Daddy Won't Kill You (An Occult Horror)

by Gebbie, Caroline

  Lauren had her back to Steve as she comforted Lucy an evil smile appeared on her face. “Now who’s having problems? Maybe it’s you who needs to see a doctor.”

  “No, what I saw it’s real. I took a picture.” He reached for the camera and flicked through the images. Desperation ruled his face, the only picture was Lucy and her Mum rocking.

  Lauren snatched the camera. “This is lovely, is this, what you saw?”

  “No. Lucy was bleeding. It was there, I saw... something.”

  Lauren laughed a mocking cruel sound. “Maybe you’re the one suffering from stress?” She turned away from him, a vindictive expression on her face.

  Steve dropped to the floor and leant against the cabin. “Maybe, but there’s one thing I do know. I want out of here today.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  Steve looked around. “Where’s Chase?”

  “He’s been a naughty boy. I locked him in his room.” Lauren turned to face him a sneer on her usually beautiful face.

  Steve jumped up and ran to Chase’s room.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Steve raced to the door. Closed like finality it blocked his path but the key was in the lock. He reached out a hand desperate to see what was in the room but afraid beyond belief. He opened the door slowly his heart in his throat. Chase sat on his bed unharmed, but he looked hurt and dejected, a book lay ignored across his lap.

  “I’m sorry Dad,” he said as Steve entered the room.

  “Forget it son, get your boots.” He wanted to hug Chase, to tell him everything was all right, but he felt he was running out of time. He knew they had to get out of there fast. He walked back to the kitchen. Lauren stood next to the knife rack, and Lucy sat at the table, bouncing Bunkie across its smooth wooden surface. Her smile was carefree, her joy genuine.

  Steve grabbed his rucksack and began piling in food and bottled water. He grabbed Lucy’s arm disturbing her play as he pulled her from the chair. She looked up at him confused her big blue eyes like an ocean of love. Steve pulled his gaze away he had to be strong. He looked at Lauren. “You coming?”

  “Where

  “Back to the pass, I’m getting us out of here today.”

  Chase groaned behind him, and Lucy tried to go back to the chair.

  “It’s too far; they can stay with me,” Lauren said moving towards Lucy.

  Steve put himself in between them and pulled Lucy back towards him. “No way. Kids now.”

  Steve herded the kids out of the cabin, a hand seemed to have gripped his stomach as his fear grew by the minute. Somehow he knew they must get away now. Lauren followed, and he hoped that she would come with them. She had been so much better away from the cabin, away from the chair. He turned. “Come with us.” It could be her only hope. The thought crossed his mind, but he shook it away, the Pumpkins had to come first.

  She was leaning against the stop. She looked different, old fashioned but also the same. He really wanted her to come, but he would not leave the kids.

  “No, Lucy and Chase can stay with me, it’s too far,” she said.

  Lucy moved to walk to her mum, but Steve kept a firm grasp on her hand. She looked at him the glance accusatory, but he held his ground. “Lauren please, it’s not safe here,” Steve pleaded as they stepped off the deck.

  She walked toward him; his heart soared, she was coming.

  “The kids stay. You can’t expect them to do that walk again.”

  “Can we Daddy?” Lucy asked.”

  “No.” He sounded angry, desperate. “Come with us Lauren.”

  “I’m happy here.” She looked from him to the chair. Her eyes wide and uncertain almost lost.

  Steve tried one more time. “I want you to come, but if you stay, you’re staying alone.”

  Anger flashed across her face, and her eyes turned icy cold. “You force me to stay here. Every day I see people, outside, happy while I’m locked in here. Why?”

  “What? Look Lauren come, please.” He reached out to her, his hand pleading. He didn’t want to leave her, but they had to move soon.

  She seemed drawn to the chair. She sat down and started to rock gently. Steve took one last look and pointed the children across the grass towards the trail. “We’ll be back for you,” he shouted as they set off.

  She rocked gently her hair growing shorter and straighter as they walked across the grass before the lake. As they disappeared into the trees, her face had a knowing smile.

