by Helen Phifer
He kept shaking his head from side to side. ‘No. There’s a zombie in there.’
She tried her best not to roll her eyes. Christ, this kid should be the one writing the books. What with lake people and zombies, he seemed to have a far better imagination than she did.
A huge flash of fork lightning lit the entire sky above their heads, and Alfie cowered.
‘Need to take cover,’ he mumbled. ‘Dangerous out here.’
When Maddy stood up, her damaged ankle sent shooting pains up her calf and into her thigh, taking her breath away. Another crash above them made Alfie lift both hands to his ears, and she saw the look of panic on his face.
‘Alfie, it’s okay. You go back to the house and shelter there. Seth will be back soon. I’ll stay up here and wait for the storm to pass. I’ll be okay.’
He looked surprised. ‘What about the zombie?’
‘I’m okay,’ she assured him. ‘I like zombies. Go on, before the rain starts. There’s no point in us both getting hypothermia. When the storm passes, you could go and see Seth if he hasn’t turned up and ask him if he can help me to get back down.’
‘Yep, Seth can help you.’ Alfie nodded. ‘Don’t want no hypothermia; it can make you die. Bye. I’ll come back soon.’
He turned and began to run down the side of the fell without so much as turning his head to see if she was still okay. To be honest, she didn’t blame him; this was her own stupid fault. She should have worn some proper boots and watched where she was walking.
She began to limp as fast as she could towards the ramshackle building, and just hoped it was waterproof or, better still, thunderstorm-proof.
Chapter Seventy-Eight
M addy reached the building as the first of the heavy raindrops began to fall, landing with a splat on the top of her head. If she didn’t take shelter, she would be soaked through in seconds.
The stench was emanating from inside the building, and she didn’t know what to do. Something had died inside there, and it looked dark and even more creepy than the house. What if Alfie was right and there was a zombie inside? There was definitely something.
As the rain grew heavier, she clambered up and through the open windowsill. The smell inside was so overpowering it took her breath away. Standing still, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloominess. There were several holes in the roof, allowing a little light to come through.
Her eyes scanned the building. There were some broken shelves hanging down, a fireplace at one end of the room, and a couple of broken stools. As her gaze dropped to the floor, she squealed. There was a sleeping bag on the floor with what clearly looked like a person inside of it.
‘Sorry…h-h-hello…’ she stammered. ‘Are you okay in there?’
The figure in the sleeping bag didn’t move, and a lead ball began to form in her gut. Oh God. Someone had taken shelter in here and died in their sleeping bag. Maddy tugged her phone out of her pocket. There were no bars on the signal, but she turned on the torch and shone it in the direction of the sleeping bag. This must have been what Alfie had meant when he’d said there was a zombie inside. The poor kid must have been bloody traumatised, because she was shaking and felt as if she was going to throw up.
She could see dark hair poking out of the top of the sleeping bag. Forcing herself to reach out, she bent down and gently shook the shoulder of whoever was inside it, in case they were in a deep sleep. But her hand recoiled at the stiffness, and she knew without a doubt that whoever was in there was dead and had been for some time.
Maddy tried to slow her breathing down; there was no use panicking. The storm was now raging noisily above the fells and a loud boom directly above the summerhouse, followed by a brilliant white flash of lightning, confirmed what she already knew. She was going have to stay here with a dead body for company until Alfie came back with Seth to rescue her.
Maddy wondered whether she should see if there was any ID on the body. Or should she leave it to the police? She pushed herself away from the wall towards the body and slowly knelt. Breathing through her mouth, she reached out with her shaking left hand and grabbed hold of the sleeping bag’s soft, silky material. Jerking it down, she stared in horror at the familiar face that was looking straight at her, the eyes crawling with maggots.
The side of his head was completely crushed, and there were big, fat bluebottles crawling all over the bloodied mess. Dropping the material, she stood up and screamed. She had to get out of here! No longer caring about the raging storm outside, she threw herself out of the broken window and fell heavily onto the ground, hot, salty tears falling down her cheeks.
