A House in the Country: A Tale of Psychological Horror Read online

  Copyrigh t©2014 by Matt Shaw

  Matt Shaw Publications

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The characters in this book are purely fictitious.

  Any likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Broken Dreams

  A curvy brunette with green eyes, Jess first caught Dean’s eye when they were in their early twenties. Dean had ended up in the hospital where - at the time - Jess was training to be a nurse. He’d tripped down a flight of stairs and twisted his ankle awkwardly when leaving the home he still (embarrassingly) shared with his mother and father. He walked home many hours later with the news that his ankle was only bruised. He also managed to leave Accident and Emergency with a phone number for Jess who had been observing the nurse seeing to the potential break. They had hit it off immediately and had dated for two years before moving into their first property together; a small house on the outskirts of the city. A year later, with the last of their savings, they were married and - not long after that - found that they were expecting their first child; although this came as a surprise to both of them. Two years after that (and a little more planned) their second child was born. Now both Dean and Jess were in their mid-thirties.

  Today…

  The house was a mess. Boxes were piled up in every corner of every room - not that there were many rooms. The lack of space being the main reason for Jess and Dean’s decision to move. The property had served them well; a two bedroom terraced house on the outskirts of the city. The first home they had purchased together after they got married almost nine years ago now (they’d rented previously). With two daughters, Sophie who was six and Caroline who was eight, the second bedroom was no longer big enough for the two of them to share. Combined with the fact that work was going well for both Jess and Dean - they decided it was the right time to move to a bigger property. A house where Sophie and Caroline could have their own rooms and a home where they could all continue building happy memories to look back on when they were grey and old.

  “Damn!” Dean leaned against the landing wall and rubbed his toe. His youngest daughter Sophie had pulled him from his slumber. She was screaming out - another nightmare probably - and he’d run from his bedroom, forgetting the boxes lining the way. As a result; box meet toe, toe meet box. A quick rub until he had taken the sting off enough to be able to continue walking on it. He put his foot down and winced in pain, thankful at least that no one else had witnessed his stupidity. He hobbled through to the bedroom where Sophie was sitting up, crying. As he made his way across the empty looking room (other than the piled up boxes of toys and clothes waiting for the removal men to collect them) he cast a quick eye towards Caroline. She was fast asleep, her headphones still in place where she’d fallen asleep listening to her music again. Both Dean and Jess had told her not to go to sleep listening to music; both of them fearful she’d one day strangle herself as she twisted and turned throughout the night. He’d deal with her second. First he would deal with the daughter who was actually awake and calling for him. Always calling for him. He often wondered why she never called for Jess.

  “Your daughter is calling for you!” Jess had told him when she also stirred from her sleep.

  “She’s your daughter too!” Dean reminded her, annoyed at the prospect of having to get out of his warm bed. Their daughter was no stranger to nightmares and it was always Dean who was the one she wanted to comfort her. He didn’t mind but - at the same time - he could not help but think it would be good if Jess also went once in a while.

  “Yeah but she is calling for you!” Jess would tell him as she rolled back over, snuggling back down onto the soft mattress.

  “Hey, what’s up sleepy-head?” he sat down on Sophie’s bed, next to her. Immediately she threw her arms around him and gave him a tight squeeze. He gave her a squeeze back. “Another nightmare?” he asked. “It was just a dream.”

  “I don’t want you to die!” Sophie sobbed.

  Always the same dream.

  M A T T S H A W ‘ S

  A House in the Country

  Moving Day

  “Have you been teasing your sister again?” The family were sitting around the breakfast table in the near-empty kitchen (again, other than the packed boxes). Dean was looking at Caroline whilst he ate the last slice of his toast.

  “No!” Caroline answered him, looking him directly in the eye. Dean and Jess knew she was telling the truth. She was only eight years old and hadn’t learned to lie properly yet - not without giving many a tell-tale sign at least.

  “She didn’t say anything!” Sophie stuck up for her - just as she always did when her mother or father accused her of something she hadn’t done.

  Dean turned his attention to his youngest daughter, “Must be some reason you keep having that dream, honey.” Sophie had been having the same recurring nightmare for over a year now. It had gotten to the point where neither Jess nor Dean needed her to explain what the ‘bad dream’ was about when it woke her up; they instantly knew. Instead they’d just put their arms around her until she stopped sobbing and then tried their best to settle her back down again whilst reassuring her that it was just a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. Sophie heard what they said and understood it was nothing more than a bad dream but it never made it any less upsetting.

  “What about what we spoke about?” Jess asked Dean. They had stayed up a while, after Dean got back to bed the previous night, discussing Sophie’s bad dreams. Both of them were concerned but neither of them knew what they could do about it. It had been Jess’ suggestion to get a specialist involved; someone who may be able to help Sophie understand where the dreams were coming from or, even better, someone who could help her stop having them at all. Dean looked at Jess. He hadn’t wanted to approach the subject with Sophie yet - not until they’d investigated the cost implications at least. And even if they already knew the costs, moving day wasn’t the best time to bring up such discussions. They had enough on their plates. Too late now though. Sophie was staring at him, waiting to see what her mum and dad had been talking about.

