by Kit Tinsley
They sped down the dirt track that led from Maltham Lane to the Pritchard farm. The farmhouse appeared in view up ahead, there was a car parked outside the house.
‘Is that Mr Morgan’s car?’ Pearce asked.
Jason looked and saw it was indeed.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘He must still be here.
Pearce pulled the car to a sharp stop next to Karl’s Mum’s car.
Pearce and Holly jumped from the car. Jason tried to open the door, but they would not budge. He banged on the window, and Pearce pulled the door open from the outside.
‘Child locks,’ Pearce said.
Karl could see the edge of the Pritchard farm approaching as he ran. The woods lay just beyond the boundary. The only problem was that the boundary was marked by a six foot wooden fence. Karl scanned along it, trying to see where it ended, or at least somewhere there was a break in it, but it was useless. The fence ran all along the edge of the farm for as far as he could see. His only hope was to get over it. He had never been great at climbing but he hoped that running as fast as he was he would be able to leap up and grab hold of the top of the fence to pull himself over.
Miko was running behind him. The way he used those muscular legs and arms in unison meant he could run at an incredible pace. If Karl didn’t make the jump first time he doubted he would have time for a second attempt.
His heart pounded in his chest and he was panting, but he had enough left in reserve for one final burst of energy. Karl lowered his head and began to pump his legs faster, using that last drop of strength for one last increase in speed.
The fence was now only six feet ahead of him. It was time to get ready. He summoned all his strength into his legs and pushed himself away from the ground; he saw the top of the fence and stretched his arms towards it. His fingertips brushed against the rough wood, but he failed to grip it. His face collided with the fence and he slid down it to the ground, still on the same side.
He jumped to his feet and turned back. Miko was close now, showing no sign of tiredness, or weakness of any kind. The only thing discernible on his hideous visage was anger and determination.
Karl turned back to the fence and began to scramble up it. He shimmied his feet against the lower part of his fence, while his hands desperately searched for some kind of purchase.
He could hear Miko approaching now, the thud of his powerful feet on the damp ground, his rhythmic breathing. Karl prayed for a miracle, and somehow he managed to grab hold of the top of the fence. Once he had this used his upper body strength to start pulling himself up. His legs braced against the fence for support, he managed to rise quite quickly.
Not quickly enough, though. Miko leapt at him with impossible grace. His long, sharp nails dug into Karl’s back. Karl let out a scream of agon, as the weight of Miko pulled him down again. He had no choice but to let go of the top of the fence. He dropped to the floor, Miko still on his back
The scream of pain that Karl released echoed across the farm, losing none of its clarity when it reached the courtyard.
‘What was that?’ Holly asked.
Pearce shook his head.
‘I think it was Karl,’ Jason said, he began moving in the direction the sound came from. Booth looked to Pearce. The senior detective nodded , and both of them drew their guns.
Mrs Pritchard stepped out of the house, holding up a shotgun, without any warning she fired in their direction. Holly jumped forward and grabbed Jason and pushed him to the ground.
She dragged him behind a tree and saw Pearce was behind the car.
‘The mad old bitch is trying to kill us!’ Holly shouted to him
The old woman let off another shot, this one hit the tree and sent splinters of bark spraying over Holly and Jason.
‘Keep him safe and stay out of sight,’ Pearce called back. ‘She must be reloading. I’m going to make a run for it.’
Holly nodded to him, and watched as Pearce disappeared behind the other side of the car, crouched low to the ground.
There came another gut wrenching scream from the distance. Holly looked in the direction the sound came from then looked down at Jason.
‘We have to help him,’ he said pleading with her.
‘We will,’ she said. ‘Just keep your head down.’
Jason did as she said.
Miko had turned him over quickly so that Karl was laying on his back on the dew moist grass. Despite Miko’s advantage in size, weight and strength, Karl had managed to get his legs up, so his knees were holding him away. Miko lunged forwards repeatedly, trying to get his teeth to Karl’s throat, but with Karl’s legs braced the way they were it was too much of a stretch.
Enraged, Miko started to claw at Karl’s face, dragging his jagged nails through his flesh and gouging deep. Karl screamed and started to punch upwards. The blood from the clawing ran into his eyes and Karl was blinded. Still he kept punching at Miko. Most of his blows landed on the monstrous man’s muscular chest, and seemed to do little but anger him more.
Finally, Karl felt his knuckles connect, full force, with bone. Miko fell backward off Karl, making a choking sound. Karl rubbed the stinging blood from his vision and saw the beast man rolling around holding his throat. Karl had punched him under his jaw, breaking several teeth and hitting his windpipe.
Karl rolled over and began to scramble away.
