Chapter 1

 

It was a dark night. There were no street lights along this section of country road. The glow of the half-moon lit the road ahead, as it twinkled in the standing rain water that scattered the tarmac, occasionally forming small puddles that gathered at the edges. The rain had almost entirely stopped by now, as Aiden drove down the narrow winding roads, concentrating intently on the road ahead. Sat in the passenger seat beside him, Sarah was looking almost as focused as Aiden, not at the road, but at her mobile she was holding in both hands in front of her. She was playing a game called Candy Dash and was now attempting level 172 with not much luck.

Aiden took his eyes off the road for a second to look across at Sarah jabbing her finger at her phone screen. They had been in a relationship for 5 years but had known each other for much longer. Aiden had always known that they would end up together, for him it was love at first sight. As he looked at her now, her dusty blond wavy hair draped across one shoulder, with the odd strand stuck to the chair back, like static sticking it to a balloon, wearing her favourite black V-neck sweater and blue jeans hugging her petite frame, he realised he was still as besotted with her as ever. Aiden always felt like Sarah could have done better. When they were at college 8 years ago, before they had started dating, Sarah was the girl that all the guys were after. She could have had her pick, but never really had any serious relationships. Eventually when Aiden, a skinny, 6ft computer game addict with scruffy brown hair, had plucked up the courage to ask her out, to his surprise she said yes. He never asked her why she chose him, and he didn’t really care, he was happy and he would do whatever he could to make her happy.

‘Do you think you could keep your eyes on the road for more than 5 minutes?’ Sarah said without looking away from her game.

‘Don’t worry I’m still concentrating,’ Aiden replied with a joking tone, then turning back to look at the road which was now a long straight stretch that looked like it went on forever.

Sarah turned her phone off and slid it into her handbag sitting between her feet in the footwell.

‘Stupid game,’ she said, followed by a yawn and stretched her arms and legs out in front of her as far as she could, pushing her neck and shoulders into the back of the seat.

‘Do you even know where we are? It looks like the middle of nowhere out here, and we’ve been driving for hours. Shouldn’t we be at the hotel by now?’ Sarah said with both a confused and fed up look on her face.

‘Nah babe, we are at least an hour away still. I know exactly where we are, thank you very much.’ Aiden tried to sound confident but there was a seed of doubt that had been growing in him since the last turning and at this point he was almost sure they were lost, but hesitated to say anything in case by some miracle he saw a sign or any indication they were going the right way.

Sarah let out a slight snigger, turned to Aiden and smiled, lost or not Sarah was thankful she didn’t have to drive, it had been a busy day and was a long way to the hotel they were meant to be staying at for the weekend. It was her cousins wedding on the Saturday and the whole family were expected to be there. Sarah didn’t know her cousin Gemma very well, but from what she did know she could tell the wedding would be a large, lavish affair that would be bragged about for a long time.

‘I’m going to get some kip then if that’s ok? Wake me when we get there,’ Sarah said as she adjusted herself to get in a more comfortable position.

No sooner than her head had hit the head rest there was an almighty bang and scraping sound, as the car jerked to the right and then back to the left as Aiden tried in a panic to get control of the car back. Sarah screamed as the car bumped violently over the grass embankment at the side of the road, there was another loud bang and the car came to rest moments before hitting a large pine tree head on.

‘What the hell happened?’ Sarah shouted in panic, now fully awake and looking around franticly for any clues as to what they hit or what might have caused the crash.

Aiden didn’t answer, he was still in shock himself and wouldn’t have been able to answer her anyway, he had no idea himself what had happened. He knew that he wasn’t paying full attention to the road as it was straight and there were no other cars around, in fact he hadn’t seen another car for miles, but surely if something had ran across the road in front of him he would have seen it or noticed a broken branch or something lying in the road. His mind danced in circles thinking of every possible scenario and his heart beat fast and heavy.

‘Did you hit something?’ Sarah asked in a much calmer voice now.

‘I, I don’t think so, I mean I must have but...’ Aiden said while looking at Sarah and then shrugging his shoulders.

Aiden reach for the door handle, but the door didn’t open right away, so he tried again while nudging it with his shoulder, with a creak and a loud clunking sound the door reluctantly swung open. As Aiden stepped out of the car he shouted back over his shoulder towards Sarah.

‘I’ll go check it out, wait there.’ He then said in a much quieter tone so that Sarah wouldn’t hear, ‘And see if we can get out of this mess.’

Sarah didn’t want to stay in the car on her own, but she also didn’t really want to get out either. The first thought that came into her head was that they were in the middle of nowhere and she was too tired to be walking miles, not to mention it was night and it was cold. She reached into her bag and started fumbling around while peering out the rear left side window to see if she could make out what Aiden was doing. ‘Got ya,’ she said as she pulled her phone out of her bag, but the small smile of accomplishment soon dissipated when she saw the words ‘no signal’ on her phone screen. Sarah threw her phone back into her bag and her bag back on to the floor. She reached out to grab the door handle but before even trying the door, she saw that there was another tree right outside blocking her exit, even if she could open the door, she would have had a hard time getting out. Sarah maneuvered herself over the gear stick and slid into the driver’s seat so she could get out. Before she did, Aiden stuck his head back in the car giving Sarah a fright.