  “How would you feel about talking to someone?” Dean asked. “About your dreams,” he clarified. Sophie shrugged. “Might be good,” he pushed her, “they might be able to stop you from having them? That would be good, wouldn’t it?” Sophie nodded.

  “What about me?” Caroline asked. She was at the age where she liked to tease her younger sister from time to time, or blame Sophie for things she had done but she was also at the age where she always felt as though her sister was getting special treatment over her (not that she was). “I want to talk to someone too!”

  Jess smiled at her, “You can talk to me!” Caroline turned to her younger sister and poked her tongue out at her. “Er - that’s enough thank you!” Jess quickly stopped an argument from escalating. Dean ignored it and continued talking to Sophie.

  “Well - when we’ve settled into our new home - we’ll see if we can find someone nice and friendly for you to talk to!” He tried to say it with enthusiasm; hopefully making it sound more exciting and appealing than it was likely to be. He turned to Caroline, “Oh and while we’re talking about last night - both your mother and I have already told you about listening to your music when you go to bed. If you do it again we’ll take your iPod away from you!” a threat previously agreed with his wife. They knew Caroline would sulk if they took her iP
od away but they’d rather that then have her hang herself by getting tangled up during the night.

  “You’ll take it away? Forever?”

  “Forever!” Jess backed Dean up.

  Caroline wasn’t sure whether her mum and dad were being serious with their threat but - at the same time - she didn’t really want to find out. She just sat there, a wide-eyed expression on her face as though the mere thought of being without her beloved music player was the most daunting one in the world. Sophie leaned across to Caroline and stuck her tongue out.

  “Don’t you start!” Jess warned her.

  Dean changed the subject, “So who is excited about seeing their new room today?” he asked. Both girls cheered. They’d all loved the house from the moment they first saw it; a large white-bricked house in the middle of nowhere with four double bedrooms (one with an en-suite bathroom), two family bathrooms, a study, dining room, living room, large kitchen with breakfast bar, cloakroom and a double garage - all surrounded by luscious green fields and forests. A huge difference to the house they were currently living in. Dean stood up and took his plate over to the sink where he proceeded to run it under the tap - rinsing the toasted breadcrumbs down the plug-hole. Jess walked up behind him and put her arms around him. She gave him a kiss on the neck.

  “I know I am,” she smiled. “I’ll miss this place though,” she continued, “so many happy memories.”

  Dean turned around - still in her arms - so that he was facing her. He embraced his loving wife with his own arms, “Memories which we will take to the new house,” he said, “and - once there - we’ll build upon them with even better ones.” He gave her a kiss as the two girls laughed from the table. “Shut up, you little monkeys!” Dean laughed. “Come and give your old man a hug!” They didn’t need asking twice as they jumped from the table and ran towards their mum and dad - throwing their arms around them. “Enjoy the calm,” Dean told Jess, “for it all goes out of the window as soon as the removal men get here!”

  * * * * *

  Dean watched on as the removal men loaded the first of the boxes into the back of the first lorry. Their lives - all four of them - packed into various shaped cardboard boxes. Their lives - enough to fill two medium sized lorries. Looked at it like that, it was fairly depressing.

  Jess was standing in the doorway to the house; a tray of hot drinks in her hands as she waited for the removal men to come back. Dean walked over to her, “Imagine if they just vanished,” he said.

  “What? Who? The removal men?”

  “No. Well - yes. The lorries. Imagine if they just disappeared. You know never to be seen again.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jess asked. She was already stressed despite it being the beginning of the moving process and - other than packing - she hadn’t really done that much. Packing and tea making. Dean went to reply but stopped himself from saying anything as the removal men came back to the house. As they went by Jess, they each took a cup of tea - thanking her in the process.

  “That’s our lives,” he told her. “That is everything about us and our family. If those lorries vanished then so do all of our memories.” Dean continued when the coast was clear to do so.

  Jess looked at him. She didn’t look amused by his thoughts. “Well thank you for that,” she said, “as if I didn’t have enough to worry about what with getting our precious belongings from point a to point b without breaking in the first place. Now I get to imagine a world where our belongings just disappear into thin air. So - yes - thank you for that.”

  Dean couldn’t help but to laugh. He leaned close to her and gave her a kiss before reassuring her, “Everything will be fine. These guys are professional.” His words were badly timed as - from inside the house - a smashing noise was clearly audible. He sighed. “Wait here…” he said as he disappeared into the house to see what had happened.

