Pest Control by Cavan Scott

Author:Cavan Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Badger Publishing
Published: 2015-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

THE CHASE

Alice grabbed her keys and rushed out of the front door. Steve was standing in the street, talking urgently into his mobile phone.

“Alice, pet?” he called after her as she raced down the road. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

She didn’t answer. No time for busybodies, even if they meant well. There was a lane at the end of the road, next to the shabby old pillar box. She could cut behind the houses – not that she had a clue what she would do when she caught up with her dad.

If he still was her dad.

The light was already fading as Alice charged into the narrow alleyway, evening drawing in. Nearby she heard the thud of something large hitting the floor, followed by the frenzied yapping of a small dog. Her arm ached as she bolted down the lane, following the sounds. The dog’s barking got more and more frantic, before it stopped abruptly. Too abruptly. The thought of what must have happened made her feel sick.

There was more clattering up ahead. She turned a corner, finding herself in a narrow walkway.

A garden gate was hanging open at the far end. Two wheelie bins were lying across the path, rubbish strewn across the floor. Crisp packets fluttered in the breeze, a tin can rolled towards her. She stopped it with her foot.

This could only just have happened. He must be nearby.

Something moved in the garden beyond the gate. Something dark and squat.

“Dad?”

With a hiss it scuttled out of the gate, running straight towards her.

Clack, clack, clack, clack.

It was a bug the size of a man – and not just any man. Alice screamed, throwing herself back, but the insect didn’t attack her. It scurried past, its black shell gleaming and long antennae twitching in the cool air. The creature shot out of the lane, clambering up a brick wall as it turned the corner. Trying to escape. Trying to get away from her.

She couldn’t let it go.

“Wait, please!”

Alice ran after the insect, calling her dad’s name. He didn’t stop. Could he still understand English? Did he even know who she was?

The lane opened out onto a new estate. The bug scampered across the road, right into the path of a large car. The people-carrier’s horn blared, the driver slamming on the brakes. It was as if time slowed down. Alice screamed as the car swerved to the left, headlights picking out red markings on the giant insect’s back. She was sure that her dad’s transformed body was going to be crushed to a pulp beneath the thundering wheels.

The car screeched to a halt, mounting the curb, but there was no dull thud as front bumper met hard shell. Her dad had made it! Alice ran onto the road. He was nowhere to be seen.

She passed in front of the car, the driver already out of his door.

“Did you see that?” he called over to her. “What was that thing?”

She didn’t answer. He wouldn’t believe her if she told him, anyway.

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