She couldn’t agree with what he’d done. In fact, it downright scared her, but she needed him now. They all did. Hell, seeing the danger they were all in, maybe he had been right in his actions.
But Tim didn’t answer. He had seemingly abandoned them.
Ashley heard Henry’s childlike laugh again.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I guess it’s time for me to catch you two as well.’ He lifted Craig up before him like a toddler. ‘You, stay here.’
With that, he kept one arm around Craig’s back, but put the meaty forearm of his other against Craig’s chest. In one, sudden motion the monster tensed, curling one arm in and pushing the other out.
Ashley jumped at the sound of the sickening crack as Craig was instantly bent backwards. This time, Craig didn’t just scream, he wailed. His cries were so loud, so raw, it sounded as if he would continue with ever-rising intensity until his heart gave out. Henry had a big smile on his face, obviously pleased with his work, and dropped Craig to the floor like a sack of meat. Craig continued to scream and scream and scream, barely taking a breath. His eyes were wide, and Ashley saw veins pop up in his throat and forehead as his face went bright red.
His arms and legs twitched slightly, but he didn’t move.
‘No!’ Kim yelled. ‘Craig!’
Craig’s only response was to continue screaming, staring at nothing. Ashley couldn’t comprehend what kind of pain he was in, but it was enough that he had lost all notion of them even being there and was only able to focus on the pain. No words, just a long, continuous, guttural screech.
Ashley grabbed Kim’s hand and pulled her back, knowing if they had any chance of survival, they needed to run.
Now.
Sobbing, Kim resisted Ashley, taking half a step towards her boyfriend.
‘Baby?’ she said. Craig gave no response, just continued with his screams, over and over.
The thing then took a big stride forward, over Craig, and planted a large foot onto the floor.
‘He won’t be going anywhere,’ Henry declared. ‘Now, which one of you wants to come see me first.? He grinned, running a fat, wet tongue over his thin lips.
Kim then gave up any resistance and let Ashley pull her away. The two girls sprinted through the hallway, to the entrance, and spilled out of the still-open front door.
Then the girls stopped dead with a shriek.
They weren’t alone.
Chapter 15
The surrounding area, dark before, was now illuminated by flaming torches held by a group of people who stood outside of the old house.
The residents, Ashley guessed.
There were four in total, all of them standing still, patiently watching the girls. They didn’t look surprised in the least to see them.
Ashley felt like Goldilocks getting caught red-handed by the returning bears. These bears, though, seemed distinctly more sinister.
A man and woman, the oldest-looking of the group, stood centrally between two others. The man had a big, bushy grey beard, and his skin was as pale as ash. The hair on his head was scraggly and patchy, in contrast to the thick beard that covered the lower portion of his face. One eye hung considerably lower than the other, and she could just make out through the facial hair that he had a severe cleft lip, one that split up to his bent nose. He wore a faded shirt beneath dirty blue overalls.
The woman next to him, roughly in her fifties, was short, stout, and sturdy. She wore a petticoat and apron, and she had grey hair fixed up in a bun. Her checks sagged and her face was littered with small, angry-looking growths and lumps.
The two on either side were younger. Next to the oldest man stood a girl, who looked to be in her thirties, and was painfully skinny, almost skeletal. Her dirty blonde hair was thin, showing scalp, and one eye was completely white, without any pupil.
Lastly, there was another man, and Ashley realised immediately that it was his face she had seen earlier, peeking out from behind the tree. He was also lithe, though his bare arms were quite defined, and Ashley saw that he only had three fingers on each hand. All but him held a flaming torch above them; thick sticks wrapped in cloth at the head that had been set alight.
The glow from the torches cast an eerie, flickering yellow hue over the group.
‘What do we have here?’ the oldest man asked in a gravelly voice.
‘You been in our home without permission?’ the woman, who Ashley presumed was his wife, added with a sneering smile.
Ashley still heard the booming footsteps of that beast, Henry, as he thudded towards them from behind. Ashley and Kim quickly ran left, towards the far side of the porch, as the giant man squeezed himself through the door.