‘Jesus, don’t do that.’

Aiden gave a small grin before saying, ‘Sorry for that, didn’t mean to scare you. Looks like we’ve got stuck on a rock and its smashed up the axel pretty bad, we won’t be going anywhere.’

Sarah’s face dropped with disappointment as she lifted both hands to rub her face. ‘So what does that mean?’ Sarah said, although she already knew the answer was a long walk in the middle of nowhere.

‘I’ll give the AA a call,’ Aiden said while reaching into his back pocket.

‘No signal,’ Sarah shouted back, just as Aiden had seen the words on his own phone screen. ‘We really are in the middle of nowhere, what did we hit anyway?’

‘I’m not sure, I haven’t been up to look yet, I’ll go look now,’ said Aiden, sounding anxious.

As he turned and started walking towards the road Sarah jumped out of the car shouting, ‘You’re not leaving me here,’ grabbing Aiden’s right arm and latching on for dear life. He felt quite relieved. The truth was that he didn’t really want to go exploring what it was on his own. Aiden turned his phone torch app on, lighting the tufts of grass in front of them. It was a dim light and the clouds were now partially covering the moon, so it made anything that wasn’t in their direct path almost impossible to see. They were only a matter of a few meters away from the road but as they stumbled over the grassy tufts, it felt a lot further, until they eventually hit the old tarmac road. They looked up the road in both directions but saw no distinguishing features to tell each way apart. The road seemed endless, with large pine trees lining the edges almost guarding the pitch-black abyss of forest that lay behind. Sarah let go of Aiden’s arm and walked into the middle of the road and started looking around. Aiden saw no sign of anything that they might have hit and began to feel a wave of relief wash over him as he was fully considering that there was a chance it was a person he hit, maybe a hitch-hiker or local that had a cabin out in the woods somewhere. All these possibilities seemed unlikely, since they hadn’t seen anyone on the road at all and Aiden had by now convinced himself it must have been a small deer that had ran off injured into the endless expanse of trees, until he heard Sarah say in a quiet trembling voice, ‘What’s that?’ as she pointed back up from the direction they had come from, while stood frozen in the middle of the road. Aiden walked towards her, turning in the direction she was pointing and following the line of her finger towards a slight ditch by the side of the road.

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he could now make out a large black shape that resembled a part filled duffle bag dipping slightly in the middle. This thing, whatever it was, was lying in the shadows of the tall trees about 20 meters down the road, even from that distance in the dark Aiden could make out it had fur and it was big, very big. How could he have not seen that thing? Aiden thought to himself and without realising he slowly moved closer, walking towards what he was sure must be some kind of animal.

‘Don’t go near it,’ Sarah shouted in a whisper. ‘What if it’s still alive? If you get yourself killed I’ll never forgive you.’ Sarah’s joking tone eased the tension but only gave Aiden more confidence to go closer and find out exactly what it was.

Reluctantly Sarah followed him, keeping at least a couple of meters behind Aiden, using him as a human shield, if that thing got up, she was ready to run.

As Aiden got closer, still with his phone in hand but now lowered so that the light was only illuminating his feet, new details started to become apparent. He could now make out the head with a short snout, directed towards the forest making it hard to see the beast’s eyes or facial features. The tail lay flat on the ground, covered in matted, blood soaked black fur behind its hind legs. The animals whole body looked scraped and bleeding, whole patches of skin were missing to reveal bleeding flesh and its fur was scruffy and wet from all the blood. Aiden also noticed something else, now just feet from where this animal lay, he saw the chest of the creature raise and then lower slowly. It was still alive.

Sarah noticed this too and grabbed Aiden’s left arm jerking him backwards, hard enough to make him almost loose his balance. ‘We are leaving, now,’ she said so quietly that Aiden could barely hear but the scowl on her face said it for her.

‘It’s fine, it’s too badly beat up to do anything. We really did a number on the poor thing,’ Aiden replied mournfully.

Sarah shook her head in disbelief and backed away while Aiden felt compelled to go closer and began to walk round the tail end of the animal, so he could get a better look at its face, oblivious to the faint commands occasionally whispered by Sarah saying, ‘stop’, ‘don’t’.

As Aiden walked round to face the animal, he could see that its eyes were open and following his every move. The face of the creature was just as torn up as the rest of it and a gaping hole in the side of its jaw revealing the yellow stained teeth inside, making it look even more like a snarling beast. Besides the deep stare they shared, the animal had not reacted to Aiden at all. What was it? He asked himself, tilting his head to the side in contemplation. It was far to big to be a dog, maybe a wolf? He had never seen a wolf up close and although it was larger than he thought even a wolf would get, he was no zoologist, but he was almost certain wild wolves didn’t exist in England anymore. This was a beast as black as the night, with eyes that stared deep into his sole. Aiden was so lost in a trance that he didn’t even react when the creature lifted its head slightly to get a better look at him, now staring with both eyes fixed on Aiden’s. They shared a moment of calm and understanding before the creature lay his head down to rest one final time and Aiden watched, as it took its last breath.

