by Kat Green
Ella sucked in her breath. ‘What?’ Jake knew that in Nancy’s eyes whoever summoned her were not just people to stalk. She was still stuck in that day, with the same pain and anger.
‘I think she sees anyone in the woods as her killers. That’s why all those deaths are connected. They played in this wood, and all she sees is those responsible.’ It made perfect sense, and they all stood looking at each other knowing they were all in danger.
‘How do we fix this?’ Ella asked, her voice shaking.
‘We find who did do it,’ Amy said. It was the only solution. ‘They have to pay for their crime.’
Amy knew it was their only hope of survival, and they had to start now.
8
Ella had spent the last few days on edge. She’d been the last person to encounter Nancy and hoped she never did again. Dean had been walking home from the pub just a few nights ago and had seen her standing across the road. She’d stalked him back to his house, stood in his garden and stared through the window. Dean had stood rigid for the entire ten minutes she’d watched him. Before leaving, she’d hissed at him.
‘Murderer. You’ll suffer for what you did.’
They had all been frantically searching for anyone connected to Nancy. There had to be a family member they could contact who could give them more details. Everything had come up blank, but Ella had one more lead to check out. Nancy’s old school was just a few minutes’ drive away, and she hoped someone might have some information. If that came up blank they had nothing else to go on.
The school came into view and with that came her last bit of hope. She parked her car and made her way into Green Vale Secondary School. The reception area was a typical school scene. A receptionist sat waiting to greet any visitors and work by pupils hung on the walls. There was a trophy cabinet and photos of school events and days out pinned up to show the unity and achievements of the school.
‘Hello. How can I help?’ the receptionist asked, pushing her glasses up and smiling warmly.
‘Hi, my name’s Ella and I’m looking for some information on a pupil who attended here a long time ago.’
The receptionist looked intrigued and tilted her head. ‘Do you have a name for the pupil?’
‘Nancy Jenkins,’ Ella told her, noticing from her badge that she was called Brenda.
Brenda went pale but composed herself quickly. ‘Can I ask why you’re asking about a pupil from so long ago.’
Ella hadn’t thought about what she’d say when she got there. ‘I’m looking for her family.’
Brenda took her glasses off slowly. The warm smile had faded, and now she looked annoyed. ‘And… you are?’
‘I need to find her family, please.’
A few seconds passed before Brenda spoke again, less polite but still professional. ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you.’ Ella was then dismissed as Brenda stood and busied herself at a filing cabinet. Ella knew she had a hit a brick wall. The woman knew something but wasn’t going to tell her.
‘Please,’ Ella said.
Brenda turned to her, irritated, and walked back, leaning over the reception desk. ‘I…can’t…help…you.’ The words were drawn out angrily. The look in her eyes was fear. ‘Go!’
Ella backed away and turned to leave. Once outside she went and sat in her car and tried to process the visit. The disappointment was heavy. She leaned back and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she screamed.
Nancy was crawling up the bonnet of the car, head tilted, and the smell so strong Ella threw up in her lap. It was the most horrific vision Ella had ever seen, and she shook violently. Rotting fingernails scraped down the window, her face almost pressed against it. Nancy watched Ella with the precision of a cat, only eyeless. But even without them it was as if she was seeing clearly. Once the fear released Ella, she threw the car into reverse and accelerated out of the school car park. The car spun, and she stopped suddenly. The windscreen was clear apart from a handprint. She didn’t hang around but put her foot down and didn’t stop until she parked outside Amy’s house.
‘She’s fucking real,’ Ella stammered as Amy opened the door. ‘I hoped you were just messing about but you’re not, are you?’ Tears pricked her eyes and Amy led her inside.
‘Tell me everything.’
Ella explained the day’s events, her blood still running cold with fear. She looked at Amy, searching for reassurance, but Amy couldn’t give her any. ‘What do we do now?’
Amy shook her head as the words failed her. ‘I honestly don’t know.’