‘Damn it,’ the eldest man said, ‘did you let him out?’
The hulk laughed.
‘Now, Henry,’ the older woman said, ‘you lied to us. David wasn’t where you said he would be, was he?’
‘Ma, David had it coming,’ Henry said.
‘We’ll deal with this later,’ the man said. ‘Ted told us where you left your brother, but right now we have other matters at hand. After all, we don’t want to be rude to our new guests.’
‘Of course,’ the old woman said, ‘where are my manners?’
‘Who are you people?’ Kim asked.
‘We live here,’ the man said, taking a step forward. He scratched at his beard. ‘That’s our home you were walking around in, as if you owned it.’
‘We’re sorry,’ Ashley said. ‘We didn’t know, we just—’
He cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. ‘My name is Benjamin, or Ben. This here is my wife, Adela. That young man is Ted, and the girl is Claudia.’ The young woman gave a clumsy curtsey.
‘Very good, Claudia,’ the mother said. ‘Always good to show manners.’
‘And that,’ Benjamin said, pointing to the brute in the doorway, ‘is Henry. But I think you may have already met. We’re the Webb family.’
That name sounded horribly familiar to Ashley, and she recalled the urban legend Tim had told earlier. But that was just a story, it couldn’t really be true, could it?
‘Let us go,’ Ashley said. ‘Please, just let us get our friends and leave. We won’t tell anyone about you. Or what happened here.’
‘And what did happen here?’ Ben asked.
Kim jumped in this time, with anger in her voice. ‘You killed people. You have them strung up like meat in your basement. Or left in the woods to die, like the man whose face you ripped off.’
Ben straightened up and looked to his wife. She shook her head and looked over to Henry, who laughed.
‘Seems we have a bit of a problem,’ the man said. ‘Whether you plan to tell anyone about us or not, well, that don’t really matter.’
‘Yeah,’ the younger man, Ted, said. ‘See, been a long time since we had visitors.’
‘Too long,’ Adela agreed.
‘And we like to be good hosts,’ Ben said. ‘Can’t let you go just yet. Not without putting on a good, hearty meal.’
‘We aren’t hungry,’ Kim said.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ he replied, smiling. ‘You won’t be eating.’
The family all erupted into laughter, as if what he had said was the funniest thing in the world. Ashley felt her stomach drop to the floor, and she couldn’t stop from shaking.
‘Been a long time since we ate,’ Ted said.
‘There seems to be plenty for you to go at in the basement,’ Kim argued. Ashley heard her friend’s voice break, fear cutting through the anger. She looked over to Kim and saw tears streaming down her face.
‘Old meat,’ Ted said, dismissively. ‘Not much good to us anymore. We have a certain need and are very particular about our food.’
‘Yeah,’ Adela chimed in. ‘It really has to be warm.’
‘And squirming,’ added Claudia, speaking her first words of the morbid conversation.
‘Please,’ Ashley begged. ‘Please, just let us go.’
Ben again rubbed his b
eard. ‘You mentioned getting your friends. Who were you talking about?’
‘There’s another one inside,’ Henry said. ‘But he ain’t going nowhere.’
The father nodded and looked to Ashley. ‘And who else?’
Ashley paused. She had no idea where Tim had fled to, and she was angry, furious, that he had abandoned them, but if he was about to get away, she didn’t want to alert them to that. Maybe he could get help, if they could just survive for long enough. Right now, it looked like their only hope
‘No one,’ Ashley said. ‘Just us.’
‘Aw,’ Ted said. ‘That’s sweet. A lie though, ain’t it?’
‘No,’ Ashley said, then stopped. Of course he knew it was a lie, he was the one who had been following them for God knows how long. He knew about Tim. Hell, he’d probably watched as Tim cracked open the faceless man’s skull.
‘We know there’s someone else, silly girl,’ Ted said. ‘Mind telling us where he is?’
‘I don’t know,’ Ashley said, ‘honestly. He ran while we were still inside.’
