Bring Out Your Dead

by Kim Cormack

  Kevin knelt down, yanked a handful of grass from the earth, inhaled its fragrance and ominously stated, “Just what I thought.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, knowing he was about to make a joke about the movie they’d watched together.

  “It’s hillbilly urine…we’d better get our tasty selves home before they come to eat us,” Kevin said with a dramatic pause as he pointed in the direction of his house, proving if there was ever any doubt that he had no acting ability at all.

  “Let’s get out of here you geek,” Kayn chuckled. She sighed as she slowly shook her head.

  He grinned at her, posed as though he was at the start line of a race and added, “It’s got to be close to five by now, I’m sure dinner’s already on the table.”

  They looked at each other for a second, pretending to eye up the competition before they both simultaneously beamed and sprinted through the field before the trails. This was their ritual race home. They’d been doing it since they’d first been allowed out of their yards as children. Kevin had always been a sneaky opponent because there was no possible way to beat her in a race without a little bit of trickery involved. He shoved her as per usual, and she fell with a gentle thud into the grass.

  “Cheater,” she hollered after him as he ran away. She sprawled dramatically on the grass with a smile spread across her face while she gave him a head start before scrambling to her feet, spitting out the freshly mowed grass from her mouth and beginning the pursuit.

  She would let him win; it was good for him to win sometimes. Kayn could take one for the team today, especially to see him this happy. Kevin let out an obnoxiously raucous cheer as he vaulted over the fence to his yard. He raised his arms in fanfare and took a bow. He’d never once won graciously in the whole ten years of their friendship.

  Sure enough, they entered Kevin’s house to the amazing smells of his mother’s cooking. Kayn’s stomach began to grumble loudly as the delicious aroma of Kevin’s mother’s cooking filled her senses.

  Mrs. Smith greeted her with an enormous loving bear hug. She raised her eyebrows as she brushed the grass off Kayn’s back. Then she addressed them both, “You two are covered in grass. Brush yourselves off outside of the front door and then go wash your hands. Make it quick we’re all at the table ready to eat.”

  They brushed each other off outside and then raced for the bathroom and this time he legitimately beat her. When Kevin came out he gave her a playful shove as he passed her. She stepped into the bathroom, glanced into the mirror and stifled a giggle as she pulled some strands of grass out of her hair. She quickly washed her hands. How wrong must it look when two teenagers of the opposite sex show up for dinner covered in grass? Well, anyone else, with them platonic wrestling would be completely normal. If her dad walked in and they were wrestling on her bed, he wouldn’t even flinch.

  Kayn wandered into the dining room and sat at her usual spot at the table. Kevin’s family mirrored her own. They were always cracking jokes, and talking loudly about their day. She loved everything about the Smith house, from the mismatched frames filled with family photos in the dining room to the extremely outdated green shag carpet in the living room. The living room was completed by a mismatched, yet cozy, couch set with two fluffy lounging felines that could always be easily seen from the dining room table. Those cats were always laying there. It was as though they hadn’t moved an inch in years.

  Kevin’s granny sat at the end of the table. Her wispy white hair was looking even more wildly untamed than usual. She’d always been able to envision Kevin’s grandmother as a beautiful younger woman because of the black and white picture of her in the hallway. Beautiful, didn’t quite encompass Granny in her youth, for she had been enchanting. She had rich crimson curls and exquisitely structured high cheek bones. There was obvious power, and immeasurable strength of spirit in her eyes. Yet, physically, she looked as thin and frail as a newborn fawn. She had not been the picture of pin up perfection, but she had an unexplainable quality that made you curious. You wanted to know more about her. Kayn had always sensed there were thousands of untold stories in her eyes. She was a girl with many secrets. The chapters were written in the creases of her smile.

  Granny always wore lipstick ten shades too dark for her teeth that were worn, and yellowed from age. She always seemed to have something stuck in them. If she got some false teeth it would make her look ten years younger, but she didn’t seem to care in the least.

  Kayn was absolutely famished. She devoured her meal, finishing it rather quickly she reached for another bun. Granny Winnie had been staring at her for a good fifteen minutes now and it didn’t even look like she’d blinked. She hadn’t even attempted to touch her meal. Was she alright? She hadn’t spoken a word and she was usually talking everyone’s ears off. Kayn smiled widely and enquired, “How was your day, Granny Winnie?”

  Granny Winnie ominously whispered her reply, “You know something is amiss, don’t you?” Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with both of her hands. It was as if she feared the words that had slipped from her lips.

  Granny was always saying weird totally random things and this was not even the creepiest thing she’d said this week. Kayn took a bite of her bun, unsure of how she should respond.

  “Kayn had some stomach pain earlier. She forgot to eat at lunchtime. It was probably that.” Kevin answered for her.

  Kevin’s mother scolded her, “You are going to make yourself sick, honey. You need to eat properly!”

  She nodded her silent agreement.

  “Perhaps,” Granny Winnie replied.

  Kayn looked over at her and she glanced down at her plate. Granny looked a little bit ill today. It looked as though she had more to say, but for once she remained silent. Just as she was about to turn away, she looked directly into Kayn’s eyes with unmasked sadness and said, “Always listen to your instincts, child. They are never wrong.”

  She didn’t really want to go home but knew she had to. They’d reached the age where boy girl sleepovers were frowned upon. As Kayn was preparing to leave, Granny stood up and made her way over to Kayn. She embraced her so tightly that she had to squirm away to breath.

  Granny leaned in and whispered in Kayn’s ear, “You survive. You fight hard.”