​

Chapter 2

 

Aiden’s trance was broken by Sarah’s voice, ‘I’m freezing, we can’t stand out here all night, leave that thing alone and help me figure out what we should do.’

Aiden walked over to Sarah and wrapped his arms around her, in an attempt to both warm her and comfort her.

‘Ok, I’m sorry, we’ll be fine,’ Aiden said in his most reassuring voice. ‘I’ll get my other hoodie out of the car for you, you’ll soon warm up and we can keep going on foot, unless you want to spend the night here?’

‘Not a chance,’ Sarah snapped in response.

Aiden walked over to the car and opened the boot, unzipped his back pack and pulled out an old hoodie that although originally black, had faded to a dark grey. He walked back over to Sarah slamming the boot behind him, passing her the scruffy hoodie that she had on a number of occasions asked him to throw away. It was his favourite and as she slipped it over her head, feeling her body warm and smelling the familiar aroma of Aiden’s cologne she found a new appreciation for Aiden’s sentimental attachment. Aiden picked up Sarah’s hands from by her side and started gently pulling her forwards to encourage her to start walking. She gave him a small smile and started walking down the road.

‘So how much further is it then?’ she said without really wanting to know the answer, as any distance was further than she would have liked.

‘We only have to get as far as a house or somewhere we can get signal, we’re bound to find somewhere in no time,’ Aiden said still trying to sound positive so that Sarah didn’t start to panic.

Sarah knew they had no choice and was now getting more concerned that they would miss her cousins wedding but all she wanted right now was a shower and a warm bed, although that also looked unlikely at this point. The thought of the creature that caused them to be in this predicament was pushed to the back of her mind, she didn’t care what it was and if it was dead then it was of no threat to them.

After about 20 minutes of walking, the road started to slowly descend in to a large valley, giving them a larger view of the surrounding area. The road could be seen dipping down to the very bottom of the valley and disappearing from sight into the forest which was now made up of a variety of different trees, some small and bushy, others tall and all but completely bare of leaves. The road then made a reappearance on the other side of the valley, returning back up the hill until curving to the right and back out of sight over the next hill but apart from the road and a lot of trees there was nothing, no houses, signs or even a fence. Aiden and Sarah both stopped, they looked down into the valley and then at each other, they knew they were both thinking the same thing as a look of devastation washed over both of their faces. Aiden took his phone from his back pocket and held it in the air in front of him at arms length.

‘Check your phone for signal,’ he said, shortly followed by ‘Damn, nothing,’ then turned to look at Sarah.

‘I left my phone in the car, in my bag,’ Sarah replied nervously, then quickly added, ‘It wouldn’t have helped us anyway, I only had 5% battery.’

Aiden tilted his head back and let out a big sigh thinking to himself how useless Sarah’s mobile phone is to her, she only ever used it to play games and the rest of the time it was on charge.

‘Well this road has to lead somewhere,’ Aiden said as he slid his phone back into his pocket and continued walking down the hill. Sarah ran to catch up to him, then linked her arm round his and gave him the smallest of smiles.

They continued down the hill and followed the road back into the darkness of the low valley and the overhanging trees. Up ahead, there looked like a small lane ran off to the left from the road.

‘Where do you think that goes?’ Sarah said with the faint hope Aiden would say it was the turning to the hotel.

Aiden’s pace fastened and with vague excitement said, ‘I don’t know but there’s a sign.’ At this point Aiden was almost running.

Sarah hadn’t noticed the sign until it was pointed out. It was an old wooden sign, just a post with another plank of wood nailed to it. The wood was stained to a dark brown by the rain which had now completely stopped. It was covered in moss and was sat in tufts of overgrown grass. Sarah was sceptical that the sign would be any use at all and continued to walk slowly towards Aiden who was now stood at the base of the sign staring up at it.

‘So, where are we?’ Sarah said without even looking up at the sign.

‘Not sure, I can’t make it out, but I recon we should go that way,’ Aiden said while pointing down the small lane.

‘Why would we go that way?’ Sarah asked confused as she looked up at the sign unable to make out a single letter.

‘It’s the first sign we’ve seen, and yes I know, its old but there might be a house down there, with a phone,’ Aiden replied with a grin on his face while slowly walking backwards towards the lane waiting for Sarah to follow. She waited for barely a second before heading down the lane herself. It did make sense to her that it had to lead somewhere but she had heard that before.

Continuing their journey down the narrow lane, the tarmac soon turned to gravel under their feet, the way grew darker as the trees started to engulf the path around them, Aiden reluctant to use the power from their only phone to light the way. Wind travelled through the forest in eerie whispers, sounds of twigs falling from the trees and occasionally snapping surrounded them filled their hearts with dread.

