & HALLI VILLEGAS
AVAILABLE JULY 2O12
FROM CHIZINE PUBLICATIONS AND TIGHTROPE BOOKS
978-1-926851-68-6
SWALLOWING A DONKEY’S EYE
PAUL TREMBLAY
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978-1-926851-70-9
BULLETTIME
NICK MAMATAS
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JANUS
JOHN PARK
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THE INDIGO PHEASANT
VOLUME TWO OF LONGING FOR YOUNT
DANIEL A. RABUZZO
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REMEMBER WHY YOU FEAR ME
THE BEST DARK FICTION OF ROBERT SHEARMAN
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HAIR SIDE, FLESH SIDE
HELEN MARSHALL
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THE BOOK OF THOMAS: HEAVEN
ROBERT BOYCZUK
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BEARDED WOMEN
TERESA MILBRODT
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A BOOK OF TONGUES
VOLUME I OF THE HEXSLINGER SERIES
GEMMA FILES
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BRIARPATCH
TIM PRATT
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CHASING THE DRAGON
NICHOLAS KAUFMANN
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CHIMERASCOPE
DOUGLAS SMITH
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THE CHOIR BOATS
VOLUME ONE OF LONGING FOR YOUNT
DANIEL A. RABUZZI
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CITIES OF NIGHT
PHILIP NUTMAN
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THE DOOR TO LOST PAGES
CLAUDE LALUMIÈRE
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ENTER, NIGHT
MICHAEL ROWE
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EUTOPIA
DAVID NICKLE
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EVERY SHALLOW CUT
TOM PICCIRILLI
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THE FECUND'S MELANCHOLY DAUGHTER
BRENT HAYWARD
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FILARIA
BRENT HAYWARD
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THE HAIR WREATH AND OTHER STORIES
HALLI VILLEGAS
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HORROR STORY AND OTHER HORROR STORIES
ROBERT BOYCZUK
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IN THE MEAN TIME
PAUL TREMBLAY
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ISLES OF THE FORSAKEN
CAROLYN IVES GILMAN
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ISON OF THE ISLES
CAROLYN IVES GILMAN
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KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND
SIMON LOGAN
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MAJOR KARNAGE
GORD ZAJAC
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MONSTROUS AFFECTIONS
DAVID NICKLE
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NAPIER'S BONES
DERRYL MURPHY
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NEXUS: ASCENSION
ROBERT BOYCZUK
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NINJAS VERSUS PIRATE FEATURING ZOMBIES