  Now, Granny Winnie was all about the strange random and sometimes ominous statements. Kayn knew there would be at least a three-hour long conversation about spiritual things; if she asked her to explain what she meant. She was exhausted and she didn’t have the mental steam left inside of herself to go through the motions today. Kayn excused herself to go to the bathroom where she attempted to call home on her cell and it went straight to voicemail. Chloe was probably on the phone. Heaven forbid she ever had a crisis and needed to talk to her own parents. Chloe had a cell phone too but she was always grounded from it, and yet they still allowed her to talk on the landline for hours, which meant nobody else could get through. Heaven forbid, someone spend two dollars on an extra line or call waiting. She sat on the toilet, and tried her mom’s cell, knowing she was obviously going to be a few minutes late tonight. She left a message when there was no answer, and shoved her phone in her pocket. Then she tip-toed down the hall to Kevin’s room. She had the best idea for a quick prank to liven up his evening.

  Kevin’s family had chickens out back and his mom handed her a bag with some fresh eggs in it to give to her mother. Kevin’s dad offered to drop her off at home because it was already starting to get dark. The drive home was rather uneventful. The same old scenery flashed by her window. As they pulled up in front of her house, she leaned across the seat, and thanked Kevin’s dad with a huge hug. She opened the door and took a deep breath, the air smelled like wet cherry blossoms. It must have been raining while they were eating dinner. She stepped out of the car, into a puddle, and twisted her ankle. Of course, she thought. With a soaked foot, eggs and school bag in hand, she hobbled her way up the steep driveway towards the front door. Normally she would have darted from
Kevin’s dad’s car, into the house, but her ankle stung each time she put pressure on it. As she came closer to the house she noticed that the door had been left partially open. This was not normal. However, it was a little windy out and quite normal for the door to be unlocked. Maybe it was left ajar, and opened by the wind?

  They lived in a beautiful yet somewhat isolated area. She heard the sound of tires and turned around just in time to see Kevin’s father driving away. Kayn felt off, apprehensive as she walked up the long gravel driveway towards the door that seemed to have a life of its own. The door shifted from cracked open to almost closed again with the shifting of the breeze. She dug out her cell phone out and looked at the time. It was quarter after eight. She was fifteen minutes late. The door shifted again. She shook her head and laughed. This was obviously a prank. They had left the front door open, and entrance lights off to freak her out. Chloe was probably hiding around the corner. Practical jokes were almost a daily occurrence in the Brighton household.

  The slivers of light from the moon flashed through the branches as they shifted in the wind and for a moment it felt like they were waving her away. Kayn shoved her cell back into her pants, pocket dialling Kevin by accident. “I’m home,” Kayn yelled as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her school bag.

  She flicked on the light switch, and nothing happened. The power wasn’t out. She’d seen the lights on upstairs as she walked up the driveway. It’s just a burnt out light bulb. She massaged her ankle for a second. Great, there goes the track meet.

  Kayn tried to take off her wet socks, but a stab of pain from her freshly twisted ankle caused her to place her hand against the wall while attempting to balance herself. Her hand slid off the wall, as she struggled to tug her second sopping wet sock off.

  “Kevin’s mom gave us eggs,” she called out quietly, suddenly aware that she seemed to be alone in the house. Where would they go at this hour? Her mind sorted through the possible scenarios. Something wasn’t right…

  “Mom…Dad?” She called out…she was answered by silence. She moved to close the front door but felt that sticky sensation again. A faint sliver of light was streaming through the doorway. She stepped to the threshold and held her hand up. The palm of her hand was covered in blood. Ripples of adrenaline coursed through her body. Whose blood was this? It felt like thousands of spiders had run across the surface of her skin. Kayn froze, for a second, paralyzed by fear, shivers of terror crawled across her flesh, as she gingerly took a step back towards the door. A dark figure loomed at the end of the hallway. Who was that?

  She heard her sister’s voice scream, “Run, Kayn!” In a pitch so raw, primal and shrill that it lit her survival instinct on fire. She spun around and ran, bringing the eggs with her. She could sense someone chasing her, but knew looking back would only slow her down. Kayn ran with no rhyme or reason in the direction she was pointed in. Halfway across the back lawn she threw the bag of eggs behind her hoping to slow her attacker. She slipped in the wet grass, and scrambled forward, knowing someone was mere seconds behind her. She spotted the overgrown opening to the trails, and raced towards them, knowing from her childhood that there were a million places to hide. Fuelled by the animalistic instinct of survival she burst through the blackberry brambles blocking the path, ignoring the pain as they tore at her flesh for it only heightened the survival instinct which now possessed and drove her forward. She barrelled through the overgrowth, where instinct prompted. The crunching of leaves and twigs in the trail behind her told her he was close; far too close to do anything but react. She slipped in the mud again, skidding yet not falling. Kayn had now lost her precious half a second lead, allowing her hunter to close the space between them. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, threatening to burst right through her skin as her tired legs propelled her body through the winding trail. The rocks on the path brutalized her feet as the sharp reaching branches, and twigs slashed at her legs.

  “You have to run faster, Kayn, run faster,” her sister’s voice screeched inside Kayn’s terror driven mind. The ground was crunching directly behind her. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her hair and neck as he panted. He was almost touching her. He was fast, inhumanly fast. A rush of adrenaline edged her ahead. She could see lights from the neighbor’s house peeking through the trees. She was going to make it. She was almost there. The darkness that pursued her was keeping pace. Almost to safety…just over the creek. Her bare feet hit the small wooden bridge…

  The Beginning

  Thank You

  I hope you enjoyed the little teaser for the main series that’s been slipped into this book as an added treat for your reading pleasure. You can find the rest of Sweet Sleep at most online retailers.

  Kim Cormack