Katie lay in her bed shaking. It had been several minutes since she'd woken from her nightmare. Luckily, her scream must have died as she'd woken up, because her parents hadn't appeared to check if she was okay. Was she okay? Katie wasn't sure anymore. She'd pulled the duvet over her head to hide from the world, but she was now starting to sweat heavily as the temperature in her homemade tent soared with her every breath.
Nervously, she pushed the duvet away from her upper body, and peered into the darkest corners of her room. She couldn't penetrate the furthest recesses, and she worried that some of the decaying children were hiding in the blackness, waiting to rip her to pieces as soon as she ventured out of her bed.
"Are you there?" she asked feebly, not knowing what she'd have done if anyone had answered.
Katie strained her ears, trying to pick up even the slightest sound that would give the children away, but she could hear nothing, but the beating of her own heart hammering against her chest.
Finally, she decided she couldn't stay in bed forever, and that the best thing to do was to make a dash for the light switch by the door.
She bemoaned the fact that she hadn't as yet unpacked several items of bedroom furniture from her previous home, one of which was a bed side lamp.
Slowly, and with great care not to make any noise, she slipped one leg from beneath the duvet, let it drop over the edge of the bed, and wiggled her toes until she could feel the cold wooden flooring.
Katie eased her body sideways and edged herself up. Motionless, she stood and waited for the attack she feared would happen at any time.
Seconds, that seemed like long minutes passed by as she trembled in the night. Eventually, she took a deep breath and made her dash to the door.
In three large strides she made it to the wall and frantically, like a giant spider her fingers scurried over the plaster searching for her target. The small switch felt like a golden bar when she finally found it and pushed hard, causing bright light to flood her bedroom, chasing away the darkness that had contained her ghostly imagination.
Katie slid down the wall and sat hunched in a tight ball. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she tried to gain control of her senses. The nightmare had really shaken her up, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the death's of the children within Dovecot Manor. Had they perhaps died in a terrible fall? Were they still alive as their flesh had fallen from their frail bodies?
Along the corridor she could hear her father snoring loudly. She wondered how her mother managed to get any sleep lying next to such a noise? Perhaps, after all the years, she'd become used to it, and would miss the comfort it brought if her father ever found a cure.
Katie could never imagine relishing her nightmares, even if she did eventually find out the truth about what happened to the children.
She shuddered as she slowly climbed to her feet and made her way across the hall and into the bathroom. Running the cold water tap, she cupped her hand under it and splashed her face with the icy water, then she rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. Once she'd dried herself, she tiptoed past her parents room and descended the stairs as quietly as she could, only causing the odd one to creak slightly as she shifted her weight from one to another. At the bottom of the stairs, she stood momentarily in the hallway, listening as the wind outside whispered against the front door, and the odd owl tooted loudly in some far away tree.
Finally, satisfied she was alone, she wandered through to the kitchen, which somehow felt larger than at any other time she'd been in there.
Katie wondered if it was because she'd never actually been in the room on her own.
She decided to make herself a hot drink, so she dropped two large heaped spoonfuls of hot chocolate into a lime green mug, and waited for the kettle to boil.
As she stood waiting, she constantly glanced towards the wall where the crying had come from earlier. In the calmness of the night, it seemed impossible that anything so ridiculously scary could really have happened.
Having poured the scalding water into her mug, she ventured over to the wall, pulled out a chair from under the table, and sat down before it.
Katie blew on the surface of her drink, and watched the steam rise and dance before her, like a genie escaping from its lamp. She wished she had her own personal genie, so that she could ask it the statutory three wishes. One, take me away from here. Two, find out what really happened to the children. Three, make Ed Shreen divorce his wife and come looking for her.
The last wish made her giggle loudly, and she quickly brought her hand up over her mouth to stifle the noise she was making.
Katie took a small sip of hot chocolate and sighed heavily as the warm, sweet drink made her feel instantly better. It reminded her of her mother, who'd always made a hot drink for her when she'd been unwell, had friend troubles, or had a bad day at school.
The crying started again as she'd nearly finished her drink, and had planned to return to bed. It was faint at first, barely distinguishable against the wind outside, but slowly it grew louder until there was no doubt it was the sound of a sobbing child.
Katie, moved instinctively to the wall and placed her palm against it. There were no signs of the earlier movement and her hand stayed flat against the brickwork.
The crying became more frantic, and plucked at Katie's heart strings. "Come on, you have to show yourself to me if you want my help. I won't hurt you. Please come out," she pleaded.
The sobbing stopped and from somewhere inside the house, Katie could hear footsteps running along the corridors and laughter filling the hallways. Then a man's voice bellowed loudly, "Be quiet the lot of you or you'll be sorry."
Instantly the footsteps fell silent, and the laughter was replaced by a terrible wailing.
Katie run into the hall and looked around her, fully expecting to see the children, and their tormentor either on the stairs or in the lounge opposite, but all that greeted her was the eerie darkness, the tooting of distant owls, and the wind swirling around outside.
YOU ARE READING
Lost Souls
General FictionA family move into an old Mansion in the Highlands of Scotland unaware of the buildings terrible secrets. One of the children is particularly aware something is vastly wrong with the families new home.
