The Darkness That Came Before by Jessica Huntley

Author:Jessica Huntley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dark thrillers, horror thrillers, psychological thriller, horror books, psychological horror
Publisher: Jessica Huntley
Published: 2024-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Alex

24 January 2024 – 08:10 a.m.

Alex wanted to sneak out of the house early to get to school. Usually, his mum didn’t get out of bed till after nine. At least, she had at the start, after Linda had died, but lately, she’d been rising earlier and earlier and when Alex walked into the kitchen to grab himself a slice of toast before school, he found her not only fully showered and dressed, but cleaning the insides of the kitchen cupboards.

‘Morning,’ she said happily.

Alex popped a slice of bread in the toaster. ‘You’re up early, Mum.’

‘Well, I wanted to tackle some of the jobs I’ve been neglecting recently. This house needs a decent clean, don’t you think?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘You know, I was thinking ... I’ll talk to Dr Allan first to see if he thinks I’m ready, but how would you feel about me going back to work?’

Alex stopped in his tracks as he was reaching for the jar of peanut butter in the cupboard above the toaster. ‘Um ... I guess that would be okay. Do you feel ready to start work again?’

His mum smiled as she nodded. ‘I really think I do. My medication is finally working and levelling me out a bit. I feel more ... I don’t know ... stable, I suppose.’

Alex screwed his nose up, turning his face away from her so she didn’t see the sadness in his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to get a job and start functioning as a normal human being again. He just didn’t want her to start work and meet even more people who would probably turn out to be more helpful to her than he was. Maybe he wasn’t doing enough for her. Maybe there was something he could do so he could keep an eye on her all the time, even when he was at school. Again, he didn’t like that she was cooped up in the house all day, but a job at the school would be a great opportunity for her and for him to remain close by.

‘That’s great, Mum,’ said Alex as he spread a thick dollop of peanut butter on his toast. ‘Maybe there’s a job going at the school. I could ask around.’

His mum shook her head. ‘Oh, no, don’t worry about that. I’ll pop into the local job centre. I don’t think there’s one in town, but I’ll have a look. Or maybe I can ask Olivia. She’s bound to know someone who needs some help. Maybe I could do a cleaning job or something. Start my own business!’ She clapped her hands together.

Alex barely recognised the woman in front of him. Had she completely forgotten about her dead daughter, dead ex-husband and dead wife? The idea of her getting better made him sick to his stomach. Was that what he wanted? Was he being selfish by wanting her to stay close to him?

‘Alex ... what’s wrong? Are you okay?’ His mum put down the cleaning cloth and approached him.

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