The Vampire's Grave and Other Stories

by Amy Cross

"Not at all. I'm simply saying that we need to be realistic in terms of what we can expect from her. In terms of her waking up, there's no way to accurately predict when there might be a breakthrough. It could be in a week, or a month, or a year, or ten years, or..." He paused for a moment. "It could be never."

  "Or it could be today," Caroline firmly, fighting back her tears. "She might wake up as soon as I walk into that room and talk to her. She might hear my voice and come back to me."

  "Anything's possible," Dr. Webber said diplomatically, although the look in his eyes betrayed a lack of hope.

  "I want to see her," Caroline said again. "Now!"

  "I'll take you to her," Dr. Webber said, getting to his feet and heading over to the door. The pair of them walked in silence along the hospital corridor and into the ward. After checking a few details on a clipboard, the doctor gestured for Caroline to follow him to the far end, and finally he stopped.

  "You don't know my daughter," Caroline said, still on the edge of crying. "She's strong. She's stronger than anyone else you've ever had in here. She's been through so much since the death of her father, and she's always been able to hold up just fine. She's going to surprise you."

  "I hope so," Dr. Webber said with a sigh, sliding the door open. "Spend as much time as you need with her. Talk to her. Read to her. Whatever you think might help. There's always a chance."

  Without saying anything, Caroline turned and headed into the room. She immediately stopped when she saw her daughter resting on a large white bed, with all sorts of tubes and wires connecting her body to a series of machines. The whole room was humming thanks to various computers that were lined up on a nearby table, displaying various readouts.

  Walking over to the bed, Caroline stared at Eva's face, which was still just about visible from beneath all the equipment. She looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe that she'd been through such a traumatic incident. Sure, there were a few cuts and bruises here and there, but for the most part she seemed to be absolutely fine. She just wouldn't wake up. It had been twenty-four hours since she'd been found out in the forest, and she'd shown no sign of responding to any kind of stimulus.

  "Honey," Caroline said, taking a seat next to the bed and reaching out to run her fingers against the side of Eva's face. "It's going to be -" She paused, before looking down at her knees as she began to sob uncontrollably. She'd warned herself to be prepared for this. She'd reminded herself over and over again that Eva was going to look bad, but it was still horrific to actually see her in such a terrible state. "Oh God," Caroline sobbed, shaking uncontrollably.

  Several minutes passed before she was able to pull herself together. Reminding herself that she needed to stay strong for Eva's sake, Caroline reached past the tubes and wires and pushed the hair from across Eva's forehead. It wasn't much, just a small gesture, but it felt important to Caroline. Her daughter had been missing for almost two weeks, and all she cared about right now was being with Eva and finding some way to bring her back from whatever darkness had tried to claim her.

  "I don't know if you can hear me," she said slowly, her voice faltering as she tried to fight back more tears, "but I'm here, darling, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I won't leave your side until you're better. One day soon, we're going to walk out of this place hand in hand, and we're going to go home and..." She took a deep breath, trying to make sure she held herself together. "I swear to God, you're going to be okay. You're a fighter, Eva. You're tough, like me, and like your father. You're going to get through this, and you're going to show all those stuffy doctors that Eva Wilson's make of strong stuff."

  Glancing over at the door, she saw that Dr. Webber was talking to a nurse out in the corridor.

  "They don't think you're going to make it," Caroline continued, turning back to Eva. "I can see it in their eyes." She squeezed her daughter's hand. "We're going to show them. Right? We're going to make them regret the day they doubted you." Smiling through the tears, she stared at Eva's pale, almost white face, and she couldn't help but notice that there skin around her eyes was a little red and sore. Whatever had happened to Eva during those two missing weeks, it had clearly taken a terrible physical toll.

  "God," Caroline said with a sigh, looking down at the floor for a moment. She felt utterly wiped out, as if all her energy had been drained away.

  "Momma?" said a familiar voice suddenly.

