by David Haynes
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
I Can See You
by
David Haynes
Copyright © David Haynes 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced without written consent from the author
Edited by
Storywork Editing Services
Cover artwork by
Cover Collection
To find out more about David Haynes and his books visit his Blog
David Haynes Horror Writer
or follow him on twitter
@Davidhaynes71
The book quoted in Chapter 3 is from Clever Daddy by Maddie Stewart and Brita Granstrom and published by Walker Books
©
Maddie Stewart and Brita Granstrom
For Sarah and George
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 1
“Boom! Did you see that one, Dad?” Chris looked up and smiled but his dad just stared straight ahead. He looked like he was in that far-away place again.
“It was the biggest one yet,” he added and turned away. In the cove below, the waves crashed onto the rocks and spat hissing white foam into the air. It was spectacular but Chris hadn’t really wanted to come, not until he heard it was just going to be the two of them. Then he’d jumped at the chance to spend a few hours with his dad. A boys’ day out was what they always called the days when it was just the two of them, but there hadn’t been many recently. Not as many as there had been when he was five or six, anyway.
The headland in the distance seemed to be disappearing slowly. It was as if the clouds were gobbling it up.
“Is it a storm, Dad?” He tugged his sleeve. Dad couldn’t ignore him that way.
“What?” He sounded like he’d just woken up.
“I asked if that was a storm?” Chris pointed out across the cove toward the black bags creeping across the horizon.
“It looks like it. We should head back to Granddad’s now.”
Chris’s heart sank. How long had they been there? It didn’t feel like it had been very long at all. He sidled into his dad’s body and felt the warmth seep through the material of his jacket.
“Just a bit longer? I think the waves will get even higher.” It was an obvious delaying tactic. He felt an arm go around his shoulder and the feeling in his stomach made him want to jump in the air.
“Just a few more minutes, Chris. Mum will be worrying.”
Down in the cove, the waves smashed onto the slipway and raked at the stony beach. The sound they made was loud and frightening. Chris had never seen waves as high as this before, not even on the television, but that wasn’t the real reason he wanted to stay. He was with his dad, just the two of them, and that was about as good as things got.
“What would happen if I fell in there?” He pointed at the waves.
The answer was instant. “I’d jump in and rescue you, of course.”
“But what if a shark attacked you?” It was the sort of question he loved to ask his dad. It was a bit of a test as well as being fun.
He heard his dad laugh. It was little more than a sigh really but it was something. “Then I’d punch it in the eye and kick it in the goolies. See how he liked that.”
They both laughed then and this time Chris felt his dad’s chest heave. It was progress.
“It’s not Scooby-Doo, Dad, and anyway I don’t think sharks have goolies.”
He laughed and felt a shuddering feeling through his arm. That was alright, Dad was really laughing now. He might be laughing so hard he was crying.
Crying?
Was Dad crying? Chris didn’t dare look up in case he was. He didn’t even want to think about it. He wished that thought had never come into his mind. He stamped his foot to try and push it away but it was too late, it was already there.
He’d heard Mum crying a few times. He’d heard Mum and Dad shouting at each other and she always cried afterwards. This was only at night, only when they thought he was asleep and couldn’t hear them. But he did hear them and it always frightened him. He wouldn’t tell them that though, because if he did then he might cry and that would just upset everyone. It wasn’t all of the time, anyway. It just seemed that way at the moment.
A loud crack of thunder made him jump.
“I think we need to go now, the rain’s on the way.” Was there a tremble in his dad’s voice?
Chris nodded. He didn’t feel like staying here any longer anyway. He’d spoiled it for himself by thinking too much.
“Okay, Dad.”
So that was the end of the boys’ day out. What was waiting for him back at Granddad’s? A few games of Top Trumps, perhaps? Or Granddad might tell him some stories about King Arthur and that was always exciting. He suspected Granddad made some of them up because he was sure there weren’t any space rockets in the olden days, but the stories were always great. He’d even started making up a few of his own. They were no way near as good as Granddad’s but they were okay. He might read them to Mum and Dad to cheer them up.
“Can we get fish and chips for tea?” He took his dad’s hand as they walked back toward the car park. The first raindrops fell on his face and stung his cold cheeks.
“I’m not sure Mum’s in the mood for fish and chips at the moment. Maybe tomorrow.”
Chris nodded and felt his stomach flutter again as his dad squeezed his hand. He looked up at the car park. It was a good ten minute walk along the path, all uphill. He was probably too old for a piggyback now but there was no harm in trying his luck.
“My legs are tired.”
“Are they now? I don’t suppose a piggyback would help at all, would it?”