  Day One

  By the end of the first day both of the lorries had been completely cleared of their contents. Much to Jess’ delight this was done without the lorries disappearing without a trace, as Dean had joked, and without any more of the boxes being dropped. In fairness to the removal men, it hadn’t been their fault the first box had been broken anyway. It was an overly large cardboard box stuffed with way too many of the girls’ toys and the bottom had simply fallen through - but they should have expected that; that’s what you get when you ask two young girls to help pack up their toys - everything gets crammed into the one box with the lid slammed shut (or folded shut in this instance).

  The two lorries turned around in one of the fields, as permitted by Dean who was now the proud owner of the land, and headed off back out of the drive and down the narrow street they had originally travelled down. Dean watched as they disappeared round the corner before stepping back into his new home. He closed the door and surveyed the mess; cardboard boxes stashed in every visible corner and their furniture literally just dumped in the rooms they belonged in. He looked at Jess who was trying to move the larger of the sitting rooms sofas back against the wall.

  “Not quite sure where to start!” he told her. He was knackered before he had even started.

  Jess stopped dragging the sofa and stood up straight - her eyes fixed on her husband, “You could start with grabbing the other end of this sofa,” she told him.

  “Shit! Sorry!” he realised he’d just been watching her struggle. He grabbed the other end of the sofa and helped his struggling wife move it back against the longest of walls. They had chosen where the furniture was going before they had got to the house. They had looked around the house three times before putting in an offer and - on the third visit - they had decided which room was going to be used for which purpose. The only rooms they had not decided upon were where their daughters were going to sleep. They had chosen the front room, overlooking the drive, for themselves as it was the biggest room (with the en-suite) and that was as far as they had got. They knew, before they even pulled up into the property with the convoy of moving lorries, that there were going to be arguments over the remaining rooms.

  “MUM!” Caroline was shouting from the top of the stairs. Before Jess or Dean went to investigate the shouting - they knew what it was going to be about. Dean was first to the bottom of the stairs. He looked up at his eldest daughter who had a face like thunder.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “She won’t get out of my room!” Caroline whined.

  “Your room? But your mother and I haven’t decided who is getting which room yet.”

  Jess joined her husband, “What’s the matter?” she asked him.

  “The room issue.”

  “Ah.”

  “I told her which room I wanted but now she won’t get out. She says it is her room.”

  Dean turned to Jess, “She called for you. You can deal with this. I can’t be bothered with it,” he shrugged, “I’d sooner be doing the important bits like unpacking…”

  Jess knew Dean was tired. They’d all been doing their bit to help with the packing but Dean had also been working full-time in the office to ensure everything was up together in order to give him the luxury of time off with which to move. “I’ll sort it out,” she whispered to Dean. Dean nodded at her and walked back through to the room with the sofas (soon to be their lounge) and Jess headed up the stairs to deal with the girls. “Right,” she said using her best voice of ‘authority’, “what’s going on up here?”

  “I want this room!” Sophie called out from the third biggest room on the second floor of the house. Her voice, just as whiney as her sister’s.

  “I said first!” Caroline moaned. She ran through to the room. Sophie was sitting on the floor, having surrounded herself with boxes. Jess was actually surprised. Both her and Dean thought the girls were going to argue over the second biggest room (across the landing), not this one.

  Jess turned to Caroline, “Well - as the eldest - don’t you want to have the other room? The bigger one?” she asked.

  Caroline shoo
k her head and started to whimper, “I want this one. I don’t like the other room.”

  Jess frowned, “You don’t like the other room? But it’s bigger! And the views over the back garden are much better than the view from this room…” In truth the views from both rooms were similar - overlooking the fields out the back of the house which seemingly stretched on for miles - but the size of the rooms were definitely different.

  “I want this room!” Caroline stamped her feet.

  Jess turned to Sophie, “And you don’t want the bigger room?”

  Sophie moaned, “It smells funny in there.”

  Jess frowned as though her daughter’s words surprised her. She turned from the room and walked across the landing to the room that neither girl wanted. As soon as she walked in, the smell hit her; a heavy musk hanging in the air. Of all the rooms to stink of damp it had to be this one. She walked over to the window and opened it. She walked back across to the other bedroom where the girls were still arguing over whose room it was, “It’s just damp in there,” she said. “I’ve opened the window so - by morning - the smell will be completely gone.”

  “I want this room!” Caroline whined again. “I said it first!”

  “No you didn’t. I did!” Sophie shouted back.

  “Have you even looked at the third room?” Jess asked - trying her best to keep from shouting at the two of them. They had gone from sharing a room to having one of their own. You’d have thought they would have been happy with either of the rooms. They both shook their heads. “So you’ve decided you both want this room without even seeing all of the rooms on offer?” Jess shook her head, irritated at the stubbornness of her own children.

  Dean’s voice made her jump, “Sorted it?” he asked from the doorway.

  Jess turned to him, “They’re being stupid. They both want this room.”