Despite the fact that she’d run to get away from him, the shock of seeing Connor’s dead body, and in that state, turned her stomach. Sobbing, she dragged herself to her feet and began to hobble as fast as she could away from the summerhouse, her heart racing. She didn’t care about anything except getting to safety and phoning the police. The grass was slippy, the soles of her boots turning them into ice skates.
She felt herself losing her balance and was sliding down the hillside until a strong pair of arms caught her and stopped her descent. She let out a blood-curdling scream.
‘Jesus Christ, Maddy, what’s the matter? Are you trying to kill me?’
‘Seth! Oh, thank God it’s you. I’ve hurt my ankle and there’s a body in that building.’ Her words were rushing out in her desperation to explain. ‘It-it-it’s Connor. He’s dead.’
A sob erupted from her throat and he pulled her close, holding her while the rain lashed down on the pair of them. As she clung to him, she didn’t think she’d ever let go. What a mess.
He kissed the side of her cheek gently and whispered, ‘Up until twenty minutes ago, I liked you, Maddy. In fact, I really liked you.’
She pulled away and looked into his face. It didn’t even look like the Seth she’d got to know in the last few days. His eyes stared at her; he didn’t break a smile.
She pulled away from him, confused. ‘Seth, what do you mean?’
He shrugged. ‘You should have come to the pub the first time I asked you, then we wouldn’t be here now. Too stubborn for your own good. It’s a shame it’s going to have to end this way. It’s been lovely getting to know you. We could have had something special.’
He took a step towards her and she threw herself at him. Her weight knocked him off balance and he began to slide backwards on the slippy surface, landing on the ground with a loud thud.
Without waiting to see his reaction, Maddy ran the other way as fast as her stupid ankle would let her, pain screaming through her entire body. Never had she prayed so hard to be able to run against the odds.
Too scared to turn around, she heard him groan, ‘My head. Maddy, I’m bleeding. I’m sorry, please come back. I’m bleeding so bad, come back and help me. It hurts so much. I didn’t mean to scare you.’
For a split second she almost turned around, almost went back to help him. Her heart was pulling her to make the decision; her mind was screaming, Get the fuck away from him, Maddy! Don’t go back!
She listened to her head and carried on slipping and sliding, leaving long, muddy trails in the wet grass. If she could just reach the house, she could lock herself in and find something to protect herself with.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
T he steam billowing out from underneath the car bonnet was in Stella’s words ‘impressive as fuck’. They’d finally found the turn-off for Lake House and were halfway along the drive when the car stopped dead amidst a hot, steaming bath. When Joe threw his door open, there was a smell of burning rubber and engine oil wisps of orange flames peered through the gap in the bonnet.
‘Get out, it’s going to blow!’ he yelled.
Stella did as she was told and ran onto the grass verge, into the trees, to stand next to him. Minutes later, there was a huge explosion, and more smoke and steam erupted from underneath the bonnet. She let out a scream so loud it made him jump.
‘Jesus, Joe,’ she
told him. ‘Don’t get a job working undercover for MI5. Chitty-bloody-bang-bang wouldn’t have made that much noise. There goes our discreet entrance. We’ve probably scared Maddy into having a heart attack.’
She glanced at him and smiled at the look of horror etched across his face, then she started to laugh. Really laugh. And he couldn’t help but join in.
‘Shit,’ he said, trying to control his giggles, ‘my grandad is going to kill me. I’ve blown the fucker to pieces.’
This made them both laugh even harder, and she was clutching at her sides as tears rolled down her face.
‘Come on,’ she managed eventually. ‘We’ll have to walk the rest of the way. I hope it’s not far. I’ve had enough adventure for one day.’
Joe bent down and kissed her cheek. ‘What a waste of money. Sorry.’
‘Don’t be daft. Once we’ve talked to Maddy, I’ll be phoning that garage. They can come and get the bloody car and tow it back; it’s the least they can do. It would need to explode in the middle of a bloody thunderstorm, though. I’m going to get my hair wet now as well.’