He shrugged and took an exaggerated step forward. “It might, Dad.”
He felt hands take him under his armpits and hoist him skyward. He heard his dad grunt as he landed on his shoulders.
“You’re heavy! I’ll take you halfway and you can walk the rest. Okay?”
The wind buffeted them as they made their way along the path and he could hardly hear what his dad was saying, but it barely mattered. This was as close as they’d been to each other for ages and to Chris it felt just about as good as anything he could ever remember. The smile on his face was so wide it almost hurt his cheeks.
They neared the end of the path, just before it took one final steep ascent to the car park, and he was lowered back down.
“Just give me a minute to catch my breath. That was a lot harder than I remember.”
His dad was bent over and his face was bright red. His dark hair blew sideways across his face but Chris could see thin grey lines running through
it now.
“You’re getting old, Dad.”
He looked up. There was false anger written across his face and it made Chris smile.
“Am I now?” He straightened. “I bet I could beat you up there.” He pointed toward the car park.
“No chance. I’m the second fastest runner in my class.” Chris could beat almost all of the other kids, except for Josh but he was the tallest in the class and had the longest legs.
They lined up side by side.
“Well, I’m the fourth fastest in all of my office. On the count of three. One, two...”
Chris set off. His legs pumped as fast as they could but the slope was steep and he could feel them slowing down almost immediately. He glanced over his shoulder but his dad hadn’t caught up yet. He took three more steps and stopped.
“It’s not fair, it’s too steep for me.” He looked over his shoulder but Dad was still on the start line. He hadn’t moved an inch.
“Dad?” he called out but his words were driven away on the wind. “Dad?” he called again and started walking back down the slope. He wasn’t even looking up at him. He was looking down into the cove.
“What is it?”
Without another word, his dad started running down the path toward the cove, toward the angry looking sea and... Was that a person standing on the slipway? It looked like it.
Chris set off immediately but he was already several steps behind his dad, who seemed to be running at top speed down the path.
“Dad! Wait for me!” Chris shouted, but he knew the wind and the sea had taken his words as soon as they came out of his mouth. His feet skidded on the dusty path, which wouldn’t be dusty for much longer now the rain was coming down even heavier. The air smelled sharp and fresh like it did back up on the path but it was also much stronger down here. It smelled dangerous.
The path snaked down into the cove, passing the fishermen’s huts on the way. Each one was pressed into the cliff face with a tumble of fishy-smelling lobster pots outside. He lost sight of his dad as he struggled to keep up and a moment of panic gripped him.
“Dad, Dad, Dad!” His throat felt sore from shouting and he knew he was close to crying. He skidded as the dirt path turned into concrete and as he fell painfully onto his bum, he let out a yelp. The tears came quickly but they were gone as soon as he saw his dad.
The air was filled with rain and salt water, and the noise was deafening. Dad was standing farther down the slipway and, a few steps on from him, there was a woman. The sea was up to her waist. Waves smashed into her chest, sending spray high into the air.
“Dad! Come back!” He was worried now. The water was white as far as he could see and Dad’s feet were covered by it. It wasn’t safe to be here.
But Dad hadn’t heard him; he couldn’t hear him and Chris was too afraid to go any closer. There was a steep drop on either side of the slipway, he knew that from the last visit, but the pebbles weren’t visible anymore, it was just fizzing sea.
His dad waited for a wave to land on the woman and jumped forward to grab her. Her hair was wild and curly and it floated above her head like a brown cloud. A gust of wind sent both the woman and his dad wobbling sideways, and for a moment Chris thought they might fall over. Dad seemed to be trying to drag her out of the sea rather than helping her. Didn’t she want to be rescued?
Dad looked angry and frightened at the same time but the woman just looked angry. Her mouth was open and she looked like she was shouting something at him. Chris couldn’t hear any of it. Dad was covering his eyes and his ears now and he looked like he was in pain. Why was she hurting him when he was trying to help her?
“Dad?” He didn’t want anyone to hurt him; not his dad.
His dad turned and looked at him and he felt as if everything had been turned upside down. Dad wasn’t leading her out, she was leading him in.
“Leave him, leave my dad alone,” he shouted but his voice wasn’t loud enough. He started to cry again.
And then she turned to him. Where her eyes should have been, there were just holes, just deep black holes.
He didn’t understand. It couldn’t be real. But Dad was in the water and it was up to his waist and the waves were smashing into him.
“Help him!” he screamed.
She just stared back at him from where her eyes should have been.
Dad was screaming too, he was waving his arms. All Chris could hear was the word, “Go!” But how could he leave, how could he leave his dad when he needed help?
He ran toward him, toward her, but Dad shook his head. He didn’t want Chris near him. He didn’t want his help.
But she was there, she was looking at Dad again, and he was looking at her and crying. Dad was crying. Even above the sound of the wind and the rain, he could hear Dad crying.
He was going to be sick. He could feel it boiling in his guts. The waves were landing on Dad’s head, pushing him down.
“Dad, no!” he screamed and ran forward.
But she was between them. She didn’t want Dad to see him. As he looked up at her to tell her to move, she fixed him with those voids and spoke for the first time.
“I can see you.”
He took two steps backwards. He needed to put some distance between them. Her voice cut through the wind as if she were inside his ears, inside his head. It was so clear and hideous. There was nothing inside those holes, nothing at all, and it made his head feel funny; like it did after a bad dream and he couldn’t wake up properly. What did it mean to feel like that? It was sad and it was frightening. But it was terrifying above everything else.
“Stop! Chris!” He could hear Dad now. He was safe.
But his legs were moving and he couldn’t stop them. He didn’t want to.
“Chris!” Dad was coming. Dad would help him, he would help them both.
He vaguely felt that the earth had dropped away from his left foot. He was aware that she was still staring at him but he couldn’t do anything about either. It was like her eyes were made of big round magnets. He was falling, he knew that, and when he’d finished falling he would be in the sea. It would be cold and he wasn’t a good enough swimmer to cope with all those waves. He opened his mouth to scream but icy-cold water filled it immediately.
What had Dad said?
“I’d jump in and rescue you, of course.”
But it looked like Dad needed rescuing too. They both needed rescuing.
Chapter 2
Chris stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t need to check his phone to know what time it was. He’d woken up at the same time every day for the last week. It was probably more like a month but who was counting? Four-thirty on the dot. She had been with him most of the night too; standing right in the middle of his head, spreading her slimy fingers over everything. He couldn’t remember the last night he had spent without her and those vapid pools of depression she called eyes.
Now came the choice. He could lie here, as still as a statue, and wait for the dawn to creep through the curtains. Then he could count the squares on the Anaglypta wallpaper, oh the joy. Or he could climb out of bed and go and watch the news downstairs. The second one was the better choice but it came with an added extra. It came with a question. It came with a well-meaning wife who wanted to help but didn’t know how.
“Is everything alright, Chris?”
He could hear her breathing steadily, but it didn’t seem to matter even if she was in the middle of a Brad Pitt fantasy-dream, she always snapped out of it as soon as he moved. He didn’t want to hear the question again. He didn’t want to hear it again because they both knew that the answer he gave was a lie.
“I’m fine, Lou, just go back to sleep.”
No, this was the best idea. Just lie still until the alarm goes off in two hours time. He could do that. He had done it yesterday and the day before. It was easier than trying to answer a question he hadn’t a clue how to reply to.
How cold had he become? How distant was he? Some days it felt as if he were
bobbing about on the sea in a little boat and everybody else was on the shoreline; Lou, Ollie and everyone else he knew. And every day, they grew smaller and smaller until he could barely see their faces. He knew that one day he’d drift right over the horizon until they couldn’t see him anymore. The way things were going, that wouldn’t take long.
The only person who could say how cold he’d become was Lou. Ollie had never known anything different. To him, Dad had always been just Dad. Whether that was distant or not, he was just too young to know. But Lou, she knew. She never said anything, not yet at least, but the time would come when her patience was stretched too far, when the “Is everything alright?” questions were just words uttered out of habit rather than genuine enquiry.
He rolled over. The sad thing was, he knew what was happening. He could feel it creeping through his bones, he could feel it in his gut. He could even feel it in his piss but how could he stop it? Now that was a question and the clock was ticking.
“Chris?”
He rolled onto his back again. Lou was awake. Had his thoughts woke her up? “It’s early. Go back to sleep,” he whispered.
“Okay?”
“I’m fine, just woke up early, that’s all.”
“Like yesterday?” She rolled onto her side to face him.
“Yeah, it’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”
“What time is it?”
He grabbed his phone. “Just after five.” Had only half an hour gone by?
“I’m awake now too. Is it anything I can help you with?”
Light had started to filter into the room but it was going to be a grey day. In lots of ways.
“No, it’s nothing, honestly. I’m just having a few problems with the book, that’s all. It’s nothing.” How many times could he say the word nothing before it became something?
“I can help.” She paused. “I can help, Chris.”
“I know you can.” She wasn’t talking about the book. They both knew it. “Shall I put the news on?” he asked and grabbed the remote. In a minute the room would be filled by the voice of a newsreader, one of the unlucky ones from the night shift, but not by either his or Lou’s voice and that was good. That was safe.