‘What’s making those noises?’ Sarah asked in trepidation.

‘Just birds, or foxes, or something,’ replied Aiden sounding un-assuring.

‘Yeah, it’s the something I’m worried about,’ Sarah said, now with the image of whatever they hit in the car firmly fixed in her mind.

Soon the formidable sounds that echoed through the forest were accompanied by the faint but recognisable sound of running water. The further into the blackness they wandered, the loudening sound of water began to drown out the creepy ambient noises that had chilled them to the bone. Ahead of them, Aiden could now see a reassuring ray of light, illuminating the ground as the foliage of the forest parted and allowed the moons glow through a now cloudless sky to bounce off the land, creating an oasis in the black of night. As they got closer they could make out the source of the sound, a gently flowing river with large rocks and mossy embankments at the sides. The river was shallow, perhaps three feet deep at most and at the point where the gravel path ended, seamlessly fading away to the rivers edge there nestled a dilapidated wooden bridge made from rotten planks with four foot high wooden guard rails on either side. Next to the bridge on the right side leaning at a slight angle there was another wooden sign just like the one at the start of the lane. The writing on this sign was a lot clearer, written in black paint was the word Styx.

Neither Aiden or Sarah recognised the name and thought it of no significance, but the sight of more manmade structures gave them hope.

‘We must be getting close to somewhere now,’ Sarah said with mild excitement as she hastened towards the bridge only to stop just before stepping onto the bridge itself. With one hand resting on the left guard rail and looking along the bridge as if to evaluate its structural integrity.

Aiden didn’t share Sarah’s enthusiasm as he approached the bridge, instead he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and the sudden urge to turn back.

‘Wait,’ he shouted, ‘It might not be safe,’ trying to stall Sarah as he combated his own uncertainty. Aiden walked up to the bridge, ‘I’ll go first to make sure,’ he said as he walked past Sarah and cautiously put one foot after the other as he made his way over, looking at his feet the whole time. The wood made slight creaking sounds but felt sturdy under foot, it was old but built to last. Aiden’s dread and anxiety built with every step, somehow predicting the torment this night was to bring. As he reached the other side of the bridge he turned and reached his arm back to Sarah, ‘Ok, it’s safe,’ he said encouraging Sarah to follow him over.

 

 

Chapter 3

 

The gravel lane Aiden and Sarah had been following re-established itself on the other side of the bridge, sloping up a small hill and bending to the right. As they walked along the path the forest around them thinned and the path widened. It was now the early hours of the next day and they were tired from walking, hungry and reality of their situation was sinking in. Every so often Aiden would take out his phone and check for signal to no avail.

Soon they started to notice small tracks branching off from the main path looking recently travelled, the weeds and grass along these trails were trampled and flattened, leading off in all directions. Once they neared the top of the hill it became apparent to them that this track did indeed lead to somewhere. Now in the dim view of the moon lit sky, they could see numerous small wooden shacks, none of which looked like they had been used for a long time but in the darkness it was hard to tell exactly what state they were in, the path continued past all the shacks with smaller trails branching off to each one. In the distance, only just in view, Aiden and Sarah could see the path stop at an opening in a large stone wall. Beyond the wall was blocked from view by yet more trees and huge mounds of overgrown ivy climbing up the stone and reaching out grasping into the air trying to find something to cling to. Although the shacks were obviously unkept and unlived in, Sarah still had hope there was a larger residence just out of sight and Aiden would settle for a roof over his head for the night, knowing that morning would bring new light to their situation, this gave both of them a much needed sense of relief.

‘Well at least we have somewhere we can rest’ Aiden said, as he pulled out his phone checking for signal again. He then turned it off so he didn’t waste the battery and slipped it back in to his pocket. He knew that this was likely to be the best they would get for the night and that if he didn’t have signal now, it was pointless keeping his phone on.

‘We don’t even know what’s over there yet. There might be a house,’ Sarah said, while nodding her head in the direction of the stone wall sounding unimpressed by notion that they could have to spend the night on the floor of what was nothing more than a dark, damp shed.

Aiden wrapped his arms around Sarah and tried to reassure her.

‘I know it’s not a fancy hotel with en-suite and room service but its just for one night, tomorrow we’ll find a way back to civilization and forget this whole thing.’

‘Well lets at least go have a look what’s past the wall,’ Sarah said, while gently tugging on Aiden’s arm now encouraging him to keep walking. Her eyes felt heavy but the thought of staying the night in one of those small shacks was enough to spur her on.

Aiden begrudgingly continued through the darkness, now with Sarah leading the way walking slowly and quietly along the winding path past all the shacks as though they were sleeping lions that could wake up and pounce at the slightest sound. They hesitantly approached the gap in the large stone wall and gazed forward at a sight lost in time. Their eyes widened, and jaws dropped as they both stood looking at a whole village hidden by the surrounding landscape. It was still too dark to make out how far back it went and was far from the warm welcoming cottage with open fire and friendly host that Sarah was hoping for. From what they could see it looked like something out of a history book. The buildings were old and made from a combination of stone and wood. The tall trees surrounding the wall and lay of the land had hidden the whole village from view.