‘Rather cowardly,’ Ted said.
‘Very,’ Kim added.
‘Can’t stand a coward,’ Ted said. ‘He seems to have let you all down.’
The worst part about Ted’s cruel taunts was that he was absolutely right. The brave, honourable man she thought she knew, even if it had been for a relatively brief period, obviously didn’t exist in the real world; he was just a facade. A cover used to hide the real Tim, the coward beneath.
Given his actions, she wondered if she could really hold out any hope of him contacting the police at all, or if he would just keep the whole thing quiet and let them die, all so that he wasn’t held accountable for what he’d done.
It seemed Kim had been right about him; the man was a prick.
‘I’m here,’ a voice said, one that Ashley recognised. She turned to see Tim appear from around for the far side of the house. He stepped up onto the porch.
‘Tim,’ Ashley called.
‘It’s okay, I’m here,’ he said. He kept walking towards them.
Initially, Ashley was thrilled, but suddenly she realised Tim was getting too close to Henry’s massive form. What was he planning? He couldn’t take on the brute, surely? Then Tim stopped, just beside the beast.
Henry made no move to attack.
‘Tim?’ Ashley asked. Her mind was scrambling to make sense of what was going on. Something didn’t seem right. The whole family again burst into riotous laughter.
Tim included.
‘What’s going on?’ Kim whispered to Ashley.
‘Sorry,’ Ben said. ‘Seems we have one more introduction to make. But, like Henry here, I think you’ve met this one before as well. In fact, I think you know him pretty intimately. This is our youngest, Timothy.’
The group laughed again and Tim gave a big, theatrical wave. ‘Hi, girls.’
Chapter 16
Ashley’s head was spinning, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.
It didn’t make any sense. It couldn’t be true. None of this could be true. She felt light-headed, then her legs gave out and she dropped heavily to the wooden floor of the porch.
‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Kim asked incredulously.
‘Exactly what I said,’ the oldest man said. ‘Timothy here is one of us. Always has been.’
‘Come on, Kim,’ Tim said. ‘You’re a bright one. Work it out. Do you think it was an accident we ended up out here?’
‘You didn’t even know about this place,’ Kim said. ‘You were as confused as any of us when you saw this fucking house.’
Tim just shook his head. He actually looked disappointed. ‘Nope, not confused, just acting that way. You were all really easy to fool, by the way. You know that? All I had to do was come into your boring little lives and play the perfect boyfriend for Ashley. Then I planted the seeds for a small trip away, to get to know each other a little better, for Ashley’s sake. All with the hope of becoming one big, happy group of friends.’
‘Just to get us out here?’ Kim asked.
‘Of course,’ Tim said. ‘See, not a lot of people come into these woods. It’s pretty rare we get visitors who wander by of their own accord. Whether they realise it or not, people subconsciously avoid this place if they can help it. Didn’t you feel it when we crossed into the woods? That happens for a reason, and it’s been getting stronger and stronger over the years. Good for protection, not so much for visitors. So, we needed to be a little more creative with things, and getting people to come visit us out here is my job.’
‘And one you do well, every time,’ Ben said. ‘You do us proud, boy.’
‘Thanks, Dad,’ Tim said, gushing like a schoolboy.
‘You fucker,’ Kim said through gritted teeth.
Tim shrugged. ‘Always had a mouth on you, Kim,’ he said. ‘But I do like your spirit. Truth be told, it was a shame it couldn’t have been you that I used. I think we’d have had more fun than I had with the little mouse on the floor over there.’
‘Fuck you,’ Kim said. ‘I’d never let you anywhere near me.’
Tim laughed. ‘Well, not now, obviously. But I saw the signs. I’m good at reading people, Kim. You and Craig aren’t even together anymore, not in any real sense. Boyfriend and girlfriend? You two are a joke. How long has it been since you two actually liked each other? How long since you, you know?’ He made an ‘O’ with his thumb and forefinger on one hand, and thrust the forefinger of his other through it.