As they began to pick their way carefully along the overgrown drive, Joe pulled her away from the canopy of trees she’d been walking under.
‘It’s too dangerous to go under there,’ he explained. ‘You could get struck by lightning. Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to stand under a tree in a thunderstorm?’
She nodded. ‘Let’s be honest, I don’t really do walking at the best of times. Especially not in the rain, or in the country, where there are so many trees. I’m a city girl born and bred, so I kind of forgot about that.’
He grinned. ‘Survival 101, Stella. Good job you’re not in the army.’
‘Listen to who’s talking, the guy with the exploding car. I bet Maddy is huddled in that big, old house, thinking someone has dropped a bomb on the drive.’
She couldn’t wait to see her friend, to hug her tight and explain this whole sorry mess to her. Then they could share a couple of bottles of wine and have a good laugh over it.
Chapter Eighty
T he burning hot pain shooting up Maddy’s leg was unbearable, but she carried on, gritting her teeth, slip-sliding towards the lake. He’d told her he was scared of the water, so even if she got onto the jetty she might be safe. Or had that been a lie as well? she wondered.
She was almost at the bottom of the fell. Her lungs were on fire, and she was exhausted, but she had to keep going; the alternative wasn’t appealing.
A loud crash behind her made her turn, and she screamed again. Losing her balance, she sprawled onto the grass and felt a huge weight fall on top of her. The dirty bastard had rugby-tackled her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Maddy felt defeat fill her body, as all the fight left her.
He was sitting on her back, pressing his full weight onto her, making it hard for her to breathe. She tried one last time to wriggle free, but he gripped her head and slammed her face-first onto the wet grass. The sky above her was a fuzzy, black mess as she struggled to focus.
‘Keep still,’ he snarled, ‘you’re not getting away a second time. It’s over, so stop fighting. You can’t win.’
Maddy had never felt so betrayed in her life. She’d told him everything, shared her dark secrets with him, had wanted to sleep with him. In return, what had he wanted from her? Nothing. He’d just wanted her out of the house, but she still didn’t understand why.
Rope bit into her soft skin as he tied her arms behind her back and her feet together. Getting slowly to his feet, he towered over her, then bent down and scooped her up like she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. He threw her roughly over his shoulder and began walking towards the pier.
Maddy could only stare in despair at the water. The dirty, lying, murdering bastard wasn’t afraid of the water at all.
As he stood at the end of the pier, Maddy turned her head to the side and saw two figures appearing around the bend on the driveway. It looked like Stella and the onion guy. Was she hallucinating? There was only one way to find out. Sucking in a deep breath, she screamed, ‘Helppp!’ as loud as she could.
The two figures began to run, and she prayed that, whoever they were, they were here to help her and not him.
She felt Seth’s entire body tense in anger at her scream, and he turned to see the two figures heading towards them. Maddy braced herself to be dropped to the ground so that he could run to save himself. But instead, he bent his knees and launched her towards the black, ice-cold surface of the lake.
She hit the water with a huge splash and sank straight down into the murky depths. Maddy, her arms and legs bound, took a mouthful of water and began to choke as the cold sucked the air from her lungs. Unable to move her hands or feet enough to power her back up to the surface, she felt her feet touch something. The light was getting dimmer as she carried on moving down, and it was then that she came face-to-face with the row of bodies, all lined up, standing on the bottom.
In her head, she heard Alfie’s voice: the lake people. Of course.
Struggling to breathe, her lungs burning as the water filled them, it seemed she was now going to be joining them.
****
Stella hadn’t run since she’d been at school, but when she heard Maddy scream and saw the guy standing at the end of the pier with her over his shoulder, she’d started moving her legs as fast as she could. Joe was much quicker than her; his longer legs were pumping fast towards the pier and Maddy.
When she saw him launch her friend into the lake, Stella screamed and ran as fast as she could to the lakeside. Kicking off her shoes, she waded into the cold water.