For a moment they just stood in silence until eventually Aiden finally said,

‘Let’s just find somewhere to get some kip till morning, then we can look around properly. I can tell you now though, we aren’t going to find a phone.’

‘Do you think anyone lives here?’ Sarah asked.

‘I don’t think anyone’s even been here for years.’

‘We are really lost, aren’t we?’ Sarah said with tears building up in her eyes.

Aiden wrapped his arms around her holding her close, kissed her on the head and told her,

‘Everything will be better in the daytime when we can see where we’re going,’ Aiden held her tight, to comfort himself as much as her, feeling like crying himself but wanting to stay strong. He kept wondering how they could even get lost in the first place, it was England not the amazon.

Knowing they needed to at least try and get some sleep Aiden led the way to the nearest building. This was only a small building and was entirely made of wood, situated roughly 20 feet to the right, inside the stone walls. It was a simple structure, not much bigger than the shacks they had already past, four walls and a slanting roof. The door was completely missing and inside they found two wooden benches and some broken pottery. Aiden pushed the benches together and against the wall to create a makeshift bed. They lay down holding each other in a tight embrace. It was hard and uncomfortable, their feet hung off the end and the unsettling surroundings gave them little hope of falling to sleep but as they lay there craving that first glimpse of the morning sun, they both drifted off into a deep slumber. Their minds were now at peace and their aching muscles could now rest and recover, blissfully unaware that they were not alone.

​

Chapter 4

 

The suns morning rays shone in through the door frame, sweeping across Aiden’s face with a gently warming glow. His eyes flickered open as he lifted his head to look at the room for what felt like the first time. Slowly he rose to his feet rolling his shoulders back and stretching his arms out trying to relieve the stiffness in his back and neck. Sarah suddenly sprung to a sitting position, waking startled and breathless. Aiden turned to look at her and asked,

‘Bad dream?’

‘Are we still lost?’ Sarah replied sarcastically followed by a yawn.

‘Unfortunately, yes,’ said Aiden.

‘Well then it’s more like a bad reality, but as soon as I’ve had my morning coffee and that cooked breakfast you promised me, I’m sure I’ll be ready and rearing to go,’ Sarah said with a smile on her face, trying to be her usual humorous self, obviously feeling more positive now it was light and feeling less tired after a few hours’ sleep.

‘Don’t joke about food, I’m starving,’ Aiden added, while holding his arm over his stomach,

‘We could go have a look round this creepy place, might find some bramble bushes or even a fried chicken shop,’ Sarah said, sounding surprising cheerful.

Aiden smiled at Sarah who had suddenly remembered the wedding they were supposed to be going to and that now there was no chance of making it there in time. An unexpected road accident, leaving them helplessly lost in the wilderness was the perfect excuse, and the light of day relived her fears.

The day was glorious, the sun was shining, and a fresh Autumn breeze was dancing through the air. The long grass swayed, and the ominous ambient noises from the night before had now transformed to bird songs. Once again Aiden and Sarah stood gazing upon a village lost from the world, now lit up revealing details they could not have noticed the night before.

From the stone wall opening lay a cobbled courtyard arching round a central statue, now recognisable as a long from operational water feature with central column of stone that once would have displayed detailed chiselled patterns, now worn to unrecognisable bumps, surrounded by a circular trough that was cracked and eroded. Surrounding the courtyard were three main buildings. To the right there was the wood shack Aiden and Sarah had spent the night in, it was the smallest of the buildings and surrounded by a tangled mess of weeds. On the left, was a building with walls built three foot high of stone, topped with wood panelling and residual evidence of a caved in roof. Central to the courtyard directly behind the stone column was the largest of the three building, raised a foot off the ground with a single step at the front, and a small oak frame porch surrounding an entrance complete with door, to either side of the door was a wood frame window, each separated into four panels, all but one void of glass. A pitched roof with central ridge sat securely on top and in remarkably good condition.

Curiosity pushed Sarah closer to the house, then lifted herself up to the tips of her toes, trying to peer in through the glassless window.

‘See anything?’ Aiden shouted.

‘No, nothing,’ Sarah replied, and started walking round to the side of the building.

The village continued behind the initial few buildings, with various structures, houses and the occasional tree. The cobble paths were barely recognisable as the dusty dirt built up over them and the mossy growths that grew on the cobbles spread and camouflaged the stone with the ground. They continued deeper into the village still not daring to enter any of the buildings that had doors and only peering in for a second to the ones that didn’t.