‘Go to hell,’ Kim said.
‘More insults. But I notice you didn’t answer or try to deny it. Face it, Kim, if I’d have tried, I could have had you. And I wanted to, believe me. You’re much more my type. But it would have made it difficult getting you all out here if I’d have come between whatever was left of you and Craig. The more people I bring home to meet the family, the better. No offence, but they’d have been most disappointed if I’d just turned up with you. You’re a pretty girl, and in good shape, but not exactly enough to fill a family of eight.’
That confused Ashley, and it pulled her back from the mental abyss she was about to fall into. ‘Eight?’ she asked. ‘There are only six of you.’
‘Only six of us here,’ Tim said.
Great, Ashley thought. If, by some chance, they did get away, then there were two more of those freaks running around out there somewhere.
Unless they were in the house and had been the whole time.
Kim grabbed hold of Ashley, pulling her to her feet. ‘Get up,’ she whispered.
‘Oh,’ Claudia said. ‘Getting ready to run, I think. Reckon you can get away? Think you can outrun us?’
Tim snorted a laugh. ‘You can try, girls,’ he said. ‘But it would be useless. This is what we do.’
‘What?’ Kim asked. ‘Kill innocent people?’
Tim shrugged. ‘A family’s gotta eat.’
‘Then eat fucking vegetables. Or deer. Or rabbit. Or anything but fucking people. How sick do you have to be to do this kind of thing? How did it even start?’
Tim rolled his eyes. ‘Bit of a long story, that. One I’m not sure you’d believe.’
‘Try me,’ Kim said, pulling Ashley back a bit farther. There was a small gap in the porch railing behind them, Ashley noted, and she knew what Kim was planning.
‘No,’ Tim said, ‘I don’t think so. You’re stalling now. The shock has worn off, a little, and now you’re just playing for time.’
‘I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with you people,’ Kim said. ‘I mean, look at you. What’s wrong with your faces? Is it some kind of inbreeding?’
They all laughed again, like hyenas. ‘Well,’ Tim said, ‘now she really is hurling out the insults.’
‘Indeed she is,’ Benjamin said. ‘What do you take us for, animals? We ain’t sick like that.’
‘Then why do you look so... so...?’ Kim trailed off.
‘Why do we look the way we do?’ Ben asked, finishing h
er words. Kim nodded. ‘Bit of a side effect to what we do. That’s all.’
‘So,’ she said, pointing to Tim, ‘how come he doesn’t look like the rest of you?’
At that, Tim’s smile fell. Of all the insults Kim had thrown, Ashley realised that one genuine question had actually struck a nerve.
‘All right,’ the father said, taking another step forward, ‘I think we’ve talked for long enough. Can only talk for so long before everything is said that needs to be said. Only one question left; are you gonna make this easy for us, or are you gonna run and make us work for our supper?’
‘Don’t forget Craig,’ Tim said to the girls, scowling. ‘Wouldn’t want to leave him behind. Think what would happen to him.’
Ashley knew what Tim was doing, but regardless, it was working. Leaving their friend behind was still weighing heavily on her, but no matter which way she looked at it, Ashley just couldn’t see how they could help him. It made her sick and ashamed, but she knew they had to try to save themselves.
It seemed Kim was in agreement.
Ashley felt her friend quickly pull her away, hard enough that she almost lost her footing. They slipped through one of the gaps in the railings and bolted off into the woods.
Ashley heard whooping and hollering from the family behind.
‘It’s settled,’ she heard Benjamin yell. ‘A hunt it is.’
Chapter 17
The pain Craig felt from his spine was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Every breath, every twitch of muscle, caused it to flare up in an eruption of white-hot agony.
He knew, without question, that his back was broken.
Would he ever walk again?
Would he ever move again?
Hell, would he even live long enough to care?
The floor of the kitchen on which he lay was filthy. He could see small animal carcass, rats or mice, under the stove; a long insect, a millipede, crawled over one. Funny the details you notice when your mind is about to break.
The Extreme Horror Collection Page 8