*****
Lee collected the takeaway boxes and threw them in the bin. A lazy night in front of the TV had been quiet and relaxing, and he’d even finished his Christmas shopping. Thanks to Amazon he’d not had to leave the house. His mother wasn’t due home from work for another two hours but she’d no doubt take over the TV, or tell him in detail the events of her shift behind the bar at the local pub.
He flicked through the channels looking for something interesting to watch and after a frustrating search he settled on a repeat of Friends. He’d seen the episode so many times, but it never got old or stale. He laughed to himself. Halfway through he heard a dragging sound. It was behind him coming from the hall. The door was open, and the air suddenly grew cold. He couldn’t move as fear gripped him. The dragging grew closer, louder, and it was not his imagination. Then groaning, wheezing, chattering of teeth. The sound of bones cracking was the worst sound, as she hissed at him. ‘You killed me, you killed me.’
The sounds were directly behind him, moving to the side. He looked at the side of the sofa waiting for that face to appear. He knew he couldn’t run. What was the point? The hand was first, rotting skin, as nails barely hanging on grabbed the front of the sofa, and the arm cracked as it moved round getting a better grip. Nancy peered round, her head tilted as her matted hair fell down over her face. Her ear-splitting scream cracked the TV screen.
‘You left me.’ Her cries were heart-wrenching, cold and desperate.
Lee had never been so paralyzed with fear. He wanted to run but he couldn’t move or speak. The chill on his skin was like he was in a bath of ice.
‘Terrorized me, left me to die. You’ll all suffer for this, you’ll all pay. They’ll all pay.’ Nancy rose to her feet, the blood pouring from her eye sockets soaking her dress. ‘I’ll make you suffer first for what you did.’ Her legs cracked as she walked towards him. The air was freezing, and ice formed around the room. ‘Have you ever felt so cold?’ she hissed.
Lee’s vision blurred into blackness. He felt like he was falling, and he tried to grab at anything. He hit something hard, jolted, and tried to focus. He could feel grass underneath him and the smell of soil. Then he heard cries. Chanting and laughing. His eyes focused, and he saw a tree trunk, petite hands bound by rope; Nancy’s, and the blurry outlines of kids circling the tree. Their shouts were animated, gleeful, but with an edge of evil.
‘Nancy Jenkins.’
‘Nancy Jenkins.’
‘Nancy Jenkins.’
‘Nancy Jenkins.’
‘Nancy Jenkins’
The girl tied to the tree begged to be untied, she wanted to go home.
‘You just need to stay here for a bit. If you want to be our friend you must do as we say,’ a boy’s voice ordered. He laughed and kicked dirt at her. The laughs were loud and cruel. Then they stopped, and he heard them walk away and the words floated past him.
‘As if we would ever be her friend. She’s so dull.’ It was the same boy’s voice.
Then a girl’s voice answered him. ‘I’ll come back in an hour and let her go,’ she said.
‘No, I’ll do it,’ the boy said angrily. I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone.’
Silence fell around Lee, but it didn’t last long as the cold set in again. But the cries of Nancy Jenkins were the worst part.
‘Please, come back. Don’t leave me here, please!’ she called out over and over. She must have been terrified.
Lee snapped back into reality. The room was warm again, the TV was playing the credits of Friends and he was alone. Nancy was gone, and he was on the floor, still in the position he’d been just a few moments ago as he’d witnessed the most horrific scene in his life. He didn’t know how long he stayed there as he tried to process everything. It was the phone ringing that made him get up. Amy’s name flashed on the screen and he answered, unable to hide the distress in his voice.
9
Jake held his beer while he spoke to the camera. He wanted to record a video for his channel to update his followers. He would post both videos at the same time. After completing his follow-up video, he began the editing stage. His small room was messy, a typical single guy’s bedroom, he shared a house with three other students, but they didn’t mix much. They got on well enough to live together, but they had their own groups of friends, and apart from the odd beer now and again they did their own thing. It was full of computer and filming equipment which left no room for much else apart from his bed. He laughed at the parts that he’d use as bloopers. Then as he watched, he froze. As they began to move away from the tree, he’d spun the camera as he’d picked it up. He jumped in his seat as he looked at the shot. They hadn’t seen what it had picked up at the time. But Nancy Jenkins was clearly seen tied to the tree. Her face wasn’t the horrific sight they’d seen before. Instead she looked alive and frightened. He unmuted the sound and gasped.