‘Doesn’t this whole place seem strange to you? hidden away like this, out of sight. It’s like everyone just abandoned it or disappeared,’ Sarah said softly, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Aiden also felt an uncomfortable foreboding about the place but continued to hide this from Sarah by simply suggesting it was too remote for anyone to build modern houses out there. The uneasy feeling was not helped by the numerous stone statues, randomly scattered throughout the houses, some of men holding tools in the air, others of women shielding children, all looking out of place. Some of the buildings had signs outside or markings on the doors or walls, most where difficult if not impossible to make out but the signs they could read indicated the purpose of the building. One long narrow structure had the word school still legible above the double door entrance, neither door still attached to the frame but lay side by side on the threshold. Another had a hanging wood plaque, surprisingly still swinging in the breeze creating a rusty squeak as it blew back and forth displaying the word cobbler.

‘Just got to find the baker now,’ Aiden said as he nudged Sarah with his elbow.

 Sarah turned to look at Aiden, but her eyes soon drifted over his shoulder to look at something behind him, Aiden turned to see the village well and could immediately tell what Sarah was thinking as she looked at it in silence.

‘Well that will do for now, no pun intended,’ Aiden smirked while walking over to it, leaned over the stone rim and looked inside.

‘Is there water in it?’ asked Sarah, as she followed him over.

‘Can’t see, it’s too dark, but we can find out,’ Aiden said, while picking up a frayed rope hanging into the well, the other end knotted up in a mess of tangles beside him.

He could feel some weight to the end of the rope as he pulled it out of the well, attached to the end was a wooden bucket with metal handle, inside the bucket was a very small amount of water puddling to one side, although Aiden knew it could be rain water collected from the night before, it gave him hope as he lowered the bucket back down. The well was deep, and he needed more and more rope having to untangle it as the bucket lowered, until eventually the bucket hit something, producing a distant echo of sloshing water reverberating up from the darkness. Aiden’s face lit up giving Sarah a reserved hope, she was waiting to see that sparkling, fresh clean spring water splashing about in the bucket like something off a commercial.

When the bucket came into sight, although it wasn’t quite the clean, refreshing looking water she was hoping for, Sarah was still pleased that apart from the odd floating leaf the water did look reasonably drinkable but just to make sure she turned to Aiden and said, ‘You try it first.’

Aiden lifted the bucket to his mouth, taking large gulps, water spilling out the sides and down his front. He was thirsty, and the water tasted as fresh as cool spring water straight out of a bottle.

‘Here, it’s good,’ Aiden stated as he passed the bucket to Sarah.

She started to drink from the bucket with more hesitation, taking cautious sips until she was satisfied by its condition and began to drink faster and faster until the bucket was empty.

Feeling refreshed but still compelled on by hunger, they continued through the village. The further they went the larger the houses became, almost as though they were seeing the houses evolve through the decades, now with chimney stacks and slate roofs, the stone now in bricks rather than uneven chunks and detailed wood features created for design rather that practicality. It was now also apparent that the whole village stopped at a giant grey cliff face that formed a natural wedge in the valley blocking its path through the hills surrounding it. The cliff face had obviously been worked on, creating man made ledges where the stone had been removed. There were also lots of detailed designs chiselled into the rock face, pictures and images that seemed to tell stories, or give warnings, the kind of images that can give you nightmares. Some were of people screaming, surrounded by what looked like flames, others were of beasts and monsters, eating people while surrounded by body parts, heads on sticks and humans chained together. There was also a lot of writing, but it was all in a language that neither Aiden nor Sarah could read.

In the very centre of the cliff face was a dark cave leading into the cliff itself. There were pillars on both sides of the entrance, chiselled out of the surrounding stone and with the detail you might expect in a stately home or cathedral. Both had a statue of a man on his knees chained to the pillar with an actual heavy steel chain and both men were screaming in pain with an uncomfortable realness. Just looking at the cave and surrounding display gave Aiden chills up his spine. The fear he had felt the night before had returned with an overwhelming discomfort. Looking over to Sarah he could see she was feeling the same way, so he wrapped his arms around her.

‘let’s go back and look in some of those buildings, try and find some food before heading back to the road,’ he said.

Sarah just looked up at Aiden and smiled. They turned back towards the village and almost instantly began to relax as the fear dissipated. This might not have been the case if either of them had taken a better look in the darkness of the cave, for if they had stared further into the blackness, they just might have seen the two pairs of eyes staring back at them.

 

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Chapter 5

 

Aiden and Sarah returned to the larger of the houses looking round to see if any might have been lived in more recently. There was one house with a small white picket fence around the outside and small wooden porch stretching right across the front of the house. It was a two floor house with a small triangle window in the centre of the top floor, the house was tatty and unkept, weeds were growing up the walls and the paint was patchy and faded but there was a homely, comforting feel that encouraged them to pick that house to explore further. Aiden walked up the small path towards the house through the garden once a well-maintained sanctuary, now an out of control jungle of wildflowers and grass. As he stepped up onto the porch, it creaked and moaned under the stress of weight it hadn’t felt in a long time, a small terracotta pot sat to the right of the front door, containing a plant long dead. The door was covered in pealing cream paint with a small window in the top, with glass so dirty Aiden could barely see through it. Sarah was waiting half way down the path looking around as though someone could be returning home at any moment. She started to wonder why they were even going into the house, the chance of finding food was slim and if they did find any it would be old, mouldy or out of date, at the same time Sarah had no idea what to do but felt comfort from Aiden taking control and making the decisions however pointless they seemed.

