Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories Read online

  Copyright 2016 Amy Cross

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, entities and places are either products of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people, businesses, entities or events is entirely coincidental.

  Kindle edition

  Dark Season Books

  First published: March 2016

  This edition: August 2016

  This book's front cover incorporates elements licensed from the Bigstock photo site.

  A husband waits until his wife and children are in bed, before inviting a dangerous man into their home...

  A girl keeps hold of her mother's necklace, as bloodied hands try to tear it from her grasp...

  A gun jams, even as its intended victim begs the universe to let her die...

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Amy Cross. Some of the stories take place in seemingly ordinary towns, whose inhabitants soon discover something truly shocking lurking beneath the veneer of peace and calm. Others show glimpses of vast, barbaric worlds where deadly forces gather to toy with humanity. All the stories in this collection peel back the face of a nightmare, revealing the horror that awaits. And in every one of the stories, some kind of monster lurks...

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories contains the new stories Perfect Little Monsters, I Hate You, Meat, Fifty Fifty and Stay Up Late, as well as a revised version of the previously-released story The Scream. This book contains scenes of violence, as well as strong language.

  Table of Contents

  Perfect Little Monsters

  Never published before

  I Hate You

  Never published before

  Meat

  Never published before

  The Scream

  Revised version,

  originally published as a novella

  Fifty Fifty

  Never published before

  Stay Up Late

  Never published before

  Perfect Little Monsters

  and Other Stories

  Perfect Little Monsters

  One

  Brother wakes me up with the broom again. He's done that before, but this time there's more urgency in him as he pokes the long wooden handle under the bed, ramming it into my belly and chest until I cry out.

  “Come on, Enda!” he shouts, throwing the broom aside as he turns and scuttles out of the room. “We've found you a sister!”

  South-east Kent, about five miles from the village of Wexham, England.

  “I'm only gonna show you this once,” Pa says as he holds up the syringe, “so pay attention.”

  I turn and look down at the girl's bloodied body.

  “Pay attention!” Pa hisses, grabbing the back of my head and forcing me to look at him. “You're gonna have to do this after today, so you need to get it right! You've gotta start taking on more responsibility, Enda!” He starts gently tapping the side of the syringe. “Do you know why I'm doing this?”

  I shake my head.

  “Guess.”

  I watch as a little bubble detaches from the inside of the syringe and floats up. I hate it when Pa asks me questions, because I almost never know the answer. A moment later, he squirts a small amount of the yellowy-brown liquid out the top.

  “Why do I hit the side, Enda?”

  “I don't know,” I whisper.

  “It's to get the air out,” he continues. “Don't worry about why that's important right now, just remember to do it. Okay?”

  I nod.

  He stares at me for a moment, as if he's not quite sure whether he can trust me.

  “Okay,” he mutters finally, before glancing past me. “Get away from her!” he shouts suddenly.

  Turning, I see that Brother is leaning over the bloodied girl, giving her a good look. Pa steps over and pushes him away, and Brother retreats giggling to the corner of the room.

  “This'll make sure she doesn't feel pain for a while,” Pa explains, pulling the girl's sleeve up and then sliding the tip of the needle into her arm. “If she wakes right now, she'll be screaming, and we don't want that, do we?”

  I shake my head, watching as he slides the plunger down and injects her. After a moment, I notice that the girl's fist is clenched real tight.

  “So you do this every morning,” Pa continues, pulling the needle out and then tossing the syringe to the floor, “and every night. First thing after you wake up, and last thing before you go to bed. Do you understand, Enda?”

  I nod. “First... thing every morning,” I whisper, staring wide-eyed at the girl's face, “and...”

  “Last thing before you go to bed.”

  “Last thing before I go to bed. I'll remember.”

  He stares at me for a moment. “You'd better,” he adds, before heading to his tool table next to the window. He takes a moment to sort through the various knives and saws, but his hands are trembling worse than ever. “Do you know what I'm going to do next?” he asks.

  I shake my head.

  “Look at her, Enda. It's obvious if you just look at her.”

  I turn and look at the girl. She's all beat up, and there are lots of places where her clothes have been badly torn, revealing wet, torn skin underneath. Blood's smeared all over one side of her face, too, and matted all through her black hair. Looking down at her legs, I try to work out what I should be noticing, and finally I realize that one of her feet, the one on the right, is hanging down almost backwards, at a real bad angle.

  “Foot,” I whisper.

  “What was that?” Pa asks as he brushes past me, heading toward the girl.

  “Foot,” I say again.

  “That's right,” he says with a grin, setting a small hand-saw on the table before reaching down and taking hold of the girl's damaged foot. I immediately look at her face, half expecting her to react, but I guess Pa put her well under with that injection, and he'd probably given her another before he even got her to the house. Turning back to look at the foot, I see that Pa is holding it up, and that it's only really attached to her ankle by a strip of skin. The bone is cracked right apart, and I can see a shattered chunk of white poking out from the meaty top.

