Chapter 1
Dedicated to my late mother, Carmen Duncan
This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this book are the product of the author's imagination or are employed creatively. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is coincidental.
Chapter 1
Underberg, June, 2006
“We should turn back,” Arnold Roberts said, taking a deep breath and straining at the steering wheel. He suspected the trip was a bad idea, but he kept his concerns to himself, not wanting to disappoint his wife and daughter.
He glanced at his stunning wife sitting in the passenger seat. Olivia glanced over her shoulder and rested her eyes on their five-year-old daughter sleeping like an angel in her Barbie-fashioned car seat.
“No, Arnie, we promised,” Olivia said, placing her perfectly manicured hand on his thigh and he felt her grey eyes bore into him. “Sarah’s been looking forward to this for so long.” Her honeyed voice warmed his heart and he smiled.
“I guess you’re right,” he replied, pressed his lips together, and sighed in defeat. “I don’t want to disappoint her, but I’m worried…”
Her face pinched. “Worried? About what?”
“Uh, never mind… the storm, I’m sure it will clear.”
His words stumbled and she didn’t acknowledge whether she’d seen through his lie. Why did they have to go to the farm and not somewhere else?
The wipers squealed as they cleared the rain pelting against the windscreen in frantic synchronisation. Struggling to see through the blinding lights of the approaching vehicles, Arnold ignored the nagging at the back of his mind. They should turn back.
Thunder rumbled. Distant shadowy clouds were rolling in, and from behind the dark grey mass, sheets of lightning forked like twigs branching into sporadic light flashing across the sky. Jagged streaks of silver, like fireworks, lit the darkness, and an ear-splitting crack echoed as tremendous bolts of lightning struck the earth inches from the car.
Olivia shrieked, covering her ears, and Sarah wailed in terror.
“Mom-my… Dad…Dad-dy!”
“Damn,” Arnold cussed regaining control of the steering wheel, and swerved, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic. Glimpsing at Sarah through the rearview mirror, he said in his best reassuring voice. “It’s alright, Sarah. Mommy got scared. She doesn’t like thunder, remember?”
Sniffling, Sarah nodded and replied in a weak voice, “Yes, but I’m scared, too.”
“Be brave for Mommy, ’kay?” Arnold tried to hide the panic in his voice. “Can you do that?”
“Uh-huh,” Sarah said, wiping snot onto her brown teddy bear that had been at her side since she was born. Its soft fabric was now like straw sticking out of a haystack, and he knew she loved it all the more.
Hooters screamed as he returned to the left lane. With his heart pounding in his ears, he stared at Olivia, who had paled and sat like a rod in her seat. Her chest heaved from rapid breaths, and she stared at the dashboard as if mesmerised. He reached out his hand and gave her a quick, comforting squeeze before handling the gear stick again.
The old blue Ford’s front tyres had thinned out, and the road being slippery didn’t help. He kept his foot firm on the brake pedal as the car veered along the gravelly, wet road.
“I’m sorry,” Arnold said, light-headed from the thrust of the vehicle. “I’m going to pull over to the side until the storm dies down.”
The wind howled and the thunder roared, followed by random flashes of light.
He expertly maneuvered the vehicle to the side of the road and parked along a steep embankment with his hazard lights blinking orange in the fog.
Switching off the engine, his body relaxed as he drew in a slow breath. He left the front lights on and stared at the rain pelting on the bonnet, listening to the beating of water on metal above them. The windows misted, and they were sheltered as if in a cocoon from the crackling and angry rumbling outside.
He pushed his thin-rimmed glasses to the bridge of his nose and offered a weak smile. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I think so,” Olivia said. Her head bobbed as she glanced over her shoulder at their daughter; she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Sweetie, we’re going to stay here for a bit. Try to sleep.”
Pressing the teddy bear close to her chest, Sarah nodded and closed her eyes.
Arnold leaned over and brushed wisps of dark curly hair from her cheeks. He stroked his thumb over her smooth skin as she turned to him.
“It’s going to be okay.” Arnold gave a reassuring half-smile, trying to convince the both of them.
“You’re right,” Olivia said, colour returning to her dimpled cheeks. “We will be. In this part of the world, the weather has a mind of its own.”
He chuckled. “Why don’t you also get some sleep, honey?” He shifted in his seat and felt the dull ache in his buttocks and thighs that came only from driving two hours. “When the storm is over, we can continue.”
She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “I love you.”
Arnold welcomed her breath and soft lips at his earlobe and a shudder of pleasure rippled up his spine. She was an amazing woman.
The vehicle swayed, and the whooshing sound of the wind reminded him of the chaos outside their shelter. She pulled away and tilted the seat, allowing it to fall back.
