The Family Lie by P L Kane

Author:P L Kane [Kane, P L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-08-18T12:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Laying there, in the darkness, she wished she’d taken him up on his offer.

Should have gone straight away after he’d made it, when they’d been walking along the beach. The day after she’d seen them. More monsters in Bella’s ‘living room’. Not just the one that night, but three or more. It wasn’t as if the space was that big anyway, not enough to accommodate too many of them. But the point was they shouldn’t have been there in the first place, in her home!

Her sanctuary.

Yet there they’d been, large as life. Standing there having ransacked the place apparently, her belongings everywhere. Standing and – as she’d come out of her bedroom again, after hearing the noises: the bangings, shuffling, the creaking – looking over at her as if there was just one of them. Thinking with one brain, acting as if with one body. But more this time: the first shadow monster had brought friends.

And it had been the same story again, rushing at her, pushing her back, exiting the caravan and leaving it in that state. Leaving her in such a state that she hadn’t been able to get back to sleep, hadn’t even tried. Who the hell were these people plaguing her? What did they want? To drive her crazy?

The headaches were already doing that on their own, so painful at times they almost felled her more effectively than someone coming at her, attacking her.

Bella should have reported it this time, should have let Ashley Watts report the first incident – when there had just been the one intruder – but instead she’d left it. Then, when he’d come to check up on her, she’d hid what had happened. Not let him come into the caravan and see the mess, though it was obvious what a mess she was personally. Whatever he must have thought of her, probably that all this had succeeded in driving her crackers. But still he’d offered, towards the end of that walk, could see the fix she was in.

Had offered her a bed if she wanted one, at his place. Held up his hands quickly before she got the wrong idea. ‘I’ll take the couch. No funny business, honest.’

That had made Bella laugh, at a time when she couldn’t imagine ever laughing again. She knew his intentions were honourable, Ashley was a good man. She’d known that for a long time now. It was the reason she’d asked for him in the first place at Golden Sands police station. However, as much as she’d appreciated the offer of a place to stay, she couldn’t accept it. Felt that she needed to stay in her caravan, to, what, protect it? Guard it against the monsters in case they returned – and for some reason she felt that this was almost inevitable – not that she’d been any good at that so far.

If only she knew what all this was about, because it felt pretty personal. Like they were taking revenge for something, like it was connected to something in the past.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.