A Beast Well Tamed (The House of Jack the Ripper Book 5) Read online

  I press my hands against her mouth, muffling her cries. Then, reaching down, I take out another section of rope and start wrapping it under the table, and then I press it into her mouth until her anguished scream becomes little more than a faint groan. She is struggling violently, but I know – and she must know too – that there is no longer any chance for her to escape. She had a chance, that much is certain, and yet she let it slip between her fingers.

  And for that, I hope she burns in the fires of hell.

  Making my way around the table, I start tying her arms and legs down. I work fast, struggling slightly to see properly as I feel more scratches on my exposed eyes. I get the work done, however, and then I pick up the knife from the floor and start cutting once again through Delilah's clothing. She struggles and groans, but soon I have exposed her bare belly. Although she is carrying a child, no bump is showing yet, although I fancy that perhaps she is a little plumper than I had expected.

  “I told you to stop me,” I whisper, as I press the blade's tip against her skin just below the center of her rib-cage. “This is happening because you let it happen. I begged you. I told you what you had to do, and you failed!”

  She groans again, then louder still as I slice the blade through her skin and cut a line all the way down to her groin. Then I cut several more times, struggling a little as her body twitches and shakes. Fresh blood runs from the slices as I carve them, and then I set the knife aside so that I can slip my fingers into the slits and start peeling back the skin, flowing into the gutters that lead down from the table. I hear a faint tearing sound as I work, but I am quickly able to pull the skin away and reveal the woman's stomach muscles. Taking the knife again, I start cutting those muscles away, minded to focus on the fact that I must not cut too deep lest I harm the life that is even now growing in Delilah's body. It is that life that I need, that must be preserved at all costs. Even now, as more blood runs between my fingers, I feel certain that I am digging deeper and deeper toward a form of vitality that will restore Catherine's body to health.

  The bodies of whores were never going to save my wife.

  I needed the parts, and the blood, of a woman whose body is filled with the strength of impending motherhood.

  How did I not see that before?

  Once Delilah's muscles are out of the way, I start slipping my fingers deeper into her guts. I need to clear a way to her womb, yet I must work with care. My eyes are starting to fail me, filled with scratches, and I can barely see properly. Still, I know these bodies well and I need no guide, so I am able to fumble my way past the various organs until I finally get to the womb. I must take even greater care now, for the child will at this stage be small enough to fit into the palm of my hand. If my theory is correct, however, I can remove it from its mothers body so long as I work quickly on the next stage. Yet as I work, in my mind I am imagining how peaceful everything would be now if this foolish girl had just killed me.

  “Have mercy on my soul,” I whisper, finding some solace from those words even though I do not really believe in souls. “I do this for love.”

  Reaching my hand up, I lick blood from my fingers, and I feel certain that this blood possesses some extra strength, some extra vitality that I can detect in its taste. Then, slipping my hands back into Delilah's body, I take a moment to find her womb and then I split the edges open. Bubbles of blood pop between my fingers, accompanied by a loud squelching sound. I am past the point of no return now, and I cannot deny that I am filled with a certain sense of awe as I realize that to the unborn child in this woman's body, I must at this moment seem like some god who has come to crack open its world.

  Shocked by my own brilliance, I cannot help glancing at Delilah, and I see that she is both alive and conscious, and staring at me with horrified eyes.

  “You asked what I am doing down here,” I gasp. “You must see the truth now, Delilah Culpepper. I am the one whose adventures so titillated you before.”

  With that, smiling an unblinking smile, I slip my fingers into her womb so that I can remove the child.

  “I am so sorry, my dear,” I add. “I am the man they have been calling Jack the Ripper.”

  Coming Soon

  DOCTOR CHARLES GRAZIER

  (THE HOUSE OF JACK THE RIPPER BOOK 6)

  Maddie tries to get to the truth about the house, but she soon finds that a more pressing danger is lurking nearby. Meanwhile, back in the nineteenth century, Doctor Charles Grazier desperately works against time as he tries to complete his final project, but tragedy is about to strike the house once again.

  Also by Amy Cross

  THE ASH HOUSE

  Why would anyone ever return to a haunted house?

  For Diane Mercer the answer is simple. She's dying of cancer, and she wants to know once and for all whether ghosts are real.