Mrs Pritchard clicked the gun closed, reloaded and ready to fire. With a roar Pearce charged at her. the old woman tried to raise the gun, but her reactions were to slow and Pearce used all of his bodyweight to collide with her. She fell to the floor hard, knocking herself out as her head connects with the ground. The gun flew from her hands and down the path. Pearce regained his balance and managed to stay on his feet, he quickly grabbed the shotgun.
‘Booth, Jason. Come on!’
Holly and Jason appeared from behind the tree and ran to catch up with Pearce who was already heading in the direction of the screaming.
None of them noticed the old lady open her eyes. She got to her feet and set off after them.
Karl dragged himself away from Miko, who was still struggling to breath. He wanted to stand and run, but could not manage it, the best he could do was to crawl on his hand and knees. He looked up and saw three figures rushing towards him.
‘Karl!’ one of them shouted in a familiar voice.
‘Jason?’ Karl mumbled.
The three figures continue to run towards him. He soon saw it was not only Jason, but Pearce and Booth. He offered them a little wave, and then dropped his eyes to the floor. The cavalry have arrived.
Jason saw Karl wave and then look as though he was going to collapse. At that moment he saw the animal, the horror, whatever the hell that malformed thing was. It stood upright like a man and then threw itself onto Karl’s back. It bit down hard, tearing flesh away from Karl’s shoulder.
Karl let out an agonised scream.
Pearce took no time to hesitate. As the beast raised itself up to pull the flesh away, he squeezed his trigger. Pearce fired twice, both shots hit the monstrosity in the head. It looked at them with confused eyes. The chunk of Karl’s flesh rolled out of its mouth, and it fell backwards to the ground, dead.
Jason and Holly ran over to where Karl was laying. The pain was finally too much for him and he had passed out. Holly pressed hard on the gaping wound on his shoulder blade. Thick, dark blood seeped through her finger.
‘Hold on, mate,’ Jason said, stroking Karl’s head.
‘He needs an ambulance,’ Holly said. ‘He losing a lot of blood.’
Mrs Pritchard appeared and ran over to the thing Pearce had killed. She howled in grief and hugged it to her chest. She turned to Pearce, her eyes afire with rage.
‘You murdering bastard!’ she screamed at him. ‘You killed my son! My baby boy. I’ll tear your fucking heart out for this.’
She made no attempt to move despite the threat. She merely sat the cradling the monster in her arms, stroking his head and sobbing.
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Holly turned to Pearce, who was looking around nervously.
‘Sir,’ she said, ‘he needs an ambulance.’
Pearce shook his head.
‘We have to go,’ he said anxiously. ‘Carry him to the car.’
Jason was perplexed at the sudden alarm Pearce seemed to be showing.
‘That thing is dead,’ he said. ‘Karl is going to die if he doesn’t get medical attention now. Pearce, it’s safe now. Look at him.’
Jason pointed to the body that Mrs Pritchard was still holding.
Pearce shook his head.
‘Safe?’ Pearce said. ‘Do you think I didn’t know what was going on here? Killing him has just made everything worse. The shit is really going to hit the fan now.’
Jason looked to Holly for some explanation. It was clear that she had no idea what Pearce was talking about.
‘What do you mean?’ Jason asked confused.
‘Think about it,’ Pearce said. ‘Do you think that thing could be responsible for every disappearance around here? There has to be more of them...’
Before Pearce could finish there was a deafening bang. They turned to see one of the fence panels being knocked to the ground. Behind it stood a group of eight or nine figures. If up until that point in his life Jason had never seen a more wretchedly deformed being than Miko, the figures that now appeared on the farm made him look normal. They were the most hideous collection of freaks you could imagine. They were looking directly at them. The biggest, a man mountain of nearly seven feet tall with a protruding, bulbous forehead stepped forward. He was holding a large iron chain. He looked at all of them then fixed on Mrs Pritchard.
‘Mother,’ he said.
‘Harry,’ the old woman said with a look of joy on her face. ‘I’m so glad you came, but look what they did to your brother.’
The giant man looked at Miko’s lifeless body in his mother’s arms. He craned his muscular neck towards Pearce, Jason and Holly. His lip curled in anger as his eyes fixed on Pearce, the only one holding a weapon.
‘You did this?’ he said in a booming tone.
Pearce nodded unapologetically.
‘And if you take a step closer, you’ll get the same,’ he said.
The man mountain, named Harry, threw back his head and laughed loudly. The rest of his kin joined in.
‘Really?’ Harry said. ‘You’re going to kill us all?’
‘If I have to,’ Pearce said. ‘You’re all under arrest.’
This brought on another round of hysterical laughter from the group of monstrosities.
‘How many of us do you think you can stop with that one gun, before the rest of us get to you and tear your fucking head off?’