  Looking at Eva, Caroline saw that her eyes were still closed but she was certain she'd just heard her daughter's voice.

  "Eva?" she said, tapping the girl's arm. "Eva, did you say something?"

  "Don't call the doctor," Eva whispered, keeping her eyes closed. "I don't want him to come in here. If you call him, I'll pretend to be dead again."

  "It's okay, honey," Caroline said, her heart racing. "Are you okay? Eva, sweetheart, I was so worried about you!"

  "I'm fine," Eva said quietly. "It's just that... They wouldn't understand. I'd rather be like this than have to talk to them. I've been listening to them, and I don't like it. They'd just get it all wrong."

  "I promise," Caroline continued, "I won't let them do anything to you. Do you hear me? I won't -"

  "Come closer," Eva whispered.

  Caroline stared at her for a moment. "Sweetheart, why don't you try opening your eyes?"

  "I will in a minute," she replied. "Just come closer first. Please, Momma."

  Smiling through her tears of relief, Caroline leaned toward her daughter, although the tubes and wires got in the way.

  "Closer," Eva whispered.

  "I'm not sure I can get much closer," Caroline said, trying to force her way past all the obstructions while still being careful not to pull anything loose. "It might be a while before I can give you a proper hug," she continued. "You'll just have to be patient, Eva, but don't forget for a second that I love you very, very much."

  "Closer," Eva hissed.

  Finally, Caroline managed to get close enough to plant a delicate kiss on her daughter's forehead. It wasn't much, but it filled her with joy.

  "Open your eyes, sweetheart," she said. "Come on, Eva. It's okay. I just want to see your pretty little eyes."

  There was a pause.

  "Eva, can you hear me?"

  "I don't know if you'll like it," Eva said calmly. "My eyes have gone funny."

  "Sweetheart, it's okay," Caroline said, stroking the side of her daughter's face. "I love you. There's nothing wrong with you. Just open your eyes and let me see that beautiful smile."

  Eva tilted her face toward her mother, and slowly she opened her eyes to reveal two oily black voids.

  Caroline froze, stunned by such a horrific sight. Leaning a little closer, she saw that Eva's eyes were still in their sockets, but both eyeballs had become entirely black. Although she wanted to say something, to tell Eva that everything was going to be okay, she was filled with a growing sense of panic.

  "Momma?" Eva said, sounding scared. "I knew you wouldn't like it."

  "No, sweetheart, I..." Caroline paused. "Can you see me?"

  Eva nodded.

  "I'm going to get Dr. Webber," Caroline continued. "I think he needs to see this."

  "Okay, Momma," Eva replied, "but first, there's something else I want to show you." Slowly, she bared her teeth to reveal two sharp fangs, and after a moment she began to hiss.

  "Eva..." Caroline started to say.

  It was too late. Before Caroline could move away, Eva reached out and grabbed her, pulling her closer and finally sinking her fangs deep into her mother's neck. Although Caroline struggled and tried to get free, her daughter seemed to be imbued with some new level of strength. Finally, unable to bear the intense pain in her neck any longer, Caroline let out an agonized scream.

  Also by Amy Cross

  THE BODY AT AUERCLIFF

  “We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!”

  When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind
is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms.

  A dead body. A woman. Old and rotten. And her aunt insists she has no idea where it came from.

  The truth lies buried in the past. For generations, the occupants of Auercliff have been tormented by the repercussions of a horrific secret. And somehow everything seems to be centered upon the mausoleum in the house's ground, where every member of the family is entombed once they die.

  Whose body was left to rot in one of the house's rooms? Why have successive generations of the family been plagued by a persistent scratching sound? And what really happened to Rebecca many years ago, when she found herself locked inside the Auercliff mausoleum?

  The Body at Auercliff is a horror story about a family and a house, and about the refusal of the past to stay buried.

  Also by Amy Cross

  LAST WRONG TURN

  If you're out late at night and you see her face, it's already too late.