‘Fuck! Holy fuck, it’s freezing!’ she squealed.
Ignoring the scuffle taking place between Joe and the crazy guy on the rickety wooden pier, she swam towards where she’d seen Maddy go under the water. She had no idea what the hell was going on, but she knew she needed to get to her friend quickly. Thankfully, she swam much better than she ran.
Gulping in a deep breath, Stella pushed herself under the water, searching for her friend. It was murky and she couldn’t see much, and she had to keep surfacing for air then going back under.
Ahead of her, she spotted a figure and reached out for it. Grabbing hold of it, she tried to pull it to the surface, but it wouldn’t move. When she went back down and looked again, she realised it was a dead man she was trying to drag up, and quickly let go.
Looking frantically around her, she suddenly saw Maddy, her eyes closed, floating towards the bottom. Giving it her all, Stella pushed herself forwards and, grabbing her by the neck, dragged her friend to the surface of the lake. As they broke through the water, she heard the rotting wooden pier let out a crack which echoed around the valley, then it collapsed, sending both Joe and the guy he was fighting with plunging into the lake.
Stella prayed Joe could swim as she put her arm under Maddy’s chin and half swum, half dragged her to the side of the lake. Exhausted, she reached the lakeside where a woman with bright purple hair and a teenage boy were standing. They immediately grabbed Maddy, dragging her body along the bank of the lake onto the wet grass. The woman turned back and offered her hand to Stella, but she shook her head, gasping for air and relieved to be out of the water.
The woman turned around and dropped to the ground where she began to perform CPR on Maddy, while the boy untied the ropes binding her legs and arms. Stella didn’t know where to look; she was scared for her friend and terrified for Joe. Joe! Where was he?
She turned back to see him swimming towards her, but there was no sign of the crazy guy he’d been tussling with. Stella waded back in, grabbed Joe’s hand, and tugged him out. He stared in horror at the sight of Maddy’s lifeless body. Sirens somewhere in the distance made Stella breathe a sigh of relief, and she was aware of the teenage boy running towards the driveway as the sounds grew louder.
Maddy began to cough and splutter as the woman straddling her chest pumped her heart, forcing the water out of her lungs. Then
Maddy’s eyes opened, and the strange-looking woman whooped with delight, clambered off her, and grinned at Stella and Joe.
‘Bloody hell! I knew that spread of cards spelt disaster, but I didn’t realise just how much.’ She turned back to Maddy. ‘You’ll be fine now. The police are here and an ambulance should be following.’
Maddy turned slowly on her side, then tried to push herself up. ‘Where is he? Where’s Seth?’
Stella shrugged. ‘Who’s Seth?’
‘The guy who tried to kill me,’ Maddy croaked. ‘He’s killed Connor. I found his body in a summerhouse on the fell.’
Glenys turned to Stella. ‘I’m Glenys. I live in the village.’
Stella nodded. ‘Stella, Maddy’s friend. This is my boyfriend, Joe. We came to see if she was okay and to warn her about Connor.’
Just then, two police officers came running towards them, and Glenys began to explain what had happened. While they were shouting down their radios for back-up, Alfie bent down to Maddy.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘Thank you, Alfie, yes. And I know now what you meant. I saw the lake people.’
‘You did? Is Seth with them? He hurt you.’
She gulped. ‘I don’t think he is, and yes, he did.’
Glenys put her arm around her son and hugged him. ‘He’s a proper hero, aren’t you, Alfie? He came to the shop and told me you’d hurt yourself on the fell. I went back to tell Seth, but he wasn’t there so I rang the police because I wasn’t sure what to do.’
Maddy smiled weakly. ‘Thank you.’
She looked up at Stella. ‘I don’t know how or why you’re here, but I’m so glad to see you. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw you both.’ She studied her friend’s face more closely and frowned. ‘What happened to your face, Stella?’
Stella bent down and hugged her friend. ‘It’s a long story. I’ll tell you after you’ve been checked out at the hospital. You almost…’ The words stuck in her throat; she couldn’t get them out.