The Disappearance of Katie Wren (32 page)

“But she called me!”

“You must be mistaken,” she continues, and she sounds utterly confused. “Mrs. Wren, I'm looking at Katie at this exact moment. Would you like me to fetch a doctor so he can reassure you?”

I hesitate for a moment, listening to the sound of Katie's continued sobs.

“No,” I say finally, staring at the laptop. “No, it's fine, I...”

My voice trails off, and I cut the call. Setting my phone down, I step over to the laptop, while not daring to get
too
close.

“Help me, Mum!” she whimpers. “It's so cold and dark here, and I can't see anything! I can just hear this -”

She lets out a sudden shriek.

“It's right behind me!” she screams. “Mum, get me out of here! Mum, help me! Mum, I can't -”

Suddenly the call ends, and I'm left staring at the screen. The house is silent once more, and it takes a few seconds before I summon the courage to actually touch the laptop. I bring up the Skype window and click on Katie's contact details, and then I try to call her. Immediately, I get a message saying that she's not available. I try a couple more times, with the same result.

But it was her.

I'd know my girl's voice anywhere. It was Katie, weeping and sobbing and begging me to help her. I know she's at the hospital, I know she's in a coma, but at the same time I also know that it was really her just now. She needs me, and I don't even know where to begin helping her.

And then I spot the clock at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

It's 11:59pm on the 30
th
October.

I stare at the clock, holding my breath and waiting for it to tick over to midnight. October 31
st
is the day that the Cult of Hiirux believed their god would rise again to reclaim the world. It's all total rot, of course, but still...

Grabbing my phone, I try to call the ward again, just to ask if they can double-check Katie's numbers. I feel absolutely frantic as I wait for somebody to answer, and after a moment I head over to the window and look out at the dark garden. The phone rings and rings, and it's taking much longer than usual for them to answer. They're usually so quick at the ward, especially late at night when they don't have much else to do. Right now, however, something seems to be keeping them busy.

I cut the call and set the phone down, and then I spot something moving out in the garden. I peer closer, cupping my hands so I can see out, and finally I spot two crows fighting furiously on the garden table. I watch them for a few seconds, before turning to look back at my laptop. The clock has finally changed.

It's now October 31
st
. Outside, the birds are screaming as they fight.

Also by Amy Cross

THE NURSE

“Twenty years ago, something very bad happened in this house. But it's over now. I promise.”
When Rachel moves to a new house with her mother, she immediately realizes that something isn't quite right. Although she's blind, Rachel can tell that the stories about the house's past don't add up. And slowly, she starts to worry that someone or something from that past might still be around.
Soon, Rachel learns the story of the house's previous occupant, a troubled nurse who spent every waking moment caring for a sick old man. The nurse eventually lost her mind, resulting in a series of horrific murders, but have the events of that awful time truly been left behind? Or is something stirring in the night, something that only Rachel seems to notice?
The Nurse
is the story of a girl who finds herself trapped in a sinister house, and a woman who believes she's being haunted by the ghost of a long-dead child. Contains scenes of violence.

Also by Amy Cross

THE BODY AT AUERCLIFF

“We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!”
When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms.
A dead body. A woman. Old and rotten. And her aunt insists she has no idea where it came from.
The truth lies buried in the past. For generations, the occupants of Auercliff have been tormented by the repercussions of a horrific secret. And somehow everything seems to be centered upon the mausoleum in the house's ground, where every member of the family is entombed once they die.
Whose body was left to rot in one of the house's rooms? Why have successive generations of the family been plagued by a persistent scratching sound? And what really happened to Rebecca many years ago, when she found herself locked inside the Auercliff mausoleum?
The Body at Auercliff
is a horror story about a family and a house, and about the refusal of the past to stay buried.

Also by Amy Cross

THE GHOST OF SHAPLEY HALL

“Georgette Shapley died outside this house. Her ghost has spent the past century trying to get back inside so she can be reunited with her child.”
James Spence doesn't believe in ghosts, so he has no worries about going with his girlfriend Rachel to visit an old, abandoned country home.
Rachel, meanwhile, is convinced that a weekend at Shapley Hall will make James change his mind. After all, she knows from bitter experience that the the house is haunted by a woman who once died in the most horrific manner possible, and who now waits to be reunited with her long-lost child.
As the weekend continues, however, James starts to realize that maybe ghosts are the least of his problems. Rachel's behavior is becoming increasingly erratic, and it soon becomes clear that she'll stop at nothing to fulfill a promise she once made to a dead woman. Did Rachel imagine a terrifying experience during her childhood, or are the hallways of Shapley Hall really haunted by a terrifying, vengeful creature?
The Ghost of Shapley Hall
is a horror story about two people who venture into a dark, abandoned house, and about the echo of a terrible crime that still haunts the Shapley family to this day.

Also by Amy Cross

THE PRINTER FROM HELL

It's just a printer.
That's what Steve Holland tells himself when he brings the machine into his family's home. Even when he struggles to get the printer working, he tells his wife that there's no reason to worry. After all, a printer can't actually hurt anyone.
And then the bruises start to appear on their son's arm.
Soon it becomes apparent that the printer has brought something dangerous into the apartment. Hideous photos start to emerge from the machine, photos that can't possibly exist. Yet somehow they do exist, and they show scenes from a nightmarish world. A world much like our own, but filled with more blood, pain and misery than any human could endure. And when his wife and son disappear from the apartment, Steve is forced to join a madman's quest to save his family.
The Printer From Hell
is a horror story about a man who makes one small mistake, and ends up fighting to save his family from a horrific monster. And all because he bought the wrong printer.

OTHER BOOKS

BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE

Horror

The Body at Auercliff

The Horror of Devil's Root Lake

The Haunting of Blackwych Grange

Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories

Twisted Little Things and Other Stories

The Printer From Hell

The Farm

The Nurse

American Coven

Annie's Room

Eli's Town

Asylum

Meds (Asylum 2)

The Night Girl

Devil's Briar

The Cabin

After the Cabin

Last Wrong Turn

At the Edge of the Forest

The Devil's Hand

The Ghost of Shapley Hall

The Death of Addie Gray

A House in London

The Blood House

The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)

Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)

The Border

The Lighthouse

3AM

Tenderling

The Girl Clay

The Prison

Ward Z

The Devil's Photographer

Fantasy / Horror

Dark Season series 1, 2 & 3

The Girl With Crooked Fangs (Vampire Country book 1)

Grave Girl

Graver Girl (Grave Girl 2)

Ghosts

The Library

Thriller

The Girl Who Never Came Back

Other People's Bodies

Dystopia / Science Fiction

The Dog

The Island (The Island book 1)
Persona (The Island book 2)