  Lost on a rural English road, Penny and her husband are involved in a sudden, violent car crash. Waking up tied to a metal table in a remote farmhouse, Penny quickly discovers that she's the latest victim of a strange, deadly family. But Penny is different to all the family's other victims, because she just happens to be eight-and-a-half months pregnant...

  Fighting not only for her own life, but also for the life of her unborn child, Penny desperately tries to escape. When she comes face to face with the mysterious Enda, however, she quickly learns that getting away from the farmhouse might not be enough. Soon, Penny finds herself locked in a desperate struggle to keep her baby from becoming not just a victim of the farm, but one of its new occupants.

  Last Wrong Turn is the story of a woman who desperately tries to save her child from a horrific fate. Contains adult language and scenes of violence.

  Also by Amy Cross

  PERFECT LITTLE MONSTERS

  AND OTHER STORIES

  A husband waits until his wife and children are in bed, before inviting a dangerous man into their home...

  A girl keeps hold of her mother's necklace, as bloodied hands try to tear it from her grasp...

  A gun jams, even as its intended victim begs the universe to let her die...

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Amy Cross. Some of the stories take place in seemingly ordinary towns, whose inhabitants soon discover something truly shocking lurking beneath the veneer of peace and calm. Others show glimpses of vast, barbaric worlds where deadly forces gather to toy with humanity. All the stories in this collection peel back the face of a nightmare, revealing the horror that awaits. And in every one of the stories, some kind of monster lurks...

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories contains the new stories Perfect Little Monsters, I Hate You, Meat, Fifty Fifty and Stay Up Late, as well as a revised version of the previously-released story The Scream. This book contains scenes of violence, as well as strong language.

  Also by Amy Cross

  ANNIE'S ROOM

  1945 and 2015. Seventy years apart, two girls named Annie move into the same room of the same remote house. Their stories are very different, but tragedy is about to bring them crashing together.

  Annie Riley has just broken both her legs. Unable to leave bed, she's holed up in her new room and completely reliant upon her family for company. She's also the first to notice a series of strange noises in the house, but her parents and brother think she's just letting her imagination run overtime. And then, one night, dark forces start to make their presence more keenly felt, leading to a horrific discovery...

  Seventy years ago, Annie Garrett lived in the same house with her parents. This Annie, however, was very different. Bitter and vindictive and hopelessly devoted to her father, she developed a passionate hatred for her mother. History records that Annie eventually disappeared while her parents were executed for her murder, but what really happened to Annie Garrett, and is her ghost still haunting the house to this day?

  Annie's Room is the story of two girls whose lives just happened to be thrown together by an unlikely set of circumstances, and of a potent evil that blossomed in one soul and then threatened to consume another.

  OTHER BOOKS

  BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE

  Horror

  The Body at Auercliff

  Last Wrong Turn

  A House in London

  Annie's Room

  The Farm

  Eli's Town

  American Coven

  The Printer From Hell

  At the Edge of the Forest

  The Ghost of Shapley Hall

  The Death of Addie Gray

  Table 9: A Ghost Story

  The Blood House

  The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)

  Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)

  Asylum

  Meds (Asylum 2)

  The Border

  The Devil's Hand

  The Cabin

  After the Cabin

  The Lighthouse

  3AM

  Tenderling

  The Girl Clay

  The Prison

  The Night Girl

  Devil's Briar

  Ward Z

  The Devil's Photographer

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories

  Fantasy / Horror

  Dark Season series 1, 2 & 3

  The Girl With Crooked Fangs (Vampire Country book 1)

  Ascension (Demon's Grail book 1)

  Evolution (Demon's Grail book 2)

  The 13th Demon (Demon's Grail book 3)

  Grave Girl

  Graver Girl (Grave Girl 2)

  Ghosts

  The Library

  Thriller

  The Girl Who Never Came Back

  Other People's Bodies

  Dystopia / Science Fiction

  The Island (The Island book 1)

  Persona (The Island book 2)