‘Don’t leave me. Please come back. I’m scared. Please, please.’
Jake’s plan to upload to his channel was suddenly not important. He watched the video again, and this time it began to make sense. Each time people visited that tree she was pulled back to that day, and her nightmare would begin again. She would die that lonely death over and over. That would start her journey of revenge, her need to punish those responsible. Only in her eyes it was those she had last seen.
Jake pushed his chair back slowly and hit a wall of ice. Fingers like icicles gripped his face. The cracking of bones and grinding of teeth filled his ears.
‘Don’t leave. Come back. Why?’
Her pained voice hissed out the words, her grip tightened, and she screamed for so long, Jake thought his eardrums would burst. Then the sound stopped, and the grip eased away. He opened his eyes, and he was alone. Grabbing his camera, he ran from the room and out of the house.
*****
Amy paced the floor while they waited for Lee to arrive. He’d sounded terrible on the phone. Ella sat rigid on the sofa. Amy called her name but she didn’t respond. Her head dipped to the side and then to the other before she turned slowly with eyes that looked vacant. When she spoke, Amy backed away. It wasn’t Ella speaking.
‘They said I was their friend. I would be part of the group.’
‘Who?’ Amy asked, backing against the wall, terror and intrigue combining in her.
Ella moved from the sofa, stood up straight, and her face seemed to melt, and Nancy’s face took its place. ‘I just wanted to be their friend. I don’t know why they had to be so cruel. They promised they’d come back.’
Amy slowly walked forward towards her. ‘I want to help. I know what they did was unforgiveable. I’ll help you find them.’
Ella fell to the floor gasping for air. As Nancy stood over her she grabbed her by the hair and lifted her and threw her at the wall. The doors in the house slammed shut, the windows rattled, automatically locking. Nancy glanced round, while furniture flew about the room. It was pure chaos. Amy grabbed her phone and dialed 999. It was blocked. All the numbers she tried came up as blocked until she tried her gran’s. She cried with relief as she heard the ring tone.
‘Amy, darling.’
‘Gran help me. I’m sorry, we went to the woods, and Nancy won’t leave us alone. I know this sounds insane but please help us.’
Silence greeted her, then an intake of breath. ‘I’m coming, Amy. Don’t be scared. I’m coming.’ The phone clicked and went dead.
10
Edith saw the headlights through the window and rushed to the door. Her eyes locked on to his face, the face that had got her through so many things. He’d been her best friend since that day.
‘She has Amy,’ Edith said, and they both knew the time had come to face their darkest secret.
‘I guess it’s time,’ Peter said as Edith rushed to the car.
Peter shook his head. ‘She’s going to want to know what happened. Are you ready to tell her?’
‘No, but I don’t have a choice. My Amy’s life is in danger. I don’t care about me anymore;’
Peter stepped on the accelerator and they drove away. He could see his friend shaking and took hold of her hand. ‘We will get to Amy.’ His voice was tense, angry even. ‘No matter what happens we have to stop this madness.’
Edith held his hand tightly and took in a deep breath. ‘We should have done this a long time ago.’
‘Yes, we should have.’ He hit the brake hard as several drunks stumbled into the road. ‘Bloody idiots,’ he raged through the windows. The drunks made some obscene gestures at them before stumbling off down the road. Peter started the car again, and they drove in silence as they made their way to Amy.
A few minutes further on they turned left onto an unlit country road. Edith hated it at night and held her breath waiting for the lights, indicating they were back in civilization.
‘Almost there,’ Peter assured her.
Suddenly Edith screamed. Peter had taken his eyes off the road for just a second. He braked hard, throwing them forward.