  In the corner, Brother is starting to giggle louder than ever.

  “Shut up!” Pa hisses at him.

  Brother puts a hand over his mouth, but I can see from his eyes that he's still amused.

  “It's a complete mess,” Pa mutters, still holding the damaged foot as he places his left hand on the girl's leg, to steady her. “Damn thing's nearly off as it is.”

  Glancing at the girl's face again, I see that she still isn't reacting. I can't help looking at her right fist, though, and noticing that it's still clenched. I don't know, I'm no expert, but I'd have thought that wouldn't be happening if she was unconscious. I'm pretty sure she is unconscious, though, which means...

  Suddenly I hear a tearing sound, like when Pa rips open fabric bags, and I turn just in time to see him ripping the girl's foot away from the ankle. It only takes a few seconds, and he tosses the foot aside as soon as he's done. After that, he takes the saw and starts cutting through the section of bone that sticks out from the bottom of the girl's leg. The grinding sound makes me want to stick my fingers in my ears, but I know Pa wouldn't like that. Finally the section of bone drops to the floor, and Pa sets the saw aside.

  “Do you know what we do now, Enda?” he asks.

  I immediately look at the metal rod that was already sizzling when I entered the room. I thought it was odd that Pa had placed it on the stove, and now I watch as he puts a blanket
around the handle and picks it up. I know what he's going to do, because I've seen him do it to people before when they're hurt, and sure enough he places the burning metal against the girl's severed ankle. I don't always understand why Pa does things, but he told me once that this is a way to seal a wound and make it stop bleeding. By the look of her, I think this girl could do with holding onto whatever blood she's got left.

  “There,” Pa says finally, tossing the metal rod aside once he's done. “I wasn't sure she'd make it, but I think she's got a good chance now. We'll see over the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Enda's got a sister,” Brother whispers in the corner. “That means I've got a sister too.”

  “Come on,” Pa mutters, heading to the door. “Both of you. I need help in the yard.”

  Brother immediately gets to his feet and scurries after him, but I hesitate for a moment, still puzzled by the girl's clenched right fist. I take a step closer, thinking that maybe I can open it out, but suddenly Pa grabs me by the collar and hauls me toward the door.

  “Out, you!” he says firmly. “She'll be fine. You can give her a proper clean later.” He shoves the severed foot into my hands. It's cold and wet, but not heavy at all. “Bring this,” he adds. “We've gotta clean up out there a little.”

  Two

  Standing by the back door, I watch as Pa and Brother drag the two corpses through the mud. There's a mangled red car over by the stone wall, so I've pretty much figured out what must have happened. I guess there was another crash on the main road, and Pa went out to see what he could salvage.

  People sure do seem to crash a lot on that road.

  “They were dead when I got there,” Pa says, sounding a little out of breath as he reaches the side of the pen and starts hauling the first corpse up. Already, the pigs sound more excited than usual, as if they can smell blood in the air. “The girl was the only one still breathing, and not by much.”

  He drags the corpse, which looks like it used to be a woman, onto the top of the pen's wall and then he stops for a moment, as if he's tired. This is the part that I always like the least, but I know better than to go and hide. Like Pa says, I just need to keep watching and eventually I'll get used to it, and then it won't bother me any more. I keep my eyes wide open as he finally shoves the woman's corpse over into the pen, and then I hear the sound of the pigs hustling to get the best pieces. I can't see the pigs, of course, not from here, but after just a few seconds I hear bones being split apart.

  “Come here,” Pa says, waving at me.

  I pause, knowing what he wants but not really wanting it myself. Brother, of course, is already grinning and leaning over the side, watching the whole horrific thing.

  “Enda, come here,” Pa continues.

  Cautiously, I make my way forward through the mud, with the girl's severed foot still in my hands. When I reach Pa, I don't wait for him to tell me I have to look. Instead, I peer over the wall and flinch as soon as I see the pigs tearing the woman's body apart. She looked pretty mashed up already, but now there's blood everywhere, smeared all over the pigs' pretty pink faces as they chew down on their meal. I don't mind the sight of it so much, 'cause I've seen meat getting eaten before, but it's the sound that makes me shiver a little. Every time one of the pigs clamps its jaws on the woman's body again, I hear bones splintering, and then there's a kind of sucking sound sometimes as chunks of meat are torn away.

  Next to me, Brother's chuckling.

  “Go on,” Pa says, nudging my arm, “toss it in.”

  For a moment, I don't understand what he means, but then I remember the foot. Looking down at it, I'm about to do as I'm told when I notice something on the bloodied flesh. Tilting the foot around, I see that there's some kind of tattoo, but I have to squint to make it out. I think it's a rose, or maybe...

  Suddenly Pa snatches the foot from my hand and tosses it down for the pigs. One of them immediately takes it in his mouth and gives it a chew, crushing the bone. I watch, still trying to see the tattoo, but now I can't really make anything out in the mess of blood and flesh. The pig seems to be enjoying himself, though; in fact, they all do, and they've still got another body to go after this one, 'cause Brother's holding a man in his arms, waiting for the order to toss him in after the woman.