  ***

  The journey proceeded with less joy than the previous day. Lucy sat on Steve’s shoulders, unusually quiet, and the weight was telling on Steve. His legs were almost as heavy as his dream and his back and chest ached. Chase took point, but his steps were slower. They were all tired. “Let’s take a break.” Steve dropped Lucy to the lush grass and eased off his pack.

  Gratefully they all sat on a grassy bank beside the stream. Water splashed in the air as it cascaded over the rocks forming tiny rainbows in the morning sunshine. The bubbling sound soothed their nerves and eased away the tension, but none of them took any joy from this moment of wonder.

  “What did I do wrong?” Chase asked.

  “I don’t know sunshine. I think maybe your Mum got the wrong idea.”

  “I want to go home,” Chase said. “I’m not moaning or nothing, but this holiday’s no fun anymore.”

  “That’s why were walking.” Steve ruffled his hand through Chases’ unruly hair.

  ***

  Inside the cabin, Lauren flicked through her recipe book. She adjusted the scarf around her neck and turned another page, before running her fingers through her fifties bob hair style. Her eyes were cold, hungry, and her face twisted into a manic grin. She hummed as she picked up a kitchen knife. Turning it over before her eyes, the steel caught the light and flashed it back at her. There was tension in her smile as if she wanted to let it go but couldn’t. Like the joker, the smile was forced onto her face. Occasionally she would glance at the open door, and the chair framed in it, like a mother checking on her baby she needed to keep it in sight. She began to sing.

  “Shush little kiddies you’re gonna cry. Mummy’s gonna stab you in the eye.”

  She raised the knife above her head and stabbed it down deep into the recipe book. The steel slipped through the hard cover, and the books pages like it was warm butter. It entered the hard wood of the oak table for a half inch and stopped pinning the book to the table.

  ***

  Steve and the kids arrived at the top of the pass. It was cloudy today, and mist hung heavy and cold on the hilltop. He put Lucy down and breathed a sigh of relief. Taking off the pack, he handed out a couple of chocolate bars. “You two did great.”

  They grinned through mouthfuls of chocolate. Lauren would have remembered tissues. “Back in two minutes.” He walked the last few steps to the top of the hill and pulled the phone from his pocket. The view was still magnificent. A low mist hung like wet clouds across the valley. Tree tops poked through in places, the green of the pine and oaks was mystical against the smoky white mist and in other areas the mist was sparse and he could see the grass and the stream beneath it.

  He switched on the phone and waited. Annoyance crossed his face when nothing happened. He shook the phone and tried turning it off and back on again. A panic was clawing away at his gut, fighting to scramble up his esophagus and out of his mouth. He bit down hard and shook the phone. Nothing.

  “Dad what’s wrong?” Chase asked.

  “Nothing.” Steve was crushed. He undid the back of the phone and took out the battery; the Sim card was missing. “Bitch.” He stared out over the forest. The mist was clearing slowly, but all he could see was forest and heather. There was no sign of habitation. “You bitch, you mean evil bitch. How could you?” He screamed his frustration at the forest before falling to the ground. He sat with his head in his hands rocking backwards and forwards much as the rocking chair. He was lost, defeated.

  He felt warmth against h
is side, as Lucy cuddle up next to him. “You okay Daddy?” she asked.

  He pulled her to him, taking comfort that she was unharmed, tired but okay. “Daddy’s phone’s not working. Chase have...”

  “Left it at home.” Chase sat down on the grass, and the three of them joined in a hug, taking solace from each other.

  Steve knew he must be strong for the children, but it had been two long days of walking, and he was more scared than he dared to admit. They had little choice left and would have to return to the cabin with no means of escape. A slimy sickness settled in his gut holding him down and draining the little energy he had left.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Lauren hummed to herself as she rolled out the smooth cream pastry. She looked so domesticated, her hair perfect, her neat skirt and blouse protected with a pretty flowered apron as she pushed the heavy marble rolling pin back and forth, back and forth till the batter was beyond perfection. She placed a pie dish beneath as she lifted the batter expertly. The pastry formed to the sides of the dish and with a thin, sharp knife she trimmed off the excess, spinning the dish to complete the task.