  Heading home with her young son, Diane is determined to find out whether the stories are real. After all, everyone else claimed to see and hear strange things in the house over the years. Everyone except Diane had some kind of experience in the house, or in the little ash house in the yard.

  As Diane explores the house where she grew up, however, her son is exploring the yard and the forest. And while his mother might be struggling to come to terms with her own impending death, Daniel Mercer is puzzled by fleeting appearances of a strange little girl who seems drawn to the ash house, and by strange, rasping coughs that he keeps hearing at night.

  The Ash House is a horror novel about a woman who desperately wants to know what will happen to her when she dies, and about a boy who uncovers the shocking truth about a young girl's murder.

  Also by Amy Cross

  HAUNTED

  Twenty years ago, the ghost of a dead little girl drove Sheriff Michael Blaine to his death.

  Now, that same ghost is coming for his daughter.

  Returning to the small town where she grew up, Alex Roberts is determined to live a normal, quiet life. For the residents of Railham, however, she's an unwelcome reminder of the town's darkest hour.

  Twenty years ago, nine-year-old Mo Garvey was found brutally murdered in a nearby forest. Everyone thinks that Alex's father was responsible, but if the killer was brought to justice, why is the ghost of Mo Garvey still after revenge?

  And how far will the real killer go to protect his secret, when Alex starts getting closer to the truth?

  Haunted is a horror novel about a woman who has to face her past, about a town that would rather forget, and about a little girl who refuses to let death stand in her way.

  Also by Amy Cross

  THE BRIDE OF ASHBYRN HOUSE

  “I have waited so long for your return.”

  In the English countryside, miles from the nearest town, there stands an old stone house. Nobody has set foot in the house for years. Nobody has dared. For it is said that even though the lady of the house is long dead, a face can sometimes be seen at one of the windows. A pale, dead face that waits patiently behind a silk wedding veil.

  Seeking an escape from his life in London, Owen Stone purchases Ashbyrn House without waiting to find out about its history. As far as Owen is concerned, ghosts aren't real and his only company in the house will be the thin-legged spiders that lurk on the walls. Even after he moves in, and after he starts hearing strange noises in the night, Owen insists that Ashbyrn House can't possibly be haunted.

  But Owen knows nothing about the ghostly figure that is said to haunt the house. Or about the mysterious church bells that ring out across the lawn at night. Or about the terrible fate that befell the house's previous inhabitants when they dared defy the bride. Even as Owen starts to understand the horrific truth about Ashbyrn House's past, he might be too late to escape the clutches of the presence that watches his every move.

  The Bride of Ashbyrn House is a ghost story about a man who believes the past can't hurt him, and about a woman whose search for a husband has survived even her own tragic death.

  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.

  OTHER BOOKS

  BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE

  Horror

  The Soul Auction

  The Ash House

  The Camera Man

  The Bride of Ashbyrn House

  The Body at Auercliff

  Haunted

  B&B

  Laura

  Asylum

  Meds (Asylum 2)

  Annie's Room

  The Farm

  The Ghost of Molly Holt

  The Curse of Wetherley House

  The Ghosts of Lakeforth Hotel

  The Haunting of Blackwych Grange

  The Ghosts of Hexley Airport

  The Devil, the Witch and the Whore (The Deal book 1)

  Darper Danver: The Complete First Series

  The Disappearance of Katie Wren

  The Horror of Devil's Root Lake

  The Printer From Hell

  The Nurse

  American Coven

  Eli's Town

  The Night Girl

  Devil's Briar

  The Cabin

  After the Cabin

  Last Wrong Turn

  The Ghost of Shapley Hall

  A House in London

  The Blood House

  The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)

  Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)

  The Border

  Short Story Collections

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories

  Twisted Little Things and Other Stories

  The Ghost of Longthorn Manor and Other Stories

  The Vampire of Downing Street and Other Stories

  Thrillers

  The Murder at Skellin Cottage (Jo Mason book 1)

  The Return of Rachel Stone (Jo Mason book 2)

  The Girl Who Never Came Back

  Other People's Bodies

  Dystopian / Science Fiction

  The Dog

  The Island (The Island book 1)

  Persona (The Island book 2)

  The Abyss (The Island book 3)