“I’m sorry,” she said curling into a foetal ball covering her mouth with the back of her hand and yawned, “I know this trip is hard for you, but I think it’s time to put the past behind us, don’t you think?”
Arnold arched a brow and gave a small nod for her benefit. His mouth dipped and memories of the farm flooded his mind. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“You did.” Olivia looked up at him with a small frown. “It’s been four years already, and she has never seen Sarah. If my mother-in-law...”
“She’s not your mother-in-law!” Arnold stated in a stiff tone. His chest rose as he let out a slow breath. “I don’t trust her and I never will.”
Olivia’s head tilted with flushed cheeks. “I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something else. Can we talk about this in the morning?” She blew a hopeful sigh. “Give her a chance, Arnie. Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they? What about me?”
“Of course, yes, but that’s different. You’re my wife.” He gave a shake of his head and said with a grunt of disapproval, “Alright, but if she comes with her tricks again, we’re leaving.”
“That’s fair,” she said with a drawn-out yawn.
“Liv, get some sleep,” he said again, planting a kiss on the top of her head breathing the scent of roses in spring.
Olivia grasped his hand and murmured, “Thank you. It will be good you’ll see.”
He watched her eyes droop and felt her hand slacken as she drifted off to sleep.
Before long, Arnold began to yawn and found it hard to keep his eyes open. He could not sleep yet. He had to wait for the storm to die down. He had hoped to get to the farm and settle in before nightfall. Fighting against the temptation of sleep for what seemed like an eternity he finally lost the battle and his eyes shut.
***
The car jerked and a blood-curdling shriek jolted Arnold awake. Disoriented and muddled, his mind stung with sharp shooting pains. His rapid breaths created cloudy wisps into the air. A mix of fear and guilt overcame him. Blood pumped through his veins. This is a dream. It has to be… he shivered. That thing, what is it?
An icy draft brushed against his skin and though he scrubbed his arms vividly, the crisp night air seeped through his jacket soaking up his cotton shirt, and he wrapped his body with his arms; a futile attempt for warmth.
The temperature continued to plummet, and an eerie silence filled the night save for the hoots and cries of the night creatures.
Shivers ran down his spin and the hair behind his neck rose. The sickening tang of death drifted through the air and stuck to his tongue.
Gasping in horror, he stared at the windshield smashed as if a tree trunk had run through it. Glass covered the dashboard like hard splintered snow.
The wind shrilled through the cracks in the windscreen. His body broke into a cold sweat and his blood ran cold. Willing his legs to move, he was frozen. His teeth chattered and thicker cloud of mist blew from his mouth, fogging his glasses. Trembling, he removed his glasses and wiped them over with his shirt between his thumb and forefinger.
Olivia. Sarah. Where were they? Arnold heard a distant kitten-like call, a delicate echo, “Daddy?”
The wind yowled like a frenzied animal, and the side windows exploded, shattering glass all over the floor and upholstered seats. He dropped his glasses as he leaned forward, covering his head with his arms; liquid slid down his cheek. He gagged at the putrid rotting odour that wafted through the breeze and swallowed bile rising at the back of his throat.
Stretching his arm beneath the steering wheel, he reached for his glasses like an experimental caged animal desperate to escape. Fitting his glasses over the bridge of his nose, he groaned discovering the cracks in the lenses.
Although the storm had subsided, the wind gusted. Confused and petrified, he couldn’t open his mouth to respond to the tiny voice echoing in his head. His body tensed and shivered, but not from the solid freeze or the drifting scent of rot permeating the air. A disturbing terror grew inside of his gut.
What is this… strange feeling?
His chest clenched at the sound of a soft moan, and the pounding in his ears intensified. He curved his head towards his wife and his blood turned cold.
“Olivia? No.” His breaths quickened, shaking his head. Tears brimmed in his eyes, moistening his cracked glasses as he stared at her motionless body.
Her head was limp on her right shoulder and from her neck, blood gushed down her body, pooling in her lap, dribbling through the folds of her flowery dress to her feet.
Gasping for air, he lifted his head, and his eyes widened. The roof of the car was peeled back like a tin can dug out with a blunt knife.
Hyperventilating, Arnold stared through the dim light of the moon and deep within the shadows he gazed into the vast red-flecked yellow demented eyes of a dark, grotesque creature. The decaying stench of rotting flesh triggered his gag reflex once more, and he swallowed the bile that rose into his mouth. A warm stream of urine wet his pants.
The beast doubled the size of a grizzly bear its hairy body shrouded by a thick cloak of ice. Its elongated, monstrous claws stretched out like the hand of a man. Beneath the moonlight, thick black liquid dripped from its snub nose and lipless mouth; flesh dangling from its gritted teeth. The creature snarled, and Arnold’s scream silenced as it attacked, ripping the flesh from his throat.
