Please give any comments and ways to improve, enjoy! Oh and a note for all those I haven't told- this is NOT a vampire story
She’s a match.” Zahra sounded triumphant, her face alight. “We’ll move on her tonight.”
*
End of part 3
The man at the counter leaned forwards to study her face closely. “Anything the matter love?”
Holly shook her head and smiled weakly at him as she pushed a mars bar onto the counter.
He raised his eyebrows, obviously unconvinced. “That’s 40p.” As Holly handed over the money and stuffed the chocolate into her pocket he opened his mouth as if to add something. Holly turned and quickly walked out of the shop before he had the chance.
As the door closed behind her she lowered her head and strode down the street. Her shoulders were hunched and the quick beat of her pulse thrummed in her ears. She focused on the safe sight of her feet and only glanced up every now and then to check she didn’t walk past her house.
There’s no-one there, there’s no-one there, there’s no-one there…
She dreaded the sound of footsteps, her whole body was on edge.
Holly saw her door. She swiftly ran up the steps, her hand already retrieving her keys from her jacket. She stabbed at the lock but it wouldn’t turn.
Work, come on work!
As she heard the click she shoved her weight against the door, stumbled inside, and pushed it shut behind her. She wasted no time in relocking it and sliding the chain across.
There had been no doubt about it; the boy she had seen had been the same one she had been trying to refrain from thinking about these past few days. The same boy she had been glimpsing at every turn.
Before she had tried and tried to convince herself he wasn’t real; that he was nothing but a figment of her imagination. Now, how could she deny it? Her options were limited: she was going crazy or he was real. She didn't feel particularly warmly towards either choice.
Ok, so if he’s real…
What did that mean? That there was ghoulish teenager following her? If so then he had been inside her house, watching her. That wasn’t a pleasant thought.
The chocolate in her pocket didn't seem so enticing now, her hunger was long gone.
Holly woodenly climbed the stairs and entered her bedroom. She pushed her chair in front of the door and lent heavily against the wall.
She gazed about her. There was nothing strange about her room, it looked normal. A couple of her discarded tops from that morning lay crumpled on the floor. Her work was scattered on the mattress before her with an assortment of pens, pencils and books piled on top of one another. Holly could see that nothing had been moved, it was all the same. If anyone had been in here they had not touched a thing.
A waste paper bin in one corner, spilling over with wrappers and torn out pages from notebooks, caught her eye.
Holly focused on a screwed up piece of paper that had fallen from atop the pile of rubbish. Frowning, she walked over to it and scooped it up, opening it and smoothing out the crinkles against the table.
“See you soon.”
Her eyes widened and the paper shook as a tremor ran through her body.
Of course!
It was so obvious- how could she not have made the connection before? A wave of nausea swept over her as she felt all the pieces click into place. This stalker was the same person who had come to her on that strange night, or at least someone who had something to do with them. It was all centred around the same event, maybe even the dreams were a part of it. Holly had been looking at all the disturbing incidents individually, she hadn't once taken a step back to see the whole picture.
She felt cold, shivery. Holly shakily moved to her bed and clambered under her duvet, still clutching the note in one hand. Her books and pens tumbled to the ground but she didn't care. Pulling the covers up around her chin, she held the paper close to her eyes, trying to find some sort of explanation in the script.
She remembered rolling it into a ball and tossing it into the bin, determined to ignore all things she could find no explanation for.
Why were these odd things happening to her?
The helpless feeling that accompanied the questions she asked herself was horrible. Holly had no control, nothing she could do would stop this.
Why me?
*
The house was dark, but that was no problem.
The floorboards would creak, but that was no reason to worry either.
There was only one resident in the house. Even from the bottom of the stairs Filo could hear the gentle breathing of someone in deep sleep.
He allowed a smile to play along his lips. This would be easy.
Glancing over at Joseph they shared a grin of excitement- the thrill of the job.
“I’ll go first and get a hold of her.” His voice was a whisper and barely audible. “You follow afterwards, we don’t want her waking from your clumsy footsteps.”
If Joseph could have blushed he would have at Filo’s snide remark. Instead he nodded and watched as Filo virtually floated up the staircase. His feet were so light on the carpet, so quick and graceful, that he gave the illusion of flight.
When Filo reached her door it took some control for him not to burst in and grab her. That wasn’t how he worked; he was the ghost not the troll- he was artful. The door could be pushed just right, at the right place with the right force and the right speed. He always got it right. The chair wasn’t an issue, it almost toppled but his delicate hand gripped it before it touched the ground. Lightening reflexes.
He could see the top of her head, brown hair spilling out from beneath the duvet to fall across her pillow.
Quietly, he didn’t want her to wake yet, he leaned over her and gently pulled back the cover to reveal her peaceful face.
She was pretty, just as he remembered. What luck that she was a match, she would be the new host. And not just any host- it was a privilege to provide the body to such a powerful spirit. Not that she would think that.
Enough dawdling.
Taking a small white pill from his pocket he slipped it into her mouth, his touch so subtle and soft that she felt nothing. He knew she would soon. The pill would take effect in less than a minute and the putrid taste could wake the dead.
He gazed down at her as the moments ticked by, inspecting every feature of her face. She was young so no wrinkles creased her skin. There were no cuts or bruises either. Her nose was relatively straight, not perfect, but then perfection was overrated. He could see a scattering of freckles across her cheekbones and frowned slightly. They would go.
Her eyelids fluttered as the tablet started to dissolve. She coughed and rolled over. Then coughed again. Her eyes flew open and she sat up choking, hands raised to her throat.
“Shhhh, don’t worry you’ll be asleep again soon." Filo soothed. "Joseph?”
The beat of his heels on the floor before Joseph entered caused her to swivel round. She couldn’t speak, her senses were overpowered by the acrid tang of the chemical on her tongue. She was slowly turning red and her eyes watered.
“She’ll be out in a little bit, have you got the cloth? I’ll hold her hands, you cover her eyes.”
Holly was still spluttering and staring in terror at the two intruders before her. She struggled to squirm away from his touch but he held her firmly with a grip of iron around her wrists. A strip of fabric was tied around her head as she jerked and coughed, trying to toss her head from side to side to escape her assailants cold fingers. Her head already felt heavy as if it had been stuffed with cotton wool.
She wanted to scream, she wanted to hit- but she couldn’t. And the darkness was closing in…
*
Thanks for reading!
It was great! Keep on writing, and thaanks for PMing me with the new part!
