The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)

The Dark Place - Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

1

Cass pulled the soaked, lab coat tight around her even though it no longer offered the slightest protection against the cold or the rain. Her bare feet slapped along the icy, wet tarmac of the road as she neared the old road sign with the arrow which pointed in the direction of Munford House. That was where the girl's father was, she could feel him. And the others, they were there too. She needed their help; it would be difficult to find the girl without them.

Following the arrow she turned off of the main road and followed the narrower one through the dense trees, the branches of which formed a natural arch high above her head. Loose road chippings and twigs buried themselves into the soles of her feet but Cass' determination forced back the pain. The doctor at the hospital had not believed her, neither had the policeman. To them she was just a mad woman who had suffered a bad knock to the head.

But these people were different because they had a personal interest in the child's wellbeing. This time she knew that she would be believed.

2

The search for Tamicka went on through the entire house. While Penny looked through the downstairs rooms her mother and Mrs. Hughes checked upstairs. Meanwhile Tamicka's father combed the grounds immediately around the house.

When Penny entered the art studio her gaze fell instantly on the portrait of Mrs. Hughes' granddaughter, Jane. It looked strange; somewhat menacing in the grim light of the storm. Without moving her eyes away from the painting Penny's hand fumbled along the wall behind her for the light switch and she flipped it on as soon as her fingers made contact.

A shiver passed through her as she walked closer to the picture even though the room was far from cold. The Painting seemed somehow different from when she had seen it earlier on in the day, yet it looked exactly the same. She blinked, refocused. Had the girl in the painting moved? Had her features taken on a slightly more serious quality? Just looking at it made Penny's head spin but she could not tear her eyes away. There was something very frightening about the painting now. Suddenly the sweet little girl didn't look quite so sweet. And that blur at the doorway in the background, had that really been there before?

There was a noise somewhere in the house which seemed so distant that Penny almost missed it. From somewhere above her she heard a door slam shut, and then footfalls against carpet as somebody started their decent of the stairs. It was only when the high pitched sound came again that Penny realized it had been the doorbell. Some one was at the front door.

3

Amanda waited at the far end of the common by the hole in the fence that separated it from Eastlake Woods. Graham's outsized Parker was the only thing between herself and the storm. She saw the distant light of the torch coming closer its carrier approached. Amanda took her phone from one of the pockets, pressed a button and looked down at the blue display.

8:40 pm.

Dumb bitch, late as usual, she thought as she slipped the phone away again. She fished out a packet of cigarettes before realizing that she had left her lighter back home in her bedroom. Just as well, didn't really feel like one anyway.

"Mand, is that you?" came the voice that could only just be heard above the rain.

"No, it's the bloody coppers," Amanda shouted back.

"Huh..." Wendy raised the torch and shined its beam directly into Amanda's face.

"Of course it's me you silly cow, now get that light out of my eyes before I shove it down your bloody throat."