The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)

The Dark Place - Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

1

Penny was blinded by the sun when she opened her eyes and instantly closed them again. She had never spent the night in a car before. Her neck, back and legs were stiff and hurt when she tried to move. She opened her eyes again and squinted against the light.

"Hello sleepy head."

Penny moved her head stiffly to her right and saw her mother staring back at her through the darkened lenses of her sunglasses.

"Hi," Penny yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's still early yet, why don't you go back to sleep?"

Penny knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep even if she wanted to. She stretched out as best she could in the confined space. "Do you think it's too early to go up to the big house?"

"It's only six-thirty, sweetheart. I seriously doubt even Mrs. Hughes is up this early in the morning."

Penny was shocked. She had no idea she had been asleep so long. "So what are we going to do? We can't just sit around here."

Penny's mother didn't answer; she appeared to be lost in thought.

"Mum, are you all right?"

"We have to go back to the locksmiths."

"Why?" Penny frowned.

"Don't you remember? Their coming to change the locks today and the man in the shop said that he would make sure that someone was at the house first thing in the morning."

"But you said that it's only six-thirty; the shop won't be open for hours," said Penny, smothering another yawn with her hand. "What's the big deal anyway?"

"Don't you see? If your father's still at home he'll probably let them go ahead change the locks, then we will be the ones who can't get back in."

Penny's heart sank. "What if we're too late already?"

"How do you mean?" asked her mother.

"We told him that it was an emergency, didn't we? What if that guy told someone to get to the house early, like before the shop opens?"

"We just have to hope that they didn't." Penny's mother twisted the key in the ignition, turned the car around and headed back towards town.

2

Tamicka climbed out of bed. She hadn't managed to sleep all night but she was not the slightest bit tired. She needed her daddy. Once she saw him she knew that everything would be all right.

She showered quickly, changed into a yellow, summer dress with matching Alice band and made her way down to the main hall. A shiver passed through her as she walked past the art studio door but she tried her best to ignore it, knowing that her father was probably hard at work in the study.

A couple of days ago she wouldn't have dreamt of disturbing him while he was working, but yesterday he had been so nice. Apart from the absence of her mother it had seemed like the past six months had never happened.

She gave three light raps on the door and waited. There was no answer so she knocked a little harder. "Daddy?" she called, pushing the door open a crack. There was nobody in the room but she could see that the computer had been left on. Her curiosity pulled her into the room and over to the monitor where the slideshow screensaver showed a photograph of her and her father. Her mother had taken it when they were on holiday Miami. Tamicka smiled at the memory and watched as the picture faded away to be replaced by one of her mother smiling into the camera. Tamicka was filled with mixed emotions on seeing her mother again. Happiness and sadness did battle to take control of her before that picture was replaced with another. Thousands of tiny squares pieced themselves together to build up an image that sent a bolt of fear through her. It was the painting of the girl, the one that she had seen hanging in the art studio, and this time a menacing scowl had set over her features. Just as the last fragments of the painting had set themselves into the picture the computer shut itself down and restarted.