Holly reached to her hip, she pulled her gun from its holster and aimed it straight at Harry’s head.
‘Two guns,’ she said.
Jason struggled to try and stem the flow of blood from Karl’s wound. His friend was starting to look pale.
‘Drop the gun, Booth,’ Pearce said, though it was more of a plea than an order. ‘Leave this to me.’
‘But, sir,’ she began.
‘You’re pregnant,’ Pearce said. ‘Just drop the gun.’
It was then, as the worst thing in the world was unfolding around him, that Jason understood why she had seemed so off with him lately. It was a revelation that made his heart swell, even in this horrendous situation.
‘You’re having my baby?’ he asked.
Her eyes filled with tears as she dropped the gun.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know how to tell you.’
Jason grabbed her hands and pressed them to the wound on Karl’s shoulder. Once she had applied the pressure, Jason threw his own arms around her and held her tightly.
Pearce dropped his guard as he watched his nephew and his protégé share that moment. He looked at them only for a split second, but it was long enough for Harry to swing the chain he was holding.
It connected with a force that knocked Pearce to the ground, the chain wrapped around his throat. His gun flying from his hand as he gasped for air.
‘You killed my little brother,’ Harry said as he stood looming over Pearce. ‘Now it’s your turn, you fucking pig.’
Harry’s monstrous muscles tensed as he pulled on the chain. It tore into Pearce’s flesh. His jugular was ripped open and he began to gargle on his own blood. Pearce thrashed wildly, unable to get away from the ever tightening grip of the chain.
Harry kept pulling, tightening the chain, until he heard the snap of Pearce’s neck.
‘Jon!’ Jason screamed as he reached for the gun that Holly had dropped.
Before he could get hold of it he was grabbed by two members of this hideous family. They held him up as Holly wept, still trying to stop Karl from bleeding to death.
Harry walked over to the captive Jason. He drew a hunting knife from a sheath on his belt.
‘You’re next,’ he said, holding the tip of the blade to Jason’s face.
‘No!’ The cry didn’t come from Holly, but from Mrs Pritchard as she got to her feet.
‘What?’ Harry said angrily.
‘For once in your life, listen to your mother, Harry Pritchard,’ she said.
The old woman slowly walked over to Holly, she put her hands on the weeping woman’s shoulders.
‘Get up, dear,’ she said gently.
‘I can’t. He’ll die,’ Holly sobbed.
Mrs Pritchard looked down at Karl.
‘That’s inevitable now,’ she said.
Holly looked at Karl and saw that the old woman was right. Karl had lost far too much blood, there was no way they would get him to a hospital in time now. It was better that he slipped away quietly, without seeing the horror that her and Jason were experiencing. She slowly got to her feet, and for a reason she couldn’t understand, she hugged the old woman.
‘What are you playing at, Mother?’ Harry said.
The old woman smiled.
‘There’s been enough death here today,’ she said patting Holly’s back. ‘They’re having a baby.’
‘So?’ Harry grunted.
‘Don’t you see?’ Mrs Pritchard said. ‘A new life, it’s so precious. New blood in the family.’
Harry thought he understood.
‘You want to keep her until she has the baby, so you can replace Miko?’ he said.
The old woman shook her head.
‘No one could ever replace your brother,’ she said, tears forming as she looked the mangled corpse of her son.
‘Then what are you suggesting?’ Harry said.
‘A baby needs both its parents,’ Mrs Pritchard said. ‘You did, their baby does too. They’re both going to stay with us.’
Harry looked shocked.
‘You can’t stay here mother,’ Harry said. ‘The fire will attract the emergency services soon.’
‘Then we’ll all go back to the island with you,’ she said, still patting Holly’s back. ‘We’ll be one big happy family.’
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kit Tinsley is an English horror author. He is a fan of all things horror.
He graduated from DMU Leicester in 2002 with a BA (hons) in Media Studies and English. Since then he has spent time teaching both subjects in secondary and further education.
He has also worked on several independent films, writing a film called Red Route in 2007. Unfortunately, the film, which Kit also acted in, has been lost in postproduction hell since completion.
Most recently he has worked on production of a film called Shadows of a Stranger, working with actors from the popular TV shows Doctor Who, Rainbow and Torchwood, as well as an actor who appeared in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The film is being prepared for its release as we speak.
Kit is also a musician. He is lead vocalist/guitarist for a punk/folk/rock band called Dog Goblins.
He was born in Shropshire in 1978, but has lived in Lincolnshire since 1985.
He
lives with his wife and their young son.
For more info, visit kit-tinsley.com.
Table of Contents
THE WILDS
Front Matter
PRAISE FOR AUTHOR
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR