Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1)

by Willow Rose

  My dad. The father.

  I felt a severe pinch in my stomach since I found it hard to accept the fact that my dad had been a part of this insane and very very cruel act.

  But he must have known. How couldn't he?

  I avoided the front door and ran around the back hoping and praying that I wasn't too late. I peeked in the windows and saw my dad walk towards the fireplace, throw in a log, then turn his head. I breathed in a sigh of relief. He was alright. But as I looked at who he was talking to, my blood froze. Right there in the living room sitting in an armchair was Officer Dan in his full uniform. Probably knocked on the door telling my dad he was on duty, maybe under the pretense that I sent him to make sure they were all alright. Then asking for a cup of coffee, I thought and spotted a cup on the table in front of him.

  So he had them all tricked to think he was there on a social call. I walked backwards and tried to look through the windows upstairs. I spotted Maya in one of them. I threw a small rock on the window. She didn't react. So I did it again and this time, she turned to see what it was. I waved and she opened the window.

  "Mom? What the heck are you doing down there?"

  I shushed on her. Then whispered as loud as I could without anyone else hearing me. "Get out of the house. Now."

  "I can't hear you, Mom. You really need to speak up!"

  I tried slightly louder. "Get out of the house now!"

  "What? Why? I just put the kids to bed. What's going on Mom? Is this some sort of prank, cause if it is, it's really not that good."

  I bowed my head feeling helpless. When I lifted my head again I looked into the eyes of Officer Dan. He was staring at me through the living room window. I lifted my head and looked at Maya. Then I yelled:

  "Get out of the house NOW!"

  When I looked at the window in the living room again, Officer Dan was gone. My heart was racing in my chest and I started running towards the door. It was locked. I couldn't see my dad anywhere inside and suddenly I was afraid Officer Dan had done something to him.

  I took the dagger and used the handle to break the window. I removed the glass carefully, then put my hand through and reached the lock on the inside. I turned it and opened the door. As I stepped inside I heard my daughter's horrifying scream coming from upstairs.

  57

  2012

  I stormed up the stairs and ran towards her bedroom, but found it to be empty. Then I heard her scream again. Now she was pleading.

  "Please don't. Please don't hurt me."

  I ran down the hallway towards the sound and opened the door to Victor's bedroom. In there was my dad and Maya both sitting on the bed. I breathed relieved when I saw they were both still alive.

  "Glad you could join us," a voice said.

  Officer Dan was sitting in the corner on Victor's chair. In his hand he was holding his police gun, pointing it at my dad and daughter. I walked closer and looked at Maya's cheek. It was bruised. He had hit her.

  "She's a little feisty one, huh?" Officer Dan said.

  "I'm gonna kill you for this!" I said and walked towards him.

  "Oh really? Is that so?" Officer Dan said and lifted the gun.

  I stopped.

  "Now sit down with the rest of your family. Too bad Victor couldn't be here, huh? Then we would all be gathered. Big family reunion."

  "Where is Victor?" my dad asked with fear. "Did something happen to him?"

  "He's fine," I said.

  "Well he was lucky. So were you. I'll find him and kill him later," Officer Dan said. "That's the good part about being the only law enforcement on this island all night long. I have hours and hours to kill people without anyone noticing. It's almost too easy."

  "Why are you doing this to us?" my dad asked.

  "You remember I told you about that kid in the bunker?"

  "How can I forget? You woke me up babbling about it," my dad said.

  "Well that was Officer Dan. He was born in there."

  "Born in the old bunker? I don't understand." My dad sounded more confused than ever.

  "I think you do, if you think about it," I continued. I looked at Dan. "What was your mother's name, Officer Dan?"

  "Astrid," he said. "Astrid Justesen."

  My dad froze. He was staring at Officer Dan with wide eyes. "What? ... What? ... What are you talking about?"

  "You had a girlfriend named Astrid once, didn't you Dad? She was Irene Justesen's daughter. She became pregnant when she was sixteen. Do you remember that?"

  "Of course I remember," my dad snapped. "It's hardly anything you ever forget. But she disappeared. They told me she had decided to get rid of the child. They told me her mother had taken her to the mainland to get it fixed and then she ran off afterwards and never came back."

  "She told me your mother locked her down there," Officer Dan took over. "Your mother had called her one day and asked her to come over for tea to get to know one another better now that they were going to be family, those were the words she used to lure her to the house. When she arrived your mother asked her to go get a flashlight in the bunker, the big one, because the lights had gone out in the basement and she couldn't see when she wanted to go down there and get some jam. So my mother went into the yard and down the bunker to find the flashlight when the door shut behind her and was locked. For weeks she thought it was an accident but later she learned it was your mother's way of getting rid of her. And yours apparently. Was it good to get her out of your life? Did it feel good to not have to take responsibility for her or the baby? Did you ask her to do it? Did you ask your mother to take care of it? My mother thought you did. In the end. Right before she died, she said she used to believe you loved her, but she had stopped believing in it anymore. Now she had realized you were probably a part of it as well. I wasn't good enough for him, she kept telling me. I wasn't good enough. Do you have any idea how that felt? Do you?"

  My dad was in shock. He stared at Officer Dan while tears were rolling across his cheeks. That was when I realized he hadn't been in on any of it. He hadn't known.

  "I ... I ... I didn't know ... Do you mean to tell me ... Were you both down there all this time?" My dad held both his hands to his face. "I ... I can't believe it." He looked at Officer Dan. "So .. So .. you're my ..." his voice was shaking heavily as he spoke ... "So you're my son?"

  Officer Dan nodded. My dad was crying heavily now. "Emma ... you ... you have to believe me. I didn't know about this. I ... I loved Astrid. I truly did. But we were young and my mother ... well she was against it. I had nothing to do with it. You always ask what went wrong between her and I. Astrid was what went wrong. She wanted me to stop seeing her from the beginning and I wouldn't. I loved her, I told her. And when she was pregnant I told my mom I was going to marry her. I really was. But then they told me she had decided to leave the island, to get rid of the baby. It was her mother who told me those things. She told me I would never see her again. It was the worst time in my life. I lost the one I loved and also the baby. But ... But I'd never imagined ... this ... that this would happen. I can't believe ... I can't believe ... I ..." My dad suddenly went completely pale.

  "Dad are you alright?" I asked and moved forward. I was hiding the dagger in my sleeve. Officer Dan lifted the gun and pointed it at me. I grabbed my dad just before he fainted. I helped him lay down on the bed.

  "I didn't know, Emma. You must believe me," he mumbled.

  "I know, Dad. Now I know."

  "It's all very nice and all, but ..." Officer Dan said. "All this family love is getting a little old. I'm tired of it."

  "So this creepy guy is your brother?" Maya suddenly said. "He's my uncle?"

  "I guess so," I answered.

  "Stop," Officer Dan yelled. "Stop all this chitchatting. It makes me sick to my stomach. Sit down next to the others before I shoot you."

  My dad was moaning, when I sat down next to him. I felt Maya's hand on top of mine. I looked up and met her eyes. She looked scared, but still managed to worry about
me. Suddenly she was all so grown up. I smiled at her, then felt the dagger in my sleeve again. I knew I could have a shot at stabbing him in the neck, but I didn't know when the smart time to move would be. It was our only and last chance to make it out alive. But I also risked him shooting my daughter or my dad in the process. I wasn't sure I dared to risk that.

  I was breathing heavily while feeling anxious in my stomach. I don't think I'd ever been this scared in my life. I stared at Officer Dan who seemed to be in some sort of world of his own. Maybe he was just trying to figure out how to kill us and in what order. He rubbed his forehead like he was tired. The gun was resting in his lap. While speculating about when my move should be I suddenly spotted it. I spotted a spider crawling up Officer Dan's leg. Remembering what Victor had said I held my breath as it climbed up into his lap and on his hand where it stopped. Officer Dan felt it now and looked down. Then he smiled.

  "Now where did you come from little buddy?" he said then suddenly let out a loud scream and jumped out of the chair, the gun falling to the floor.

  "It bit me, the little shit bit me! " He yelled and trampled on the spider that had fallen on the ground.

  When the spider bites you make your move.

  Without thinking twice I leaped from the bed and buried the dagger in Officer Dan's throat. It must have hit a main artery because the amount of blood that spurted out from him was overwhelming. I was covered in it and so was the floor and the bed. Maya was screaming when the blood hit her face. I screamed to both her and my dad to get the hell out of here, while I watched Officer Dan grab the handle on the dagger with his hand, then turning to look at me as if to say something, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground.

  Epilogue

  November 2012

  "It's too bad he turned out to be a nutcase. I would really have liked to have a son," my dad said and poked me with his elbow.

  It was a month later and we had gone to the cemetery to put fresh flowers on my brother's new grave and on my grandmother's. We had chosen to place the two of them next to one another.

  Maya and Victor had both gone back to school and Sophia was well enough to take care of her own children again. Stephan was caught by the police in the mainland for beating some girl up in a nightclub and was put away. Sophia was looking forward to having a spring-baby for once since all of her other kids were born in the winter.

  Luckily the police had believed our story, crazy as it was. Well maybe they didn't quite believe everything of it, but at least enough to not get us in trouble.

  My dad had left to go back to Copenhagen but had returned this weekend to visit us again.

  "Yeah. I bet you would. And I would have liked to have a brother," I said and kneeled at my grandmother's grave to put down the flowers.

  My dad shook his head slowly. "Some strange story, huh?"

  "I know. I still wonder why Grandmother left the house to me. I mean you got all the money, right?"

  "Sure did. I have decided to give it to an orphanage in Copenhagen, though. Don't quite feel like I should keep it after all this."

  "I know what you mean. But I will keep the house. I like it here. I am still wondering if she gave it to me for a reason though."

  "How so?"

  "Well. She must have known that I was the one who let out the boy. Everyone else would have said something or gone to the police. So maybe she wanted me to remember? Maybe she in her own strange way was trying to make up for the past? Maybe she hoped I would pursue the story and find my brother?"

  My dad nodded. "Strange as it sounds it sort of makes sense. Maybe the old hag did have a conscience after all?"

  "You're thinking she might have regretted it at some point, but then it was too late?"

  "Something like that. I don't know. Guess we won't either, huh?"

  "Guess not."

  My dad started walking towards the exit. I followed him.

  "I have come to a decision though," he said.

  I grabbed his hand and held it tight in mine. "And what's that I might ask?"

  "I don't like being this far away from my loved ones and since I can't seem to get you to move back, well ... then ..."

  "Really? You'll move here?"

  "I'll get a small house somewhere in town of course. I've already notified the clinic. They seemed to be awfully happy to get rid of me. They can take care of it without me from now on. And I get to be with my family. It's a win-win."

  "Promise me you won't live in my house, though."

  "Oh I wouldn't even think about it. Hate that place, remember? Never slept well there. No I need my own place."

  I put my arm around his shoulder.

  "Sounds great, Dad. Sounds really great."

  As we came closer to the car I noticed a small spider crawling on my leg. I picked it up in my hand and looked at it. Then I put it down on the ground and decided not to kill it.

  I guess I felt like I owed it one.

  THE END

  This book is the first in the Emma Frost Mystery Series.

  Get the second in the series here:

  http://www.amazon.com/Miss Polly ...

  Dear reader,

  Thank you for purchasing Itsy Bitsy Spider. I hope you enjoyed it. This is the first book in a planned series about Emma Frost and her family.

  If you liked Itsy Bitsy Spider, then you might enjoy my other mystery-series, the Rebekka Franck-series. It also takes place in Denmark and begins with the first book One, Two ... He is coming for you. I have put in an excerpt from the first book on the following pages for you to enjoy.

  Take care,

  Willow Rose

  Connect with Willow online and you will be the first to know about new releases:

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  Books by the author

  Mystery/Horror Novels:

  One, Two ... He is coming for you (Rebekka Frank #1) - http://www.amazon.com/One, two ...

  Three, Four ... Better lock your door (Rebekka Frank #2) - http://www.amazon.com/Three, Four ...

  Five, Six ... Grab your Crucifix (Rebekka Frank #3) - http://www.amazon.com/Five, Six ...

  Seven, Eight ... Gonna stay up late (Rebekka Frank #4) - http://www.amazon.com/Seven, eight ...

  Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1) - http://www.amazon.com/Itsy Bitsy Spider

  Miss Dolly had a Dolly (Emma Frost #2)- http://www.amazon.com/Miss Polly

  Run Run as fast as you can (Emma Frost #3) - Coming out later this fall 2013

  Edwina - http://www.amazon.com/Edwina

  Horror Short stories:

  Eenie, Meenie - http://www.amazon.com/Eenie, Meenie

  Rock-A-Bye Baby- http://www.amazon.com/Rock-a-bye

  Nibble, Nibble, Crunch - http://www.amazon.com/Nibble, Crunch

  Humpty, Dumpty - http://www.amazon.com/Humpty, Dumpty

  Chain Letter - http://www.amazon.com/Chain Letter

  Paranormal Romance/Suspense/Fantasy Novels:

  Beyond (Afterlife #1) - http://www.amazon.com/Beyond

  Serenity (Afterlife #2) - http://www.amazon.com/Serenity

  Endurance (Afterlife #3) - http://www.amazon.com/Endurance

  Courageous (Afterlife #4) - http://www.amazon.com/Courageous

  Savage (Daughters of the Jaguar #1) - http://www.amazon.com/Savage

  Broken (Daughters of the Jaguar #2) - http://www.amazon.com/Broken

  A Gypsy Song (The Wolfboy Chronicles) - http://www.amazon.com/A Gypsy song

  I am WOLF (The Wolfboy Chronicles) - http://www.amazon.com/I am WOLF

  Box Sets:

  Rebekka Franck Series - http://www.amazon.com/Rebekka Franck

  Daughters of the Jaguar - http://www.amazon.com/Daughtersof the Jaguar

  The Afterlife Series - http://www.amazon.com/Afterlife

  Horror Stories from Denmark - http://www.amazon.com/Horro
r Stories

  The Wolfboy Chronicles - http://www.amazon.com/THE WOLFBOY CHRONICLES

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Willow Rose is an international Best-selling author. She writes Mystery/Suspense/Horror, Paranormal Romance and fantasy. Originally from Denmark she now lives on Florida's Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. She is a huge fan of Stephen King, Anne Rice and Isabel Allende. When she is not writing or reading she enjoys watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Her books have been downloaded in more than 350.000 copies.

  Connect with Willow online:

  http://www.willow-rose.blogspot.com/

  www.facebook.com/willowredrose

  https://twitter.com/madamwillowrose

  The following is an excerpt from Willow Rose's international Best Selling Novel: One, Two ... He is coming for you (Rebekka Frank #1)

  One, Two ...

  He is coming for you

  Prologue

  One, two … the song in his head wouldn’t escape. Sure, he knew where it came from. It was that rhyme from the horror movies. The ones with the serial killer, that Freddy Krueger guy with a burned, disfigured face, red and dark green striped sweater, brown fedora hat, and a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams and take their souls, which would kill them in the real world. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” that was the movie’s name. Yes, he knew its origin. And he had his reasons for singing that particular song in this exact moment. He knew why, and so would his future victims.