The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell

Author:Caroline Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471411465
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2021-09-08T08:20:56.782000+00:00

27

Libby’s breath was quick and panicked as she came to. She didn’t remember the journey which brought her here, and the bag was still over her head – but she recognised the location by the smell clawing at the back of her throat. She was back in Blackhall Manor, in the bowels of the building where the stench was magnified tenfold. She groped in the darkness, feeling a mass of tiny beads on the floor. A whine rose up her throat as she recalled the rat droppings littering the rooms. She was barefoot, bound and in fear for her life. Around her, rotting timbers creaked steadily, as if the house was breathing. She thought of the Sunday school lesson about Jonah, trapped in the belly of a whale. Libby blinked in an attempt to clear her vision. There were no shadows, no dots of light. The room was devoured by darkness. Her throat was scratchy from screaming for help, her face wet with tears and snot. A visceral shudder drove deep into her bones.

She shifted into a sitting position, her back against a wall. She was alive, and she was still in one piece. But for how long? Her heart was galloping in her chest, every instinct screaming at her to escape. A wisp of a sound caught her attention. The echo of a child crying. A reverberation from the past? Blackhall Manor was a place of last breaths – but it was not having hers if she could help it. The back of her head throbbed. She must be concussed.

Was he here, playing games with her? She whimpered, biting down on the gag which tasted of spit and dirt. As she stretched out her legs, her toes touched what felt like another wall. This was too narrow to be a basement. It felt as claustrophobic as a coffin but she couldn’t just sit here trembling in the dark. Edging her chin to her knees, she pushed the gag from her mouth, heaving a deep breath. ‘Is anyone here?’ she said softly, waiting for her attacker to pounce. Nothing. A yelp escaped her lips as a slick, fat body of fur ran over her bare feet. She was blind to the horrors in the darkness. ‘Is there anyone here?’ Silence. She coughed and inhaled dust. The clicking of tiny legs scurried past her on the wall. She felt surrounded by insects.

If only her mum were here. She would know what to do. ‘I can’t,’ she cried. ‘Please. Mum … I want my mum!’ Slouching onto her knees, she sobbed. She knew she should fight. The Midnight Man would not be far away. She felt a subtle shift in temperature. Goosebumps rose on her skin as a soft voice whispered in her ear. ‘You can and you will. You’re my special girl.’

‘Who’s there?’ Libby started. Torn cobwebs tickled her body as she leaned against the wall. The presence was everywhere. It was the same presence she had felt the first time she got here.

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