Aiden turned the door handle and the door creaked open releasing a cloud of dust that exploded into the air. It was dark inside the house but the cracks in the wooden walls and sparse gaps in the windows that weren’t yet overcome with dust and dirt, let through enough light to allow Aiden to see down the dilapidated hallway that lay in front of him. He cautiously stepped into the house now with Sarah close behind him, the air was heavy and polluted with a damp smell that made it hard to breath. Nobody had been in that house for years but items were still sat on shelves and pictures adorned the walls telling stories of the lives that once occupied the once loved home. To the left was what was once the dinning room, a large chunky farmhouse table proudly stretched down the centre of the room with two cream wooden chairs on either side and one at either end, all neatly pushed under the table. On the table in front of each seat was a placemat and white china plate placed with precision forever waiting for that next family meal that would never come. On the wall was a large painting so dirty and covered in cobwebs the image was only recognisable as some kind of landscape with what looked like a windmill. At the far end of the room behind the head of the table was a distinctive stone fireplace, it was older than everything else in the room and looked almost out of place.

‘Looks like we missed dinner,’ Aiden said with a smirk as he walked across the hall and into a room to the right.

This room was almost empty, just a small cupboard unit on the wall to the left with a small blue pottery bowl sat on top next to a picture of a couple in a rustic white frame. In the corner of the room on the right was a rocking chair and at the far end of the room a fireplace mirroring the one in the dinning room. Sarah walked over to the picture and picked it up to look at it.

‘Guess this is the couple that lived here. I wonder what happened to them,’ Sarah stated with a sad tone to her voice.

‘Probable died of hunger,’ Aiden replied.

‘Don’t joke, it’s not funny. It might have been something really bad and all you can think about is your stomach,’ Sarah put the picture back making every effort to return it exactly as she found it. ‘Well, let’s check the kitchen and then when you don’t find any food because literally nobody has been here for years, we can leave and find people and cars and go home.’

‘I know, I want to get home too, but its not every day you get to investigate an abandoned town,’ Aiden spoke softly reassuring Sarah.

He knew she was getting fed up and he wished he knew what to say or do to make everything alright, but he didn’t. He was scared, hungry and exhausted but wanted to buy himself some time to figure it out before Sarah realised he had got them lost, trashed the car and lead them into the middle of nowhere further away for civilization, and now had no idea how to fix it. Of course, Sarah knew that was the case, but it was easier to pretend Aiden was still in control, leaving him to do all the worrying.

They left the room they were in and made their way down the hallway. The wood clad walls had various picture scattered over them in mismatching frames, smiling happy family photos now including a small boy of about four years old and an older couple assumed to be the grandparents. Now seeing the presence of a child in the photos began to worry Aiden about the history of the home and village.

At the end of the hall was a door leading the only way through to the back of the house, the further they went down the hall the darker it got. The door was closed and Aiden had to push it open creating a loud cringing squeak that echoed through the whole house.

‘That was loud enough to wake the dead,’ Aiden said as he turned to Sarah knowing she would have to respond to such comment.

‘Stop it,’ Sarah replied in quiet frustration, slightly disappointing Aiden who was expecting more of a rise out of her.

The door swung back to reveal a quaint country cottage kitchen with large white porcelain sink and cupboards running in an L shape along the left and back wall stopping at a door leading to the rear garden. A stair case to the right lead to the upper floor, and a small table with a vase in the centre stood next to the stair case. The floor was made up from slate tiles making this room feel colder than the others but the two large windows either side of the door on the back wall let lots of light in. Aiden immediately began to open cupboards hunting round to see if there was anything useful, he knew he wouldn’t find edible food, yet he hunted through the kitchen like a hungry bear rooting through dustbins after winter. Sarah just stood watching him on what seemed like a pointless endeavour, until he turned with a smile on his face, standing tall, holding out his discovery and releasing a loud

‘Ha, found something.’

Sarah half expected to see a big cheeseburger in his hand judged by the expression on his face but it wasn’t a cheeseburger, not even food, just an old part burnt candle.

‘Great, we’re saved,’ Sarah said sarcastically.

‘Trust me, you’ll be jumping for joy over this candle later when we’re fumbling around in the dark trying to find somewhere to bunk up.’

‘No, not happening,’ Sarah said angrily. ‘First off, we aren’t going to be here that long. As soon as you have finished playing around, we are leaving. Secondly, unless you found some matches to go with that candle, it’s a useless lump of wax.’

Aiden reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter with a smug look on his face.