‘What was that?’ He’d seen a flash of something, but it had been too quick for him to catch what it was. But Edith had, and she gasped for breath. Then they both heard it. A scream to their left, echoing around them, getting louder. Then a bang on the window made them jump. Peter looked left and let out a cry. Staring through the window was Nancy Jenkins. Both hands placed palms up on the glass. Her face twisting into a scream, then she whimpered.
‘You left me. Why didn’t you come back?’ Her face seemed to focus on Peter. ‘You?’
Edith felt her heart shatter. Her hand was on the door before she knew it. Her age didn’t stop her as she leapt from the car. ‘Nancy, I’m sorry,’ Edith cried. But when she got around the car, Nancy was no longer there. She spun around calling her name. ‘Nancy, come back. Let me explain. Please don’t hurt my Amy. She hasn’t done anything.’ The rain beat down on her, but she didn’t feel it. Right now, she wanted to hold the girl and be forgiven, to stop her rage from hurting others. Peter was still in the car stunned, afraid.
‘Peter,’ Edith called. He composed himself and got out. ‘What do we do?’
Peter grabbed Edith and told her to get back in the car. ‘We need to get to Amy.’
They knew that reaching Amy was the only important thing now. If it killed Edith in doing so she’d save her granddaughter.
Peter started the engine and switched on the headlights. in front of the car Nancy glared back at them.
‘Leaving again!’ she cried. Then she darted forward, flitting around the car so fast. The car rocked and each time they looked up her face was there taunting them. Then one last scream before it stopped.
‘If only you had come back. You could have saved me.’
Peter wasted no time in hitting the accelerator and raced down the lane and out into the brightly lit town. ‘Why won’t she just stay dead?’ His tone was something Edith hadn’t heard in a long time. Anger. The look on his face was odd. Fear? Yes. But there was something else Edith couldn’t quite pinpoint.
11
Amy kicked at the front door, frustration boiling up inside her. They were trapped in her house with no escape. The doors and windows were sealed shut by an invisible force. Lee had tried to break the door down, but nothing worked. He banged on the door in frustration and cried out angrily.
Jake pulled into the drive and slammed on his brakes. ‘What’s happening?’ he shouted as he got out of his car.
&nbs
p; ‘Nancy,’ Lee hissed. ‘She’s got them trapped.’
‘Can you get hold of Dean,’ Ella called through the letter-box. ‘I’ve not heard from him today.’
Jake rang Dean’s number but there was no answer, so he left a message leaving him in no doubt that it was urgent.
The darkness became heavy, like a thick duvet enveloping them. The cold pricked their skin like pins. Inside the house the girls were beginning to panic. Ella was frantic over Dean; he always stayed in touch and his silence today was very much out of character.
‘Something’s happened to Dean. I know it!’ Ella cried, her voice shrill.
Amy hugged her friend and tried to calm her down. ‘He’s going to be fine.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Ella screamed. ‘I can feel it.’
Amy tried her gran again. ‘Gran, where are you?’ Her voice was harsher than she’d meant it to be.
‘I’m almost there, darling. Hang on.’ Then the phone went dead.
They both heard Nancy before they saw her. Amy hated that cracking sound. The air went icy, and snow began to fall inside her living room. Suddenly they were outside in the woods. In the distance they heard the laughing and chanting of the children. Ella gripped Amy’s arm, her hands shaking a mix of cold and fear.
‘What’s happening?’
‘She’s showing us what happened,’ Amy answered as she moved towards the sound. Torchlight flickered within the trees and the crying vibrated, coming towards them.
Then a weaker voice spoke next to Amy. ‘You have to see for yourself.’
The girls got closer, crouching in bushes as they watched the scene appearing before them. Nancy tied to a tree, terrified, and begging to be freed. Four children seemed to be dancing around her, enjoying her agony. Two boys and two girls. One boy seemed like the leader, taller than the others, and he barked orders at his friends.
‘Kick dirt at her. Call her a coward.’
Amy was horrified by the cruelty she was witnessing, but one girl caught her eye. She looked less comfortable than the others. The boy told her to pick up snow and rub it in Nancy’s hair. The girl was reluctant as she slowly did as she was told.