  “My perfect little monsters,” Pa says, watching the pigs with a smile on his face, before he turns to me and ruffles the hair on top of my head. “All of you. Swine and kids alike. Now Enda, you know what you have to do next, don't you?”

  I have to think for a moment, but finally I nod.

  ***

  Dipping the rag into a bowl, I watch for a moment as clouds of blood fill the water. I don't know why I find that so beautiful, but I do. Blood always looks so much redder and happier when it's in water, like that's where it belongs. Sometimes I wonder if blood is made up of tiny little fish, although I mentioned that to Pa once and he just laughed at me, so I guess not. And Pa's never wrong about anything.

  I leave the rag in the bowl for a little longer than necessary, before taking it out and turning back to the girl.

  I've already cleaned her torso and arms, and they're looking pretty clean now, even if they're slightly torn in places. Now I step closer to her head and places the rag against the side of her face. There's so much blood on her cheeks, and her black hair is all matted and dried to her flesh, so I have to press hard as I start wiping it all away. I guess I'll have to give her hair a proper wash once I'm done with her body, but I don't mind that. In fact, I'm looking forward to it. She has such beautiful, long hair, and I think I can clean it up real good.

  Besides, if I didn't have this job to do, Pa would only find me another, probably mucking out the pigs.

  So I'm gonna take my time here, and I wipe the blood from the girl's face gently. Her eyes are still closed but I expect them to open at any moment, even though I know Pa knocked her out good. It's weird to think of her mind in there, though, swimming around and probably dreaming while she's unconscious. I dream too sometimes, so I know what that's like. Brother says he doesn't dream, he says he doesn't understand what dreams are, but I don't know whether to believe him. Everyone has to dream when they're asleep. You can't just stop thinking. Stepping around to the other side of the table, I continue wiping the girl's head, and it's strange to realize that all her thoughts and dreams are in that skull of hers, and I'm wiping the outside clean.

  Everything, all her thoughts, are held between my hands.

  Suddenly I remember the girl's fist, and I look down to see that it's still clenched. I glance over my shoulder, just to make sure that Pa and Brother are still outside, and then I set the rag down so I can go and look properly at the fist. I'm probably wrong and it's probably normal for a girl to keep her fist clenched when she's had an accident, but I can't help being curious, even if Pa always tells me I should just accept things. I reach down and try to pull the girl's fingers open, but I'm surprised to find that she's really got them clenched really tight, like she doesn't want to let me see, even when she's unconscious.

  I try to pull on her fingers a little harder, but she still won't open them. I don't want to hurt her, but at the same time I also want to see if she's got anything in there. Finally I pull even harder, and I'm able to force her fingers apart until suddenly something drops down and hits the floor.

  I crouch and pick it up, and I find that it's a little silver necklace, shaped like half a moon. Turning it over in my hands, I see that there are flecks of blood stuck to the metal, so I spit on my finger and wipe the necklace clean. It's pretty, I've got to admit that. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anything so pretty, so I can understand why she didn't want to let it go.

  “I'm not stealing it,” I say out loud, as I get to my feet and stuff the necklace into the pocket on the front of my pinny. “I'm just looking after it for you, okay? The others would keep it. I'm the only one who'll give it back.”

  I wait, almost like I'm expecting her to reply, and then I grab the rag a
nd get back to work, cleaning her face. Whatever she's dreaming in her head, I hope it's something nice, 'cause I think she's gonna be scared at first when Pa eventually lets her wake up. It might take a little while before she accepts being my new sister.

  Three

  “I've always wanted a sister,” Brother giggles later at the dinner table, as he scoops more beans into his mouth. “I didn't think it'd happen again, though,” he adds, speaking with his mouth full and letting orange bean juice dribble down his chin.

  “You've got a sister,” Pa points out. Pa eats better, more cleanly, and he doesn't let juice dribble down through the stubbly hairs below his mouth.

  “Yeah, but you know what I mean.” Brother glances at me. “Enda's not really much fun anymore, not since she learned to hit back. Maybe this new sister'll like me better.”

  Pa doesn't say anything for a moment. Instead, he seems more thoughtful than usual, and he's staring down at his bowl of food. I take the opportunity to look down at my right hand, which I've kept hidden under the table so far during dinner. I can't help staring at the silver necklace I took from the girl's hand. I've seen beautiful things before, of course I have, but this is on a whole other level. It's like something from another world.

  “Their car had crashed,” Pa says suddenly. “Not far from here. I was out fixing the fence on the second field, when it was raining earlier, and suddenly I heard a loud bang and the sound of breaking glass.” He sniffs, still staring at his bowl, as if he's re-running what happened in his head. “Nice red car, but it's all smashed up now. I'm gonna take it apart and see what I can use, though. Looks modern, but maybe I can make some of the parts fit the other cars. Worth a try.”