  “Shush little babies, don’t you whine,” she sang in a voice that seemed deeper, coarser than her normal one. She placed the pie on the surface and reached into the pocket of her apron. With a smile, she pulled out the mobile Sim card and placed it on a wooden chopping board. She slammed it with a steak hammer and the blows caused the board to jump from the surface, and the Sim almost bounced off. This enraged her, and she pounded the Sim over and over before calmly adding it to the pie.

  She sang in tune to a mocking bird, “Shush little Pumpkins, don’t you cry. Daddy won’t kill you, but will I?”

  ***

  Steve stood at the top of the pass, with one child holding each hand. He stared out at the vista before him. The fog had cleared, and the view was spectacular, but the more he looked, the worse he felt. They had nowhere to go, they were surrounded by miles and miles of rough countryside, and that was only to get back to the cabin. He breathed in; he had to do something, had to get them out of there. Over the trees, he could see the lake. It glistened in the sunlight, a sign of hope, but he felt only despair. He looked down; Lucy had stopped giggling a long time ago, she was subdued and tired but he was proud of her. The children had been so good that he felt ashamed of his own meltdown. He knew they were tired, and he needed to decide what to do.

  “Let’s walk to town.” Lucy looked up with her big blue eyes. They captured his soul and squeezed his heart.

  Chase caught his dad’s eye. He knew how far it was, being over thirty minutes in the car. “We could Dad. I don’t like the cabin anymore.”

  Steve felt a rush of pride; his two children had stayed strong when he wanted to sit down and cry. He thought about it. “It’s a few hours back to the cabin. It will be nearly dark and you two will be exhausted.”

  Chase punched his dad’s stomach and laughed.

  “Yeah, I’m already exhausted.”

  Lucy tugged at his sleeve. “But can we?”

  Steve pulled her close. “We’ll see. Now the tree spotting game, first one to ten gets a treat.”

  Lucy jumped on the spot but not with her normal enthusiasm, she pulled her dad down to her and he hardly heard, “Can you help me?”

  He laughed, and they set off down the trail. “Hoak.” He pointed at a large oak tree.

  ***

  Lauren slid the pie into the already toasty oven. It looked magnificent. She had basted the pastry with egg and cut out flower shapes to decorate the top. She smiled, but it seemed out of control almost as if the smile was not hers and she was trying to stop it.

  She took off her apron and ran a hand through her shoulder length hair, curling it into a bob as she did. She looked perfect, a woman from a different era, only her manic eyes spoiled the picture.

  She went to a paper rack by the door and picked up the paper Steve had bought at the services on their way. She put it under her arm. It showed a picture of her, as she looked now. The headline – “Killer of 20+ Dies in Rocker.”

  She walked out of the cabin and towards the chair. She seemed to be struggling with herself, one step forwards and then her expression would change to one of horror and she would stop. Almost frozen in place then her head would tilt like a cute puppy looking at something exciting as she stared at the rocker.

  She seemed pulled towards the chair, and it started to rock, slowly, gently, pulling her towards it. She sat down and tossed the paper onto the deck. It landed front page up and the woman Valerie Munardo stared back. It was Lauren from a different time.

  The chair rocked gently, and Lauren, now Val relaxed back into it. She was at peace, simply resting after a hard day. The sun was setting behind the cabin as the chair rocked gently, and Lauren was bathed blood-red by the sunset.

  As the chair rocked backwards the paper flicked to a different page, it showed a young girl, the word victim seemed to leap out of the print.

  The chair rocked forwards, and as it rocked back again, Lauren became the girl. She was twenty and pretty with a pixie face made for laughter. She had big brown eyes and long brown hair, and she wore a flowery dress that spoke of summer. Terrified, her eyes almost popped from her head, and her body was forced into the chair as if she hoped she could disappear through the back of it.

  The chair rocked forwards; Lauren/Val sat in the chair her eyes closed in ecstasy.

