She sat in the kitchen where she had spent most of the last three days, drinking wine and chain smoking, blaming herself for her daughter’s life, a life that was still young and yet had mostly been filled with fear, yes she hoped it was over now, her body was riddled with guilt, she hoped it would be a boy so he would be taken away from them, she didn’t want her daughter to bring a girl into this world, to love for her, to care for her, then watch her go through what she endured her own daughter going through, knowing there was not a dam thing you could do about it, that wouldn’t be fair, that wouldn’t be right.

Her stomach dropped when she heard the siren, sobriety and a sense of urgency travelled through her body as she ran out of her front door down Hazel road, she knew what the siren meant, she had heard it at least 4 times before, it meant her grandchild had been born, another child of the devil, as she ran the tears streamed down her face, thinking only of her daughter, she knew she had not been well, that there were complications, her young body unable to cope with the rules of Underwood, she turned into Birch, she could see the army huts in front of her now, those on the street watched in sympathy as she ran, knowing what the siren meant, some inside went to pray, a young woman broke down in tears at the sight of the lady running through the streets with tears in her eyes, looking like the devil itself, for that moment Mary bore no resemblance to the woman she really was.

Mary saw no one that day as she ran, her eyes were looking where she was going, but her mind was elsewhere, her mind was with her daughter, only she couldn’t see her daughter inside her head, the maternity unit was in sight, she almost crashed into the door as she approached, such was the urgency of her, spittle ran from her mouth, her eyes wide and scared, fear riddled her whole body, Hayleigh Price opened the door, she knew who it would be, she was expecting her, she had no words she could say to her, no words of comfort, and as she stood and watched the grief stricken mother, she swore that was the last baby she would deliver.

Mary sunk to her knees, the look on Hayleigh’s face was enough to tell her, the tears in her eyes told her all she needed to know, her daughter had died giving birth, she took hold of the door frame to lift herself up, her legs barely held her, she was running on adrenalin and fear, Hayleigh helped her up, she could feel the woman shaking.

‘Where have they taken her ‘she screamed?

Hayleigh pointed to the place in the woods where the sheriff had laid her daughter, and with a new found energy, Mary ran to her daughter, Hayleigh wanted to call her back, then she thought of running after her, but she did neither, she just looked and cried.

She held her daughters head in her lap, cradling her, telling her how sorry she was telling her how much she loved her, she told her that they would be together soon, she held her dead daughters body as close as she possibly could and rocked her like a baby, she started humming her a lullaby, soft and sweet.

‘It will be all over soon’ she told her daughter.

As quiet as a mouse the creature pounced, ripping out the throat of Mary with one swipe of its claw, loving the taste of fresh blood as it tore her body apart with its jaws, crunching the bones with its teeth, the dead girl could stay for a bit, it was a long time since he had fresh food, it tasted so good, he picked up the body in its teeth and ran deep into the woods like a dog carrying a rabbit.

Chapter 9

The 2nd night in Underwood was so different from the first, Lily and Ivy staying at No.12 whilst Nathan and Samuel at No.13, Eileen and Rebecca in their respective beds as the effects of the wine had been to much and they both lay fast asleep, Rebecca would dream about the day they come to take away her daughter, how she would fight them as they dragged her away kicking and screaming, sometimes the dream would end with her just sinking to her knees as she watched her daughter being taken away, then she would wake up, hot sweating, in a deep panic, finding it difficult to breathe, but other times she would dream, that they hadn’t taken her away, they had simply taken them outside of Underwood, into a new world, a nice world, where young girls were treated like humans.

Today it seemed like it was just normal neighbourly sleepovers, it was still early evening, the night warm with a soft breeze and as Peter walked the moon shone brightly, creating a haze behind the surrounding tree’s, it made the tree’s seem silhouetted against the evening sky, he walked the streets and the roads which were quiet, looking for something but he wasn’t sure what, he could see a large car lot to his left and found it strange as Underwood would not allow cars, but nothing was surprising him no more about this shitty town, then as he got closer his heart went into his mouth, beyond the sign that said “Tony’s Car Lot” he could see it quite clearly, his beloved Avensis, with a for sale sign on it, what made it worse, the car that was worth thousands was valued at £150, with his head racing he ran to the gates, he shook them hard, shouting and screaming words he himself could not comprehend as he screamed and shook on the iron gates.

Tony Griffiths was day dreaming as he sat drinking his beer, as he very often did so at night, the effects of the beer would eventually allow him to have a restless sleep, as it did most nights but it was better than no sleep at all, now he was watching the new resident approach his car lot, he seemed to be angry at something , he grinned as he watched the man shaking the gate, he could see the rage building up inside the man, he got out of his chair slowly, purposely, laying his beer beside his chair, he walked over to the gate with long steps, Peter saw him coming, both men now faced each other with the iron 6ft gate between them.

‘That’s my fucking car’ Peter shouted, pointing to the Avensis in the yard, Tony grinned,

‘So it is’ Tony said, still grinning.

This angered Peter even more, ‘You got no right to sell it, it’s not even yours’ he screamed, ‘it’s worth a lot more than that’ he added, ‘I paid a fucking fortune for it’

At which Tony burst out laughing and couldn’t speak for a few moments, money had no meaning to Tony, he had no idea how much the car was worth, nor did he care, Peter just calmed a little and stood watching the man laugh,

‘What price do you want me to put on it’ said Tony through the giggles, ‘and I tell you what, whatever I get I’ll give to you’ his laugh turned into a grin,

Peter now realising how daft the situation really was, took a deep breath, he was in control of his emotions once more,

‘I just want the keys’

‘if I let you in and give you the keys are you going to do anything stupid’ Peter just shook his head and Tony opened the gates, Peter walked in cautiously, even though he could see all around the yard, wondering why a Town that does not allow cars had a car lot, the car lot was full of vehicles.

Tony walked to the workshop at the back, Peter followed, looking around all the time, as if someone or something was going to appear from nowhere, he was on edge and anxious, then he realised he had been ever since he had arrived in Underwood, this was the same bloke who helped him escape punishment, now why was he stealing his car.

‘Here’ Tony said, throwing him the keys, Peter caught them and looked at them in his hand as if they were forbidden fruit, his eyes went from the keys to Tony, back and forth as if he was expecting one of them to change.

‘You’re not gonna stop me’ he said,

‘I’m just the mechanic, anyway that things way over my head, I didn’t know they made cars like that’ he laughed as he said it,

‘I could do you a deal on a Capri’ Tony added, tears came to his eyes from his own laughter, Peter didn’t respond, he found it strange, could not see the joke, the car lot owner seemed as mad as a hatter, and still Tony laughed.