‘I thought you quit smoking,’ Sarah said crossing her arms with a stern look.

‘What, So I kept the lighter, and I’m going to keep the candle too, just in case,’ Aiden said as he slid the candle into the pocket in the front of his hoodie.

Aiden walked towards the stairs and looked up with one foot on the bottom step.

‘Don’t go up there,’ Sarah said knowing the inevitable.

Aiden turned to look at her with a grin on his face like a naughty child about to do something they knew they shouldn’t.

‘Just a quick look, I promise.’

Without waiting for a response Aiden started to slowly ascend the stairs, with each step the old wooden staircase let out a groaning creek, as he rose up into a dark less welcoming room covered in dust and containing three cardboard boxes with a dust sheet scrunched up on top. The only light entering the room was from the small triangle shape window at the front, making the room hard to see but was obviously not as well presented as the rooms downstairs. To the back of the space were two doors both shut, containing what Aiden assumed to be bedrooms. Sarah followed him up, not wanting to be left on her own and together they approached the two doors.

Aiden reached for the door handle and the door opened with ease into a bedroom complete with a metal frame single bed, although not complete with any kind of mattress or sheets. A large square window let the midday sunshine through with a peaceful glow. To the side where the roof dropped too low to stand, the wall was boarded off to create a makeshift cupboard complete with doors. For some reason Sarah got the impression this was the child’s bedroom, perhaps it was the baby blue walls, or maybe the single bed, but whatever the case Sarah looked around the room with a caring admiration. For a moment they both stood just observing their surroundings, in a quiet, calm, moment of peace.

Suddenly there was a large bang downstairs, then a loud scraping followed by another bang of a door swinging open and hitting the wall behind. Aiden and Sarah looked at each other in a panic, suddenly realising they were not alone. The sounds continued with ferocity. Aiden and Sarah knew this was not made by anyone or anything they would want to come face to face with.

‘What do we do?’ Sarah whispered in a breathless panic as the sounds got louder.

Aiden looked around the room, quickly trying to formulate a plan.

‘In there,’ Aiden replied so quietly Sarah could hardly hear him, but she could tell what he wanted of her as he pointed towards the doors of the cupboard.

Sarah looked at the small doors leading into a space that could have contained anything. The thought of dead bodies, rats, spiders and a million other terrifying possibilities made her freeze in spot while she weighed up the worst scenario.

‘Go,’ Aiden commanded as he walked towards the open door leading into the room, and with a deep breath hoping for as little sound as possible, slowly pushed it closed with the door knob turned so it wouldn’t click into place. To his relief it closed with barley a sound which wouldn’t have been heard over the commotion downstairs anyway, that by this point was getting closer and closer.

By the sound of metal pots hitting a hard floor and the volume of the bangs and scratching he could tell that whatever it was had reached the kitchen. As Aiden turned around Sarah was now opening the cupboard doors for the first time, with unapparent awareness of the urgency to hide before they were found by god only knows who, or what. Inside the cupboard was empty, this should have been of great relief to Sarah but in place of the nightmares she was expecting there was just a black abyss of unseen torment. Before she had any more time to think Aiden rushed over almost pushing Sarah in. Together they scrambled inside having to crawl on their hands and knees, while Sarah coward in the darkness, Aiden reached out and pulled the doors closed behind them just as there was an even louder bang and then the recognisable smash of the vase that was on the table next to the stairs, scatter across the slate kitchen floor. The creaking of the stairs began to sound, this time with the heavy irregular footsteps of the unknown.

Aiden could feel his heart beating faster and faster in his chest, fearing what he knew would burst into the room at any moment. He tried hard to control his breathing, not wanting to give away there hiding spot, but the harder he tried the louder his breathing sounded. Sarah was trembling in fear holding Aiden’s elbow getting the smallest amount of comfort from having him there with her, but she was also concerned about what else was in there with them, almost more than what was outside. A shiver went up her spine every time a cobweb brushed against her. She kept turning around to face the darkness, expecting to see a face, or a rat run towards her, preparing herself so she wouldn’t scream.

The heavy foreboding footsteps were now right outside the bedroom door. Every sound making Aiden’s heart skip a beat. Then the loud crash they were expecting but were not prepared for, as the bedroom door exploded open and slammed into the wall almost taking it off its hinges. Aiden tried to peer through the slight gap in the cupboard doors, but all he saw was a big dark shadow that was enough to chill him to the bone, making him retreat as far back as he could. Sarah let go of Aiden’s elbow to cover her mouth, muffling the slight whimpering sounds she was letting out, praying they would go unheard.

This thing was rampaging around the room, banging against the metal bed frame and walls. Aiden felt like he was close to passing out with fear and could hear its heavy breathing just on the other side of the flimsy doors, providing the only barrier between them and it. It stopped, then for a few seconds there was silence. Aiden held his breath, the slightest sound and he knew they would be discovered, until Aiden heard the most terrifying guttural growl come from the beast, at that moment he knew for sure, the thing in the room with them was not human.