  The chair rocked back. The young girl reappeared. Her hands were tied to the chairs arms. She fought for her life against the ropes that held her, and as she struggled they sliced into her pale wrists. Blood oozed from beneath the rope, but there was no hope she could not pull free. In desperation, she shook her head and tried to free her upper body. Her brown hair tossed in the wind like a mane, as she struggled to escape, but she was held tight and defeated she leaned back against the chair. Blood ran down her perfect cheeks to drip from her chin and spot the pretty dress.

  The chair rocked forwards. Val rode it to the apex and then leaned back, a smug expression on her hateful face.

  The chair rocked back, and a six inch rusty, steel nail appeared above the girl’s left hand. Terror lit her eyes, and she screamed a silent scream. The nail jerked through her hand, as if knocked by an invisible hammer as the chair slowly completed its travel, the nail found the wood. Blood streamed over her wrist, and splashed the flowered dress as the nail travelled deeper.

  The chair rocked forwards. Val sat her eyes closed. She was clean, pristine and happy.

  The paper fluttered on the deck, changing to another page.

  ***

  Chase led the way as they made their long journey back to the cabin. He seemed to trudge rather than walk, and his eyes were straight forwards, the magic of the forest no longer held any appeal. It was getting late, and Steve knew it would be dark before they made it back to the comfort of the cabin. They had to rest frequently, for Chase and him but mostly for Lucy.

  He was carrying her at the moment, but it was no longer a joy, she was heavier than he remembered and he had been feeling a little winded. He prayed that it was just the exertion and that his heart would be fine, at least until he got the children to safety. “Let’s take another break,” he said and set Lucy down next to a tree.

  He found another chocolate bar and shared it between the two children. It would give them a nice energy spike and hopefully make the last part of the journey bearable. He felt something sticky touch his hand and looked down to see half of Chase’s chocolate. “You have it,” he said.

  “No Dad you need the energy.” Chase walked away ending the conversation and looked out through the trees. They still had another half hours walking at least, and Steve wanted to sit down and sleep. Should they? He had slept under the stars before, would it be safer than returning to Lauren and the cabin? If it was just him and Chase they could do it, but they were lightly dressed, and it would get cold tonight, probably even a frost.

  He walked over to Cha
se and put his arm round the boy, who looked out over the lake. They both felt a spike of adrenaline more potent than the chocolate. They shared a glance and hope was rekindled.

  “The boat,” Chase said.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Val rocked in the chair backwards and forwards. A slight breeze lifted her hair and let it settle back into the fifties' bob. Her ice blue eyes were full of hate. She closed them and relaxed back as the wind turned the paper to another page. Another victim smiled back from the newsprint.

  In the chair, this new victim was tied. She was in her early twenties, with light hair and a pleasant face that spoke of innocence and the country. She looked exhausted, beaten. Her face was browned by the sun but marred by purple bruises and blood that ran down and splattered the white dress that was probably her favorite. She squeezed her eyes tight as the chair rocked forwards, and a knife appeared over her hand. The chair rocked forwards, and she was gone replaced by Val. She opened her eyes, rubbed her fingers and shivered with delight. Smiling as the chair rocked backwards.

  The girl appeared to be sleeping as the knife sliced into her little finger. She jerked awake and screamed a silent scream. Her body bucked violently almost out of the chair, but the rope pulled it back. The knife hesitated as it hit bone, and then seemed to crunch through, and the finger dropped to the deck, bouncing before it came to rest. The girl screamed away her innocence, but no sound escaped her bruised lips.

  The chair rocked forwards, and Val rubbed her little finger.

  Behind her, Steve and the children stumbled out of the dusk.

  The chair rocked back. A second finger was under the knife. The girl was ridged, as if frozen as the knife bit into her flesh, she pushed against the chair but there was nowhere to escape. The finger fell to the deck and rolled over and over agonizingly slowly as the knife sliced into the blood soaked wood of the arm. The girl sobbed her eyes screwed tight into her face tortured.